Jenni stalked away from her home, kicking at the debris that littered the streets, trying desperately to block out the crashing sounds that were emanating from her home.
She stared at the ground and sighed softly – a sigh lost to the wind that whipped around her. She brought her wrist to her mouth, examined the small puncture marks that lay there and, she added yet another receipt of hunger to this growing collection.
The liquid gold began to flow and, Jenni lapped at it hungrily. Yes, if you haven't guessed it, Jennifer May Evans was a vampire – a soldier of the un-dead masses of her hometown; Newark, New Jersey.
The streets were still empty as Jenni continued her walk – the place came into sight, an impressive mansion lay on the outskirts of the town; this was the home of her sire and, because of that, her three closest friends in the world.
She approached the door and knocked once on the heavy wooden object that barred her access to her friends and saviors. A minute passed while she awaited someone's opening of the door. This somebody was Gerard; the young-ish man, who, almost six years ago had sired her.
He seemed to glow with an aura that made you powerless, but to respect his charms, whether human or immortal.
"Good evening, Jen – we weren't expecting you for at least another hour." Gerard sang; his arm barring the doorway.
"Yes, well, I decided that I needed to come and see you guys sooner, didn't I?" Jenni growled, "Are you going to invite me in, or not, Gerard; I'm cold and about to rip your arm from its socket!"
Gerard removed his arm from harm's way. "Of course; come on in, Jennifer."
Jenni followed behind him as he walked the length of the dark hallway and into the living space; a lavishly decorated room – the walls plastered with a luxurious red and black satin wallpaper. On the walls hung a collection of priceless artwork; all of them originals and, to emphasized the true nature of those who lived in this home; a decanter stood on the antique sideboard, the liquid within it was, as you may have guessed, not of alcoholic origin. Its effects may be similar to alcohol when consumed by a member of the un-dead army; however, it was indeed blood. A collection of which was collected from blood banks and hospitals in the area, in case of emergencies which would render the group powerless to leave their lairs.
Lounging on the sofas, Jenni's two other friends; Frank Iero – the glorious immortal who often chose to hunt with her, showing her the ropes, rather than with the other two. it was during these hunting sessions that Jenni had first fallen for this beautiful immortal: the wondrous hazel of his eyes, now rimmed by red, owing to his diet of blood, were always keen, alert and, most importantly, alive. Frank massaged his fangs lazily and kicked his companion off the sofa so that Jenni could sit down.
His companion had been Michael (Mikey) Way, Gerard's younger brother. He was as tall as his brother and yet, retained his innocence since Gerard had sired him, too. One could argue that it was unethical of Gerard to have sired his two best friends and his brother; however, they would not know anything of the situations which had led to the changes.
"Come on, Jenni – you look ready to pass out, come and sit down!" Frank sighed, throwing his legs off the sofa and sitting up a little straighter.
Jenni took Frank's advice and perched on the edge of the sofa.
Mikey looked up at Jenni's face and shook his head. "Whoever you're thinking about killing, I wouldn't – what have they done, Jen?" He asked of her.
Jennifer growled; a low and in-human sound that ripped from her throat as a warning to Mikey. He immediately darted across the room and sat beside his protector, his body-guard; his brother.
"He came and found us, Michael. He is at my home now; mom's in serious trouble – there was so much blood!" Jen whimpered, her facade of calm being broken by her shaking and the tears of blood that streaked her cheeks.
Frank and the others stared at her; they knew of the situation regarding Jennifer's mother and the man in question. Jennifer had been nine-years-old when her father had left New Jersey to live with another woman. Since he left, her mother did not speak his name and avoided him as a topic of conversation. He had returned, and found where his estranged wife and daughter now lived. The carnage had been inevitable and yet, Jenni's new way of life, meant that she struggled to help her mother, given the blood that had already been shed.
"It's okay, Jenni." Frank purred; a tone that was quite unlike anything that would normally be heard from him – a soft and delicate whisper, laced by... something. His arm wrapped around Jenni's shoulders and she, instinctively, leaned against his side; glad, that of the comfort. "You need your strength back, love." Frank noted, lifting his wrist to his mouth and ripping at the skin before offering the wound to Jennifer's mouth.
She accepted the offer without argument; there was something about the blood of a vampire that sustained more than human blood – it may have been the fact that it combined all those whom a person had fed off with what little of their own human blood remained in their veins. Fueled by hunger, she lapped at the wound, savoring Frank's taste.
Gerard and Mikey, meanwhile, watched the moment in shock and admiration. They, or, more precisely, Gerard, knew of the significance of a blood feed between immortals. It created an impermeable bond. The pair were bonded for the rest of eternity, as lovers.
Frank gently pulled his wrist away from Jennifer's mouth and covered the still bleeding wound with his other hand.
Jen pouted and smiled slightly; being around Frank seemed to have lifted her spirits. Little did she know the significance of the moment she and Frank had shared.
Gerard on the other hand shook his head, his gaze fixed on Frank and Jenni.
"You do know what you've just done, right, Frankie?" He growled across the room, his voice brittle and cracking slightly as he spoke. Few 'people' of New Jersey, or, indeed the whole world knew Gerard as well as Jennifer. It was she whom he had sired first and, this had only heightened their bonds of friendship.
"I know, Ger – I had to do it, though!" Frank shot back, fixing his arm around Jen once again; this time, she did not relax into him, preferring instead, to look from Gerard and back to Frank.
To many of the un-dead, the so called 'dark Gift' was different: These four, they shared the gift of mind reading – Jennifer, while she did not, necessarily need to hear the explanation; she thought it may sound more truthful if vocalized.
"I had to, Jennifer May Evans: I love you!" Frank protested, as Jennifer rounded on him – her eyes burning.
Now, Jennifer came to think about it, she could only deliver one response. "I love you, too, Frankie; always and forever." She said simply, melting against his side.
"So, what's the situation with him and your mom, Jenni?" Gerard asked gently, tugging at his younger brother and pulling him into sight.
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Ger. I can't leave her there on her own." Jenni growled, burying her face against Frank, who held her tighter.
Gerard and Frank exchanged a pained glance, at which Jenni's head snapped up and fixed her stare on Gerard.
"You know full well that I will not let that happen!" She yelled, "I am not going to let you change my mom!"
Frank ran his hand along her arm in an attempt to soothe her. She shrugged his arm off and began to stalk around the room.
Gerard stood in front of her and tried to stop her pace for a minute.
"Jen, sweetie; you know that I don't really want to sire her, too. But, if he's as violent as you're thinking, then she needs to be kept safe." Gerard said – placing a hand on either side of her shoulders and looking deep into her eyes. She noticed that his golden brown and red eyes were sincere.
"I'd love her to be safe; but, there has to be another way – I don't really want to change her. She's my mom after all!" She pleaded, knowing that her argument was futile; both Frank and Mikey agreed with Gerard's plan.
"I'm not asking you to sire her, Jen – despite the fact that you could. I know how hard that would be. I'll be the one to do it – I just need you to be there for her, I don't want her to run away from me when we're trying to explain what's happening." Gerard said softly; this argument worked and Jen, albeit, rather reluctantly, agreed that Gerard should sire her mom in order to protect her from the violence that she was having to deal with.
So, it was agreed and the four took off from the mansion almost immediately. Frank was, as of yet, to loosen his arm from around Jenni's shoulders, she was glad that he was around for her – what was to follow would only reiterate that further.
Jenni led the way to her home and was glad to find that the crashes had ceased.
"Right, let's get this over with, guys." Gerard sighed, taking the lead and climbing the steps in the front of the home. Jenni was immediately behind him, her eyes on the lookout for some sign of danger.
It sounded as though the danger had passed: at least that's what Jenni assumed as she picked her way through the house, looking for some sign of her mother.
It was Gerard who pointed her in the right direction; he stopped stock still in the doorway to the dining room, a grimace on his face. Jenni, taking one look at his face, tried to push him out of the way and fought against Frank's arms.
"No, Jenni – please, stay there!" Gerard pleaded, holding a hand out to try and stop her.
Jenni bared her teeth and allowed a snarl to rip from her chest: Gerard backed down, and allowed Jen into the dining room.