So I've had this story idea kicking around for a while, and I finally got around to finishing it - and everything else I was supposed to be updating! - and I thought I'd start bringing my new stories out since I've just finished two.
And to anyone wondering, yes this story is a little like Fatal Attraction, but this Jack will NOT be mellowing out in any way shape or form and it'll go to slightly darker places as well, so if you're one of those people that want that, stick around, if you don't... just go read Fatal Attraction. xD I'm keeping this Jack evil.
If there are any dark themes in later chapters, I'll put up plenty of warnings before hand. While this isn't going to be so dark I need to rate it M, the dark elements are still going to be there and hopefully the characters are still in character even though Jack's pretty much a bona-fide psycho. ;)
I played around with the idea for a while and the storyline; overall, I think it turned out pretty good and I hope you'll all stick around for it. And I know this is only a short-ish first chapter, but if you could review to gimme a jump-start, that'd be great.
Jerry huffed out a breath and rubbed his gloveless hands together, before shoving them between his knees against the sharp chill of the Spring evening. His companions also showed their discomfort; wrapping their coats tighter around themselves. They must have looked like odd to people passing by; a gang of teenagers sat outside a barista on a Saturday night, lit by the luminance from the building's neon sign and the odd street lamp.
"Man, I'm starving," Mel complained from where she was slumped in her chair. She then checked her watch, sighing heavily. 9:25. "Next time we're bringing our own food, agreed?" she said to them all in complete seriousness, looking around at them.
"Agreed," Jerry repeated.
"Agreed," Tom and Tyler said in unison, not looking up from their game of footsie they had taken to playing to warm themselves up.
"If Rudy thinks we're doing this again next weekend, he can cram it," Mel added unceremoniously, rolling her eyes.
"So elegant, Mel," Jerry teased, getting punched in the arm by a smiling Mel. But she had a point though; they had all been trapesing around the town for at least two hours, and they'd found no trace of the guy they were looking for.
The barista's door opened with a ding and a waitress walked out with a large tray covered with plates of warm, steaming food. Their heads turned in anticipation, Jerry unable to muffle the rumble from his stomach.
The waitress placed some napkins down between the four of them, Tom and Tyler taking a break from their game of footsie under the table to stare at the food in awe like they were starved animals.
"Okay, I got a tuna melt and a soda-"
"Mine," Mel said, holding up a hand. The waitress placed the plate infront of her and she eagerly grabbed a napkin from the middle of the table and started on her sandwich, ignoring the soda.
"A ham and cheese Panini-"
"Yo," Jerry called, taking the plate from the waitress and setting it down. He ignored the steam coming from it and took a large bite, half-regretting it as it burned down his throat towards his stomach.
"A salad with a side of onion rings-"
"Over here." Tyler accepted the plate with a smile and grabbed a fork, spearing a generous helping of lettuce and tomato into his mouth.
"And a double bacon cheeseburger with pickles and fries and a large coffee topped with whipped cream," she finished, looking at the last of the plates she had on the tray. "Guessin' that's yours darlin'?" she said to Tom with a smile, setting the plate and then the coffee in front of him.
"How do you eat that crap, Tom?" Tyler said distastefully, making a start on his onion rings.
"Easy, like this." Tom picked up his burger and took a large bite of it, chewing it emphatically and swallowing it as Tyler rolled his eyes.
He then turned to Mel, angling his chair slightly. "Look, he ain't gonna show," he said, looking around to only see a few couples together and the odd car driving past. "I say we call it," he added.
Mel held up a finger as she finished her mouthful. "I'd love to, but we can't," she said apologetically. "If he really is here, then we need to get to work," she went on. "Fast," she emphasized, raising her eyebrows.
"Why are we pulling the night shift two weekends in a row anyway, Mel?" Tom asked through a mouthful of cheeseburger. "We're not the only ones in the goddamned division," he grumbled, trying to take another bite, but his mouth was too full.
"Shame your balls dropped off when you had the chance to say that to Rudy's face," Mel said teasingly, Tom only able to scowl at her.
"He seems to think we can handle it," Tyler put in with a shrug, Mel making a face of agreement. "And Jerry over here" - he slung an arm around his shoulders - "is perfect bait," he declared.
Jerry raised his eyebrows and pushed Tyler's arm away. "If you think I'm putting on a hula skirt and singing, think again," he muttered warningly, pointing a finger at the three of them.
The others burst into laughter and Jerry grinned, before he started laughing alongside them at the mental image that was presenting itself in his head, but as funny as it was, Jerry was not looking forward to being vampire bait. Especially when he wasn't trained in the same ways Mel, Tyler and Tom were. With any luck, the vampire wouldn't be too old, and wouldn't be that strong.
"Wait, wait, wait," Mel said hurriedly, catching sight of a man - alone - walking down the street. "I think that's him over there." She leaned forwards slightly in her chair, trying to get a better look.
Tom poked her in the side. "You're the one with the thermo-goggles," he reminded her.
"Oh yeah," Mel said with a smile. She bent down under the table and reached into her bag, surfacing with a pair of orange plastic goggles on her head, like the kind in Science labs.
She pressed a button on the right handle and there was a faint whirring sound. "Heat signature's showing no body heat," she told them, reaching to take the goggles off. "Even if it's not our guy, it's definitely a vampire," she added, putting the goggles back in the back.
"Then what the hell's he doing at a barista?" Tyler muttered aloud.
"What the hell are we doing at a barista?" Jerry shot back sarcastically. "At half-nine at night," he pointed out. Again, he added to himself with a roll of his eyes.
"Touche."
Mel suddenly tossed some ear pieces in Tyler and Tom's direction. "Here," she said, handing one to Jerry whilst putting her own in her ear. "He's talking to someone." She adjusted herself, tucking her hair behind her ear to give her a better chance at catching the conversation.
"Like he's gonna discuss his plans for- whatever vampire's plan for out where people can hear him," Jerry said in protest, but put his earpiece in nonetheless, the hearing in his right ear suddenly amplified.
"Rudy's orders," Mel replied with a shrug, "Observe, don't make contact," she repeated.
"'Cause we'd actually want to?" Tyler said incredulously, eyes bulging slightly. "We'd probably get fangs in our necks faster than we could say 'haemogoblin'," he added with a shudder.
"Haemogoblin," Tom shot back flatly.
The four of them turned their attention to the man, actually a teenager upon closer inspection, who was talking to a woman in her thirties. It seemed like a normal conversation, and probably was, but he was a vampire. They couldn't take any chances, not when they had turned up empty last week, despite an anonymous tip.
The teenager's voice blinkered through their ears with static, before settling: "...Just take a left up the road there-"
The teenager was cut off as a man jogged over to them from across the other side of the street, panting in relief and holding up a pamphlet.
"Ah, honey? It's okay," he said with relief, sounding out of breath. "We're all set." He held up the pamphlet and the woman gave the man a pinched smile.
"Thanks for your help, anyway, but it looks like my husband swallowed his damn pride and bought a map," she said with a chuckle. "Let's just hope he reads the bloody thing right," she added, poking him in the side with a needling glare.
"Who would've thought it'd be so tough to find?" the teenager said with a shrug, chuckling at the couple. "I'd be careful, the roads' get pretty slippery at night," he said, a charming air about him as he smiled at the couple, flashing white teeth.
They waved to him and climbed into their car. The teenager stood still, as if pondering something, before continuing his walk down the street.
"He's just giving a couple directions, Mel," Jerry said in annoyance, just wanting to hurry this up and get back home before his Mum no doubt grounded him for being out past curfew again. "Let's just go; he's not gonna be so stupid as to kill someone out in the open," he said, trying to reason with her, Tom and Tyler looking on board with him.
Mel signed in resignation, but then she gave a sudden start, jerking the metal chair. "Oh, hang on," she said hurriedly, getting up from her seat. "He's just followed a girl into a back alley," she said, although she was already walking towards the alleyway.
"Let's move," Tom said to Tyler, clapping a hand on his shoulder as they both got up. "Jerry, can you stay here in case he comes back?" he asked him, taking a crossbow from under the table and handing a gun to Tyler.
"Like I'm gonna go anywhere when you guys are the ones with the weapons," he said with reassurance, giving him a slightly wry smile.
Tom patted him on the back and he and Tyler hurried off in the opposite direction to the alleyway, muttering to each other under their breath.
Jerry sighed and looked back the way they came; nine times out of ten they just had cases of couples sneaking around - boy those ones made it hard to explain the weapons - and he suspected this was probably one of them, although he could understand them not wanting to take any chances; Rudy had been getting agitated more than usual lately and as mellow as he was, he still had a temper.
He turned back around to finish his panini and jumped out of his skin as a shaggy haired, brown-eyed boy was sitting in one of the empty chairs across from him.
"Oh, jeez!" he cried out, huffing out a breath as he felt his heart jumping in his chest. The boy just laughed.
"Sorry," he apologised with a smile. "I scare you?" he asked lightly, unable to keep the teasing tone out of his voice.
"No, no, I just think you gave me a heart attack," Jerry shot back with a sarcastic smile, to which the boy raised an eyebrow. "Do me a favor and dial 9-1, and then wait for me to tell you to dial the last 1," he added, having to focus and catch his breath before he ended up passing out.
"Let's hope I won't have to," the boy said lightly, although his tone seemed too sinister for it to be a joke. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked off-handedly.
"Asks the guy who popped outta nowhere and nearly put me in the hospital," Jerry countered, eyeing him with a playful grin.
"I'm actually waiting for someone," he told him, looking around briefly, but only finding the odd car driving past. "But no-one else is here, so I thought I'd just come and talk to you," he said, the corner of his lips twitching. Jerry swallowed as he felt the temperature drop suddenly around him.
"Well, my friends ditched me," he said, clearing his throat and folding his arms to try and warm himself up.
"I can see that," the boy said, looking around at the empty seats, chuckling in disbelief when he saw Tom's large burger. "They're not gonna find anything in that alley, you know," he said in a low voice, Jerry freezing in shock.
"What?"
"I'm not stupid, Jerry, I could hear them all the way from over there," he said, turning around to point to where the couple had been previously, and Jerry realised he had been the teenager - vampire - giving them directions.
Either not sensing Jerry's discomfort, or ignoring it, he continued to smile at him. "Nice trick with the thermo goggles, by the way," he teased.
"How do you know who-"
"I know all of you, Mel, Tyler and Tom, right?" the vampire asked, listing them off on his fingers, and despite the certainty in his voice, Jerry found himself nodding in confirmation. "If you ask me, they're not very good friends if they've left you alone," he murmured softly, "Even worse slayers if they think they're going to be able to kill me." He chuckled darkly to himself.
"There's three of them and one of you," Jerry pointed out, feeling braver than he actually was.
The vampire leaned across the table, Jerry's act disappearing as he shrank back at the sight of his eyes flashing red. "I know..." His grin was eerie and sent a shiver down Jerry's spine.
Thankfully, a waitress had spotted him from inside the barista and had came outside before he could do any damage.
"Welcome to Bert's Barista," she said in a cheerful voice, the vampire turning to her. "Can I get you anything?" she asked kindly, poising her pen over her notebook.
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Black coffee, two sugars and a shot of vodka with it," he decided, flashing her that same charming smile he'd given the couple earlier.
"I'm gonna need to see some I.D, then," she said, holding out a hand for it.
The vampire leaned forwards and locked his eyes with hers. "No you don't," he said emotionlessly, the woman giving a sudden start and putting her hand away, request for I.D forgotten.
"Uh, that'll be uh-"
"Free," the vampire cut her off in that same, emotionless voice and a dazed smile suddenly spread across the waitress' face.
"On the house," she finished, in a mechanical sounding voice that wasn't her own.
"Thanks," he said gratefully, watching her go inside before turning back towards Jerry, who was staring at him in disbelief. He had just hypnotised that woman without so much as lifting a finger - he had to be one of the older vampires.
"What?" he demanded lightly, throwing his hands up. "You're telling me you wouldn't do that if you could?" he added with a smirk, recieving no answer from Jerry.
It wasn't that he had nothing to say, or that he didn't want to. He couldn't. A vampire was sitting right across from him - so close he could feel his knee brushing against his own - and he could be dead at any minute if he said or did the wrong thing.
"I'm not gonna kill you, okay?" he said reassuringly, although Jerry didn't feel it. "So quit your shivering," he added with a harsh smirk.
"Not everyday I have coffee with a vampire," Jerry said plainly, raising his eyebrows at him.
The vampire chuckled in response and picked up one of Tom's fries from his plate, popping it into his mouth. That piqued Jerry's interest, even though he had completely abandoned the thought of eating himself.
"How can you even eat if you're...?" he trailed off, unable to say it. He made an exaggerated movement with his hands.
"Dead?" the vampire finished for him, eating another fry, and Jerry nodded. "Or on my way to kill your friends?" he said dangerously, eyes glowering.
Jerry swallowed uncomfortably, moving in his seat - which was a bad idea as the boy felt his knee moving against his own - and the boy smiled eeriely, pulling apart Tom's burger and taking out a pickle slice.
"Now, I know you're not a slayer," he said, briefly pointing the pickle slice at him before putting it into his mouth. "Otherwise you'd have a stake under the table or some kind of a weapon other than this place's food," he chuckled and Jerry felt cold streak down his backbone - how did he even know he didn't have anything?
"So what're you doing with them?" he went on, leaning back in his chair with interest. "You have a death-wish or something?" he wondered, and for a brief second, Jerry wondered if he did too.
"It was either this or math homework," Jerry responded flatly, the vampire just raising his eyebrows with a faint smile. "What are you doing here?" he retorted, narrowing his eyes.
"Just passing through," he said simply, his smile broadening. "Even vampires have lives, y'know," he added, chuckling playfully.
"Jerry, it's alright, it was just a-"
Mel's voice was cut short as she realised Jerry had company. The three of them ran over, brandishing their crossbows protectively. The vampire didn't even bat an eyelid and continued eating Tom's fries.
"What are you doing here?" Tom asked, venom in his voice as he glared at the vampire.
"Waiting for my coffee," he replied with a nonchalant shrug, turning around to face Tom in his chair.
"Get away from him," Mel ordered, holding her crossbow up higher, aiming the bolt towards the vampire's face.
The vampire stiffened suddenly and pulled a face. "Tyler, that crossbow does hurt," he said, turning around and pushing the boy's weapon slowly away from him with an index finger.
"The only one who's gonna get hurt is you, you arrogant piece of sh-"
Before the epithet could even leave Tyler's mouth, the vampire had gotten up and wrapped a hand around his throat, the creature squeezing so tight that a vein was gruesomely sticking out of Tyler's forehead. Mel and Tom tightened their grips on their crossbows in defense as Tyler's slipped limply from his fingers.
"Tyler!"
The bolt discharged and the whistling stake was caught in the vampire's spare hand with him not even sparing them a glance; a virtuoso display of reflex. He tightened his grip on Tyler's throat and growled low in his throat, his neck cracking as he turned to stare at Mel.
"You probably shouldn't have done that."
Without blinking, he threw the stake back in Mel's direction. She yelled out and ducked for cover, the weapon thankfully missing her and stopping its deadly course as it embedded itself in a metal lampost behind her. Jerry shot off out of his seat and ran over to her.
The vampire turned his attention back to Tyler and dropped him on the ground, kicking him unconcious as he had begun to cough for breath. Mel scrambled up and rushed towards him.
Jerry winced at the sound of the vampire's slap that sent Mel crumpling to the ground, while Tom ran over to help her up, supporting her as she stumbled briefly from dizziness. Jerry made to move as well.
"Jerry, stay over there!" Mel cried sharply, Jerry freezing in his tracks. He didn't need telling twice.
The vampire scoffed. "Aww, protecting your friend?" he cooed mockingly, "You can try and stop me, but you won't get far," he said tauntingly, his face lacking any emotion.
"Typical vampire arrogance," Tom sneered at him.
"It's not arrogance if you know it's true, Tom," the vampire shot back, a smile making a short appearance on his face. "But take a shot," he said with a shrug, invitingly gesturing towards himself.
Then his lips twisted into a wicked smirk, eyes swirling with red. "If you can."
No sooner than his challenge had disappated into the air, Tom leapt forward to attack the vampire; he dodged the attack with ease, grabbing one of Tom's punches and shoving him in the direction of a parked car before he could react. Tom stared at him in fury and the vampire gave an arrogant smirk.
From behind him, Mel lunged, ready to bury a knife into his back, having dropped her crossbow. He spun around and grabbed her wrist, smacking the knife out of her grip and kicking her into Tom in one fluid movement. He stepped forwards and Tom and Mel glared daggers, raising their fists in defense.
Mel swung forward with a punch, the vampire simply raising his arm and blocking her. She kicked at his stomach in frustration; the vampire grabbed hold of her leg and pulled her towards him, slyly pulling the gun out of her ankle holster. He pushed her back in Tom's direction, Mel breathing out indignantly.
"You know..." the vampire trailed off, whilst emptying the gun of ammunition, "And I'm just spitballin' here," there was a click! as he broke off the clip, "but, uh, maybe" - he dropped the empty gun carelessly on the ground - "you're not as good as you think you are?" he suggested lightly, shooting Tom a coy look.
Racing forwards, Tom attacked with a back kick. The vampire caught it under his arm, sucessfully preventing Tom from moving. He then swept Tom's leg out from under him with a bone-crushing punch and flipped him onto the pavement, blood trickling from underneath him as he groaned in pain. The vampire grinned and fixed the collar of his shirt.
"What the hell did you think was gonna happen, huh?" he asked incredulously, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You just point your crossbows at me-"
He leaned down in towards Tom with a mocking smile, his eyes hard and cold.
"And I'd just roll over like a little lapdog?!" he yelled above him, Tom wincing sharply from the creature's distorted, booming voice.
"Pathetic," he sneered, scoffing in disbelief. "Maybe if I was a lot younger, I would have," he pointed out, briefly turning around to smile triumphantly at Mel.
As he turned his attention back to Tom, the slayer had gotten to his feet, slashing the knife Mel had dropped deep into his face.
The vampire recovered quickly and grabbed Tom's throat tightly. His eyes widened as the cut healed instantly, the only trace left being a thin, red line.
"I'm gonna put this in the best way I can," the vampire began with a deranged sounding chuckle, "You're screwed."
Red eyes flashed and sharp fangs glinted before they were buried into Tom's neck, the other boy yelling out in pain and struggling to get away. His struggling only succeeded in his flesh getting torn deeper by the vampire's fangs.
The vampire then drove his knee hard into Tom's stomach, pulling away from his neck and punching him hard across the face. Tom collapsed on the pavement, wheezing and struggling to breathe.
It seemed almost like a twisted act of mercy when the vampire hoisted him to his feet by the scruff of his shirt and struck him across the face a final time, knocking him out and dropping the unconcious slayer back onto the ground.
Mel reacted suddenly; snatching up her crossbow from the ground and hitting the butt hard against the vampire's jaw. As she went in for another hit, the vampire grabbed her wrists tightly in an arm lock, twisting them until Mel yelped in pain and let the crossbow fall from her fingers.
Now weaponless, Mel wrenched her hands from the creature's grip and punched him hard across the face, gritting her teeth at the pain in her hand as her knuckles began to swell.
The vampire stumbled back, wiping under his nose. He cracked his neck and looked on at Mel, goading her to fight him.
Mel was unresponsive and the vampire threw the first punch, Mel thankfully coming back to her senses in time to block it and deliever another counter punch to the vampire's face. He was unaffected and smacked another of her punches away, ducking from another that immediately followed. He punched her in the stomach and reared up to his full height, shoving Mel to the ground.
He raised his foot, attempting to bring it down on her chest and crush her ribs, but Mel managed to block it in time. She punched him in the stomach, standing up and managing to ram him back a few paces, with the full force of her body behind her. She swung in for another hit...
But the vampire was having none of it this time; he grabbed her in a brusingly tight arm lock and tossed her through the air. Mel came crashing into one of the barista tables, flipping it over with her weight and landing painfully on her side.
He kicked the table away from her, just as easy as if it were a football, and Mel quickly scrambled up and caught her breath; the vampire eyed her crossbow on the floor, as did she...
Ignoring it, she shot off towards him. The vampire caught on and effortlessly bypassed her, his hands sending her sailing through the air and crashing straight through the windshield of a parked car with a mere flick of his wrists; the glass splintering like large crystals underneath her as she disappeared into the front.
"Mel!"
Jerry started forwards again to help her, but a full-fanged snarl from the vampire and a glimpse of those red eyes was enough to send him scrambling back behind the chair. He could only watch as a dazed and cut Mel crawled out of the hole left by the shattered windshield.
The vampire walked towards her and Mel gritted her teeth, leaping off the car bonnet and colliding into the vampire's hard body. On their way to the ground, he twisted them around, remaining on his feet while Mel landed painfully on the concrete. She coughed up blood and the vampire pushed her over onto her side with his foot, brandishing her crossbow at her.
She breathed out, raising her hands in defeat. Jerry winced as the barrel was brought down hard on her head and a large wound had been slashed open, blood pouring down the side of her head.
Jerry turned at the sound of the barista's door opening, as did the vampire - the waitress' scream of terror was barely out of her mouth before he forwards in a blur of motion and broke her neck with a sickening crunch, catching the coffee mug in his hand without spilling a single drop as her body fell to the ground.
Nonchalantly, he brought the rim to his mouth and took a long drink. "Mmm, that's good coffee," he said with a contented sigh as he wiped his mouth, voice deep with appreciation.
The glass smashed on the floor as his demeanour changed and Jerry felt his body freeze in fear as a pair of arms wrapped tightly around his neck, choking the life out of him.
"You said you weren't gonna kill me!" he cried out pathetically, fighting aimlessly against the vampire's hold; punching, kicking and scratching. The vampire didn't even have the paitence to pretend to be annoyed.
"I'm not," he said in a soft voice, as if that was supposed to reassure him. "I just need someone scared enough to run back to your friends' boss and tell him..." he trailed off and Jerry grimaced as he yanked him closer, his mouth practically on his ear.
"Tell him that Jack Brewer says 'hi'," he whispered as a farewell.
Jerry's coughs filled the air before he even registered his knees landing on the hard pavement, making them throb in pain. He looked around, rubbing his throat and trying to force some air back into his lungs.
They were screwed alright; that vampire would be back, he was sure of it.
Well, that's the first chapter - gotta say I liked writing the fight scenes. (Mel's a fiesty one, ain't she? hehe) :) For anyone wondering, Kim and Milton are in this (sorry, Eddie isn't) but they know nothing about the supernatural or that Jerry helps out the slayers. And I bet y'all knew the vampire was Jack right off, didn't ya? xD
See ya next time with the next update, whenever that may be, and please review. :)