Both West siblings had their respective weapons always at hand. Jade had a sharpened pair of stainless steel scissors and Nathan had a switchblade their father used to carry everywhere. When they traveled they kept quiet, rarely talking unless they needed to. Sometimes people roamed the streets as well as a few vampires still human enough to cover up with clothes and wear sunglasses to avoid direct sunlight from damaging their sensitive eyes and skin, but those were few and far between. Jade pulled out the weathered map and led the way. By the time night fell they were a town's distance away from their destination. They found another motel, which was still running as a sort of shelter/camp, and locked themselves in a room.

"Why don't we just kick it with people here?" Nathan asked after they were all settled and sharing the last of a box of crackers.

"Because it's only temporary. This isn't a way to live, hiding until they catch up with us. We need to join the biggest group of survivors out there. It'll be safer than being on our own," she answered calmly. He sighed and fell back on the bed. She could tell he was just tired of running. But if they wanted to stop running they needed a safe location to settle down. Jade stood from her seat on the floor and fell onto the bed next to him.

"Let's just relax and get some sleep. I'll take first watch," he insisted. She knew he wouldn't take no for an answer this time so she curled up on her side and prepared to sleep. Nathan woke her up right on time, which surprised her. He always tried to get more out of his guard duty, but this time, he must have been too tired. She stretched out and then stood to pace while he fell asleep. She stopped at one point to look back at him. He seemed so innocent and fragile, his fair features highlighted by the light of the moon. She stared at him, trying to imprint his young face in her mind's eye. He was all she had left. A crash in the next room brought her back to reality. She crept to the door and looked out the peep hole but no one was there. Her hammering heart slowed a little. She turned away to head back to the bed when the door burst open, the lock forced from the wall. She flinched and covered her head as wood flew past her.

"Shit!" she cursed, pushing herself forward to get to her brother, but steel hands snagged her before she could move. She was thrown back into the wall. A fist struck her face and then slammed into her stomach. The strength was tempered to cause pain and dizziness but she felt it could easily kill her should it be any stronger than it had been. She almost slid to the floor but was forced back to her feet.

"Get up," a gruff voice demanded. It was cold and made her shiver.

"Jade? Jade!" Nathan shouted when he woke up. He was pulled to his feet by another. They were dragged outside where they were thrown to the ground in the abandoned parking lot. Jade pulled her scissors from her boot and plunged them into the nearest attacker. He screamed and she shoved him away to get to her brother. She made it to him just in time to block him from a kick to his head which was now directed at her knee. It crippled her enough that she fell to the ground.

"Nate, run," she panted.

"I'm not leaving you," he denied with a shake of his head. She looked at him to see he had a bloody nose. They hit him. Her anger boiled and she swung wildly at the figures approaching them. They snickered at her and swiftly parted the siblings once more. Jade fought and struggled, her scissors finding flesh every so often, until her attacker grew impatient and struck her again. The blow made her head spin.

"Stop fighting or I'll rip your throat out," he snarled, revealing what they were really dealing with. Her blood froze in her veins and she looked up over her shoulder into the cruel black and white eyes of a vampire. He bared his fangs and snarled down at her. She glared back defiantly and then yanked free to stab him in the chest. He roared in rage but she was free. She darted over to Nathan where a second vampire was taunting him. He was more feral than the one that was holding her hostage.

"Get away from him, you bastard!" she screamed, kicking him in the head. He growled in pain while she pulled her brother to his feet. They began to run but Jade's captor was back on his feet, weapon yanked from his flesh. His sharp nails tore deeply into her back, curving around her side. The pain lanced through her and she faltered. Nathan caught her from falling but he was torn from her. She heard him shouting to her but she couldn't respond. A hand gripped at her chin to force her head up while the other tore at her shoulder. Teeth sliced into her throat, clamped on, and tore. She screamed until the blood made her gag, then she was released to fall on the ground, choking on it. On her hands and knees, she watched her brother flinch away from the salivating feral vampire stalking him. When it got too close he lashed out with the knife. The creature cackled and dodged the attack then grabbed him by the wrist. A sharp snap cut through the air and he cried out. The vampire forced his arm behind him at an angle that made him scream in agony.

"S-stop…stop it!" Jade shouted desperately, but it came out raspy with blood dripping from her lips. Her mouth was immediately flooded with more, drowning her words. Her hand came up to cover the wound but it was no use. She was growing weaker by the second. The vampire lunged at Nathan and tore into his neck, but unlike her attacker, he didn't stop there. Nathan screamed and tried to fight but his struggle ended quickly. The spilled blood drew others who gathered to fight over the rest. Jade let the tears blur her vision so that she couldn't see anymore. She hung her head and her body gave out. She had nothing else to live for. The vampire who stood over her kept others off her with occasional snarls before crouching down.

"He went quickly enough," he stated, gripping her by the hair to yank her head back. He leaned in to lick at the gaping bite wound and then prepared to finish her off when he froze. He glanced over his shoulder, glowering at something. The faint sounds of voices and the crack of guns was drowned out by a deep growl.

"I can't even enjoy my prey peacefully," he grumbled. He reached for something on the ground and then lifted it into the bright moonlight.

"I'll just return this to you," he sneered with a wicked smile. He plunged the blade of her glinting and bloodstained scissors into her stomach and then threw her to the ground. The torn flesh of her neck dripped onto the ground under her, covered and out of eyesight. Her shaking hands gripped at the scissors in her stomach, fingers barely managing to curl around them. Footsteps pounded across the ground to stop by her.

"Looks like we were too late. This one's already stabbed too deep," the voice stated to others Jade wasn't quite aware of. She was barely aware of anything now. Her vision was getting worse, her breathing uneven.

"Yeah, and the other one is nothin' but a smear on the ground. They must have gotten too excited," another voice came to her, muffled but clear enough to understand. A lone tear fell from her closing eyes. Nathan was dead. She failed him. At least she would be dead too. Life without him was no life at all. At that point she let death have her, giving into the darkness that swallowed her whole.

,~,~,~,~

Jade swam back into consciousness slowly and then all at once, like falling asleep in reverse. She scrambled to her feet, movements light, swift, and precise despite her slight confusion. A quick glance around her surroundings revealed the carnage she had been a part of not too long ago. A glint of metal on the ground drew her eyes to her scissors, covered in blood along the blades. Her hands flew to her stomach where a ragged hole was torn into her bloody shirt but left her flesh untouched. She held some hope that everything had been a terrible dream. But then where was her brother?

"Nate," she breathed out, suddenly desperate to find him. She searched the area but eventually came back outside to the spot several feet away from where she had woken up. His backpack was scavenged and torn open, just as he had been. It was all real then. All of it really happened. She raised a hand to touch her unmarred throat. It only took one bite. Then that meant…she felt sick. She turned away and keeled over to become violently ill. She wasn't sure if it was the sight of her only brother torn to shreds or her body suddenly unhappy with the food she had eaten not too long ago because she had already felt mildly ill before finding him in that state. When she was sure everything was expelled, she got to her feet and looked for his knife. She found it still clutched in his detached hand. She pried it loose from stiff joints, fighting back the sudden oncoming nausea, and then walked over to retrieve her own weapon. She found her backpack and threw both weapons in before slinging it over her back with the one strap that was still intact.

"I hope you can at least rest in peace brother. I'm sorry I failed you, but I'll get back at them. I'll kill them, for you. Even if it means giving into this, this sickness inside of me," she growled, raising her hands to inspect the sharp nails growing into points. She ran her tongue over the newly acquired fangs and then raised her nose to the wind. The smell of her brother's blood still clung to the killers and she was eager to hunt down every last one of them. They would regret that a drop of his blood ever touched their lips. She snarled and let the primal instincts guide her. She moved on swift feet, her pointed ears easily catching the slightest sound. She was aware of the sun rising but ignored it when she finally found the abandoned building the gang of vampires had hidden in.

"An office building. Really?" she commented as she walked up to the front entrance. She stepped through the broken glass door and followed the trail of dried blood across the marble tiles. It led her into a hall where elevators lined the walls. The trail dropped down a no longer running elevator shaft. She glanced down, able to see through the darkness. A crushed elevator cabin sat at the bottom. She jumped down without a care and caught herself effortlessly below. She shrugged off her backpack and stashed it in the corner before moving forward. She was pretty sure she was in the basement now. Or was it considered the mail room? She kicked aside a bucket of mail and continued on. She got halfway through the room when she heard movement.

"Get your ass out here before you piss me off more than I already am," she warned. A twitchy vampire shuffled through the mess of papers on all fours. His head tilted left to right, animal tendencies more prominent than human ones. It was the bastard that first harmed her brother. She felt a growl build in her chest and let it rumble past bared teeth, challenging her opponent. He hissed in return and jumped at her but she dodged the attack. His hands swiped at her yet she side-stepped each attempt with ease. She waited for an opportunity to strike, secured one of his hands, and then jerked it behind his back to break it at an odd angle in her strong grip. He howled in pain but she quickly pounced on him, and without thinking, ripped out his throat with her teeth, almost severing his head from his body.

Dark blood coated her hands and dripped off her chin. The taste called to her, tempting her into more violence. She listened to it, a slave to the bloodlust. She made her way in deeper to dispatch two more who tried to drop on her from above. She shoved one back, turned to gouge out the eyes of the other, and then switched back to the first to knock him over. While he was down she ripped out a section of his spine and then return to the second to impale him with her hand. Her pointed nails sliced into his chest and then tore out his heart. The body fell over and she tossed the extracted organ. She moved to continue when her thoughts scattered. She grunted and shook her head in an attempt to clear it but a deep seated thirst took hold of her, blocking out anything else.

"Human blood," she whispered reverently. She was already steeped too much in the thrill of the hunt. It was too late to try and ignore the newly spilled human blood she smelled nearby. She pushed on through the scattered papers and turned a corner into the last room that was illuminated by a lone flickering bulb swinging from the ceiling. There was the vampire who had bitten her. He had a woman half dead in his arms, gorging from the flow of blood from her torn neck. The light flickered again and he looked up, dropping the woman.

"You survived the virus. Now what? You're here for revenge? Try me you worthless bitch. I can guarantee you haven't properly eaten since you were turned. I smell no human blood on you," he snarled. Jade only stepped forward, eyes intent, her face showing nothing but fury. The vampire advanced on her, slamming her back into the floor. He roared in her face, blood dripping from his fangs. Jade hissed and shoved him off her, tackling him to dig her nails into his chest and stomach. He kicked her off and charged as soon as she was on her feet so that she was thrown against the concrete wall. She hit it hard and stumbled but he shoved her back and gripped her by the neck. He yanked up so that her feet left the ground and she was hanging.

"As much as I want this world to burn in hell with every vampire feasting on these pathetic humans, I want nothing more than to see you gone," he growled. Jade smirked and spat in his face. He roared and jerked his head away, distracted enough for her to break his hold and lunge at his neck. Her nails tore out his throat and her teeth followed to further the damage. She forced him to the ground and proceeded to swallow mouthfuls of his blood. It tasted bland but at least there were no repercussions. She looked up at the woman to see her wheezing on the last of her air. Jade crawled over to her and quickly snapped her neck. She then finished what the other vampire had started, draining her.

When she was done she licked her lips and instinctively sought out more. She wanted it. She needed it. She swiftly backtracked to the elevator shaft, snagged her backpack, and launched herself to the hanging cable that used to hold up the elevator cabin. She began to climb hand over hand without a problem and came out where she had entered. One glance at the ray of sunlight coming in the building made her step back into the shadows. She took a moment to blink away the blinding spots in her vision, and then dug in her backpack to find her shades. She threw on her hoodie and gloves just in case then shouldered her backpack and pulled up her hood. The sun wasn't going to stop her from getting her fill.

-2025-

Humanity was close to gone. The few remaining were still fighting to survive but all Jade could think was that there was either no end in sight or the eventual end of all humans. The longer she wandered the slowly dying earth she'd only ever seen animals scamper by. Way more of them were flourishing than humans now, nature taking back the once sprawling cities. Buildings crumbled to dust and plants choked everything. Though she barely crossed a human's path she came across many vampires. Her own kind. The thought made her angry. Her temper flared along with the hunger for blood, then the next thing she knew a good many vampires and animals fell at her hands. She would wake up from her red haze of rage and bloodlust to find a path of death trailing behind her. Consuming their blood wasn't enough and soon she was incredibly fatigued once more. The animals weren't any better. It kept her running, but just barely. It wasn't cutting it at all and it was slowing her down.

The rare times she did run into a human she ended up pushing away her hunger to protect them. She had to ignore the deadly urge that curled in her gut. She planned to ask them to donate some blood but they always bailed as soon as they could. She doubted they would have said yes. She might have killed them anyway if control escaped her. It was too risky to attempt. Almost like a full circle her temper would return and then it would start all over again as it always did. She was angry at her failure, angry at herself, angry at what she was, and angry that no one gave a flying fuck that she was trying her hardest to be sincere yet she was shunned. She was mostly angry at the unfairness of it all. She was the only damn vampire that she knew of who would protect a human from other vampires at the expense of her own need to feed. She wasn't like them. She wasn't like those monsters that savagely took her brother from her. The ache stung at her stomach again and she fell to the ground, clutching her torso.

"Isn't this enough for you?!" she screamed out, her voice echoing across the barren expanse of the car crowded street. She panted a few seconds, gathering strength, and then let out a rage filled roar before falling over on her clenched hands. Her fists met the uneven ground and cracked it under the force of anger.

"Selfish pricks," she grumbled under her breath, shoulders sagging and hands relaxing. For the first few years she couldn't stop the hunger and gave in. There was no resistance. It was so hard to deny and the taste of fresh human blood was just too addicting to give up. But eventually, she made herself refuse it. At first she would kill and then think of her brother's death until she was punished enough. Then she was stopping herself before she even attacked. After that she only ever hunted down other vampires and animals like the scavengers she had seen, refusing to harm another human. If she was lucky she would chase off a vampire and take his kill so that she could rationalize that she wasn't the one to end the human's life so she might as well take advantage.

She was no better than a scrounging lone wolf without a pack, picking off the packs that were hunting proudly. It was all too easy to break their ranks though. They might travel in packs but Jade came to understand that vampires were the epitome of antisocial. They needed packs to better survive when prey struck back but they constantly fought among each other. It gave Jade a sense of adventure and entertainment to mess with them and split them apart so that she could pit them against each other. Then she could pick them off one by one or steal their kills. It was all she had left in the world. She continued on to New York as planned, but when she got there she just hung around, waiting for something, anything, to happen. She didn't care what, but she was still waiting.

"You don't look so good vamp," a voice suddenly spoke to her left. She hadn't heard him and wondered how out of it she was not to have heard a human stumbling around the rubble and debris. She chuckled and lifted her head to look at him. The lanky young man was leaning against a broken down car not too far from her. He had guts but he wasn't stupid. She saw a firearm at his hip and a sword of some sort strapped on his back. His nimble fingers were tapping a beat against the metal of the car. The hollow sound was one she knew.

"Am I just wasting our time? Feel like I'm feeding you lines. Nothing left to say, losing fire and growing tired; uninspired. But I will never let go. Never let up my hold. 'Cause I know, once you feel it you can't un-feel it, once you dream it you can't un-dream it," Jade flatly recited, her tired voice melancholy yet amused. She really missed music. She couldn't even remember the last time she sung. The human's lips quirked slightly.

"Ah, so I see you do know it," he remarked.

"Nothing like a little test to see if I'm still human enough, huh?" she guessed with a smirk. He looked surprised that she figured him out so fast but her quickly shrugged it off and chuckled.

"I haven't found a vamp like you yet, although I had heard there were some. I didn't believe it until one saved me. He was torn to pieces during the fight but I got away. Ever since then I've searched for others. You're the first since then," he explained, pushing off the car to advance on her. She tensed and forced herself up to keep space between them.

"Don't come any closer. I can't stop myself if…just stay away," she cautioned, her senses already analyzing him. He quietly studied her a moment before continuing forward. Jade snarled and pressed back against the car at her back. He was standing right in front of her now. His dark brown eyes scanned her before he smiled and dug in his worn leather satchel.

"See, you're fine. I may not have found a civilized vamp since the one who saved me but I have come across a couple smart enough to use this as a false pretense, a trap. They act this way to trick humans into getting closer and then attack. You would have done that already, and you haven't, so I can trust you," he concluded, finally finding what he was looking for as he babbled. It was a small cup.

"I can't even trust myself. How can you?" Jade questioned him.

"Oh, I'm a good judge of character," he replied with a wink. She sneered and crossed her arms while he set the cup on the hood of the car. He then flicked out a knife and brought it to his arm. Jade sucked in an unneeded breath and held it when she realized what he was going to do. She opened her mouth to stop him but it was too late. His blood flowed into the cup and she was mesmerized by it. A low, longing, groan slid from her mouth unintentionally. She took a step towards him and then shook her head to clear the haze. He was bandaging his arm now and then picking up the cup to hand to her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him, ignoring the peace offering of sorts.

"I need your help. I'm not stupid. This isn't the first time I've seen you. I've been following you the past week to make sure you're what I was looking for. I've come to the conclusion you are. Now drink so you feel better. We've got a long walk back and I need a bodyguard," he began seriously, only to grow playful toward the end. Jade quirked a brow at him then took the cup.

"It's your funeral," she mumbled before gulping down the blood. It hit her tongue and instantly ignited the hunger. She dropped the cup with a gasp and turned away from him. Her nails became claws as they dragged over the metal under her hands. She hunched over, trying to fight back the instinct to attack.

"You can do it," he encouraged. She spun around and grabbed him by the shirt to shake him. He remained calm and let her work it out herself.

"Don't piss me off or I'll have no problem draining you dry," she warned him, voice guttural. A rolling growl tapered into a frustrated grunt when she dropped him to hold a hand to her stomach which yearned for more. They stood in silence until the persistent hunger quieted so that she could concentrate.

"Ok, let's go," she announced when she felt stable enough. She really had no other choice. He nodded and began to lead the way. Neither had paid attention to the two vampires that had found their way to them from the smell of blood. One sampled the red coated cup while the other looked in the direction the human and vampire had gone. They trailed after them, hidden in the shadows, waiting to strike. Jade groaned and squeezed her eyes shut momentarily before opening them again.

"Walking next to you is like parading a starving person through a buffet and telling them they can't eat or they'll get the death sentence," she whined. He chuckled.

"I'm sure it is. But you know, I have some donors back at Sanctuary that can lend a hand. It's a human colony free of vampires. That is, if you can get me there," he offered.

"More tests? I don't blame you for not trusting me but it was bullshit to say that offer of blood was just you being nice. That was a test too. Look, I won't be the one to kill you, but I'm running on low fumes here. If we get attacked I might not be able to defend you," Jade explained.

"Oh I know. I just hoped you wouldn't see through my ruse," he answered.

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happen," she replied with an eye roll. His lazy smile returned as he strolled along. They carried on for some time when Jade tensed, her nose rising.

"I just can't catch a break," she muttered.

"Vampires?" her annoying human companion spoke up.

"No, werewolves. Yes, vampires!" she snapped at him. He only shrugged and pulled out his sword.

"Fancy," she deadpanned.

"I know, right?" he answered, smirking. Jade looked back out over the stretch of ground they had just crossed, senses alert. Almost instantly she lunged at a figure behind him and he jumped at a figure behind her. Jade threw the hissing vampire to the ground and tore into it while he executed a few swipes that removed the arms before they could strike. With a quick thrust and a swipe he disemboweled the creature. He followed it with a beheading just in case. It fell into a pile at his feet, a neat dissection compared to Jade's method. He glanced at her while cleaning off his sword to take in her feral appearance. Her eyes found his and the deadly glint in her black and white stare gave way to fatigue again. Just like that she dismissed her instincts. It was an interesting thing to see.

"Yeah, this will work out just fine," he said with a nod of approval. For the first time in a very long time, Jade smiled. It was small but it was still there. This could be where she belonged, where she was needed. She finally had a purpose again. She wouldn't fail this time.