Jaded Ways

Chapter 3

A/N: I decided to continue from them entering Cat's house. I'm not sure where exactly I'm going with the overall story, so I'm probably going to do chapters like this to explain more of the characters backgrounds and reveal more stuff until I come up with an actual plot. Plus I want to progress Cat and Jades relationship.

After going to the Music store, Jade drove cat home. When Jade found out Cats parents were gone yet again, she decided to stay the night to cheer up a lonely Cat. "I can't remember the last time Cat's parents were actually here when I came over. Man, it makes me so angry just thinking about the fact that they always leave her here alone to care for herself. The last time I saw them I nearly ripped them in half due to the fact they left Cat home alone for nearly three months straight. She was so upset when they came home and said they were only going to be home for three days. Then they left and didn't come back for another two months. They're practically never here, and when they are it's only for a short amount of time. I don't understand what they could be doing that's so important that they'd leave they're only daughter alone all the time. Anytime I asked Cat about it she got all sad, and told me she didn't understand either. She doesn't even know what it is they do. They only tell her its 'important work' or something. I know why my parents are hardly ever here, and I'm fine with it. I can't stand having them around. But Cat…She really loves having her parents around. I just wish there was something I could do to make it better for her." Jade thought to herself, not realizing Cat was standing there staring at her, waiting for Jade to reply to her question.

"Jade has that look again…That one she always gets when she's thinking about my parents and how there never here. She thinks I don't realize that she always thinks about it when she's here, but I do. I wish she wouldn't worry so much. I'm used to being alone…" Cat thought to herself with a sad expression on her face.

"Jade?" Cat says yet again. Jade snaps out of her daze and looks over to Cat, who has a worried expression on her face. "You don't have to worry so much about me Jade. I'm used to no one being around…I've gotten used to the quiet…" Cat says to Jade with a sad look on her face. Jade hating seeing Cat look this way rushes over to her instantly. "Cat…" Jade is now right in front of Cat, and she places her hands on both Cats sides holding each arm firmly. Jade looks Cat directly in the eyes as she speaks to her. "Cat I will always be here for you. You don't have to be alone." Jade says to Cat with a reassuring smile set upon her face. "Thanks Jade." Cat says with a genuine smile.

"Now then, what would you like to eat tonight?" Jade kindly asks Cat. "Pizza!" Cat excitedly yells. "Alright I'll order the pizza. You go choose the movies you want to watch and set it up." Jade says, letting go of Cat's arms and pulling her phone from her pocket. "KK!" Cat squeals excitedly before running off to get her movies. Jade calls the pizza place as Cat rifles through her DVD's intently. "Hey it's Jade. Yeah I'll have the usual. Yeah Cat's house. Alright. Bye." Jade hangs up the phone before walking over to Cat. "The pizza will be here in forty-five minutes, Cat." Jade says to Cat before plopping herself down on Cats sofa. "Okay." Cat responds before picking out three movies and placing them to the side. Jade just watches Cat as she stands up and hands her the three DVD's she picked. "These are all romance movies." Jade simply states before looking up at Cat. "I know. Those are my favorites. I was hoping you'd watch them with me." Cat says sweetly and innocently as she holds her hands behind her back and bats her eye lashes while sticking out her bottom lip. 'Damn, I can never say no to her when she does that.' Jade thinks to herself. "Fine. But you'll owe me." Jade says begrudgingly. "Yay!" Cat excitedly shouts before setting the first movie up and sitting on the couch next to Jade.

As the movie plays out Cat quietly moves closer to Jade inch by inch in hopes Jade won't notice, but of course she does. Jade looks at Cat in the corner of her eye and smirks to herself. "You know, if you wanted to sit close to me you could have just done so." Jade says to Cat as she grabs Cat by the waist and pulls her next to her without letting go. Cat can't help but go "eep!" out of shock placing her hand to her mouth and severely blushing. "Better?" Jade asks with a huge grin on her face. "Yes." Cat quietly mumbles while looking away from both Jade and the movie.

When Cat looks at the screen again, the man and the woman of this movie are just kissing. Jade pulls Cat even closer, strengthening her hold on her, causing Cats eyes to widen and making her face blush even harder. What happens next really throws Cat off. During the heated kiss in the movie Jade decides to do something bold and kisses Cat on the temple. At this Cat completely freezes, her eyes nearly leaping out of their sockets, and her face almost matching her hair.

After about fifteen to twenty minutes of sitting frozen in shock, Cat finally starts moving again. She looks at the clock, and sees how long she had spaced out, shocking her. Once Cats brain starts functioning properly again she realizes something she had forgotten about. "Jade?" Cat quietly asks. "Yeah Cat?" Jade looks down to see Cats questioning expression. "Are you going to leave in the middle of the night for Seymour?" Jade looked at her puzzled for a second then smiles down at Cat. "Nah. I started leaving his cage door and the window in my room open. He'll leave to hunt for his food when he wakes up. Don't worry I'm not leaving you. I'll be here all night long." Jade says reassuringly. At this Cat smiles brightly. She always hated that Jade had to leave for a short time to take care of Seymour. "Okay, good. But aren't you scared he'll leave and not come back?" Cat asks with fear at the thought. "Not really. I mean I used to let him out at night anyway. The only difference is that he can leave freely whenever now. But I don't have to worry, cause he always comes back. The only reason I couldn't let him go freely before was because of his age. He was too young, but now he's fully grown and can take care of himself." Jade says while squeezing Cat gently. Cat looks at Jade fondly.

A moment later the door bell rings causing Jade to let go of Cat and stand up walking to the door. "Hey Stan." Jade says to the pizza delivery person. "Hey Jade. Got your usual right here." Stan says while handing Jade her pizzas. Jade takes the pizzas and hands Stan a check. During their exchange something swiftly fly's past the two landing on the arm rest of the couch right next to Cat. "Whoa! What was that?" Stan shouts surprised. "Seymour!" Cat shrieks excitedly. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." Jade says then closes the door before Stan can say another word. Jade carries the boxes into the kitchen setting them down and getting plates and cups out. Happy to see Seymour, Jades pet Bat, Cat gently strokes his belly and giggles at his happy reaction. "Told you not to worry." Jade says to Cat from the kitchen. "Aww! He's so cute! I just love petting his belly!" Cat says happily. "You know he's a bat, right?" Jade asks mockingly. "Of course!" Cat defends, before going back to playing with Seymour.

"I think you're the only person who treats him that way. When other people find out I have a pet bat they get all freaked out." Jade smirks at the thought of freaking people out. "I don't know why anyone would do that. Seymour is so cute!" Cat says petting Seymour. Jade walks over placing two plates and two glasses on the coffee table in front of Cat. "Thanks Jade!" Cat says happily. Cat picks up her plate and takes a slice of pizza off of it. Cat takes a small piece of it and gives it to Seymour to eat, who happily accepts, and then takes a bite herself. "Mmm. This is so good!" Cat says with her mouth full. Jade just laughs at her and smiles. "Don't talk with your mouth full." Jade teases Cat. "Okay MOM." Cat says sarcastically while rolling her eyes at Jade. Cat takes a sip of her cherry soda then goes back to eating her pizza while they watch the movie.

Cat looks over to Jades glass noticing it's a wine glass with water in it, which can only mean one thing. Jade pulls a small container out of her pocket, and opens it. She takes out a small red tablet and drops it into the water. The tablet dissolves and the water begins changing color. Within seconds the water goes from being clear to being a light shade of red. Jade picks up the glass and takes a sip. All the while Cat is staring intently. "Isn't that stuff gross?" Cat asks while watching Jade place the glass on the table. "It's not the greatest tasting thing in the world, but you get used to it." Jade simply states. "Well why are you drinking it with pizza? Don't you usually drink it separately?" Cat continues to question Jade. "I was hoping the pizza would help counter the flavor." Jade states while looking at the drink. "Well does it?" Cat asks. "Not really. If anything it makes it worse. But it's alright. After all I need this stuff to survive." Jade says before picking the glass back up and continuing to drink it, this time until it's gone.

Cat remembers the time Jade told her about this tablet. She begins thinking about it getting lost in her memories.

*Flashback*

Four years ago. Jade is thirteen and Cat is twelve. They are both in Jades bedroom. Jade is showing Cat the tablets she created, displayed on a desk in her room.

"I know how you don't like me drinking human or animal blood, so I've been working on a solution for that. These are blood tablets." Jade says to Cat as she uses her hands to gesture at the tablets on her desk. "They're such a pretty color!" Cat happily says. "Wait I don't get it. How do they work?" Cat asks. Jade sighs, then continues. "You simply drop them in a glass of water and they dissolve within thirty seconds. They have all the nutrients of blood and they also help dull the cravings for blood if you drink it on a regular basis. With this I won't have to worry about drinking blood anymore." Jade explains to a puzzled Cat. "Really? That's so great!" Cat happily cheers. Jade just shakes her head at Cats attitude.

*End Flashback*

Jade is simply sitting on the couch staring at Cat who's lost in thought and doesn't even realize the movie ended already. Cat suddenly breaks out of her fog and realizes the movie is no longer playing. "What happened to the movie?" Cat asks innocently. "It's over. It ended ten minutes ago. You were so lost in thought you didn't even notice." Jade explains to a puzzled Cat. "Aww! I missed the finale! There was a really great scene at the end. I can't believe I missed it!" Cat whines. "Want me to play it back for you?" Jade asks a sad Cat. "No that's okay. I'll watch it some other time." Cat disappointedly says. "Mmmhmm." Is all Jade says before playing it back for Cat, who is happy to see the scene.

After rewatching the scene, Cat happily exclaims "I love that scene!" Jade just laughs at her. "So why were you spacing out anyways?" Jade says, completely serious now. "Oh, umm…I was remembering when you told me about the blood tablets." Cat says a bit shyly for some reason. "Jade?" Cat asks all innocently. "Yeah Cat?" Jade responds gently. "What did you do with Tori's blood after you took it when she was in the hospital for Robbie's surgery?" Cat asks and Jade just stares at her with utter shock on her face. "Cat how do you know about that?" Jade asks with surprise in her voice. "Well, when Tori told me it went missing I figured you took it. After all you did really want that part." Cat simply states as if it were common knowledge. "Oh. Well, I sold it." Jade simply states. "You sold it?" Cat asks in utter disbelief. "Yeah. There's a market for blood. Some vampires who don't like killing for blood and can't rob blood banks simply buy it. And besides the Vega's have a special blood-type which can make quite a bit of cash." Jade explains to a surprised Cat. "I kinda thought you would have drunk it." Cat said honestly.

"EWW! Gross! No!" Jade spat out in disgust. Cat just looked at her curiously. "I would never drink such filthy blood! The reason the Vega blood is 'special' is because it's tainted." Jade claims. Cat looks at her bewildered. "Tainted? What do you mean?" Cat asks with a puzzled look on her face. "It's a long story, Cat." Jade says exasperatedly. "We have time." Cat defends, intended on finding out what Jade is talking about. Jade did just call Tori's blood tainted after all. It's only natural Cat would want to know what she's talking about. "Alright, fine Cat. I'll tell you. But you can't repeat any of this, alright?" Jade surrenders, then says seriously. Cat simply nods her head for Jade to continue.

"Well, it all goes back to the Vega's ancestors. They were part of a very special cult." Cat gasps at this statement. "A cult?" She questions. "Yes a cult." Jade says with an annoyed tone. "Now please don't interrupt again." Jade stated and Cat nodded. 'Wow, Jade actually said please. Usually she'd threaten to gauge out someone's eyes for interrupting her, or actually do it if she were mad enough.' Cat thought to herself before Jade continued.

"This cult they were part of did some very odd things. Every night they had a ritual in the basement of their headquarters. During this ritual, all members would gather around in a circle wearing blood red robes. They would do this long chant and then they would all take a glass of blood. This wasn't any ordinary blood however. It was blood of a werewolf or a vampire. They would each drink an entire glass of this blood. The blood would do amazing things to them. It made them faster, stronger, and enhanced all of their senses for a short period of time. Afterwards they would use their newfound power to go out hunting vampires and werewolves. Of course they had to use more than just the blood to do this. They had all sorts of tools and methods for both killing and capturing both species. They would kill the weaker ones and capture the stronger ones. Those who were captured were harvested of their blood until they were no longer useful. Her ancestors joined at a young age and stayed their entire life, which was longer than most due to constantly drinking the blood. They would then enlist their children at a young age. This continued for many generations. All Vega's joined for a very long time. The cycle kept going until it was finally broken by a certain Vega. Tori's Great Great Grandparents. They broke the cult's law and were banished. But due to generation after generation drinking blood every day for most of their lives' it ended up changing the family blood, becoming a permanent part of them." Jade stopped.

"What does that mean?" Cat asks, not quite understanding. "It means that the Vega's all have the blood of both vampires and werewolves lying dormant in their systems. If they were turned their tainted blood mixed with the blood of the one who turned them would make them quite powerful. That's what it means." Jade begrudgingly states. "So why were they banished?" Cat asks. Jade lets out an exasperated sigh before continuing. "They released a captured vampire. He was a small boy. They didn't like that even if he was a vampire he was still captured and harvested being a child. So they let him go and were banished for it." Jade says sighing yet again. "Who was he?" Cat asks. Jade lets out another sigh, getting tired of explaining all of this. "He was a pureblood vampire. Someone born a vampire. A true vampire. Not one of those lesser beings like the cold ones who are branched off from the originals. The purebloods. And he was my Great Grandfather." Jade says the last part quietly avoiding Cat's gaze. "You're Great Grandfather?" Cat asks bewildered by this. "Yeah. And for a West to drink the blood of a Vega would break the pact my Great Grandfather made with them. Which would be a bad thing. Plus their blood would taste disgusting to a pureblood such as myself." Jade explains.

"So is that the real reason you haven't killed them?" Cat asks with a sad expression. "No. I don't care about that stupid pact. I haven't killed them because you would be hurt by that." Jade admitted. Cat was happy to hear this. "Anyways, that's enough of that for one night. Let's finish watching these movies and go to bed." Jade said. "KK!" Cat happily accepted. Throughout the entire time they watched the movies, they were glued to each other's sides. Jade paid more attention to Cat then the movies though. She loved watching cat's expressions change throughout the movies. Whenever Cat would cry during sad moments, Jade would wipe away her tears and hold her close, gently rubbing the small of her back. She would whisper comforting words into Cats ear to cheer her up.

Cat had many snacks during the movie, including popcorn, and a wide variety of candies. Jade didn't understand were all that food went. Cat was so small after all. Being born a vampire, Jade never had to worry about things such as fat, so she had a built in excuse, but Cat wasn't a vampire, so Jade just couldn't understand it.

Seymour left through the chimney and went hunting before going back to Jade's house to sleep. Cat fell asleep at some point before the last movie ended. She decided instead of waking her, she would just carry her to her room. Without Cat waking up Jade somehow managed to change her into her PJ's. Which were just very short shorts and a shirt. Jade had her own droor here since she stayed over quite often. She changed into some baggy shorts and a loose fit shirt. She gently placed Cat in the bed and swiftly got under the covers with her without waking Cat up. Cat was on the left side of the bed and Jade on the right. They were turned towards each other both towards the middle of the bed. Jade kissed Cat on the forehead before saying goodnight to her. "Goodnight Cat." Jade smiles while staring at a peaceful sleeping Cat. 'She looks so cute when she's asleep.' Jade thought to herself. "I love you Jade…" Cat mumbles in her sleep, causing Jade to have a surprised look on her face before smiling. "I love you too Cat." She quietly says to her as she puts her arm over Cat's waist and falls asleep.

A/N: So I've revealed a bit of information in this chapter. Soon you will find out more about each character, including whom all is and will be vampires, and what they can each do. Each of their personalities' may be a bit different as they have both the personality of a human and a vampire. Though I'll try and keep them close together if possible.