Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well. I have another chapter for your enjoyment.
mkpunk: Thanks. My original background writing that I would write personally for friends long before I published was in the Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre, so I enjoy writing it.
You'll be seeing Jade and Freddie quite soon and find out where they are in this continuation.
Anon: That is a fair complaint, but I have plenty of free time to write to catch up and it's not good to ignore the Muse because she will mess with your other writing.
Challenge King: Thank you. I hope you enjoy the story.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Randy was a threat in the long run to them because he likes being a vampire who thinks rules do not apply to him. If he could have gotten away with it, he would have raped Tori and/or Trina if he had the chance then get a drink from them. Who killed him is left to be seen.
At this point with Trina, she doesn't give a flip as she finally realizes that her father really could care less for her regardless or not Tori is his favorite. She doesn't like him and isn't afraid to let him know.
Why would Quincy want to sabotage his own star's album release party? Or is he playing the long game in something else?
Twilight Warrior 627: Who killed him? You'll find out at some point. Quincy deals with Mason as an equal and Mason better not forget it or there will be problems. Where is Jeddie? You'll find out.
I have updated my other story iHunt the Animal, so check it out when you can and see Elizabeth Gillies' movie Animal.
Okay, on with the story.
Rating: T pushing M for Adult Content and Language. I warned you.
Chapter 3
Jade West's Penthouse
Penthouses at Palazzo
Los Angeles, CA
A content smile played on Jade West's face while she looked down on the bare-chested Freddie lying on his back on the large king size bed and she gently rose and fell straddling his pelvis from the couple approaching the end of their lovemaking. Jade had reached her peak—third peak of the very late, going into morning evening—a few minutes ago and was happy in gently rising and falling from his gentle, but quite strong, hands on her hips so he could reach his fulfillment that was quickly approaching. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than for him to reach it and be as fulfilled as he had made her over the last hour (Slayer/Promised One stamina having other advantages than just fighting the forces of darkness), but not at the expense of what they were sharing as it wasn't a race to a finish. She'd give him all the time he needed as he had given her to enjoy.
Freddie was enjoying not just the act of gentle lovemaking to the girl he had fallen in love with five months ago, but the look of contentment on his girlfriend's face that he knew was brought on by him—he had made her happy and in turn that made him happy—and her simple beauty while wearing one of his newer grey Penny-Tees that loosely hung on her frame. The rest of her was covered with the black top sheet of the bed being pulled around her waist and over his lower abdomen, covering the pair's joining on the off chance that Ian could wake up and slip into the room for some reason and see them together. Jade simply straddling Freddie while she had a shirt on and under a sheet would be far easier to handwave to the child than both of them being nude. Neither wanted to try to explain what they were doing in that circumstance.
It would have been logical to simply lock the door, but denying Ian the ability to get into her room when necessary troubled Jade too greatly—the girl still somewhat traumatized from her fellow slayers trying to kidnap her or worst when they broke into her former home while he was there.
However, those troubling thoughts were miles away for both teenagers as they were reaching the conclusion of their shared act of love.
There were no need for words on Freddie's part to signal to the pale slayer that he was close to his completion with the louder groans, the look of contorted pleasure on the handsome teenager's face and the slight increase in pace of lifting and dropping her. Her hands moved from palming over his taut six-pack for balanced to his shoulders then lowered herself to lie across him to crash her lips against his lips that signaled more than just raw carnal attraction to one another, but the feeling that each had doubts they would have shared with another person after the failures with their respective past partners that they thought were the ones: love.
He growled her name into their kiss as her aggressive act sent him over and his hips bucked hard into her while he tipped over his edge, the latex barrier surrounding him prevented spilling his seed into her, and shuddered in pleasure from the conclusion of their act of love.
His hands moved from her hips to her cotton covered back at the same time her head lay on the pillow and to his right side, allowing her to gently peeper his right cheek with kisses while affectionately stroking his other cheek. He closed his eyes and spoke in a soft growl his love for her while he humped a few more times underneath her from his own aftershocks. The former Hollywood Arts student smiled in contentment to his words and not just the last bit of pleasure from his joining with her.
He finished several seconds later and relaxed against the mattress before rolling his head to meet her eyes and start trading kisses, allowing both of them to relax in the afterglow of their act.
The couple kept this up for untold minutes until finally they started to settle in complete relaxation. Jade whispered into his mouth between kisses, "Three to two."
He snorted a laugh, his warm breath tickling her nose and top lip, "You kept count?"
"Not at first, but… I started noticing that I always ended up ahead—just like tonight—when we make love. Since we don't do this that often, it wasn't hard to start noticing. Each stands out to me."
The brown eyed teenager chuckled, "Okay, you got me. I just…" He took a deep breath then let it out, "…just want to make sure you're satisfied… I don't want to disappoint you. I'm not exactly experienced in this sort of thing."
Jade lifted her head off the pillow and hovered her face just over his face before whispering in a confident and reassuring tone that showed her own vulnerability on the topic, "You haven't disappointed me once since the first time we did this on my birthday. You really have made it everything I hoped, but never really thought it would be like."
Freddie countered with a self-deprecating tone, "Short of a wedding band beforehand…"
The singer smirked with her counter-counter remark, "Is that a proposal?"
He was caught off guard by her jest, but it struck a cord in his heart and the look on Jade's face, it struck one with her as well.
However, before either of them could respond, Jade's PearPhone rang on the dresser and she bowed her head into the crook of the Seattleite's neck, groaning in mild frustration in being interrupted in their afterglow.
He kissed her cheek then whispered in a playful voice, "You answer while I ah… clean up before there's a mess."
She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Fine."
Jade lifted her left leg and slipped off to lie on her right side (suppressing a soft wince at loss his presence between her legs) and under the sheet while the well built and toned young man slipped out of the bed. She eyed—practically ogled—his nearly Greek demigod physique of his bare rear and backside as he walked to the master bathroom before the closing of the door and insistent ringing of the phone caught the girl's attention.
The recent high school graduation reached for the dresser behind her and picked up the phone. She groaned as she recognized the number before tapping the screen with her thumb. "Mason, it's like one in the morning; what do you want?"
"Jade? I was just checking on you. Are you alright?"
She wrinkled her brow as she replied in a bored laced tone as she lay back on the bed and pulled the sheet a little higher to over her cotton covered bellybutton, "I was absolutely peachy until you called. Why do you ask?"
"There was a… incident about two hours ago at Tori's album release party. You haven't heard it on the news?"
Jade answered in a flippant tone, "I've been rather busy for the last couple of hours and as long as she's not dead, why should I give a damn about Tori's album release or her?" She quickly shifted her tone to at least some mild concern, "She's not dead is she?"
"No, she's fine, but her vampire bodyguard had a stake ran through his heart."
"So? It's not like stakes kill your kind. Isn't he just paralyzed until someone pulls it out?"
"Yes, they don't usually kill us, but the stake was at least coated with silver and scorched his heart. He's dead."
"Okay, one of Quincy's vampires is dead; why do you care?"
"It's not that I particularly care about him. It's just that someone obviously knew what he was and was prepared. He may not have been the real target. Shawn thinks that I was just trying to sabotage Tori with the press of a murder."
Jade snapped, "So? That's a good thing if that bitch's music is sabotaged."
Mason paused at the other end, still taken aback after all these months of continued hostility from Jade towards her former classmate. He still found it hard to believe that their relationship had deteriorated to that point even after their duet on the PMAs.
"Not if he wants to retaliate and try to find someway to sabotage your career."
"I don't have any problems with Shawn, but if he even looks at me or my family wrong then he's like any other vampire and I'm cutting his head off."
"Let's see if we can avoid that. I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this and placate Shawn before anybody does anything rash. In the meantime, I'd like to give you some extra security if you don't mind."
"You know I don't like all those bodyguards hanging around, but… as long as you up the security for Ian and my mom, I'm not going to fight you on it."
"That's fine. Why can't all my artists be as reasonable as you?"
"Because I'm not thinking solely about myself and I really am not in it for the money?"
Mason had his doubts about the latter half of the statement with all the experience he had with his past and current artists, but he wasn't going to argue the point and potentially offend her. He had enough problems on his hands right now, "If you say so Jade. I'll see you Monday morning in the studio."
"I'll be there."
Jade tapped the end call button then placed her phone back on the dresser table as Freddie stepped out of the Master bathroom having cleaned up and dressed in an athletic shirt and a pair of boxers. He playfully asked once he reached the edge of the bed, "What was that about?"
The light skinned musician sat back up and crossed her legs under the sheet. "That was Mason. He was checking up on me and wants to give me some more security."
"Why?" he asked with a voice that teased that he already knew the answer.
Jade teasingly smiled and answered in a devious tone, "One of Tori's bodyguards—a vampire one—unfortunately got a silver stake in his heart a few hours ago. She's fine though."
"Oh, how tragic for him and Shawn," Freddie mockingly remarked before his voice dropped into a more concerned tone, "I'll give Tori a quick call to check up on her."
He looked over to his black jeans thrown on the couch and trotted to his discarded clothing. He pulled out the phone from his pocket and dialed the number he knew by heart then waited for the other end to pick up.
He waited a few rings almost to the point of it switching to voicemail before he heard a somewhat groggy voice, "Hel—hello?"
"Tori, sorry to wake you up. It's Freddie."
The brunette on the other end perked up and answered, "Hey Freddie. Sorry. I was just dozing off. What's up?"
Freddie walked around the end of the bed to slip back under the sheet to sit beside the Penny-T shirt wearing dark brunette. "No, I'm sorry for interrupt you going to bed. I'm fine. What's up is I was calling to check up on you. I just heard what happened. Are you alright?"
She sweetly answered, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up at what happened."
"I'm sorry…"
The brunette on the other end quickly reassured her friend in a quiet voice, "It's not your fault…"
Freddie paused for a few seconds then asked with a picked up voice, "I'm assume you're home?"
"Yeah, Trina and I are back home. We skipped the after party after what happened."
"Are you two by yourselves after what happened?"
"Beck's downstairs doing just that, but I'm sure we'll be fine. You know our place is like a fortress. It's warded from top to bottom and the windows and doors are reinforced."
Freddie blew out a relieving breath, "Okay, as long as you two feel safe."
"We're safe. Thanks… thanks for checking up on me."
"You're welcome. I guess I'll let you go to get back to sleep."
The brunette teased before she bid a goodnight, "Thanks… oh, and say hi to Jade for me."
The handsome brown eyed teenager glanced to Jade and remarked, "I will. You have a good night."
"Night."
He tapped the screen with his phone and partially turned in the bed to place the Pear device on the opposite nightstand. He smiled to his lovely girlfriend and playfully remarked, "Tori says hi."
Jade smiled, but not in an ironic or malevolent manner. She sweetly answered without a hint of sarcasm, "Of course she does."
The couple looked at each other, not sure there was anything else left to say on the matter. Jade finally broke the comfortable silence and asked while glancing up and down at him, "Joining me for the night?"
He charmingly smiled. "I was thinking we should get a little cuddling after what we just did then I would head back to my bed, but if you want to kick me out then I'm willi—"
She fisted some of the front of his shirt between her fingers and pulled him towards her to crash her lips against his lips.
She pulled back to lie back down in bed, holding his shirt and teasingly smiled. "You're staying right here for tonight. I want to wake up in your arms in the morning."
He smiled down at her and shifted in his seated position before lying on his side beside her and wrapping his arm over her abdomen and side of her torso to hold her close.
The unlikely couple traded light kisses and snuggled before Jade finally drifted off to sleep.
Freddie stayed awake for a few more minutes, just gazing at her peaceful sleeping form before the finally let sleep overtake him.
Shawn Quincy Residence
Sunday, September 2012
The sun had barely risen in the east when Quincy was holding an emergency meeting with his closest advisors about what happened the previous night. One neophyte vampire that was quickly working her way up the ranks after being turned was forcefully voicing her opinion.
Jessica Wolf, a lovely girl of South East Asian descent with long dark and slightly wavy hair that was a recent Hollywood Arts graduate shouted across the home office desk from Quincy, "Oh come on boss! You know Mason was behind it! He's pissed that you were able to get Tori instead of him and this was his way of sabotaging the launch party. You can't let him get away with this. He has to pay."
Quincy calmly relaxed back in his chair as he calmly watched the young vampire finish up her little tirade. In the same calmness he projected, he asked, "What do you propose we do?"
"We take out one of his guys to show him that he just can't get away with killing one of us… maybe we should take out his little slayer and just go ahead and knock out the competition for Tori?"
The record executive sat up in his seat and calmly replied, "Jessica, I know you had a soft spot for Randy, but rashly lashing out at Mason isn't going to help the situation, especially trying to touch Jade. If we were linked to something happening to her, it could precipitate into a war between us and we'd have to deal with her friends."
"What friends? Tori and the rest have abandoned her. The only one left is that wannabe male slayer."
"She may be on the outs with them, but death certainly changes things for how people look at one another. They could forget about all that and want revenge. The slayers that don't like her could avenge her just out of principle because we're vampires. We are not ready to take on an army that large right now."
"So we just sit on our hands because you're too afraid to do anything?"
Quincy gave her a cold stare, one that cowed her for the moment along with the other vampires in the room, including one of his top artists: Trey Dirty. The record executive finally spoke, "Do not confused respect for someone else's capabilities as fear. When I strike to avenge him, I'll strike at who did it and show everyone that you will pay if you mess with one of our own. I just need a little time to figure out who did it, but in the meantime, Jessica… don't do anything rash and definitely not something stupid."
The teenager frowned, displaying a mixture of her mild fear for the older vampire and a bit of disgust at what she saw as weakness on his part. She nodded her head then turned to head out of the office without another word.
The moment the double doors shut, Trey Dirty looked to his executive and stated, "Girl's got a point."
"She may have a point, but she's young and rash and that is the last thing we need right now."
"So you're willing to be his bitch?"
Quincy frowned and narrowed his eyes on one of his top artists. "I have not lived his long by acting rash and out of bloodlust. I've watched other vampires over the centuries be snuffed out by other vampires, demons and hunters because they acted without thinking and I'm not interested in joining them. I'm not ready to go to war with him when we are outnumbered at least two to one with him culling the fiend vampires and having the rest join him. There's always the rest and all the stray demons in the city that would love to take advantage of the situation. We can't fight a two front war. The best thing to do is rationally investigate who did this then publicly deal with them."
"The others are not going to see it that way. They're going to see you as being weak and indecisive, just like Jessica."
Quincy directed a cold stare at his musician and stated in a sense of finality, "Then I guess you're going to have to remind them who's in charge until we get to the bottom of this?"
Trey smirked and nodded before he got up from his position and the other higher ranking vampires in the record owner's organization followed him out.
The record executive shook his head in disgust after the last vampire left his home office. "What good are followers if they're going to be just as stupid as the demonic vampires?"
Los Angeles County Department of Coroner
1104 N Mission Rd
Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, September 2012
Detective Jones raised an eyebrow as he approached the morgue and saw Detective Vega standing outside the doors waiting for him. "David?"
Vega cocked his head to the side and casually answered, "It looks like they want me to help out."
Jones replied once he reached the doors. "Fine by me. Have you talked with them yet?"
"No, I was waiting for you."
"Thanks," Jones replied as they entered the morgue together.
The detectives stepped inside and spotted only two individuals inside, the ME, a lovely brunette woman in her mid-forties and one of the assistant workers off to the other end of the room double checking some paperwork on another body. The ME was jotting down something on her clipboard when the detectives caught her attention.
The brunette looked up from the clipboard and smiled to the pair of detectives. "Hey fellows, how can I help you on this morning?"
Vega returned the smile to the Irish girl, catching her name from the nametag on her lab coat pocket. "Doctor Cavanaugh, I'm Detective Vega and this is Detective Jones, we're here for the Randy Bronson case. We were hoping you could tell us something. The department is breathing down our necks to solve this since it's linked to some high profile people."
"I know. They called me in late last night to get started." She thumbed and looked over her shoulder and joked to her assistant, "Poor Gasol is with the night shift and he hasn't got the chance to go home and I'm missing Mass."
The attendee politely waved at them then continued on his paperwork.
David Vega remarked without thinking, "You and me both."
The doctor looked back and smiled at the detective.
The detective found himself smiling at returning the gesture, feeling a little bashful from the attention.
Jones asked while glancing over the body, not noticing or caring about the pair's exchange. "What can you tell us Doc? Found anything that could link us to the killer?"
The doctor looked back to the other detective and explained while she shifted her attention back and forth between them, "We picked up a stray fiber or two and we've sent them to the lab, but it's what happened to the guy. I've never seen anything like this. The heart is charred and burned to ash around the wound."
Jones continued, "We noticed that last night. How does that happen with just a piece of metal in the guy's chest?"
"I don't know. It's just a piece of metal molded with a fine point, but… there was something you could say is odd about it."
Vega questioned with a raised eyebrow, "Odd?"
"It really is just a rod, but it has a fine coat of silver—real silver."
Jones parroted, "Silver?"
"Yep, the thing has about a hundred dollars worth of silver coating it."
Vega questioned with a furled brow, "Could the burn be some kind of allergic reaction to the silver? Are there people allergic to silver?"
"If it was a silver salt, perhaps, but nothing like what happened to this guy. You're looking at fourth degree burns here."
"Then what caused this?"
"I have no idea. This is going into X-Files territory."
Jones joked with a hearty laugh, "I'm too pretty to be Scully."
Vega rolled his eyes while the joke drew a laugh from the doctor. He quickly tried to refocus the conversation, "Anything else you can tell us doctor?"
"Other than he had absolutely nothing in his stomach and that his liver temperature was far colder than it should have been, not much. The guy should have been dead for hours with a temperature that low."
The detectives didn't know how to look at her, but with utter confusion.
She lifted her blue gloved hands up and laughed, "I told you, this was going into the X-Files."
Jones followed up, "What kind of guy should we be looking at to be able to do this?"
Cavanaugh cocked her head to the left to look back at Randy's body and flippantly remarked, "Well, due to the size of the stake and how deep it penetrated, whoever did it was one strong son-of-a-bitch. He had to break two of the guy's ribs that it slipped through. From the angle, you're looking at a guy that is at least six feet tall."
The bald detective asked for clarification, "So you're ruling out a woman?"
The middle-aged brunette cocked an eyebrow and sarcastically laughed, "Unless she's some bodybuilding champion than yes, I'm ruling out the average woman from doing this. Why are you asking?"
"Because the only other person in the room where it happened was David's daughter and she weighs what?" He looked to his temporary partner, "One-twenty at most?"
Vega nodded his head as he studied Randy's body, hoping his mind could get the pieces to fit together.
The doctor raised her eyebrows and uncomfortably replied, "Ah? Detective… are you supposed to be here?"
"Maybe not, but the bosses cleared it. Better to be supervised then investigating on my own for the guy that got so close to my little girl."
Cavanaugh gave a supportive nod and an awkward smile.
Unnoticed by the three, the morgue worker at the other end of the room was listening intently to their conversation.
"Let's get this guy back to the freezer before he starts stinking." Doctor Cavanaugh slightly turned and called out, "Gasol?"
The early thirties Hispanic man turned to his boss and politely called out, "Yes ma'am?"
"You can take him back to the freezer. We're done."
He nodded and set his paperwork to the side for the moment. He reached the head of the body and asked the gentlemen, "Could one of you give me a hand?"
Vega offered, "I got it."
Before he could touch the body, the doctor offered him a pair of latex gloves. He smiled his thanks then quickly slipped them on his hands.
The pair slipped the body on the cart then Gasol started rolling it to the freezers. As he went down the hallway, he could hear the cops bidding farewell to the doctor and start heading out to continue their investigation.
The swing doors easily opened for him as the end of the cart pushed through them and he was left alone. He slipped the corpse back into the freezer then pulled his gloves off to toss them in the biohazard bin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He pressed his speed dial for one of his contact and brought the phone to his ear. He waited for the other end to pick up and spoke, "Hey Mick, I think there's something you should know."
Tori and Trina Vega Residence
Hollywood Hills, Los Angels, CA
Tori trotted down the steps and scratched the top of her head, allowing a loud yawn to escape. She lazily made her way to the kitchen where she desperately needed a cup of coffee to wake her up. She would have preferred to stay in bed, but she started tossing and turning and figured she might as well get up.
She blinked to see that Beck was still there at the kitchen table with her sister, but had stripped to his undershirt and boxers. It was a surprised, but not an unpleasant one and as much hesitation her sister had with the former heartthrob of Hollywood Arts, she didn't seem to mind the sight either.
What really got her awake was the flash of red velvet then Cat throwing herself at Tori.
Due to slayer reflexes, she was able to catch her excited friend. She laughed, "Hey Cat."
The redhead eagerly shouted into the taller girl's ear, "I was so worried when I heard this morning."
Tori pulled back and reassuringly smiled to her friend. "I'm okay Cat. Everyone is okay."
Cat nodded her head and let out a relieving giggle.
The younger Vega sister walked around her friend and table to head to the coffee maker. She called over her shoulder as she grabbed herself a cup of coffee. "So you're here to check up on me?"
The cupcake lover eagerly nodded her head. Her chipper voice dropped an octane and continued, "Yeah and I wanted to say I'm sorry for not being at your party last night."
Tori turned and gave a comforting smile to Cat. "It's alright. I know you were busy with Robbie last night. You were with us in spirit."
Cat lowered her eyes as she took a seat at the table. She quietly answered, "Yeah, it was because of Robbie…"
"Cat?" Tori slowly asked in concern.
"It's just… I don't want to look like I'm taking sides, just like I went to the Boomerang Theater to be with Jade while she was rehearsing."
Beck pointed out in mild disgust, "If Jade really was your friend, she wouldn't be trying to force you to chose between her and Tori as your friend; she'd just accept that you can support both of them and not drag you into their fighting."
Tori remained silent and suddenly took a particular interest in her coffee.
"Jade's not. She hasn't said a thing, but I don't…" She looked back to Tori and asked in a pleading tone, "Why can't you two be friends again?"
Trina snorted out from behind the rim of her mug of coffee, "When were they ever friends?"
Tori looked to her older sister with a frown, indicating that she wasn't helping with the situation.
The older sister rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee.
The younger brunette tried to reassure her friend, "Cat, it's okay. We're just hitting a rough spot, that's all. Everything will work out fine. Everything will be back to normal before you know it. Now have a seat and have breakfast with us… as soon as one of us starts breakfast."
The short girl brightened back up and answered, "Okay." She slipped into a seat at the end of the table while Tori turned to the refrigerator and decided that she would start breakfast.
Beck and Trina shared a glance, signaling to each other that they didn't share the younger Vega's hope.
Jade West's Penthouse
Penthouses at Palazzo
Los Angeles, CA
Just five miles down South La Brea Avenue, Jade and Freddie were still sleeping comfortably together in Jade's bed, lovingly embracing one another even through sleep. That sleep was however interrupted when Ian jumped onto the foot of the bed and crawled between the unlikely couple.
In any other circumstance, Jade would have reacted violently from someone surprising her from her sleep as Cat had learned the hard way one time during a sleepover, but resting peacefully in Freddie's arms drove away any personal demons that would haunt her at night, so she wasn't as startled as expected.
Jade quickly sat up and smile at her stepbrother—her son for all practical purposes for the time being—and pulled him into a hug. "Morning Sweetie."
"Morning Jadey," he replied as he settled between the couple. He gave Freddie a funny look, surprised that he was in bed with Jade since the times he woke up the teenager, she was alone in the bed.
Freddie took another few seconds to awaken and get his bearings, but once he did he bent the truth to quickly explain his presence in Jade's bed, "We were watching some television and we fell asleep in bed together." He leaned close to the child's ear and whispered as if they were sharing a manly secret, "We were staying up past our bedtime."
The child laughed for a few seconds then looked to his stepsister. "I'm hungry."
"You are? I guess it's time for some breakfast." She looked to Freddie and suggested, "You two go ahead and start breakfast; I'll meet you downstairs."
Freddie gave her a curious expression until she leaned over and whispered into his ear so Ian couldn't hear her, "I'm not wearing underwear."
The former tech-producer's eyes shot open, remembering exactly how last night ended and hadn't given it any thought that perhaps she hadn't finished dressing while he was in the bathroom.
Freddie scooped Ian up in his arms, the child laughing from the gesture and the pair slipped off the bed. "Come on Ian. Let's let your sister do her girly thing morning ritual while we get breakfast."
The guys headed out of the room and Jade pulled her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around her shins, letting a smile dance on her face at watching the pair leave.
Jade trotted down the stair case and through the living room to step inside the kitchen. She had thrown on a pair of shorts and had slipped on a bra underneath the Penny-T she had worn overnight. She paused at seeing Ian happily sitting at the kitchen table eating his cereal and her boyfriend laughingly conversing with the child.
She knew in her hearts of hearts that this was what she wanted in life, more than the recognition for her talents and praise and admiration of her fans. Though she had only been with Freddie for six months romantically, she knew she wanted to be his wife and one day have a family. The last few months had been a hard adjustment and crash course in learning to be a mother and nearly feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility, but she wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. What she had at the moment might not last that long with whenever her father would return, but she was going to enjoy every moment of it—the ups and the downs.
She walked over and placed a quick kiss on the crown of Ian's head then headed to the coffeemaker. She poured her a cup of the black liquid then reached over to the sugar canister to add her two sugars. She fixed her coffee just the way she liked it then started her way to join the pair at the kitchen island. Before she could have a seat however, the doorbell rang.
The dark haired singer rolled her eyes and sighed out loudly. She was about to sit her coffee cup down and start for the door, but Freddie got up first. "Sit down. I'll get it."
The pale girl thankfully smiled then had a seat next to Ian while Freddie headed for the door.
The Seattle native stopped just in front of the reinforced and armored door and looked at the small monitor for the security panel built in to the left. He looked over his shoulder and called out, "It's Mason."
Jade closed her eyes and shook her head. "Just go ahead and let him in."
The former Seattleite unlocked then opened the door and stepped aside to let Mason and Chelsea enter the residence. He closed the door behind the short girl then led the pair to the kitchen.
The musician politely smiled and greeted her boss as he and Chelsea stopped at the end of the kitchen island, "Mason, good morning."
"Morning Jade," he politely returned the greeting while keeping a hand up to shield the side of his face from the incoming sunlight from the windows and glass patio door.
Freddie walked over to the windows and doors and turned the blinds closed.
"Thanks." He looked back to Jade and continued, "I'm sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but I just wanted to personally check up on you."
Jade glanced over to Ian enjoying his cereal and commented with a slightly bored tone, "As you can see, we're fine."
"Yes, I can see that. I just wanted some personal reassurance after last night."
The singer frowned, but Freddie was far more diplomatic as the young man retook his seat at the kitchen island, "Thanks for the checkup. I appreciate it after what happened last night."
"You're welcome." He looked to Jade and asked, "If I may ask, what are you plans for the day?"
Jade slightly frowned. "Why? I wasn't expected in the studio until tomorrow."
"You're not, but I need to know if you're going out tonight. I want to make sure there's adequate security for you and Ian."
Jade took another sip from her coffee then casually answered, "Well, we're going out later to the nearby playground then we're going to have lunch with my mother. We're going to leave Freddie alone so he can get some homework done."
The record company mumbled to himself, "Open public place in the sunlight… limits Shawn's options…"
Freddie was far more forthcoming, "Do you think Quincy's going to do anything?"
"No. He may be furious, but he doesn't want to risk a war with me especially since he can't prove anything."
"But you're amping up the security?"
"It might cost me a little more, but it's better than whoever got close to Tori doesn't get the same chance with Jade… and just on the off chance that I am overestimating his intelligence."
Freddie nodded then continued in a lower tone so Ian would have trouble hearing him, but the vampire wouldn't, "Well I hope he doesn't try anything—especially to Jade because I'll come out of retirement and end him."
Jade guardedly looked to her boyfriend while she subconsciously brushed a hand down Ian's back.
The vampire chuckled, "If it comes to that, I am not getting in your way."
The muscular teenager nodded to the side and continued, "Do you have any idea who could have done it?"
"No, not at the moment. It could just be a random hunter or maybe a slayer trying to stir things up. You know they're still not happy with how things are shaping up here and they can't really do anything about it. It might be their way of trying to derailing us."
"A unified vampire community ruling Los Angeles? Now that would scare a lot of people."
Mason bowed his head slightly and pointed out, "It would scare them a lot more if they knew how it was running now, but Buffy and those like her can't pull their heads out of their…"
The record producer trailed off from seeing Jade's glare to prevent him from saying anything vulgar in front of Ian. He turned back to Freddie and asked, "So how is college going for you?"
"Classes are fine. I'm enjoying them and feel like I'm really learning something. I haven't felt challenged in a while."
"So retirement really is agreeing with you?"
Freddie chuckled, "Yes, the ah… those days are over. Dagon is dead, the book is destroyed and the deadites safely locked away in Hell and I'm moving on with my life. I've done my bit for God and country."
"That's nice to hear. I'm glad that you three have a stable and happy life."
Jade took a quick sip of her coffee then spoke, "Yes, we're quite happy at the moment and we'd like to enjoy our morning breakfast."
Mason softly laughed again and glanced to Chelsea. "I'll take that as our cue to leave."
The up and coming singer smiled broadly and sarcastically remarked, "Yes, it is."
"Stay your charming self Jade."
Jade smirked and slightly turned her head to the side. "I intend to."
"I'll see you tomorrow at the studio."
The vampire pair turned to head for the door and Freddie got up and escorted them. He quietly spoke to Mason, "Sorry about that, it's just your timing's been really bad for her lately."
Mason whispered in return, "I'm sorry if I've interrupted you two."
"Three," he corrected, not wanting the vampire to dwell on something else the pair could have been doing.
Mason smiled as he and Chelsea exited the penthouse, the lovely female vampire waving behind her.
Freddie closed the door and locked it behind the vampires. He looked back the two people that had become the most important in his life even over his mother—which if he was married to Jade and Ian really was his son, she would have been forced to agree with the sentiment, but he wasn't… and she wasn't exactly happy with his choices as of late. He didn't let that weigh him down as he walked back into the kitchen. "Okay, let me get started on breakfast and we can get our day started."
Keller Apartment
Los Angeles, CA
Noonish, Sunday, September 2012
Marshall Keller loved his job as one of Mister Thornesmith's assistance—he was fortunate enough to get rehired immediately after Mason's snap decision to fire him during the PMAs—but he hated keeping daylight hours like the humans. He especially hated when he had to go in on his off days. He was a creature of the night after all and liked the safety and security of it. He also felt a little more sensitive to sunlight than his fellow vampires. He should have been leaving for the evening, not coming home after sundown.
He shut his apartment door behind him and quickly locked it before heading to his living room. He dropped his satchel in one of his chairs at the end of the living room then headed for the kitchen.
He opened his refrigerator and found as expected several bags of blood hanging above the top shelf with a small picture of a different little girl below the age of six taped to each one. This was his personal supply that he didn't let anyone know about as targeting children wasn't any more approved of than it was in human society. It wasn't that blood was really in short supply since it was only a phone call away, but he preferred something a little more sweet and innocent than the deliverer guys dropped off.
The record executive assistant grabbed a bag and shut the door behind him before heading to a cabinet to grab a glass. He quickly retrieved the wine glass and started draining the blood into the glass. He poured the glass halfway then replaced the bag in the refrigerator.
Marshall grabbed his glass on his way out of the kitchen then dropped onto the center of the couch. He relaxed in his seat and flipped on the television, hoping to find something good to watch to relax. He turned the television up high enough that he didn't hear the soft footprints coming up from behind him, so he was taken completely by surprise when suddenly from behind a thin silver wire looped in front and around his throat.
Marshall tried to scream, but the wire constricted his airway before starting to slice into his throat, making a sizzling sound as it also started burning the vampire. He flailed his arms backwards, trying to grab whoever was trying to end his undead existence. It was a vain attempt as the person behind him pulled hard and had all the leverage with the assistance of the couch.
The wire finally cut through his jugular and started pouring out his blood all over his chest. He stopped flailing moments later as the line cut deep enough to sever his spinal column then his head rolled off onto the floor.
The vampire killer stumbled backwards, but regained the footing then walked towards the kitchen and turned on the knob for the kitchen sink to wash off the wire. A minute or so later, the assailant slipped out of the apartment.
Author's Note: I hoped you enjoyed that chapter. I guess I've answered a few questions and set in motion a little bit more mystery and showed that this is an AU sequel to the first one. Take care and happy reading, OneHorseShay.
