Hey, it's a new chapter! While times are still a little tough for our friendly neighborhood vamp and her human, we get a closer look at what Jamie's vampire "family" is up to in the city.
Many thanks to my reviewers. I own nothing.
If You Only Knew: Chapter Four- Breathe Your Breath in Me
Jamie hated to see her human so miserable. Sure, there were times where a particular case would hit him where he lived, but he was never this down. Perhaps it was because he knew that there was nothing he could do to point his boys to the real killers, or maybe it was because the woman that he loved was connected with the real killers.
Either way, though, the vampire could tell that this was really starting to take a toll. When he came home from investigating the second murder, he scuffed through their home looking absolutely lost. Jamie met him halfway through the kitchen, where he was probably going to drown himself in his case of beer.
"Honey," the vampire began, earning a grunt from her boyfriend in response. "That bad, huh?"
Vince shut the refrigerator door with a bottle of Bud in one hand, walking right past her and giving her a gentle peck on his way out.
Worriedly, Jamie followed the human out to the living room. Vince was plopped down on the couch, swigging back his beer in a fast manner. When he saw his vampire coming in, he patted the space next to him, to which she obliged wordlessly.
"So, are you going to talk, or what?" she asked, giving him a tiny smile.
The cop sighed and scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It was awful, baby. The second victim had sloppy puncture wounds. Your little vampire clan wanted to make sure that they murders couldn't be linked together." So many emotions blended into one were hidden behind his blue ones as he stared back at the tech savvy vampire.
"Vince, honey, I told you, they're not going to let you catch them. They know everything there is to know about erasing their steps," Jamie leant forward and gave her human a lengthy kiss.
"Well, isn't there a way that you can retrace their steps? I mean, you taught them how to be stealthy in the first place," the curly haired blonde asked, practically pouting.
"Sweetheart, even if I did, we are dead. Even if the right people did believe in vampires, you would still need the evidence to pin them for the crime, right?" his vampire replied, hating the fact that she had to be the one to bring the logic into the conversation.
"God, we're doomed," Vince shook his head, downing a good swallow of his beer.
Jamie sighed and patted her human on the leg. "Finish your beer and get out of the police uniform."
He looked towards her, and got the wrong idea about the whole thing. "Are you feeling alright? Did you not feed enough earlier?"
The vampire laughed and nibbled on his lips gently. "Just change, my silly human," she replaced her fangs with just her lips as their kiss continued; Jamie was pulled onto her human's lap in the process, defeating the purpose of her command in the first place.
As their lips broke apart, Vince seemed to have no intention on getting up. In fact, he was ready to scoop his girlfriend up and carry her upstairs. But, unfortunately, she had other plans.
"Get changed, Vince. I've got a plan that just may be crazy enough to work," Jamie told him, giving him a quick peck before sending him on his way with a playful smack on the behind.
o—o—o
Vince had never expected his brunette girlfriend to take him willingly to the mansion that her vampire family lived in. He thought that he would have to drag her there kicking and screaming, honestly. However, pinning the two murders on the clan was easier said than done. The cop knew that and almost considered giving up after having that talk with his undead lover. But, if she was willing to try and make this work for him, then he wouldn't be the one to turn her down.
He and Jamie thought that the mansion would be in shambles; blood everywhere and dead bodies piled up a mile high. When they first stepped foot into said mansion, however, they were proved wrong. The place was spotless! The speckled flooring and high-ceilings gave the room a business-like feeling. And, from the looks of it, the room was used as a lobby of sorts. At both ends of the room were a staircase and an elevator, leading up to God knew how many stories the mansion had.
The couple stood there at the front entrance, just blinking. Life was moving on around them, though. Every so often, men and women alike dressed in hotel attendants' uniforms would pop in and out of elevators, others dressed in civilian clothes following close behind with suitcases and bags.
"Are you sure that this is the right place, babe?" Vince asked, still staring ahead in awe.
Jamie nodded. "Oh I know it's the right place. I can sense them all through this damn building."
The human let out a deep sigh and took his vampire's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Alright. Use your spidey senses."
The brunette sent him a look of disbelief, the beginnings of a smirk tracing her lips, "vampy senses, dear."
"You say tomato, I say to-mato," Vince chuckled at his girlfriend's expression, leaning forward to kiss her temple. "Okay. Use your vampy senses, then."
They walked through the lobby hand-in-hand, surveying their surroundings as they went. Jamie made a beeline towards the elevator, to which her human followed without protest. The elevator led the couple to the next floor, which was busy as all get out. The uniformed individuals were escorting the civilians to different rooms. From an ordinary standpoint, it looked like any old hotel business. However, Jamie knew something was up. Where there were civilians, there was blood. And where there was blood, there was a snack. Something that didn't make sense, though, was… why were there people coming here willingly? Were they coming here for a regular stay, only to never come out again, or was there something else afoot?
"I've got a bad feeling about this, Vince," Jamie began, giving his hand a tight squeeze, "just stay with me, okay?"
"Why would I leave?" he sent back to her, an easy smile gracing his lips.
The couple continued down the hallway, only to be stopped by one of the uniformed clad workers. Said worker was female. She was mid to late thirties, with a humble aura about her. It clashed with the mental image that the brunette vampire had about what was going on in those rooms, though.
"May I help you two?" The woman looked around, and then whispered back to the couple, "you do know that clients that come in as a couple does cost extra, right?"
"Um, we're looking for Sarah. Is she around?" Jamie began, glancing from her human to the older one. Clients, huh?
Characteristically so for a vampire, Sarah popped up out of nowhere, smiling brightly at her creation and the humans. "Jamie, Vince! It's so nice to see you again!" She turned to the older human and nodded her head, "you can go now, Chana, I will see to them."
As the uniform clad worker left, Jamie began to visibly relax. "So… care to tell us what's going on, and why you invited us here in the first place?" she said, her tone more hostile than necessary.
Sarah beamed back at the couple and headed over to one of the rooms, opening the door and motioning for them to come inside. "I'll explain in here."
Vince dropped his girlfriend's hand and settled for holding onto either side of her hips as he followed her inside. Somehow, he thought that they were going to get into a lot of trouble with this.
The room, unlike what Jamie thought it would be, looked like an ordinary hotel room. There were no blood spots on the bed, on the walls, not even any torture devices lying about. The older vampire sat down on the nearest bed gracefully, whereas the couple settled for the next one over.
"Okay, so you came here," Sarah began, crossing her legs. "I hoped you would, but I didn't know what kind of nerve you had lately."
The brunette vampire sighed and crossed her arms against her chest. "Just cut to the chase, please."
The older vampire grinned, baring her fangs. "Always so demanding," she paused for a moment, sighing uselessly, "well, this is a business, as you may have guessed."
"What kind of business?" Vince asked, his suspicions rising.
"Vince, you know what it's like to be fed from. That enthralling sensation that just spreads all over…" Sarah began, her grin withering into a smug smirk, "humans come to us for that feeling. It may immoral and unethical to you two, but we help them out. It's a win-win situation, you see? We get the blood that we need—without killing anyone—and they get the satisfaction that they need."
"And what happens if this leaks out? Not everyone will think that this is a good thing, you know. Especially since the majority of the city doesn't believe in us," Jamie began.
"Every client's files are buried down underground. Absolutely no one can dig them back up. We've only had a few circumstances and…" Sarah looked over at the blue-eyed cop, "I'm sure you know all about that."
The brunette vampire and her boyfriend exchanged glances, which caused the older vampire to continue, "Eleanor was a client, you know. No one knew that until she decided to talk."
"So you killed her because she talked about the business," Jamie filled in the blanks.
Why the hell was this starting to sound like the organized crime that went on at the docks? Vince hated that thought, really hated it. Now turning these guys in would make just as much sense as turning Scales in.
"What about the other murder? Was he another client that decided to talk?" the cop asked, settling his girlfriend in his lap.
Sarah pouted. "Yes. He was my client. I really liked him too," the older vampire shrugged and added, "but our secrecy is more important. We can coexist with you humans because you hardly realize that you're living next door to a vampire. It's all about our survival. Someone finds out what we are and it's back to square one for us."
Jamie nodded, turning her head towards her boyfriend. "It's hard enough for us to have to move every so many years. Away from our friends and our family, and all because we have to make sure no one suspects us."
Before then, Jamie was just as ready to turn in her vampire family as her human was. But… Sarah was right, vampires had to make their own living by blending in. The younger vamp could never accept the fact that they had to kill, though.
Vince took in a deep breath and kissed his vampire's temple. "I guess I'll have to get used to this vampire lingo, won't I?"
"If you can't, I can understand why. I'm sure your parents will be happy to see you with a normal girl," the brunette vampire replied sadly, only to be gripped tightly and pulled into a breathtaking kiss.
"Hush your pretty little mouth up. You're the only girl for me, I don't care what it takes," the blue-eyed cop looked in between both vampires after he kissed his girlfriend again, "I just meant that I better get used to it, since I plan to be one of you sometime soon."
Sarah grinned and clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay! A newborn to teach!"
Jamie sent her sire a glare, then replied to her human, "you plan to be turned into a vampire? And how are you going to that yourself, exactly? Because I never agreed to it."
"I'll do it!" Sarah piped up, which earned her another glare.
"Sorry, Sarah, but I'd rather my girlfriend do it," Vince began, shrugging towards the older vampire.
The red head just sighed. "Alright, suit yourself."
"You'll be waiting a long time, Vince," the brunette began, boring her golden brown eyes into his.
Just as the human was about to respond, the other red headed vampire came rushing into the room. She slammed the door shut and pressed herself thin against it, obviously freaked right the hell out.
"Jenny? What's wrong, darling?" Sarah asked; her voice was laced with concern.
"Vampire hunters. They're here in Palm City. They know we're undercover!" Jenny practically shouted, her blue eyes growing wide with fear.
"There's gotta be something that we can do to hide ourselves from them, right?" Jamie began, all eyes falling on her.
Suddenly, Vince's little plan of becoming a vampire were the least of their worries.
Bum, bum bum! I just had to pull a cliffy out of a hat again. You know what to do!