Chapter 7: Night Excursions

Jasper High…

The door swung open as Jack walked down the steps, running a hand subconsciously over the bite mark. He could still feel when Sierra had… what had she called it? Necking? Yeah that was it. The equivalent of a vampiric kiss. He wasn't sure what that meant entirely, if Sierra was really interested in him or was just thanking him.

He really hoped it was the former though, the teen had worked for years trying to get the girls attention. Turns out all it took was teaching a bunch of fledglings about being a vampire. Who knew?

"Good day Jack?" Arcee asked as the boy straddled the seat.

For a brief moment, Jack debated whether or not he should mention the vampire club. Those kids had all been turned, against their will, by Mariana. But they were also vampires. And while the bots trusted him because they knew he could control his base instincts, would they trust these kids? Especially ones like Sierra and Vince?

"It was okay." Jack finally said as they drove out of the lot.

"Didn't eat anyone anyway." he said jokingly.

"Hmmm." Arcee said, the two taking the route out of Jasper, "Anything else?"

Jack grimaced, "The experiment in biology today was a blood test…"

Arcee's mirror flicked to look at him, "How did that go?"

"Better than you would think. I managed to go the whole time without losing it." Jack said, a hint of pride in his voice. He didn't mention the part afterwards where he had downed one of his two emergency blood packs. Best let her think best of him for self control.

"Well good. The others will be happy to see you're keeping control." Arcee said. Though the tone of her voice hid a sadness in it.

Jack frowned, "Arcee, something bothering you?" he asked.

Her mirror flicked forward and she remained silent.

"Arcee?"

The femme let out a sigh, "It's just… we wouldn't even need to have these conversations if I'd been there to pick you up that night." she finally admitted.

Jack looked at the femme with guilt, "Arcee, we've been over this. What happened to me… what I am… it's not your fault. No one could have guessed this would have happened, not even the bots. How were you supposed to know that a vampire would be between me and my home?"

Arcee sighed, "That's just it Jack. I couldn't, but I'm supposed to protect you from any possible danger. Even the ones we can't see coming."

The base doors slid open as the duo approached the mesa, allowing them into the base. The two came into the base, Arcee stopping to let Jack off. The fledgling took off his helmet and dropped his mortal mask, letting his vampiric form show. By this point, everyone was starting to get used to it.

Arcee went over to Ratchet and began talking while Jack walked up stairs to the platform. Miko was the first to run up to him, practically bouncing on his heels. That alone was enough worry for Jack. He became even more worried when Miko tossed something at him.

"Jack, heads up!" she yelled, as something flashed in the light towards him. The teens hand shot out and gripped the small object.

Almost immediately he wished he hadn't. A sizzling sound emanated from his hand, smoke began rising from the fist as well. Jack yelped and let go of the object, checking his appendage for wounds. A minor burn wound, but nothing else. The object clattered onto the ground with a slight tinkle.

Jack held his hand close to his chest, glaring at the object, "Miko… what was that!?" he demanded.

She lifted up the object to reveal a small silver cross on a chain, "Little artifact my host parents had. Wanted to see if it worked like in the movies."

Jack glared at her and the cross, "You could have just asked instead of burning me." he growled, keeping a healthy distance from the girl.

Miko shrugged, "You're always so touchy about the subject, I thought you might throw a fit or something if I asked."

"So you thought throwing a silver cross at me to see if it burns would be a better idea!?" he demanded.

An idea occurred to Jack as the words left his mouth, as if two wires had connected in his brain.

"Miko, what do you know about that little cross?" he asked.

The girl looked at him confused, "Just that it's a made of silver, that's it."

"You're sure, just made of silver?"

"I think it might have been blessed, I'd need to ask." Miko said, looking at the cross.

"Miko, listen." Jack said, his face growing serious, "If it does need to be blessed, we need to get more of those, ok? This could be the only effective weapon I could have against Mariana, maybe the best way to… to kill her."

Realization dawned on her and Raf's face, "And we could make like a bullet or sword or something, something that'll really hurt that little-"

"Miko! Language!" Bulkhead yelled.

"Something that could hurt that glitch. "Miko amended, sending an apologetic look to the wrecker.

"But where would we get enough of that stuff?" Raf asked, "Isn't Silver really expensive? And if its blessed…"

Jack sat at the couch, hand on his head, "I didn't say it'd be easy. But then, going to Cybertron wasn't easy either. Nothing worth accomplishing, worth doing, is."

He looked up at Miko, "But please, Miko, I need you to find out. The sooner we get rid of Mariana… the better."

Miko looked at the little cross in her hands. If that tiny thing had burnt Jack, the idea of what a bullet made of the stuff could do to Mariana… The girl closed her hand over the cross.

"Alright Jack, I'll see what I can find out." she promised.

Jack smiled, a happy, non-threatening smile, "Thank you Miko."

"Eh don't mention it Jack." Miko said, sitting casually on the couch, "After all, I'm the one pulling your aft out of the fire this time." she said, grinning.

Later, Darby Residence…

The sun had set hours earlier, and the moon rose high into the air. It was a full moon tonight, and Jack looked out his window at it longingly. Every night, he wanted to go out, he felt more powerful, more at peace during the night. So much so that he stopped turning lights on in the house. He could see clear as day without them.

It did freak June out a little, since he walked around the house with ease, where most humans would stub their toes, Jack easily circumvented the areas. It was unnerving, to her and her son.

But tonight, he couldn't look at the moon or night sky as easily. The living room was under repairs, and his bedroom window only caught glimpses of its grey surface. The teen let out a sigh.

"Damn vampirism." he growled. Over the past few nights, he was finding that he needed less and less sleep. He only needed about three or four hours and he'd feel fully rested. That meant he spent most of his nights looking out at the night sky. He couldn't do much else, food and drink had no taste, and despite his instincts, he had no desire to hunt.

So his nights were spent, or wasted, doing nothing. Nothing but thinking anyway. Jack walked over to the window, feeling the cool night air brush against him. He was about to close the window, when he saw a pair of red glowing orbs seemingly materialize out of the darkness.

He had time to let out a yelp before Sierra clamped a pale hand over his mouth, "Shh!" she ordered, "Do you want to wake the neighborhood?"

Jack blinked once before shaking his head, "Good." Sierra said, and released his mouth.

"What are you doing here!?" he demanded in a hushed whisper.

"I came to get you." she responded innocently, looking away with a slight blush.

"To… get me?" he repeated, confused.

"Well to show you something actually, come on!" she waved in her direction. Jack looked around hesitantly.

She rolled her eyes, "No one will see us. Humans can't see that well in the dark, we're practically invisible to them at night."

"You're sure?" he asked, worried.

"I've been like this for months Jack." Sierra replied casually, "I'm sure."

Letting out a sigh, Jack hopped out of his window, listening carefully for any signs of humans. June was fast asleep, she'd fallen asleep over two hours earlier, and wouldn't be up for another five or six.

Sierra grinned, "Now come on, follow me." she ran towards his house and jumped, easily jumping the height of the house and landing on the roof. Had Jack himself not leapt over Optimus the other day, he might have been impressed.

Shrugging, the teen followed, leaping onto the roof and landing with ease. He was shocked to see the entire club was here tonight. Not just Sierra, but Vince, her friend, Mercer, Wendy, another girl with black hair called Cindy, and the boy whose name he couldn't remember at the moment.

Alex grinned, "Glad to see you could join us teach." he said.

"Teach?" Jack asked.

"Well yeah." Cindy said, "You taught us more about our 'abilities' in an hour or two then we could figure out in months. Teach fits."

Vince snorted, but most everyone ignored him, "So, not that I don't mind seeing you all again." Jack started.

"But why are you all standing on the roof of my house?"

"It's something we do every once and a while." Alex explained, "We all get together and go for a late night run, since sleep doesn't exactly work for us."

"A late night run?"

Vince snorted again, "You know, running? That thing we do that's faster than walking?"

Jack glared at him, "You know Vince, I'm honestly not that surprised you became a vampire. You were already heartless, guess that just finished what was started."

The bully was almost immediately on his feet, "You wanna go Darby!?" he demanded.

"You trying to be scary Vince? Because your failing pretty hard." Jack growled.

The bully let out a low hiss, baring his fangs. Sierra stepped between them, "Vince! Shut up and sit down now!" she ordered.

Vince crossed his arms and rested against the houses chimney, still glaring at Jack. Jack for his part, ignored the bullies glare.

"So…" he said, changing the subject, "How do these late night runs work?"

Alex grinned, "Watch and learn Teach. This is one thing we know better than you."

He turned around and backed up a bit, rubbing his hands together. The teen struck a runners position, facing the next house, his whole body tense like a spring about to snap. He suddenly shot forward at an incredible speed, shooting forward and kicking up a shingle or two from the house.

Alex reached the edge of the roof and leaped, soaring a good twenty or thirty feet before landing lightly on the neighboring house. Once he stood, Alex turned to the remaining teens and motioned for them to follow. Grinning, the club shot off after him, leaping through the air. Some even flipped or twisted in the air, Cindy leapt off the fence at the midway point. She rolled as she landed while the others landed feet first.

Jack watched all this unfold in seconds, and by the time they were all over there, his jaw was hanging. The group waved him over from across rooftops, and he realized he hadn't moved. Not one for being shown up, Jack readied himself.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together, and struck a pose similar to Alex's. he took off like a bullet, and leapt once he reached the roof. The wind ruffled his hair as he flew, and Jack quickly realized how far he was going. In fact, he overshot the house by a good100 feet or so, landing two houses past it.

With a roll and grunt, he landed with only minor damage to the houses tiling, and looked back at the vampires. They all looked at him shocked before running after him. It was obvious that they couldn't run or jump as far as him. But regardless, they were there within seconds.

"Wow…" the other boy, who looked to be a freshman, said, "I don't think I've ever seen anyone jump that far."

"Tim's right." Alex said, "Even I can't jump that far, and I'm the most agile."

Jack rubbed the back of his head, his face flushing, "Well it was sorta an accident. I didn't even know I could jump that far."

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you Darby?" Vince growled.

Jack glared at him angrily, his attitude starting to get on his nerves. This time though, Alex broke them up, "Hey hey, let's remember that we're all friends here." he said.

"Right right." Jack said, feeling his rage evaporate. For some reason, Vince just knew exactly how to get under his skin.

"So Teach." Wendy said hopping up and down, "Care to start off the run? Just around the neighborhood?"

"Why are you asking me?" Jack asked. He honestly wasn't sure why the vampires, veteran vampires, kept asking him, the new guy, for permission to do anything.

"Why not?" she replied.

Jack couldn't find a comeback to that, and shrugged, "Alright then."

He leapt off to the next house rolling forward before running again. He heard several distinct thumps as the others followed behind him. This time he made sure to go one house at a time, keeping his speed at a less… ridiculous, level.

As he ran Jack felt a certain ache in his chest, an ache he hadn't realized he'd had, fade away. Running over the roofs, to jump and be free under the night sky… this was a feeling he could get used to. It was a feeling of bliss and happiness, something he hadn't felt since being turned.

For hours the group moved like shadows over the rooftops, leaving but the barest signs they'd been there at all. No human had detected them, the few cars that drove by detecting nothing. Instead, the fledglings laughed and raced and enjoyed themselves. For a moment, they felt human.

As the night hours wasted away, the group finally found themselves situated in Jasper itself, resting on the tallest building, the high school. Despite how long and fast they'd run over the rooftops, they'd hardly broken a sweat. Now the group was relaxing, drinking in the night air.

Jack took a seat next to the freshman, "So… Tim, is it?" he asked.

The boy nodded, "How did you… become this?" he asked.

Tim looked down at the ground and drew his knee's close. Jack frowned, "Sorry, didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine Jack. I was just thinking is all." Tim interrupted, "It was about a month or two ago, I was spending the night alone. My folks were out celebrating their anniversery, and I was getting a chance to relax at home." the kid laughed.

"Relax, right. More like I was scared out of my wits. Mariana showed up almost as soon as they left. She messed with me for a while, knocking things over, turning lights on and off. Only when I tried calling the cops did she show up." Tim shuddered and Jack felt sympathy for the young vampire. Knowing the vampire, she'd probably had an ear splitting grin on when she had when she appeared. Poor kid.

"A-after that, she stalked me through my house, singing nursery rhymes. I tried to escape, but she would always appear at the exits… with a grin, oh god the grin!" the boy tightened his arms, "Eventually she cornered me in my room and offered me a choice… Either I become her fledgling, or me and my parents become vampire food."

He buried his head in his arms. Jack put a hand on the boys shoulder, "Hey, it's alright Tim. You did what you thought was best, and in a pretty tough situation too."

"Ha!" Vince laughed, "Little bitch makes it seem like this is a bad thing."

Jack looked up from Tim while the boy hung his head in shame, "Of course you of all people Vince would like being a blood sucking freak."

"Freak!? Darby are you retarded!?" Vince demanded.

"Look at us, we're stronger, faster, smarter than any human out there! How the hell does that make us freaks!?" he glared at Jack.

"Because what we are isn't natural Vince." Jack argued, "We shouldn't be this strong, shouldn't be this way. At least, shouldn't be forced into it. We might be stronger, faster, and smarter, but the cost is too high."

"Cost!?" Vince yelled, "Ha! Drinking from a bunch of… cattle!? That's too high a cost!?"

Several of the others looked at him with mixed expressions of shock and disgust. Jack just glared at Vince.

"You were never forced to be a vampire, were you Vince?" he growled.

The bully chuckled, "Hell no, I chose to be what I am. Now I can do whatever the hell I want with no consequences!"

By now most everyone was glaring at him. Sierra and her friend were oddly absent from the group. Jack stepped forward, his red eyes glowing with anger.

"What about normal food, or drink? We can't taste any of it, all we can drink is blood, that's it!"

"So? It tastes great!" Vince countered.

"If you can stomach were it comes from!" Jack yelled, getting close to the bully.

"Humans!? Whatever, you think I give a damn?" Vince asked.

"No, I'd say you don't." Jack snarled.

"Damn right I don't. Vampires are better than humans in every way. Whatever advantage they have isn't worth having."

There was a silence from the group as they digested what Vince had said. Finally, Tim stepped forward, "You sound like her… Like that bitch Mariana."

Vince shot forward, wrapping his hand around Tim's throat and lifting him in the air, "Oh yeah? Is that supposed to be an insult punk?"

Jacks hand wrapped around Vince's arm, "Let him go Vince." he warned.

The bully sneered at him, "Or what Darby? I'm the strongest one here, you wouldn't last ten seconds against me. None of you would."

Jack glanced over his shoulder at the others, who had backed away. Cindy looked terrified, Wendy looked nervous. Mercer glared at Vince, but seemed unwilling, or unable, to move.

The teen looked back at Vince, "Maybe, but then again, I stood up to Mariana. I think an ass like you is no problem."

Vince snarled and flung Tim away, Cindy catching the boy in her arms, "That's it!" the bully yelled and attacked.

Jack didn't have time to react to the first blow, and was sent flying into an air conditioning unit as Vince's fist connected with his face. The metal crumpled against Jacks form, and he felt several shards piercing him between the ribs. Jack shook his head and spat blood onto the floor, ducking down as Vince tried to punch him again.

He twisted around his opponent and ripped a piece of metal out of his side that had lodged itself there earlier. Jack brought it up in a twisting motion, slashing Vince's cheek. The bully stumbled back, blood dripping from his cheek. Putting a finger to the injury, Vince looked at his own blood, then glared at Jack.

"You're fucking dead Darby." he snarled.

"Bring it Vinny." Jack replied, motioning for him to attack.

Vince snarled, baring his fangs as he charged. Jack did the same and the two slammed into each other. Almost immediately it was obvious that Vince was the stronger opponent. The larger boy started shoving Jack back even though they were locked in place. His fangs glimmered in the moonlight as he smiled viciously.

"I've been waiting for this Darby." he growled. He suddenly moved his hands under Jacks arms and flipped him over head, slamming the teen into the concrete. The area cracked around his impact, and Jack fell flat on his back, stunned.

Vince grinned and raised his foot into the air. He slammed it back down and a sickening crunch echoed through the air as Jacks head was reduced to a bloody pulp. Everyone in the group looked shocked, utterly and completely shocked. They hadn't expected this, they never expected this.

The red headed teen reared his head back and howled with laughter, "That's it!? For months I've wanted to kill this little shit and this is the best fight he could put up!? HA!"

"You son of a bitch!" Tim yelled, he and Mercer charging the bully.

Vince punched Tim in the stomach, the freshman doubling over and coughing up blood. He wrapped his fingers around Alex's throat and slammed him into the ground.

"Now then." Vince said, picking up a shard of metal from the unit, "You mister Mercer, have been a huge pain in my ass. Just because you've been a vampire longer, you think that makes you better than me."

He ran the edge of the shard lightly across the vampires cheek, "Well I've got news punk. I'm the strongest one here, that makes me the best." he growled.

Alex glared at Vince as his cheek split open before his eyes widened and he smirked, "I don't think so Vince, look behind you."

"WHAT?" Vince whirled off the teen to a site he hadn't expected.

Jacks body had peeled itself off the floor… yet his head was still gone. Blood squirted from the stump of his neck and his body stumbled around trying to stay upright. Slowly, the blood in the surrounding area began running up the teens legs and bubbling around the stump, slowly forming a watery image over the stump.

Vince took a fearful step back, "What the hell!?"

A blood red eye split the image, glaring at Vince angrily. The blood began to reform and reshape itself into a more rounded shape. The black substance slowly grew more and more pale until Jacks head fully formed, hair, eyes, teeth, and all.

He shook his head once before baring his teeth in a frightening smile, "Now, where were we?" he asked, cracking his neck.

Vince's eyes were wide with fear and shock, "W-what the hell. H-how did you do that?"

Jack didn't respond immediately, instead charging forwards faster than even the vampiric eye could track. He delivered a series of fast jabs at Vince's head, the teen stumbling back from the blows. Vince gasped for breath as several cuts split along his face, bits of blood dripping down his pale skin.

Before he could even try and counterattack, Vince found himself on his back, Jack pinning him down and punching him repeatedly in the face, "Don't. Ever. Threaten. Them. Ever. Again!"

He delivered another punch, and blood dripped from Vince's eyes. Jack grabbed him by the collar and brought him to eye level, "You understand me you piece of crap!? Don't EVER threaten them, or so help me I will rip your throat out with my bare hands!"

Vince said nothing and Jack dropped him with a look of disgust, panting slightly. The bully was stunned, he'd just been beaten. Not just beaten, but practically destroyed, by Darby! His fist clenched, no one, especially that loser, got away with that!

Letting out a roar of anger, Vince attempted to deliver a right hook to Jacks face. What happened next shocked everyone. Jack slammed his fangs onto the bullies fist, causing blood, bone, and fleshy fingers to fly across the floor.

"GAH! SON OF A-" he never finished as Jack decked him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

The fledgling stood and spat Vince's finger onto his chest, "Piece of shit, good luck growing those back." he growled.

Jack looked at the remaining members of the group, his gaze softening, "Come on, let's go home." he said, leaving Vince's battered body on the ceiling.

Had it been anyone else, Jack might have felt guilt at leaving him there. That said, Vince had revealed his true motives and threatened friends of his. Leaving him on the roof was a courtesy.

Jack looked down at his hands in thought though. He knew he could recover from most any injury, but he'd moved fast there, faster than should have been possible. That left a question, what else… what else could he do?

He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know…

A/N: You know I spoil you guys right? I'm still recovering from my surgery on Friday, and yet here I am, posting a new chapter a day ahead of schedule. Question now is, which story to update next? Let me know along with what you think of the chapter in the review. Make sure to PM me with questions or ideas too. Bye!