Jerry's POV

I pushed open the lid of my coffin and sat up, awoken by the loud chiming of numerous clocks around the house. One of the first things I learned about the vampire life was that vampires sleep very deeply, so it takes quite a bit of loud noise to wake me up.

I groggily looked around the interior of the basement. I wasn't exactly thrilled about what Amber and I would be doing that night. Billy and I had nearly broken our backs trying to get all my possessions down there in the past few days, and now, for some reason, I had to move it all somewhere else. I was determined to get some answers out of Amber, but I would be patient about it. I would gain her trust before asking whatever it was about my basement that was so appealing to her.

"Billy? You there?" I shouted, then waited for an answer. Silence. I figured he went out again. I was unsure why he was leaving so early lately, but I didn't think much of it.

I yawned. I lifted my arms in the air, and I was in mid-stretch when I heard a knock on the door. That must be her, I thought. Right on time. But hopefully next time she'll be at least a couple minutes late.

I got out of my coffin and headed upstairs. The knocking continued, getting louder and louder. God, why does she have to be so impatient?

I opened the door, then leaned on the doorframe. "Why are you so eager to break my door down?" I said with a smirk on my face. "Just can't wait to see me?"

Amber looked very angry. She almost growled when I made the comment. I looked her over. She held a newspaper at her side, clenched in a tight fist.

"You alright, Amber?" I put on my best 'concerned' face.

She scowled at me and didn't answer, but instead she advanced on me, shoved me, and walked into my house.

"Hey!" I protested. Jeez, she must be having PMS at an all-time high right now.

She stomped into the living room, and I was following close behind. 'C'mon, Amber, what's the problem?"

"This is!" she said as she slammed the paper onto my couch cushion. "Go ahead, take a look!"

I didn't 'take a look'. I kept my eyes glued on her. She was so mad, she looked like a red-hot firework about to go off. "Look, I don't know what you're getting at, but I'd much rather be hauling junk right now than argue with you. So what do you say we get to it?"

"I had no idea you killed this many people, Jerry! This is too many," she glanced at the paper and shook her head in dismay. "Too many…"

I picked the newspaper off the couch and read the headlines. My eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Why do you look so shocked, Jerry?" Amber said, crossing her arms. "You're the one who's doing this, remember?"

"No, no… I didn't kill this many people, Amber. This wasn't me," I looked over the main article as I spoke. "At least not all of it." I heard Amber scoff at this.

"Who else could it be then?"

"I… don't know," I lied. I knew exactly who was responsible for this. "I killed only one person last week, not five. Never five."

Amber scoffed again. "Yeah. Sure."

"I'm telling the truth! This isn't me!"

"I won't believe you. I refuse to."

"Well, then I refuse to keep trying to make you believe me!" I lowered my voice, not wanting to shout. "I'll figure this out. I'll find a way to fix this. But for now let's forget about it, alright?"

"Jerry, you can't 'fix' this! You can't bring dead people back to life."

I wouldn't bet on that, I thought to myself. I laid the newspaper back down on the couch. "Please, Amber. If you can't trust me, I understand and accept it. But you could at least have some faith in me. I could set things right."

"How?"

I sighed in annoyance. "I don't know. But please Amber, I need you to calm yourself." I looked her in the eye, giving her the most sincere look I could muster. "I'm sorry you got involved with this. This is too much for you to take in, to handle. This whole situation is crazy, I know. You shouldn't have to be burdened with all this; you don't deserve it." I inched closer to her, and slowly, cautiously, moved my hand to rest on her shoulder. "And I'm truly sorry for that."

She flinched a little at my touch, but I saw the hardened look in her eyes soften at my words, and I felt her relax. She didn't swat my hand away, like I thought she would. I didn't break my gaze with her. She gazed back. Although she was now calm, her facial expression was blank and showed no emotion. But her eyes told me otherwise.

Wanting to prevent any awkwardness between us, I smiled warmly at her. Ever so slowly, the corners of her mouth curled up, mirroring my expression.

And when she smiled back, I could have sworn I felt my heart beat again, even if just for a second.

She suddenly cleared her throat, and her hand reached up. She gently moved my hand off her shoulder. She turned away from me slightly. "Thank you." Her voice squeaked a little, which made me smile again, and she cleared her throat once more. "I mean, thanks for apologizing. This whole thing has been kind of... nerve-wracking for me, and I'm glad you understand."

"I do understand," I nodded.

She hesitated. "So I guess you also understand that I can get a little carried away when I'm stressed with all this."

I sighed in relief, glad that she had come to her senses. "Mm-hmm." I nodded again.

Amber looked at me. "You could at least try to deny it to make me feel better. 'Oh, no, Amber, you never overreact.' 'You are totally calm and collected, Amber.' 'Don't be so hard on yourself, Amber.'" Her voice dropped low when she tried to mimic my voice.

I laughed. "Well, you're fine now."

She chuckled softly, and then frowned. "But this is still bad," she said, gesturing at the newspaper.

"I know," I said. "I'll figure it out, I promise."

"Do you think it's another vampire killing those other girls?"

"Nah. There's not too many of us around. Vampires are scarce these days, and I quite like it that way."

Amber sat down on the couch, moving the newspaper to the armrest. I sat beside her, but kept some space between us.

She looked at me again. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you like it better with less vampires around? I mean, besides the obvious fact that there would be more killings. But… don't you ever want to be around… people like you? People who know what you're going through?"

"Nah, I'm fine by myself. I've been around long enough to know how to get around on my own. Also, less vampires means more freedom for me. I can go just about anywhere without getting any trouble from vamps defending their territory."

Amber contemplated this for a moment. "Why do you think there aren't many vampires around?"

"Well, we used to be in abundance. Until, a few hundred years ago, humans became aware of our existence. We were deemed unholy, and they sought ways to eradicate us. Soon enough, they were sending vampire killers, equipped with stakes and holy water, to destroy as many of us as they could. The vampire population was caught off guard, and many of them didn't make it. Eventually, with less of us around, people turned their attention to other problems. Eventually, people forgot all about vampires, and now, very few humans believe we exist."

"But that was so long ago. How come vampires haven't rebuilt their population since then?" asked Amber.

"Because the few vampires that were left, they created laws, laws we continue to follow to this day. They help keep our kind from getting exposed to humans again. According to vampire law, we can't turn anyone else into a vampire ourselves. Recruiting, they call it. There's only a select few vampires who have that responsibility. And even they need to keep the number of new vampires to a minimum. Which is why I need to kill the people I feed on, so they don't become vampires." I suddenly laughed.

"How is that funny?!" Amber snapped. "I thought we had established that killing people isn't a laughing matter. Not even close!"

I held up my hands. "No-no-no, I laughed because… well, I never thought I'd have to explain vampire law to anyone before."

"Ha. I see."

There was an awkward silence.

"Are we ever going to get my stuff out of the basement? I don't know what time you go to bed, but I think we should get started before it gets late."

Amber nodded. "Agreed."

Aww! First romantic moment! Well, maybe not quite romantic yet, but super cute for sure. :3

The next chapter will be in Jerry's POV as well. We need some more Jerry chapters anyway. The ratio of Amber chapters to Jerry chapters so far is 6 to 4, not including the prologue. So yeah, more Jerry is needed.

Will post next chapter ASAP. Thank you again for reading! XOXO