PART THE TENTH

You Mean, Like, PMS?

Jack rolled over on the couch, falling clumsily to the floor. He woke up with a shout, flailing for a few seconds before he realized that he was back in his apartment. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, glancing at the clock. Noon.

The diner!

Jack sprinted to the closet, squirming out of his pajamas into into a pair of black cargo pants with way more zippers than was necessary. He writhed into a pair of sad, red converse and snatched the keys off of the rack, running out the door and locking it. It wasn't until he reached the parking lot that he remembered he didn't have a car.

"Oh, shit," he sighed, looking down the boardwalk out West and Venice. He could walk, the diner wasn't far, but that meant he would be walking.

"If the world was easy, it would be easy," he sneered, mimicking Abstract Addy. He walked angrily down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets.

He sulked into the diner, spotting Nico and pulling up a chair. Adam was sitting across from them, fidgeting with his menu uncertainly. Nico was smoking, as usual.

"Hey," he said.

"Good afternoon," greeted Adam nervously. Nico flicked his cigarette, the ashes landing on the table.

"Tell him what happened," said Nico. Adam shifted, a look of pain crossing his eyes. Jack looked at him strangely.

"You okay, Adam?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes," he said, almost too quickly. Nico looked at him. "Well, no, actually..."

"What'd the bitch queen do this time?" Jack sighed, picking up a menu. Adam glared at the table.

"Tomorrow is the full moon," he said quietly. "And Marie hasn't fed me since the last full moon."

"Which means tomorrow will mark a month since she's fed him," explained Nico.

"Shit," said Jack, dropping the menu. "And isn't the full moon...?"

"My auspice," sighed Adam, picking at the table. "If I lose control and shift, she won't feed me. She says it's gauche. I... I don't know if I can hold it back this time."

"You did it two weeks ago, didn't you?" encouraged Jack. "Lucy was going to hammer you, and you held out anyways! You can resist it again, can't you?"

"It gets harder... the longer I go without shape shifting, the harder it is to not shift. I've... I've been getting... angry. I feel the Rage boiling up inside of me, and if I see my auspice moon, I don't think I'll be able to keep it in." He slumped forward slightly.

"What? You mean, like, PMS?" asked Jack. Nico shot him an acidic glare, and he shut up.

"She... She hurt me last night, pretty badly. I almost changed in front of her. She had me on the table, and her fingernails were digging into my back, when my skin started to stretch. I think she screamed, and I stopped. She said she'd kill me if I changed when she didn't want me to. She said she'd lock me in the basement to rot. I think she was scared."

"So? What if you changed during the day? Get it out of your system?" Jack refrained from asking if Marie had ever forced him to sleep with her. Adam would probably start crying.

"I'd still see the full moon tonight. Changing now wouldn't help." He sounded utterly and hopelessly depressed. "And if she found out..."

"I see, I see," said Jack. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Say, what if you got really plastered, and passed out? You can't shift if your unconscious!"

"What if I'm an angry drunk?" whined Adam, holding his face in his hands. "I haven't been intoxicated since the seventies, and, frankly, I wasn't a thrall back then. Something could go terribly wrong! Besides, Marie keeps no alcohol in the house."

"How do you live?" asked Jack. Nico chuckled.

"I'd say invest in some tranquilizers. I could net you a couple syringes if you want - with your BMI, you'd probably need more than one shot."

"Tranquilizers?" asked Adam, horrified.

"They'd take you straight out," mused Jack. "You'd be out cold the entire night!"

"I'll get Don to hook you up with some before you leave," offered Nico. Before Adam could respond, a waitress bounced cheerily up to their table.

"Are you boys ready to order?" she asked in an overly happy voice.

"I'll have an espresso," sighed Nico, handing his menu to her.

"The same," said Adam with a sigh.

"Get me a scotch and soda," mumbled Jack, pushing the menu away. The waitress gave him a puzzled look.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we can't serve alcohol to minors-"

Jack gave an irritated sigh and thumbed through his wallet, showing her his expertly forged I.D. She let out a small gasp.

"I'm so sorry sir! I didn't realize... It's just, you look like you're seventeen-"

Nico chuckled.

"Just shut up, and get me my drink," he growled. The waitress hurried away, obviously offended. Nico burst into laughter.

"Hey, Jack! The waitress said you look seventeen!"
"I am seventeen," he grumbled. "You were gonna tell me about your family," he said slyly. Nico's laughter died immediately, and he took a deep drag off of his cigarette.

"Yeah. I was."

"Jack, you shouldn't drink so much alcohol-" interjected Adam.

"You ain't my father!" shouted Jack back at him. "Come to think of it, I don't have one..."

"You know, Jack, just because you don't know who your father is doesn't mean you don't have one," sighed Nico.

"I'm just looking out for you," said Adam defensively. He was ignored.

"Doesn't really matter," said Jack with a grin. "It's not like I have any family reunions planned."

They both laughed at this.

Adam looked concerned. "Why not?"

Jack stared at him for a long time. Nico raised his eyebrow.

"I don't think he knows," said Nico quietly.

"I could've sworn I told you," Jack said, his eyes narrowing. "Didn't I?"

Adam shook his head cluelessly.

"My mother was an abusive whore who's idea of a good time was to throw iron skillets at me," said Jack, clenching his teeth. "Or other heavy, painful things. When she wasn't high out of her fucking mind."

"She was a junkie," added Nico. "She traded sex for heroin."

"I left when I was nine. Joined a street gang. Never saw her again."

Adam stared at him in surprise. "I'm sorry... I never knew."

"Whatever," Jack spat, his voice acidly bitter. "Monica could be dead for all I care. She wasn't much of a mother."

The waitress ended the conversation, delivering the drinks and scurrying off. There was a long silence. Jack was the first to take his drink.

"Your family, Grease," he reminded.

"Right. So, the Giovanni aren't allowed to do anything outside the family - marry, embrace, ghoul - none of that stuff. It all stays in the mansion. Once a year there's a big reunion, and Giovanni from all over the states come to Los Angeles. The head Kindred all secretly meet, and decide who's worthy of the Embrace. Note that most of the humans in our family don't know this - so it's just the Kindred and the few ghouls who're in on it. They pick a few lucky family members and turn 'em, then have this month-long period where they teach 'em all the stuff they need to know, not just about vampirism, but the basics of necromancy."

"What about ghouls?" asked Jack. "What're your family's rules for those?"

"Generally, a Giovanni gets ghouled if they're being considered for the Embrace, but aren't necessarily going to get it. That way, they stay young, and know a little bit about the Kindred from the get-go. And they can still make babies." He winked at this, and Adam crinkled his nose.

"Makes sense," Jack shrugged. "You were gonna get turned?"

"I might still," replied Nico, sipping his espresso. "Makes no difference to me, either way. I'm sure my life wouldn't change much."

"You'd be dead," pointed out Adam.

"Well, yeah, but not really. I mean, I'd still be working for the family. Probably in the same way I do now. I'd just get a little more respect, I wouldn't have to feed from Sylvia, and I'd be harder to kill. But I don't mind staying human, either."

"I'd never want to be a vampire," decided Jack, leaning back. "I mean, I've taken blood from A, but that's totally different from eating some stranger. It just seems kind of... gross. Especially how people get off on it, too. It's like, here's some monster sucking the blood out of your veins, and you're getting hot off it. There's something really wrong with that."

"They ain't monsters, Jack," said Nico quietly. Adam stayed silent.

"Whatever," he said, taking a deep drink from his scotch. "I just don't want to be one."

They were interrupted again, but not by the waitress.

A short, wiry girl with straight black hair and thin lips walked up to their table. She wore a green and black striped sweater that was comically oversized, and baggy black jeans that hid her thin legs.

"What're you doing here, Consuela?" asked Jack suspiciously. She looked down at the floor and shifted.

"I... I'm giving your car back."

Jack stared at her for a moment.

"You. Stole my car?" He blinked, not quite believing her.

"Well, yeah," she said, looking back up at him. "I was in kind of a tight spot."

"You." he said, frowning. "You stole my car?"

"I just said I did, dumbass," she replied, her tone acidic and irritated. "You taught me how to hot-wire vehicles, remember? It's okay, though, I took it into a shop and got the wires repaired, so it's good as new. I just wanted to tell you that it's in the parking lot outside."

Jack stared at her in disbelief as she walked back out of the diner.

"She stole your car," chuckled Nico. "That midget goth chick stole your car?"

"She's a changeling," said Jack, still frowning.

"I know her - she's one of Angie's friends," said Adam unhelpfully. "Or... Angie's friend."

"Singular?" Nico smirked.

"Uh... Angie doesn't have a lot of friends," he replied shyly.

"That bitch stole my car!" The shock had worn off, leaving anger in it's wake. Now Jack was pissed.

"It would be more accurate to say she borrowed it, since she did give it back," Adam said meekly, trying to diffuse the situation.

Jack slammed his hands on the table as he stood, and stormed out of the diner.

"What an ass," Nico said, shaking his head. "He left us the bill."

A/N: I agree with Nico… Jack IS an ass… Next up: Jack/Trent rivalry!