I don't own Night World. Jez is 11, Morgead 12.
Jez
Suggestions (part 2)
Some time had passed since Morgead had suggested starting a gang, and it was flourishing. They trained every couple of days, harnessing and fine-tuning their physical and supernatural skills. Jez and Morgead were the strongest by far, and they had many heated discussions as to who should be the leader. After a while, Morgead finally agreed, though Jez could tell he was chafing at the bit. He was second-in-command, though, and would take over whenever Jez couldn't make it to hunts or training.
They made up rules for the gang as well. Jez tried to get them all to bow to her whenever she came into the room (apart from Morgead, who would have to curtsey) but gave up when Morgead almost knocked her out at the suggestion. She told herself that she would appoint the rule once she knew how to fight better. That time, she would knock out Morgead, not the other way around.
Willow and Thistle were physically quite weak, though both were relatively strong telepathically, although Val was the other way around. Raven was probably the cleverest. Jez had no idea what Pierce was good at, and when she asked Morgead he said he had no idea either.
They took to mostly feeding on homeless young teenagers, as they were always easy to manipulate and it was easy to hide the bodies. It went without saying that no-one noticed that there were homeless people missing. The human world was as cruel as the Night World in some respects.
Each time they drained a human dry, which wasn't very often, they would gain power. Every now and then Jez would allow them to kill a human, but she was clever enough to know not to kill every time she fed. Usually she reserved that for a birthday treat, or national holiday. Like July 4th.
Morgead seemed much happier now. Jez was relieved, but of course if Morgead ever asked she would just hit him. She doubted he ever would, anyway.
After a while of hunting homeless people, they decided to take on rival human gangs. The first couple went without mishap, but the third was one that would forever remain engraved in Jez's mind.
It was a perfectly ordinary April afternoon, a couple of weeks before Morgead's birthday. As Jez was going away for a while and wouldn't be with him for his birthday, they decided to hunt and drain the humans that night. Thistle, who was a master tracker, had found a gang which was killing teenage girls. The police had no idea who they could be, or even that the murders were related, so Jez's gang did what they always did and took matters into their own hands.
The preparation for the hunt was very simple. They all wore black jeans, military boots and black leather jackets. Jez had tried for motorbikes, but none of them (except maybe Val) could pass for old enough to ride them, and controlling the minds of the many policemen who had converged upon them had taken a lot out of her. She'd almost fainted, and with Morgead scrutinising her every move she couldn't afford to show weakness.
They met the same place they always did, which was an old, semi-burnt-down fire station. Jez always appreciated the irony.
Morgead was already there, looking bored.
"I thought I was early," she said.
"Apparently not," Morgead said, in a tone which meant he didn't want to speak to her. Jez glared at him incredulously before sighing and shaking her head. It wasn't worth the effort. If her so-called best friend wanted to be miserable, then so be it. She didn't care, anyway.
The rest of the gang arrived within ten minutes.
"Ready?" Jez said, smiling in anticipation of the hunt. She loved every minute of it.
They settled themselves near to where they knew the rival gang met up. They stayed quiet until they could hear the entire gang. There were seven people. One for each member of Jez's gang.
Jez leaned against the wall of the abandoned house where the rival gang were having a meeting. She tapped her feet impatiently on the tarmac until Morgead threw her a look, then sighed and hit at him a bit with her telepathy. It didn't hurt him; she didn't mean it to.
Finally she heard what she was waiting for. The gang was going down the stairs to come out the front door. Jez motioned with her head, and immediately her gang melted into the shadows, until only Thistle was visible. She enjoyed acting the scared child.
Thistle started crying as the gang came out. They looked at each other in bewilderment, before one of them smiled maliciously.
He had a switchblade hidden in his hand.
This was the only part Jez hated of the hunt. The men, who were all full-grown men, not just pretending to be, moved towards the slight, almost angelic looking little girl. They stopped a few metres away, not wanting her to be scared.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" the leader said in a gentle, but poisonous voice.
Jez felt Morgead tense next to her.
Thistle came out perfectly with a story about how she'd been separated from her parents at the park and couldn't find them or the car or the house. She even had a lisp.
The men exchanged glances with each other excitedly.
Jez's lips pulled back from her teeth. She nodded to the gang and they positioned themselves behind the rival gang in an upside-down V. Jez at the front, Morgead to her left, Raven to her right. Jez blocked the flow of information that was coming from the other gang leader's mind. His thoughts were sickening.
He deserves to die, Jez heard Morgead's telepathic voice.
They all do, Jez thought back.
"Why don't you come with us, sweetheart," the leader said. He moved forwards to put a possessive arm around Thistle's shoulders. He glanced back to make sure he wasn't being watched...
And froze when he saw the six children watching him coolly, with a knowledge and experience in their eyes that usually only adults had.
"What the...?" he said.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Jez asked. She knew her eyes were going silvery as she went into hunt mode. She didn't show her fangs, though. She wanted to keep that surprise for later.
The other gang watched in bewilderment.
"Taking this girl to her parents," the leader said, that poisonous, sickening tone to his voice again. He looked at Jez a bit closer, and smiled appreciatively. "Come to think of it, you look lost, sweetheart. Why don't you come with me?"
Urgh. Paedophile. Jez felt her lips curl back until she felt Morgead's mind for a second, felt the rage and disgust and overwhelming protectiveness.
She just about managed to keep herself from gasping from the intensity of his feelings, but still shot a glance to him. He was watching the leader of the rival gang with open, fiery, overwhelming hatred.
The leader's mine, he told her telepathically without tearing his gaze from the gang.
Fine, Jez thought back.
She nodded in the way that meant that the gang could show their fangs. Jez smiled at them, knowing that the rest of her gang was mirroring her actions perfectly.
Their mouths dropped open and their faces went pale white. One of them crossed himself, and the leader started trembling. He turned to see Thistle's fangs. No longer did she look like a fragile petal, unable to protect herself.
"Do you believe in redemption?" Jez asked, putting her head to one side and making sure her fangs were always in view.
A couple of the gang members nodded weakly, their faces still blanched.
"That's a pity. Because I don't," Jez said softly. This was the cue for the gang to pounce.
It took a few seconds to reach the rival gang, and by that time a couple of them had already started running. Jez saw Morgead catch the leader and sink his fangs into the neck. Thistle, Val, Raven and Pierce also caught theirs quickly. Jez's and Willow's were much faster runners and, abandoning their other gang members, made for the row of trees at the end of the road. They went opposite directions, and Willow and Jez chose their prey quickly.
Jez was a fast runner, even for a vampire, and caught up to him quickly. She ran just behind him for a minute, purposefully hitting the ground hard at every stride so that he would be even more scared, until he finally went too fast for his feet to handle and went head over heels for several meters.
He started to try to get up and flee again but Jez caught hold of his hand, twisting his arm until she felt the shoulder dislocate. He screamed.
"I don't believe in redemption," she whispered before plunging her fangs into his neck and drinking deeply. His muscles shook uncontrollably, and he cried out whenever he jolted his dislocated shoulder. Jez hit him there several times for good measure.
She was draining the last drops from his now unmoving body when she heard the scream.
It wasn't a man's scream. This one made her suddenly very terrified, for what, she didn't know. She quickly stashed the body in a very useful hollow tree and shot off in the direction of the scream.
The first thing she noticed was the scent of blood in the air. It wasn't human blood, but was similar enough for her to recognise it. She crashed through a bush...
And slid to a halt at the horrific scene before her eyes.
She knew that there was danger whenever she went near wood, but she never could have imagined it to be as terrifying as this.
There was no human. He must have fled, but Willow... Willow was lying on the ground with a ragged, spiky branch through her stomach.
She was still alive, although barely. Her breath was coming in gasps, and even though she was dark-skinned, she seemed incredibly pale. Her dark brown eyes fluttered helplessly, tears leaking out and sliding down her cheeks.
She moaned, and that was all Jez needed. She ran to her side and knelt, holding the small girl's hand, stroking a stray plait back in place.
Willow's breathing became more laboured.
"No..." Jez whispered. She could feel her own tears dripping down her face. She tightened her hand around Willow's before screaming, mentally and physically, "Morgead!" as loud as she could. He would know what to do. He had to know what to do.
Willow fixed her gentle, kind brown eyes on Jez. Which were still gentle and kind even through the fear and the pain.
"Don't you dare give up, Willow. We'll save you. Morgead will know what to do. He'll know something the rest of us have forgotten. I promise."
A small laugh came to Willow's lips, and some blood leaked out of her mouth. She coughed, and moaned before closing her eyes.
"Don't close your eyes!" Jez shouted. She opened them slowly, laboriously, as if even this small feat was beyond her strength. Jez felt more tears leak out of her eyes. They landed on Willow's face.
"Jez! What's-" Morgead stopped speaking as he saw the carnage.
Jez turned her face to him, but only for a second. She couldn't bear to look away from Willow. "Save her. You have to save her."
Morgead came to Willow's side and took hold of her other hand. "I... can't," he whispered as Jez brushed the tiny black plaits back. Willow closed her eyes, and that time it felt... final. Jez let out a sob as Willow's breath escaped her in a huff, but she didn't breathe in.
Jez let go of the small hand and felt more tears coming. She ducked her head forwards, her body shaking with sobs.
"Jez..." Morgead whispered next to her. He came closer but she jerked back.
"Why didn't you know how?" she whispered, so quietly that even Morgead had to strain to hear her. "Why didn't you save her?" this time it was as loud as the other had been soft.
Somehow, although she didn't know how, she was standing. Morgead was still crouching next to Willow. She staggered back a few steps until her back met a tree, and her strength seemed to dissolve. She sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees tightly to stop her from breaking into a million pieces. She didn't notice when Morgead came up to her again, but she felt his arms around her. She had some feeling that he shouldn't be seeing her lose control in this way, but she couldn't help it.
And she needed someone to comfort her. She turned towards him and buried her face into his shoulder, grateful that his arms were comforting and familiar. He said nothing, just stroked her hair and at one point kissed her neck. Jez didn't mind, though. She was past caring about trivial things like her arguments with Morgead. Right now, at this moment, that was what she needed.
She didn't look back at the little vampire that was lying on the ground next to them.