Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.
Someone to watch over me.
Chapter 26 – An exercise in futility.
No One's POV
After leaving Serapis to his fate, Jade got in the van and drove back towards the city. But she did so, with a heavy heart. With each passing minute and mile Jade got closer and closer to what she summed up as her final duty.
It was something she hated to even consider, but now she had no choice.
Jade was going to destroy Tori.
The thought of her beautiful, sweet and loving Tori as a soulless vampire, sickened Jade beyond imagination. So much so, she would rather destroy Tori than leave her that way. She would not allow her innocent Tori to take a life.
Jade cried on an off all the way back into the city. Her emotional turmoil was so great; it overshadowed her multitude of physical injuries and the intense pain that went with them.
Soon she crossed the bridge into Manhattan and got closer and closer to Tori. By now Jade estimated Tori would rise as a vampire in less than 3 hours.
As heart breaking as it was, Jade's plan was very simple. She would be there when her beloved opened her eyes, tell Tori how beautiful and special she was, tell her how much she loved her and then shove a stake directly through Tori's heart.
After which, Jade didn't bother to think about all that much. She briefly pondered greeting the morning sun and let it finish her off. A part of her wanted to go to one of the clubs that the vampires hang out at and see just how many she could destroy, before they brought her down.
Regardless, Jade no longer cared what happened to her.
Beside herself with grief, Jade sped down the city streets towards home. It was just past 1 in the morning and Jade could see more than one happy person stumble in or out of a bar.
"Happiness." Jade said sadly, knowing she would never feel that emotion again.
However as she sped down the street, she saw a man walking down the sidewalk, coming in her direction.
When she saw the priest's collar she slammed on the brakes, though at the time she had no idea why. She sat there for a moment in the street, until someone behind her beeped his horn. Again for reasons she didn't quite understand, Jade quietly pulled over the curb and got out.
It was then she realized she was parked in front of a church. Jade quickly guessed he was walking from the church to his quarters nearby.
The priest himself was probably about 40 years old and had short black hair and a friendly face. Jade guessed he was probably Hispanic in ancestry. Jade tried to remember how many priests and holy men she'd killed, but quickly gave up when the priest called out.
"Are you ok?" he said as he stopped about 15 feet away.
Jade took a step, but her bad knee nearly gave out, causing her to stumble. The priest quickly ran to aid Jade.
Seeing the battered, bruised and blood covered face of Jade, his eyes went wide. "Oh my…what on earth happened to you? Have you been assaulted?" He said with obvious concern.
Before Jade could say anything, he spotted the fangs and red eyes. His demeanor quickly changed to a defensive one, as he quickly backed off and pulled out his cross. "You're a vampire!"
Jade looked away from the cross and backed up, as a thought formed in her head. "I won't hurt you."
"You expect me to believe that?" The priest said, incredulously.
"I don't care what you believe." Jade snapped. "Know that, even in my current condition, I could easily kill you. If I wanted you dead priest, you would be."
The priest backed up a few more feet. "Than what do you want?"
"I need you to do something for me."
The priest laughed; despite the fact he knew it was a very bad idea. "I'll do nothing for you vampire. I know of your kind. Now go!"
"I need you to pray for someone." Jade blurted out in a rather vulnerable tone of voice.
The priest heard what Jade said, but couldn't believe what he heard. He was so stunned, he put down the cross. "I'm sorry what?"
Jade hissed in displeasure, being in no mood to play games. "You heard me. Pray for someone for me. A prayer. You do pray don't you….or do you spend all your time playing with altar boys."
The priest ignored the crude insult and tilted his head. The vampires request was, to put simply, bizarre. "Pray…Yes I do pray. Can I ask for whom then?"
"My girlfriend Tori. She was human, I loved her. Some sick bastard vampire sired her to get at me. She's already died and will rise as one of the undead in a few short hours. Pray for her soul, please." Jade said with a great deal of emotion in her voice.
For a moment the priest said nothing as he processed the most unusual request. "That's it…Just pray for this Tori. Nothing else."
"Give the man a gold star." Jade said acidly.
The priest nodded his head. "Ok Vampire. I will pray for this Tori's soul. If she really exists."
"SHE DOES EXIST!" Jade roared.
"Ok…I'm sorry. I will pray for her soul. But I could ask you…Why don't you pray for her soul yourself?"
Jade immediately started to laugh, but stopped once she realized it was horribly painful. "Are you kidding priest?"
The priest's face took a serious tone. "No….I'm not. God listens to both saint and sinner alike. I'd dare say if you prayed, he'd even listen to you."
Jade bent over and put her hands on her knees as she waited for another burst of pain to subside. "I very much doubt that. In fact, I doubt he listens to anyone. But if he did, I guess he's listen to you…hence my most strange request."
"If this Tori is so precious to you….then why not? Why avoid a potential course of action. You have nothing to lose."
Jade stood up straight and glared at him. "I've already lost…." But then Jade sighed. "….I love her."
For a few moments there was a silence between them, that was only broken by a distant police siren.
"It's futile." Jade said bluntly. "But….."
Jade took a step forward, but then limped back to the truck as the priest watched. Once at the truck Jade opened the door and pulled out a small metal box. Jade looked down at the box and tossed it at the priest's feet.
"What's this?"
"It's called a surprise, dickweed. Don't worry, it's not bomb or anything. Remember, I can kill you anytime I want. I've wiped out priests before. I even took out a cardinal once." Jade said with scorn, as she limped in the direction of the church.
The priest quickly crossed himself, after which Jade shook her head. "It one of the corrupt ones during the middle ages. Trust me…I did you guys a favor…he was seriously demented. You did not want him to become pope. You had enough bent popes back then. Pope John the 12th, was he ever fucked in the head. You guys don't know the half of it. But I digress…I'm sick of killing…so you don't have to worry about it. But don't push your luck either."
Now very puzzled, the priest watched jade as she slowly limped to the door. But as she got closer she seemed to have more difficulty walking. Not to mention she did her best to avoid looking at the crosses. "If he wants futile, then I will give him futile."
Jade then paused and frowned. "Open the box dammit. It's not going to bite."
The priest opened the box to see it contained a small and simple metal cross. "You're giving me a cross?"
Jade sneered. "It's not just any cross asshole! It's the cross of Damascus. Said to be forged by one of the 12 apostles, from the nails that held Christ to the cross."
The priest's jaw dropped open in shock. "THE cross of Damascus. You're kidding!"
"You really want to die priest, don't you?"
Any doubt he had about the cross, was answered when he picked it up and it began to glow.
"Put that thing away shithead. You're going to blind me!"
The priest quickly replaced the cross in the box. "HOW DID YOU GET THIS?"
"Jade took another step toward the door. "Cause, I was the one that killed the last priest that had it 1400 years ago. Oh…Since were on the subject of surprises…I'll give you another.
The priest at this point wasn't sure if he could handle yet another surprise from this very strange vampire. "What?"
Jade was now in front of the door. "The council….The head council of all the vampires. Serapis, Christopher, Agatha, Hans….All of them are dead or soon will be. Slain this very night. Tell your superiors the news. If that doesn't' cause them to break out the sacramental wine, than nothing will."
The priest knew of the vampire council and their function in vampire society. But hearing they had all been destroyed, caused him to do a double take. The leadership of their enemy had been completely wiped out. "Dead?"
Jade growled. "Yes…dead, dust, bought the farm, bit the big one, whatever you want to fucking call it. I'll even say it in Spanish. ESTAN MUERTOS."
Again the priest crossed himself and said a prayer of thanks.
By this time Jade had limped, with great difficulty to the door and paused. "This is utterly fucking crazy. I'd have better luck, if I wrote a letter to Santa. I'll probably just explode and leave vampire guts all over the inside of your nice church. That shit won't come out of the carpeting you know."
Jade paused and a serious look came to her face. The priest walked closer and observed carefully. What he had heard and witnessed was beyond strange. Now this vampire was going to enter a church and pray.
Jade then, as she did before attacking the council, said something in her ancient and now extinct native tongue. "Mihal va Chuc Weda Tori" It meant in English, "This is for you, Tori"
As she pulled the mighty wooden door open, Jade hissed as her hand started to sizzle. Undeterred, Jade staggered into the church.
Of course there were crosses everywhere and other holy symbols, so Jade pretty much looked at the floor. But as soon as she stepped in, the pain she was feeling suddenly was magnified tenfold.
With each step, Jade was hit with wave after wave of agonizing pain. Being beaten by the council was a walk in the park compared to this. In addition to that, her skin slowly began to turn red as if she was getting a horrible sun burn. Soon parts of her skin would begin to turn black and smoke as if burnt by an extremely slow invisible fire.
"Tori" Jade muttered, as she forced herself to take yet another step.
The priest followed Jade in and watched as the vampire took step after step up the aisle. She looked to be in unimaginable pain, but kept going. He had no idea, how she managed to do it.
It was late, Jade and the priest were the only ones present. He actually sort of wished someone was there, as he was sure no one would believe him.
All Jade could do to keep going, was focus on Tori's smile. That's all she thought of, as she struggled up towards the altar. Though Jade couldn't help but wonder, if all the pain and misery she had dealt out over the years, was somehow being repaid to her in the space of only a few minutes.
Still Jade continued, using the pews to keep upright. Still the pain continued. It was as if, she was being stabbed on nearly every square inch of her body over and over. But at the same time she felt literally as if she was burning to death. Though the flames were not visible, Jade could fell the searing heat and could see her skin, begin to slowly bake.
As Jade fell to the floor half way up the Aisle, Jade kept focusing on Tori. No longer able to get up, Jade started to crawl.
The priest watched in awe as the vampire continued, despite the fact she was in agonizing pain. Despite the fact that sections of her skin looked burnt and the skin had begun to crack in areas.
He found himself unable to simply watch and ran up. "I'll help you."
"DON'T TOUCH ME PRIEST!" Jade screamed. "I NEED TO DO THIS ON MY OWN! FOR TORI!"
Half driven mad with pain, Jade kept crawling, foot after foot.
By the end, she simply muttered Tori's name over and over, as if it were a prayer.
Finally, Jade made it to the steps in front of the altar, Not able to look at the cross on top, she looked to its base.
Jade spoke, but was having problems even speaking. The words came out haltingly and with a sense of desperation.
"Please….Save….Tori's…soul….do…what…you…want…with…me…I'll…..do…..anything…..please god…please…"
Jade had made her plea, but quickly discounted any chance it was heard by anyone other than the priest who stood a few feet away. It was a totally futile gesture, done strictly for Tori's sake. So Jade could at least know that she did all she could, before she destroyed Tori.
The priest however, was touched deeply by the gesture. The vampire had risked destruction, in what she saw as a completely useless gesture to save the soul of the woman she loved. He had never seen such devotion in his life. At first he wanted to say something to Jade, but thought it wiser to simply observe and follow.
But as he was requested, he said a silent prayer for Tori.
Jade then turned and crawled back to the doorway. He had hoped it would lessen the pain, but it only seemed to grow. Her only thought now was getting to Tori.
By the time Jade reached the door, she was crying due to the pain. Long streams of tears ran down her now burnt and blackened face. To a casual observer Jade would have appeared to have been a person who had been beaten to death, then set on fire and left to sit in the sun for about a week.
"TORI!" Jade shouted, as if it were a cry for help. "TORI!"
Finally she reached the door and with great effort pulled herself up and pushed it open.
Jade staggered out and down the steps in front of the church, followed by the priest.
For a moment she just stood there, swaying like a building in a heavy wind with an insane look in her eyes. Then she collapsed onto the sidewalk.
During the middle ages and renaissance there were a number of popes who have been accused of corruption and other forms of debauchery. Pope John XII was pope from 955-964 AD. It was written, that he was extremely corrupt and was accused of some pretty nasty stuff. Rape and murder to start with. It is said he was beaten to death by a man who found him in bed with his wife.
Estan Muertos = "They are dead"
The words Jade speaks as she enters the church are made up.