Jade stepped into her darkened house, carefully easing the door shut with a barely audible 'click'. She stepped into the living room, squinting to find her way to the stairs without knocking into something.

Half-way around the couch, something furry brushed up against her leg. Jade jumped with a cry, then realized it was her cat.

"God, Shine, you scared me!" she whispered. Bending down, she scooped the black cat into her arms and rubbed her face against its head. "Aw, my poor baby, did you miss Mommy? Huh? Of course you did."

Completely engrossed in quietly baby-talking to Shine, she didn't notice someone approach her from the kitchen. A light flicked on.

Jade froze, one foot on the bottom stair. Slowly, she turned to face the woman backlit by the floor lamp. Curly red hair perfectly in place, night gown freshly ironed, and a look of absolute frustration marring the otherwise pleasant face.

"Jade-Ann Marie Ridoleau, where the Hell have you been?!"

She winced at the use of her full name, but she didn't shy away from the confrontation. Letting Shine leap out of her arms, she crossed her chest in defiance.

"I was out."

"No shit," the woman said sarcastically. Jade's lips pursed.

"What do you want me to say, Miriam? 'I'm sorry, I'll never do it again!'" The last part was said in a high-pitched whiny voice.

Miriam took a few angry steps towards the teen. She poked her finger in her face.

"You promised me this would stop when we moved here. I gave up a good job to bring you here so you could escape those crazy druggies you were hanging out with."

Jade sighed and rolled her eyes, a tell-tale sign that this was an argument the pair hashed out often.

"First of all, I never hung out with druggies. Second of all, I know I promised, it's just…I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I need to get out of the house, be out in the night."

Miriam shook her head. "You can't just climb out your bedroom window, Jade. I need to know where you're going. I really don't mind if you go out in the evening, as long as I know where you are. I need to be able to trust you, honey."

Pain crossed Jade's face momentarily, and she bowed her head shamefully. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to worry."

The redhead's face softened, and she grabbed the girl in a one-armed hug. "Can we agree on something? That you'll let me know when you're going out, and I'll give you the freedom?"

Jade looked quizzically up at her, before nodding.

"Okay. Good. Now, I have an appointment with your guidance counsellor tomorrow afternoon, so I hope you haven't skipped any classes yet."

"Aunt Miriam! I've only had one day of school!" Miriam laughed good-naturedly before guiding her niece up the stairs. "Besides, I've only made one friend, and you need at least three people to make the free time worthwhile."

The older woman raised an eyebrow before realizing that Jade was pulling her leg.

"Just get to bed," she sighed, and blew her niece a kiss. Jade headed into her room, Shine close on her heels.

****

She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She hadn't been lying when she said that sometimes she felt like she needed to be out in the dark. But to her, it seemed more like an urge…

She pulled the wooden hairpin out of her waistband and tossed it in her open jewellery case. Then she yanked her shirt over her head and tugged her skirt off. Too exhausted to dig through her yet-to-be-unpacked suitcase for pyjamas, she climbed between her crisp sheets wearing only her underwear.

Shine jumped up beside her and Jade stroked her head to tail, getting a deep purr for her care. She smiled, and snuggled into her bed, willing herself to have one nightmare-free slumber.

In moments, she was drifting off to sleep, the only sound the rumbling of the cat's chest.

****

Aerosmith invaded her sleep. Jade's eyes opened lazily and she groaned as she rolled over to turn off her clock radio. Yawning, she stretched and kicked off her blankets.

She climbed out of bed and shrugged on her robe. As she tied it closed, she heard Shine mewing at the door.

"Hmm, I guess you want breakfast, hey? I'm hungry too."

Jade opened her door and Shine shot through it and practically flew down the stairs.

"Shine?" she called out. "What's wrong?"

A worried frown creased her forehead, and she cautiously descended to the main floor. As she entered the living room, she heard the cat's distressed cries from the kitchen. Jade grabbed a letter opener off the end table and crept towards the gap in the wall that led out of the room.

The kitchen was dark, the tiny shafts of light that crept in between the blinds weren't enough to illuminate the room. Jade reached out, her hand fumbling along the wall, until her fingers brushed against the light switch. She flicked it.

The steady drip of Miriam's blood pooling beneath the dining table was all her senses could register. She didn't see Shine lapping at the red liquid like it were milk, nor did she notice the way her aunt's intestines swung from the overhead fan.

Jade dropped the weapon she held and shuffled shakily towards the dead body. She reached out a trembling hand and closed the vacant eyes.

The smell in the room was rancid, like the body had been rotting for days. Her stomach crawled up her throat and she ran to the sink, emptying her dinner into it's steel tub.

She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, and fumbled with the tap, turning it the wrong way and not getting any water. Angrily, she smacked it with her palm, then turned it the right way, rinsing out her mouth by cupping her hands and dipping them into the stream.

A creak behind her made her pause, and she turned her head. Unnaturally strong hands grabbed her around the waist and threw her into the table. The weight of her body on top of her aunt's was too much for the wood, and it collapsed as she landed, splintering into pieces.

Jade scrambled to her feet, grabbing two sharp pieces of wood and tucking them into the long sleeves of her now open robe. She turned to face her attacker, and she found herself face to face with the ugliest vampire she had ever seen.

It cocked its head at her and sniffed the air. In a strange way, it reminded her of a hunting dog. She backed away slowly, but it followed her step for step. Fear getting the better of her, she turned and ran, hoping to make it to the front door before her assailant.

But it was incredibly fast, faster than any vamp she had encountered before. It caught her as she rounded the couch, and she was thrown against the wall. Plaster fell with the force of the impact, and she knew her hip was broken as she fell to the ground.

The Ubervamp stood above her, waiting. For what, she didn't know, and she didn't want to find out. Jade started dragging herself across the floor with her hands, and it followed behind her, watching intently. Irritated, and more than a little hysterical, she egged it on.

"Come on, aren't you going to kill me? I've got nice, warm blood in here. Or was Miriam's enough for you!"

It reached down and grabbed on of her ankles and yanked, pulling her towards it. She screamed as the pain in her hip increased tenfold, but she managed to keep herself from passing out. If only it would get close enough for her to stake it…

The vampire crawled above her, not touching her, but studying her face like it were a work of art. Jade was nearly hyperventilating by now, but her years of training allowed her to think clearly enough for her to slip one of the stakes out of her sleeve.

As it leaned in to taste her, she swung her arm in an arc and plunged the wood into its back, straight through the heart, and the pointed tip poked through its chest. It jerked back, away from her neck, and stared down at its body in confusion.

The Ubervamp stood up, and Jade flung herself away. It gripped the end of the stake, and pulled it out the front. She stared at it, shocked, then screamed for her life as it lunged towards her.

Jade squeezed her eyes shut, but the door opened then, and she heard a voice.

"You can't kill it that way, Jade-Ann. But it will burn."

Both hunter and prey turned. There stood Dawn, torch in hand.

"No, Dawn! You have to get out of here. This is a monster!"

But she came further into the room, holding the burning stick in front of her. The front door closed behind her, and there stood a young man, bow in hand, aimed right for the tall brunette's head.

Dawn was oblivious to the danger behind her. Jade tried to warn her, but it was too late. The quiver flew, and it hit its mark straight and true.

Her body fell to the ground beside Jade, and the torch rolled within reach. Instinctively, she grabbed it up and thrust it into the demon's chest. It screamed and flailed about before combusting into flames and turning to dust.

Jade fell back exhaustedly on the floor, and the man came forward to examine his handiwork. She turned to him.

"Zeke, why? Why did you do it?" she asked pitifully.

He looked back at her and held her gaze. "No one can know about you, Jade. This is the consequence."

"But they didn't know!" she pleaded. He shook his blond head sorrowfully.

"Maybe not yet, but they will."

****

Jade sat up in bed, sticky with sweat. This dream was horrible, like all the others she'd had every night since she'd left France. Maybe she needed to get some kind of sleeping aid, she thought.

She went to the window to let in some fresh air, but found it jammed. Pulling back the curtain, she saw that Miriam had put nails in the frame as stoppers. Jade sighed and sank onto the bed.

Shine padded across the comforter and nuzzled her hand. Absently, she pet the cat, and stared out the window into the night.