Eternity Chapter 1
TWTWTW
It was almost 11pm on a warm summer's evening in Cardiff. The moon was high in the sky, shining down on the people walking around.
There was a lone figure in the shadows, watched a young man very closely. Watched him walk from the bar to his car, which was parked a few streets away. Watched as, on unsteady legs , he unlocked the car, then get in and drove away. Then the shadowy figure, too, was gone.
The following night, at just after 9pm, the lone figure in the shadows watched as the same young man entered a supermarket, then minutes later, came out again. Watched as he crossed the road and went into a building. Then the figure vanished, as it did the night before.
"So, Jack, done anything interested the last few days?" asked Owen, winking at his colleagues.
"No, not really. It's been….quiet." He smiled to himself.
"Not fancied a quick bite then?"
Jack shook his head. "No."
"Shame that," said Gwen. "Don't you get lonely? I know I would."
"I've been on my own for over six hundred years. I can wait a little longer."
"Then you've picked someone out?"
"I might have."
"It's time to draw blood, Tosh," said Owen, moving towards the autopsy bay. "Just the one pint, Jack?"
He nodded.
The young Japanese woman laid down on the steel table, exposing her arm to her colleague.
"It seems like yesterday I was giving blood."
"A month ago, actually. But that was the local Blood Donor Unit, not our Lord and Master, Jack Harkness."
"I still have to pinch myself. Us, working with a vampire. Who'd have believed it a year ago?"
"He saved our bacon." Gwen stated.
Owen put the thin needle into Tosh's arm.
"I shudder to think what would have happened, if Jack hadn't pulled me out of that burning house." Gwen shivered.
"Burnt to a crisp, I think," said Owen. "The same as me. It's uncanny how he knew where we were."
Jack remained quiet.
"And I would have drowned," said Tosh, watching Owen putting the thicker needle into her vein.
"Do any of you regret staying? Working at Torchwood….with me?"
"Nah," said Owen, looking up. "It's a job and I kinda like it."
Jack smiled, exposing his fangs.
"When was the last time you actually drank blood like a true vampire, Jack?"
"About six hundred years ago."
"And your over three thousand years old?"
"Yes."
"What changed, Jack? Did you lose someone?"
Jack closed his eyes for a moment, then looked directly at Gwen. "I took the life of a young girl. I didn't know that she was with child. I took two lives that night and something inside me changed." He sighed. "The blood tasted different….too pure. I couldn't drink after that night, not from a host."
"I thought vampires needed to drink every night."
Jack laughed. "That's stuff of old movies. Like crucifixes, garlic and sunlight. I walk during the day. I eat garlic and I go into churches."
"So," began Gwen, smiling. "Have you seen someone you like?"
"That, would be telling."
"Come on, Jack," said Tosh.
Jack held up his hands in surrender. "Okay! Yes, I have seen someone."
"Is she pretty?"
"She?" said Jack, his eyebrows almost meeting.
"He?" Owen asked.
Jack nodded.
"Right. Each to his own."
"Will you bring him here?" asked Tosh, sitting up.
Owen took the beaker of blood, offering it to Jack.
"Yes." He replied, taking a drink. "Tonight, I think." another drink. "I've waited long enough. I need a mate. Eternity is too long alone." Then he drained the beaker, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
They watched, as Jack walked up to his office, closing the door.
Ianto Jones walked out of his building and over to the supermarket.
He needed milk.
It was a Friday night and the streets were alive with party goes. People on stag night and hen runs. They mingled with people out for an evening at the pub, or out for a meal. The noise was almost deafening.
Shouting. Screeching. Whistles being blown.
Once inside the supermarket, Ianto closed his eyes and sighed.
Whatever made me rent a flat on this street? he asked himself for the hundredth time. I hate crowds!
Going to the fridge at the back of the store, Ianto picked up a container of milk and then went to look at the assorted cheeses. He picked up a pack of mild cheddar and then went to the Self Service till. Once he'd paid for his items, the young Welshman made his way back out into the bustling street.
In the shadow of the phone box, Jack stood watching Ianto. His face etched with a smile. He moved forward quickly, touched Ianto's shoulder where there was a pressure point. The container of milk and cheese fell to the ground, as the young man's legs sagged under him.
Scooping him up as if he were a baby, Jack carried him along the street and down a side street lined with Fish and Chip shops.
They went unnoticed. Just another drunk being looked after by his mate.
Once out by the back of the Train Station, Jack looked around before speeding away as fast as his legs would go, Ianto still in his arms.
To passers by, it was like a blur: something you see out of the corner of your eye. Not quite sure if anything was there.
Within seconds, Jack was stood by the sleek, silver Water Tower, on a stone that began to descend.
"Aye up," said Owen. "Jack's back."
"And he's not alone," added Gwen.
They all moved towards the lift. Inquisitive to see who Jack had in his arms.
Jack stepped off the lift and walked toward the back stairs leading to the levels below the main Hub. Then he stopped, turning around.
"Why are you all still here? You should have left by now."
"Something came up, work wise," said Owen. "Ans we wanted to see who you brought back with you.
"We're nosy," added Gwen, moving towards the lift.
"We wanted to see who you were bringing back," said Tosh, smiling.
"Is this him?" asked Gwen. "Can we see?"
"All in good time. He'll wake soon. I need to get him to a cell." Jack carried on walking. "Go home!" he called back to them.
"You're going to lock him up?" asked Owen.
"I have to. He'll try to get away. I want him to come to me….willingly."
"Can't you just bite him?" Joked Owen.
Jack shook his head. "It doesn't work like that," and then he was gone.
Moving swiftly to the first cell, Jack opened the door and laid his precious cargo on the mattress, then he moved back, locking the cell door after him. He stood there, just looking, for what seemed like an hour or more, although is was barely ten minutes.
The young man began to wake up, stretching, as if he'd been asleep.
Ianto looked around him. Sat bolt up right.
"Where am I?"
He noticed Jack outside the door.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"So many questions. All in good time, Ianto Jones. All in good time." Then Jack left.
"Hey! Come back here! How do you know my name? Hey!"
Jack kept on going, as the young Welshman's voice got softer and softer. He let a smile curve his lips.
Jack came from the Boeshane dynasty of vampires. They were a noble race. A formidable race, and therefore nothing human or otherwise could stop him or his kin from roaming the earth. He and his kind had co-existed with humans- albeit unknown to human kind - for ten millennia or more.
Jack's father, Abraham was all powerful and made his fledglings in his own image. Strong. Handsome. But above all, strong of mind and will power. For hadn't Jack been alone these six hundred years?
Forgoing companionship for solitude. Friendship for loneliness. Emptiness instead of love.
But now he hoped all that would change.
The moment he saw Ianto Jones, he knew that he was his soul mate. That they were meant to be together, for all eternity.
But it wasn't as easy as that. Ianto had to want to be changed. He himself had to offer himself to Jack. To have Jack take his blood and replace it with Jack's.
Jack now lived for that day.
Sitting in his office, Jack watched on the CCTV camera as Ianto paced in his cell. Running a hand through his hair, Jack stood, walked to the door and then back to his desk. Should he go down and face Ianto Jones or should he wait until tomorrow?
Jack seated himself and watched the monitor.
"Hello! Can you hear me? Let me out of here!"
Ianto began to pace again and then sat down heavily on the mattress.
What does he want? thought Ianto.
Standing up, Ianto approached the Perspex door, putting his fingers through the air holes.
"Hello! Is anyone there!"
Ianto slammed his hand against the offending Perspex several times, hurting it in the process.
"Damn!"
Jack watched as Ianto banged his fists against the Perspex, then stood, walking to the door. He looked down into the Hub. Everyone had left.
At last! he thought.
Leaving his office, Jack went down to the cells.
Ianto saw him approaching.
"What do you want? I don't have any money, if that's what you're after."
"I don't want money." Jack looked at Ianto's bruised knuckles. "I'd stop banging the door if I were you. It won't open."
"What do you want then?"
Jack smiled, his fangs glistening in the light.
"What are you?"
Jack put a finger through the air hole.
"I'm a vampire."
Ianto laughed, nervously. "Course you are, and I'm Johnny Depp."
"No, really."
Jack bit into his finger, sucking the blood from it and then showed the wound to Ianto. It began to heal before his eyes.
"See."
Ianto stepped back, fear showing on his youthful face.
"I'm not gonna hurt you. Quite the opposite really."
Ianto shook his head. "Go to hell!"
Jack laughed. "Eventually, maybe."
Ianto sat back on the mattress. "How did you get me here? The last thing I remember was being in the supermarket."
"I was waiting outside, by the phone box. A pressure point between the shoulder and neck. It's very fast and effective."
"Stalking me, you mean. And where are we exactly?"
"Underground."
"I don't see any coffins." Ianto observed.
Jack shook his head and smiled. "Or garlic, crosses or wooden stakes. Sorry to disillusion you, but that's all Hollywood. We don't frazzle in sunlight either."
"How many of you are there?"
"So many questions." Jack moved away.
"Don't go!"
Jack stopped, turning to face the cell. "I'll be back with food and a drink."
"I-I'm not hungry."
"I'll bring you fruit anyway and milk. You like milk." Then he was gone.
Ianto squeezed the edge of the mattress, taking a deep breath. He was feeling hot….dizzy. Then his world went black.
By the time Jack returned with a bowl of fruit and a container of milk, Ianto was on the floor, unconscious. Opening the cell, Jack went inside, putting the items he was carrying on the floor beside Ianto. Then he knelt beside the younger man, touching his cheek. He was hot to the touch. Sitting him up against the bed, Jack carefully took Ianto's jacket and tie off, laying them on the bottom of the mattress.
Ianto's eyes fluttered open, eyes big, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
"Get away from me!"
"You fainted. It's hot in here. I-I just took off your jacket, that's all."
Ianto moved back against the wall of the cell, knees pulled up to his chest.
Jack offered the milk to Ianto. "Take a drink. It'll cool you down."
Ianto accepted it, smelling it first before he took a sip. His thirst got the better of him and he took a long drink, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
"Better?"
Despite himself, Ianto nodded.
"Good."
"If you're a vampire, why haven't you bitten me? If that's what you want me for."
"It isn't our way. Our chosen one has to want to be changed."
"Want to be changed? You're kidding, right?"
Jack shook his head. "No."
"Who would chose to be a vampire?"
"It has it's good points."
Ianto just stared.
"You live forever. You don't age." Jack half smiled. "Both pluses."
Ianto put the container of milk to one side. "Just how old are you?"
"3004, give or take a few months." Jack smiled. "And still lookin' good."
Ianto shook his head, not quite believing.
"Give it some though, Ianto. I want you with me, forever.."
"I-I'm not….I'm straight."
"So was I, until I saw you."