Life after Death
Twelve.
The scent of blood in the air was thick and heavy. The fragrance washed over Kim, distracting her for a second before she refocused. She ran closely behind her companions as they traveled. The potent scent of iron led them toward the wharf. She stood on the wooden ground, brows raised.
"Blood is in the air, Kim," Miguel stated, eyes searching their surroundings. "There has been a fresh kill, many to be exact."
Kim turned to the shorter male, happy that she had company on her rescue mission. Miguel had been alive as long as Rudy. He came from a highly influential vampire family that lived on the outskirts of Seaford. The older vampire joined support after a grueling interview and background check. In the beginning there had been some distrust, but it went away as soon as the vampire proved he had no ill intentions.
"Miguel is right," a tall, broad shouldered female, remarked. "I can tell these are the rogues that have been trying to terrorize group members as they enter and leave Life after Death."
"Impressive. I was wondering when I'd run into you all again."
Kim narrowed her eyes, fists clenched at her side. Kai stood a few feet away. A crimson stain painted the lower half of his chin. He set his dark ruby eyes on her, grinning. Kim swallowed a lump in her throat as she took one step forward.
"You know," Kai stated, eyeing a sheet of paper. "I will admit to having half of the people on this list."
Miguel patted down his pockets before he narrowed his eyes at Kai. Kim stood to the side, worried. Kai never failed to remind her that he too was just as powerful as Jack. Experience and age meant everything in the vampire world.
"I'm shocked. Jerry isn't on this list. Was he a lost cause to begin with?" Kai questioned. "I'm really surprised. I thought support left no vampires behind, or are you all wising up now?"
"Where are Jerry and the others?" Kim questioned.
"The others?" Kai questioned and then shrugged. "Can't help you there. Ask for Jerry? Guess."
Kim launched forward, dodging a punch aimed at her face. Off to the side, her companions fought off the other rogues as she delivered a roundhouse kick to Kai's face. She had to get to Jerry. Kai seemed too amused with himself and she didn't like it. Her fangs extended from her gums as a punch met her shoulder.
"What do you want with Jerry?" she asked.
"Nothing. I don't want anything from any of these vampires," he remarked. "What I do want is for support to crash like a train running off the tracks. I want you all to fail so badly that you'll have no choice but to rethink everything. Do you honestly think the attack would have happened if your merry little hold hands group existed?"
Kim swung her fist at his head, distracting him. Before Kai could block her again, one of her team members jumped in taking her place. She thanked the young vampire under her breath and bolted, heading toward the location the smell of blood was the strongest. She ended up at an empty store with a for lease sign on the glass windows.
Droplets of blood littered the ground. She took a deep breath, pushing the doors open. She staggered at the overwhelming scent of blood. Her eyes watered and her senses tingled at the familiar scent. She didn't know if Jerry was inside, but it wouldn't hurt to check. She only hoped her suspicions weren't right.
"Jerry!"
She bolted across the empty room and toward the back door, where she assumed the previous store held its extra product. She rushed past public restrooms toward an employee-only door. From the strong scent in the air, she could estimate the kill happened a good forty or fifty minutes ago. She pushed the door open, the scent increasing to an outstanding amount.
Her eyes instantly averted from the sight beyond the door, landing on a still form to her left. Jerry. She dropped to her knees in shock, eventually managing to crawl towards where he lay, half-propped up against the wall of shelving.
"Jerry, oh my gosh."
Déjà vu was all Kim felt as she cupped the fallen teen's face in her hands. His eyelids cracked open at her touch, and she laughed in sheer relief. Her eyes focused on the outline of red around his lips, but she turned her attention away soon after. She repeated her thanks to whoever above as she continued her hold on his face.
"Jerry, you are okay, you aren't injured are you?" she questioned.
Jerry's head lolled to the side, eyes focused on a point further into the room. She frowned at the change in direction and followed his gaze. Her heart caught in her throat. She turned her attention right back to Jerry, eyes wide.
"Jerry," she cried, tightening her grip on his face. "Jerry."
Jerry's lips stretched into a smile, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. Kim relinquished her hold, tears streaming down her cheeks. The body she hadn't wanted to see lay near the center of the room, but she couldn't bring herself to check out the damage. Her hands shook as she reached for her cellphone.
She dialed Jack's number, heartbeat pounding in her ears. She kept one hand on Jerry's chest as the phone waited to connect with the other caller. She stuttered and babbled out a hurried response, a vague explanation leaving her lips. Jerry began to laugh.
Kim licked her lips, eyes focused on the glazed look on the other's face. "Hey, it is going to be okay. We'll get you out of this."
"I shouldn't have lived," he remarked, leaning toward Kim. "I –Kim, I killed a man."
Kim shook her head. "You lost your way, Jerry."
Jerry laughed, head falling back to rest against the low shelf. Clusters of grease laden knots rested within his locks. She winced as she inspected him further, noticing his hollow cheeks and cracked lips. He hadn't been taking care of himself since his absence. She covered her mouth with her right hand, tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Kim!"
She froze at the familiar voice, and her heart soared from her chest. Jack spotted her, ran over, and dropped to his knees looking over Jerry then meeting Kim's gaze. Her tear stricken face met his own shocked eyes.
"Jack," she cried, moisture re-collecting in her eyes. "Gosh!"
"Kim, hey, shhh…," he remarked with a softness in his eyes, caressing her face as she wept over Jerry. "We need to check on the other guy, okay?"
Kim shook her head. She couldn't. Jack sighed and she heard him rise and disappear from her line of sight. Jack's voice hitched. All her years of vampire support, she had seen varying degrees of horror. It had been a while since she had entered the allies in search for new vampires. With the attack on support still fresh in her mind, she couldn't look at anymore gruesome scenes. She couldn't take a look at the body.
"Yeah, uhm –the man didn't make it."
Jerry shouted, body shaking. Kim's eyes softened as she hushed him with more words of comfort. It was bad, all three of them knew it. With wide eyes and teeth gritted, tears trailed down Jerry's cheeks. He knocked his balled fists upon the ground on either side of him and Kim rested her hand upon his shoulder, ignoring the stench of blood surrounding them.
"I'm going to call an ambulance, we can't leave him here," Jack stated, clicking out numbers on his cell. "We can't be here when they get here."
Jerry shook his head, clenching his eyes shut, and spoke from overpowering grief. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm a lousy vampire and a lousy slayer. I killed vampires and I kill humans."
Jack paused, phone glued to his ear. Kim glanced back and noticed the sudden flame in his eyes, and he turned around, throwing his arms up. Jack barked out the address to the emergency responder with the little detail he had and then disconnected the call.
"You aren't going anywhere? We aren't going to freaking leave you here," Jack shouted as he glared at the pair. "Believe me! It isn't from the goodness of my heart. Vampires are already under the thumb of society. The rogues are causing trouble for us. We don't want to add you to that list. If they catch you, you are going to be in a world of trouble. And somehow that will trickle down to us."
"So this is what vampires do? They cover up the tracks of others," Jerry responded, tired eyes glaring back at them. "You just come in and sweep everything under the rug. Do you have any sense of justice?"
Jack howled with laughter pacing around and bypassing the dark trails of blood at his feet.
"You want justice, fine. Stay, let them eliminate you," Jack spat, raising his voice. "You were trouble ever since you appeared in our lobby a month ago. I'd be happy to see you dead."
"Stop it, Jack." Kim said, narrowing her eyes with a disapproving look.
Jerry forced a laugh. "Good, I'd be happy to see me dead too. Apparently, I'm going to die soon anyway."
"I said stop it!" Kim screamed, raising her voice an octave higher.
Jack and Jerry froze directing their attention to the wrinkle between her furrowed brow, and the determined glare upon her face. Her frown deepened as she analyzed both their faces. Her heart pounded in her ears. She couldn't believe the poisonous conversation that had transpired in front of her.
"Do you both hear yourselves?" Kim hollered out, continuing her tirade. "First off Jack, we are vampire support. We come in and we support. There are consequences for all our actions and we will deal with it as it comes, but you need to calm the heck down. How dare you scream at Jerry? He is traumatized. He is speaking from trauma. That isn't fair."
Jack sighed, muscles loosening and shoulders slumping as he averted his eyes briefly.
"And you, Jerry, don't you dare wish death upon yourself," she spoke, voice stern, but soft. "The life of a vampire has never been easy, but it doesn't mean we roll over and die any chance we face a problem. We own up to everything and we move forward. There are people out there human and vampire that care about you. They would be crushed if they heard such troubling words from you. For example, Milton and Eddie."
Jerry perked at the information. "Milton? Eddie? What about them?"
"Your buddy, Milton, stopped by vampire support. He is the reason you haven't been caught by police or worse slayers." Jack stated, eyes focused on them with a serious expression on his face.
"That idiot," Jerry whispered beneath his breath with an irritated look. "How –does he not know how dangerous it is?"
"Now," Kim stated with her face softening, gesturing toward Jack. "We are taking you back to support."
Jerry paused, realizing what they were going to do, then he began struggling in their grip. With wide eyes wide he groaned, clenching his eyes shut. "No, you can't. I don't deserve it. I –don't deserve it!"
Kim sighed, forcing him to move his legs and feet toward the exit. Jerry ripped from their grasp and scrambled toward the fallen human being. Kim and Jack turned away as Jerry wept and apologized over the broken body. Kim covered her mouth with her red stained hand. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist as Jerry wept in the background.
For a week Jerry curled in on himself, refusing blood and any forms of comfort. He commandeered one of the staff offices and claimed it as his own. No one bothered him. Jack rejected the idea of any visitations from Jerry's slayer friends. Kim frowned, but accepted it. She agreed it would be dangerous.
"He'll regress all the way to day one, Jack," Kim stated, head resting upon her folded arms. "He'll regress back to that jittery mess we met weeks ago. We have to get him to come out of there and talk to us. He isn't drinking and he is barely eating."
Jack reclined in his chair in their office. Kim sighed. Jack's initial rigidity had softened over the days. She hoped he would be back to normal soon enough. She missed the Jack that was willing to help all the vampires he could. She missed the Jack who tried to bring the rogues to a better path. Too many events of failure had beaten him down. Kim saw the pain their failures caused in his eyes. She knew she often mirrored the same expression, even if she hid it well.
"I'm not going to invite a vampire murderer into the building, Kim," Jack reminded, in case she had forgotten. "That Milton runs tests and experiments on vampires for a living. He isn't stepping another foot in here, even if he is the key to our success. Let Jerry cry it out of his system."
"You've become cold."
"No, I haven't," Jack stated, brows furrowed. "I'm just a little more cautious. I'm going to check out the new vampires. Cecil asks very basic questions and I'll feel better after chatting with them myself."
Kim's mouth hung open as she watched Jack arise from his chair, passing Rudy on the way out. The elder vampire rested his side on the door frame, arms crossed. He allowed his gaze to follow Jack for a second, before he turned to Kim. She huffed and turned in her chair to face the empty desk chair.
"Got a quick moment?"
"Yes."
He entered, taking Jack's chair. Kim smiled. Despite all the changes with Jack, Rudy met the suggestions with perfect skepticism and criticism. She knew he didn't 100 percent approve of Jack's ways. His obsession with safety was doing support no favors.
"Rudy, please tell me you've gotten a majority vote against Jack's new rules?"
"No."
She slouched in her seat.
"Besides even those opposed secretly agreed by a show of hand. You were there. And no one wants to hold another meeting to discuss."
All large decisions affecting the entire group were discussed amongst a committee. The eldest vampires made up the committee, Jack and Kim included. Sadly, a majority vote was all they needed for decision making. Kim was the only minority on the decision. She guessed tragedy changed everything and she couldn't blame them. A little part of her heart wanted the new measures taken for safety. She wasn't blind to all the gore she saw the day of the attack. No one had been.
"I'll agree Jack is taking some creative liberties with our new restrictions and rules," Rudy remarked. "I never said interrogate and scare new members nor did I say make anyone nervous and guilty. They think they did something wrong. I'm surprised they still wanted to join."
"What is the alternative?" Kim questioned, head tilted to the side.
"Not pretty."
For a second, they sat in silence. Rudy sighed. Kim looked to the expression of exhaustion on the male's face. His brows furrowed and tired lines etched into his face. She understood his tiredness. The common misconception was vampires were incapable of any human physical reactions. They were correct to an extent. Ill proper care of one's personal health could lead to terrible exhaustion and decrease in all ability and strength. Many vampires after the attack struggled with getting into a stabilized routine. Some were still trying to get back to normal.
"How long do we plan to leave Jerry alone?" Rudy asked.
Kim's eyes widened. She shook her head, lips in a thin line. Her thoughts drifted to an indifferent, Jack. No, she wasn't being fair. Jack had so much on his plate. They were all stressed. There were many vampires still missing and some of their families worried.
"The plan was never to leave him in the first place," Kim remarked, shoulders relaxing. "But he left us and we brought him back. He is wallowing in his sorrow and he won't let anyone get to him. Rudy, I've seen Sam knocking at the door. The members' who looked up to him the most hoped for things to go back to normal. But –I don't know what to tell them right now. I can't imagine Jerry wants people to know he killed anyone."
Rudy paused. "Maybe he should."
Kim raised a brow.
"Kim, support is where you express all your deepest thoughts and pains. He hasn't been coming to group has he?"
"He barely comes down to the cafeteria. At least in the beginning, I knew he was eating, but now I'm not so sure. He is worrying the other members who don't understand or know the full story."
"Rudy?"
Both turned toward the door where Constance stood. She worried her lip between her teeth as she waited for him. Rudy excused himself, heading toward the other vampire. On the way out, she heard hushed whispers about Seaford Regional and their blood supply. She winced. Seaford Regional wanted to cut their supply in half. She groaned and then headed out the hall. Her duties awaited her and she would have to dwell on all of their problems at a later time.
Hey everyone! Things look bleak, I know. I'm sorry. Hope you enjoyed the chapter either way.
Special thanks to reviewers:
XoThatCrazyChickoX, thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I'm glad the mystery with Jerry was cleared up. And Kim is okay, well depending on what your definition of okay is. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. And you are welcome, you write very well. I enjoyed your stories. Thanks again for your support.
Special thanks to Goddess Cure Mystic for leaving a favorite.
Well, everyone the next chapter is the final chapter! I know, the very last chapter. It will take a bit of time since it is the final chapter. The next chapter is 10% (estimated) of the way done.
I want to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, following, and for leaving favorites. You all are the best! Thanks!
Until Next Chapter,
Bye