The moon's reflection shines bright in the fountain outside of the picturesque mansion. The crunch of tires on gravel breaks the silence of the night. A black Volkswagen makes its way up the long driveway before slipping quietly into the subterranean two car garage. The overhead garage door closes as a woman in her mid twenties steps from the car. Her long black and purple hair cascades over her shoulders as she heads into the lower level of the house.
Boxes are strewn everywhere. It looks as though she has only recently moved in. She climbs the stairs to the main level and stops in the big open kitchen. She drops her car keys on the grey granite counter top. She opens the fridge door, taking out a glass bottle of dark red liquid. There's a pop as she removes the top and takes a long drink.
"Ugh," she grimaces. "This shit is awful cold."
Quickly, she chugs the rest before dumping the bottle into a bin beneath the sink. Her footsteps are almost silent as she makes her way up the stairs to her bedroom. The deep purple walls are a perfect accent for the black wooden furniture. She opens the door to her walk-in closet and begins thumbing through a wall of hangers. She decides on a low cut simple black shirt, a black and white plaid skirt and a pair of platform boots. She changes quickly and pulls a brush through her hair before touching up her makeup. When she's finally satisfied with her appearance she makes her way back downstairs. She stops to glance at her cell phone on the way out the door. No messages, she shakes her head. Maybe some day her maker will figure out technology.
She gets back into her car and tries to decide if she's going to go into the city or stay local. A quick look at the clock tells her that she will be staying local tonight. A trip to the city left too much opportunity to get stuck there by sunrise. The chance to explore some local options suited her just fine. She was new to the area and wasn't too familiar with the local vampire community. Her old hometown didn't have many kindred, which was part of the reason for her move. She was in the process of settling down and getting her new home ready for her family to move in with her. They had a few loose ends to tie up before they would be ready to move in.
She cruises down the town's main strip rolling her window down to listen, even though she doesn't have to. She passes by a few techno and hip hop clubs before settling on a more grungy punk rock sounding one. A few junkies tool around the sidewalk and a some people sit passed out against the wall of the building. She can't decide if they've been drained by another vampire or if they've just had too much drugs and alcohol. She parks her car around the side of the building and walks into the club. The club is busy. Immediately she notices that there is a good mixture of humans and vampires. Music blares through the speakers, the dance floor is well populated. She orders a drink at the bar and gives herself the chance to observe the occupants of the club.
The dance floor is set three steps down below the main seating area. Tables with chairs and a few high top cocktail tables line the bannister surrounding the dance floor. There are semi circle booths set deep into the wall for maximum privacy lining the two walls opposite the bar. They're all occupied, but two groups stand out to her. The first table has a group of five chatting and enjoying each others company. Two guys with long dark hair, a heavily tattooed man with a rainbow of colors in his hair who has the same features as one of the dark haired guy. He's next to a redheaded woman about the same age as her and another guy covering in tattoos and a black and white striped Mohawk spiked high. She smiles to herself thinking that they seem like a fun group.
She lets her gaze wander farther down the wall of tables. The second group of guys is headed by a man with long dark dreadlocks and a skeletal face. To his right are a man with a cowboy hat and beard and another with short hair and dark glasses. To his left a guy with his hood up letting it cover the most of his face. At the end of the booth is a man with long wavy blonde hair and a killer smile. He makes eye contact with her and pats the seat of the both between him and the guy with the hood. She waits for a moment before taking him up on the invitation. He stands and let's her slide into the booth before sitting back down.
"You just moved into the old Cromwell place," the man with the dreadlocks states more than asks.
A brief moment of confusion flutters over her, "How did you know that?"
"My name is Vampiro. I make it a point to know when new kindred move to the area," he grins. "Meet my children. To my right James and Desmond. To your left is Edge. And this is AJ."
"And what's your name dear?" Desmond asks with a thick British accent.
"Ravyn Storm," she states.
"Maybe you're my cousin," James laughs from under his cowboy hat.
AJ chuckles lifting his hood slightly, "No way your ugly mug is related to her." James stands up to slap at AJ who leans just out of his reach.
"Enough!" Vampiro hisses. "Are you here alone?"
She pauses before answering, "Tonight, yes."
She sits and observes Vampiro's clan for a while. Just trying to get a feel for their personalities. James and Desmond keep the drinks flowing. Edge asks her a few questions about her family, but nothing intrusive. She makes small talk with the group until a young woman makes her way up to the table and makes eye contact with Vampiro while flashing him her neck. He excuses himself and disappears with her into a private room.
"Fang banger," Edge answers her unasked question.
Once Vampiro is gone the boys seem to relax a bit. Desmond heads out to the dance floor with promises of tormenting some unsuspecting women. Edge offers to dance with Ravyn, but she politely declines. Slightly miffed, he leaves the table. James wanders off to the bar a minute later. She and AJ sit together awkwardly for a few minutes before she breaks the silence, "You're not like them are you?"
"What do you mean?" He asks pushing the hood off of his head to reveal shaggy brown hair and the beginning of a beard. "They're my family."
"Never mind," she dismisses the thought. "Come keep me company." She takes his hand and leads him down a set of stairs to the dance floor. They dance together for a few songs before she hears someone behind AJ.
"Cutting in Styles," the guy with the mohawk says tapping him on the shoulder. AJ tries to refuse, but he insists, sending AJ back to his table. She watches AJ almost throw a fit before stalking back to his table angrily. "Are you ok over there with them?"
She stammers, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "Vampiro doesn't have the best reputation around these parts. He's kind of a tyrant." They dance for a few more songs before he smirks and says, "You looked like you might need saving from that crew."
She laughs, "AJ isn't bad. But the rest of them leave something to be desired."
"They're a bunch of douchebags," he states. "What's your name anyways?"
"Ravyn," she smirks.
"I'm Shannon," he smiles. "You should come meet my friends. I think you'll find them much more appealing than those guys." He leads her over to the table where his friends are sitting. She slides into the booth next to the girl with the red hair. "Guys, meet Ravyn. Ravyn this is Matt, Shane, Jeff and Jenn."
Matt and Shane are the two with longer dark hair. Matt's has a curl to it while Shane's is straighter. Shane has a Green Lantern tattoo on his shoulder. Next to him is Jeff. He's the one with the rainbow hair. His features are very similar to Matt's. Between her and Jeff is Jenn. Ravyn smiles at the group politely before Shannon speaks.
"Pretty sure I saved her from those jerks," he declares.
"Good job Prince," Matt approves.
The group openly talks with her. Already she can feel a huge difference between this group and Vampiro's. Shannon and his friends are much more laid back and friendly from the beginning.
"So you're from Calgary?" Shane asks.
"I am," she smiles. "Needed to get away for a bit. Thinking of moving my family down here eventually. But right now the change of scenery is nice."
"So you're here by yourself?" Jenn questions. "No wonder Vampiro was all over you!"
Ravyn just tilts her head quizzically hoping that someone will elaborate. "Vampiro has been trying to take over this area. He can't get The Council behind him until he has a large enough clan to claim dominance for this part of the state. He was probably hoping that you would be an easy convert and your clan would join up with him," Matt explains.
She snickers, "That would never happen. My maker would never tolerate that guy."
"I'm surprised that you put up with him for as long as you did," Shannon states.
"Luckily you came to my rescue," she flirts.
Their heads all turn as Vampiro makes his way back to his table. He glances from face to face and becomes visibly annoyed that Ravyn is gone. He looks around and sees her sitting with the other group. Rage fills his eyes. James, Desmond and Edge quickly throw AJ under the bus and blame him for her disappearance. Vampiro backhands AJ, sending him crashing to the floor. He gets up only for Vampiro to be right back on top of him punching him relentlessly. Ravyn has to look away. A feeling of dread sweeps over her as she realizes that in some way she has caused this to happen to him.
"He'll be okay," Shannon assures her. "AJ is resilient."
"Don't think that this is your fault in any way," Jenn tries to comfort her. "He chose them. There's not really anything we can do to help him now."
She leans into Shannon a bit feeling sorry for AJ, "But he doesn't deserve that. He's not like the rest of them."
The others nod, but agree with Jenn's answer. Ravyn tries to keep her mind off of AJ by watching the rest of the people in the club and chatting with her new friends. After another round of drinks Jenn and Jeff head down to the dance floor. Shannon looks at her and motions for her to follow them. She nods her head letting him take her hand and lead her there. They dance for a few songs, completely in tune with each other. That only changes when Ravyn notices that Edge has appeared on the floor. AJ and James weren't far from him. They're all dancing with random girls. Ravyn shoots Shannon a look.
"Are you sure?" He questions her.
She nods,"I just want to make sure he's okay."
"Ok," he understands. "But I won't be far. Just in case you need me."
Shannon watches skeptically as she turns to go to AJ. But she stops short, turning to kiss Shannon on the cheek before going. She taps AJ on the shoulder and he spins around expecting something bad. He relaxes when he sees that it's just her. She reaches a hand up to brush her thumb across a cut that has almost finished healing under his eye. He sighs and looks at the floor in embarrassment.
"You alright?" Her voice filled with concern.
"Yeah," he almost whispers. "I'll be fine. Are you okay with those guys?"
She nods, "Definitely."
AJ opens his mouth to say something when they hear a commotion behind them on the dance floor. They spin around to find Jeff and Edge at each other's throats. Quickly they make their way across the floor to see what was going on. AJ steps in front of her protectively and a second later Shannon appears over her shoulder. Jeff and Edge continue to go at it as a crowd begins to form. The girl who was dancing with Edge steps into the mix and swings her arm at Jeff's torso. He lets out an unexpected shriek of pain. Matt and Shane are at his side instantly. Jenn tries to calm him down every way she can but he continues to freak out. They realize the cause of his meltdown when they see a three inch long silver knife handle sticking out of his side. He keeps trying to grab for it but Jenn stops him, worried that he will do more damage ripping it out himself. Jeff's fangs flash as he writhes in pain. Matt quickly puts his coat over Jeff's shoulders and leads him outside. Edge turns away from the scene laughing. Ravyn quickly hugs AJ and takes Shannon's hand to follow his friends outside. Shannon pauses to shoot AJ a look of thanks. AJ nods in acknowledgment as they disappear.
Outside they find Jeff leaning against matts car, still crazed with pain. He fights with Matt and Shane to let him go back inside. They struggle with him for a moment before using almost all of their strength to force him into the back seat.
Matt glances around trying not to panic. "They're going to be out here any minutes," he stammers.
"Follow me to my place," Ravyn suggests. "They won't expect that."
Matt quickly weighs their options and nods in agreement. She and Shannon get her car and pull around for Matt to follow. She leads him on a series of switchbacks and and back roads to ensure that they aren't being followed. Finally she feels confident enough to drive to her home. She can see Shannon's eyes widen when her place comes into view. "I know," she smirks. "It's elaborate. But it's the only place that I could make the alterations that I needed." He nods, accepting her answer. She taps the garage door opener and guides her car into its spot. Matt pulls in beside her into the spacious garage. She touches the button again and lowers the overhead door. She starts guiding people to where they need to be as quickly as possible. She takes Jenn and Jeff to a bathroom on the garage level where they work on pulling the knife from his side with a pair of leather gardening gloves. The moment the knife is freed Jeff breathes a sigh of relief. He looks down to confirm that he isn't bleeding to death and sighs again letting out a nervous laugh. Ravyn gets him a towel and leaves him alone to get cleaned up. She takes the rest of the group upstairs to the living room to try and relax.
"The sun will be up soon," Matt worries aloud.
"Not a problem," Ravyn assures him. "The house is completely sunlight proofed. You'll be completely fine here during daylight hours."
"Really?" Jenn asks.
Ravyn nods, "It took a lot of work. But every room in the house is finally finished."
"We won't be able to make it home before sunrise," Shannon points out. "Are you sure it's okay if we stay here?"
"Absolutely," she smiles. "It'll be nice to have some company actually. Like a house warming party."
Jeff appears in the archway of the living room wearing only his jeans. "I really liked this shirt too," he looks down at the bloody crumpled piece of fabric dejectedly.
"I have some stuff upstairs that should fit you," Ravyn offers. "Come on. I'll give you guys the tour."
She leads them through the dining room and kitchen then up the black marble staircase to the upper level where the guest rooms are. She takes them to the first room on the right and rummages through a dresser. She stands up with a shirt with a comic book character on it.
"Sandman," Shane grins. "Nice."
"It's my brother's," she hands the shirt to Jeff. "You guys are welcome to any rooms up here. Mine is at the end of the hallway. If you aren't completely exhausted there's a media room down across from the garage. Movies, video games, that sort of thing. And please, help yourselves to anything in the kitchen."
Jenn and Jeff decide to go to bed while everyone else heads down to the game room to unwind. Ravyn flips a switch on the wall and the room hums to life. The walls are lined with arcade cabinets and in the center of the room are air hockey and foosball tables. Ravyn shows them a dark room off to the side where a large flat screen tv sits surrounded by DVDs and couches. The four of them switch on and off playing each other in air hockey. Shane gives up after his third straight loss and goes to bed. Finally they declare Matt the undefeated winner. After destroying everyone Matt yawns, stretching dramatically and heads upstairs. He waves to them on his way out reminding them not to stay up too late.
"So, what do you want to do?" Ravyn asks.
"I'm not really tired yet," Shannon admits. "Want to watch a movie or something?"
"Sure," smiling, she leads him to the adjoining room and points at a large rack of DVDs. "Pick something."
He wanders over to the wall and begins to browse the selection while she starts up the TV. He snickers, "Do you really own every vampire movie ever made?"
"I do," she confirms giggling. "They're alphabetical too."
He thumbs through a few more cases before holding up a case, "let's go with a classic. John Carpenter's Vampires."
"Nothing like a little head eh Padre?" She quotes. "One of my favorites!"
They settle onto the couch and start the movie. They laugh together at the ridiculous depictions of vampires on the screen. They're enjoying each other's company and before long Ravyn is asleep with her head in Shannon's lap. He lets the movie finish before he carries her up to her room. He tucks her into bed and turns to leave when he feels her hand reach out and grab his.
"Stay," she yawns. "Please?"
He thinks it over before nodding and climbing into the bed next to her. She snuggles herself up next to him and rests her head in his chest. He wraps his arms arms around her and smiles to himself before letting himself fall asleep.