Chapter Two: Bloodlines

Joyce whirled around and saw a dark skinned man standing behind her. He was tall and dressed sharply. He had no hair on top of his head and his fingernails were nice and clean. Joyce stood up after letting go of the body. She was confused, but also curious. Joyce looked at the man and asked,

"Who are you?"

"My name's Lamont," he said. "And I'm your friend. Follow me, I'll introduce you to the rest of the group."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Joyce snapped.

"Oh yes you are," Lamont said. "You are drawing too much attention and The Slayer will get you. I'm not going to let that happen."

"I already have a place to stay." Joyce said.

"You mean that young girl that you killed?" Lamont asked. "It's not safe."

"I can't just go with you. You're a stranger to me." Joyce said.

"You will come if you want to be safe." Lamont said. "I promise you're perfectly safe with me. I'm your friend. I would never hurt you."

Joyce thought for a moment. She wanted a friend. She needed a friend. All this new change and she needed some guidance. So she decided to go with this Lamont. Perhaps he would explain things. Lamont grinned as Joyce followed him. She couldn't tell what his plan was, but she knew that she needed to figure out how to do things on her own. That way she wouldn't need friends. She could form her own vampire lineage, but she had no idea how to do that.

It would take time and patience.

Joyce followed him to an abandoned building in Sunnydale. There wasn't anything special about the building. Lamont lifted his arm and pulled down his jacket to reveal a tattoo on his right wrist. Joyce saw the tattoo and immediately had questions. What did it mean? Was she going to get one? The door opened and Joyce entered the building with Lamont. Lamont spread his arms out and whirled around,

"Welcome to your new home."

"Home?" Joyce repeated.

"This has everything we need." Lamont said.

Three more vampires came out of the shadows. One of them was another woman. There were two men. They were all very different from each other. The woman looked homeless, the man on the left looked well dressed, and the man on the right looked like he was out of an eighties rock band.

"Welcome," the female said. "My name is Eden."

"My name is Brant." The well dressed male said.

"My name is Stan." The rocker man said.

"Which one of you turned me?" Joyce asked.

Lamont looked at her. "We're not sure. All we know is that someone turned you."

"Why should I believe you?" Joyce snapped.

"Because we are offering you a home, friends, and food." Lamont said and turned to Stan. "Bring the meal."

Stan nodded and went to the back of the building, into the darkness. There was a scream and a struggle, but Stan was fine. He dragged a woman by her arms and dragged her all the way to Joyce. Stan threw the woman down at her feet and the woman sobbed. Joyce looked at Lamont and asked,

"What's the catch?"

"You stay with us. I'm trying to build a family." Lamont explained. "We need as many as we can to take over Sunnydale."

"You want to take over Sunnydale?" Joyce repeated.

Lamont nodded. "We can restore it, but we need your help."

"Let me guess, you want my daughter?" Joyce asked and she looked down.

The sobbing, frightened woman had crawled to the other side of the building. She looked for a way out. Eden ran over to her and grabbed her. The woman sobbed and Eden snapped her neck without a second thought. Joyce sighed heavily and Lamont nodded.

"Yes, we want her dead." Lamont replied.

"What about a different plan?" Joyce asked.

"What do you mean?" Lamont asked.

"What if we turn her into a vampire?" Joyce asked. "I have two daughters and I would like for them to join us."

Lamont thought for a moment. "If we had your daughters on our side, no one would question us." He paused. "I like it! Do you know the mechanics of turning someone?"

Joyce shook her head. "No and I would like to change them myself."

"Alright, we'll teach you." Lamont said. "It's very easy."

"How easy?" Joyce asked.

Lamont chuckled. "All business Joyce, I like that." He paused and picked up the woman's body. "First, you must feed."

Joyce rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said. "Easy."

She took the woman's body from Lamont and her fangs instantly elongated. She sank her teeth into the woman and drank deep. Joyce was grateful for the food, but she preferred to hunt. Once she was full, she dropped the body to the floor, and wiped her mouth. Joyce looked at the others who all were in vampire mode. She sighed heavily again and turned to Lamont.

"Now, tell me how to turn someone." Joyce demanded.

"In due time, we have to figure things out first." Lamont said.

"Like what?" Joyce asked.

"We need to figure out who turned you first." Lamont told her. "Then the rest will come."

"No, that's not the deal." Joyce argued. "The deal is, I join you, and you teach me everything. Deal?"

Lamont looked at his friends then back at Joyce. He grinned and said, "Deal."

"Now, let's clean up." Joyce said and dragged the body outside.

She buried the body behind the building and Eden helped her. Stan and Lamont remained inside, playing cards. Eden looked at Joyce and said,

"I'm glad you joined us."

"Really?" Joyce asked.

Eden nodded. "We need another girl in the club."

Joyce smiled and brushed herself off. "That should do it." She paused. "Have you ever turned someone?"

"No, I turned about a month ago." Eden explained. "I'm still fairly new to this. Lamont found me and offered me a home."

"I guess he's good at finding other vampires." Joyce noted.

"I've been with him ever since my Sire abandoned me." Eden said.

"So you know your Sire?" Joyce asked.

Eden shook her head. "Most of us don't know who turned us or why."

"What about Stan?" Joyce asked.

"He doesn't talk much, but Lamont found him the same time that he found me." Eden told her. "I have a feeling we're all orphans."

"Interesting." Joyce noted.

Eden and Joyce went back into the building. Once the sun came up, they all went to sleep. As she went to sleep, Joyce thought about what Eden told her. Were they all orphan vampires? Why was someone making other vampires just to abandon them? Joyce wondered. Why did someone turn her? Who is her Sire? Was it just to get back at Buffy? These thoughts circled around her mind as she went to sleep.

The next night, Lamont woke Joyce up.

"Come on, we have a busy night ahead of us." Lamont said.

Joyce looked at him and sat up. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to show you how to Sire someone." Lamont said. "We have a deal. I'd like to honor it."

Joyce nodded and got up. She brushed herself off and followed Lamont into the main part of the building. There was a man that was chained up to the wall. Lamont walked over to him and said,

"Meet Jeffrey." He paused. "He's got no family, no friends, and we found him on the street."

"We?" Joyce asked.

"Eden and I." Lamont replied.

Eden smiled at Joyce and Joyce nodded. Lamont looked at Joyce and said, "It's fairly simple. You give them your blood first." Lamont changed into vampire mode and used his fingernails to open a vein on his wrist. Jeffrey struggled, but Lamont forced him to drink his blood. Jeffrey was barely awake as he drank Lamont's blood.

Lamont turned back to Joyce and said, "Then you drink from them and kill them." His fangs elongated and he drank from Jeffrey's neck. Jeffrey cried out in pain and then his eyes closed. He was dead. Lamont unchained him and took him behind the building. Stan and Lamont buried him. Joyce and Eden watched as they buried him. Eden turned to Joyce and asked,

"So what do you think?"

"I think it's a simple process." Joyce said. "I just want my family back."

"Do you think you'll be able to turn them?" Eden asked.

"I think I can make them." Joyce told her. "We can be together, forever."

Author's Notes: So sorry for the confusion! This is the rewrite and more accurate. I had to change the idea. Joyce has no soul and neither do the other vampires. Let me know what you guys think! I'm still deciding on who her Sire should be.