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I had two chapters to read! Cute banners! I read Chapter 4 yesterday and Chapter 5 today. I prefered chapter 5 to Chapter 6, but both were good chapters. xD I'm getting a Vampire Diaries vibe off this fiction though. Is that where the idea come from? xD

Edited by Hermione
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  • 2 weeks later...

Made by Stef

 

 

Something's wrong.

I've never seen them

What the hell is going on?!

This page mostly consists of anything that throws itself to the front of my mind and today

Jeff looked up, staring at the back of Isabel's head. She'd seemed awfully quiet when they'd met up that morning which was pretty unusual and not very like her at all. You see Isabel liked to talk...about herself a lot of the time, but Jeff didn't mind. He liked her and this was why he was concerned when all she'd said to him was 'hi...I have to go.' He watched her shoulders slump slightly as she leaned a little forward, turning her head to one side. She didn't look at him, but Jeff knew that she was aware of him looking at her. Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. He nodded once and looked away as she turned to face the front of the class again. Jeff lowered his gaze to his paper and saw that so far today for his History lesson, he'd written one word.

Vampires.

He blinked a few times and turned his attention to Mr Sharpe, who was babbling on about some 'facts' about vampires.

"Now, they hated sunlight and fire and would die if they stayed out in direct sunlight for too long, which is why it is said that a lot of vampires would have had some form of 'daylight protection' made for them and that made it much easier for them to blend in amongst humans. Vampires were supposedly immortal and had no reflection. A vampire bite would supposedly turn the victim into one and-"

"Mr Sharpe, are you leading us into the Willow Creek incident of 1816?" A tall, lanky boy with glasses sitting at the front of the class asked.

"You wouldn't really call it an incident or an accident," Isabel replied first, leaning back in her chair. "It was a mass freaking murder, the entire town was wiped out. Only now they're considering rebuilding anything there. What's surprising though, was that only two vampires were even involved. A mother and daughter. You see the vampires were in a war of their own, the red eyes and the blue eyes. The daughter distracted the mayor and the sheriff whilst-"

"How would anyone know who was there first?" Jeff found himself asking. Isabel turned slightly, glancing sideways at him but not quite looking him in the eye.

"The mayor and sheriff's bodies were found last, and they were a little more...fresh than everyone else's which could only mean that whilst the mother was killing everyone, the daughter was distracting the mayor and the sheriff so that they couldn't try and do anything. Not that they could have, anyway. When their their bodies were found, two pieces of paper were also found on the mayor's desk, two words written on each. Red woman and blue girl. The mother had red eyes and the girl had blue eyes..." Isabel trailed off when she noticed everyone staring at her with horrified looks on their faces. "What? You can look all of this up, you know. There's a lot more grotesque detail that I didn't go into, like the walls of the office being covered in blood and the sheriff's throat had been torn out. Even part of the mayor's head was missing."

"Do yu think they're stil alive?" The boy with the glasses asked. "The mother and daughter?"

"No," Isabel replied almost right away. "Vampires are dead, remember?"

"Oh yeah, but-"

"I know what you mean," Isabel rolled her eyes and looked towards the window. "Yes, I do. I hink they're a lot closer than anyone thinks..." The corners of her mouth started to turn up. "So, Mr Sharpe...you were saying?"

* * * * * * * *

Jeff decided it was safe enough to approach Isabel again a little while later in the library. She was sitting at a table near an open window, several books open in front of her. She had her eyes on the notebook she was writing in, so she didn't see Jeff approach the table.

"Hello Jeff..." She turned the page of the book right in front of her without looking up.

"How did you know all that stuff you said in class?" Jeff asked as he sat down opposite her, eyeing all the open books on the table.

"Because unlike most people in this school, and that includes teachers, I actually do a lot of research..." Isabel dropped her pen and raised her hands to cover her face. Jeff looked at the ring she wore on the middle finger of her right hand. It was white gold in colour. From the left it twisted down and then up and from the right it twisted up and then down. Where the two ends should have met were three simple stones. It was beautiful...and looked expensive.

"Diamond, right?"

Isabel lowered her hands, tipping her head forward in a nod. "Yes. Sure it's expensive, but what does money matter if the ring actually means something?" She sighed and started to close the books she'd been studying. Jeff looked at the titles. Vampire: A Myth?...Vampires versus Werewolves: Demons and Hellhounds...Do Vampires Still Exist?...Willow Creek: What Really Happened in 1816?...Vampires: A War of Their Own.

"You're really into vampires, huh?" Jeff asked as Isabel picked up the books and stood.

"All things supernatural really, but I find vampires the most...fascinating," Isabel turned and went to put the books back on their shelves. Jeff noticed that she'd left a note on the table. Deciding that she must have left it there by accident, he picked it up and looked at it.

She's a vampire.

He looked up and saw Isabel waiting over by the door.

"Are you coming?" She called, blatantly ignoring the glare she received from the librarian. Jeff tucked the note into his pocket and went towards her, feeling the colour rise in his cheeks. He would have given the note to Isabel as they left the library and made their way outside, but he was curious. Why was she so interested in vampires? She seemed to think that someone, specifically a girl, was a vampire, so who was it? Was that even her handwriting? Had the note already been there and she'd simply overlooked it? Was someone trying to tell him that Isabel was a vampire? Well, her eyes were an unusual colour but that didn't necessarily mean anything. That ring was expensive and seemed to mean something pretty damn important to her, but maybe she just had rich relatives, if any were still alive, and it was a gift she'd received for her seventeenth birthday...was she even seventeen? Another thing he'd noticed was that she sure as hell didn't dress like anyone else around here. Her clothes looked more expensive and looked as if they were made of a far richer material. Everyone else seemed to be fond of wearing bright colours, while she tended to wear darker colours and seemed to carry herself a lot better than they did.

"Listen..." Isabel stopped walking and turned to face him. "I'm not very good at keeping friends and you're a nice guy, but this friendship should end here. I'm not a good person, Jeff. I'm dangerous to be around. You'll end up..." She trailed off when Jeff held up the note.

"You didn't write this, did you? It was written about you," Jeff started to shake his head. "All that stuff you said in class...that wasn't research, it was stuff you already knew. Your eyes are red, I didn't realise at first because they're so dark. You're wearing black contact lenses so that there are only hints of red, which isn't so obvious. You were the one going around ripping throats out, you're a vampire."

"You're a clever little boy, aren't you? You know, I could just rip your throat out...right here and now, in front of everybody, because I don't care about exposing my kind to yours. It's never been a matter of if humans ever find out, it's always been when. You've just done something really, really stupid..." Isabel twisted the ring on her finger and looked around, the hint of a smirk on her lips. "You let your suspicions get the best of you and said aloud what you should not have found out for quite some time. You just put yourself at a much higher risk, because now..." She took a step towards him, her eyes narrowing as they darkened so that the hints of red darkened even more. "I want to kill you even more. I was going to be nice to you, make your death quick and painless. Now...I'm going to take you by surprise, when you least expect it. I'm going to hurt you SO bad you'll be begging me to end your life. You are never going to be safe ever again, not even in your own bed. Your second mistake was inviting me into your house. Your first mistake was moving to this town...I would have found you anyway, though. So feel free to enjoy your life while you still have it, because I'm going to be watching you. Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll be there. There's nothing you can do to stop the inevitable, Jeff. What you're going to be worrying about is when it will happen. What will be the last thing you do, who will be the last person you will see or say anything to before I kill you? Because sooner or later, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to kill you and anyone you've ever cared about and there will be nothing you can do about it. Enjoy the rest of your day," her eyes widened almost mockingly before she turned to walk away, disappearing around the corner of a side building moments later.

"Jeff?"

Jeff didn't even react to the sound of Ruby's voice at first. He was still staring at where Isabel had just been standing.

"Jeff?"

Jeff turned around and his eyes widened. The expensive clothes, the expensive ring, the almost unreadable expression...

"Jeff?" Ruby frowned, taking a step towards him. "Are you alright?"

"She's going to kill me," was all Jeff could manage to say. He couldn't quite voice the new suspicion floating to the forefront of his mind. Surely not her too?

"Come on, let's go somewhere quieter so I can explain..." Ruby took hold of his hand but Jeff shrugged her off, his eyes widening even more.

"It was you who left this, wasn't it?" He held the note up. "You tried to warn me back at my house but it was too late because I'd already invited her in. What do I do?"

"You can't do anything."

"How do you even know about her?"

"She's my mother, Jeff. I was the daughter who distracted the mayor and the sheriff in Willow Creek."

"How did you..."

"My hearing's a lot better than you might think," one corner of Ruby's mouth turned up in a sort of crooked grin. "You know, I can explain everything a lot better if there's no one listening in."

Jeff didn't move at first but when Ruby held out her hand and offered a small smile, he took it and let her lead him into an empty classroom at the back of the main building. The lights didn't work properly, they flickered as Ruby gestured for Jeff to sit down.

"I guess you're going to want to know everything, right?" Ruby paced back and forth at the front of the classroom, twisting the ring on her finger the same way Isabel had twisted hers when she'd been threatening Jeff. "Well yeah, she's my mom. We don't come from a very big family, it's actually just us two....well, she has a brother and two sisters who are nothing like her, but she doesn't even see them, never mind talk to them. I do, all the time. I...was born in New York on October 31st, 1811. Yeah, I was born on Halloween, but...well yeah, I'm pretty old. She was born on July 4th, 1787. My dad...he died when I was five years old, actually only a few months before we massacred Willow Creek. I've lived in several different towns, cities, countries, continents. I don't drink human blood and will never do so, my diet consists of animal blood. It never really fully satisfies me, but it keeps me going."

"Does it make you weaker than other vampires?"

Ruby nodded, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. "Vampires who drink human blood all the time tend to be quite a lot stronger than the ones who don't drink it at all. They can...compel a lot better. Do you want to know why you were so happy being around her? She was compelling you."

"But why-"

"She wanted you to find out and confront her today. She freaking compelled me to leave that note. She knew you'd put it all together, you're smart. But if there is one thing she isn't, it's stupid. She's a lot smarter than anyone gives her credit for."

Jeff bit on his bottom lip and sighed, lowering his gaze to the floor. So, they were both several hundred year old vampires who massacred a town in 1816. He hadn't been expecting that when he'd moved here. "She's not the only one, is she? Who drinks human blood?"

"No..." Ruby turned her back on him and started pacing again. "I'd be very surprised if there were more of us who drink animal blood. It doesn't really taste as nice."

"Can you still, well..." Jeff hesitated and looked up again. "...eat what humans eat?"

"Of course. We can eat what you eat, drink what you drink. Hell, we can even get drunk, although that's not a very wise thing for us to do. We're already dangerous without the drink," the corners of Ruby's mouth turned up and she turned a chair around so that she was facing Jeff as she sat down. "So go on, ask all of those questions floating around in your mind. Do we hate garlic? Do we have reflections? Do we have fangs? Do we burn in the sun? Do we turn into bats? Do we go around at night wearing capes and speaking with that god awful Transylvanian accent? I'll answer those for you...we don't hate garlic nor do we love it. Yes, we do indeed have both reflections and fangs. We don't turn into bats nor do we go around wearing capes and pretend to be Dracula, and of course without this..." She held up her right hand, her gaze flickering towards the ring. "We would burn in the sun."

"Isabel was wearing one exactly like that."

"Yeah, all female vampires have to wear white gold rings. Males have to wear platinum..don't ask why it has to be like that. If you tried swapping them around, it wouldn't work and you'd get fried. So it's an important thing to remember," Ruby looked at Jeff, her head tilted to one side. Jeff smiled weakly at her but she didn't smile back. Jeff's smile faltered before disappearing completely.

"I assume you want me to keep this a secret?"

"You assume correct. She might not care about exposing us, but I do. There are a select few humans who know about the existence of vampires and they are those who hunt us. They're pretty damn discreet so everyone else is utterly clueless, but they're very good at what they do. Humans aren't the only ones in trouble, we are too and there are a lot more of you than there are of us. Look..." Ruby leaned forward and took Jeff's hand. "A vampire hunter is very good at what a hunter does, but a vampire is very good at what a vampire does. I have yet to come across a hunter here but if one ever does turn up, please don't think any different of me if I have to kill them because if I don't kill them, they'll kill me."

"I'll never think any different of you," Jeff put his free hand over Ruby's. "And I'm sorry if I ever acted any different towards you when I was hanging around with Isabel. Now that I know she was compelling me, that's a major turn off."

"If you're turned off, that means you were initially turned on."

"I was compelled to be turned on."

They both laughed before silence finally fell between them. They sat that way, holding each other's hands, for quite some time. It was neither of them that broke the silence half an hour later. It was someone screaming outside. No...it was several people screaming. By the time Jeff looked up, Ruby was already at the door, listening to people in the hallway.

"Ruby, I think we-"

"Sshh, come listen!" Ruby beckoned him towards the door and he stumbled forward to listen.

"No one's allowed outside, alright?"

"There's a girl dead on the ground outside the main building!"

"Shit, how did she die?"

"Threw herself off the roof-"

"Someone said they saw someone else on the roof-"

"Why the fuck is everybody inside, then?!"

"This is high school not CSI, you dick. At least have the decency to look sad-"

"I didn't know her-"

"Neither did I, but-"

"Does anyone know who it actually is?"

"Larissa Mendoza, a Junior. She was in my Spanish class earlier. Acted completely normal-"

"Everyone, be quiet!"

"Shit..." Ruby turned away from the door, raising her hands to cover her face.

"It was Isabel, wasn't it?" Jeff asked as he too turned away, the corners of his mouth turning down. He already knew he was right before Ruby nodded. "Why did she do that?"

"She does it for fun, Jeff. To show that she's in control. She's sick..." Ruby jabbed a finger against her temple, gritting her teeth. "The only way to stop her is to end her and believe me, I have tried. So help me, I have tried..." Her shoulders slumped and she let her hands drop to her sides. "We need to get out of here. It's uh...getting a little claustrophobic and I don't even need to breathe."

"But they just-"

"Come on," Ruby went over to the window and picked the lock holding it shut. "We'll have to go this way.." She opened the window and climbed outside, holding it open so Jeff could follow her out.

"Won't there be people patrolling the grounds?"

"This isn't prison break, silly. We're simply leaving the premises without permission....and without getting caught."

Jeff stuck his hands into his pockets, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "Well...where exactly do you plan on leading me to?"

Ruby's gaze flickered down at her ring again. "You're stuck in the middle of this mess and since things are about to get a whole lot worse, you're going to need all the protection you can get. You need to meet her siblings."

Edited by Gold*Star
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  • 2 months later...
  • 6 months later...

I won't mention the wait if you don't :)

(find the * in this chapter to see the mistake I made in the last chapter. Ruby said that she was five when it happened, but she was only four. My mistake)

 

 

 

 

"Her siblings?" Jeff's eyes widened as he followed Ruby. They had been walking for an hour and a half now and all he kept saying was 'her siblings' over and over again.

"I keep telling you, Jeff. They're not like her and haven't been for as long as I have known them..." Ruby trailed off as they approached the first house they had come across for at least half an hour. It was more of a mansion than an ordinary house and it loomed over them, casting a gloomy atmosphere.

"Only a bunch of vampires could live here," Jeff mumbled. Ruby strode up the path with no hesitation and knocked on the door three times. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Jeff had paused, making no further move to follow her.

"Honestly, Jeff. You don't need to worry about these three hurting you. They don't bite...much," she grinned as the front door of the house swung open and in the doorway stood, well...Jeff assumed she was a sister of Isabel's although they looked nothing alike. This woman had blonde hair that was just about shoulder length and she had blue eyes like Ruby's, but a lot darker. She neither smiled nor moved aside to let them in, but simply leaned against the doorframe with her arms folded across her chest. Unlike Isabel and Ruby, she wore lighter colours, a soft baby blue instead of the blacks and navy blues Isabel and Ruby both seemed to be fond of wearing. Jeff also noticed that on the middle finger of her right hand, she wore the exact same ring. Of course.

"Ruby, you know we don't allow humans to be brought back here," the blonde woman rolled her eyes towards Jeff. "Gilbert can only just tolerate them in public places, he still struggles."

"She has threatened to kill this one, we need to talk..." Ruby looked beyond her into the house. "Besides, I can't sense neither him nor Christa in the house."

"They're out hunting, I stayed behind to watch the house. Someone had to."

"Sierra-"

"What?"

"Can we please come in?" Ruby looked at Jeff and then around them. "This is important."

The blonde woman's gaze flickered towards Jeff again, her eyes slightly narrowed. "You know, Isabella threatened to kill pretty much everyone when she was human. I suppose that's why we moved around so much, people tended to take things way too seriously in our time. Come in, then..." She stepped back into the house and to one side. Jeff hesitated only briefly before following Ruby in. The walls inside were a deep red and the carpet they stood on were the exact same colour. It was difficult to tell where the walls ended and the floor began.

"There's more to the house than the hallway, you know.." Ruby took his hand as they followed Sierra into another room. This one had pristine white walls and a thick black rug covering most of the floor. There was a large l-shaped leather sofa in one corner, also black and the cushions scattered all over it were red, the same shade as the walls and the carpet in the hallway. "This is the lounge," Ruby glanced at Jeff, the corners of her mouth turning up a little. "Every room in the house has this sort of theme. They're pretty organise, huh?"

"When you live for a long time, you have to find something to do..." Sierra gestured for them to sit down as she took a step forward. "So what did Isabella say to you, Jeff?"

"I..." Jeff lowered his gaze, not quite wanting to meet the dark eyes of the blonde vampire. "I don't remember."

"Try to because if you want our help, we'll need to know and you'll need to remember," Sierra twisted the ring on her finger, and Jeff started to wonder if it happened to be something every vampire did.

"She, um..." Jeff tried to remember everything Isabel had said to him before she had disappeared and Ruby had, well...appeared. "She said she would have made my death quick and painless, but now she's going to take me by surprise and I wouldn't even be safe in my own bed. Isabel's going to kill me, isn't she?"

"Not if we don't let her," Sierra's eyes darkened briefly, but then returned to their usual colour as she turned away and looked around the room. "This is unusual of Isabella, though. She doesn't pick specific targets, so I do think..maybe you should stay here for a while. At least until we figure out why she's taken an interest in you."

"Sierra's right, you should stay here for a while. They'll take good care of you..." Ruby tipped her head forward in a nod and started to stand. "Don't worry about your parents, I'll take care of them."

"Don't you live here too?" The corners of Jeff's mouth turned down as Ruby stepped towards the door.

"No, I don't. I don't live far from here and you can't come and stay with me because that will be the first place that the She Devil will come looking. You're perfectly safe here, I'll be back later."

"You might as well pick a room if you're going to be staying here," another voice came from the hallway as Ruby left the house. At first, Jeff thought that she had come back in because of the exact same shade of hair and the exact same ocean blue eyes, but this woman was a good few inches taller than Ruby and her facial features, apart from her eyes, were very different. "It's Jeff, isn't it? My name is Christa, I'm Isabella's other older sister. I overheard everything so I won't need to ask for a repeat. This is...Gilbert, where are you?"

A short, bark like laugh came from behind the still open door and in walked Isabel's only brother, Gilbert. He was taller than both of his sisters and much stockier. His dark hair was almost black and his eyes...they were neither blue nor red, but were a colour that was sort of in between the two. He looked a lot more like Isabel than Christa and Sierra did, and that alone made him that much more intimidating. Jeff didn't even know him, but he was already frightened of him.

"I'd say something mean, but I can see that you're already scared of me," Gilbert's eyes lit up in pure amusement. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you. Not all vampires are cannibals."

Jeff shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes darted around the room.

"We'd offer refreshments, but we don't eat or drink anything that humans eat and drink..so we don't see the need of stacking up on supplies. Food that you consume is no longer a necessity for us," Christa watched as the look in Jeff's eyes turned to unease. "It'll take a while for you to get used to us. You look tired, why don't you go and find a room upstairs and get some rest?"

* * * * * *

Jeff woke again what seemed like an eternity later. His eyes flickered open and he stared at the ceiling, alarmed at first that he wasn't in his own bed, but then he remembered where he was. It didn't make him feel any better as he sat up, running his fingers through his hair. A sound outside the door startled him and he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, cautiously approaching the door. He reached out and pulled it open to find Sierra standing at the top of the stairs with a glass half full of water in her hand.

"Did I wake you?" Her eyes darkened slightly. Jeff shook his head and she continued, holding the glass out towards him. "We thought you might be thirsty when you woke and I was going to leave it on your bedside table, but since you're already awake...I'm sorry it's nothing more spectacular. We didn't think you'd appreciate the taste of blood. My sister said that we could take you out for anything you might like tomorrow."

"Thank you," Jeff took the glass, noticing that Sierra was watching his every move and this made him feel more than a little uncomfortable. "You know ever since I stepped into this house, at least one person has had their eyes on me at all times...well, except for when I was sleeping. Are you expecting me to run away or something?"

"You're more than welcome to try but no, because you wouldn't get further than a few feet. Remember, you're in a house full of vampires-"

"Vampires related to Isabel."

"We're not like her," Sierra turned to descend the stairs again. "She was always the odd one out, the black sheep of the family. She will never change, Jeff..." She stopped half way down the stairs and turned to look up at him. "We were afraid that Ruby would turn out like her after what happened all those years ago. For the first century, she was exactly like her. Ruby finally broke free from whatever Isabella had her under in 1911. She came to us in 1936, I don't know where she was or what she did for the twenty five years in between, she has never told any of us. She was terribly difficult to control and it took another twenty six years to get her like she is now. Ruby's only been like us for half a century."

"How old are all of you?" Jeff's gaze flickered from the glass he was still holding to her.

"You should come and take a look at our family tree, find out..." The corners of Sierra's mouth turned up a little more and she gestured for him to follow. They descended the rest of the stairs but instead of turning right to go into the lounge, Sierra turned left and opened the door to a room that was almost completely empty, except for some stacked shelves at the back of the room and a large wooden table with chairs surrounding it in the middle. Sierra pulled a rolled up scroll from one of the shelves. "So..." She unravelled it and laid it out on the table. Jeff moved a little closer to look, his head tilted to one side. Damaskinos...Jacinda...Ajax...Johann...Milos...Delphine. There were all sorts of names Jeff had never heard of, but then he came to a few familiar looking ones near the bottom. Christa...Sierra...Gilberto...Isabella.....Ruby.

"There are four of us, as you can see. Christa Elise, Sierra Lianna, Gilberto Theodore and Isabella Alexandra. Nikita and Cillian were our parents. Joseph and Maureen were our grandparents on our father's side and Lexi and Felix were our grandparents on our mother's side..." Sierra leaned forward, pointing at various names. "Of course, there are a lot of names missing and such, but you sort of have to get on with it."

Jeff pointed at Ruby's name, then at Isabel's and finally at the name Christopher. "Ruby's dad?"

"Christopher died in 1815, when Ruby was four years old*. He was a vampire too, killed by a vampire hunter. Ruby was five in 1816, in October, and a little less than a month later, she and Isabella took on Willow Creek. Isabella was born in 1787, which made her twenty nine years old in 1816 but she was twenty four when she was turned into a vampire. Gilbert was born in 1785, I was born in 1784 and Christa in 1783. The three of us were also twenty four when we were all turned into vampires. Pure coincidence," Sierra's fingers lingered on the scroll for a little longer before she turned back to the shelves. "We're the only ones left alive now, of course. Well, we're undead. Not alive, but not dead...dead. Surviving. Do you have any questions?"

"How have you survived for so long? I mean, you said a vampire hunter killed Ruby's dad," Jeff leaned against the table, the corners of his mouth turning down a little.

"With great difficulty," Sierra turned back to the table and started to roll the scroll back up. "None of this has been easy for any of us and I am sorry that you're involved at all. There aren't many vampire hunters left. Well, it's either that or they're getting better at disguising themselves, although a vampire can usually tell. We're smarter," she smiled briefly to herself and put the scroll back on the shelf, momentarily lost in her own thoughts.

"A little less on our family history, I see," Christa stood next to Jeff, making him jump when she spoke. He hadn't noticed her coming in.

"There's a lot I haven't told Jeff," Sierra turned to face her sister. "It's not like he needs to know everything. It isn't his concern."

"Considering the situation, he's going to need to know as much as he can.." Christa moved towards the shelves and picked out a box, turning to place it on the table. She lifted the lid and put it to one side before reaching into the box, rummaging through it for a few moments. She pulled out a leather bound journal, a number of photographs and another scroll, or at least that is what it looked like. "This is our family journal, these are old family photographs and this..." She hesitated only briefly before she unravelled the scroll, revealing a very long list of names.

"Who are those people?"

"Our baby sister's victims," Sierra tilted her head to one side, her eyes narrowed. "You could say that every vampire's a serial killer, but Isabella takes it to a whole new level. At least we feel remorse for what we have to do in order to survive. She has no feelings. She relishes the fact that she does it all for fun."

"Why do I need to see a list of all the people Isabel's killed?" Jeff asked, his gaze lingering on some of the names.

NORA VANDERBILT

JARVIS MONTGOMERY

COLTON DEVEREAUX

JULIAN ENDICOTT

EMMELINE HAYES

LOLA HEMINGWAY

He looked at these names in particular because four had circles around them and two were underlined.

"We grew up with those six, our seven families were very close. Isabella was the same age as Nora Vanderbilt, Gilbert the same age as Jarvis Montgomery, Lola Hemingway and Emmeline Hayes, I was the same age as Julian Endicott and Christa here was the same age as Colton Devereaux," Sierra noticed him staring. "They're long dead now, of course. Murdered brutally. He knows enough for now..." She took the scroll from Christa and rolled it up before putting it, the journal and the photographs back in the box, placing the lid on top. "Come on, Ruby just got back. Where's Gilbert?"

"In his room," Christa's gaze flickered momentarily towards Jeff and then towards the door. "We should go and join Ruby, she knows we're in here," she picked up the box and returned it to its place on the shelf.

"Hello, waiting here!" Ruby called from the other side of the door, her voice slightly muffled. "You two, stop scaring him!"

"Relax, I didn't share any gory details..." Sierra opened the door and stepped out, smiling almost mockingly at Ruby as she passed her. "You know, how your mother's a cannibal who eats babies."

"She doesn't," Ruby reassured Jeff after seeing the look of pure horror on his face. "And neither do we. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine," Jeff smiled nervously, balling his hands into fists and relaxing them again. "It's just...this is all so overwhelming."

"We are bloodsucking demons, I'd be surprised if you hadn't reacted like this," Sierra rolled her eyes as she headed for the stairs.

Ruby took Jeff's hand, nudging him lightly. "Don't worry, she means that in a good way...I think."

* * * * * *

He didn't know where he was going, but his feet seemed to be taking him somewhere. It felt like he'd been walking forever, he didn't even remember starting to walk. It was dark at first, almost too dark. Then, suddenly, an old abandoned building appeared out of nowhere. He didn't know why, but something seemed to be drawing him towards this building. He pushed the door open and stepped in, glancing around at his surroundings.

"You're not welcome here, human..." A figure shifted amongst the shadows, being careful to stay hidden.

"Who are you?" Jeff took a step forward, trying to make out the face of whoever had spoken.

"You...are not welcome," the same voice hissed in his ear but when he turned around to catch them, there was no one there.

"Who are you?" He repeated, his voice shaking as he tried to remain calm.

"Don't you know? Don't you recognise my voice?" Laughter sent a shiver through Jeff's entire body and he took a step backwards, walking right into the solid figure of whoever was tormenting him. "I know you're staying with them. Do you honestly think that THEY can keep you safe from ME?" She stepped forward to stand next to him. "I can do things that other vampires can't do, I can...get into people's dreams, invade their private thoughts. No one can keep anything from me, I'm far too clever to be outsmarted as quickly as that."

He noticed that she was no longer wearing the black contacts she had been wearing over her red eyes whenever he'd seen her in a public place and he could now see why she wore them. They weren't the red colour he had expected, they were a lot darker and...he STILL couldn't bring himself to look away when she looked at him.

"I haven't told you the best part. This building, me...you won't remember any of it when you wake up. I can do that, make you forget. I know what my sisters showed you," she took another step forward and turned to step in front of him. "That scroll with all those names on it, I bet you're still wondering what was with the names with circles around them and the ones that were underlined. I'd tell you but..I don't want you to remember any of this. Where I am, who I'm with..."

Jeff finally noticed that they weren't alone, that there were other figures emerging from their hiding places. Isabel started to say something else but hesitated, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. "My brother is waiting for you to wake up. If I were you, I wouldn't keep him waiting. He has a terrible temper."

* * * * * *

Jeff's eyes flickered open. The curtains were drawn and the room had been cast into darkness but two eyes, neither blue nor red, were watching him from a corner of the room.

"Get enough rest?" Gilbert didn't smile or make any movement towards him.

"Yes.." Jeff sat up, not wanting to meet his disturbing gaze. "Listen, there's uh...this thing that your sisters wouldn't tell me and I was kind of hoping you might share some more details."

"Details?" Gilbert tilted his head to one side, his eyebrows raised. "What would you like to know?"

"That scroll with all of those names on it, her victims. There were four with circles around them and two were underlined. Sierra...the blonde one...she said something about you growing up with them, but I don't think that actually explains it. What happened to those six?"

One corner of Gilbert's mouth turned up in a crooked grin. "Now that is an interesting story."

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