History Repeats Itself

Chapter 15 – Die on my terms

Xander watched the man get up from the table and leave. He wanted to believe those words. And though Samuel hadn’t given them much information, he had given them enough. And if he knew Jade, she probably understood a lot more than he did. He turned to her, wanting to question but she shook her head.

“Meet me at my place.” Xander wasn’t sure that was the best course, but the fire in her eyes told her that he wasn’t going to win, so he nodded and stood as well. He let her leave first and then followed her out, glad the club was crowded enough that their escape might not have been noticed. At least, that’s what he was hoping for deep down.

He easily climbed into his car, checked his surroundings, and then pulled out, noticing that Jade had quite the start on him. His phone pinged and he looked down, seeing Jade, and sent her address. Well, it wasn’t like he could stalk her like she had him. He put the address in and followed his GPS, hitting her place thirty minutes later.

“You’re a slow driver,” she told him as she opened her door for him,

“Traffic, thank you.” Jade chuckled as she nodded.

“Sure. Have a seat.” Xander walked in, glancing around at the warm yet dark house. He thought he’d see all kinds of gothic-looking pieces, black swords, demonized objects, but nothing was like that. Sure, it wasn’t all pink and feminine, but it was cozy, and comfortable, and screamed what he knew and understood of Jade. “Look your fill yet?”

“No,” he told her, sitting down on the couch. “Tell me what that was about?” Jade took her jacket off, tossing it behind her, and sat down next to him, curling her leather-clad leg under her.

“I have a target on my back, according to him. That my one course of action was already labeling me and going back wasn’t smart. However, I don’t regret it. I do believe it’s a vampire. And I do believe the council is controlling it. What I can’t figure out, what I’m not even sure Samuel can say, is how. Vampires aren’t controlled. We’re not puppets on a string that does one's bidding, not like that.”

“Could it be,” Xander started, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his legs, “that the analogy of the headless horseman is truer than we might think?” Jade blew out a breath and shrugged.

“There is no one in our history that I have ever heard of that, dead or alive, that’s summoned do their bidding. Now, that’s not saying much as a lot of our history is mute to others. But to keep something like that under wraps, how would you?”

“Jade, the council, from how you have described them, sounds powerful. More than I can imagine. If they are like that, you don’t think they could keep something like that out of reach of every vampire? Especially when delving into the past is forbidden. That asking questions, is forbidden?”

“I don’t know.” And that was the truth. Jade wanted to believe him, he could see that but at the same time, she wasn’t sure. “How could something like that be possible? Even better yet, how far back would that date? Samuel was five hundred-plus years old, and he remembered hearing something. In fact, I’m going to call it a purge because there seemed to be certain targets. There were older vampires around, but I’m not sure how many would want to talk to me, especially if rumor might start spreading about the bullseye I’ve now been set with.”

“You do know, you just don’t want to think about it.” Jade snapped her eyes to his and he nodded.

“Don’t think I hold allegiance to the council, Xander.”

“Don’t you?” he countered.

“No, Xander, I don’t. However, I owe allegiance to my life. It might be dull and boring, same s**t day in and out, but I don’t want to die. Not at their hands.” Xander finally leaned back, and she swallowed hard. She should have known that she wouldn’t get by on mincing words with a cop and he grinned as the thought flickered over her face.

“Not at their hands. So, what, old age?” She snorted at that before slowly shaking her head at his question.

“When I do die, because I will, I want to do it on my terms, when I’m ready to depart. I will say when I go and where I go.”

“I take it getting impaled isn’t at the top of that list.” She cracked a smile at him, and he returned it. “So, being burned it is.”

“There’s no rule that says we can’t take our own lives if we choose. It’s just, why? We chose this path, regardless of how long ago, so why end it? We knew life would be quite extended so it’s like we would want to end it.”

“It makes sense. I’m just surprised with as much power as the council holds that they wouldn’t do something.” This time, she fully laughed, her fangs glittering with her full smile, and thoughts of them sinking into his neck came back.

“When we burn, there’s nothing left of us. Ashes that float away, that’s it. If I walk into that sunlight, what are they going to do to me? Walk out with me? No, there’s nothing that can be done. There’s been two I’ve recorded over my whole lifetime. And it wasn’t much to record. They said they were done, come morning, they chose to die.” Jade glanced down at her hands for a moment before looking at him. “Where are my manners, do you want something to drink?”

“Got something other than blood?” Xander teased.

“Red wine?” She winked at him and went to grab some bottled water. “Alcohol is nothing something we can take a lot of, actually. Food and water are okay, doesn’t do much to us, but liquor, that’s a whole other story.” That brought him up short and he filled that tidbit in the back of his mind.

“You won’t die.” He took the water she handed him and took a deep drink, watching her.

“No, we won’t die. But we suffer. It burns us from within. And the more one drinks, the more one can hurt. And it can last for days on end. One could want to walk into the sun after that.”

“What helps you?” he questioned, and she winked at him, causing his d**k to stir.

“Blood, usually from a blood source that’s reliable. A bite slave is best.” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes and she laughed. “You asked and that’s the truth. I would like to say that vampires are more careful and don’t get poisoned in that fashion, but that would be a lie. It happens a lot, sadly. One’s existence does get mundane, and some try to spice it up. All they do, though, is make it shitty.”

“Noted.” Xander took a swig before he waved his hand around her living room, glancing at it again.

“Will you be safe in your own place?” he asked, and Jade smirked as she lifted a brow.

“That worried, are you?’ Xander gave her a pointed look. “Contrary to what you believe, Xander, they don’t just come busting into your house. They are actually cordial. So, yes, I will be safe here.” She twisted her lip before continuing. “Nonetheless, it would probably be best if I have you on speed dial just in case.”

“You know you never did tell me about the double killings and why you thought the victim was bitten again? We never went into more details on that.” He watched as Jade swirled the bottle between her hands, thinking over what to say that would make sense probably.

“Let’s state this. If we go with the theory that the council was controlling all of this, that means they summoned a vampire. Which is crazy. But if that theory was wrong, then someone else was at that scene and had bitten the victim before they bled out. And that went against the vampire code. It is an unspoken, and unwritten rule, that you just didn’t touch another vampire’s meal.

“But the likelihood of the council controlling anything is also crazy. And looking at the evidence of hundreds of years and other various killings, I just can’t see who or what they could be controlling. It might be crazy, but I do firmly believe another vampire was there, the one doing the killing in fact. I just can’t make sense as to why or how. But nothing else seems even close to another answer. And the bite marks within the feral bite, it’s so uncommon. Vampires don’t bite on another meal unless asked. And we sure don’t bite in the same spot as another vampire.”

“This might seem dumb, but there’s not like, some super hybrid vampire, right, Jade?” His eyes stayed focused on her as she thought that over. She opened her mouth to deny that such a thing was even possible, but she couldn’t. He knew that one, she had no proof. And two, well, it would make sense if something like that was around to be controlled. “You’re lack of response is reassuring.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. You said it yourself; I don’t know as much about the council as I should. So, what they could do, could not do, could control or could not control, is all a huge f*****g mystery.” She glanced outside and frowned. “I can tell you it’s late and you need to get home. Sleep and maybe later we can have more answers of some sort.” He nodded and downed the rest of the water before standing.

“Let me know if the boogie man comes.” She smiled as he stood and walked out the door. The last thing he wanted was to cause more issues, but he had a feeling that was what he was in store for. There are just too many questions, not enough answers, and a s**t ton of possibilities that could make anything possible. The whole drive home was in a jumbled mess of thoughts. And even crawling into bed, his mind was still spinning.

He groaned, many hours later, as he woke up to his phone buzzing. He glanced at the time, seeing he had to get up soon to get ready for work anyway. With a sigh, he grabbed his phone, opening the picture text he got. With wide eyes, he sat up. He wasn’t shocked to see the vampire impaled. However, he was shocked to see that the vampire wasn’t some young teenager, but rather Samuel. This case just got a lot more interesting.