History Repeats Itself

Chapter 2 – Believe

Jade didn’t do well with being told where to go or what to do, she hated rules and always had. Even before she was turned, she was a troublemaker. But no one got rid of her because she was damn good at her job. Her memory was impeccable, and her historian skills were out of this world. That’s why the vampire council kept her around and ignored her attitude. She did her job well for them. But she didn’t like to be ordered, and they knew that. So, she only glared at the man before her as he handed her a piece of yellow aged paper, telling her to go to some damn location and check it out.

“Really, can’t get into the golden age here and use a phone. You know, send me a text saying to go somewhere, we’re still at the old age with paper that’s made, not even bought.” The man before her tilted his head, his eyes boring into hers.

“If you have a problem, Jade, take it up with the council. This is your job, not mine. You know it was coming, they always do it to you.” Jade growled as she shoved the paper with the address into her back leather pant pocket.

“Whatever, Russ, whatever. I’ll be back with anything I can find out.”

“Please, don’t take too short of a time, your presence isn’t wanted.” She flipped him off as she turned around, heading to her car. She didn’t care if it was wanted. She hated being there as much as they hated her. It was a love/hate relationship she had with the council. Probably the same relationship they had with her, not that she cared. She didn’t ask to be turned 270-plus years ago, but she was. And when the matriarch of the council found her, well, she just couldn’t destroy Jade. To this day, Jade always wondered if that old woman had saved her or condemned her. The jury was still out on that one.

With a sigh, she followed the directions to the place, lighting up yet another cigarette, not surprised to see the empty street. Nor surprised to see the cop cars. Or the damn yellow tape too. How many people actually paid attention to that? None. She saw people crossing it all the time.

She parked her car down the street and then walked over, standing on just the edge. Where she was, she would never be noticed. Besides, for what she was, she blended in. Her eyes scanned the few people there, clocking the badges. However, the man by the ice stake was one she wouldn’t have pegged as a cop. He was too f*****g tall, too broad-shouldered, and too f*****g sexy, to be in that line of work.

Jade licked her lips as she watched the man work, eyeing him. How long had it been since she had a bite slave? Impossible to actually remember. She enjoyed them, but for some odd reason, hers never lasted long. Not like some others who kept bite slaves for decades, if possible. She had to shake her head to force those thoughts away. This man wouldn’t want the part and she did better solo anyway.

With that, her eyes flew to the man, if one could call him that, that was dead. In all of her years, Jade hadn’t seen too many deaths by ice, usually, it was the sun. But ice was the best way to kill a vampire, not what most people thought. And it wasn’t like vampires made it a habit of killing each other; that was a law they were supposed to abide by.

So, who did this? Jade glanced upward, seeing the light post, and shook her head. They were soundless, sure, but flying wasn’t in their nature. At least, not for most of them. Quietly, she drew closer to the scene, stopping far away enough not to alert the man that was walking around the victim and pulled out another cigarette. Of course, with her hearing, she heard him muttering and couldn’t help but step in.

“Vampire?” he asked her, tilting his head to look at her. “Better yet, how did you get in?” She puffed another time and shrugged.

“Yes, vampire. And I came in, just like you. My car is parked down the street,” she told him, knocking the ashes off her stick.

“I don’t believe in vampires.” Jade smirked as she shrugged.

“You don’t have to believe in something for them to be real.” Jade tossed her cigarette before walking over to the body, her eyes taking in the details. It was her job to record certain deaths, to witness them, to log them, but not to understand them. When word spread there was a dead vampire, she was due on the scene.

“What makes you so sure it’s one?” Jade turned to look at the man, a brow lifted.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Xander. Yours?”

“Jade. And I’m sure because there are only two ways to kill a vampire. The brutal death of sunlight or the quick but cold death of ice through the heart.” She watched as Xander crossed his arms, his lips twitching with the effort not to laugh.

“Why ice, not just wood?” Jade waved her hand at that.

“Hollywood can’t get everything right. We’re not dead, we have blood traveling through our veins, those that we feed on. But since we don’t produce our own blood, it has to stop somehow, hence why ice does the trick; it freezes the vessel that moves the blood.” She noticed Xander’s eyes travel over her before they landed back on her face.

“We, huh?” There was no secret about not informing humans that vampires existed, it wasn’t like anyone believed them anyway. “So, you’re a vampire?”

“Do you need proof?” Xander laughed but held up his hands.

“I’m too pretty to die.” She could give him that, he was too pretty. But she couldn’t recall the last time she killed a person to feed on them. In fact, it was quite frowned upon in their world to kill humans. It was a crime and if caught, punishable by death. But not by ice. So, this whole incident made her raise questions that she probably shouldn’t have. Especially as she recalled hearing something once. With a sigh, she turned around and looked at him.

“No one would kill you, Xander.” He paused and she could hear the catch in his breath. Why? “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, glancing back at the body. “So, what do I do with him if he’s a vampire?”

“Nothing. We’re not zombies, we don’t come back to life. Our blood source is gone. But if you don’t believe me, check him out at the coroner’s office. You’ll literally see his heart frozen. I’m guessing a couple of veins will be as well. And as you saw, he already has fangs.”

“You’re really believing this.” This is why she hated dealing with cops. It was so hard to buy that vampires were real. Why was that? The world at large was fascinated by her kind, and yet, they truly didn’t believe. Sure, people pretended, had surgeries done to change their features, but they weren’t real. They didn’t die, didn’t feed, and weren’t reborn as a vampire. If she could unlive the last 200-plus years, she would have.

“What prescient are you with?” she questioned.

“510, why?” She tapped her fingers against her leg for a second before reaching into her back pocket to pull out another cigarette. “Why do you smoke if you’re a vampire?”

“Not like I can get lung cancer. I like the taste of tobacco. Anyways, your answer. Your Captain is Dave Logan, correct?” He nodded and she smiled. “Talk to him about what I told you. You might believe him a lot more than me.” With that, she lit up the cigarette and started to walk away. But she paused and glanced over her shoulder. “This won’t be the first one, Xander. I’m not sure why he deserved to die, it’s not knowledge I’m to have, but I know more are coming.”

“But you have no logical explanation as to why?”

“Oh, no, I have my thoughts, but no proof. I can’t get it either. I’m a historian for the vampire council, which only allows me so much access.” She glanced at the body before looking back at him. “Talk to your Captain and when you want more information or more answers, he’ll tell you where to find me. In the meantime, stay in the sunlight where we can’t hunt you.”

“I’m not a mid-morning kind of guy,” he told her, giving her a side smile that flashed a dimple and that did something to her she wasn’t expecting. Besides having a bite slave, when’s the last time she had a man between her legs? Probably around the same time as her bite slave, since they usually went hand in hand.

“Funny, I’m not a mid-morning kind of gal, either. Take care, Xander. I’ll be seeing you around.” With that, she walked back to her car, fading with the darkness. But as she neared her beauty, she turned back to look at him. She could easily see a relationship with him, both professional and s****l. But she doubted he’d be so into giving himself freely. She also knew she wasn’t in this case, she was only recording. So, why then, did something sit in the back of her mind that was causing an urge to know more? It wasn’t in her powers to know more. But hell, if anything felt right about this at all. No, something certainly felt off.