It started as a boring night...

[Jackson Avis]

The vampire heard the metallic click as a bullet entered the chamber of the gun just before a massive CRACK filled the air.
He weaved along the backstreets, sliding along the rough cement to slip under a fence before quickly getting to his feet again. Ears pricked as another round entered the chamber of the cold metal, the cop wasting no time at all to take complete aim, instead firing blindly and hoping. Luckily for the vampire, it merely grazed his arm, leaving small black droplets of blood in its path. The blood would disperse shortly enough; the cop on the other hand was managing to keep close and continuing to fire. Jackson pulled a few quick jumps up over a fence, a wall kick or two and finally he vanished into the edge of the wilderness where he would become the hunter rather than the hunted.

As the cop searched the edge of the trees with his torch in hand, Jackson managed to stay out of his sight by ducking and maneuvering behind branches. One advantage to being a vampire meant he could move silently as his blue hues stared at the cop now on his walkie talkie. The cop put out the standard BOLO with a description that may or may not be Jackson, since the darkness had managed to conceal many of his facial features. To be safe and certain, the vampire waited for the cop to do his last sweep and walk away back to the well-lit streets before he stood up quickly. All of a sudden his world started to spin out of control, his vision darkened and his head throbbed for what seemed like an hour but was nothing more than seconds. A blackness oozed down the front of his face as he fell back onto his ***, his large hand reaching up to touch the self-inflicted wound.

The world slipped in and out of focus until he felt completely blinded, left entirely in the dark until a single figure came back into view. A surprisingly strange sensation overcame his body as he stared at this young figure, the sensation was insane pleasure. He realized quickly that he was remembering his first kill, the night that he attacked and killed his family. The dad with a temper who use to beat him and the mother who watched but never stepped in, those people related by blood and nothing more, those people he cut down and watched bleed out. The young figure clutched a knife, coated in ruby red blood as he stared down at the still warm bodies of his parents. After a few moments of staring at the figure, the real world around the vampire came back into focus, the street lights and the trees.

Jackson couldn’t understand why he had such a strange flash back and instead of thinking further about it, he slowly got to his feet and headed back out into the darkness in the street. His meaty hand clutched above his right eye, touching the gash from his encounter with the tree. The world was still slightly blurry but not enough to stop him from noticing all the cops out on the beat, all the cops that he would try to sneak past to get home so he could recover. Should a cop engage him and he be unable to escape, he would kill them but the unwritten law of being a vampire was not to kill cops and the same applied for his family. Cop killing was a big no unless completely required with no other choice and even then it could be at the risk of death.

[Rain (DELETED 5917)]

“She went this way.”
“Dude, she’s got you in a wreck. What kind of hot mess is this *****?”

The voices followed the mystic as she weaved her way through the corridor, her footsteps light enough to not signal her location. One misstep and she would be out in the light – and right in their line of fire. She could still smell the gun residue in the air, the scent sticking to her senses like a warning. Mija, you should not have chosen this path. You are a good girl! The statement was enough to make her laugh, the sound choked in her throat as she came to the end of the hall. Reaching up, she pressed her fingers against the thick plane glass window, her blood red nails shimmering in the moonlight. “Well, this is going to hurt,” she muttered under her breath, her words laced with sarcasm. With a resigned sigh, she gripped the bottom of her shirt and gave a sharp pull, tearing the white fabric in half.

With expert movements, she wrapped the material around her hand and thought through her choices. She could punch out the window and jump to the ground – or she could get a leading run and make it to the next building. The tension pulsed through her body as she measured the distance, and without missing a beat, she pulled back her arm and sent her fist through the glass. She knew without a doubt that the sound would alert the guards to her position, but instead of deterring her – the knowledge left her exhilarated. She craved the challenge like an addict craved their next hit. She was desperate for something, constantly reaching for her next fix, that she didn’t give a damn about the consequences. As the glass sprayed outward, she gripped the broken edges and leaped up into the frame, her knees bent.

“FREEZE!”

The single word caused her to laugh, and she turned her head to look over her shoulder, a brow arched. “Yeah, how about no, ******.” With a kiss blown in their direction, she released her hold on the window and stepped forward. The sound of their footsteps echoed behind her, and she heard their muttered curses as she fell through the air. She knew the moment she landed that they would be on her, but she hadn’t expected how the impact would affect her. The second her feet touched the ground, her teeth snapped together and pain rushed through her body. She staggered a few steps, fingers quickly grappling at the wall for support as her vision dimmed. It only lasted a few seconds, but those seconds were all the guards needed to collect their thoughts. “*****!”

Freeing her gun from its holster, she pushed from the wall just as they began to fire. Thumbing off the safety, she ducked behind a garbage can and took aim, her eyes locked on the larger of the two. You know that killing him is not a good idea, mija. You will upset Mora. You can still ru— The report of her gun silenced the apparition, and she watched as the guard tumbled forward. His partner tried to grab him, but the momentum would have been enough to take them both down. She knew what he would choose – the selfish fuckers always thought about themselves. The moment he realized what was going to happen, he pulled his hands free and let the body fall forward. She didn’t bother to watch as his skull split open, and instead focused on the living guard. His face was twisted with guilt and grief, and she slowly lowered her gun as a familiar pain twisted in her chest. He looked as desolate as he leaned over the edge of the window that she couldn’t pull the trigger.

“****.”

Pressing her hand to her forehead, she edged her way out of hiding. He was so distracted that he didn’t notice as she took off in a run, her mind racing. She wanted to be good, but it seemed as if her path to redemption was a long one. Would she ever make it? Would she ever overcome what years in prison had done to her? Shaking her head, she rounded the corner – and nearly ran right into someone. Coming up short, she narrowed her eyes as her hand shot out, palm pressed to his chest. It didn’t take long for her to realize who it was, his face familiar, despite the crimson staining his features. “What have you done to yourself, pretty boy?” Her words were clipped as she tilted her head, all thought of herself fleeing as she focused on the blood dripping from his forehead. There was one redeeming quality in her, one thing that kept her head above water and gave her hope – her family.

[Jackson Avis]

With all the excitement of crimes in the general area, he nearly missed nearby yelling, glass shattering and what sounded like a loud thud but it was tough to be sure with all the noise on the street. For some reason that he wasn’t quite sure of, he was drawn to the danger of a good crime and even a good murder. Ever since his childhood, murder had been something that did drive him to be his best or worst self, despite the occasional voice in the back of his head that tried to steer him free of murder. This passenger inside his mind was constantly reminding him that anyone who died by his hand without a reason, would result in the passenger taking control of his body long enough to commit suicide. He wasn’t entirely certain that the passenger had any real control but not killing innocents did make sense to help hide what he was and what he had become.

His hand still brushed at the slightly open wound, wiping as much of the blood away from it as possible whilst it healed in slow motion or what felt like slow motion. What in the **** had he been doing, why in the **** had he tried to hock off stolen goods straight after his break and enter only a few blocks away. Honestly he knew he didn’t need the cash so what was he thinking.

‘You weren’t thinking. Like always, you lost control’

That damned inner voice, the passenger from hell who always wanted to remind him when he made a stupid move. Attacking a cop, causing him to flee in terror and then trying to sell the goods had been a really idiotic move on his part and he knew it without needing to be reminded by that voice. His bad behavior and lack of thought was a constant in his life, one that always led to trouble of some degree. The parents he killed, they had always told him that he was badly behaved and stupid which had eventually led him down a path where he killed them and continues to kill as required to sate his deepest desires or in self-defense.

Lost in thought, his ears pricked at foot falls close by, followed quickly by someone crashing into him. The blue hues scanned the person before him, quickly realizing who it was, his lips curled into a half smirk. His arm had instinctively reached out to support this person as their bodies got close. Those telling eyes of his traveled to the hand on his chest before back to the woman with a half-hearted chuckle. Looking at her current attire, she had been up to as much mischief as he had.

“Hmm I knew you’d give in and put a hand on me eventually sweet cheeks... Alas I got into a bit of a fight. You should see the other guy. What happened to that top? Boyfriend get a little over excited when you visited? I’m guessing not with it wrapped around your hands.”

The vampire watched this family member closely for a few moments as he tried to study what she might have been up to that caused her to loose half a shirt. Other than the shirt being wrapped around her hands, she looked as normal as when they shared the crypt together on occasion. His ears pricked again as he heard footsteps not too far away, this was cause for concern after his own crimes, so he clutched at her hand and pulled her away. Hopeful that they would look like a normal hand holding couple from behind if the cops did happen upon him. One advantage to his family member being a vampire as well meant she would have heard the same footfalls as him, so he kept his words short and sweet.

“Let’s go. Now”

[Rain (DELETED 5917)]

Narrowing her eyes as he answered, she slowly moved her hand to press her fingers none too lightly to his forehead. “What the hell is it with you Daradasi-Reid men?” Her voice was quiet, though the underlying currents in her tone spoke volumes. Her mood already sour, the dancer took a step back and studied the black blood that had creeped along her fingertips, waiting for it to simply dissipate into the air. “That never gets old,” she finally laughed, the smile softening her features. It showed her youth and brightened her eyes before she shook her head and sobered. The image of the guard connecting with the ground flashed through her mind, and she knew that he would never laugh again. He would never smile, he would never hold his family – because she had ripped his life from him.

It was do or die, Mija. I do not condone such actions, but I would rather you live. Do not fret, please.

The whispered words offered her a moment of relief, and she shook her head. She had to do it, she had to take his life – she couldn’t risk him hurting her – or finding her family. It was in self-defense. She could still find her way back to the light, she hadn’t deterred too far from her path, had she? And what of the man you executed last week? Or the man at the bar? What about the teenager in the alley? Her own bitter thoughts made her cringe, and she quickly wiped the expression from her face. No one knew her secrets, no one knew what she did in the dead of night when she couldn’t control the memories. No one needed to know – it was her own story, her own secret hell. Instead, she gave a laugh, her fingers brushing across her lower lip to smooth out her shimmering white gloss. “Who said I have a boyfriend, pretty boy? I don’t let anyone hold me down.” As soon as she spoke, Jacques face flashed into her mind, and the twinge of guilt that followed only pissed her off. You’ve said nothing wrong, Rain. That ****** just hits on you, nothing more. You’re not his.

Yeah, but sometimes she wondered if he knew that.

Before she had a chance to badger him more about his fight, the faint sound of boots against the pavement caught her attention. Instantly, her hand dropped to his gun, her fingers itching to pull the trigger. She could still smell the gun residue on the air, she could hear the bullets as they connected with the hearts of the approaching threat. With her weapon half-drawn, she prepared to push the younger vampire behind her – only to feel him grasp her hand and tug her down the streets. “What the hell, Jackson? We can’t just keep running!” Her feet refused to move, the desire to stand her ground and fight until the end coursing through her veins as it turned her eyes a brighter blue. Logic warred with rebellion, costing them precious seconds as he continued to pull at her hand, until something finally pushed her forward. The second her foot moved, she took off in a run, her fingers flicking her hood up to conceal the blonde of her hair as she swung onto the back of a car.

“I hope you can keep up, pretty boy, because it’s about to get rough.” With that, she jumped forward and grabbed the edge of a window, the soles of her feet pressing to the brick wall as she climbed onto the roof.

[Jackson Avis]

Shuddering at the feel of her fingers pressed into his head, he was tempted to tell her to push harder, in a weird way it was pleasurable. As the question slipped from her lips, he nearly bit back with a quick response but instead he left it go for the moment. Was he like the others, if he was, clearly it was frustrating his new found friend. One of his pearly white fangs pierced into his lower lip as he watched her playing with his blood, it took a moment for the strange copper taste to hit his tongue, as it did he quickly stopped biting down and took the bait about the Daradasi-Reid men thing.

“Can’t help being Daradasi-Reid any more than I can help that you finally gave in and touched me. What’s so wrong with being Reid though I wonder? Do we all notice that you are not entirely bad looking? Is that bad of us?”

Blue hues sparked with mischief as his lips curled into a smirk but it quickly vanished as her facial features shifted and were met with a head shake. He was sure he could see something in her eyes, was it something like him or did he simply misread her face, perhaps he would never know but he would certainly attempt to pry into that at a later time. Those blue eyes drifted to her fingers as they brushed along her lips, barely leaving a trace as they smeared the lip gloss. If not for her words that followed, Jackson just might have been caught staring when he shouldn’t be.

“A boyfriend shouldn’t hold you down sweet cheeks. He should be a pillar of support, regardless of what you have done and will do. We’ve all done some pretty bad ****, shouldn’t stop you from being you and it certainly shouldn’t be controlled by someone other than yourself.”

After the words left his mouth, he shook his own head. What in the high hell was he thinking, why he thought that would be a good thing to say he couldn’t figure out. Such stupid comments had been rudely interrupted with the footfalls that led to him gripping at her hand and asking her to run with him before they were caught and possibly gunned down. By now he figured that she had been up to no good, just like him but now was hardly the time to press the matter as he tugged at her hand.

“Yes we can. Trust me. I know, big ask when you don’t know me but seriously, let’s go. I won’t let either of us get hurt or caught.”

This was hardly the time but if it became necessary, he would beg her and eventually just scoop her up and carry her away. She was family and someone he was quickly coming to consider a friend, which meant he would do anything to protect her. At a moment’s thought it seemed stupid as she was older and stronger but instinct combined with family loyalty didn’t always make sense to anyone. This was crunch time, it was now or never, or otherwise they would surely be caught. Just as he went to beg her to move she took off and he gave a quick chase. Hide and seek; a game he had become rather efficient at so this would be exciting. He kept hot on her heels, quickly up the car and over to a window, heaving his body forward with each pull and kick against the wall.

“Move it sweet cheeks, I’m right behind you. Not a bad view either if I do say so.”