The sky was grey and gloomy. Too gloomy that the sun could not even shone its brightness through it. The ground was dry and quiet, as if waiting patiently for the storm to come. And soon enough, small droplets of rain fell and hit on the cold surface of a windscreen. The wiper mercilessly wiped them away. The car moved fairly quietly across the dry, lonely road. It was the only car on the road, and there were only three people sitting in it.
Jack Kennington stared at the moving yellowed, dried up bushes on the road side. They disappeared from his sight as fast as they appeared. He couldn't help but think the sky was mirroring his heart, what he was feeling at the moment. He had always hated being on the road. Not because the only thing he could do in the car was sleep; but because the only reason he would be on the road with Annabel and Hugh was that they are moving. Again.
Jack had lost count of how many times they had moved across the States. They had been to almost all of the cities — large and small, quiet and busy. He had grown tired of saying goodbyes, so he had stopped making any close friends since long ago. There is really nothing you can do if you and your family are vampires. If you don't move frequent enough, people would bound to notice something is wrong. Why do they look the same as they did twenty years ago? Why are they so pale like they were dead? Those are the unavoidable questions that will be running through every normal human's mind if they stay at the same place too long.
However, it seemed Jack was the only one who felt that way. Hugh, who was driving, tapped on the steering wheel rhythmically and whistled happily. Annabel, sitting beside Hugh, put on her Gucci shades and listened to her iPod. A sunless sky is the best weather for them vampires. Even though they would not be burned to death in the presence of sunlight, they still hate the sun and prefer the night. The first reason is that the sun robs away their powers, which are amplified by the moon; the second reason is a very simple one — they are born that way. (Or, in the case of made-vampires, they are made that way.)
This time, they were moving away from a small town in Illinois. And this time, Jack made a mistake. He fell in love. At least he thought he was in love. That heart-raising feeling, what else could it be? Her name was Scarlett Greinger. She had been his friend since junior year, the year he moved into the house next to hers. And the night before he left, she asked him to go to a college in St. Louis with her. He said yes.
But he had to leave and disappear from her life. Nobody would know they had ever appeared in the town because they would never remember. It was a small town. It wasn't hard to "conveniently" evaporate from the surface of the earth. But it was so painful when he had to erase all of the memories of himself from her mind. It felt like his heart would burst. That was why he made a promise to himself, to never get too close to humans again, to save himself the pain.
"Oh, come on, Jack. Stop scowling over a petty human already. You have the entire ocean out there. You can have anyone you want. Well, any vampire you want, that is," said Hugh over his shoulder.
"I would very much appreciate it if you would stay out of my love life, Hugh," scorned Jack.
"Hey, don't talk to your father with that tone," hissed Hugh.
Yes, he wasn't being funny or sarcastic. Hugh was Jack's biological father, and Annabel was the woman who gave birth to Jack. They always told the humans that Hugh and Jack were brothers, and that Annabel was Jack's sister-in-law. It wouldn't have made sense if they were to tell the humans that they're father, mother and son. Hugh had a pretty boy face; but Annabel wasn't any better than him. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties.
Annabel had dark, straight hair and pale blue eyes. Her eyes were cold and piercing and she often had a mysterious and dangerous aura surrounding her, but she was beautiful enough to attract every single man that had lain his eyes on her. She had the face of a goddess, was what most people said (vampires and humans alike).
"Jack, honey, do you realise how many girls from the high-level vampire families have their eyes on you? Any one of them can be better than that girl. Reina, for instance. Didn't you two use to hang out a lot when you were younger? And Brittany. You two went to the same vampire academy, didn't you?" Annabel asked.
"Firstly, I don't like politics. And neither will I ever get myself into those political-marriage nonsense. I don't give a damn to the whole strengthen-the-high-level-vampires-blood thing. Second, I'm not about to live my whole life with a lady version of Leroy d'Evreux. My life is miserable enough. Thank you."
"That's a very rude thing to say about your father's best friend. Though, I have to admit that about him and Brittany. But Reina isn't as bad, right?"
"Yeah, well. Not as bad…but ten times worse."
There was a pause and Jack sighed heavily. "Look, could we just stop talking about this? Give it a rest."
Annabel was going to say something but Hugh stopped her. The atmosphere in the car fell into awkward silence again.
That night, they arrived at a small city near Mobile in Alabama — Donnsville. This was where they were going to stay for the next ten years. Donnsville may not be very well-known to humans, not as famous as New York City and such, but it was the New York City for Hell denizens, or best known as Nightwalkers. It was one of the largest Hell cities in America. There were only two large Hell cities in the States — the other one was in the extreme north of Alaska, a perfect place for "the king of Nightwalkers".
They bought a manor in Glen Orpheus, a neighbourhood near Jack's new high school — the Lucien East High School. The house was almost entirely surrounded by trees and bushes. Not a bad thing. The tall and big trees would make good blockers of the sunlight. However, Jack couldn't help but sighed at the thought of attending high school, again. Letting go of Scarlett wasn't easy, but he had slowly began to accept the fact. He knew it was naïve of him to wish for a normal life, a life without having to hide who he is, and a life with someone close to share it with. He had grown tired of repeating the same routine in his endless life — pretend to be an innocent human teenager in a new place; "grow up"; after ten years or so, leave the place and erase memories, and move on to another place. Living like this, he would rather live in a cave and be himself.
However, after living with the humans for so many years, he had come to dislike the way his kind does things. He had lost the heart to harm humans, the thing that he had been doing since he had become a fully grown vampire. He used to prey on humans or enslave them for their blood, and, no matter how much he wanted to forget it, he had killed countless innocents only for the sake of satisfying his hunger.
He now preferred a more quiet, and perhaps, civilised way of feeding — getting blood from volunteering humans. Well, unknowing volunteers, to be precise. Some vampires, like Hugh and Annabel, would use their privileges to get to human blood, and store it or sell it. That was the reason Hugh and Annabel became doctors and the directors of Donnsville Hospital. They bought over the hospital a few days before they arrived in the city.
Hugh and Annabel had been doctors for humans since long ago. And they had always used this position to get blood from unknowing humans. They would always set up a special room or vault in the hospital they worked in, called the H unit, and store the blood in there. Some of the blood was for themselves, and some was for business. Yes, they would sell half of the blood stored to traders or retailers, often the vampires owning night clubs or bars. They sell it as a drink called Red Satan, a drink that only vampires would know. That's where Donnsville comes in as the best Hell city for business — it has hundreds of night clubs and bars, as it is known as the "City of the Night".
Jack shut his bedroom door behind him, threw his suitcase onto the floor and flung himself onto the bed. He stared at the chandelier above him. He could see it clearly even in the dark with his vampire eyes. That had reminded him of how he used to prey on humans from the shadows, using his eyes that can see in the dark. He closed them and put his arm over his forehead.
It was then there was a flash of light, followed by a loud bang. He could hear voices hissing and whispering. He grinned.
"It's impolite to trespass people's room in the night," Jack said playfully while lying on the bed, still with his eyes closed.
"Aww, man. And I thought I could finally have a successful sneak attack. It's all your fault, Billie Goodwood," said a boyish voice.
"How was it my fault? You were too clumsy to even land on your feet after teleportation!" a high-pitched female voice complained.
"Shut up! It's because you bumped on me during landing."
"Hey! Don't tell me to shut up. I'm your older sister, Stevie Goodwood."
"So what? You're only older than me by a minute," said the boy, Stevie, with a he-could-careless tone.
"Guys, do you come here just to fight with each other?" Jack said, finally stood up from his bed and switched on the light. "And you're not supposed to use your teleportation power to travel such a long distance yet."
Billie and Stevie Goodwood were a pair of vampire twins Jack met around a century ago when he was living in Washington. They were his friends and his mentees. Even though they were still young as vampires, Jack could find good company in them.
Billie was a beautiful red-haired girl with gentle, cornflower blue eyes, always pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She had long and elegant legs, making her almost as tall as Jack. It wasn't a surprise when she told Jack she had become a model. Stevie, on the other hand, had slightly brownish red hair and hazel eyes. He had the same height as his sister. And he's often the more childish twin. Billie can be childish sometimes, when she's with her brother, but most of the time she can be too mature for her age.
"But I'm almost two hundred years old!" Stevie complained.
"That's like a teenager's age in vampire society. And you've only just gotten the power few days ago. You're still green. You'll exhaust your energy if you travel too long a distance."
"It's only from Texas! I'm strong. I have tons of energy to use. Besides, I've mastered it already," said Stevie proudly.
Billie snorted at the statement. "Yeah, right."
"I'll have to tell your parents if you don't promise to use the power sensibly," Jack demanded.
"Serves you right," Billie chuckled.
"You, too, young lady."
"Me? He's the one who wanted to show off his power to you!" Billie complained, annoyed. She shot a nasty look at Stevie, who had sat down on Jack's bed, looking tired.
"Ugh, I feel dizzy."
Right at that moment, Billie's face became slightly paler and she sat next to her brother. "Me, too."
"That's because you've used up too much energy. You've crossed almost three states, for Pete's sake."
"But I was absolutely fine a second ago," cried Stevie.
"You won't feel the dizziness immediately. The effect only shows up after awhile." Jack sat on the armchair beside the bed casually. "So, why are you here? I trust that showing off your newly gained power to me is not the only reason."
"Well…" said Stevie, looking away from Jack.
"We're asked to bring a message to you, from our cousin," explained Billie, trying to sit up straight despite her dizziness.
"Reina?"
"Well, yeah. She wants you to go back to London. And, well…"
"And marry her," Jack finished Billie's sentence. "She hasn't changed one bit, has she? As domineering as always."
"We're totally on your side, bro," said Stevie proudly. "I mean, who the hell wanna live with a good-for-nothing, bossy narcissist for the rest of their eternal life?"
"Well, it can't be helped. She's our Queen's favourite. Might even be the successor if our Queen dies. If she can die, that is," said Billie.
"Eww. If she ever becomes the Queen, I'll be the first to kill myself."
The twins stayed for a short chat and left during midnight. Jack skipped supper and went straight to bed. Not that he could get any sleep, though. He was merely staring at the ceiling until the next morning.
He went out early in the morning, going to the school before classes start to get himself registered and his uniforms. He changed in the male washroom after getting his timetable. By the time he had finished changing, the hallways were already filled with hundreds of youthful teenagers. He walked down the hallway as some of the students stared at him admiringly. He had gotten used to it a long time ago.
As he reached the door way of his first class, he could hear loud voices coming from the room, both sounded and unsounded. The emotions of the students were so clear that Jack felt like he was actually reading minds instead. All of them were excited about something. All, except one.
He stepped into the class and everyone's eyes on him. Almost everyone. There was this one person who didn't even look at him, unaware of his presence whatsoever. This girl, who was so quiet and busy drawing in her notebook. She sat at the farthest corner at the back of the class, staying in her own little world and couldn't care less of the rest of the world.
She had long, wavy dark auburn hair, with matching dark emerald eyes. She's a little petite compared to other girls, and delicate-looking. Her cherry pink lips made her looked pale, but exceptionally beautiful. It wasn't her beauty that had attracted his attention, but something else, something he couldn't quite put it into words. It was as if he was curious about her, wanting so badly to know her. And before he realised it, he had already sat down on the seat next to her.
The girl did not look at him still, and continued drawing in her notebook. He looked at her, and then her drawing. She has talent, he thought. The teacher had come in and introduced Jack to the rest of the class, but the girl merely gave him a quick glance and continued drawing. Jack didn't know why then he had such a desire to attract her attention. When the class started, neither he nor the girl was paying attention. For some inexplicable reason, he couldn't take his eyes off her.
After awhile, the girl finally finished her drawing, and signed at the bottom of the page — Robyn E. Winston.
"What does the E stand for?" Jack whispered to her unconsciously. He was surprised when he realised he just talked to her.
The girl looked at him, staring straight into his eyes with her glimmering green eyes. Finally, he thought. You finally looked at me. She was quiet and just stared at him. Jack could read it even without his empathic powers. She was like a deer in headlights when he spoke to her.
"Pardon my rudeness. I'm Jankin Kennington, but you may call me Jack," said Jack under his breath when he knew she wasn't going to speak anytime soon.
She waited for a moment before she spoke. "Elizabeth," she said softly. "It stands for Elizabeth."
Jack smiled. He thought her voice was as sweet as candies. "That's a beautiful name. I think it suits you better than Robyn."
She looked away, uneasy, and forced a smile. She took out a writing pad and started taking down notes, paying attention to the teacher instead of him. That somehow made Jack snapped. Look at me! He shouted again and again in his head, as if she could hear him.
When the bell rang, everyone else rushed out for another class. Robyn stood up and was about to leave when Jack stopped her.
"Do you dislike me or something, Lizzie?" Jack said playfully.
She looked at him and frowned. "I'm Robyn," she said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Well, I reckoned Elizabeth's more suitable for you. So why don't I just call you Lizzie from now on?" Jack suggested with a grin.
"Do I dislike you? A moment ago, I would've said no. But now? Yes." She pushed her chair under the desk, irritated. "Don't just go and call people any name you want, Jankin."
"Oh, Jack would be fine," said Jack, still grinning. He didn't know why he acted like a thick-faced rascal. It's almost as if he was enjoying irritating her. It's not like him at all, he thought. But it seemed like he got her attention, and he's a little happy about that.
Robyn took a deep breath as if to cool herself down. "If you'll excuse me, I'm late for class." And she walked out of the class.
Unbelievable to even himself, Jack followed suit and caught up with her. "What are you having now?"
"None of your business," she said without looking at him. But she suddenly stopped walking and looked at Jack. "You're really annoying, do you know that?"
Jack smiled. He must have gone insane to smile at that comment, he thought. "Why, really? Thought you find me good-looking." He smirked. He had read her emotions. And her emotions said she was shy and embarrassed to be with him.
"What…makes you think so?"
Jack shrugged. "Well, there must be a reason why you can't act naturally around me." He leaned closer to her face, and he thought he just saw a human turning into a tomato.
"I…I am…acting naturally. Just…go away." She ran off immediately after that.
Jack stood there, smiling to himself. He couldn't understand this sweet feeling of teasing a girl and making her embarrassed. It never happened before. This feeling never came to him when he's with Scarlett, or any other girls. What happened to me? He laughed silently. He felt like a hopeless little boy.
She's a very strange girl, he thought to himself. He had been watching her ever since. She was always with a red-haired girl whenever she's not alone, and only her. She didn't seem to have any other friends, but she didn't seem to be bothered by that either. Quiet, cold, anti-social, and a little self-conscious; she was exactly what Scarlett was not. So, why, he asked himself, why was he so intrigued by her? It was as if there was this invisible string pulling him towards her.
"Is this what they called love at first sight?" said Jack softly, while lying on his bed. Even when it was Scarlett, he had never felt this intense desire before. The desire to possess someone.
It's been a week since they talked. All Jack could do was to watch her. She, for some reason, had been avoiding him. She even gone so far as to remove herself from her usual, away-from-the-world seat at the back of the class and sat at the front of the class instead. Even though almost every student in the school couldn't wait to befriend him, she shunned him. There were so many times that he just wanted to kidnap her from her friend, or to chain her up with him so that she'll have no choice but to be with him. But she was only fifteen, and that made him cautious of how aggressive he was on her. Scaring her away was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Hmm…I wonder who the lucky girl is," said Hugh, who suddenly appeared in Jack's room.
Jack sat up on the bed and frowned at Hugh. "Will you please knock on the door before you enter?"
"You haven't answered my question," Hugh grinned.
Jack kept quiet. He did not want to look him in the eye. He didn't want to tell Hugh that he's attracted to a human again.
"A human again, huh?" said Hugh casually.
"Hey! Don't just read people's mind as you please."
Hugh was not smiling anymore. The atmosphere became serious all of a sudden. "Son, you should know better than to fall in love with a human again. Have you not felt the pain of letting go someone you love and erasing all of their memories of you? What are you gonna do if she finds out you're not human and that you can never age? And even if she still choose to be with you knowing all that, how long is she gonna stay with you? Humans don't live a long life like us."
Jack had tried to ignore the reality, the facts. But Hugh had forced him to come back to the inevitable reality and rationality in the end. He buried his face in his palms, and let out a thousand years worth of sighs.
"I dunno why I'm falling into the same trap again. The same mistake. But at the first moment I saw her, I felt this strange connection. As if something's pulling us together. As if I've just found a part of me that has been missing, and I wouldn't be complete without it. It'll probably sound crazy but…I have this immense barbaric desire to possess her, to the point that I'll kill anyone that comes between us."
Jack hove a deep sigh again. "I'm not sure if I have feelings for her but I definitely want her to belong to me, and me alone." He paused. "What is wrong with me?" he spoke softly, more to himself than to Hugh.
It was only after quite awhile that Hugh finally spoke. "Oh dear. I prayed that it would never come to that but it seems it still happened."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, let's see. There are only two explanations as to why you feel this way about that whatever-her-name-is girl. One, there's a possibility that she is a Veela."
"That's not possible. Well, she is beautiful and all, but…she doesn't seem to attract other males."
Hugh's face turned sombre at the statement. "Then, there can only be one reason," said Hugh acutely. "She's your soul mate."
Jack was a little surprised, but deep down, he somehow knew of it long before.
"The fact that you felt the connection and that overwhelming possessiveness over her before you even have feelings for her proves that she's the one you're destined to be with. The same thing happened to me when I met your mother. I nearly murdered your grandfather when he opposed of our relationship," said Hugh and he laughed at that memory.
"But she's human. How is it that a vampire's soul mate is a human?" asked Jack, looking straight into Hugh's eyes.
"It's rare. But it's not unprecedented." Hugh paused. His face became to look regretful. "My best friend is the best example. It's funny, really. He, the lion, kills so mercilessly, and yet still fell for one of his preys. He was so deeply in love to the point of madness and extreme obsession." He laughed bitterly.
"Leroy? In love with a human?" Jack asked incredulously. He laughed wryly.
"There's nothing you can do about it, really. You'll feel like a moth being drawn to the light, and you'll still go for it even if it's dangerous. If it has come down to the Destined One, Ann and I won't be able to stop you. But you have to realise you have to endure the consequences on your own. Falling for a human will most likely cause you to break the Hell society's primary rule — never let humans be aware of our existence. And of course, you might endanger her life."
"Knowing all that, do you still want to fall in love with her?"
Jack turned his gaze away. "This is ridiculous," he said, laughing bitterly. "Yes."
****
Those glimmering dark emerald eyes gazed at him as if they could see straight through him. They were ethereal. But there was a hint of fear hidden under the piercing gaze. He could definitely feel her nervousness and her fear…of him. He could almost hear her heart thumping against her chest violently. She was like a helpless prey, cornered by a beast.
"I'm sorry, Miss Stravinski. May I borrow your friend for a moment?" Jack asked without looking at the person he was asking, but at Robyn instead. The anger and annoyance were overflowing inside him. He couldn't help but be irritated by Robyn's actions — avoiding and ignoring him. Anymore of it, he would probably snap and jump on her. Or maybe that's exactly what he was doing.
"Um, su…sure. I'll m…meet you by the main entrance, Robyn," said Stella Stravinski before leaving reluctantly, along with dozens of students leaving for home.
For awhile, the two of them only looked at each other. Each waiting for another to speak.
Robyn swallowed and shifted her gaze to Jack's arm, which was stretched beside her and onto the locker, instead. "Wha—"
"Why have you been avoiding me?" Jack asked in a solemn voice.
"I wasn't—"
"Don't lie." He's voice became more solemn. "You wouldn't even look at me. Not even a glimpse."
She didn't answer, and didn't look at him still.
She became even more nervous now, he thought. She didn't show it on her face but he could read it clearly. And he's not going to suppress her emotions to make her feel better. In fact, he wanted her to feel even worse. The more nervous she was, the better.
"I know you felt it. That strange, unfathomable attraction, as if you're drawn to me. And that extreme possessiveness. But you're terrified of it. So you ran. Running away from that…and me."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Please excuse me. I have to go," said Robyn shakily.
The moment she tried to walk pass Jack, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into his arms. It happened in such a quick moment, that even Jack himself didn't know what he was doing. Before he realised it, he had pressed his lips on hers. She tried to pull away and struggle off his arms but he held her tightly, so that she couldn't escape. It wasn't long before she gave in as she returned the kiss.
There was this guilt of eating the forbidden fruit, consenting to the forbidden love; but there was also the overflowing happiness, the light-headedness, and the butterflies. How could he ever let go of such sweet and soft and cherry-like lips?
Jack was certain that he had never once felt this way for Scarlett. Towards her, it was more like a platonic love. No, perhaps it wasn't even love to start with.
They were in bliss. It felt like there were only the two of them in the world and everyone else didn't matter. He put his hand on her waist and pushed her against the lockers. She seemed to be a little shocked by his aggressiveness. She squeezed the sleeves of his blazer, as if to tell him she's about to lose her mind.
He pulled away and looked at Robyn gently. The anger from before was gone. What was now in place of that anger was a burning desire. Lust. Longing. He wanted this delicate human girl to only belong to him and no one else. He wouldn't let anyone take her away from him.
Jack touched her chin and caressed her cheek. He put his hand at the back of her neck and pulled her in again. He wanted to taste the sweetness of her lips even more. He wanted to touch her and feel her warmth. Even though he knew this love would be difficult, and dangerous, he didn't care. All he ever cared at that moment was to possess her.
After what seemed like millenniums, they finally pulled away from each other, and looked into each other's eyes. Jack brushed her hair and smiled. "Where've you been my whole life?"
****
Hugh put his arm over Annabel's shoulder to let her lean on his chest. The atmosphere in their room was solemn. They were quiet for a very long time.
"We're really not going to do anything?" Annabel asked anxiously.
"We can't even if we want to. That's his fate," Hugh explained reluctantly. "We can never win if the opponent is fate. The only thing we can do now is to pray nothing bad would ever happen."
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