His anger derived from a heart-attack he’d almost had when he’d realized that Jerry was gone. He had never been so worried in his life.
“Actually, we were the ones doing the killing,” Goose said, looking smug. “I got two of ’em and Jerry iced one.”
“Really?” Joe asked, looking quite shocked.
“Yep,” Goose smiled. Jerry felt no shame in agreeing with him. He didn’t feel guilty or hesitant about it. He had it programmed into his head that vampires weren’t real people and that killing them was like shooting down bad guys on a video game. Maybe that wasn’t healthy, but under the circumstances it was the perfect mentality to maintain. “ It felt good not to be on the receiving end for a change.”
“I wonder what else he receives,” Cass smirked, chuckling to herself. Goose glared at her insinuation.
“You’re about to receive my foot up your ass if you don’t shut up!” Claire screeched.
“Why Claire, you’re a poet, I had no idea,” Cassandra said, as if she were talking to a child.
“Look, this didn’t exactly work out the way I had hoped, but we’re all alive and we’re all here, so let’s just make the best of it,” Jerry said, attempting to defuse the tension.
“Ha!”
“Will you shut your mouth for two freakin’ seconds! You’re a guest here!” Claire said scathingly to her sister.
“So are you, princess,” Cassandra grinned.
“I ain’t so sure that I’m letting you stay,” Joe barked.
“Look, none of you want me here and I don’t want to be here.” Jerry was tempted to tell her that she was wrong. He wanted her there. “But it’s this, or I get dusted.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Claire drawled.
“You want to try me bitch?” Cass hissed, stepping up to her sister.
“HEY! What the hell is it with you two?!” Goose shouted, causing everyone to look surprised. “You’ve got, like eight-hundred years between you and you’re acting like five year olds having a tantrum! How about you two start acting your age, or we’re gonna throw some chocolate sauce on you and just let you hash it out!”
Both vampires’ eyebrows shot up and Jerry looked impressed with his best friend...and tempted to see what his suggestion would look like.
“Well, I never thought I’d say this, but Goose is right,” said Joe, causing yet more surprise. “While you’re under my roof you’re going to be civil, or I’m going to wait for the sun to come up and un-invite the both of you. Is that clear?”
Claire nodded and Cassandra just sort of flicked her hand in agreement. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
“Take that outside,” Joe ordered, before she could light one.
Cass groaned in annoyance and marched out of the door.
“One big happy family,” Jerry remarked with a grin.
When he and Goose woke up the next morning, they found Cassandra laid out on the couch flicking through TV channels, while Claire sat at the table reading. Joe was nowhere to be found.
“You’re uncle left for work,” Claire said. “He said something about ‘smoothing an axle’?”
“He’s workin’ on the Boss again,” Jerry said, pouring himself a coffee.
“The Boss?”
“Nineteen Seventy Ford Mustang Boss 429,” Jerry chimed. “If there is a Car God, then she is one of his angels.”
“You like muscle cars, Jerry?” Cassandra asked from the couch.
“That’s an understatement,” Goose Replied.
“Really? I think you’re compensating for something,” she said, grinning.
“Yeah, you’re compensating for something...comp...compensator...” his crappy retort fizzled out, making Cass smile even wider. “Look, we gotta go to school. You two aren’t going to kill each other while we’re out are you?”
“Jerry, that hurts,” Cass said with mock sadness. “You really think I’d hurt a hair on my stuck up, anally retentive, snotty bitch of a sister’s head?”
Claire gritted her teeth and fought down the urge to shout something back. “We’ll be fine,” she said.
“Okay...” Jerry replied, not sounding very sure about that.
After finishing his coffee, he got some clothes on and packed his bag with a few new additions, including a silver knife and the Colt. 45 loaded with silver rounds. He made sure to wear his gray hoodie, which would cover the wound on his neck, and took an injection of Parker’s hormone cocktail before heading back to the kitchen.
“Now remember,” Claire said, standing up. “You weren’t attacked, you don’t have special blood and there’s no such thing as vampires.”
“And we’re not carrying loaded weapons,” Goose added.
“And Claire isn’t allergic to sex...” Cass couldn’t resist.
“And Cassandra isn’t a slut,” Claire joined in. “Wait, no, you’re never going to be able to pull that lie off.”
Cass gave her the finger, while Claire stood aside so as not to get hit by the sunlight.
Going back to school after the weekend that they’d had was like entering a different world. Everything was exactly the way they remembered, but it felt different. It was like returning to your home town after years of absence to find that the only thing that’s changed is you.
Now the cheerleaders didn’t seem so desirable; the muscle bound jocks weren’t intimidating, and the idea of homework, detention, or even expulsion, was just plain laughable. Jerry actually felt a little sympathetic towards the other kids. None of them knew what was really out there. This thought was quickly masked by jealousy. Part of him wished he could just go back to being a blissfully ignorant teenager again.
As they walked through the parking lot they spotted Mr. Parker's car in the faculty zone. It had only been a day, but Jerry was still hoping he might have some answers.
“Hey!” Jerry turned towards the voice and was immediately hit by a nasty right palm that left a sting in his cheek. “What the hell did you do to my boyfriend?!” Sarah demanded, looking furious.
Steve was standing a few feet away, looking pale and jumpy.
“Hi Sarah, nice to see you too,” Jerry growled, rubbing his face.
“Why is he so freaked out and why is he talking about vampires?!”
Jerry and Goose exchanged a quick look, which showed that they were in agreement. Jerry grabbed Sarah by the arm and walked her over to a concealed part of the car park. They edged between an empty school bus and a parked car.
“Okay, this is going to sound a little - a lot crazy, but it’s the truth,” Jerry said, before pulling the neck of his hoodie aside. She instantly saw the puncture marks just above his collar bone.
“Did that happen in the crash?” she asked curiously.
“No, that happened when a vampire gave me a love bite!”
“Two vampires,” Goose corrected.
“Right, two,” Jerry nodded.
Sarah looked at them like they were a pair of monkeys juggling pineapples.
“You aren’t seriously -”
Before she could finish, Jerry discreetly pulled out his Colt .45 and showed it to her.
“Oh, my God! What are you doing with a gun?!” she shrieked.
“Protection. It’s locked with silver rounds. You think I’d have bite marks on my neck and be carrying around a gun loaded with silver bullets if this shit wasn’t for real? Sarah, there are things out there that you wouldn’t believe. I’ve got two vampires at my house right now, you wanna meet ’em?”
“You can’t expect me to the believe this, this -”
“After school,” Jerry interrupted again. “You and Steve come over to mine, I’ll prove it. Joe’s on board; he’s gonna teach us how to fight. I want you two to learn as well. I don’t like the idea of leaving you defenseless.”
“Jerry, this is crazy!” she said, still unable to take it in.
“Well, sane went out of the window for us about two days ago, so this is all tha
t’s left,” Goose declared.
“But…vampires?”
Steve was biting his nails, which he never did unless he was truly worried about something.
“Vampires, werewolves, fairies,” Goose nodded. “They’re all real.”
“Fairies...that one sounds crazier every time I hear it,” Jerry snorted.
“Fairies?” Sarah had to ask.
“I know,” Jerry nodded. “But...I thought vampires were ridiculous until one decided to snack on me.”
“Mr. Parker’s hip to this whole mess too. He’s trying to figure out Jerry’s blood,” said Goose.
“Parker…Jerry’s blood…what the hell are you talking about?”
“You didn’t tell her that part?” Goose asked, looking at Steve. He just shrugged.
“What part?”
“Jerry’s got vampire ‘go juice’ running in his veins. Somehow it makes them immune to all their normal weaknesses. His blood literally makes them invincible. That’s why they attacked him, that’s why they’re still looking for him now, and that’s why we’re packing guns with silvers shells,” Goose explained quickly. “This shit is real Sarah.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“I’ll introduce you to a pair of vampires a little later. Afterwards you might just change your mind. But first, I’ve got to go and talk to my biology teacher, so...” he tucked the gun safely back into his bag, “Roll everything over in your brain and buy as much therapy as you like...doesn’t make it any less real.”
“I think I should get you therapy, you clearly need it!” Sarah retorted.
“It’s a brave new world,” Jerry shrugged, and walked off towards the school.
Both Goose and Jerry slumped their way through Mr. Parker’s biology lesson. He seemed like a completely different man. There was absolutely no trace of the fact that he knew about the supernatural in anything he said or did. The same couldn’t be said for the boys. All they did for the entire lesson was look around the class at the other ‘normal’ students, wondering how many of them would freak out if they found out vampires were real.
After the bell rang, Jerry and Goose purposely stayed behind until all the other students had left. As soon as they were gone, Goose closed and locked the door.
“So?”
“So, what?” Parker said, shuffling some work away. “You were expecting me to have your blood figured out in a day?”
“Well...no...but,” Jerry shifted.
“I did however make some interesting discoveries,” Parker added.
“Yeah? Like what?”
“When was the last time you were sick?” his teacher asked.
“Err...I don’t know...” Jerry replied, rolling his eyes contemplatively.
“You had that stomach-bug thing about two months ago,” Goose reminded him.
“Nah, I was faking that,” Jerry replied absently, not worrying that he’d just admitted truancy in front of a teacher. “Maybe when I was a kid, I don’t know.”
“Have you ever been sick?” Parker asked, making it obvious what he was getting at.
“Of course, everyone’s been sick.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Again, Jerry’s eyes rolled up as he tried to think back to his past. He must have been tucked up in bed and feeling crappy at some point, but he just couldn’t remember it.
“I mixed your blood with samples I took from Sophinia.”
“And?”
“And it died,” he said simply.
“My blood died?”
“No, her blood died. Yours killed it,” Parker said, causing both Jerry and Goose to look startled.
“So, purebloods can’t drink my blood?”
“I don’t think it’s that. These were concentrated samples in equal quantities and they didn’t get worked through a vampire’s body. When they drink, vampires have still got more blood in their system than the amount they drink. The ratio is a little different. I think a pureblood could still snack on you like any other fang, but this seems to indicate that if they drank too much it would overwhelm their bodies and kill them,” he explained.
“Well, it’s nice to know that if I get killed by one of these freaks, at least I’ll OD the son of a bitch that eats me!” Jerry huffed.
“It also means that you can’t be turned.”
“Huh?” Goose perked up. “Jerry can’t be turned into a vampire?”
“Nope. A vamp has to drain your blood completely and replace it with their own, in order to turn you. That can’t happen with you. Either the draining will kill you and the vamp, or, your blood will fight off the fang’s blood.”
“Well, that brightens my day,” Jerry grinned.
“Really?” Parker asked, looking a surprised.
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, there are a lot of people out there who would find the idea of becoming a vampire...desirable.”
“Desirable; are you kiddin’ me?!”
“Well, think about it, Jerry. You’d never get old, never get sick and possess enough muscle to bench press a car. Unless it was silver, you could get shot and stabbed a hundred times over and still not die.”
“That’s because they’re already dead. You really think that I’d want to become some undead bloodsucking freak? Killing people and draining them dry, just so I could skip out on mortality? No freakin’ way! We live, we get old, we die, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Anyone that chooses to become a vampire to get away from that is a goddamn coward! I’m more than happy to be human.”
“Well...I don’t meet many kids that can accept mortality so easily. Most don’t even want to think about it,” Parker replied, impressed.
“My mom died giving birth to me, my dad died when I was nine, and now I’ve got vampires living at my house! I’ve been around death plenty; I know the score. Being human ain’t always a barrel of laughs, hell, most of the time it’s painful, embarrassing and short, but it’s a lot better than being one of those things. Why do you think I want to cure them?” he meant every word he was saying. “Being a thing that can’t survive without draining the life blood of the living isn’t the same as being a person, it’s being a parasite: a disease that needs to be wiped out, and I’m more than happy to oblige!”
“I agree with you wholeheartedly about everything, except one point; they are people Jerry,” Parker said. “They used to be human and some part of them still is. Don’t forget that there are vamps out there who want to become human again. Vampires that hate themselves for the things they’ve done.”
Jerry couldn’t accept that, especially if he was going to have to kill them. The reason he didn’t feel guilty about dusting the vamp from the night before was because he viewed them as monsters and not people. At least, the bad ones weren’t people. Claire and Sophinia were people with a nasty condition, but Black Forest were monsters in his mind. No humanity meant no mercy, no guilt and no reason not to kill.
“Oh yeah, Cass seems to be wallowing in self-loathing,” Jerry said.
“Why do you think she’s like that Jerry?” Parker’s voice seemed to resonate with sympathy. “Cass has convinced herself that she’s going to Hell, and to quote her; ‘might as well enjoy the ride’. That’s why she drinks, smokes and bangs everything she can. To her, every day just brings her one step closer to the pit. She hates being a vampire, and she hates her sister for turning her into one.”
“Wait...Claire turned Cass?” Goose repeated, with confused eyes.
It didn’t seem possible. Claire was supposed to be the good-girl and Cass the evil sister, but now it appeared the other way round.
“Yeah. Back when she was human, Claire was a straight arrow. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. Then she got turned and the blood lust took over her humanity. She went around killing and raping and maiming everything she could find, until one day, she thought her little sis should get in on the action. She turned Cassandra on her twentieth birthday and the pair went around cutting a bloody path through
half of France. A couple of decades later, Claire’s humanity started to show up again and suddenly Cassandra was left all alone. When Cassandra’s humanity came back, she was disgusted with herself and she hated Claire for what she’d done to her...especially when she started to feel the guilt of murdering her own parents.”
“Cass killed her own parents?” Goose whispered, looking shocked.
“Yeah. Most vamps do. To them, they aren’t their folks anymore; they’re just walking blood packs,” Parker said sadly. “About a hundred and fifty years ago Claire was on the wagon. She moved halfway across Europe, wasn’t feeding on humans and was even seeing some guy that she was head over heels for. That’s when Cass showed up looking for revenge.”
Blood Heavy (Blood Heavy Series) Page 14