“Err, maybe he's in the can?” Wick guessed.
“No, he's outside...Jerry, you need to go talk to him,” Rachel said looking upset with the thoughts she was reading from him. The vampires weren't the only ones that had been hit in the gut by Wick's info.
“Alright,” he started walking towards the mansion entrance but stopped before going out of sight. “You're wrong about one thing though padre. She's not the one monsters have nightmares about...we are.”
He winked then carried on to go find his friend.
CHAPTER 17 – KEEP THE FAITH
Sophinia's Mansion – Sioux Falls
He found Goose sat just out side the front door looking up at the sky as if he were trying to spot heaven amongst the stars. His injury didn't seem to be bothering him anymore but something else was.
“You okay?” Jerry asked.
“I'm fine,” Goose said quietly before taking a swig of his beer.
“Yeah, I'm not buying that. What's up?”
“Nothing, I'm fine.”
“I thought I was supposed to be the one with issues today, now everyone's stealing my thunder. Come on, talk to me,” Jerry said taking a seat next to him.
Goose breathed out a deep breath and finally pulled his eyes away from the sky. “I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“Yelling at you. You were right...she's not an angel. Just another evil thing that we've gotta fight...just more evil, that's all there is isn't there...no good, just more evil.”
“Come on man, you know we're not that lucky,” Jerry smiled but his friend didn't.
“I know...I just...I wanted to believe that...” he couldn't finish.
“Believe that we had an angel watching over us?”
Goose nodded. “All the people we've lost, all the people we've saved. I just wanted to believe that maybe someone up there had noticed. That what we were doing was good and they sent us some help...but you're right, we're not that lucky. There's nothing watching over us...we're all alone in this.”
Jerry swigged his beer and sighed. He hated seeing his friends hope so wounded.
“You know I never believed in heaven or hell. I got used to death at a very young age and I never allowed myself to believe that there was anything afterwards. People just died and that was it. I don't know, maybe it's because I was always convinced that I was sort of brought in on the line. I was born, my mother died but even that might not be true...she might still be out there and if I ever find her and she turns out to be some horrible evil thing...I'll have to kill her. And if that ever happens, heaven and hell won't have anything to do with it, it'll just be me and her. She chose to hurt people and that's why I'll put her down. At least that's what I thought...but if the padres right and all these things were created by demons then maybe It's not that simple any more...maybe there's way more to this crap than we ever thought.”
Goose looked at his friend with sadness in his eyes. It hadn't really occurred to him that Jerry would be committed to doing something like that. It should have. He should have realized that this was a possibility the moment Jerry made him promise to destroy him if he ever turned evil. For Jerry, there was a line in the sand and once you step over it, that was it. It didn't matter if they were family, friends or mortal enemies, once you made your choice to do harm to innocent people, you were fair game.
No one should ever have to make that kind of commitment but Jerry had. He may have gotten into this life because of anger and revenge but he stayed in it for the right reasons. He had kissed any chance of a normal life goodbye and jumped head first into a sea of blood, darkness and pain just so he could find and rescue others that might be lost there, surrounded by terrible and hungry creatures.
“Look, it might take Aria a month to get back here,” Jerry said.
“And she could be back in an hour, we don't know.”
“I know but...maybe...maybe you should take some time off, you know. Go see your dad?” he suggested.
“Take some time off? Now? What are you kidding me?” asking him to step away from thing in the mist of this crazy crisis had to be a joke.
“I'm just saying...”
“Well don't bother. Besides, technically, I don't even have a dad at the moment,” he said quietly.
Jerry turned to his friend looking confused. Goose refused to look at him even though he knew exactly what question was going through Jerry’s head: What the hell was that supposed to mean? He answered for him.
“I got Rachel to whitewash his memories...convince him to get out of the country,” Goose admitted. There was a resounding shadow of lonely guilt in his voice.
“You did what?!”
“After we lost Steve and Sarah and...I just couldn't risk him. I know it's a shitty thing to do and maybe I'll get him back someday but...I just needed to know that he was safe.”
Jerry couldn't believe it. Goose had actually erased his own family to keep them safe. Somewhere, Doug was kicking back in a tropical country, unaware that he even had a son. He couldn't imagine how hard that must have been for Goose. The idea of sending Joe away to keep him safe was a nice idea but how lonely and vulnerable would it have made him feel. Joe was the last blood family he had left. He couldn't imagine losing him.
Goose had actually signed away his own father so that he would be safe but he had stuck around and run into whatever horrible fight with whatever horrible thing that Jerry had. No wonder he wanted so badly to believe that angels were watching over him. He didn't have a father to do it any more.
“Jesus...I'm sorry...I never wanted you to -”
“He's my father, it was my decision. I sure as hell wasn't gonna let him be a part of all this. He's not even in Hawaii at the moment, he's in Germany...I think. Either way, it's gonna be seriously difficult for anything to find him in the hopes of hurting us. He's safe, that's what matters. It's not like I'm gonna leave him like this forever...I got the idea from Harry Potter, when Hermione did it to her parents at the beginning of the last book...mmm, Hermione...smart chicks are so hot...”
For a second Goose actually seemed to forget about everything that had happened and just sat there with a mental image of a naked Harry Potter character in his head.
“You shouldn't have had to do this,” Jerry said gritting his teeth together. He still hated the fact that he was the cause of all this, but Goose never blamed him, not once.
“We've all had to make sacrifices...and what we do is important. I just wish that it was important to someone up there,” he said glancing up at the sky again.
It was amazing that his friend would have to do something like this and yet somehow he could still have faith.
“Look...I'm a stubborn bastard, I know that but I don't have so much pride that I can't admit when I'm wrong. If the padres right, heaven's up there, somewhere. And if hell created all the things we hunt then maybe heaven created something as well. Maybe things would have been easier for me if I'd had faith from the start but I didn't and I still don't. That's just me. I can't focus on anything beyond what I gotta do but that doesn't mean you do. The way things are going, it's spiraling out of even my brains ability to process and when that happens, maybe my opinions will be car wreck waiting to happen. My point is, just because I go off the rails, doesn’t mean you should. You shouldn't give up on the whole heaven thing just yet,” he turned to look his Goose in the eye. “I think, at least one of us should have faith...but it can't be me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don't like the way God does things. If he does exist, sure, he's a supreme being, he's all-powerful and maybe he's even got a plan but whatever it is, I don't like it. I don't like that you've had to exile your dad and I don't like that I can't ever have an actual relationship with a girl, I don’t like that our friends pay the price just for knowing me, so yeah, heaven exists, but...fact is, they ain't gonna help us so heaven can kiss my ass! We gotta do it ourselves and maybe, when we finally bite the dust, then we'll get a little pat o
n the back and a thank you. Until then, we just gotta stick together because that's all we got...anyway, screw heaven, you don't need angels watching over you.”
“I don't?” Goose actually coughed a laugh at that.
“Nah...I got your back,” he grinned.
Goose couldn't help but smile. It was good to know that he never needed to have faith in Jerry because he was just there. You didn't have to hope that he would do something, he'd just do it. No gospels, no sermons, no prayers. If you put your hands together and prayed for Jerry to rescue you from the zombies that were beating down your door. Those prayers would be wasted because he would have already gunned down the walking dead and dragged you out of your house to safety before you could even finish asking for salvation.
“So, what do you say we have another drink, try and cheer up the vampires and then we figure out a way to stop yet another evil bitch.”
“Sounds good,” Goose said and they clinked their beer bottles together. “You know...if we actually pull this off, stop a demon...it'll look great on the resume.”
“Amen brother.”
Jerry decided to stop off in the kitchen and grab another beer before heading upstairs. He walked towards the room that Claire occupied when she wasn't staying at their house and found Joe leaning against the wall outside with a bit of a depressed look on his face.
“How's she doing?” Jerry asked.
“I don't know, she won't talk to me,” Joe mumbled folding his arms.
“Well, maybe she'll talk to me,” he shrugged and banged on the door hard. “Candygram!”
A moment later Cass opened the door. “Guys, she just needs some time alone,” she sighed.
“Yeah, no problem, I completely understand,” Jerry nodded. “But, we have a small demonic problem right now so we really don't have time for tantrums,” he said shamelessly pushing past the vampire.
He immediately spotted Claire sat on the edge of her big comfy king-size bed. The room looked similar to all the other but a few differences. The color of the rug, the shape of the fireplace and the fact that it had a mini fridge in the corner (for blood packs) were a few. He saw that her eyes were still glistening a little from where she'd been crying before she turned her face away from him.
“So, how's your day been so far?” Jerry asked sounding a little too chirpy.
“Jerry, please, not now,” she whispered.
“You know, I've been almost kidnapped and killed more times in the last thirty-six hours than anyone in history, and yet here I am trying to help you work through your personal issues and that Claire...that is why I always get the last cookie,” he smirked proudly.
She coughed out a laugh. When he said it like that, it did sort of put things in perspective.
“Seriously, you're gonna sit here and mope about something some A-hole did a few thousand years ago? That's like booking yourself into AA because your great, great grandfather made moonshine.”
“You're one to talk,” she said nodding at his drink.
“Meh,” he shrugged. “I don't trust myself when I'm sober. And I don't trust you when you get all doubtful.”
“I know, I know...” she sighed. “It's just...we've all heard the theories about where we came from, I just wish it was from somewhere else. That one was always the worst case scenario.”
“Well, you're pretty big on the whole redemption thing which doesn't sound much like a demon to me. Besides, at least you know where you came from. I still got no clue.”
“True,” she shrugged.
“Exactly and please don't tell me you and Joe are already having problems.”
“No, look...you were right. I shouldn't be close to him, it's not safe,” the sadness in her voice made it obvious that she didn't want to believe that. “He's better off staying away from me...”
“Yeah, but it's a little late now because he's head over heels for you. And I did promise that I'd stake you if you hurt him so I strongly suggest you march your ass outside and tell him you love him because I'm pretty sure he loves you,” he said making it sound so simple. “Or I am going to have to kill you? A deals a deal after all.”
Jerry’s attempt at lightening the mood was cut off by much more powerful words.
“I do,” Joe said. He was standing in the door looking straight at her. “I love you.”
She seemed to want to say something but couldn't. She just stared back at him caught somewhere between pain and happiness. She was terrified of what this new information about the origins of her species could mean but at the same time she was so grateful and happy that someone like Joe could love her. Whatever choice she made right now she would have to follow through with.
There would be no changing her mind later on down the road. Either she would risk being with him or she'd force herself to say away.
It took her all of about a second to decide.
Jerry wasn't exactly overjoyed with her and Joe being together but if those feelings were there, the real, no holds barred love that you see in movies and books, well, then he wasn't going to try and stop them.
Claire rushed towards him with lightning vampire speed and wrapped her arms around him. “I love you,” she whispered before kissing him with the same passion and intensity that he would always give her. It still managed to cause a hit of jealousy to build inside Jerry. It just didn’t seem fair. Why did the others pulled into this world manage to be with others (supernatural others sometimes) but he couldn’t? It wasn’t right. At least it didn’t seem right.
For some reason, Jerry suddenly flashed back to the kiss that Aria had given him. It wasn't the same as what he’d just seen between Joe and Claire. With Aria it was all lust and power but between Claire and Joe, it was only about love. His stomach tightened up as he was once again reminded that this was something he'd never have but this time it was a little easier to bare. The jealousy began to fade.
Knowing that they would be happy and wouldn't have to suffer the same curse that he did made him feel better. It also reminded him that he'd just cheered up two people that had truly needed cheering up in the space of just a few minutes just after finding out some of the most devastating news he'd ever heard. It fed his ego.
“You gotta admit,” he said smugly to Cass, “I make Cupid look like an online dating service.”
Claire and Joe weren't listening. They were kissing again. The rest of the world had been locked up in a panic room for a few moments while they simply lived off each other. Jerry wasn't going to stop them. It was exactly what Claire needed and it was what Joe deserved.
It was crazy, but they really did love each other.
Hopefully that meant their heads would stay clear for a while, at least long enough for Jerry to deal with his own crappy issues that were already starting to chew away at him. He couldn't let them see that though.
“Not really,” Cass snorted still hanging about in the doorway. “Claire's such a soppy wuss that you can win her over with a home made Christmas card.”
Finally Joe and Claire’s lips managed to distance themselves but they didn’t stop staring at each other with nothing but awe. They were being watched but they didn’t care. Maybe they were trying to set an example of what love was.
“Can't you just be happy for your sister, for once?” Joe asked incredulously. He hadn't moved that far away from Claire's lips.
“What? No! She's much more bearable when she's all broody and low. Now she's gonna be like feakin' Disney character,” she groaned. “It's gonna make me wanna stake her...or myself.”
“You make Christmas cards?” Jerry asked suddenly looking confused.
“What?! No. Shut up!” Cass snapped instantly but Jerry was still eying her suspiciously.
“Will you make me one?” he mocked with a stupidly sentimental pout.
“Shut up!” she warned.
A visit from the FBI, kidnapped by a human, rescued by a demon that then turned nasty and killed a butt load of bloodsuckers, rescued again by another bloodsucker
and a mage, attacked again by the same demon, saved by a priest, some emotional support for his friends and now a sexy, sassy, badass vampire making her own Christmas cards?
This had been without doubt the craziest day of his whole life and something told him that it was only going to get worse from here on out.
CHAPTER 18 – LOCKDOWN
Sophinia's Mansion – Sioux Falls
“That was very sweet of you,” Rachel smiled as Jerry entered the library. She had obviously been listening to his thoughts ever since he'd been given the nasty news about his mother. He got the feeling she would be keeping a very close eye on what went on inside his head from here on out.
Blood Heavy: Ascension Page 18