Meeting with Orlock always put Jack in a dangerous mood. Jack suspected it was one of the few joys left in the Monarchs life. He’d been practicing pushing Jack’s buttons for two hundred years now and his Jack’s former family had always been his favorite and the most effective knife to twist. Orlock knew that Jack was powerless against him, so generating new levels of rage was a very amusing game indeed. More so if he actually provoked Jack into doing something stupid for then Orlock was free to test the limits of pain that his sireling could endure. Jack had become quite acclimated to pain over the course of his extended life. Of course, Orlock always had more tricks up his sleeve as well.

Jill’s first encounter with Orlock had gone much better than Jack hoped it would have. She was shocked, of course, at her first encounter with the true terror that was their monarch but there had been no harm done. As the saying went ‘no blood no foul’. Jack smiled bitterly remembering when she had questioned Orlock openly, remembering the sharp pain of his sire’s response. Orlock was a cruel and trying part of his existence, and Jill’s now. Jack had no doubt that she would face that true horror in time, but perhaps he could better prepare her for that.

Jill once again returned to her room as soon as they returned to Jack’s mansion, locking the door to be alone with her thoughts. Jack decided to let it go for now. Everyone deserved a little time to themselves after dealing with that monster for the first time. Frankly he’d been rather impressed by her strength of will. She had an iron resolve that she would need if she was going to survive as a vampire. Her path down that road had already begun, and tomorrow would continue. Jack knew that she hadn’t had anything to ‘eat’ since he’d turned her. Tomorrow she would need blood, and there would be no avoiding it. She’d need her strength in the coming months.

“How’s Jill holding up?” Topaz asked, dropping into one of the ornate chairs that more or less littered the large living room of the mansion. They were all either crimson red or jet black, two of Jack’s favorite colors. He knew that the coloring scheme was awful and on the terribly gothic side, but he was old enough and powerful enough to be considered eccentric and it was one of the few amusements allowed to him. The room was lit with flickering torches that burned continually, thanks to Jack’s abilities. It was well lit, even by human standards even if vampires didn’t need the benefit of the light. Darkened, gloomy rooms reminded him too much of his time spent under Orlock’s tender care.

“Just fine, surprisingly enough.” Jack commented, reclining back, letting the thick cushioning pull him in. “No death. No torture. No pain or blood and only a little crying. It’s not like Orlock at all.” Jack shrugged. Honestly he thought that Orlock was far too amused with his making a sireling that he didn’t need to make her suffer to get his jollies tonight.

“Maybe he’s growing soft in his old age.” Topaz suggested whimsically. “After all, Jill is his grand-daughter if you look at it from a certain point of view. Of course, that would make you his son…and that’s just creepy.” Jack smiled bitterly. Excepting all the various tortures Orlock had managed to bring him through a very rough transition, and managed to pass along a great deal of knowledge of what being a vampire meant. While not loving, Orlock did seem to favor Jack to some degree over his numerous other sirelings, something that caused no end of strife between himself and his “brother’s” at times. Suddenly Jack broke out in a loud laugh that echoed through the cavernous house. “What?” Topaz asked utterly confused.

“I was just thinking, what the look on Orlock’s face would be like if I called him ‘Daddy’ the next time I see him.” Topaz broke out laughing as well. It was a clean easy-going laugh that made the room seem a little lighter. Jack was often glad that he had taken Topaz under his wing. His various antics and sense of humor brought laughter back into his life right when he needed it. One of Jack’s greatest fears was that he would one day end up like Orlock and he thought that perhaps with some of the simplest things he’d enjoyed as a human, he might stave that off. The comedy of Topaz, and the slight drama of Maila had been a sort of anchor for his remaining humanity. “How is Maila doing?” Jack asked Topaz, remembering the despondent girl they’d left behind.

“Still furious with you.” Topaz answered, his concern for her easily readable on his face. “Still mad at me too. Mad at Vallov, mad at Jill, feeling sorry for herself. Granted, she does think you killed her ‘love’,” the last word was said with a great sarcasm. “I don’t know what’s going to bring her around. She might even try to run away. At least she believes he’s dead. That’s a plus for our side.” He smiled but it didn’t show in his eyes. Jack’s eyes narrowed in anger.

“I really should have killed Raff a long time ago, shouldn’t I?” He asked Topaz, who nodded fervently.

“I could have helped. It would have been fun!” Topaz began to go into a long and drawn out description of how he would have drawn out Raff’s last moments into a never-ending agony of repentance for his many sins, prompting slightly evil laughter from Jack along with several helpful hints on how to improve upon Topaz’s inventive methods. “…and then finally we could tear out his little black heart, cook it up with some nice cinnamon and other seasoning and leave it out for the birds to eat while he watched.” He let out a big sigh, a big, evil grin plastered on his face as he laced his fingers together in front of his face, doing his best to look sinister. Unfortunately Topaz was about as sinister as Jack was perky, so the effect was merely comical.

“Rest assured,” Jack said when Topaz had finished, “No matter what you think up, I imagine that whatever Rendal is doing to him, makes your concocted tortures seem like a relaxing night in the moonlight.” Which was the truth. Rendal’s understanding of insanity (through current first hand experience) gave her certain tastes that would make Jack feel sorry for almost any other but Raff. “You do need to go check on Maila though. The last thing we need around here is two permanently moody women and I’m going to have my hands full with Jill. We’re going to be dining tomorrow, and I want to see Maila there, whether she likes it or not.” Jack’s voice left little doubt as to what would happen if she wasn’t there. Although he despised Orlock’s methods, Jack had never been able to deny the persuasive power of pain, although he hated using it on his own “family”. Maila was very much a sort of teen aged daughter to him, so he did not want to have to break her of this foolish fixation on Raff. “I sent Vallov down to the Shelter. He should be back sometime tomorrow night with one of the volunteers. For now though, it’s just about daybreak, and I’ve had a very long night, so if you’ll excuse me, I think I shall turn in.” Jack’s long black hair swished against the fabric of the chair as he stood up and turned his back to Topaz. “Make sure Maila understands she needs to be with us tomorrow. I’m not going to have an emotional, despondent, starving vampire banging around upstairs. I’ll talk with her tomorrow.” Topaz looked worried and Jack reassured him. “Only talk.” He thought about it a bit more, “Well, maybe loudly talk but I’m not going to have her mourning Raff for too much longer. Things are awkward enough around here without more than one of us being in perpetual grief.”

“True enough. I’ll warn her before I turn in.” Topaz said seriously. Jack was honestly hoping that Topaz cared for her enough to honestly try and help her get over this herself. In the end it would be much kinder than his having to break her out of this Raff thing Orlock style. He paused, thinking to himself. Now, if only he’d been able to break Raff of himself Orlock style. Now that might have been amusing. He smiled wickedly to himself as he walked down the long darkened hallway to his room, closing the door firmly behind him.

Chapter 2 – Jill 

Jill was shaking slightly as she closed the door to her room tight behind her.. Not from cold or fear but the adrenaline that had been pounding through her body just a short time ago during her meeting with Orlock was leaving her. She realized exactly why Jack displayed something approaching fear around him. Jill had yet to form any concrete opinions about her new group of companions, Jack in particular. He always seemed as if he was keeping his real emotions hidden in some deep dark place, far in the back of his mind. He’d been quiet and brooding the entire way back, yet he gave off a sense of relief that hadn’t been there on the trip to Orlock’s. The apprehension that she’d felt from him had been palpable, and she got the vague sense that it was for her sake.

Jill fell into the ornate, comfortable bed, still wearing the expensive looking, white dress that she’d been given to wear earlier in the night. She just lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, her arms flung out to either side, considering the events of the night and the rather radical changes in her life. For one, she had to force herself to remember that even though it felt like early evening, dawn was on its way in a very short time. The trip to Orlock’s castle had taken nearly all the night. The flight to and from had been interesting though. She wondered how soon she’d be able to fly like that. Another one of the perks of being a vampire.

She smiled wistfully, running her fingers over the soft fabric of the dress. It was perhaps the most comfortable piece of clothing she’d worn in her life. Body armor, was not the most cozy thing in the world to wear, nor was lugging a weapon around at all times easy for a girl of her size. The bed itself was something that she suspected only the most affluent humans inside some of the few surviving cities enjoyed, whereas she’d spent most of her life sleeping on the ground, with perhaps some tattered blankets for covers. She had spent many nights shivering in the cold, trying to get just an hour of sleep before she moved on again, trying to stay alive for just one more day, perhaps one day to find somewhere that was safe.

In one night, all that had changed. Events had happened so fast that it was now a jumble of memories in her mind. First the brutal attack, the running and the horrifying knowledge that she was finally going to die, followed by a pain that was swallowed by the blackness. Jill had thought that was it, her running had finally ended with her death, but she woke slowly to see Jack’s arrogantly smirking smile and those haunting red eyes. Then he’d given her that terrible choice. Die, or become one of the creatures that had hunted her for so long, killed her family and everyone she had known. But what choice had she had? She’d clung to life for so long to just let it end when she had any options left. She was a fighter and Jill would not pass from this world so easily. She would not die looking at that arrogant smirk set against those oddly concerned red eyes.

Feeling ill at ease with her thoughts, Jill got up and walked over to the mirror, looking at herself for the first time since she’d been changed. She was partially surprised to see she had a reflection. There was another superstition put to rest. Even though the room was completely dark she had no problem seeing in the inky darkness. Instantly she noticed her own eyes, once blue, now a faintly luminescent orange that glowed faintly back at her in the mirror. They were not human eyes; in fact, they slightly reminded her of Jack’s. Scanning the rest of her body for changes she noticed with some slight embarrassment that the dress did suite her quite nicely. She couldn’t remember dressing for anything other than utility since she had been a little girl living with her parents. She wondered what they would think of her now, if they could see their daughter looking back at them with her inhuman eyes. Everyone had assumed that all vampires were pure evil, yet she didn’t feel evil. Would her parents have been able to see that? Was she a monster now, no matter what she felt like?

There were just too many hard questions for which she didn’t have answers. Jill just felt like she needed to walk a little before the sun came up and she fell into unconsciousness. Quietly she opened the door out into the hallway and stealthily moved into the faintly lit corridor. Burning torches provided illumination as she wandered through the hallways careful to be quiet and not attract any attention. As she sneaked around she began to notice that she could move with virtually no sound, with very little effort at all, her bare feet only seemed to brush the dark wood floor, the polish reflecting the flickering firelight. Several times she jumped at shadows that seemed to move of their own accord, but were little more than illusions of her own imagination.

Jill moved quickly through the upper level of the house, walking down the various hallways of the huge mansion. She wondered how Jack had acquired such an obviously antique piece of real estate that was still in such wonderful condition. It was clean from top to bottom, all the floors polished to a glossy shine, and not a speck of dust to be found. She wondered if there weren’t some human servants who appeared during the daytime to maintain the old house. If it weren’t for the inky darkness that clung to every corner, the place might have been cheery and warm. Instead it seemed dark and foreboding, as if the house itself was a warning to any intruders. Even the fire from the torches seemed to be able to do little for the shadows that seemed to follow her everywhere. She shivered despite the relative warmth of the air.

There was probably half an hour left till dawn broke, so she wandered to the large stairway that led to the upper rooms. The stairs were split into two sets that symmetrically let down to the main floor, opening up into the large greeting room next to the front door. As she moved down the stairs the door opened and three people, all of them young men in their twenties, walked through, looking somewhat intimidated but not worried in the least. The looked around admiring the grandeur of the house while Vallov followed them in, shut and locked the door. As usual he stood head and shoulders above the others, but they didn’t seem frightened by him, wordlessly he gestured them down a hallway leading to some more guest rooms, walking in front as they followed him. Jill considered following, but at that point she heard angry screams come from one of the hallways that she’d just explored, followed by several loud crashes and the sound of breaking glass. Jill winced as she could only guess at the value of what had been broken.

Seconds later Topaz rounded the corner, fuming and talking to himself in frustrated tones. He nearly walked right by Jill, but noticed her with some amount of surprise evident on his face as he passed her on the stairs. His eyes softened as when he realized he was still scowling. “Jill! Look who decided to leave her room.” He said, an easy smile taking control of his face, although Jill could still see the concern and anger playing in his bright green eyes, such a different color from Jack’s, but still not human.

“I felt like taking a walk.” She answered simply. Topaz seemed to radiate a sort of kindness, but Jill didn’t feel like trusting anyone at this point. She didn’t know if she could trust anyone.

“Not outside I hope.” Topaz said, looking at the darkened windows next to the door. No light could enter through them, but it was more habit than anything else. “Sunrise isn’t very far off. You should probably stay inside until nightfall.” He smiled, more concern, this time for her showing on his face. Jill didn’t know that many a new sireling often decided to take a walk out into the sunlight, finding their new existence too difficult to deal with.

“No, no.” Jill reassured him. “I …” she paused. “I just wanted a look around. I haven’t seen much of the house, and it’s a very large place.” Nervously she kicked her foot on the carpet and turned her head to avoid Topaz’s direct gaze. Even if Topaz wasn’t a vampire, he still seemed a little … off. Everyone in this house did, Jack most of all. “I was just feeling a little restless.” She explained shortly, finally looking him in the eye, to let him know she was really alright.

“Ok.” Topaz conceded, once again looking at the blackened windows. “We still have a little while before the sun comes up. Want to talk a bit? I can show you around a bit more.” Jill knew that he was trying to make her feel welcome, and she did appreciate it. God knows, she would have appreciated the same effort from her ‘Sire’. It was such an odd term, but apparently that’s what he was.

“No thanks.” She said, taking a step back and forcing a smile. “I really just feel like being by myself at the moment. I think I’m going to turn in.” She turned around to retreat to her room but Topaz’s hand on her arm stopped her. While not as warm as she would expect from a normal person, there was some heat, some life in it. He looked her in the eyes again and turned her head to avoid his gaze.

“We’re not monsters you know.” Topaz said, letting go of her arm, his voice a little quieter. He looked away now, as if recalling something painful in his own past.

“I never said you were.” Jill responded defensively, but he’d seen right through her and she could feel the blush in her cheeks, something that oddly reassured her.

“No, you didn’t.” He answered. “But you were thinking it and you’re wondering if you’re a monster now too.” Gaining more confidence he looked her in the eyes again and continued on. “Maila…” he paused. “Maila worried about the same things. It’s normal, and I know there are those of us who seem like monsters; Orlock and Raff, but you are still you. You know?” He smiled and shrugged. “And no matter how Jack seems, he isn’t a monster either. You just have to get used to him. Once you get to know him you’ll really stop wondering if he’ll kill you in your sleep or not.” A big grin spread across his face, and Jill felt a smile of her own appear, completely against her will. She was sullen and in a bad mood. The last thing she wanted was to have it disrupted by merriment. Jack did, kind of, give off that impression though. Having Topaz say it, was just too funny and a small laugh escaped her lips.

“Good, you can smile.” He said as he turned to go downstairs. “We were beginning to worry. See you tomorrow night.” He waved as the he reached the bottom of the stairs and moved out of sight, leaving Jill alone with her thoughts again. Despite it being a pleasant encounter, Jill decided to head back to her room to avoid meeting any of the other residents of the house, especially Jack. She made her way back to her room quickly and changed out of the dress, which she’d come to actually like, and put on more appropriate sleeping attire. She suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion come over her, realizing that the first rays of the sun must be creeping over the horizon, signaling her time for sleep. She shuffled her feet over to the bed and collapsed on the bed, pulling the thick comfortable sheets over her even as her eyes closed and she fell into a deep sleep.