I'll Justify My Reasons With Your Blood

It was only 4:30 AM, and yet my house was alive. Shannon was downstairs making breakfast already and Jared was working out in the basement. I, on the other hand, am not nearly as awake as my brothers are. I am trying to get back to sleep, but all the noise just keeps prying into my mind, keeping me from sleeping. And this isn’t the first time that they’ve done this. Oh no, they do this every damn morning! I don’t understand how they have so much energy.

Maybe if I explain a little bit about my family it will be boring enough to put me to sleep! Hey, if you were me, you’d do just about anything to get to sleep, trust me. Ok, so my name is Nicole Elizabeth Leto. I am 25 years old and work at the local daycare center as a teacher for pre-school kids. My brothers are Jared and Shannon – Jared being the oldest at 29 and Shannon at 27. Together, the three of us live in California in this massive house.

Oh yeah, by the way our family is freaking rich. I don’t even need a job, and actually Jared tried to convince me to not look for a job, but I couldn’t help it. Teaching and little kids are two things I like so why not get a job? It means more money, right? And that’s never a bad thing. Damn it, that didn’t put me to sleep. Oh well, I have to go to work in a couple hours anyway, might as well get some food.

“Well look who finally decided to wake up,” Shannon teased as he flipped some pancakes onto a plate.

“You do realize that no other normal person is up at this time, right?” I sighed, taking a huge sip of coffee.

“We aren’t normal people, silly. We’re cooler than normal people.”

I laughed, “You keep telling yourself that, bro.”

“Oh my God, she lives!” Jared dramatically shouted as he joined us in the kitchen.

“Yeah, only because you guys are so damn loud in the morning.”

He scoffed, “You spend most of your day with whiny four year olds…how the hell can you call us loud?”

I rolled my eyes. “So, not to change the subject or anything, but are you guys actually going to do something today or are you just going to act like a couple of lazy bums again?”

Jared shrugged, “Who knows?”

I shook my head, “You guys are unbelievable. Alright, thanks for the breakfast Shannon. I’ve gotta get ready to go.”

I ran back upstairs and changed for my job. Then I got in my car and drove off to the daycare where the parents were already lining up with their kids. Damn, this was going to be a long day.

*Jared’s POV*

Shannon and I both waited in the kitchen until we heard the garage close and Nikki drive off. I hate lying to her, but it’s the only way we can protect her. I walked back downstairs to the recreation room and lifted one of the books out of the shelf. The book shelf slid into the wall creating an entrance to our secret meeting room where we discuss our vampire issues.

I looked at the map up on the wall of California, which happens to be the state with the largest population of us vampires. Over the past couple of months I noticed that the murder rate has greatly increased…and nearly all of these murders are “unexplainable” due no evidence of a weapon. Well, that’s because the police would never expect the weapon to be fangs.

I got an email from my uncle the other day…he basically reminded me of our family’s history, and that’s what made me think that Shadows has returned and brought a group of murderers with him. Since I’m the heir, it’s up to me to face Shadows in the battle for the crown, I guess.

As far as I know, Shadows does not know where we live right now nor does he know about Nikki. So as long as those two things are kept secret, then we should all be safe for now. Frustration was still building up inside of me and I threw the chair at the wall. I didn’t even hear Shannon walk in.

“Whoa, anger much?”

“Damn! It’s just I want to find him before he finds us. I can’t deal with this stress of being the leader and protecting Nikki. I really wish she didn’t have that god damn job…anything could happen to her there.”

“Jared, dude, just relax alright? You know I’m here to help you so you’re not in this alone. And don’t worry about Nikki…she’ll be fine.”

I nodded, “Ok, I guess you’re right. Ha, and here Nikki called us bums.”

We both laughed and then got back to work trying to track Shadows down. I will get to him before he can get to me.

*Shadows’ POV*

A girl, about 21 years old, was sitting on the park bench across from me. It was chilly…about 50 degrees outside…and yet she was still wearing a very low-cut shirt with a mini skirt and heels. She had her arms wrapped around her stomach, I’m guessing to keep herself warm, but it wasn’t doing much good seeing as she was still shivering.

“You look a little cold,” I said, standing up and walking toward her, “If you want, I can help keep you warm?” She smiled and nodded gratefully as she scooted over on the bench, leaving room for me. “I’m Matt,” I smiled.

“Thank you so much, Matt. I’m Bridget.”

“Can I ask why you’re dressed like that when it’s so cold out?”

“I was supposed to meet my boyfriend here, but he’s a douche bag so I’m not surprised that he hasn’t shown up.”

I pretended to be shocked. “How could some asshole do that to you?! If you were my girlfriend, I would never treat you like that.”

“I wish there were more guys out there like you,” she sighed.

“I have an idea, if you’re interested. Why don’t we go over by those bushes and have a little fun?”

She was hesitant to answer, and I could tell. So I made sure to have direct eye contract with her, locking her in a trance. “O-ok, yeah, let’s go over there.”

She followed behind me as we reached the perfect location to do a little killing. “Oh, so you’re one of those guys who likes it private, huh?” she smirked as she tackled me down to the ground – she was only able to do that because I allowed her to. I nodded in response, and just as I predicted, she leaned in for her kiss. That’s when I made my move.

I quickly reached for the knife hidden in its case beneath my belt. She didn’t even notice. I held it high above her head and broke away from the kiss. “Aw, what’s wro–?” she couldn’t continue speaking, because my rather sharp knife just came crashing down through her back and probably into her heart as well. I pushed the knife further in, loving the feeling of blood freely spilling into my mouth from the hole. I maneuvered the knife in circles, slowly but surely enlarging the hole and deepening it so you can even begin to see the skin tissue and muscle fade away revealing a scarcely beating heart.

I barred my fangs and began sucking blood from her neck as well, taking my good old time. She was almost dead, hmm I guess I should stop tormenting her so much. I removed my knife and plunged it deep inside once more and heard the satisfactory sound of her heart stopping. Blood seeped onto my hands, dying them red, and not for the first time.

“That looks like a tasty treat,” Synyster said appearing out of nowhere. I swear that guy still gives me the creeps – I don’t know how he’s so damn good at sneaking around, but it’s definitely admirable.

I shrugged, “Eh, it was alright. It might not have been the tastiest, but it sure as hell was easy.”

“I can tell. But anyways, I came here for business. You do remember that we have a meeting in like two minutes, right?”

“Of course I do. Zacky’s been bragging about whatever the hell it is that he discovered and I’ve been dying to know for like the past week!”

Seriously, I couldn’t wait…and lucky I was just a few vampire leaps away from finding out. Vengeance has never let me down before, and actually, something tells me that this plan of his might end up being his best.