I'll Justify My Reasons With Your Blood

*Jared’s POV*

The thought of those monsters being anywhere Nikki just killed me. Every single plan I could come up with was foiled before it could be acted out. We’d spent all day plotting, and failing…and it was beginning to show.

Over in the kitchen, the blender was still spinning, seeing as Shannon fell asleep on the control panel. The kitchen itself was covered in thick, pinkish fluid, aka a strawberry smoothie. One of the light bulbs in a lighting fixture above the counter began to flicker. Damn, this room looked just as pitiful as we were.

“I’m heading to bed,” I said to Shannon, even though I know he didn’t hear me.

I sighed as I slowly stepped up the staircase, sliding my hand up the rail. A creeping pain entered my head again and my chest constricted up tightly. I knew I wasn’t having a heart attack, because I’m not human, but it felt pretty damn close to one. I gripped the railing as my body toppled down. My breathing became ragged and my vision was fading.

Nikki’s voice echoed in my ears. I strained my hearing as far as I could so that I could hear the entire conversation. I tried to focus on the conversation, but something else was distracting me. There was a sharp pain in my arms and legs…it felt as if hooks were digging into my skin. My heart pounded up against my ribcage as pure fear overtook my mind. My throat was raw from screaming, despite the fact that I hadn’t opened my mouth once. Suddenly, my body convulsed as volts of electricity crawled through me.

I forced my eyes open and saw that I was no longer on the stairs. I was seeing things from Nikki’s point of view, as if I was Nikki. The fact that I could feel what she felt makes this so much worse. She’s human, and more fragile than she thinks. I can’t believe she’s even been able to survive all of this, honestly.

But there has to be a way to use this to my advantage. If my mind is picking up signals from Nikki’s five senses, then maybe I’ll be able to use this to track down her location. Shannon and I determined that the hideout was in Huntington Beach…so, now I just need to pinpoint the hideout. Nikki had been knocked out during the trip from our house to theirs, which wasn’t much help.

All I got out of this was that Nikki was in a house that had an atrium and a cellar. It was a house near the beach – I could hear the waves. So, it looks like all I’ll have to do now is get on the computer and do a bit of research. I ran back down the stairs and toward the kitchen so that I could get down to the basement.

I slapped Shannon on the back of the head to wake him up. He jolted upward and glared at me, complete with smoothie dripping down his face and all. “We’ve got work to do,” I told him, leading him downstairs.

He groaned, “Look, Jared, I want Nikki back as much as you do. But we’ve been working all day and came up with shit.”

“There was a break through while you were napping.” I think the solemn and determined tone of voice I was using managed to prevent him from asking any further questions.

The sun would be up in a few hours. We needed to get to work.

*Normal POV*

I could scream as much as I wanted; no one would hear me. I could cry as much as I wanted; no one would pity me. I could beg as much as I wanted; no one would help me. I was trapped in a house of vile, inhuman creatures…what else could you expect.

Did I ever ask to be involved in this? No, I don’t believe I did. I wasn’t born into immortality like the rest of my family was. I’m an outcast, so shouldn’t that mean that I have no importance in this private affair?

My stomach grumbled loudly, tearing me from my thoughts. I bet they wouldn’t notice if I just slipped into the other room, grabbed a bite to eat, and ran out of the back door. Yeah, right…if only it were that easy. I didn’t exactly have anything to lose, so I stepped forward, cringing as the sound of sloshing blood followed every step I took.

Warm, thick, liquid continued to flow from my gashes. It leaked over the previously hardened and dried blood. My limbs were stiffening from the hardness of the previous trickles. The way I was walking, slowly and angled, I must’ve looked like some sort of robot. Each step I took, felt like I had just walked miles. I can’t believe it’s become such a struggle just to move from one room to the next for food.

That must be a sign that things could only get worse from here.

The refrigerator was finally within reach. I leaned against it as I used all my strength to open the door. At this point, I didn’t care what it was, as long as I ate something, my stomach would be content. The bright light from inside welcomed me to…absolutely nothing. There was nothing in the fridge except for water bottles filled with…red liquid. I’m willing to bet that that’s not fruit punch in there.

Just as I was about to give up hope entirely, I saw one apple in the barren, transparent drawer at the bottom. I grinned as I reached for it, only to have the door slammed shut on my arm. I yelped a little in surprise, but that soon turned to anger. Whoever the hell did that had no reason to do so. I’m not breaking any rules or anything.

I turned to glare at…Synyster Gates.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked trying to wedge my hand (and the apple) out of the fridge.

He shrugged, “I don’t seem to recall hearing you ask us if you could just wonder through our house.”

“Excuse me, I walked 20 feet into the next room to get a damn apple.”

“Did we say you can eat our food?”

“Do I care? No. Now let me out of here.”

“Let the apple go.”

Ok if he was gonna be stupid about this, then fine…I could lower myself to his level of stupidity. “In case you forgot, I’m human. I need food, and I haven’t eaten anything since I’ve been here. Are you trying to starve me to death?”

He stared intensely at me, his dark brown eyes burning into my own. It seems my words had an effect on him. I saw him slowly lessen the pressure he was putting on the door. I began to move my arm out, apple still in hand. Just as I was nearly free, he slammed the small opening back shut again. The door hit my wrist so hard that it ended up knocking the apple out of my hand.

He reopened the door, allowing my empty hand and bruising wrist to be freed. “You asshole,” I gasped, cradling my wrist.

He took a step forward, and didn’t look so thrilled. “What was that?” he asked, taking a large step toward me with each word he spoke.

Before I knew it, I was cornered. I couldn’t bring myself to actually answer his potentially rhetorical question. He extended his arm forward, and of course me being the coward that I am, I flinched back. He laughed at that. He rested his hand on my shoulder, like he was about to give me some sort of meaningful advice or something.

His smile turned into a snarl in about .25 seconds as he pushed down on my shoulder and used his other hand, now in the shape of a fist, to send me flying down to the ground. Not only did my cheek sting from where he punched me, but from where I landed on the floor as well.

I stared up at him shocked. He didn’t have any expression on his face. I need to figure out what that was all about. “All I wanted was a god damn apple,” I said my voice cracking slightly from holding back tears.

I managed to stop him from leaving the room. He turned to face me. “Why, because you’re human? Well don’t get used to it. You won’t be one for much longer,” he grinned evilly, purposely showing his exposed fangs.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked, suddenly frightened.

“You’ll find out eventually, princess. Think of it like a nice little surprise,” he laughed as he left me laying there…confused and scared out of my mind.

I will never become one of them. Even though Jared and Shannon are like one of them too…

Just as I had gathered the strength to stand back up, Shadows and the others came marching through, roughly pushing me aside. It looks like they were heading for the door. “We’re going hunting. And, oh before I forget…we have a little present for you,” Shadows informed me.

He dug around in his jeans pocket and produced what looked like a dog collar. Zacky held me in place while Shadows strapped the collar on. “It’s a shock collar,” he explained, “we have it programmed so that anytime you step into a room or area that we deemed as illegal, it will shock you. So I’d suggest avoiding certain rooms in the house, and obviously don’t bother running away.”

I glared at them as they walked out the door, leaving me trapped here. Well, actually this might not be a bad thing. It will give me time to get to know the house better and plan an escape route.

*Shadows’ POV*

The dog collar idea that Rev came up with was brilliant. There was no chance Nikki could escape and if she even tries snooping around, she’ll be punished. Tonight’s hunt might just be the best one yet. I’ve got the Letos’ precious sister locked up in my house and soon I’ll be the ruler of the vampire world. Can it get any better than that?

We finally reached downtown Huntington…one of the only places in the area where people were stupid enough to still stay out late at 2 AM. It was Friday night, and it was gonna be a night of screams. Some of the other members of my gang had already gotten to work…you could hear a few screams in the distance.

“Let’s get to work, boys. Kill as many of ‘em as you want,” I said, feeling generous. They cheered and we split ways, getting to work.

I stationed myself behind a dumpster in an alley next to one of the local bars. A drunken couple stumbled out of the back door. Perfect. I licked my lips hungrily as I watched them and their sad attempts at walking.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said stepping out of the darkness, “would you happen to have the time?”

The guy turned around and gave me a lopsided grin. “Dude, I wish I knew what time it was.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” I shrugged.

He was confused, so I explained it to him using my fist. One hit was all it took to knock him down and out. The girl had continued wobbling forward and didn’t even notice that this guy wasn’t with her. I should make this fast before she gets away.

I sunk my fangs into his neck and used my tongue to lap up anything that dripped past me. His blood poured into my dry throat, bringing it back to life. He was lucky. I managed to knock him out hard enough that he was unable to wake up before dying.

Now, his girl…she won’t be so lucky.

In a few strides I was able to catch up with her. I grabbed a rusted, coil wire and pulled it down over her head, dragging her back in the alley from around her neck. “Is this some sort of game?” she asked, smiling.

“Yeah,” I said in a happy tone, “it’s called I Kill You.”

“Whoa, I’ve never heard of that one before –,” she started to say. I could tell she was just going to be too chatty for her own good.

I let her fall down onto my supporting arm, almost looking like we were performing some sort of fancy dance. Just when her entire neck was in view, I bit down on her throat. My teeth crushed through her esophagus, making crunchy noises. Keeping my teeth firmly latched in her throat, I pulled my head back slightly, just to cause her more pain.

Her smile faltered and her eyes were filled with nothing but fear. She tried to scream, but I was chewing through her vocal chords, so all she could do was make a strained, garbling noise. Blood flowed into my mouth as fast as people running away from the plague. Her blood tasted extra good because she had alcohol in her veins, which is the perfect added bonus. Too bad someone as tasty as her had to die.

Her body dropped from my arms and I kicked it like a soccer ball over to where the dude was lying. Looking at the brick walls around me, I realized that we needed a symbol of some sort.

Something we can paint in blood.

*Jared’s POV*

Since there were two of us here, I figured we’d be able to get multiple things done at once. “Ok Shannon, I’ll find the house on the internet. You need to call the guys in so that we can assemble some sort of small army.”

He groaned, “Why do you always give the hard jobs to me?”

“Because I’m the king and you’re not,” I absent-mindedly replied, staring at the computer screen.

“Not yet you’re not,” he mumbled as he dug out the phone book and looked for the names of four people we haven’t spoken to in quite some time.

He was right, I did stick him with the harder job. It’s going to take a hell of a lot to get those guys to help us out. Shadows’ gang struck fear in many vampires.

Who would be crazy enough to go up against him?