Silent Angel Crashes Through the Sky

Pete watched Clark leave the room, touching Shadows' shoulder briefly as she stood. He kept his lips from pursing in annoyance, focusing on his conversation with Poison and the Killjoys. Poison was talking about his start in hunting, and his beginnings with his group.

His brother, Cobra, and him had lost their parents as teenagers, and they had been living with Ghoul and Jet Star, who were both abandoned by their own parents just after birth, ever since. They moved from New Jersey to here once they had realized that what had killed the two brothers' parents were vampires in order to join the cause and start hunting.

“What about you guys?” Jet Star asked, glancing at Pete, who swallowed, a little anxious to share his story. He glanced back at the door to make sure Clark wasn't coming back anytime soon.

“Well... Clark and I lost our parents too, when we were pretty young. I found them... I didn't know it at the time, but, yeah, it was vampires. I took care of Clark from then on, until... I was turned by William Beckett. The leader of the Dandies. I was just walking home from work, and he ambushed me.” He glanced at the door again.

“I lived with him and the rest of the Dandies for a month. He tried to convert me. Tried to teach me to kill and feed off of people. And... it worked for a while, but I had somehow managed to hold onto some shred of humanity. I think that the only thing that kept me going was the thought of taking care of my sister. I didn't want to let her down, I guess. So, when I realized that what we were doing was wrong, I left. I ran away and lived on my own for a few months. I trained myself. And then, Clark lost her boyfriend, and her best friends to William. Her boyfriend died. And her best friends became vampires. One of them is William's second in command. And one is now the leader of the biggest independent group in Chicago. The Veins, I think they're called. When I heard about their deaths, I went to see her for the first time in months. She had thought that I was dead, and when I came back... and once she realized what I was, she just... panicked. She was terrified by me. It was too much of a shock, and she had been through so much... So I left. I found these three,” he said quietly, gesturing back to Patrick, Joe, and Andy. “And I... opened their eyes to what was happening. I started training them, and Patrick started inventing new weapons. He even created a blood substitute for me to wean me off of blood.”

“So if your sister was so scared of you then why is she here?” Johnny asked. Pete frowned.

“It wasn't completely by choice,” he admitted unhappily. “She was cursed by William, and she can't leave the state. And, she was the one who found out what he's been planning. But, we were the only ones she could turn to. She didn't feel comfortable around me for a while, but we've gotten back to a more normal relationship now. It's still a little... complicated, but she's talking to me, at least.” Pete shrugged, pressing his lips together quickly.

Normal was a silly word. They had never been normal. They would never be normal. Normal was overrated. But, Pete wished that Clark could be normal. Normal and happy.

Pete noticed Shadows staring at the wall with a slight frown, deep in thought. He squinted his eyes at him.

“What about Avenged? California's a long ways away,” Pete said, staring Shadows in the eyes as he looked up quickly, snapping out of his thoughts. “How did you guys end up here?” Johnny laughed from his spot near the wall.

“Well it's mostly Syn's fault,” he laughed. He stopped for a moment, glancing around the room quickly. “Huh,” he said with a frown. “Where is he?” Everyone looked around the room, too. Pete stood up.

“I'll go-” As soon as the words escaped his mouth, Synyster walked through the doors. He wreaked of smoke.

“Where the hell have you been?” Shadows accused jokingly. Synyster shrugged as he sat.

“Went out for a smoke. Chatted with Clark for a bit. She told me to tell you guys that she wasn't feeling well, so she was just going to go to sleep.” Pete frowned.

“Maybe I should check up on her,” he said, starting to walk towards the door. Synyster held up a hand, shaking his head.

“She seemed kind of distraught. Like she wanted to be alone.” Pete squinted, biting his lip, but stopping where he stood.

“Distraught? About what? What were you guys talking about?” Synyster shrugged again.

“Just hunting, and, uh... well, you, to be honest.” Synyster averted his gaze to the floor. “She seemed the most distraught talking about you.” Everyone turned to look at Pete, who bit his lip harder. He slowly sat down again. “She just needs some time to think.”

Pete didn't know what to think. His mind was running in so many directions. He wanted to go and talk to her and make things better, but he knew that was not an option. He would have to keep his distance. Even though it felt, well, wrong.

So, Pete nodded.

“Maybe we should head out, and try to hunt for a little while before the sun comes up,” he stated quickly.

“Yeah, sounds good. We've got about three more hours left,” Patrick said, glancing down at his watch. “You guys in?” He looked back up at the crowd of men, who nodded. Joe slapped Pete on the back as he stood.

“She'll be fine, dude. Don't worry. Let's get out there.”

It was a cold night, even for vampires. As everyone piled into their cars, Pete looked back at his home, feeling colder than usual. Something felt off. The night sky was blocked by gray winter clouds. The white paint on the house was discolored and peeling from age. The lawn was poorly groomed and browning. It looked more like a haunted house, rather than his childhood home.

The scent of cigarette smoke still lingered in the air. Synyster had clearly stepped outside to smoke. Vampires were not usually known to smoke, but they can. They suffer no negative effects, but tend to take comfort in the nicotine. Especially those who had smoked before they were turned. Nicotine was still addictive, but not as much so for vampires.

Pete could not pick out Clark's scent, probably because of the strong cigarette smell. It didn't worry him. He just hoped that Clark would feel better soon and that she wasn't rethinking their relationship.

Pete turned back around, pushing away the foreboding feeling in his gut, and got into the driver's seat of his car. He followed the other groups down the road. The sinking feeling got a little lighter as the guys talked and the radio played. It was time for Pete to focus on hunting.