In The Still of The Night

Rose kept hold of him. She didn't know what to do but keep him there and hope that the pain passes. As she kept hold of him, she felt the irregular heart beat and she was growing weary. Rose had no idea of what was going on and it just made her terrified. This was a new world that she was being introduced in and it was just moving too quickly. His grip on her was to the point of pain and it took all she can to not cry.

"Jack...you're hurting me..." She said to him.

For some reason, Rose knew that talking to him would hopefully calm him down and she was counting on it. Almost praying for it.
 
"s-s.. s s s s sorry." he wheezed, trygin to lgihten up. a fewe moments later, the color returned to his face. "oh..." he breathed silently, taking in one big breathe and breathing out silently.

"wooo...if that.. ever happens again, rose...." he started, then thougth better of himself. "just... don;t panic." he breathed again, feeling the last hard beat of his heart before everythgin was fine again.

"Thank you." he said, layign against her limply.

"Lets get out of here..." he said, shakign her hand he was grasping gently.
 
Rose looked at him and frowned. He was hiding something, she knew it, but she felt like if the question came up...it would be invading his privacy.

She helped him up and half dragged, half carried him out the door and up the stairs. She stopped when she realized, she didn't know where to go. Looking at him she shifted his weight on her shoulder and steadied him.

"Jack...I don't know where to take you. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked him quietly.
 
"lets got ot eh park..." he said, standign on hsi own, and stretching. " I could use some relaxation." he added. He hopped onto his bike and They rode tot eh other end of town. on teh way, Jack pointed out a few random crows here and ther. " The crows are Clan Damon's mascot, so to speek. Lorenzo's father, Louise De fronzaque, passed down the knowledge to speak to them." he said as they passed the duckpond to the big tree at the edge overlooking the town.
 
Rose sat down in front of the tree and nodded.

"It is really relaxing here. Calm, quiet..." She smiled, and it felt like she hasn't smiled in a very long time.

Sitting next to Jack, she felt calmer...but slightly more tired as well. Her eyes were getting heavy and she leaned her head on his shoulder, slowly falling asleep.

"I'm really sorry..." She muttered half asleep. She didn't know why she was sorry, she just felt like she did something wrong.
 
Jack smiled to himself, putting his arm over her and leanign, back watching the sunset a few hours later with her. He had alot of tiem to think during that spell. soon he woke her up.

"Rose.. rose, its dark out. we should probably get you home." he smiled, rubbing the back of her neck softly.
 
Rose blinked, "Hmm? Oh yeah." She stood up and yawned. Reaching for her bike, she yelped. Down the hill, it was the vampire that almost killed her. Stumbling back, she caught Jack's arm, her own trembling in fear.

"Jack..." She managed to get out.

Her blood ran cold and her heart was racing. A chill ran down her spine as the events of the night came rushing back to her. She was clinging onto JAck for some support.
 
"you fiend.. you dare show your face again..." Jack growled, his body tensed and his muscles became hardened as he took a step forward.

"Rose.. get back." he siad, glaring at teh bastard.


"I bet your not so tough.. when you don't have backup, Damon piglet." he said, not much emotion on his face.
 
He laughed. Rose felt her heart racing and she was sure Jack heard it. She stood behind Jack and in a flash the young vanpire was standing in front of Jack as if he was there the entire time.

"You know," Victor started. "I followed her scent and it didn't lead me here until a few minutes ago. But when it led me to her house, she wasn't home, were you princess?" Rose swallowed as his red eyes flashed. "But thankfully, she was kind enough to leave a little snack. Not as sweet as you though."

He smiled maliciously at her and it took amoment to sink in. Her eyes widened and he laughed even more. Rose hopped onto her bike and rode home, despite Jack's warnings. When she got home, the front door was slightly opened and a surge of panic went. through her body.

Rushing in, she walked into the living room and saw it.

"NO!" She screamed.

In front of her lay her dead mother and six year old sister. Their skin was sickly pale and their eyes glazed over but still redlecting the pain. Rose covered her mouth and started sobbing. Her tears ran down her cheeks and she sat on the floor hugging her dead family members.
 
Jack watched as victor left, feelgin victory upon him for now. he got on his cell phone emmediately. " Jason, get to Rose's place emme-"


"Oh.. sorry DARIUS...." came victors voice. " Your homeboys are dead too...just like mine are...game on, Damon PRICK."


"y...y-you fiend.. youll pay for this!" Jack yelled, crushing hsi phone in his grasp. he held his heart as the fluttering started agai, feelgin dizzy... it took him a moment, but he crawled onto his biek and rode hard to rose's side.
 
Rose sat down and fumbled with her cell-phone, her fingers trembling. Dialing 911 she waited.

"My mother and my six year-old sister is dead. I..." She hesitated. No one would believe if she said that a vampire killed them, that they would hang up. "I came home and found them dead." Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes and she put a hand to her face. "Y-yes, please...hurry."

Hanging up, she heard a sound outside and she clutched her cell-phone. Seeing that it was Jack made her let out a sigh of relief. He was staggering and she ran to catch him and set him gently on the ground.

"Jack..." She managed to say through her tears. "We...we have to find help."

When he told her about what Victor said about them, her eyes widened and she started to tremble more in fear.

"That...that can't have happened I mean, weren't they--" The door slammed open and Rose snapped her head to see one of the young men she'd seen fighting with Victor that one night, but he was bloody and bruised.

"Darius, they attacked us. Luckily we weren't all at the mansion, but most of the elders are dead. Lorenzo and I helped some of us escape...but Victor and his men are guarding the mansion."

Rose looked at the two with both fear and shock.
 
Jack heard sirens raving in the distance. he sat there against eh ffront porch walla nd wheezed a little.


"Christ, Darius, its already happeneing?" Darren looked worried. he knew what was happening.

"Call everyone.. every last one of them. we meet in teh woods. abandon the mansion and al our safehouses in town, we are moving tot eh woods. get teh message out .NNNNNghh.. shit... I didn't think the little spat we had woudl turn into this... Darren... we g-gotta go.. help me to my bike." he put his hand int eh air at Darren, who looked unsure of thsi descicion.

A cop car rounded the corner at the top of the street.

'NOW, DARREN!" Jack yelled, heaving ontot he biek and riding hard in the opposite direction. darren followed him, lookgin at rose.

"Be safe...Meet us at dericks bluff east of town as soon as you can. The other caln.. they are extremely wealk durign the day.. you'll be safe to travel out there in sunlight..." Warren nodded and left with Jack.


------------------


"Was that a smart idea.. leavign her with the cops?" Warren yelled as they rounded another corner on the two lane road to the park at dericks bluff. nobody went there this time of year, when the tide was high, there was no beach.

"Even the rival clan isn't stupid enough to hurt her in police-nnn custody... " he wheezed. the sun was startign to rise.


Victor retreated into the mansion, seconds later, smilign to himself as his fellows and elders moved intot eh mansion, drinking the last drop from Jack's friend jason.


Death filled the autumn air...summer was over.
 
Rose stayed with the police until the sun came out and then began her walk towards the beach. Passing the mansion, she could feel Victor watching her and pocked up the pace. She didn't know what was happening and it was all happening so fast. Stepping onto the sand, she took off her shoes and didn't even feel the pain of the hot sand burning the heels of her feet. Watching the water, she started to feel the fear and the grief of what has been happening. She just lost her mother and her younger sister. She almost died and suddenly she was stuck in between a war.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jack and Warren standing a few feet away from her. The sun was setting and she turned to them.

"I want everything explained. Now." She said almost in a whisper. "My family has been taken away from me and I'm pretty sure Victor is going to take another chance at me. Please, just tell me."

Turning to them, the sunlight was reflected on the streaks on her cheeks from her tears.
 
"my mother is gone...nobody saw her escape...when i saw lorenzo, he said the clan took no prisoners.. they invaded the entire town, sweepign our dsafehouses, takgint eh mansion... Lorenzo wont be abel to fight for a week at least...The neighbor clans didn't answer our calls for help either.. this was a coo... someone MADE this happen." Jack said. warren watched them from above the cliff with a rather large rifel in his hands.

jack had a bandage on his right hand. his knuckles bloody. somewher eint eh forest a tree was broken and shattered to teh ground.


"Its a war... a damn war." he said, starign out to the early morning sun on the water. "the only thing i understand mroe than you rose... is the players involved... nothgin else. not why.. not how..nothing." he looked like hell warmed over. his heart still beat in his chest.

Jack wrapped stood ther, lookgin at her with the same sorrowful look she gave him. there was defiance in him yet though.. a will to survive.. a will to protect hsi family...to protect Rose now too.
 
She could feel the cold and was happy that Jack had his arms wrapped around her. Rose suddenly didn't know what to feel. The dark was settling in and her heart started to race.

"Jack...what is happening to you? You keep stumbling and it's almost like you're going to pass out out of the blue. You're worrying me, Jack."

She wiped the tears away and took a deep breath.

"Where are we going now?"
 
Jack avoided her first question, but held on to her tightly, not lettign her see his silent dry tears.

"Far away froma ll of this...let them have tmansion... we save ourselves, and we go soemwhere safe.


"DARIUS!" Came the vocie from above the cliff. "Lorenzo is awake!" warren yelled down. Jack did not care. he held onto raose like he held on to life. He didn't want his heart to stop beating. not now. he had a reason to walk in teh day.. with her.
 
"You should go check up on him. I'll go with you."

Rose looked up at him and smiled slightly.

"But please, stop avoiding my questions."
 
"In time rose... In time" he smiled, Wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they walked up the path to the cliff.


The clan was sprawled out underneath rocky outcropings just to the north of the cliff face. There was a cave there, blocked off with 'dangerous' signs and a metal grate. There was also an old lighthouse tower there, abandoned and wrecked in a storm a hundred years ago. Between the two places, the entire rest of the clan, barely thirty members out of over 200 living in the mansion where safe, because the savages that took over the place did not know about inactive safehouses, only the active ones. This much was explained by lorenzo moments later.


"Darius...came close, my boy." he began, sitting there in a makeshift chair int eh corner of the caverns first room. He had bandages on a bloody arm, broken ribs, and a bum leg. He had fought like the devil to protect the clan...he was the only one who survived the basement being raided.


"What happened master, how did they do this, were there that many of them/" he pleaded, letting go of rose and kneeling infront of him, a hand on his good leg. despite their fight. lorenzo was still his mentor.

"They overpowered us.. i wish it was untrue." lorenzo looked uneasy abotu his next words, pausing a good long time first.


"They... they were individually stronger than us. not a one of them is dead." he continued. " my pride.. as a warrior.. is gone." he wheezed, hanging his head low.

Jack bowed his head too.

"hey rose.. i think.. they need soem time." warren said, usherign her out into the lighthouse. there was food up there, a younger man was cooking a few turkeys on a spit, gentle smoke rising up the stairs tot eh higher broken levels of the lighthouse.


-------

"Warren tells me the change is comign fast." lorenzo said once rose was gone.

"Yes.. it happened twice in the past 48 hours alone." jack responded.

"we did manage to retrieve all the keys to the vault before we escaped." his master said, pattign his head.

"Uncle... what do we do now.. two clans livign this close.. we have tog et out of here...but.. are we going to be runnign forever?" jack was gettign a littel depressed.

"I mean.. lorenzzo, Rose has lost everything. And i'm not even sure whose fault all this is..."

Lorenzo chuckled a little and made jack look at him, holding the boys chin.

"Let us resolve, that we have all been in the wrong place at the wrong time." he smiled weakly.

"The elders being dead means that we need to elect new Members. now darius...jack. It's time we discussed something BOTH of us have been trygin to postpone as long as possible.

"Yes." jack said, standing up. " Yes it is..." he said, staunch resolve on his face.
 
Rose held her knees to her chest as she looked around. She felt like such a foreigner. She hardly knows what is going on, Jack isn't clarifying anything and it's making her more worried. The moon was starting to rise and it was one of those rare occasions in which a person can both see the sun setting and the moon rising. She felt awkward stares from across the rom and she tried to keep her mind on her cell-phone as if the lives of people on Facebook were to make her feel better.

They don't know anything, it's not like they're going to believe me anyway. I'm the over excited photographer...or was anyway.

She opened the front door and sat down on the large steps in front of it. Taking a twig, she took off the excess branches and sharpened the tip with her swiss arny knife that she had on her for some odd reason. After she did so, she focused on of the falling leaves and threw her sharpened twig at it, hitting it with amazing accuracy, causing it to hit the sand with the twig impaling it. She did this for about another hour.
 
Jack walked up tot he stone steps and looked at the large forest of spears. "Hey rose. how you feelin?" he said, sittign next to her nad handing her a cup of hot chocolate.

THe air was stale between them. he wasn't sure how to proceed. he looked away in an awkward pause.
 
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