#w: bloodbound alliance | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

highoctanegem · 1 month ago

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Bloodbound alliance pt. 1 || Jade & Vic

TIMING: Current. LOCATION: A warehouse. PARTIES: @natusvincere & @highoctanegem SUMMARY: Jade and Vic find themselves in the same place for very different reasons. CONTENT WARNING: Medical blood & head trauma. The thread contains descriptions of people being used as blood bags and mentions of dismemberment (doesn't happen in the thread).

Vic gazed at the address she’d typed into her notes app, looking up at the building she’d found to confirm this was in fact the location she’d been looking for. Through some pretty efficient eavesdropping (some vampire traits did have their quirks), she’d heard about this place years ago- before Rosie and her change of heart and all. She had originally written it down because it seemed like the exact type of job she’d be into- a regular hangout for vampires that she could infiltrate, convince to trust her, and then turn into slayers for a pretty penny. This place… a rundown warehouse- it certainly picked her former assumptions of where vampires might choose to spend their time. Slayers didn’t tend to ask how she got her information, and so jobs like this in the past had been easy, stress-free money. Of course, with everything that was changed, the plan here wasn’t to infiltrate at all.

She was learning rather quickly that rehabilitation was difficult without, well…friends. Vic had decided recently that the best way she was going to prove to herself that vampires weren’t all monsters was to be around them more… let them prove it to her. The therapist quacks would have called it ‘exposure therapy’. So she was planning on infiltrating this group not to betray them, but to befriend them… or something like that. Hopefully they would have tact, and be worthy of friendship. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. Just as she raised her hand to knock on the door (a secret knock she was sure she remembered hearing about), she felt a presence behind her. Dropping her hand, she turned around, both shocked and dismayed (and just a little frightened) at the sight she saw behind her. Still, despite her fear, she wouldn’t let this person know how she felt.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

—

It didn’t get any more evil than a warehouse, right? Like, surely nobody would oppose her taking down the knuckleheads using this place as headquarters for their shady business. Jade could do this. Nope, she would do this. Clan-associated vampires were still on everybody’s naughty list, regardless of what some felt about the way she fulfilled her duty. And yup, there was that annoying voice in her head pointing out the fact that she was letting others dictate how to do her job. Which she hated, obviously, it was something she had been trying to nip in the bud for the past couple of weeks. Er…months. She would manage. There was nothing wrong with doing the basics, taking out the cartoon villains, (which, she always did anyway), while she sorted herself out.

Jade strutted toward the rusted door that worked as an entrance, her weapons concealed inside her coat. It was a little warm for that kinda outfit but she was trying to infiltrate first, swing later. (As in, fighting) (She didn’t think this place doubled as a dance club). She wasn’t shocked there was already someone waiting to go inside, it actually made a lot of sense given the whispers she’d heard about the place. Maybe she could strike up a convo with the lady, lay on the charm, and sneak in as her BYOB (bring your own blood bag). She was already brainstorming her backstory (nothing too extravagant this time around), when it dawned on her that the woman standing outside the warehouse was super familiar.

Penny. The same Penny she had spotted at the park, and messed with her Spidey sense. The one who was somehow a mother. The one Amber knew especially well. Ew. Which, as a sidenote, it turned out… Amber didn’t know any Pennys, so Jade wasn’t even sure who was lying. (The vampire was the obvious option, but her sister did like to keep some secrets) (Unlike her, an open book). But anyway, Penny didn’t seem as thrilled to see her, which was so freaking rude actually. So she only liked her features in one woman and one woman only? And forget about that nonsense, was Penny associated with this clan, then? Was the human baby in actual danger? Her face turned hard as she regarded the other woman.

“Not even a hello, huh? I hope you teach your baby better manners,” normally, she would’ve wrapped the jab around a daring smile. She would’ve taunted the other woman, except she couldn’t bring herself to joke. Jade felt on edge now, wondering why a mother would try to associate with the type of vampire inside the warehouse. If there was such a thing as good monsters, why wouldn’t Penny choose those? Without taking her eyes off the woman, Jade lifted her hand and rapped the secret knock. (Shave and a haircut, so actually not so secret) (Which was kinda genius). A gray-faced vampire came around a few beats later, revealing himself a short king when the door creaked open. “Who—” Before he could speak and ask for a password or something else that would put her on the spot, Jade chimed in. “Good evening, sir. I’m sure you’re busy, doing your thing,” she turned to Penny, raising an eyebrow at her. Play along, was supposed to mean. “Here’s my aunt, Gertrude. You can probably sense she’s one of yours, right?” the man opened his mouth, but Jade filled the silence quickly. “We’re new in town. And… Oh. I’m her midnight snack,” he also must’ve sensed her very human heartbeat. “She’s old you know… my aunt. Whew, she tells me all about doing shots with Dracula,” she chuckled, hooking her arm with Penny’s. “We can’t let her out without a human by her side in case she gets, ya know… hangry” her free hand motioned two fangs sinking into skin. “She’s supposed to be on the list of guests for tonight’s shindig. Why don’t you check?”

—

Vic huffed, shaking her head at Jade’s incompetence. “I don’t know any babies. My toddler has just fine manners, but knows not to say hello to people who openly threaten our lives.” Once, she read in a book that treating a child as if they were at a younger stage of development than they actually were could severely stunt their intellect and confidence. God, she was going to have to come back another time to find some vampire friends. There was no way that she and Baby Bloodworth were here for the same reason, and no logical way that either of them could stay now. She was about to turn away when she heard the tell tale knock rapping from Jade’s knuckles. She turned back toward the door, barely able to have a reaction to her counterpart’s boldness before someone opened the door in front of them. She cleared her throat, ready to speak on her own behalf, when the loudmouth next to her immediately started yapping.

It was all she could do to keep her composure. If she weren’t trying to make friends, she might turn around right now and give Jade a good shake, just to shut her up, but she knew how important first impressions were. She had to decide rather quickly if an old aunt named Gertrude was more or less impressive than a woman named Vic who shook curly-haired ravens. She had to blink away the jolt she felt about this man in front of her suddenly knowing she was a vampire- except that was the whole point, right? She smiled awkwardly at him as Jade continued, hip-checking her at the comment about her apparent hunger. What a joke. She was the most well-fed vampire in all of Wicked’s Rest.

As the vampire looked down at his list (after looking between the two of them suspiciously, of course), Vic pulled her arm dramatically away from Jade’s, wiping off whatever stench she might have left behind there. Jade clearly wanted into the warehouse for more nefarious reasons than she did, but there was little she’d be able to do once a clan of vampires surrounded her. Perhaps she would have to work with her before she turned away while they drained the life from her. It was almost like killing two birds with one stone, when she thought about it- finding some like-minded friends and getting rid of the threat that was Jade. “Actually…”, she said, putting on her most charming voice, the one she used to use with vampires in quite the opposite context. “My niece here, Bertha, she gets confused quite easily.” The vampire looked up at them again, and Vic patted Jade on the top of her head in mock sympathy. “I told her that taking a shower once a day helps to jog those thinking muscles, but you know how stubborn stupid people can be.” For a split second, Vic got a good view at the top half of the list, and her eyes focused on one of the names toward the top that hadn’t been crossed off yet. “The name I was invited under is actually Greg”, she said, only realizing how ridiculous it sounded when it was too late. She coughed, elbowing Jade in the side. “It’s a family name. Gertrude and Bertha Greg- did I forget to mention my plus one in my RSVP?”

—

Sneaking inside was really riding on the coattails of Penny’s ability to spin a good lie. Which like, most vampires were expert manipulators anyway, so it shouldn’t be hard, right? With a sneer, the man peered down at his list, where he would definitely not find a Gertrude and would end up putting both of them on blast, so Jade was gonna have to think fast (or rather, act fast) if she wanted a chance to see whatever nefarious business these folks got up to inside. Her fingers skirted along her belt looking to draw one of her blades, but before anything could happen, Penny spoke up.

Jade chewed the inside of her cheek so as not to ruin Penny’s attempt at selling this lie to the man, but it sure was hard to stay quiet! She faked a big grin, as she figured that was what stupid people would do upon being called stupid. Bertha wasn’t even a good undercover name, ugh. Whatever, if it got them inside, maybe Jade would consider sparing Penny a second time. But don’t get her wrong, she was definitely taking care of her eventually, cause this kinda company? Nope, it was horrible for the baby. (Which, in this sentence referred to little Sammy) (But spiritually, it also referred to her. She was the baby too).

And alright, she wasn’t familiar with Penny’s game, but Jade noticed her sneaking glances at the list and she nodded her approval. Huh. Maybe they did have a chance after all. Oof, the elbow to the ribs was so unnecessary, she almost stepped on Penny’s foot in retaliation but restrained herself in favor of the lie they were trying to sell to get inside. (Why would Penny not have an invite already?) (What was she here for, exactly?). “Bertha Greg,” Jade nodded, with a blank expression. And well, actually she could lend her expertise to fill in the blanks. “From the Gregs back in California? I’m sure you’ve heard of Ezekiel Greg, if not… they should open the vampire schools again, and teach you all a bit of history” Jade scoffed, quirking her right eyebrow and tilting her chin up. She’d learned a few Karen tricks from Regan, she had this in the bag.

The man’s eyes were fixed on Jade’s, his expression unreadable… but she wouldn’t be deterred, she tilted her chin even higher, waiting. And then he slowly glanced down to check his list, where (thanks to Penny, alright?) Greg would be invited. Actually, everything about the way he moved looked in slow motion, vampires were supposed to be agile, come on! He dragged his eyes back to Penny, regarding her with a little more respect than he did Jade (rude!). “Very well, Miss Greg. Everything appears to be in order, yes. Please, why don’t you and… your meal follow me inside?” the door creaked some more as he welcomed them inside with a wave of his hand. Jade felt the onrush of relief once the hard part was over, but it didn’t last a second, when ahead of her, the bouncer spoke. “I will lead you to the lobby, where you may leave your coats and weapons.”

—

Vic gave Jade a scolding side-eye, worried her rambling might insult their only entry to this clearly very exclusive club. Perhaps she should have done more research before she arrived. A guest list? A lobby?? This place was higher class than she anticipated. She almost felt bad that Jade was about to make such a fool of herself. Almost. “Yes, yes, we are so pleased to make your acquaintance. Us Gregs have been meaning to check out your very refined get-togethers, and today just seemed like the perfect day to join! Didn’t it, Bumbling Bertha?” She touched the vampire on the shoulder as he walked ahead of them, though his reaction was rather stiff and cold. Rude. “Oh, that’s a nick-name she just loves. She’ll practically insist you call her Bumbling Bertha, so please remember to take heed”.

The vampire, for his part, gave a stiff huff in response to whatever the vampiress behind him was saying. He didn’t care much for small talk, and tended to ignore whatever the new club-members were saying.

As they entered the lobby (a little run-down, if you asked Vic… it was more of a supply closet than anything), Vic finally registered just what the registration vampire had said, her eyes widening in response. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, kind sir, as we are all friends here, no?”

“I’m afraid policy, in this case, trumps friendship”, he replied, looking between the two of them. “Now please, empty your pockets before we continue into the meeting room. You can place your things here on this table, I’m sure you understand.”

Vic shot a look to Jade, who probably had about 17 stakes shoved in any crevice she could muster, like the murder machine she was. She widened her eyes at her, signaling her to please not be stupid enough to take anything out that might blow their cover. Now that their lies had grouped them together, this lot finding out that Jade was a slayer was a bad idea, at least until the jig was up and Vic could tell them the truth. Unsurely, she emptied her pockets of a few knives and a rogue pair of handcuffs, hesitantly putting her most favorite dagger on the small table as well. “We didn’t bring much with us today, did we, Bumbling Bertha?” She let her eyes widen again, signaling Jade to lie.

—

Okay, Penny was doing a little too much now, cause what was that about Bumbling Bertha and trying to touch the receptionist? Jade rolled her eyes, giving the other woman a dirty look. “Only if you remember to call her Gaseous Gertrude! You’ll realize why later. It comes with age” she put on a saccharine tone, and hid all the passive aggressiveness in a smile. The vampire ahead of them only grunted in response. Not too chatty, huh? Actually, he was chatty enough to let them know they were supposed to leave their weapons behind. Ugh. That was like, standard procedure for shady clans like this, Jade was kinda prepared for it. Even if like, she believed no one should be doubting two innocent ladies walking through the front door! (Patriarchy was supposed to be working for them, come on).

But whatever, it was prevention and stuff. Cause every weapon had the potential to harm one of them… no matter how good or safe they looked, it was better to eliminate the threat. (Huh…) (Why did that sound kinda familiar?). Jade had shoved a few of her more important weapons into places that should be hard to find. (Mind out of the gutter, she meant the double fold in the band of her bra, where she stashed her narrowest stake). Unless they were like, about to pat them down. Shoot. They weren’t gonna do that, right? Jade sauntered into the small room with an easy going smile on her face. There were a few other vampires in the room, doing office things by the looks of it. But only one of them was paying attention to them, the one by the table, waiting on them. The glances Penny shot at her didn’t go unnoticed. How dare! Did she think she was gonna give them away? (Like she was an amateur?) (Don’t roll the tapes!)

Jade gave the woman a second eye-roll (about to reach all-time records, if she did it a third time), noticing the kind of stuff Penny was leaving on the table. “Auntie… I didn’t know it was that kinda shindig” she winked at her, eyes sparkling playfully. Penny was pretty fun to mess with, really. She pulled out a knife she had strapped on the side of her leg, and a thin dagger from the sheath on her belt. “Nope, we’re traveling light today, fellas! And… ma’am” she turned around to address the only other woman in the room. She had an interesting look in her eyes actually, and not for her, for Penny. Which like, fair. She wasn’t gonna pretend the other woman wasn’t easy on the eyes. Except she wasn’t ogling, she was… weird. Jade focused back on the table, pretending to do a thorough pat to find other things on her. Oooh! Some pepper spray. She left that too. “We’re all set!” she intoned, smiling up at the guard. He grumbled something, and then walked over to their side of the table, motioning for them to lift their arms. Oh. Nope, she didn’t like this.

She glanced back at Penny, eyes widening to let her know she totally had a few more weapons left, but they needed to get going now. And like, she only needed her help on this one thing. She figured once they got past the hallway they should be able to split and do whatever they wanted. So what if she batted her eyelashes in a pleading way? “It’s policy, lady” he shrugged. At least he was polite? Anyway, thankfully Penny didn’t need to do any more of her over-the-top acting, cause someone barged into the room right in that moment. Whew. She felt a little sweaty. Was she sweating? That was close. The new vampire beelined to the one attempting to pat them down, and started talking in a hushed tone. Jade didn’t snoop (shocking), cause she was busy looking around the room, just in case things went sideways and they had to improvise. They had some chairs (metal, sadly), a few notebooks and pens, and like a computer. It was pretty barebones for a fancy vampire operation. Maybe they spent their big bucks on the insides. Leaning by the doorframe were two new goons. Some type of bodyguards, she figured. One of them, with impressive dark eyes, kept staring at her. Nope, he was like, studying her. Um, first of all, she was happily taken, second of all, even if she weren’t she’d never do that with a clan member. Ew. And why was this the second vampire who took a weird interest in them? Were the ladies in their clan lacking?

“Go inside, we’re done here,” the first vampire barked at them. Woah. Sudden. He sounded a little stressed out. Like, some real stuff was going down. Did someone try to sneak in and infiltrate their circle? That would be so bad for them. Both big vampires left in a rush, followed by the goons by the door. Jade didn’t need to be told twice, she let the weapons at the table to be confiscated by the vampires working at the lobby and dashed out the door, turning just for a moment to check on Penny. “What do you think that was?”

—

Vic was glad she couldn’t see her reflection, because she didn’t want to witness the bright red color her face must have turned when Jade insinuated she had a flatulence problem. How humiliating. Vic shot her a look of warning, her lips tight together and ready to spill out insults. If Jade was going to be such a trouble maker…, then so what if these vampires had to have their way with her? “Like I said, Berth here gets confused. It’s best just to ignore her all together, we try not to play into her fantasies.” Vic was having all sorts of fantasies at that moment, and most of them involved Jade and some sort of large spike. Yea, that would be nice.

But, despite, well… everything that was wrong with Baby Bloodworth, the emptying of their weapons seemed to have gone relatively smoothly. Well, it was about to, at least, until they were asked to raise their arms for a pat down. Jade, thank god, had clearly kept some of her more vampire-free weapons tucked away, but a pat down was about to make them both liable for her crimes. Perhaps she should turn on Bloodworth now, abandon Jade before they found her out so Vic herself wouldn’t seem responsible. She cleared her throat, deciding against it. Abandoning ship now would look too suspicious. “That’ll hardly be necessary. I patted her down before I brought her in here. It’s actually better you avoid it, since the stench that came from being that close to her was just… it was no fun.”

But then the threat of a pat down and any more interrogation was over in a flash, and Vic was… confused. Groups like this were nothing if not thorough, so something really big must have come up to interrupt them. “Unsure…perhaps luck is on our side today”. There was a cliche somewhere in the air about luck coming with a friend by your side. She wanted to scoff, Jade was the opposite of a friend. “You don’t think they’ll try that again, do you?”

As they walked through the threshold into the next room, Vic found herself…underwhelmed. She thought for sure the decorations would be opulent, but there were no decorations, not except for a seedy whiteboard with KILL COUNT written in big letters at the top. The tally marks underneath were too much to count. In addition, there were a few couches with holes in them, a broken step ladder, and some dingy curtains that looked older than she was. “Doing some renovations?”, she asked aloud to the other vampires in the room. No one had really acknowledged their entrance, at least not on purpose. Some seemed to be secretly watching them while pretending to remain busy, while others were grouped up, whispering to each other. Probably about some important plans.

“Seems this club has some sub-clubs”, she whispered to Jade. “Exclusivity atop exclusivity. That’s how you know we’re in an important place.” But this place didn’t feel important at all. It actually felt like the opposite place she wanted to be in. For the first time, she wondered if she was going to need to look for vampire friends elsewhere.

—

“They could try…” Jade glanced back at Penny who finally caught up. And actually, it was fair game if they wanted to split now, right? (Right?) Why was she following her? Did Jade grow on her so fast? (It happened, she couldn’t blame her). She figured it would be smart to play up the auntie and niece charade for a little longer, after all. “It’d be kinda amateur of them to have just one check. I bet they have people at every door. Especially if they have game rooms,” cause… they had game rooms right? Where was the poker and the… maybe she heard wrong and this was not a casino style warehouse? UGH. Right when she thought vampires might be a little fun after all, it had to be cause of a misunderstanding. “What did you hear about this place?” she wondered in a more contained, professional tone. While she had Penny with her, might as well squeeze some info out of her, right?

No one took notice of them as they entered their next room. (A little rude, come on, they were pretty cute!). And what even was this room supposed to be? Were they even walking in the right path? Actually, if she wanted to suss out this whole warehouse might as well play the role of the clueless bimbo just waltzing into places apologizing for her terrible spacial awareness. She took notice of the whiteboard, and the tally marks and the totally awful interior design. She wasn’t sure which part was worse. (Oh, right. Maybe the kill count tally. Yup) (But like, those couches could totally put Emilio’s to shame). And… curious looks came eventually. Jade didn’t wanna stay in one place for longer than necessary. A light, dainty laugh left her lips (who was she?), and she pressed a hand to her chest before blurting out. “Whoopsie, my auntie and I are looking for… the main event,” whatever that was. A vampiress took pity on their poor navigational skills, jutting her thumb to the left. “Through that door, down two flights of stairs, then through the hallway to your right. You can’t miss it.” Oh, she had no idea what Bertha and Gertrude were capable of. They were most definitely going to miss it. Jade swooned, jerking Penny’s arm to follow her. “Thank you, babe. If I wasn’t already a promised meal for my auntie, I’d be all yours.” She didn’t stay long enough to see the befuddled look on the vampiress’s face.

They had places to go. They… they? Right. Until they reached the big gathering. That’s where she’d leave Penny and go check around the warehouse on her own. “I say we don’t go into rooms unless I say so, how about that?” she lifted a perfect eyebrow at her… current partner in crime (ugh, it was so weird), her steps gaining speed as she walked around a warehouse that was starting to feel more like a maze. And… whoever was in charge of decorating this place had like, a crypt core Pinterest board somewhere, for sure. Like why not just get a crypt if they loved the aesthetic so much? The staircase was poorly lit by candles that didn’t even have to be there in the first place. And she was pretty sure the cobwebs were from a costume shop.

But like, the further they descended into more obscure corridors the more Jade could just… smell the scent of decay and blood and… she didn’t feel like bantering with Penny so much anymore. The little game she’d created in her head began to slip away. The desensitizing could only work so much.There were human lives on the line, and Jade was never not aware of it. (Some would accuse her of only caring about said human lives). This was what she fought for.

The echoing of their shoes against the concrete was replaced by her own heart drumming in her ears. And then the sound of something leaking, dripping, followed by what Jade discerned was tired whimpers of pain. A barely open door beckoned her at the start of the hallway meant to lead them to the ‘main event’ vampires congregated for. It was so tempting, to peer inside. Like, it wasn’t locked, so these vampires had no shame about whatever was behind that door. (She had a guess. One which made a shiver run down her spine).

Nope. They were going to the casino, or well the gathering. Jade couldn’t stop to… wait, wasn’t this exactly why she came around? To see what shady things they got up to? Right! She couldn’t not take a little peek. She motioned Penny to slow down for a moment, and she inched to the small opening, willing to glance without touching the door. She wasn’t counting on the extra footsteps coming down the stairs, disrupting the tense silence that had created between her and Penny. She had like, a two second window to look inside, then twirl around and pretend she tripped or something and resume their path. She could do it. She could!

It was only a glimpse, but it was enough for Jade to paint a picture. Her heart jumped to her throat, but her brain was sharp due to years enduring similar horrors. It processed everything in a beat. The weak sounds of pain that had drifted to the corridor belonged to people, of course. Two young men hung upside down in the middle of the room, tubes and wires plugged to... Oh. They were real, human blood bags. The candlelight was a paid actor in all this, reflecting on pale, clammy skin, wounded skin, making the sight that much more tetric. A few other bodies lay on the ground, face down. By the way they were completely motionless Jade couldn’t tell if they’d already been drained, or if they were to be hung after. So this was pretty much their bar storage, wasn’t it? Except instead of barrels of booze it was... And if this wasn’t something they cared to conceal with a lock, what other horrible things hid behind closed doors? She glanced at Penny, genuine fear in her eyes cause she was positive the other woman also had a chance to look inside. And, she couldn’t blame her if she wanted to go have fun with her vampire friends instead. Cause Jade was staying behind. She had to make this right. So this was where they parted, after all. “I should… I have to help—”

“There,” a deep, cold voice cut through the air. And at the top of the stairs? The owner of that bone chilling voice, along with two statuesque vampires flanking him. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was not the welcome committee.

—

Vic looked toward Jade with a huff, rolling her eyes. What did it matter where she’d heard about it? It wasn’t like they were actually working together here. Still, she offered an answer- true, but filled with omission. “I have intel everywhere, and last I heard, this place was filled with reputable potential companions”. Friendship, that was what she was here for. But it felt embarrassing to say out loud. They continued to walk deeper and deeper into the warehouse, and Vic was beginning to feel swellings of anxiety that usually accompanied a loss of control. She wasn’t sure she could navigate her way out of this place if she tried (not that she’d need to, right?), and then there was that new, annoying feeling of guilt that was worming its way in, the one that told her how wrong it would be to let these vampires have their way with Jade.

After everything that happened with the Good Neighbors, what even was wrong or right, anyway?

She didn’t have time to think on it, anyway, because just as she was about to tell Jade that Vic was the one who would decide what rooms they would go in, because Vic was older, and wiser, and smarter in every way, something in the rooms they were passing nearly stopped her in her tracks.

It was the smell first, of blood, fresh and tantalizing and ever so tempting, that got her attention. And it made sense, right? That she’d smell blood in a place where vampires chose to congregate. It didn’t make them at fault, morally- there was a huge chance that they ethically sourced their blood, like she did. But if the kill count board from earlier didn’t tell her that that fantasy was far-fetched, the sights just beyond the viewpoint of typical human eyes would have done just fine. For in nearly every room they walked by, Vic noted a sickening, stomach turning sight: body parts, left strewn about as if they were child’s toys and not formerly part of actual people. And the volume of them didn’t seem to end, either. A foot here, fingers there, a leg, propped up against a wall somewhere else.

Perhaps Jade didn’t notice because she was so focused on her goal, whatever it was, or maybe Vic had underestimated how advanced her sight actually was, being a vampire so long, but regardless, she stopped in her tracks, holding Jade’s arm tightly interlocked with hers, hoping the slayer would get the hint. But Jade, ever surprising, seemed to have other ideas herself, and had found particular interest in one of the rooms at their side. Vic chanced a look in herself, and her stomach turned even more at what she found there. She shook her head at Jade, her eyebrows furrowed, because staying here and trying to help without a plan was asinine. They were vastly outnumbered, they knew nothing about this group, and they needed to leave, fast. She whispered, trying to talk some sense into Baby Bloodworth. “This is stupid. We can come back with backup, we need to-”

But a booming voice interrupted her, and she dropped Jade’s arm, suddenly feeling guilty for some reason. Whoever was walking toward them was clearly some sort of leader- the others respected him, and as he approached her and Jade, the other vampires seemed to turn toward them with attention. Shit.

“Apprehend these two at once. They’re not who they say they are”, the voice boomed, even more commanding now that he was closer. Before Vic could think of an excuse, there were two vampires at each of their sides, holding their arms in place until they were told where to take them. With an unrelenting guilty conscience, she felt the need to explain. “We’re obviously not aunt and niece, that’s simply how we describe each other to strangers. It’s much easier than saying we’re unlikely companions ever since Bertha became obsessed with me back in 2015.”

What the fuck was she doing? She was supposed to be throwing Jade under the bus, right? Out her as a slayer so she can have new vampire friends and forget about the Bloodworth threat altogether. Weakness was winning over again, and it was in favor of an idiot. She thrashed under the grip of her captors, and noted the vampires that had been in surrounding rooms were getting closer, their faces a mix of sneers and frowns. They all looked at them with recognition, as if they were seeing right through them. “We were just leaving, anyway. Let us go this instant!”

—

Jade would have to judge Penny for her choice of reputable potential companions another time. Provided there was another time. Cause right now, as three giant figures descended that last flight of stairs, all Jade could hear was the battle soundtrack about to go off in her head. She hoped it sounded a little more Dark Knight and a little less Everybody was Kung Fu fighting. But beggars couldn’t be choosers, so whatever got Jade out of this pickle, she’d take it. She also couldn’t show her shock at the fact that Penny had tried to pull her out of danger. Or that she’d offered to come back with backup and help those being drained in that room. (What did she mean? Wasn’t she in cahoots with these people?) Too many things were happening at the same time.

The person in charge of hitting play on the music had to wait for a moment, cause Penny wanted to try diplomacy. Ugh. One of the vampires had already gripped her bicep and Jade knew, immediately, by the way fingers dug into flesh that she would have a bruise later. “Listen to my auntie! Does she look like she’d ever do anything wrong ever? She’s never had so much as a speeding ticket!” She chimed in, giving this peace thing a try. Cause neither of them might like it, but they were kind of a team at the moment, and Jade knew all about being a team player. (If her solo career was anything to go by, some would say, being a team player was the only thing she was good at). Oops, apparently, they were not auntie and niece anymore, Penny was getting rid of their backstory, choosing something way less credible, but whatever. Time to lie. “Right! She’s kinda like my auntie. My aunt figure. It’s just easier…” Even as the vampire held her hands behind her back to restrain her, even as he manhandled her, Jade had a moment to throw Penny a dirty look over her shoulder. Obsessed with you? Puh-lease, she said without words.

It wasn’t completely stupid, what Penny was trying to do, despite. Cause why would two innocent people try to fight three strong vampires, right? Except if cornered, wasn’t like, the most natural reaction to defend yourself? Especially if it was totally unfair? The team leader remained untouched, like the perfect baddie, giving instructions instead of getting his hands dirty. “Enough with this. Bring them into custody, they want to ask them questions about the leak,” he gruffed, and Jade blinked at that, cause… huh? Like sure, keeping them alive served the plot, but… what was the other thing about a leak? And actually, she didn’t like the whole getting captured as much. Getting killed would’ve been quicker, but if she got caught that meant she wouldn’t get to go home to Regan, and that was just… irresponsible. (It made sense in her head, go with it).

Tussling time it was. Quirky battle music went off. Jade thrashed against her captor, pushing backwards until he crashed against the wall. She smashed again, upwards and with intention, hearing the back of his head connect with the surface. Good. But it wasn’t enough to knock him out. He let go of her hands and reached in front to put her on a chokehold. She wriggled and jerked, trying to shove his hands away while her air supply got increasingly low. If she could just… She needed too… She choked, the sight of Penny battling her own vampire in front of Jade blurring as tears reached her eyes. She needed her knife. The one hidden in her belt buckle, but if she let go of his arms he’d end her. She threw her head back, hitting him in the nose, and with the beat of respite she was given, Jade plucked her small knife. She jabbed repeatedly into the vampire's thigh, and he growled, letting go of her.

She almost fell face forward onto the floor, but her reflexes came through in time. She gasped, getting as much oxygen as she could into her lungs and turned to face the vampire. Except, right! She’d forgotten about the third one with conveniently free hands and a bossy tone. Who now wanted to join the fun. She sensed him draw close and Jade spun again, plunging the knife into his neck, then tackling him to the ground. (She was a one trick pony, but if the trick was failproof, why change?) Pinning him with her legs, she knew she wouldn’t be able to reach for the stake inside her bra, so like… if their plan was to make a run for it, the best chance they had was to knock out all three of them.

Big boss didn’t wanna go out fast, obviously, that would’ve been so embarrassing for him. But as he tried to overtake her (a mess of swiping limbs and grunts), Jade stood her ground, getting a hold of his face and smashing it against the cold floor. The thrashing beneath her stopped. And Jade got a beat, two beats where relief washed over her, and adrenaline made everything seem possible. There were two left, they had this.

And then something hard hit the back of her head and everything went to black.

—

This is not how Vic envisioned new friendships would start. But then, these vampires weren’t friends, were they? They were bad. The kind of bad that the Vic from a few years ago assumed all vampires were, the reason her own kind was monstrous and needed to be eradicated. Back then, she wouldn’t have needed to see the sights she had seen today- the blood or the gore, or the goddamn body bags hanging around like decoration, because she already knew what they were capable of. How dare these assholes perfectly fit the stereotype that so many had in their minds about vampires? They had a duty, maybe even more than humans and other undead, to be pillars of society (to make up for their bad names, of course), and still these jerks were flouncing around like some cheesy villains in a horror novel. And Victoria Larsson did not make nice with villains, vampires or not.

“Fuck this”. Vic’s docile, apologetic nature seemed to flip in an instant, and thankfully, the other vampires were caught completely off guard. She slammed her right foot down onto the foot of her captor, then raised her left arm back as he was caught off guard. Vic used that distraction to her advantage, using her elbow to jab into the vampire’s side, then punching him square in the jaw, officially jetting forward from his grip afterwards. Looking over to her side, it appeared baby Bloodworth had had the same idea, and Vic took a moment to nod in solidarity, before turning back to her dumbfounded captors.

Because she hadn’t expected a fight, Vic had obediently left all her weapons back at registration, and so she needed to think fast. The vampire tried to take advantage of her assumed distraction, reaching to grab at her again, but this time, Vic was ready. Just as the other vampire reached for her, she grabbed the dagger holstered at his side with one hand, grabbed his arm with another, and pinned it behind his back, holding him against her with the knife against his neck. “Don’t make another fucking move, you stereotype sellout, or your unkept, hairy neck will end up with more holes than that cheese from Switzerland”. Rosie had a current fascination with Swiss cheese, so the analogy just seemed incredibly apt. She didn’t want to kill him, really, she didn’t, because she was still feeling too many feelings about all the carnage she’d caused at the keep, and she had been calculating for weeks now how many good deeds and citizen’s arrests she needed to do to make up for it. But before she could weigh if just one more death was worth it, the vampire took advantage of her hesitation, using his free hand to try to reach around and grab the knife positioned at his neck. Vic would have been impressed at his lack of fear of the pain that grabbing a literal blade might cause, but there was no time to think on things like that. Instead, she pulled the knife downwards, her ears perking as it sliced through his palm, then reared up and stabbed it into his side as many times as she could muster. An anger took over her, one she hadn’t been expecting, at this place and these vampires who were hurting people for no good reason, and so scruff neck was getting the brunt of it. And hey, it was only one death, right? So she continued to stab and stab and stab. Even as he fell to the ground with pain, she continued to stab, ignoring the dark blood that spattered her face and the odd, misplaced sound of a door closing behind her, followed by two thumps, one after the other. She continued to stab, too, as soft footsteps approached behind her. The stabbing only stopped momentarily when she realized something was amiss, that there were no more sounds of fighting from Jade, and that the person behind her had gotten incredibly close. But she didn’t have time to think about it before the world around her disappeared.

#w: vic #w #wickedswriting #medical blood tw #w: bloodbound alliance #ty juliee

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