Jack took another drink of his beer, gulping the rest down before he placed the glass back on the table, wiped his mouth on his hand, and attempted to formulate the question burning in his mind into articulate words. Somehow, however, before he even asked for clarification, he knew what Giovani's answer would be. "Who is Holland?" he began. "And, how can she be my mother?"
Giovani smirked and signaled to the waitress who had just started her shift. Still tying her apron, the petite brunette approached the table, her shoes clicking noisily on the wooden floor. "Can I get a couple more Buds?" he asked, smiling at the young girl. She looked about Jack's age, possibly a college student, and she nodded, returning his smile before turning back to the bar.
Returning his attention to Jack, Giovani replied, "Come on, man. Surely you've noticed a few differences today, a few things about yourself that seem odd."
Of course, if Jack stopped to think about it, there was plenty that had been unusual. For starters, he had slurped the blood out of a corpse. He’d been able to cover four miles worth of cityscape in about ten minutes. He’d ripped the deadbolt on a large metal door through the steel frame. Yes, things seemed a bit different. After a few moments of consideration, he said simply, "What's going on?"
The waitress returned, setting the glasses down on coasters before flashing Giovani a smile and sauntering away. His eyes followed her swaying hips, and he absently ran his tongue across the tips of his teeth, like he wanted to taste her. Once she was out of his line of sight, he turned back to Jack. "I think you know," he replied before taking a drink. He made a face as if it did nothing for him, as if he was only drinking it because Jack was.
Jack's memories of what happened the night that Drew died were foggy at best. Like the rest of his friends, he had been convinced that she had simply fallen while they were out rock climbing. That was the logical answer that had been drilled into his brain. However, when he was sleeping, he had memories that did not fit that description. He saw a woman with long red hair, blood-stained lips, flying after him, her pale skin glistening in the moonlight. He knew they were being pursued by something evil. But he could not recall enough of the facts to put the story together. Now, given his experiences from the day, he was afraid his deepest fear had actually come true, and he had been transformed into whatever that woman was. Even with the information at hand, he couldn't bear to think of what that would make him. Rather than answer Giovani's question, he returned to the one Giovani had yet to answer. "Who is Holland?" he repeated, more forcefully this time.
"I think you know," Giovani replied again. "You remember her, don't you? From the Eidolon Festival?"
Jack brushed a hand through his short brown hair. "What did she do to me?" he asked, not at all sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"I told you," Giovani replied, spinning his glass back and forth on the table absently, "She's your mother. She gave you life."
Jack shook his head in disbelief. "I think you mean she killed me. I died yesterday, didn't I?"
"No, man," Giovani protested. "That old life, that useless, disposable existence--that wasn't living. Now, you're invincible. You can do anything, brother." He stretched his hands wide, an illustration that the possibilities were endless.
Jack was still skeptical. "But. . ." he hesitated, not sure he wanted to speak the word, not wanting to have his suspicion confirmed. "I'm a . . . Vampire."
Giovani threw back his head, laughing in glee. "That's right, brother!" he exclaimed, offering Jack his hand. "You're one of the lucky ones now, my friend."
Reaching out reluctantly, Jack clasped the cold, pale hand in his and was shocked at the sheer strength of Giovani's grip. "What do you mean? How am I lucky? This doesn't feel so amazing to me."
"Just you wait," Giovani replied, loosening his grip. "I'm going to teach you everything I know. Then, you'll see just how incredible it is to be undead."
Jack was cynical. Yet, even the horrific notion that he was actually dead seemed more acceptable than the perplexing fog he had walked around in all day, not knowing what was happening. While the idea that he was a Vampire surely should have seemed horrific to him, an unusual feeling of calm began to surround him. "I'm a Vampire?" he said quietly, staring at the table. Giovani said nothing, the smug grin still on his face. "Why does that seem so... acceptable to me?" he asked, looking at Giovanni.
Giovani laughed again. "Because, it's who you are. Even on a subconscious level, you realize this is the life, brother! Being a Vampire is so much better than any other form of existence!"
Jack considered Giovani's response for a few minutes. Nothing his "brother" was saying seemed logical at all, and yet the idea that he was a Vampire--that he was no longer alive in the traditional sense of the word--didn't seem at all appalling to him. In fact, it seemed exciting and fascinating.
Jack still had several questions. The first that came to mind involved the one he could hold responsible for his new state of being. "Where is Holland, anyway?" Why hadn't she shown up to explain things to him herself?
Giovani hesitated. "She's not available," he replied. “That should be sufficient enough for now.”
Jack was still a bit puzzled but let it go. "All right," he conceded. "So, how does this work? Can I still interact with my friends and family?"
Before the question was even complete, Giovani was shaking his head. "No, man. I'm sorry. They can't know that you're still around. If your family sees you, they’ll completely freak out. We don't have a lot of rules, but one we do have is that friends and family can't ever know that you're a Vampire."
Jack threw himself backward against the seat. "What?" he asked in disbelief. “I don't know if I can live by that rule."
"You've got to, brother, or else one of us will have to destroy you. And we've already got enough problems with Vampire Hunters trying to track us down. You've got to stay away from everyone you knew. They can't know, man. It's important that you make that rule a priority," Giovani stated, leaning in closer.
Though he had more questions about the rules, something Giovani said caught Jack's attention. "Did you say Vampire Hunters?" he asked, suddenly feeling a bit vulnerable.
"Yes," Giovani clarified. "They are real. And they want to destroy us. So, we've got to make sure that we either follow their rules or lay low."
"What kind of rules do they have?" Jack asked, staring into those steel gray eyes again.
"Well," Giovani considered, leaning back in the booth a bit. "We are supposed to register with them, which you can do if you want to, but I don't recommend it. They'll put a tracker in you. Then, as soon as they decide you've broken one of their rules, they'll show up and destroy you. They dictate who we can and cannot feed on. It's really not the best system from our vantage point, honestly, but as long as you stay out of their way, most of the time they'll leave you alone."
Jack was nodding. "And how do I do that exactly?"
"Don't do anything to draw attention to yourself; be careful where you find your victims, that sort of thing," Giovani replied, glancing around the bar. A few more people were coming in now, as he looked for examples. "Okay, so see that seedy looking guy over there, the one with the scruffy beard and the dirty clothes?" Jack nodded. "He looks like a bottom-dweller. Chances are, no one's going to care too much if his body is found in an alleyway somewhere. That waitress, however," he continued, nodding in the direction of the brunette who had served them earlier. "She shows up dead, people are going to notice. The more people that notice, the more attention you get, the more problems you've got."
Again, Jack was nodding. "So, what, bums, druggies, that sort of thing?"
"You got it," Giovani agreed. "Unless, of course, you wanna live on the edge. Then, hey, man, go for it."
Jack had never been much of a risk taker. He preferred to follow the rules and do the right thing. Nevertheless, the idea of feasting off of the waitress seemed much more appealing than the grimy older man with the beard. "And what happens when these Hunters find out you've broken a rule?"
"Then, there's hell to pay," Giovani admitted. "They'll show up, usually with their Guardians so that they're protected, and take you out. Once you're gone, man, you're gone. There's no coming back the next time."
Gasping, Jack asked, "They have Guardians?"
"Yep," Giovani confirmed. "And we can't kill Guardians. Only Hunters. We can kill them. But they have silver bullets, and that's pretty hard to get around."
"We don't have any weapons against them?" Jack asked, beginning to wonder why Giovani ever said he was one of the lucky ones.
"Not really. Regular bullets rarely take out a Hunter. Just not strong enough. We can rip their heads off or cut them open, but their weapons are so much stronger than ours. You just want to avoid getting drawn into a battle with them. Especially when the Guardians show up. If you steal one of their guns with silver in it, that'll usually do it. But we can't touch the silver bullets, not even to load the weapon without getting a nasty burn or worse. So, we don't usually use weapons."
"Seems kind of complicated,” Jack took another drink of his beer. "I think I'll just take your advice and stay away from the premium meals."
Giovani laughed. "Well, an occasional snack never hurts." He eyed the waitress again. "I'm thinking she might need to come over to our side."
Glancing over his shoulder, Jack asked, "How does that work, exactly?"
"Just gotta get our DNA into their bloodstream," he replied, eyes still trailing the brunette who was talking to another customer.
"But," Jack began, puzzled again, "Holland didn't bite me."
"Nah," Giovani confirmed, giving Jack his attention, though it was divided. "She scratched you. On the shoulder. Just a tiny prick."
His eyes wide, Jack realized he had experienced some shoulder pain that night, and his jacket had been torn. "So, why did it take so long?"
"Just a bit of DNA. Took a long time to totally Transform you. All these weeks, you thought you were sick. You were really just turning into one of us." Giovani ran his finger through the condensation on the table.
"Wow," Jack mumbled "This is all too much to digest.”
"I know," Giovani said sympathetically. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it."
"Maybe. I'll tell you one thing, though. I might be able to get used to being away from my parents and most of my friends. But I don't know how long I can last without my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Giovani leaned forward, a quizzical expression on his face.
"Yes," Jack confirmed. "We broke up for a while, but she told me she loved me again, just before I . . . died. I don't think I can go on without her."
Giovani seemed to consider for a moment before asking, "What's her name, man?"
"Cadence Findley," Jack replied with a sigh.
A broad smile broke out across Giovani's face. "Well, who am I to separate two lovers? We'll just have to find a way to bring Ms. Findley along with us, brother."
