Chapter Text
Walking home at midnight was scary to most but to Madeline she adored the calmness of it all. She breathes in the cold crisp air as she watches the rain splash rapidly to the ground, feeling a light buzz in her left pocket brings her out of her zone. Wrinkling her face in confusion, she pulls out her phone wondering who would be texting her at this ungodly hour.
Unlocking her phone she's shocked to discover twelve missed calls from her best friend Alanna. Thoughts and questions start to fill her head all at once making her stumble in her step. What happened? What if she's hurt? Why did I not feel my phone going off?
Stopping in her tracks she quickly types out a message to send in a matter of seconds. Thumbs flying over her keyboard in a rush to find out what was troubling her best friend of ten years. Not knowing she was holding her breath till now, she lets out a shaky sigh when she gets no reply.
Looking up in a state of panic, she legs it home in record time slamming the door behind her. She quickly climbs the stairs to her room, before throwing her bag to the floor in a haste to lay down. She drums her fingers on her thigh in anticipation, waiting on a reply that will never come. Sighing frustratingly, she calls Alanna in hope she'll pick up and put her out of her misery.
She calls five times before giving up, with no answer and no way of contacting her she chews her lip in worry. So lost in thought she jumps when her phone buzzes once again, finally showing a reply. Opening up her phone she freezes, seeing six words she thought she'd never see again;
mads come quick, I need you! ~ A
Shaking, Madeline grabs her bag and jacket before decending down the stairs in a hurry before flying out the door. Those words haunted her for five years, seeing them again were sure to bring back painful nightmares.
Reaching Alanna's door in record time, Madeline pushes open the door making the hinges squeak. Stopping in her tracks she stutters.
"Al-Alanna what did you do?"
Seeing her best friend sitting in a pool of someone else's blood makes her recoil in disgust. Five years ago she learnt one thing she'd never forget. Five years ago she learnt her best friend was a vampire.
"I needed to feed, I couldn't help it." Alanna says, wiping the blood from around her mouth before licking the remains.
"Al, you haven't fed in five years why now? You just fed from an innocent, I can't deal with you right now!" Madeline spits out bitterly.
"I had to, my brood they-"
"Your brood? Since when do you have a brood?"
"Lorenz found me in my time of need, he told me to feed."
"He told you to- Al I am beyond outraged with you right now! I can't even look at you!"
Madeline fiercely kicks at the floor, looking down at her feet. Alanna has never behaved in such a way and now she's in a brood? Who is this Lorenz guy? Why does she trust him so much?
Sighing out hotly, Madeline tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Looking up slowly she pulls a face. Blood drips down Alanna's mouth as she licks at her hand. Her fangs hover below her top lip covered in drops of metallic red before sinking back up.
"I can feel you staring you know, it's quite rude."
"Rude?" Madeline gasps. "I came here to discover you drinking blood from this poor guy and I'm rude? Your have fangs Alanna, fangs!"
"Most vampires do Mads, it states back to the 1600's. It's genetically normal, well in vampires of course."
"Would you listen to yourself right now? Why are you embracing this? You were petrified the last time this happened and now you're fine with it? What the hell Alanna?"
"Oh Madeline, Maddie Mads." Alanna shakes her head patronisingly.
Madeline rolls her eyes and huffs in annoyance.
"Don't patronise me Alanna!"
"Me? Never? Although your not taking the news very well may I add hmm." Alanna replies inspecting her nails.
Angrily glaring at what was once her best friend, now turned stuck up vampire, Madeline sends her a baffled look. Taken a back she retaliates sharply.
"Excuse me? It's a little hard adjusting to your best friend becoming this snarky asshole, who once thought being a vampire was wrong. Apologies if I'm a little affronted by this mess."
Tutting disapprovingly, Alanna smirks before completely vanishing leaving Madeline alone in the cold night, surrounded by what was once a human male but is now just a drained out corpse.
Kicking the wall in utter frustration, Madeline flashes out there in a dash no longer wanting to be there, or to smell the horrible stench filling her nostrils. Thinking of what to do next, she's stumped. She's got nothing, nada! Her so called best friend fled to absolutely nowhere leaving her to pick up the pieces.
Her life had just got a hell of a lot depressingly worse.
"Fuck!"
***
The haven was cold, dark and gloomy to everyone else but to the clan it was home. Elder Julien sat on his century old rusty throne in total silence. Vampires moved throughout the haven, some feeding from reasonably new IV bags full of blood stolen from the local hospital. Some, if not most were doing chores for their Elder.
Prince Lorenz appears through the doorway, doors closing behind him before stopping in front of his father. Clearing his throat he begins.
"Father, I've recruited a new fledgling. May I proceed to bring her in?"
Julien turns to his son unblinkingly.
"You may proceed" he replies dumbfounded.
"Thank you father." Lorenz states before bowing down.
He snaps his fingers making the doors open, Alanna trailing behind them. Her white gown flows along behind her looking like hand made silk. She stops next to Lorenz and bows down to her new Elder. Looking up she locks eyes with Julien making her eyes shine a darker blue.
Nodding his head she rises in acceptance.
"Prince Lorenz will show you the way. You may now leave."
Escorting Alanna to her new room was tricky. Every vampire wanted to greet the new fledgling like fresh meat. One even offered his hand in marriage, but let's not go there.
She sways her way into her new room, drawing back the curtain like royalty. Her coffin lay in the corner, even though many vampires chose to sleep wherever they felt comfortable.
"If Mads could see this she'd flip!"
"Young one, we must not talk of the living in our sacred haven."
Swirling round to face him she tilts her head.
"But she's my best friend!"
"Was, my young one. We don't speak of her kind, father doesn't allow it."
Seething her teeth, Alanna hisses.
"And pray tell, why is that?"
Stroking his sharp jawline, Lorenz snickers.
"Our kind do not mix well with humans my dear. Your home is here now, we're your new family."
Shaking her head she decides not to answer back, perching quietly on the window sill.
Staring at Alanna was soon becoming his favourite thing. He smiles to himself before announcing.
"Dinner is at midnight, don't be late young one."
He closes the curtain before descending his way to the court room to join his father. If he had a heart it would certainly be beating so fast right now.
***
Madeline paces her room, her thoughts spinning around in her head. Rapidly tapping her brain mumbling to herself "think, think, think!" She stops in her tracks as if a light bulb had just turned on in her head. Rushing over to her bag she pulls out an old journal, a journal that has been passed down for centuries in her family. Flicking threw the pages of her dads old scrawl she lands on the page she needed.
Quickly typing in the number she lets it ring, praying for it to pick up. A husky voice soon speaks up rendering the silence.
"Hello? Do you know what time it is?"
"Ro? is that you?" Madeline asks hopefully.
"Who's asking?" Roman grunts.
"Roman, it's me. Madeline. Madeline Washington-Clarke."
"Mads? Omg it's been years...wait what's happened?
Letting out a sigh, she curses Roman for knowing her so well. She begins to tell him what has happened in the last few hours, or at least a shortened version. Nobody has time for that shit.
Roman Mercure is a hunter, or at least was. He hasn't been on a hunt in over five years, technically. Roman was raised in Gavauden, France by his prestigious mother and father. They taught him the ins and outs of being a hunter as it apparently ran in his blood.
All day everyday he would be forced to train, whether it be the history of certain supernatural creatures, or learning self defence. In his defence, getting kicked in the balls by a strange 80 year old French man didn't do much for his dignity. His father lived to bring it up at every opportunity he got, of course.
His best friend Jack would be by his side in every hunt. Not that he liked not having a partner, he just preferred it when said guy didn't stick to him like glue. He couldn't complain really, he wasn't half bad to look at.
Although Jack rarely ever went on hunts with him. In the last five years they'd done a total of four hunts together. The rest Roman would hunt alone seeing as Jack would always be out of town doing god knows what. Not that Roman cared of course, he preferred to work alone. Screw the rules.
In all fairness Roman knew the hunting life always follows you wherever you go. There was no escaping, not ever. Once you start the hunting life, your life becomes hunted.
So hearing about Madeline's story didn't really surprise him in a way. It more or less shocked him. Alanna never striked him as a vampire, not once. Maybe his hunting skills were getting a little rusty.
"You mean to say that Alanna; Alanna-I-squirm-at-the-sight-of-jelly, is a vampire? Well damn me to hell!" Roman sighs rubbing his forehead.
"She was nine but yes! I'm still wrapping my head around it with what happened to my parents and all Ro."
"Oh shit, yeah sorry Mads! You still at your place?"
"Never left."
"Right, yeah. I'll be at yours by noon tomorrow. See you then, stay safe."
"I will Ro, see ya!"
Locking her phone she slides down her bed. Huffing a breath of air, she blows a stray piece of hair covering her pale face. Rolling to her left trying to find a comfier spot, something catches her eye. Her necklace her parents gave her hangs delicately from her mirror, glistening in the moonlight. Seeing it start to glow makes her whole body freeze.
Slowly rising from her bed she approaches the necklace with tentative steps. As she nears her desk she picks it up and hesitantly holds it between her fingers, turning it backwards and forwards. Suddenly a spine tingling feeling rises from the bottom of her spine to the top of her neck. Looking around her room frantically she realises she's not alone anymore.