Irina stumbled down the hill she tried to get away from what was behind her. The thought of getting away from Cyrus filled her with glee. She finally got it out it was finally done. The only problem was that Jeff was left behind or maybe he went a different way than her. What would happen if he got caught again? It would be the end for him. Cyrus would probably kill him if anything or use him to get her back. Jeff would scold her so bad if she went back just because a him. But she knew she couldn't do anything without him in her state. She was too unstable and being alone just made it worse. 'What am I going to do? I-I can't leave him there. If he was still there Cyrus would...' She didn't want to think about that.

 

       Irina then began to run. She couldn't think about Jeff right now she just had to think about getting away. It felt like such a selfish thing to do to leave him for herself. But Jeff would want that more than anything. For her to get away and be done with this. 'I'm so sorry Jeff. I'll find some way to help you if it's the last thing I do. There has to be other people who can help. Other vampires maybe. Another pureblood even. Cyrus always said that there were other pureblood's.'

 

If I can find one and tell them that he broke the law of changing people. Then maybe they could get to Jeff before it was too late.' She thought. That was the plan to find somebody anybody as long as they can help. There was a specific law that pureblood could not change someone without order from a Council. He called it pureblood neutrality. Pureblood's were unable to fight unless something like this had occurred. If that was the case is Cyrus would be killed for his crimes...

 

       Years had gone by and there still no sign of anyone who could help Irina. She couldn't find Jeff or find another vampire even. Were there no other pureblood's? No that couldn't be it that couldn’t be the end of this. She'd find someone no matter how long it took. 'I just need to find one half blood that can point me in the right direction. I know there is one somewhere. But they wouldn't have been changed by Cyrus he seemed to like keeping his prey inside.

 

            'What a bastard! I'll make sure he drowns in his own blood!' Irina thought. She left the inn that she had been staying at. The woman there was more than willing to help her after she saw Irina and her condition. Irina was shocked she showed such hospitality. Then was shocked when she found out what year it actually was. When Cyrus had taken her it was 1770. When she was 19 he changed her 1772. When she asked what year it was from the woman in the inn she had told her it was 1880 March 25. Irina couldn't believe that 108 years had gone by.

 

        It had been so long so many things have changed in the world. She barely understood any of it. All she knew was that everyone she loved and cared for other than Jeff was gone. Her parents, her best friends, the people she held close at school. All of them were long gone years ago. What did her parents think? Their daughter had gone missing and they never got the closure of knowing what happened. If the heaven or God they believed in was really real they probably saw everything that happened to her.

 

            Oh God she cannot think of how much pain they could've felt. Knowing that their daughter had gone through everything that Cyrus had put her through. It was horrible to think about. Her parents may have been overprotective but they loved her with all their heart and now they were gone. So was Jeff the only thing she had left from her home. In the time that she had Irina had found a way to Russia. Cyrus probably would fail to find her there if she stayed hidden well enough.

 

        It only takes a couple days for her to get there. Apparently in 1804 something called the train was invented. Irina believed it was a magnificent thing. A few days travel and she was already in Russia safe and sound. At least she would hope so and maybe hope to find other half bloods like her. Hopefully Cyrus was still in Poland and away from her for good. The world had changed so much in the time she had not been seen. It was strange but she could probably get used with. It was unusual seeing bigger towns than there were before 100 years ago.

 

 Then again she never saw large towns to begin with. She lived on a plantation after all her parents wanted to be away from the town. Looks like it wasn't so safe like they said after all though she would never blame them for what happened. The only person she would never blame was Cyrus for all the pain he caused and her own self not being strong enough to stand up against him.

 

        Irina believed it would have been colder than it actually felt here. She'd heard from her parents before the Russia was a very cold place. But the cold stopped phasing her a long time ago. Maybe was because she was a vampire she could never tell or because of that cell that she just gotten used to it. That was just how it was.

 

             "I have to keep searching around on never find anyone, but where do I begin? I had never seen another half blood other than Jeff.  And the only pureblood's was Cyrus and Yindra. Maybe the best thing I could do is to wait till night and see if anything happens maybe ask a tavern if they've heard any rumors. A town would spread rumors of people being killed by vampires if that was the case." Irina said plainly under her breath.

 

            Now she just had to ask for a tavern was. When she was younger she learned a variety of languages or at least the beginning parts of it. When you had trader parents you had to know what others were saying. Russian, German, Polish, English, and a little bit of French. She hated having to learn that before but now when she thought about it was a great asset. She knew this wasn’t what her parents intended her to use it for but it would help.

 

         The tavern she found was a very rundown place, the windows were shattered if anything it looked like someone ransacked the place. There were people and they were going in and out. While others were fixing what was broken. They probably had a break in the middle of the night. This was probably the place she heard about earlier from the people on the streets. Poor things they just want to keep the business running a people have to do this to them.

 

            This cruel world needs some help but nothing will come of it if no one does anything about it; and she was one person so there is nothing to do. Once in the tavern there were about 10 people inside sitting in drinking around like nothing was going on in the world like all their worries were gone the moment they entered this place. It was nice, this was what it was like to relax.

 

         The bartender waved at her and called her over. “Is there anything I can get you miss that you would like? We had a bit of a problem last night but we still have drinks.”

 

         “What happened here? I heard something about a break in. Also wine will be fine if you have that.” Irina answer. The man gave her the drink saying it was on the house, said something along the lines that she was cute. Wow how Jeff would've flipped to hear that.

 

         “Yeah, my father is missing as well. He was at the shop last night pretty late. When we came in this morning the place was the wreck and there was no sign of my dad to be found. I have a bad feeling about it he would have just left like that. You know? There wasn't any blood, weird thing was his wallet wasn’t gone. I want to think of something came up but he would've at least let me and my mother know first.” he explained.

 

         “Do you have any idea who could've done it? Did your father have any enemies maybe? Maybe someone was mad at him?” Irina asked.

 

         “Lady I know you're not a cop so why are you so interested?” The man asked.

 

         “To be honest I'm just curious. I just arrived in town a couple days ago. I've been staying at the inn downtown. I've been just walking around looking around since.” Irina answered. The man nodded and looked off to the side. “My old man didn't have any enemies or at least I think. It doesn't matter now he should be back in a couple days if he had to do something. I'm only worried because this isn’t the first abduction recently. There's been five in the past week. But enough of the melancholy talk. Do you need any help with anything?”

 

         “Actually I'm looking for someone named Jeff Bogan. I haven't seen him in about two weeks and I wondered if he was maybe running around here. I've been looking for him since I left Poland, I know he has to be somewhere in this would be the first place he would come, it's his hometown.” Irina asked hoping maybe this man know something.

 

         “Bogun right? Sorry miss I have no idea, but you know what. If you're still here come back in a couple days and I'll tell you if I know anything else. Looks like I'm not the only one missing somebody important. What is he your boyfriend? Husband?” the man joked. Irina's face when is red as a tomato. Her and Jeff together? Know the thought was absurd.

 

        “N-No no no he's just someone close to me okay! Not anything like that!” She stuttered. The man laughed saying he was just joking with her that it was really cute to see her face like that. With a simple goodbye Irina left the tavern disappointed since she still had found nothing out about Jeff but these disappearances would be something to look into. Cyrus used to constantly tell her about the ways of vampires. The way the man in the tavern talked about the disappearance of his father sounded like how vampires take their victims. “I guess I’ll have to come back a night.”  

 

    Once night fell upon the small town arena and head back to the tavern. From what she could hear inside the man from earlier was probably in there cleaning up everyone else was gone. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary maybe her suspicions were wrong. She'd asked Miranda the owner of the end she was at how many people it gone missing. Miranda had only said the two had gone missing from the tavern the man's father and one of its customers. The others had vanished from around the town but there was one reoccurring thing they were at taverns.

 

             If this wasn’t the right one she would just go check at another. An hour had gone by and it seemed like the man was about to leave when there was a crash from inside. Irina barged through the door at full speed. The bartender was lying on the floor and a man was stood over him. Red eyes locked on Irina and a second. “Stay out of my way girl unless you want to be next. Just leave and all act like nothing happened.” He snapped.

 

       “Wait are you a half blood or a pureblood maybe!? I'm the same don't worry. I'm just looking for help.” Irina begged. “I've been on the run from Poland because of a certain vampire pureblood and I'm looking for help. My friend may still be with him or his running I have to find him. Please you have to know something. Anything would be helpful. If you know another pureblood are your one yourself the man who changed me his broken multiple laws. He has to be stopped who knows what else he will do. Please just anything will help!” Irina felt like she was going to faint with how fast she was talking. And this could finally be her break that she's been needing. But she doesn't know this man will actually help her. For all she knows this man is looking out for himself.

 

            “Jeez kid you sound like a wreck. Who the hell changed you? I normally don't care what others come my way since they’re normally lying but you seem in dire need of some actual help. What's your name?” The man sighed. Irina got closer to him inside and sat on one of the stools at the bar. She didn't want to give this man any reason to actually try something. “My name is Irina. And the man who changed me his name was Cyrus a pureblood from Poland. Trust me when I say I didn’t ask for any of this.” Irina replied.

   

       The man took a couple steps towards her before stopping when she grew tense. He must've realized she was actually terrified to be here. 'Poor girl. I've seen some people like her but this is the worst case scenario. Judging by the fact she doesn't know much about our kind or were any of us are she must've been held captive. For how long is the question at hand though. Maybe I should forget about this guy and take her to the boss. She's the only one that can help the girl at this point. There's only so much I can do. But first I need to know more about her before I even think about taking her.’ he thought.

 

       “Okay Irina. I think I can help you but you have to tell me a little bit more about yourself. For all I know you could be a spy for this Cyrus. I believe I've heard that name before too and it's never been on good terms.” The man explained. “Also my name is Anso. Pleasure to meet you. I thought I'd get some good blood tonight but it seems something more dire needs my attention.” He continued. Irina was content with telling him what she knew. If there was someone he could get her to her help and she say anything that was needed. She nodded and Anso continued.

 

       “Okay how about some basic information. Your full name and where you're from? Some family connections would be nice to ” he asked.

 

       “My name is Irina Dolota. I am from Torun but moved to Pozan when I was 10. My parents were wealthy traders and were known throughout Poland. They constantly were out of town and left me alone with our servant Jeff to take care of me. And now I'm stuck here because there's nowhere else I can really go.” Irina answered truthfully.

 

      “Pozan huh? I heard it's nice there during the winter. Okay how about you tell me what happened with Cyrus?”

 

      “Wait before I continue. Please will you leave that man alone not do anything to him? He was helping me earlier and I don't want anything to happen to him. Can you do that for me?” Irina pleaded. Anso agreed to the condition, he wouldn't want to start something anyway and this girl would get mad if he hurt this man. Unstable half bloods who are panicked like this could be dangerous.

 

“Okay... When I was 17 it was a cold December night. Jeff had just put me to bed but I couldn't sleep at all. Even then I knew something was wrong I felt something wrong in the air. I had woken up in the middle of the night and open my window to let the cold air flow through my room tend to get very stuffy at night. When I think about it now I wish I'd would've just been stronger and not cared about that. When I tried going back into bed I heard something on my windowsill and when I looked he was there. Eyes glowing red fangs showing. I was terrified he said something about being interested in how my blood smelled and that he would get it no matter what. I screamed as loud as I could." Irina continued

 

 "He tried to silence me but not before Jeff had heard and barge through the room. But he was easily defeated by Cyrus's helper. I was hoping that they would leave him out of it just take me if it was the case but that wasn't the case wasn't. He took both me and Jeff far away from our home. How my parents must've felt when they got back. I had begged them for weeks to go on a trip I bet they blamed themselves for me going missing.” Irina paused feeling her throat grow dry. She hated talking about this matter who it was it just felt wrong.

 

        Anso waited for her to continue. He'd realize that this was getting worse and worse for her to continue but he needed to know what happened. If he was to give a full report that he would have to know everything.

 

        “Me and Jeff were tortured for about two years before he finally decided to change us. Our troubles didn't end there though. He kept up with the torture constantly abusing us making us fear him. I don't remember why he even did it. Maybe he just enjoyed it I don't know. He physically abuse Jeff  and let Yindra do most of the work.” she paused but continued.    

 

     “Me on the other hand. There was a lot more than just physically and I don't want to get into that I'm sorry. That's something I wish I could just forget.” Irina trembled. Anso’s face softened he didn't want to imagine either what she went through. There were purebloods like his boss but then others were much more terrifying. They didn't care who they hurt all they cared about was living and having fun for the most part.

 

      “I can see you don't want to talk about this further so I'll leave it at that. I think I have enough for my report. And like you wish I will leave this man alone. I think my boss can help you. She runs a safe haven for half bloods like you once usually abused or changed without reason. If you would like I could take you now. You'll have to talk to her by the way, I'll give her my report and then I'll send you in. Don't worry you're not alone in this.” Anso began walking towards the door. Irina quickly followed after him and they left the tavern. Snow was falling from the sky.

 

            The clouds were dark and was ominous looking the moon was nowhere to be seen. Irina usually drew comfort in looking at the moon. She remembered when she sat in that cell and Cyrus’s prison there was small window she could see the moon most of the time. I was the only thing that really gave her comfort of the outside.

 

        It took about few hours to actually get to the house he was talking about. Actually house was an understatement it almost looked like a mansion or maybe an orphanage, Irina wasn't certain. “Okay Irina will take you into a waiting area and I'll go talk to my boss. It should only be about maybe 20 minutes then I'll be back to tell you to go in.” Anso explained. Irina took a seat as he went up to his bosses office.

 

             Anso went into her office to be greeted with an extremely annoyed tone. “Anso I believe I told you to be back hours ago. I know it does not take that long to gather some blood for everyone here. Do you know how many people are here 30 ,40 if I'm not counting right. I've actually lost count of how many people we've given a safe haven to. Now I know you're bothering me for some reason instead of going to the kitchen. Speak up will you Anso.”

 

         “Lady Darcy, there's someone here that you need to see. She somehow found me in the tavern when I was trying to get blood.” Anso reported. Darcy's yellow eyes locked on him and annoyance. Was it some human he brought? Last time she remembered this was a place for half bloods not humans.

 

            “I swear upon the gods Anso if you brought a human here I swear I will send you ablaze. Were supposed to keep this place secret from them how are we to explain about the half bloods living here!” Darcy seethed. Anso looked terrified, he knew how Darcy was but he wasn't expecting this the moment he walked in. Someone must've made her angry... again...

 

         “Lady Darcy it's another half blood her story is unlike something I've heard in a while and she's looking for someone as well.” Anso explained. Darcy calmed down after he said that. She wasn't expecting anything spectacular though, most came here with some ridiculous story. Sometimes ones completely made up so they could mooch off this place it didn't matter though she would keep up with keeping this place safe and letting it be a safe haven.

 

             “What could be so dire in different from everything I've heard in the past few months Anso. You'd be surprised what these people tell me every day.” Darcy sighed.

 

        “Apparently it has something to do with another pureblood. I believe the girl said his name was Cyrus and I've heard that name spoke venomously on others tongues. Should I send her in or not? To be honest I would rather not send her away either way she's a wreck. I haven't seen anyone like her so scared before. Our kind usually toughens after a couple weeks of knowing this life but this girl she's a lot different than the others we've had.” Anso continued.

 

       “Send her in then. I'd like to hear this story about Cyrus myself. It's been a long time since I've heard that name. Also you know the name of who she is looking for?” Darcy agreed.

 

        “She said his name is Jeff Bogan. I will take my leave and get her than Lady Darcy. It was a pleasure talking to you and I will go get the blood is soon as possible.” He stated and left. Irina was still sitting in the chair about maybe 30 minutes went by. For some reason it felt like hours to her. Anso returned with a smile on his face and gave instructions on how to get to Lady Darcy's room. Irina wasn't going to lie she was nervous from what she could hear around the building that the leader of this place was actually a pureblood herself one from ancient times at that. There were many of those apparently.

 

         Irina stepped into the room and saw Lady Darcy sitting at her table. To be honest she was quite beautiful maybe around the age of 21 at most. Her hair was short and choppy dark red it almost looked like the flames that could burn her kind. The tan skin was what through her off though. She actually looked Middle Eastern if anything. I wasn't very common to see around here or to see in a country like this. Looking up from her desk Lady Darcy's golden eyes locked on Irina and a smile was tugging at her lips.

 

 “So you are the one I've heard about? How old are you? You look quite young and very pretty eyes by the way.” Darcy smiled. Irina was about 5’7 and as pale as you can get. Her eyes were a stunning emerald green that seem to suck you in as you stared at them. While her hair was a dirty blonde that went down to her waist and was a bit wavy. She was also in a white blouse and a long black skirt.

 

        “ My name is Irina Dolota and physically I'm 19; but I've been around like this since 1772.” Irina answered. Darcy sighed at her overly polite behavior. Though she couldn't blame her. Darcy laughed and leaned back in her chair.

 

        “Okay okay you can calm down don't worry I'm not going to do anything to you. I can see how tense you are, take a seat we need to talk. My associate said you mentioned a man named Cyrus. I'm not concerned about what he did I just want to know what happened to you. Did he take you from home or did you willingly go with him?” Darcy questioned. If anything that question pissed off Irina, she would never go willingly with that bastard.

 

        “No I did not go willingly with him! He's a sick bastard who deserves to die! I hate him... I was captive for 100 years there he changed me now my friend is missing and I'm here, everyone I know is dead. Nothing is going right anymore. I hate it. I hate it so much I can't handle it anymore. I miss Jeff I miss my mom I miss my dad I miss everyone. I never asked for this, only to live a normal life maybe do something that was different from my family. Jeff was always willing to support me to. I miss him so much he was the only thing that kept me grounded in that place. Now he is gone. Now I'm here alone.” Irina actually began to cry. Vampires didn't cry normally like humans they cried blood. Drops of it fell onto her clothes staining it.

 

        “Okay come on kid don't cry come on look at me hey.” Darcy walked up to her and held both sides of her face. Irina stopped crying and looked down. She felt like a mess she didn't really like crying in front of people. Not since everything that happened. Darcy grabbed a tissue and handed it to her. Irina quickly wiped off her tears and stopped. “I have to get you new clothes now. It's not a problem though. You're welcome to stay here I don't want to send you back out. But I do want you to read up on our culture and find out everything that you've missed. There is a library here that you can go to. Also you said someone named Jeff Bogan right? Let me check my records were quick.” Darcy stated and went into a cabinet looking through files.

 

“I don't know the last name but there is someone named Jeff here. When he came he didn't really want to talk to anyone he just told me his first name and I let them stay he was pretty beat up. I haven't seen him in a couple of days but what I do know is that he’s here though. Pale and long black hair is about all I know.” She continued. Irina's eyes widened. There was a possibility that was Jeff.

 

         “What-what room could I find him in?!” Irina exclaimed. Darcy looked back her shocked. The tone in Irina's voice had changed completely. She really wanted whoever this was to be Jeff.

 

          “Room to 2A at least that's what the file says. He requested a room alone. I don't think he likes the company of others. You may check now but come back for a room assignment when you're done even if it's him or not.” Darcy suggested and with that Irina ran out of the room. She almost ran into Anso but quickly sidestepped and continued to where she was going.

 

         Once she was at the room she hesitated to open it. The door was shut in a sign labeled keep out was on it. That harshness seems like Jeff but she could never be sure about that until she saw him for the herself. Despite what the note said she opened the door. There was someone sitting there at a table. He was in just a pair of pants in his long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. She couldn't see his face though the table was facing towards the wall. “Please tell me you have a good reason to come in bug me right now I don't want any company. You already suggested that I don't leave this place so I will stay in my room but I wish to be alone.” The man said. It sounded like Jeff and Irina was couldn't believe it but she still had to see the face.

 

        “E-Excuse me?” She stuttered. Why couldn't she get the words out was she that nervous? Was she that worried that could be him? The man sighed and got up. If anything he seemed like he was ready to throw her out. “Look I don't know you are but I wish you to get out of my....” He stopped dead in his tracks the moment he turned around and saw Irina. A look of disbelief plagued his face. Irina felt her eyes swell up with tears. Copper eyes were staring at her. Those same eyes that looked at her since she was a kid. Full of so much disbelief that she thought he would actually pass out. “I... Irina?” He stuttered and walked towards her. Tears fell down Irina's face once again it really was Jeff.

 

He walked up to her completely astonished and raised his hands up to hold her face. It'd been almost 20 years since they had seen each other after escaping from Cyrus. It was crazy to believe that long had gone by. Though for them it felt like maybe a year or two. “20 years right? You know it's hard to believe it's been that long. I was so worried he found you again and I'm glad he didn't. This place is a lot safer than being out there trust me. If you really want to leave though we'll find some way to do so. If not I suggest we stayed here for maybe a couple more years.” Jeff broke the silence. He placed his forehead on hers and smiled. “I'm so happy your back. It's been hell trust me.” He continued.

 

       “That's for sure. At first I didn't think it was actually going to be you in here. I thought I was getting my hopes up for nothing.” Irina stated. She didn't think that they should leave right away. To be honest it was a great idea to stay for a while. At least until they could get everything settled then moved to the US. Getting away from Europe was probably the best idea they could accomplish. Cyrus would never think to look there. That would be the plan. Maybe now they could get away from everything.

 

2: Chapter 2: 115 Years Later.

      So long has gone by since then. She felt as if she was falling into a deep dark abyss full of red. Her throat burned. Her head burned. Everything around her burned like an inferno. Dark red rose petals flowed around her as she gasped out words and pleas she tried to reach up to the only white light above her. Were freedom from this prison she laid in was.

            “Ir…” she heard above her. “Iri…!” it was getting louder. “IRINA!” it yelled. Irina’s eyes snapped open to meet copper ones filled with the same annoyance they had since she was little.

            “Jeez Jeff were you trying to give me a heart attack…” she yawned and analyzed her surroundings; busy bystanders sitting on the phones and others talking up a storm on this subway train. Had she really fell asleep with all this noise buzzing around her? Since when was she so calm about being in public? Noticing she was spacing out again Jeff gave her a quick smack on the back of her head. “Hey!” she snapped and glared up at him; a twisted smile playing across his face. “What was that for?” she continued.

            “What was what for?” he asked nonchalantly as he sat back down next to her. She glared at Jeff before looking to the man next to her. For a twenty year old he looked only about seventeen at most. Looks like baby faces tended to do that. His eyes were a bright blue that looked like the morning sky as the sun rose. How the hell did Darcy even find a kid like that anyway? Irina and Jeff had been taking care of him for the past sixteen years. Darcy had come to them all those years ago with the young boy. Apparently he was an orphan in France at the time she had found him and he was just so adorable she had to take him back with her. Wouldn’t that be considered kidnapping? Well he was an orphan but still. ‘I don’t know why she left suddenly leaving him with us but… No it doesn’t matter at least she is finally back.’ Irina thought. “Hey Irina?” he said snapping her out of her thoughts.

            “What is it Noah?” she asked looking over almost being blinded by his blonde hair. She could have sworn he was practically an anime stereotype…”Where are we going?” he asked.

“We are going to visit and old friend of mine. I don’t know if you will remember her Noah.” Irina said before the subway stopped and they got off. In 1950 Darcy’s safe haven had been over flooded to the point where she needed the help of another pureblood to keep it running.

Jeff and Irina had moved away long before that and had happened and settled down in Washington. They had received a letter from Darcy before the stuff with the safe haven happened. So she ultimately decided to come stay with Irina until she figure something out. Much to Jeff’s annoyance she decided to stay permanently. While semi-permanently, she stayed with them a majority of the time but other times she would be gone for years. Since 1994 she it only visited twice. One of the times when she brought Noah back with her 1998 and the other was 2002 when she visited him when he was eight. Since then she's been gone and now she's made a reappearance again. Irina wished she would stop doing this disappearance act since it would probably have an effect on Noah way if anyone. Well it would affect her as well but she would never admitted to herself. Just as she had thought she would have at least a couple minutes of quiet-

            “RINA!!!!” someone yelled before jumping onto her back and clinging tightly to her. Irina almost punched her in the face as a reflex.

            “I could have sworn I said we would meet you at your place Darcy….” Irina sighed and pulled Darcy off of her with an annoyed expression plaguing her face. Darcy’s appearance still had not changed. That same dark red hair that was short and choppy; those orangish yellow eyes. She was in a red button up shirt and a black skinny jeans with black combat boots. Her style always interested Irina. It was quite different than hers. All Irina really wore were tank tops and black skinny jeans. “Well I guess you saved us the trouble of having to find you.” she sighed and noticed Darcy was staring at Noah.

            “Wait is that my tiny minion? Damn….. I pick em good!” Darcy laughed with a troll expression plastered upon her face.

            “Wait what???” Noah asked confused but seemed to recognize Darcy a bit. “Bright red hair… yellow eyes? Oh no….” he trembled. Noah’s face obviously was a mix between shock, confusion, and fear. Jeff sighed and set a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. “Don’t worry about her. She won’t do anything to you.” Jeff sighed. As Jeff walked back to Irina Darcy practically tackle hugged Noah. “It’s so surprising to see you like this! I mean you were an adorable kid but I didn’t think you be this attractive when you were older!” Darcy cheered as a playful smirk appeared on her face once she sees’ how red Noah’s face was. Irina noticed in that tooth filled smirk that Darcy’s fangs were showing.

            ‘She wouldn’t!’ Irina thought but before a word could escape her lips Darcy bit into his shoulder playfully. Irina heard a yelp escape Noah’s mouth and she could have bet that if his face turned any redder it would explode. With a loud pop Darcy released his shoulder and licked a bit of blood off of her cheek. It shocked Irina that Noah hadn’t just shoved Darcy away. Maybe it was because he was in shock. Thanks to Irina and Jeff, Noah knew plenty about vampires and purebloods. He was raised by two vampires… might as well let him know what he has to deal with. But Darcy was a pureblood while Irina and Jeff were not. Luckily a bite doesn’t change a person. If that was the case Noah would be well on his way to changing.

            “W-Why did you?” Noah stammered as he looked at his semi-bleeding shoulder.

            “Why? Hmmm.” Darcy repeats whimsically. “Cause you’re cute!” Noah just stood there in bewilderment and looked off into space. Irina waved her hand in front of his face but it was like he was in another world. She had heard that sometimes vampire bites can make people react differently. “Umm… Darcy I think you may have broken him…” Irina mumbled. Darcy only smiles and clings onto her little minions arm.

            “Don’t worry he is fine! Right Noah?” she teased. Noah yanked his arm away embarrassed and flustered. Darcy pouted as he stormed away from them. Irina knew he wouldn’t go far and that he wasn’t really mad… he just didn’t like being put on the spot. “Aww my little minion is all shy!” Darcy cheered. ‘I don’t see how that would be a good thing…’ Irina thought. Jeff sighed and finally spoke up after a long silence filled that air. “Well what are we to do now anyway? We found Darcy, check that off the list. Now what?”

            “Let’s go somewhere quiet…” Irina suggested. She wasn’t in the mood for anything loud and crazy. It was already almost 9 at night. Why Darcy wanted them to come so late never made sense to her. “Well I now a nice little place like ten minutes away from here. I think you’ll like it Irina, they play nice music.” Darcy spoke up. ‘I thought I said somewhere quiet.’ She thought.  The place Darcy was talking about was a small poetry club. The music was good but for Irina at the moment she just wanted pure silence. When the others weren’t paying attention she quickly left the building and began to walk down the poorly lit streets of Seattle.  

            It was a cold night for it being August… Wasn’t it supposed to be at least a bit warm outside?  ‘Wait Seattle… Right it doesn’t get really warm here…’ Irina thought. “It doesn’t matter I guess… The cold hasn’t bugged me in a long time.” She sighed and kept walking on alone. ‘I wonder if the others will get annoyed that I randomly left again. Well I’d done it to both Noah and Darcy, but Jeff gets annoyed with it. Ever since the incident all those years ago he has stayed by my side to keep me safe. I’ll have to apologize a lot later on.’ She thought before stopping in front of a small store.

            Her stomach growled at the sight of it. She couldn’t get hungry like a human anymore but at least her body semi acted human. It made her feel more alive than she actually was. “Good thing I can at least still eat food.” She smiled before walking inside, past a couple of drunks, and then in front of the ice-cream section. Irina had a bit of an obsession with ice-cream but had no shame when it came down to it. She grabbed a small chocolate one before closing the freezer.

            “Hey beautiful don’t think I’ve seen you around here before!” someone slurred behind her. Dang it… it was those drunkards from last week! She should have known she’d have some issues tonight. She looked behind to see the two completely intoxicated men.

            “Leave me be!” she snapped and began to try to walk past the men.  One of them put his hand on her shoulder in an effort to stop her from walking further. Irina’s instincts instantly kicked in and she grabbed the man’s middle finger before pulling to the side then snapping it all the way back. The man cried out in agony before falling to his knees and clutching his now broken finger.

            “I told you to leave me alone.” She looked to the other man. Her eyes glowed a furious rose red. The man yelled at her that she was a monster before picking his friend up and running away with him. “Are you alright!?” a clerk yelled as he ran to her. Irina’s eyes had returned to normal and she looked up to the clerk.

            “Yes I am fine do not worry. I just want to buy this and be on my way.” She answered holding up to the ice-cream. “Are you sure? we have camera’s you can press charges. I know they bugged you before.” he asked. Irina smiled at the mans politeness.

“I don’t think that man would try again anytime soon.” Irina laughed.  The clerk nodded and handled her purchase before she set off on her way. Once again she found herself walking down the same dull lit streets. Quickly opening the ice-cream she took a large bite out of it with a content smile on her face. As she walked down the street flurries of cars passed by in a hurry to get home or wherever they needed to go. It was almost eleven by this time so she figured people where getting off their late shifts. She quickly made a turn in an ally but soon found that someone had blocked her path. Two more came up from behind her. Shit...

            ‘These guys were a bunch of thugs who wouldn’t let an adorable little girl go even if she begged. I know these kinds of people…. I probably should just handle this while I have the chance.’ She thought. They had sick twisted smiles on their faces. It was obvious what they wanted. Sick men, add that to the list of reasons she hates them. “Hey miss, want to have some fun with us?”

            “No you disgust me. Now leave while you have the chance. I’d rather not hurt anyone.” Irina threatened. The man smirked and pulled out a red butterfly knife.

“Sure you don’t want to rethink that statement.” he laughed.

            “Wow I’ve seen some messed up people lately but this is the worst.” Irina sighed, successfully hitting a nerve of the thugs. One of them looked back at her; his mud colored eyes squinted in annoyance. He was in a simple gray hoodie that had blood stains on it and black pants that were practically almost falling off. “Well what have we here? Someone who really wants to go against us! A little low life bitch.” he laughed. ‘Man were these men on something?’ she thought.

            “Me a low life? Bud I think you should be looking in a mirror.” Irina mocked. The man stopped his laughing and glared at her. “Well if that’s how you feel then I-” he began before Irina looked at a trashcan and back at him. Suddenly the trashcan flew back at him with enough force to knock him off his feet and to the ground out cold.

            “How did you?” another guy panicked.

            “I’m a bit special I guess you could say.” She sighed.

“TAKE THIS!” before Irina could react she felt a sharp pain in her back as something ice cold pierce inside.

            “Ha teaches you to mess with us!” the man holding the blade embedded in her back laughed. He left the blade in her back and backed away laughing maniacally.

            ‘Man they really had to do it didn’t they...’ she thought before reaching back and pulling out the knife before dropping it. As soon as the knife was out the wound closed and her blood stopped flowing out. Soon he noticed her rose red eyes and fangs showing barely.. The emerald green ones from before were now long gone. “She’s a... vampire” she heard the man mumbled.  ‘Hah so he believes in vampires. I remember when I was a kid I never believed in them.’ She thought. Out of nowhere the man who stabbed her had picked the knife back up and charged back at her. Before he could land a hit she jumped up and landed on his shoulders.

            “When will you people ever learn?” she sighed. “I may look small but I do know how to protect myself and others.” She continued. The man went to reach for her but with a twist of her legs she snapped the man’s neck effortlessly. As he fell to the ground with a thud she landed on top of him. The moves Darcy taught her really did come in handy.

            “Two down one to go.” She stated with a smirk on her face. Normally she felt guilty about these things but these men, no scum, deserved it. The man leapt at her with all his strength but she simply put her hand on his chest and stopped him. “To slow.” before he could react his chest pushed inwards before popping back out. The sound of cracking bones and tearing flesh filled the air. The man’s eyes widened as he began to cough up blood and fall to the floor dead. After the commotion had calmed down her eyes reverted back to their normal color.

“Okay now I have to get home clean myself up, and just act like this never happened.”

“Oh so that’s your big plan is it?” a familiar voice snapped behind her. Irina’s whole body froze in place. She knew that tone of voice anywhere… “Oh hello Jeff...” she laughed nervously. He glared down at her and she began to get worried. She knew how Jeff was, especially when she was younger. He and she were closer than she was with her own parents all those years ago. She could remember when she first meet him when she was about twelve.

            It was the tenth of October; a cold and windy evening. The past servant in the household that took care of her had quit out of unknown circumstances and Irina had been in a foul mood because of it. The servants in the house were the only ones she saw since her parents were always working. She normally became close to the one who took care of her. “Irina honey, please come down here!” she heard her mother’s voice sing from downstairs. Irina listened to the voice and came downstairs as fast as her small legs could take her. She was only about 5’0 at the time.

            “What is it mother?” she asked with a fake smile on her face. Her mother hated seeing her melancholy face so she had to put on a joyful expression. But once Irina saw a teenager, about fifteen, standing next to her mother her face dropped. Her mother had already found a new servant for the house. His hair was black as night and very long tied up in a ponytail. Copper colored eyes stared politely at her as she examined him. No she didn’t like him… she wanted Adrian to come back. “What do you think Irina?” her mother asked ecstatically.

            “I don’t like this… Why can’t we bring Adrian back?”  Irina said with a monotone voice. Her mother sighed and looked at the teenager with a conflicted expression. She knew her daughter would get used to him but it would take time. “Pleased to meet you my name is Jefferson. And you are?” Jefferson spoke up in the midst of the silence

            “Irina.” She answered.

            “Well I know you may not like me now but I hope we will get along at one point.” He smiled and gave her a polite bow. For a fifteen year old he was very civil. As the years went by Jeff had become a very close to her. Like a big brother she never had. He would scold and yell at her at times but others he was kind and kept a close protective eye on her. It made her happy… he even tried saving her from the vampire Cyrus who attack in the dead of the night.

            Suddenly images of the incident started to flow into her mind. Blood splattered in the floor; her neck burned in intense pain. Her whole body hurt as she cried out in endless pain. She could hear Jeff in pain nearby. Cyrus was one for intense torture and she and Jeff were his new victims. Everything around Irina began to float and shake as she buried her face in her hands. Jeff realized what was happening and rushed to her side; pulling her into his arms, he began to whisper to her. “It’s alright Iri… it’s all right. He can’t hurt us anymore.” After a few minutes her episode ended and she let her muscles loosen. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Irina tended to have nightmares that constantly recurred about the time Cyrus had them captive. The harder she tried erasing these memories the worst her nightmares became.

            “Look I can see you tired to prevent this but you need to be more careful. Do you understand Irina?” Jeff explained. She nodded and Jeff helped her up.. “Okay let’s go home.” He sighed.

            “Okay.” She replied and followed behind him. Once Irina and Jeff were gone someone walked out of the shadows.

            “Well looks like little Irina has grown up quite a bit.” A sly voice said has he looked down at the man Irina had only knocked out. “You’ll be useful for a bit of fun.” he laughed.

The room was dark and warm. Not an unbearable warmth just a pleasant one. Irina opened her eyes to see a black ceiling littered with specks of yellow and white that made it look like the night sky. ‘I’ve always liked how the night sky looked. It’s a pleasant sight…’ she thought. As she shifted around she realized she was tucked perfectly into a bed. “Wait so it was all a dream?” she asked and turned to the side. ‘No it couldn’t have been.’ she could still smell that punks blood on her.

            “Hey...” Jeff spoke up and felt Irina’s direct gaze on his back. He was just about to leave the room without an explanation.

            “Oh you’re leaving are you?” she said coldly with a hint of sadness in her voice. Jeff sighed and looked back to only be meet with her directly in front of him. ‘Jesus Christ! Must she always do this...’ he thought as his eyes widened. Her eyes were red but changed back to her normal emerald green ones. “Sorry my eyes were like that. Jeff you know that I tend to get paranoid when I hear shifting around in my room.” She said lazily looking off to the side. ‘She seems much more… calm I guess.’ He thought.

            “Hmm is something wrong?” she asked and laughed at the sight of his troubled face.

            “You had passed out on the way home. I figure you used your power right?” He stated and sat back down on the bed, staring blankly at the wall.

            “It was no problem… I’m fine. Did you carry me the way back?” she asked and leaned up against the wall.

            “Yeah. I didn’t notice but Darcy and Noah had followed me when I came to find you. When you passed out they made their appearance. Darcy being the way she is thought I did something and hit me… I guess she saw the police in the alleyway.” He explained.

            “At least the police in this time period do something about it. If we still lived in the 1700’s we would have been screwed.” she stated.

            “Oh guys you act like it was so hard. Try living around 2,000 years ago, then you could complain. Witch hunts weren’t exactly fun you know.” Darcy interrupted as she walked in with Noah tailing behind her.

            “Oh well look who it is the pain in my-” Irina began before Darcy interrupted once again. “I am a full born pureblood! You should be bowing down to me.”

            “You still seem to have an excessive amount of pride and glory in that small brain of yours.” Jeff sighed only to get flicked upside his ear. “Damn girl what was that for!?” he snapped looking back at her, his right eye twitching a bit.

            “Ha-ha your eye is twitching again straight lace.” Darcy teased. As their bantering continued Irina looked back to the scene of Jeff and Darcy arguing while Noah tried to get them to calm down. "Look you guys I’m tired and want some more sleep. Can you please stop.” Even though she asked politely they just ignored her.

            “Ugghhh! Shut up already!” She yelled. After a bit more banter between Jeff and Darcy they finally went back to their rooms. Darcy had dragged Noah with her. Irina wished them a good night and let her eyes once again fall shut.

Two weeks went by normally after that. It was calm and the extra company seemed to bring out the upside of Irina. Sure Noah did that for her but he was always out, whether it was working or school, most of the time.

            When Darcy came back into town it kept her always on her toes. She was creative, resourceful, and intellectually quick; amazing at a great range of things. She enjoys debating issues; she always gets into agreements and debates with Jeff. Her only and main flaw though seemed to be the ego she set up for herself. Jeff normally scolded her about it but deep down he did care. Even if she thought he was just constantly complaining.

            Irina lay in her bed staring up at her starry ceiling. It was an unusually warm night and she had the window wide open blowing in the air from outside to air out her stuffy room. Noah had even walked in to tell her something and said she should air out her room. She wasn’t used to hearing him complain about things. Maybe Darcy being here was helping the kid open up. Irina turned to where she was on her side and looked out into the vastness of the night. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried about Cyrus appearing on her window seal again. Those rose red eyes surrounded by black framed glasses staring down on her; him attacking her again. She shivered at the nasty though.

            For a second she thought she saw red eyes in the distance but dismissed the thought. ‘I’m being paranoid again.’ She thought and closed her eyes tightly. A few hours went by as she tossed and turned; trying to find comfort in the pleasure of sleep. “Uggghhhh! Why is it I can never sleep sometimes!?” She groaned as she laid on her back staring emptily at the ceiling. A sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes again, just imagining her world being peaceful or her mind not being plagued with nightmares and fears. What a nice thought it could be.           

“Oh c’mon little girl you really think you could escape your fate that easily.” A strangled voice said. Irina’s eyes snapped opened to see a figure like out of one of her nightmares. The man’s eyes were wide and bloodshot. But the thing that terrified her was that they were red like hers got. His hands and arms were soaked in blood, as well as it dripped down his chin. Irina could smell all the different people’s blood upon this man.  Then one stuck out. It was faint and inside the man’s body but she knew that scent.

            “C-Cy…rus…” she trembled. No this man wasn’t Cyrus... This man was tan and he had an almost shaved head. Why did he look so familiar? Gray jacket covered in blood pants that hung loosely on his hips. Then it clicked... it was the man she knocked out in the alley. “Get away!” she screamed and kicked him away from her. Irina fell off her bed and ran to her door in attempt to escape. Right as her hand made contact with the door handle the man was right beside her. Those emerald eyes made contact with red ones before the man swung his arm hitting Irina right in the face. Normally a blow like that wouldn’t faze her but since she was scared and unaware of the attack it sent her into the wall across from the door.

            “Damn... it...” she groaned as she stood. Why was she like this? Did the thought of Cyrus finding her again mess her up this bad? No it was the smell of his blood in that man. It caused her senses to greatly dull. Why that was she would never know.  ‘I have to pull myself together… but...’ she thought as she began to remember her past more vividly than before.

            “Hehehehe what’s wrong Irina?” the man laughed as he made his way to her and grabbed her by her throat. Irina suddenly found herself unable to move as he slammed her into the ground; strangling her as she laid there. That wasn’t enough to kill her but if he could immobilize her than he’d get her back to Cyrus. As long as her emotions held her back there was nothing she could do for herself. “Get… off… of me!” she coughed as she tried to pull his hands off.

            “You know Irina if you just went back to him it’d be better.” The man said coldly with a more serious tone than before. He didn’t sound as insane as before.

            “Screw him!” Irina spat out. The man looked at her blankly before slapping her with all his strength. Irina could feel blood ooze out of the fresh wound. She didn’t realize the man’s nails were jagged and obviously sharp. As she continued to struggle the man’s grip only tightened. Irina could feel herself slipping away; if this continued she would pass out and it would be over for her. “H-Help… s-someone…” she whimpered.

            In the room down the hall Jeff laid asleep in his bed. Peaceful slumber encased him before he heard Irina’s voice. “H-Help... s-some...one.” it begged. His copper eyes opened widely as he sat up looking at his door. Something was wrong to him. The houses atmosphere just felt off and cold. Jeff in an instant burst out his door and down the hall.

            Irina’s eyes dulled as she felt consciousness fade away from her mind. Everything was fading to black. “Get off of her you bastard!” a voice roared as she heard the sound of something crack then fall to the side. The pressure that held down her throat finally subsided and Irina quickly sat up and scooted back against the wall. She pulled her knees against her and buried her face into them. “Irina!” Jeff panicked and crouched by her side.

            “Oh god Rina!” Darcy gasped as her and Noah went to her side. Darcy’s eyes hardened at the site of her friend and she cast her gaze upon the rogue vampire who was rubbing his head as he tried to get up. Her eyes went red and she walked over to him. She lifted her foot up and slammed his head back to the floor. “You make me sick you disgrace.” She growled.

            “Shut up you dumb- Aggghhhhhh!” the man began before his body was engulfed in flames. Irina looked up from her knees to see the man encased in fire. His skin turning black as he reached out to her. “Hehe… you can’t run forever my little thorn.” He said before clasping and his body burst into dust. Irina buried her face back into her knees as a sob escape her throat. “Iri…” the sound of Jeff’s voice made her look up slightly too where her eyes were exposed. Blackish red tears dripped down from her eyes. As she looked back down her body continued to shake and Jeff had begun to worry about her. He she looked so vulnerable; she always put up a front in front of him.

            It was about three days ago. Jeff had started to clean around the house. Darcy had gone out to feed while Noah went to work. It’d be at least a couple of hours before Darcy would show up again. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’ he thought as he was lying on the living room floor staring at the ceiling. Out of nowhere he heard a crash ring out from the backyard. “What the…” he mumbled and walked to the back door. With a quiet creak the door opened wide and he walked onto the patio. It was a small patio with a gray tiled floor. In each of the corners a chair was sat for evenings both he and Irina sat outside to relax or Darcy dragged Noah out with her. How that kid didn’t get freaked out by her Jeff would never understand.

            Jeff looked over the patio to see Irina hitting a practice dummy. First came a punch then a kick. Her strength shocked him; the dummy shock back to the ground and the moment it came back at her she’d hit it back again. After a few more punches she stepped to the side of the dummy and in from of a dispenser on the wall. She turned around so she wouldn’t be able to see him and closed her eyes. With the flip of a switch tens of knives shot out at her. “Irina!” Jeff yelled but stopped once he noticed her eyes were opened and red. And that all of the knifes had stopped and just floated around her. ‘God damn girl always has me worried.’

            ‘This girl was able to look down the face of tens of knifes coming at her but the moment this guy attacked her she froze up. 'Jeff understood everything. He put that thought to the side and kneeled in front of her. As he set his hand on her shoulder he spoke “Irina… Do not worry anymore he is gone. You’re safe.” Something clicked in Irina’s head and she snapped.

“Don’t touch me!” a shock wave shot out and Jeff went flying back into Darcy. Thankfully Darcy caught him somewhat before they both fell over. Irina stood up, tears still dripping down her face. Her light green nightgown had drips of blood staining it and Jeff could see some of the scars on her legs. Large dark scars like that could only be made by fire. “Listen Irina-” He calmly said reaching his hand out to her.

“I said don’t touch me! I hate it when guys touch me! You’re all…” she began to yell but couldn’t finish her last statement. She knew Jeff and Noah were different but she couldn’t shake away the past holding her.  Right before Jeff could stop her Irina ran out of the room and away from the others. “Damn it!” Jeff thundered as he kicked a chair across the room.

            “Jeff now it is not the time to break everything.” Darcy sighed and looked out the window to see Irina run into the gazebo in the backyard which was engulfed in rose vines and flowers. She couldn’t even see Irina in there now. “I have to go see if she is okay!” Jeff began to run out but Darcy put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

            “Let her be alone.” Darcy intervened.

            “What do you mean?!” Jeff questioned. He knew how Irina could be but he didn’t understand what Darcy had meant.

            “She always puts up a front. We finally got to see her like she is when it is down.” Darcy explained.

            Once Irina reached the backyard he saw the various rose bushes that covered all around. The vibrant red mixed with the greens and browns giving a down to earth feeling. There was one thing off about the roses. It was the dead of winter and somehow they still were full of life. She crawled in through the opening to the gazebo, as she pulled away vines. Her green nightgown had various droplets of blood on it and the tears still came down her cheeks. For some other reason petals from the roof fell around her and just swirled around her on the floor. She felt safe in here.

            “Jeff you know what we should do right?” Darcy explained.

            “But Darcy…? It could be bad to leave her alone” Noah brought up. After the years he has been with Irina and Jeff he understood. Darcy looked at Noah with a smile on her face and thumped his forehead.

            “I’ve always liked that logical side of yours but that is not what I meant.” She sighed.

            “Wow Darcy glad to see you have a mature side.” Jeff awed.

            “Shut it straight lace. It’s best for her to be alone right now. She’d probably attack us if we went down there.” Darcy explained. He sighed at his famous nickname and looked towards the window. Jeff’s mind just wandered into unpleasant times.

            “Odwal siÄ™ ode mnie! (Get the hell away from me!)” A voice screamed. Jeff’s was slumped up against the wall. He was holding onto his left arm which was dripping dark blood onto the ground into a puddle below him. Instead of the copper colored eyes they were a dark red, full of hate.

            “Ty draniu! NienawidzÄ™ ciÄ™! Po prostu zostaw mnie w spokoju! (You bastard! I hate you! Just leave me alone!)” he heard the girl scream again. Jeff took off as fast as he could at the door and finally broke it down and stopped before reaching the archway.

            “My you are much my feisty then you usually are. I guess pain really does motivate you.” A sly voice laughed.

            “Fuck off Cyrus!” she snapped. Jeff was afraid at what he’d see but he walked into the archway of the door. The sight and smell before him almost made him lose his stomach. It smelled like fire and blood. There were various tools of torture lying around and a torch that was still lit lying next to them. A man was standing there with a sick twisted smile upon his face. Dried and fresh blood stained his hands. As he heard an audible cough he looked over to see a girl sitting there.

She was in a short black nightgown and was sitting back in a corner. Her legs had cuts, bruises, and burns going up them. Her arms were sliced up to where it looked like a rabid animal had gotten a hold of it. Her head hanged low and her dirty blonde hair covered most of her face but Jeff noticed that her right cheek was semi swelled and blood trickled down her chin.

            “Come on my little thorn. Got nothing else to say?” Cyrus mocked. Once the girl looked up at him something clicked in Jeff’s head. Emerald green eyes full of hate pain and despair looked up to the man in front of her. It was the same girl Jeff always took care of. The girl who seemed happy most of the time was the same one sitting her soaked in her own blood and covered in injuries.

Jeff came charging through the door and tackle Cyrus to the ground. “Irina run!” he commanded. Jeff could see the confliction cloud in Irina’s eyes before she ran to the door.  He was shocked that her legs had not given out on her. Just as he sighed in relief that she was getting away she suddenly cried out and went flying in to the wall in front of him. Jeff lashed his head back to see a young woman standing there. Her eyes were a light teal color that stood out thanks to her tan complexion. She had very light brown hair and was in a dark blue dress and black dress shoes. Then Jeff was easily pinned down.

“Master Cyrus you really should pay attention.” She stated and casted her cold gaze upon Irina as she tried to stand back up.

“Don’t be so uptight Yindra. You know she never would have made it past you and I could easily catch her in her condition.” Cyrus sighed and held Jeff under him. “When will you guys learn? You’re stuck here.” Cyrus smirked and suddenly everything blacked out.

3: Chapter 3: Getting Back to Normal

      A couple weeks went by since then. Even though she wouldn't show it what happened was still bugging Irina. The others could realize it right off the bat but they do know to do since Irina would be stubborn to anything they tried. What was she supposed to do? The possibility of Cyrus the knowing where they were living was very high and it was obvious he still wasn't giving up after all these years. The only thing stopping him was Darcy because of the pureblood neutrality. If he stepped onto their property the other purebloods would have no choice but to stop it. Plus Darcy's wanted to get a lot of revenge for a while.

            Life shockingly enough was very normal. There'd been no other incidents and everyone back to their normal days’ work. Irina worked from home for a full half-blood company that was run by a pureblood. Darcy helped her get the job a long time ago. It is the best source of income they can have other than Noah going to work but school as well.

The kid was a genius in Irina's opinion. Irina had considered moving back to Europe just in case Cyrus decided to pull something but the other said it would probably better for them to stay there since it was their home. So eventually Irina had agreed. If Cyrus really wanted to attack she would handle him herself. She wasn't the same scared girl she was 100 years ago.

            “Hey Rina. So I got this amazing wine we need to try. Doesn't that sound fun? It will help straight lace cheer up a bit.” Darcy laughed. Irina sighed at her famous nickname for Jeff. She knew Jeff could be a little stuck up sometimes but it wasn't that bad to have to call him straight lace. Then again it's not like she’d listen to Irina if she told her to stop. It didn't matter anyway; Jeff had to deal with it which he normally did. Then again most of the time but also ended in arguments. A lot of them. It was astounding they haven't killed each other yet not that Irina would let that happen.

            “Are you sure about that? Last time we did that you got drunk and you flirted with everyone who moved and made Jeff so uncomfortable he went to his room for the rest of the night. It got boring when it was only me and you. Also if you want Noah to join you better hope he doesn't have class tomorrow or work. Then again you'd also probably scare the hell out of him.” Irina argued. Darcy pouted and sat in a chair next Irina.

            “Come on it will be fine. I'll try to tone it down this time, it doesn't help that you haven't taken a break from work in about two weeks either. Has it got in that bad in there?” Darcy pleaded. It was obvious she wasn't going to let up. It was either she agreed to it or Darcy would bug her for the next couple hours before pouting off to her room. The last time that happened she didn't show up for about two days. Irina didn't feel like dealing with that tonight.

            “Fine let’s do it. Just promise me you'll not freak anyone out tonight. Maybe I'll invite Luis that should help. Last time he was over was about a month ago after all.” Irina finally agreed. Lewis was one of her friends from the company. She had met him 20 years ago he was the sweetest thing. Only problem was he can never come over because him and Darcy didn't get along. Darcy had a high ego which Luis couldn’t stand anyone like that. This ended in long and annoying arguments.

            Irina constantly told the both of them to knock it off for she beat the hell out of them. She hated having to hear two of her friends fight. It was fine with Darcy and Jeff did it but Darcy fighting with one of her co-owner workers was the worst. “ You really want to invite that guy again. He may be an adorable gay guy but you know I can't stand him he's a jerk.” Darcy whined. And there are she went again. Any time Irina wanted to invite him over Darcy would complain until she finally gave in and let Irina invite him.

“It's just a couple hours of drinking you have to deal with it Darcy, this was your idea to begin with.” Darcy finally given in and decide to go back to her room. But she probably went back to bug Noah again. How that kid dealt with her she would never know.

            Jeff walked down the hall into the kitchen where he saw Irina working on her phone and laptop. She seemed intensely focused on getting whatever she was doing done. “Irina are you sure you shouldn't take a break? You've been working on that for a couple of hours now you should really just relax. “Jeff tried convincing her but she seems not even notice in the room. He walked up to her and took her phone from her hand.

            “Hey what are you doing!? I need to get the statement done before tomorrow.” Irina complained. She glared at Jeff and noticed how aggravated he looked. Seriously how long she'd been working for them to get so worried? She started around 9 AM maybe. Irina looked to the clock to see was four in the afternoon. She worked seven hours straight almost the full working shift. No wonder everyone was bugging her about it, now she felt bad.

“Crap didn't even realize what time it was. I didn't think I was working that long on this. Okay fine I'll take a break what do you want me to do now?” Irina sighed

            “Hmmm, how about we go to the store and pick up so that chocolate ice cream you like? Is it that market down the street right? “Jeff suggested. That actually sounded like a good idea in Irina's opinion. She nodded her head and went to the bathroom are quick to get ready. She pulled her up in a ponytail that was held by a hair tie with a Rose pin on it. She didn't really need makeup. If she did put any on it was just eyeliner and eye shadow.

“Okay I'm ready let's go. Should we let Darcy know are leaving?” Irina asked.

            “Knowing what Darcy normally does she's probably eavesdropping in the hallway so she already knows.” Jeff complained. Suddenly a shoe hit him in the back of the head.

            “Hey straight lace I can hear you know! Super hearing is a thing!” Darcy snapped. Before Jeff could yell back Irina was already dragging him outside. It was cloudy thankfully so they could be outside in the sun but only for a bit so they had to hurry. Living in Seattle has it up sides. It was nice and cool outside and clouding the majority of the time. Irina really loved the clouds and rain. The news reports that it wasn't supposed to rain today so it’s a good thing since they were walking to the store. Then again it was also by their house so it would only would take 10 minutes to get to. Unlike most people the both of them like to walk everywhere they went. There was no need to spend money on a car they didn't need. They worked from home anyway so that they didn't have to go anywhere. It was nicer working from the comfort of home. Irina knew she was safe there and so did Jeff.

Over the years Irina was still paranoid about Cyrus and after the incident before it became worse again. She rarely left unless Darcy or Jeff was with her and she wouldn't leave with Noah because she didn't want to put him at risk. She was never going to let anything happen to him. If she did 16 years taking care of him would've meant nothing. Noah had known the risk since he was a child. Irina had always felt bad since the kid never had a normal life.

 He said he has friends at school but he could never bring them over to hang out. It would be weird if you knew them for a long time and the person considered his mother would never age or look any different. She only ever went signing up know if her school but after that she didn't really go to parent-teacher conferences unless they were necessary.

Noah constantly told her that he had no problem with this the boy was too kind to her. Jeff had said he complained rarely about the fact he never had a normal life. But every time he would apologize right afterwards saying that he was thankful for the life he actually had in from what he heard from Darcy would've been a lot worse if he'd stayed where he was." Irina are you okay? You're spacing out again while walking." Jeff said worryingly. Irina looked over at him with a smile; he only showed concern like this even more so after that man attacked their home. Jeff had suggested they moved again but Irina wouldn't have it.

She decided it would be easier to stay where they were and this was Noah's home she didn't want to make him leave it. "Don't worry I'm fine just thinking about some things. It's just... A lot has changed over the past few years you know, I'm starting to wonder if it will ever actually be over." Irina explained. Jeff knew how she was by now, that looked like it was getting worse again. Was there anything he could actually do? The only thing that would actually give her comfort Cyrus being dead but he couldn't do on his own.

"Look Irina, I know you're still thinking about what happened a couple weeks ago it's very obvious and you should know that I'm able to tell." Jeff admitted. She looked over to shocked, she cou­­­­­ld hide anything from him she knew that. How lucky was she'd actually still have him? Then again if Jeff wasn't here Irina would've lost her mind over 100 years ago and would've been the end of that. And he wasn't wrong either.

"Nothing can get by you can it... Look tonight Darcy wants to have some sort of party she got some fancy wine we'll have a nice time and forget about it. Even though my alcohol tolerance is so high I probably won't get drunk like you guys. But I'm inviting Luis too so it should be fun." Irina admitted. Jeff would have to be content with just that. Once they got to the store they bought two tubs of ice cream and rushed back to the house before it started raining. "Nooaahh!" Darcy yelled. Oh God what is she doing now? Noah came running out of the room shortly after.

"God she's crazy she wants to put cat ears on me again." He whined.

You know just when Irina thinks she can have a normal day she's proven wrong every time. "Noah come onnnn!' Darcy whined and walked out from the hallway.      "Are you seriously trying to do this again?" Jeff complained. This was a normal thing that happened is this house. Noah had gotten used to it over the past couple of weeks. Irina thinks he was even warming up to her finally. Before Noah could do anything Darcy put the cat ears on his head.

"Awww you look so cute!" Darcy cheered. Noah's face flushed at the red. Irina wasn't going to lie he did look adorable.

"Darcy I have no idea how he has not lost his mind yet." Jeff sighed and walked over to him and pulled off the cat ears. Noah's face was still flushed red and he looked down to the floor. Darcy proceeded to hug him and Noah just sighed and accepted it. "Noah do you have work or school tomorrow? We're going to have a little drinking night you should join us. I got this really fancy wine." Darcy asked. She should be happy he just turned 21 not too long ago. America's laws were weird when it came to drinking, most other places allowed it at a way earlier age.

"No and thankfully I don't have any homework either. Is it just going to be us?" Noah asked.

"No Irina decided to invite Luis as well since he hasn't been here in a while." Darcy complained it was very obvious she really didn't want Luis to come. "But I'll deal with it for a night. Hey Noah maybe we can have some fun later to." Darcy suggested and Noah's face went red again.

"I uhh.." Noah stuttered he was completely flustered and it and didn't know what to respond with. Poor kid never knows how to deal with her. But living life like this was nice, sure Irina was paranoid but that was about it. Everything else was great, she had good friends a nice job emotional support that she needed; everything was perfect. "Okay Darcy I think that's enough teasing him for today. You'll make his head pop with the embarrassment." Irina laughed.

"Irina do you think you should call Luis now or is he still working?" Jeff asked. All right she should've done that before leaving. He didn't live very far and he had a car, but normally when he got home he went to sleep for at least couple hours. She pulled out her phone and began to call him. "Oh hey Irina I was just about take a nap what's up?" Luis asked. Oh good she caught him right on time.

 

"Me and the others are having a drinking night and wanted to know if you wanted to come? Darcy apparently got some fancy wine to try out." Irina asked. She probably shouldn't have mentioned Darcy. Though she didn't care they can get over themselves for one night. "Oh Darcy's going to be there... Oh well sure why not it's been a while since I've drank anyway. What time should I come? I can be ready in an hour." Luis stated.

"Well it's five now I guess you to come around six. I'll make some food and we can have a nice evening. Please just try not to argue with Darcy. I have enough on my plate lately the bosses really working me hard and I have no idea why did I pass him off or something?" Irina complained.

"Well he's been on edge lately someone's been sending threats to the company. We don't know if it's another pureblood or maybe another company in the town. Then again it can't be someone in town our company is the top of the area so unless someone's being really stupid it can be anyone here." Luis pondered. He was right no other company would dare go against Johnson. He was a terrifying pureblood and not only that a terrifying businessman. He'd crush any company if it meant good for his own company.

"Well whatever it is I'm sure he'll get it fixed and be off edge soon. At least I hope so I don't know how many reports have had to do the past three days. But the job pays good so I don't complain." Irina resolved. With that Luis said he would be there in about an hour and hung up.

"So he is coming after all?" Jeff asked and sat down at the table at the kitchen with a cup of soda. Irina nodded and went to go sit with him. But before that grabbed a bowl and a spoon for the ice cream they got. "So what should I make?" Irina asked.

"As long as it's not beef I'll eat it." Darcy mentioned. Apparently the taste of beef  disgusted Darcy and she almost threw up the last time Irina made it without telling her that was in it.

"Okay so I'll make some chicken and potatoes as a side. Does that sound good Noah? You're the only one here that really needs to eat to survive well normal food that is." Irina asked him.

            "Yeah that sounds great your chicken is the best." Noah smiled.

           

About an hour passed in Irina was done with the chicken and potatoes sitting on the counter ready to be eaten. Noah had been eyeing the kitchen for the past 20 minutes he was either really hungry or eyeing Irina's food because it was good. It was probably the latter. Him and Jeff both loved her food. Soon right after that there was loud knock on the door. "Don't worry I've got it!" Irina called down the hall and ran to the front door. When she opened it it revealed Luis was carrying an extra bottle of blood wine in a small container brownies.

 

Luis was about 5’10, He was handsome, dark hair falling across a tan-skinned face, and curious- chocolate colored eyes. His dark eyes were small and spaced evenly apart sitting below trimmed eyebrows that seem to curve as a natural extension of his broad rounded nose. There was also an odd lightness about his eyes, though, and a small curve to his lips, as if there were something terribly funny only he knew the answer to.

"Hello Luis how are you?" Irina asked with a smile on her face. Luis smiled back and pointed at the apron Irina was wearing. "To think I never see wearing something like that." He laughed. Irina glared at him and then walked back into the kitchen inviting him inside.

"No need to be rude about what I'm wearing it's comfortable and it keeps stuff off my clothes. They're very convenient you know. So it seems now we have three bottles of blood wine in the house and one normal one for Noah. If you plan on getting drunk tonight like the rest of them I prepared the guest room just in case. I'd rather you not drive home drunk off your ass even if you're a vampire or not it's still very dangerous especially if you do get into an accident. I'm pretty sure people would find it weird when they pull you out of the wreckage covered in blood but you've healed completely and you're just out cold." Irina said looking towards the bottle.

"Well I guess I can say I'm lucky we both have day off tomorrow. I would've hated having to going to work tomorrow after this." Luis sighed. From what Irina noticed other than her and Jeff Luis was the hardest working person in the company. Some work just as well while some others slacked off. Irina was happy shouldn't have to deal with it at the actual office and got to work from home.

"Hey Rina is someone here finally? Oh ew it's Luis... Maybe I should just go back to my room now before I say something you'll get mad at me about." Darcy mocked before beginning to walk back to the hallway.

"Come on seriously I asked for one night for this to be calm. You too can argue when you're drunk it's funnier that way at least. Noah! Jeff! The food is ready and Luis is here you guys." Irina called down the hall. Both Noah and Jeff walked out into the living room and went to the kitchen to eat. "I'll go get the wine!" Darcy cheered and ran off to the back room. This night was going to get interesting very quickly. Noah couldn't really hold his alcohol, Jeff would get drunk after a couple drinks. Darcy would probably be able to finish a bottle and the possibility of Irina getting drunk was really low. Having a high alcohol tolerance sucks. "Well help yourselves of course. I'll get some glasses out for the wine." Irina smiled and pulled out five glasses for everyone.

They started around six and now was 9 o'clock. And of course like Irina predicted everyone was drunk but her. Noah had only had two drinks before he actually had the stop. And Darcy and Jeff finished the bottle together. Luis had finished the one he had brought for himself. There was still half a bottle that Irina was finishing off her herself. "Hey Noah you want to go have some fun in my room later?" Darcy smirked. Noah's face went a deep shade of red.

"Well I um-" he stuttered. Irina couldn't tell if she was actually being serious or just joking around with the kid. They weren't together but Darcy made her flirting very obvious. Jeff had pointed out before how Noah is never able to pick up on it. Well maybe he does but he ignores some of the time. "Hey straight lace could join us to if he wanted." Darcy joked and received a fierce glare from Irina. Irina knew she was joking but still it frustrated her when Darcy pulled stuff like that. Darcy notice the glare before adding that she was just joking and for Irina to calm down and loosen up a bit. Irina decided took another sip of her drink.

"You know Darcy it's not polite to flirt with Jeff like that in front of her." Luis snapped. ‘Oh no here they go again...’ Irina thought.

“She knows that I’m kidding so shut up.” Darcy snapped back. With that they started to spout off at each other.

“You know I don’t understand why Irina hangs out with a stuck up like yourself. You act like you're the greatest person in the world when you’re nothing but a bitch.” Luis stated. Darcy had gotten up from the table at this point and was standing right in front of Luis.

“How dare an urchin like yourself speak to a pureblood like that. You know in the old days I’d have burned you into a crisp just because I didn’t like you. Be thankful you are Irina’s friend or you’d be a pile of ashes blowing away into the wind.” Darcy seethed. The arguing only escalated from there. At one point Darcy seriously looked like she was about to set Luis on fire. Irina was tired of it. The fighting, her overactive paranoia, and all the stress that came with it. “THAT’S IT! LUIS OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!” Irina screamed. Jeff and Noah looked over from their pleasant conversation in shock. "Irina are you okay? I mean that was quite the outburst." Jeff stated and walked over to her placing his hands on her shoulders. 'What caused her to get like all of a sudden?' Jeff pondered in thought. "I asked for one calm night. Just one! I can't even get that. Just Luis go... I can't deal with anymore fighting night it was calmer when it was just the four of us here. Just please go.." Irina muttered. She felt bad for sending him away like this but the yelling was intolerable.

"Irina do you ever think that it's these people causing you all of this stress? In the 20 years that I've known you it seems like their the actual cause. Or maybe it's because you decided to take in a human child from that bitch over there. Over 100 years have gone by I can't seriously think it's Cyrus anymore." Luis argued. Irina's eyes widened in shock and her fist clenched shut. If Jeff knew a breaking point in Irina's temper that was it. But he was not going to let her deal with this on her own again. Before Irina could say anything Jeff spoke up instead.

"Luis I would highly suggest you do get out of our house now before I beat the shit out of you. You know nothing of what me and her went through especially her. And if you think you'll act like this in our house you'd be highly mistaken." Jeff eyes had turned red by this point and he looked like he was actually going to pounce at Luis and rip his throat out.

"Seriously Jeff who do you think she comes to complain about half of her issues. Admit it I'm more a friend to her than you are now. Come on Irina just-" before he could finish his sentence the shelf next to the fallen over right on top of him. Irina's eyes were now red; she walked over and threw the shelf off of him." I really would suggest you leave now before I do something I regret. Now, and don't even bother trying to get a hold of me." Irina seethed. Luis stood up clutching his right arm that was crushed under the shelf.

"You'll be over this in about a day. I'll talk to you when you decide to call me." And with that he just left. Irina was practically shaking in rage. Luis seemed to have a quite the way of pissing her off easily. It was just what he said. The things he said; how blunt he could be. Darcy could be blunt when she wanted to but it was nowhere near the level it would take to piss Irina off as bad as Luis just did. Luis wasn't wrong though she probably would be over it within a day. It didn't mean she'd call him that day either though because it would just fell his ego some more knowing he was right.

"Irina are you okay?" Noah asked walking up to her. Irina turned around with a smile on her face just for him.

"Don't worry he just made me a little bit mad other than that I should be just fine. Now that that issue is resolved how about we just go back to drinking and having a nice evening like we planned to." Irina smiled. She wasn't going to lie she was still a bit irritated but it was better to be calm around the others. Jeff quickly got her a glass of blood wine and they sat back at the table. Everyone it practically sobered up from the harsh atmosphere but within 30 minutes Jeff and Darcy were already laughing drunk again. This seemed to be the only time the two of them really got along. They didn't hate each other like Darcy and Luis did. Jeff was often actually worried that her ego would cost something bad to happen to her.

'I'm glad with them getting along like this. I'm glad with this life it's so much nicer. I wonder what would've happened if nothing ever happened the way it did. What kind of life would've been with my parents and inheriting their business?' Irina was lost in thought before Jeff tapped on her shoulder. He looked slightly out of it in Irina couldn't help but laugh. He actually looked really.. Cute was a word she could use. "Heh What is it Jeff?" She laughed.

"You look really nice.." He slurred. Irina's face when a light shade of pink but she just brushed off what he said. "Thanks"she muttered.

It was about 11 when Irina and Noah  stopped drinking while the other two were completely wasted. It seemed when those two drank they drank until they were completely wasted. Irina really didn't know why but she just went along with it every time they did." Okay okay I think it's time that we all went to our rooms now before these two do something stupid"Irina suggested. Noah agreed with her and help Darcy to the room. To be honest Irina didn't know should see him again tonight. Especially with how much Darcy was clinging to him. She reached out her hand and held Jeff up putting his arm around her shoulder even though he was taller than her.

"You know it's really annoying with how tall you are to help you to your room." She mocked.

"I never said you needed to help me." He sighed.

"Well it was either help you or watching you crawl to your room which would have been really pathetic to see." She laughed. Jeff looked at her with a fake hurt expression." Oh don't give me that look I know you're faking it." She sighed. When they got into the room she does dropped him on his bed and he just laid in it.

"You know it was a really good idea we got such comfortable beds for the house." He pointed out.

"And you see the most random things when you're drunk." She laughed

"Hey, are you okay now you were really mad earlier?" Jeff asked concerned. Irina expected this, Jeff always was concerned about her no matter what happened. It's how it was when she was younger and how it will always be.

"Hmm don't worry I'm fine. It was just more of Luis's bull shit. You know he always pulls that crap when he wants to especially around Darcy so as long as I'm usually not around her when he is everything is fine." Irina explained. She wasn't really tired so she just sat on the edge of the bed. The room grew awkwardly silent after that. To be honest Irina didn't really know what to say at the moment. Jeff looked at her and smiled. "Hey do you want to stay in here tonight? Don't lie to me when you say that you're fine. I know you're not but if you don't want then it's fine."

"It's not that I don't want to..." Irina mumbled and reached out her hand to grab Jeff's. That action actually shocked Jeff. Irina was never one for much physical contact when it came to guys. Well unless it was Noah since she saw him more as her child because she raised him. She was fine with some affection but not in enormous amounts or would make her nervous and uneasy. "It's really not that I don't want to... I just you know..." She cut herself off.

"I know and I don't force you to do anything for a reason. There's a reason I'm so limited on affection with you but it doesn't bother me and you know that." Jeff sat up and touched his forehead to hers.

"I feel bad about it.." She cast her gaze to the side. Jeff reached both his hands up and cupped her face.

"I really don't know how many times I have to tell you that it's fine." He laughed.

"Sh-shut up"she snapped but laughed soon afterwards. "Okay you technically still wasted so go to bed." She suggested. Jeff complied and laid back down. But instead of just leaving she did something he wasn't expecting. She lifted up the blanket, climbed inside the bed ,and put the blanket back over them. Now that was extremely shocking; he was expecting her just to go back to her room and sleep herself.

"I-Irina?" He stuttered. She snuggled up next to him and clinged to his arm.

"Are you sure you're not pushing yourself at all tonight?" He questioned.

"It's not as bad as it used to be. Plus this actually makes me feel a lot more comfortable than being in the room by myself." She explained

"We could always just bring your bed in here it's a big enough room." He suggested

"That's not what I meant!" She snapped. Jeff silenced his tongue. "I have to get over it you know that. And I don't want to just bring my bed in here. Being here, right here makes me comfortable! Not just in the same room right here! Right next you like it always was after everything like it always will be!" Irina confessed. Her face was dark red and she buried her face into his arm.

"You really are cute you know that." He admitted.

"And you can be a pain in my ass." She snapped back and let herself get comfortable.

"As long as it's you all deal with it." He confessed and wrapped his other arm around her but she had already fallen asleep before she could notice.