I don’t really know what I had expected Jared to look like, but it wasn’t this. Danny had described him as the ‘mafia boss’ of vampires, so I guess somewhere in my mind I had been expecting him to be smoking a cigar, wearing a fedora and maybe even walking around with a Tommy gun. He wasn’t. I think I had watched ‘The Godfather’ a few too many times. Also, when Aaron had called him his ‘father’, I had naturally expected Jared to be old. Once again, he wasn’t.
The man before me was handsome and young, there was no way he could be more than thirty five years old. ‘Mafia boss’ didn’t describe him at all. He was very tall, and his skin was tan for a vampire. His hair was shaved close to the top of his head, just barely there, and he wore a pair of aviators that covered his silver eyes. The white t-shirt he wore fit him tightly, giving a perfect outline of his huge muscles through the fabric. He wore a beaded chain around his neck, and from it dangled a collection of dog tags. One circular one in particular caught my eye, and I recognized it to be from the First World War; my Great Grandfather had had similar ones. If Jared was surprised to see five vampires on his doorstep, he didn’t show it. His face remained calm and collected as he greeted us.
“Aaron!” He smiled as he recognized Aaron, pulling him into what looked like a very tight hug. Aaron hugged him back genuinely. When Jared turned to Damian I expected a similar greeting, but the two vampires only clasped forearms, a sign of great respect among vampires. That seemed odd to me.
“This is your new clan?” He asked Aaron, turning to stare at Ryan, Danny and I. His gaze lingered on me longer than the others; it was like he was studying me. I felt chills run up my spine. Jared was indeed intimidating. Just by looking at him I could tell that he was not someone you wanted to piss off. “They are more than welcome in my home.”
He stood aside and motioned for us to all walk past him through the door. Aaron was the last to walk in, right behind me, and I heard Jared whisper to him.
“Aaron, you did not tell me that you had found a mate.” His words confused me and I almost turned around to ask him about it but something caught my attention. We had been lead into a huge living room that looked like it cost more than my house alone. There were two sleek leather couches that took up a great deal of the room, and in the corner stood an ivory grand piano. But what captured my attention most was the floor. Or well, lack on one. Where there should be carpet or hardwood there was glass. And under the glass there waswater. I realized that Jared’s house must rest on the ocean. In the water I could see little fish swimming around, and I eyed the floor doubtfully. Wouldn’t it break under all of our weight? Apparently not, I decided, as Jared motioned for us to follow him to the couches. He took a seat on the couch, and only then I realized that we weren’t the only ones in the room.
I turned my head to the woman sitting next to Jared and then did a double take. She was absolutely beautiful, and by the look on Danny’s and Ryan’s faces, I could tell that I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Only, Danny and Ryan were practically drooling over her, it was as if they couldn’t take their eyes off of her. Ryan and Damian didn’t seem to be affected at all.
“That’s Shy.” Damian said, leaning in to whisper in my ear and motioning to the woman with his head. “She’s one of Jared’s girlfriends.”
“One of Jared’s girlfriends?” I asked skeptically. “Ryan and Danny sure seem to like her.”
“They can’t really help it.” He looked amused as he explained. “Shy is a siren.”
“She’s a what?” I asked, the word sounded familiar, but my mind still drew a blank.
“Oh come on, you’ve had to have heard about sirens before. Veela? Succubus? They have lots of names. They are woman that are supernaturally beautiful, and they use their looks to draw in men and kill them. They’re practically irrisistable to men, they cause all sorts of problems.” Damian explained to me, I guess that clarified Danny and Ryan’s behavior.
“If that’s so, then why are you and Aaron acting normal?”
“Please Haven, I lived with the thing for fifty years, the affects wear off eventually.” I rolled my eyes at him, but then turned my attention back to the rest of the room.
“Shy, something to drink please?” Jared asked the woman, and she elegantly got up. As soon as she left the room the two vampires expressions seemed to clear and they once again returned to their normal selves. We took our seats on the couches with Jared, and I tried not to look at the crab scurrying along the ocean floor beneath my feet. It reminded me of a spider… a giant spider with claws. I laughed at myself, I was a monster now, yet I was still scared of spiders. I had to be the most pathetic vampire ever.
“So, why have you decided to pay me a visit?” Jared asked, turning to Aaron.
“We need your help.” Aaron admitted, looking a tad bit sheepish, an expression I had never expected to see on him.
“Oh? With what exactly?”
“Haven, show him your back.” Damian ordered me, and I was a little taken aback at the demand before I realized his reasoning. I sighed and removed my shirt, grateful that I had worn a tank top under it. Jared walked to where I was sitting and I felt him carefully examining my back.
“You were human when this happened?” He asked, seeming surprised. I nodded. “That’s strange. I had known you were new but I didn’t realize you were that new.”
“How did you know?” I asked, curious. I hadn’t thought I looked any different from an elder vampire.
“It’s your eyes. The pupils are slitted like a cat. But that doesn’t matter right now. Describe the creature that did this to you.” He was very abrupt, but I was grateful for it; I wanted to get down to the bottom of this.
“Well it was really tall and had yellow-ish grey skin. It’s eyes were completely white. And the claws, the claws were-“
“Stop right there.” Jared interrupted me, holding up a finger. “I see.”
“You know what’s after her?” Aaron asked, leaning forward. I had never seen him look this excited, he was like a child on Christmas morning. Once he saw the look on Jared’s face though, the thrill quickly disappeared from his face.
“Of course I know what it is. And I do not envy being you guys.
