Same Day
10 AM

Pat woke with a jerk, eyes blinking fast. He had felt a surge of power rip through the atmosphere and it set his nerves alight. Frowning, he pushed back his curtain and sprang out of his bunk. Quickly, he grabbed whatever clothes he could find, jamming his legs into a pair of pants, grabbing a random hoodie, then at the last moment deciding to change instead.

With a quick peek around the rest of the bus, he shut his eyes and vanished, going wolf in the process. He reappeared outside Laval, hitting the ground running, all the fur at the nape of his neck bristling, a growl of anticipation building in his throat. He leaped over fences, dashing through yards, making his way toward the cemetery.

Before he was even close, he could sense that something was happening. The air was charged with electricity, and there was a hint of spice floating across the breeze. He lifted his sensitive nostrils to the wind, inhaling deeply. A shiver ran through his body. He picked up three distinct scents. Shadows and Zacky were close, but that third scent was the one he focused hard on.

He let out a whine. Jay...

At that, Shadows appeared in front of him. “Patrick. I thought you would show.”

Pat whined again, tilting his head to the side. Is he?

The master vampire grimaced. “We’re almost there...”

You don’t sound so sure...

Shadows shook his head, glancing back over his shoulder. He exhaled roughly then brought his gaze back to the Were. There was a pained expression in his eyes and Pat wondered at it.

Shadows?

The vampire’s top lip lifted away from his fangs as he let out a low hiss. “A sacrifice must be made.” He lowered his lip and turned away, shoulders tensing. Pat growled in question. Shadows shuddered but made no response, just loped back across the ground. Pat followed, silent on his feet the tip of his tail twitching.

As they went deeper into the cemetery, the Were thought absently that he hadn’t set foot in the place for a very long time. In fact, the last time was probably when one of his friends’ of old had passed away. Human friends, that is. So, it felt a little surreal, especially with the atmosphere that was pressing down around them.

“Over here, Patrick.”

Pat realised he’d overshot a large clearing as Shadows’ voice jerked his mind from his contemplation. He swung toward the master vampire, meeting his worried gaze. Zacky was standing next to him sucking absently on his piercings. Pat sank to his haunches in front of them the fur at the nape of his neck was bristling; there was a third presence close by. He could feel it in the air.

So. What’re you doing?

Shadows breathed out roughly. “Raising the dead.”

I know that, but what exactly-

“He’s here...waiting, but...there’s one last thing I have to do.” The master vampire bent down to pick something up from the ground. It was the small vase which held Jay’s ashes. He paused before removing the lid. Then he looked back at Pat. “Can you change back...I need you to hold this.”

Pat growled, uncertain, but did as requested, managing to shift back into human form with his clothes on. He allowed a fleeting sense of triumph to flicker through his mind, but forced his focus to what was going to happen. Stepping toward the vampires, he took the vase in hand.

“What do I do?”

Shadows shook his head while digging in the pockets of his jeans. After a few seconds he revealed a Swiss army knife. Flicking the blade, he turned it slowly the razor-sharp edge catching the faint streams of sunlight that came through the foliage above them.

“You don’t need to do anything, just hold it for me.” He glanced at Zacky. “You know what to do?”

The younger vampire inclined his head in the affirmative, then murmured, “You should only need to give a few drops...I have bandages ready.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to a roll of surgical bandages propped against a gravestone.

Pat frowned but decided asking questions would be pointless. Obviously, the two vampires had thought this through; he was just going to be a spectator. He looked between them, noting a strange light flickering in Shadows’ eyes. Something seemed a little off.

“Right, a few drops,” the bigger male said.

He lowered his eyes to the ashes, gazing down at them with an expression of deep concentration. Then lifting his left wrist, he drew a deep line across it the tip of the blade parting the layer of skin easily. He held it over the vase, tilting it as the slow trickle of blood that began to form could make its way into it.

Pat blinked, noting the colour; it was a deep burgundy, nothing like he’d ever seen before. It dripped slowly into the vase, and as each drop came into contact with the ashes within a soft wisp of smoke puffed upwards. It seemed like forever, and maybe it was, judging by how pale Shadows was becoming, before he deemed that he’d put in enough blood. Lifting his wrist to his mouth, he licked around the wound to heal it. Then he took a step back, looking at Pat then Zacky then down at the vase in his hand.

Shadows still held the knife in his other hand. He looked at them both once again, then stepped away, turning his back on them. Tilting his head back he held the vase aloft toward the heavens, closed his eyes and began to murmur a soft prayer. As his words drifted upwards along with the tendril of smoke rising from the mouth of the jar, the atmosphere began to change; a tingle of power ran up Pat’s spine, and a chill settled throughout his body.

The younger vampire, Zacky, obviously felt it as well, because he began to rub at his biceps, and shuffled his feet on the ground. Shadows shifted his weight, his voice rising and the rate of his words increasing as he came to the climax of his plea.

And then at the height of the tension, as the pressure in the air around them increased tenfold, he took the knife that was still clenched in his other fist and with a soft grunt, buried the blade into his stomach, twisting it hard. It wasn’t until he jerked it up hard, slicing through bone, and finding his heart, wasn’t until he sunk to the ground, doubling over it, that Pat or Zacky realised what he had done.

“Matthew! No...” Zacky dove for the bigger male’s body, grabbing him, spinning him around. “Fuck, what’ve you done...?”

Shadows, lifting his eyes to the younger male, murmured low, “Had to be done...” Then his eyes rolled back in his head as he slid to the ground.

Before Zacky could say anything else, a blast of energy hit him as an explosion of bright light lit the space around them. It came from Shadows, from the jar that had hit the ground, dropping from the master vampire’s hand.

Pat, who had backed off in shock, threw himself to the ground, Zacky joining him. They covered their heads as the wind began to whistle around them, spinning up into a tight whirlwind. The glow was increasing in brightness, so much so that they had to cover their eyes.

They remained that way with their heads tucked down against their arms until they thought it was safe enough to look again.

It took quite a while for the light to dissipate but as it began to slowly dim, Pat finally lifted his head from his arms, and squinted into the clearing. There were two things he noticed when he did. First was the bulky figure of the Master Vampire. Shadows was lying off to one side, on his back, completely motionless. The knife was on the ground in front of him, the blade dark, wet from his blood.

Pat tracked his gaze from Shadows’ big body, across the clearing to where the vase had fallen, rolling across the grass. He had to wipe at his eyes as they fell upon the second thing he noticed. A leaner body lay, curled in the foetal position at the base of a gravestone; the figure was shivering as if from the cold. Even though it was actually quite mild.

The Were let out a string of curse words, just staring. Zachary wasn’t as stuck, though. Grabbing his kit, he scooted over to the second figure and leaned over it. It was Jay Bouvier. His eyes were shut, his mouth lax, and a trickle of drool running from the corner of his mouth. His chest was barely moving, but there was breath there.

“Pat, get over here.” The young vampire waved him over.

Pat couldn’t move. Never in his life had he seen anything like it. The notion of resurrection was no stranger to him. Having been raised Catholic he knew what that was. But, to see someone else being brought back to the land of the living was mind boggling. He shook his head at Zachary, mouthing rushed words that flipped from curses to prayers.

Zacky sighed, turning his focus back onto the man in front of him. Leaning over him again, he pressed two fingers to the pulse point at his neck and checked his vitals. Then he gently rolled him onto his back, uncurling him so he was laying flat. Jay didn’t stir, but a soft gasp of breath escaped and his eyelids twitched. He was definitely conscious.

“Pat, get over here...” Zacky once again tried to get the Were to focus.

Pat groaned, but managed to force his feet to get him over next to the vampire. Staring down at Jay, he kept shaking his head, but found his voice.

“Shit. This is just...”

“Unexpected? You knew this was what Shads wanted to do.”

“Yeah, but...it’s not something I thought I’d ever see...” Pat dragged his fingers over his face. “Fuck...” He turned his gaze over to the Master Vampire. “And...what the hell did he do...”

Zachary replied gruffly, “He said a sacrifice was needed.”

“Himself?” Pat growled low, shock evident in the sound. “Who would’ve thought he could be so selfless...”

The two of them fell silent, thinking on that just staring at each other. After several awkward minutes, Zacky finally turned back to Jay. Unrolling the kit he’d brought with him, he grabbed a blanket and began wrapping it around him. Pat hung back, watching not really knowing how he could help. The vampire didn’t look like he needed any assistance though, so the Were began to pace as he waited.

This whole thing was a shock to him. Jay. Alive. But, it wasn’t really him who would be the most affected by it all. He had to think of Pierre. He had no idea how his friend would respond to the fact that his brother was alive, not after what had happened. Not after what Shadows had done.

Speaking of the Master Vampire, sacrificing his life for Jay was more than just a surprise. Pat never thought that it was even possible for Shadows to care enough to do something like that. But, obviously he did. Either that or it was his way of making amends.

Pat shook his head wondering how everything would work out.

Zachary in the meantime was carefully checking over Jay’s body, deep in concentration. Silence settled over them the only sound other than their presence being the soft breeze that was now moving over them and through the trees.

Pat tilted his head up, breathing out softly relaxing his tense muscles. Zachary sat back on his heels, glancing over at the Were.

“We need to get him back to his place.”

Pat nodded, frowning. “Then we’ll have to get Shads’ body back to your bus...”

Zachary grimaced, he didn’t like the prospect of having to do that, didn’t like the thought of how the females would respond. It would kill both Sherry and Luna to find out what Shadows had done. But then, he wondered how the master vampire’s sister hadn’t seen this...

A sharp cough broke his contemplation; both he and Pat swung their heads round toward the noise. Shadows had shifted a little. A loud moan came from his big form then he rolled over and heaved, dry hacking noises leaving his throat.

“Shads?” Zacky was torn. He wanted to go to his leader, needed to in fact, to check that he wasn’t dreaming; but at the same time he knew he had to make sure Jay was comfortable so he could move him. He was stunned, unable to make a decision. Pat stood by him, equally as dumbstruck.

The Master Vampire groaned, pressing a hand to his stomach, before pushing his body up off the ground and shuffling to his knees.

“Fuck...it didn’t work...” Shadows hadn’t seen Jay’s body, so was obviously assuming, since he was still alive that Pierre’s brother was not. He braced his palms against his knees, squinting as he lifted his head up. “Zacky?”

Zachary’s nostrils flared. “Shadows...”

The Master vampire shuffled forward on his knees, keeping one hand pressed to his torso. As he got closer, he frowned wondering why the younger vampire, and Pat, hadn’t moved.

“What’re you do-” his voice cut off when he saw Jay laying in front of them. “Is that?”

Zacky nodded slowly. “Yeah. It did work.”

Pat added, “You must’ve been wrong about the sacrifice.” He licked his lips. “It may have only been the intent that counted.”

Shadows got closer his eyes fixed on the elder Bouvier. “Maybe...how is he?”

“Conscious. But we haven’t tried waking him,” Zacky answered. “I think we should get him back home before we attempt anything.”

The Master Vampire gave a tight nod, glancing at the Were who had resumed pacing. “Patrick?”

Pat looked at him. “Yeah?”

“How do you want to go about telling Pierre?”

“I hadn’t thought that far, yet,” Pat said, scrunching up his face. “I think, I should talk to him before anything else happens.”

Shadows nodded, again. “Right, well then, Zacky will get Jay back to his parents...I have to get back to the rest of the guys...and you...”

“I’ll go talk to Pierre.” Pat ran his fingers through his hair again, before taking several steps away from the site, shifting back into his wolf form.

See you, he yipped, before spinning on his haunches and loping away through the trees.

Shadows watched him leave, and then turned his head toward Zacky. The younger vampire was moving around Jay making sure he was ready. He lifted bright green eyes to the master vampire.

“What is it?”

Shadows shook his head. “Take him home...I’ll see you back at the bus when you’re done.”

Zachary inclined his head in response then without another word the two vampires – Zacky with Jay’s still form - vanished, going in different directions and leaving the cemetery as if they’d never been there.

Notes