Same Day

Main Street Mall

Noon

In the centre of Main Street Mall, there is a huge circular fountain. In the middle of it is a giant bronze statue of a wolf. Several pigeons sit atop its pointed muzzle; it is positioned so it is standing on some bronze rocks, head tilted in a silent howl. The statue was the very first thing that Shadows and Johnny laid eyes on as they wandered along the Mall looking for the rest of the gang.

“Where in Hell did they go?” Johnny darted quick brown eyes over the fountain, scowling. “I mean, seriously, there’s hardly anyone here...and they stick out a mile.”

Shadows grunted shifting his shades on his face and casually scanning the mall, noting the few people that were milling around, coming in and out of the stores lining the way. He allowed his eyes to keep travelling when he saw a neon sign right down near the other end out the front of which looked like some kind of bar.

He pointed. “Down there.”

Johnny followed where his finger was indicating. “The Rhino Bar...” He read the sign and blinked. “You think? It is only noon.”

Shadows snorted. “Never too early for Jimmy and Syn...”

“True.” He tugged at the piercing in his left nostril. Then he frowned faintly lifting his head slightly, catching a whiff of a familiar scent. He turned his head slightly, narrowing his gaze.

Shadows caught his movement. “Smell them?”

Johnny shook his head quickly. “No. I thought maybe...but no. Let’s go try that bar...when we get closer we’ll probably be able to catch a scent.”

The vampire sucked at a fang, nodding. “Right. Come on then.”

They strode passed the fountain and approached the bar. As they got closer, the familiar scent once again assaulted Johnny’s nostrils. He frowned to himself thinking that it must be the rest of the gang. However, as they reached the entrance the scent shifted slightly and Johnny knew instantly that it wasn’t anyone from Avenged that he was sensing.

Shadows moved into the bar ahead of Johnny and blinked as he scanned the place. Smoke from an ashtray sitting on a table close to the entrance, wafted toward them. Johnny wrinkled his nostrils looking around the almost deserted bar.

Shadows frowned. “Strange...there’s no one here.” He started toward the bar and leaned against it, squinting through a door behind the counter. There were people back there; he could sense them. Johnny joined him glancing warily about.

Suddenly another door toward the back of the bar slid open and a very familiar face entered through what looked like a back entrance. Johnny stiffened a little, the hair at the back of his neck bristling.

Shadows turned, bracing his back against the bar and smirking at the newcomer. “Pierre Bouvier, long time, no see.”

The Simple Plan vocalist smiled faintly walking toward the larger male and grasping the hand he offered to him. “Matt. What’s it been? Five years?”

“Warped, 2003,” Johnny muttered. Pierre glanced at him, an unreadable expression flickering across his face for a split second.

The Werewolf met his gaze for a long moment then looked away. Act like everything’s normal, Bouvier...

Pierre lifted an eyebrow slightly then grinned. “Yeah, that’s right. I guess I looked a bit different then.”

Shadows snorted releasing Pierre’s hand and nodding to his left arm. “Got a sleeve, I see.”

Pierre ran a hand absently over the ink. “Yeah.” He studied the bigger man for a second. “You’ve added more to both of yours.”

Shadows chuckled, the sound light, concealing what the vampire was really feeling. “Yeah, I guess you could say I’m addicted to it.”

Pierre nodded, then glanced around at the bar. “Hmm...odd. No one’s here.” He rubbed at his cheek. “Well, apart from you two.”

Shadows shifted a little. “I was just commenting on that.” He paused, then said casually, “What are you doing here?”

Brown eyes shining, Pierre answered with a smile, “I’m waiting for the rest of my band. And my girlfriend; we’re meeting our tour bus here.”

Johnny turned his head to look at the singer. “Simple Plan is going on tour?”

“Yeah, we are. Just across Canada. We’re long due for a home tour.”

Shadows folded his arms across his chest. “We’re touring Canada too. Decided to come to Montreal City for a couple of days before we head back to Toronto for several big shows.”

Pierre nodded but then bit at his bottom lip, just as his fangs started to ache. Johnny saw something change in the other male’s deep brown eyes, a flash of hunger and perhaps a little pain. He glanced sideways at the master vampire; Shadows had also noticed it.

He hesitated before speaking, not wanting to shock Pierre, or hint at anything other than, that he was concerned and wanted to help. No point in revealing that he knew what was going on, knew that Pierre was adjusting to the fangs in his mouth.

“Uh, you okay, Bouvier? You look a little faint.”

Pierre frowned rubbing at his top lip at the point where his left canine met his jawbone. “Uh...just...my teeth...a little sore.” He glanced at Johnny then back at Shadows. “I’m curious...”

Shadows noticed that he was changing the subject and smiled a little, a closed-lip expression that did not reveal his own fangs. “About?”

“Well, uh...Johnny...he came to Laval...a few days ago...and he...”

Shadows cut in smirking faintly, “You’re about to ask me if I know that Johnny is a Werewolf.”

Pierre blinked. “That’s exactly what I was going to ask. How did you know?”

“Oh, just a hunch.” He licked his lips slowly. “The answer’s yes by the way.” Shadows growled softly. “He’s my pup.”

Pierre frowned as he noticed Johnny tense up next to the larger male. “What do you mean by that?”

Shadows leaned away from the bar finally flashing a broad smile. Pierre took a step back, eyes widening, as he stared at the set of fangs that gleamed in the darkness of the bar. Reminiscent of a cat’s, yet, larger and sharper than any feline they were thickened at the base and curved to tapering needlepoint’s at the tips.

“Holy shit...” Do mine look like that? Pierre shuddered, eyes darting everywhere but at the bigger male.

Shadows rolled his eyes and concealed them once more. “I’m a vampire. And as tradition goes, Johnny is my wolf. He belongs to me. So, that’s what I meant by that.”

Pierre’s brow furrowed as he took that piece of information in. Then he glanced at Shadows and frowned even more. “You didn’t ask how I knew that Johnny was a Were...”

Shadows laughed. “No, I didn’t. But, I don’t really need to, do I?”

Pierre shrugged. “Well, I’m a human right...it’s not like he would reveal what he is to someone like me, right?” He scrunched up his face. “In fact...you wouldn’t be telling me you’re a vampire, either.”

Shadows laughed outright. “True that.” He rubbed at his jaw. “These could be fake.”

“They don’t look fake to me.”

There was a sudden silence and the three men just stared at each other.

Then Shadows finally went where he had really wanted to go since Pierre had walked into the bar; in fact, since Johnny had told him that the Simple Plan singer was his son. “What you just said would present us with a problem...if it were true.”

Pierre grimaced. “Of course it is. I’m human, you two aren’t.”

Johnny shifted nervously on his stool glancing between the two vampires. Obviously, Pierre had decided he didn’t want to tell anyone else that he was a vampire. The Werewolf could understand that sentiment but he knew that now that Shadows knew, Pierre would have no hope of hiding the fact from other people. Or at least from the master vampire and the rest of Avenged. That worried Johnny and he wondered how his master would respond to Pierre’s comment.

Shadows’ lip curled slightly. “You know, I can smell a human from a mile away, and apart from a couple of staff members at the back of this joint...” He looked toward the door behind the bar then brought his shade-covered gaze back to Pierre. “There are no other humans in this bar.”

“What? Not even us?” There were two soft pops at Pierre’s ears. He jumped slightly as The Rev and Zacky Vengeance appeared on either side of him.

“Yeah, sure and humans can do that...” Johnny retorted. The two vampires rolled their eyes at the Werewolf, nodded to the master vampire then looked at Pierre.

Zacky wrinkled his nose, green eyes dancing. “You smell distinctly unhuman...”

Pierre’s jaw tightened.

The Rev smirked, but not unkindly. “There’s no point in being in denial. You’ll just give yourself a massive headache.”

Zacky chuckled. “I know a cure for that.”

“Of course you do, doc,” Shadows smirked then stared hard at Pierre. “You might as well ‘fess up, Bouvier. We all know what you are. Johnny told me. And we can tell at any rate. Vampire’s have a distinct scent that no other species has or will ever have.”

Pierre looked at the four of them then looked at Johnny sharply. “I didn’t want anyone to know...”

Johnny smiled apologetically. “Sorry, but Shads would’ve realised at any rate.” He looked down. “I actually found you because...I could smell your change...it gave off an extremely song scent.”

Shadows laughed adding gruffly, “Johnny’s a sticky beak, so he just had to track down the scent. And see who was turning vamp.”

Johnny shot his master a look.

The larger male glowered at him. Before you say anything, no, I am not telling him the real reason you went looking for him. He does not need to know the truth. At least, not yet.

The Werewolf turned his head quickly back to Pierre. “Your scent was irritating my senses. And, anyway, I had friends I wanted to see in Laval.”

Pierre bit his lip thinking silently to himself: Patrick... However, he kept his face blank and just nodded.

“What friends?” Zacky sneered.

Johnny opened his mouth; Shadows interrupted. “Friends that I’d like to meet some day.”

The Werewolf shivered ignoring his master’s comment and looking at Pierre. “You need to feed, don’t you?”

Pierre squeezed his eyes shut and slumped against the bar. “Yes...” His voice had gone husky, his hunger overwhelming him. “I need...”

Johnny sucked at his bottom lip, glancing at the others. “Know anywhere decent to get a feed?”

Zacky smirked. “Jimmy and I just came from a bar at the other end of town...some hot tail there.” The green-eyed vamp swirled his tongue over his fangs. “Blood’s pretty damned sweet, too.”

The Rev snorted, “Not as sweet as virgin blood...but you can’t pick and choose.”

Pierre’s eyebrows rose. “Virgin blood?”

Shadows rubbed his hands against his biceps. “That gives us the best boost. One problem though. No virgin ever gives of their vein willingly.”

“Oh...” Pierre had no idea where that comment led, or more to the point whether he really wanted to know, and decided not to pursue it. Instead, he glanced at Zacky and said with a confused expression, “Those girls at that bar...aren’t you worried they might have diseases?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “We’re vampires, buddy. Human diseases don’t affect us.”

“We can’t get AIDs or HIV...” The Rev added with a smirk.

The master vampire rolled his shoulders and murmured low. “We don’t get cancer either.”

Pierre’s ears pricked at the comment. “True?”

Shadows smiled tightly. “True. Of course, we’re not immune to everything...”

Zacky interrupted with a tiny smirk, “We can catch colds. But more like...the kind cats get.”

“Feline influenza is a real bitch.” The master vampire rolled his eyes then stared hard at Pierre. “We’ll take you down to the other bar. Maybe we’ll bump into the rest of your band on the way.”

“And your girlfriend,” Johnny added. He paused before asking, “Um...is she okay...after...” He bit his lip.

“After what?” Shadows snapped.

Pierre growled low. “I told her what I was.”

“Ah, bet that gave her something to think about.”

Pierre just nodded then gritted his teeth. “I really need...”

Shadows rumbled in his throat. “Let’s go.” He looked at Johnny. “Pup, scout out ahead. If you see Syn, send him to the bar...if you see any of Bouvier’s friends...do the same.”

The Werewolf nodded then vanished without a word. The four vampires strolled out the door and wound their way through the growing throng of people that seemed to have converged on the mall.

“Shit, where’d all these people come from?” Zacky’s nostrils wrinkled and he lowered his voice. “Fuck...their blood smells so...” He paused, eyes darting toward a group of teenage girls and he gave a soft snarl.

The Rev grabbed the back of his shirt. “Don’t even think about it, V. We’re in broad daylight...and we can’t wipe everybody’s minds...there’s too many of them.”

Pierre raised his eyebrows. “You can do that? Wipe people’s memories?”

Shadows gave a tight smile. “It’s necessary. Otherwise, we’d have people coming after us. Either that or having some kind of massive freak out.”

Pierre scrunched up his face. “But, you wouldn’t feed-”

“No, we always find a secluded place for that. That’s why a bar is a good place. You can just hook up with some random and no one will ever know.”

The Rev licked his lips. “Oh, and it’s not like in movies or books or whatever, we don’t have to kill to feed.”

“Even though it has happened on occasion.” Shadows muttered glowering at Zacky.

“What? Why the hell are you looking at me, Shads?”

The Rev snapped, “You’re too fucking fat...and that’s probably ‘cause you drained those whores back in Toronto.”

“He was fat before that.” Shadows sneered, the tips of his fangs glistening.

“Yeah? Well, you can’t talk!”

“I’m not fuckin’ fat.”

“I was referring to draining-”

“I haven’t in 100 fucking years!”

“Bull. Try 27!”

“Don’t even...I never found her, so I couldn’t have.”

Pierre rolled his eyes at their banter but then he heard a voice calling his name. He swivelled his head, a whiff of cinnamon reaching his flaring nostrils. Then he saw Lachelle and Patrick coming toward them.

“Over here!” He waved to them.

The other three vampires stopped their bickering and craned passed him to look. Shadows’ eyes narrowed behind his shades as they settled upon the lithe figure of Pierre’s girlfriend.

He glanced at Pierre from the corner of his eyes. “She’s a hottie...”

Pierre felt a sudden surge of territorial jealousy swell in his stomach, and a low snarl rumbled in his throat as his lip lifted showing a fang.

Shadows chuckled. “Easy, tiger...just stating a fact...not coming on to her.”

Lachelle and Pat approached, Lachelle smiling softly as she came up to Pierre and latched onto his arm. “There you are. We saw Johnny back there...he told us to go to some bar at the other end of town. Pat and I said we’d come meet you guys then go there.”

Pat nodded in affirmation as he stood behind her, then shot a look at the other three vampires, holding his body tense. Pierre absently nodded to his fiancée as he wondered whether his friend could tell what the other men were.

Lachelle frowned at him. “Are you okay?”

Pierre clenched his jaw. “I need something to eat.”

Shadows smirked lightly padding passed them and heading down the mall calling back over his shoulder. “He needs to feed, sweet cheeks.” Then he winked and strode away without looking back.

Lachelle stared after him then looked at Zacky and The Rev. She recognised all three men so, didn’t have any question regarding who they were, but what Shadows had said gave her pause.

“Uh...what was that about?”

Zacky pierced her with his emerald green stare. “I’m sure you know what he meant. Pierre says he told you of his little...issue.”

Lachelle blanched, glancing at Pierre. Then back at Zacky, confusion in her eyes. He just grinned flashing his fangs at her then jogged away to catch up with the master vampire. The Rev just smiled at Lachelle nodded to Pierre and wandered after them.

“Holy shit...” Lachelle held her hand to her mouth then moved closer to Pierre. “They’re...”

He squeezed her gently around the waist, as she tucked her face into his chest. “Yes, they are.” He rubbed at his face then turned to Pat. “You need to stay with Chelle...I don’t want her to be left alone near those guys when we get to the bar.”

Pat nodded stretching his neck. He was not surprised at his friend’s request. Now that he was fully vamp, his territorial instincts had begun to kick in and that meant if any other male vampire went near his girl, he was like to lose control.

“She’ll be safe with me.”

“Thanks.” Pierre smiled tightly. “By the way, do you think they know that you’re-”

“No. They can’t tell. I’m old enough to be able to disguise my scent from them. I smell like human to them.”

“I suppose you don’t want them to know?”

Pat shook his head slowly. “Johnny is the only one who needs to know, and I aim to keep it that way.” He smiled faintly. “The Langlois/Cunningham line and the Seward line go a long way back. It always pays to keep each other’s trust.”

Pierre blinked looking a little surprised. “You knew Johnny’s family?”

“Yeah,” Pat smirked faintly. “I knew all of them. My sister married into the Seward clan...one of Johnny’s uncles. By the way, I’m older than Johnny...by quite a lot.”

Pierre frowned at him, curious. “Uh...well, you’re 27...I hear he’s 23...”

Pat rolled his eyes. “He’s actually 100 years old.”

“What? Then how old are you?”

The Were laughed at Pierre’s stunned expression. “200 to be exact.”

“Goddamn...”

Lachelle peeked up at him then and looked between the two men. “Guys...could you please...”

“Sorry,” Pierre murmured gently, raking his fingers through her hair.

She caught hold of his hand staring up into his eyes. “P...Matt said you needed to...uh...feed...so maybe we should stop yakking and hurry to that bar?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Pat chortled, unable to help adding, “A simple plan...”

Pierre growled releasing Lachelle and lunging after his friend as Pat took off along the mall. “That’s so old, Langlois! Get your ass back here!”

Laughing softly, Lachelle followed them as they dashed away, shaking her head at their antics. Men, what could you do with them?

Notes