Jane turned to run and ran face first into a solid chest. She looked up at the face belonging to the chest. The face included a head of slick silver hair and a smile that incited mischief.

“Now now precious, there is no need to run from friends. Why don’t you have a seat and stay a while?” Said the man with the silver hair and mischief inducing smile.

Jane glanced around the room, searching for an escape. She saw the dark blue carpet, a set of comfy looking chairs and couches arranged in a box shape around a coffee table. The other five people belonging to the other five pairs of blue eyes simply sat around the coffee table and stared at her, barely even moving. Jane glanced at the walls.

There!

Jane saw her escape, a window that looked out on Locust City from on high. Jane ran to the window.

Plummeting to my death would be better than anything these vampires have planned for me

Jane threw open the window and tried to jump out only to hit a brick wall, literally. This was no window, but a wall painted expertly to look like a window. There was a soft chortle from behind her and Jane turned to look back at the vampires. The one chortleing had her hand covering her mouth and had the look of someone who is superior to all and cannot be bothered with others. She also had a dark, very dark blue shawl around her shoulders. Jane looked down and her cheeks flushed before she remembered she was still in danger. She glanced around the room and saw a lamp sitting on a side table. Jane reached over and picked it up, brandishing it like a sword towards the vampires seated casually around the coffee table.

“Stay back! I have a lamp and I am not afraid to use it!” Jane said to the amusement of the group of fanged ones “Where am I!? Who are you people?!”

At that moment the door opposite of the one Jane had come through opened up and in walked a familiar face. Mr. scruffy but immaculate flowed into the room.

“Sorry about that everyone, Jiminy got lost again and still hasn’t figured out how the maps app works” Mr. scruffy but immaculate said looking at the assembled vampires. He paused for a moment, noticing they were all looking away from him. He turned to look where they looked and saw Jane standing near the wall brandishing a lamp sword.

“Ah, your awake” Mr. scruffy but immaculate said seeming a bit tired

“You!” Jane said

Jane reared back and threw the lamp sword at Mr. scruffy but immaculate. As it turned out this was not a very bright idea. The lamp, being still plugged in, flew forward a few feet before pulling taut and flying back towards Jane and hitting her in the shin.

“Crape!”

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Jane grabbed her shin and hopped around on her good leg until she tripped over the lamp cord and fell over, knocking over the side table when she tried to stop her fall. She got all tangled up in the chair and the lamp, it took her several moments to untangle herself and get up, her hair now messed up from the struggle. The vampires before her were wincing in sympathy while trying to hide their amusement. Mr. scruffy but immaculate sighed and said

“Jane, please sit down. I think I should explain some things.”

Jane stared at the well dressed blood suckers before her for several minutes before she bent down and unplugged the lamp and took it with her to the soft high backed chair as far from the others as possible.

“Thank you.” Scruffy but immaculate said, also sitting down “first I should probably introduce myself and the others. I am called John. To my left” he gestured to the lady with the shawl and the better than you attitude. “Is Cleo. Over there is Sylas” he said pointing to the man with the slick hair and the mischievous smile. “Next to him is Song-Ma, and beside her is Buford.” Song-Ma was a tiny person, barely four foot three, and stared wide eyed straight ahead unblinking. Buford on the other hand was much more normal looking with a mutton chop beard and a sort of grandfatherly air about him. “Lastly we have Amadeus and Vera.” Amadeus had the body of an amazon god and seemed totally consumed with himself. Vera in contrast was much more bulky and built than the sculpted figure of Amadeus, she had muscles on top of her muscles. “And everyone this is Jane, my new childe.”

Jane quirked an eyebrow at the term childe, well she would have if she had enough skill to do so. Since she did not, both her eyebrows went up. John continued.

“Jane, as I am sure you have figured out by now, we are vampires, and so are you.” Jane stared at him, not making any motion to indicate she agreed or disagreed with his statement. “Last night I went out to the bar on a hunting trip”

Jane interrupted him “hunting trip?”

“Yes I was hunting, and my prey was you.” John replied without a hint of remorse for his actions. Jane shuddered at the coldness in his voice, as if humans, and specifically her, were only here to be his prey.

“Now normally when one of us, the Azure family, hunts we isolate the human and feed on them for a little bit before we close their wounds and make them forget the few minutes in which we fed on them.” Jane felt chills along her spine and goose bumps on her arms. The thought of losing her memories was something that haunted her. Jane’s mother had been in a car accident and had lost her memories of Jane, and despite five years of trying to get her to remember, Jane’s mother had died without ever knowing who Jane was.

“This is what would have happened had you not bitten into my neck.” John continued without pause. “The moment you bit my neck the vampiric process started and there was no turning back. Had you just allowed me to finish drinking your blood you would have awoken in your car in the morning with a little dizziness and a small blackout, but otherwise you would have continued with your life.”

“Hold on! Don’t try to pin this on me! You are the one who came after me, you drank my blood first! It's not my fault I am a blood sucking vampire, it is yours!” Jane said with a huff of indignation before pausing and waiting to see what John had to say on the matter.

“You are right” John said with a sigh “which is why I brought you here. In vampire society-”

“Vampires have a society?” Jane interrupted

“Yes, we aren't savages, now as I was saying, in vampire society when a vampire makes a childe it is the responsibility of the parent or sire of that childe to adopt them into their family and teach and help them through the transition from mortal to vampire.” John said.

“So what you're saying is that because you made me a blood sucking creature of the night I am now part of your vampire family? The Azure family?” Jane inquired

“Yep, hurray. Welcome to the beginning of your unlife” John said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

“Ok, Hold on a moment.” Jane said with a raise of her hand. “I need a moment… to process all this”

“Please take your time, we can wait,” John answered.

Jane stood up, still holding the lamp, and walked to the fake window of the skyline of the city.

“So? What do you think? Can we trust them?” Jane whispered to herself.

“What do you mean what do I think? These people clearly want to help us, at the very least to make amends for what he did to you.”

“But Their vampires”

“Jane, your a vampire”

“Oh… Right”

Jane turned back around, placed the lamp back on the side table and looked at the seven vampires in the room.

“All right, I’m in.”