Blood Secrets: Tales of the Children of the Moon

Chapter Twenty-Four: Surprise Hunt

Two hours later, Vixen sat with Andy, Ashley, Kitty, Sandra and Jarreth, in the kitchen area on the second floor of her shop- which in all technicality had originally been a small two story Gothic Victorian style home in the downtown Modesto area- munching down on the lunch they had gotten from the local SaveMart across the street, as well as the drinks they had gotten from the Starbucks next door to it. Sandra was flipping through one of Vixen's old portfolio's that were filled with her artwork as they sat there, every once in a while an impressed look coming on her face. "These are pretty awesome girl," she said finally after closing the portfolio. Vixen grinned at her words. "Thanks Sandy. I've been drawing for God knows how long, and after I turned seventeen, I decided to give tattooing a try," Vixen replied, shrugging as she munched on a blueberry bagel spread with a ton of cream cheese. "So I went to a shop that sold tattoo equipment, telling them that I was a local Tattoo Artists niece that was picking up some new equipment for them, and they just handed it over to me. After that I set up shop in my little apartment and tested it out."

Andy raised a brow at this. "Who'd you try it out on?" He asked, taking a drink from his coffee. Vixen glanced over at Jarreth then, before looking back at Andy and grinning. "Faith." She watched Jarreth's head snap up at the mention of Faith's name, looking at Vixen in surprise. Vixen didn't say anything to it though. She was going to wait for him to ask the questions.
Ashley looked over at Vixen and raised a brow. "What'd you tattoo on her?" He asked through a mouthful of his sandwich. Vixen, Sandra, and Kitty grimaced before Kitty smacked him on the arm. "Don't talk with your mouth full babe!" She scolded, making everyone chuckle. Ashley just shrugged. Vixen rolled her eyes. "I think I still have the old drawing in my first portfolio-"

"Oh God!" Andy growled, making everyone look over at him. "Don't say that word! It's so annoying!" Vixen raised a brow. "What's wrong with the word 'Portfolio'?" Andy growled, glaring at her, making Sandra giggle and Ashley smile. They both knew what his problem with the word was. "It just...It sounds Bad!" Andy growled, explaining. Vixen cocked her head to the side, taking a sip from her Caramel Frappacino. "It sounds like...It sounds like it would taste like salty garbage." Andy threw up his hands in frustration as he said this, making a face as if to emphasize that he was imagining the word as exactly what he said and it was disgusting.

Vixen almost choked on her drink as he said this, coughing up her drink as she barked out a laugh. Everyone around them laughed as well. Vixen shook her head at her mate before she got up from her seat. "Give me a sec to go find the binder with the drawing I used for Faith's tattoo," she chuckled, kissing Andy on the cheek as she walked out of the kitchen area and back downstairs into the shop. She heard someone get up behind her, before hearing Jrreth tell Sandra that he was going to the restroom. Vixen knew that wasn't true. She'd heard his thoughts as she had gotten up. He was going to follow her downstairs and confront her about Faith. She smirked. She had a feeling he would wait until she was alone to do such a thing, which made Vixen believe that, most likely, Sandra didn't know about his older sister. Or probably his baby sister Melanie either.

Vixen walked into her second office- the one that she had downstairs in the shop, the same office where she had her music system that Taylor had set up for her- and grabbed one of the many binders that she had sitting in an old bookshelf, leaving the door open for when Jarreth came after her.

Jarreth entered the room a moment later, standing in the doorway waiting for her to acknowledge him. Vixen took her time, going through a few of her binders before she finally said anything. "You wanted to talk to me privately about the Faith thing didn't you?" She asked, not looking at him. "You can come in by the way," she added as she flipped through another binder that was marked with the year she began it to the year she had finished filling it with her drawings, just like all her other binders. Jarreth came into the room at her request, taking a seat on the black leather couch that sat at the other end of the room. "So, you seem to know what I'm wanting from you," he stated, staring at her back as she picked up another binder, mumbling that she should bring that one up for Sandra to look at as well. "How did you know?"

Vixen smirked as he asked this. Then she smiled as she found the picture she had used for Faith's tattoo. It was actually a drawing that Faith had asked her to do, a portrait that began her career in Portraiture tattoo's as her specialty. It was a sketch of Faith when she was thirteen years old. Sitting next to her on her left was a ten year old Jarreth, and on her right was their little sister Melanie. Vixen had gotten the drawings details straight from Faith's memories, having looked through her memories and seeing a picture that had been taken of the three siblings shortly before they had gone camping that fateful year when Melanie had been turned. Of course at the time, when Vixen had commissioned the drawing and Tattoo for Faith, she hadn't known that the two people sitting next to Faith in the photograph had been her mentor's siblings. When she had asked who they had been, Faith had become very guarded, just telling her that they were two very good friends of her's that had been taken away from her by Supernatural creature's, which in turn had been the main reason she had become a Hunter in the first place. Of course Vixen knew better now, after hearing Faith's story on Melanie almost a month ago.

Vixen turned and slipped the portrait out of it's plastic sleeve, walking over to Jarreth and joining him on the couch. "I'm a telepath," she said, finally replying to his question. Jarreth looked at her, impressed. "My telepathy was how I was able to commission this drawing for Faith, which I turned into her tattoo," she handed Jarreth the drawing then and watched as his eyes widened in surprise. "You drew this?" He asked, looking at her in shock. Vixen nodded. "Took the photo straight out of Faith's memory. She never told me that you and the little girl, Melanie, were her brother and sister at the time," Jarreth flinched slightly at the mention of his little sister, but said nothing. "But I found out that you two were her siblings about a month ago." At this Jarreth raised a brow at her questioningly. "Faith and I have a system of Protocols that we follow when we go Hunting," she explained, slipping the drawing back into its sleeve and closing the binder. "If the two of us split up at any time during a Hunt, and then meet back up, we have a protocol where to make sure the two of us are actually who we say we are, we have to tell the other something that only we would know. Something that we had never even told the other before."
Jarreth smirked at this. Of course his sister would come up with a rule such as that. She always was very cautious when they were Hunting together. "Sounds like her," he mumbled as Vixen got up, grabbing the other binder before she headed back out the door. Jarreth followed close behind and followed her back up the stairs to the kitchen, after Vixen had closed and locked the office.

Andy and Sandra both looked up as Jarreth an Vixen returned, Andy raising a brow at her. Vixen just shook her head, signaling that she would tell him later. She smiled at Sandra as she placed the two binders in front of her. "The drawing Faith had me tattoo on her is in this one," she said, placing the binder on top of the other, opening it and flipping to the picture itself. Ashley, Kitty, and Andy all crowded in next to Sandra so they could get a good look at the picture. As Sandra looked at it closely, her brows furrowed in confusion for a moment, before she turned to Jarreth. "This looks like that picture you have sitting on our mantle at home," she said, looking at him questioningly. Jarreth just nodded.

"Remember the girl I told you about when you and I were dating?" He asked, looking at his coffee cup. Sandra nodded, which Jarreth caught out of the corner of his eye. "That was my older sister Faith. The little one next to us is our baby sister Melanie..." He trailed off as he said his younger sister's name. "She was killed by a vampire-" Vixen cleared her throat and looked at Jarreth, telling him that he was bullshitting his mate by saying that. Jarreth glared at her, his anger rising. "She may have well died that night Vixen!" He growled, making everyone in the room look back and forth between the two. "But she didn't. She was turned Jarreth. You know this. You and Faith and Melanie tried to find anything you could to try and cure her, but you found nothing. You and Faith continued to search while Melanie had pretty much accepted her fate. She made you and Faith make a vow to her, a vow that you all said you would do for the other if it ever happened. That vow was that if Melanie did turn, if any of you were ever bitten and turned, and you turned on either of you, to not hesitate to end her life. So when it did happen, when Melanie turned and she came after you that night, you tried to follow through with that vow. But you couldn't, and she almost killed you. If Faith hadn't come in that night-"

"Alright!" Jarreth growled, glaring at Vixen, his grip on his coffee cup so tight his knuckles were turning white. Vixen nodded. "My guess is you have never told your mate about Faith or Melanie?" Jarreth shook his head. "I think you should. It's not something you should keep from her," Vixen whispered, getting up from her chair again. She took one last sip from her Frappiccino, before tossing it into the garbage. "While you do that, I'm gonna return to work. Most likely my 1:30 appointment is downstairs," Ashley and Kitty got up with her, Ashley hugging Sandra from the side before the two followed Vixen out of the Kitchen and downstairs. Andy looked between Sandra and Jarreth before getting up as well. "I'll leave you two alone to talk. I'll be downstairs with Vixen when your ready to head back to your palce hun," he said nodding to her before he too left back downstairs.

Sandra looked at Jarreth and placed a hand on top of his. "You don't have to tell me the story if you don't feel comfortable with it or want to baby," she whispered to him, looking at him lovingly. Jarreth shook his head. "No love," he whispered back. "I think it's time I finally talked about it. And honestly, I wouldn't want to talk about it with anyone else but you," he looked at Sandra then and she saw his eyes were glazed over with unshed tears. Sandra just nodded and Jarreth began his tale about the night his sister was turned. The night she went after him and Faith had to save his life. The night he and Faith decided to become Hunters.



A few hours later found Vixen, Ashley, and Kitty closing up the shop after finishing up their last appointments, and cleaning up their stations. Sandra, Jarreth and Andy had left shortly after Sandra and Jarreth had their talk earlier that day, and Sandra had even asked if Vixen could commission a tattoo for her. Vixen had of course agreed, saying that she wouldn't even have to pay for it, that she would do it for her as an early wedding present of sorts. This lead Sandra to asking Vixen to not only come to her wedding but also be a part of it, being one of her Maids of Honor. She asked the same of Kitty, and both had agreed immediately.

Vixen, Ashley, and Kitty walked over to Vixen's jeep, Kitty chattering on with Ashley about how she was excited about being a part of Sandra's wedding and Ashley telling her all the details he currently knew on the event. Vixen shook her head, smiling at her sister's enthusiasm, as the three piled into her Jeep and Vixen put the key in the ignition and turned it. Once again, it didn't want to start.

Vixen growled, glaring at the steering wheel. "Will you BEHAVE already?!" She yelled at the Jeep, making Ashley and Kitty both chuckle. Vixen rolled her eyes before turning the key again, this time the engine turning over and her CD, this time being one of Motionless In White's, blaring from her speakers. She sighed. "Good boy," she said, patting the dashboard before she pulled out of the parking lot and heading home. "Do you always have this much trouble with your Jeep?" Kitty asked from the back seat. Vixen just shrugged as she stopped at a red light. Ashley shook his head. "If you want, Andy and I can take a look at it tonight?"

Vixen shrugged as the light turned green and she started driving again. "You can if you want. I haven't found really anything wrong with it, and neither has anyone who's taken a look at it before. It's just a tempermenal little fucker," she growled, making the other two chuckle. Vixen just rolled her eyes and handed Ashley her CD case. "Can you put in your guys's CD?" Ashley nodded and switched the CD's. Vixen smiled as she heard the first track "The Outcasts (Call To Arms)" played. As the first song began Vixen couldn't help but begin to sing along, totally forgetting that Ashley was in the car.

Ashley stared at Vixen in shock as he heard her sing. Holy shit. She was pretty damn good. He wondered if Andy had heard this yet. If not, he was gonna have to tell him about it. Hearing her sing gave Ashley an idea...



Vixen pulled into the garage twenty minutes later, cutting the engine to her Jeep and hopping out, Ashley and Kitty following suit. As she walked inside she felt Midnight move on her back and felt a shiver run down her arm as her familiar slid off of her tattoo and down her arm, materializing beside her. She smiled down at him before she headed for the basement, planning on laying down and maybe taking a nap, but she was stopped by Faith in the hallway. "Suit up. We leave in ten minutes," she said as she passed by her. Vixen looked at her confused. "Alrighty then...so much for taking a nap," she mumbled as she made her way to the basement again, now getting ready for a surprise Hunt.
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Notes

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Sorry if this chapter seems a little short but I thought that where I left it was a good place to end it. I don't really know WHY, all I know is that it just seemed right lol.

Anyways, we got to have a look into Jarreth's side of the story and we got to see a bit of Sandra in this chapter as well. As for the smutty rain-check Vixen promised Andy earlier? Looks like that'll have to wait a bit longer lol.

Next chapter I plan on focusing a bit on Faith, as well as the other characters. You'll see what I mean in time. Right now I got a shit ton of ideas running through my head and I have to sort them all out so I ca. Start chapter Twenty-Five haha.

Anyways guys, its 5:50 am in the morning over here in Cali and I've been up for 24 hours now >.< damn my insomnia lol I keep waking up at 5 am now cause my boyfriend wakes up for work around 5-5:30 am and I'm always up and all that so I can send him a text message or call him and all that. Pretty much I get up early now to make sure he gets up on time to get ready for work and all that stuff. But unfortunately, with my new sleep schedule, I've been having bouts of insomnia, staying up pretty much all night long and shit and sometimes crashing out (aka passing out from exhaustion and such), during the day...which is totally pissing my parents off lmao. Oh well! I knew it'd happen anyways lmao.

Anyways, sorry for all the rambling haha.

Until next time guys! See you on the other side and Blessed Be!

- Kyrie Kerr =^.^=

P.S. Here are some idea's that I had for the Tattoo's Sandra wanted Vixen to commission for her. Let me know which one you guys thing she would look awesome wearing! :)

Idea # 1: http://imgur.com/3zOUMuL (This one would be majorly more detailed , like the feather's on the wings, the shadowing of the dress, facial features, hair would be more realistic, all that kind of stuff. I couldn't find a more detailed picture of this one so...yeah. Use your imagination to make it more detailed lol)

Idea # 2: http://imgur.com/VLioYmT (Again this one would be more detailed, mostly in the skull and book and all that kind of stuff)

Idea # 3: http://imgur.com/hKXgEST (I don't think this one can get anymore detailed than it already is haha. And yes it would be a full back piece, although if it would be black and grey like it is here, or if I'd have it set in full colour I haven't decided yet. What do you guys think it should be?)

Idea # 4: http://imgur.com/7IrJ1bw (I had to put a BVB tat in here lol. She may already have one in Real Life identical to the guys' but I thought Hey, why not add this one? It's pretty cool looking! :D)

Let me know in the comment's what you guys think Sandra should ask Vixen to draw up and tattoo for her! Until then, I'm off to write chapter Twenty-Five! :D