My name is Jack Finchly, don't you dare call me Jackie.
I was born on October thirty first, nearly two hundred years ago. Life is a long, cold-hearted bi*ch.
Last time I checked, I had the sex organs of a man, but that doesn't have anything to do with who I love. I'm able to get down and dirty with the best of them, swinging either way.
I have a tendency to eavesdrop, and have heard many people accuse me of being dangerous, flirtatious, and self-centered. I do try hard not to disappoint them. I've also been called manipulative, intimidating, and determined. I always get what I want.
You could probably find something about me in the history books, but why don't I give a first hand account? Believe it or not, I was born during the war of 1812. My father was fighting the Brits, leaving my mother at home, alone, to give birth to me. When the war ended, and my father didn't come home, my mother grieved for months. By the time I was three years old, my mother had remarried. Her excuse was that I needed a father, but to tell you the truth, I would have preferred it just be her and I.
The man she married, had money. He was a celebrity in our small city. He was a perfect gentleman to my mother, and in truth, a rather good father figure for me. We never went without. Things were good. Life, was good.
When I was twenty-eight, I became extremely sick. The doctor's my step father had asked to make house calls, couldn't explain what the sickness was. I was dying, and they all knew it. One the night before I should have died, my step father made a late night visit. My mother was sound asleep in her warm bed, not knowing what was about to transpire.
I thought I was delirious from the fever, but the next morning, I woke up as if I'd never been sick. My body no longer ached, the fever was broken, and some of my color had come back to my face. It was a miracle. That same day, my step father gave me a ring, and told me never to take it off. I didn't bother to question him, knowing deep in my heart that I could trust him.
Three days after my full recovery, things began to change. My eye sight became a hundred times better, my hearing range grew, and my strength...oh boy, that was fun. On the third night, my step father came to my rooms, and explained everything to me. How he'd saved my life, and doomed me in the exact same instant. I was furious at first, but soon grew to appreciate the new life that I was given. When I was to turn thirty, I left my mother and step father, knowing that sooner or later, she would start noticing that I was not aging. I stayed away for forty years, only communicating through letters, and telegrams.
When I came back to see her, my step father was gone, or so she thought. He lingered in the shadows, watching her carefully. My mother was an old crone now, blind in one eye, and losing the sight in her other. She recognized me in an instant though, and so, I told her that I was her grandson. I spent three weeks with her before she passed away in her sleep.
After that, I traveled with my step father, moving from town to town, creating new lives every time we moved. Two hundred years, and I've seen lovers grow old and die, just like my mother. This life is sad, lonely, and cold. But it's my life, and I must live it.
Jack had been out at the bar for most of the night, sitting in a corner booth, mostly hidden by the shadows. The bar was a great place to have a meal, despite the insane amounts of alcohol these fools drank. A bit of spice never hurt anyone.
He was a bit surprised to see a rather youthful face enter the bar, and new she wasn't likely to get served. He watched her carefully, intrigued that she would dare enter into such a shady place, and actually order a drink. Jack knew the bartender personally, and wondered how he'd handle the approach of the young girl.
With his insanely sensitive hearing, Jack could hear the whole conversation between the two. "
Can I see some I.D pretty little lady." Naturally, the bartender would ask for identification. What struck Jack as odd though, was what happened next. The bartender seemed to go into a trance, and the girl began to speak, "
you do not need to see my I.D because I look of age."
No his intrigue grew. Had he found himself another vampire in the midst of the large city he now called home. "Meet me in the alley in two minutes." Jack was good friends with the bar tender, and at this moment, felt like he should intervene. Besides, Jack owed this man a favor.
Downing his drink, Jack stood from the booth. No one seemed to acknowledge his presence, as if he wasn't even there. He exited the bar and turned down the alleyway. He could see the young woman standing in the shadows.
"
You're either quite bold, entirely stupid, or a genius."