Getting ready for church.
That was a thing that Jolyne did not ever anticipate that she would be doing, especially now. She hadn't gone to church since she was five years old, and she had never wanted to do so again. Not willingly, anyway.
It was only in the last six years that Jolyne had put her foot down about not going. Before then, her parents dragged her there every Sunday to listen to who she now knew was Father Higgins preaching about the gospel.
To be clear, it wasn't because she hated religion. Hell, Father Higgins turned out to be a nice man. But it had to do with the other people who went to that church. They were always so judging. Their stares, the way they looked at her and her family…. It was like they wanted them out, but dared not interrupt Father Higgins.
Despite her father being well respected in the community, it was her mother who was just as much of a black sheep as Jolyne had been. From what her mother had said, before marrying her father, she had been quite the upstart. A bully and a very outspoken person, constantly making her opinions known.
But, when Karl came into her life, it was like a switch had been flipped. Her mother didn't go into detail about it, but Karl had shown her a "better path in life" and "showed her Gods light". To Jolyne, it didn't make a lick of sense. How could she throw away her own personal freedom to be chained to some bible thumper?
Not that Jolyne had anything against her father. Karl was a good guy, insofar as to before and after he had gotten over his rampant need for alcohol. During the time that she was being made to go to church, her father was heavily into booze.
…That was a time she didn't want to think about.
Moving on from that, as Jolyne sat in front of her bedroom mirror, she found herself staring at a reflection of her that she didn't recognize. The outfit she was being made to wear was one of her mothers old church dresses from when she was younger. A white, stainless full body length dress with puffy shoulder pads and long sleeves that covered just about everything down to her wrist.
Her hair, as frustrating as it was, had been made up into a bun at the back; the worst kind of hairstyle. Even worse was that her mother made her take the dye out of it, making it return to its natural colour of oak wood brown.
Jolyne was fine with going to church this one time, just to appease them. But she didn't understand why they were making her wear this tacky outfit and made her remove her hair dye. She going to have to bleach her hair again after this, and that was going to take forever. Sure, it was the autumn season, and it was going to get cold. But she had a full wardrobe of clothing that she could have used. Why did she have to cover every inch of her body? Why couldn't she dye her hair?
Then again, this was Mormonism. It was an ultra-conservative sect of Christianity. It wasn't the worst—Orthodoxy and Catholicism had them beat in that regard, but that didn't make it any better.
"No use in complaining," Jolyne thought, brushing her bangs to the left to keep them out of her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, they stared back at her with a haunting yet also mesmerizing gleam. She didn't know why, but now that her eyes had a slit pupil, she found that it looked more natural than before.
Green eyes were already a genetic anomaly, even rarer than blue eyes, so the slits made them feel more… real to her. Back before all of this happened, it just didn't sit right with her. There was always something that she deemed as "off" about them.
For example, when she was born, the doctors were shocked that her eye colour was what it was. Both of her parents had brown eyes, but apparently, at some point, one of her ancestors had green eyes, which meant it was a recessive gene.
But that ancestor existed over 300 years ago, and it was on her fathers side. He was the one that carried the Brooks name. He had lived in Creston his entire life, born and raised. Her mother, as previously stated, was from Florida; but her family as a whole were not.
Her maiden name was Ericson, and her family came from Norway, and in the 1930s they moved to Florida. It was in 1980 that her mother was born as Susan Ericson. Jolyne didn't know much about her mothers life beforehand, but she knew that her family had been extremely well-off and that they weren't on speaking terms for… reasons. Reasons that Jolyne was not privy to.
Her mother came to Creston in 2000 when she turned 20 precisely before of those unknown reasons. She met her father in 2005, and they got married in October of 2006 and on their honeymoon in January, Jolyne was conceived. Nine months later, she was born on November 5th. The rest after that was history.
Tangent aside, the point she was trying to get at was that no one in her family had green eyes. Well, at least as far she knew. She only ever met her grandparents on her fathers side and never on her mothers. It could be possible that her grandmother or grandfather on her mothers side of the family had green eyes.
But she would never know, because her mother forbade them to ever visit.
She was distracting herself. Her nerves were getting the better of her. A lot of it had to do with seeing Father Higgins again. It wasn't that she was afraid of Father Higgins—far from it, she actually liked being around him. He seemed nice at least, and it wasn't like he was some kind of uber evil "I will take over the world" kind of guy.
He was just… unsettling. Father Higgins felt like he had been ripped straight out of a fantasy novel and brought into reality. He was imposing, he was tall, he had good manners, and despite his terrifying eyes and the power that he now doubt held, there was nothing wrong with him.
But that didn't change the fact that he encouraged her to kill someone.
That didn't change the fact that she liked it.
That didn't change the fact that she was afraid of actually becoming a monster.
When Jolyne had killed that man behind someone else's car, draining him dry of all of his blood, loathe as she had been to admit it the only thing that she felt was clarity. It was like the first time she had smoked a joint with her friends at the smoke pit at school. But unlike that, her whole body reacted instead of her just her mind.
The best way she could describe the sensation was that it had orgasmic.
And yet, she felt dirty because of it. It made her skin crawl just thinking about how it felt. The way her whole body had shuddered in exuberance after sinking her fangs into his throat. The taste of his blood and the overwhelming surge of power that came over her.
She felt at the top of the world during it.
But afterward she felt even lesser than before….
"Are you almost ready, Jolyne? We're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Her fathers voice beckoned, as Jolyne let out a sigh. It was true, she had been sitting here for quite a while, and glancing over at the time, it was already 8:30.
"Shit," Jolyne cussed, standing up from her desk mirror. "Coming, Dad!" Jolyne called out before exiting her room. There was a small bit of hallway between her room and the staircase, just enough so she didn't stagger and trip herself down the stairs early in the morning. It helped a lot, especially when she was extremely tired or just waking up.
Once she was downstairs, she entered the kitchen, an embarrassed expression on her face as her mother practically squealed. "You look so beautiful, Jolyne!" Susan exclaimed, dressed in her usual church pink dress, similar to Jolyne's own. Her father on the other hand was dressed in a black two-piece suit, a matching black tie, and a white dress shirt underneath, alongside a pair of black dress shoes.
"Your mothers right, Jojo. It suits you," Karl commented as Jolyne sighed.
"I told you that I'm only doing this once. Don't expect me to do it again," Jolyne replied as Karl crossed his arms, a knowing look in his eyes.
"I know. I'm just glad that you're coming to church again. It's been far too long," Karl said, prompting Jolyne to smile faintly. It had been while since she had seen her father this happy. The last time he looked like that was when he was watching his favourite hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
"Can we go now?" Jolyne asked and without another word spoken they all filtered out of the house and into her fathers Volkswagen Atlas. Karl got into the drivers seat, Susan next to him, and Jolyne in the back.
The drive to church, specifically the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was only seven minutes, but her parents always liked to be just a little bit early so that they could mingle with their friends.
That actually reminded her. Juliette went here every Sunday, so maybe she would run into her? Juliette was a devout Mormon, but they were friends. Opposites attract and all that. They had been friends since she was six years old, and even after Jolyne stopped going to church they still hung out regularly.
The last time they saw each other was at school during art class on Wednesday, and the last time she was at Juliette's place was on the prior Monday. Her parents didn't mind her being over, even if they were uncomfortable with her choice of fashion and her piercings—which thankfully she was allowed to keep on. The one concession she was allowed, which was a win in her book.
Pulling into the parking lot, Jolyne was about to get out of the car when her father spoke up. "Now, Jolyne. I know it's been a while since you've been here, but do you remember church etiquette?"
"Not to talk while The Pastor is talking, not to leave while The Pastor is talking, and if The Pastor calls upon you to recite of verse to do so word for word," Jolyne replied as Karl nodded.
"Very good. Also, could you please remove those contacts," Karl asked as Jolyne blinked.
"Oh…" Jolyne thought, biting her lower lip. "Um… They aren't contacts, Dad." Karl stared at her, his expression unamused. "I'm serious. They aren't contacts." Just to prove her point, she put her nail to her eye and tapped it, as much as it bothered her and her feel weird. Instead of hitting glass, she flinched, having poked her eye a little bit too hard. "Ow, shit… Fuck that hurt…"
"Language," Susan said as Jolyne scowled.
"I just poked my eye, give me a break."
"Alright, I get it. Not a contact," Karl said, confusion in his voice. "I've never noticed that your eyes looked like that, Jojo…"
"Yeah, weird, right?" As Jolyne said that, her attention was snapped away from her by a massive limousine pulling into the parking lot. The limousine itself was pure white, with a golden cross on the front hood. The rims of the limousine were also golden, and above the rearmost tire, the word "Helsing" was written in ebony black text.
"Helsing? What are they doing here?" Susan asked as Karl raised an eyebrow.
"You know those people?" Karl questioned as Susan sighed.
"Yes. Growing up in Florida the Helsing family owned a home there, and also owned a building for their Organization. They claimed to "exterminate creatures of the night." We always saw them as roadkill removers or pest control. Aside from that, their rich nobles who originated in Germany, but moved to Great Britain around the 1800s," Susan replied, frowning.
"I knew one of them when I was in Florida. His name was Theodore. We were pretty close actually. But… Things kind of fell apart after a certain incident happened. I haven't spoke to him or their family since then," Susan added as Karl hummed with intrigue.
"I never knew that," Karl said as Susan huffed.
"Yes. And I wish it stayed that way. Anything to do with that family makes me want to vomit. Their nice on the outset, but once you actually get to know them, their rotten to the core."
"But why would they be here?" Jolyne asked, slightly nervous. She had an idea on what "exterminate creatures of the night" meant. They meant vampires. Not to mention that Father Higgins had mentioned them in passing yesterday. Something about their affinity for Holy Magic…
"Do they know about me?" Jolyne thought, worry taking over her expression. Were they there for her? For Father Higgins? Were there other vampires aside from her and Father Higgins? Concern draped over fear as it flooded her mind. But before she could absorb herself in doubt, she closed off her thoughts, and steeled herself.
Now was not the time to be scared. Now was the time to sit down in an uncomfortable church pew, and listen to Father Higgins wax poetic about God for an indiscriminate amount of time.
"Well, to be honest, whatever they want is of no concern to us. Come on, let's go. We're about to be late," Karl said as everyone filed out of the car. At the same time as they exited their vehicle, the door to the limousine opened, and a boy that appeared to be the same age as Jolyne exited.
He was tall, standing at 190 centimeters, with golden blond hair and a pale complexion. His eyes were a deep shade of gold as well, and his pupils were a little on the strange side. They weren't circular—at least, one of them wasn't.
While his right eye was normal, his left eye's pupil was shaped like that of a six pointed star, not too dissimilar the Star of David. There was also a scar running down that side of his face as well, from his upper eyelid down to the end of his cheek. It looked old, too.
Maybe it was the result of a cosmetic surgery?
Or maybe a fight with a vampire…
Upon stepping out of the limousine, the boy's eyes immediately locked onto her, and for just a split second, they widened before returning to a normal, neutral look. Jolyne's breath caught in her throat as he began to approach.
The way he walked, all proper and gentlemen-like, and yet it carried with it an intense amount of determination that made a part of Jolyne want to turn and run.
There was violence and barely kept wrath in his stride. A man with a purpose. Someone that she had best steer clear of.
But, he wouldn't dare try and attack her in front of her parents, would he?
Once the boy finished his approach, he stopped, before putting on a smile. Jolyne couldn't tell if he was faking it or not. But, when he spoke, she could tell right away that he was at least one thing. And that was that he was British.
"Ah, pardon me, I hate to keep you, but I just wanted to ask if this is the Church of Latter-Day Saints. You seem like locals, are you not?" The boy asked as her father looked over at the boy, frowning.
"Yes, it is. We're about to be late to the service…" Karl said as the boy matched his frown.
"Really? Shoot. Then I guess I shouldn't keep you. Ah! By the way, my name is Viktor. Viktor—"
"Van Helsing. Yes, we spotted you from a mile away," Susan said, her tone clipped. Viktor paused, stunned at the interruption, before looking over at her with wide eyes.
"Susan Ericson! Ah, I could recognize you a mile away! Aha, I knew that girl of yours looked familiar," Viktor exclaimed as Karl raised an eyebrow.
"Susan? Do you know this man?"
"No. But I'm pretty sure I know his father…." Susan sneered as Viktor smirked.
"Why yes, you do! Theodore Van Helsing, who was supposed to be your husband. But poor little Susan was too afraid and ran off, cutting ties with the family in the process. You were just 18 too… Then again, so was Theodore, and he was positively depressed when you left. You would've made such a good Van Helsing."
"What…?" Karl muttered as Susan scowled.
"You shut your mouth you little brat!" Susan spat as Viktor smiled from ear to ear.
"Oh? What's that? What did you say? Did you just tell me to be quiet? Why on Earth would I do that? After all… you left behind your own son when you ran off."
"I was a stupid high school kid for crying out loud!" Susan snapped. "I never wanted to get married! I just wanted to live my life damnit!"
"Enough," Karl barked, causing Susan to look away, furious. Karl turned his attention to Viktor, glaring out him. "You. Leave my wife alone. Either get inside the church and don't so much as even look in our general direction ever again, or get lost."
"Bah, fine," Viktor bemoaned, shoving his hands in his pockets. But as he walked away, he tacked on one final thing, and it was enough to make Jolyne's blood boil. "Harlot scum. You'll rue the day you crossed The Helsing Organization."
It took everything inside Jolyne to not lunge after him and choke slam the bastard into the ground. But by the time the thought crossed her mind, he was already inside the church. Karl looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, his right hand clenching so tight that his knuckles turned white.
"It's alright, honey. Just let it go. He's trying to push our buttons. He and the rest of his family aren't worth it," Susan said, rubbing the temples of her forehead. "Let's go and get this over with. Hopefully Father Higgins can get rid of this funk…"
"Yeah, let's hope…" Jolyne said, as the family of three entered the Church.