Submitted by Jadyn on Thu, 11/14/2002 - 02:36
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I'm not sure how many of you have read Jade's background or the history detailed in Season 1... Here are just some excerpts that I picked out and compiled. It's the whole Valerian background in a nutshell. A rather big shell... :P
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Rose's Diaries
*From the diary of Rose Lee - 1980*
I think I'm going crazy. There's no other explanation for it. Oh God. I just saw Valerian kill a man. It's not just that that's making me doubt my sanity, it was the way that he did it.
Valerian ripped his throat out. I saw him. I saw his teeth. He had fangs. My God, what kind of a monster is he? A vampire? There can't be such things in existence! And yet, unless my eyes deceive me, that seems to be the explanation what I saw... Unless I'm crazy.
I've got to get away from him before my baby is born. My baby. Our baby. Oh God... What am I going to do?
*******************************
I'm dying.
How strange to see those words in writing...
I've written to Carrie, begging her to come to Hong Kong together with Simon. I can't leave Jade with anyone else. Carrie will look after her, I know that. Carrie will protect my baby girl against Valerian.
Valerian. I love him more than life itself.
Running from him these last few months have been almost torturously hypocritical, since a part of my very soul still yearns to be with him, despite him being a vampire. My health has deteriorated as such, not surprising considering I can barely eat or sleep.
But I now have my daughter to consider. She has her father's blood in her. I live in terror of what she will become should he be allowed to mould her. My precious, beautiful Jade.
The Vampire Valerian
*October 2001 - Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia - The Vampire Valerian*
Valerian stood in the shadows. The sky was dark, the sun totally blocked by the thick grey clouds that were virtually impenetrable. His handsome patrician features were expressionless as he watched the slight figure standing in the distance...
The great slabs of rock that made up the 12 Apostles rose majestically from the ocean, taunting the waves that swirled and frothed around them. Jade, however, stared blindly at the great expanse of water that stretched endlessly beyond, seemingly oblivious to the beauty that lay beneath the cliff she stood on. The agony she felt still sliced to the bone, the bitterness and feelings of helplessness overwhelmed and ate at her soul.
"I can't do it Mom," she choked in a tortured whisper. "I can't live with myself anymore. I can't handle not having all of you here with me, I can't continue facing what I am and what I caused to happen. I don't want to do it! Why the hell was I left behind? Why didn't God just let me die as well? Why didn't he let me die instead?" Sinking to her knees, she started to sob.
The area was quiet, no wonder with it being a cold, blustery day. Jade gazed upwards at the grey clouds hanging heavy in the sky, her heart feeling equally as leaden. Her hair whipped around her face and she was freezing but she'd left her cherry red jacket in the jeep, not really caring about her exposure to the elements. *I want to die...* Those four words had become like a mantra in her head the last few months and Jade wondered why she didn't just follow through with it and end everything. *Maybe it's about time I did.*
She stood up. The waters far below her seemed to whisper and hiss an invitation. All she had to do was close her eyes and take a step forward - it was a 200 foot vertical drop. *It's so easy. Why have I been hesitating all this while? Oblivion. Death. Welcoming.* Disjointed thoughts ran through Jade's head. Before she could do anything else though, a strong, pale hand gripped her arm.
Valerian's eyes were cold with fury. He couldn't bring himself to believe what he'd seen - his only child had actually been about to throw herself over a cliff! "It was so... melodramatic and gauche!" He thought, casually dismissing own own penchant for theatrics. He'd barely had the time to teleport over to stop her. "What in the name of all that is unholy do you think you're doing?" The vampire's lips didn't move but Jade heard his words loud and clear, as if he'd spoken them.
"Let go of me!" Jade spat as she wrenched her arm free. Her birth father's thoughts and hers had been linked since that cursed day she'd learnt about the blood they'd shared, especially when they were in close proximity. "You killed my parents and my sister, you sonofabitch! Don't you ever touch me!" Her eyes clouded over from the agony she felt as she recalled the night that the vampire had found them after years of searching. *So much blood... God, she'd never seen so much blood. Mom... Dad... Junie...*
"Those mortals were not your parents, little one. You're the child of a vampire, a babe of the night. They deserved to die ! Keeping you from me all these years, denying you your birthright, denying you your father!" Valerian, being the selfish creature he was, could never understand why she grieved or carried the terrible burden of knowing that her adoptive parents and sister had died because of her link to him.
" No... No no no no nooooooo !" Jade's cried as she shook her head. "You monster! You're no father of mine! All the family I have, all the family I'll ever acknowledge died in that room three years ago, at your hand! You will never be my father. I'd rather die first! Do you hear me? I'll die before I have anything to do with you!" It wasn't the first time she'd rejected Valerian's attempts to bring her around to the dark side but never before had she denounced him so thoroughly.
The great vampire drew back as Jade's words hit. A great rage swept through him as the force of her rejection struck him. "Have care, poppet. You might be my daughter but I will tolerate no insolence, even from you. You speak carelessly and without thought. You have no idea who you're dealing with." Valerian's ego, as huge as it was fragile, had been badly bruised.
Jade drew back and spat in Valerian's face. The handsome fiend then backhanded her with a force that would have sent her spiralling down to the waters below had he not grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. "You little ungrateful bitch! You may deny your own sire but there is no way you can disregard the blood that flows in your veins. You long to be mortal. Pah! Perhaps I'd be better off without a daughter like you. Go and be normal flesh and blood if you wish! Mayhap you'd like it if I sent you to a little mortal death!" He made to throw her over the edge of the cliff but a sudden sharp edge pointed at his throat gave him pause.
"Put the girl down." A tall, dark-haired stranger in a black trenchcoat had a sword pointed at Valerian. "And don't even try to teleport or I'll dust you without a second thought. Believe me when I say I'm faster than most humans at that task. Anyway, it's not twilight yet, you're hampered by the sun and not at your best."
Valerian sneered at Tempest's words and yanked Jade's hair again before dropping her to the ground. Before the man could utter another word, the vampire dissipated into smoke and reappeared behind him, knocking Tempest unconscious even as he swung around to defend himself. * Fool !* Jade knew that trying to fight Valerian the same way one fought other undead fiends was pointless, for her birth father had been one of the brotherhood - a collective of the first vampires to walk the earth. His powers were far superior to anything most vampire hunters have seen.
Valerian returned to Jade's side and lifted her up, her struggles useless against his inhuman strength. He gazed at her in contempt. "I realise now, little one, that throwing you down to the waters below would have been too good for you. I've tried, time and time again, to give you the gift of my powers, I've tried to get you to take them willingly. You, however, look upon them as a curse. Fine. You shall be cursed then. You long for death. Now, instead, I shall give you the hell and damnation of eternal life. I shall make you a true vampyre, a true child of the darkness..."
Jade fought him, even though she knew it was futile. Her worst fears were coming true. She felt his fangs pierce the tender flesh of her neck and whimpered. There was no use, she was going to die and become one of the creatures she despised more than anything on earth. Suddenly however, Valerian let her go and she crumpled to the ground. Too weak to do much but raise her head, she saw him double over and bellow in pain as a sword pierced his rib cage.
Tempest had regained consciousness just as the fiend had sunk his teeth into the girl's neck. His head ached where he'd been struck and though he'd gone for the vamp's heart, his blurred vision made his aim a little off. Valerian realised too late that the man that stood before him was no ordinary mercenary who killed for profit. He glared at Jade one last time before teleporting himself back to his lair to nurse his wounds and hurt pride in private.
"You need rest." The tall stranger lifted her up gently, cradling her like a baby, and brought her back to her car. He then proceeded to drive her back to the city of Melbourne and put her in the capable hands of a Father Jacobs, a priest who'd asked few questions and instead, tended to the bite marks on her neck. Before he left, Tempest looked at the slim, pale figure lying on the bed, "I don't remember most parts of my life... Seems to me you've had to deal with too much of yours." He brushed a wisp of hair off her forehead, noticing the beautifully-crafted gold rosebud earrings the girl was wearing. "Look after yourself sweetie...", he muttered before turning and walking out the door.
Jade looked at his departing back hazily. She'd caught the drift of his earlier conversation with Father Jacobs, something about L.A... *L.A... Might be worth a visit... Australia's no longer safe. I can't risk Valerian finding me again. I can't...* She drifted off into a fretful slumber.
Jade's Diary Entries
Sorrow & Valerian
Beaten and bruised, with the backlash rising within him, Sorrow nodded, his eyes never leaving the vampire as it began to speak.
"The delectable Tash has done me a favour, opening up your memories the way she did. So, now that you know what you are, have you no questions about it? Haven't you wondered about the one who did it to you?"
The blood-drinker walked slowly towards Sorrow. "I've taken a great deal of interest in you Tristan. One could say that you've been one of my pet projects." At the quirk of a finger, Hizashi flew through the air and into Valerian's hand. He examined it, admiring the way the blade glistened, even in the dark. "This really is exquisite in its simplicity... and such an effective weapon."
Valerian handed the sword back to Sorrow. "Use that highly-trained brain of yours. I'm a vampire. With abilities far beyond that of the average nightwalker. I know you - who you are, what you do, and I found you with a minimum of effort. How many of my kind do you think has that kind of power? Process all of that and then tell me who you think I am!"
Through the pain, realisation dawned. With it came a bone-chilling fear. "Valerian..."
"Very good Tristan!" The vampire bared his fangs in a smile. "Now, I know that you've been spending time with my daughter... That's good. I approve of that. Wholeheartedly." There was a meaningful pause before Valerian continued. "After all, family should keep in touch, don't you agree?"
Sorrow's initial bewilderment slowly gave way to a gut-wrenching horror as he absorbed what was being said.
"No! You lie!" He surged to his feet, shouting, even though deep inside him, Sorrow knew with a sick certainty that Valerian spoke nothing but truth.
"I have done nothing of that sort." Valerian stifled the glee he felt at the knowledge that his revelation of being Sorrow's sire brought him another step forward in his plan to get Jade back.
"You were such a precocious child. So intense and serious even then. We are alike, in that way, don't you think?" Even as Sorrow stumbled backwards Valerian followed, his next words taking on a tone that was almost whimsical, as if the memory he spoke of was a happy one.
"Allow me to spell it out. You became one of mine the moment you drank of my blood. All those years ago. Look inside yourself! The memory is there... Deny it no longer!" Valerian saw the flare of recollection on Sorrow's face and pressed on. "I saw you, standing outside that burnt, broken squalor. It's strange really, that I stopped myself from killing you then. I'm not sure why I did..." He paused.
"In the years that followed though, I came to think of it as a subconscious foresight. You've proven to be of greater value to me the way you are - a halfling - than you would have been had I made you into a true fiend like myself..." An evil chuckle escaped Valerian's pale lips. "Perhaps the word fiend doesn't exclude you, seeing what you did to fair Cindy!"
Two pairs of eyes - one as black as coal and the other as green as emeralds - locked. The vampire's narrowed with satisfaction as he observed within his childe the dark desire that mingled with the guilt at the mention of the slain girl. "It's eating at you like a cancer, isn't it?" His voice was soft, sympathetic. "The thirst. The need. Why torment yourself Tristan? Accept what you are, revel in the power it gives you!"
"No!" Sorrow's protest was a vehement rasp.
"Fool!" The nightwalker hissed. "You think that by refusing to see what lies in you, refusing to hear what is being said, it goes away? You're fighting a losing battle and suffering untold agony in the process. Unnecessary agony, might I add!"
Sorrow looked at Valerian. "Jade was right about you, you don't know when to give up... You won't win, you know. She'll hate you to her dying breath and beyond. Having turned me won't change that!" He stepped forward, slowly raised his hand and said, "She-will-never-be-yours," punctuating each of his words with a jab at the vampire's chest.
Valerian reached up, his fingers wrapping around Sorrow's wrist. "Your words are rash and most unwise!" He hissed. "Blood calls to blood. We are joined in ways that defy description. The link we have cannot be broken that easily. She will come back to me, and whether you want to or not you will make up an integral part of her reason for doing so."
"Strange thing about love, Vampire, is that it so easily turns to hate." Sorrow's voice was quiet. "When Jade realises what I am, she'll turn her back on me just as she turned her back on you. You've miscalculated badly here. Jade will not join you for love of me..."
Valerian threw back his head, laughing as he taunted. "Is that the reason you left the way you did? Because you couldn't bear to see the adoration in her eyes turn to repulsion? Or was it because you feared that she might be tempted to darkness after discovering that her beloved had been one of its members for years?"
"You may have watched us but you do not know me, do you?" Sorrow smiled as he looked at the monster before him.
"Ah, but I do Tristan. And I know Jade, apparently better than you do, if you actually think that she would forsake you because of what you are. I have obviously credited you with more sense than you have." Valerian sniffed derisively.
"Be warned Vampire. For you are arrogant and egotistical, and your pride will be your downfall. Us 'lower beings' are still somewhat capable of a modicum of intelligence. Enough maybe to foil the plans of someone as superior as yourself..."
"Whatever intelligence you have has been smothered... Stifled by useless, trivial emotions and mundane matters. My daughter, I am ashamed to say, has been raised no differently. She will not give you up, purely because of this notion she has of the 'love' you share." The sneer was evident on Valerian's face. "Indeed, if I play my cards right, Jade will not only convert to the path of the night, she will come to actively seek it! For no other reason than to be together with you!"
Sorrow's smile did not falter and there was no trace of doubt within him. "We shall see about that, demon. It is true that love forgives many things, it has redeemed many more. But contrary to what many think, love isn't blind." He cocked his head toward the horizon. "Sunrise is coming Vampire. Do you wish to fight that and me? Be gone!"
Valerian smirked. "Very well mortal." The irony of his words was not lost on either of them. " I shall leave you. Believe what you wish." In a move that was typical of his theatrical personality, the vampire raised both arms above his head and vanished.