Mark groaned as his phone's ringtone cut through the silence of his room, waking him from his sleep. He rolled over with a groan and swatted blindly at his nightstand stand, sighing as he heard the offending object clunk to the ground. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he sat up and stretched his arms over his head, the rays of sun streaming through the blinds cut across his bare chest before leaning over to retrieve his fallen phone. Checking the ID, he rolled his eyes as he unplugged his charger, answering his phone as he flopped back down in bed.

“What the hell do you want Felix. It's seven in the freaking morning.”

“Well excuse me princess, I'm not the one who was out running around all night. When did you even get in?” His Swedish accent sassed him through the speaker.

Mark groaned, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his free hand. “I think it was three, maybe four. I haven't slept in almost two weeks because of these fuckers and here you are, calling me, cutting my beauty sleep short. For what reason I may ask?” Mark closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. He had caught wind of a particular nasty group of vamps in his neighbourhood, snatching people at night from their homes and massacring entire families. He's been tracking them for the last two weeks, out every night, stalking the streets, staking out houses waiting for them. They were young, newly turned and erratic. They had no routine, just struck wherever they saw fit. He’d been slowly picking them off, as going all in against them was not the smartest since cops were crawling all around the neighbourhood looking for them, but between that and his day job, he hadn't been able to catch up on his sleep. He had finally got the last of them in the early hours of the morning.

“I don't know why you even bother working. It's not like you need the money.” Felix tsked.

“It's something to do between hunts. I'd go crazy if all I did was sit around in this house, you know that. But I might take some time off. There's been an increase of activity over the last couple months. Hunts are more and more frequent.” There had been more and more newly turned vampires over the last few months, increasing at an alarming rate. Typically, people are turned when a vampire decides they want to make a new clan or replace the member of a current clan. But these kids are on their own, doing their own thing with no signs of other nests in the area, no leader. He needed to look into it. After he got some sleep.

There was a slight pause before Felix responded. “Hmm that’s weird.” Mark opened his eyes, propping himself up on his elbow.

“Do you know something about this?” He asked with a raised eyebrow even though the man couldn't see him.

“Even if I did you know I couldn't tell you.”

Mark could feel the headache brewing between his brows. He’d been dealing with crypticness from Felix for as long as he's known him, about two hundred years or so now.

He met Felix for the first time back in Germany in the 1830’s. He had been living there for a couple years when he first ran into him. At the time, Mark had been going by his given name, as it was the first time being back in his home country since he first left nearly two centuries ago, and it didn't feel right going by a different name, as he started to use aliases as travel between lands increased. He had visited his old family’s farm to find it had been destroyed and built over as a new and thriving town. It had been hard for him, as he had just lost yet another iteration of Jack, Jinhai Liu, in Tibet near the border of Nepal. It had been a particularly harsh run, Mark had been there solely for the purpose of there being sightings and a ‘beautiful woman with blood red eyes’ running around. The area was not kind to foreigners, and it had proved that when Mark had been sighted snooping around at night by a passing soldier, and chased through old buildings long abandoned.

On the run, they both fell through some old floorboards, and the building collapsed on top, trapping them. Mark had been mostly uninjured by the fall, but the man chasing him had injured his leg. That was how Mark met Jin. The man was stubborn as all hell, and it seemed steadfast in his opinion of same sex relations. China had always been more old fashioned and behind the western world. Mark could see himself fighting the obvious attraction and feelings he had. It was one of the few times he met a Jack that was straight, and they tended to go either way. They didn't have much of a chance this time though. They ended up being trapped in this building for days, and while Mark could manage as he worked on digging his way out, Jin, with his injury, could not.  He lasted three days before he passed, from lack of water and bleeding out.  Mark was left down there with his corpse for two days. What hurt the most about it though was that Jin had to deal with a slow death as Mark couldn't bring himself to end his misery, and he had begun to remember in his last minutes.

It hadn't taken Mark long to realise that each time his love died, he would remember his past lives and remember Mark. It had been heart breaking and chipped away at his soul a little more, and in the building, the last few minutes before Jin passed, he spoke to Mark, telling him how much he loved him and how sorry he was. Mark left as soon as he got out, Esma be damned.

He had been working as a farm hand when the youngest son of the farm owner, Friedrich Bauer, came to him as he was about to retire for the night.

“I know what you are.” Was all he said to Mark as he retreated back to his home. Mark stood there, struck at the implications of this. As he laid in bed that night he planned his escape in case a town full of angry farmers came for him with pitchforks and torches. The next day came and went like any other though. It wasn't until a few days later when some of the farm hands were going out for some drinks that Friedrich approached him again.

“Markell, wait.” He ran up to Mark, and pulled him off to the side letting the others go on ahead. Mark tensed, prepared himself for a fight as he wearily watched the man, but Friedrich merely laughed.

“Calm yourself. I'm not going to hurt you.” He smiled at Mark, who was now very confused but still on guard.

“What do you want?” He questioned.

“To talk. Walk with me?” Friedrich angled his body slightly in the other direction of the town towards a field. Mark hesitated for a moment then followed. This was his boss's kid after all.

“So I’m just going to start talking, and I want you to listen to me until I’m done alright?” He waited for Mark to respond with a nod before starting. Soon, Mark learned there was more to this guy than a simple farmer's boy. Not only did he know what Mark was, the man had a much deeper understanding of souls and reincarnation than Mark ever could in his experience. Friedrich had recently turned eighteen years of age, and according to him, on this date he regains all the memories of his past lives. Many, many lives. He could remember as far back as almost seven thousand years. His soul reincarnates every time he passes, and on his eighteenth, he regains his memories.

Mark didn't believe him at first. Who would? It sounded preposterous. But then he brought up Jack's.

Mark stopped and grabbed his arm roughly. “What do you know about it?” He growled. Friedrich remained as calm as ever though.

“I know that every time he is reborn he eventually finds you in his second decade. I know that you two are soul mates.” Mark barked out a harsh laugh, releasing his grip on the man and walking forward muttering.

“You need a soul to have a soul mate.” Friedrich caught up with him.

“What makes you think you don't have a soul?”

Marked looked at the man like he was slow. “I'm a monster, a ‘creature of the night’. We don't have souls. Not anymore.”

“If you didn't have souls, you couldn't reincarnate. And seeing as I'm here, I'm living proof you do.” He stated. Mark looked sharply over at him. Living proof…?

“Are you saying-?”

“Yes.”

Mark looked away, analyzing this information. He had a soul? He had a soul. And Jack was his soul mate? He shook his head. Even if he did have a soul it was still tainted, blackened by his deeds. Images of a cave back in Ireland flitted through his mind. He looked back over a Friedrich. “What else can you tell me?”

He went on to explain how all beings were reincarnated without ever knowing. Some souls are older than others, as more and more people are born into this world, new ones are created. The only way to end a soul’s cycle permanently is if there are more deaths than there are births. Mass deaths like plague are prime examples. There are some like Jack, who remember their lives right at the cusp of death, and even fewer like Friedrich who have the ability to remember their lives once they reach a certain age. Along with this, he is gifted with other abilities.

“Seriously? The future?” Mark scoffed.

“It's not as simple as that. I don't know the future per say, it's more that I have future knowledge about specific things, and sometimes it isn't necessarily the future. It can be things of the past.”

It was how he knew about Mark and Jack. He said it was like remembering something he had forgotten, as if he knew it all along. It was also completely random and came to him at any time. And it wasn't always set.

“Just telling someone what I know can change what happens, so I have to be careful as to what I reveal.” He wasn't looking at Mark, his gaze unfocused on his surroundings. Mark recognized that look, and he knew better than to ask.

From that day on, the two became good friends. Mark would stay with Friedrich until he passed, only to have the man find him eighteen or so years later, different body, name and personality but still the same man. Whenever he remembered, he would be gifted with the knowledge as to where Mark was. It was always odd, how he acted. He would have certain personality traits based on the way he was raised in his current life, but they would sometimes mix and clash with his past selves. He could goof and act like the young man he was, then he would shift, looking so old and so wise, eyes hardened by time, and that was when Mark was truly reminded how old he really was.

Felix Kjellberg was a scrawny man from Sweden who found Mark living in Toronto, Canada when he was nineteen years into his current life. He later convinced Mark to move to LA, pestered him for months. Mark had finally relented and they got a house together in LA, and they had been there the last five years.

“So back to a more pressing topic, why are you calling me at Goddamn seven in the morning, Felix?” Mark groaned as he grabbed his pill from his stand and leaned up against his headboard. “Where are you anyways? It's Saturday, usually you're still in bed yourself dead to the world.” Mark could hear the sounds of engines and horns through the phone. “In fact, I didn't even see your car when I got in.” Mark sat forwards, sheets pooling around his waist as he questioned his housemate, popping the white medication in his mouth and dry swallowing.

“That's why I'm calling. I tried to wait, I didn't want to call you while you were out, especially after the bitching you gave me last time I did that-”

Mark nearly choked on his pill. “You almost got me killed! Who thinks ‘huh. Wonder how my bud is doing on his hunt for dangerous and killer vampires? Maybe I'll call him and have his ringtone alert them to his presence!’” Mark cut him off, exasperated.

“You're the one that left your ringtone on dumbass.” Mark went to say more but was cut off by Felix. “I met her, Mark.”

All the argument and irritation flew out of Mark at Felix's words. “What, really? She's here, in LA?”

“Her name is Marzia, she's from Italy and she's traveling the states right now. She's just as beautiful as the first time.” Felix's voice was dreamy and light, and Mark had a small smile on his face as he fell back against the headboard. Felix found his soulmate again.

Felix had explained that it was very, very rare for anyone to actually meet their soul mate. While everyone had one, there was no guarantee they would be born in the same country, let alone the same time. They could easily be born in a cycle where one is being born while the other is half way through their life. The fact that Mark found Jack within ten years of themselves was nothing short of a miracle, along with how they kept finding each other.

“It's almost like fate.” Felix had said, back when they first met in Germany. The way he said it though, sounded like he knew more than he let on.

He told Mark about how he had met his soulmate once, in 800 AD, and spent their, albeit short compared to the present, lives together. He hadn't found them again since. He, like Lukas, had taken lovers down the road, male and female. Felix wasn’t bothered by ‘simple things as gender’. He himself had been reincarnated as female before, and as such, the idea of it meant very little to him. Mark himself didn't much care for what gender a lover was, though he tended to lean predominantly towards the male physique and mentally, when he found the desire for one. It was often merely to satisfy his physical needs, sometimes the emotional ones that just craved human contact when he was alone waiting for Jack, and more recently, waiting for Felix.

“I've been with her all night. I'm actually driving back home now, we stayed up watching movies and talking and stuff. It was amazing, Mark. It's so different, being such a long period of time and with how much the world has changed, but it feels just the same as when I first met Goda.” Mark could hear the happiness and love in Felix's voice. He was overjoyed for his friend, but couldn't help the pang of sadness that hit him.

“Well, I'm sure it won't take long for you to sweep her off her feet and start your life together.” Mark tried very hard to keep his voice light and cheerful but Felix knew him much better than that.

“Mark... I know this is hard for you, given your history, our history. I know you're happy for me but you don't have to hide your pain either.” Felix’s tone changed to concern and Mark felt instantly horrible.

“I don't know what you're talking about. I'm overjoyed for you, that you found her. I can't wait to meet her.” Mark felt tears sting his eyes.

“I'm pulling onto our road. We’ll finish this in person.” Felix hung up, and Mark dropped his phone, rubbing the unshed tears from his eyes. He was being such a bubble blowing baby right now. Get your shit together Fischbach. He heard Felix's car in the driveway as the motor cut off, and Mark put his phone back on the night stand as he watched the door waiting for him to come in, knees drawn to his chest.

Felix walked in, white hair flopping in his face, brown roots showing through more and more as days passed. His stubble was unshaven and his clothing was rumpled, probably since he'd been wearing them since yesterday morning. He closed the door behind him and walked over to the other side of Mark's bed, settling down in the same position as Mark, with his arms resting on his knees while Mark hung his head, forehead against his knees, arms crossed in front. They sat there for a bit, the sounds of birds and morning traffic reaching their ears, with Mark being able to the conversations of people that Felix could not.

After a bit, Mark dropped his hand from his knees, palm up and open which Felix reflexively grabbed, interlacing their fingers. Mark sat up enough to lean his body against Felix and rest his head upon his shoulder, Felix resting his cheek on his hair.

“I am happy for you, Fe. I really am.” Mark finally spoke after the stretch of silence.

“I know.” Felix whispered, tightening his hold on Mark's hand.

“It's still hard though. Especially with the time and date.” Mark tried to forget, it had been nearly four hundred years, but he could still vividly remember this date, the day that Jack first died in his arms. It haunted his dreams to this day, different scenarios always playing through his mind. He couldn't change the past but that didn't stop himself from trying to see his mistakes. It had also been twenty-seven years since the last reincarnation, and he was due to come face to face him his love soon. After the last, Mark had hit another breaking point. Felix has passed suddenly and violently the year prior, only in his early forties due to a drunk driver and he had lost this Jack in a more painful way than most; suicide. Mark had holed himself away in Canada, only leaving the small and shitty apartment he rented to feed and hunt, his nights haunted by the images of walking in on Joel in the bathtub, water run red, his eyes wide and unseeing in Mark's direction. It destroyed him.

When Felix found him again, he kicked his ass into gear, helping him out of the despair he had fallen into and back on his feet. He eventually suggested LA as a way to start fresh again and try to live his life like a normal man would. Make friends, get a pet, have sex. He hadn't done anything of the sort in decades. Since coming here he had made some good friends, got a job as a game developer and even got a dog, a golden retriever named Chica that he loved to death along with Felix's pug, Edgar.

Felix released Mark's hand to wrap his arm around him, pulling him in close and pressing a kiss to Mark's head. Mark closed his eyes, willing tears back once again. He loved Felix, has for decades and decades, and Felix loved him. It was bound to happen, being they only had each other to count on over the years, especially Mark. Felix would have his family he would grow with until his memories returned, but they would never understand him or know the truth like Mark did. Over time friendship evolved to fondness and fondness eventually evolved to love. It wasn’t the same as he felt for Jack, nor was it as powerful and earth shattering, but he cared deeply for Felix, a way someone would for a partner. Once they tried to be together, as lovers, both having been slowly becoming more and more physical with each other from hand holding, to cuddling, to kissing. And while the sex had been great, it was really just that. Sex, not love making. They both realized this and decided that it would merely be for ‘emergency situations’ as Felix phrased it. In the beginning Mark felt guilty as hell, like he was cheating on Jack, even if they weren’t technically together all the time, but Felix pointed out that he didn’t think Jack would want him to be alone all the time, which was true, Jack had even said so once, when they had had time to actually talk before he had died.

They were still very close, often sought each other for comfort, especially Mark after each of Jack's deaths. And they sometimes found themselves in bed together, sometimes for sex, but usually to chase away each other's nightmares. They had an odd relationship, and Mark couldn't help the twinge of envy he felt that Felix had found his soul mate again, and he would be able to spend his life with her, and Mark would have to watch, keeping him at arm's length and knowing he’ll never get to have that.

They sat there for a while, Felix just holding Mark, both reminiscing of their time together, Mark sat up eventually, Felix’s hand resting on his lower back, and asked him about Marzia. Regardless of his envy and remorse, he couldn't help but smile and feel great pleasure at seeing his face light up the way it did. At the end of the day he loved Felix, and he wanted his happiness regardless of where it left him.

Felix grabbed Mark by the shoulders. “Mark, no matter what, you'll be in my life. I've known you for two hundred years, and no one will understand me the way you do, understand the pain and grief we go through. Not even Marzia will. You are a part of me. Remember, you will always have a place in my heart, for as long as I live.” He gave a cheeky smile as he cupped Mark's cheek. His eyes widened fractionally, before pulling back and getting up.

“Alright, that's enough with the sappy shit, get up. We're going out.”

Mark reeled a little from the extreme change in mood and atmosphere from Felix as he registered his words.

“Where are we going? I'd much rather stay in bed, Fe.” Mark whined, flopping back onto the bed. Felix grinned evilly as he grasped the sheets and yanked them off. Mark yelped, cold air hitting his skin, some more sensitive areas taking the brunt. “Jesus Christ Felix!” Mark scrambled to cover his junk with a pillow, more for warmth than modesty. Felix had seen him naked more than anyone else.

“I want a new tattoo.”

“You seriously got me out of bed to get another impromptu tattoo with you? Why couldn't you have just gone yourself?”

Mark was in the driver's seat of his Prius, Felix on his phone texting who he assumed was Marzia. After changing into jeans and a white shirt with blue and purple flower patterns, Mark let Chica and Edgar outside, fed them, and headed out with Felix. Mark kept fiddling with his hair, trying to get the raven strands out of his face, with minimal progress. He didn’t know why he was so fidgety. He noticed Felix’s sidelong glance at him.

“It's no fun to go alone. Plus we haven't seen Ken if forever. Don't tell me you won't enjoy seeing him.”

Ken was one of their good friends that owned a popular tattoo parlour in LA. They met him when Felix went to get his first tattoo when they first moved here and the three hit it off. It didn't take long for them to exchange numbers and they became quiet close. Felix had had an instant crush on the burly man when they first met, but mentions of a girlfriend shot it down pretty quick. Felix had gotten multiple tattoos from the shop, named Cinnamon Ken, odd name for a tattoo shop but it was catchy. They pulled into the parking lot, and headed towards the shop.

Ken was sitting at the reception desk, eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him, clicking away at the mouse. He dragged his gaze away as Mark and Felix walked through the door. The shop was small, but was designed in a way to feel spacious. Both side walls were lined with couches for waiting, a few people seated in them, small coffee tables on each side lined with various art books and design magazines. Directly in front was the reception desk Ken sat at, a doorway to the left that led to the back with the studio rooms. There was a coffee maker on the desk along with a bowl of mints. The walls were decked with decals and framed tattoo designs by various artists along with Ken’s own personal work.

“Heeeeey! Felix, Mark, how goes it?” Ken stood and came around the desk to embrace both the men in a ‘bro hug’, clasping hands and wrapping the other arm around each other. The man was a bear, thick and tall, with a bushy beard and eyebrows. He had tattoo sleeves on both arms, along with some that scattered his chest and back that just poked above the collar of his band tee. He was very intimidating and was one of the sweetest men Mark knew.

“Felix here has decided it's time for his next inking, and of course we’d come see the best shop in LA.” Mark pulled back from the hug, looking over at Felix as he spoke, before looking back at Ken. “And seeing you is a bit of a plus I guess.”

“Oh, you flatter me Mark. Feel like following suit and getting yourself some ink?” Ken nudged his shoulder, a hopeful tone to his voice. Mark was already shaking his head though.

“The day I let you anywhere near me with that machine is the day the world ends. I'll leave the body art to you two.” He didn't have anything against tattoo, had even thought about getting one, but he would literally have to spend forever with it on his skin he didn't want to deal with that later down the road. Felix, the lucky shit, didn't have to worry about that.

Felix laughed. “Nice try bro, but ya had to know that was coming. Been trying to get the man to get once as long as I've known him. Now,” he rubbed his hands together, smile on his face. “Any openings for your dear Swedish friend?”

“You're in luck. I just hired a couple new artists, Caleb leaves for Sans Francisco in a couple weeks so we have some extra hands.” Ken walked back behind the counter. “Ethan is in the back working on a consultation with a customer right now, he's had some prior experience from an uncle who used to run his own shop back in Maine. I've met the guy a few times and he recommended the kid to me. He has some rad art. The other guy is a fellow from Ireland, just moved to LA last week. He's been working as a tattoo artist for about 5 years now, but has been following my work for a few years. Is a bit of a fan boy but he has some major talent. He should be here any minute and he can get started with you.”

Ken had opened up his shop about ten years ago, a nobody who wanted to make it big in LA as a tattoo artist. He moved from Mississippi when he was twenty-one, and since then he's become renowned in the states and even in some parts of the world. It had been a struggle but he pushed himself through. He met his wife Mary through this shop, gave her her first tattoo and now she helped manage the place. She was down to three days a week now, as they were expecting their first baby in early May.

“How's Mary doing? Ready to pop yet?” Felix leaned his elbows on the desk and popped a few mints into his mouth. Mark followed suit, leaning back against the desk, looking out the store front.

“She's getting there, only a few weeks from her due date now. Can't wait for this baby to come. Pregnant women are mean, man. Do you know how many times I've had to sleep on my Goddamn couch? Far too many in my opinion.”

Mark gave him a sympathetic nod while Felix patted his shoulder.

“The life of a husband and soon to be father is a rough one my burly friend.” Felix pushed himself from the counter leaning back on his heels. “Now, my ink. You say some Irish bean is going to be the one putting that gun to my skin?”

“Yea, today will be his first real day on the job but like I said, he's been doing this for about five years now and from what I've seen he's good. Got no worries with him my man.” Ken's eyes flicked up and back to them. “Actually, that's him there coming across the street.” He came back around the desk to the front as Felix turned and Mark pushed himself back into a standing position. The door chimed as the guy basically ran in, neon green hair brightening the store. Ken walked up to him and shook his hand, then clapping it on his back, the man trying hard to conceal the jolt he got from the slap, still catching his breath as he brought him over to them. The air in Mark's lungs stopped as he forgot how to breathe, his body going rigid and eyes wide.

“There ya are. We were just talking about ya. Meet my good friends here, Felix and Mark. You two, this is my newest employee, Sean McLoughlin.”

Sean smiled wide, blue eyes crinkling, extending his hand, multiple tattoos visible on his arm, disappearing into the sleeve of his tee. Mark kept his eyes on his face, as his mind tried to catch up with his mouth, his breathing still stunted.

“Nice to meet ya! My names Sean, but most people call me-”

“Jack.”