A thought had been spared for his childe, though Jaq would have denied that truth if questioned. The vampire had quickly tallied the years since he had last seen the former priest and he had been astonished by the number. In the back of his mind, he had always been aware of that loss, but he had angrily bloodied the pristine aisles of every church that had stood along his warpath in those early years since Zane had vanished. It had been a message and a warning, one he doubted even that fleeing whelp could miss even if he buried himself. They had been wasteful killings, and Jaq had never been wasteful. Wrath was a dangerous fire that had taken its toll on him, but the years had extinguished it only to replace it with a waiting, smoldering thing that was as indefinable as it was consuming.
In the dark, early hours of the morning after their conversation, Jaq had pushed open the doors to Saint Stephen's Cathedral and was greeted by the haggard looking but smiling archdioceses. With a bright smile in return, Jaq tore his throat out with his bare hands in front of an elderly sister and a young priest. As the man choked on his blood on the floor of the church, Jaq rushed forward to silence the old nun, gingerly caressing her cheek with the back of his hand before grabbing her by the neck to drag her up the central aisle after the young man who was scrabbling away. With his free hand, he grabbed the priest and bit into his neck, draining him of blood until he was satisfied before returning his attention to the shivering nun in his grasp. Calmly, he led her further into the church, forcing her to kneel before the statue of Mary. He could hear her praying and he facetiously joined her in her solemn rite, ripping her heart out as she completed her amen.
Another message had been left. One that would not be missed.
The next night, Jaq had taken to walking the paths of the Cirque, more fascinated by this place now that he knew his errand childe was here. The warm, heavy, and intoxicating smell of blood struck him and he was drawn towards it despite having fed only the day before. He thanked his instincts at the sight he was greeted with. The very man who had escaped his grasp there, with a dazed little woman, unaware and so vulnerable the pair of them.
"How romantic," Jaq spoke from the shadows. His voice was even and almost sincere in its tone, only contrasted by the mischievous glint in his eyes. Without an ounce of hesitation, Jaq's lean fingers glided along the girl's flawless skin, catching just underneath her sharp jaw and it took only one swift movement to detach her skull from her cervical vertebra, killing her instantly. Returning his hands to his sides, he merely watched to see whether the old priest would catch the girl or let her collapse to the ground in a crumpled, undignified heap. "Did you get my message," he inquired cryptically as a dark smile settled across his face.