Ah this took a while D: I hope it's worth the wait :)

Enjoy~

As soon as I got home, I went straight to the fridge and grabbed a giant bottle of jaguar blood. It was spicy but filling, and I chugged the whole thing down in a minute. I wiped my mouth and sighed deeply, feeling the blood run in my veins and fill me with energy.

I did take a thermos with me to school, but someone had distracted me. Bart Allen was one very confusing boy. I couldn't figure him out, like I had everyone else.

Cassie was a popular, bubbly, girl with lots of friends, on her way to an excellent college.

Tim was used to getting his way, which was why he made other's lives hell; he beat up people for the fun of it.

Garfield was younger than most of the grade, and innocent as well, but he was the first to experience true love, even if it came from someone who pushed him around.

As for Bart…it was difficult for me to read him. I could tell he had a crooked sense of humor. He was nervous around me, and was a loner, from what I could tell today. He didn't know it, but I had sensed bruises on his back and arms. I assumed they were from Tim, as he seemed to beat him up every day.

It wasn't that he didn't like me; every time I looked at him, or whenever my fingers brushed against his neck, I could feel waves of confusion, nervousness, and aw radiating from him. He was always cautious around me, as if I was going to try something. Which I wasn't, of course.

Something had caused him to become wary, and afraid of human contact, and it wasn't just Tim. I couldn't read his mind. As far as I knew, my powers only stretched to reading very forceful or emotional thoughts that were broadcasted strongly.

Bart didn't seem like the type of boy to voice his feelings, I could tell. He preferred to be silent, the invisible shadow to everyone around him. I didn't see why; he was funny and nice and sweet and cute and—

I began to realize most of my thoughts felt very strongly for him. That was both good and bad: if that was true, I had found my mate. If it wasn't, I only wanted him for lust, and I felt terribly about that. So many people—both boys and girls—I had used only for their bodies.

I couldn't help it; it was one of my weaknesses. The need for sex. If I only wanted Bart for that, I would leave. Leave the school, leave the city just leave him. And that would be hard, I imagined. But it was better than using him.

My phone buzzed, and I looked at the name and smiled slightly; it was Conner. He wasn't a vampire, but my friend before I was turned into one. I never used him; it would be too weird. Picking it up and hitting 'accept,' I said, "Hey."

"Hi Jaime. Wanna hang? M'gann is out, again," his steely voice had a hint of bitterness, but I pretended not to notice it.

"Alright. I'll be at your place soon." I replied.

"See you then!" he hung up, and I grabbed a full thermos to take with me. My shoes were already on, so I walked outside, the door automatically locking when I asked it to. Apparently, I could also move around metals by just thinking about it.

I headed in the direction of Conner's house, almost running into a pale girl with wide brown eyes. I usually would just smile an apology and walk on, but I sensed overpowering waves of fear coming from her. Frowning, I watched as she hurried off, shaking. Her clothes were ripped and bits of leaves and branches were stuck in her hair.

She must have come from the forest, I reasoned. But why was she so scared? I had also noticed little claw marks on her shirt, like something had attacked her. I filed these thoughts away and concentrated on the path to Conner's house. He lived with his dad, who was always at some meeting at his work office. Conner never talked about his mom. I never felt any strong thoughts coming from him about her either, so I assumed he didn't know either.

I walked up to his dark brown house with huge windows and blue lights, and rang the doorbell. I heard barking and grinned; Wolf, his giant white dog, would probably open up the door for me. However, when the door did open, it was a tired looking Conner, his blue eyes downcast. He mumbled a greeting, sounding much worse than on the phone, and walked down the hall.

I closed the door and followed him, the bolts clicking into place after I willed them to. Barking echoed off the walls, but it wasn't a pleasant sound. Wolf sounded like he was in severe pain. I followed my friend down the hall and flight of stairs to the basement, where it was pretty dark. I wondered why the lights weren't on.

"After I called you, I noticed Wolf hadn't been home for a while. And then I went into the basement to find…" Conner swallowed thickly, and I felt sympathy for him. Other than me and M'gann (more on her later), Wolf was like his best friend. I bit my lip and looked past him to stare at the dog.

His white fur was matted with blood, leaves, and dirt. His head was bowed, and I could see one of his ears had been split open. Ragged scars were visible on his stomach, the blood still dripping heavily from them. I noticed that his injuries all had the same pattern—they were thin and delicate looking at the start, then widened out to a harsh, jagged tear. My eyebrows furrowed and I wished I could read his mind.

"Whatever did this to him was definitely not human," I told Conner, my thoughts racing as I tried to figure out what could have attacked his dog. My thoughts flashed to the scared girl, and I got an idea. Kneeling by Wolf, I slowly reached out my hand to touch his head.

He jerked back, gold eyes wide in fright, a pathetic whimper escaping his mouth. Conner looked upset, but tried to mask it with indifference as he waited for my analysis.

"I can heal him, but if he doesn't want me to, I cannot. My powers only extend to those who want them," I said softly, and my black-haired friend hung his head, sighing.

"He won't let me touch him…" he answered with a heavy heart, his lips curving into a frown.

"I think this was a werewolf." I said. His eyes widened as his gaze turned sharply on me.

"I thought they were all in Europe and Asia!" his voice cracked slightly and I knew why; M'gann, his on and off girlfriend for 3 year now, had almost been attacked by one. Of course, she thought it was just a huge wolf, but Conner knew better and came straight to me. I ad reported it to the council, and they drove the beasts out of the States.

"I thought so too, Kon." I sighed and took a swig from my thermos. Conner wrinkled his nose and muttered, "Bloodsucker," but he was grinning. I shook around the thermos, the blood sloshing loudly inside, and he put his hands up in surrender.

"Ugh! Ok, you win!" he groaned; I smirked slightly and took a long sip, relishing the way the blood mixed with mine, filling me with energy, adrenaline, and power. He noticed this, along with the change in my state of mind.

Usually I was calm. I didn't know he could sense it, but whenever my feelings or thoughts were off track, so were his, until we balance out. It wasn't like we were mates, more like bonded by friendship for life.

Conner cocked an eyebrow at me, guiding me up the stairs. I took a last look at Wolf before closing the door behind me and heading to the kitchen. He got himself an apple, and took a big bite, waiting for me to start talking.

"Conner…" I sighed wearily, elongating his name

"Jaime…" he did the same, mokingly.

"I might have found my mate!" I blurted out, way out of character. I watched how Conner's eyes lit up.

"That's great!" he answered, genuinely happy for me.

"I'm not sure yet," I admitted, resting my chin on the table. He waited patiently, as I collected my thoughts about Bart and tried to sum them up in one little sentence.

How could I? How could I explain to Conner how I loved the shade of Bart's eyes? or how his lips curved into a shy little smile whenever he looked at me. Or how I wanted to run my hand through those soft auburn locks?

I knew that there was no way I could tell Conner about Bart without sounding like a lovesick puppy.

So how did you guys like this chapter? Hopefully good! I know there wasn't much BluePulse. Next chapter, I promise ;)

~samx