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Scud tossed his head back to flick up his welding helmet as he knelt on top of his van's roof. He brought his joint to his lips and touched the flame of his welding torch to the end of the herb stick and inhaled deeply the second it was light. He hitched his head forward, locking the helmet back into place before he started back on his work. He was welding more UV light fixtures to the front of his van and the sides.
" Hey, Shit Brick!" Whistler called out. Scud looked up from his spot as the old man made his way towards him. " Your girlfriend's here." With his free hand, Scud yanked his helmet up and cut the fuel to the flame. Walking up behind Whistler was Jessa and she was smiling at him.
" How did you find me? I didn't think you were paying attention last night." He said.
" You gave me your blood so you called out to me. I can find you anywhere now." She said. Scud's eyebrows went up as he drew hard on his joint. She laughed before saying, " I paid attention." She said. Scud shook his head but smiled, bring the joint back down and flicking out the ashes. " I can't believe you left like that. I was disappointed."
" Don't be upset." Whistler chimed in. " I doubt you are the first young lady he has left disappointed."
" Hey, don't you have some work you should be doing?" Scud snapped.
" Think I'd rather watch this." Whistler muttered as he roamed away.
Scud set down his torch down onto roof of his van, yanked his helmet off then sat down flat. He stretched his legs out down his windshield and brought his joint to his mouth again as he watched her finishing making her way to him. Scud inhaled his joint then brought it down and tilted his head up to exhale. Jessa didn't stop walking until she reached his van. She crossed her arms over the hood and leaned forward.
" So I need to say I'm sorry." She said.
" For?" Scud asked with smoke curling around his head.
" I used my sexually to try and get my way, to get something I want and that wasn't right. I know what you want to sleep with me and I tried to use that against you." Jessa said. Scud crossed his right ankle over his left one and inhaled again. " I want to thank you for not taking advantage of that because you so could have." He exhaled slowly, never taking his eyes from her face. " And I have had time to think about things and I still want to help. I understand the risks involved. I understand that if the vampires know that I'm helping you guys that they might come after me but you guys have managed to stay safe here so I trust that I will be safe too." Again Scud inhaled. Patiently Jessa waited until he was finished. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. She couldn't help but smile as he began to blow out smoke rings.
" Well, Babe, you got something wrong." He said when he was finished.
" And what's that?" She asked. He brought his head back down to look at her again.
" You said that I want to sleep with you and didn't say anything about you wanting me and I think we both know you do. I mean, how could you not?" Scud grinned as he held his hands out to his sides, making her laugh and stand up straight. She crossed her arms over her chest.
" So, are you going to let me help or not?" Jessa asked.
" It's not up to me." Scud said.
He dropped his hands to van and started to push himself down the windshield. He hit the hood of his van and slid down it to her. He opened his legs open so that when he reached her, she was standing between them. Scud reached out and grabbed her arms. She laughed as she let him pull her close to him and place her hands on his thighs, forcing her to lean down. He kept a hold of her wrists.
" Who's it up too?" Jessa asked.
" Me." Came the deep, baritone voice from behind her. Jessa's smile faded as she paled. Scud's eyes shifted behind her to look at Blade.
" Hey B." He said, looking back at Jessa.
" He's a vampire?" She whispered. Her hands went into fists, curling up the fabric of his pants into them.
" He's a good guy, Babe. Chill out." Scud whispered. She seem to be gathering herself together by breathing slowly. She let go of him and slowly turned around to face the man who had made her faint before. " So B, this is Jessa. She's a friend of mine." Jessa felt Scud take a hold of her hips and tug her back. She let him make her lean back against the grill of the van. His arms circled her shoulders and his chin came to rest against her right shoulder. " She wants to help us." Jessa's hands came back to his legs. She took a hold of him again, taking comfort in having her little stoner so close to her.
" Oh I see." Blade said, linking his hands together behind his back. " You think that because you got attacked you can take the big, bad vampires on." Scud felt Jessa stiffen up. He turned his face towards her so he could whisper into her ear.
" Don't panic, Babe. B's not going to hurt you." He whispered to calm her.
" I'm not panicking." Jessa said, staring hard at Blade. " Let me guess. You think I can't help because I'm a female."
" No. I think you can't help because you couldn't face off against me without fainting. What do you think you will do when one of them comes for you again? I don't think you can help because you can't talk to me without clinging to Scud." Blade asked. Jessa pulled away from Scud to stand up straight right away.
" I'm stronger than you are giving me credit for." Jessa said.
" Is that so?" Blade asked. " Let's just see about that. Come with me." Blade turned and started walking away without looking to see if Jessa was following him. She glanced over at Scud as he hopped down from the van hood with a sigh. She looked back towards the direction the Daywalker was walking and started after him.
" Whoa, Babe, wait up." Scud said, hurrying up with her. He threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her against him. " B's a good guy. He comes off rough but he's alright. He saved my ass."
" Where are we going?" She asked him.
" I don't know." Scud admitted.
The couple followed Blade through the warehouse and over to the door that lead to the room that Whistler had been kept in when they first found him. The difference in the room was that the shutters opened when Whistler was there and this time, Blade had told Scud to cut the power to the shutters, without telling Scud why. Scud tensed right away, making Jessa look up at him before back at Blade who had stopped at the door.
" I have a test for you." Blade said, pinning Jessa with his deep brown eyes.
" What kind of test?" Jessa asked, stepping out from under Scud's arm. Blade reached behind him and pulled out a flashlight. He clicked it on then flashed his hand in front of the light stream.
" UV rays." Blade said. Dread sank down and settled into Scud's stomach.
" B, come on, Man. You can't do this." He said, knowing what Blade had planned. Blade grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. Jessa frowned as she looked into the darkness. Blade handed over the flashlight to her.
" Take it and walk in." He said.
" What's in there?" Jessa asked.
" B." Scud said.
" Go." Blade said.
Jessa steeled herself and reached out to take the light. She felt Scud take a hold of her arm but she stepped out his grasp and shined the light into the room slowly. The UV ray slid along the floor until it hit a pair of shoes. Jessa took a slow step forward as the light continued to travel up a set of legs. She held her breath and tried to swallow, taking more slow steps. Higher up the light moved, showing her a chest. Behind her, Jessa could hear Scud talking but she continued to move. Then the light hit a face. A face that started to smoke and a mouth that screamed.
" Turn it off! Please!" The man screamed as he struggled against his bindings. On impulse, Jessa spun the light away from the man. It was the man who attacked her.
" Can you kill him?" Blade said, coming up to her left side. As Jessa stared at the man still, she felt fingers brush against the back of her right arm and knew it was Scud.
" B. Come on." She heard him say again. " She doesn't need to do this."
" Take that anger you are feeling towards him and channel it. Turn it back onto them. Take control of yourself." Blade said. " Because this life has no room for weakness." Jessa started to raise her arm up again, letting the light begin to find it's way to the man's face.
" Not a man." She whispered.
" Jessa." Scud said. " You don't have to do this."
" Yes, you do." Blade said. He turned towards her and stared her down as she stared at the vampire.
" I'm sorry!" The man screamed. She flicked the light over to one of his hands, watching as it started to burn.
" He's not sorry." Blade said.
" Jess, Babe." Scud said.
" Why did you attack me?" Jessa asked, moving the light away from the vampire again.
" I was hungry! I'm sorry! I didn't...it wasn't my idea..." He screamed.
" Yes, it was. He didn't care about you. None of them do. If I let him out right now he will attack you again. He will drain you without a thought about your life." Blade said. " This is what lurks in the dark, These things that look like men and women. Can you kill them? Can you do what needs to be done without pausing? Because you pause, you die." Blade said.
" I don't..." Jessa started. Could she? Could she kill a man or a woman? No, they aren't men and women. They aren't humans. Humans don't burn when UV rays hit them. She brought the light to his face again, vaguely registering that Scud's fingers had slipped from her skin.
" You shine that light on him until he burns." Blade ordered. " You kill them before they kill you."
The man, the vampire, screamed and twisted as the light burned at his face. He kicked his legs and yanked at the binds at his wrists. His head whipped from one side to the other. Smoke rose from him as his skin started to flake and turn to ash. Blade stared down at Jessa as she stared the vampire. He didn't like taking on strays but he took in Scud and that had worked out in his favor, maybe the stoner's little girlfriend would work. The expression on her face was hard and set. She could do this.
The vampire threw it's head back and let out a screamed that startled her. Jessa jumped but kept the light steady. Tears sprung to her eyes as her chin trembled. Why should she care about this creature? He hadn't cared about her. He hadn't cared about her life when he cut into her and started to drain her life force away from her.
" Don't stop." Blade coached, almost gently. " They will come for you again because vampires never leave a loose end and you are a loose end. His master, his hive, they will know he fucked up and didn't kill you."
As the vampire burned and screamed, as he continued to flake away and turn to ash, Jessa watched. Scud shook his head and started to bite at his left thumb. Jessa wasn't moving, Blade was staring at her. Then there was silence. The ash pile that had been her attacker sprinkled across the floor. Jessa closed her eyes and lowered her arm down.
" She still wants to be apart of this, check her for glyphs." Blade said.
" She's not a familiar, B. I have seen her mostly naked." Scud comment quietly.
" Seeing her mostly naked is not like seeing her naked." Blade said, moving to start through the room. " So either you check her or I will." Scud sighed as Blade finally left the room.
" Josh." Jessa said, turning around. Scud was standing to the side, still chewing on his thumb as he looked back at her. " What's...what's a familiar?" Scud dropped his hand and faced her fully.
" A familiar is a human who helps the vampires." He said.
" Why would anyone want to help them?" Jessa asked.
" For lots of different reasons." Scud said quietly as he walked over to her. " Protection from other suck heads. The vamp will put a mark on their human, the glyph, that tells vamps who they belong too. Some humans think they will take over and want to be kept safe when that happens. Some suck heads will turn their familiars, make them vampires."
" I would rather die then become one of them." Jessa snapped.
" You almost did, Babe." Scud reached out and took a hold of her hand. He pried the flashlight away from her and tossed it away.
" Can we go to your room? If you need to check me over marks I'd rather do it in private." She said.
