Almost an year had passed since the release of demons, and Jade was getting rather paranoid. Searching to undo that contract she had done. She had no regrets on making that deal, but it didn't make her scared. Asking Rose and hunting down other demons, she had went to search for a way to undo it. Even to the extent of killing the other demons to find it. But no.

"Jade." Rose had said. "Someone. Someone higher than normal crossroad demons is involved here. Just doing this won't do." So Jade had asked how the soul will be taken. And Rose paled at the mention of it.

"I'll just say this. Hellhounds. Look it up yourself." So Jade did. And she wasn't really happy about the result.

Then she found a lead. And she was going to go for it.

"So tell me about hellhounds." Jade asked Rose on the phone, on the phone booth in the middle of nowhere.

"Hellhounds are basically dogs from hell. Crossroad demons often have at least one at their disposal. They are meant to chase a human marked for eternity, and snatch the soul and bring it back to hell for…" Rose paused. "You know. Making you one of us." She didn't sound enthusiastic, which was a relief to Jade. Sometimes, she kept forgetting Rose was a demon. Maybe for the whole year, she had been relying on Rose too much. Was she growing weak? No. She wasn't. Rose was her friend, and she had proven that she was a valuable ally and a loyal friend, no matter what she was.

"So there is no way to stop them." Jade asked Rose again. This question was asked all the time, and yet, the answer was always the same.

"You know the answer, Jade. I gave that thing to John for the reason of dealing with demons, but that is not going to help you deal with a hellhound on your trail." Rose paused for a minute, and for a moment, Jade wondered what she was doing. Where she was. Out of curiosity. What would a demon do for a living? She never asked that question.

"You can throw it off the trail for a day. Maybe two at most. You really can't do much about them. The best you can hope is to end yourself. Gun to the head."

"And that's supposed to get my soul going elsewhere?"

"Sadly, no. Your soul is marked, and it isn't going anywhere but hell. Jade. You really have to tell John about this."

"No." Jade was very persistent about this. "The less he knows about this, the better."

"Whatever you say, Jade." She said. "Whatever you say."

"Also, Rose?"

"Yes?"

"Do demons get replacement hellhounds?"

Jade had left Bec on the parking lot, left the keys for it by John's bedside table, and hailed herself a cab. It was seven in the evening, and she looked at the setting sun. Probably the last day she was going to be alive.

"Where are you going, miss?" The cab driver asked, looking back at her.

"Somewhere far" was what Jade was going to say, but it chortled to a cough when she saw the driver's face warp into something more sinister. More… doglike, fangs and dead, white eyes staring back at her. It was gone when she blinked, and she was staring at the friendly-looking cab driver's face.

"Just drive me to the next town." She said meekly, the experience having shocked her to an extent, despite all the things she had gone through. No chance of survival. The words rang in her head.

And yet… she held a small string of hope. The last three bullets of the colt that was supposed to kill anything. Maybe it would kill the hellhound, and buy her some time.

Maybe. Just maybe.

"I would like these please." Jade said, dumping canisters of salt and spray paint onto the counter, as the lady started to check the bar code of each one of the products.

The gas station was quite empty, save for the fact that there were about two cars on the driveway. Someone was filling the gas, and the other car looked rather wrecked. The counter lady just beeped on, and Jade tapped her shoes onto the tiled pavement, looking to the right and seeing the magazines.

Would I be like those girls if I hadn't known? Jade asked herself, smiling a bit, the slight buckteeth she has popping out of her lips a bit. No. Probably not. She was never into fashion like any of the girls. She had no interest in make-up or looking great for the matter. Nor was she interested in celebrities. The only thing she remembered that she was interested before was… squiddles. Squiddles were cute. And brought along the feeling of nostalgia. Sighing, she took the paper bag that was handed to her by the counter lady, filled with the things that she had bought, and was about to go outside, back to the suitable base she had found, when she came to a halt.

"Miss?" She heard someone say. That someone was wearing a police uniform, navy, and behind him, was a police car. "May I have your identification?"

"Why?" Jade asked nonchalantly.

"Well, to begin with, you match the description from a montague of a suspect. And I would like you to come with me if you don't mind."

"How about… no." Jade said, and before he could reply, Jade pulled out a small, sawn off shotgun from her jacket, firing at the police officer.

No bullet went out, or scattered gunpowder. It was rock salt, and the police officer reacted badly to it. Burns, screams of agony.

She didn't want to waste any time. She took out the pistol and fired, and saw the bullet killing the police officer and the demon inside of him.

She had known. She had known he was a demon. She wouldn't have normally, but she did.

Salt. Check. Jade paced inside a small, abandoned farmhouse, layers and layers of salt circle encircling the farmhouse and every single threshold.

Demon traps? Check. She didn't know if it would help, but it was said to repel anything demonic in nature coming into the farmhouse, and she wasn't sure how credible or reliable they were. She was going to be alone.

Rock salt and shotgun? Check. She cocked the rifle. She hoped to slow the things down enough.

"OK. I'm ready." She looked at the clock. One hour left before the hellhound came to her.

A knock on the door, and Jade went ahead, peering through the window to find… "Rose?" She asked, opening the door for a moment, looking at her friend. But her eyes widened, covering her mouth, much to Rose's confusion.

"Jade?" Rose asked, not stepping into the house due to the obvious reason of not being able to.

"Um… Rose?" Jade asked uncertainly. "You've gotten… something on your face." It was much more than that. And Jade could tell.

So could Rose, who broke out of confusion after saying "something on my-" and touching her face. "Oh." Rose grimaced. "Well, at least you know what we look like to each other." She smiled, shrugging. "I wasn't expecting you to be this close to the Veil soon."

Jade gulped, staring at Rose with confusion, horror, and fear in her eyes. "OK. Why are you here anyways?"

"I called John. He's coming here."

Pause. Jade blinked, the fact that Rose looked different was suddenly gone, blood rising to her face. "Why did you tell him that?" Jade asked, clutching her hands into a fist.

"He's your brother, and I thought he should know."

"You promised." Jade said, a bit hurt by her friend's betrayal. If it was betrayal.

"I'm a demon, Jade. You should know as much." The tone became much more serious this time. "You don't have a chance against this thing. I told you."

"I'll deal with it. Go down fighting at least." Jade turned, leaving Rose on the doorway. "Come on, Rose. Let me-"

A snarl was heard, and Jade froze. Rose was gone. A bit of disappointment seized her heart. She wished Rose had stayed… judging by even a demon had gone hiding at the sight of a hellhound.

Jade stepped away from the threshold as a gust of wind blew, and there it was, a smoking, red-eyed dog that was snarling at her.