Chapter 3

It wasn't long before they arrived back at the Hyperion Hotel. Angel led Jude to his own stash of blood in the fridge. He took out a beaker filled with blood and handed it to Jude. He quickly downed it in one go, grimacing and wiping his mouth when he'd drained it.

"Pig's blood," he said without much pleasure.

"Yes. It's the best I can do without resorting to..."

"Yeah, I understand. Thanks, I needed that."

"Now, we need to talk about a few things," said Angel, guiding him back into the old lobby of the hotel.

Cordelia, Fred, Gunn and Wesley were sitting around, waiting for them to return. When Angel and Jude joined them, they all sat or stood in a rough circle and said nothing for a moment.

"So, Jude," said Wesley, taking command of things, which he did more and more these days. "I hear you're a vampire with a soul."

"That's correct. I was sired in 1542 in France. In England, 1683, I was taken by some demons and used in a ritual. The end result was that I found they had returned my soul to me. They continued to use me for their own needs for the next hundred years. I was finally able to escape, but I never discovered who they were or what their purpose was. Ever since then I've been wandering around the world, looking for them, while trying to cope with having a soul, and the conscience that came with it."

They were all silent a moment, taking in his extraordinary tale.

"I've heard of prophecies of a vampire with a soul," he continued, "but I haven't paid much attention to them. I've been... preoccupied."

The gang looked at each other before Wesley tilted his head to one side, indicating a desire for them to have a chat amongst themselves, without Jude.

"Um... Jude," said Angel, "you must be feeling a bit weak after... everything, how about having a rest for a while? You're safe here."

Jude thought about it a moment before nodding his head in agreement. He still felt weak from the lack of blood. Fred led him upstairs to a vacant room and closed the door behind him. Once she had rejoined them, they huddled together for a discussion. They talked quietly, knowing how supremely good the hearing of a vampire is and not wanting him to accidentally overhear them. Angel spoke first.

"Wesley, have you came across anything in the prophecies that has ever suggested two vampires with souls?"

"No, I can't say that I have, but like I said before, you know the prophecies... But one vampire with a soul is significant enough, so you would have expected the prophecies to be clear about a second one, if there was one."

"But there's nothing to specifically say that there isn't supposed to be a second vampire with a soul, though," said Fred.

"No, that is true," agreed Wesley.

"So what do we do?" asked Gunn. "Let's just assume a moment that he really is another vamp with a soul... what do we do about it?"

"Good question," said Cordelia.

"Well if what he says is true," spoke up Wesley, "then that would probably explain his... mental problems. Who knows what those demons did to him for a hundred years. And then hundreds of subsequent years wandering around with feelings of vengeance coursing through his veins. That would be enough to unhinge anyone."

They all looked at Angel, waiting for him to say something. But he was silent, thinking about if that had have happened to him. Would he have gone mad, just like Jude apparently is? He suspected probably yes.

"If he was a simple vampire then we could just stake him," said Angel finally. "If he's a vampire with a soul, and crazy, then that makes him a danger to himself and others. But I don't think that automatically means we should stake him, just in case."

"No, I agree," said Wesley. "But I do think we should keep a close eye on him and try and find out what his plans are. But," he continued, whispering, "if he does prove to be dangerous, then I think we'll have no choice but to consider the serious possibility of... stopping him. Agreed?"

He looked around at the others, and they all either said yes or simply nodded their heads. Except for Angel. He said nothing and didn't move.

"Angel?" said Wesley, looking firmly at him.

For Angel, it was almost like finding a long-lost brother. He already felt a kinship with him, because he knew that Jude would understand the torment that being a vampire with a soul was. But if he really was dangerous...

Angel finally nodded his head in agreement. Wesley kept his attention on him a moment longer, as if trying to read his thoughts.

"That's only a last resort, though," he said, still looking at Angel, who was looking at the floor, before turning his gaze on the others. "In the mean time, though, I think we should go over the prophecies again and any other information we can find, just to see if we've missed anything."

Over the next week, they poured over every bit of information they could lay their hands on, but nowhere could they find evidence that there was supposed to be a second vampire with a soul. The nearest they could find was a possible interpretation buried deep in the prophecies. If you used your imagination then it could perhaps suggest a battle between Angel and another like him. But it didn't suggest who might win, or anything else.

During this time, Jude wasn't completely inactive, either. Apart from trading stories - mostly with Angel - he also studied the prophecies. And the more he read them, the more he became convinced that the prophecies were all about him, and not Angel. Although he kept those thoughts to himself.

*****

While the gang got no closer to finding anything concrete about whether a second vampire with a soul was supposed to exist, they couldn't help but notice how relaxed Jude became. He now pretty much appeared as sane as the rest of them. Which, admittedly, wasn't perhaps saying a lot, but at least he no longer came across as being nutty as a fruitcake. Angel was more pleased than anybody that Jude apparently wasn't truly insane. They eventually decided to have a meeting to decide, once and for all, what they should do about Jude.

"I've seen no evidence to suggest insanity in Jude," began Wesley. The others agreed with him. "In fact, he seems quite calm and relaxed. More than that, he's been showing an active interest in the prophecies and with what we've been doing."

"He's been suggesting to me that he'd like to help," said Cordelia.

"And he's been training with me," said Angel. "He's strong, shows real talent, and could be even better in time. I think he'd be a big help to us."

"With two Angel's, so to speak, we could probably help twice as many people," said Fred. Everybody turned to Gunn to hear his opinion. It was several seconds before he spoke.

"Everyone seems to agree with Jude joining us, and I don't have a problem with that. But I think we need to still be a little careful for a while. I think he should always be accompanied by someone else, at least for a while."

"I agree," said Wesley. "While he appears quite sane, I think he should be paired up with Angel for a while. Angel, would you have a problem with that?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. In fact, he liked the idea a lot.

"Right, then, that's settled. We should invite Jude to stay with us if he wants to. If he doesn't wish to, though, then I have no problem with allowing him to go his own way." He looked around at the others to see them all nodding in agreement.

But when they made the offer to him, he was only too happy to join them.

So for the next few weeks, Angel and Jude almost always went on missions together, fighting side by side. They proved to be a formidable team, with Jude's fighting skills improving by the day. But while everyone quickly accepted him as a part of the team - and he outwardly appeared quite normal - he had become convinced that there should only be one vampire with a soul, and that was him.

He spent hours a day, going through various ideas in his mind as to the best way to settle the... problem. Finally, the idea came to him: battle Angel, in front of all his friends, and when he - Jude - defeats him, they will all see that Jude was meant to be the one true vampire with a soul! It seemed the perfect idea, and he couldn't see any way it would fail. After all, he had no doubt at all that he would defeat Angel, and then his 'friends' couldn't help but agree with him that he was the True One and that Angel was the impostor. But just to be sure, he decided to disable them, just in case they were a little slow to accept Jude as the True One.

*****

Everyone noticed a change in Jude, but nobody was suspicious, least of all Angel. Jude was the happiest and most relaxed that he'd been since he'd joined them. Any lingering doubts as to his sanity quickly evaporated, even with Gunn. But that complacency was soon to be shattered.

The sun had recently set one day and Angel had just left for a simple reconnaissance mission on a suspected vampire nest. Since it was just a reconnaissance mission, there was no need for the others to accompany him. And since there was nothing else going on that night, everybody stayed back at the hotel. Jude volunteered to go and get pizza for everyone, and it wasn't long before he arrived back. Everybody shared their pizza, except for Jude, who had his own pizza. But since it had pineapple on it, nobody wanted it, anyway. He refused all offers to have a slice of their pizza, saying he was quite happy with his own.

Soon, all the pizza boxes were lying empty, except for Jude's, which only had two slices gone.

"Not hungry, Jude?" asked Gunn, leaning back and patting his stomach contentedly.

"No, I guess pineapple on pizza doesn't agree with me," he said, giving him a grim smile and carefully patting his own stomach. They laughed in response.

"That's what you get for putting weird stuff on your pizza," said Cordelia, smiling. Jude said nothing, but grinned back at her.

But their groans of satisfaction were quickly replaced by groans of pain, as they all doubled over, clutching at their stomachs. Jude sat there quietly, watching them impassively. Their groans soon ended, as they collapsed unconscious. Jude quickly went to work, tying them all up, chuckling to himself at how painfully simple it was to drug these poor fools.

When Angel returned, it was to the site of his friends sitting around completely tied up and gagged. It was then that he saw Jude sitting nearby, smiling to himself. At first, Angel assumed they'd been attacked and perhaps Jude had stepped out and interrupted them when he came back - he noticed the pizza boxes - which would explain why he was the only one not tied up. He ran over to them but stopped when he got a good look at Jude. Not only was there no sign of a fight, but the maniacal grin on Jude's face told a different story.

"Welcome back, Angel," said Jude quietly. "How was the mission? No trouble, I trust."

"What's going on?" Angel asked, mentally preparing himself for a fight but hoping that he wouldn't have to.

"Oh nothing much. I was just waiting for you to arrive back so I could prove to our fine young friends here that you're an impostor and that I'm the one true vampire with a soul." He slowly stood up and stretched as he spoke. Angel backed away to stand in the middle of the lobby.

"Jude, there's no impostor here."

"Wrong!" he roared, approaching Angel. "You're the impostor! The prophecies are all about me, not you! And when I defeat you, they," he waved a hand at the tied-up gang, "will see that I'm right!" With no more said, he rushed at Angel and the fighting began.

Wesley watched helplessly as they fought. It was savage and, unfortunately, a worryingly even contest. First Angel would be thrown violently against the wall - or through the wall - and then Jude would have the same treatment. Punches and kicks were traded, each one violent enough to kill a mortal human. During the fight, the weapons cabinet was smashed and weapons of all kinds spilled out onto the floor. They were quickly incorporated into the fighting.

But when Angel took a blow to the chest and went crashing into Wesley, they both went flying backwards onto the floor. Angel stood up, but not before 'accidentally' leaving the sword with Wesley. Angel carried on with the fighting, but Wesley quickly cut the ropes and freed himself, while Jude's attention was otherwise engaged. He did the same to the others, and they were all soon reaching for their own weapons. And not a moment too soon, as Wesley saw Jude standing over a badly hurt Angel lying on the floor. Jude held a long metal bar in his hands, poised over his head.

Gunn raised his modified crossbow, aimed it at Jude's back, and fired, just as he plunged the bar down. The bar froze inches from Angel's chest as Jude let out a cry of anguish and exploded into a puff of dust. The bar bounced harmlessly off Angel's chest and clattered onto the floor.

*****

"Okay, that's the last time I trust a vampire with a soul!" said Gunn, standing next to Angel lying on the bed in his room. The others, also standing around his bed, looked at Gunn. "Well... I mean another vampire with a soul."

The good thing about vampires is that they healed extremely quickly, but that didn't take away the terrible pain Angel would be in until the wounds did heal.

But heal he did, and with no obvious indications as to his close brush with death. Well, his second death, anyway. But the gang would never again so easily accept a stranger into their fold.

The End.