Author's Note: Hey everyone! It's Moontearz!!!! Servin' it up finger lickin' good! I'm back to give you another chappie! This one'll focus more on Jamie explaining himself to Hwoarang and Julia…and the aftermath of the hospital attack…hence, the chapter title.

An icy sleet drummed noisily outside the window of the hotel room. The four sat around the room, staring, each contemplating the latest turn of events just a mere half an hour ago. The television was on, but just for noise. The program was one of those Vh1 shows "Awesomely bad..." something, Jamie wasn't sure what it was…nor did he really care.

Julia sat on her bed, still wearing her doctor's scrubs. She had dressed her wound after Jamie had a chance to look at it. Fortunately, the vampire hadn't taken too much of her blood. Apparently, she had managed to struggle with the demon for a little bit, the creature just started biting her when Jamie and company had stormed in.

"Jamie…" Julia practically whispered. "I'm not going to turn into one of those…things am I? You're absolutely sure?"

Jamie gave Julia a weary, half smile. "Don't worry Julia, to turn into a vamp, they have to drain you completely, then have you suck on their blood. You'll be fine."

"Thank you for your help…thank you so much." Julia murmured.

"So…after all those years, Master Baek was right…" Hwoarang mused, staring off into space as he sat in a cheap armchair in the corner of the room.

"What? Baek believed in vampires?" Xiaoyu asked in disbelief.

"You'd be surprised at how superstitious the underground can be. Master Baek used to tell me about vamps all the time…I just never believed it…I…I thought that they were just stories to scare me into being a good kid…but, after tonight…damn." Hwoarang said, nervously taking a drag from his cigarette.

Jamie moved to tie his hair back in a low ponytail, and winced in pain as his hand brushed over a large scratch just above his eyebrow. As a Nephilim, Jamie was supposed to live out his life in secret…he was to tell no one what he was…not even family members. Well, Jamie didn't just break that rule…he shattered it into a million pieces with a sledge hammer.

His older brother Justin knew that Jamie was the Nephilim, although Jamie censored his brother from some of the more…unsavory qualities of the calling…such as the fact that almost every Nephilim dies a gruesome death in battle, and that to be 21 and a Nephilim is considered to be "ancient". Justin viewed his younger brother more as a Spider-Man or some other super hero.

Jamie had a core group of friends back home who knew what he was…together, they were steeped in a never ending battle with the forces of darkness …all things considered, the people closest to him had taken the news exceptionally well…however, his friends in the tournament…they had gotten close to him, and nearly died. They all sat in the room silent, each with his or her own battle wound as testament.

Finally, Jamie broke the silence.

"I'm truly sorry everyone…I never…I never meant to put any of you in danger." He murmured.

He would never admit it, but his eyes started to mist with tears…Jamie lowered his head in shame, and started to pick at the immaculate, white carpet…the silence lasted for several seconds, until he noticed Hwoarang's boots under his line of vision.

"Get up." He said brusquely.

Great! Good job making friends Jamie! I swear, next time I'll just stop bathing and become a pariah…at least then I won't put anyone in danger!

Jamie slowly stood up and stared into the hard face of Hwoarang. He gave Jamie a menacing glare that could probably make the toughest of thugs piss their pants…Jamie felt too emotionally numb to care..

"Listen; stop this little pity party that you've hosted for yourself! You are who you are and you can't help that!" Hwoarang shouted, getting in Jamie's face. "You were called to do this! You didn't choose it, it chose you, and all that shit! Big deal! You did exactly what you've been told to do! If it wasn't for you then we'd all be dead!"

"Jamie…thank you so much! If you hadn't been there…then I would've become some blood sucking…leech!" Julia exclaimed.

"There wouldn't have been anyway for me to help…I would've been walking into a death trap…they probably would've killed us all if it wasn't for you! Jamie, we can't…we couldn't hate you!" Xiaoyu said as she embraced Jamie in a hug.

Julia got up and hugged Jamie as well…while Hwoarang gave Jamie a "guy hug"

"If you tell anyone about that I'll kill you!" Hwoarang added.

Everyone laughed for a little bit, before settling down.

"It's going to be hell tomorrow! I mean, everyone who saw those vampires… how're they gonna explain it?" Julia marveled.

"Rival gangs…on PCP most likely." Jamie stated matter-of-factly.

"But Jamie, those people. They saw what happened how could they lie like that?" Xiao asked.

"Whenever something unexplainable happens to ordinary people, they tend to rationalize it, that way they don't have to face one of the worst fears of all," Jamie began.

"The feeling of the unexplainable because they don't know what's going on." Hwoarang finished.

"So, where do we go from here?" Julia questioned.

"We go on with our lives." Jamie answered simply with a shrug of his shoulders.

"But, we've gotta tell someone!" Julia argued.

"And then what Julia? No one would believe us anyway." Xiaoyu said.

"Let's just keep this to ourselves alright?" Jamie added.

"Right, but I mean, our live's'll never be the same," Hwoarang began, then glanced up at Jamie. "Master Baek told me stories about you…well, your kind…I just remembered it while we were in the hospital. He…he spoke of powerful young men, guys who were extremely capable at handling creatures from the 'other world'…I thought that those stories were just meant to make me feel special…but…wow…I mean, here you are. A real live Nephilim." Hwoarang marveled.

The four friends decided to order some Chinese food, and as they ate, they continued to chat…until Jamie happened to glance over at the clock…it read 1:30 in the morning.

"Well you guys, I guess I'd better head out…I've got a fight tomorrow, and knowing Kazuya, he'll probably put me up against another behemoth with 'roid rage." Jamie said as he stretched.

"I'm kinda tired too…" Julia stated as she yawned.

"Oh my God! It's 1:30! Holy Crap!" Xiao gasped. "I'm gonna have so much trouble getting up!"

"Oh you guys are total losers! The night's just beginning!" Hwoarang stated sarcastically. "I'm low on cash, I'll see if anyone's stupid enough to play pool with me downstairs!"

Hwoarang said as he walked out with Jamie…but not before giving Julia a light kiss. The girl's wouldn't let Jamie leave without a hug, and he was more then happy to oblige. He smiled as he closed the door and walked back to his room…despite his injuries, Jamie felt good…he wasn't completely alone during this tournament…he had friends, good friends, who would be willing to help him.

Jamie swore that he would protect them, and everyone else in this tournament from Kazuya's grasp. He opened the door to his hotel room, to see Steve pulling his shirt on.

"Hey." Jamie stated simply as he walked in.

"Hey! Heard 'bout your li'l scuffle with Marduk today." Steve said as he pulled a wife beater over his head.

"Oh?" Jamie asked.

"Heard you kicked some serious ass! Not bad for your first fight. Anyway, a bunch o' the lads are downstairs playin' pool. Wanna come?" Steve asked.

Jamie was exhausted and politely declined, saying that he had a monster headache and he was just going to crash. Steve shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"Suit yerself mate, but one o' these days I'm gonna make you party with us whether you like it or not! Seriously, you're 18! When I was your age they couldn't keep me away from th' pubs if they tried! Every night, I'd go home piss ass drunk...those're some good times." Steve finished as he reminisced.

"I'll bet." Jamie said with a smirk.

"Anyways, if you feel any better why don't you come down?"

"I think I might actually do that Steve." Jamie replied.

Steve left shortly thereafter, Jamie stripped to his boxers and climbed into bed...before he realized that he stank. So, before going to bed Jamie clambered into the shower. He let the steady stream of wonderfully warm water pound onto his aching muscles until they felt comfortably numb. Twenty minutes later, with a towel wrapped around his waist, Jamie walked out of the bathroom...and immediatly felt the stinging shock of the icy cold he was trying to avoid!

The room felt a good 40 degrees colder. Shivering, Jamie found the source of the frigidity...an open window. He walked over to the window and shut it.

"I didn't open this...and Steve hasn't been here..." He murmured to himself.

Heart thudding inside his chest, Jamie was about to put some clothes on when he noticed something glinting in the moonlight. It was embedded in the wooden headboard of the bed. Jamie turned on the light, and found the wakazashi that he had lost last night...attached to the hilt was a piece of rice paper...with a Japanese character drawn in calligraphy on the paper.

Jamie's father was in the Navy, Jamie was born in Yokosuka Japan, he lived there for the first five years of his life...he knew rudimentary Japanease...and he knew what this word meant...

"Soon."

Author's note: Yeah I know, kinda cheesy…but I think that a chappie like this one needs to be presented…with that one outta the way, it's time for another fight…and you'll never guess who it's against!!!! Who sent Jamie the strange letter? I've got some interesting twists in store and believe me! You'll love 'em!!! At least I hope you will…anyway, I luv's me some reviews! So please ::puppy dog eyes:: review! Reviews are like potato chips…you can't eat just one…