"~I hate everything about you! Why do I love you? I hate everything about you! Why do I love you?~"

Music streamed from Jade's cell phone as it rang and vibrated, moving a bit with each pulse on the counter it sat on. Jade looked over at the counter startled. Then the realization of whose ringtone it was made her nose curl upwards. She didn't want to answer it, but something pulled her towards it. She hated the feeling when she knew something was wrong. She grabbed the phone up, flipped it open and set it to her ear.

"Hello?"
There was a slight stuttering in Eric's voice, "Oh... Uh, Jade. There's a problem here and we need you. There's a Level E loose here. It's getting bad, over five humans have died in the last four days. Each kill is getting closer to home. I think it may be trying to get to Fangsta... or trying to put the blame on us."

Jade's eyes grew wide at the word 'Level E', "What?! Level E? Yer kiddin me! I'll be there in a few, K?"
"Okay. See you soon, Jade."

His use of just 'Jade' and not 'My Sweet', 'Sweetie', 'Darling', or 'Jadden' would have shocked her if she hadn't have already been launched towards her bedroom and packing before she could even shut her phone. She stuffed her phone in her back pocket as she shrugged on her leather jacket. Jade pulled out her suitcase and hurriedly threw her things in. This would be a no skirt trip. Baggy jeans, tight jeans, hip huggers, diary, ripped jeans, studded belts, panties, corsets, t-shirts, tank tops, bed clothes, old hoodie - all were thrown in. She grabbed her shaddes and put them on. She moved them to the crown of her head as she stuffed all her bathroom stuff in her suitcase. She hopped on one foot then the other as she put on her black Converses while making her way down back the hall towards the door with suitcase in hand. Shoes on, she grabbed her car keys from the key rack. She dashed into the garage and unlocked the car. She popped the trunk and threw her suitcase in. Jade slammed it suit and went around the front to open the car door and slide in.

She slid in the key and started the engine as she shut the door. She pressed the garage opener and as soon as it was open just enough, she peeled out. Jade shifted it into gear and watched only a second to see if the garage door went down. As she sped down the road, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed Mark's number and set the shades back over her eyes. Jade pulled the cell to her ear and gripped the wheel under her hand. She mumbled a 'sh*t' remembering that she forgot to write a note to Gabe before she left. Too late now. The road sped by, people shouted at her for speeding in the marketplace. The phone on the other line kept ringing as she pulled out on an unpaved road. Jade wiggled her nose and her and her car were now speeding down a lone road in Louisiana.

The answering machine picked up.
"Damnit, Markus Rosse! You pick up right now!"

He picked up, his tone a little gruff.
"Jade?"
"Oh good, Shaggy! I'm coming there to help with the Level E. Can I stay with you, bro?"
"What?... Yea. When?"
"Now. I'm on the road now heading that way."
"What?! No!" he paused, "I mean...., Not right now, alright?"
"Shaggy? What the hell's up with you?" she frowned and gripped the wheel tighter. When she heard a muffled female voice from the other end, her lips curled into that grin. He didn't have to say anymore.
"I uh..."
"You don't have to say anything else. Jus dun let her go through my sh*t, K?" she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Okay," his tone lowered a bit, "Thanks, sis. Really."
That made her mumble a laugh, "You're welcome, bro," her tone grew serious then, "Just know I'm not going to stay with Eric for long. I'm giving you a night to be with this new girl. I know you understand that."
"Yea yea. I do, J."
"Good. Love ya, Shaggy," a grin crossed her lips, "Bow chica wow wow."

She heard his chuckle as she shut the phone. Smiling still, she mumbled 'that boy' until she realized she had to turn the other way towards Shiverport. She had to stay with him. Jade whipped the Mustang around and flipped open her cell again. She fumbled with the buttons and finally dialed his number.

First ring he picked up.
"Something wrong, Jade?"
She sighed at that.
"No, Mark's busy. I need a place to stay for the day tomorrow," grumble, "Can I stay with you? You know how I hate staying in hotels and all that crap."
She could almost hear the smile in his voice, "Did you have to ask? Of course you can stay here."
"Don't be an arse about it. It's only for this one night, just enough time for you to tell me what the hell is going on. Okay?"
"Okay, Jade. I understand."
"Good. See you in a bit. Are you at yer house or Fangsta?"
"Do you really think I'd have the club open at a time like this?"
"No, that wouldn't be smart. K, I'll be right over."

she shut the phone again and slipped it back into her back pocket. Her brows furrowed and she slammed her hands on the wheel with a grunt.
"Damn you, Shaggy!"

"It's a thin chance, but its still a chance. When a few more bodies started collecting, I decided that Section 5 needed to do something about this. So I called you since I still consider you part of Section 5. And I knew you wouldn't let this happen without you standing ground," he gave a nod to that.

She nodded back, "You're right. So who makes up the team?"
"You, Mark, Pam, Bill, Shadwen, and me."
"All those?"
"Just in case."
"Ah, smart."
He smiled, "Just thinking ahead."
"So you really think it could be a old schooler?"
"Well, yes and no. The way things were was weird. Like they used brute force to over power the victim... But you could tell that there was stelth involved. Every other victim besides the hunter and the dark alley were close to people. All they had to do was scream."
"Sh*t. Are we sure this is the same vampire?"
"Yes, the wounds and bites are all the same."
"Damnit, maybe it's just a smart newborn. Some are created with more skill than others," she slipped off the bed and went to her suitcase unzipping it.
"We can only hope," he said watching her rummage through her clothes.

She threw a shirt at him, "Put a shirt on, boy! I'm tired of looking at yer chest!" A smile lit up Jade's face.

Of course the shirt was ten sizes too small and that roused a chuckle from him. He pulled it on with great trouble. Eric could barely move in fear that he would rip the poor thing. And it was fitting that the shirt was a tickle me pink color. Jade snorted watching him. The shirt didn't even come to his tummy. Eric spun around once and faced her grinning ear to ear.
"How does it look on me?" he beamed.
She made her way over to him giggling, "I think you should take it off."

He went to raise up his arms but thought better of it, for the poor shirt's sake, "I don't think I can."
"Oh yes you can. Lemme help," she slowly pulled up his shirt by the hem. When the shirt got to his mid chest she nudged his shoulder, "Now slowly raise yer arms."

Eric did as he was told, ever so slowly raising his arms carefully. When his arms were over his head she pulled up more, bunching the shirt at his biceps. She looped her index fingers under each sleeve to relieve tension and guided the shirt off until his blonde head popped out. His flesh burned under her touch. His face was lit up as he stared down at her. Usual cold icy blue eyes now seemed to be melted.

"Thank you, Jade."
"No prob," she smiled awkwardly. She turned around and started for the bed. Jade wiggled her nose and she was in her old Guns N Roses tank top and flannel sleep pants. She plopped back onto the bed, looking away from him.
He paced a bit, going to the closet and shut off the light, "You seem happier today."
"I do?" she looked at him and smiled, "I guess so. I'm getting all my stuff together."
"Good. How is my Claira?"
She'd let his little slip pass, "Fine, I suppose. Michale's had her a while, so I don't really see her that much."

"Michale is the father she speaks of?" he asked as he sat at the edge of the bed.
"Yes. I thought since I had kept her for so long that it was only fair that he should keep her a while," she smiled sadly, "I didn't know he'd keep her this long."

He moved fluidly to lay beside her, "I'm sure you'll see her soon," he paused just a short second to tuck a loose strand of her hair in her face behind her ear, "How is Gabe?"
She smiled a bit at the name, "Just fine now. Everything is perfect."
"Really?" his expression was perplexed, "You were having so much problems the last time I seen you."
"Everything has changed. He made up his mind and he chose me."
"That's nice," his smile was saddened, "So you are happy and in love. Why I do I get some under lying pain about it?" He poked her chest where her heart shoul be.
No point lying to him, "I found out that he was engaged... to another girl other than the one I was worried about."
His eyes narrowed at her, "What?"

She looked away from those eyes, "Yea. There was a lot of fighting... I don't really want to talk about it. But he chose me and that's all that matters."
Eric sighed at that, "Jadden, when will you ever learn?"

Jade hissed a bit at the use of 'Jadden', "I love him. What do you expect?"
"One can only guess with you Jade."
She smiled at that as she turned on her side away from him, "Just remember your boundries."
"I am," his hand lingered in her hair, toying with a lock of black hair.
"You never have before."
Eric grinned, "Oh yes I have. I just don't like to stay within those lines."
Jade smirked, "You never do change, Eric."
He held himself up on his elbow, "How am I blessed with your tolerance of me this evening?"
She frowned a tad, "I guess I'm tired of hating. I've hated you for over eight years... I'm trying to complete myself... I don't want to hate anymore. I want to call you a friend," she paused and gave a small laugh, "Though that means I'll have to give you a new ringtone on my phone."
A quiet chuckle emitted from him, "That's nice, I have my own ringtone." he moved the hand in her hair to her hip, pulling her closer to him, "But I am very pleased that you don't hate me anymore."

She sighed as she was moved closer to him. So close in fact that she was nestled inbetween every curve of him. And the hand on her hip didn't help either, "Yer blurring the boundry lines again."
Another quiet chuckle came from him, "I know what I'm doing. I'm not trying to get you to do anything, though I wouldn't fight you off if you tried," he paused, "Actually, I would. I know how you love Gabe. But do you really think that I wouldn't touch you, draw you close to me while I had the chance? You know me better than that." He set his head in the nape of her neck.

That made her eyes grow wide, that he would stop her if she ever tried anything, "Eric, I have a new respect for you."
"Because I would deny you? Now matter how much I wanted you? Yes, I think that earns some sort of respect," he nuzzled the nape of her neck, brushing his lips against her skin.
"I'm glad we have an understanding."

They both yawned at the same time. They knew dawn was coming soon. Erin moved Jade just enough to pull the sheet and comforter down and around them. Jade turned over to look at him.

"Aren't you going to go in your bedroom? I remember how you hated this room."
"I didn't hate it, though I hate it now because it reminds me of you. I just liked my room better. But no, I would like to sleep with you today."
Those crimson lips curled into a smile, "Okay. But jus dun let that thang in yer pants poke me."
There was a groggy chuckle from him, "Trust me, I'm thinking of ponies at the moment," he sighed and ran his index finger down her jaw, "Are you sure you don't want to stay with me this week."
She frowned, "Yes, I have to. I can't be trusted with you." She set her head on his bare chest.
"Fair enough," he moved his hand to the small of her back, "Just sleep well today. We have a big week ahead of us."

She mumbled an 'Alright' as he started to hum an old unknown tune to her. Soon they were both .... dead, asleep.