So there Jade and Mini Jade, Claira, sat on the couch in the late evening. Jade stroked her daughter's hair as they watched TV together, awaiting the man of the house with freshly hunted food. When we say "hunted", we actually mean "picked up at the nearest family owned burger joint". Dakota just liked to tease Jade with the word. Lo-and-behold, the devil waltzed in with that crooked grin of his... as the phone rang.

"Honey, I'm home!" Dakota jokingly announced as he made his way through the house and into the kitchen to set down the bags in his hands.

"Babe!" Jade gave him her sparkly smile as she dove for the cordless phone at the end table nearest to the couch.

"Daddy! Yous gots my grilled cheese, riiiight?!" Claira piped up, poking her head up over the couch to look at Dakota in the kitchen.

"Yes, ma'am. Right 'ere," he said while digging through plasic bags with the words 'Thank you' on them. He held up a to-go box with a small shake of it, "Come an' get it."

Jade smiled as her daughter bounced off the couch to the kitchen. She finally hit the 'speak' button and spoke into the phone before the answering machine picked up, "Heeeeeello?"

"Uh, hey, Jadden," A hesitated voice crackled over the other end.

"Uh, hey, yourself," a small sigh, "What's up... this time?"

"Well, are you in a place we can talk about... things?"
"What kinda things?"
"Section 5. Werewolves are being... problematic."
"Goddamnit, who did you piss off this time?"
"Well, no one for a few hours."
"Congrats, now what the the hell happened?"

"Daddy, I think she's talking to Mister Eric..." Claira coo'd as she leaned on the doorframe of the kitchen, hands filled with grilled cheese. Munch.

"How can ya tell, darlin'?" Dakota asked from the kitchen's island. He had already started into his mountain of a manly sandwich.

"She always has the same tone, sometime or another when she's talkin' to him," she said with another bite.

"What'd that tone be, sweetie?"

"I wanna hurt chu," she put it simply with a affirmative nod.

Dakota could only laugh at the truth in this. He laughed even more when he heard she was right.

"They want what?! No way in hell I heard that one right, Eric," Jade's bright green eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she listened to him.

She took to standing on that note and made her way to the stairs so she could talk to him in private. On her way, she heard Dakota yell a "Yer food's gonna get cold" and she retorted with "I know, I'll zap it".

As she got up the stairs, Eric went on, "Yea, you heard me right - much to my dismay. The pack leader wants his mate to... mate with me."

"But dear God, that's not right!"
"You're telling me..."
"They do know you can't .... reproduce, right?" Jade gave a thought about that, how there are a few vampires that could reproduce. Those lucky bastards. But she did know for a fact that Eric was not one of them.

"Yes, they do... but," she could even hear the small shuddering in his voice, "they have ways to make it work."

"What? How?" She asked as she hopped onto her and Dakota's bed.

"Spells, rituals, incantations, potions. The whold nine yards."
"Would any of it work?"
"I've talked to Pam with this and she is for certain it would. There's documented proof."
"Well, sheet. Why you?" Another no-brainer. He was drop-dead, no pun intended, gorgous.
"I have attributes the pack leader desires. Skills that would help the pack greatly in the future. And a natural born lycan is a high rarity. Benefits all around."
"They can't make you go through with it... can they? You can't even stand werewolves."
"No, I can't. They can't make me, of course, but they made the point of making it clear that I have no choice."
"But you've still said no, am I right?"
"Of course."
"What does the Queen say?"
"Werewolves are out of the boundry lines. She can't do anything about it because they haven't came out yet, and also because a case such as thing does not threaten a all out war against our kind."
"Says she. They plan for chaos until they have your damn sperm, don't they?"
"You could say that," even he had to give a small chuckle at her words.

"What threats have been made already?"
"Fangsta has been vandalized, Bill's house was been raided, Pam's tires have been slashed, and oh... I've been beaten."
"You leave that one for last? Jesus Christ, Eric! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Relatively unimportant to the bigger situation."
"Actually, you are the situation. Hate to break the news to ya."
"I'm thinking outside the box. I'm thinking of the riots at hand. Jadden, even if I didn't dispise of werewolves, I would still say no. We can't have a natural born lycan in our mists. That... would be bad to say the least. Anyway you have it, this fight is going to happen."
"And so you need me?"
"Need? Have to have you. We're down a major asset. Plus, you're still Section 5."
"Damnit, you couldn't let me have my marital bliss, could you?"
"Did you honestly think that I would?"
"Not at all," sigh, "When?"
"As soon as you can."
"Give me a day or so to break it to the fam, kay?"
"Thank you, Jadden. You will be paid greatly."
"Yea yea, work as usual. Good-bye, Eric."

There was a click of the phone and she set it down on the bed. Another small sigh was given out.

"Break what to the family?" Dakota asked quietly as he pushed the bedroom door open with one hand, plate holding a extremely rare burger in the other.

Well, there went her time to think.

Today was just like any other in her cell, hunger gnawing at her insides. Her dim jade hues mulled over her watchmen. They seemed to have a electric vibration about them. Never a good sign when she's at the bad end of the stick.

"Must be a full moon," she muttered outloud. Things often slipped out more and more. She wasn't quite sure if she had a mind of her own anymore.

A young one of the watchmen preened, "Why, yes it is!"

Slow laughter started around her by the capters. Synyster laughter. She had gotten used to it. They hated her; she hated them. The end.

"Ya guys have a bad sense of humor. I found nothin' funny 'bout that," her voice was so grave the laughter slowly stopped. She eyed her surroundings and noticed something was off. Different. They must have moved her when she slipped under. "So, where am I this time?"

The younger one was all full of talk today. Must be because she was going to be a rag doll to him in a few hours, "On the border of Kentucky."

"Ahh, I see," she made a face as she looked over herself. She was dirty. She couldn't remember her last shower, nor the last time she changed her clothes. Jade didn't smell because vampires didn't sweat in the way humans did, but she was just plain dirty.

A huff formed, "Does this place have a shower... an' a washer an' drier?"

"We're not allowed to give you those luxeries," the youngest piped up.

"Well, damnit, ya wouldn't even treat a dog like this!" Jade said as she slammed her palms to the concrete floor beneath her. But a giddy laugh started from her, "Oh wait! Ya guys are dogs!"

A growl came from each of her watchmen's throats. She just rolled her eyes at them.

"Oh shut it, Sparkies."

"You stupid vampire Bi--" She cut off the older gruffer man.
"No no, I'm not one of yer female dogs. All I'm sayin' is if it weren't fer my vampire status, you'd treat any other prisoner better than this. Am I right?"

There were a few noises and sounds, but not a clear yes or no. She took that as a yes anyway.

"See. Now that fact is out of the way, let's get down to business," she leaned forward from her sitting position in the back of the cell. She even crawled forward to sit in the middle of the cell.

"We don't want any business with you, vampire."
"Oh cut the sheet. Listen to me. And I have a name, by the way. It's 'Jade', not 'vampire'." Huff, "Anyway, answer me one question though. Does this place have a shower an' a washer an' drier?"

"But we..."
"Shush, just answer."
"Yea..."
"Okay! We're in business!" She rubbed her hands together, "All I want is to be clean an' have clean clothes, that's all I want right now."

"No way, you'll break for it."
"Are you even listenin' ta me? I'm not done yet. Kay, ya guys know I'm weak an' my powers are bound. Jus' take me down ta where the showers are. Cuff me, watch me. I don't care. Jus' give me a bar of soap, shampoo, an' conditioner. While I'm doin' that, one of ya can take my clothes an' get 'em cleaned. Sound good?"

They looked about themselves and the most they did was shrug.

"Oh come on!" She lurched and grabbed onto the cell's bars. "This is all I'm askin' for! Besides the blood that you rarely give me, I've asked fer nothin'. This'll take at most an hour, an hour ta waste. An hour less ya have to wait to gnaw on me."

They mulled this over with more enthusiasm. They finally all nodded to each other.
"Fine," the gruff one spoke, "but first let someone get you shampoo and the likes. And take off your clothes so we can take them to be cleaned."

Greedy eyes were on her now. Even the youngest had a hard time leaving once he was sent away to gather her needs. She honestly didn't care at the moment as she took to stripping herself. Jade hadn't really looked over the state of her clothing before now as she took them off. Her shoes were missing. Her jeans were caked in dirt and blood, her own or another she couldn't tell. There were also more torn than she thought they were. Her tank top had bite marks, but nothing major. Most inflictions were to her arms, legs, and face. Speaking of face, she couldn't remember seeing herself in God knows when. She also remembered hacing a jacket on at one time, but she guessed that had turned up missing as well.

She stood there, naked, and kicked her clothes to the bars, "There."

A short one of the group reached through the bars slowly to get the dirty wad of clothes. As the last of the clothes were scooped up, Jade let out a 'boo' to startle the man. He gave a small jump, but a snarl freed itself from his throat. She just gave a smug look. He narrowed his eyes at her and turned to walk out of the room.

The gruff one pulled a set of keys out from his pocket and put a key into the cell's lock. She studied that key, picking it out from the rest.

With a click of the lock, signalling it as unlocked, Jade held her hands out by the wrists so they could cuff her, "Let's get this show on the road, kay?"

After Jade had drained each of the seven watchmen's bodies before death had fully consumed them, she stepped back under the still running shower head to rinse off the blood that had collected on her. See, there was a method to her madness. Thus was another reason she left the water running. Jade rinsed off the best she could without having to take the whole shower again.

She twisted the water off and turned to pad out of the room in search of the lundry room, blood murked footprints following in her wake. She stood in silence for a moment to listen to the sounds of the station. Soon enough she heard the clatter of the metal buttons of her jeans rattling in the drier a few rooms from her. She slipped into the room and went right for the drier. Jade opened it up and checked the state of her clothes. Bra, panties, and tank top were basically dry, but the jeans were still damp. She sighed and heaved out the dry clothes and left the jeans in for a few more spins.

She grabbed a misplaced towel, seeing as the one they had given her was now totally soiled in blood. Jade dried herself the most she could without being in the drier herself. She slipped on her panties, bra, and nearly demolished tank top.

Jade took to leaning on the drier, towel up tp her half soaked hair, when she heard footsteps. Well, sheet, she hadn't thought this out further. She listened closer. Fretting heartbeat, light slow steps, and fleeting breathes; she knew who it was. The youngest. The one she sent away. She had nearly forgotten about him in all the excitement.

Sam's footsteps stopped beside the doorway to where Jade was. She could tell he was trying to make up his mind by the way his heart was pounding.

He glanced up the hallway to her bloody footsteps without looking at her at all, "Are... they... Did you kill them all?"

He looked at her then, waiting for a reply, slowly backing away from the door. She nodded once, giving a grave look. There was no use lying, for if he didn't check himself, his heightened senses could tell him otherwise.

Sam let out a loud gulp before speaking again, "Are you... going to kill me as well?"

"No," the drier's buzzer went off and she opened it. Jade pulled out the ratty pair off jeans and flipped them out a few times. "You're too young and you have done nothin' ta me." With that, she pulled on the jeans. She contorted as she looked the pants over.

The boy blinked several times as he was sure of his own death. He let out a long sigh of relief and begun to shake.

Jade had took to drying her hair more and brushing it with her fingers. Her face again contorted with the thought of how her hair would look as it would air dry. Sigh. She looked at the boy, "You wouldn't happen to have a ponytail holder would ya?" She fanned off the notion, "Eh, nevermind."

Sam had stepped into the doorframe meekly, "Um, no. But... what were you planning on doing after... this?"

"Jus' walkin' out an' callin' fer a ride. Somethin' like that. May burn it down, this place. No need fer the cops to be on my tailend, yanno?" She shrugged and hopped onto the drier to sit.

He bit his lower lip, "What about me?"

"What about ya? You're free ta go. You ain't my slave," she made a sever face at that, "Go back home."

"I ... don't have one... now. You... killed the only family I knew," he just simply looked to the floor and slumped on the doorway.

"Oh..." Jade uttered, "What about yer momma and daddy?"

"Never knew 'em. The pack took me away before I could remember," Sam slid down the doorframe to sit on the floor. He didn't seem to be sad or anything, just thinking heavily.

"Well, what about the rest of the pack?"
"I don't wanna go back to them."

She mulled this over in her head, "How old are ya?"
"Thirteen, ma'am."

"I'll cut cha a deal, you help me look more presentable an' set this place up in flames an' I say I coulf get cha a better home?" Her brows went up, and she held out her hand to the boy, "Hm?"

He looked up with a small sparkle in his eye, "Could you really?"

"Yep," She nodded, hand still out, "See, in New Orleans, they have a home for misfit and abandoned supe kids such as ya. It's really a nice place."

Sam stood and got closer to her, "Supe?"

Jade gave a small laugh, lowering her hand, "Supes. Supernaturals. Like you an' me. Like a lot o' other things. The things humans dun know about but have their ideas about."

"Oh!" Sam reached out for her hand and shook it lightly then released it quickly, "That'd be great!"

She let off a big smile, "Good deal!" She gave a clap then jumped off the drier. "What's first, clothes or the burnin'?"

"They got any cars 'round here?" Jade said as she made her way down the hall with Sam.

"Um, they have the cop cars... and the van we took you here in," He said while following close by.

"Big pedo van will do. Know where the keys are?"
"Yep, I'll go get 'em!"

Sam ran off, careful of the fuel everywhere and came back a few minutes later with the keys. They headed around the back and stopped only for Jade to pull out the book of matches. She struck one and set it ablaze. She put it with the rest of the book and threw it into a small puddle of fuel. Soon, the fire started to fill every angle of the station. At that, they slipped out the back into the dark.

They found the van quickly, hopped in, and drove off slowly as to not draw attention. When they were a good distance away, she pulled over. She tapped on the steering wheel a bit nervously. Jade checked the time on the radio. "8:13 pm" it read. Another short sigh. If they found her in four hours, that would mean it would be around midnight. Enough time for Eric and whoever else he brought with to find a place to stay before the sun came up. Tap tap tap, against the steering wheel.

Sam looked over at her, yawned, then spoke, "What're ya thinking about?"

"Oh!" She snapped out of her daze, "My friends aren't like me. They can't be out in the sun. So, we vampires havta think of the time frames for long trips, always. One miscount and you're toast. literally."

"Ohhhh, I see."
"I'm thinkin' we could jus' meet 'em half way to save time... and save us four hours o' waitin'."
"Seems like a good idea, if you think it is..."

She nodded then opened the open cell phone once again. Thankfully, she pulled over into a backroad so no one would really pay attention to some dinged up van. After she dialed, it took two rings for him to pick up.
"Jadden?"
"Yes. Hey, where are you guys?"
"Not a worry, we're on our way."
"Well, you see, this van I'm in has nearly a full tank of gas.. And we were plannin' on meeting you half way."
"Do you even know which way is half way?"
"Uh, no. But that's where you come inta help."
There was a heavy sigh, but an almost unnoticable laugh, "Hold on, let me look it up. Where are you now?"
"We're in the next town over, going west."

With that recorded, he put it into his fancy GPS. After a moment, he rattled off directions that would lead her just into Tennessee. All this she wrote down on her arm, seeing as Sam found a pen but no paper.

"Now when you get there pull into a Race-way gas station."
"Nah, first I'll pull in somewhere close by, leave the van there, then walk to the gas station."
"Good thinking."
"So it'd be about, what, ten when we get there?"
"Sounds right."
"Race ya there!"
"I don't think so!"
"Buh bye now!"

She shut the phone before he could protest. Jade pulled out and found the right direction. After finding the right highway, she and Sam started talking, and she even clicked on the radio. Soft rock would do.

During their two hour ride, she found out about how the weres took over the station. Sam told her that with a lot of money, the weres talked the police force into letting them use the station for a few days. It was such a small town, no one would really notice since crime wasn't a big issue. The cops did their "rounds" in their cars as they usually did, just didn't bring people in. Jade couldn't really wrap her mind around that, but the again they were holding her captive in that station. And they probably use more money then those cops have ever seen to buy it out for a while.

About an hour into the ride, Sam had to pee. He hadn't gone in she didn't know how long. She nearly forgot that weres even had to go. So, Jade pulled into a gas station and handed him the ten dollar bill.

"Get anything you want from in there. Jus' dun go over ten 'cause I dun have anymore," She gave a motherly scolding nod.

He blinked, slowly taking the bill, "Really? Do you want anything?"

"Hmmm..." She tapped her chin in thought, "Ohhh! A strawberry Crush!"

He looked back at her as he opened the door, "Is it 'cause it's red?"

"Nooo, Silly!" She flicked Sam's ear, "I just like strawberries."

He laughed and hurried inside. Jade smiled and leaned back into her seat. She tapped on the steering wheel once again, only to the music. A cop car pulled in next to her. Her jade hues widened, but she fretted not. Two cops piled out of the car. One looked at her, but she only gave a smile and a small wave. He gave a wave back, and the two went ito the gas station. Just getting a donut and some coffee, she thought. She shut her eyes and gave a long sigh of relief. About that time, Sam hopped into the van, arms full of candy, chips, and two drinks.

"Jade! The cops!" Sam said in a rushed whisper as he put the drinks in the cup holders.

"No worries. There were probably getting so donuts. I wave to one, and he waved back all friendly like. Unless they start ridin' us, we dun have a problem. Did they talk to you?"
"Well, one just asked me why I was getting all this stuff for myself."
"What'd you say?"
" 'Just on a roadtrip, sir. I just need snacks to munch on.' "
"Good boy. Friendly talk. Now let's go, kay?"

They pulled out, and for the next fifteen minutes Sam demolished his food. With a loud burp, he announced he was finished. Jade couldn't help but laugh. He was a growing boy after all. And a growing were none-the-less. Growing boys need to eat, no matter what they are.

The next hour was easy riding. Sam dosed and Jade drove. Then she saw the Race-way. She looked at the road around her. Other places to stop were a motel, another gas station, and a McDonald's. It was 10:30, so the small highway pull off was still alive. She chose to pull into the pack of the motel, out of the light.

Jade woke Sam up softly, "Sam, we need to get out now."

He grumbled like any tween would. But he got up and out at any rate, "Oooookay."

They got out, with their unfinished drinks - no need to be wasteful, and she told him to jump on her back.

"Why?"

She pointed to the shadows around the motel, leading to more shadows off to the side of the Race-way, "See those shadows? If we stick to them, I can flicker from here to there. We can go unnoticed."

He nodded in a sleepy way. She lowered herself so he could piggyback her. He held on tight and in seconds they were at their final destination. And guess what? Eric wasn't there yet. She snorted as the two of them went into the station. The lady upfront didn't pay much attention to them as they sat down in one of the few tables. They sat, waiting and drinking their sodas, for twenty minutes before a black van pulled in.

She never thought she'd be that happy to see that golden head get out of a van. He and Mark walked into the gas station looking all around until their eyes landed on her.

She jumped up and ringed their necks with hugs, "Eric! Markus!"

They rejoiced and she introduced Sam. The meek and sleepy boy said hi and stood behind Jade. Introductions and such over with, the four went out to the van.

Eric looked to Jade with a sour look on his face, "Jadden, what are you wearing?"
"Don't ask. And I'm getting pretty tired of vans."
"It has a bed in the back."
"Oh hail Mary, mother of God."

He let Sam and Jade in, and they promptly laid down. Eric went to get in the passenger's side, when Jade piped up.

"No no, come tell me of all that has happened," She said as she patted the edge of the bed.

He nodded and moved to the back. He sat down and signaled to Mark to go. As they pulled out, Jade set her head in he lap and Sam draped himself over her to listen as well.

"Begin."
"Very well. When you were captured Section Five declaired a stand still. We would do nothing until you were brought back. The weres wouldn't bring you back, they just kept attacking. But they brough the fight to us, on our own land. We had the advantage and they knew it. After their ranks went down severly, they went into a stand still as well. Instead of me, this war turned into revolving around you. Bringing you home alive, or our weres giving word to the weres that had you to kill you. We kept tracking them and making them more in orer to keep them out of the loop. To keep you safe. Sorry we couldn't..."

He paused and looked down. Both had fallen asleep ages ago. Eric gave a smile, "Oh well. Jadden," he glided his fingers down her bruising cheek, "You're relieved from this mission. You can go home to your family."