CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jade had just finished telling Beth the events of the previous night. "Oh my gosh, Jade, you nearly died!" Beth said in horror.

"I didn't, which is what matters," Jade replied.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Beth. I'm just weirded out."

"You mean about Alex?"

"Yeah. I was wondering why he acted so secretive about where he knew my soul from."

"Do you think he's a bad guy?"

Jade shrugged. "I don't know. From what I remember of my soul, my father is actually a really good person."

"So what's the problem?"

"He kept it from me, Beth."

"Maybe you weren't ready to know yet," Beth suggested.

"Maybe, but it still bugs me," Jade replied. "How can I trust someone who keeps such big secrets from me?"

"I think it's cool that Alex is your father. He seems like a nice guy, and he really seems to care about you. With how bad your incarnated parents were, you deserve to have a good parental figure."

"I guess, but he's only a few years older than me. It's kind of weird."

"Jade, don't be so cynical."

"It's what I do, Beth," Jade replied firmly.

"Well, we'll just have to find a way to break you of that habit, then." Beth smiled mysteriously, and Jade almost wondered if she could find a way to make her less cynical.

"It's not just about Alex," Jade admitted. "It's Spencer, too."

"Are you crushing?" Beth asked with an eager grin. "He's really cute, and super sweet."

"No," Jade replied firmly. "I'm not wasting time crushing on some guy, but maybe my soul is... I can't let that part of me take control, Beth. Not now. She's too gentle. She makes me weak, and I need to be strong. Besides, romance isn't a priority for me."

"Jade, it's okay to let your guard down sometimes," Beth said gently.

"No, it's not. Not for me, Beth." Jade shook her head. "I can't let anyone in. I'll only hurt them."

"You let me in," Beth replied.

"You're different. You need me to look out for you."

"You're a great bodyguard, but what I really want is a friend. You're my friend, right, Jade?"

Jade sighed. "Yeah, Bethany. I'm your friend," she replied. "I don't get why we work, but we do, and I'm going to protect you much better than I protected my other friends."

"Are you scared something will happen to me?" Beth asked.

"I'm worried, but that's why I'm keeping a close eye on you. I'm determined to keep you safe."

"Jade, something else is bothering you. What is it?"

"I had a best friend once, Beth... And things didn't end well for him," Jade admitted. She forced herself not to think about River as his mischievous smile flashed in her mind.

"Will you tell me about him?"

"Not yet. I'm not ready to talk about him."

Beth nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll be here when you are ready."

Jade offered her a sad smile and squeezed her hand. "I know, Beth," she replied. "The one thing I know is that I trust you."

Beth smiled brightly. "I feel so special now," she said.

"You are special, Beth," Jade replied. "Your heart is pure, and people like you need to be kept safe."

No matter what else happened while she was in Salem, Jade knew she would do everything in her power to protect Beth.

~*~

Jennifer Fowler was running out of time. She pulled her tight blue jeans on over a silky black thong. Her lacy black bra was covered by a black v-neck sweater. The clothes were tight and showed off her curves nicely. She pulled her long brown hair into a tight ponytail and skillfully applied her makeup. She'd have to look good today if she wanted her plan to succeed.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Hey, Jesse, it's Jennifer," she said when the person she'd dialed picked up.

"Oh, hey Jen. What's up?" Jesse asked.

"What are you doing today?"

"Nothing, really," he replied casually.

"I'm going to the mall. Do you want to come along? I could pick you up in twenty minutes."

"The mall's not really my scene."

"I know, but I figured we could hang out."

"What's this really about, Jen?" Jesse asked suspiciously.

"Why do you ask that? I just want to be seen with the cutest boy in school."

"I'm not the cutest boy in the school. You must have dialed the wrong number."

"You don't give yourself enough credit. I like the hot bad boy type... Come on, please?"

"Okay, fine. I don't have anything else to do today anyway."

"Great! I'll see you then!" She hung up and smiled. "Perfect," she said. Everything was falling right into place.

~*~

Jennifer arrived at the apartment exactly twenty minutes later. "I'm going out, Alex," Jesse said.

"Where to?" Alex asked.

"Just... out. With Jennifer."

"I don't trust that girl, Jess... There's something off about her."

"Well, I do trust her, so let me say it again... I'll see you later," Jesse said firmly.

"Jesse, you really shouldn't..."

"You're not my father, Alex," Jesse snapped.

"No, but I am your guardian," Alex reminded him.

"Guard someone else for a while." Jesse walked out of the apartment without another word to Alex.

Jennifer smiled as Jesse got into her car. As they drove to the mall, pop music played on the radio. Jesse hated pop music, so he tried to tune it out. He was surprised when Jennifer did not pull into the mall parking lot.

"Where are we going?" He asked, suddenly wondering if he should have listened to Alex after all.

Jennifer grinned wickedly. "There's a clearing I wanted to see," she said.

"A clearing?" Jesse raised an eyebrow at that.

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Jesse, is Girlspeak just a completely foreign language to you or something? Come on, it is so obvious that I like you. I thought we could mess around a little bit."

Jesse shrugged. "Yeah, okay, I guess," he replied.

"Good boy." Two minutes later, they arrived at the clearing. Jennifer parked the car and immediately began kissing Jesse.

Jesse allowed himself to let his guard down a bit. He liked the way Jennifer ran her long, red nails over his back while she kissed him. He began to relax and enjoy himself. Jennifer moved her lips down to his neck. It surprised him when she bit him, but he had no time to react before her teeth broke his flesh and she began draining his blood.

Jesse struggled to pull away. Jennifer began to drain him quicker than she initially had been doing. Jesse was horrified to realize that she wasn't just marking him or turning him... She was going to kill him. With that realization came a rush of adrenaline. Jesse was weak from blood loss, but he fought against her.

Jennifer was surprisingly strong. She was a slayer, but Jesse now knew that she was playing double agent, and was actually corrupt. The fangs were a recent addition. The last time he'd seen her, she hadn't had them.

Just when Jesse was fairly certain he was going to die no matter what he did, Jennifer was ripped violently off of him. He felt the damage to his throat. It was bad, but it would heal, if he lived long enough. That was one of the benefits of being a lycanthrope; he could heal almost any wound, as long is it was not caused by something made of silver.

Jennifer screamed as a stake was shoved through her chest. Jesse's vision was starting to blur, but he looked at Jennifer as she died. Slowly, he looked toward the person who had killed her.

"Aideen..." He whispered.

"This is what happens when you think with your hormones, Jesse," Aideen said to him. She tossed Jennifer's corpse to the ground, smiting it with little effort, and got in the car next to Jesse. She examined his wound. "Oh Gods... She nearly killed you," she said, failing to keep the concern out of her voice.

"I don't feel so good, Deenie," Jesse admitted.

"You need to feed," she replied softly.

"What? No! No way, Aideen!"

"Jesse, listen to me... You've just been turned. You're going to get sick if you don't feed."

"Undo it... Please, Deenie," he whimpered. Jesse couldn't keep the fear out of his voice.

"I can't undo it. She's done too much damage to you. If I try to undo it, you'll die, Jess," Aideen explained. "You need to replace the blood she took to heal yourself, and I can't undo this if you feed."

"I won't. I can't do this," Jesse insisted.

"Jesse, it's not that bad," Aideen said soothingly.

"No... Please... I can't become a vampire, Deenie. You know I can't."

"I'm sorry," Aideen said, and she meant it. She knew the rules about lycanthropes being turned. Jesse was in for a serious battle if he wanted to live. Aideen pulled her hair away from her neck and tilted her neck toward Jesse's mouth. "Feed," she said. "It's the only way."

"No," he stubbornly refused again.

"Jesse, you're not dying on me. Feed!" Aideen insisted.

Jesse fought with every ounce of self-control he had left not to feed off of Aideen, but it wasn't enough. He could hear her pulse beating steadily beneath the surface of her flesh. He could see it. He wanted to taste it. He needed to taste it. Her blood would fix him. Her blood was powerful. He had to have it. He could not survive without it. The Reaper was his only chance to live.

With that thought, he lost control completely. It happened so suddenly that Aideen gasped as he sank his fangs into her flesh. She soon relaxed, and focused on letting him take what he needed.

As Aideen's blood filled his mouth, Jesse began to think coherently again. Aideen was his friend, not just "the Reaper," and she had just saved his life. He pulled away from her neck, gasping for breath, and shifted so his head rested in her lap.

Aideen began stroking his hair soothingly. "It's alright now," Aideen said. "It's going to be okay, Jesse. You're going to be fine."

"I'm sorry..." Jesse whispered.

"Don't be," she replied. "You needed the blood. It's okay."

"I don't want to be one of them," Jesse said softly.

"So don't join Club Evil. Having fangs doesn't mean that you have to be one of the bad guys, Jess. Look at me. The majority of the vampires aren't evil."

"It's different for me..." Jesse sighed. "Jesus Christ, I'm scared, Aideen."

"I know. It's okay, Jesse. You're going to survive this. I promise," she said soothingly.

Jesse did something that he rarely did, and allowed himself to cry. Aideen continued to stroke his hair. "I'll take you home," she said after a couple of minutes.

"No... Alex will kill me," Jesse said, sitting up.

"Alex won't kill you for getting turned," Aideen protested.

"He warned me not to go out with Jennifer today. He was right."

"He usually is. He won't hold this against you, Jesse. Alex isn't like that, and you know it."

"What am I now?" Jesse asked.

"You're Jesse. You'll always be Jesse."

"I'm a vampire."

"Jesse, who you are comes from in here," Aideen said, putting her hand over his chest. "It has nothing to do with having fangs, or fur, or bad parents, or anything else, okay?"

"I'm going to be killed, Aideen," he said softly. "I'm a lycanthrope. Vampires don't like lycanthropes among their kind. That's why Jen tried to kill me. She must have realized that she turned a lycanthrope, and that the others would kill her if they found out."

"I'll make sure no one kills you. I'm vampire royalty, Jesse. If I order that no one touches you, no one will."

"I'm terrified, Deenie... More than I've ever been. The vamps may not kill me, but the lycanthropes or slayers will." 

"We'll hide this from them. It's okay, Jesse. Let me take you home, okay?"

Jesse sighed. "I guess I'll have to face Alex sooner or later," he said.

"Exactly. The sooner, the better," Aideen replied.

"Help me, Deenie... Please."

"I will. I promise, Jess. I won't let anyone go after you for this," she said firmly.

They left Jennifer's car and called a clean up crew to dispose of it before getting into the car Aideen had shown up with despite not having her license. They drove away in silence, both knowing that Jesse's life would never be the same.

~*~

Beth and Jade were sitting in Beth's bedroom when she suddenly began screaming. "Beth?" Jade asked. "Bethany, what's wrong?"

"No!" Beth shouted. Her eyes were unfocused and her skin was extremely pale.

"Beth, what's happening? What are you seeing?" Jade demanded.

"Leave me alone!" Beth screamed, but Jade knew she wasn't talking to her.

"Beth!" Jade tried to pull Beth back from wherever she was, but it wasn't working. As slashes began appearing all over Beth's skin, Jade knew that she needed help. Since she obviously couldn't go to Beth's parents with the situation, she called the only person she could think of who might be able to help.

Alex arrived fifteen minutes later. Beth had lost a lot of blood, and Jade was visibly shaken up. "I can't get her back," she said. "I keep trying, but she's in too deep, and if I connect to her anymore, I'm going to go along for the ride because I'm a telepath."

"It's okay, Jade," Alex said. "I'll get her back. I just need you to anchor me."

Jade took Alex's hand as Alex went after Beth. He could see what was happening as he slipped into her mind. A teenager was being attacked by warlocks. Somehow, Beth had gotten pulled to the girl.

"Beth!" Alex called. "Beth, it's Alex. You have to come back."

"Samantha..." Beth whispered.

"Listen to me, Beth. You can't help her now. Come with me." Alex grabbed onto Beth and pulled her back into her own mind.

As Alex and Beth awoke in unison, Jade ran to find something to take care of Beth's injuries.

"Samantha... She sits next to me in biology..." Beth whispered numbly.

Not anymore, Alex thought, but he kept that to himself. To Beth, he simply said, "I'm sorry..." Alex helped Jade begin tending to Beth's injuries. "Were you two close?" He asked.

"Not really. She kept to herself and focused on studying," Beth replied. "She didn't really socialize."

"So why would she pull you to her?" Jade asked.

"I don't know... I just ended up there, and I got stuck... It was awful, you guys... They killed her!" Beth had tears in her eyes.

"Beth, you need blocks. If you're going to get pulled to everyone you meet that gets attacked, we're going to lose you," Alex said. "That's it. You're my new pet project. You and your blocks, or lack there of, are my problem now. I'll help you learn to control your abilities before they kill you."

"That sounds good," Beth admitted. She was trembling. Jade wrapped her arms around her and allowed Beth to snuggle against her.

"It's going to be okay, Beth," Jade said soothingly, but she knew if Alex didn't train Beth quickly, nothing would be okay.

~*~

"Margo, let's go," Benny called. He was ready to leave for the airport. The idea of going home was comforting. He missed his family and was definitely ready to return to them and put distance between himself and the house where Gregory had died.

Margo was in another room. Instead of responding to Benny, she suddenly shrieked. Benny ran toward the sound of her voice. "Margo?" He called.

Margo was under attack. Several cloaked warlocks were rapidly casting spells. Luckily, Margo had managed to dodge their attacks so far.

Benny immediately set to work on trying to help her. He pulled out his set of twin daggers and, with the skills of an expert, used them to fend off the warlocks. He got close to Margo and plunged one of the daggers through the heart of the warlock who had just managed to restrain her. The warlock released her as he died.

"Margo, run!" Benny shouted as he took down another warlock.

"I can't," Margo replied. "I'm unarmed. I'll never make it out of here alive. There are too many of them."

"Take these," Benny said, tossing the daggers to her. Margo caught them both by their handles. Benny remembered that she was surprisingly skilled with weapons, especially blades.

"I can't leave you here defenseless, Benny," Margo protested. "They killed Greg. I won't let them kill you, too."

"Just go!" Benny looked into Margo's eyes. He knew what was going to happen. There was no way to change this. He'd set out on this path, and now, he must accept the consequences. "No matter what happens, Margo, get to Salem. Get the information we found to Aideen and her friends. They need it."

Margo knew what he was saying. "Benny..." She whispered.

"Go," he said again.

Margo reluctantly nodded and fled the room, covering herself with the daggers. Benny had to believe she'd make it out alive.

He fought as well as he could. He was better with weapons, but even without them, Benny was a skilled slayer. He took down at least thirty of the warlocks who stormed the house, but more kept coming. He didn't stand a chance on his own with no weapons. Even if he tried to smite them all, he wasn't making it out of there alive. There were too many of them.

Even knowing that his death was inevitable, Benny fully intended to go down fighting. He was a slayer, from a long line, and he was going to die with honor no matter what.

The corpses of nearly eighty warlocks littered Margo and Gregory's house before Benny felt a sword plunge into his heart. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, clutching the sword that now protruded from his chest and gasping for breath. He was still alive, but if he removed the sword, he'd only bleed to death quicker.

He was in a tremendous amount of pain. Death would be a welcome relief, but he couldn't do that. He couldn't die yet. He had to give Margo time to escape. He knew she'd driven off, but that had been only a couple of minutes before. She needed more time. He needed more time. He wasn't ready to die yet.

Clarissa... Courtney... Deenie... My Gods, Deenie... He thought. I can't leave them. I haven't had enough time.

As his thoughts flashed over his life, Benny's vision blurred. The pain in his chest was unbearable, but he did not dare attempt to remove the sword now. He wasn't strong enough to pull it out anymore.

The warlocks watched as Benny bled to death, unwilling to do the humane thing and end his pain quickly. They seemed to have completely forgotten that Margo had gotten away.

Benny fell onto his side. He could feel tears in his eyes. He tried to hold them back, but he didn't have the strength anymore. He slipped his blood-soaked hand into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the amulet he'd had since he was a child. It couldn't protect him from this, but it still provided comfort as it glowed in his hand.

Suddenly, Benny looked into the eyes of the warlock who had shoved the sword through his chest. "Mitch..." He whispered in horror. "You?"

Mitchell had been a close friend of his in college. He'd been a groomsman at Benny and Clarissa's wedding. He'd babysat the twins when they were younger. He'd lived down the block from Benny and his family for years. The betrayal was almost enough to make Benny want to rage and pull some kind of Reaper parlor trick to save himself, but he knew better. This time, he couldn't change his destiny.

"You chose the wrong side, Benny," Mitchell said. "I'm sorry it had to end this way. You were a skilled slayer and witch. You'd have done well as a corrupt, and even better as a warlock."

"I'll... never be... one of you..." Benny said defiantly, choking on blood as he tried to get the words out.

"And that, my friend, is why you're going to die. You were too weak to seek power, Benny. It's a shame."

"Only the... weak must... seek power," Benny shot back. He could feel death in the air, and this time, it was here for him.

As Benny desperately fought for his final breaths, the amulet's light grew dimmer, until it went out completely with Benny's last gasp of air.