Cruenti REDUX Part 8

Part 8

That night, Julian waited for Jezz outside of Burger Bistro, still dressed in his waistcoat and bow tie, for once feeling a little silly for being overdressed. This was not the sort of place he'd have picked for their date, but Jezz had insisted that it was amazing, and just seeing her eyes light up at the idea of going there made him cave. The cruentus had to laugh at himself. Why was this woman -- this mortal woman -- so fascinating to him? She gave off a joy that was practically contagious, and even though he knew the stakes were high (given the warning that werewolf had sent him) he was willing to chance it, just for this one date. It was worth it to see Jezz's smiling face again.

And that's what puzzled him. He kept thinking about her. Jezz McAllister. She was more than just fascinating, Julian realized. She was... he couldn't find words for it, and he'd been thinking about it all day. He supposed it didn't matter. Either way, he was seeing her again, and they would both see what happened from there.

Jezz arrived a few moments later. She'd taken the subway so she didn't have to worry about parking, and when she spotted Julian her heart did one of those leap, trip and skids that made it feel sore and burning and alive all at the same time. Despite the location, she had dressed up. So they were both technically overdressed. She wore a lovely emerald dress that brought out the green in her eyes and the red in her hair. It had a vintage style to it with lace and sheer material accented in lighter and darker greens. Her shoes were practical boots, but still lovely and following that vintage style. It seemed like she had attempted to tame her hair -- just a tad -- because it was partially up in a haphazard carefree manner. She gave Julian a wide smile as she leaned toward him. "Hi," she said softly and happily, giddy to be going out on a date with such a handsome man, barely aware of the rosiness in her cheeks making her freckles stand out.

"Wow," Julian said when she appeared, at a loss to say anything more intelligent. He rubbed his temples, still smiling at her. "My goodness, you look... amazing." He loved the dress, even though he could tell it was a replica. It looked gorgeous on Jezz... what was wrong with him? The cruentus had to pull himself together. This was supposed to be a routine seduction not... whatever this was becoming. He cleared his throat and straightened, offering his arm to her. "Well then, shall we make our way to our table, my dear?" he asked, mocking his own accent. "Surely, they are anticipating our arrival."

Jezz couldn't help the giggle that escaped. She gave him a little curtsy and took his offered arm. "Why thank you, kind sir," she said slipping a little more into her Irish accent. "You look quite dashing yourself, I must say." She laughed again as they walked into the bistro. It was a seat yourself kind of place, even though it did have waiters, and Jezz quickly pointed out with her purse her favorite one. "I like the corner and it's got a great view of the street. It's fun to people watch." Even though she held his arm, she practically guided him to the spot before she waved at one of the waitresses with lively exuberance. The waitress, who had looked exhausted a moment before, suddenly lit up with a smile and waved back at Jezz.

When she took her seat across from Julian, she said, "Our waitress is Stephanie. She knows the menu backwards and forwards, so you can ask her any questions you like. And she's a really great person and really takes care of customers. You hear the music in the background?" There was a low, crooning baritone singing along with a lounge-style jazz. "That's her CD. She's a songwriter, composer and a singer. And she plays a wicked piano."

A moment later, Stephanie was there speaking to Jezz and took their drink orders after introducing herself to Julian. After she wandered off, Jezz gave Julian another dazzling smile. "I'm glad I could introduce you to this place. It's a lot of fun to be here. Great food and great energy."

"Seems like it." Julian was completely thrown by the experience already. More and more, this was not like anything he was accustomed to. By now, he was usually laying on the charm, ordering wine and getting to know his prey better. Not waiting for sodas and skimming over a menu whose most expensive item was a loaded burger with two patties and a plethora of toppings (although the portobello bacon swiss burger did sound amazing). He had to adapt, and quickly, if he was going to make any progress tonight, but strangely, Julian found he didn't want to. He... actually wanted to just enjoy the date. Maybe the detective had gotten under his skin more than he would like to believe, but the cruentus decided that, just this one time, he would relax and simply enjoy himself.

Then again, maybe it was Jezz who was the one who'd gotten to him. God, that smile.

"So, while we wait," he said, folding his menu in front of him after deciding to get that burger after all. "Why don't we start to get to know each other a little better? We talked casually this morning, but I'm sure we both have more to talk about besides the caffeine-craving coworkers you had to so hurriedly bring the coffee to." He smiled. "I think I upset more than a few of them."

She smiled, rolled her eyes playfully and waved him off. "They're always like that, really. My father used to be the chief of police. Ever since I was little I used to hang around the station, so half of them I've known since I could walk. It made perfect sense to get a job in the one place I was always the happiest and where I knew almost everybody." She shrugged. "I couldn't be cop, I'm too much of a klutz really, and my parents really didn't want me to. They were worried because I loved being there, that I'd want to be one. Can't say I didn't fancy it as a teen either. But Daddy always used to say that every person who fights to keep people safe, needs to see the good they do, so they can keep doing it. So I thought if I couldn't be an officer, I could be around to remind everyone why they did what they did." She placed her elbows on the table and dropped her chin into her upturned palms. "So I'm going to apologize for them, because they all kind of treat me like their kid sister or their daughter -- or granddaughter. So anybody I go out on a date with is going to upset them. The trick is seeing if the date sticks around after upsetting them." She grinned. "Not many people are lucky enough to be able to go to work everyday and love everybody there and have everybody there love you back."

Her shoulders hunched forward a little as she dropped her hands and leaned toward him. "How about you? How'd you get into the antique business? I love antique shops."

Well, that certainly explained the looks he'd gotten, even before he'd opened his mouth. Julian had his doubts when the detective had threatened to make his life hell, but he was less sure of that now. He would have to tread lightly, for the time being at least.

"I love them too," Julian admitted, brushing these thoughts aside in favor of focusing on Jezz and her questions. "I've always been fascinated by historical artifacts, and started collecting Revolutionary and Civil War memorabilia not long after I moved to this country." Which, incidentally, was shortly before the first of those wars, but he wasn't going to say that. "Most of my personal collection is vintage American, though I do have a few foreign items here and there. Primarily, though, it's those two wars that got me started. I knew, with the historical significance of both, the items I had would be very valuable." Seeing as they were all personal items, and he knew they were real. Julian still had all his uniforms from the wars, having participated in both. "I sold some of what I had, and found that I had an eye for appraisal while doing so. It all just came together from there." And there were certain advantages to having lived in the era of a lot of what he was appraising. He could easily spot a replica, and that made it an ideal profession for the vampire. "So, you like antiques. What other things interest you? Any hobbies, besides frequenting wonderfully quirky hole-in-the-wall restaurants with British antiquarians?"

Jezz laughed, loving that entire last sentence. "I'm sure going to the Dorcha Renaissance Festival every year and most of the historical society's reenactments end up in the same lump as antiques. So does my bad habit of collecting costumes. Besides that, though, mostly movies. I have a fairly large collection of films and shows. I used to have a big collection of books too, but it kind of whittled down to a handful of old edition classics." She gave him a wistful smile. "Always wanted my own library, but I kind of need a house for that." She grinned. "Oh, and I like to go to the shooting range. What about you, Julian?" She hoped it was okay to call him that. She'd called him Mr. Julian earlier (she hadn't gotten around to asking him for his last name yet), but it seemed odd to say it here at the Bistro.

He lit up almost immediately when she shared her hobbies. "It's funny you mention the historical society's reenactments; I'm one of the participants." Julian smiled, laughing at this wonderful surprise, surprising himself when he did. "I often take a role on the Confederate side when we mock up those battles. I even have my own costume." He grinned widely, not understanding why finding she liked the same things made him so happy. "I also have an extensive library, but that's part of my collecting habits: most are very old and very rare tomes I wouldn't dream of pulling out to read except under extraordinary circumstances. Other than that..." His smile faltered some, and he removed his glasses and toyed with them a bit. "I can't say I have many hobbies. Most of the time, I'm too busy for them." Slowly, he frowned. Normally, he would have just left it at that, but for some reason, he felt... guilty for not doing more. Then again, he'd never really met anyone who shared his hobbies, or was just as enthusiastic about history and books as he was. Jezz made him feel something he hadn't before, and for the first time, he decided he would tell his date more than what he usually did. Something genuinely personal. "I don't know if Detectives Graham and Grant explained much of how I made their acquaintance, but I think I should explain. I'm... well, I'm psychic. Most of my energy goes to maintaining my clairvoyance and muddling through it, so I rarely have the focus for other things. Like this." Julian smiled again, returning his glasses to his face. "You are a remarkable woman, Jezz." He met her gaze. "And, if you like, you can call me Ju."

Jezz went through a multitude of emotions while he spoke and all were visible on her expressive face. Joyful excitement at the fact that Julian was a part of the reenactments and that he had a costume too, anticipation for looking at his collection of book, but a little disappointed that they couldn't be read, sympathetic about his lack of time and hobbies, and then from curiosity to stunned disbelief to more curiosity, and finally ending with a vibrant blush from his compliment and what he said she could call him. It took her a long moment in which to digest and absorb all of that, which gave her time for her cheeks to stop being so hot. Her hand moved to his and slid over it as she met his gaze, her brow furrowed. Then she slowly gave him an open, tender (and maybe a touch teasing) smile. "No, Evey and Brendan failed to mention that part." She'd never met anyone who claimed to be psychic before. She saw the signs for palm readers but never thought to go into one, and she'd heard plenty of stories about cops depending on psychics, but she'd never really given it a whole lot of thought or attention. "I'm actually pretty impressed that they're trying to get help using a psychic. I thought Det. Graham would be too practical for that kind of thing." Her fingers rubbed gently over his knuckles, a gesture of comfort and no judgment. "I don't quite understand what it means that you have to maintain your clairvoyance, but I want to know more about it. More about you. If that's okay." She blushed again. "Is that all right, Ju?"

Julian felt his entire being warmed by her touch, and a blush came to his cheeks. Something was definitely different about Jezz, something wonderful. The more time he spent with her, the more the vampire questioned what he had intended to do. With another gentle smile, he wove his fingers with hers. "I wouldn't have brought it up if it wasn't alright."

Stephanie returned to their table to get their orders, setting their drinks in front of them. It was a welcomed break for Julian, giving him a moment to collect himself before he elaborated for Jezz. They ordered their meals, along with a tray of mozzarella sticks to share as an appetizer. Julian waited until she had picked up their menus and left before he turned to Jezz again to continue.

"I'm clairvoyant," he said again. "But I see everything as it occurs in the present, all simultaneously, from every persons' point of view. I've spent years learning how to manage all of the information that filters through my brain, 24/7." He swallowed loudly. "My powers developed when I was young, but I couldn't handle the input. For much of my boyhood, I was completely catatonic, unable to function without assistance. I wasn't even able to tell anyone what was going through my head. It took years of therapy for me to regain mobility again."

And a dose of vampiric blood.

It had only been an experiment at first, but his mater had given him some of her blood, to see if making him an ancilla would enable him to regain his ability to function. It worked, but only so long as he had the blood in his system. When it invariably faded, he was once again a vegetable, and the constant swing from functionality to vulnerability was almost as bad as being trapped in his own body all the time. He'd asked to become a cruentus, hoping the change would permanently enable him to manage his clairvoyance. His mater had been hesitant, but ultimately agreed, only because he had requested it of her. She turned him, they waited, and by some miracle it worked just as they had hoped. He had been forever grateful for his mater's help, and loyal to her ever since.

A part of him was pained that he couldn't tell Jezz all this.

"That's horrible," she whispered, "But I'm so glad that you were able to somehow conquer that." She couldn't even imagine such a situation. Seeing everything, everywhere, all the time. No wonder he couldn't function. And yet somehow he had been able to do it. She looked at him with wide, amazed eyes. "That's the most incredible thing I've ever heard. I doubt there's anybody else that could've managed that or survived it." She wondered how many people in asylums were psychic too, with powers like that. She'd seen enough movies, but movies were fiction. This was a real life person who had managed to survive something so impossible. "Ju, you're a walking miracle," she breathed, leaning toward him again. "Lord knows, I wouldn't have been able to do a thing. I probably would've been catatonic until the day I died. Just thinking about it makes it more and more incredible." Her brow furrowed and one of her delicate eyebrows arched. "But now you can focus on it and use it... And you can see what's happening anywhere, right now?" God, what about sex? A tiny flicker of sadness appeared in her heart, but she squelched it because she didn't know for sure. But she imagined after seeing everyone in the world -- billions and billions of people at every moment -- sex must seem horrible, because she knew there were plenty of horrible things people did. God, not just sex, but everything. How was it possible that he was even outside? Poor man was tuned into every channel in the whole world. "I used to look at people as a kid and wonder what their lives were like, who they came home to, if they had brothers or sisters, those sorts of things. But you don't wonder or imagine. You actually know." She blinked. "Nobody can ever give you a surprise anything."

Julian laughed and shook his head. "That's part of managing it: I block out most of the input I get, so I can function. Ignoring everything is what has enabled me to move on with my life. It's still easy to surprise me, unless I happen to be listening in at that moment." He shrugged. "I have a close friend who I keeps tabs on from time to time, as a favor, and right now I'm keeping my mind in tune for anything that might relate to the recent murders or disappearances, for you detective friends." Even if Brendan had said he didn't want the help anymore, Julian had still said he would. "I've reached the point where I can focus in on something specific, and tune out most of the rest. I can't filter it all though, and sometimes, unexpected things get through. Most of it is meaningless to me, like constant static in my head." He gave Jezz's hand a squeeze. "I can also see into the future, but only a few seconds ahead. Not nearly as exciting, but my reaction times are very good for that reason. Makes the drop test a great parlor trick, certainly."

Jezz laughed and nodded. "I imagine so, yeah!" Her laughter faded into a wonderfully amazed smile. "That's really great that you're helping them however you can. All Det. Grant said is that you had some possible information and were trying to shift through it just like they were." Though she couldn't imagine a constant static in your head...however, after years of being bombarded and then finally being able to control it, static must be a welcome relief and hardly noticeable. She nodded. "Seeing a few seconds into the future makes sense though. Since time is always in motion, and so is the present, it's totally reasonable that you're going to see stuff a couple of seconds ahead, because by the time you process it, it's happened."

Before she could continue, Stephanie arrived with the mozzarella sticks and the sauce. Jezz motioned to them with an excited smile and bounce. "Go ahead and try one. They make them really good here. Nothing frozen. Everything is pretty much made from scratch at this place." She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze, indicating silently that she didn't really want to let go, but she wanted him to try the food too.

"You know, I really hope you can help, Ju. These murders have been getting scarier and scarier." Jezz didn't really want to talk about it, but she figured best to get this part out of the way so it didn't linger and didn't crop up later. "So I hope it gets resolved soon." She changed the subject quickly then, a fresh smile coming to her face. She shot him a devious look. "Det. Graham hasn't made a comment about men being envious of your psychic power because they'd be able to access porn all the time, has he?"

Julian had just picked up one of the mozzarella sticks with his free hand (not wanting to let go of her warm fingers either) and had the appetizer half-way to his mouth when she asked that. It was a good thing he hadn't bitten down, otherwise he might have spit the piece when he started to laugh. "Goodness, no!" he said between his chuckles, surprised she had even asked that. "And, eheh, until you mentioned it, I hadn't even considered that a worthwhile application." He hadn't either, not after some of the things he'd glimpsed inadvertently. He seen enough of other peoples' intimate encounters that he tried to avoid them, if he could. Accidents were inevitable, but at least (he had to admit) he got a few good pointers from the unsolicited demonstrations. Not that he'd had sex in a long time. It was usually low on his priority list, especially since he wasn't nearly as social as Kei in his hunts. But now that Jezz mentioned it... his cheeks reddened again, trying to ignore the thought her comment had evoked, and he bit down on the mozzarella stick still hovering by his mouth. "Mmmm... wow, you're right. These are delicious!"

She nodded pleased to know that Brendan had not been such a pervert, and then promptly lit up when he tried the mozzarella stick and said he liked it. "Oh, good! I was hoping you would! They are pretty amazing, aren't they?" She plucked a couple and placed them on her small plate with some sauce so she could munch and continue talking without interruption. "One of the best appetizers. They've got some amazing soups here too, especially their tomato basil bisque." She sighed. "I come here way too much." She wrinkled her nose and shot him a shy glance. "Is it okay that we came to one of my favorite haunts? I can't even remember the last time I was on a date, so I just suggested it so I could share it. Didn't even consider that maybe we should've gone someplace that we both didn't know for neutral ground purposes." Her eyes lit up as she suddenly had a brilliant thought. She just hoped he was okay with it. "Say, Ju..." She nibbled on her bottom lip before she took a bite, swallowed and then continued. "Would you like to go to a drive-in sometime? There's only one in the city, but they play old movies, and they actually have a diner where you can drive through and get your meal before you park to watch. I haven't been there in years."

"Now that's vintage Americana," Julian said, helping himself to another mozzarella stick. "I would love for us to go to a drive in movie. Oh! I know!" His expression lit up almost as brightly as Jezz's. "We could dress up and take my 1954 Chrysler Imperial. Wouldn't that be fun?" He laughed at his own silliness. God, he'd never been so excited on a date before, and that's when it hit him: this really was a date. This wasn't a hunt, as he'd intended. He was actually enjoying himself like he'd never expected he would. He would most definitely have to go out later for his actual meal. "Perhaps we could get a movie schedule and pick one out in..."

He cellphone suddenly went off and he stopped, puzzled. This time he released Jezz's hand so he could answer it, or at least try to figure out why he hadn't anticipated a call. When he pulled it from his pocket, his brows furrowed... and then his face fell. "Oh, damnation. I completely forgot..." Julian looked up, giving Jezz a sheepish smile. "I'd scheduled an appraisal for later this evening, and set myself a reminder so I wouldn't miss it. I can't believe it totally slipped my mind." He'd been so distracted by Jezz, nothing else had seemed important. "I'm supposed to meet my client at the storage center in three hours to look over some things in a unit he just won at auction." A thought came to mind, and his expression brightened some. "Perhaps you'd like to join me?"

Jezz went from eager to look at that schedule (and absolutely ecstatic to be taken to a drive-in in a 1954 CHRYSLER -- goodness her father would've LOVED Julian), to sad that he had an appointment and their date would be cut short, to absolutely excited and happy. "I'd love to! I don't have a discerning trained eye like you, but I would love to see what pieces your client has in there! Oh, this is exciting!" But before she got too ahead of herself, she took a deep breath and gave him a sheepish smile. "Eh, sorry about that." She gave a delicate cough and blushed furiously at her enthusiasm. "Is the appointment really soon? We haven't gotten our dinner yet, unless you want me to tell Stephanie to give it to us to go. And, uh, I didn't bring a car. I took the subway to get here." She tilted her head, mess of curls falling about. "Isn't it a little odd that the hour is so late for an appraisal though?"

Julian shook his head while he tucked his phone away. "Many of my clients have busy day schedules, or for one reason or another, can't make appointments during the day." He rarely had cruenti clients, especially noctis, but this one in particular was. "And we have plenty of time. If it starts to get too close, I'll call and let them know I may be a little late. If they complain, usually cutting my fee down is sufficient to settle the matter." He gave Jezz a smile. "Unless you're as excited to see these pieces as I am, then we can get our meal to go. It's supposedly Civil War weaponry, one of my specialties. Part of me is even considering a trade, if he has something I don't already."

"Oh, wow..." It would be incredible to see some authentic Civil War weaponry that wasn't in a museum. Jezz's brow furrowed and she chewed on her bottom lip, pausing briefly to thoughtfully suck some soda through her straw, before continuing to gnaw on it. She wanted to stay and have dinner, because it would be more comfortable that way and they could keep talking, but she also excited to see those pieces... "Ah, I can't pick," Jezz said with playful frustration. "If we take the food to go, I'm going to end up ruining my dress, I just know it. But now I'm all excited..." Her eyes lit up. She gave Julian a delightful smile. "A compromise. We'll wait till the food comes out, have a couple of bites so you can try it, and I'll, uh, probably have half now and then half later. That way we can still leave earlier, but we don't end up with me messing up your car." Her brow furrowed and she gave him a curious look. "Unless you walked too. How are we going to get there?"

"I drove. Nothing spectacular: it's only a 2013 Ford C-Max, but it gets me where I need to go. I save my classic cars for special occasions." Julian smirked. "Considered taking one of them tonight, but perhaps a small part of me remembered this appointment, even if the rest of me forgot." He reached across the table and took Jezz's hand again. "I like the idea of waiting for our food. We could just eat casually, and check on the time as we go. We might get lucky and still be early, even after a full sit down meal." He smiled widely, squeezing her hand. "You know, it thrills me that you don't mind going on this appointment with me. I don't think I've met anyone who finds what I do just as exciting as I do."

Jezz laughed and squeezed his hand back. "Are you kidding? What's not exciting about it? It's history, it's culture, it's -- traveled through time. It's as much a part of us as our DNA. We carry our ancestors with us with every generation, their legacies and their lives. I don't see how getting a chance to experience even a little bit of that first hand, isn't exciting!" She leaned forward and her smile slowly turned wicked. "And I'm totally going to gloat about it. I have a couple of friends," acquaintances really, but Jezz wasn't going to get into the details, "that I meet up with to go watch the reenactments. They'd be so jealous to know that you're actually a member and take part." She gave him a bright smile. "Maybe I've seen you before in them and just didn't realize that was you."

Stephanie arrived then with both plates, asked them if they needed anything else, and then left the couple alone.

Jezz hadn't realized how ravenous she was until the scent of pepperjack, bacon, onions, basil and beef curled into her nostrils, making her almost salivate.

Julian looked down at his plate, quite eager to try his burger, even if it would do nothing to satisfy his need for blood. This night was already far more than he'd expected. "Well," he said, looking up at his date's lovely face. "Let's dig in."

They had plenty of time to eat, as it turned out, and Julian still needed to call his client to let him know he'd be early (and to inform him of the guest he was bringing along). The storage facility was only twenty minutes away, and there was certainly no loss for conversation between the two along the way. Julian couldn't remember the last time he'd had such an animate conversation about the Civil War, and he was even able to share a few anecdotes from his personal experiences. Disguised as incidents during the reenactments, of course, but it was still fun to tell these stories to Jezz. He wondered if maybe, in the future, he might be able to tell her that he had actually been there too.

It was a thought that had crossed his mind: telling her that he was a vampire. But Julian knew now wasn't the time. Now, they were both getting to know each other, and enjoying a wonderful date.

"Here we are," he said as he pulled into the parking lot. The place was practically empty (given the hour), but a few other cars were present. Near the door of the main building waited a plump man in a business suit, fussing over his sleeves when Julian stepped out of the car. He straightened, brushed himself off and walked towards him with a confident stride and broad smile.

"Mr. Kent," he greeted, extending his hand. "Good to see you again." As he clasped it firmly, he glanced at Jezz, and for the briefest instant his eyes shone red. "Ah, is this the friend you mentioned?"

"Mihi, Mr. Glass," Julian said, squeezing his hand a little tighter. It was a subtle cue, a quick Latin phrase that let other vampires know when a mortal guest was off limits, and the squeeze was to hint that she was in the dark about what they were. He smiled and motioned towards her. "This is Jezz. I was taking her out tonight and, being that she is also a history buff, thought she might enjoy accompanying me on this appraisal."

Jezz had been animated and excited the whole time. She was having a wonderful time on this date and kept sending thanks and prayers up that this time she'd get lucky enough to have found the right guy. Her mother always worried that she'd end up with a cop because of her father, so Julian would make her mother very happy. God, listen to her, ready to introduce him to her mother already!

She was still on the high of the night so far when they arrived, so she just beamed at Mr. Glass with her usual brilliant smile and waved. "Nice to meet you," she chirped happily. She leaned close to Julian and squeezed his arm. She did notice the odd light in his eyes, but she chalked it up to her imagination and excitement.

Mr. Glass raised an eyebrow and gave Julian a curious smirk, but then chuckled, waving for them to follow him. "It's right this way."

While they walked, Julian kept Jezz close to him. In the back of his mind, something felt wrong. He wasn't sure if it was because his client had almost revealed too much (he hoped Jezz hadn't noticed his eyes), or the disquieting sense that they were being watched. He closed his eyes for a minute, slowing his pace. He was trying to get a sense on the area, whether or not he could see himself and Jezz from someone else's point of view. But then Mr. Glass cleared his throat and distracted him from searching.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Kent?" he asked while he unlocked the storage unit's large garage door. "You seemed lost in thought there."

Julian smiled uneasily. "I was. Just something I do on occasion."

"I see."

With a grunt, Mr. Glass pushed the door up, revealing the large assortment of boxes overflowing with items and knick-knacks. "I haven't gone through them all yet," he explained. "But the ones I wanted to show you are on that table in the back." He pointed towards as he began walking in. "A few guns, a knife, and a saber. I'm curious to know if they're genuine."

"I should easily be able to tell you," Julian said, squeezing Jezz's arm gently while he followed inside.

Jezz didn't mind in the slightest being close to Julian, but when he slowed she gave him a curious look. Realization hit her a moment later, and suddenly she became worried. If Julian was using his psychic powers for some reason, then something must've unnerved him. Now she wondered if the flash in Mr. Glass's eyes had been her imagination after all. Mr. Glass didn't seem like a bad man. She usually had a good sense about these things, but now coming down from the wonderful high of dinner and the drive, she began to feel like something wasn't right either.

She followed Ju inside, not saying anything, just sticking close to him. No matter what happened she was sure he would know what to do. She hadn't thought to bring her gun with her. It didn't fit in her purse and she hadn't thought there would be any reason to. She had mace in her purse, because she never left home without it, especially when the murders started popping up everywhere, but... She mentally sighed. Dammit. She had hoped this would be a nice fun time too.

Then again, maybe it still could be. Maybe he was just over thinking it and so was she... Yeah, not very likely.

By the time they got to the table, she was sure of it, because when she turned around to see if Mr. Glass had followed them, he wasn't the only one anymore. There were three other figures. And...

Jezz gasped when one of their hands became giant needle-like claws and stabbed Mr. Glass through the chest. Jezz shouted Julian's name, but one of the other figures quickly yanked something and the door to the storage unit came crashing down.

It took all his willpower not to run as fast as he could to the door, to keep his speed at the human limit as he rushed to the only exit, getting there just in time to hear the locks click shut. Julian's eyes widened, but he refused to panic. He looked down at Mr. Glass, still alive and clutching at his chest. The smell of blood was both sickening and tempting; he should have stolen away to feed before they came, but he hadn't anticipated this.

"I'm... s-sorry..." Mr. Glass sputtered. The wounds were healing slowly. "I had no choice..."