Aftertheblood - 5. Chapter 5

Shaun, Brooke, and the boy piled into Shaun's '87 Dodge Daytona.

Brooke turned to the boy and said, "I hope it's not crowded back there with my big ass and Shaun's spider legs."

"It's fine," the boy replied, "But who are you people? And what's going on? None of this is making any sense."

"It never does," Shaun replied. "But my name's Shaun and this is my friend Brooke." Shaun let go of the wheel to get a cigarette out of his coat pocket. His car almost veered into the other lane.

"Watch out!" Brooke scolded, "You can kill yourself with your cancer sticks but leave us out of it!"

"You ain't get hit, let's keep it that way," Shaun joked as he pushed in his car's lighter, "I need a smoke after this."

"Anyway..." Brooke said and turned back to the boy, "We're both mages basically. But specifically, I'm a witch and he's a shaman."

"Witch? Shaman? Is this some kinda joke?"

"You saw this shit with your own eyes," Shaun said.

"Who was that other guy back there? A cop?" the boy wondered.

"Worse, a paladin," Brooke said, "They're an order of so-called holy knights whose job is to protect people from 'evil' supernaturals. Sounds good on paper, except that they're all a bunch of religious lunatics and they think *all* supernaturals besides them are evil."

"They've got powers of their own and a shitload of resources," Shaun added, "so they're no joke."

"I can't say I blame them," the boy said, "I mean, I did-"

"No." Shaun flatly replied, "You had your first change and wasn't in control of yourself. You can't be held accountable for what happened.

"I...guess so. Oh, my name's Jake by the way and um...I really don't know what to say besides...thanks? I dunno, no one's ever stood up for me before. But what happens now?"

"We get you the fuck out of Bedford for the time being," Shaun said, "I have an apartment in Cleveland where we can lay low and regroup."

Brooke added, "Then we can call the other werewolves and let them know you're ok. They'll be able to help you control your power."

"Other werewolves?" Jake quizzically wondered.

Shaun sighed, "OK let's just take this from the top. Those tabloids you see in the grocery store aren't a hundred percent bullshit..."

**********

Twenty minutes later, Shaun got off at the exit near E. 30th and headed towards Cleveland State to drop off Brooke.

"Sure you don't wanna come back with us?" he asked.

"I would, but I'm fucking exhausted after all this and I still have to review for a test tomorrow."

"OK," Shaun said as he pulled in front of the dorm. They got out of the car and hugged.

"Love you, homo," she said.

"Love you too bitch."

"Ugh these next couple weeks are gonna be insane, I can see that now," Brooke said, "You two watch yourselves." she waved goodbye to Jake and headed inside.

"You can sit in the front if you want," Shaun said to Jake as he got back in the car.

"I'm good," Jake replied.

"My apartment's right off Clifton; it might take awhile getting there with all this damn road work," Shaun said, but he couldn't tell if Jake was listening. He was hugging himself and staring out the window, lost in thought, and said nothing for the remainder of the car ride.

Shaun didn't know what to say at this point, and could only imagine what the young man was going through. What does one think about after killing five people in a blind rage? Shaun was almost uncomfortable having him in his car. He remembered having stolen the paladin's dagger and gripped it just in case.