I'll Look After You [Jeff]

[Aiden]

[This is a background thread, which means that it took place in the past. In other words, this is not happening now.]

Thirteen year old Aiden was slumped against the window of the the 1967 Ford Mustang, Chugging along through the center of Dallas, Texas, his body automatically stretched out while he remained in his dream state. He was coming along with Mal to help out another Hunter he had yet to meet, coincidentally with a demon that Mal was tracking back in Portland. Word of her appearance was trickling through Dallas by some weary citizens, and it was confirmed by this Hunter, a man named Jeff.

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Malcolm steered the Mustang down the street, taking a chance to steal a glance over at Aiden, the boy he took in only two short years ago. He didn't believe the demon when he originally told Mal about the boy right before he ran into him, but so long as he was in Mal's hands, he could take care of the problem before it started.

The demon in question was a demon named Ariel, a high powered demon that somehow found a way to get some Hell Hounds under her control, to use them at her whim. Because of this, both he and Aiden had to be careful about revealing their identities to Ariel, lest she decide to have some hounds on their tails. She worked on the west coast for a while before she disappeared, and now Jefferson had a tip, and evidence that she was in town.

The car rolled to a stop outside of a nice house, the doorway marked with a large X made out fo yellow police tape. He spotted Jeff's car, and got out, closing the door, and sliding a pistol into his pants. He walked up, through the ajar door, ducked under the tape. Inside Jefferson stood, over the dead body that looked much less than that at this point.

"Good God," Malcolm muttered, looking at the pieces of the body before pulling the sheet back over it. "Sure as hell looks like Hounds to me. Mornin' Jefferson," He walked back outside, with Jefferson following, and nodded his head to the car. "Remember the special case I mentioned on the phone? That's him right there," Malcolm said, referring to Aiden.

He leaned against a pillar that made up part of the porch, and looked back at his counterpart. "Two years ago, I ran into this yellow-eyed demon," he began, "who told me that I would be coming upon a gift soon enough, in the form of some helpless kid. I didn't believe it, since, as you know, demons lie about nearly everything. Then I ran into him on a case, his parents were both killed, and there was just something...theres something about him." He glanced at the car, before looking back at Jeff.

"I'm pretty sure the kid has demon blood in him, Jeff. Not enough for any special abilities, but from what I've gathered, it can sure as hell make him dark, make him almost animalistic. Crave blood, crave the hunt, crave putting an end to his enemy's life. I've got to help him, and if anything should happen, I need you to help me out."

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Eyes fluttering open for a few seconds, Aiden looked through the window at Mal, who had knocked on it, and pointed to the man standing on the porch. The door opened, and Aiden climbed out, blinking in the bright morning light. "Aiden, meet Jefferson. This is going to be a bit brutal for you, but I want you to know what happens when you cross a Hell Hound," Mal said, leading him inside with the other Hunter.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson was inside the house when Mal walked in. He nodded over to Mal that the pieces of the body were under the sheet. Jefferson had arrived here only two hours after calling Mal. He had waited for him this long, not for the body, but for the boy. Mal had told him about a young boy who had some special qualities in him. Jefferson wanted to know if this were true. So Mal took him to see the boy.

Once outside, Jefferson began to look around for the small boy. He didn't see him anywhere, and thought Mal had just played a prank on him. He knew this wasn't true because Mal wouldn't joke around with something this serious. Mal finally said that the boy was inside the car. Jefferson watched as the boy climbed out of the car. Mal introduced Aiden to Jefferson.

"Hello Aiden," Jefferson said with a smile. He stared at the young boy and realized that he may not be ready for this kind of hunt. He walked over to Mal and asked to speak to him alone.

"Damn it, Mal. Are you insane? This kids too young to face a Hell Hound, and we can't see the damn thing. You know it's difficult to kill the damn thing, plus we know have to watch a little kid," Jefferson whispered to Mal so only he could hear.

[Aiden]

This hunt was difficult because Hell Hounds couldn't be seen unless they were sent to kill you, which meant that tracking the things were almost impossible. The only thing you could do was go kill to kill and try to find a connection, which Mal had been working on for months. There were a few possibilities, but since the move to Dallas, he was thrown off course. Why would a string of attacks happen in Portland, then move across the country? It made no sense at all.

Still, if Aiden was to amount to anything, he needed to see what he was dealing with. Thus he brought Aiden out of the car, the thirteen year old still groggy with sleep. He walked towards the house while Jeff took Malcolm aside, who looked at Jeff as if he was surprised at the stop. However, what Jefferson said already crossed Mal's mind on the way there, so therefore Mal was prepared to return fire. "Look, if he is going to be a successful Hunter, he needs to get used to this stuff. He's seen death before, not necessarily so mangled, but well enough. Ain't no supernatural being thats nice in this world, and he needs to know that."

He walked inside of the house with the boy and Jeff in tow, and crouched next to what was left of the body. "Now, Aiden, I'm warning you now that this isn't pretty, but this is a tell-tale sign of a Hell Hound," He said, giving him a moment to prepare himself before pulling the sheet back. His eyes glanced at Jeff before he looked to Aiden. "Now, tell me what you remember about Hell Hounds."

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Aiden looked up at Jefferson, and held out his hand to shake. He smiled awkwardly, and then began his journey to the house. He knew that Hell Hounds were nasty creatures in their behavior, but he had never seen the results of an attack. Malcolm prohibited him from tracking them before, but apparently now was the time that he was to join in. He too ducked through the tape, and could smell the rotting meat with no problem. Blood stained the floor, and there were deep grooves, almost like claw marks.

He listened to Mal, and then nodded his head to indicate that he was ready to see the body--or rather, the pieces of the body. Strangely, Aiden's face didn't flinch, but his eyes took in the entirety of the spot below him. After a moment, he looked up at Mal, and recalled the information in his mind. "Hell Hounds can't be seen unless they're attacking you, which makes them nearly impossible to kill. You can try to ward them off, but you rarely succeed. You can use special salt, or the devil's shoestring to hold them back for a while."

With that said, his gaze dropped back down to the pieces of meat, attracting the flies which buzzed like lions on a kill.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson listened to Mal's explanation about Aiden. It was true that no supernatural being out there was nice in the bit, but Jefferson still did not like the idea of having a thirteen year old hunting. He really wanted their to be an age limit on who can hunt and who can't, but there would never be one. Once you find out that the thing that killed your family was a monster, you spend your whole life hunting it and everything else that crosses your path. If you do kill the damn thing, well, congratulations. The hunt doesn't stop though. It never does.

Jefferson walked with both Mal and Aiden into the house. He stared at Aiden all the way, hoping to catch any signs of worry or fear, but Aiden showed none of that. Jefferson believed that Aiden may freak out when he saw the body parts, but once again he was wrong. This made Jefferson smile. Aiden was tougher than Jefferson had thought. Aiden even knew about the Hell Hounds, and that impressed Jefferson even more. But no amount of emotional control or information on the crime scene could compare to the actual hunt.

"I'm going to ask you something Aiden, and I want you to answer me as truthfully as you can. How good are you at hunting? Don't give me a range in numbers or examples of previous hunts. Just say if you are an ok hunter, average, or one of the best."

[Aiden]

It was rather eerie how detached Aiden was, when any normal thirteen year old kid would be freaking out and breaking down at the sight of the mangled body. Instead, it was like Aiden was analyzing the rips and tears, calculating where the beast was, and when. His eyes roamed over the pieces of the body, some barely held together by strands of muscle, others completely ripped apart. His eyes continued to move, absorbing all of the details. Even to Aiden himself, he knew that this was unnatural, that he should feel more than he did, but in his experience with hunting, he knew that it would get him no where, and that it wouldn't help the situation. Its not like he knew the person either, which contributed even more to the detachment.

Aiden was unaware of the traces of demon blood within his body, or how they got there. He didn't know that one day he would have a darker, much darker side. He didn't know that he would be different, that he already was different. Thus he was oblivious to the fact that Jefferson was put off by him, not just by his knowledge, but also by his very presence. His age was a big factor in the uncomfortableness, being so young, yet knowing so much.

When addressed by Jefferson, he tore his gaze away from the body, and listened carefully. Then, with a grin, he instantly answered the question. "To be honest, I haven't done much hands on stuff, I've just been learnin' the facts. I haven't even shot a gun, so all I really know is the information on the beings, and how to kill them. So I guess you couldn't even call me a Hunter, not yet, but more of a researcher. A well-informed researcher."

[Jefferson]

Jefferson listened closely to Aiden. Once Aiden stopped talking, Jefferson stared at Mal for a long time. He gave Mal a look that said what the hell were you thinking. He knew Mal wanted Aiden to gain experience, but this was just too much. He was about to yell at Mal for being an idiot, but thought better of it. He instead excused himself and headed for his car.

Once outside, he walked to his car. Opening the trunk, Jefferson saw nothing. He reached inside and pulled a hidden string. This caused a flap to open, revealing weapons of every kind. He looked around for a specific one. Once he had the hand gun, Jefferson headed back to the house.

Jefferson was twirling the gun in front of Aiden and Mal. He stared at Aiden, then threw the gun to him. He looked straight into Aiden's eyes and said, "That's going to be my gift to you. Keep it and use it well." He then turned to Mal and continued by saying, "Now, let's get out of here. Our first stop is going to be the cross roads wich are a couple of blocks away from here. Hell hounds usually attack people who are dying, so anyone who made a deal some years ago maybe their next target. Let's go."

[Aiden]

Much of his time at the Crossroad's Tavern was spent hunched over thick, leather-bound volumes of folklore on an endless range of beings, the information about them, the stories, the supposed (and correct) ways to kill them. This was coupled with Mal's own notes, annotated or added, with news clippings and articles about recent attacks, and a compoundium of other works given to them by other Hunters. He had some experience with a knife, none with shooting, and he practiced hand-to-hand combat daily with Malcolm. He didn't look it, in fact he looked like a rather scrawny thirteen year old, but he could pack a punch, and he knew how to fight. That was one of the amusing aspects of hunting to Aiden.

Jefferson didn't respond to Aiden's answer straight away, and when Jeff walked outside, the young boy turned to Malcolm. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked, genuinely confused. He spoke the truth; at that point, he hadn't even killed anything. He confusion was furthered, as displayed by the furrowing of his brows when Jefferson returned with a gun in hand. Was there something in the house, something that posed a threat to them? Aiden took a quick scan of the surrounding doorways, and seeing nothing, turned back to Jeff with his eyebrows still pushed down.

He caught the gun, thankfully, even though the safety was on. He looked it over--it was simple, a black .22 mm hand gun with an anagram on the holster. Held awkwardly in his hands, he looked up with a just as awkward smile. "Thank you, sir," He said quietly, before following him and Mal out back to the cars.

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Jefferson seemed to want to make a point in asking Aiden such a question, and he listened carefully to his protoge. Aiden gave an honest, quality answer, and that pleased Malcolm at least. Still, he could tell that Jeff wasn't too happy, and even with the gift of a gun--which Mal believed Aiden wasn't ready for yet, he knew that Jeff was still having second thoughts about the kid. In the process of leaving, he spoke quietly with him.

"Whatever you're thinking about him, you know that I can prevent whatever it is that will happen to him from happening. He's going to become the best damn Hunter you'll see in your lifetime, so whatever you're doing, stop." Malcolm hissed, before glancing at Aiden and speaking louder. "So, crossroads. Why, though, if these mutts are under Ariel's control would they go for something so simple? Not to mention all we'd be doing is digging up some boxes, only to have to track people down, people that might already be dead. But if you think that will work, we'll be right behind you," Malcolm said, climbing into his car.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson smiled back at Mal. He whispered back to him, "I know he is. The problem is that research isn't enough. He needs to prepare himself for the dangers out there. I still think that Hell Hounds are a bit too tough, but if you think he's ready to face them, then so be it. The gun was just a gift from me to him. He'll need it anyways and you know it." Jefferson took a quick breath. He continued, this time so Aiden could hear. "I think the cross roads would be a safe bet because Ariel isn't a normal demon. For one thing, she was able to get her hands on some demon pups. Also, she wouldn't want others to know where she is because that would cause more hunters to try and go after her. Thus the whole cross roads plan. I believe she may use Hell Hounds to kill humans who had made deals to try and throw us off course. I think that's about it." Jefferson stopped and thought awhile. He believed he hit all the important points on what he believed the demon might do. He still didn't know if all this was true, but his gut told him it was.

Jefferson walked to his car and started it. He looked behind him and saw that Mal and Aiden were waiting for him to go. He started driving forward, hoping Mal would believe him.

[Aiden]

Malcolm listened to his associate speak, and he couldn't help but smile to himself. That was the reason why Jefferson couldn't do anything like this, not with someone so young. Thrusting them into the action too soon while they were unexperienced was practically homicide. "All arguable points, I must admit, but the only reason he is only book smart right now is to keep him alive. Thats the difference between you and I, Jeff; I won't send him to his death just yet. Him not actually hurting the thing is saving him from any life-threatening obstacles...well, reducing his risk of them anyway. I kind of shoved the obstacles on him..." He trailed off, more so letting himself know before making sure his gun was securely in its holster, and heading out to the car.

He once again stopped to take in what Jeff was saying. It made sense in multiple fashions, and to be honest, Mal didn't really have any other leads. He nodded at Jefferson, and ducked into his car. He quickly reached into the back seat, and pulled out a clip of bullets made of rock salt, modified for the design of a gun like Aiden's. "Now is the best time to figure out how to load and unload a clip. I want you to get it as fast as possible." He watched Jeff's car pull ahead of them, and he pulled away after it. "I don't want you shooting anything unless I'm down, you got that?" Mal asked, giving the boy a stern look. Guns were no playthings, and Aiden wasn't supposed to pick one up for another year or so.

After a while, they arrived at the crossroads, dirt crunching under the tires of the car, dust clinging to the paint. Mal holstered his weapon again, and stepped out of the car, glancing around. No person was around, which would make this easier. He began scanning the dirt of the crossroads, and in between some tire tracks, he noted a spot of freshly turned dirt. "Jeff," He called, motioning to the spot. He walked over, and uncovered a small tin box, with a couple of items inside of it. "This person didn't know what they were doing, there isn't any identifying information," He said, tossing the box back into the hole and covering it up.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson had shown up at the cross roads. He took out his own hand gun and loaded it with salt filled bullets. He stared around to see if anyone was around, but he only saw Mal. He began to look for any signs of the dirt being dug up, but he couldn't see any signs at all. He heard Mal call him and he walked over. Mal showed him a box he had recently dug up. Jefferson rushed over to Mal. When he saw what was inside the box, Jefferson's anger sky rocketed. He kicked his car's bumper to try and calm himself down. It worked, but he didn't know for how long. This kept happening ever since he realized he could sense and feel other people's emotions. Jefferson had no idea whether either Mal or Aiden were angry, or whether this was his own anger. He never told Mal what he was able to do, and he never would.

Jefferson walked over to Mal. He still felt surges of rage race through his body, but at least he was in control of it now. "Sorry about that. I really thought we had a lead, but I guess I was wrong. You have any other ideas, or do you think Aiden has any ideas." Jefferson stared at Mal's car, and focused more on where Aiden was sitting.

[Aiden]

Taking in every pebble that lined the road, Mal could find nothing else aside from the spot with the tin box. It could take hours to dig up the rest of the crossroads in order to find another box, and even then, it might not lead to anything. Any other person could already be dead, if not by Ariel's hand, then by the regular crossroad demon's. He shuffled back to his car, letting Aiden know that he could come out--there was no immedaite danger, and there sure weren't any Hell Hounds around the place. Jeff was wrong, it seemed, and when he kicked his car, Mal couldn't help but raise a brow. "You okay there, Sparky?" He called, before listening to him.

"Nothing in Aiden's offense, but I don't think he would know what to do just yet, we need some more information first. I sure as hell don't have any ideas, so maybe we should sleep through the night, and hit the trail in the morning. It already looks to be cold, so we won't lose to much ground," He said, before turning to Aiden, who was pointing his gun at something behind him.

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Jefferson had been right, partly. It wasn't that she was hiding at the crossroads until this whole Hunter thing blew over, but she was simply seeking out her next victim before jumping back to Portland. She liked messing with that Mal guy's head, making him feel exhausted, lost, confused, and that kid with him looked like he would be a great meal. Unlike many of the other demons, Ariel had a preference for human flesh in her mouth, and that kid, Aiden, looked delicious in her eyes.

Her call was the burial of a tin box, although she didn't know that it was being reburied, and that it would only bring her face to face with two and a half Hunters. Upon her arrival, silent in the darkness, she stopped, watching the three of them search the area. If it was Malcolm, that meant that he was there for her, there was no doubt about that. It was only seconds later that the kid turned, armed with a gun, and pointed it at her. She made no move, not scared of the barrel pointed her direction--it wasn't like he was holding the Colt.

Once all three had their attention on her, she sighed dramatically, before taking a few steps forward. "No, please, don't stop on my part. Go on, go sleep and pick it up in the morning," She said, then added, "I promise I won't go anywhere," with a wink. She continued moving forward, knowing they wouldn't shoot her. Just to reiterate her thought, she spoke aloud. "You'd best let the runt know that shooting me won't make things any easier: I'll just vanish off to someplace else, and the you'll never be able to kill me or my hounds."

Still walking, she went to take another step forward, but found that she couldn't move. She glanced down, and found a Devil's Trap traced into the gravel of the road. Her face fell into a harsh frown--careless, how damn idiotic was she to--her eyes, poison darts, shoot over to the boy.

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Aiden grinned when she walked into the trap that he set inconspicuously; the moment he got out of the car, and found no danger, he traced out the trap just in case. Fortunately for him, the demon came, and now he was looking into the face of the demon Mal had been chasing for months. And of course, he wasn't so stupid as to go and shoot her, he knew better. He looked back to Mal and Jefferson, the smile still held.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson stared at the ground some more. When he couldn't find anything else, Jefferson stood up. When he looked at Mal, he noticed that Mal was looking at Aiden. Staring at Aiden, Jefferson noticed that he was holding up the gun he gave him. He followed the aim of the weapon and saw the woman. Now Jefferson understood why he was so angry.

Ariel began to walk forward. Jefferson raised his gun, ready to shoot her. He knew this would do absolutly nothing, but at least it would make him feel better. When Ariel stopped moving foward, Jefferson couldn't understand why. He then caught Aiden's smile and understood. This caused him to laugh.

"Well, well, well. It seems as if the youngest recruit got the best of you." Jefferson said while walking over to Aiden. He placed his hand on Aiden's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Now, put the gun down kid." Jefferson began to walk around the Devil's trap, studying Ariel. The poor girl probably had no idea what was going on at the moment, but that didn't matter to Jefferson. When he returned to Mal's side, he faced him.

"Mal, do you have any goofer dust. If so, spread it around us now. This bitch will probably try and summon her damn dogs on us. Aiden, help Mal out."

[Aiden]

Slackening his grip on the gun after Jefferson's command, Aiden let it drop to his side, still watching the demon that was trapped in the rather simple circle. If even so much as a moderately strong breeze picked up, it was over for them, but it was calm, cool. Even still though, Aiden wanted to see them kill her, watch the process, learn. That thought was a little disturbing to the kid, who knew what he was thinking, but not quite sure why. Nevertheless, the demon was trapped there with them, and it was due to Aiden's hand, something he was proud of. He'd outsmarted a demon on even the simplest of battle grounds, and not only that, but she had the home-field advantage. It really was careless on her part, but perhaps she figured she would catch them off guard.

Aiden didn't move when Jeff asked about the dust--back in the car, Mal had been way ahead of him, and equipped himself and Aiden with two large bags of the dust, which he promptly pulled out of his jacket pocket, and held out to Jefferson. Ariel didn't look anymore pleased than she had, but Jeff was right: the Hell Hounds could be laying in wait as they tried to avoid attack.

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Ariel frowned when the other man berated her, and her glare once again shot back to Aiden. The second she got out of the damn...intelligence made the meal so much more spicier...She glanced down at the trap surrounding her, and she knew that if she could only get it to break, just one fraction of it that she could get out, kill the men, take the kid, and gorge herself into next week. If only, if only. There was a small chance of that happening, unless she could figure out some way to use some hoo-doo magic and create some wind storm or something. Not likely either.

When they pulled out the goofer dust, she laughed, and shook her head. "Points for being prepared, boys, but the Hounds aren't here. They're actually back in town having their next kill as we speak." Her mental connection with them told her that they were currently ripping a man's limbs off, before shredding him into unidentifiable pieces. As she stood there before the men, she could sense...who had it? She narrowed in on each of the men, before finally figuring it out. The boy, not only a good meal and intelligent, had demon blood inside of him. An interesting development.

"Small one," She called out, placing her hands on her hips. "What are these arthritis-ridden scumbags paying you? You, you've got potential, as I'm sure you know. If you come with me I can show you things, things you'll never imagine," She called out. "What do you--"

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"That's enough!" Malcolm yelled. He wasn't about to push that burden on Aiden, not now, not ever. It would be best if he never knew what was inside of him, if he didn't have to face that beast one day. He walked up to Ariel, eyes narrowed, and pulled out a flask. He unscrewed the top, and flicked some Holy water on her, watching her hiss in pain. "How the hell do you control those mutts?" He asked.

[Jefferson]

Jefferson listened to Ariel talk to Aiden. His emotions were once again rising, but at least he was expecting them to. Jefferson guessed that Ariel was about to ask what Aiden could do, but Mal had stopped her. He felt proud of Mal right then. Mal may throw Aiden into combat with a demon he's not ready to face, but at least he can spare Aiden from knowing the truth. Jefferson stared at Aiden and worried about what would happen when he found out about the darkness inside of him.

The thought of the hounds killing someone at this very moment didn't seem to bother Jefferson as much. There was nothing they could do to save the person, so what was the point of worrying. A smile erupted on Jefferson's face when Mal threw holy water on her. They needed information from her, and the faster they got the info, the better. He knew it wouldn't be an easy task, but at least it would be a good lesson for Aiden.

"Watch closely Aiden. Mal and I are about to show you what happens when a demon crosses our path." The smile was still etched on Jefferson's face when he said this. Reaching into his pocket, Jefferson pulled out another flask and opened it. "Now, if you don't want another shower, tell us how you can control the hounds."

[Aiden]

Watching the scene unfold, Ariel found a few things amusing with the situation. For one, Aiden didn't seem to catch on to what she was implying. Secondly, Malcolm gave a rather disgustingly cute display of protection when he cut her off, only to further keep Aiden out of the loop. So they didn't want him to know? Oh, she could definitely use this to her advantage. Still trapped in the circle, she let off a wicked grin, and set her gaze on Malcolm.

"Isn't that cute, jumping to defend the baby," She cooed, giving an equally wicked laugh. "Humans, really. You and you're emotions, you're pathetic," she hissed. She watched Jeff brag to Aiden before Malcolm sprayed her with Holy water, her skin sizzling beneath the liquid. She made no noise, although her face pulled up slightly. "It will take a lot more than that to get the information out of me, boys. You can't really think a few drops of Holy water will--"

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Mal let her keep talking, making sure that there was enough Holy water inside of the flask to make sure the task at hand would work. He took three simple steps forward, and then upturned the flask over her head. He watched as smoke rose from her skin, and he smirked. "What was that? Now, really, I'm sure you don't want to be here all night; people to eat, dogs to train. Just let us know, how do you do it?"