Characters of a Minor Sort (jesschars) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-02-17 17:43:00 |
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Current location: | Church |
Current mood: | sad |
Entry tags: | ethan godfrey, jamie thompson, place: la |
Sad Days and Nights Ahead
Who: Jamie and Ethan
Where: The Church Ethan Hangs Out At
When: Feb. 12, Friday Afternoon
Jamie wasn't sure what to do with herself. Her training was going OK, she supposed, but her heart wasn't in it. Lately, Luke had vanished off the face of the earth, and she was worried. She wasn't even sure if she was worried for him or herself, though. WHere had he gone? Had he been killed? Should she really care this much? He wouldn't just disappear on her, would he? She hoped not.
So, she felt the need to be at a church, although she couldn't figure out why that was, either. She usually didn't take things like that, seriously. However, with everything that was going on as of late (water turning into blood, Lucy Van Warren dying, Ashton Kowalski going off the deep end), she just wanted to feel safe, even if it was only for a few hours.
She walked inside of the church and sat down on one of the pews, just staring in front of her for a little while as she sat there and tried to put her thoughts together.
After training, Ethan usually helped Father Thomas straighten up the church and made sure all the pews had its proper hymn books and Bibles. It was while he was putting a few Bibles in the little cubby slot when he noticed a young woman enter the church and take a seat. The hunter had been around the church long enough to know the regulars and the young woman was certainly not a regular. She looked troubled and worried and Ethan felt compelled to inquire if she needed help at all.
Making his way over, he slid another Bible into a cubby slot in the pew in front of Jamie and then turned to face her, letting one of his arms rest along the back. A small smile curved his lips and Ethan finally asked quietly, "...Can I help you?"
It actually took Jamie a second to realize that the man was talking to her, she was so lost in her thoughts at the moment. She really wasn't sure if anyone here or anywhere could help her right now. She sort of worried that her mental state was beyond help. All teenagers think that they are beyond all help, though. This much at least she knew, though. "I'm really not sure," she finally said to the man after staring at him for a second. "I'm not sure if I'm really still help-able."
"Tell you what." Ethan started to say, his reassuring smile still in place, "Tell me what's troubling you and I can promise to at least listen." The hunter then shrugged, "Perhaps I can also help you."
"I'm not even sure if you'll believe me," Jamie said to him. "You might just think I'm crazy and try to lock me away in a booby hatch."
The hunter chuckled and reassured the young lady, "Believe me, little miss, I've heard it all." Ethan cut the air with his hand, "What you say, will not surprise me in the least." He smiled at her.
"Have you really heard it all?" she asked him. "Have you heard of something called a vampire slayer? Because that's what I'm supposed to be, even though I'm not sure I'm really any good at it."
Whether or not it would shock Jamie, Ethan answered truthfully with a nod, "Yes, I have." Technically, if the hunter was still a part of the Inquisition, he had orders to kill a Slayer on sight. However, Ethan hadn't been a part of that organization for seven years now, and he found that to be a load poppycock anyway. Why kill another person who was, essentially, on their side?
"Well, OK, ever hear of one stupid enough to fall for a vampire who might have been just feeding her a line?" She really didn't know if Luke was telling her the truth or not. The fact that he disappeared didn't speak well for him, although he could just be dead, which would be awful. She wasn't sure which was true at this point.
"My dear, vampires do nothing but feed human's a line. Well, at the least the clever ones do." Ethan never sugarcoated anything he said, believing that the truth should always be told, "The ones not charming enough to lure their prey in, usually just take them."
"The clever ones?" Jamie asked. She had really never thought about anything like that. Was that it? Was he just smart enough to want to play with her? Was she only just a game? She didn't want to believe that, though. She didn't want to think that she had been so gullible to buy something like that. "They have clever ones?"
"Quite a few, actually." Ethan paused to study Jamie, noting her distress upon hearing what he had to say. The hunter then asked, "How long?"
"A few months," she said to him. "He disappeared recently. I only kissed him, never let him bite me or anything." She was probably lucky it didn't go that far. "He told me that not all vampires are that bad, but, if he was right, why would he just leave?"
A few months, she said, and suddenly the vampire disappeared. "Consider yourself lucky," Ethan replied, "He was probably going to turn you." The hunter quirked a brow at the bit about vampires not being bad. Ethan couldn't help but scoff, "He was lying. Vampires are nothing more than parasites that will literally suck the life out of you. His disappearance is evidence of that. He was either killed or another Hunter scared him off."
She merely sighed when he said that. He probably was right. All of her training told her that as well. She just didn't want to believe it, though. Maybe it was more that she didn't want to believe that she was so stupid to actually believe what was going on, but just the same. "Are you sure? All of them?"
"I have yet to meet a vampire that did not want to suck the life out of another human being," And for Ethan, that was the truth because the hunter, quite literally had yet to meet a vampire like Meredith or Damon. Since the age of five it had been drilled into the man during his training that vampires were loathsome creatures that lived for nothing but the kill. Ethan had yet to see evidence to the contrary.
"I think I just don't want to believe that I was actually stupid enough to actually believe in him," Jamie admitted finally. "I mean, I'm taught and trained not to believe them, but then I did, anyway."
"I think I just don't want to believe that I was actually stupid enough to actually believe in him," Jamie admitted finally. "I mean, I'm taught and trained not to believe them, but then I did, anyway."
She looked ready to cry. "Jamie," she said, taking his hand and giving a very weak handshake at the moment. "So, do you work here, or are you just like, a church goer or something?"
Ethan shook his head in answer, "I'm just earning my keep while I stay here for the time being." He fished out a crumpled tissue from his pocket and handed it to Jamie as she looked like she was about burst into tears at any moment.
Tears did start to drip down her fast soundlessly. She took the tissue and wiped her face. "I'm sorry, but it feels awful to have been lied to like that." Especially when she should have known better! She had no excuse!
The hunter shook his head again, "You have nothing to apologize for, Jamie. Being lied to and used, in any situation, makes one feel awful."
She nodded. It actually really did make her feel like lying down in the middle of the freeway. "So, what should I do now?"
Ethan was quiet for a moment, thinking over Jamie's words. In the hunter's personal experience, Ethan would've just hunted down the vampire and ended the creature. However, it seemed in this case Jamie was either ill-prepared for such an endeavor or couldn't do it. So the hunter gave this advice, "Know your enemy better."
She nodded slowly. It was as good advice as any. She had actually tried locating Luke, but had been unable to do so. It was when she had finally given up that she had become depressed. She now felt like quite the fool, though. "I should know my enemy better." And maybe, this time, start hanging around humans.
Ethan then offered the Slayer, "You may stop by the church any time to peruse their library." Despite the church's view on the occult and such things...they sure kept extensive libraries on it!
"Thank you," Jamie said to him. "Maybe now I can actually be effective at doing my job or destiny or however I'm supposed to look at it." Willow was a good Watcher, but the more knowledge, the better, right?
A smile curved Ethan's lips, "You are quite welcome." The hunter even offered to help her out more, "It would be my honor if you needed a sparing partner while I'm in the city."
That actually got a small smile out of her. "OK. Are you always here, or is there somewhere else that I can find you?" She really had no idea what he did or anything, but he couldn't be that bad if he was in a church, right?
"I'm usually here during the day doing research. At night, I'm out patrolling the streets." Ethan replied, matter-of-fact.
She nodded. "OK, then I should be able to find you then. I go to school during the day, but maybe in the afternoons then?"
"Certainly," Ethan nodded and then added, "In the case that I'm not here, you may simply leave a message with Father Thomas and I'll get it." The hunter smiled again.
"OK, I'll do that," Jamie said. She stood up. "I should probably be getting home soon." Her parents might start to worry about her soon. Even if they knew the whole Slayer business, they still worried.
"Of course," Ethan said, standing with her. The hunter folded his hands behind his back and escorted Jamie politely to the door, opening it for her. Ethan then said, "Stay sharp out there, trust your instincts."
Jamie nodded. "I will," she told him. Right now her instincts were telling her to trust Ethan, for one, and she was definitely going to go along with that.