Markus felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stand straight up. Though he hadn't heard a sound, he had the distinct impression he was no longer alone. He debated turning around at first, then realized he'd probably be murdered regardless of whether or not he saw his killer's face.

With a deep breath, he quickly looked behind him.

Markus: "Holy… Don't do that to people!"
Jacob: "What?"
Markus: "Sneak up behind them like that! It's not good for the heart."
Jacob: "I wasn't sneaking."

Markus: "What are you doing out of bed?"
Jacob: "I'm hungry."
Markus: "Did you need more blood?"
Jacob: "No."

Markus was startled when Jacob began to walk matter-of-factly towards the kitchen, and even more startled when he noticed all the bandaging he'd done on the boy had been removed.

Markus: "Why did you take your bandages off?"
Jacob: "I didn't need them anymore."
Markus: "You can't tell me you healed completely already!"
Jacob: "I did."

Markus craned his neck to get an unobtrusive view of the kid's injuries, and was yet even further surprised. There was no indication that there'd been trauma of any kind -- no scabs or scars, not even the slightest discoloration of his skin. The only evidence remaining was the dried blood on his shirt, which was hardly even visible against the black of the fabric.

Markus: "That's unreal. Even for a vampire, that's unreal."

Markus watched as Jacob emerged from the refrigerator with a carton of milk and made a quick scan of the surroundings before heading back across the room and retrieving a bowl from an upper cabinet and a spoon from a nearby drawer. He then grabbed the box of Count Chocula from the counter before settling in at the table.

Markus joined him warily.

Markus: "So you're feeling completely better then?"
Jacob: "My injuries are healed, yes."
Markus: "Normally I'd warn you about lingering headaches, but somehow I doubt you'll have to worry about those."
Jacob: "Probably not."
Markus: "I know it's probably not easy to talk about, but how are you feeling otherwise?"

Jacob's expression darkened slightly, leaving Markus feeling suddenly uneasy.

Jacob: "I'll be fine."
Markus: "Look, I know what you're going through and how you feel. I've been there. Right now you want nothing more than to take your pain and give it right back to the person who caused it in the first place, but you have to realize doing that won't really fix anything."

Markus waited for some sort of reply, but Jacob continued to eat without pause.

Markus: "There's no excuse for what Tristan did to you. It was wrong, plain and simple. But people make mistakes, and we have to forgive them and move on."
Jacob: "It never goes away."
Markus: "I'm not saying you'll forget what happened, but you'll think about it less and less."

Jacob took one last spoonful of his sugary cereal before pushing away from the table.

Jacob: "I need to get my truck back."
Markus: "I can take you to it. Looks like the sun's going down so we can leave any time."

Jacob nodded once before disappearing up the stairs, presumably to get his shoes. Markus didn't want to admit how grateful he was that his 'duty' was almost at an end -- there was a lot about Mary and Emily's neighbor that set him on edge.

His gaze fell on the mostly empty cereal bowl left sitting on the table in front of him and decided to leave Mary a note informing her of the twelve-pack of beer waiting for her in the fridge.

Just as he was signing his name, he heard Jacob coming quietly down the stairs.

Markus: "Ready?"
Jacob: "Yes."
Markus: "I'll need directions -- I'm not really sure where your truck is."
Jacob: "It's at a small club in the industrial zone off SR20."
Markus: "Right. Just give me plenty of warning before I have to turn."

Apart from the occasional 'left here' or 'right at the light', Jacob was silent the entire drive. When they finally pulled in to the deserted parking lot, Markus couldn't help but notice he shivered ever so slightly.

Markus: "You should probably head straight home and take it easy tonight. You've been through a lot, I don't care how fast your physical wounds healed. Do you want me to follow you, make sure you get back all right?"
Jacob: "No."
Markus: "Didn't think you would. Drive carefully, kiddo."

Markus felt a cold foreboding as Jacob held his gaze for a moment before climbing into his truck and driving off.