"Morning, kiddo!"

The man leaning over Jack looked like he walked out of a 1920s gangster biopic. He had on a smart, three-piece suit, a hat with a jaunty tilt, a pleasant grin, and the reddest hair Jack had ever seen. He looked familiar.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get you alone? But with you out of the way, things'll be a lot easier. No more distraction of ambrosia blood! Just sit tight, and it'll all be over soon. Oh, and a word of advice? Stop being a donor. You're addictive. Might run into someone who's after more than just one hit."

"And you're not?!" It was enough to jog the memory of an old photo of Kieran and Mister Rebound standing in front of a car. It looked like Rebound was also looking to get back together with Kieran. What had Jack's life become? And was it going to be a constant stream of Kieran's exes popping up?

"I prefer my blood on the verge of alcohol poisoning, and that doesn't mix well with your type."

Jack shifted and frowned at the feel of his phone. He pulled it from his back pocket. He'd only lost about an hour, but it had been enough to get Tara on his ass. That was a good sign. He warily glanced up at his captor.

"You'll notice you have some missed calls. You can talk to your human friends. Just not the pointy friends," Rebound said as he paced around the room. "Break the addiction! Let them hash things out without you in the mix."

"I think I'm missing something."

"This is an intervention."

Jack floundered in confusion. An intervention for him or for Kieran?

His phone rang, and the grumpy pig lit up his screen.

After a quick glance at Jack's screen, Rebound raised his eyes to Jack. "Just a friend?"

"Yeah, he's a cop." Jack's stomach turned restless as he waited for a reaction. This would be what got his phone confiscated. He should have lied and claimed it was a call from work.

Rebound's eyes darted back to the screen, and he smirked. "You may answer."

It wasn't the answer Jack had been expecting. This was easily his weirdest kidnapping, and he needed to reevaluate his life since he had a scale for kidnappings. "Thanks?" He accepted the call and forced a smile. "Hey, I'm alive."

"Where are you?!"

He looked around. It was an unfurnished room with peeling wallpaper. His best guess was a cheap motel with weekly rates or an abandoned apartment complex. "Uh… In a room?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Lincoln and Shore. As I said, out of the way," Rebound replied.

On the other end of town where Jack wasn't as familiar with the bus routes. His chest tightened at the thought of how close he was to the city limits. There was a Greyhound station less than a mile away. He was steps away from leaving. He couldn't leave. No leaving, ever. No escape. He had to behave, or else.

He zoned back into reality at the sharp tone of Sam's voice.

"Jack, who is with you?"

He glanced up at his mystery captor. "Some guy."

"If I come to you, will you still be there?" Sam asked, his voice slow and careful.

"Can my friend come get me?" He could hear Sam's incredulous muttering on the other end. At least he wasn't the only one confused and out of his element. Sam was finally getting a taste of what Jack's life was like.

"Only if you stay away from Kieran and Precious Widdle Augustin," Rebound said, ending with a disgusted sneer.

Jack was definitely missing something. A lot of something. "Can I half promise that?" he quietly asked. All his stuff was at Kieran's.

"No. This is an intervention. Though I suppose I could always pour you down the drain?"

Jack couldn't tell if Rebound was joking. There was a gleeful menace to his already manic voice, but Tara would get the same tone when talking about some of her co-workers at the gym. He decided not to risk it. "I'm good." He raised his phone back to his ear. "Yeah, we're all good for you to come get me."

"I'm on my way," Sam replied with an unsaid promise.

"Right. I'll be here." He hung up, and his phone immediately rang. He sighed as he answered. "I'm fine. I think I'm being hazed for being part of the antique club or something."

"What?! Jack, you do not hang up when you are in an unfamiliar place around unfamiliar people. Stay on the goddamned line!"

"Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. I'll be waiting on the corner." He glanced at Rebound and back to his phone. He did his best to muffle it in his coat. "How long do I have to stay away?" he quietly asked.

Rebound's eyes narrowed as he looked over Jack in unveiled judgment. "You seem like a nice kid. I'm keeping you alive. Do you have any idea how easy it is for someone like you to die from overfeeding?"

The concern was touching in its own way. Although, Jack would have liked the warning to have come sooner. He could have used this brand of intervention back with Farragut. "Okay, but, uh—"

"Kid. Trust me. It ain't real," Rebound hissed. "You're predisposed to offer up your neck. Get it?" He rolled his eyes with a disgusted scoff, and stalked out of the room.

Jack's fears had just been confirmed, and now he was alone with his own thoughts. He looked down at his phone, half-listening to Sam's continuing complaints. Funny how Sam hadn't relayed any proper warnings about Kieran.

He frowned and glared out the window. Why didn't Candace warn him off Kieran? She insisted his relationship was a good thing. Maybe he was one of those little fish that hung out with sharks, or a bird picking around at crocodile teeth. He really didn't want to have this conversation with Kieran or mention the fact that he was at the point of accepting his role in a nature documentary if it meant he didn't turn up dead.

His vampire had better get him a really nice trellis for the nest or den or whatever vampires lived in.

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]