Night Time (victorious)

Chapter 8

Jade slowly walked up to the Hollywood sign, keeping her eyes focused on the large wolf lying in front of it. "How did you find me?" Tori asked, not turning around. Jade gave a small smile and sat down next to her.

"Tracking spell in the collar, remember?" She said, crossing her legs and leaning back.

"Are you here to put a leash on me and drag me back to your house?" Tori asked, still not looking at her. Jade shook her head.

"No. I'm not here to force you to do anything."

"Besides give up my humanity." Tori growled.

"Says the giant wolf." Jade pointed out with a chuckle. Tori glared at her.

"Are you just here to mock me?" She demanded. Jade stopped and looked back at her seriously.

"No. I'm sorry. I just want to talk to you." She said, sitting up and turning to face Tori.

"What's there to talk about? I think humans are valuable beings with souls and lives, and you think they're dumb animals who only exist to be eaten."

"Don't twist my words." Jade snapped. "I'll try and be fair to you, but you have to be fair to me too." Tori stared at her, and then looked away.

"You're right. Sorry." She said quietly. "Go ahead." Jade sighed.

"Look, you need to understand that I am not a product of the modern age. I've adapted, but I'm a product of the 1300's." She told Tori. "When I was human, life was cheap. Medicine sucked, and starvation was likely. Life became even cheaper when the Black Death went through Europe. And after the worst of the plague, the Hundred Years War started up. And then we found the New World, and we had more death and war. Really, life has only been seen as valuable as it is now since the late 1800's." Jade ran a hand through her hair, sighing again. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm old. And when you're as old as I am, you get set in your ways. In short, it's hard for me to change my ways and opinions. I just wasn't raised to put the same value on human life that you were." Now it was Tori's turn to sigh.

"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just that, well, it seems wrong to kill people for food when you have other options. I mean, do you even have to kill people to drink their blood?"

"Well, no." Jade admitted. "But it's always risky to leave someone alive after I drink their blood. For one thing, if I don't want to turn them I can't use my teeth, so I have to cut them open with a knife. For another thing, I can't guarantee that when I hypnotize someone the hypnotism will stick. And for some reason, there are Hunters who get more upset about vampires hypnotizing people than they do about us killing people."

"What?" Tori asked, confused. Jade shrugged.

"I don't know. They say it has something to do with the 'sanctity of the human mind', or something. Those types of Hunters are a big joke for vampires." She shook her head. "We're getting off track here. Look, let's make a deal. I drink the blood from your raw meat, and you come back home and we start over, okay?" Tori nodded.