Ace Of Spades (Complete Raw First Draft, Unedited)

Fourty- Four: Magic

Slowly, but surely, the months went by, and life went back to normal. I'd convinced Jenna to stay and keep living with me. She was coming out of her shell, more, lately, and was even confident enough to leave the house by herself, now. She insisted on helping me to pay rent, and had taken over Kelly's old job, working the bar at the Specter's clubhouse, now that Kelly had graduated university and moved away to pursue her dreams.

I was headed there, now, to pick her up and take her into town. With Jenna, Clyde, and Bonnie's help, me and the Reapers had organised the yearly charity event, which would last over the entire weekend. This time, we went with vintage bikes and cars, with all proceeds going to help victims of domestic violence, which was Jenna's idea.

I went straight through the front door of the clubhouse, nodding to Boomer in greeting where he was throwing darts at the board, returning the thumbs up Jack shot me from where he was watching.

"The girls about?" I asked, and Boomer nodded toward the back rooms.

"Jen's getting some ink done."

"More?" I laughed, shaking my head. "Jeez."

"The girl has an obsession," Jack laughed.

I crossed the room, past the bar, and into the back rooms, wandering past each of them, listening for the familiar buzz of the needle.

They were in the first one, after the lounge, Jenna laying on her stomach, wearing only her jeans so that her entire back was exposed. She had her eyes squeezed shut tightly, her lips pursed, and Bonnie was so focused, that neither of them noticed me, at first.

"You're gonna have more ink than me, by the time you're done," I teased.

Bonnie smiled, not looking away from her work, and Jenna opened her eyes, giving me a small wave, her expression pinched and painful.

"What are you working on?" I wondered, stepping into the room to have a closer look.

Bonnie was working her magic, adding some final touches to the feathers that arched over Jenna's shoulder blades, shading beneath them slightly so that they actually looked like an extension of her body, rather than flat, lifeless ink on her skin.

I pulled up a chair beside them to watch, and Jenna reached for my fingers, slipping her hand into mine, holding tightly.

"I thought you said that your back didn't hurt," Jenna said weakly, her voice muffled against her other arm that her head was resting on.

"Are you kidding?" Bonnie laughed, momentarily stopping, shooting me an amused look. "He practically cried the entire time I did his."

"It's not my fault that you were trying to see how deep the needle would go," I countered as Bonnie resumed her work.

She shook her head, smirking.

"Where's the monster?" I wondered, looking around.

"Which one?" Bonnie replied. "The big one, or the little one?"

"The little one, obviously," I laughed. "It's been nice, not having to look at that ugly mug everyday, at work."

"You are so on nappy duty, now," I heard Clyde say as he came in as well, nursing a bundle of blankets.