The red stuff

Ali has proven himself more than worthy of Jack's time, the type of hospitality he showed to practical strangers makes one think he might want something.

But no, this man shines with the pure aim to help, perhaps such a feeling strikes stronger when one is middle aged?

However, due to the said hospitality, Jack and Ali have entered Jack's private life a hunch more now but him bringing trouble is highly unlikely.

However, to exchange numbers, Jack had to take charge as the kind middle aged man has recently bought a smart phone, touch screen and such but can't quite understand how it works. No biggie, took barely a minute to handle everything.

Jack has left the little restaurant once words exchanged with Trevor the blackmailer, wanting to take some time alone in order to comprehend what the past few days have brought.

Of course, the self described vampire tried to pay for the table he melted through but Ali insisted that it is no problem, apparently he has a cousin who runs a shop that sells these kinda round restaurant tables and it will be easy to replace it.

The time about 4 pm now, Jack has taken the opportunity to clear his head, has been walking ever since he left Ali's. Nothing hard for a boxer but he does feel the left knee getting a tad tired, a bit vulnerable since it brings a long one past injury. It will heal in just a few months but for now it can prove slightly troublesome.

Jack's phone started ringing, he's used of the ringtone so much that answering the call became a matter of seconds as he doesn't really like grabbing other people's attention with the minor noise.

Looking at the contact number, it's indeed Ali. Thinking that something might have happened, Jack swipes the green phone thing while looking for a taxi. "Hi Ali, how are you?"

"Good good, don't worry nothing's wrong." Well having that assured is pretty nice, tends to shun away unnecessary worrying. "I've been thinking about something, wanted to check in with you first."

His curiosity stabbed, Jack can't resist immediately asking. "What about? Do tell."

Trying to put it in a way that won't make Jack feel like he's being pushed, the nice man breaks it in. "My nephew has... well you know he might be like you. I'm thinking it would be good for you two to meet up and talk."

Definitely not liking the idea of having privacy invaded, Jack utters while trying to not be so specific here in the crowd. "I don't think that's a good idea, I have a feeling your nephew is young, might be tempted to tell friends. My parents don't even know about this..."

"Oh then it's all up to you, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. The nephew has been... what do the kids call it? Depressed, sad. Thinking he has been cursed or something, maybe talking to you would have made the boy feel better." This... well it's a shared burden, Ali is definitely not looking for petty.

Feeling tad bad about refusing it now, taking a few seconds to reply, until he hears Ali repeating. "Jack, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here... was thinking about what you just said. If I say yes, can you make sure that no one else comes with him?" Well here's where Jack decided to budge, it's one of his kind after all and curiosity does stand strong.

Ali's tone shone with joy right after, assuring and slightly speaking fast. "Totally, just you, me and him. I'll make sure he doesn't yap about it, doubt he would though. The boy doesn't really have any friends."

Still taking personal privacy under consideration, Jack pitches. "Okay it's perfect then, we can't meet in your place all the time, so how about you bring him to the park? The sun's still shining so we can talk a little bit."

Set to a bliss that this meeting will happen, happy about his nephew even, Ali utters. "Totally, I'll let his father know and bring the boy there."

Perhaps self centered to this point but still considering himself, Jack requests. "Okay and do mind to keep everything we did these past few days, hidden. Can't really have more ears knowing about my personal life."

Using phrases that got Jack tad confused but nothing to really worry about, Ali assures. "Don't worry about that. What happened in the restaurant, stays there until the day of judgement."

...

"You must be Ali's nephew." Jack greets, shaking the boy's hand after watching these two casually and calmly walk towards him.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Amar." The boy answers, shaking the hand a second longer before pulling it back.

"Do sit, or do you want to walk?" Jack asks, while pointing at the bench he stood up from.

"Nah, let's walk, the taxi gave me a sore ass." Amar expresses and immediately notices a glare from Ali because of mentioning the word, ass. "What? There aren't any ladies here."

Having it hard not to laugh, Jack puts in an attempt to communicate. "So, how old are you Amar?"

Letting out a comment that Ali warned about ahead of time, Amar utters. "I'm about to turn 17, but what does it matter? I'm going to hell anyway."

Trying not to repeat what this boy might have heard countless times, Jack questions. "What makes you think that?"

His tone low, which here proves as an advantage as other people can't lend an ear on the conversation, the teenager expresses. "You should know better than me, you're older. We're both cursed by the devil."

"Now I don't know why you think about it that way, but we can't be cursed if we were born with them. I don't think that any religion would call you cursed, or bad for having what you have." Of course Jack is being indirect about the talk of power, for the sake of safety.

"Yeah I heard that before, having it hard to believe it though, I don't want to lie to myself. If only suicide wasn't..." Tried the teenager to express, but felt a light smack on the head by Ali.

Wanting to take this situation with a different approach, Jack weighs in a question. "Tell me more about your... you know. What can you do?"

At least willing to share more about himself, Amar utters. "A lot of stuff I don't wanna do. Red hand, crazy hair, sometimes my nose is gone."

Relating only with the red hand thing, guessing it's a term for the boiling hot hand that can melt metal itself, Jack felt at shock especially when Jack mentioned the nose thing.

Of course, there is one way to know more about this. "Can you tell me more about the nose? Does anything else come with it? Like an enhanced sense of smell?"

Not quite sure how to answer, Amar takes a few seconds before answering. "No, I don't understand how it works but it only happens when I'm super sad."

"Aha, I understand what's happening here." And this is no bluff, Jack is basing it on a past experience although not nearly related to the nose thing. "Do you feed boy? You know... the red stuff. We need that to function normally."

Not understanding what Jack means, Amar immediately answers. "No, I don't drink alcohol."

"No not that." Jack answers, understanding where it went wrong and leaning in towards the boy's ear, correcting with a whisper. "I mean blood."