I moment of hesitation washes over me, freezing me to the spot. Do I really want to make this strange boy that attacked Henry my responsibility? In the end good will grips me, and I know that I simply can't leave him like this.
                          
A small smile blossoms on my face, and I turn back to Henry who returns the tiny gesture with half as much enthusiasm. I run over and wrap my arms around him, showing gratitude for his supportive nature, I know it can't be easy when the guy I want to help staked him only minutes before, but he does it anyway. He walks slowly to the entrance of the alley, a hand still held over the wound in his chest.
                          
"You got about four hours!" He shouts to me over his shoulder, and then he walks away.
                          
I turn back to the boy trying to pull himself up using the wall. I notice the stake at my feet, its tip covered in Henry's blood and pick it up with a grimace, tucking into the back of my waistband.
                          
"Can you tell me your name?" I ask the boy, feeling a little bit stupid and slightly condescending.
                          
He pushes his shaggy black hair back from his eyes and with a few horrible moaning noises, manages to pull himself up into a standing position using the wall for support. He gives me a resolute look with steely eyes before prying his lips open.
                          
"Jed." He says with venom, and I can see his canine teeth growing rapidly when he opens his mouth.
                          
"My blood... Feels like... It's on fire." He breathes out while panting furiously.
                          
"I - Uh..." I stutter, not knowing what I can do to help him I feel useless and stupid.
                          
I try to remember what Henry did when I was in the middle of the change, in that horrible agonizing pain. 
                          
I was choking, coughing up blood and crying my eyes out, but Henry... Just sat there.
                          
I can see him in my mind's eye, with his back against the wall, just staring up into the night sky with that faraway look on his face he always gets when he's thinking something that he'll never share. But I'm not like Henry, am I?
                          
I don't think I could sit and watch Jed suffer through this alone, but I'm not sure if there's anything else I can do for him that would be of use.
                          
Jed looks up at me with a fiery determination to try and hide any pain he's feeling. Despite the situation though, the sweat, tears, blood and pain, Jed actually smirks at me. He smirks as though he knows something I don't. I scan the around us anxiously, suddenly aware that if one slayer was here, maybe more could follow.
                          
"We should get out of here..." I say nervously, looking at the only exit from the dank dirty alleyway.
                          
I move so that Jed can sling his arm around my shoulder and we start to slowly make our way back to the apartment. Of course, Jed has no idea where we are going though.
                          
Once we get to a small abandoned park Jed finally stops looking over his shoulder. A sad look passes across his face, an almost remorseful expression. We stop so that Jed can rest at a family sized picnic bench. He's drenched in sweat.
                          
"How... Much... Longer?" He manages to puff out between breathes.
                          
"Not long." I answer, looking up at the apartment complex overshadowing the park in which we sit, silhouetted by the bright full moon. The air has a crisp quality to it, and the wind whips my hair around my stony face. Jed closes his eyes in a moment of peace, letting the frigid winds slap across his cheeks playfully.
                          
We sit like that for a while, in a day dreaming sort of state.
                          
When I finally tear my gaze away from the moon, I find Jed staring at me intently, panting much lighter now.
                          
"What?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at his studious expression.
                          
"Nothing, it's just that... You looked so... Human." He looks away from me then, instant regret written all over his face. I let out a small cold laugh.
                          
"Jed, do you know what a changeling is?" I ask him, resting my head in the palm of my hand and looking him right in the eye. He looks puzzled for a moment, furrowing his brow in frustration.
                          
"Uh... Yeah. A vampire who didn't have enough blood left to change, but miraculously did anyway. What does that have to do with anything?"
                          
A bemused smile crosses my face and I can tell Jed does not like being at a disadvantage to his enemy, for that is what he still considers me.
                          
"Do you know what happens to a changelings memory?" I ask, biting my lip.
                          
"No. What does it like, disappear or something?" He asks, and I smile.
                          
"All changelings maintain little or no memory of anything that had ever happened to them before they got attacked and bitten." I say, looping my legs out of the picnic bench table and turning so that my back is facing Jed.
                          
"Why are you telling me this?" He asks from behind me, I stand and walk a little away from the table.
                          
"Just a little trivia I guess. Now c'mon, the apartment is on the seventh floor of that building." I say, pointing to the apartment complex Henry and I have been living in ever since I was reborn.
                          
To his credit Jed doesn't say another word as we make our way to the apartment, but he doesn't look at me either. And by the time we reach the door, he's stop breathing completely.