"Not exactly," I answered, not smiling back. Wonderful answer, Ruby. Just friggin' wonderful. Because that doesn't sound like you're hiding anything at all.

"Oh really?" His eyes widened.

I didn't say anything, but I looked at him even more fiercely.

"How old are you?" I asked, almost desperate now to get the subject off of me and directed elsewhere,

Damon smiled. But this smile, I noticed, was cold. He plainly did not like the fact that I didn't answer him.

The smirk turned secretive, and his black eyes showed this secrecy and something else... humor?

"Older than you."

"I've noticed."

I began to get fed up of him looking like he wanted to eat me on a plate with a side of vegetables, so I changed the subject again. Ha, royal subject switcher today, aren't you Ruby?- I thought grimly to myself. Would it always be like this? Would I be forever condemned to switching the subject constantly whenever things got too close to the truth for my liking?

I looked past him, over to the other boy. It was at this point that I noticed he was asleep. Leaning with his head against the window and curled up as small as he could go - which was difficult as he was evidently taller than Damon - he looked disheveled and exhausted, even in rest.

"Is he with you?" I asked Damon, nodding over to the sleeping boy.

"Yes, he's my brother." He didn't even avert his eyes from me. His gaze remained solely on my face, not even affected by anything around him.

"He looks cold."

"He can hear us, you know," Damon grinned at me.

"I don't think he can, he's asleep," I chirped back, childishly triumphant. I hated arrogant boys, and this boy was about as arrogant as they can get. Plus he was hot, and he knew it - which of course added to the effect.

Now Damon finally looked over at his brother. The boy did look cold- probably due to the fact that airplane was getting cooler and cooler as it flew. His cheek was pressed against the edge of the window, his breath making it go slightly foggy.

"Oh," Damon said. "I didn't notice."

"Of course you didn't," I scoff.

He turned back to me, a mock-hurt expression on his face.

"That is because you, love, are too beautiful to ignore. I was merely curious."

I scowled a little at him.

"Curious is when you look longer than you're supposed to. You were leering at me like a cat with a bowl of cream," I somehow managed to resist the urge to point my finger at him. I have no idea how I managed to resist.

He laughed.

"I am merely interested as to how you are so mature for your age."

"I've learned it tough."

"Oh really?" A slight quirk of an eyebrow indicated his surprise. "And what, in your opinion, is the world really like?"

Every little bit of smile was wiped from my face.

It was a difficult question to answer. For some people, the world was wonderful, as they're the people who get their own way in life all the time. But then children are born to people who haven't even grown up themselves, and they resent being free. To have normal parents, who cared about me, would probably mean I would be normal today. I'd still be in England, with a sober mother and father. But I've never had that - the world is cruel, as are most of the people in it.

"Cruel, most of the time," I finally answered.

He stared at me for a long time, probably trying to figure out what had prompted a sixteen year old girl- who should be hooked on partying, fun, and boys- to say such a thing.

"What do you think of the world?" I asked him, trying to change the subject.

He blinked in surprise, and didn't answer as he gave up trying to read me by my eyes.

"Interesting," Damon said, smirking. Then he looked at me more closely, his dark midnight eyes serious, his expression cocky.

After a few moments I grew uncomfortable, but that's when I felt a very, very strong urge. But this urge wasn't like the others- it was much stronger. And this urge, believe it or not, was telling me to kiss him. It was making me want to incline my body toward him, not caring that I had started talking to this guy like, twenty seconds ago? My dad's twisted mind control had been a lot less advanced than this. I didn't want to sound like an absolute nutter, even though I was sure that this man was somehow causing this, so I put up my walls. But I felt something else. Something was probing my mind, like a burrowing worm it was trying to squirm through and become deeper than an urge - and then I realized what it was looking for: answers. It wanted to find out about me.

Well damn hell if I was going to let it.

I knew that this Damon guy was doing it, I just knew. I didn't know why, but I knew it was him. I grew so angry, not to mention freaked out, and I knew that he could feel it, because he pulled out of my mind.

"Quit doing that, or I'll scream as loud as I can and get you arrested,' I whispered with venom at him. His eyes flashed with something, something that instinctively made me want to run. I'd never seen such fire in someone's eyes, or be able to feel their anger just by sitting next to them.