Chapter 10:

Zarabeth couldn't help but smile as she looked up into the bright Etherium above her, the world around her glowing in evening light as she lay in the thick grass of a rolling hill. Glancing over to her right, the girl let out a small laugh as she saw that Jim had already been looking at her as he lay beside her. "How long have you been staring at me?"

The boy propped himself up on his arm, leaning over Zara as his lips curled into a half-smile. "Lost track, I guess. But I could watch you forever."

The girl bit down on her lip as she continued to smile, unable to tear her eyes from Jim's as he slowly closed the distance between them in a gentle kiss. The touch of his lips, the smell of his skin, his warm breath mixing with hers, Zara wished they could always stay just like this.

The girl slowly opened her eyes as she felt Jim pull away from the sweet kiss, taking in a sharp breath at what she saw. The boy's eyes locked with hers were no longer blue. They were amethyst. Unsure of whether to believe what she was seeing or not, Zarabeth was brought back into the present as she watched Jim's eyes fade back into their normal color.

The boy tried to read the look on her face, unsure of what to make of it. "Zara? You alright, baby?"

Trying to think past the overwhelming thoughts flooding her mind, the girl shook her head slowly, suddenly questioning herself as she spoke in hesitation. "Y-you called me 'baby'."

Jim chuckled quietly, still unsure of what was bothering Zara. "So what? Don't you like it?"

"You've never said that be...You're not Jim."

The boy above her laughed in confusion, giving her a questioning look. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm Jim."

More sure than ever, Zarabeth tried to rise, her mind screaming at her to get away. "No, you're not." Zara had hardly sat up before she was forced back down to the ground, the boy's hands securely gripping each of her wrists as he held her below him. "Get off of me!"

The figure of Jim suddenly turned filmy, the image finally clearing to reveal the skin changer, Damian Corbett, looming over Zara. The boy shook his head slowly as he chuckled, his jagged black hair swishing about his face as his amethyst eyes seemed to glow. "Smart girl. And here I thought I'd get you this time."

Struggling to be free of his grasp, Zarabeth twisted and pulled without success as Damian's face drew closer to hers, a menacing smirk on his lips.

"You know, baby girl, you're a better kisser than I expected. I suppose you're more willing if you think I'm that lover-boy of yours. Oh well, at least I got one shot at it. Ready for round two?"

Her chest rising and falling in trembling breaths, Zara watched in fear as the boy closed the distance between them, desperately trying to avoid his touch as she turned her head from side to side in quick succession. "Stop! Damian stop!"

Forcing the girl's wrists above her head, the look in Damian's eyes was almost evil as he gripped both of Zara's hands securely beneath one of his.

No matter how much she struggled, Zarabeth was hardly moving, panic flooding her mind as the boy brought his free hand down toward her face.

The girl's heart was pounding hard and fast as Damian's hand held her head still, unable to tear her eyes from his as her lip trembled in fear. Her voice was hardly audible, Zara's words as desperate as the look in her eyes. "Damian, please."

The boy's laugh was cruel as his expression changed to one of mock sympathy, his tone equally derisive. "What's the matter sweetheart? No more fight left in ya? All the better for me."

Zarabeth had only a moment to hear the boy's last words before her lips were roughly caught by his, Damian's hands keeping her from being able to escape. The girl struggled, but it was no use, the more she struggled, the harder Damian kissed her. Her mind reeled in confusing emotions, each numbing her senses as she began to lose all feeling. Completely defeated, Zara gradually lost the will to resist, a small whimper making itself barely audible as she simply waited for it to end. What could she do but give in? She had no strength to fight back, nowhere to run if she even could, no one to defend her.

That single kiss felt like it lasted an eternity, but as suddenly as it had begun, so it also ended. Zarabeth tried to take a deep breath, her whole body trembling as she turned her face away, not willing to look back at Damian, completely ashamed as she listened to him chuckle in obvious amusement.

"See, baby girl? That wasn't so bad."

Her head still turned to the side, Zara's words were hardly a whisper as she pleaded a final time. "Just leave."

"Well of all the nerve. You think you can just lie there and tell me what to do? Well you can't! You do whatever I say, willing or not! You're mine, do you hear me? You're mine!"

The girl cringed as her head was roughly turned to face Damian once more, her mind completely blank as she spoke resolutely. "I don't belong to anyone."

The skin changer laughed quietly, shaking his head as his eyes slowly brightened, their purple hue burning into Zara as she lay beneath him, his voice changing into that of someone else as he spoke. "That's where you're wrong. How can you forget? You're a slave. You always have been, always will be. Nothing can change that. You are mine."

Zarabeth took in a sharp breath, her eyes widening in fear as Damian's skin became filmy once more, his form completely changed as it cleared.

Looming over her was her old master, his clawed hand digging into her wrists as he gripped at them, his fangs bared as he hissed low to Zara's face.

The girl tried to swallow, her heart beating in her throat as she attempted to speak evenly. "You-you're not real."

The feline man's eyes glowed in menace, his tone one of ridicule as he squeezed at the girl's trapped hands. "Do I feel real?"

Zarabeth's mind flooded with the familiar sensations of pain, her wrists burning as she felt the movement of each claw digging its way beneath her skin. Her mind completely numb, the girl couldn't even cry out, taking in one sharp gasp as her vision began to flicker. "You're not...alive" The words had hardly fallen from her quivering lips before she released another gasp, smaller than the first, as the man's other hand latched about her throat, his grip gradually tightening. Zarabeth desperately tried to take a breath, the hand about her throat cutting off her air as she kicked and struggled with new-found strength.

"What if I am? Dead, I mean." The feline hissed, his angular face only inches from Zara's as he sneered. "That doesn't mean I'm gone. I'll always find you, I will! You'll never be rid of me! Never!"

Just as the girl felt her neck begin to give way beneath his relentless grip, Zarabeth managed to give out a desperate cry as everything suddenly changed. All at once, she was sitting upright in her bed, the dark night filling her bedroom as she hurriedly looked around, her fear slowly turning into relief as she realized she'd been dreaming. Zara rubbed cautiously at her neck before looking down at her wrists, affirming that they really were unharmed.

Taking a trembling breath, the girl pulled her legs close to her chest, burying her face in the fabric surrounding her as she lay back on her side, trying to slow her racing heart. Swaddled in the darkness around her, Zarabeth released every confusing emotion overwhelming her senses, not caring about the tears which fell quietly across her cheeks.

Why did he have to keep coming back? Why wouldn't his death be enough for her to forget him? She thought she'd been getting better. It'd been weeks since her last nightmare, but it was almost worse not knowing which night would be the stage of her mind's next attack on itself.

Surrounded in the silence, only to be broken by her own quiet sobs, Zara's first thought was of finding Jim. He'd always been there to comfort her after her nightmares, knowing exactly what to do and say to make her feel safe again. This time was different. She couldn't go to Jim, not after what had happened earlier that evening.

Their fights were rare, few and far between, but whenever they happened, they were usually about stupid things. She and Jim were both similar and yet completely different, but of any trait which they shared, pride was one that usually drove their tempers to the tipping point.

Slowly sitting up, the girl looked about the room, everything bathed in the eerie glow of Montressor's moon through the panes of the window on the far wall. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, Zarabeth took a moment, struggling with herself until she came to a decision. No, she couldn't go to Jim, not before apologizing, but she didn't know what she could even apologize for. It hadn't been her fault. Had it? Zara shook her head quickly, trying to ignore the wave of unanswerable questions from her mind as she slowly rose to her feet.

Standing in the middle of the room, the girl hugged her arms about her, unsure of what she was planning to do. She wasn't going back to bed, that much she was certain of, but she had nowhere else to really go. Zarabeth released a heavy sigh, wiping her face of the trails of persistent tears as she walked over toward the single window in the room. Climbing onto the cushion of the window seat, Zara pulled her knees close, her head resting on the side of them as she looked out toward the canyons behind the inn, the moonlight casting odd shadows across them.

Staring blankly out into the gray of the night, the girl hardly noticed the tears which continued to fall from the corners of her eyes. Her hands moved without even thinking, her fingers playing over the metal cogs and gears that made up the pendant of the necklace which constantly hung about her neck, the one Jim had made her for her birthday. It'd become a kind of habit, feeling over the endless surfaces of the metal pieces when she was busy thinking through something.

Content to sit as she was, Zarabeth tried to sort through the mixture of emotions flooding through her mind. This nightmare had shaken her up more than usual, but why? Sorting through the mess of thoughts overwhelming her, Zara slowly began to separate them into logical feelings, becoming more and more sure of what made this night feel different.

Zarabeth had always felt afraid of giving up, of no longer fighting, of losing the will to resist. She'd done it before, years ago as a slave, but she still regretted it. Damian had produced more than enough opportunities for her to give in to his advances during that first year at school, especially when other people became involved, but she knew that she had to keep fighting. She would never forgive herself if she didn't. Zara hadn't seen him since he'd been expelled from the Academy at the end of their first year, not even while back on Montressor, but she never thought about it much. As long as he stayed away from her, there was no reason to waste her time thinking about him. It was enough for her to know that she'd stayed strong against him, even when things were hard.

Tonight had been different. She'd nearly given up again, with those traders. She'd entertained the thought for only moments in her mind, but its presence had been enough to confuse her. Silver's life had been in danger, what was she supposed to do? If people she loved were getting hurt or about to be, then why wouldn't she do anything and everything she could to stop that, to protect them? So things got a little out of hand, at least it all worked out in the end, not quite how she'd hoped, but enough that everyone was safe. That's what Jim didn't understand. He was always saving her, always risking his health and safety because he knew that it'd always turned out in the end the minute he'd step in. Whenever she tried to do anything on her own, it usually ended in disaster, a disaster that Jim would have to fix for her. This was one of the first times that she'd done something for herself, and maybe that's what had scared Jim, the fact that he hadn't been around to do anything before she had to. That had to be it, but Zarabeth couldn't be completely sure until she'd talked it through with Jim.

A sound, quiet though it was, broke through the silence of the room, pulling the girl from her thoughts as she turned her head toward the door.

After a series of short knocks, the door slowly opened on silent hinges as Jim let himself in, his tone hesitant as he caught sight of the girl. "Zara? Can I come in?"

Zarabeth let a small smile cross her lips, happy to have the company as she made room for him to sit across from her on the window seat. She watched as Jim sat beside her, suddenly remembering her appearance as she tried to dry her cheeks of the tears which had lined them. "You're up awfully late. Funny though, I was actually gonna come see you."

Jim avoided the girl's eyes, almost in embarrassment as he ran his hand through his hair and behind his neck. "I was up with Silver and I heard you wake up. I was going to come in sooner, but I wasn't sure if you'd want me to, you know...after earlier."

"I've been up for a while."

Finally meeting Zara's eyes, Jim swallowed hard before answering. "I know. I've been standing out in the hall...trying to make up my mind..."

The thought of Jim pacing around the hallway was somehow comforting to the girl. It meant that she hadn't been the only one to wonder if it was the right time to talk. Obviously they'd both made up their minds.

"Nightmare?"

Casting her eyes down, the images from her dreams came flooding back into her mind as she tried hard not to let them affect her, unconsciously putting a hand to her throat as she tried to forget the feeling. "It's been a while. I don't know, I just thought maybe they'd be gone for good... Guess not."

Awkward silence persisted between them for a little while, neither sure about whether to speak or not before Jim finally looked up to where the girl sat, his tone hesitant. "Was it bad?"

Shifting her gaze out past the window, Zarabeth nodded slowly without a word, not trusting her voice as she stared out at the canyons below, her head resting against the cool glass as she pulled her knees closer to her chest.

Jim struggled with himself as he fought against the urge to speak. Seeing the pain in Zara's eyes made him want to hold her, to comfort her, to tell her that she was safe now. Maybe she didn't want him to, not after the way he'd reproached her earlier. He wanted to apologize, but how? What was he supposed to say?

Zarabeth was the next to speak, releasing a small breath to urge her forward as she began. "Jim, I was going to go find you because I wanted to talk. I just...don't know where to start."

The boy pulled the hair up from his forehead as he smiled slightly, shaking his head slowly as he spoke. "Then I'll start... I'm sorry I lost it back there. I was scared, but that's no excuse to be mad at you. You did what you had to and I wasn't very understanding. I was more mad at myself, I think, mad that I wasn't there to do anything, so I took it out on you."

Zara laughed quietly, pulling one of Jim's hands into hers as she began to play mindlessly with his fingers, the words that were so hard to think through now naturally flowing together. "I need to apologize too. You were just trying to protect me, and my pride told me that I shouldn't need you, but the truth is that I do. I need you, more than anything. Every time that I try to fix something, or find my own way out, I only end up making a bigger mess. You're usually around to clean it up for me, but I didn't want you to have to this time. My pride nearly got me into deeper trouble than I've ever been. So, I'm sorry. I just need to learn that I can't do it. No matter how hard I try to fight or resist, you're the only thing that keeps me safe...and alive."

Jim laughed quietly, rubbing distractedly at his face as he looked into the dark of the room. "I dunno. You made pretty short work of that guy. Remind me to never get you mad if there's a frying pan around."

"Sure thing." The girl relaxed in relief, the tension in the room melting away with every word as the two laughed together.

Trying to make sure that things were fixed between them, Jim bit down on his lower lip for a moment before daring to ask. "So, am I forgiven?"

Crawling over closer to where the boy was sitting, Zarabeth let a smile dawn on her face as she sat with her legs beneath her, losing herself in Jim's crystal eyes before leaning forward to give him a small kiss. "What do you think?"

Jim chuckled quietly before narrowing his eyes as if in indecision. "It felt like a 'yes', but I can't be sure. Maybe you'd better tell me again."

Zara was unable to suppress a quiet laugh as she shook her head, happy to be back in each others forgiveness and understanding. Taking a moment to look over Jim's face, the girl slowly leaned in again, wrapping her arms about him as she felt him pull her closer, his hands lost in her hair as their lips met.

Jim's kiss. There was no other feeling like it in any of the worlds. She couldn't help but feel completely at peace as she tried to take in every feeling, every moment, every touch. No matter how horrible the nights could be, she could always rely on Jim to be there for her. Jim was real. Their love was real. That's all she needed to know.