Chapter 10 – Memories Of The Past

Once again, she was running away. She was running away from the same vampire that had decided to plague her life for the last two days. She could feel his eyes on her, as she walked away, slowly, trying to resist the urge to let her legs take her somewhere far away, far far away. She made it out of the main foyer/living room okay, but once she hit the hallway, she was running. Sprinting, pushing her legs faster than she ever had before, trying to get away from Kevin, and his stupid pointless questions.

They were pointless because he was going to kill her eventually. But Jeanne didn't care. She had already let herself get in too deep, and now there was no backing out. The scariest part was that, as much as she didn't want to admit it, Jeanne was okay with it. She wanted to spend time with Kevin. She wanted to talk to him, to have him learn about her and she learn about him. She had thrown all caution to the wind and now… well she must have lost her mind because all the sudden she didn't care about dying, as long as Kevin was with her.

Disgusted with her sudden change of heart, something that no matter how much she tried to deny and ignore, was still there, Jeanne threw herself into her room and on her bed staring up at the ceiling. Not for the first time she wondered what the hell she was doing.

The two parts of herself that were most dominant at the moment – the part that looked out for her own self preservation at all costs to the people around her and thought she was being insane – argued fiercely with the other part; the other part of Jeanne that didn't want to be alone anymore, and was convinced that Kevin was telling the truth. That he really was her soulmate, and therefore wouldn't ever hurt her.

Jeanne groaned and threw a shoe at her light switch, successfully encasing the room in darkness. She rolled on her side and moaned. She cried herself to sleep.

When she woke in the morning, it was raining, which fit her mood in a way. She dressed quickly in her warmest clothes, layering a cami and a thick sweater, with her usual jeans and tennis shoes. She didn't bother to do anything with her hair, just tucking it under a beanie. Reluctantly, she dragged herself downstairs and into the mess hall for breakfast, the first time ever for her.

The mess hall was dotted with a few humans and a shapeshifter or two, but it was mostly deserted. Jeanne breathed a sigh of relief. No vampires. They usually just sent breakfast up to her room, but she didn't see any point in hiding anymore. She grabbed herself a carton of milk and some cereal before sitting herself in the farthest corner, away from everyone else. She had just barely finished pouring the milk into her cereal when a shadow appeared over her.

Jeanne tensed, ready to launch herself over the table, but stayed put.

"What do you want?"

Kevin walked around to the other side of the table ignoring her question. He looked… excited.

"Do you always eat alone?"

She scowled. Now was so not the time to be teasing her. She wasn't what you would call a morning person.

"Yes. I usually eat up in my room, but I had an unnatural desire to be around people this morning. That's why I'm down here, trying to eat my breakfast in peace." Her voice was bitingly sarcastic.

"Ouch, touchy. I take it you aren't a morning person."

In response, Jeanne started to eat her cereal, ignoring him.

"Okay then, not a morning person." He sat down and yawned, dropping his head into his hands. "Ugh, I'm tired." He yawned again, but she studiously ignored him.

"So am I going to have to do the talking?" Jeanne spooned another bite of cereal into her mouth.

"Looks like I'm going to have to do the talking… we'll play the questions game. Either you go first, answering questions or I do. You choose."

"You answer the questions," she mumbled.

Kevin grinned. "Okay then that means you have to ask the questions."

She blinked stupidly. Why hadn't she thought of that? Wow, she really wasn't awake.

She paused. What cold she ask him? Besides the over annoying question, why the hell do you seem so fascinated by me, what was there that she could ask him? She had no interest in learning about him. Jeanne bit her lip, hesitating, and stared at her bowl of soggy frosted flakes.

"I can't think of any questions," she admitted.

Kevin laughed. "Seriously? None at all?"

Jeanne bit back a retort that bubbled to her lips.

"Nothing polite." She said.

Kevin fought to keep a smile off his face. "How about this then? I'll ask you a simple question, you answer, then you can ask me that question. Deal?"

"What do you want to know?" Jeanne was wary. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of anyone, especially any vampire, knowing things about her.

"Hmmm… something obsolete. What's your favorite color?" He asked it with a sloppy grin on his face, but his almost black eyes were curious as to if she would answer the question seriously.

She put another spoonful of cereal into her mouth before answering.

"Yellow."

"Why?" Kevin seemed surprised by this.

"Are we allowed to ask more than one question at a time?"

His sloppy, yet curious smile faltered a bit. "Well, no but – "

"Okay. Save it for your turn. Play by the rules or I won't play at all."

He scowled. "Fine." She seemed to have annoyed him. Maybe he would go away if she annoyed him enough…

"What's your favorite color?"

He rolled his eyes, the earlier annoyance forgotten. "Green. Why is yellow your favorite color? It seems, kind of… unusual."

Now it was her turn to scowl. "It's light, open. Makes me think of sunlight, and burning out the darker things."

He seemed to digest this for a minute. "That seems reasonable I suppose. You've had a lot of dark things in your life, haven't you?"

Jeanne clenched her fists. "Is that really any of your business?"

He looked down at his hands, his eyes sad for some reason. "No, I guess not. Sorry."

She made herself relax a little. "Are you really? Or are you just saying it to placate me? Sorry is such an empty word."

"Yes, I really am sorry! Why would you doubt that?" He was angry, his body taunt with tension, but he also seemed hurt.

"Well, lets see… maybe because I've never met anyone who really meant it? Oh, did I just burn you with scalding water? So sorry. I just stepped on your hand…I'm sorry." She was extremely sarcastic, calling on the memories of her time as a slave, and she kept going ignoring the frozen look on Kevin's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I already fed from you today didn't I? Oh, well…" She yanked her hair to the side to show him the numerous scars on her neck from feedings.

"See that? That's what I got when your kind felt sorry for me…better to be a feeder than a slave for hard labor right?"

He had a stricken look on his face, one of horror, as he stretched out his arm towards her. His mouth was open in shock and she saw him counting the number of bite marks on her neck. When the number on his lips went over 20, he closed his eyes and stopped counting.

Jeanne took her chance while she could, leaping up from the table and striding swiftly away, while his eyes were closed. She was in the hall way of her room, when he caught her arm.

Before he could even speak, she had brought her own arm down on his, breaking his hold. After years of being a slave, experience had taught her that it was better to act first and look at faces second. The action was more instinct that thought – she did it automatically only one thought in her mind.

Get away.

Strong arms encased her, and she fought. She didn't know who it was, but she could tell it was a man. A memory came to her then, and she relived it with horror.

Her friend, Emmile, also a slave, had caught the eye of one of the Lords. Emmile was a very pretty girl, with long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Some of the older and more wizened women slaves, had tried to convince her to cut her hair, or to dirty her face permanently, but Emmile wouldn't listen. She was vain. She had been in the stables one day, when that Lord had come to her. Emmile didn't understand at first, she had led a very sheltered life and she was so incredibly naïve, but Jeanne understood immediately. She was hidden in the hay hiding from a beating that she knew would come sooner or later.

The Lord had caught Emmile's arm just like Jeanne's had been caught, and wrapped her in a bear hug. Emmile still didn't understand. She pushed gently against him and when he began to drag her towards the hay where Jeanne was hiding, she started to scream. He covered her mouth with his ghastly hand. And then he raped her. Emmile was so fragile, so breakable, she wasn't able to grasp the concept that They could do anything they wanted to her. And Jeanne, hidden in the shadows, had clasped her hand over her mouth and watched, horrified. She couldn't scream. Then she would be found and he would rape her too. She couldn't run, he would hear. She couldn't tell someone – who would care? She couldn't do anything to stop him. She was helpless. Jeanne hated being helpless.

It was like a flashback, when she felt the arms around her. Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked them back. Can't show them fear. No fear.

She was still fighting, trying to get away, to save herself. She wouldn't let herself be hurt like Emmile.

She threw a sharp jab towards her captor's rib cage with her elbow and at last the arms fell off her. She scrambled away on her hands and knees heading for a door that she could see in the corner. It was locked. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she backed herself into the corner, trying to make herself as small as possible. She saw someone looming above her and she cringed away from them. The person knelt.

"Jeanne?"

It took a moment for her to place the voice. She couldn't see. Her vision was blurry, but she recognized the voice. Kevin. That was Kevin's voice.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

She swallowed.

"Don't." she pleaded. "Please don't."

"Don't what Jeanne? I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

Her vision suddenly cleared and she could see again.

His hand touched her cheek, wiping away tears. Jeanne suddenly realized what had happened and who was touching her, through her foggy and astonished mind. She felt very stupid. She hit his hand away and blinked the tears from her eyes. She couldn't think very straight but she said the words automatically.

"I thought I told you not to touch me."

Kevin breathed a sigh of relief. "What the hell just happened?"

She thought furiously. What could she tell him? She blinked.

"I… it was… I thought…"

"You need to tell me what happened. Don't try to lie to me." His voice was steady. It held authority in it.

"I thought… I thought you were…"

"You thought I was who?" He sounded confused.

"I thought you were Lord Embry. I thought you were going to… it was just like what happened to Emmile."

She was too shocked to lie to him. She had had flash backs like that of course, but never of this magnitude.

Kevin's voice was quiet. "Who is Lord Embry?"

"He was a Lord in the Castle, when I was a slave. I couldn't let it happen… not like Emmile… I couldn't let myself…"

Tears were running down her cheeks.

"What happened to Emmile? What frightened you?" he seemed disturbed, like he might not want to know the answer the question.

Her eyes fluttered and she looked into his worried gray eyes for the first time, meeting his gaze.

"She was raped. He caught her arm, like you caught mine, and then suddenly it was like I was there again. A flashback – I couldn't stop it." Her voice was blunt, and she was still too dazed to really realize what she was saying.

Kevin gasped and looked away. His whole body shook with tremors. She didn't understand why though. She couldn't think clearly yet. She wasn't even thinking about how close he was.

Kevin seemed to realize that she was still there again and he dragged her too her feet. She was so far gone, stunned, that she didn't even object to him touching her like she had before. He took her to a room, winding around hallway's and corridors, it was all a blur, and made her lie down on a bed.

She was confused. She didn't understand why she was there. The objects around her were all a blur, except for his face. She was still crying and as he threw a blanket over her, she eventually stopped crying. Her body's shaking stopped, and she relaxed marginally. Somehow, even though she knew she should have been freaking out and trying to get the hell out of where ever she was, even though she knew that she wasn't supposed to let her guard down like this, she fell asleep.

A/N: Okay, Chapter 11, which will be in Kevin's POV should be up either later tonight or early tomorrow. Also as of Saturday, I'm going someplace where I will not have internet access, so I will not be able to put chapters up. Thanks to my loyal reviewers, and if you're still interested in reading Heirs, let me know. Although it may take me a week to get back to you. As always, please leave me a review. I really enjoy getting them back from you. ~Riverine