Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.
Someone to watch over me.
Chapter 12 – Are you sure?
No One's POV.
Tori's looked up at Jade, her eyes opened wide. "You're giving me a chance Jade?"
Jade nodded. "Yes Tori."
All of a sudden Tori sat up and slapped Jade in the face.
Jade pulled back, her check still stinging. "Hey! What was that for? I give you what you wanted and you slap me. Ok. I know I've been out of the dating scene for a couple of centuries, but I don't think that's how it goes."
Tori waved a finger in Jade's face. "That was for lying to me. I really liked you and you lied to me. I'm sorry but I needed to do that. In order for us to move on with our relationship, I needed to slap you.
Jade shrugged. "Ok. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but it's hard to explain certain things. In my defense, I didn't really lie, I just left out huge portions of the truth."
Tori struck again with another slap.
"Stop that!" Jade protested loudly.
Tori pouted for a moment. "That's for not telling me everything."
Jade rubbed her cheek and remarked sarcastically "Crazy me, thinking that you actually liked me and wanted to be with me."
SLAP!
Jade backed away further from Tori. "Now what!" She said exasperated. "One handy dandy tip. Slapping vampries, is not usually a good idea."
"That slap was for joking that I didn't like you and didn't want to be with you. I'm sorry Jade. I have a lot of anger and it's healthy to get it out, so our loving relationship can have a good foundation."
Jade gave Tori a dubious look and cringed in expectation of another slap, which did not come. "Are you done slapping me?"
"Are you done not telling me the truth?"
Jade slumped in her seat. "I'm afraid if you learn the truth, you'll be repulsed my me. I couldn't blame you if you did. Look. I don't want to backtrack, but you need to learn some things about me, before you may want to move further in this relationship."
Tori thought for a moment and the logical side of her mind was able to briefly take over. "Ok. Fair enough. We should talk. Yes."
Jade started up the car and drove off. "I'll take you home and we can talk a bit. It's probably good that I don't give you the story all at once. Don't want to overwhelm you. As I said, what I told you about myself was true. I was born in Ireland. In what's now known as County Cork. My parents are dead. Those are both true."
Tori narrowed her eyes. "When were you born."
"In the year 976." Jade said looking a bit embarrassed.
Tori did a double take. "What? 976 A.D. You're a thousand years old."
Jade slunk in her seat a bit. "No. 976 B.C. or what's commonly known as the Iron Age. I'm actually closer to 3000 years old."
Tori crossed her arms with an annoyed look. "And you saw fit not to tell me this."
"You're not going to slap me again?"
"Maybe." Tori suddenly glared at Jade. "You'd better not be married. That will earn you much more than a slap."
"No. I'm not."
The pair drove in silence for a moment as Tori looked out the window, trying to digest the fact that Jade was 3000 years old. A moment later a separate thought came to her.
"That man that mugged me. I remember seeing a spot of blood on the sidewalk. You didn't just stun him didn't you?"
"No. To be honest. I bit him in the next and drank his blood until he expired. He was a dead man, the second he touched you." That said, Jade drove in silence waiting for Tori's response.
After a minute Tori nodded with a rather sober look. "I see."
A few seconds later they arrived at Tori's apartment, where Jade parked. "Tori. I've done some pretty horrible things. You want me to be honest. I'll be honest. Do you remember that man that yelled at you to stop singing a while back while you were on break?"
Tori's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "I never saw him again. Did you?"
"Kill him for insulting you. Yes."
Tori raised both her eyebrows. "You killed him for that?"
Jade still felt no regret for torturing the man to death; his screams of agony were almost as sweet as Tori's angelic voice. How dare he silence it. But Jade knew she'd have to tell the truth , even about that. Consequences be dammed. "Look Tori. You want me to be honest. I'm a very possessive girl with a rather short and violent temper. I didn't just kill him, I tortured him to death. He made you feel bad and needed to suffer for it. Believe me, he did."
Tori listened to the words with a stunned expression, but said nothing.
Jade let out a depressed sounding sigh. "Look. Let's just call it a night. You've absorbed enough already. How about this. I think we can be happy together. You're good for me. You make me feel like a person again. Make me want to be more than I am. When I'm with you. I just want to be with you. Nothing else. But I have a violent and rather disturbing past. You go upstairs and think long and hard, whether you really want to do this. If you really do, than be on the curb for me to pick you up tomorrow night at 8:00 for a long talk and a romantic date. But if you're not totally sure of this then just stay in your apartment. Do what you normally do and go to bed as you would normally."
"Then what?" Tori said with a puzzled look.
"You'll wake the next morning safe and sound in your bed, but won't remember me anymore. Every single memory of me will have been wiped from your mind. I'll see to that. You'll go on with your life as if none of this had ever happened and our paths will never cross again. I know you don't want me to do this. But I need to be sure you are totally committed to this."
Tori again said nothing for a moment and got out of the car. Before she walked off, she leaned down into window.
"One question Jade?"
"What?"
"Why me? Why didn't you kill me or turn me. What makes me so different?"
Jade smiled. "You charmed me, your beautiful voice and angelic looks. I fell in love with you the first second I saw you. I couldn't harm you, if I wanted. I can't even think of it. I know none of this makes any sense. As the saying goes, Music soothes the savage beast. You did that for me. All I want to do is make you happy in return."
Tori nodded. "Ok. I'll think of it."
"Good night Tori. I hope to see you tomorrow night. If I don't, then then I can only wish you the best and all my love." Jade said with a hopeful look as she drove off.
As much as Jade wanted to be with Tori, she had to know Tori was 100% committed to this. She knew that once they were together their destinies would be forever intertwined. Jade took a look in the rearview mirror as she sped off, to see Tori standing alone on the sidewalk.
Her first thought was how odd she looked in that all black Goth Outfit she had worn to blend in at the Red Room. Jade preferred Tori in her normal colorful clothes. The sight of her looking like a vampire, didn't sit well with Jade at all.
Jade's second thought was wondering just what Tori was thinking at that moment. Jade was now too far away and could no longer read the Latina's expression as she turned to enter her apartment building.
If Tori was not on the sidewalk the next evening, Jade would do as she said. She would slip into Tori's apartment in the night and hypnotize her and wipe every memory of Jade that Tori had. She hoped not to do it, as it would break her heart once and for all to do so.
Jade returned home and to get her mind off Tori turned on the financial news. Though she may have not been the most powerful vampire on earth, Jade was by far the richest. She had found in the last few decades she had a natural knack for investing and playing the stock market. It was actually something she enjoyed, as it kept her mind off of her rather empty life. Jade realized that had she been born in the 20th century, she would have probably ended up a stock broker or investment banker.
Jade turned on the financial channel on her TV to get the latest news.
"Indictments were handed down today in the continuing scandal involving Wilfred Tipton, the founder and former CEO of Tipton Hotel's International. The indictments handed down to Wilfred Tipton and his daughter London, were for perjury, obstruction of Justice, fraud, stock manipulation, embezzlement, tax evasion and Larceny. As reported earlier, Wilfred Tipton and his daughter are accused of using the now near bankrupt hotel chain as their personal cash machine, looting the company and defrauding investors of several hundred million dollars. Wilfred Tipton had no comment. However his daughter London who seemed strangely pleased with the development was quoted as saying, I got more indictments than daddy, Yay me. "
Jade just shook her head and made a mental note to buy as much as possible when the stock finally fell to 10 dollars a share. It was expected to actually bottom out at about 6 dollars a share, having already dropped from a high of 137 a share a year ago. Jade knew if she jumped the gun she could sweep up the majority of the stock available.
"That should be enough to give me controlling interest. I just sell off the chain piece by piece and make a nice profit." Jade wasn't worried about any of the major investors as she could hypnotize them into taking any settlement she wanted to give them.
Jade would spend the next few hours, monitoring her investments and making several business decisions to pass the time. All the while of course, Tori was on her mind. Going to bed, just before sunrise, Jade could only hope Tori would be there the next night.
Tori on the other hand entered her apartment, changed into some pajamas, washed off her makeup, made some tea and sat to think.
"I love a 3000 year old vampire who tortured someone to death for yelling at me." Tori said out loud. The sheer absurdity of it made Tori lightly chuckle. But in all seriousness there was a lot of factors so think about.
3000 years old.
Vampire
Possessive Girl
Violent temper
Murder
Erased memory
Paths will never cross again
Charmed
Love
Why me?
Tori realized that this had all the makings for one wicked horror movie. Not that she really liked them all that much. She preferred romance movies and comedies. But she had a choice. If this was a movie of some kind, she could get up out of her seat and leave. No consequences, no bad memories, no good memories, all of it will just vanish without a trace.
Just the fact that she was given a choice suddenly struck Tori as the most important factor of all.
"If you love something set it free." Tori muttered as she took a sip of tea.
"If she didn't truly love me, she wouldn't have given me a choice to leave. I love her. She loves me. She would never harm me. Does anything else really matter?"
Tori would sit there, until just after sunrise when she needed to go to bed. Just thinking and trying to sort out her feelings. While the romantic part of her wanted to make the decision in instant. The more logical side of her refused to give in so quickly, forcing her to long consider both her confused feelings for Jade and the consequences of being with her. This was probably the most important decision of her life and Tori knew it.
While there was no doubt that she loved Jade and Jade loved her in turn. It all boiled down to once question.
"Do I love her enough?"
Tori would be thinking about that when she went to bed.
Jade slept through the long day and woke just after sunset. She had picked the dress she planned to wear on her date. It was nice black and purple number she had gotten from Macy's last year, with matching shoes.
Hair and makeup done Jade was ready to go and, hopefully pick up Tori. Jade found herself very nervous as she went down to get the car. She hated being nervous, it was so easy just to be the uncaring bad guy. Nervousness was rarely a problem then.
Tonight for Jade it was. She decided that if Tori wasn't there, she would indeed wipe her memory and then follow through on her original plan to destroy herself. She loved Tori so much that she would set her free and then just vanish as ashes into wind with the morning sunrise. No chance she could ever taint Tori's life or further influence it.
As her Ferrari got ever closer to Tori's apartment Jade looked at the clock on the dash. It was now 7:56 and she only had to turn a corner to find out.
Jade pulled over to the curb around the corner and waited. At exactly 8 o'clock she would start the car, drive around the corner and find out what her destiny was.
One with Tori or oblivion. For 4 minutes Jade waited with an ever growing sense of fear. Some irrational, anxiety filled part of her mind, ran amuck and kept telling her that she as a creature of darkness, could never be truly loved.
"How could she ever truly love me. Ever truly want to be with me. I murder, I kill, I destroy, I retreat from the light. As much as I want her to be there, I don't deserve to have her there." Jade said, as a feeling of despair crept into her.
Finally 8 O'clock came and Jade sighed. "She won't be there."
Jade turned on her car, put it in gear and with a heavy heart, slowly came around the corner to the front of Tori's apartment building.
But that heavy heart quickly leapt for Joy to see Tori, looking as if she was ready for a night on the town patiently waiting in front of her building. What made Jade most happy, was the bright and rather hopeful smile she flashed upon seeing her.
One that Jade couldn't help but return.
A final disclaimer, I don't own the rights to the suite life of Zack and Cody either. I thought I would throw in that reference as a joke.