"So you have to move in with him," Helene got out as she watched Jill throw stuff into a bag. "You have to move in with him and you don't have any choice in the matter."
"Exactly," Jill nodded and began grabbing handfuls of underwear and throwing them into her suitcase. She had a black silky pair and a red lace pair, but she left them in the drawer because the last thing she wanted was to reward Christian for his blackmail by allowing him to see her in what she considered to be very sexy underwear. "Okay, here's the first bag." She paused as Helene looked at her with worry. "Do you think I'm wrong for going with him?"
"No," Helene sighed. "I feel terrible that you're in this position, though." She gave her a hug. "Take care of yourself," she urged. "Please."
"I will," Jill assured her. "I have one more day here, and then I'll be leaving and I promise to take good care of myself."
Helene shook her head and looked worried. "I know you're doing what you think is best, but I still hate it."
"I know," Jill said and hugged her. "That's why I love you as much as I love my own mother."
"Hey," Annie said as she came upon them. "What are the bags for, Jill? You moving out?"
"I kind of have to," Jill replied. "If I don't, very bad things could happen." She looked dramatically into the distance for a few seconds and then went to pack another bag as Annie followed her. "Are you serious?" She pressed. "What could possibly be so bad that you have to move out? You can fight it, you know? Just ignore it."
"No, I can't ignore it," Jill shook her head. "Remember at the ball when the power went out and everyone was running for their lives and Helene and Malachai found me unconscious?"
"Yeah," Annie nodded and went to the closet to throw Jill some of her shoes to pack. "Which ones do you want?" She questioned. "The tennis shoes? The heels? The flats?"
"Give me some of each," Jill decided and then held out her hands to catch them as they came flying her way.
Once the bag was packed, Annie went to join her sister and continue the conversation. "What about when Malachai and Helene found you unconscious?"
"It was because of a very powerful spirit," Jill tried her best to explain about Christian, even though he was not someone she felt she could explain at all. "The spirit of the child our pregnant hostess was carrying. Only, when I saw him, he was an adult."
"Well, that's weird," Annie remarked.
"No, that's not even the weird part," Jill told her. "The weird part was that his growth process was accelerated after he was pulled out of his mother so now, he's like, twenty-five and (in a purely aesthetic sense) very attractive. And obsessed with me, too. If I don't go and live with him, he's gonna kill everyone in my family."
"Well, shouldn't that be a sign to run the other way?" Annie questioned. "Not sure I see your thought process here. And I don't think Percy's gonna like it either."
"I know," Jill sighed. "I'm not gonna enjoy telling him. Cause you're right; he won't understand and he'll kick up a big fuss and then I'll feel guilty and refuse to go and I know I really have to!"
"I'll come with you to tell him after we pack," Annie promised her. "Will it be easier for you to tell him if you have backup?"
"Yes," Jill nodded and hugged her. "Thank you."
When all Jill's bags were piled up by the door, Jill and Annie then asked Helene if she knew where Percy was.
"I think he's at Elijah and Selina's with Stephanie," Helene replied. "Are you going to go tell him that you're moving out, Jill?"
"Yep," Jill nodded. "And Annie's coming for backup because I really don't think I could handle it by myself."
"Well, since you're doing what you think is best, don't let him try and talk you out of it," Helene told her. "Stick to your guns."
"I will," Jill assured her. "I promise."
But once the cat had been let out of the bag, it was a much harder promise to keep, Jill found. After she told Percy, he froze on the couch next to Stephanie, squeezing her hand hard as his face went through a cycle of colors, from pale, to red, to a slight shade of green.
"You're going to live with the guy who possessed me? And killed Tommy?" He got out at last in a strangled voice. "Why? Why would you do that?"
"Cause I have to," Jill replied. "It's for the good of my family! He said he would kill all of you if I didn't come. And then he'd probably move on to humanity and I don't want those innocent deaths on my conscience either. I know you don't like it, Percy, but it's easier this way." She looked imploringly at Stephanie. "Tell him, please."
"What do you want me to say?" Stephanie asked her. "Repeating what you said won't suddenly make him feel better about it, even if it comes from me."
"Seriously?" Jill groaned.
"She's right, you know," Percy replied.
Then Annie groaned in frustration. "Will you just get over yourself?" She yelled at him. "I know you're not happy about this. I know you think that the choice she's making is dumb and you're going to miss her. But it's her choice! She's doing what she thinks is best and by making her feel guilty about doing something she thinks is right just because it's not what you would do, you're not being a very good brother or a very good friend. So why don't you just wish her good luck, tell her to take care of herself, and let us all move on?"
Percy looked at her in shock. He felt like he'd just been slapped. Then, the more he thought about it, although he didn't want to admit it, he had to tell himself that Annie was right.
"I'm sorry," he got out at last and took Jill's hand. "I don't like what you're doing and it scares the crap out of me, but…if that's what you want to do and you think it'll make things right, then who am I to tell you otherwise?" He gave her a hug. "Good luck. I'll miss you. Cause I figure that based on what happened with Tommy, that guy reacts the same way to any guy that comes near you, which means I'll probably never see you again."
"Oh, I'm sneakier than you think," Jill told him. "I promise you'll see me again sometime. It might not be right away, but you will."
"Good," Percy smiled."
"When do you leave?" Stephanie asked.
"Tomorrow morning is when I plan to," Jill told her. "According to Christian, I'm on a bit of a deadline. But there's still a bit of time until I go and I intend to make the most of it."
"Does Christian ever talk to you about what his dad is up to?" Stephanie asked. "You know, his whole plan to take over the world and destroy everyone?"
"Not really," Jill shook her head. "Just that John wants to use him as a big part of that plan, but he won't tell him more. So if you were hoping I could be some useful source of information for your dad or your uncle, I'm sorry I can't be more help."
"That's okay," Stephanie said. "You're going to live with Christian, so I have a sense that you'll find out something useful in due time."
"Yeah, but whether or not I'll successfully be able to relay it to you is another matter entirely," Jill told her.
"Is that Jill I heard?" Elijah asked as he came upon them after leaving his office.
"That's real subtle, Daddy," Stephanie said to her father. "And before you ask, she says she doesn't know anything that can help you, so don't ask."
Elijah gave a sad look. "Really? Cause I was hoping—"
"I know you were," Jill told him. "I know it's just a pain in the butt to be sitting around and waiting for something bad to happen, but I can't offer you more than that. At least not yet. If I know something that could help, I'll try and play double agent, though."
"That could be a very stupid choice on your part," Elijah told her. "So thank you."
"You're welcome," Jill replied. "And I'm aware of the dangers, believe me."
Christian woke up early the next morning and, completely ignoring just how early it was, gave Jill a call on her cell phone.
"What?" She answered irritably. She sounded tired and Christian could just picture her sleepy gaze and adorably tousled blonde hair as she clutched her phone. "What is it you want, Christian? I told you that I would come today and I meant it."
"I know," Christian told her. "And just to be sure you don't go back on that promise, I'm going to set a timer. A twenty-four hour timer. And if you don't come by the time the clock runs out-"
"Yeah, I know," Jill cut him off. "All my family is dead. I get it. At least let me sleep for a few more hours, eat something, and put on normal clothes."
"Oh, I don't think that's necessary," Christian told her. "Just come over. I bet you look adorable in your pajamas."
"Drop dead," Jill told him curtly. "And goodnight." She ended the call, leaving Christian chuckling to himself as he put the phone back on his nightstand and set a really fancy watch he'd taken from John for a twenty four hour countdown in anticipation of Jill's arrival.
It was as she was getting ready to leave for Christian's that Victoria showed up to join Helene for breakfast. "What's going on here?" She asked Jill. "What are all the bags for? Are you going on a trip?"
"No, not exactly," Jill told her. "Remember when you promised the council that you'd watch over Kai to make sure he didn't escape from jail and cause trouble? Well, I'm sort of doing that too, only with Christian. He wants me to move into his apartment, and he said that if I didn't do it soon, he would kill all my relatives."
"Oh, god," Victoria groaned and asked Jill to come with her to the kitchen table. When they were both sitting down, she got her some coffee and said, "I hope this will all be worth it for you. Does he…does he treat you all right?"
"Well, when we went on our first date, he was nice," Jill told her. "He gave me flowers, he fed me, we danced…it was like I was seeing an entirely different man. He even told me once that he thought I was so beautiful that I would be the death of him…and that he wants me so much. But how am I supposed to reconcile that with everything else he says? Sometimes he's good, and sometimes he's bad, and I don't know how I'm gonna deal with the bad to get the rare moments of good without going insane."
Victoria smiled and took her hand. "Don't worry. I know it might sound weird for me to say, but…I think he really does like you. Kai was like that with me in the beginning too: the genuinely touching moments were few and far between and most of the time, I was dealing with a big jerk. But he sorted himself out in the end."
"That might be true of Kai, but I don't think it's true of Christian," Jill said sadly. "The only reason why he's nice to me is to try and trick me into doing what he wants. He just wants me to sleep with him because he doesn't have any other friends and wants diversions from boredom. Nothing deeper than that."
"I disagree," Victoria insisted. "I think you just need to take the reins a bit more. Don't just let him do everything. Show him that you can play the game with him too."
"Oh, I can't do that!" Jill said. "He won't go for it. I have no clue what I'm doing!"
"I bet you do," Victoria told her. "You don't have to try too hard because it's when you try too hard that things get awkward. Are you telling me that there's not one thing you think you can use to get on even footing with him physically? Not undressing in front of him and doing a sexy dance, or…covering yourself with frosting and letting him lick it off…or letting him cuff you to the bed while he bites your naked body and licks the blood up…" She trailed off as Jill stared at her, looking disgusted. "Sorry."
"Well…" Jill said, her mind going to that horrible picture of her naked that hung over his bed. "I suppose there might be one thing. Do you want me to tell you what it is?"
"No, I don't need to know," Victoria shook her head as Helene came into the house with doughnuts and apologized for being late. "I'm just glad that you're on your way to seeing that, no matter how crazy it might sound, you're going to be with a man who could give you your future." She zapped up a bottle and handed it to her. "Oh, and you're going to need these, too. Birth control. Can't have lots of sex without birth control. Gotta have some control over your future. Cause you don't want what happened to Freya to happen to you. And I think it could."
"Yeah, having a little control would be nice," Jill concurred. "Especially when most of my life is already decided and by being with Christian, I'm giving up so much. It's going to be awful."
"Of course it will be, if you go into it with that attitude," Victoria told her. "Want a doughnut before you go?"
"Yes, take one," Helene urged. "You really should eat something before you leave."
"All right," Jill conceded, zapping all her bags in the car and then sitting down to eat her last doughnut before she became the prisoner of the most evil and alluring man she'd ever met.
"So nice to see that you listened to me and did what I said," Christian told her when she arrived and took her bags in a very chivalrous fashion after stopping the watch in his pocket. "Cause believe it or not, I wasn't looking forward to killing any of your relatives."
"Oh, I really don't believe that," Jill said firmly. "I think you would have really enjoyed yourself. The look on your face when you saw Tommy's body was one of unrestrained glee and you can't convince me any different."
When the first four bags were lined up next to the stairs, he said, "How many more do you have?"
"Well, how many would you expect me to have if I'm moving somewhere I'm gonna be stuck for the rest of my life…however long that might be?" Jill asked.
"All you had to do was say that there were more in the trunk of the car," Christian told her. "I'll go get them after I show you to your room."
"Don't you mean 'show you to my room'?" Jill asked curtly.
"Yes," Christian nodded and picked up the first batch of bags. "Yes indeed. Now, let me show you to your room." They kept walking and walking and then when they paused by a door and went inside, Jill scoffed. "This is your room! I don't want to sleep in your room! Give me one of my own!"
"No," Christian shook his head. "This is your room now. Our room. And you're not sleeping any place else!"
Jill had a feeling that this would be an on-going battle between them. But by the time she'd gotten through her first day living with him (including finding out that he'd already picked a wardrobe for her that was incredibly revealing and sexy, including the underwear), she was too tired to truly fight him on the matter. Instead, she just settled for moving from the mattress to the floor at the foot of the bed in the pathway to the bathroom when she was sure he was asleep and sleeping there instead. She snoozed soundly until she was awakened a few hours later by a sharp pain in her head and a loud swear next to her ear.
"What in the hell?" She cried as Christian snapped the bathroom light on. "What did you have to go and kick me in the head for? I know you want me in bed with you, but I'm just not comfortable with that yet!"
"I didn't kick you on purpose!" Christian yelled. "I tripped over you on my way to the fucking bathroom because I didn't know you were sleeping on the floor! I hit my head too. Are you gonna ask if I'm all right?"
"Oh, fine," Jill conceded. "I'm sorry I made you trip and fall. Are you all right?"
"No," he said and rubbed his head. "But I have some ideas of how you can make it up to me."
Jill smiled. "I have one too, but it'll have to wait until morning."
"Is that so?" Christian smiled and got down beside her in her makeshift bed, pulling the blanket over both of them. "What is it?"
"The only hint I'm going to give you is that it will grant me my wish of getting rid of that horrible picture over your bed," Jill told him. "Now sleep! I'm not saying anything more."
"That's okay," Christian assured her. "The visions that are crowding my head right now are supplying decent explanations to what you just said." He kissed her cheek. "Goodnight, my little Goldilocks."
"Goodnight," Jill replied dryly and rolled so that she was facing away from him before she closed her eyes again.
"You want to what?" Christian asked, his jaw dropping when she told him her plan for getting rid of the picture above the bed. He'd thought of many things she could have said, but what she'd just told him went beyond any of them.
"I want you to re-take the picture of me," she said calmly. "That way, you can have it up there with my consent and I won't constantly have to bug you about it."
"And when you say you want to re-take the picture, do you mean actually re-take the picture?" Christian asked. "It's not just taking another picture entirely, where you're clothed and stuff, right?"
"No," Jill sighed. "I suppose I can stand letting you have another naked picture." She undressed and looked down at her body with a sigh, taking one of her small breasts in hand and giving it a squeeze. "But why you want a picture of someone who's so skinny and has such small breasts is beyond me."
"I want you because you're you," he said, coming over to put a hand on her chin and lock eyes with her before pulling her to him and giving her a kiss. "And I think you're beautiful. Now, let me get my camera before you change your mind."
"I won't," she told him. "I promise."
He got his camera and to his surprise, instead of just letting him take one picture like he thought she would, she let him take a variety of tasteful yet sexy poses, some involving a strategically placed lavender sheet. He was very pleased with how into it she got, especially the pictures where he'd make faces before taking the photo and he'd catch her with her most genuine smile, her face lit up, her eyes bright.
Finally, when they had several photos, she paused. "All right," she said. "You got enough?"
"Yeah," Christian smiled. "Lots of good ones."
"And let me guess, you're gonna pick the one where wearing the least to put over the bed, right?" Jill asked.
"No," Christian shook his head as he looked through them and found one of her lying on her side, holding the sheet to cover her pubic area, but leaving everywhere else bare. "Well, yes, I guess. But not just because you're naked." He showed her the picture, which happened to show her mid-laugh, something he'd done to try and ease her mind since she was in such a state of undress. "Look how happy you are? I'm picking this one just as much for your smile as for your beautiful body."
She stared at him. He seemed very serious. "Are you telling the truth?" She asked. "Do you truly mean what you're saying?"
"Yes," he told her firmly. "I wouldn't lie to you about that. Now, I assume you want to get dressed? Goosebumps are breaking out all over your body."
"Now that you mention it," she said, suddenly noticing a chill in the air, probably from the air conditioner. "Yes, yes I do. I…I hope you enjoy the pictures."
"Oh, I will," He assured her as she went to get her clothes and wiggled her bottom a little on the way there. "Don't worry about that."
With Jill's departure, the mood in the house changed. Percy was sorry to see her go, of course, and so was Annie, who'd gotten very close to her psychic sister over time.
"So she's gone, is she?" Damon asked when Annie told him. "Are you thinking of leaving the house too?"
"Where would I go if I left the house?" Annie asked.
"Well…" Damon pointed at the boardinghouse behind them.
"What?" Annie scoffed and quickly rose to her feet. "We tried this already, remember? It didn't work out, which is why I went to live with Malachai and Helene in the first place. You hate me, remember? I don't see why that would change now."
"Would you believe that the ball made me see you differently?" Damon asked.
"Don't be silly," Annie told him. "Nothing changed. All I did was put on a dress. I don't see how that would make a difference."
"It has," Damon assured her. "Please give me a chance to show you."
"Well…all right," Annie sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. And I can always leave again if I want to."
They went together to get her things and were met by a very surprised Malachai. "First Jill and now you," he sighed. "Why is everyone leaving? Is it something that I've done wrong?"
"No, you're great," Annie assured him and gave him a hug. "I just…I'm sure you and Helene have better things to do than babysit me. And I'm much better on my own anyway. Thanks for taking me in, though."
"No problem." Malachai told her. Then he gave Damon a stern look. "If she's moving in with you, you better take care of her," he said firmly. "No breaking her heart or anything like that. She's been through enough already, and thanks to me, she's got more coming."
"I'll be careful with her," Damon promised. "I swear."
"I'm not worried about him," Annie said. "But Malachai, it's really sweet that you are."
It took some time, but they finally managed to shake him off and get Annie's things back to the boardinghouse.
"Can I have my old room back?" Annie asked as they pulled up, got out, and she grabbed the first couple of bags out of the trunk of Damon's car. "Or do you want me to sleep with you?"
"Well, let me put it this way," Damon told her. "You can have your old room, but if you ever want to join me in mine, the door is always open."
"Oh, I'm sure it is," Annie nodded. She then grabbed a bag and went inside as Damon realized how what he said could have been taken.
"I meant for you!" He called after her, running into the house. "I mean it's always open for you! No one else."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Annie told him. "I mean, if you're really serious about us, I'm sure you'll be able to prove it. But until then, I'll believe it when I see it."
"Yes," Damon told her and took her bags, leading her to her old room, then giving her a kiss after setting the suitcases down on the bed. "You will, I promise."
