A.N. Since a couple people pointed out that vampires don't really need night vision goggles, I thought I would explain my reasoning: Yes, they can see very well at night, but they were trying to see from a helicopter, and trying to find a cabin that was completely devoid of light (remember the blackened windows?). So, I thought they might like a little back up for their vision.:)

"I was a witch before I was a vampire. Did you know that?"

Even though he didn't seem to need her response, Elyssa shook her head, eyes locked on his handsome face. "I was in the same tribe as the Hearth-Women," he continued. "Hecate and her daughters, Hellewise and Maya."

Her breath stuck in her throat, forcing Elyssa swallowed noisily. "Maya was a..."

"A witch, yes. A very powerful one, as a matter of fact. She and Hellewise were both extremely powerful. I, on the other hand," he said with a little laugh, "was not so magically gifted. I was very ordinary. More interested in carving ivory than in casting spells."

Thierry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I was, however, somewhat of a ladies' man. I was...involved, so to speak, with both Hellewise and Maya. I just couldn't decide which one I liked better," he quipped with a bitter smile.

"So, when Maya started disappearing into the forest alone, I wrote it off as part of her mystery. Some said she was trying to find a spell for immortality, but I didn't listen. Even when the babies went missing," here he winced, "part of me was convinced that it was all a mistake, that no one so beautiful could be so evil.

"Then she came for me, too. Told me that after she changed me, we could be together forever. Literally. When I woke up, I ran as far and as fast as I could. I guess I was trying to escape what I'd become, but, or course, I couldn't do that. Eventually I had to feed."

Elyssa listened silently, holding completely still so as not to distract him from the trance he seemed to be in. She had no idea what any of this had to do with her, but she wanted to hear it nonetheless. She wanted to know everything about Thierry.

"After a while, I tried to starve myself. I thought that death would be better than living as what I had become. So, I just wandered, waiting to die. I don't really remember much while I was in the throes of the bloodlust, but I do know that I attacked a little girl who wandered too close."

His obvious shame rendered her gasp stillborn. He would never have done something like that if he hadn't been in the bloodlust, she reminded herself, trying not to shiver. She didn't know how, but she knew his story was about to get a lot worse.

"When I came to my senses, I let her go, but the damage was already done. The girl recovered, but I was still evil. The warriors of her tribe came after me, and I didn't fight them. I deserved to die for what I had done."

No, her mind protested, barely managing to keep silent.

"That's when I saw her for the first time."

The smile on his face froze her, it was peaceful in the memory. So different from the bitterness of just a moment ago.

"She was so pure," he said. "Maybe not as physically beautiful as the witches from my tribe, but she was more beautiful because her soul shined through her face. We knew different languages, but she was obviously speaking on my behalf, despite the blood and mud all over my body. Despite what I had done to the child."

He stopped and shook his head. "She was so innocent and genuinely kind, without any selfish thought. She had no reason, especially when the evidence condemned me as a demon, but she spoke for me anyway."

The look on his face reminded Elyssa of Anthony when he spoke of Soleil. Telling her that Soleil had been "too gentle" to survive.

"When the people of her tribe imprisoned me, I was glad. I knew that I would die the next morning, and that was what I wanted. But, when everyone was asleep, she came and forced me free, literally chasing me from the prison. She even tried to give me food and water for my travels, and when I conveyed to her that they held no value for me anymore, she offered me her neck."

His story was so familiar. It seeped into Elyssa's heart and mind and rang such a bell of truth that she wondered if she'd heard it before. But she couldn't imagine where.

"There was no question in my mind when I refused; it was no sacrifice. I didn't deserve her kindness. When I touched her hand to say goodbye, I felt it. The pull of something stronger than us. And as I walked away, I could feel her getting farther and farther from me."

Elyssa could see him, kissing the girl's hand in the moonlight, and walking off, knowing he would most likely die.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get far enough before someone discovered I was gone. And then the torture began."

Suddenly very sure she didn't want to hear anymore, Elyssa shrank back in her seat, as if to escape his words. A lump appeared in her throat as he continued.

"They couldn't just kill me cleanly. Mobs don't work that way. They burned me and stabbed at me, but they weren't using wood, so I wouldn't even die from it; it would just go on and on."

Elyssa tried desperately to block out the images flooding her mind, but they kept finding chinks in her armor. So she was forced to watch the angry group of men surround Thierry with their lances and fire. Eventually, even the women and children were brave enough to throw burning wood at the "demon" once he was barricaded by weapons. And all the while, Thierry repeatedly fell and stood, head bowed, slowly being driven mad by agony and starvation.

How can people be so cruel? she wondered, forcing down the tears that continually threatened to leak into her eyes.

"I don't know how long it was before I finally snapped. But when I did, it was..." he paused and swallowed. "There isn't a word to describe how horrifying what I did was. I killed anyone near me, completely lost in animal instinct, without thought or emotion.

"I had already massacred most of the tribe before I realized she was dying in my arms. I had killed the one person in the world who had tried to help me, when my own tribe had run from me in fear. No punishment in the world would have been harsh enough to atone for my evil. That's when I knew I was damned. Worse, even, than Maya.

"Just before she died, we learned the truth. We saw ourselves walking through time, bound together by an invisible pull stronger than any spell I could imagine. We were soulmates, destined to be together for eternity. And so, she forgave me.

"After she died, I went back to Hellewise and asked her to put me to sleep until she was reborn. I slept for thousands of years, and when I woke up, I wandered from country to country, searching for her. It was my sole goal at the time, to find my soulmate again. When I did, she was living in Egypt as a priestess. So, we promised to be together in the next life. But she didn't get to live that life, either. She died a short while after I found her."

Thierry's voice, so sorrowful as he told the story of his soulmate's death, now became emotionless. As if all vibrancy had left him, leaving him a shell. Which Elyssa supposed he felt like without his soulmate. Empty.

"See, I'd forgotten about Maya. She had chosen me to be her mate for eternity. That I had the audacity to find my soulmate put a real crimp in those plans. So every time my love was reborn, Maya would find her and kill her.

"And I couldn't stop her because I had promised never to kill again."

The guilt in his voice made Elyssa's bones ache as she tried to comprehend the terrible cyclic life Thierry had led. Being forced to watch helplessly as the one person who was supposed to be with him through eternity died over and over again.

In the silence that followed this last sentence, Elyssa sniffled and tried to discreetly wipe away the tears hovering in the corners of her eyes. Thierry was staring off into space as if he were watching the events he'd just related, and Elyssa had the vague notion that his eyes were wet, too.

"Is that the end?" Elyssa finally whispered, irrationally afraid to speak any louder.

Theirry blinked at her like she'd woken him from a dream, then stirred in his chair. "No." He didn't add anything and Elyssa got the feeling he wasn't sure how to continue.

"What was her name?" Elyssa asked to help him along, though she already sure he was talking about Hannah.

"It was different in every life." He seemed to be gathering his courage for something, but she couldn't stop the questions now.

"Where is she now?"

His eyes snapped to hers, and the warmth in them surprised her. "Elyssa, there's a reason I'm telling you all of this." A bemused frown forced her brow to furrow as she stared at him.

"In her last life," he began, carefully watching her reaction, "her name was Hannah." Elyssa just nodded, she knew this already. "Maya kidnapped her and tried to make her a vampire."

Elyssa's frown deepened as her mind transported her to a cave, and her right hand tingled as if it were actually holding the hand ax she saw chopping at a piece of wood.

Okay, this is really weird, she thought, glancing away from Thierry's eyes as memories began to flood her mind.

She saw a tall woman with long hair as black as a pitch that swirled around her when she moved and eyes of ever-changing color. Like Ash's. And her voice, saying "Vampires don't come back."

Then Thierry's voice came to her as if from very, very far away. "One of Maya's men sold her out and I reached the cave just before Maya finished changing her."

The voice again. "I need him alive; he's my prize, you see. When you win, you need a prize."

"But she couldn't win," Elyssa whispered, bringing a hand up to her temple. And when Thierry paused and leaned forward again, she added, "Because she couldn't have you, no matter what she did to...Hannah."

The last part was almost formed as a question, and Elyssa really wasn't sure if "Hannah" was the answer. Her head was aching even more now, and the pain just kept escalating.

Thierry almost casually picked up the thread she had left dangling in the air. "So, she decided the only solution was to kill both of us."

"But Hannah couldn't accept that," Elyssa murmured. "She couldn't live, knowing that you wouldn't be there in the next life to find her again. So, she...killed Maya. To save you."

Elyssa's eyes floated upward to find Thierry's as she finally completely understood what she had told Anthony. "Sometimes there are more important things than surviving." Thierry nodded and waited, instinctively knowing she would say more.

"So, Hannah killed Maya," Elyssa said, trying to get her facts straight and Thierry nodded again in response.

"But Anthony said that I killed Maya."

Another nod.

"So, all these images in my head," she continued slowly. "Are real?"

Thierry held her eyes when she tried to look away. "You're Hannah."

"I'm Hannah?" she murmured. For a brief moment, hope flared inside her, but was quickly extinguished by her disbelief.

Thierry smiled tentatively at her, but Elyssa was shaking her head. "That's not possible."

Wincing, Thierry glanced down at his hands. "I thought you might feel that way. But," here he cleared his throat, "I can prove it to you."

The way he said it, as if he was sure she would refuse, caught her attention. "How?" she asked suspiciously.

Taking a visible breath, Thierry got up and came to sit next to her--but not very close--on the couch. Elyssa watched him warily as he held out his hand. "Touch me."

Starting violently, she stared at him in shock. Touch him? Suddenly, she remembered how Thierry had never tried to touch her, had kept a certain distance between them, had even taken to wearing long sleeved shirts in the desert. Maybe that had all been because he didn't want to hurt her with the memories.

At this realization, she took a deep breath of her own and stretched out her hand until her fingers were just above his. So close to everything she'd ever dreamed of, less than a centimeter from doing the one thing she'd ever longed for: Being close to Thierry.

She paused, gathering her courage, then lowered her hand into his.

I know this, she thought, as the world fell away around her, leaving her in an achingly familiar--vaguely pink--place.

Elyssa, his mind said tentatively, as he felt the anger sweep through her.

Why didn't you tell me? she thought back fiercely. All this time, they could have been together, but he'd kept them so far apart.

I had to, Elyssa, he answered desperately. You were so young--

Not for the last few years, she protested, but she could sense how much it had hurt Thierry to be apart, too, and her righteous fury slowly faded.

I'm sorry, he whispered mentally, folding his arms around her.

As his cheek came down to rest on her hair, she felt herself melt and the last of her indignation slipped away. I forgive you, she said, nestling closer, and felt his mind ease as he kissed the top of her head. Tingles spread through her body, as she wondered if they could just stay like this forever.

Thierry must have sensed her question because he mentally chuckled and stirred in her arms. "We should actually get moving. I have to go help Ash and Quinn deal with Anthony."

Disappointed, Elyssa pulled back to look at him. "Now?"

He smiled down at her and nodded, reaching up to smooth a piece of her hair back away from her cheek. "He's probably waking up right now."

They stared at each other for a minute not saying anything. He was so handsome. She could look at him forever. The funny thing was, she could tell he felt the same way about her, despite her human imperfections.

Elyssa had always thought she would be shy about getting close to a boy, but she couldn't bring herself to feel shy around Thierry. She had nothing to hide from him; he'd seen inside her and loved her for who she was.

Remembering this, she leaned forward to brush her lips against his for her first kiss. And as Thierry kissed her back, she thought there was no way she could get any happier.

Later that night, as she fell asleep in Thierry's arms, she dreamt of Hana's short life, her first glimpse of her soulmate, saw the corridor of time, and remembered his promise. Then she dreamt of her last life as Hannah and the happiness they'd had together.

And she realized that there was no limit to the happiness you could feel.

Reviewers:

lotuspath-Forget diamonds, this phone is a girl's best friend! I wonder what the advertising would be like for this thing. "Do your makeup, instant message, and fights off evil demons! All at the same time!"

Yav-I think she was easily swayed into forgiveness. I don't think there will be a huge showdown with all the Redferns...I'm still trying to decide what to do in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

EarthDragonette-Hehe. It's not that I'm actually thinking, "Oh, this would be a great place for a cliffhanger." It's more like, "Oh my god, I have ten pages already and this isn't going to end soon." So, it's either keep writing, and risk not updating for another week, or just stopping. :-p (Has school already started for you or is Don Quixote "light" summer reading? (blinks)) I hope this chapter helped you take a break from work! Thanks for your review!

Charlotte-Don't worry, it wasn't just you that the weird review bug attacked. It got a few people. I just gave them the night vision goggles as back up. (shrugs) Seemed like a good idea at the time. :-p Thank you for telling me about the nasty mis-post. I never really go and check the page, so I probably wouldn't have even noticed it lacked paragraph breaks. (sigh) Anyway, thanks for the review! :)

queen of the mole people-I think the reason you're falling for Thierry is that I am in love with him. Which is definitely bad, cuz I'm already in love with Ash and the problem is just multiplying. Now I have Anthony to contend with, too. (sighs) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

incarnated-soul-It makes me so happy that you like the story! It's so awesome to find out that, as much fun as you're having writing a story, other people are enjoying it along with you. It's the best feeling in the world. And the night vision goggles, well, like I told Charlotte, they seemed like a good idea at the time...

Soraia-Thanks for reviewing! Was this chapter romantic enough? (sighs) I'm such a sap. Have you ever wondered what happened to Paul after Hannah left his life? I mean, he must have been traumatized, right? Poor guy. I feel like he didn't get enough thanks for helping Hannah to remember everything. I wonder if he joined Circle Daybreak?

happy accident (Kaitlin:))-Thanks for reviewing! Sorry about the cliffhanger. It really wasn't meant to be one, I just didn't want the chapter to be a zillion pages long. No one seems to like my goggles. (pouts) Oh well, as I said before, they seemed like a good idea. :-p C'est la vie. Can you believe Quinn knocked Anthony out for so long? I think that was a bit excessive. :-p And Anthony is so getting a large part in the next story. He's just too much of a dark, brooding hero not to. Your name is Kaitlin?! Whoa! I've never met anyone who spelled it the same way!!! (I've only ever met two Caitlin's even.) That's so cool!! :)

Aglaia Di Willow-Hehe, sorry. No, you're not going crazy. I hope this update was soon enough. I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I really wasn't all that happy with it. At this point, Anthony is still somewhat of a mystery. We've been getting clues about where he stands in the scheme of things, but it isn't all that clear. But don't worry, all shall be revealed! (Or at least hinted at.) Thanks for reviewing!

A.N. The quotes from Maya are taken directly from Soulmate. I hope this was romantic enough for everyone. It was hard to sort out how Thierry would get her to remember. Especially since she was being so stubborn about it all. Silly girl. :)