I'm so sorry about the promise of a chappie a day… school is a pain in the ass for everyone eh? Over here in New Zealand, school has just started Term 2… I managed to pop this out of my ass randomly, so if it's a little crap – sorry. Reviews are much appreciated – 27! – And I am one happy fanfiction writer. I might rewrite this chapter when I'm feeling a little saner. Sorry if the characters – and the one's I created – are OOC. But I wanted to give you another update. School sucks the fun out of life… seriously.

∞ Isa ∞

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Oryon had his hand wrapped around my waist. This was very disturbing especially because I knew he didn't usually do things like this – face it, I knew these people better than they knew themselves. I was their author. Their creator… or so it seemed.

Anyway, when Oryon and I walked into the main hall – a longish sort of building, with the same walls made of grey stone as I had in my residence – I refused to call it my bedroom, I did not belong here. There was a large table at the top and in the middle of the room. It was kind of set out like the Great Hall in Harry Potter, but with only one bulky table and no students or the levitating candles… or the enchanted roof.

Okay, maybe it's not so much like Harry Potter. Whatever. Paul forced me to watch the movie… I would never watch that for leisure, willingly.

Oryon guided me to the high table, then to the allocated seat – right next to him. I cringed but sat down despite my hatred for the demons.

There was a man on the side of Oryon which I was not already occupying, he seemed older – wiser that the others. He looked down at me with interest, red eyes sparkling the way Oryon's always did. I noticed this man; if only I could place his name… he wasn't in the books much, but an important part to demon society.

King Anubus, that was it. I knew it was something starting with A. He whispered into his son's ear – the son being Oryon. Oryon laughed and I knew exactly what the man had asked, 'Who is this young woman you have here, Prince?' Demons used the words 'Prince' instead of just a name.

"She will be my queen." Oryon replied proudly, people – demons - had started to enter the room. They all took seats and I guessed that the feast was about to start. I, however, was too shocked at what Oryon had just said, to start eating. King Anubus also seemed surprised, but soon got over it. I knew that him and his son were to have a talk tonight about Oryon's choice.

If it weren't for the demons in the room, if it were just Oryon and I – I would have screamed 'WHAT' a million times. I would also have stuffed my face into the gourmet food that the demons served – only it was done in these horribly sharp looking spikes. The food, I mean. It looked as if it were a specially configured potato. I had no idea.

Other than the surprise of Oryon announcing that to, of all people, his father. The dinner actually went quite uneventfully. After dinner, I pleaded that I felt faint and went to go lie down. Oryon took that, but I wasn't sure his father did. He, however, seemed happy for me to just go off by myself, with no knowledge of the castle…

I grinned at how wrong he was.

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I guess I should be more outraged, petrified and reluctant than as I was when Oryon said, 'She will be my queen.' Truth is, I was kind of expecting it – and also kind of confused with it as well.

It is just a weird feeling I got… like this would all turn out once I talked to the man in the dungeons.

Saying this, by the way, brings me back to the trouble at hand: what if Charlotte and I were caught when going down to the dungeons? Charlotte said she knew the way to keep us safe but I'm not so sure. I trust her judgement, I guess, I just am not sure of what I was trusting.

I am making no sense whatsoever; I think my emotions are just… blown. Everything is chaotic and takes a lot of time now. Something about this place – other than the fact that it is pure evil – just freaks me out… I guess it would to anyone, but it's just… strange.

Life is strange… everything is strange… Suze! You're making NO sense… I know I Know!

The first sign of insanity is talking to your self.

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At midnight – or what seemed close to it, Demons did not use clocks, neither did most Ancient folk – Charlotte stopped by my room, waited until I was fit into the silky, black gown I decided to wear (I gave her a light blue one to put on, this time she accepted and tried it on) and then we were off.

Charlotte was right when she said that she had a way in which no one would see us. It was a membrane surrounding our bodies that made us invisible to any other life form, demons included. Although, technically, they're only half alive. It didn't matter.

I felt guilty for doubting her as I followed silently through out the halls of the Veleron castle. I kept my eye out for guards although I knew that if there were any, we were not to be seen.

The dungeons looked exactly as the name described. Dark, damp and with a strange musty smell on top of all the disadvantages. I was too riled up about meeting Sonya and this other, quite mysterious person. I still had no clue who they were, only the weird feeling that they would help me. It might be Zane, or Paul, it could be someone else I have never met, but will meet sometime…

Charlotte put a finger to her lips and whispered hoarsely, "Come, Mistress." Then she led me down the flight of also damp, dark steps. I shivered out of reflex, not out of the coldness. Something had swept upon me and grew larger and stronger as I continued to follow Charlotte down the flight of stairs.

We finished on the stairs and then continued down a narrow hallway, there were cells on each side. I asked Charlotte in a small voice, "Who are we going to first?"

Her own voice was dropped to the quietest whisper, "The man. I think he knows you." My heart leapt, Paul… or Zane? I'm not sure Zane knew me though… I thought of Paul, Paul Slater. The man who I shared an apartment with, sometimes I would think about him – quite a lot actually. I thought about him, and me, and then us.

Deep in my heart, I knew that Paul always had a piece of me, a very special piece. We most definitely had something, but that was just it: The something I was talking about wasn't love. I knew that eventually, if we both tried, I could love Paul. Paul could love me.

This set me on another trail of thought. One night, Paul and I had pretended we were married: just for fun. Paul cooked me dinner – and got it burnt. I kissed the top of his head when he handed me the over-cooked homemade pizza and ate it all – crunchy but okay. I told Paul this and he had beamed.

Then there was the other stuff, we realized that if we continued with this game: it would eventually lead to it. When we were sitting on the lounge chair, snuggled up to each other and holding hands like a normal couple would have done. Then Paul, sensing the show was over, smiled down at me – I was leaning against his chest – and lightly cupped my face.

After that, he leaned over, and he kissed me.

Paul said it was an experiment, to see what it felt like. I understood the meaning of it as after he had done it, Paul ran to the tap to wipe his mouth out. Obviously, he didn't get the thrill of having my tongue in his mouth as he used to. We had changed so much; I was more like a sister to him now…

Charlotte opened a door to one of the cells. This quite miniscule sounding event snapped me out of my dream world, or at least, my memory of Paul and my days together.

She entered first. There was a rustle from the other side of the room, yet only darkness prevailed. Charlotte lit the lantern she had in her hand. Then with a barely audible sigh beforehand, whispered, "Don't worry, we come in piece, we do not mean to harm you." She looked back at me, I walked in and she nodded to me before turning back around.

Charlotte took a step closer. "Someone would like to speak to you." She then continued to walk into the shadows, the lantern in front of her, searching quickly.

There was certainly a person in here; I could see their shadow. Then, a hand came and snatched the lantern. The person who had taken it took a menacing step forward, towards Charlotte, and she took one back. I could still not see their face but by the height and outline of them, they were most definitely male.

I stepped between the mystery man and Charlotte, my hands out in a shielding gesture. My voice was acidy and my face was screwed into a look of disgust. "Whoever you are, I will not let you harm my friend."

The person stumbled back when I said this in that tone, he was surprised at something – me… Or another presence? I turned quickly around, scanning the area, then back again. Nope, nothing there but the door and Charlotte.

When I turned back, I saw that he had illuminated his face…He blinked at me with those big dark eyes. His eyelashes were longer than mine…

It isn't often I run into a ghost who also happens to be a hottie, but this guy... boy, he must have been something back when he was alive because here he was dead and I was already trying to catch a peek at what was going on beneath the white shirt he was wearing very much open at the throat, exposing quite a bit of his chest, and some of his stomach, too. Do ghosts have six-packs? This was not something I had ever had occasion – or a desire – to explore before.

His abdominal muscles were deeply ridged, and covered with a light dusting of silky black hair…

The hair on his head was dark and crisp like, if you know what I mean...

His eyes were as black as liquid ink…

Tears immediately welled in my eyes. I dropped the gesture. "Oh… Oh my god!" I sobbed, and straight away rushed into his arms. He held me after putting the lantern on the floor.

Stroking my hair with long, tanned fingers whilst holding me into the deepest embrace, Jesse whispered the word I had longed for ever since he had left.

"Querida."

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I LOVED writing the last Part… lol. I hope you enjoyed this. I certainly did. Sorry for the cliffhanger as well, this is to get back at Elmer's Girl for doing it to me… so huh!

Tank-you notes:

KawaiiQuerida-chan– Lmao. Thanks for the review. Now you know who 'Mr Je-' is. There will be more soon, and I'm sorry for the wait.

Breezie – lol. Sorry for the long wait as well. I hope this chapter will prove as a 'sorry' present for all the very patient, loyal people reading this story. Know that I love ya!

Nikki007 – Thank you for calling my story great! I think you would like this chapter, I've noticed that you're sometimes a Paul shipper sometimes a Jesse shipper. Don't worry! I'm like that too – except when Paul is, like, evil.

Any1 – Heh. Good name, lol. Jesse's here, all right, check out the chapter::grins: Mwahahaha! Thanks for the review.

Moovalous3 – Yeah, I just LURVE writing detail. The only thing that was wrong with this was no Jesse, but now! POOF! Here he is! Lol. I have a thang for fantasy as well, that's why I wrote this. If you like this type of stuff, check out 'Candela' by Elmer's Girl. It rocks! And has that really cool fantasy air to it.

Elmer's Girl (for both reviews, chapter 1 and 6) – Heh! Yeah, Charlotte beat the name 'Sarah' that I was originally going to put in. Thank your friend for me, Charlotte sounds way better. And no… Jesse and Sonya are not having a secret love affair… that's a good twist though :maniac grin: but I know that all the reviewers would kill me if I did that Small reviews are cute, DON'T MOCK THEM! Lmao. I hope you liked this chapter.

Alda Rethe – ha, ha! I left you for last because I really enjoy replying to your reviews. Feel loved, dear friend, feel loved. And we shall all dance because of Jesse's return::dances: heh. I don't know exactly about the Susannah Rosette thing, or about the sudden 'Oryon wanting Suze to be his queen' thing. I think he just wanted to scare Suze or something. Because I'm sure he wants Sonya.

That's all folks!

∞ Isa ∞