Chapter Six

Slade could tell that Ebony was tired and so said, "Look I'm going to pop downstairs and get you something to eat and when I get back we are going to talk about what is going on, okay".

Ebony's eyebrow rose almost of its own volition as some fight came back to her as she queried, "Is that a request or an order?"

She didn't like being told was to do yet Slade did everything so peacefully she now felt it almost impossible to get the fire to be angry with her as she didn't feel that he would threaten her enough for her to need it.

Slade smiled slightly at Ebony's attitude, "It's a statement", he replied. He knew that he could not afford to get her angry otherwise she would just shut down on him completely, yet she didn't seem to be showing any signs of true anger and so he thought that he was safe to add, "Can I count on you being here when I get back?"

"Maybe", Ebony smiled in response, "You will just have to chance it". She didn't know what it was about him but no sooner had he opened his mouth she found herself almost flirting with him again and likes the way that it felt.

Ebony knew that it would take more than just a little cry to erase the past from her mind and she also knew that there was no sense in believing that Slade was the one for her, yet she was starting to believe that maybe true love wasn't important. Maybe you didn't have to spend your whole life with one man and that a tumble in the sack with a nice guy for a boyfriend might be alright.

The thing that she was really worried about was that whenever she got a boyfriend they seemed to either see her as one of many ways to scratch their itch or the love of their life which never worked out. But there again Ebony had always tried to plan their relationship from the start, never letting them just be and so she made a command decision, for once in her life she was would go with her instincts rather than her head or her heart when it came to love.

"No you can't count on it. Here's the thing Slade, I have depended on people before, you know been really loyal to them and stood up for them yet just when I was about ready to give my life for them they betray me, they just always betray me so I have come to a new decision. I am only going to do the things which make me happy. Just because I am here now it doesn't mean that I won't have decided something else to do by the time that you get back", she explained.

"If you want time with me then you had better mould to my mood otherwise I won't have my time wasted", Ebony added without feeling.

She was well aware of just how harsh she was being on someone who was only trying to help her but she also knew that it wasn't important at that moment as she had to make herself clear, she wasn't going to be loyal to anyone any longer, that was the reason that she had got hurt before, now she was only loyal to her own, ever changing, mood.

Slade looked at her for a second with a brief note of understanding in his eyes, "Fair enough. That's the best way to be for a little while but take it from me, eventually you will want one person that you can depend on, when you want someone like that then give me a call. Until then know this, I am still very much enamoured with you and want to know more about and help you but I don't run around after anyone".

"I am not in the habit of putting up with ingratitude, brats or people who aren't straight with me. At the moment you are none of those things but fair warning, the second that you become one of them I don't want to know", he said.

Ebony recoiled a little at his words, it was one thing for her to tell him what he what she was looking for but another for him to tell her, she felt like she was being told off or something.

"Why should I care what you like or don't like?" She snapped; this was her defence mechanism for when she felt like someone was getting at her.

"I am quite sure that you don't care about my likes or dislikes but the point is that if I know yours then you should know mine. I am by no means trying to hurt you or say that I don't have time for you just that I am not going to be pushed around by you. I think that it would be good for us to get out 'relationship' off on the right foot", he said calmly.

She wasn't sure why but his words seemed to mean more to her than anyone else's, she believed him when he explained her wants and even respected him to a degree as he was so straight forward.

"So will you be here when I get back?" He asked again.

"I guess that you will just have to have a little faith with me as I will that you are coming back", she said with a slight smile and a challenging flicker in her eye.

Slade smile broadened as he nodded with agreement before turning to leave the room and get her food.

Once downstairs Slade made Ebony a sandwich and got her a drink before going back upstairs wondering how on earth he was meant to manage to get her to talk to him enough for her to get over any fears that she still had, but then he remembered how he had only meant to talk to her about her behaviour and had ended up with her crying on his shoulder and so figured that it would all works itself out.

Yet once he had walked back up the stairs and after briefly knocking entered Ebony's room he found that she wasn't there.

"Damn it", he swore, "I only leave for a few minutes and she is already gone. I thought that faith thing was to see if I was willing to trust her just a little bit not so that she could skip out".

Just then her heard a slightly snicker and turning around her saw the door close and Ebony step out from behind it, "Oh that was the point of the whole faith thing, I just wanted to see what you would do if you thought that I had left", she said almost giggling.

While sitting on the bed in Slade's absence Ebony had concocted a plan to see how he would react if he was annoyed and she liked the results, he wasn't abusive and he seemed genuinely nice.

"Now I see what kind of woman I am dealing with", Slade chuckled, still holding Ebony's food.

"Oh and what kind of woman would that be?" Ebony asked walking sensually towards his with her lips pouted and an eyebrow raised.

"A terribly smart, powerful, deliciously attractive woman who is playful", Slade said without taking his eyes off her.

"Better than what I normally get, but you forgot to mention one thing", Ebony pointed out as she pressed against him and breathed the word, "Hungary", almost into his mouth.

Slade's jaw involuntarily slacked a little at this move until he felt the plate being tugged out of his hand and saw the wicked smile which graced Ebony's lips.

Ebony turned, still grinning, away from Slade and walked back over to the bed swinging her hips tauntingly.

She sat down on her bed and began to munch her sandwich happily, as Slade leant back against the door and crossed his arms with amusement, he had to admit that Ebony was something else and very exciting. Everything about her screamed excitement and intrigue, he just couldn't understand why anyone would not want to know more about her.

Once she had almost finished her sandwich he moved to sit opposite to her on the bed and asked, "You said that that was different to what normally said. What do they normally say?"

Ebony paused for a second and then swallowed, she saw no reason not to tell him, "They call me bitch, whore, sporn of Satan. If it's bad then they call me it".

"Why?" He wondered, "You don't seem like any of those things, well no more than any other beautiful woman", he added after a moments thought.

"You really don't anything about the city do you Slade?" Ebony asked with a slightly smile.

"Nope, why don't you tell me".

"Well, when the virus started everyone went crazy, I mean tribes were forming all over the country but our city was the worst hit by the tribe mania. We had the Demon Dogz, Tribe Circus etc and a little tribe that we didn't know of called the Mall Rats but they important yet. The important one is the Locos. They terrorised the city with their leader Zoot, he was a scary dude. I was his woman. He beat me, wasn't a nice guy and so as soon as I got the chance I drugged him and then he got into a fight with a Mall Rat and died. His brother knew that I had drugged him as if I hadn't he wouldn't have lost. I of course played the, 'I only did it because I loved you Bray card' which I did at the time. I took over the Locos but then I lost control and joined the Mall Rats who hated me. I became the leader of the City, screwed them all over until I got sick of it and left to come here. Get it, I am evil so if you want to run away screaming about how evil I am then do us both a favour and do it right now and stop wasting time", she spat.

She was sure that he was going to run away; he couldn't really be as good as he seemed.

A few moments passed and Slade was still just sitting there with the same relaxed attitude that he had had before this revelation, "You're not running", she queried.

"Doesn't look like it does it", Slade retorted, "So tell me more about this Zoot guy, why were you with him if he was so bad". He hated the very thought of the guy but wanted to hear the whole story before he decided what to believe.

"Very well", Ebony thought, "if he doesn't flinch at that then I will see how much about me he can take before he hates me, anything is better than living trying to conceal my past like I have been all of these years".

"My sisters and I moved from our old home to this city about two months before the virus was announced, on the first day here I became infatuated with this guy called Bray but I couldn't get near to him without using his brother Martin to get rid of the cow Trudy that was hanging around Bray. So I started to hang with Martin and soon I had got Bray like I wanted and Martin had got Trudy pregnant. All was good for me but when the virus came I didn't think that Bray could handle it so I sided with Martin and ran his tribe with him. But he was changing into Zoot and the more he changed the less control I had over him, he just wanted to see his daughter. So one night I told him that it was Trudy or me and he slapped me telling me that he loved Trudy and so I drugged him", she explained.

"Fair enough, a guy who hits a woman deserves nothing less. Look I'm not saying that I really approve but it was the beginning of the Virus, we all did some crazy stuff. Did you really love Bray or not?" Slade wondered.

"Nah, not really. I was obsessed but I didn't really love him, but then he hurt my pride, he choose someone else over me … so I had him and his pregnant bitch banished", Ebony smiled at the memory.

Slade thought about it and couldn't really say that he liked what she had done but he understood that it was what she thought that she had needed to do and with to loose those actions would be to loose her interest. That was why, instead of judging her he asked, "Has there been anyone else since Bray?"

Ebony froze as she thought of Lex; he had been the only man since Bray. She could tell everything else as it was so far in the past yet she just couldn't bring herself to tell him about Lex as the pain was still too fresh, she felt as if his treachery made her less worthy of everything even though it was basically the same thing that had happened in the past.

"No, no one", Ebony lied, her features immediately darkening.

Slade could tell that she was lying or at least not about to share anymore information with him and knew that it was pointless to try to force her confidence and so, instead he just said, "Look Ebony, you have told me about your past and I don't think any worse of you. If you need a friend you know where to find me", before getting up and walking out of the room.