~Chapter 30: Memory Lane~

Zero P.O.V.

As bad as the castle was we had no intent on going back there as of now. We had to relocate somewhere else. We had already known that the news was all over it.

As Krystal passed out in my arms, her strong scent of blood hit me hard. I was too focused on what was going on in front of me. Apparently only Zoey, mom and dad had seen them. Jeez she was messed up, bad, very bad.

Her dark brown matted hair and entire body was covered in her own blood and the dragons blood. Her school uniform was ripped in some places. And her ankle was sprained. Her weapon was tucked safely in its holder.

She's been out for about eight hours. We were all at Krystal's old home. But it was the only place that was big enough for us since the previous place she had lived in was bought by someone else.

Zoey and mom cleaned her up and put her on a short black silk spaghetti strap gown. We left her alone in one of the girl's room to rest.

I met everyone else in the living room. I sighed thinking about what had occurred earlier…

Four Hours earlier:

It took us a good two hours after we disappeared into the forest to find out where Krystal used to live. To make a long story short, we ended up going to the hospital and requesting her medical chart records.

We had found that the house with Mr. and Mrs. James was taken over by someone else so that only left her old address. I was surprised at how big it was. I mean it was nothing compared to the castle, but still very nice and updated.

Ichiru knocked on the door three times before someone opened it. It was a girl with long blonde hair. She appeared to be stuck up but that changed when she saw us. Her face instantly went to shock.

"NO WAY!" She screamed as her eyes shot up. "Lisa, come here quick!"

"Excuse—" I started to say but the other side of the brown oak doors were opened to reveal another girl with brown hair. I could tell they were sisters.

"AHHHHH! It's really him!" She bowed quickly and asked, "What are you doing here—"Her eyes held shock as she noticed the girl in my arms. "Is that Krystal?" Krystal's name sounded like venom in her mouth.

Quickly pushing the doors wide open, they finally let us in. I ran to one of the back rooms and laid Krystal down on the bed. This room had a queen sized bed and two large white dressers. The wooden floor was clean but a bunch of papers covered it up. The two large windows were closed and pink curtains covered them.

"We'll clean her up and find something for her to wear and heal her wounds." Mom said as she and Zoey rushed in the room with towels and a bucket of clean soapy water. They instantly pushed me out and closed the door.

I was poked on my back from behind. Turning around I found Lisa beaming at me with a blush on her face. I purposely kept my annoyed expression on my face. "What is it?" I said.

She batted her eyelashes at me and I got creeped out. Pushing passed her I went into the dining room to get to the kitchen. Suddenly, her blonde sister jumped on me to give me a bear hug. She was talking nonsense about how she has had a dream about us meeting and how we were fated to be together.

Gently, pushing her off me and making sure her feet were safe on the dark wood floor, I looked at her and said, "That's great and all, but I'm taken." And I left it at that. She stood there a bit stunned.

Then, I grabbed a glass and made myself some ice cold water. After finishing it, I went to check on mom and Zoey but they weren't finished. The sisters bothered me nonstop for hours. Ichiru struggled not to kick them out because they were also all over him.

Afterward, I went to check out the rest of the house. It was fairy spacious. Just as I was starting to walk upstairs to what might be a bedroom. I was called down to the living room by Zoey.

Present Time:

"Krystal is going to be fine. She is just tired out from that volcano quest." Mom explained to all of us, but mostly to the girls we just met.

"Why is Krystal with you guys?" Lisa asked. "We heard about your castle too. Are you all moving in?" She squealed in excitement as she instantly looked at me.

"No." I said. "Krystal was injured in a fight and we had nowhere else to go. Anyway, are you her sisters?" I asked.

The blond haired girl laughed, "We are but not biologically. Her pregnant mother was kicked out years ago and Krystal severed as our maid. We had her doing everything. Including cooking dinner. But since she ran away twice—"

I cut her off because I wanted to learn the background story of how this all started. "Why did she run away the first time?" I asked.

"Well like an idiot she made many mistakes." Erin spoke up. She seemed to enjoy bashing Krystal. "When mom's new hubby, John, came, she accidentally spilled a mug of hot chocolate on his favorite shirt. Then, even after she apologized, he threw dishes at her face. On that weekend, he threw the TV remote at her and then later during bedtime, I heard him storm up to her room. She yelped in pain and then I ran upstairs and peeked my head around the corner to see what was going on. He was kicking and punching her while she tried to defend herself."

"I hid in the corner while John headed back downstairs and then she curled up in a ball and cried herself to sleep." Erin snickered as I had to stop myself from glaring at her.

I noticed Zoey hold down her anger as well as my parents. What the hell was wrong with these girls? "Then he attacked her but mom actually saved her one time. Once she came home with a large black bruise on her face." Lisa told us.

Lisa continued with a smile on her face. "And the last time we saw her or heard from her was when we got back from shopping on a Friday afternoon."

"Yeah. We thought we heard muffled screams. We noticed the Master Bedroom door was ajar and went to check it out. It was a creepy sight to behold, but Krystal and John were having sex. She was crying and looking scared out of her mind. It went on for hours." Lisa finished with a grin.

"So she is a dirty skank and a—"Erin started but I had accidentally slapped her. I was beyond pissed and couldn't hold my anger any longer.

Backing both of them up into a corner because they looked shocked, and scared, I've had enough! No one tried to stop me so far. "Did you even think about how she was feeling? Did you even try to help her?"

They were shaking with fear as they hugged each other tight like the other was there lifeline. They gave me no answer. "What if you were in her place? Do you enjoy being rapped? Do you enjoy having people look at you in disgust?"

At this time, none of us had noticed a shaky Krystal stumbling towards me. They were all to absorbed in what I was doing and saying. Their mouths hung open literally but they did sense what I was really trying to do.

Suddenly, I was slowly pushed to the side as Krystal had appeared out of thin air. She slapped both of her "sisters". "All you done was ruin my life! You don't have one ounce of dignity! Get out!" She yelled.

"You can't—"Erin began to protest, but it was futile.

"I can and I will! You don't give a crap about me. All you've done is use me and call me trashy, a whore, and slut. You never made the time to get to know me. Not you two, John, or Kathryn. You don't deserve to be here. You need to feel all the pain and suffering that I've dealt with for years." I stood back as she told one of us to open the front doors.

Surprisingly with little resistance, she dragged the girls to the door. All of us just stared. "Let's see how you like this!" Krystal said as she threw them both on the steps and told Zoey to make sure they didn't move.

After a few minutes, she came back with piles of clothes in her hands and she threw all of it outside. "Take those and leave. Do. Not. Come. Back." She warned them in a very serious tone. As she glared her eyes flashed red for a quick second and the girls took off with what they could carry.

After Zoey came in she slammed the door and locked it.

Krystal P.O.V.

I couldn't believe what I just did, but it made me feel great. I was finally rid of those two nimrods. I just stared at the door a moment longer. Turning around I was about to ask where we were when a flashback hit me.

It was of John beating me on the floor and dragging me into the bedroom. After it ended I found myself inside his room, where it all happened. I stepped back a bit in fright as I remembered how it all went down.

Tears streamed down my face as I ran out of the room blinded. "Shut that door! Please!" I screamed in fear. I heard it close as I sat in a corner hugging my knees to my chest. Sobs escaped my lips as I tried to erase those horrendous images out of my mind.

I felt someone hug me, but I pushed them away thinking it was John as I tried to back up further than possible in the corner I was in.

"Krystal its ok. It's me." I opened my closed eye lids at the sound of Zero's voice. His entire family was around him looking at me with concern glances. Zoey was crouched to my level along with Zero.

"W-why are we here?" I asked with pure terror in my voice.

"Remember that our castle is gone and we had to find somewhere big enough to live temporarily." Mom paused as she also got to my level. She grabbed my hands with her own. "Krystal, did those horrible things your sister's mentioned happen here?" She asked.

I slowly nodded. "I-I don't want to be here. I can't be here!" I cried as I pushed my way into Zero's embrace for some much needed comfort. He held me securely.

"Krystal we're so sorry, we didn't know this placed was home to horrible memories." Mr. Kiryu told me will full concern in his tone. "We'll find somewhere else to go—"

"No!" I accidently yelled. "I mean no." I brought my head up from Zero's now blood tear stained shirt to look at his father. "You guys lost your home. Technically it's because Damon is out to kill me. And I owe you all for everything you've me given thus far. My home is your home." I heaved a deep sigh as I stopped crying.

I had to face my deep dark fears eventually and tonight would be the night. John was dead and never coming back and Kathryn and the girls were out of my life. My mom and Melanie were safe. And Zero's family had my back and took care of me as if I was their own.

And Zero, I never thought in my wildest dreams we would ever be together. Yet here we are. Our relationship going strong and I'm loving every moment of it. He loves me for me and vise visa.

So I stood up and wiped my remaining tears away and said, "If I'm on the way to becoming The Immortal One, then I need to stop letting my fears knock me down." Zero, Zoey and his mom stood up and gave me warm smiles.

"Krystal, forgive me but why did I need to close that specific door?" Zoey asked but looked like she regretted it.

I put on a brave face and tried not to have another mental breakdown. "It was where I was beaten and r-raped." One red tear slid down my cheek and Zero affectionately wiped it away.

Zoey instantly hugged me. "I'm sorry I asked. I won't ask anything else about your past here alright." She said. I hugged her back and then we parted ways.

"So how about breakfast?" I asked as I headed towards the kitchen.

"Dear, you just woke up, you don't have to cook for us." Mr. Kiyu said as they all followed me in the huge white kitchen with granite counter tops and double ovens.

"It's alright. You'd die for my home cooking!" I joked as I got the eggs, diced ham, bread and bacon. "It's about one a.m. so give me thirty minutes." I said as I donned the blue apron and got the rest of them items I needed.

They watched in awe at least everyone but Ichiru who was sleep on the sofa already.

After making several omelets, bacon and toast the meal was ready. "Order up!" I called out as Zero and Zoey passed out the food. Zoey severed the OJ. After eating everyone thanked me. "You should have us cook for lunch tomorrow." Mrs. Kiryu said with a bright smile.

Zero was eying a calendar with a circled date for tomorrows date. He pulled it from the wall. "Krystal, your birthday is tomorrow?" He looked at me.

"What's tomorrow's date?" I asked a bit confused. We were all sitting around the large dining room table.

"November 10, 2012."

My eyes widened in recognition. "Oh yeah! It's been so long that I had forgotten. Seven years to be exact…" I trailed off as I began to get up, grabbing my dishes and taken them to the dishwasher.

The mansion still looked as great as it did when I left it. Everything was the same. I wonder what my room looked like now. Afterwards everyone settled into a room and Zero and I went upstairs to mine.

He noticed that I was hesitant to open the bedroom door. So he put his hand over mine and turned the knob. Inside, the room was the same from when I left it. My queen sized bed was made and it had two big green pillows and a light green and brown comforter with a few holes in it.

"Cozy." He said after he stretched out on the bed. Then he got up and went to change into his boxers and used the bathroom. I had already gone.

I climbed into bed, it was a sagging mattress but I didn't care. It was my room again. I got up under the sheets and blanket right as Zero joined me. He pulled me underneath him as he got on top of me.

Heat instantly hit my cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" He teased while poking my left cheek several times. I smacked his hand away.

"Maybe." I replied.

"Well you know I'm looking at the most beautiful girl in the world. Happy Birthday my sweet, kind and loving girlfriend. Here is an early present." He began to kiss my forehead, cheeks, chin, around my neck and the top part of my chest. Then he went for my lips catching me a bit off guard.

After yet another hot make-out session full of loving passion, he rolled to the side of the bed and pulled out a small purple box. He was now having me sit in his lap facing him.

"So what's in the box?" I asked getting anxious. He opened it and it was a silver ring with a small purple diamond on it.

I gasp as my face heated up. "Wait, um..aren't we a bit young to—" He stopped my words with another quick kiss to my lips.

"It's not an engagement ring idiot." He chuckled. "Would you officially be my girlfriend? Even though it means facing the press and all the other b.s. and even—"

I cut him off by throwing myself at him in pure happiness. "Yes!" I yelled. I got up so he could put the ring on my right index finger. It was lovely!

He grabbed the sides of my face with his hands as he began to kiss me again. He lay down on the bed and I was on top of him. I joined my hands with his as I lay on his well-toned chest.

There was a sudden knock on the door interrupting our moment. "Getting freaky in there you two? Zero you better be using a con—" Zoey teased us.

"Shut up and go away!" He yelled. Both of our faces were tomato red. It was embarrassing but it's not like we never thought about it.

"You two have a wonderful time!" She teased again as we heard her go downstairs. The steps were a little creaky so we heard her leave.

We laid there in each others embrace for a few more minutes until we fell asleep.