(A/N): We're back in 1966 with Evie, with Evie's reaction to finding out that she'd be required to quarantine for ten years, if she wants to become a vampire. We learn a tiny bit more about Jerremyah's past (not really, just a tidbit, sort of?) and uh... I guess there's a slight reference to something that happened with Nicholai? I'm not saying it's foreshadowing, but... shrug.

Trigger Warnings: References to, and discussions of, starvation/forced starvation/possible neglect or child abuse (it's not made clear when these events took place, but it's inferred to have occurred over many years, and Jerremyah was only 26 when he was turned, so he was probably pretty young?). I've referenced Jerremyah being starved in the past in passing (chapter 362), but not really beyond that, I don't think. I'm sure it'll come up again, with Leo. Jerremyah also said that directly injected blood makes the vampire feel like they're starving when they go through withdrawal, so I suppose we know now that he's very familiar with the feeling.

January 16th, 1966

Evie

It wasn't worth it, it simply wasn't worth it. No amount of advantages- cool abilities, interesting people, and a sense of easy camaraderie I'd never known before- could make up for the fact that I would have to leave my sister. Vi. I would have to leave Vi for ten. Years. It simply wasn't worth it.

"-anyone. You'd have to leave your life behind, at least for the time be-" I interrupted him. I didn't mean to, and I doubted Jerremyah minded, but it just came spilling out.

"...ten years?" I asked, and even I could tell I sounded a bit unstable. He nodded- clearly somewhat reluctant to do so- and I asked again. "Years?" From beside me, Lisbet spoke up.

"Evie, it really isn't as dire as you might think-" I swung my head in her direction, and saw the careful concern on her face. She was trying not to scare me off.

Unfortunately for her I wasn't scared, but I was- I couldn't. I couldn't leave my sister for more than a few weeks, let alone ten years! "I can't leave my sister. I'm sorry, but I can't- I can't be a vampire, if that's the price I have to pay." I saw Lisbet and Jerremyah both glance to Nuria, who shook her head just the once, like that was the only answer she needed to give to make her disapproval known. Apparently, it was.

"There are others who are willing to sire new vampires without that long of a quarantine period, but I'm not one of them." She stated firmly. "I'm not one of them. I've seen what can happen if a young vampire is reintroduced before they're ready- as has Nicholai." The man in question looked particularly uneasy. "I won't take that risk, no matter how much I may like you." Honestly, that seemed more than fair, but still, Jerremyah tried to argue on my behalf.

"You've also seen what happens when a young vampire leaves after the ten year quarantine, and still comes back with blood on their hands. It's not a guarantee, Nuri, and you know it." She narrowed her eyes at him, her expression turning sharp- I internally congratulated Jerremyah on not shrinking away from her in fear- but I could see the slightest bit of pain trying to hide behind that sharpness.

"All the more reason to keep her isolated for so long- if there's something about me that determines whether or not the vampires I turn have a tendency to lose control, then I need to know about it." What- oh. Jerremyah's control issues. But I thought they'd said-

"Oh, come off it! You know me being utterly stark raving has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with-" He cut himself off, turning his attention back to me. "Evie, have you ever starved?" I blinked at the sudden change of subject, and the surprising intimacy of that question.

"Like... to death?" I asked after a second, and to my relief, Jerremyah snorted.

"No, Love, I mean- what's the longest you've gone without food?" I struggled to think, especially with all of their eyes on me. I wasn't usually the center of attention- of our friend group that had always been Hettie's thing, and I'd just been steadfastly by her side- and I found it made me slightly uncomfortable now.

"Uh... I... a few hours, I guess? Close to a day, maybe, when I've forgotten to eat, then fallen asleep? It's certainly never been- I wouldn't say I starved." He let out a breath of relief, and I could tell the others felt similarly. "Why, have you?" It was a reflex to ask, but I immediately knew I probably shouldn't have. It felt like a really intimate question, so why had I-

Jerremyah snorted again, crossing his arms over his chest in a playful way as if his only goal was to show off his delectable looking forearms, now that the sleeves of his jumper were rolled up. "Of course." He said, like it was both extremely obvious, and meant less than nothing. A glance to my side told me that Lisbet, while not in any way surprised, was just as unhappy as I was about this apparent fact, if not more so. Which made sense, given their relationship.

"How... how long?" Again it felt far too intimate, but he merely shrugged.

"I don't know," He said, which felt odd to me. How did one not know how long they'd starved for? "The longest I know for absolute certain was a week, with no food whatsoever. Pretty sure I've gone longer, but time..." He winced, though not anywhere near as severely as I thought the situation warranted. "It was hard to keep track, because I kept losing consciousness." Because of the lack of food, or...? A glance around the room told me that everyone else was just as disturbed as I was, except for Nicholai and Khal.

Nicholai made sense- sort of- since they didn't get along, but Khal... Khal didn't look like he didn't care, he looked like he was fighting hard to keep himself as far removed from the conversation as possible. Oh. I suppose... if he could see the past as well as the future... maybe he was trying to prevent himself from getting visions of Jerremyah from those points in his life. That was more that fair he could avoid it as much as he wanted, in my opinion.

"If we're just talking a length of time without a proper meal..." Jerremyah released a long breath, clearly thinking this through, then gave a bitter laugh. "Well, I think there were probably years that I went without a proper meal, but if we're talking about a time where food was readily available yet not freely given, then... months, at least." God. I wasn't sure if it worked that way, but if it did- if Jerremyah's control issues were a relentless hunger, brought on by starving all the time when he was human, then... well, it made complete sense to me.

"No," I said, because I didn't know what else to say. "I've never starved." He nodded, almost like he was grateful- because I'd shifted the attention off of him for a second, or because I'd never had the misfortune of being forced to starve?

"Good," He said, and the weight behind it made me think it might be the second option. "Good. I doubt you'd have control issues, then. Nuri doesn't, neither do the other vampires she's sired- although the sample size is admittedly small-" It was funny to hear Jerremyah of all people talk about 'sample sizes'. "-but still, I'm sure you'd be fine with a shorter quarantine-" She cut him off.

"Then find someone else to do it," She told him. "Because I won't." Jerremyah and I shook our heads at the same time, for entirely different reasons.

"Nuri, you can't just-"

I cut him off as gently as I could. "Jerremyah," The way he snapped to attention was almost comical, and for a brief second, I wondered whether Nuria or even Lisbet had taught him to be so attentive, or if he'd been like that long before he'd met either of them. "You can't blame Nuria for having standards-"

"Someone has to." Nicholai muttered from behind me, and to be honest, the only reason I knew it was him was because of the way Jerremyah had scowled at him over my head.

"-if she thinks ten years is the safest amount of time, then I don't think we should try to get around that." His shoulders slumped. "Unfortunately, I can't leave Vi for ten years- which means... well, I guess my decision's been made for me."

Jerremyah looked like he was begging me to reconsider with only his eyes, and for a split second I worried that he might try to use his mind control powers on me- any one of them was capable of doing so at any time- but then I relaxed, because I knew they wouldn't. I trusted them- especially Jerremyah- and unfortunately, that made this that much harder.

"Evie-" I didn't let him finish- or start, really, even.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be a vampire. Not if it means leaving my sister behind."

(A/N): So I guess that's it, right? Arc over? Evie said no- she's not going to be a vampire, she's going to go home to her sister, but stay friends with our main vamps, right? ...bahahahaha.

While searching for a way to have Jerremyah call himself crazy, I eventually settled on using 'stark raving', which was apparently first recorded by playwright John Beaumont in 1648. 'Stark mad' was first recorded by poet John Skelton in 1489; 'stark staring mad' was first used by John Dryden in 1693. The current wording, 'stark raving mad', first appeared in Henry Fielding's 'The Intriguing Chambermaid' in 1734. Since Jerremyah was born in 1512, I wanted to use one of the earlier ones, and I felt like 'stark raving' was just much more evocative of the type of person Jerremyah thinks he is. I also feel like he would like, 'stark raving lunatic'. I originally wrote 'basket case', then looked up the origins of the term and, well... suffice to say, I went with something else. I was also considering 'nutjob', 'nutcase', and 'headcase'. Again, I don't think Jerremyah is any one of these things, and I don't really approve of the type of language that surrounds mental illness, but it's 1966, and Jerremyah is the type to say those sorts of things about himself, and believe them deep down.

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