Enlightened Tenshi: Awe, thank you! Your review made me grin like an idiot for a couple hours, so thanks for that! :-) Was that an Elf reference you made there with the cottonheaded ninnimuggins? lol, I love that movie. Do you hate Kane as much as I do? I seriously get annoyed writing all his parts haha.

Lorina Lee Belmont218: you didn't know they were vampires? Wow, I guess it was only obvious to me. The best is yet to come!

bookppl93: lol, I'm sorry. I hope you're still at least enoying the story...

HalfwayParanoid: lol, is this fast enough for you? I'm glad you're liking it thus far.

Skipping Town

Grandma loaned me her car so I could get where I was going faster. I thanked her for it before I left. She had assured me she preferred the bus anyway. Her old eyes had a more difficult time seeing the road signs and whatnot, so it was probably for the better that I take her car from her anyway. I clutched my mom's locket in one hand while my other hand clutched the steering wheel of Grandma's old Buick. I had no idea where I was going, or when I would get there, I was just going.

I had enough money to last me through a few months, but I knew I would probably end up getting a job or something. I knew I couldn't go home. Kane and Erik were dangerous and I knew they were after me for what my parents did to them. I could only assume my parents had taken someone from them and they were seeking revenge.

Regardless of the fact that he had a hand in killing my parents, I couldn't help but miss Erik a little bit. I had never gotten any kind of bad vibe from him like I had with Kane. Not even when I was breaking up with him did it seem like he was thinking about taking a bite out of my jugular.

I shook that thought out of my head quickly. "Stop thinking about him like he's a victim in this situation Jacelynn." I scolded myself angrily. "He hurt you in the worst way possible and you had no idea about any of it until tonight which means he was lying to you the whole time." I realized if anyone were to hear me talking to myself like I was a separate person, they would think I was insane. I also realized that I didn't give a damn any more. I finally felt like I was fitting in with everything in my life, but in a matter of two hours, all of that had been uprooted.

I had been falling hard for a disgusting bloodsucker. I had even kissed him. I was such an idiot. I knew he was too good to be true. Erik had had centuries to perfect his smooth talking skills. I was positive he had only been interested in getting me to trust him so he could easily get me alone and kill me. And I would have fallen for it. Kane seemed to have a different approach. Now that I thought about it, he seemed to get a kick out of making me uncomfortable at any chance possible. He also fought with me a lot about nothing in particular. That made a lot more sense too. I had gotten the feeling from the very beginning that he didn't really like me or approve of mine and Erik's relationship. It all made perfect sense to me now.

I glanced down at the gas gauge and sighed. I was running on empty. I looked around the darkening road and located a sign directing me toward the next gas station. I pulled in under the bright fluorescent lights a few minutes later and got out to fill up the tank. My phone rang then and I sighed, glancing at the caller ID. It was Erik. Knowing I would regret it, I answered my phone on the third ring.

"What?" I snapped into the phone.

"Can we talk?" Erik pleaded on the other end. I bit my lip and tried not to break my phone in my hand.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about? Would you rather talk about how you're a disgusting blood sucker who lied to me from the very beginning about that little fact, or would you rather talk about the fact that you murdered my parents and you also lied to me about it?" I demanded, putting as much venom and hatred in my voice as I could possibly manage. He fell silent.

"I'd rather talk about us." He finally said, not denying either of the facts I knew to be true.

"Well then you're wasting your time because there is no longer an 'us'." I snapped.

"Jace, I'm really sorry. My intention was never to hurt you and I had no idea they were your parents. I swear to you I did not know who you were when we came to this town." Erik pleaded with me.

"That is absolutely no excuse. The fact is, you still killed them and you were never going to tell me what you were." I growled menacingly.

"I know it's not an excuse. Look, can we meet and talk in person?" he begged.

"No we cannot. I know you and Kane are close and I know that either one or both of you want me dead because you're afraid I'm going to turn out to be an amazing vampire hunter like my parents were, so no, I am not going to meet up with you. I'm already long gone anyway. I'm not coming back and you will never see me again, so you might as well stake yourself in the heart because it's not going to happen." There was more silence on his end.

"You left town?" he asked incredulously.

"What else would you like me to do? I'm not staying in a town where there are not one, but two vampires who want me dead and by staying there, I would be putting a target on all my friend's backs. So yes, I left town. I have no intention of turning back." I said, more annoyance creeping into my tone.

"I wasn't going to hurt you Jace." He said, sounding like he was giving up.

"Well whether that is true or not, Kane is obviously interested in killing me. I've seen it in his eyes more than once. I just didn't know what it was until now. Everything I learned tonight points to the truth." I said angrily.

"I would never hurt you and I am not going to let Kane hurt you either. I swear on my mother's life, Jace, that I will keep you safe." He tried assuring me. I bit my lip in uncertainty. He sounded so sincere that I wanted to believe him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"I don't know if I believe you Erik." I said to him slowly.

"I know, and I deserve that. In fact, I deserve so much more than not having your trust. I'm willing to let you kick my ass. I don't want you to leave." He said softly. I had to suppress a laugh.

"I'm not coming back Erik." I told him. Being with him, would mean ignoring what he did to me.

"I miss you. I'll do anything for you if it means getting back on your good side. I don't know how you can't believe me. Since we met, I haven't done anything to hurt you. In fact, you always seemed so happy with me. It was always Kane that you didn't like. Is it so hard to believe that I'm different than my brother?" he asked. He had a point there, but I couldn't do it.

"Look, I just need time to think about some things okay? Can you live with that? I'm going to stay gone for a while and I don't want anyone to come after me. I have had a lot dumped on me today and I can't handle a confrontation with two vampires right now. There is something I want you to do for me, though." I sighed. He was wearing me down. Before this conversation, I had the full intention of staying gone until they were gone, but Erik was talking me down. Shouldn't that count for something?

"Anything, you name it." He assured me.

"Keep an eye on your brother. I don't want him hurting Brittany, Lindsay, Oliver or my grandma. And I don't want him to come looking for me to seek his twisted revenge. Does he know I had nothing to do with killing whoever my parents killed?" I asked in exasperation.

"Yes, he knows that. I'll do that if you promise to see me soon and talk through this in person." He said in a bargaining tone

"How soon?" I wondered.

"A week?" he asked.

"You think a week is long enough for me to think about everything I have to think about?" I demanded incredulously.

"I was just hoping you would agree to it." He admitted with a smile in his voice. I couldn't help but laugh.

"That's a good sign that you can still laugh when you're talking to me." He told me.

"Yeah whatever, so you sort of grew on me. It doesn't excuse anything though and right now, I do not forgive you. You're still in the dog house as far as I'm concerned." I sighed, not wanting him to know how much I missed him and how badly I wanted to forgive him for everything.

"I know I did. I'm really sorry about everything Jace. Just know that okay?"

"I know. I'm going to go. I guess I'll talk to you later." I shrugged, though I knew he couldn't see the gesture.

"Okay, Jacelynn?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." I froze at the admission. Had he really just said that?

"Um, okay." I said, not sure I felt the same way. I supposed I needed time away from him to figure that out.

"I know you probably hate me right now, but you should know I have never said that to anyone before." He assured me.

"Alrighty then. Bye." It was such an unbelievably dorky thing to say, but I didn't know what else to say to that. I hung up the phone and pulled out of the gas station. I ended up driving for a little while longer and then finding a hotel. Once I was settled into a room, I lay down and tried to get some sleep no matter how impossible it seemed.