back to part one to part three story link page Zoo Entrance
1878
She knew that it would be difficult, but she never gave in to her mistakes and Jesse was eventually trained. It took her ten years to complete training to Idun's satisfaction, Julianna took twelve (but she had been born into a noble family and it was explainable,) but Jesse took twenty years and he was still weak. It was as if he was fighting his new nature even though he visable embraced the change.
Jesse walked next to her as they moved into the new city; he always like to be near enough for her to help in case of trouble. Julianna had entered the city seven nights before and hadn't been heard from since, so this was definitely trouble. They had set up a meeting with the Archbishop of the city and it was already looking bad judging from the Lasombra guard they had acquired.
The Archbishop had a pretty posh place for the times; very lavish for the little western city. They were kept waiting for nearly an hour and had the chance to admire for quite some time. Though Suneyva was a wanderer at heart, she had always dreamed of having a real home to share with Julianna.
"Well, look at the little Gangrel!"
Suneyva whirled around to glare at the woman now entering the room. "Yes, we are Gangrel. Are you going to explain what has happened to my Childe now? Or shall I do someting to influence you?"
The dark haired beauty swung around the room gracefully and sat behind the large desk. "I have her." She smiled wickedly and continued, "And there is only one way to get her back unharmed."
"What is that?" Her voice had gone cold and Jesse took an involuntary step away. "I want to get her back as soon as possible."
"Oh, it's an even exchange. I'll give you Julianna if you give me Jesse. I've heard about the three of you and I have an opportunity here that I will not miss out on. You will stay here and can keep Jesse, but there is something that he has to do for me."
Suneyva glanced at her youngest Childe and shook her head. "I can't promise you anything from Jesse. He can make a decision."
"W-what do you want from me?" Jesse had to fight hard, but managed to look her in the eye for a moment or two. He flinched as she began to laugh.
"Simple. I want to make a little cash and you are going to help me." She paused at Suneyva's uncomprehending expression. "You are a very pretty boy Jesse, and if I have heard correctly there is much use for you in some of my business ventures. If you do not accept Julianna will be killed." She frowned, but waited for his response.
Jesse looked at Suneyva, unsure of what to say, how to decide. He couldn't let Julianna die; he couldn't live with the guilt or Suneyva's blame. Slowly he gathered up his courage and spoke as steadily as he could. "Okay. I'll do whatever you want."
*
Jesse cried, staining the satin cushion again, but Suneyva didn't care about that she just held him. The doubled coffin had turned out to be a very good idea. Her Childe needed her to be there with him so much.
"I'm sorry Jesse, you shouldn't have to do this. I wish that I could tell you to stop, but you know how much I need Julianna. She and I appreciate what you are doing for us Jesse. We do understand what this is doing to you and we will try to help you as best we can when we can finally leave this city."
He didn't respond, but she didn't expect him to. Jesse hadn't spoken to her in weeks and though she wished to gain some feeling for how he was coping she knew that pushing him would only cause more trauma. He was being hurt in so many ways already; there wasn't going to be any chances taken with him.
Slowly she felt him falling asleep in her arms; his body relaxing aginst her, and she still held him tightly as the dawn claimed her as well.
*
Julianna sat still under the watchful eye of the Tzimisce, but it was difficult. She had once told Jesse that he could have love with another man, that it would not be evil, but what they were forcing him to do now had to be the most vile of evils.
She saw the revulsion in his expression and noticed the many hesitations he tried to create in the movement. Everything about the boy screamed for escape; clearly he did not want to be with the man the Sabbat had brought.
Julianna had to avert her eyes; she could not watch Jesse be raped again. The Tzimisce noticed that she was not looking at the two men and hit her, but Julianna refused to witness Jesse's pain any longer.
*
1880
"They let you go!" Suneyva swept Julianna into a tight embrace and practically picked her right off the floor. "I've missed you so much!"
Julianna dropped Jesse's hand, but he didn't seem to notice. He stood in place for several moments, not even noticing that they had left the room. When he finally came back to a slow form of awareness he looked down at the envelope of money he held and let it fall to the floor.
Suneyva and Julianna held each other for a long time in silence. They had never been kept apart for as long as two years; having been together for all the centuries since Julianna's Embrace. They needed time together and more than anything they needed to talk.
"We can leave this very night and I think that we should. I want to get as far away from here as possible. It would be wise to get out of the Sabbat's grasp before they decide to try something else. I don't want to take the chance of losing you and it would be so like them to kidnap you again." Suneyva shifted slightly so that she could look into Julianna's eyes. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?"
Julianna shook her head. "They didn't hurt me, but I know what they did to Jesse. I know what he agreed to do for me; sometimes they would make me watch. This is my fault. He is so hurt and if I hadn't been caught it wouldn't have happened."
"No, he was hurt before this, and this is not your fault. Jesse has the two of us to help him recover from this trauma, and we all have plenty of time. If we can get out of here right away it might help him too. I was thinking...we all need to rest. We could go to San Francisco for a few nights. Vannevar ownes me a favor so he'll let us stay in his city for a few nights anyway. We can go to the Alexandrian Club and perhaps get a few better ideas for helping Jesse. Maybe Sebastian will have an idea." Suneyva sat up slowly, still holding onto Julianna.
"But we have to get out of the city first and we should talk to Jesse right now before anything more happens. I think that he needs us very badly right now and perhaps we should not have left him alone."
back to part one
to part three
story link page
Zoo Entrance