Justine Ch. 12

"I'm sorry if you think that I hurt you..."

"You fucking left me for dead!" Natalia screamed as she vanished and was suddenly standing in front of Jeremiah. "Do you have any idea of what it felt like to know that death was at the door? I could hear people walking by me and no one stopped. They thought I was a drug addict or prostitute, I was raped, I was... Here let me show you."

Natalia roughly took Jeremiah's head in her hands and screamed into his face, "Look at how you didn't hurt me!"

Jeremiah tried to pull away from her; he didn't want to see what happened to her. Even with his eyes closed, he could see everything that happened from the moment he found her until the present. She hadn't lied when she said that she killed the vampire that saved her life, he watched as she took his head off as he slept thinking that he had her trained. She was even still living in the house and using his money to live on and she was always on the look out for others like herself.

When the vision was over, she threw Jeremiah against the bars of the cell, "do you still deny that you hurt me?" she asked.

"No."

"No? Is that all that you have to say to me?" Natalia demanded.

"There's nothing to say." Jeremiah replied, "Just go ahead and kill me."

Natalia laughed, "I don't think so." she replied, "There are far too many of us that would like a few minutes of your time and besides, the queen forbids it."

"I thought you said that no one told you what to do."

"True but see... the queen is a cool chick and she's a sister to boot. I'm thinking about asking her to let me help her locate more of us that you hurt."

"Aren't you going to hurt me?" Jeremiah asked.

"No baby, not my style and besides, I think you're going to have plenty of hurt coming your way without me adding to it. Live long, die slowly and with much pain!" Natalia said and was gone.

**********

Jeri/Josephine

David looked at Jeri still undecided about what he should do. The right thing would be to tell her everything and hope that she loved him enough to forgive him. Of course, he would help her find her child who had to be around thirty and that is if she was still alive. The alternative would be to continue as they were but that no longer felt like a viable option. The reality of it was that had never been an option, he had convinced himself that it was. "So damned stupid." he muttered to himself as he watched Josephine sleep.

Jeri moaned and muttered somethin in her sleep. That was always an indication that a memory was trying to break through. David realized that he was at a crossroads; if he was going to tell her about the past then he could no longer erase the memories.

He kissed Jeri and cuddled her closer. He had made his decision, he would let her memories come and would answer any questions that she had honestly. He wouldn't sugar coat it and try to make himself out to be some kind of hero. What he had done was selfish and wrong even though part of it was that he was trying to protect her. He braced himself for the explosion that was sure to come once Jeri realized that he had been lying to her all of this time.

Jeri relaxed back into David's arms and kept sleeping. She was dreaming about that place again, the place where all of the old people lived. Some of the faces looked familiar as they smiled at someone with small brown hands handing then a small cup containing what looked to be pills. The hands looked familiar but ... Then the dream changed. The sandwich shop again and then it changed again to the eyes of a child.

"Mama?"

Jeri jerked awake, looked around her and then at David, "I was dreaming." she said quietly and waited for him to tell her not to worry about it.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked pulling her back into his arms.

"You really want me to tell you about it?" Jeri asked surprised.

"Yes love, I really want to know."

Jeri told him about the dream and he faced a decision, should he tell her now or wait until she had more pieces of the puzzle?

"If you should have any more dreams, will you tell me?" David asked.

"Yes but David? Why do you suddenly want to know?"

"Because.... Jeri... I have to tell you some things and you're going to be very angry with me." he said deciding to get it over with and face the consequences.

Jeri sat up and looked at him taking note of the apprehensive look on his face, which in turn made her nervous.

Now that he had started, he was committed and in a way, he felt relieved. Keeping things away from her had been draining.

"Jeri, love, I guess the first thing that I should tell you is that your name isn't Jeri, its Josephine."

"Josephine? Then who... who was or is Jeri?" She asked.

"Jeri was no one, I liked the name and that was the name I gave you."

"Why did you change my name?"

"When I found you, you were almost dead." David explained. "Someone, a vampire had fed from you and left you for dead. I don't know if he or she meant to but when I found you, you were almost gone. I couldn't just leave you there so I took you back to my hotel room and fed you my blood. In doing that, I became responsible for you. Afterwards, I wondered what I had been thinking but it was too late and I cared for you. When you woke up, you didn't remember what happened to you or your name so I called you Jeri."

Josephine was shocked, "Where was this? Where you found me I mean?"

"Philadelphia, I was there on business. The night I found you, I was on my way back to the hotel. I took a route that I usually didn't take thinking it a shortcut. When I first saw you, I thought that you were dead and if I hadn't gone that route, you would have been. As it was, you were so very close. I fed you there and then took you to the hotel where I had several bags of blood already thawed but I couldn't make myself give them to you. Jeri...."

"Josephine, my name is Josephine."

"Alright then, Josephine." David said softly, "After you recovered I brought you back to England with me. I had no idea of who had done that horrible thing to you or if they realized that they hadn't killed you and would come looking for you. That was part of the reason that I didn't tell you who you were and why I brought you to England."

"The dreams, they're memories aren't they?" Josephine asked softly.

"Yes."

"How long have you known my identity?" Josephine asked as her anger began to rise.

"Twenty years but..."

"Twenty years? You kept me here for over twenty years and didn't tell me who I was? You've been lying to me all of this time?" she asked her voice rising with each question.

"Yes but sweetheart...."

"What else haven't you told me?" she asked her brown eyes now black with anger.

"You were a nurse in a convalescent home."

"The elderly people," she whispered, "I took care of them didn't I? I was a nurse, that's why I sometimes know when they're doing something wrong on the television shows but the next morning I can't...... you take my memories don't you? When I start to remember, you take them! What else have you taken from me?" she demanded.

"You have a sister but I don't know her name or where she went. By the time I started trying to find out who you were, she had moved taking your .... Your daughter with her."

"Daughter? I have a child? You kept me from my child?" Josephine screamed losing all semblance of control. "Where is my daughter?" she screamed as she began to pummel David with her fist. "Where is she? Where is she? Where?" she sobbed.

David made no attempt to defend himself. He could only imagine how she felt.

"I don't know and I don't know what happened to your sister." he replied honestly when Josephine had stopped hitting him.

'I don't understand," Josephine said crying softly, "If you could find out about me then why couldn't you find out about my daughter and my sister?"

"I didn't want to." David said softly. It was time for full disclosure; complete honesty was his only chance of keeping Josephine with him.

"Why not?" Josephine asked with tears streaming down her face, "Why didn't you want to find them?"

"I have no good reason for what I did." David said, "And I'm not going to try to justify it. The one thing I will say is this, I kept your identity from you because I wanted to keep you safe. The not looking for your daughter and sister was partly because I was being selfish but I also didn't know if they were being watched. I was also afraid that you would leave me."

"You... you ..." and then she was gone.

"Oh fuck," David swore as he vanished after her.

*************

Napoleon made his way back to their table with an apologetic look on his face.

"My apologies for the excitement." he said with a smile.

"How did they get those passes?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know." Napoleon replied, "Can I replace your drinks?"

"No thanks." Quinn replied not put off by the obvious evasion of his question. "Tell me if I'm wrong but when I was human and went to clubs, the clubs had a certain amount passes and each one was accounted for. The only way someone got a pass from someone at the club which means if you do things the same way, one of your staff is giving away or selling passes to humans."

"No one here would do such a thing!" Napoleon exclaimed angrily.

"No?" Quinn asked

"No."

"Alright then," Quinn said, "what about that cute little blonde over there?" Quinn asked.

"What about her?" Napoleon asked.

"Call her over here but before we do, let's make a small wager." Quinn said smiling, "if I prove to you that someone from your staff is selling or giving passes to humans you have to tell me why you keep staring at my wife and I don't want to hear that she's beautiful."

"And if you don't prove it?" Napoleon asked.

"I won't kill you for hurting your wife." Quinn replied, "Do we have a deal?"

Napoleon didn't like the odds but felt that he had no real choice and agreed even though he knew what was happening with the passes. Usually there wasn't any problem but of course, there had to be the night that the king and queen decided to drop in.

"I agree." Napoleon said.

"Good, bring her over here." Quinn said leaning back in his chair and putting an arm around Justine. He watched as Napoleon went over to the girl, whispered something in her ear and brought her back to the table.

"What's your name?" Quinn asked.

"Elena."

"Ok Elena, when your boss came to get you, what did he whisper to you?" Quinn asked.

The woman looked over at Napoleon seeking guidance.

"Don't look at him, look at me." Quinn said, "What did he say to you?"

"He told me to tell you that I'm the one selling the passes." she replied as she glanced over at Napoleon.

"It isn't you but you know who it is don't you?" Quinn asked.

"Yes but I can't ...it's the head of security and Mr. Napoleon knows about it." Elena said so quickly that her sentence sounded like one long word.

"Thank you Elena." Quinn said dismissing her.

He turned to Napoleon who had gone pale as he realized that he had seriously underestimated the power of the new royal couple. He had to wonder how many others would make the same mistake.

"It looks like you lost." Justine said softly, "so pay up."

"While it is true that you are very beautiful, you remind me of someone." Napoleon replied.

"Who?" Quinn asked.

"A woman that I fancied many years ago." Napoleon replied. "I never met her but saw a photograph of her."

"What was her name?" Justine asked.

"I don....."

"If you're thinking about lying, don't." Justine said interrupting him.

"I only knew her first name.... Josephine."

Justine felt the room spin as she gripped Quinn's hand.

"That's why I was staring at you... I was going to purchase her...."

"You miserable piece of shit!" Justine spat out at him.

Napoleon gasped and backed away when he saw the flames of anger in Justine's eyes.

"You took my mother away from me!" she screamed not caring that the room had gone silent and everyone was staring at them.

"No! That was Jeremiah! He...."

"If you hadn't asked for someone with her name she would have been safe!" even as she spoke the words, Justine could see the conversation between the two vampires.

"He told you about me and you told him that you didn't care."

"Yes but... "Napoleon's throat closed. He clawed at it trying to remove hands that he could feel but couldn't see.

"Jussie let him go." Quinn said softly, "we have to find out what else he knows."

Reluctantly, Justine released him. Napoleon fell to the floor but didn't get up. She looked around the room for the woman who had been their server and called her over.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." she said when the woman hesitated.

The woman slowly made her way over to Justine and Quinn and waited.

"What's your name?" Justine asked.

The woman looked at Napoleon and then at Justine.

"Josephine my queen." the woman relied shyly.

"Are you with him voluntarily?"

"I... no my queen." Josephine replied looking down.

"Does he hurt you?"

"S.... sometimes."

"Do you want to stay with him?" Justine asked.

For just a moment, Justine thought that the woman was going to say yes.

"No ma'am."

"Then you will come with us." Justine said putting an arm around the woman who stiffened and then relaxed. "We have a doctor and someone that you can talk to but for now go wait for us by the bar. Quinn ...."

"Already on it." Quinn said as he pulled out his cell phone.

Justine turned back to Napoleon, "Where did you find her?"

"I bought her after your mother disappeared." Napoleon said still rubbing his neck. "I found her on my own; it was much cheaper that way."

"What do you know about my mother?" Justine asked.

"I only know that Jeremiah went to retrieve her and that somehow she ended up dead. I swear to you, that's all I know."

"Get up." Justine commanded, "You're coming with us."

"Why? I held up my end of the bargain!" Napoleon said.

"So did I," Quinn replied, "I didn't kill you."

"What about the club?" Napoleon asked.

Quinn looked around until he spotted Elena and called her over.

"You now own the club; your first order of business is to get rid of any staff that you know is untrustworthy. Some of our vampires will be here shortly to help you with that and will be at your disposal until you feel that you no longer need them. Your second order of business will be to design new passes if anyone shows up with the old pass, they are to be taken and destroyed."

"Just a fucking minute!" Napoleon said, "You can't....."

"Excuse me?" Quinn asked as he turned to look at Napoleon.

"N...nothing." Napoleon replied when he saw the hard green of Quinn's eyes.

***********

Jeremiah sat on the floor of his cell and waited. Someone was going to come, he was sure of it. He felt a little like Ebenezer Scrooge in that he was receiving visitors who were showing him his life. The difference was where Scrooge had only three visits, he was going to have thousands and most of them would want to inflict pain on him. He wondered how long it would be before he lost his sanity and he just wouldn't care anymore. He prayed that it would be sooner rather than later.

"Won't happen." a guard said with a grin. "She'll control how many see you in a day and then she'll let you rest for a couple of weeks and then it'll start again."

"She would be that cruel?" Jeremiah murmured as he lay on the floor.

He lost track of time as he drifted in and out of sleep finally unable to stay awake, he fell asleep only to be disturbed by someone kicking him.

"Get up, you've got company." a guard said.

Jeremiah got to his feet and waited. His eyes widened when Napoleon was shoved into the cell with him.

"Have a nice visit." the guard said as he went back to his post.

"What are you doing here?" Jeremiah asked.

"You tell me!" Napoleon replied, "What did you tell her? They showed up my club out of all the places that they could have gone to."

"And you think that I sent them there?" Jeremiah asked. "I didn't send them to your shitty little club! But if you will recall, Violet and Edward used to go there before you turned it into a so- called club."

Napoleon calmed down and looked around, "have you tried to escape?"

"No and the one person who was going to help me got caught and is now dead and don't bother trying to teleport, it won't work."

"Why not?" Napoleon asked as he tried.

"You didn't notice the drain of your gifts when you got close to the house?" Jeremiah asked

"That's true?" Napoleon asked.

"All of it and Napoleon? Be prepared."

"For what?"

"To receive your sentence." Justine said from behind them.

Both vampires looked up to see Justine standing in front to them still in the clothes that she wore to the club. Quinn was standing back and to her right.

"Are you ready?" Justine asked.

"Don't argue with her." Jeremiah advised, "It won't help."

"You should listen to your counsel." Justine said.

Napoleon looked at Jeremiah who nodded at him.

"Go on! Get it over with!" Napoleon snapped.

"You are charged with taking a mother away from her child even if you weren't the one who physically did it, you are also charged with buying a human and turning her against her will and then treating said human as if she were no more than a piece of shit. Your sentence will be as follows, you will sign all of your assets over to her, I do mean all of them including the accounts hidden in the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, and wherever else you have money stashed. The club now belongs to Elena Martinez as well as any money and stocks that you own in the club's name. The rest of your sentence is as follows, you will spend the rest of your existence as a slave to Josephine even if she finds her mate. If that should happen, then you will be a slave to the both of them. If you should happen to escape, you will be found and brought here where you will share Jeremiah's sentence. Do you have any questions?"

Justine held out her hand and Zoe appeared with a stack of documents.

"These papers are legal and binding. Once you sign them it's done and I or Quinn are the only ones who can reverse the ruling but I can tell you now that it won't happen."

"And if I refuse?" Napoleon asked.

"That isn't an option unless you want to spend eternity with Jeremiah." Quinn said.

"Sign the damned papers!" Jeremiah said wishing that he were in Napoleon's place.

"Will my gifts be returned to me?" Napoleon asked.

"No, the only thing you will have left is the ability to heal and your immortality so which is it?" Justine asked.

"Can we come to some....."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven...." Justine began to count.

"Give me the god damned papers!" Napoleon snapped.

"Wise choice." Justine replied unfazed by his tone. "I would suggest that you both get some rest, you have a very busy evening ahead of you."

********

After Justine and Quinn left, Napoleon looked at Jeremiah, "What is she talking about?"

Napoleon gasped when Jeremiah told him what his sentence was.

"So you see you got off lightly, I've had three visitors so far and only one of them has exacted any physical retribution from me but there will be thousands more."

"What do you think is going to happen to me?" Napoleon asked.

"The woman that you bought will be allowed to do anything she wishes to you. If you whipped her, you may be whipped, if you abused her sexually, she may do that as well. The only stipulation is that she can't kill you and to ensure that it doesn't happen, there will be a guard with her and save your breath, they are only there to make sure that you don't die."

"She's insane." Napoleon murmured meaning Justine.

"No she isn't, she's cleaning house starting with us. When she's done, this side of her that we are seeing? It will lie dormant until it is needed again."