Too Many Secrets....

John pulled back for the moment as the flames in the fireplace rose from the burning files. He watched with amusement as Dimona's face warped in the flames as the picture curled in on itself from the heat.
The box was nearly empty, only a few more folders and all the research would be gone...

"You are finally out of my life, Dimona...you can not hurt anyone I care about any more..."

I'd dumped the guys body near Fangtasia and hoped Nora would get the blame for it after glamouring some "eye-witnesses" who saw the whole thing. Well, who said glamouring wouldn't come in handy. I was in a better mood, now that I'd fed. Only one more hunger I needed to curve. Licking my lips I headed straight back to Bon Temp to Quinn's place and walked in quietly to see him throwing things in the fire and watching as the papers burned. The smell of the paper turning to ash hit my nose making it wrinkle.

"You are finally out of my life, Dimona...you can not hurt anyone I care about any more..."

Dimona...her again. The name made my grit my teeth and clench my fists at my sides. Trying to remain calm and not over react, I simply asked "What are you burning exactly?" as I stepped forward, letting the door close on its own and folding my arms across my chest.

"What are you burning exactly?

He glanced up to see her walking in, her eyes hard as she asked him that loaded question...he paused a moment before answering...

"Just some old research, something I do not need anymore. Something from my past that I have put behind me..."

I puckered my lips in thought and looked down briefly before looking back up. "Something you trying to hide? I mean just out of curiosity....burning it all is a bit extreme." I met his eyes and held his gaze, waiting to see if I could see the truth in his face. What was he hiding, what WAS she to him exactly...what past did they share. Of all the things he'd told me, he never went into detail about Dimona. I was giving him the chance now.

He lifted the last photo from the box, a shot from the games, with Dimona hanging on one arm and Russell hanging onto the other, all of them grinning.He showed her and threw it into the flames, watching it curl and dissolve in greenish flame...

"It is just a past that I wish to forget. The data is useless now so I saw no need to keep it any longer..."

"It seems to me the past just loves to come back and bite you in the ass. What else are you hiding? She was more than just a friend right? Did you love her? What are you hiding Quinn, because I will find out about it." I remembered when we vowed to be completely honest with one another but lately he'd been secretive and just...distant. There was something he wasn't saying.

"It seems to me the past just loves to come back and bite you in the ass. What else are you hiding? She was more than just a friend right? Did you love her? What are you hiding Quinn, because I will find out about it."

"I told you there was a history, and that it involved Russell...she betrayed me less than a week after that picture was taken, and he tried to kill me the same day. Yes she was more than a friend, but not in the way you are thinking...I am not hiding anything, I simply wanted to forget. With her dead, I no longer needed the files."

He picked up another folder, tossing it in as they spoke...

I grabbed the folder mid air before it could hit the flames and skimmed through the documents. Russell....Dimona...pits....Johnathon Quinn numerous times. Most of it jibberish and most of it talking about how he was treated in the pits and how he won. Termination....immediate. His name in red. Lure him, kill him, dispose. Dimona was sent by Russell to kill Quinn. Why couldn't he just say that! Why couldn't he just tell me everything. I looked up from the folder and just stared at him, waiting to understand it all.

"Well now you know. They set me up, she shot me, and he drove a nine inch knife into my body."

He turned from the flames, his eyes haunted, and faced her...

"I don't talk about it because I don't want to remember it..."

I saw the large stamp on the folder at the top of the pile in the box he was tossing things from. Looking into his eyes as he spoke, then looking down after he stopped. I grabbed the folder and opened it.


File info:
Top reads “Codename: Bengal”
Summary reads:
“Project Fangsmith” Direct contact resource detailing hierarchy in the Vampire Royal bloodlines and political structures.

It had the details of who the Royals for each state were in Russell's heyday...and a breakdown on all Authority members and tons of information on John. What did he do for the Authority besides what he said he did?

"What...what is this?"

"A simple favor I repaid for the people who saved my life."

He looked in her eyes...

"Feel free to take a look...it is all outdated now."

I recognized the Chancellors from the Authority that Bill had introduced me to. I tossed the file in the fire and watched it curl up and turn a dark grey as the papers burned. "I feel like there is just something you're not saying...whether you think you're protecting me or not..." Shaking my head I walked over to the flames and knelt down, staring into the fire.

"I feel like there is just something you're not saying...whether you think you're protecting me or not..."

"I told you before that I did things that I just want to forget, if there is anything important, I would tell you but like I said, this info is all out of date anyway..."

He turned to watch the last file burn...

I watched a photo burn, old and barely visible as to who it was. Standing I turned to him. "Very well. Forgot I asked then." I stepped closer to him, inches from his face and stared into his eyes. Paying attention to the details, I could tell he had on the contacts that shielded him from being glamoured. Smirking, I stepped back and just nodded.

He smiled as she stepped close, enjoying having her near...

"I was going to call you soon anyway...as soon as I had finished here...I wanted to speak to you about some of your recent activities..."

He motioned to a manila folder on the table, the corner of some photographs could be seen spilling from the opening...

".I wanted to speak to you about some of your recent activities..."

I raised both my brows at him and walked closer to the table he'd motioned to. Seeing photos of me feeding on...different...men. I scoffed. "So...now you're having me followed? I guess you don't trust me either?"

"So...now you're having me followed? I guess you don't trust me either?"

"Actually, no...your Maker has you followed, I simply paid for a set of prints. You have been very distant lately and I was concerned so I paid one of his staff to let me know if there was anything I should know."

I laughed. "Bill...is having me followed." My smile faded quickly and I felt like I'd been punched. Bill...he...he didn't trust me. FUCK! He knew, he'd have known...wonderful.

"....paid one of his staff to let me know if there was anything I should know."

I looked back at him, no smile on my face. "And they just assumed you should know about this. Because I obviously fucked them all right? Is that what you wanna say!? Go ahead!" I blurted out before thinking. It was the exact thing Jason accused me of, why would he be different.

"And they just assumed you should know about this. Because I obviously fucked them all right? Is that what you wanna say!? Go ahead!"

He knew he shouldn't, but he laughed.

"No, Jessica....the brutality was what concerned me. You are letting the darkness take too much control."

He looked her in the eyes...

"I was concerned...that is why I wanted to talk to you about it..."

I narrowed my eyes at his laugh.

"You are letting the darkness take too much control."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "I'm...fine Quinn. Thanks anyway, but I'm fine. I have total control." I said it with firm belief in myself and my ability to control it, never breaking eye contact with him.

"I'm...fine Quinn. Thanks anyway, but I'm fine. I have total control."

"If you are sure, then I will trust you in that. As mentioned, I was only concerned..."

He lifted her chin and kissed her softly...

"Jessica...so much has happened recently, things keep flying in the air..."

He smiled as he looked at her.

"My real question is why your Maker's security can be bought so easily..."

He kissed me and I closed my eyes, smiling when he pulled back. I opened them to see him smiling.

"My real question is why your Maker's security can be bought so easily..."

I ran my finger along his exposed skin by the collar of his shirt and grinned. "Are you saying Bill is incompetent in the choices of security?"

"Are you saying Bill is incompetent in the choices of security?"

He grinned as she traced her finger across his skin...

"Of course not, simply that he might be slipping a bit on his 'vetting' process. It only took a bottle of cognac to get the photos..."

I stepped back and bit my bottom lip in thought. "Your concerns about me...are easily bribed with cognac?" I nodded and smiled. "Why didn't you just come to me yourself? Why bribe them?!" I began to feel angry at him and balled my fists up.

"The cognac was to get the pics, I wanted proof before I spoke to you on it. I didn't come to you first because I wanted to see them myself before believing that you were behaving so recklessly..."

He shook his head, but kept his eyes on her...