Chapter 30

After breakfast, Ian and I decided it was time to leave.  For some reason he told me he wouldn't tell me what he was going to tell me last night until we were alone again.  I figured that us leaving was the best way to do that-by morning I became so curious about what he wanted to tell me!  No longer was I too tired to care.  

I figured that I could see my family any time-I was already at their house a whole night plus more time, so that should be good enough for now.  I need time to breath at my house.  Sometimes I'm still pinching myself when I'm in the presence of my parents and sisters.

When we left the house, they all told us goodbye.

"Make sure to visit again soon!  If you don't come within a week I'll stalk you!"  She laughed.  My mother has a strange sense of humor.

Of course I gave her my cell phone number and address, so that's what she means by 'stalking'.  I haven't volunteered to show her my house since Ian seems to be frowning on it.  Maybe there are clues there to his not being from this era?  I wouldn't know, I don't look through his things, and in a way I never lived in this time to know what would be considered apart of his era versus mine.

When we got back from the decently long trip (maybe the last time we'll be in a car again until I see my parents again?), Ian invited me to sit on the island.
"Um..I think it would be best if you sat down."

"Ian, what is it?"  By the look in his eyes-or maybe it was a lack of emotion in them-my body shivered and I could feel my heart thudding faster.

"I have to go, Jezabelle....I can't be here any longer.  I have to eventually bring Leonora's body back to the future, and though I can wait forever, I don't think it would be such a good thing for me to go back when I'm so old...I have to do this.  My life isn't here, it's there.  It's where I belong, Jezabelle.  I love my job-creepy may it be, I love it.  And though Leonora is one of the many vampires loose in a certain point of time, I have to do this.  One could make all the difference..and however small I'm helping, I have to do this..."

I had been fearing this all along.  I never truly believed that Ian would leave me, but I hadn't put it across as impossible in my head either.  I couldn't let myself think about it...it makes me too sad.  I'm such an idiot!  I should've realized this all along.

He saw me getting teary-eyed and stood up.  He put his arm around my shoulder and I got up.  He put his arm around me and took my hand.

"Oh, Jezabelle.  Ever since I have talked to you through giggler I have loved you.  I love you still, but I couldn't let myself do anything about it.  It would only make it harder for me to go.  But I still had to help you get on your feet...and now you'll have a job and a family.  You don't need me anymore."

I was doing the whole 'I can't help but frown even if I try not to' thing.  A tear rolled down my cheek.

"Ian, I never loved you when I knew you as giggler, but I thought you were a girl!  I love how I could talk with you about anything and you never made me feel uncomfortable.  Ever since I came back to reality-literally, I have slowly fallen in love with you..."
"Jezabelle, I'm so sorry I led you on..."

I looked at the floor for a minute.  This was getting to be too much.

"I had no idea, Jezabelle.  I'm so sorry."

I nodded slowly because I knew if I said anything else, I would burst into tears.

Ian swooped me down catching me off guard.  I was so surprised that all of the tears were knocked out of me for a moment.

"Jezabelle...I feel like I owe you this much."

Ian looked at me dismally, but I saw he had a sparkle in his eyes.  He leaned down and gave me a hard, passionate kiss.

When he pulled away after a few moments of total bliss, he leaned in so close to my ear I almost thought his lips would press up against it.

"Jezabelle, when I came here I never expected such a wonderful girl like you to come into my life.  I thought I would only be dealing with hate...but I dealt with love, too.  My own love that I had to keep locked away for my sanity.  But apparently the feelings were reciprocal."

He pulled me closer and kissed my cheek and once more whispered, "I was such an awkward boy before I came here.  I was twenty when I came here, when you were sixteen.  Before I had my genetic operation, I was an awkward, ugly boy.  The operation made all of my features symmetrical.  I was such a loser, Jez."

This time I leaned in to his ear. "You are not a loser, Ian, and I'm sure you were not nearly as ugly as you say you were.  You are the nicest guy I have ever known.  Sure I haven't truly known that many, but I don't think it would be possible for a man to be so nice."

"It's not so hard to be nice to you, even when you didn't like me.  My love for you took over."

Ian pulled me closer still and gave me another sweet kiss.

I didn't want the moment to end, but of course it did.  When we started to pull away, we heard footsteps.  Suddenly I noticed Clyde and Reese by the door. Dang teleportation...

Clyde was oblivious to the whole ordeal.  He was smiling. "Hey Ian, you ready to get going?  I can't wait to get back to my life."

I looked at Reese and he was looking sadly at the ground in a daze.  He was feeling sad for leaving I guess, unlike Clyde.

Reluctantly, Ian and I peeled from each other to go talk to Reese and Clyde.

As I walked to them, I began seeing colors and I felt like I was going to collapse.  I was going into shock.

Clyde was still acting ignorant, "man Ian, I can't wait to get back.  I mean, they miss out on so many cool technologies here...What I can't wait to get back to the most is freely teleporting without having to go to inconspicuous places."
Ian was speaking in a neutral tone, "yeah, it'll be nice to teleport again..."

Reese wasn't totally in the group, he seemed to be staring into space.  I bet that neither of them wanted to hear Clyde's blabbing-they just wanted to go and get it over with.

A few tears rolled down my face as I talked (I knew that would happen), "how are you guys going to get back? It's not like you just have a time machine laying around?"

Clyde looked at me, "oh, we'll get back the same way we got here!  We have these tiny portable 'time machine' things in our pockets.  It's hard to describe them, and they don't look like a time machine how you'd think they'd look...it's complicated."

Clyde was talking with way too much enthusiasm for my liking.

"Can I at least watch you guys leave?"  I sighed and tried my best to keep the tears to a minimum.

Ian held me for a minute and whispered in my ear, "I know, Jez."

Then each of them touched me and took me to the place that they'd, apparently be leaving from.

Suddenly we were in a very dark room.  The only light was a small dim light above my head.  It was hard to tell the size of the room because everything was so dark.  It seemed like the light was in the middle of a vast room, but we could've been on the side of the room too, for all I could tell.  I couldn't see the walls at all, which was funny since there was some light in the room.

Again, Clyde spoke, "this is where we will be leaving and this is where we also arrived."

When he didn't hear a reply, he continued, "It has to be in a dark room because time travel ignites a lot of light and would blind someone unless you're in a pitch black room.  When we leave this light will turn off."

The only thing I could get out in reply was, "light?"

"Yup.  Time travel generates a lot of light but teleportation doesn't.  Weird, right?"

"So...where are we?"  Suddenly my curiosity took over my sadness.

"This is the basement.  It's the best place to travel in time-at least in our past-so that no one sees anything and questions it.  Those questions could be catastrophic..we just don't know."

I forced myself to nod.  It made sense.

Once again, they all touched me and we teleported back to the front of the house.

Ian looked at me with tears falling down his face.  I tried my best not to let a single tear fall.  I wasn't going to let him think that I was going to be miserable here, he needs to know that I'll be fine without him!  I owe him that-if it wasn't for him, I don't know what would've happened to me.

Ian's voice was surprisingly even, "when we leave, you can still live here.  It's all covered..you don't have to worry about taxes or anything...I hope you have a good life.  I'll always think of you..."

I nodded.  "I'll miss you Ian."
He looked hurt that I said that I would miss him, he probably felt a twinge of guilt.

Then Clyde and Reese said goodbye to me.  They said goodbye how'd you'd say goodbye to family-a nice, friendly hug, and a 'see you later', but you know they only care a little if they see you again.  And in this case, I would never see them again.

"Bye Jezabelle, have a nice life.  We'll fix up the world of the vampires-Clyde, Ian and I.  We'll do our best!"

When Reese came to hug me, he didn't say anything.  I didn't get a goodbye or anything.  I couldn't exactly read his face, but it didn't look like he was so happy to go.  He hadn't said anything for the whole day.

They gathered together and Clyde said, "bye Jezabelle.  Good luck with your life.  You can't officially tell us goodbye because the room in the basement we leave from doesn't have a door or stairs-it only works if you can teleport, and since we're leaving.."  Reese and Ian looked at the ground for a moment and nodded sadly in agreement.  Then they all disappeared to go into the basement.

Sadness swept through my veins and I went to the dining room table and sat on one of its chairs until I knew they were gone.  I listened for a noise or any sign that they were gone, but after five minutes still nothing happened.  I knew that they were gone though, to get Leonora and then to go back home.  They left no trace of having left, and I didn't hear or see anything just like Clyde said.

I got up from the chair and I made myself move my legs.  They were heavy as rock and the only reason I even bothered to get up was to go into my room.  This is my house now and I don't even care!  I want to live here with Ian!

I slumped on my bed and looked down at my toes.  Tears were now fully flowing now that I was in my safe room.  Technically all the rooms in the house are 'safe' rooms but I'm just so used to someone else being there that it's still natural for me to go into my room.

So now I don't have Ian, but I do have my family and a job.  Shouldn't that be enough?  It's all that I've ever wanted, and now I have it-all thanks to Ian.  I'll never see him again.  It doesn't even matter if he's thinking about me now in the future since technically he's not thinking of me now.  Time travel is a weird thing.  

I looked at my toes and realized they were unpainted. Oh, my feet are so ugly, but who even cares about my feet!  Without Ian, I feel alone.  Now I'll have a family...but I'm without a friend in the world!

I didn't even care to look out my window, to hear the birds sing.  I was in too much despair.  I wanted this all to be a dream!  How could Ian have made me care about him?  I would be much better off if he never befriended me, if I was still with Leonora!

I was too sad to think logically.  I just knew one thing: that I missed Ian dearly.