The next evening at dinner, Jade only listened to the conversation scurrying around the table. She didn't feel like talking and her food was all but revolting.

"You aren't eating," Drake pointed out, looking at her as if he were somehow concerned.

She didn't answer, but only looked away. Was this the moment where she was supposed to cry again, because if it was there were no tears coming, whether that was because they were all gone or if she couldn't anymore, she didn't know. How many years had she been doing this? No, it hadn't been years it had been merely months. Why did it feel like a lifetime? Why did she feel as if she were rotting, her very soul, her body was rotting away.

Drake reached into her darkness and grabbed her hand. She felt a warmth rush into what felt like her cold dead body and so she felt inclined to glance down at the thing that had given her a small amount of life.

"If you want to get out so bad, why didn't you just say so," he said trying on a smile.

Slipping her hand out from his, another trick, she thought to herself.

"We have all day and tomorrow before Damien will be up," he insisted, "we can go wherever you want to. If it'll make you feel any better."

"You don't understand," she whispered, "it's not only this place I want to escape from it's also you."

"So you're supposed to have amnesia, but you don't and yet that's what you want?" He didn't ask it as a question, but rather as an affirmation. She knew that he wasn't following her thoughts at all. They were too tangled.

When she said nothing, he muttered, "I'll get you out of here for today and all the following week, if you'll let me."

She feigned a smile, "And what's the ulterior motive?"

"You are loosing yourself dear," he said, putting a hand to her cheek, "you're loosing your heart, which I need. If you don't have a heart, how am I supposed to depend on you to save me from Damien's wrath once he realizes you remember?"

"That is your problem?" She asked, stroking his hand off her cheek.

"So you'll starve yourself, instead?" he answered with a question, looking at her full plate.

She whipped her head around, so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes, but he pinched her chin between his thumb and index finger, forcing her look at him, the two tears dropped onto her cheeks and raced to her jaw line, falling onto Drake's hand.

"We'll take the train early tomorrow morning, you and I, and we'll meet Erik in Monorail," his hand fell from her face.

"Why there? Why him? You hate him," she smiled to herself. "Not to mention, you'll be up all night arguing this over with Dane. When was the last time you slept," she laughed, "definitely not since Damien's accident."

"For you dear, it'll all be worth it," he said cooly.

She sat there for a while playing with her food, poking it with her fork. What did he mean she was losing her heart? Stabbing a round meatball, she laughed at herself. What did Drake know about hearts? She looked up, wondering how many people there actually had one? When she first came, her immediate and unquestioned answer would have been none of them. Now however as her eyes wondered over Dane and Amon, she wasn't so sure. She knew that Dane and Amon could be friendly and caring when it suited them, but they could turn to being cruel and vicious in a second. Was all that they did for their own selfish reasons? There was no reason to question Damien's behavior in her opinion he was either a sadist or a sociopath. She couldn't decide whether the pain he inflicted on everyone around him was intentional or–

Definitely a sadist Drake interrupted her thoughts angrily, and I think that makes me a sociopath.

No, you have a heart. It's just as black as hell.

Why would you say that?

You already know. Just read my thoughts.

Say it! He glared at her as if those thoughts were the only thing in the world that he wanted.

You only care about yourself and hate everyone around you!

 He smirked and leaned towards her. "So do you," he whispered in her ear, sending chills down her spine, "or haven't you noticed?"

She dropped her fork with a gasp, letting it clatter to the floor. Dane, glanced at her from across the table, watching Drake whisper into her ear, wearing that crooked grin.

"Drake," he said coldly and at once his nephew had looked up at him with a dull glaze over his eyes, Damien's eyes. Pursing his lips, Dane continued, "leave her alone, she's been through hell. She doesn't need you on her mind."

Drake's smile dropped and the glaze over his eyes melted. Dane closed his mouth, cursing himself. He hadn't meant to say it in that way. Now he could only hope that Drake would control his erupting temper in front of Amon.

"Very  funny, uncle," Drake began, digging his nails deep into the old paint of the table, scratching it off, flake by flake, "if I wasn't glued to this, if even had had the choice-"

Jade slapped her hand across his cheek, before he could say another word though. He became silent, putting a hand to his bleeding lip. Jade looked down at her hand and wiped his blood off of her ring with the corner of her dress. His words didn't hurt her, but when he was that angry there was no telling what words he'd let slip from his mouth . . . what secrets.

Amon frowned, "Drake, will you calm down, for goodness sake."

He slid a glass bottle of some sort of liquor across the table towards his nephew. Jade eyed him suspiciously, watching him control the anger in his eyes. He took a deep breath and then said to Dane, "Can I have a word with you? Alone."

Dane studied his nephew for a moment, "I should really check on Blair."

"Because the world revolves around Blair!" Drake laughed, "Do either of you know her power? She is controlling you, both of you!"

"If all you want to do is shout at me to vent your anger, then I'm really not interested Drake," his uncle responded. "All of us know Blair's power, but we're strong enough to not be affected," he glanced at Amon with a smile, "most of the time. We don't judge people by their powers."

"Don't we though?" Drake asked, motioning with his hand as if  Damien were actually there.

"I'm not having this argument," Dane said, growing exasperated.

Jade was beginning to think that Drake wanted an out just as much as she did. There wasn't any ulterior motive. She wasn't loosing her conscience. He was loosing his sanity. That place was driving the two of them insane.

He glared at her blatantly furious with her for reading his mind, no matter how subconscious it was.

"Dane," Jade said, making sure her voice was absent of any recognition towards him, "Drake and I want to go to Monorail for a week to visit, oh um who was it you said?" She turned towards Drake with a questioning look

He took his hand away from his lips to give her a genuine smile, "Erik, my dear, he's a close friend of yours. I believe he may be able to help you with your memory issue."

Dane smiled at the two of them sympathetically, "Damien will be absolutely furious, when he learns of it. I don't feel like dealing with that temper of his."

Drake sighed, letting his head fall face forward onto the table with a thud.

"But," Amon chimed in, to both Drake and Jade's surprise, "wouldn't Damien, understand I mean he does want Jade to get her memory back pretty desperately."

Dane's smile changed from sympathetic to genuine, "Well, if I have your support," he said looking at Amon.

"Yeah," Amon said, taking a swing at the bottle of liquor, "what's the harm. I couldn't imagine that they'd be stupid enough to run away. It would only take Damien a matter of weeks to find the two of them, even if he's ill."

Jade knew that she wouldn't try a stunt like that and after a quick check, she knew Drake wouldn't either. 

"All right," Dane said tossing his hands in the air as if he had actually put up an argument and had been defeated, "should I buy the train tickets for you?"

"We'll be fine," Drake said, he had lifted his face from the table and it was all he could do to keep from smiling. Jade had never known that he could be so happy.

"Monorail," Amon muttered, while looking at the glass bottle in his hand, "Didn't you go to the Airship Academy there?"

"Oh, yeah," Dane added, "I'd almost forgot about that weren't you nearly kicked out for killing someone?"

"Then they decided it was some other guy that the Chancellor suddenly ratted out, because you were his favorite student?" Amon asked slyly. "Why do you want to go there?"

Jade remembered reading all this out of Drake's mind before, but she never had been able to find out whether he had killed the boy. Searching, through his thoughts was like looking for a specific needle in a pile of identical needles and she never knew what she might find. She did know however that his most personal thoughts were the hardest to find, like why he hated Damien, if he killed that boy, what he thought about her, and why he hated Erik.

"Didn't I already say?" Drake asked Amon as if he were dumb. "I said we're going there to meet Erik, so he can help Jade reagin her memories."

"Yes, my nephew, you've said that, but what's your real reason? You don't give a damn about that girl or what Damien wants," he said leaning forward, smiling devilishly.

"Maybe I want an out," he muttered, "is that so bad?"

"Of course not," Dane answered, "it's not like you have many opportunities to leave while Damien's around, isn't that right Jade?"

Drake turned towards her accusingly, "What's he mean?"

"Wait what?" Amon asked, confused.

Jade frowned as if she were even more confused, "What are you talking about?"

What does he mean? Drake thought to her.

That night, when I found Damien in the woods, she began.

Yes? He prodded her.

Well, I was out there to run away.

You do know he'd blame me if you ran away, blame me for letting you leave because somehow I'm supposed to keep track of every thought on your mind?

Yes, I do.

She felt like she should have apologized at that moment, but she couldn't make herself.

"I'm sorry, it's so hard to keep reminding myself that you don't have any previous memories separate from a few days ago," Dane said through a forced smile.

Thankfully Amon was too drunk by then to have sensed the tension. Jade couldn't help, but notice that everyone was having trouble keeping her secret except for herself.

"You, better get some rest then," Dane said standing up.

Drake gave an irritated sort of laugh, "Is that what you're doing? Leaving for a goodnight's rest?"

"Yes, and so should the two of you," he nodded, taking a step to leave.

"I wish," Drake muttered and stormed out of the room.

"What's he mean?" Dane asked Jade, watching his nephew slam the doors behind him. Jade glanced over at Amon wearily. "He's out cold," Dane reassured her.

"Remember, when I first came here and how all of Drake's thoughts were on my mind and hardly any of mine on his? Well, it seems it's been reversed now and he can't sleep, that's why he's so snappish," she replied with little to no sympathy.

Dane raised his eyebrows at how cold her words were about Drake, "Did he do something to hurt you?"

She stared hard at him for a few seconds, looking deep into his icy blue eyes. He was genuinely concerned "No, nothing lately," she mumbled.

"Lately?" Dane asked, sitting down again. Jade rolled her eyes. She didn't want to have this conversation with Dane, not now at least.

"He tricked me into coming here," she said reluctantly.

Dane smiled at that. In fact, he almost laughed, which turned Jade bright red with anger. "What, may I ask, is so funny?"

"Do you honestly think he had a choice?" he asked her almost accusingly.

The color in Jade's face drained, leaving her pale as a sheet of paper, "Damien," she whispered, "he made Drake do all of that, just to get me here?"

"I can't tell you whether Drake found fault in what he did to you, but I do know for a fact he didn't have any say in the matter," he said, giving her sarcastic sort of sympathetic frown.

"But the way he treats me around here," she protested, angrily.

"I'm not saying he doesn't hate you and I'm not saying he isn't the type of person who wouldn't do the things that he did do to you. He probably is. I mean he is Damien's son after all," he responded slowly and carefully almost as if he were afraid that he might trip up on his words if he didn't.

Jade shuddered at the last statement, closing her eyes and feeling Drake's fire like rage in her chest, "Drake is Damien's son, Jade," he repeated himself bitterly.

She opened her eyes to look at him, "Would you please stop saying that?"

"Why?" He asked, giving her a smug look. "Is he not Damien's son? Why won't the two of you hear anything of it? Is there something you know that I don't?"

"Stop it," she warned him again, feeling her hands tighten into small fists.

"Drake. Is. Damien's. Son," he said pronouncing each word as if it would be the last thing he'd ever say.

"I know!" she hissed under her breath. "Why are you patronizing me so?"

"I just want to know," he said innocently, "does Drake hate him so much and evade the facts so much that it even effects the way you look at him?"

"No, I hate him for who he is and-"

"And yet you saved his life that night," Dane said. The words stabbed through Jade sharper than a knife. Reality could be more deadly than a knife to those who lived in a dream, but before Jade could think about that a scene of blood filled her mind. She could taste it in her mouth again filing her lungs, drowning her.

"Jade, " Dane sighed taking a hold of her arm, "you're right here. You're all right."

Gradually, her vision faded from red into Dane's face. She shook the tears from her eyes and stood, planning to leave without another word. There wasn't anything else left to say, but he hadn't let go of her arm.

"Are you all right?" he asked, standing with her.

"No," she admitted, "I am not all right! And I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to talk to Damien and see him. I'm so scared that that will happen again, but so much worse."

"But yesterday, how did you . . ." he didn't have to finish his sentence because Jade knew exactly what he meant.

"I didn't actually go far enough into the room to see him. I just said and did what Amon told me to," she sighed.

"Just seeing him does it?" he asked, sounding more concerned.

"Yes," she cried, desperately. "That night," she sobbed trying to catch her breath, "that night and all of the blood."

"You're doing it again," he said, tightening his grip on her arm, in an attempt to reel her back into the real world.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, wiping at her tears with her free arm.

He was silently watching her and she couldn't decide whether he was pitying her or disgusted with her. Suddenly, she found a laugh burst through her closed lips like a bubble, "When did I become so weak?"

Still he said nothing and it wasn't as if she could leave with him gripping her arm so tightly. She dared herself to look into his eyes and found that he was gazing somewhere far of, thinking about something very hard.

"Dane," she hissed, tugging the arm that he was holding, trying to free herself.

He looked down at her. "Oh sorry," he said, letting her go.

She rubbed the red spot on her arm and then turned around to leave, "Wait," he said softly behind her and so she turned around.

"Yes?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"It's just that," he began cautiously, "well, Jade be careful in Monorail with him. I don't know what he's planning."

"Drake?" she asked, confused. "He isn't planning anything. He just wants to get out as much as I do!"

"You don't know that for sure," he said, folding his arms around his chest. "You told me yourself that you're having trouble hearing his thoughts because of the imbalance. So for all you know, he's planning on leaving."

"Then why would he need me?" she asked, suspiciously. Why was Dane acting like this? Hadn't he just told them that they could go?

"You honestly think that he just wants some fresh air?" he questioned her.

She nodded, "I know, that's all he wants. Trust me."

"It's him that I don't," he muttered, "and there'll be hell to pay if he does something stupid."