Where'd you get your genes?

Alright. So I'm posting the story, but first...
I'M OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED!
I had to tell you, It was too cool.
http://www.newcastlepacer.com/main.asp?SectionID=46&SubSectionID=97&ArticleID=912&TM=3587.449
[it's a newspaper for the Southside of Oklahoma City! WOOT!]

Anywahhyys. For the record, all of the story SO FAR is going up here. If you've read it, skip closer to the bottom to where you left off. :)
By the way, don't kill me. It's not a pretty ending so-farrr.

I looked up at him, confused and appalled. “What’re you doing?”
A gleam of amusement lit his eyes. “I’m inviting you to dance with me. One dance, and you can go back to sitting here and looking like you’d rather be somewhere else. Hasn’t anyone ever asked you before?”
No, they hadn’t. But he didn’t need to know that.
“But…”
“But what?” He had a familiar resilient look around him. “Dancing doesn’t mean we’re in love, Samantha.”
I hesitated, noticing the crowd around watching us like hawks, and sighed. “Alright.”
Taking my right hand, he pulled be out of the chair and guided me to the floor. I was shaky at first, as he moved me hands to where they were supped to be, one reaching up to his shoulder and the right one staying where it was, enclosed in his own hand. His left hand rested on my waist and I suddenly grew nervous as he started guiding me around.
It truly wasn’t the first time I’d danced, but before, it had been with guys who thought they were going to get something more from me, back in my own world or dimension, or whatever it was, and the person I was dancing with had never ever been this dangerous, let alone my pretend fiancée.
But, as Talon had said, dancing didn’t mean anyone was in love.
“Relax,” He whispered, chuckling. “I haven’t hurt you yet; you can trust me somewhat.”
I actually smiled, despite my best efforts, as he took complete control. He danced like no one else I’d met, and the close proximity between us began to slowly dissipate in my mind as we glided around the floor.
Trust Talon. Who would have thought, only weeks ago, that I’d be dressed in the most beautiful dress ever imagined, stuck in a warped period, dancing with what had started out as my enemy.
The song passed, but neither one of us made a move to exit the floor. Another song, another dance, and more. Both of us stayed quiet except for his occasional chuckle when I stepped on his feet.
Halfway through the third song, I did something completely second-nature and moved my left hand from his and wrapped it around the other side of his neck and leaned on him.
He stiffened up for a minute, then pulled my hands back with a smile that didn’t reach his stony eyes.
“Sorry.” I whispered.
“I can’t let you do that.” He whispered back, his voice strained. “You’re too close.”
I nodded and looked down at my hands.
“You don’t need to apologize, though.”
I half-smiled up at him, feeling stupid. “Thanks.”
He nodded and looked distractedly away at an approaching figure who obviously had been trailing us, then seeing us stopping, had decided to approach.
“My lord,” She said sweetly, curtsying.
I felt myself get disgusted. Anissa, her skin startling against her olive green gown, stood beside Talon, ignoring me as much as possible.
Talon turned to her and smiled politely. “Lady Anissa, what can I do for you?”
She didn’t even glance at me and kind of giggled in a bashful-little-girl-who’d-been-dared-to-ask-her-crush-out way. “I would consider it an honor if you would grace me with a dance, Talon. What does a lady have to do to get the most handsome person here to herself for a while?”
He looked back at me, I could feel it, but I was already turned around and headed back to my spot.
In all, I didn’t look at Talon for the rest of the night. I really didn’t care enough. Erick danced with me several times, surprising me that he had that much energy. He grinned like an idiot and told me that he thought I was gorgeous a thousand times, and actually, that was close to being the high-point of the whole night. He made me laugh, and I really needed it after my Talon encounter.
“Loosen up a little, Samantha. You seem very tense about something.” He finally said. “Can I help?”
I looked at him and saw the knowledge of another Traveler, one who’d accepted the kind of life he was going to live.
I took a big breath and stopped dancing. He followed suit and looked at me solemnly.
“You never told me much about being a Traveler,” I explained, and he frowned.
“Let’s take this outside. People will begin to talk if we don’t.” He said, and escorted me outside with all the grace of an actual Arvian citizen.
“Now tell me, what’s bothering you about that?”
I sighed. I really didn’t know how to say it. “I guess the whole concept of jumping.” I tried to clarify. “You know, changing eras, dimensions, or whatever.”
He smiled warmly. “Sam, you’re taking this all too seriously. You’re only a, what, junior in high school? This is your new life – you jump from plane to plane, most of it things that no one would even think about existing, and learn by trial and error. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“And what doesn’t make me stronger kills me.” I said dully. “But that’s not my problem. How do you control your jump?”
He was quiet for a minute, and when he looked at me, it was with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Sam. I can’t tell you that, because I really don’t know. I think that you randomly skip around whenever whatever forces control Travelers decides until you’re ready to be replaced. And when it gets to be that time, I think you just stop jumping. You stay where you are and you become one of the people around you.” He stopped and took a drink, gazing out over the dark blue sky.
“It’s truly a coincidence that you happened to jump to my plane. When you showed up in Harlan’s house, it was complete luck that I saw you before anyone else did. Otherwise, you would have had to fend for yourself and discover everything that Travelers are supposed to know on your own. I had to until my third jump. By then, I think I caused more problems than I solved.”
I looked down at the marble under my feet, then back up at Erick. “What if I wanted to stay somewhere? What if I ended up having a family and relationships and a normal life there?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what would happen, except that you would leave and they’d still be there.”
He looked over at me, his eyes wistful. “Don’t fall in love, Sam. It hurts too bad to leave and come back, only to find out that they don’t even know you.”
He sighed, took another swig of his drink, and smiled again. “Well, I’ve kept you out here long enough. There’s probably a line of people waiting to dance with you. After all, you and Talon are supposedly engaged, and you’re the lovely bride.”
When Erick had successfully made sure that I was in my chair, he rejoined the dancing, swaying around with various girls, acting more as a jester than a forty-seven-year-old man. I watched him, brooding over what he’d just told me, unconsciously picking at my dress. My eyes raked across the dance floor, picking out the different colors of gowns, who was wearing them, and who was dancing with the gown-wearer.
Eventually though, I ended up thinking about what my life really was. Obviously, my family thought I was killed in some kind of freak accident because my demensional body, the one I was used to having, was long dead.
I shuddered. I was dead because someone up in who-knows-where had wanted me to be a Traveler.
So then, what was I, if I wasn’t alive? I’d asked Erick about it before, but he’d only said that...
“Lady Samantha, why are you wearing white?”
I smiled at the child in front of me. She, herself, had to be ten years old, wearing a black gown and a princess crown, meant for adornment of the future ladies rather than nobility.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused but almost happy to have some other conversation besides talking to myself, even if it was a child.
“You’re wearing white, the color of avalibility, when the color of the house is black.” I looked at her blankly, and she went further in depth. “When you get engaged, you wear the color of the house. It lets people know that you’re taken by someone from that status. I’m Merian Zavian, Dante’s fiancee and your soon-to-be sister-in-law.” She smiled a big toothy grin.
I stared at her in disbelief. She was so young. “You’re getting married? But... How old are you?” I blurted.
She didn’t really understand what I was talking about, I could tell by the way she looked at me, but she answered anyway. It sounded like she was the older one.
“I’m nine. I’ll be ten in forty-three days. Most people are usually married by the time they’re eleven. I’ve been engaged to Dante’ since I was six months old.”
I pitied the girl, but she was beaming like it was the best thing in the world. I smiled weakly. “That’s great, Merian. I’m very glad to have met you.”
“As well am I, and I can’t wait until we’re officially family. Anyway, Dante’s probably getting impatent.” she said, and with that, she smiled and left me to dither in my own thoughts.
How sick and twisted, I thought bitterly, but at the same time, this was the norm for them. I had noticed, when looking around, that there was almost no one sitting with me on the chairs that lined the side of the room, and Merian’s statement about eleven being the normal age to get married explained why.
At the same time, though, it left a major question open: why wasn’t one of the most highly sought after bachelors, Talon Cavalay, married at nineteen?
I sighed, and finally hunted out the two most stunning people in the ballroom out of curiosity. Annisa was talking animatedly, and he was laughing at her, swirling her around like she was Cinderella and not the evil stepsister.
I stood up and made sure that I wasn’t being watched. I was so sick of being the observer when happy things happened and not being able to interfere with the balance; to throw myself into the crowd, blend in, and have some kind of chance at a little of the happiness.
But no. As a Traveler, I was destined to sit on the sidelines and complain as my whole self-being fell apart with the gloom.
I didn’t care that my fake fiancee was dancing with a completely gorgeous, single witch. It was the atmosphere in the room that was crushing me.
My whole intent was to go back to the palace by myself. I knew I would be close to the only “Lady” there who wasn’t still dancing, but it was worth it if I could cry myself to sleep and get rid of the numbness that came with not belonging where I was.
I walked around the floor, making sure that no one noticed that I was alone and headed in a beeline towards the door.
A stabbing pain hit me three quarters of the way around the room, and my vision blurred as I began seeing tiny dots of assorted colors. All of the sudden, I couldn’t breathe, and looked down to see a red stain blossoming on the side of my beautiful dress. Tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t think of anything except for the fact that the one dress that I’d ever worn that could even qualify as a wedding dress and was about the closest as I was ever bound to get, was ruined.
Someone shrieked my name, but I couldn’t see who from the way my vision was clouding up. What had just happened? Was I getting ready to jump? Was I really dying this time – For real?
I purposely didn’t try to stop myself from passing out. If there was anyway I could possibly avoid feeling the pain of my lungs, seeing my stained dress, and tasting the bile that had risen in my throat, it was fainting.
That, luckily, was something I found that I was still able to do.

I was in a dark house with red liquid all around my legs. It swept around me quickly, threatening to knock me over at any step. The fact that I was wearing my white gown wasn’t helping.
“Hello?” I yelled through the halls. “Is there anyway I can get out of this pla...”
I looked down at the thick substance. It was rising, and with it, the house was creaking in a manner that was almost like laughing.
That’s when it hit me that the scarlet liquid wasn’t just paint or water; it was blood. My blood to be specific, and with this realization came the intense feeling of utmost dismay. I could feel my energy drain with every attempt I made to walk and the blood grew higher up, staining my beautiful dress.
Furious tears ran down my cheeks as weakness and exhaustion took over. If I wanted to live, I had to fight, and that was all there was to it. Noise resembling thunder pounded inside the house and a horrifying ringing sound pierced my eardrums.
The current of blood grew harder as I screamed over the noise. I wasn’t going to make it. No one could help me, no one could save me now...
I stopped being able to feel the tears, and my lungs quit on me as I fell face first into the crimson life-blood that now would not bring me any life. It was over. I’d lost.
As I looked away, right before I fell, I noticed that the door was only inches away.

“Ugghhhh...” I groaned pitifully, my lungs aching. I tried to roll over, but a quick spasm of pain quickly stopped that idea. My eyes stayed clamped shut, keeping any light that there could possibly be wherever I was, out.
“Hello, Lady McKenna,” a happy male voice said to my unopened eyelids. “Welcome back. We thought we’d lost you for a while.”
At that, my eyes shot open and I attempted to roll over. With a swear word that Erick had told me was better used on a foreign plane, I collapsed back into the bed and clenched my teeth in pain.
After a moment, the hurting stopped partially, enough to the point where I could function somewhat normally, I sighed.
“Where am I?”
I opened my eyes and looked over at the person I was speaking to out of sheer curiousity. He looked to be about my age with blonde hair that fell down over barely visible chocolate-pooled eyes.
These people married at eleven-years-old, I reminded myself grimly.
“You’re in the Medic Center. I’m Kanden.” He gave me a moviestar smile and then went back to looking concerned. “Do you remember how you got here?”
I knew better than to nod. “Um, yes. Is everyone still at the party?”
He frowned. He had no clue what a party was.
A chuckle in the corner made me turn my head and I yelped at the pain.
“Oh, come on, Sam. You’ve slept for three days. I don’t think anyone, even your people, could dance for that long.”
I closed my eyes. Wonderful. Talon was back to being bitter. Being the bigger person, I chose the second grade way of handling it by sticking out my tounge. I ignored his laughing and turned back to Kandon. “So, why am I in here?”
He looked lost. “You just said you knew...”
“Well, yes, but why did I pass out?”
Poor Kandon was utterly confused, and the expression was beautiful on his angel face.
“I think she means what was the cause of her pain when she was at the party.” Talon cleared up, looking at me with an intensity that I hadn’t seen since the day I’d arrived. It sent chills down my spine like I was his prey who had just been caught in a trap. Not that I had the upper hand in this situation, though. I was the one who couldn’t move out of bed.
“It was just poison.” Kandon resolved, shrugging, like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Someone poisoned me?” I asked, doing my best to lean up on my arms. “I almost died again because someone poisoned me?”
“It’s not surprising,” Talon added for no one’s benifet. “Half of the population would love to see me fail to protect my fiancee.” He snarled the last word, and Kandon frowned.
“I think I’ll take my leave now. It was an honor meeting you, Lady McKenna.” He said, standing up and making towards the exit.
“It’s Samantha, or just Sam.” I replied weakly as he walked out the door, leaving me alone with my fake fiancee and a whole lot of undeserved hatred.
It was quiet for at least ten minutes after Kandon left, before Talon sighed and sat at the foot of my bed.
“Samantha,” He began solemnly, “You could’ve been killed.”
I grimaced. “Oh really? I had no clue.”
He was looking at the rocks on the opposite wall. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “You need to stay close to me, do you understand?”
“Stay close to you?” I asked, a hint of skeptisism in my voice. “I was poisoned and almost dead because of someone who hated you, and you want me to stay close to you?”
He started to say something, but stopped after the first syllable and restarted, slower. “It would be better for people to see us that way, no matter what the risk is. My image is at stake to the common people, and if I don’t keep it up, the people will lose all respect and pride in me. You understand, right? Love was not a factor – ever. It’s all a mutual setup so we can both get what we want. I want the respect, you want the disguise. This way, it will still work out in the end.”
A sick feeling hit my stomach and I felt like I was going to throw up, but this time, I knew it wasn’t because of the poison.
“I didn’t go out with you because I loved you.” Nick said all over again, his laughter at my stupid adoration for him filling my ears. “Don’t you get it, Sam?”
“You know,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek and keeping my voice relatively calm. “I don’t think I do understand. I didn’t understand then, I don’t understand now. It must be something that all guys are programmed with; some sort of egotistical thing that makes them think that everyone loves them and that their image is all that keeps them where they are.” I felt the ring around my left finger. It meant nothing, I knew, but it was a sign of my biggest and most hideous charade.
“I can’t do this. I can’t pretend that I’d ever be in love with anyone as heartless as you. You can use someone, even if they let you, but that still doesn’t make it right to hurt them and act like they’re nothing.”
He swore. “That’s what you didn’t understand, isn’t it? You don’t get it that my people are naturally open. We do things that may even resemble your fickle ‘love’.”
He looked me dead in the eye. “But dancing doesn’t mean we’re in love.” He held out his hand, his eyes hard, and I placed the ring I’d been figiting with into his palm.
“You were always nothing to me. You were never anything to anyone. You do understand that though, don’t you, Traveler? The concept of using people?”
He walked out of the room, and I could swear that I heard him mumble the word ‘hypocrite.’

Soooo....
They both now hate each other with a deep passion.
I don't even know if that last part will stay.
I cranked it out in an hour and a half, and it's now almost 1am.
The things I do for love. :)
Justtt kidddinngg.

♥ times a mahillionbazillion.

---///EDIT///---

So, I'm rewriting the fight. I don't love where it led me. Haha. :)
This is supposed to be mid-book, here, and it wasn't working out too happily, so after he sits down
on her bed and says "you could've been hurt", that's all nonexistant. Possibly. I don't know. We'll see. :)
Love.
L.