The next 4 chapters (and 17 pages)
5. Get some Munchies. No, not that kind.
(Conflicting personalities)
A/N Before you begin reading, please be prepared to watch for something for me. I sometimes lose track of what I have and haven't told you so far in the story, so if there is something totally and completely out there that is placed commonplace, tell me and I'll try and fix it. Next chapter should be...more exciting? Oh yeah. No. You are not supposed to know the people speaking at the end of this chapter. New characters YAY!
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Skye began to survey the damage in her room, but felt her stomach turn. Blood. There was so much of it, even to one such as herself, who knew that her brother could lose this much himself and not be bad off, began to wonder at little Alex. Well, she couldn’t really say little, the girl wasn’t that terribly smaller than herself, but still, she seemed frail in a way Skye felt was almost jumping to conclusions. She was nervous, wondering to herself, who exactly had started the fight in the first place. She thought for sure that only her brother could have drawn this much blood, but Alex only had a few minor wounds on her person, nothing that was enough to drench the end of her comforter with this dark mess. Now that she thought about it, she began to recall the nasty stain in the front of Damien’s clothing and suddenly realized that Alex had given him that.
But how? Skye understood the girl was strong. Damien contained just how strong he let the girl think she was by telling her Karikus was weak, but Skye knew better. Although Karikus was no match for either of the twins, it seemed that he was no match for Alex either. Skye had begun to call into question Karikus’ strength, wondering how on earth a human had been able to do that. Skye settled on the Idea that perhaps Alex had gotten a hold of her knife again. Before turning away, she noticed something not quite room. The blood in certain places had wisps of smoke coming up from them. Not knowing what to make of it, she decided to ask Damien upon his return.
She understood, in her own way why Damien had been so violent. His motive was Aneirin. Many years before, as children they had made their first friend, and girl their age named Aneirin, or Annie as everyone else called her. She and her parents had stayed at the apartment for a few weeks before abruptly leaving. Damien would never admit this, but Skye honestly believed that through the years, he had held something like a love for her. Not romantic, you couldn’t get that when you where six. No, Aneirin was like a second sister, and he probably missed her something terrible.
Walking briskly out of the room Skye hollered for the girls to leave.
“Why? Damien hasn’t even gotten back yet!” Sara whined. Skye shot daggers with her eyes and Sara quickly began to move towards the door. “He doesn’t want anyone here when he gets back!” She lied, all of the girls eagerly believing her. None of them wanted to face the wrath of an angry Damien. Of course, not a one had ever seen him mad before, but they’d heard stories.
Skye slowly followed the last of the girls out of the apartment, and heard a slight squeak from a little one by the elevator as it opened. Damien stepped out nonchalantly carrying a limp Alex in his arms, and Skye began to survey the damage. She’d only had a moment before to look him over, and now was beginning to see that sure, he was pretty messed up, but so was Alex.
“Dame, did you have to be so hard on her?” She asked, wondering if the girl would need some fixing up. A few of the wounds she had looked as if they at least needed stitches. Some still had a trickle of blood coming from them, but then as Skye looked up, she noticed that Damien had some still like that too.
“I was much easier on her, than she was on me.” He replied to his sister, shrugging his shoulders and kicking open the door at the same time. As she followed behind her brother she noticed something. Alex’s eyes where moving ceaselessly beneath her eyelids, and as Damien entered the living room, Alex took hold of his shirt, her grip growing steadily stronger.
“Dame…?”
“She’s not awake, do not worry about it.”
“And why not? Damien, what are you up to inside her head?” Damien paused in his steps for a moment, before looking back at his sister. His eyes where growing white, and the slightest sheen of sweat could be seen forming on his brow.
“I can not get inside. Last night was easy, but at the moment she is fighting me.”
“But humans can’t…”
“I know that Skye.” His voice sounded dead, saddened. Suddenly Alex relaxed and returned to her limp and docile state once more. Damien’s eyes had returned to their natural color and he looked tired. “We will have a long talk with Alex when she wakes up.” He leaned over the couch, depositing Alex who automatically took to it like a small child eagerly napping. “Wake me when she gets up.” He trudged off, but Skye interrupted him.
“Damien, there’s something you need to see.”
“Hmm, what?”
“In my room the blood…”
“Is smoking right?” Skye’s eyes widened a fraction.
“How did you know?”
Damien yawned and shrugged. “Just a guess.”
Skye was left alone, confused and unsure of what to think.
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Alex was awake, but her body was asleep. It was like having her mind and body forcibly separated, and not knowing how exactly to make them sync up again. Sure, if she concentrated hard enough she knew that her body would respond, but it wouldn’t wake up. Just moments ago she’d felt Damien’s assault on her mind, trying to pry his way in. He didn’t try too hard though, she could sense him stop after just a little bit, but still, she wondered what he had wanted to get from her when he thought she had her guard down. Eventually his presence faded, and she figured that Skye must have been close by, because she suddenly felt worried and confused, but not in her own way.
That Skye must be so emotional it spills over into the other people around her!
Alex was frustrated, and was going to begin trying to get Skye’s attention when her mind wandered to what had happened the night before. All these last few hours, she’d been putting it off, putting it off. She’d almost let it tear her up after she had killed Karikus, but now she had no one to grab onto, no hands to clench, no pain she could induce to distract her. She fought with this realization, but her mind refused to let her let it go, and reviewed things without her consent.
It was like a flashing of random images and sounds.
Dillon smiling at Julie, the wind toying with boy of their hair.
The train station in all its wrecked glory.
The feeling of falling, the train squealing as it stopped.
And finally, Dillon saying he had no reason to live, but for Julie.
And just like that, Alex and her body collided together, and she woke up, sobbing in anger.
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Damien had just lain his head down on his pillow when suddenly, like a wave of heat, he sensed Alex was awake. He was standing by his sister before she could even open her mouth to call, witnessing Alex with both hands on her head, teeth bit down to stifle her own cries and eyes all aglow with purple light as she sobbed silently. She looked as if she where a mental patient, and Skye was panicking not knowing exactly why Alex was upset.“Skye leave the room” Damien demanded.
“wha…why?” Skye stuttered backing up. Her own emotions where flooding the room, and although Damien was fairly good at keeping it from effecting him, his own mind had begun to panic. If this was happening to him, he pitied Alex for what it must be doing to her.
“Please Skye, go outside or something!” his voice was on the edge of itself and Skye obeyed. The moment the door shut Alex began to relax and she closed her eyes finally.
“Alex.”
“hmm?” it was quiet and calm.
“I am sorry for the way I acted earlier.”
“I’m not upset because of that.” She folded her arms around her legs and looked at him from the corner of her eye.
“I know.” He stood there silently. Alex remained where she was and sighed. He looked sorry, his voice had suddenly returned to the tone it had taken when he’d first spoken to her that morning. Alex didn’t trust it, but he sounded so sincere that it was almost uncomfortable to her.
“Why is it like Hell to have Skye around?” Damien cocked his head to the side
“She’s an empath. If she wants to, she can feel everyone else around her is. But the problem is that her own emotions usually are felt by those around her. That is, when she’s feeling how everybody else is.”
Alex blinked, slowly making circles on her knee with her thumb. “How can she be so alright, if it messes me up so badly?” Damien sat down on the couch at least a seat away from her.
“Skye has been dealing with other peoples’ emotions since she was born. Our parents got very good at controlling themselves around her, but I never did. Not that I was terribly emotional as a child, just…it was enough to make her be able to sense, but not also feel it. She is practically numb to it. She usually can control how much those around her can feel, but ever since that boy committed suicide, she has not really been herself, and she has been drained. She probably has not even realized what she did, and probably will not until she comes back in.”
“How old are you two?” Her voice was kind. Just like it had been that morning. It seemed that she had forgiven him. For now.
“Skye and I are 17. And you?”
“16.” He nodded. Suddenly they’d both settle into something of a truce. They both knew better than to assume that the other was actually trusting. Damien was struggling inside his own head with all the questions he really wanted to be asking Alex. But as he saw the red rimming her eyes, he knew better than to ask about Aneirin or the war. He could still feel the residual effect from the last time he had asked her. Deciding that asking Alex about herself, and politely, would be the best approach.
Leaning back he asked her “Alex, could I ask you a few questions…as to why you are so comfortable with people like Skye and me? Most humans…”
“First stop assuming that the Humans, at least us Gaians are so oblivious to you Anderrans. And second, do you have any idea how annoying it is to have you say ‘human’ like you do?” She snapped before flinching. She hadn’t been able to control her tongue and Damien’s eyes widened. “Alex?”
“There isn’t much that I know, and most of what I do is what is understood by the Gaians who tried to explain, but…” She stood up and stumbled, Damien catching her hand and pulling her back. He opened up his mouth to say something, but Skye opened the door, flooding the room with light.
“Why the heck did you send me out! I want to know now and if it’s a good enough reason then I’ll…”
“Could you get Alex cleaned up? I need to lay down for a bit.” Damien could be heard from behind the kitchen counter. A thin trail of smoke could be seen and Skye covered her mouth. “Oh god! Damien I forgot!”
“It is alright. I did not forget.” Pausing he repeated himself. “Could you get Alex cleaned up. I am sure that she could use a shower.”
“hey!” Alex grumbled. But Damien shrugged and laid down on the other couch in the living room. Just like that he was out. Alex gave Skye a questioning look, but Skye just shook her head. “He’s not used to being awake this time of day.” Skye yawned. “Come to think of it, neither am I really. Come on, I’ll get your clothes cleaned.” Alex stopped listening and let her mind wander as she followed Skye, who was talking nervously.
Skye was nervous. She was controlling what Alex could sense, but the way she spoke betrayed it. “Skye could you shut up for a moment?” Alex asked politely. She was confused, Skye and Damien’s attitude had suddenly changed. It almost felt as if she was asleep. But of course Alex knew better.
She also knew better than to trust Damien as he slept. He’d kept himself civil, and had come off as being something of a kind person. But she was still caught between his actions just now, and how violent he’d acted not long ago. Although, that didn’t really excuse her either, and so the twins must have been just as uncomfortable with her as she was with them. But right now, something else struck her and made her nervous about him.
Damien was awake. She could feel it even now as she focused hard enough, his heart beat evened, his breathing settled, but his mind was like an electric hive. Something else though, and it felt like a raw friction. It was that Damien meant for her to know this.
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Baddies enter stage left...
Karikus’ body was thrown roughly onto a solid oak table.
“What is this exactly?” The voice screeched and was not easy on the ear. The owner of the voice, who sat in shadow to hide his face, was no less hard on the eye.
“Sir, this is Karikus, a low class demon from a little known clan. He was the one picking off humans near the settlement.”
“He was causing trouble, didn’t we send someone to fix the problem?” A new voice sounded. It was old, and cracked.
“Yes, we did. It was those mongrel half-breed twins, wasn’t it? We never gave them clearance to kill this Demon.” Replied a third voice. It had an air of refinement, but was laden with disgust.
“Good thing Eversor isn’t here or he’d have a good long talk about you calling them that. Everyone knows that he fancies the girl, mmm, if she were pure like father I’d…” A fourth laughed. It was a common voice, with nothing special about it.
“We gave them clearance to test him with a human, if he reacted, then they could be allowed to force him through to a holding on a sentence of their choosing.” A woman interrupted, skipping over the off the subject matter.
“Where the hell was I when that was decided!” the first voice cried.
“If we knew, Marcus, we would gladly tell you.” The old man answered wearily. Obviously, Marcus had regular outbursts.
“Perhaps they decided the death penalty was best. Damien did report that Karikus had been severely defiling the bodies” Suggested the woman.
“Lady Iacimus, I don’t care if they thought it was right. The death of a Demon is still horrible, and it was just humans.” Marcus whined.
“Do not forget Marcus, it was just the humans, the filthy Gaians as you love to call them that are the dominant ruling force of this planet. They won their rights from us two years ago, so do not think them so lowly. That was the mistake of Maddeo, and she died because of it.” The Old man hushed the group momentarily. Finally the third voice spoke.
“He died of knife wounds. Even a half-breed would not have stooped so low as to kill such a pathetic Demon as this with a Knife.”
“Yes, and the Damien boy is quite strong” added a new voice.
“Ah, Eversor, good to see you made it.”
“I am very sorry that I am late, I got held up downstairs.”
“It is alright” The old man made a sweep with his hand, motioning for the meeting to continue on.
The third voice finally spoke. “Perhaps the human did this.”
“A human? Karikus may have been a weakling by our standards, but only a bear of a man could have hoped to have done this.” The woman decided.
The old man spoke once again. “Perhaps we should have the twins explain in detail what really happened.”
“I would go to their residence tonight and ask.” Eversor said in a respectful tone.
“As would I” Marcus added hastily.
The old man hesitated before nodding slowly. “I will permit this, but take my grandson Ser with you also, I mean this kindly, but I would readily trust his word over either of yours my friends.”
Eversor smiled and laughed, but Marcus scowled.
“And so we will” Eversor replied, standing and walking out of the door, Marcus walking slowly behind him. The old man sighed.
“Council adjourned.”
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Chapter 7: Sneaker Pimps
(That's how you remind me...)
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Damien had relaxed himself to the point where he seemed asleep, but He could still sense a very wary Alex. Smiling he thought to himself. At this rate she‘ll never trust us at all. Ah well..
Sending out a wave of energy he toyed with her, sensing her mind becoming somewhat paranoid.
She seemed so collected, but Damien was beginning to know much better.
He was about fall asleep when a knock on the door startled him. Jumping up over the couch he quickly gave a polite “Who is it?” before opening the door.
“Damien, your voice! That’s great, when did it come back?” Damien was thrown of kilter when suddenly he was hugged. Man hug, of course, by a friend of his, Ser Riandri. Ser stepped back sheepishly remembering that Damien didn’t like being hugged, and remembering very much the two older demons standing behind him.
“Sorry, haven’t been able to speak with you in a while.”
“well, to be literal you have never been able to, but uh…why…are you…um here?” Damien motioned to Eversor and Marcus standing behind Ser and both shifted a little impatiently.
“Well uh, the council had a few questions for you…”
Sudden ruckus from the bathroom interrupted them.
“Take your clothes off! I need to wash them!”
“I’ll wash them myself!”
“But it would just be better if you let me do it. You could wear some of mine if you really wanted.”
“I‘d rather not thank you! Why the hell do you have to baby-sit my while I shower! My clothes will get clean in there.”
“I’m not baby sitting you! And plus you’ll get stuff all over the shower and Damien will get pissed at me!”
“Who cares what he thinks! Skye just leave!”
“But…Damien…”
“I don’t give a damn about him. Get OUT!”
“No! You’ve been really rude to me and I don’t think I deserve it. I’ve done nothing but help you.”
“Oh yes. I appreciate the help Skye.” Alex said sarcastically.
“Fine be….like that. I’ll just have Damien come in here and then you’ll wish you’d just been willing to let me help you!”
“Not if I tear him apart again!”
“Umm, Damien, was this a bad time?” Ser asked quietly. Eversor and Marcus had let themselves in and both stared strangely towards the bathroom.
“Well…it was not a couple minutes ago…but eh. I will be back in a minute.” His cheeks where red as he entered the bathroom.
“What are you doing in here!” Alex’s voice was menacing.
“You woke me up, thank you.” Suddenly she hollered and Damien walked out of the bathroom with Alex under his arm. She struggled, but like lightning he struck a pressure point in her neck that made her freeze. Skye came out of the bathroom and looked like she was crying. Obviously she was not used to being treated like that. Eversor stepped forward looking like he wanted to try and help Skye out somehow, Ser looked curious and Marcus scowled but chuckled.
Dropping Alex on the kitchen floor, Damien swept his hair out of his eyes and smiled weakly at the guests.
“Now what was it that you wanted to know?”
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Alex sat in the shower stall, her clothes in the wash and Damien standing guard outside the bathroom to make sure she did as she was asked. Honestly Alex didn’t really know what it was that had made her behave that way towards Skye. Because really, there was nothing that Skye had said that Alex really objected to. She still felt angry, and maybe she was used to not having to second guess her emotions, guard her mind and try and put off dealing with Dillon being dead, all at the same time.
That and she had been utterly controlled by Damien for the last half hour. Whatever he did, he knew how to do it well. She’d been practically paralyzed the whole time, just by that one pressure point. She’d had to put up with the annoying questioning they’d all gone through, and the creepy stares that some disgusting man named Marcus had given her.
Funny though, Damien had left out how exactly he’d found her. Left out what she had done with the crystal.
And they had even asked.
Strangest of all, He’d referred to her as a January Demon. They’d nodded and excepted the Idea. Ser had said: “They do seem an awful lot like Humans. Where they of the same clan?”
Damien hadn’t even hesitated when he said yes. So maybe he was a better liar than Alex had thought.
They nodded and Eversor smiled. “Well, her clan will know what to do with her, and even if she deserves to be punished. I don’t think so but…hey, that’s me.”
After that Damien had threatened to undress her himself if she refused to do it in private. That seemed the only incentive she’d needed.
Now here she sat, like a prisoner. But slowly reason crept into her mind. They where erasing the traces of what had happened last night. It would have probably scared Malich and Denver Rae to see her as messed up as she was. Heck, if she looked refreshed enough, she could pretend to have been at a friends house all this time, come home to the shock and pain that Dillon was dead, and never have to tell them everything else.
Slowly, she began to calm down, now she was curious, and if she didn’t watch herself she was gonna start seeming friendly and happy real soon.
“Damien?”
“Hmm.”
“ehmm..What..what’s a January Demon?”
“Januarys are the lowest of the Demon classes. The weakest. Karikus was a Silver, just one above. But he was degenerate so probably very close to a January.”
“Oh. Why didn’t you make me into something a little stronger. Jeez.”
“January’s are not held accountable like those of higher class. That’s the only thing you could have been to make sense in having killed Karikus the way you did.”
“What are all the classes?”
“From lowest to highest it is January, Silver, Ink and then, well the highest are all in a clan called the Fist. They do not really have a name.”
“And what are you?”
“Ink.”
“And what is Skye?”
“The same.”
“But…I’m sorry she just doesn’t seem like she belongs in a demon class called the Ink. She seems so…”
“Angelic? I think that is what you would say. The counter parts to Demons are Angels. I am sorry, I suppose I should have clarified.”
“Clarified what? You still left me out there.”
“Is it not obvious Alex? She’s my twin, yet I look like I do and she looks as she does. We are half-breeds.” He glared at the floor and Alex wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“yeah. So what does this mean to me?”
“Not very much obviously. We are half Ink Demon and half High Angel.”
“Funny names.”
“It was not exactly us who picked them out.”
“Yeah, whatever. So what are the classes of Angels?” By now Alex had finished showering, and wrapping a towel around herself she stepped out to talk face to face with Damien.
“Cherub, Gold, High and Seraphim, or I guess their called Celestial too.”
“Again. These all kind of sound funny.”
Damien shrugged. “It is just what they are commonly called. The Cherub and Seraphim are the only ones that get called even remotely by their original names anymore. January makes reference to some book. Their real class name is the Belial, but I suppose January sounds nicer. The class names are probably a millenium old, Although why they come from Gaian, especially English Christian termonology beats me.”
"Eh what?"
"Ignore that last part."
Alex stared at the floor before talking again. “So are you guys from a clan?”
“No. We are Halfbreeds, like I said. Neither of our parents’ families would claim us.”
“Why? What’s so wrong about being a…a Half-breed?”
“Dirty blood, I think. Everyone thinks it is great that Demons and Angels can coexist, they even look down on discrimination about whether you are one or the other, but heaven forbid an Angel and Demon marry. And for them to have children? Completely disgraceful. Sick and perverted. Whatever else they want to say to slander it.” Damien’s voice was thoroughly annoyed, but not nearly bitter like Alex had thought it would be.
“But those men back there…”
“Ser is my friend. Our families have been great allies for centuries. His Father is the only one who knew my parents from their childhood and remained their close friend after they knew us. Eversor, the one not much older than us, is what they call a “free thinker” or something queer like that, And Marcus held his tongue because Ser and Eversor have enough influence between them to get him removed from the council if they were offended by his behavior.”
“So most people…”
“Treat Skye and myself like inbred swine. After our parents died Ser’s Grandfather would not permitt us to live in the families residence. Only Thedevsis Forsyth would take us in, and even then she had to put us out on our own after a while. But…She still looks over us, and she keeps a handle on our parents money so that we are the only ones dipping into it. In fact, she’s the land lady here.”
Alex remained still for a moment. Damien realized something he’d said had struck her, curious to know what he reached out to here something from her mind.
That can’t actually be right. It would be better not to ask.
And like a snapping whip, suddenly he was shut out from her mind. Her eyes were faintly purple and she looked like she might be unstable. Damien became tense, half expecting to be attacked when she closed her eyes and smiled.
“You know, last night wasn’t it you who kept getting so angry at me for interrupting?” Looking up at him she laughed quetly and asked “Would it be alright…If I slept in your room again? Not that the couch isn’t very nice, it’s just…” He didn't really expect her to continue.
“I suppose, but with one condition. I’m sleeping in there too.”
“What!” She made a face “Maybe you really are sick and perverted Damien!”
“No! I meant I will sleep on the floor, just so Skye will not bother me when she wakes up!”
“Ah.. Oh.” They both look a little embarrassed.
They both started walking towards the room when Damien made a marvelous observation.
“Alex you are still in your towel.”
“No Sh…” He put his hand over her mouth. She was being just a bit loud, and he could hear Skye shifting in her room.
“Do you want to wake her up and let her see that we are going to be sharing the room, and you dressed like that. She would not let me forget it.” Turning his eyes to the side he thought out loud. “Now that I think about it, She will never shut up about last night either, I mean…what else was I really supposed to do…”
“You’re not used to people actually being able to hear you when you start talking. Are you.” Alex rolled her eyes at him. "Did you used to just make the motions for talking or something?" She asked half jokingly
“I did not want to forget how.” He stated walking towards his room.
“Well, that’s just stupid.” She replied, not actually having been serious in the question
“No it is not. If I had not I would have a very interesting speech impediment. It is perfectly logical.”
“How do you know that you would’ve? Maybe you would’ve picked it right back up.”
“And maybe I would not have. The world may never know”
Damien got into the closet and pulled something out that looked like a ladies silk robe. Used though. He tossed it at Alex who sniffed it and shrugged. It smelled familiar. Not actually bad.
“Whose is this?”
“You tell me, Alex.” He kept his eyes on the ground as he made himself a makeshift bed and Alex stood still for a while. She was still standing frozen by the time he'd pulled the blanket over himself, his body facing the wall oposite her.
“Alex, I can not actually see you, so get dressed and go to bed.”
She was actually dying to ask him what he had meant just a little while before but bit her tongue. If she wasn’t careful, Damien might actually think she was trying to be trusting of him. She should have asked, just to discredit that, but she didn't wan't to seem paranoid either. Sighing in frustration with herself, she let the towel drop and as she was slipping into the robe she noticed it was kind of short on her. The sleeves where plenty long, so it wasn’t actually too short. Suddenly the thought struck her.
“Damien, this wasn’t your girlfriends or something was it?”
“No.”
“Are you sure, ‘cause it is just a little strange for you to have it in your closet.”
“Skye has so much stuff in hers that mine is the only one we can use for storage. Alex, it was left here several years ago.”
“But…it was someone else’s. They probably had…”
“Alex we have cleaned it. Go to sleep already!”
Alex glared over at his direction.
“I don’t like you Damien. Not at all.”
“Because of the robe or my amazing charisma skills, Alex.”
She didn’t answer just laid down and ignored him until she fell asleep.
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Damien stood up the moment her mind relaxed. He was beginning to figure out just who Alex reminded him of.
When he and Skye had been 7 they’d met another kid their age. Her name had been Aneirin and she’d had glowing violet eyes. Besides Ser, she was the first child they’d been able to befriend, and she’d also been their neighbor.
Apparently she was a bit uncomfortable around her father, and so she hardly ever stayed inside the house. But that was the other thing too, she wasn’t a bit afraid of adults, but should someone her age come near her, she’d run off. Damien had just begun to get a handle on his ability to hear what other people thought, even powerful adults who where good at keeping professional telepaths out of their heads, where susceptible to him. Another thing too. He’d learned how to see Skye’s memories that she’d had during the day, which was his only way of ever seeing it.
At that age, sun exposure would have killed him.
So walking out into the windowless hallway, Damien was planning on listening to adults in the forum of the Apartment, when suddenly this albino looking girl froze while playing with a puzzle of two rings. “I’m…”
She quickly stood up, bowed her head and ran towards the stairway. Damien ran as fast as he could, his legs where longer, so it didn’t take long for him to catch her on the landing for the 12th floor. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders he hugged her. “Why are you running away?” He’d laughed. Aneirin had dropped to her knees and begun crying.
“Do you hate me?” She’d asked, shaking in fear. Damien was so startled it took him a moment to answer. The pause just made her cry harder.
“I don’t know you. Why would I hate you?”
“Please, it won’t take long, but eventually you will!”
She’d hit him in the stomach and ran. This time she was faster. Back then Damien was used to getting picked on, and she really hadn’t hit him hard. It was more to stun him than anything. He recognized something about her, the way she was afraid of him.
She had been picked on too.
So he searched for her, his mind comparing her to Skye when Skye was having a bad day with adults and other children. By the time he’d completed a flight of stairs, he had already forgiven her.
It took him a while but he found Thedevsis, and walked over to her to ask for help. He didn’t need to though, because there in the darkened side of the forum, sat a blank faced Aneirin, Thedevsis watching her for the time being. When she saw him, her faced struggled to hide the fear, and her hand reached up and clutched a necklace she’d kept hidden under her shirt, somehow, She was putting on a brave face.
Damien had decided the best course of action would be to sit on the wall opposite her until she calmed down. It was a narrow part of the forum, more of a hallway to some of Thedevsis' private rooms, so he wasn’t far from her, but still far enough.
“I don’t hate you.”
“You will.” She assured.
“And why is that?” He had asked. Ah, they talked like adults. He did it because he heard adults with his ears and his mind. Maybe she did too. Thedevsis watched on carefully observing them.
She shifted her eyes to the ground and he scooted a little ways from the wall. Suddenly he had an Idea. Moving over to her he held his hands out.
“If you let me, you can show me why. If you do, I promise I won’t hate you.”
“You swear?” She’d asked timidly.
“’Course!”
And so, taking her head in his hands, he looked directly into her eyes and saw everything that she was afraid of him knowing and hating her for.
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(8) Don't put TOO much Wasabi on your turkey sandwich. It burns up the nose.
(We're messed up aren't we.)
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Damien stood there thinking about Aneirin. Wouldn't she be about Alex's age now? Glancing at the window, Damien took in the position of the sun and decided that it must be about noon. Looking down and Alex, he knew she wasn't very deeply asleep. Still, there were things he wanted to know.
The consequence of what he was about to do...had the potential to be terrible. But somehow his cause seemed justified, and he hated to let his resolve go when he had it. Gently placing his weight on the bed he carefully placed himself next to her, sitting on the heels of his feet, hands reaching out towards her head. Last night she'd been dreaming so he hadn't needed to make physical contact or even come close to her to see it. That was pathetically easy. But now he knew she was going to fight him, and before he took her home tonight, he just had to know.
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Skye sat on her bed, waiting for the faintest of taps on the apartment door. She had waited all this time before Damien and Alex went to bed. She laughed. They had her room completely covered in gore, and yet they went to bed together. Masochists. Anyways, after they'd gone to bed she'd shut herself off from Damien, not that he was paying her any attention. He was too busy obsessing over whatever was on his mind for that. She'd done that and then called Eversor on the phone.
Everyone knew that he had a soft spot for her. Well...Damien might have kept himself oblivious on purpose, but no one knew that she had one for him as well. He was a good six years older than her, but really, considering how long their kind lived, that was such a little gap. She'd loved him since the time she'd first seen him, a decade ago, standing bravely at the forum door, making no one inside was hurt while evacuating. Not that she'd admit it to him of course. It was nice for him to think he wanted her more than she wanted him. Much different from how he used to act. This was when she was still horribly jealous of Aneirin, her brothers affection for the other girl had almost been too much for Skye. To this day she couldn't help feeling her heart burn with jealously at the very mention of the girl. She was chewing her lips to shreds trying not to let Damien feel this when she heard the tap.
Like a ghost she was at the door, a hand up to Eversor's lips to keep him from saying anything. "I'm here again, usually it's you coming to my place. This is kind of nice, less dishonest..."
"Did the council accept it?"
"What? Of course, you two told the truth didn't you?" He chuckled.
"Oh...I think we need to talk about it." She gave him the puppy dog eyes, and his face darkened.
"About what? I swore to them that they could trust you two. I had to fight with Marcus for..."
"Darling, please! We did it because we needed to!"
"And why exactly would you ever do that..." He snarled.
Had Skye failed to remember that Eversor had just a bit of a temper?
"Because Alex...well...we...wait. Why the hell are we helping that brat?" Skye began to storm off towards Damien’s room. Eversor suddenly bewildered followed her, all his steam spent
She broke through the door, and took in breath to scream at him when she stopped, Eversor running into her. The room was alight, both Damien and Alex's eyes glowing, his the usually blinding white, hers a frightening purple. Damien's hand where clamped on both sides of her head and he hands gripped his forearms. A half conscious struggle seemed to be occurring, and Damien straddled Alex's waist, his feet pinning her legs down.
"Brother?"
"I didn't know that a January Demon could do that." Eversor said in thought.
"Damien?" Skye said a little louder. His face looked relaxed but from how brightly his eyes shone, she knew that he was under a considerable amount of stress. Finally she put a hand on her brothers shoulder, causing him to shudder.
"Skye. I have to know." He whispered to her. Suddenly the lights intensity increased and then, without warning, the light went away. Before anyone fully understood what had happened, Damien was thrown back at the closet, breaking one of the doors, Cradling both arms, which now had smoke rising from them.
The palms of Alex's hand's where black and she stared at Damien, tears rolling down her face.
"Find anything interesting?" She whispered. For a moment they both just stared.
"Just what kind of person are you Alex."
"I guess you already know." Her voice was loosing volume, and her hands where falling.
"Damien...what did you see?" Skye asked, already knowing what Damien had been doing to Alex. Eversor was clueless though, and touched her arm. "Skye?"
"Don't you be touching my sister Eversor." Damien growled, his eyes still on Alex.
"Don't speak to me like that Damien, if you knew all the work I've done protecting you two..."
"You make it worthless by expecting us to pay you back. Your help was unasked for Councilman, so don't be acting like we are not holding up some side of a twisted bargain with you." Damien stood, and faced Eversor. Skye wrapped her arms around Eversor’s middle and her eyes held fear of her brother. He had just forced his way into Alex's mind and reviewed possibly her entire life in memories. It was almost the equivalent of rape to Anderrans, because it was so intrusive, humiliating, and degrading to the victim.
"I wouldn't be talking about things like that. I wouldn't be making that young demon over there feel like a lesser person than you are. You..."
"If you knew..."
"Knew what? Damien, you forget that we have no clue as to what is going on between you and this...Alex. You seem so violent right now."
Damien balled his hand into a fist, and Skye made to try and stop him, but Alex reached him first. Her grip on his upper arm looked like it was about to crush it, and in a moment she had it pulled back behind his back, just like he'd done to her earlier.
Kneeling down, Alex watched Skye trembling in Eversor’s arms. She whispered in Damien's ear. "Bet that pisses you off to be so helpless and her standing there in that bastards hold. But the thing is, you're hurting her too. Funny, never met a brother who wouldn't dismember the person who made his sister cry. Is that why you decided to get into my head? But see, you're about to make her cry, so what you gonna do? hmm?"
Damien closed his eyes and whispered "Annie" just loud enough for Skye and Alex to hear. Skye's eyes burned and suddenly she kicked Alex in the face. Damien rolled to the side, just missing Skye making another attack at Alex. Alex crossed her arms and launched herself backwards over the bed. Skye jumped and landed her foot in Alex's stomach, reaching down to throw her bodily into one of the walls. Getting her arm around Alex's neck, she pulled her up and started to yell at Damien.
"Is this her? Is this ungrateful little wench her?"
"Skye let her go!" he pleaded. That just seemed to provoke her more. Last night Alex had been a human to tease Damien about. Now, she seemed much more than that.
"Tell me Damien. Is that why you've got her here? She doesn't seem to remember you, so why are you hurting her, then protecting her, then breaking her down to nothing again. I thought you loved her Damien! What is she now, other than more than happy to hurt us like always!"
"Skye, this isn't her." He said, standing up. Eversor was on edge, suddenly taken aback by how the two of them where acting. "Damien, who is this girl?"
"Alex. She's half human, a quarter Ink Demon and a quarter Celestial." He said slowly.
"So it is her!" Skye cried.
"No, Skye, it is not Aneirin."
"Skye let her go. Her breed is even rarer than yours, it's something we have to preserve."
"Rarer than mine? you sound like...like..." Skye stared angrily at Eversor and her brother, slowly loosening her grip on Alex and then sinking into despair as Eversor’s face changed from pleading to disgust.
"There is something terribly wrong with all three of you." He said before walking quickly out of the room. Damien made his way towards Skye ignoring Alex. putting his hand on his sisters head he remained silent. Alex began to cough and they both looked over, to see her pulling Karikus' crystal up to her eyes, and then, in a flash she had it on and had broken out from Damien's window, light bursting into the room . Skye acted instinctively to cover her brother, but he wasn't there. He had already gotten himself into the darkened hallway.
"Skye" he said in a tone that was clearly distraught. "I think we have a few things we need to work out."
She nodded, tears falling down her face.
"I just lost my mind."
"I think I did too." Skye moved to sit down but Damien shook his head no.
"Eversor may or may not be going to report us to the council. We have to get moving."
"Eversor wouldn't!"
"Skye I'm sorry but we can't take any chances." She nodded but began to cry just a bit more. Damien looked back at her for a moment before putting his arms around his sister.
"Although, we've got each other, and we always have, and though I probably can't guarantee it, always will. I know it sounds corny, but hey, I think right now called for something like that.
"You are such a dork Damien. No seriously. That was terrible!" She smiled, even as tears still rolled down her cheeks.
Damien let go of her and then glanced back.
"I guess it's time I got a tan."
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A/N: Ha! Finally I updated. You know...it only took me two months this time. I geuss it was probably close to three last one? But hey, today we celebrate the year mark of that first chapter being posted (and if you know me, you will be shocked to know that probably 95(percent) of chapter 1 (C2 technically) is exactly the same as what was posted last summer. The actual year mark is April 17th. Yes, this story was originally begun being written the day I turned 15.
As for my other stories on here, I think I'm gonna do a quick edit on Dreamer soon, and maybe do a Dreamer 2 with what originally gave me the Idea for Demon's Wake. Also hoping to get a Kyuketsuki C2 up before I go to camp, so watch our for more to come...
And yes. As always. Idea SHOULD be capitalized. According to me, it is a Proper Noun, and should have its due respect. Oh yeah, and I do almost fail grammer every year in English Class.
(and it's still the 15th here.)

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