Chapter 13 - Encounter With The Past

I went outside and sat down on one of the stone stairs to wait and observe. Emily's cries of heartbreak served as the soundtrack to my subconscious. How could she have loved Damon's father? They're as cruel as they can be, even more so than the ruthless vampires who formerly decimated entire towns of defenceless humans in order to obtain food. They took her from her family, used her, and dumped her when they no longer needed her. They even put her to sleep for years.


I peered out into the distance, searching for any sign of my father or anyone else I could know or recall. Now that I was thinking about running for it, I stood up. I could take a walk; it would be quite simple for Damon to find me.
And so I did; I walked through the streets, greeting everyone with a smile while they exchanged looks and acknowledged that, despite my clean appearance, I was human.

I was walking past an old lady with a fruit basket when I stopped her by placing my hands on her elbow and asked, "Have you seen Mason? He is an elderly man, possibly 65 years old. He's my father."


With a look of apparent panic in her eyes, she brushed me off and quickly left. I tried again a few minutes later with a couple and then with a young child, but nobody appeared interested in talking to me or knowing anything. A young man approached me from afar, emerging from what appeared to be a shop. His eyes stopped me. He was handsome, built similarly to Damon but a little smaller, with blue eyes and dirty blonde hair.


"Ana?" he uttered.

I thought, He knows me, he recognizes me.

"Ana?" Now, he stood in front of me, he looked at my face for a minute to make sure it was really me before he threw his arms around me and gave me a huge hug. I tried to look through my mind for memories of him, but nothing came to mind, so I stood motionless for a moment. I eventually found myself settling into his arms and understood that I really needed this hug. I was disappointed when he left me.

"I can't believe it's actually you! I thought you had died.


"I-I can't remember you."


"It's me, Evan."


"I can't remember everything, I lost my memory," I shook my head.


"What did they do to you? How do you look so young?


"Do you know where my father is? Mason. He is now about 65 years old.


"Yes, he's at his apartment, he'll freak out when he sees you."


"Could you let him know that I'm alive and mated to the alpha, as I don't have much time left? Tell him I'll return for him as soon as I can."

"Are you a doll? Damon's doll?"


"You know Damon?"


"Listen, Damon is planning to take us all out in a few months. "Ever since he became an alpha, he has wanted to kill every human in existence."


"What are you talking about?"


"He's holding out for enough board votes, which he will eventually receive. He'll eliminate every mortal as soon as it occurs, ensuring the vampires have no one to feed on.


"He can't do that!" Damon was now approaching me with a strut. I could see the angry expression on his face, even though he was still far away.


"You have to kill him-"


"Are you insane? I can't kill him; he's coming!"


"Do you have a phone?"


"No."

"Get one and call me when you get home."


He pulled a pen from his pocket and opened the sleeves of my shirt to show my injured arms. He let out a breath, and I winced from the pain.

"Ana.."


"I'm okay, just hurry."
I might have shed tears at the impact when he inscribed his number on my forearm. As I rolled my sleeves up, he pulled a banana from his pocket.


"Would you like one?"


"What?" Just as Damon arrived, I scowled.


"Get the hell out of here!" he yelled at Evan, who quickly rushed off and shoved the fruit back into his pockets. When Evan eventually left, I looked at Damon, who appeared to be just a few seconds away from decapitating me. I wondered what would happen to me if I didn't follow Alpha's directions.

*****

Although I could feel Damon's rage seeping through his skin, the majority of the vehicle trip back was silent. He appeared as though he would lose it at any time, but that wouldn't matter once I was able to verify my father's continued existence.


When Evan tells him that I am still alive, how will he react to the news? When we finally cross paths again, and I'm not older, how will he react? I felt sorry for Evan, and thought about how annoying it was that I couldn't remember him. I contemplated asking Maria about him.


It wasn't our house that Damon parked the car in front of. Gritting his teeth, he turned to face me and said, "Stay here." His eyes were filled with hatred.


He slammed the car door and vanished out of sight behind the house. After rolling down the windows, I listened for any sounds. I could hear Damon having a conversation.


"Did she confess to any of it?"


Another voice, one I recognized from their meeting, stated, "She won't tell us who it was that killed your father."


"Did you catch any of the others?" Again, Damon.


"Just her, we've got patrols looking for any more lingering bloodsuckers."


They are talking about vampires, and I assumed they had actually caught one.
Eventually, the urge to see the situation clearly took over, and I silently and carefully got out of the car and started to walk the same route Damon had taken.

It led to a vast garden that, if not for the shackled girl on her knees beside the swimming pool, would have looked ordinary. She had heavy wooden blocks covering her eyes, and even her legs were bound. She had the palest complexion I have ever seen, and her wild red hair must have reached her ankles. As Damon got closer to the female, I stayed hidden behind a bush and observed. She had serious cut wounds covering her arms, exposing her stomach, chest, and neck. The individual from the conference, known as Luke, was by her side.


Is she being tortured by them?
Bending to her level, Damon removed the chains that covered the majority of her face. From this angle, her bright yellow eyes betrayed the fear I could feel in her. She let out a scream that sounded like a half-snarl, half-hiss when Damon poked a finger inside her neck wound.


She growled, her teeth showing, "You weak mutt! Once Theo finds you, he will tear you to shreds for what you're doing!"


"Where is Theo?" She gave another painful howl as Damon dug his fingers deeper.


"If you think that you're going to torture it out of me, you might as well kill me now, I'll never tell you!"


"Do you have Richard?" He belongs to us."


"Who killed the Alpha?" he asked, as she spat at his feet.


"I take it that he was your father? He died on his knees, just like you will-"


My eyes couldn't keep up with the speed. In the blink of an eye, Damon severed the vampire girl's throat by reaching for a wooden knife held by Luke. After a moment of staring at him with wide eyes, and me starting to question if the dagger had even touched her, her head wobbled off her body and landed with a thump on the grass. I suppressed a scream by slapping my palm to my mouth. Her eyes were still wide open, staring directly at me, and I was unable to take my gaze off of her head.


Damon said to Luke, "Let me know when you find others," and he started to walk back. Before he could notice, I staggered out of the bushes and tripped on a limb. My chest thudded as I rushed to get up and inside the car.