Chapter 46 - Hope

I could not sob anymore, I was tired of crying. I hid in the library, amongst a pile of books in an isolated corner and buried my head in between my knees.
I was going to let Evan and my father down, Damon was going to kill them and there was nothing that I could do about it.
I debated running away, somehow sneaking into Akbur Hills, rescuing my father and getting lost somewhere in the forest but there was no doubt that Damon would find me.

Eventually, I collected myself and rose to my feet. I had accepted that I now had no silver and no plan. With teary vision, I stumbled upon something that hit my toes and fell head first into a wooden shelf. The brown leather box that I could not unlock came crashing down on my face as I hit the ground. Out of fury and anger, I lashed out. I hit the leather box as hard as I could. I tossed it across the room and sobbed even harder, cursing the day that I ever met Damon. It took me a second to realize that sometime during beating down on the box, I had managed to open it. I crawled to where the leather box lie wide open and peered at what was inside. There was a folded up white piece of paper. I opened it slowly and a tiny metal object fell into my lap. It was a small anklet, made purely out of silver.
Messy handwriting scrubbed something I could hardly understand on the paper. I peered closer and was finally able to make out the short sentence.

To save all of humanity from the wrath of the evil, you will need this someday.
-E
Who was E? Could it stand for Emily, the doll that was mated before me to Damon's father?
I did not waste any more time, however. I hid the bracelet inside of my pockets and ran downstairs to find Maria. She was peeling potatoes in the kitchen, I could not contain hiding the bracelet, so I presented it to her immediately.

"Is this enough?"

Maria gasped out and grabbed it from my hands," where the hell did you get that?" She wrapped it in the cloth that lay on the table.

"I found it, in the library, inside of some box-"

"What box?"

I showed her the letter and watched her eyes gaze quickly over it.

"Emily," she breathed out and held it to her chest. Her sad eyes teared.
"Is it enough?"

"It's more than enough," Maria hurried to her feet and washed her hands," I'll get started immediately, it should be ready in four days-"

"What about Akbur Hills-"

She faced me and grabbed both of my hands," Damon...I think he cares about you"
I was taken back by this.

"What?"

"I see it happening. Just like his father fell for his doll, Damon is falling for you."

"How do you know?"

"He would never abandon his pack for a human, but he did it with you. I've been watching him closely, the doctors visit he had arranged for you, asking about your wounds, letting you out of the cell earlier-"

"But this can't mean anything-"

"Of course it does. But it's a good thing."

"How?"


"It means you can use it against him. You have to convince him to wait to gas Akbur Hills, just a few days-"
"He will never listen to me."

"He might, it's worth a try."

"And if he does?"

"If he does, then in four days when the potion is ready and the silver is inside, we'll have him drink it during dinner. When he dies, we can call a meeting with the council before anything could happen to Akbur Hills. We'll convince them that they need us-"

A gasp nearby made us both jump up. A glass came crashing down and standing by the door was a wide eyed Tessa.

"You're planning on poisoning master Damon-"

"Shhhh, you stupid girl!" Maria rushed to her side and began collecting the broken glass from the ground.

"Why didn't you tell me-"

"You can't tell anyone, not even the house staff, do you understand!"

"You trusted her, but not me," she spat," you're own daughter!"
My head was still dizzy from what Maria had just said.
Damon is falling for you.

How could this be true, how could it be happening. I refused to believe it.
You saw how he reacted when he had seen you with Evan, he was jealous.
Envious even, enough to have him killed.

I let the mother and daughter argue and headed back to my room.
The conclusion to my thoughts were, whether Damon did care about me or not, I had to try and it would be my biggest weakness if I let my doubt win. It would be my biggest mistake if I did not at least try.
An inch of hope had sprouted. Perhaps I could save humanity after all.
Damon had returned a few hours later. I hadn't been made aware of his arrival, so I walked in on him cleaning his wounds in the washroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I was met with his naked back. I was about to shut the door just when I realized that he was struggling to clean the wound on his lower back," do you need my help?"

"No, shut the door."
I watched for a few more seconds as he tried to reach for the now bleeding scar.

"Let me help," I grabbed the white sponge from his fingers and he let out a defeated sigh," you did it too rough, it's bleeding now."

"I don't need your help, just sanitize it so I can wrap it back up."
As I soaked the sponge in the alcohol and patted all of the wounds on his back, I was realizing that I was seeing Damon for what he is for the first time.
He's like a beast that injures others because of his own injuries, but deep down, he's meant to be the good guy.
Why has he convinced himself that he is the villain?
Do not fall for his rare moments of vulnerability, I could recall warning myself of this months ago.
But what if Damon truly is vulnerable? He's been given shoes that he's meant to fill, that have required for him to become evil.

"There," I stepped back because the heat from his skin was overwhelming," give me the bandages."

"I can do that on my own, you can leave-"

"No you can't."

I grabbed them anyway just as his hands went for the box. His palm wrapped around mine and our eyes met.

"Just let me help."
He stared at me for a moment, and retrieved his hand.