Memories of darkness

**Damon**
*Silence*.
It was almost deafening as Jasmine and I sat across from one another between Macy and Nancy, at the back of a white van which was no longer white as a result of the smudged red hand prints all over the interior.
Macy came closer towards me and, instinctively I moved farther away from her. Unfortunately, she noticed and decided to place a hand on my thigh. Instantly, the silent version of Jasmine was replaced by a jealous-crazed version who slapped Macy's hand away.
"Fucking touch him again and I will skin you alive, bitch." She uttered in a low growl. And as it sounded, her eyes widened and so did mine.
Macy smirked and said, "Seems it's wearing off. You should start healing soon, but as I said, you'll be too weak to pose as a true threat. You on the other hand..." she turned to me and smiled a sickeningly toothy grin, "you should have all your abilities already. But like Jasmine, you're too weak to-"
"I could rip you to shreds right now, but unfortunately you're the only one who knows where my brother is." I uttered out venomously. She looked taken aback and moved closer to her sister.
"God, you're scary sometimes! But still so darn cute."
I turned away from her after she'd said that, afraid her craziness would be contagious, and instead turned to Jasmine who looked absolutely exhausted. Again, I said nothing to her, knowing nothing could take away that guilt she was valiantly trying to defeat. Instead, I gently lifted my arm and wrapped it around her. At first, she stiffened slightly, and then slowly, she began relaxing, saying nothing, like me, but leaning into me ad wrapping her own arms around me. She then leaned forward and buried her face into my chest, taking a deep, long sniff at my clothing... no, at my skin, and then she sighed lowly. Was it selfish for me to relish in this little moment? In the fact that Jasmine sought comfort from my scent. It seemed all too worth it when Macy shot the both of us a jealous glare. Honestly, I really had a point when I asked her that question earlier on. Did she know who she was and what the hell she was doing? Forcing someone to love you only drives them further away. But she didn't seem to understand that concept, at least not yet.
Jasmine soon fell asleep against me and I pulled her closer to my chest, basking in her presence and her skin against mine. I was so stupid to leave her alone after I promised her I'd never leave, and this is where it got me. I knew she was more than capable of looking after herself, that she was more than capable of looking after me too, but I wanted... no, I needed to spend every second of every day by her side, loving her and keeping her away from this. Right now, she was so far down deep in the thick, red ocean of blood that I wondered if she'd stay lost in there. In her mind, she was a killer, leaving nothing but a trail of blood behind which soaked her completely. And, after this thought crossed my mind, after all of it did, I made the decision to still stick by her, right above the ocean, handheld out for her. I'd try to pull her out, to save her no matter how long it took and what the consequence were. Little did I know that I was going to be revisiting my own little puddle of blood, one deep enough to be its own ocean.

I ended up falling asleep as well and was rudely awakened by Nancy who shook me multiple times, ruining my warm, deep, dreamless sleep which I cherished in Jasmine's warmth. Nancy was about to do the same to Jasmine, but I gripped her hand and shoved her away.
"Don't you dare fucking touch her," I uttered. Nancy looked taken aback and deep within her eyes, I could see small traces of fear. But I ignored it and returned my gaze back on Jasmine.
"Hey, Jasmine... it's time to wake up." I whispered gently and began rubbing at her shoulders.
She mumbled under her breath but refused to open her eyes, probably lost in her own sleepy peace.
"You better wake the bitch up-"
"I will fucking bash your skull into the floor of this place-"
"You can't-"
"Try me. Now shut up and let me wake *my* mate. You and your sister have already fucked with her enough. You owe her this much at least."
And it was then that she backed away from me, along with Macy, both allowing me to try to get Jasmine to wake up.
"Come on Jasmine, you've got to open your eyes now. We're almost there, and then, when this is all over, you and I can finally go home, and we can live a normal, boring life doing normal, boring things. It's so close I can almost taste it, can't you."
I thought she wasn't going to answer, and so I was surprised as I heard the next few words leave her mouth.
"You promise that we'll be a normal, dull, boring couple?"
"I promise... the only thing not boring and dull and normal will be our-"
"Sex life." She uttered and slowly her eyes began fluttering open. I could tell the comment was a small attempt at amusement, one not genuine, because when she smiled it never reached her beautiful blue eyes.
"Hey there, you ready to go?"
"Go where?" She mumbled and slowly I began to stand, wobbling slightly and then catching myself.
"It's the next round. The final round before we see Lucien." I said as I held a hand out for her. She took it in a heartbeat, clutching onto my fingers for dear life and I couldn't help but remember the time she'd killed Andrew. That was the only time, apart from this one, that she was so weak and that she clutched onto me tightly as though I were her own flotation ring and I wondered if she'd still be able to swim if she let go, or if she'd sink to the bottom and drown. Frightened by this thought, I clutched to her tighter as Macy and Nancy led us out of the van. Again, Macy shot us a dirty look and I returned it to her. I had no clue how she expected to win me over by getting rid of Jasmine. In fact, I had no clue what this all really meant. Yes, we were getting punished by Lucien, but what happened after it? Would he try to kill us? Would he pump us back up with all these chemicals and do Goddess knows what to us? Or perhaps he'd try to win my Jasmine back over and sweet talk his way out of it. Though I doubt she'd be in any mood to listen to anything he had to say...
Once everyone was out of the van, Macy and Nancy closed the back doors and immediately the all too familiar men and women donned in black were at our sides, leading us in the dark to a strange, small home covered in black soot. Some of the wooden boards on the face of the house were rotting and falling apart and the windows were either cracked or broken. Surrounding this home were masses of black, dead trees, adding to the eery feel the entire place had. It almost reeked of death and I could swear I felt the chill of silent ghosts as they breathed against the skin of my neck.
The effect of it on Jasmine, however, was more intense than on me. Her skin felt cold and sweaty and her pupils began to dilate as she stared out at the distance to the haunted looking house ahead of us. And then, without warning, she let go of my hand, ran towards a few bushes to the right of us, and began throwing up blood, the only thing left pooling in her stomach. I rushed to her side and began running my fingers through her hair to get the short strands out of her face as I rubbed at her back.
"Are you okay?" I asked, letting go of her. She didn't answer me though, instead she turned to Macy who wore a smug smile across her face and then Jasmine asked, "What the hell are we doing here?"
I took another glance at the house, and finally began to understand the reaction as I stared at how burnt it was. This must have been her home, the one that had burnt down, killing her family.
"Lucien instructed us to bring you here. This is where he's been staying for the past few days. Unfortunately, you two will only be seeing him once Damon has completed his final round."
Jasmine stood up and ran towards Macy, tackling her towards the ground before she pulled her by the collar of ger shirt, and attempted to punch her in the face. But Nancy caught her hand and managed to drag her off her sister. To prevent the futile beating which awaited both women, I ran to Jasmine and held her back while she thrashed in my grasp and yelled out at the top of her lungs, "I fucking hate you all! I hate you, and you, and I hate Lucien!"
It was the first time I'd seen her so angry at my brother, and the look on her face was frightening. This whole time I knew she'd refused to let herself hate him. I knew she still secretly held onto the image of him as her saviour, but now, it seemed as though that little string of naivety was beginning to snap and break away leaving only hatred behind.
Macy got herself off of the floor eventually, dusted herself off and then glanced at the black clothed entourage. "Keep an eye on that bitch. If she tries something like that again, I want her dead."
"Are you scared of me, Macy?" Jasmine uttered as Macy and Nancy began to walk in front of us, leading us forward towards the door to the house. Macy refused to answer Jasmine and so she said, lowly, "You should be."
And by the looks of it, Macy was. Then again, why wouldn't she be. Jasmine was, by far, even more terrifying than I was. There was a darkness in her, something insanely dangerous which had been growing since the start of Lucien's game and for a moment, I wondered if this was what Lucien wanted. Did he want her to be consumed by the darkness she once lived in? Perhaps that was the way he wanted to win her back, by making her remember the person she was back then, the person who wanted to be rescued by Lucien.
So then, what did he want from me? Did he want to break me... or was he trying to make me remember just how pathetic I once was? It would make sense, considering that I now knew why exactly he thought I betrayed him.
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Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending all of my love!