Chapter 8
Damon threw the limp vampire off him and quickly staggered to his feet. He wavered a bit and hoped the world would stop spinning long enough for him to get his damn balance. He went to take a step forward and started to fall, luckily the wall was there to catch him.
“Damn it!” he whispered and looked back down the alley. There were at least twenty bodies in the alley, not that he cared. He wasn’t counting or bragging… dying maybe… not that anyone would come to his funeral.
Looking down at his chest where it hurt the most, he growled seeing a finger still sticking out of the hole where that girl had staked him. Carefully grabbing it, he jerked it out knowing faster was better… kind of like the whole ‘ripping off the Band-Aid’ metaphor. Tossing the dismembered finger aside, Damon frowned and quickly counted his own fingers just to make sure he still had all ten.
If Kane had been there, Damon knew he would’ve been the victim of endless teasing for weeks.
Placing his palm over the bleeding wound in his chest, he tried to stem the flow just a little bit… it was a mortal wound. Too bad Syn had fixed it to where he couldn’t die… no matter how much it hurt. So, he’d just have to deal with the pain until it healed.
Over the years, he’d concluded many things about himself… one, pain tended to make you hard, and two… that law about not killing humans was the biggest load of bullshit Syn had ever fed them. If that had been true, then Damon would have been beyond dead by now.
He did have to admit, he’d never killed a human that didn’t deserve it, but he still thought it was funny that Kane and Michael had believed the tall tale about losing their soul if you killed a human.
The first time he’d tried it, he’d been thinking of the death by cop scenario if it had worked… but here he was, several human fatalities later, still feeling the fucking pain of it all. He definitely had a few mentally colorful phrases for Syn… but he’d never say them out loud.
He kicked one of the rapidly rotting bodies hoping it was the one with the missing finger. He really felt the need to add insult to injury on something. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath knowing he couldn’t leave the alley in such a mess. Saying a quick spell he’d learned from Syn, the bodies all lit up with blue flames making them twitch one last time as they incinerated from the inside out.
‘Instant microwave,’ Damon thought to himself and almost smirked but winced instead.
Hearing a soft whimper in the shadows, Damon turned toward it thinking it was another vampire. His expression softened when he saw one of the prostitutes huddled against the wall trying to hide from the carnage. She wasn’t much older than the blonde girl and not that new to life on the streets.
Leaning down until his face was mere inches from hers, he made eye contact and smiled when the girl fell under his thrall.
“One of your clients got a little rough but you got away. Go home and never come back to the streets,” Damon told her, “Find a real job… something safe.” He stayed kneeling where he was as she scurried around him and ran from the alley. He had said almost the same thing to the first girl earlier that evening. Why he always felt the need to save the young ones still eluded him.
Stepping back onto the main street but keeping a hand against the wall for support, Damon turned and started in a random direction. At least it seemed random until he realized he was following the scent of the girl’s blood. His anger hadn’t quieted down much and he was looking forward to throwing her over his knee and giving her the spanking of a lifetime.
However, his first order of business would be fairly easy… find out just who the hell this man named Micah was and what his relationship was to the girl. Feeling completely drained, he leaned back against the wall he had stopped at and slid down it.
“Are you happy now Syn? Was that enough redemption for you?” He waited to see if Syn would answer. Usually he didn’t try to make contact with the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but when he did, Syn usually didn’t answer. Picky bastard.
Damon sat there for a while drifting in and out of consciousness. Suddenly his head snapped up when Michael’s scent reached him on the cool breeze. He looked around for a moment not entirely sure when he’d left the dregs of the city behind. He was in a much nicer area.
He looked up at the building he was leaning against.
“Figures,” Damon muttered seeing the imposing structure of the church behind him. The sky was suddenly illuminated by a lightning bolt that struck the huge cross on the highest point of the building.
Damon sighed, “Screw off,” he said softly only to jump when the lightning struck again.
Pushing himself back to his feet, Damon actually took a moment to try adjusting his clothing so he appeared more presentable. Finally he gave up knowing it wouldn’t be possible due to the amount of blood all over him. Damon knew he was light headed the moment he got the urge to laugh at the thought of a vampire bleeding to death.
Looking at the house across the street he had to laugh sarcastically knowing that this was definitely Syn’s doing. He had somehow made it Michael’s home and made a last futile attempt to look presentable.
“This is not funny,” Damon growled and looked up at the sky. “Not enough huh? Fine, I need a bed anyway.”
Damon took a step off the edge of the sidewalk and nearly fell. He staggered forward a few steps then quickly looked left then right to make sure no cars were coming. Forcing himself to stand upright, he very, very slowly finished crossing the street only to stumble over the edge of the sidewalk on the other side.
He reached out as he went down and saved his face from meeting the pavement. Why in the hell was he trying to save himself from humiliation anyway? It wasn’t as if Kane was anywhere around to make jabs at him.
Walking up to the front door, he reached out and rang the doorbell. Damon felt his world crumble to his feet when the door was answered by the blonde-haired vampire. He heard Kane yell something over his shoulder before his world went black.
Kane had been passing by the window with a huge roast beef sandwich in hand when he saw Damon walking toward the house. He saw the stiff movements of the other man and mentally compared him to one of the many zombie movies he’d seen. The only things missing were the rotting flesh and Damon holding his arms out in front of himself.
Moments later Kane heard the doorbell and took his time answering it. Michael’s footsteps could be heard coming downstairs and Kane opened the door still holding his roast beef sandwich. Ordinarily, Kane would have said something to the man but they just stood there staring at each other in silence for a moment. Finally, Kane turned his head to yell up at Michael.
“Michael, we have another bloody stray,” he called out. “Little brother’s here for a visit.”
Michael’s steps became rapid and he came into view just as Damon started to fall forward. Kane quickly moved out of the way and Michael was left to catch his brother before he hit the floor.
Michael glared up at Kane, “You could have caught him.”
“I’m eating,” Kane retorted. “Besides, he’s your brother.”
“Syn adopted all of us… so in a sense, he’s your brother too!” Michael exclaimed.
Kane looked at Damon’s unconscious face and shook his head. “Nope, don’t see the family resemblance.”
Michael picked Damon up and carried him into the living room. Kane sighed and shut the door before following them. He watched Michael lay Damon on the sofa and wondered at the tender look Michael was giving his brother. He saw the love there, along with the suppressed anger that followed.
Kane looked out one of the windows wondering if Syn was behind this somehow… that old vampire sure had a sense of humor if he was.
“So, do you want me to go find the cross and nails so we can put him up for the night?” When Michael lifted his head to glare at him and tightened his hold on Damon, Kane nodded, “A bed it is then. I’ll open up the room next to our resident alley cat.”
Michael picked Damon up and followed Kane upstairs. When he got him in the bed, he shooed Kane out of the room and started to slowly remove what was left of Damon’s clothing. He went into the bathroom to get a washbowl full of warm, soapy water, and the first aid kit, then returned to the bedroom to start cleaning Damon up.
He tried to be careful, even going so far as to cleaning Damon’s fingernails. Michael cleaned up the hole in Damon’s chest as best he could but there wasn’t much he could do except watch it slowly start to heal. Leaving the room long enough to dump the dirty water and refill it with cold, he got a soft wash cloth and regularly dipped it before placing it on Damon’s forehead to help keep his temperature down.
It brought back memories of the time Damon stuck a blade in his chest then left him for dead. Flashbacks of them being real brothers, all the fun times, the joking, and spending evenings talking until the sun came up raced through his mind. Those were soon followed by the memories of the multiple occurrences when they’d tried to kill each other.
Vampires could die… he’d had a hand in helping to kill them. But, when it came to himself, Kane and Damon… he wasn’t so sure if it was even possible to die anymore. The hole in Damon’s chest hadn’t come from him, yet Damon still lived. He wasn’t sure he wanted to test the immortal theory and wished Syn were accessible so he could ask.
Michael was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn’t notice when Damon’s eyes slid open. He didn’t see the way Damon’s expression softened for a moment before going back to its cold hardness.
“Hello brother,” Damon said softly. “Miss me?” Not really expecting an answer, he brought his hand up to cover the chest wound that was still throbbing. “Brings back old times, doesn’t it?”
Michael nodded toward the wound with a blank expression on his face. “Who exactly did you piss off this time?”
Damon had a flashback of blond hair spilling out of a wig as it came off in his hand. “A dozen or so vampires. Since when did you want such a huge extended family?”
“Since I realized mine sucked,” Michael cocked an eyebrow feeling very little remorse for the comeback. “But the soulless vampires plaguing this city are not my doing and it’s a long story. Why are you here Damon?”
Damon's amethyst eyes locked on Michael's as he answered, “Syn woke up with a sense of humor. Seems he thought I needed something to kill besides you.”
“Syn sent you here? What the hell was he thinking?” Michael stood up running an agitated hand through his midnight hair.
“Obviously that you need help,” Damon answered sarcastically as he pushed himself up into a sitting position while gritting back the remaining pain. He had known he wouldn’t be welcomed with opened arms but that didn’t take the sting out of it. “I don’t have to stay here.”
“Syn was right you know,” Kane said from the doorway having seen the hurt in Damon’s eyes when Michael had turned away. He walked into the room dragging a large cross over his shoulder. Michael glared at him as the blonde vampire propped it up against one of the walls. “There we go!” he said while dusting his hands off then turned back to meet Michael’s glare head on. “What?”
“Get that thing out of here.” Michael growled trying to keep a straight face.
“So I suppose you don’t need these either?” Kane asked and took a handful of wood nails out of his pocket.
Michael turned around to stare at Damon, who was smirking. “You see what I have to deal with on a daily basis?”
“He didn’t get it from my side of the family.” Damon muttered.
“WHAT?” Michael yelled.
“And how was Syn right?” Damon continued while ignoring Michael’s outburst.
Kane sighed, “In short… we need all the help we can get.”
Damon looked at Kane curiously. He hadn’t seen Kane since way before he and Michael had started fighting but he could see that something very life-altering had changed him… behind the joking exterior was a darkness that had never been there before. Remembering how tattered Kane’s soul had been at the church when Michael and the fallen tried to heal him came to the forefront of his mind.
“It’s been a while, Kane,” Damon said after a moment. “Good to see you haven’t changed any.” He finished nodding his head toward the cross propped up against the wall.
Kane flinched as he read Damon’s mind and got the visual to go with it. He silently wondered why his power was slowly starting to spiral out of his control. He’d always been able to read minds but usually not without a lot of concentration. In the last couple of weeks, his ability to read people had become so easy he had to fight to keep from being overwhelmed. He hadn’t needed to see his own damaged soul, though the fact that Damon had been watching from a window at the church was enlightening.
“Well, if Syn wants the three musketeers back together, then its best we all try to get along this time… right boys?” Kane smirked before walking away.
“The three musketeers actually liked each other,” Damon said softly with wide eyes.
Michael snorted, “What, you think we can’t get along?”
“No,” Damon said with a straight face but Michael could see the amusement in his eyes.
“Yeah, I don’t like you much either.” Michael retorted quietly but averted his eyes, looking down at Damon and seeing most of the claw marks and bites already half healed. It was the chest wound that had him so worried. It was hard enough to keep track of Kane, but now he had to babysit Damon too.
Michael sighed hoping he was up for the job… it wasn’t like he was already fighting a war or something. If Syn really wanted to lend a hand, then he could have come and kicked the demon’s ass for them. But no, that would be too easy.
“After you’ve healed we’ll discuss strategy. But the first rule is we don’t take them on alone. Got it?” Michael turned toward the door.
“Be careful Michael. You wouldn’t want me to think you actually cared now would you?” Damon couldn’t resist asking as he laid back and closed his eyes. “And I don’t need a babysitter.”
Michael paused halfway out the door. “Yeah right,” he growled. “Obviously you do… taking on a bunch of soulless vampires by yourself constitutes immaturity. You are officially grounded,” Michael shot back as he walked out of the bedroom and shut the door.
Damon looked at the closed door in surprise then slowly a soft smile appeared on his face. It felt good to see his brother again.
Michael shook his head, already getting a headache from Kane and his antics paired with Damon being under his roof. He decided he needed to get out of the house and grabbed his coat. He’d go see Warren and tell him about seeing Misery hovering around in the bad area of town.
He stopped short thinking he should warn Kane but sighed when he realized that the vampire had already left the house again. Kane had been disappearing a lot lately but at least he was coming back. Michael looked down and saw Scrappy sitting by his feet looking up at him curiously. Seeing the dog made Michael exhale softly. If Scrappy was still here then Kane was certainly coming back.
*****
Angelica stood in Zachary's shower letting the steaming hot water wash away the blood and smell of the underground. Zachary had been very quiet in the car on the way over from Trevor’s place but she’d known he would be. They’d gone in and had the promised cup of coffee before Zachary started to get antsy.
She knew him better than anyone else on the team and was also aware of his split personality that most people were oblivious to. That was alright as far as she was concerned, because he knew most of her secrets as well… which is why they were best friends.
She soaped her hands up again and rubbed them vigorously before rinsing them off. Her eyes narrowed on her palms wondering what she’d have to do to get the symbol to fade. Finally she gave up, she turned the water off and stepped out of the steaming shower. Grabbing the thick terrycloth robe, she snuggled into it and slowly blow-dried her hair.
Hopefully Zach had already gone to bed… but deep down, she knew that was very questionable if the way he’d kept looking at her was any indication. Quietly opening the bathroom door, she stepped out only to almost have a heart attack when his voice came from inches away.
“You’ve stalled long enough. Come on,” Zachary said as he pushed away from the wall where he’d been leaning and headed toward the living room of his rented penthouse.
‘Yep, welcome to the flip side of Zachary.’ Angelica thought inwardly and followed him.
The first time she’d seen his personality flip was a few years ago when a mean as hell level six demon decided to start killing kids for jollies. Angelica didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone that enraged and since then, she’d made sure to try keeping the personalities straight.
The more aggressive and serious one she was with right now she called Zach… literally P.I.T.’s powerhouse. When he saw something that set him off there wasn’t much anyone could do to stop him. Just like with the child killing demon, the only thing the team could do was sit back and watch the bloodbath… there hadn’t been anything left to distinguish what kind of demon it was.
The personality at the cemetery earlier was Zachary, the teasing, joking, pain in the butt who had a tendency to be completely useless. He was the comic relief in any situation and always had a smart-ass remark right on the tip of his tongue that he knew would make her laugh. This was also the side of his personality that she could cuddle up to like a giant teddy bear, trust enough to fall asleep in the same room with, and be guaranteed a good night’s sleep.
It didn’t matter to her which side of his personality was dominant because she actually liked them both. The only thing that annoyed her was Zach could sneak up on her and sometimes he was just as scary as the demons they fought. Oh well, everyone had their quirks.
“Sit,” he pointed to the overstuffed sofa and waited until she had sat down before climbing up to sit on the back of it behind her. Pulling her back between his knees, he pushed the robe off her shoulders to reveal the vampire bite.
Angelica’s eyes widened and she quickly raised her hands to catch the robe before it exposed her breasts. “Hey, be careful,” she demanded.
“What? Like you were careful in the crypt?” Zachary knew he was mad and he was trying to keep a handle on it but seeing the teeth marks pissed him off. However, that was nothing compared to the symbol he’d seen psychically burned on the palm of her left hand.
“Wanna tell me what happened in the crypt?” Zachary asked unable to bottle the anger inside him. No one messed with Angelica and got away with it… not if he could help it.
“Not really,” Angelica answered and pulled the robe back up on her shoulders. She started to get up, knowing what was coming, but Zachary’s legs wrapped around her and pulled her back against the sofa holding her prisoner.
“I asked nicely,” he informed her in a dark voice. He suddenly placed his hands on her temples and gripped her head to keep her from pulling away.
“No!” Angelica yelled and started struggling against him. With his ability to erase memories also came the ability to read them and she knew within seconds he would have every detail that she was trying to hide. It was a great ability but the downside was the victim of it had to relive the memory as he was reading it.
“Damn it!” she growled when he released her. Standing up, she spun around seeing the fire blazing in his eyes. “I warned you what would happen the next time you did that.”
Her hand swung out to smack him but Zachary caught it inches from his face and returned her glare. With one quick jerk, he pulled her forward making her fall over the sofa and halfway into his lap.
“I also warned you not to keep secrets from me.” He turned her hand up so they could both see the symbol on her palm, “Like this one.”
“It were my secrets to keep,” Angelica snapped. “This is my problem, not yours.”
Though she was angry and hated it when Zach used that power on her, it was the reason they were so close… he knew all her damn secrets.
Zachary’s eyes softened as he tried to exhale some of the heat that had built up within him. He released her hand and slid off the back of the sofa onto the soft cushions. He resituated Angelica in his lap so she was sitting across it and wrapped his arms around her.
“From now on, you’ll have someone with you whenever we go on a demon hunt,” he said quietly.
“And who’s going to do that?” Angelica asked. “You?”
“Who better than me to watch your back and keep you out of trouble?” Zachary asked.
“How about no one?” she grumbled and decided window across the room was very fascinating to look at.
Zachary shook his head, “Sorry Boo, no deal. Besides, Storm will have my hide if I you get hurt. I don’t want what happened tonight to become a habit.”
Angelica leaned her head against Zachary’s chest and listened to the soft thumping of his heart beating. Before she knew it, she was asleep.
Zachary remained on the couch holding her as she slept. He knew she’d had one hell of an experience at the cemetery but it could have been avoided if she wasn’t so damn insecure about herself and would just let someone in to help her... to be with her.
Storm had warned him that change was coming for the all. He didn’t care at this point if Angelica didn’t want someone to know what she was or not… he was going to be by her side from now on and that was that.
