The Amalgamation Of Two Worlds

Damon’s POV

When I want something, I take it. When I need something, I take it. And when I want a girl, she doesn’t stand a chance of getting away from me. Oh, it’s always consensual, but I always get my way. Always. So while I may not want Audrey per say, I did want her in a manner of speaking. Yet I was being denied that. After being so close. And it was my own fault, really. I should have just pushed her against the rocks, stripped her down and-

I shook my head. I couldn’t think of that. Not now. Not while she was standing behind me practically burning a hole through me with her eyes. Hell. Couldn’t she just curl in a ball and cover her eyes so I wouldn’t see them? Or perhaps she could go jump in a freezing lake and drown. Either way, I was literally and figuratively, ready to burst.

There was a bend in the trail up ahead, twisting along with the mountains, and of course, that’s where the sounds were coming from. So I stood. I waited... and I tried to think of anything but what, or who, lay behind me.

The sounds finally got close enough for me to drop down to my fighting stance, without having fear of waiting too long.

Shadows passed across the mountain side, showing figures before they even came into view. My fists clenched, my teeth bared and my body tensed, all the muscles ready to spring onto my target. Or targets. Didn’t really matter, I was so wound tight I knew I could take on a group right now. I needed to let out some energy.

The figures appeared and I felt a growl slipping out of me, anger filling my body as I straightened. I hissed something vulgar at them before slamming my fist into the mountain side. Some rock crumbled, but nothing came crashing down. Too bad.

I turned to the men now coming towards us. It was the second group I sent out, the one including Zenon and Hayden along with many other men. Only now, the numbers were reduced. Zenon and Hayden were still standing... sorta. Zenon and one, of no more than a dozen men, were each holding one of Hayden’s arms, holding his body up. His eyes were bloodshot and his body was shaking. Besides a few superficial wounds, I didn’t notice anything life threatening. So why the shaking? I narrowed my eyes and backed up a bit. The second question that popped up into my mind was how did they find us? They were supposed to be gathering supplies.

“Damon. What happened to the group?” I looked at Zenon, meeting his eyes head on.

“Attacked. Got separated. You?”

“Attacked, also. Not sure by what.”

“A big churning mass of darkness with no soul?” Supplied Audrey, walking up to the group now. I fought my grin at Audrey’s response. Zenon met her gaze and gave a swift nod.

“How, exactly, did you find us?” Hayden’s head lifted now, his eyes meeting mine. I snarled, instantly tensing my body. What the hell was in his eyes? And where had I seen it before?

“I could feel you.” Hayden rasped, his voice sounding like sand paper.

“Hayd-?” Audrey started forward, I jumped in front of her, shoving her back and turning again to Hayden, ignoring Audrey.

“Feel me? What the hell does that mean? You’re clave. You feel a threat, not a person.” Hayden grinned and I practically felt Audrey’s flinch from seeing the blood on his teeth.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Damon.” ‘Cause that summed everything up. He pulled away from Zenon and the other man, stumbling forward. I tensed again, making sure Audrey was still behind me. I shouldn’t have bothered. Hayden dropped to his knees before me, shaking again.

“Stand up, Hayden. What’s wrong with you?” He lifted his head again, and now as I looked into his eyes, I knew what they reminded me of. The look in Brale’s eyes when he went crazed. “I think it’s about time you explain what’s going on with you. And what happened with Brale.” Audrey shifted behind me but I spared her no glance. My eyes were for Hayden alone. If need be, I would kill him. If he was turning into Brale, I would for sure kill him before he laid a hand on Audrey.

“There’s darkness. Everywhere.” He rasped, his head falling back into his chest, his breathing erratic. “Demon’s. They can sense it.” I didn’t respond. I didn’t need a history lesson. Demon’s have always been able to sense darkness, but until The Demonio, I had never experienced that part of myself. The Dark Lands may be dark, but under our terms, it wasn’t darkness. The Demonio were.

“But claves,” he continued, “claves feel it. They feel it. It goes into their system and... and messes with things.”

“It corrupts you.” I said for him, and he gave the barest of nods. “So why now? You lasted longer than Brale.” Hayden gave a small laugh, which in turn, brought blood up.

“Brale was young. New.” He paused, and said quietly, “weak.” He took another shuddering breath, as if controlling himself, and looked up. “My family was killed when I was young. But I remember the lessons my father taught me. He prepared me for life.” His eyes shut. “And every time I need help, I see them. Flashbacks. Every clave has a method of gaining knowledge. Mine is seeing glimpses of my dead family.” Audrey started forward, sympathy on her face. I shot her a look which stopped her cold. How was it that one moment I wanted her, and the next I wanted to lock her up in a cage?

“And now you’ve finally lost it.” He nodded and his head lifted once more, his eyes now glistening. A sound left Audrey, a heart filled sound, but I paid her no mind.

“Yes. I...” his voice faltered. “I don’t want this in me. Kill me.” I studied his pitiful frame on the ground. His body was on his knees and his back was hunched, with his arms wrapped around himself. Yet even with his broken figure, I could see the darkness stirring behind his eyes, barely kept in check. It was hungry, and out of everyone in the group, I knew who the target would be. It would be the same target Brale sought out; Audrey. And that thought alone made me make my decision.

I stepped forward, making Hayden’s eyes fill with relief before he shut them and lowered his head.

Audrey’s POV

Have you ever seen something, yet not believe it? Or not wanted to believe it? When your mind is so horrified that it doesn’t wish to comprehend what it’s seeing? Where your eyes burn from the memory? Or lack of? I’ve seen many of those moments. In The Dark Lands and already on Earth. I’ve seen my share of gruesome events, and I longed to be rid of the images. The knowledge? No. I wanted to know what I know, merely because I knew it’s what kept my alive. However, I could go without the dreams of blood and gore. So while I’ve had my fair share of horrific events, the event that was playing in front of my eyes weren’t any less horrific. Only this event, it hit me deep down. In my gut. In my heart.

Hayden and saved not only me, but Gabriel. He had dedicated his life to saving others, and he was good at it. He was one of the few men from The Dark Lands I actually liked. And now Damon was going to kill him? While I understood his logic, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. Hayden had lasted so far, so what was stopping him from pushing forward? Why was he giving up now? Why? And why was I just standing here?

I skirted quickly around Damon to stand in front of Hayden, my arms crossed. I’m sure Damon could have stopped me, but there was genuine shock on his face. Did he not think I would protect Hayden when I learned what was going on? It didn’t make a difference. Hayden was still Hayden to me, and I’d be damned if I lost another person.

“Au-“

”No!” I hissed, cutting him off. “He’s still Hayden, and-“ Damon grabbed my shoulders and spun me away from Hayden who had fallen over into a ball. The sight made my heart clench. “You can’t kill hi-“

”Watch me.” So when he turned, I did the only thing I could think of. While I may have watched Damon and the others fight a lot, and while I had previously thought of myself adept with the concept, I knew I couldn’t pull off anything right now. I was sore and tired. My mind burned and I so badly wanted a bubble bath. A lavender bubble path, to be precise. So I did what I could. I kicked him in the back of the knees as hard as I could. And as I watched him stumble, I found it odd that only moments ago we had almost done a very intimate act.

I took Damon’s stumble as my queue to get to Hayden again. So I did, and none of the men stopped me. All their eyes were on Damon, waiting. If Damon told them to move me, I’m sure they would. However, for now, they were content in waiting. My hands gripped Hayden’s head as I lifted it up, and again, I felt my heart clench painfully.

His whole body was shaking, and the tears that had glistened in his eyes, were now strolling down his cheeks.

“No,” he whispered to me. “Please. Please.” I brushed away a tear and ignored the snarl that came from behind me.

“It’s still you, Hayden. The same Hayden that saved me. The same Hayden who’s going to be there when we take them down.” He shook his head. “Yes, it-“

”No. No! I... I can smell your blood, Audrey. And I want it. I can see myself ripping op-“ arms grabbed me roughly and tossed me aside. I landed hard on the ground and rolled, my whole body screaming in pain. I gritted my teeth and stood, again ignoring my screaming bones.

“Damon,” I ground out, earning his angry gaze on me. Hayden was at his feet, murmuring helplessly.

“He’s gone.”

“No. Brale was gone. He’s not. He’s just afraid.”

“For damn good reason!” Damon yelled, approaching me. “He’s going to rip out your heat when he loses it! Imagine if he came back, even for a moment after that. Imagine the agony he would feel then! So tell me, Audrey,what the hell is the better option?!” His gaze pierced mine, and the part of me that grew up in The Dark Lands begged me to drop to my knees, beg for forgiveness and curl into a ball to await the punishment that would come upon me. That part of me had grown small, though, so I lifted my chin high, and made sure I didn’t even blink under Damon’s gaze.

“Has he lost it yet, Damon? No? And why? He doesn’t want to. So he won’t. Hayden’s stronger than you are, and if you can stand there talking to me without wanting to rip out my heart, than so can he.”

“Who said I didn’t want to.” He hissed, now standing right in front of me. I shrugged at him, trying to appear calm, when inside I was shaking. I knew Damon wouldn’t hurt me, but there was still that voice of doubt, and even though that voice was small, with Damon’s anger right now, that voice was a lot louder.

“But are you? Is he? What’s the difference between you two, then? You drink blood. You always crave it. How are you any different than he is right now?”

“I know control.” Three simple words. Each said with enough venom to slice open a rock.

“He saved me Damon. I won’t let you do this.” His gaze was furious, and again, the urge to run hit me. And maybe that wasn’t a bad idea. I inched myself away from him, and to the edge of the group. He followed silently, yet remaining a ways away. So now, the question was, who would Damon choose? Would he stay and kill Hayden, or give chase to me?

Hayden’s POV

I blinked. And blinked again. It should have been an easy task, but at the moment I found my whole body sluggish. My body didn’t want to respond, and I had a severe pain beginning in my temple. Something told me I didn’t want that pain to get worse, but no one was helping me with that task. Damon was staring after Audrey, the men were watching Damon, and Audrey was...

As soon as my eyes landed on her, the pain exploded. A scream tore from my throat, my body slamming back, uncurling itself, and my head slamming against the rocks. My back arched as my vision swayed, dark blobs coming into my vision. I fought it. No! I would not lose it when I was so close to ending it all. No!

The blobs seemed to grow, rushing by my face faster and faster; moving; hurling; swirling. All of it making me want to throw up contents I no longer held in my stomach.

The pain in my head grew and I let out another scream, my eyes shutting. The blobs turned into shapes, molding themselves an-

I threw my eyes open again, and when I did, the pain in my head returned. The images vanished, but that didn’t stop them from dancing on the side of my vision. Images? Why was I seeing images?

I’d like to say I was strong, and I only gave in for sheer curiosity, but that’s a lie. I finally shut my eyes again, but because the pain was too much. I was hardly breathing anymore when I shut them, and I had that sinking feeling that though it felt like hours, it had been but mere seconds.

My eyes shut and the pain was immediately gone. The images appeared again, and I found everything around me vanish. Not like the darkness, though, this was different. Way Different.

Her body bolted, screams tearing from behind her. Snarls, curses, more vulgar sounds also followed. Along with a shape. Damon’s. He gave chase, as she knew he would. The path wound, and her lungs heaved as she forced herself forward. He was on her heels, yelling. But she was deaf. Deaf to it all. She wanted it to go away, far away...

With surprise to herself, and Damon’s figure, a forest came into view; an escape from the rocky landscape she now ran upon. She reached it, and his voice rang out again, but different; frightened? Followed by his yell, another sound came. A sound that sent her to her knees, her hands covering her ears. The sound shattered what thought she had, and when she looked up, all she saw was darkness. Looming in front of her; surrounding her. Then he came. Damon

His body hurled itself at the darkness, and for a split second, everything was okay. Then his body was hurled back. Crumpled inwards, arm bones protruding his skin, and a head no longer attached. Blood squirted everywhere, and screams filled the night, leaving her body. The thing screeched again, reared, and struck out at her small frail body. Blood sprayed an-

“Run!” Yelled a voice. A familiar voice? Shapes hurled around the area, obviously following the voices command. Screams also filled the area, but there was one in particular that struck out. A little boys. His figure was small and huddled into the ground, fear very evident in his eyes. Yet no tears were in his eyes. His body shook, whether from fear or the pounding of footsteps, wasn’t obvious. The voice rang out again, and the boys head lifted, his lips moving, the sound barely audible.

“Caleb?” Another figure appeared, snatching up the boy. The boy screeched until the figure murmured words of encouragement.

“Shhh.” He held the boy huddled against his chest, and in his eyes showed that he was also fearful. Why wouldn’t he be? He was human. Humans were going to die now. The darkness was here to, and again, it screeched as it started destroying anything and everything in its path. The human brought the shaking boy closer to his body, backing up but never taking his eyes off the moving shapes.

“Brian?!” Yelled the voice, Caleb’s voice. The boy’s head lifted, but he never left the human’s arms. The human yelled back, continuing his retreat. Another screech was let out, followed by many screams of the dying. The human jumped, and as he did, something struck from behind. He fell hard, the little boy flying some ways. He cried out, as did the human. The human tried to stand, but the darkness lashed out, literally taking out the human’s legs. He screamed, as did the boy. Blood soaked into the ground, and the darkness lapped it up.

The boy curled in a ball when another figure appeared, seeming to wish to protect the boy. The boy cried out in relief, but that was short lived as again the darkness took another life. The body was ripped in half, and as the half’s landed, the darkness turned to the boy.

I screamed, my eyes shooting open, my body arching. I spun around, and heaved, but nothing came out. That didn’t stop my body from trying, though. I gasped, my eyes slowing moving upwards. What the hell had happened?

My eyes landed on the first figure they saw; Audrey. She was standing away from everyone, staring at me in sympathy. Her foot took a small step back, and my eyes latched onto it. No. Something in my gut screamed, and I stuttered. My eyes flew back to her face, and the image of her covered in Damon’s blood, and soon to be her own, flew back to me. No. Her foot stepped back again.

“Audrey, no!”