Some Protector

Damien sat at the desk, watching over Jamie, who was still asleep. He knew she would wake up soon, so he thought about what he would tell her. The truth, of course. Who and what I really am, He thought. With that decided, it was just a waiting game. And finally, the game ended. He saw her stir as she began to awaken, and he looked away, ashamed. He could feel her gaze burn through him, but he didn’t turn around. He was too ashamed of himself to face her now.

“What are you?” She asked. “I know you’re not human. Are you a demon, or a werewolf?”

“Don’t mistake me for a werewolf,” He said, somewhat harshly. He felt her flinch from his harsh tone. “Sorry, but my kind don’t get along too well with werewolves.”

“So are you a demon?” She asked.

“No, I’m not a demon, I’m much worse than a demon. I’m a vampire,” He said, hiding his face behind his hair.

“Oh, a vampire!” She exclaimed, sounding almost excited, which amazed him. Usually his charges were terrified of him once he revealed himself. “And what is your real name?” She asked.

“My real name is Damien. I was born in London, in the year 1214. I was changed when I turned 17 all those years ago,” He said.

“How interesting! It must be fascinating being a vampire!” She said.

“Fascinating? Hardly. It’s a fight for my life, every time someone finds out about me,” He said.

“Oh, that’s terrible!” She said. “You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone, though. I wouldn’t want to put you in danger.”

“How sweet. She wouldn’t want you getting hurt,” A voice with a playful tone said. Damien whirled around, pushing Jamie behind him.

“What do you want, Gabriel?” He said.

“To humiliate you once more by stealing your charge, of course,” The other said, materializing in front of them. He had a crazed look in his eyes, a look that terrified even Damien. “Well, well, they certainly gave you a pretty little thing this time, didn’t they?” He said, gazing at Jamie. Jamie backed up into a corner of his room, and Damien cast a protective shield around her, a shield that would only break if he died.

“Leave her alone, Gabriel,” Damien said in a dangerously quiet voice, already preparing himself to attack.

“And I suppose you’re going to make me?” Gabriel said. Without waiting for a response, he leapt into the air toward Damien, who rolled out of the way of the attack. Damien responded by slashing at the other, and as the battle continued, Damien’s entire personality changed. His eyes turned blood red, and he became more aggressive toward Gabriel. “Well, someone took a drink from his charge,” He said in a sing song voice. Damien’s response was a growl and an attack. Damien was losing badly, and he was injured badly. He was losing a lot of blood, and he felt as though he would pass out. He groaned and leaned heavily against the wall. He heard Jamie’s cry of surprise as the shield began to weaken, and Gabriel was getting close to her.

“Stay away from her!” He yelled and, with the adrenalin rush, he leapt at Gabriel and slashed, bit and clawed at the other vampire. Gabriel roared in pain as Damien continued his relentless attack, and finally flung Damien away.

“You may have won this time, but I’ll get her eventually, just like all the others!” He yelled as he disappeared. Damien let the shield fall away from Jamie with the flick of his hand, and then his head fell to the floor and he closed his eyes, surrendering to the darkness that was overwhelming him...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Damien’s eyes fluttered open, and he saw that he was, once more, in the hospital. He saw Nathaniel’s face above him, Jamie’s next to his. “Oh, thank goodness you’re all right, Damien!” She exclaimed, flinging her arms around his neck. “I was so worried! You’ve been unconscious for two days!”

“Two days!” He exclaimed, and he jumped up, only to be pushed gently back down by Nathaniel.

“Calm down, Damien. You don’t want your wounds to reopen, do you?” He asked.

“Reopen? Why would they reopen?” Damien asked.

“They were a little too severe for me to close them fully, and besides that, your life energy was too weak for me to do much good,” Nathaniel said sadly.

“How did it get so weak so fast?” Damien asked. He could feel himself fading again.

“Don’t worry about that now. Just get some rest,” Nathaniel’s rapidly fading voice echoed to him. He felt himself fall back and slip once more into darkness.

||From the mind of Nathaniel||

Nathaniel saw Damien fall back, and he caught him before he fell off of his bed. He wasn’t looking well at all after his battle with Gabriel. I’ll have to contact Ann, let her know what happened, He thought. “Excuse me for a moment,” He said, stepping out of the room. “Ann? It’s Nathaniel. I need to talk to you right away,” He said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice.

“Nathaniel? What’s wrong, is it Damien again?”

“Yes. Gabriel attacked while he was in Jamie’s house, and he protected her, but he’s very badly hurt, and his life energy is nearly gone.”

“Oh no, what can we do?”

“We don’t have much time to think about that, do we? I can’t think of anything we can do to help him now. It depends on his will power, his strength, and his want to remain alive. And I don’t think he has too much of any of those.”

||From the mind of Damien||

Damien was floating in nothing, a great blackness surrounded him. He couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed, but he didn’t really care either way. He felt softness surrounding him; the darkness was warm and inviting. He saw a golden light in front of him, and he tried to reach for it, but he couldn’t move. He didn’t try to; he lay back and floated along. He felt no pain, nothing but warmth and softness. He heard garbled voices in the back of his mind, but he pushed them away. Hands reached for him, trying to pull him out of his darkness. He fought against these hands, but he heard a clear voice in his mind, echoing through the darkness. “Damien,” The voice said. “You have to wake up now, or you’ll fade away.” He didn’t mind that, part of him wanted to fade away. It would mean he wouldn’t have to worry about losing another charge. He fought against the voice, not wanting to obey it’s call. He struggled to break free, to continue floating through the darkness. Leave me be, He thought, just leave me be... Let me float here... Let me be free... He heard the voice again. “No, Damien! Jamie needs you!” The voice boomed. She can care for herself... He thought, but then even the darkness began to fade. He was riding on a wave of whispering voices and faceless faces, of endless hands grabbing at him, pulling him this way and that. He pushed through them, or at least tried to, and fought them away.

||From the mind of Nathaniel||

Nathaniel could feel Damien’s life energy slipping further and further away, no matter how much he tried to draw him back. It seemed useless. He felt tears slipping down his cheeks, and he stepped away from the bed on which Damien rested. Jamie looked at him, worry filling her eyes, and she reached out and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Isn’t there something you can do for him?” She asked. He shook his head.

“I’ve done everything I could. He’s fading too fast for me to do anything for him now,” He whispered, the tears flowing freely. Jamie reached out and wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Maybe I can do something for him,” She said, and she stepped toward his bed. He saw her eyes close, and she reached out to contact him.

||From the mind of Damien||

Damien battled the shadows that haunted him. He fought, but he found he had little strength left. He heard another voice enter his black abyss. “Damien, please come back! I need you! Please, you have to come back!” He recognized the voice that spoke to him. Jamie... He thought. “Damien, please, I need you!” Her voice was frantic, she was pleading, begging him to come back! He gathered strength. I will not fade... I must not fade! Jamie needs me! He told himself. He pulled himself out of the faces and hands and away from the voices. He pulled himself through the darkness, and into the light of consciousness, the light he had reached for earlier, the light that had faded away.

He opened his eyes, looking around at Jamie, standing next to his bed, and Nathaniel, sitting in a chair, crying for him. He reached up and gently patted Jamie’s cheek. Her eyes flew open, and she hugged him tightly. “Damien! You’re okay!” She cried out. Nathaniel’s head shot up, and he smiled at Jamie.

“She saved you,” He said quietly. Damien nodded.

“Yes, she did,” He responded. He heard another voice in his head.

“Damien! Are you all right?” Ann asked.

“I’m fine now Ann. Jamie saved me from fading.”

“I’m glad. You had all of us worried about you!”

“Sorry, I don’t know what was happening. I felt so weak, so helpless! I knew I was fading, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”He felt a wave of sickness roll over him. He let out a groan, and Jamie pulled back to allow Nathaniel to see what the problem was.

“Lay back,” He said gently, and he placed his hands on Damien’s chest. Light pulsed from his hands, warm and soothing, and Damien felt the sickness pass. He felt stronger, and he fed on this until Nathaniel drew away with a gasp. He stumbled backward, and Jamie caught him. Damien felt dizzy, and his head fell back once more.

“What was that just now?” He asked worriedly.

“You were taking my life energy,” Nathaniel explained.

“My God, Nathaniel, I’m sorry!” Damien gasped. He felt guilty and ashamed. Nathaniel sensed this, and he stepped closer.

“It isn’t your fault, Damien. You unconsciously reached out and started to take it as I was healing you,” He said gently. He continued to mummer soothing words until Damien fell asleep.