Lost Souls

I wiped at my nose and decided to just shrug off this emotion overload and walk away. To hell with Damon Salvatore, I’ve had enough and I deserve to walk out.

I know, dramatic much right?

“Rayna, wait!” Damon shouted and ran up to me. “I have still have questions! Dammit Rayna, slow down.”

Immediately I stopped as soon his hand grabbed my arm. Shoving him away, I looked up at Damon. I felt like I was on this big emotional rollercoaster, going from sad to annoyed. Damon’s seriously wrecking my state of mind.

“I have the dagger and I’m going to my friend to see if she could help me. I don’t particularly care for any of your questions. Now, I’m walking to her bar, follow me if you want or fuck off.”

I may have stupefied Damon but in the end, he walked with me to Renuka’s bar. The walk was, if you can imagine, awkward. But I’m just using that adjective loosely. A pissed off closet-goddess and an equally pissed off vampire with a tinge of confusion did not make good company.

Worse if there was history.

But we made it to the bar eventually. Renuka was only twenty-eight but it was her pride and joy, the bar that was downstairs from her home. Ren was a really close friend of mine; and that said something considering she was human. I’m not saying a hate the race or anything, it’s just that humans and their lives are so fragile, so short. It hurts to get attached and see them wither away and die—worse yet, trouble always seems to find me and endangering humans are just a flat ‘no’.

Renuka, however, she’s pretty special.

We entered her bar and immediately we were engulfed in music. Despite my bad mood, I giggled when Damon’s face twisted. “What kind of music is this?” he yelled through the music.

“It varies! But right now, they’re playing Soca. Renuka is from Trinidad,” I yelled back. I walked upstairs where Ren lived. I only rapped on the door twice before she answered, laughing and hugging me.

“Rayna! Yuh here!” Ren exclaimed. Her gloved hands touched my bare shoulder. “Come for ah lil whine ent?” Her eyes gazed over to Damon and she whistled. “Damn. Hi, I’m Renuka. And I just need to thank you.”

Damon looked at her puzzled. “For what?”

“For bein’ ah fine piece ah male specimen!” she said breathily, fanning herself. Damon smirked and bowed his head.

“Why thank you, I’m finally being appreciated,” he said and looked at me pointedly.

Renuka turned and looked at me in horror. “Why de hell you nah abusin’ yuh time wit dis bess ting?”

“Oh she abuses me alright. I think she makes up words just to describe what she feels for me. And believe you me Renuka, it’s not nice stuff.” Damon was telling on me! I gaped at him incredulously.

Renuka tsked at me and then turned back to Damon. “Wat ah pity. Here what hun, you stay here wit me an’ ah go make yuh rell happy.”

I sighed. “Ren I didn’t come here to witness your overactive sex drive. It’s important.” I pulled out the dagger and Renuka immediately sobered up. I turned to Damon and explained to him why exactly we came here. “Even though Ren’s human she’s gifted. What happens is that when she touches something she gets like an information rush I guess. She sees everyone who has ever touched the dagger including where they were when they touched it.”

“Hence the gloves,” Damon said. Renuka nodded.

“When I touch stuff it’s like if I’m in the room watching the person. Like for instance once I touched this ancient Greek ring and I saw Posiedon holding the ring in this amazing room—.”

“Posiedon?” Damon asked. “Like the god?” Renuka and I nodded. Damon laughed. “You two don’t actually believe that right?”

Renuka looked at me, surprised. I knew she wanted to ask me if Damon knew about me so I just shook my head.

Yes, Renuka is actually the only one who knows that I’m a goddess. It wasn’t that I told her by choice, she more or less ‘figured’ it out.

Ren glanced sideways at Damon and snorted. “Vampires, doppelgangers, werewolves and friggn’ fairies are real but gods and goddesses existing is just bullshit? Boy, if is one ting I cya handle is total dumbasses. You maybe a cutie but it clear yuh schupid.”

My lips twitched, watching the two of them and I cleared my throat. “Hun, as much as I love you at this certain point in time, bashing Damon kind of has to wait. I need anything you can get on this dagger.”

“Say no more,” Ren said, taking off one of her gloves. “Tap in my mind, will you?” I nodded and waited as she touched the dagger.

As soon as her fingertips made contact to the blade’s hilt, Renuka gasped loudly in pain, dropping to her knees. I kneeled beside her, holding onto her arm. At first I didn’t know what was happening but then as I entered her mind, I was overwhelmed.

White, hot pain seared through my mind. This was the first time I’ve ever experienced it so strong. I was seeing through Renuka’s eyes and what I saw, had me still.

The room was dark and held nothing except for a table in the middle, which held a bowl containing dark liquid. Over the bowl a man had his head bowed, whispering words I couldn’t make out. He picked up the dagger and dipped it into the liquid. Without raising up, he handed the dagger to someone. “Kill her, Gahiji.”

There were two things I noticed at once. Firstly the person, a man, who took the dagger had a wristband on his left wrist; a band that belonged to an underground club that I was familiar with.

Another thing I realized, was that the man who spoke was Set. It was something I just knew.

Then, his head raised and I gasped. His eyes were level to mine as if he was looking right at me. He smiled, gruesome and twisted. “Come to play little pet?”