Broken Soul

Dawn was only moments away. Evan sat next to Dannie while she slept, and her head was resting on his lap instead of her pillow. He stared out the window across from them, watching the sky grow lighter and lighter. Since they had gotten back inside of Leighton's house, Evan hadn't left Dannie's side. He never wanted to again. She had come when so close to dying and he refused to lose her too. He looked down at her as he thought about how much she had suffered and seen since she had come into his life. Yet she didn't seem afraid and was still there for him. Only someone who cared about him deeply would do that, he knew. He just wished he knew why. Well, he was aware they had known each other from somewhere before. The memories just weren't too clear to him yet. He wanted to know her. And remember everything about her. But he couldn't.

Erick had spent the last several hours rebuilding the charred section Leighton's home. It took a lot of magic and time and many things had to be changed but he was able to do it. The walls were back up and only a few rooms were left undamaged, Dannie's and Evan's being one of them.

Evan couldn't stay in that room much longer. He had to find a darker place to rest for the day. Part of him wanted to stay by Dannie's side and endure the daylight's burn but he wasn't strong enough to deal with it. Being burned by demon fire was torture enough.

Without waking Dannie, Evan gently moved her so he could get up out of the bed. On his way out of the room, he ran into Leighton and they started conversing in the doorway. "Something wrong?" Leighton asked.

"Do you have a place I can sleep, preferably a room without windows?" Evan inquired.

"Have you not fed recently?" Leighton asked. "If you have, the sun won't harm you."

"I did last night, but I didn't have much," Evan replied. "And even if I did eat enough, I can't stand the sun's burns, no matter how severe they are."

"Regardless, you should eat. Isn't Danielle your donor? Is she able to-"

"No," Evan interrupted. "She's not my donor."

"But you said she was."

"I know, I had to lie to get her inside. Myra was my donor. I guess Erick and October tried to pass her off as his."

Leighton tried to sum everything up. "So...the demons were pretending to be vampires and Myra was their fake donor and Danielle is just a simple human girl you wanted to sneak into my home?"

"Basically, yes." Evan expected him to get angry but surprisingly, he just laughed.

"Nicely done. You all fooled me. You could have just been honest though. Now, back on the subject. You need a donor. Can't you just use Danielle?"

"I can't."

"Why is that?"

Evan tried to explain. "Her blood...it has a foul scent to me. It's like nothing I've ever come across before. I think that if I consume it, something terrible might happen to me...or her."

"Odd," Leighton muttered in perplexity. "You should find another donor. Or simply hunt. But in the meantime, you can use Amanda."

"Are you sure?" This gesture surprised Evan. Vampires were always very possessive of their donors. Just the thought of another vampire using Myra for blood made him furious.

"Yes. I know you won't hurt her. And, if Danielle's blood isn't foul to me, I could probably substitute her as my donor. Is that all right with you?"

"I suppose." Something else concerned Evan. "You're just gonna take her blood, right? Nothing else?"

Leighton was confused as to why Evan asked him that. "Of course, I won't do anything else to her. Why?"

"No reason."

* * * * *

Dannie awoke when the light blue dawn sky swept over the last stars of the night. She opened her eyes to see a figure setting it up right next to her. At first, she thought it was Evan. But she took a closer look. "Erick? What are you-"

"Evan asked me to keep an eye on you," he explained. His gaze remained straight ahead so Dannie could only see the left side of his face. "He wanted to sleep in a darker room."

"Is he all right?" she wondered. "I know he got burned last night."

"He wasn't the only one..."

"What? Erick, what do you mean?" She waited for him to reply but he wouldn't even look at her. Dannie sat up and put her hand on his shoulder. "Erick, what's wrong? Look at me... Please?"

He was hesitant to show her but he knew he couldn't hide it forever. Slowly, he turned his face toward her. Even in such a dim room, she could see it. Dannie gasped and tears of guilt welled up in her eyes at the sight of him. Almost the entire right side of his face was burnt. The flesh was blistered and scabbed and he could barely even open his eye. It was squinting and agony, trying to focus behind his singed eyelid. He looked like he was in so much pain, Dannie felt her heart sink. "Erick, I'm so sorry... You got burned trying to protect me, didn't you?"

He nodded slightly.

She vaguely remembered the moment when he pushed through the fire and shielded her with his body. Dannie had no idea he had gotten hurt from helping her. She mostly just recalled falling an out of consciousness until Evan had carried her back inside of the house. She didn't remember seeing Erick up close after he had gotten injured. "You're a demon though, can't you heal yourself?"

"I tried," he replied. "For hours, I tried. Demon fire is a lethal, even to other demons. I used all my protection for your cross. I left myself vulnerable when I did that." He turned his head away and his gaze fell. "Please don't look at me anymore... Not only am I a monster but I look like one as well now... I'll understand if you're afraid to look at me..."

"Erick..." Dannie said softly and gently touched his hand. He faced her once again. "I'm not afraid of you. I've never been afraid of you. And you're not a monster. You're still you."

For the thousands of years Erick had been alive, his human form had always been considered beautiful. He never had any flaws and never once questioned his appearance. Insecure actions were new to him. And he just knew that if he didn't look a certain way, he couldn't blend in or do his usual demonic activities. Having a burn on half of his face would definitely be a challenge for him. And if he couldn't do all the things he was supposed to do, he'd lose everything he had worked for. And that worried him.

"Whose demon was that anyway?" Dannie wondered. "Was it Dusk's?"

"I don't know if she was anyone's," Erick said. "She was probably a soul stealer."

Dannie had never heard that term before. "Soul stealer?"

"They're demons who have no master," Erick explained. "They basically do vampires' dirty work and get paid with people's souls. She probably would have taken Myra's or yours."

"What use would a demon have for a human soul?" Dannie asked.

"The more you have, the more powerful you are," he answered. "But, that power can drive you mad. When a soul is stolen, it gets stored into an object, usually small like a necklace or a stone. As the soul count goes up, the power rises. And it takes over you. Nothing is right or wrong. Evil is all you know. And the souls... Instead of moving on, they're trapped in darkness and are slowly drained of their energy until they eventually just fade away...like they never existed."

"Erick..." Dannie uttered with dread, "you seem to know a lot about this. Were you a soul stealer?"

Erick turned his head away again. He couldn't even look when her in the eye as he said softly, "I was."

"So...that's the wrong that you did? October told me that demons who serve vampires have to do that because they're being punished for something. Am I right?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Erick..." She actually felt disappointed. "Why would you do that?"

"We have no conscience, Danielle," he reminded her. "Demons are selfish, greedy and evil. I can't explain why we do things sometimes. If an opportunity that benefits us comes up, we seize it. The consequences hardly ever cross our minds."

"Was it worth it? Making others suffer for your power?"

"No. The power was addictive. It was all that mattered. But it never lasts."

"You got caught, didn't you?"

"Yes. I was forced back to my home realm and I remained imprisoned there until I was assigned to Ravyn after she was turned. She had never needed my help until she asked me to protect you."

"So what did you do until then?"

"I lived in solitude mostly, waiting to hear her summon me. For centuries, I just traveled the world, learning things, seeing things. I was able to keep myself from straying and I tried to stay on the side of what you humans consider to be good. The temptation of the evil is always constant. And it can be extremely difficult to ignore."

"I don't think you're evil," Dannie told him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I've never seen you do anything bad."

"You don't know me very well, Danielle," he informed her. He thought that would startle her and she'd move away from him but she still remained leaning on him. "I am the epitome of evil. You have no idea what I'm capable of. The things I've done... The things I've seen...they'd terrify you..." He turned away from her and she was forced to lift her head up. His gaze fell to his lap and he expected her to get up and leave. But she didn't.

"Erick."

He slowly looked up, surprised to see her sitting across from him now. She lifted her hands to his face, gently holding it so he couldn't look away. She was very careful not to touch his burn. "I am not and will never be afraid of you. You may have had a dark past and you might be something I don't quite understand but I do believe there is good inside of you. If there wasn't, you wouldn't have been able to cast that evil aside for so long. You might not see it but I can."

"It's because you've only seen me as an obedient demon who's assigned to protect you," he pointed out. "If you saw me as I really am, you wouldn't feel that way. Would you like to see my true form?"

"Why are you trying to scare me, Erick?" she asked, confused because he wouldn't listen. "I don't understand why you're doing this..."

"I'm just trying to follow my orders and protect you."

"From what?"

"Me."

She slowly dropped her hands from his face and he lowered his head once again. "You wouldn't hurt me. I know it. You wouldn't..."

"Demons are unpredictable," he said solemnly. "I can't promise you anything."

"Erick?"

He rose his head and made eye contact with her again.

"What happens if you don't obey an order?"

"I'd lose my freedom," he answered.

"That's all?" Dannie had a feeling there was more to it.

"Basically."

"Do you like it here? In all honesty?"

He knew she meant if he liked being there on earth protecting her. He didn't know exactly how to reply so he didn't.

Instead of saying anything else, Dannie wrapped her arms around his neck and then rested her forehead against his. She closed her eyes as he just stared up at her, motionless. He had never been this close to a human before, at least without hurting them. As he looked at her, something began to awaken within him. He had never felt it before and it confused him, but he didn't fight it. He couldn't tell if it was good or bad or right or wrong. He just became lost in it and didn't even think about the consequences. He tilted his head up to hers when the door opened. It was Amanda.

"Oh, you're awake," she observed. "Leighton would like to see you, Danielle, in his study."

"I'll be right there," Dannie told Amanda just before she closed the door and left. Dannie rested her head on Erick's again, ran her fingers through his soft white hair and then said, "I'd better go. You should get some rest."

"I could go with you," he offered. "We still don't know much about Leighton."

His concern made Dannie smile. "It'll be fine. I don't think he'll hurt me. Probably just wants to talk."