When Reality Diminishes

She paced the room, which was turning out to be a common occurrence, as she waited for Damon to return. He had burst into her room, told her to wake up, and then left saying he’d be back.

She hated being left in the dark, and she was hoping that Damon was coming back to clue her in. But the sensible part of her mind told her that would never happen. She could always dream, though.

He hadn’t seem angry or tensed when he came in. He actually seemed happy, which was also another common occurrence beginning to happen. Things must be going good if he was happy... or maybe he found a new way to get to her mentally.

The door opened, cutting off her thoughts, and in walked Damon. He had a bag in his left hand, which didn’t look at all light. She eyed it before turning to Damon who was walking over to her bed, after, of course, slamming her door. He tossed the bag on the bed and immediately the bed sank. He then sat down and patted a spot beside him.

She eyed him. His happy mood always made her nervous. But after contemplating, she decided to sit by him. Her eyes went to the bag but Damon gripped her chin, turning her head to face him. She glared and he grinned.

“Eyes on me. We’ll get to that,’ he jerked his head to the bag, “later.” She pulled her head back, out of his grip. He just smiled wider. “Jasmine is being our bait this round, as you know, but that doesn’t let you off the hook.”

She scowled. Of course he wouldn’t just let her off. Why would he? That would be nice; that would be everything he was against.

“Your job is... simple enough, but if you screw up you could cost yourself your life.” Great. He continued. “I need you to watch this one line we’ll be setting off. Don’t touch it, or you may blow yourself up. Don’t go too close, or you could end up messing it out of line. If anyone comes, kill them. Do you think you can handle this?” He asked, the last part in a baby voice. She glared harder.

Could she kill someone? She had already, twice now, but they were both already haunting her conscious. If it came to be to save her life, could she take another? Could she end another just because Damon said so, just because her life needed that one to end?

“Basically, your job is to make sure no one disables it. You’ll be at the most important part of the line. We’ll have ways of communicating, Austin is working on getting the electronics right now. Also, we will have sensors around the area you will be, so if someone is coming, you’ll know before they get there. Simple enough?” It was... or so it seemed. She never could be sure with Damon.

“What do I get out of it?” He laughed. Once again it made him seem more human, made him seem more compassionate, but she knew it was a mere trick of the light. Damon was Damon, he wouldn’t be anything different. Not to her anyways. He would always be the cruel mix breed who tortured her, not physically, but mentally. However, if he kept his word, he would also be the one who got her out of place she hated. The man who got her home.

“You get one step closer to me brining you to the end.” He finally said, after calming down. He then smiled. “And if you don’t want to do it, I could always handcuff you again. I’m sure you’ll seem more of a prize then the wire, don’t you agree?” He always seemed to get on her nerves, like he had a talent for it.

“Fine. I’ll do it. Now, what’s in the bag?” He smiled more and turned to it, her eyes then also landed on it.

He pulled the string on the top, making a hole appear. She watched with curiosity as it got bigger and bigger, until it could no longer stretch. The light caught something in the bag and shimmered, blinding her for a second.

Damon reached in and began to pull out various items. Her mouth fell open, what was this? Her job sounded easy... sounded harmless, so why did he have so much gear and weapons? Was it more dangerous than he was letting off? Obviously. Had he merely led her to believe it was easy, so she wouldn’t argue?

He continued to pull out stuff. How had so much fit in the small bag? Armor was now scattered on her bed, along with various weapons she didn’t know half the names of, and also some sort of electrical device. She frowned and reached out for it, only for Damon to slap her hand back. Another glare was shot at him before she turned away.

He continued to arrange things for quite a while before there was suddenly no movement. When she turned, she found Damon studying one of the pieces of armor, a strange gleam in his eyes. Though upon realizing her stare, he wiped all emotion from his face.

“Everything is practically ready for tonight, except you. You’ll be at your post two hours before we strike. When we’re striking, if you need help, I’ll come. However, for those two hours, I’ll have my backup men near there.”

“If you have backup men, why do I have to do it?”

“Two reasons. One, upon seeing you, whoever had come, will hesitate than realize bringing you alive will gain them more reward. In their time of hesitation, you can strike. Two, I need the men backing me up for the fight, just in case. The only reason they will be there for those two hours is because they need to finish setting up the wires.” She nodded slowly then looked back at the armor and weapons. “Yesterday you proved to me that you won’t attack me with a weapon, so I’m trusting you with these. If you prove yourself not capable of handling this task, you won’t get any more weapons to defend yourself again. Do I make myself clear?” She nodded, while rolling her eyes. He let out a small growl before pulling her to her feet.

He roughly turned her so she was facing him. He then grabbed a piece of armor, which happened to be the breastplate. It wasn’t as big as the ones in the medieval times, nor did it look as sturdy, but it would suffice. She gritted her teeth as he began to lift it over her head, but he suddenly froze. He mumbled something to himself before setting it back down and grabbing a material sort of shirt. It was more like a corset than anything, but it looked much stronger.

“The metal can tear your skin off if you don’t wear the proper under clothes.” He mumbled, more to himself than anything. Without warning he slipped it over her head, ignoring her curse. He grabbed her arms and pulled them through, then he flipped her around so her back was now to him.

“I can dress myself.” His only response was yanking the string that lay beneath her breasts. She took a sharp intake of breath before elbowing him. He let out a small laugh before continuing to tie. He didn’t make it tight, as they would have in the olden days, but he made it tight enough so it wouldn’t move. It was very thick material, obviously for protection more than for looks.

After Damon was happy with how it was tied, he picked up the breast plate again and put it on. It was much more slender than she expected. It curved around her shoulders and breasts almost perfectly, as if it was made for a female. Maybe it was. Damon did something to it which made it tighter. It pressed against the corset tightly, making her happy that he had remembered to put it on her.

“Humans,” he finally mumbled. “Needing so much protection. Pathetic.” She growled which caused Damon to turn her. He bent his knees so his face was to hers. “Do you see me suiting up when I’m going against quite a few men? Do you see me holding weapons? Do you see me scared of what they can do to me? No. Humans are pathetic, maybe if they could actually fight they wouldn’t be enslaved.” He scoffed. “As if they could hold their own against us, and you wonder why your life is screwed being down here. It’s your origin, sweety, and nothing is ever going to change that.” She clenched her teeth at being called sweety.

Was it her fault that humans were inferior? No. Just because they didn’t have the qualities to heal themselves, sprout claws from their hands, they were the lower class? At least they weren’t cruel heartless people who killed and drank blood for pleasure.

She decided not to respond to what Damon said and stand still like a good little girl. The faster they got this over with, the faster they could get tonight over with. And the faster they got tonight over with, the faster she could be to getting to the end. She could finally go home, finally be with normal people around her.

Damon put on various pieces, most which under cloth had to be put first. She stood still the entire time while he put things she didn’t even know the name of on her. She allowed his hands on her body, allowed his few snide remarks, and she allowed his presence. There was nothing to be done, and remaining still would probably make things easier.

After the armor was on, and everything protective Damon had, he turned to the weapons. He strapped a thin slender sword to her side. It was light yet sharp. He then began picking up some more random weapons, from circular blades, to strap on claws. When Damon had said what they were called, she had to ask him to repeat himself. Basically it was as it sounded, only looked nothing like it. It was a small circle, that’s it. It had a suction cup that you were to stick on the bottom of your palm. When wanting to activate, you would press the suction cup, holding it down for five seconds, then let go. Claws would then come out, shaping underneath your fingers. So if you were to clench your fist, they would clench to. They moved as your hand did.

None of the other weapons were as fascinating as those, but the venom daggers did catch her eyes. He only gave her one, which happened to now be in a fancy holding case.

Once everything was strapped to her, he stepped back and allowed his eyes to rake her. Even with all the equipment on her, it was still nerve wracking to watch his eyes scan over her body.

“Good enough. Before I take you out there, any questions?” She shook her head.

It took twenty minutes, with Damon carrying her much to her embarrassment, to get there. She insisted on walking, but he said it would take far too long since she was, quote, a human, end quote.

The place looked normal and for a moment, when Damon stopped, she thought they were lost. But when he walked over and bent down, moving some bushes and a wire protruded, she knew they were in the right place.

“Good. Now, don’t touch it. This,” he said, moving some more leaves to where a small square connected two wires. “Is the connector. The main one, this disables and so does everything. Don’t let it get disabled, and if you do, tell me.” He then pulled out the pouch Austin had gave them before he left. “This,” it looked like a small bug, “you wear in your ear. Talk and myself, Austin and Caleb will hear.” He handed it to her and she put it in her ear. It felt weird, but she ignored it. She just kept reminding herself the more she co-operated, the faster it would end. “This is for the first two hours.” It was a thin chain, a small pendant hanging off of it. She put it on and waited for him to explain. “Grip the pendant and speak, and they’ll hear you. It will only work if you grip it, but we couldn’t find anymore of those ear pieces so it will have to be good.” He then pulled out one more thing before putting the bag back in his pocket.

He handed it to her and she couldn’t help but be amazed. It was like a small hand held computer, but much smaller. The screen was as clear as large one, and it had a map of the forest. A blue dot that was blinking held her name... and another blue dot held Damon’s. Caleb, Austin, and the other five that lived at Damon’s house were also on there. Along with Jasmine and Caleb’s baby brother. Red dots circled where she was currently, blinking.

“When a red dot turns white, it means someone has crossed it. It will remain white until they are out of the area.” She nodded, still staring at it. “Audrey,” she looked up now. “Kill anyone who comes within in the circle. No exceptions. If in trouble, say so. Do anything to stop them from disabling the wire.” He paused, as if debating against something. “And one more thing, there’s a chance we may not get here in time when the line’s activated. If the whole screen flashes red for a minute and we’re not here... run. Run fast.” Wait, what? He gave a small smile at her confusion before bolting.

Run fast? Activated? It took her a moment to register what everything meant, don’t touch it, or you may blow yourself up. She finally grasped what that meant... what the wire was for.

Great. She was standing next to a wire that would blow up the area, and possibly her. I hate Damon so much.