When Reality Diminishes

Her hand trailed down the railing. Her feet stepped one in front of the other, slowly making their way to the bottom of the stairs.

The house was... liveable. But who was she to complain when all the other homes she ever lived in, she was enslaved? There were two floors and a basement. The basement was all cement and held a few workout equipment, apparently they had belonged to Caleb’s father. He hadn’t bothered to bring them when they moved. The main floor held the basic rooms; living room, dining room, bathroom and kitchen. The top floor held two bedrooms and another bathroom. She got her own room, only because of her dreams, and Damon got the other. Austin had set up a bed in the basement, and Caleb was sleeping in the living room with Brian.

Her footsteps echoed through the house, due to the wood floor and hard ceilings. The house itself was cold, and as she had noticed on the outside, slanted. The vampires had no problem with it, neither did Caleb, but herself and Brian had already stumbled a few times.

“Watch it.” A voice hissed, shoving her aside. Her head snapped up to see Austin heading toward the couch, two blood packets in his hand. Caleb had went out earlier to gather some necessities.

She shot Austin a glare and headed toward the kitchen, pushing open the swinging doors. Her stomach let out a rumble, reminding her why she was there.

“I didn’t know what you liked,” Caleb said, as she opened the fridge, “so I got everything.” Caleb ate normal food, as did Damon occasionally, since he wasn’t a pure vampire. He couldn’t live on blood alone, but it would sustain him for quite a while. Sure enough, the fridge was jammed full of food.

His eyes glanced at Audrey for a moment before turning back to Caleb. He was trying to relax, to not think of his plans, to try and have one day... but he couldn’t help it. He wanted everyone to know mutts weren’t useless, that they could fight better than the men the king himself picked. He wanted that victory, he craved it.

Caleb was trying to help with the plan, but so far he had been no use. Caleb wanted action free violence, but as he tried to tell him many times, there was no such thing. It was a contradictory, and a big one. If they wanted respect, they had to bathe in blood. They had to soak it up and revel in it, or at least let that off to the eye. In The Dark Lands the way to get noticed, to get respect, was to be cruel. And if out-cruelling the king was what it would take to get mutts out of the dog house, then he would do so.

“Sit, we won’t bite. At least I won’t.” Came Caleb’s voice. He shook the thoughts out of his head and glanced up to see Audrey slowly sitting down, a bowl of cereal in front of her. Caleb’s words registered and he shot her a grin, making sure to allow his fangs to come out. She returned his smile with a glare, as he thought she would.

After so many days with her, he could read her like a book. Granted, the sudden dreams came as a surprise and he could never tell her reaction afterwards; whether it be crying or smashing things in despair, he could usually read her.

He turned away from her, allowing her attention to focus on eating. She needed the strength, especially after the journey. She also needed it for her mind, for he couldn’t help but notice her wall wavering. The dreams were what were doing it. They were reeking havoc in her mind, and he couldn’t help but bathe in that. It was all he could do to stop from causing her pain, but it satisfied him enough.

That itch to torment her was still there, but mostly, he found a new urge. He enjoyed watching her squirm, watching her boil with anger under his remarks. And sure it may be no blood buffet or a full on assault, but it was rather amusing nonetheless.

“Audrey,” he said standing up. Her head turned, her eyes already narrowed. He hid his laugh, what did he do now? He hadn’t even done anything... yet. He walked over towards her, keeping his eyes on her. Caleb’s eyes were now narrowed on him also, but he could guess why. Caleb knew him, he knew he was up to something. “You have something on your neck,” before she could say anything, he trailed his finger across it, causing a slight move of the body from her. Highly unsatisfying compared to a gasp or flinch, but still something. His nail dug in slightly, drawing a drop of blood. His fingertip pressed against the minuscule wound, healing it quickly, before he brought his finger to his mouth. “Never mind, got it.” He gave her another smile, his finger still in his mouth, and his eyes now dilated and red from the blood.

He returned to his seat and leaned back at ease. Audrey had long since dropped her spoon, her gaze now upon him. She was trying to come up with something witty, he could tell that from her face, and judging by the lack of silence, she was failing.

“At least he didn’t bite.” Mumbled Caleb, earning a glare from Audrey. He couldn’t help but notice how often she glared, and for some reason, he found it highly amusing. Was something wrong with that?

Caleb’s point of view

He walked out of the kitchen, a frown upon his face. He had never seen Damon act like that before. Never. Damon was the silent type of guy, unless you got close. Like himself, and apparently Austin. Other than that, he kept to himself. He also kept his sick sense of amusement to himself. He had always found the majority of torture of humans grotesque, one of the reasons for the anti-mutt hate. But now here he was, treating Audrey poorly, basking in her pain. He was having fun picking at her, baiting her... teasing her?

He shook his head. Damon was many things, but to tease someone, that was...

He shook his head stronger before the thought hit him head on. No? If he even said his thoughts to Damon, a punch would surely land on him. But he couldn’t deny the signs now. Damon never opened up, he never laughed, he never enjoyed annoying people, well, not in public. And the biggest difference had to be the laughing. Damon laughing was a rare occasion, but he had already seen and heard it previously and seen it on his face in the kitchen. And all in the presence of Audrey.

He looked up to see Austin raising an eyebrow at him, two empty blood packets beside him.

“Stop shaking your head, makes you look more like a mut.” He grunted out. He scowled before sitting down. There was a slight pause before Austin spoke again. “Bait or no bait, we’re in the game.” He got the message.

“Audrey and Damon made a deal, and I doubt either are going to back out of the other.” It was true. If Damon said he was going to do something, he would do it. He was thick headed, and would do something even if it meant almost getting himself killed. That was one thing about him that he could always count on, for Damon never, never broke his word. And Audrey... so far she proved the same. Even through the beating she had received the first time, she had remained loyal. Didn’t even utter a word to their convenience. Austin let out some sort of sound before sitting further up.

“Really? With these dreams happening, I think Damon is about to snap. And not just his tolerance with the human, I think he will actually snap something.” Once again, he got the message. And this time, he had to shake his head. Was Austin blind?

“Hardly.” Austin’s eyes reddened now, he hated being contradicted, worse, he heated being wrong. He, however, wasn’t afraid of Austin. He could easily take him in a fight, not that he wanted to. Austin found him a coward for not wanting to fight. He said that if he had the skills to do good, then why not? Why not fight, why not enjoy it? He simply didn’t find the need to cause others pain, which was odd. The demon in him should love the sensation of causing someone else harm, should love the feeling of breathing in fear. But some part of his mind convulsed every time he had to endure it. Sure he could, but he hated it all the same.

“How about a wager?” Austin suddenly said. “I bet you that Damon will end up either seriously hurting the human, or killing her, soon.” He turned to Austin now, a small frown on his face.

“What’s the prize?” He may not like causing physical harm, but he couldn’t help but enjoy rubbing it in Austin’s face a little when he was wrong. Now that would be fun.

“Loser does anything the winner says. Anything.” He frowned, that was too open for interpretation.

“No physical harm to them, or anyone around them.” Austin’s eyes narrowed but he gave a short nod. “Deal. But my end of the bet? I bet you that Damon will soon end up showing some sign of affection towards Audrey, and soon.” He ignored the dropped jaw from Austin, and left back towards the kitchen.