When Reality Diminishes

How could he?! He couldn’t, that was simple. He couldn’t come up with a plan that ran without any hitches. All of them had at least one, at least one factor that would ruin the whole scheme. Damn it

Damon paced back and forth in the living room, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t do this now. He needed to clear his mind, to refresh it. Everything was building up, and the pressure of coming up with a new plan, a new idea, was getting to him. He had been fine the first few times working on it, even a few times after it. He had even managed to forget, for the most part, how many lived he had taken for the sake of his wants. But now, now with the stress of having everything in place, everything perfect, he couldn’t deal. He needed a break. And Audrey wasn’t helping.

She had made it clear, that after his little stunt in the kitchen, she wouldn’t play nice. She constantly brought up his end of the deal, brought up how much she was doing for him, and how little she got in return. She also constantly brought up the factor that she had been loyal, when it hadn’t been the deal. He didn’t deny that had surprised him, but he didn’t give her anything for that. She was loyal, and as grateful as he was, he wasn’t about to get on his knees and thank her. He didn’t ask her to be, and it was her own peace of mind that led her to be. So he wouldn’t go out of his way to reward her, when it meant as much to her, as it did to him, to be loyal. It wasn’t like he had went and betrayed her, even though the thought was tempting.

He was sure, almost positive, that trading Audrey with the king would get him what he wanted. And the urge was strong. Very strong. He, however, restrained. Sometimes it was harder to restrain, especially when every night she woke him up screaming. That, he had yet to figure out how to stop.

“Hi?” His head swivelled, his hand dropping from his face. Brian sat there, staring up at him with his big eyes. His voice had sounded so harmonic, that it made him question, once again, how Brian was part demon. The werewolf was clear, but not so much his other half.

“How many times do I have to tell you, leave the bad vampire alone.” Came Caleb’s voice, as he scooped up Brian. He shot him a glare before returning to his pacing. He didn’t need this anymore than he needed Audrey bugging him.

He wanted to attack the king head on, but he knew that he would have too many guards. So he wanted to target another place that would have a lot of other important people, but once again, he knew they would have bumped up the guards. He also knew his bait wouldn’t help anymore. They would be expecting her, and with her, him.

His anger got the best of him, and without even considering his action, he allowed
his fist to sail into the wall. A sickening crunch, from the wall, hit the silence. Caleb who had been in the process of walking to the kitchen with Brian, froze, his head swivelling. Brian’s bottom lip trembled before some tears sprang in his eyes. Some demon.

“Go wait in the kitchen.” Caleb murmured, setting Brian down. The boy was obedient to his big brother, that was obvious. At least there was that. His patience was actually getting low for compassion, and Caleb knew that. He tried to keep his brother away as much as possible, however, he didn’t seem to mind sticking Audrey with him. Did he want her to die? He was beginning to think so, and the more he saw Audrey, the more he contemplated it. “Stop huffing and puffing, before you blow this house down.” Caleb said, walking towards him. He let out a growl, not in the mood for this. Not in the mood for anything. “Oh come on. We have time. They won’t find us, how about just dropping it all together? If I had remembered this place soon, I would have just came here.”

Was Caleb backing out? Betraying him again? His anger reached the boiling point, and obviously Caleb saw this, so he quickly remedied what he said.

“I didn’t mean I want out.” He rushed out, the words eager to get out. Most likely to stop him from beating him senseless. “I mean, that here, we don’t have to worry. There’s no mutt epidemic, and there certainly is no racism. We’re safe. However, I gave you my word, and as your friend, I will do whatever plan you come up with. But there’s no rush Damon. The worst thing that can happen from waiting is they think we died in the explosion, or that we gave up. Any sensible group would, so wouldn’t that create the element of surprise you need? Just think about it, and in the mean time, get some fresh air. If you keep this up,” he gestured to the hole in the wall, “this house may fall down.”

Part of him relaxed. Caleb was in this till the end, and that thought was somewhat reassuring. And the element of surprise thing wasn’t a bad idea, but could he really wait that long? He had already waited so long, could he stand to do more? One thing was certain, well two. He wasn’t backing down, and... Audrey would freak if they decided to wait out the Kings fear. She was loyal and good at taking orders, most times, but even she had her limit.

Fresh air. That sounded good. It sounded like what he needed. Leave it to Caleb to know what he wanted, when he didn’t even know.

His feet headed blindly towards the door, not even putting thought into it. He had the whole town memorized to memory. He had to. If something was to go wrong, he needed to know every aspect. And since he didn’t have the blueprints, he used his own eyes. He was fairly certain he could get out of this place without going to the main entrance, if he needed to.

The air slammed into his face. If he hadn’t had the wolf part, he wouldn’t have even felt the cold. Many wolves were immune to it, but that didn’t stop them from feeling it. The wind didn’t chill him, no more than the flakes gently falling from the sky did.

But even with the cold and snow annoying his senses, he still couldn’t miss the smell, and sight of Audrey... sitting in the snow. Her back was to the front of the house, her knees curled up to her chest. Her arms had wrapped around them, resting her head on the top.

Her eyes were locked onto something in the distance. It only took him one glace to realize what; humans. She was watching as they got beat, as they got yelled at, and when they did what they were told. She was watching what was once her life, and he knew she hated it. He could basically feel the pain radiating off of her, and the demon part of him sucked it in. It sucked in the pain like a vampire would suck in blood.

Even with the snow leaving his tracks in the snow, he still managed to sneak up on her. He guessed it was because she was too absorbed with what she was observing.

“Let me clear a fact for you,” he said, taking a seat on the wet ground, somewhat beside her. Her head whipped around, her eyes slightly wide and her mouth parted in an oath. It, however, didn’t leave her throat, for within a second, her face was composed again. He didn’t know why she bothered to try and hide. Everyone knew she was weak, everyone knew she wasn’t strong. The screaming every night proved that.

“Go away.” She hissed, turning back to the scene. He watched her eyes, trying to get some sense in what she was thinking. It wasn’t that he cared, it was curiosity. He wanted to know what she feeling, especially if it would aid to him. Part of his mind was still nagging at him for wanting to revel in her pain, but he justified it to himself by reminding himself that though tempted, he hadn’t physically hurt her.

“Nice to see you too.” He added bitterly, his anger already residing. He guessed it was the snow, it was cooling him down. Ridding his anger... even though he was with Audrey. Usually with her, his anger spiked... or dropped. But it was too peaceful out to stay angry, and he guessed Caleb knew that when he sent him out. “Don’t you want to know the fact I want to clear?”

“No.” Her response was immediate, and she didn’t even look up. Irritation hissed in him, but he remained calm.

“I just wanted to bring up the reason why I don’t have slaves. A question you had asked me a long time ago...” he trailed off, knowing her attention was caught. She seemed to struggle for a moment, before turning to him. He smiled at her, an evil smile, in her eyes. “I’m too nice to you, you know that?” She snorted and he let out a small growl. “I could have enslaved you, I still could... but I’m nice. But don’t get the gesture wrong, it isn’t directed at you. I’m nice to myself. What type of vampire would I be, if I needed to rely on that of a weak human?” He always viewed himself more vampire than anything, so when bringing a case like this to someone’s attention, he only spoke of what he felt the most of. “If I had to relay on a pathetic little human, to do such significant things, that I could so easily do, what type of vampire would I be? It’s pathetic. We have so much power, yet so many rely on your kind.”

At his final words, she had stood up, anger flashing in her eyes. His anger disappeared altogether and he could feel himself growing happier. Her anger tended to do that to him.

He stood up also, a smile on his face. She glared at him hatefully before attempting to leave. He jumped in front of her, he wouldn’t allow his fun to end now. Not yet.

“Don’t you see my views? See why I wouldn’t want to enslave you? All humans are good for is food, and for doing certain things that we wish to not do, only because it could jeopardize our existence; like being bait.” He paused, smiling his fang smile. “I just wanted to point that out, I didn’t want you under the impression I was being nice to you.”

Even though he had vampire speed and managed to catch it in his one hand, it still caught him by surprise. He knew his eyes were wide and shock held his face, but what could you expect. He never thought that she would try to punch him. And it had all happened so fast. One minute she was glaring, the next she was flinging her pale fist at him.

Once the initial shock wore off, his hand still holding her fist, he burst out laughing. She had tried to hit him! A human had tried to hit him. He couldn’t help himself, and all of the anger that had been loading up, slipped away.

He was well aware of her glare, and her attempts to kick him, but he didn’t care. It was just too funny.

It took quite a while, and a kick that finally hit his shin, to stop his laughter, but he knew his eyes still held it. How couldn’t he find that funny? He let go of her fist, shoved her backwards and headed off. He wasn’t about to go inside. She shouted at him before he got far.

“Yeah, run away! I’m the pathetic one? At least I don’t leave a fight!” She had a point, but he didn’t stop. She had never left a fight, and he knew he wouldn’t. But there was a big different.

“Me verse you is hardly a fight, more of... a game of tag, on your behalf. To fight someone, girl, you have to be able to actually hit them.” With that, he rounded the corner, a smile touching his lips as her curses hit his ears.