The Dome (Shadow Origins, Part One)

Enemy

Damian's POV

Everything hurt, literally everything. Even my eyelids were sore as I forced them to open. Looking at a bright white ceiling, my first thought was...Why did heaven smell like hand sanitizer?

Taking in more of my surroundings, I figured out why. It wasn't heaven, of course it wasn't. It was a freaking hospital! I hate hospitals!

Looking to my left I saw one more thing that didn't belong in a hospital besides myself.

Zyana.

Staring at me through tears and clutching my hand...hard. I could feel a smile coming through, was she crying for me? At least someone cared.

I opened my mouth to say something, maybe a joke or a bad pun but something else stopped me.

She wasn't alone. Three men were with her, two I didn't recognize and the third was V. What was he doing here?

Glancing back and forth between all four of these people, I pulled my hand away from V. He might be a good boss but I didn't want him knowing about Zyana. Ever.

Trying to keep a frown from my face I spoke up in a raspy tone that felt like nails in my throat.

"Uh...morning?"

V stepped forward from where he was leaning on the wall and put both of his hands in his pockets.

"Ms. Barnette, if you don't mind I need a moment with Cat."

Zyana stared hard at V, completely fearless in front of a known serial murderer. Glancing back down at me, I gave her an accepting nod. Slightly convinced with my answer, Zyana motioned for her two guests to follow her out.

A few seconds after the door shut, V still didn't speak. Nervously looking anywhere but him, I noticed blood spots on the little bed table next to me...cool.

V finally spoke in what seemed to be almost...concern?

"What happened?"

Everything came rushing back to me, the Towers, the killer mother-daughter duo, the plot to overthrow the criminal king.

"Sandrino. He knows I'm working with you, he knows that I heard everything."

"What do you mean everything?"

"The Tower gangs and the River gang are working with Sandrino to overthrow you. They have a plan to kill you and take over the dome."

V said nothing, just stared hard into the floor with that cold, dead glare. Five minutes passed and V had taken a seat where Zyana had been.

"Tell me everything."

And so I did, every detail I had, every juicy secret I had uncovered in the past two days I spilled.

An hour had gone by and V was pacing back and forth in front of me, "Are you sure?"

"Sure? I almost died getting this information, I'm a hundred percent sure."

V seemed to think about this for a minute or two, doing nothing but staring at his hands. Finally, he spoke with a coldness that rivaled even Winter's angry tone. 

"They were in my house?"

Nodding, I realized that that was a bad idea since my neck felt like it had been snapped in two. V leaned back in his chair, all kinds of pissed, but finally looked me in the eyes, "Rest. You've done good. I'll take care of this."

What? 

That was it?!

"What do you mean take care of this? How?!"

V's icy gaze dropped on me and I knew I was overstepping but right at this moment I didn't give a rat's ass. I had almost gotten killed for this, multiple times! I had a right to freaking know!

"Don't give me that look! I want to know! I deserve to know! Stop treating me like I'm just some stupid little child!-"

"-You are a child! Whether you like it or not, you are a child! It was wrong of me to get you involved in this because obviously you don't know your boundaries."

I could feel my hard exterior breaking as tears welled up in my eyes, why the hell was I crying? I didn't cry!

"Don't know my boundaries?... I almost died tonight for your stupid information. I almost lost my life so that you can know what's going on behind your back! Screw boundaries! If you won't tell me then just leave me alone! I never asked for this! I never asked for any of it so if you don't want to tell me the truth, well... you might as well just kill me now because you've already screwed me past the point of no return."

V said nothing, only stood up and without another word, left. Left like I hadn't just risked everything for him and was left with absolutely nothing to show for it except for some very painful wounds. Screw him! To think I had thought about being loyal to him! I should have known better, there's no loyalty in this world. Everyone is out for themselves and anyone who tells you different is selling something. Why do I have to keep going through these stupid beatings and broken bones just to learn that?

After V left, I finally just broke down like I hadn't since my mother. I cried until my entire body was sore and I realized... V was right. I was just a kid. A kid who wanted nothing more than to believe in someone and have the person be... I can't say the world hero. V wasn't a hero, he was a thug and to believe that he was going to clean up the city and make it safe again from another civil war was a stupid childish dream and it was about time I gave up on those. 

It must have been thirty minutes before the door to my room opened and Zyana came back in, hesitant to even walk to my side. 

"Damian? Are you alright?"

Alright? Alright?! No.

"Damian, what's going on? Why was he here? What happened?"

I couldn't even look at her, I couldn't stare into those eyes that were sure to break me down again and I couldn't talk to her because I knew she'd try to drag me back into the light again. But I had learned my lesson, the place where I thrived was the shadows and this time I was going to stick to them. I should have known better than to try and be a hero.

Zyana slid her hand closer to mine on my hospital bed and tried to latch on before I snatched it away. I didn't want to touch her. I didn't want anyone to touch me again. Enough with being screwed over. That only happened when you let people get close enough to stab you in the back. 

I was...done.

Done with V. Done with Sandrino. Done with being that helpless, defenseless little street rat. Done with... everything.

No more Mr. Nice Guy.