The first thing I notice when I come to is that I am no longer drowning in an ocean of pain. My back no longer feels like it is on fire, but I still am unable to open my eyes or move. How long was I out for? I only remember the pain, and then I remember nothing. Did I pass out from the pain, or was it something else, like blood loss? I hear voices talking from somewhere above me, and I realize I must be laying on the ground. I can’t pick out any words or voices; it’s all just a blur of sounds. I strain to move but not even my fingers will twitch.
I don’t know how long I lay there for, whether it is an hour or a minute, but soon I am released from my paralysis. I slowly open my eyes to see… Damian. What? He is lying on the ground next to me, and I worry he is hurt.
“No!” I yell, jumping up. The jump proves to be too much for me though, and Danny and Aaron rush to my side to help me sit down. Looking around the room I see Ryan, Aaron and Danny all standing around with worried expressions, and the unconscious Damian. There is a pool of blood on the carpet where I was laying, and scratches underneath the windowsill. Oh god, what happened? My attention quickly turns back to Damian. “Is he alright? I know he’s bad, but I promise he wasn’t the one that did this to me. I don’t know what it was, but it definitely wasn’t Damian.” I shivered at the memory of the attack, glad that I never saw my attacker full-on.
“We know, we know.” Aaron replied soothingly, as if he was afraid to overwhelm me. “Damian is fine. He is just exhausted right now. He had to heal you and it took a lot of energy out of him. He’s just tired. Right, Damian?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Damian tried to say from his spot on the floor, but it barely came out as a mumble. I didn’t know how I felt about that. Damian had healed me? It might be time to re-evaluate things. He may have saved my life, but I still didn’t like him.
“What happened, Haven?” Danny asked me gently. Why were they all acting like I was about to break? I shrugged, noticing for the first time how stiff my shoulders were.
“Well after you left to go hunting, I turned on the TV and was sitting on the couch. That’s when the storm started. The rain and stuff was starting to freak me out so I reached for my phone to call you guys but it wasn’t there. Then the power went out and I realized I wasn’t alone. There was something else in the dorm with me. I didn’t see it but I can’t even begin to explain how awful it was. It was pure evil. I unlocked the door but it wouldn’t open, so I tried the window, and it was stuck to. Then I sensed it behind me.”
“And then…?” Prompted Aaron.
“And then nothing. Nothing but pain and darkness.” Danny put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“We will figure this out Haven, don’t worry.” Aaron said, looking directly at me. For a second I truly felt safe as I gazed into his silvery eyes. But then thoughts of that thing flooded my mind, and I shivered.
“We aren’t going to let this happen to you again,” Ryan said reassuringly. “From now on at least one of the four of us will always be with you.” That did make me feel a little better, until I fully registered what he said.
“One of the four of you?” I asked, really hoping that this didn’t mean what I thought it did.
“We need Damian’s help Haven, if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t even be alive right now.” Aaron said. He had a point.
“But it’s Damian guys, there is no way he is going to help us.” I don’t think they thought this plan through very well.
“Really? I’m right here and I’m not deaf. I already agreed to help.” Damian said from the floor. He managed a glare even with his eyes half closed, I was impressed.
“We have to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Especially something worse.” Danny said and we all nodded. “We got lucky this time.”
“I can’t believe I made it out without even a scratch.” I said, and that was followed by a heavy silence. What? Why was no one saying anything? Finally after what felt like an eternity, Danny finally said something.
“I wouldn’t exactly say that.” He made a motion to my back, and I ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror. I looked over my shoulder and moved away the ripped remnants of my shirt and let out a gasp. There were three huge, jagged scars across my back
