Damian POV
Following Jonathan's realization, I'd decided to isolate myself in my room. The door was locked, preventing any unwanted visitors as I simply sat down at my desk and placed my hand against my forehead.
How did it come to this? Simply put, Jonathan had been snooping around where he shouldn't have. And now there was no going back. I'd hoped he'd never find out what me and Dio had been planning until it was too late. Over the years, I had genuinely grown to care for Jonathan.
Not enough to cast aside all mine and Dio's planning.
I never understood why that Asian apothecary was so eager to help us. I remember what he told us when we first sought his services many moons ago. He'd spoke of a man from his own homeland who had lived a harsh life but ultimately lived to be over 183 years old!
I never understood what he had meant by this. Not then and certainly not now either. But much like then, he'd sold us the poison without so much as a second thought. Was he setting us up to fail? I don't know. His motives were clouded in shadow.
My mind shifted to my REAL father, Dario Brando. Jonathan had thought he was some sort of honourable man. But this couldn't be further from the truth! Our mother DIED because of him! The number of injuries me and Dio gained because of his drunken outbursts! I'd taken great pleasure in watching poison wrack his body! The scum got what he deserved!
The mere mention of him caused me to slam my fist into the wall in rage! Then there was George. I wondered, did he deserve a the same fate? True, he was nothing like my actual father. But he'd earned my distaste through his initial treatment of his own son. Even so, his death was a necessity for me and Dio to succeed.
The following day had passed without incident. Jonathan hadn't spoken a word to me and I'd not been to visit George. In fact the reason no incidents had taken place was probably because I'd hardly left my room. I didn't interact with anyone until that evening when there was a knock on my door followed by Dio's voice ordering "Open the door Damian!"
I did just that, slowly getting up from the chair I'd been sat in and going over to the double doors, opening them to reveal my brother. He didn't even give me a moment to ask what he wanted before he said "Come. Jonathan is planning on going to London, likely to find the source of that medicine. We have to act quickly."
All I could do was nod as I followed Dio along to his room, opening it I was instantly met with something that caught my attention. On his table was the same stone mask that had been in the hallway years prior.
Dio began explaining "Jonathan knows too much. However this little venture to London is our perfect opportunity." I nodded, as much as I disliked the idea, Jonathan had become a loose end, I couldn't verbally convince him, now I had to go for a last resort. I asked "And how do you plan to go about this?"
Our attention then shifted to the table in front of us. Dio explained "You remember, the mask reacted to my blood seven years ago. If the spikes enter JoJo's brain, he'll die instantly. And it will look like an accident, so no one will suspect."
He showed me a page of a book which held a diagram showing the mask. I couldn't read the wording however it seems Dio was right, if the spikes were to activate when on a person, it would be instant death!
I asked "It won't be a painful death will it?" Dio replied "I'm not sure. But you aren't worrying about Jonathan are you?! He will not hesitate to turn you over to the police if he finds that medicine!" I sighed.
Dio was right, this was necessary...
Timeskip...
Two days went by after that when I heard that Jonathan had gone off to Ogre Street ALONE! He'd been truly desperate to find this medicine and its origin. Since it was of Asian origin, London would be the only place to find it.
I didn't know how it came down to this, but me and Dio now found ourselves also wandering the dark, lamp-lit streets of London. Initially Dio had thought we wouldn't need the mask if Jonathan was going to somewhere like Ogre Street, yet here we were. And neither of us were in the right state.
Dio thrust his arm out, to hold the bottle in front of me, all he slurred out "Drink!" I took the bottle and had a massive gulp of it before gasping and handing it back to him. Dio glared down at the bottle and stated "I'm sure JoJo is dead in an alley by now. Did he any evidence?"
I replied in an equally mumbling tone "Likely not. Doesn't matter anyways now, if he's dead in Ogre Street, chances are they'll never find the body." Looking up, I saw Dio glaring down at the bottle in his hand. For a moment I was confused however suddenly my mind clicked.
DRINKING! Why were we drinking! Just like that wretched father of ours! That didn't stop Dio from having another down of the bottle, causing him to stagger forward. I only noticed now that two people were approaching us, laughing until Dio walked into him.
One of the men exclaimed "Watch where you're going numbskull!" Turning to the other he ordered "Hey friend! Check if that brat left a pee stain on my coat!" The other man instead yelled at the two of us.
"Hey are you two deaf?! You snot-nosed punks?!" This caused us to both snap, Dio spun around and smashed the bottle into one of the men's faces! Meanwhile I thrust my foot out and kicked him in the groin!
For a moment he staggered about, blood pouring down his face from all the glass and his knees buckled from my attack. The other man roared "You won't get away with that!" And brandished a knife on us!
Both me and Dio just shot malicious glares at him. Dio stated "Oh? A disgusting insect like you has a lot of nerve to speak to me like that!" I added "You're below us, you piece of lowlife trash!" Dio looked at me and smirked "What an interesting opportunity. Don't you think?"
Reaching into his coat, I was surprised to see him once more reveal that stone mask. Dio asked me "What's say we perform a little test before we use the mask on JoJo?" I shared his smirk now as I nodded "Yes, sounds like a plan."
The man yelled "What are you two blabbing about?!" Before he swiped at us both with the knife. We were quick to dodge to either side of him. And it was now Dio yelled "A live-body experiment!" He forced the mask onto the man's face and began to push him back.
As Dio forced the man to run back towards his friend, he took hold of the knife and slashed out. Killing the first man and causing his blood to spray over the mask now-worn by the second. Now, it was just a matter of waiting, and seeing what happened.
What we didn't expect was the sudden light that shot out from around the man's body! Both me and Dio were forced to shield our eyes. Through the light, I was just about able to see those spikes shoot out into the man's head, before the light died down and he seemingly collapsed into some nearby crates.
Me and Dio approached the man, with me asking "What happened?" There was no movement at first. He remained completely motionless as Dio replied "I'm not sure, did we hallucinate that?" Dio kicked the man's head, causing it to crack to the side.
Dio stated "He's dead. It's just a boring little toy for torturers." We turned to walk away, Dio picked his hat back up when we suddenly were met with a strange feeling. Our eyes widened as Dio muttered "It can't be..."
Turning around we saw the same man from earlier, the mask still present on his face! He stepped towards us in a trance-like state as he walked forward. The spikes withdrew causing the mask to fall back to the ground, revealing the man's face once more. This time though, his skin was pale, his eyes were a blood red and his mouth was no lined with fangs!
With a screech, the man charged forward! Dio grabbed the knife off the floor and attempted to defend himself however the man thrust his arm forward causing the knife to split right through it! Normally a person would be in agony from this, but the man didn't care!
Dio ducked to the side causing the man's hand to collide with the wall! Again, while a normal human's hand would be broken, this man managed to punch right through the solid stone! Me and Dio were both knocked back and collided with some railings.
Before we could even comprehend what was happening, the man was right in front of us. What was he?! Did he not feel any pain?! He just kept walking as if nothing could phase him! I tried to move but grunted when a pain shot through my leg.
It wasn't broken but I knew I'd struggle walking. Dio seemed to be having similar pain in his shoulder. He turned to me and ordered "Damian, in the river NOW!" I nodded and we began to try and reach the water in hopes of escaping the man however it was too late.
The man's hands wrapped around our throats! However even this was strange, it was like his fingers went inside the flesh. The man rasped out "So thirsty..." As it felt like he'd begun DRAINING THE BLOOD FROM OUR BODIES!
Dio let out a scream, all I could do was gasp as I was losing feeling in my body. The man continued "I don't know why, but I feel terribly thirsty." He continued to drain the life from us, as he was doing so, I noticed he began to take on a more youthful appearance.
For a moment, I felt absolute terror! There was no escape, I was going to DIE here! Killed by whatever this man had become! It was clear that the mask was the source of it, however that didn't matter.
Just as it seemed life would leave me, I noticed the light of the rising sun coming up over the city horizon. A hissing sound began to emanate from the man. He released his grip on us and let out a scream as steam came from his body. In what seemed like an instant, the man's body disappeared into DUST, leaving only his clothes behind!
I was left lying there, desperately trying to catch my breath. Dio's eyes were fixed on the man's remaining clothes as he commented "The sun..." I turned my attention to them as well before looking up at the mask.
It seemed there was more to this mask than I'd initially suspected...
Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter, the next one will be the point where this book REALLY begins to pick-up. We'll be getting to some fight scenes from this point onwards. I really hope you liked the chapter and as always, thank you for reading.