October 28th, 2020
3 days until Halloween.
Damien walked down the wooden boardwalk in the estates garden. One of his hands was resting in his pocket and his gaze was a thousand miles away. As much as Damien was furious about his father being killed in such a way, he was confused to find that he was also...relieved. He alone was now running the Erebus Mafia at the young age of 20 years old. He could mold this organization into something that society could truly fear. Damien gritted his teeth slightly as his mind reminded him of the same question that would come back every now and then. Why did she abandon her family? It was a question that had plagued his mind for a long time. Damien could never imagine leaving his family behind. He belongs here, in the darkness and far from the society that would demonize and snuff him out. He knew that those who are weak should be snuffed out, his father taught him that lesson from a very young age. Damien's mind started playing with him in the form of his late father's voice, calling him weak, undisciplined, unworthy. Damien remembered being trained by his father, who would almost never hold back. He wouldn't stop until Damien psychically couldn't move anymore from the beating, calling him weak and saying he was unworthy of the Erebus name. Damien would prove him wrong, he would become a name that everyone knew and feared.
Damien entered the manor again through a different door, bound for his late father's office, which was technically his now. He opened the door before lifting his head and his eyes widened slightly. There was a woman standing next to the grand window behind the desk. She was tall and slender, a waterfall of crimson hair cascading down her back before she turned around upon hearing someone enter. The woman looked at Damien with a look of shock, seeing his sunken eyes and ghostly pale skin. After her initial shock had faded, her eyes softened and she spoke. "Hello, my son."
"Mother." Damien responded in a stiff tone as he walked forward. "I trust your trip went well." His tone was all business, his mother's eyes softened on him.
"Yes, it was wonderful to see family again, but Damien? Where is your father?" She asked him quizzically, Damien clenched his teeth before he responded.
"He was killed by the organization Sanctuary's newest weakling lapdogs. Don't worry, I plan on getting vengeance for him." Damien stood up straight as he spoke, his mother straightened her posture and inhaled deeply. It seemed like she was pretending to hide emotional pain that didn't exist.
"I see." She began as she brought her hands behind her. She approached her son and looked at him. "You know Damien, you're looking pale...are you sick?" She reached forward and placed the back of her hand against his forehead.
He gently swatted her hand away, "No, I'm not sick. One of those lapdogs I mentioned killed me. Father brought me back from the grave because I still have work to do." Damien said coldly. His mother opened her eyes wide as she looked at her son with a sympathetic look, a look that Damien hated.
"Oh, my son..." She uttered softly. "What your father has turned you into is not right..." She started walking away from him with a somber look.
"My father turned me into a fighter, he made me strong." Damien's words caused his mother to stop walking. She looked back at him with a look that only a mother can give.
She hummed gently, "Damien, you were strong from the moment you were born..." Damien's eyes opened just a little wider. "And as for these lapdogs...they managed to eliminate Kuroi and you. That doesn't sound very weak to me." She finished before she turned and walked out of the room. Damien watched her leave with a look of deep thought on his face. Those thoughts stayed with him for a while after that. Damien walked over to the grand window and gazed out of it. Not long after that, he heard a knock on his door.
"Enter." He spoke sternly as he turned around to face the door. Two figures entered, one figure was just another Erebus Mafia grunt, and he was escorting a tall woman. She had short black hair cut like a boys, her eyes were neon purple and they burned into Damien when she looked at him.
"Sir, one of Zachariah's contacts has arrived." The grunt spoke with respect and slight fear, this often happened when Damien's underlings were in his presence. The woman stepped forward and outstretched a hand like she wanted him to cup it politely and plant a small kiss.
"Willow Anders, at your service." Her voice was calm and lyrical, with a slight Irish accent as she waited for Damien to kiss her hand.
Damien didn't return the gesture, "Of course you're at my service. You hardly have a choice." Damien said coldly as he turned around to walk towards the window and gazed out of it again. "I trust you've already been told of your role in this event."
Willow's left eyebrow raised slightly and her lip curled upwards slightly to match as she retracted her hand. "Why yes, of course I have. This isn't my first party, Damien." She said in a cool tone, a small smile replacing her look of distaste. Damien let out a small hum in response.
"Good, because what a party this will be."
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As Nerissa and Orion walked out of their most recent class, Hand To Hand Combat Training, she slipped her hand into his before jogging and pulling him while smiling towards the mess hall. Jogging together, they bumped into Nyx, Nate and Soul. Nyx’s eyes widened in slight surprise at noticing Nerissa seemed happier before also smiling as well, glad that Neri was feeling better. Neri gave Soul a hug, murmuring words of reassurance, “I understand why you did it hun. But next time, remember we're in this together, okay? We're soul sisters,” she joked with Soul's name but really meant what she said. Soul nodded and gave Neri a small smile while hugging her back before pulling away. Nerissa gave Nate and Nyx a smile, “Hey guys,” she said in a chipper tone.
They greeted her back before moving ahead to grab some food from the lunch ladies. As Soul began to follow, Danny jogged over, opening his mouth to try to talk to Nerissa, however upon seeing Soul, his mind jumbled. Figuring Nerissa might need more space, he went up to Soul instead, the two of them talking as they followed Nyx and Nate. Nerissa's smile dropped at Danny going to Soul instead of her, doubts filling her mind about if Danny was even sorry for pushing her about their birth parents. Or maybe it was her fault? Was she a bad sister? As her thoughts began to go down a slippery slope, Orion seemed to notice the vacant look in Nerissa's eyes with a small amount of hurt. He slid his hand back into hers and Nerissa jolted out of her thoughts, the pool of doubts that so desperately wanted to drown her now being drained away by this sweet boy who was holding her hand and smiling at her, something he seemed to selectively do only around her.
Smiling back at him, they followed after the other four, grabbing some food from the lunch ladies before sitting at an empty table, Nerissa sitting at the end of the bench connected to the table. One seat remained open and Nerissa's mind flickered to Rhys. As she looked away from it, she could see Soul staring at it as well, knowing she was thinking about his last words to her. Nudging Soul's foot with hers, she mouthed to Soul, “Are you okay?”, she asked while the others all chatted with each other. Soul simply gave her a nod before beginning to eat her food.
As Nerissa began to eat, she noticed Orion's slight confusion at his potato wedges fries as he tried to stab at them with his fork, realizing he had never had any type of fries before. Letting a small giggle escape her, she put a hand on his hand that held the fork, stopping his confused stabbing of his potatoes. Looking at her, he saw her giggling causing him to try to not laugh as well. “What? What am I doing wrong Rissa?”, he murmurs as his eyes lock onto hers, admiring the crinkle by her eyes when she smiles.
Rolling her eyes playfully, she took the fork out of his hand. “You pick up the wedges with your hands to eat them, you goofball. The fork is for your pasta,” she said, amusement clear in her tone. The tips of Orion’s ears turned a slight red, unable to hold back his small blush at the correction. A chuckle slipped past his lips, the sound making the rest of the group pause in their conversations and movement, this being the first time they had ever heard Orion let out any type of laugh. While Nerissa and Orion talked and laughed, everyone else at the table smiled at each other, not just happy that their friend was cheering up, but also happy that their new friend was beginning to open up. The table was full of chatter and laughter, occasionally Nyx would throw a small piece of her bread at Nate if he got too carried away in a ramble which made Nate let out strings of spanish cuss words each time.
During Orion and Nerissa joking with each other, she lightly pushed him, unaware it also moved her slightly backwards. Letting out a small squeaking sound of surprise as she began to feel herself fall off the end of the bench, her breath was soon caught in her throat due to Orion catching her quite quickly and tugging her back onto the bench, one of his arms wrapped around her waist, his other hand resting against her cheek, the tiniest look of panic in his eyes at the idea of something happening to Neri. Noticing the panic behind his eyes, she placed a hand gently over the one holding her cheek and smiled, “I’m okay Orion, I promise I’m okay. It would have only been a small bump of a fall and regardless you caught me. I’m okay,” she murmured as she watched the panic slowly fade from his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could even get the chance, quick and heavy footsteps advanced towards them before Orion felt himself ripped away from Nerissa.
Within an instant, Orion was thrown across the room, his back slamming into a wall, he let out a choking grunt as all the other students aside from the group began yelling and quickly running out as Rhys stepped forward, anger clear on his face, his muscles tensing from having just thrown Orion. Rhys had entered only a moment ago to see Orion with his arm around Nerissa’s waist and a hand on her face with Nerissa holding his hand back and murmuring what looked to him like “sweet nothings”. He could not feel anything except rage as he stormed up to the table and threw Orion away from Nerissa. His amber eyes seemed to glow in a sinister way as he watched Orion’s body hit the wall, a part of his anger happy, yet most of it still felt unsatiated.
Letting out a yelp of worry, Nerissa sprinted over to Orion, already taking water out of her pouch as she slid to her knees beside him and began to heal him as he was coughing a small splatter of blood onto his hand. Nate, Danny, Nyx and Soul all immediately rushed up as Rhys began to stalk towards Nerissa and Orion, each of them standing between Rhys and the other two. Rhys’s face was fully contorted into one of rage as he let out an almost animalistic growl, “Let me through.” It was clear it was not a question for his friends, it was a demand. Nyx narrowed her eyes at him, meanwhile Danny stepped forward, his hands raised slightly up to show he was peaceful. “Rhys, come on man, there’s no need for this. I don’t know what Orion did to upset you, but there are better ways to go about this,” he stated, trying to bargain with Rhys. But the anger in Rhys could not be bargained with. As he took a step forward to go around Danny, Nyx stepped in front of him with a hard glare. “Rhys, stop this. You know this isn’t right,” she exclaimed. Rhys simply looked down at her, her words going through his ears, but not heard in his mind. Taking another step forward in an attempt to go around Nyx, the group turned to look at Nerissa and Orion in worry. Nate noticed Nerissa was trying to help Orion up after healing him and jogged over, helping Orion up. Nerissa looked at Orion in concern before looking at Nate, then Rhys, then back to Nate and Orion. Making a decision, she murmured for Nate to help Orion to his dorm. Nate began to help Orion away and Nerissa began to strut angrily to Rhys, frustration evident in her movement and energy.
Storming up to him, she surprised not just Rhys, but Nyx, Soul and Danny as well as she shoved Rhys back roughly. “What is wrong with you?!” she shrieked, as she looked up at him. Taking a second to recover, Rhys glared at her, “What’s wrong with me?! What’s wrong with you! That guy almost killed Nyx and Oliver and suddenly you’re all buddy buddy with him!?”, his voice rising with each word. “Well it’s not like people like you are of any help in helping him feel more at home here! He saved us all back at the Estate in case you oh so cleverly forgot, he deserves his place here!”, she shouted, her once open palmed hands beginning to bunch together into fists. Rhys looked at her like she was insane, “A place here?! He’s a killer Neri! He has a fucking kill count!”
“Well so do I!”, she yelled back. Silence filled the mostly empty mess hall, both of them breathing a little heavily. “You told me-” she said while unclenching her fists to try and relax, “-that no one would judge me for killing those guards to save Danny.” She paused, realizing she had just admitted to Nyx, Danny and Soul that she had murdered three people before shaking it from her thoughts, deciding to worry about that later. “If you say I can’t be judged for that,” she continued, “then Orion shouldn’t be judged for doing what was demanded of him by the people who made him in order to survive! He’s not a bad person Rhys, you know just as well as the rest of us that he was forced!”. His jaw clenched as well as his fists, as envy boiled in his chest that she was protecting Orion so adamantly. “Then run to Orion then!” Rhys yells, his fists clenched. Nerissa scrunched her face in anger, “Fine maybe I will! At least he actually treats me decently as a friend!"
Rhys scoffs, “Friend? Please, we all know the truth. You're sleeping with him! Bet you gave him your first everything didn't you, you sl-”, his voice cuts off as a sharp pain spreads across his cheek, a loud slap sound echoing throughout the mess hall. Nyx and Soul both let out a gasp, both in shock and anger. Danny inhaled sharply, his posture tense. Nerissa's hand began to sting from slapping him as she looked up at him, her eyes filled with hurt, “No, he hasn't been my first everything or anything. You were my first kiss...now I wish you weren't.” she chokes out before storming off. Confusion fills Rhys at her words, not remembering ever having kissed her until a drunken memory hits him. The night they all got drunk, the night of the Danny and Nyx incident, when he and Neri roomed together. Flashes of the memory fly by before finally, his memory freezes at a certain moment. He stumbles back in shock slightly, as he finally remembers. He kissed Nerissa while drunk and he had forgotten. Cursing under his breath, he sprints forward, looking for Nerissa. After a few minutes, he finally sees her in the garden, but stops in his tracks at what he sees. Nerissa was in the garden, with Orion, curled beside him as she cried into his chest while Orion had his arms wrapped around her, murmuring words of comfort. Anger once again fills Rhys's chest and he storms off, pushing his guilt behind his anger.
As he stormed away from the garden, he could hear Nyx and Soul trying to calm someone, turning to tell them and their third person to fuck off, he was met with a punch to the face. Soul quickly stood in front of his aggressor and he was surprised to see Danny. “I swear to fucking hell Rhys, if you ever insult or even try to insult my baby sister again, I don’t give a fuck how long we have been friends, I will beat the ever living shit out of you,” he spit out angrily at Rhys, Soul making herself almost a wall between the two. Rhys scowled at his best friend, but he knew that Danny was being absolutely truthful. “She’s dating a killer, some big brother you are,” he spit out. It was Nyx’s turn to scoff as Soul slowly moved Danny back a bit further as he moved forward like he wanted to hit Rhys again, “They’re just friends you absolute fucking idiot. How about stop being a dick to everyone and learn to fucking communicate Rhys.” Nyx snapped, before walking back inside with Soul and Danny, helping Soul with making sure Danny went inside instead of back outside to fight Rhys.
Rhys stood outside for a moment, breathing heavily as he looked at the ground. A soft curse word leaving his mouth as he pinched the bridge of his nose. As his mind calmed, the guilt began creeping back into his brain. His friends were...really pissed at him. The guilt quickly became partnered with embarrassment at his actions. He knew he would have to apologize to everyone, especially Orion. Maybe Nyx is right...I do need to get better at communicating. He thought to himself as he started slowly walking inside. He needed to get his thoughts and feelings in order before he spoke to anyone.
He wanted to make sure he still had friends to be with on Halloween.