October 31
10:05 pm
Sanctuary, The Chairmans office
Nate, Nerissa, Rhys, Soul, Orion and surprisingly enough, Kyle was standing in front of Elizabeth's desk waiting for her to speak. While everyone else was listening intently, Nate was staring off into space, his mind racing. His breathing was still slightly raspy from trying to hold back his breakdown earlier that night. Kyle was standing a small distance away from the rest of the group, silently listening.
"Nathan." Elizabeth spoke and Nate lifted his head to look at her. His eyes looked empty. "I understand how you're feeling right now... normally I would ask that you stay behind, but due to the circumstances, that isn't an option. You are needed to rescue them." Her voice was calm but sincere, she was afraid as well. Nate took a deep breath, he knew what he had to do even if Elizabeth didn't say it. However, the last time Nate took control of Damien's mind, Damien was ready for it...and his friends were almost killed, again.
"Yeah, I understand." Nate responded quietly as his eyes looked back down. He had to be stronger, he had to be more decisive, he had to be there for her.
"Good, take this with you." Elizabeth said before she slid a small cylindrical device across the desk towards Nate. It was a small handheld button device, not unlike a detonator. "Press this button only when you need extraction, not a moment before. The young lady who warped us all to the festival grounds will extract you immediately. Her name is Lisa." Elizabeth said as she folded her hands onto the table. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was going to say next. "I don't want this to sound too brash, but failure can't happen here. If Damien was willing to slaughter a whole festival of innocent people, then he wanted them for a reason."
"I know the reason." Orion said quietly, causing the group to look at him. His eyes were staring off into space and he looked afraid. He was definitely still shaken up from Damien...killing him. "He told Nyx after he had summoned his shadow wolves to keep me and the other guys busy. I heard everything he said because I...I needed to keep tabs on them while I helped the other two. He said: As I'm sure you've guessed..." Orion paused as he glanced at Nate and he tensed. "My target is Nathan. However I know that if I go for him directly he will simply take control of my mind. So I must break his mind first." Nate's eyes widened, dreading what Orion was going to say next. "What better way to break his mind than to drop your lifeless corpse at his feet?" Nate's heart sank as Orion finished reciting Damien's speech. He looked off into space with fear plastered on his face before his mind flashed to the horrid scene. The Devil himself grinning madly as he dropped Nyx's corpse at his feet...
"Nate. Look at me." He jolted and gasped slightly when he suddenly felt hands on his face and heard Nerissa's voice. His eyes finally focused on her face and she was looking into his eyes. "She is going to be okay. We aren't going to let anything happen to her, or Danny, or Oliver. Breathe." Nerissa's voice was calm and quiet, she was definitely afraid and uneasy as well. Damien had her brother again. Damien had killed Orion and Nerissa barely saved him in time. However, Nate had rarely ever shown this much raw emotion in front of anyone. Nerissa had never seen him so scared. As he looked into her eyes, his own eyes were trembling and misting. He inhaled deeply through his nose before he brought his shaking hands up and placed them against hers. He closed his eyes and released the breath.
"Okay...okay, you're right." Nate said quietly as he forced himself to smile slightly. Nerissa smiled back at him to help calm his nerves. It helped but didn't completely cure his fear. His fear couldn't be cured, not until Nyx was safe with him.
October 31st
10:13 pm
The Erebus Estate, Damien's Office.
Nyx woke up with a low groan and she lifted her head slowly. Her eyes slowly focused on the figure standing in front of her. It was a small figure, definitely not Damien. The figure came into focus and Nyx realized it was a kid. Light pink hair and pink eyes staring at her with an intrigued look. Nyx jolted slightly and leaned backwards in the chair. The boy jolted as well as Nyx's movement startled him. Nyx noticed that the boy was holding a doll in his arms. It was a strange doll and it kind of looked like a person, but not one she recognized. The boy turned around to face the door as it opened.
"Azriel." Damien spoke sternly. "You're frightening our guests." Damien said sarcastically with a voice that was strangely calm. The boy looked back at Nyx once and looked back at Damien.
"Sorry. Sorry. She's just pretty." The boy said before he stepped back and sat down in one of Damien's cushioned chairs. Nyx watched with uneasiness on her face before Damien approached her. Nyx glanced to her left and saw Danny in a chair next to her, he was still unconscious. Oliver was in the chair next to him, also unconscious. When Damien got close enough, he roughly gripped Nyx's chin to force her to look at him. A small yelp of fear escaping Nyx's lips as she stared at him with wide eyes.
"Looks won't get her very far. Not with me." Damien said as he looked down at her with a small smile. "Nyx." He said her name quietly as he tilted his head slightly. "Oh, the plans I have for you." He looked at her almost longingly. Nyx tensed as she tried to hide the fear in her eyes, but Damien wasn't fooled. He pushed her head back slightly harshly, air was forced from her lungs as her back hit the chair.
"Why are you doing this?" Nyx asked him sincerely after a moment of silence, Damien's eyes narrowed subtly. Nyx almost didn't notice it.
"I'm doing this because it's effective. Threatening people is boring, so I've decided that instead of threatening, I let my actions do the talking. Hence my positively frightening example of power a few hours ago." Damien explained as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at her.
"But...but why them?" Nyx's voice broke as he looked at the two boys next to her. "Why Orion?" Her voice broke again as she looked at Damien, her eyes pleading for even a small shred of mercy or remorse. For a moment, she felt like she saw it, a small flicker of real humanity in his eyes before it was gone just as fast.
"Them?" He said as he lifted his hand and pointed towards the boys. "Well I know that if you had other people to worry about, it would slow you down. It would wear you down." Damien smiled menacingly as he looked into Nyx's eyes.
"We aren't going to let you kill her, Damien." Nyx and Damien both looked over at Danny when he spoke quietly. He lifted his head slowly after regaining consciousness. Damien suddenly manifested a shadow tendril and it shot up before it stopped right under Danny's chin. Nyx gasped softly in fear as Danny lifted his chin to avoid being stabbed.
"As if you'll have a choice in the matter, Daniel." Damien said darkly, relishing the fear in Danny's eyes. After all this time, Danny still had trouble hiding how scared he was of Damien.
"Leave him alone!" Nyx yelled angrily as he leaned forward as far as she could. Without removing the tendril from under Danny's chin, Damien swung his arm and slapped Nyx across the face, hard. Danny tensed and his eyes went slightly wider, but he didn't dare move. Danny's eyes flicked over to Oliver as Nyx was breathing through her pain, he was still unconscious. There was a knock at the door to Damien's office and he turned around to tell the person to enter. The door opened and a woman walked in, this woman was Willow Anders to Damien, but a stranger to Nyx, Danny and Oliver. She approached Nyx until she stopped next to Damien and eyed her slightly.
"So, this is the girl?" Willow spoke as she leaned towards Damien slightly. Damien nodded swiftly before he looked back at Nyx.
"Who are you?" Nyx asked cautiously as she flexed her arms to try and ease the aching.
"Willow Anders. I'm the one who will be providing the...playing field, so to speak." Willow said in a slightly scary tone as her purple eyes glowed brighter for a moment. Nyx tensed as she looked at this woman who was almost as intimidating as Damien. Nyx heard Oliver groan softly as he stirred awake. He lifted his head and looked around before he saw Danny with Damien's shadow tendril still being held under his chin.
"Danny?" Oliver struggled slightly against his restraints before he looked at Damien. Damien was already glaring back at him before Oliver even started speaking. "What's your problem?!" Oliver yelled angrily as he leaned forward. Suddenly, a second tendril shot up and took its place under Oliver's chin just like Danny. His breath hitched slightly but other than that...there was no fear. There was even a small smile on Oliver's face as Damien slowly walked over to stand in front of him.
"Daniel has learned his lesson about speaking without permission. You would be wise to do the same." Damien growled at Oliver as Nyx and Danny watched in fear.
Oliver chuckled once, "You don't scare me." Oliver grinned playfully as he eyed Damien. Damien's lip curled in irritation before the tendril moved from under Oliver's chin and swiftly stabbed into his shoulder. Oliver yelled in agony before he gritted his teeth to try and choke it down, not wanting to give Damien the satisfaction. Danny stared at Oliver with a blank look of fear, his mind flashing back to himself in the exact same scenario.
"Oliver, please!" Nyx shouted out, begging him to just keep his mouth shut. Damien hummed a small laugh of amusement before he leaned forward to get closer to Oliver.
"You would do well to listen to your sister." Damien purred with a dark smirk as he stood up straight again. "Although, I have to admit that I see the resemblance when it comes to the degree to which you irritate me." He removed the tendril from Oliver's shoulder and he grunted slightly through gritted teeth. Damien also removed the tendril that was under Danny's chin and he dropped his head in exhaustion from keeping his head tilted back for so long. "Now, I do believe it's time to get to the main event." Damien gestured to Willow. "This is Willow Anders, her Gift will be needed for this next bit of fun. Miss Anders?" Damien took a step back and Willow stepped forward and Nyx's heart began racing again. She had no clue what this woman's Gift was.
"I cordially invite you...to my House of Horrors." Willow said in a lyrical tone before her eyes started glowing brighter. Outwardly, it looked as though Nyx, Danny and Oliver had fallen asleep suddenly. From their point of view however, it was like they were being sucked into a swirling black vortex before it quickly faded. They were no longer in the Erebus Estate. It was a hospital, but it looked wrong. There was blood on the floor, dried and fresh. It looked run down and disheveled with broken glass and clear signs of struggles around the entire place. This looked like a place where people were hunted down like animals. It looked like a hundred people died here, at least. When Nyx looked around she suddenly stopped at a confusing and frightening sight.
Damien was here too.
He was standing down the hall a few feet away from Nyx, Danny and Oliver. He had a look on his face that was slightly confused as well before it was replaced with anger. "Willow! What is the meaning of this?!" Damien looked up and yelled angrily at no one.
"Ha, looks like someone didn't have as much control as he thought." Oliver taunted Damien as he put a hand in his pocket. Damien looked at Oliver with a growl before his hand snapped up and his first two fingers were pointed upwards. The three of them tensed before quickly realizing that nothing happened...
Damien's eyes widened slightly before he looked down at his hand. His Gift wasn't working, and for the first time ever, it looked like Damien was actually kind of...worried. "Welcome guests." Willow's voice sounded through the entire building and startled all of them, except Damien, he only looked up in irritation. Her voice sounded...wrong, crazed and dark sounding, but calm. "This is my House of Horrors. The rules are simple, survive as long as you can and maybe I'll consider releasing you. Gifts are inhibited in my House as well, and any injuries that you receive while in my House will be inflicted on your true bodies as well. So be careful." She laughed rather darkly.
"Why the hell did you drag me in too?!" Damien yelled angrily as he looked up towards the ceiling. Willow laughed again.
"Well, Damien that's simple. I took a page from your playbook and seized an opportunity." She said playfully. Damien's eyes widened ever so slightly and he looked slightly worried before he looked back at the group. They hadn't taken their eyes off him.
Damien growled in anger, "I'll deal with her later." He said before he looked to his left and found a metal pipe that had dried blood on the end of it. "I can still make the most of this." Damien said with a manic smirk as he spun the pipe in between his fingers. Damien lunged forward at high speed with his arm raised, ready to swing at Nyx's head. The pipe was stopped dead in its tracks when Oliver caught the pipe with his hand.
"Damien!" Oliver shouted at him. "Can you not see what's happening here?! Stop acting like a PSYCHO for two seconds and look around! You're trapped in here just like us!" Oliver flicked his arm down and forced Damien to hold the pipe at his side instead of over their heads. "We all know that the only way for us to get out of here is if she allows it." Oliver pointed at the ceiling. "Our best hope is to wait until Nate gets to the Estate with the cavalry and makes Willow release us. Then we can kill each other to our hearts content." Oliver spoke sternly to Damien as they glared at each other. Danny had instinctively placed himself in front of Nyx. He knew that Damien would take any opportunity to try and kill her, he couldn't let that happen. Danny's hands were shaking though, he was terrified. Danny was also powerless. He didn't have his Super Prediction to warn him of lethal blows, that thought terrified him more than anything else.
"This changes nothing." Damien said angrily in Oliver's face. "You think that just because I don't have my Gift, I can't slaughter every one of you?" Damien laughed once. "Watch me." Damien growled before he lifted the pipe again and swung. Danny stepped backwards quickly as he guided Nyx back as well. Oliver ducked under the swing before he tackled Damien down to the ground. Oliver landed one hard punch at Damien's face before he returned the gesture and landed a hard punch on Oliver's face. Oliver was sent off of Damien as he tried to recover from the hit. Damien quickly got to his feet and started baring down on Danny and Nyx with anger in his gaze.
"Oliver?!" Nyx shouted for Oliver to help. One of Oliver's arms quickly wrapped around Damien's neck from behind before his other hand came up to hold his arm in place, locking Damien in a headlock.
"Danny, get Nyx out of here!" Oliver shouted as Damien struggled. "She is his target, get her away from here, keep her safe!" Oliver yelled as Damien grunted angrily and tried to free himself.
"Oliver, I can't leave you alone with him!" Nyx shouted in response as she stepped forward, Danny held up his arm so Nyx couldn't approach any further. Damien lifted his arm and slammed his elbow into Oliver's side, he grunted in pain but refused to loosen his grip.
"For fucks sake, Nyx just go!" Oliver shouted in slight anger before Danny turned slightly and tried to guide Nyx down the hallway. She hesitated for a moment before she turned around and ran down the hall alongside Danny. Away from her brother.
After about ten minutes of weaving through the complex hallways of The House, Danny and Nyx stopped running to catch their breath at a T-junction in the hallways. Well, Danny was catching his breath, Nyx was hyperventilating as she slid down the wall until she was squatting on the ground. Danny saw this quickly and squatted down in front of her. He removed her hands from her hair and held them in his.
"Nyx, look at me." He spoke calmly to get her attention. He was still short of breath because of his asthma flaring up. Nyx jolted slightly and looked into his eyes, Danny noticed that her pupils were almost like pinpricks...she was terrified. "Breathe, Oliver is going to be fine. Damien is powerless too, okay? They're on equal footing. He's going to be fine." Danny spoke with confidence to try and calm her down, but in truth, he was scared too. Despite how scared he was though, he managed to stay strong for her. She needed him to be.
"But...but Danny, what if he's not?" Nyx choked out at her eyes misted, Nyx didn't like the feeling of being powerless. Powerless to help the people she loves.
"Nyx, you're torturing yourself. Right now, we just need to focus on staying alive, okay? We just need to watch each other's backs, like we always do. Okay?" Danny's voice was gentle and soft, it calmed her in the same way that Nate would always calm her. She took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay...okay, right. You're right...like always." Nyx joked with him with a little smile. Danny smiled back at her before he stood up straight and held out his hand to help Nyx to her feet. She took his hand and he pulled her up, he moved his hand up to her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Nyx stepped forward and hugged him tightly, even though Danny was powerless and couldn't see into the future, she felt safe with him regardless. Danny hesitated for a moment, part of him still felt wrong getting this close to her. Danny gently moved his arms and returned the hug. After another moment, he hugged her closer and closed his eyes.
"It'll be okay, Nyx." Danny uttered softly again, but he was still uneasy himself. Suddenly, Nyx's hands were on his waist and she shoved him off her.
"Danny?!" She said in fear as Danny looked at her, confused. She wasn't looking at him though, she was looking past him. Behind him. Danny whipped around and dread spread across his face. Down the hallway that was behind Danny, there was a figure. A man that neither of them recognized, but he looked disturbingly wrong. His eyes were red, no pupils, no iris, no sclera, just blood red in his eyes and overflowing down his face. He was glaring at them both and a crazed grin spread across his face as he lifted a long knife and pointed it at them. Danny's eyes widened in fear as he reached behind him and gripped Nyx's wrist.
"Run." He whispered before he almost dragged Nyx down the hallway. The two heard the...things footsteps chasing them down the hallway. Nyx looked behind them as Danny led her through the halls, he was keeping the pace but not gaining ground.
She understood now more than ever what Willow meant when she said: Survive as long as you can.