I shuffle back quickly and stare up at him. He stares back at me with angry, watery eyes. His hair was a mess, but his face... his face resembled mine, but much worse. A similar bruise to mine, surrounding his right eye and the exact same slash on his left cheek, a dark bruise forming underneath his left eye and his lip was busted, dry blood on the corner of his mouth.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance." He whispers as tears fall from his eyes. I blink nervously. "I have done nothing to you." anger slowly consuming me. He scoffs before shoving through me, leaving the estate forever.
I stand silently, collecting myself. I didn't want to be flustered when I went to see Damien. He would know something was up. I look up, down the hall to see Ria standing at the end, partially in the dark. "Ria?" I call out, but she doesn't move. She's just staring at me. "Ria...? What are you doing?" She doesn't blink. "What is wrong with you, you're such a creep!" I yell at her.
I feel my chest weigh me down, vertigo hits my like walking into a wall. My lungs begin to constrict and vision wavy, I lean onto the wall as I try to keep my balance. The floor looks like it's moving, making me nauseous. My breathing quickens, hyperventilating. I gasp to catch my breath. Tears explode from my eyes as I begin to choke on my own oxygen, desperate for air to enter my lungs. Light headed would be an understatement, until a shooting pain runs through my head. I groan as I grab onto my head with both hands, leaning my whole body against the wall, I slide down until I hit the floor.
"Aryah!?" Damien runs over to me, grabbing onto my shoulders. I can barely see his face but I can see a fuzzy silhouette of Ria, still standing lifelessly down the hall. My head flops around as I'm no longer able to hold it up. I feel Damien sliding his arms underneath me, lifting me up. My body goes limp and darkness follows.
His voice sounds distant and mumbled. "What happened, wake up!" "It's going to be okay, d-don't worry."
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"RUN!"
"RUN! Aryah, they're coming!"
"Who's there???" My voice shaky. "Run from what!?"
I feel as if I had just touched a hot stove, a heat that increases as time goes on. Burning.
Flames ignite in front of my eyes causing me to gasp.
"RUN!"
I look around frantically. "W-where please tell me!" I shut my eyes tight. The heat subsides and I open my eyes. Lightening and the rumble of thunder, causing the ground beneath me to quake.
I shut my eyes again, opening them not even a second later. I am on the dirt road, on all fours. I look up to see Davon, Patrick and Damien staring down at me.
"Damien!?"
"Good job boys." Damien smiles. "I'll take it from here."
"Y-you're with them!?" He reaches down, his hand slowly making it's way closer to me. Then, nothing. Darkness once again.
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A dim light shines down on my seemingly peaceful face. Damien sits in a chair beside the hospital bed, leaning on the side, staring at me intently. Waiting for my eyes to open. He begins whispering to me. "Please wake up..."
"How is she?" Damien turns his head to see Cain standing a few feet away, his hands shoved in his pockets. He looks back at me. "No change..."
The door opens and closes quietly as the doctor enters the room. He walks over to the bed, picking up a chart, loosely hanging from the end of the bed frame. "Good evening, my lords." He bows and reads the chart. "Unfortunately there isn't much we can tell you. It seems she may have had a severe panic attack. It will be a waiting game. She will wake up when she is ready."
He puts the chart down and takes a few steps closer, putting his hands in the pockets of his scrubs. "Please go home and rest." "I'm not going anywhere." Damien says quietly as he looks back at me. "I figured you'd say that. I'll be back tomorrow" Cain slaps him on the back, giving it a light squeeze before leaving the room with the doctor.
"What happened?..." Once again whispering to me. He sits with me for hours, stroking my forehead. He soon falls asleep on his crossed arms, leaning on the bed as he sits in the chair.
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<-The next night->
He paces back and forth, his hair a mess from running his hands through it so much.
"Damien, you're making me dizzy." Cain leans back in the chair. "Come on, you look awful. You need to rest." Damien inhales a deep breath. "Maybe... I'll just be a bit longer." "I'll wait for you in the hallway." Cain nods as he lifts himself from the chair, leaving the room.
Damien grabs the chair, pulling it beside the bed and flopping down into it, grabbing my hand. "Aryah, if you can hear me, I want you to know something. The reason... I'm so attached to you..." He squeezes my hand, gliding his thumb across the top of it. He clears his throat, I'm unconscious yet he was still nervous to tell me. "A shadow's true, and only weakness... is the light that creates it." he pauses. "Without each other, they cannot exist, it's all about balance, in life and death, in light and in darkness." He smiles to himself. "You balance me out and you probably don't realize it yet, but I balance you out as well." He sighs. "It's all about finding each others source and... I'm lucky enough to have found mine." He let's out a small huff. "This is the reason Cain gave me the order to protect you. I feel this constant draw to you, to protect you. Your scent..."
"God, your scent..."
"I can't fucking handle your scent."
"The light in your eyes, the warmth that you radiate throughout my body, the sparks I feel whenever you touch me. I-I can't help myself, I lose control."
"We have a rare connection. One Cain wished he had with you instead. He would never admit that to me, but I'm not blind."
"It's driving me crazy that I can't protect you to the fullest extent. There is a way... but I need you to wake up first."
"Please Aryah..."
He pauses, staring at me before taking a heavy sigh, standing as he places my hand down gently, leaving the room.
I feel his presence leave the room as the energy has changed to a feeling of emptiness. Is this what he means? I laid there partially conscious, but enough to hear the beautiful words he whispered in my ear.
I open my eyes partly, whispering as my voice is groggy, "Damien..."
As I said this, Damien was pulling the door closed. He freezes before whipping his head towards me. He searches for any response as he wasn't sure if he heard correctly. I shift on the bed and he zooms towards me, collapsing into the chair and grabbing my hand. He turns his head to the door. "Get the doctor!"
Cain pokes his head in and nods quickly before sprinting down the hall to find the doctor. Damien moves the hair from my face, giving me a worried smile. "I'm okay, I just lost my breath." I smile at him as I close my eyes. "No, no, stay awake."
I open my eyes again, "Sorry just... fuzzy."
He nods and looks at the ground. "I'm sorry, I should have been there..." I manage to let out an eye roll. "You can't be with my every minute of the day, Damien." I chuckle. He grabs onto the side of the bed, pulling himself up and climbing in with me. I decide not to protest and instead, wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head in the crook of his arm. I could feel the need radiating off of him. To my surprise he stiffens. I giggle. "Since when are you nervous?" He relaxes when I say this. "Please..." He scoffs. "I expected you to to detest me as usual. Not to mention, I don't know if you're hurt or not." He says jokingly, finishing his sentence with a sad tone. I pull him a little closer. He leans down, kissing my forehead. We sit in silence for a moment. "Aryah, I-" "Shh, I know." He's quiet, puzzled by what I mean. "You... know?" he questions. "I know." I close my eyes and smile. He has an idea but not completely sure what I mean, he wants to ask, but decides to leave it be for now. We both close our eyes.
The doctor enters the room and rushes over to the side of the bed. Damien sits up and rolls me to the side closest to the doctor. The doctor feels around and does a few tests. "How are you feeling miss?" I shrug. "Tired." I state flatly. He nods, "I suggest staying a couple more days, so we can ensure you are fine." He smiles at me before leaving the room. Cain stands there awkwardly staring at us in bed together, even though we were fully clothed, it made him uncomfortable. "So, I assume you're staying the night?" He shoves his hands in his pockets, at the same time Damien leans back against the wall. They give each other an awkward look and Damien nods. "You're okay Aryah?" I smile at Cain, "Yes, I feel fine, just tired."
"Great, see you tomorrow then." He turns and walks out of the room. I frown, "What was that about?" I ask. Damien flicks his gaze to me but says nothing.
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Cain steps out of the room and sighs sadly. He continues down to the front desk where he sees my doctor. "Thanks doctor." He waves to him as he continues by him. He passes a few more rooms before he slows down, eventually coming to a stop. He furrows his brows and looks around, finally turning to the room straight across from him. "What is that?" He walks up to the room and barges in, to see a young girl laying in the hospital bed asleep. He holds himself back for a moment but urges on anyways. Standing beside the bed, he picks up her chart, but the papers weren't there. He drops it down and leans in to examine her face. She was gorgeous, beautiful curly shoulder length, brown hair.
A nurse bursts through the door, running towards Cain. He is not startled by this, he simply just turns towards her, amused that she thinks she's about to tell him what to do. "Excuse me sir! You're not allowed to just wander in hospital rooms as you please!" She was cute, short stature, long straight black hair and olive toned skin. She flinches and gasps when she realizes who she just yelled at. "I-I thought you were s-someone else." She says queitly taking a step back.
A young doctor enters the room shortly after and interupts the awkward encounter. "Oh, your grace." She bows. "Do you know this patient?" Cain looks over to her and crosses his arms. "Does it matter?" The doctor shifts awkwardly, choosing her words wisely. "I have to respect the privacy of our patients in the-" "What's her name?" He ignores her. "L-like I was saying, confidenti-" Cain's heart beat quickens as his eyes narrow, tilting his chin down. "Answer me." He demands. "Please your grace I-" He moves his gaze to the nurse, using his obvious intimidation to get the information he wants. "Marina, your grace!" the nurse blurts out as the doctor slaps her forehead. "You may leave." Cain says turning to Marina. "Your grace, I must instist-" The doctor pleads. "Get out, doctor." she sighs and walks out of the room with the nurse.
"Marina, huh?" He whispers. "Yes...?" she responds keeping her eyes closed but with a large smile.
Cain flinches, wasn't expecting her to be awake. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to wake you." he steps back, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly "It's alright." She says as she sits up and swivels her legs to the edge of the bed. "That was quite the show, just for my name?" She smiles brightly as she jumps up from the bed. Cain throws up his hands to help her, "Should you be getting up!?" She rolls her eyes as she adjusts her hospital gown. "I'm fine." His face softens, "You have beautiful eyes." He states clearly entranced. Her big sparkling green eyes shimmer in the dim light. She smiles bigger in response. "What are you doing?" She tilts her head quizzically. He shrugs and furrows his brows. "What do you mean?" she raises an eye brow and giggles. "In my room?" His eyebrows shoot up, "Oh, I... I was just, uh, curious?" She laughs, "About what? She grins. He lets out a huff "Honestly, I don't have an excuse. My names-"
"Cain" She puts her hand on her hips as she cuts him off. "You think I don't recognize, one of the three royal prince's? I wouldn't have guessed you'd be a nervous one though?" she giggles. It's true, Cain was never nervous. It was almost an entirely new feeling for him. He thinks for a moment, not denying her accusation. "You're correct. I would have never guessed so, either." He chuckles. "I'm not nervous, just taken aback by the beautiful lady in front of me." She instantly blushes and let's out an awkward laugh. "Okay, now you're making me nervous." They laugh.
"What brings you to the hospital?" Cain asks worriedly. "Oh!" she waves it off. "I just got into a scuffle with some shadows. Assholes... no offense." She winks at him as he grins at her. "So you believe in shadows?" "Of course." She states without hesitation. "What can I ask, are you?" He asks curiously. She grins and smacks him lightly in the arm. "Now, now. We just met. I don't give such information to strangers."
"Then I suppose we will need more encounters?"
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The nurse walks around the halls, turning off the lights, allowing the lights above the hospital doors to light up the hallways. They did this nightly to help the patients sleep better. It was nice, dark and quiet. As the nurse switches off the last light, she sees something move in her peripheral vision. She quickly turns around, but nothing was there. She walks over to a curtain surrounding an exam room and slides it open. Nothing. She sighs heavily and shakes her head, thinking she's crazy. Leaving the hallway.
I dark silhouette stands in the shadows of a corner. Emerging into the dim light, Mikayla turns her head down the hall. Her eyes wide, not blinking and her body stiff, her mouth in a flat line. She turns her body, her heels click against the tile, as she walks towards my room.
Click, click, click.