Days of Darkness: Awakening

Chapter 17: A Moment for Life

The last couple of weeks had been stressful for everyone at the bunker. The team's nerves were bad, and the entire complex was on edge. Christian and Diamond worked nonstop on the wormhole device to perfect it and get it ready for the field. They would sometimes work for over twenty-four hours straight and sacrificed meals and leisure. Nadia split her time between the clinic and being with Damien. They felt the need to stay close and spend as much time together because they knew that they faced constant danger daily. In between those times, Damien and Cyris spent much of their time training and preparing themselves for what lay ahead. Everyone had their hands busy in one way or another.

While everyone was still replaying the events that unfolded in the laboratory in their minds, Damien was still trying to wrap his head around the confrontation that he had with Dante. As much as he wanted to embrace his powers, at the same time, they frightened him to no end. He couldn't use them comfortably without wondering to himself if he is, indeed, the real threat. And even more so, after hearing Dante's rant, he couldn't help but wonder what was Dante's ultimate goal. What was it that he was trying to achieve?

A month passed since the incidents in the lab and at Damien's home, and the team was completely drained. There was no word further from Dante, and the Night-stalkers had gone silent. And as much as they appreciated the quiet, they knew that there was more on the horizon and they would need to be ready for whatever came their way.

Working and training left little time for them to enjoy themselves and live life. After all, what reason was there to fight if they didn't have anything to fight for or something to remind them? So, Nadia, being the most light-hearted person in the Pack, decided to get everyone together – both the adults and children – to go out to one of the old beachfronts in the city and have a day of nothing but fun and games.

Nadia had been planning for everyone to go above ground and enjoy the lakefront. Even through all the destruction, the Chicago skyline remained a beautiful sight. After being wound up for weeks, everyone needed some serious rest and relaxation.

Knock knock!

"Hold on," Damien grunted as he rolled over from a good night's sleep. 

As he got out of bed, he slipped on some clothes and went to the door. He opened it to find Nadia there with Christian right behind her.

She slipped in and gave Damien a quick kiss and sat on the bed. Christian went in right behind her.

"What are you still doing in bed?" she inquired. "Don't tell me you forgot..."

"Nah, nah," Damien answered as he wiped the crust from his eyes. "I just overslept."

Christian jumped in. "Come on, bro. Get ready. I haven't played basketball in a long time, and I promise you I'm about to school you today," he said laughing.

"Bro, you got yourself a game. Who's cooking? I hear Cyris is gonna throw something on the grill."

"That's what I heard, too," Nadia said. "I can't wait. I'm hungry."

"Give me a minute. Let me get ready."

As Damien went to the bathroom, Christian and Nadia left the room. He got in the shower and stood for a while and let the water run over him. This day had been planned for over a week now, but given the recent events, Damien wasn't sure if now was the time to have fun and let his guard down. However, since Nadia and Christian - the two most important people in his life - were looking forward to it, he decided to make the best of it.

A few minutes later, Damien met everyone in the cafeteria. Diamond had already begun to get everyone lined up into various groups to keep track of everyone, especially the children. They were all a lot more excited than the adults because they were finally going to get the opportunity to go outside and play for a while as kids should.