The Monitors

Chapter 15 - The Place In Between Again

Damon heard a SPLASH as he landed on his back. "God damn it." he said out loud as now his clothes were wet. He sat up and then the realization hit him. He was back in the same place he was the day of the incident at the marking ceremony. Damon stood up, on guard. He looked around. There was nobody as far as the eye could see. All he could see besides the wet floor was the black sun above him which looked like a full solar eclipse. "Show yourself! I know you're here!" he yelled for Dark Damon. "Boo." he heard behind him as he spun around and threw a punch. It was caught. Caught by Dark Damon. Damon looked into the red eyes of this other version of himself. "Who are you?!" he yelled. Dark Damon grinned. "It's not who am I, its what am I." as he said this he shoved Damon as he flew ten feet away from him.

"What are you?" Damon replied. Dark Damon smiled. "Come with me. I'll show you." as he said this a door appeared behind him. Damon, with uncertainty followed his darker self as he opened the door and walked through. When he walked through the door he was at a park. It was incredibly hot. It was the same park where Boston and Damon were attacked when they were children. "Do you remember this?" Dark Damon said. "How could I not?" Damon replied. Dark Damon motioned for him to follow, and he did. They both walked around the corner to see Linda and little Damon talking at the car they arrived in. "We were so innocent back then." Dark Damon said. Damon remembered how introverted and isolated he was as a kid. Damon walked up to Linda who was consoling little Damon. "Mom, I'm sorry. You've been there for me all my life. I know now you were just trying to protect me." Damon cried. Linda couldn't hear him because this was a memory.

"This is the day I was born." Dark Damon replied. Damon turned around with a raised eyebrow. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Damon replied. Dark Damon's eyes, for the first time showed something besides bloodlust. They appeared somber, as if he felt sad for something. "My first memory is looking through your eyes that day. After the attack. I was there. Watching, waiting. At first I didn't know what was going on. But as time went on I knew." Dark Damon said as he had a tear come down his eye. "When people have enough trauma, they can develop serious disorders. Yours just happens to have the blood of the artifacts running through it." Dark Damon said. Damon's eyes opened wide, he was shocked. No, shock wasn't the right word.

There weren't words that could describe how he felt. "So what you're telling me, is that you're the ghost of all the bad shit that has ever happened to me?" Damon said. Dark Damon's eyes met Damons. "I am the embodiment of your trauma. That mixed with the blood of the artifacts along with the mark turned me into this." Dark Damon said. "So, you're a literal part of me?" Damon said. Dark Damon wiped his tear and motioned for Damon to follow him. There was another door in the distance. They both started walking toward it. Damon turned around one last time to look at his mom before walking through the door.

On the other side of the door was Damon's first day of Senior year of high school. "Do you remember this?" Dark Damon said. "This is the day I first met Orion." Damon replied. They turned their gaze to a young Damon walking through the hallway. Three kids in football jerseys walked up to him and slapped his books out of his hand in passing. The three boys laughed as they pointed at Damon and walked away. Young Damon picked his heavy textbook up and threw it at one of the boys. It hit him right in the back of the head. The three boys turned around and ran at young Damon. One boy punched him in the stomach. The next boy threw him to the ground. They all started kicking him on the ground. Then a young Orion walked around the corner and sprinted at the boys.

He tackled one of them off Damon and started punching him. Eventually teachers ran up and broke up the fight. Young Damon and Orion both got sent to the office. Dark Damon and Damon followed the younger versions. Once at the office they were both placed in chairs outside the principals. "Thank you." Young Damon said. "Don't mention it." Young Orion replied. They sat in silence for thirty seconds. "Why did you help me?" Young Damon said. Young Orion smirked "There wasn't a chance I was gonna let them kick your ass like that. Three on one is some bullshit". They both laughed. Dark Damon walked up to the Younger Damon and said "Do you remember this? This was when there was still hope left. But you fucked this up too". He walked over to another door and opened it. He motioned for Damon to follow him.

'They both walked through it. As soon as they stepped through the door Damon knew where he was. He was in his current apartment the night he moved it. He could see he and Anna dancing in the living room. Dark Damon shook his head. "This was the last good thing in your life." he said. Damon became overwhelmed with sadness. He couldn't look. He looked away. "Look at her!" Dark Damon screamed. "You did this! This was you, not me!" Dark Damon bellowed. Damon looked up at his Darker self and there were tears streaming down his face. Damon walked up to his darker self, and calmly put his hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't have to be this way for us. There is still a way back." he said. Dark Damon calmed down. There was quiet. All that could be heard was the sound of the music that the memory of Damon and Anna were dancing to. Dark Damon looked at Anna. "No, it's too late. I've waited too long. Lost too much!" he yelled as a flash of light blinded Damon.

They were back in the big empty room with water on the floor and the black sun in the sky. "Its just too late!" Dark Damon yelled as red electricity surrounded him. "It's not too late! We are more than what we went through!" Damon yelled. Dark Damon now had his sinister tone back with an evil smile, electricity crackling around him. "I seriously doubt that ." he spat. "What do you think has been happening the entire time you've been here?" Dark Damon said with a grin. Damon's eyes got wide. Had he been going on a rampage like last time? Had he been uconciousness? What's happening outside of this room right now? "I've been butchering your friends like cattle!" Dark Damon yelled. Damon gasped and looked at his hands. There were red shackles on them. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to finish what I started." Dark Damon spat as he walked away. Damon stood there in silence, shaking, too scared to move.

"No!" Damon yelled. "I refused to be bound in chains by things that were out of my control. I refuse to be stuck in place because bad things happened to me. Nothing that has happened to me or will happen to me will weigh me down. I refuse!" Damon yelled as yellow electricity surrounded him. "I refuse!" he screamed with every bit of energy he had in his body.

Back on the outside, right before Rowen lost consciousness, Damon dropped him. Rowen hit the ground and gasped for air. Damon put both of his hands on his face. "E-Enough." he grunted. Then he let out a scream. Wind violently sliced a pushing force around him as Rowen was pushed away. Damon continued to scream as the Dark undertone from his voice started to fade. "I won't let you!" Damon yelled as he collapsed to his knees. He put his hands on his head and screamed as the patterns that had taken over his torso and face started retreating. It was an extremely painful process. The marks stopped at his elbows.

Damon's eyes were his own again and steam radiated off his skin where the pattern used to be. Rowen, still coughing got to his feet as fast as he could. He drew his gun and pointed it directly at Damon's head. Damon looked directly into Rowen's eyes. That's when he knew Damon had returned. Rowen looked down at the patterns on Damon's arms. "You gonna try to kill me again kid?" Rowen said. Damon, with a confused look on his face glanced around at the destruction he had caused. When he saw the bodies and realized what had happened he covered his mouth with one hand and started to cry. The marks at his elbows started to retreat into the X's on his hands. "C'mon." Rowen said, helping Damon to his feet. He helped Damon get to his bed. "Rest now. We can figure this all out tomorrow." Rowen said softly. He shut the light off and closed the door. Despite the destruction and massacre Damon carried out, his body was incredibly exhausted. He was asleep within ten seconds.