A New Meaning to the Night

Chapter Sixteen: Returned Memories

Cori had told William the time Sam was born and he, in turn, had informed Damien before leaving to be with Cori as they all waited. Damien knew he could have gone to sit with them, but he found himself sneaking into her room through the window at two thirty so that no one could stop him if they were so inclined instead. She slept peacefully, but she wasn't smiling. She also wasn't wearing the necklace meant to keep everyone out of her mind. "Sam, wake up. Sam!"

   She frowned, half asleep, and her brows furrowed. "Damien?" Even as she said his name, it clicked and she jerked awake, sitting up to glare at him. "Damien, what are you─"

   "Look, there's not much time, alright?" he interrupted impatiently. "I'm sorry for this, we all are, but I'll be right next to you the whole time, alright? I won't leave you."

   Irritation and confusion flickered in her eyes, and she glared at him. "Damien, what are you talking about? Sorry for breaking into my house? Did Cori let you in? I've made myself perfectly─ oh!" Her eyes widened in pain and she looked at him startled as memories and pain flooded through her simultaneously. Every part of her body felt suddenly as though it had been set on fire and she screamed, even as images of Damien and William in an abandoned house flooded her. She remembered it all. William in the bar, Damien in the park, getting attacked, her mother...

   Her bedroom door burst open as her head exploded in a terrible, stabbing pain and she stared at them all as her vision began to go blurry. "You knew."

   No one bothered to ask how he'd gotten into her room without them noticing. They just stood, crowded in the doorway as her body slumped and Damien rushed to tuck her back in. "Is everyone just going to stand there? Isn't anyone going to help her?" He turned an accusing glare on Rebecca and Kaitlyn (who had shown up after Sam had gone to bed so as not to raise her daughter's suspicion) as he spoke. "Can't you give her something to help with the pain?"

   Kaitlyn scowled at his tone and pushed into the room, a small vile in hand. "Of course, we have something to help with the pain. A lot of good it will do. This kind of pain isn't something you can numb completely; it's too much."

   Shouldering Damien away, she lifted Sam's head and forced the potion past her lips. Sam's body was already shaking and beginning to sweat. She was on fire.

   "She didn't look understanding," Cori whispered softly to William. She watched Damien, Kaitlyn and Rebecca lean over Sam, trying in vain to ease the pain, and wanted to cry. "She looked hurt. She's going to be so angry, William."

   William squeezed her hand gently, "Everything will turn out alright."

***

   "What do you know about my father?"

William smiled, "Before I go into that, I'd like to ask what you know about him."

"Nothing."

Damien scoffed, but William cut him off. "His name was Derek Burton; he was what we call a ki-vampire."

"He's dead."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"I can hardly lose something that I never knew about in the first place. There's no need to be sorry for it. You said he was a ki-vampire, but witches can't be turned."

"Correct, but they can reproduce..."

It felt as though every bone in her body was breaking. She could do nothing except whimper or scream and even in such a blindingly painful state, she fought to keep the utterance of pain to a minimum. Every time they touched her, she felt as though she were being stabbed. She wanted to tell them not to touch her. She wanted to tell them to go away, but she felt the liquid they forced down her throat and felt a few seconds of relief, only for the suffering to come back tenfold.