Lady Death and Despair

Chapter 6

                                                           Damion

Damion leaned against the worn-out railing of the Greywick mansion's crumbling second-floor balcony, watching the rain pour down over Mysteria. The place looked just as broken as the day his father left it. Rotting wood, shattered windows, and an eerie silence that seemed to cling to the air. He had grown up here, in the darkness of these halls, with nothing but his father's twisted teachings to guide him. Now, the house stood as a reminder of everything he was.

He closed his eyes, listening to the rain. Sophie would be here soon. He could feel the weight of her presence already. She was getting closer to the truth, and tonight would be the moment everything changed. He'd been careful not to push her too far too fast, but she was a lot sharper than most people gave her credit for. It was only a matter of time before she started to put the pieces together.

And when she did, there would be no going back.

Damion's fingers twitched as the memories of his father came rushing back. The lessons, the training, the endless nights spent in the dark, learning how to blend into the shadows, and how to kill without a second thought. His father had been a master at it—cold, calculated, always in control.

Damion had learned everything.

But where his father saw killing as a necessity, a way to feed the darkness inside them, Damion had always felt a pull toward something more. He didn't want to be like his father, not exactly. There had to be more to life than just blood and death, right?

Yet here he was, back in Mysteria, doing the very thing he had sworn he wouldn't. The killings were necessary, though. They were his way of maintaining control. He needed to clean up what his father had left behind, and the town had to pay for the part it played. But with Sophie...

Sophie was different.

Damion had watched her for weeks now, carefully guiding her steps without her even knowing. She was getting closer to the truth about what happened to her family. What his father had done to them. And she deserved to know, but not yet—not until she was ready to see things from his perspective.

He could still remember that night. He hadn't been more than a kid, but he remembered everything. The way his father had planned it, the way he had executed it. Sophie's family had been an obstacle. Damion had watched it all unfold, unable to stop any of it, and that guilt had followed him ever since.

He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts. There was no room for doubt now. If he wanted to bring Sophie into his world, he had to show her the truth—and help her understand. She would hate him for it, at first. But hate could be molded into something else, something more powerful. Love and hate were two sides of the same coin, after all.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the message from Sophie: "On my way."

His heart pounded as he tucked the phone away. This was it. Everything he'd set into motion was about to come to a head. She wouldn't leave the mansion tonight the same person she had been before. He would make sure of it.

Damion descended the stairs slowly, each creak of the old wood echoing through the empty mansion. The house felt alive with memories, but it was the future he was focused on now. The path he was setting for both of them.

He reached the ground floor and stood by the grand fireplace, staring into the cold, empty hearth. The room felt colder, the shadows stretching longer as the minutes ticked by. The rain outside hadn't let up, and the occasional flash of lightning lit up the broken windows, casting jagged reflections on the walls.

Damion clenched his fists, his thoughts racing. Sophie was strong, stronger than anyone gave her credit for. She'd survived so much already, and once she knew the truth, once she truly embraced the darkness, they could face this world together. He wouldn't let her run from it. Not again.

A sudden noise—footsteps—echoed from outside. She was here.

Damion's pulse quickened as he moved toward the front door, his mind already working through the conversation that would unfold. She would have questions, so many questions. And he had to give her enough answers to keep her with him, but not so much that she'd run. Not yet.

When he opened the door, Sophie stood there, drenched from the rain, her eyes wide with a mix of determination and fear.

"Damion," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, but steady.

He looked at her for a moment, his heart pounding in his chest. There was so much he wanted to say, but for now, he simply stepped aside, gesturing for her to come in.

"Let's talk," he said quietly, closing the door behind her.

This was the beginning of the end. For both of them.