Days of Darkness: Winter's Rage (Book 2)

Chapter 18: The Problem with Duality

The shock of seeing Cyris again echoed throughout the group - minus Morgan, of course. Processing the fact that a man that they knew to be dead for three years became a bit much for everyone to process. That is, everyone except for Damien. He finally understood what it was they were dealing with.

"We all have a version of us here," Damien whispered to himself.

Cyris looked over at Damien. "Young man, you all have some explaining to do." He stood up slowly due to his advancing age. "How is it that you all knew of this bunker?"

"I assure you," Damien said, "we mean you no harm. Can we just go to the conference room so we can talk? Just you and I?"

Reluctantly, Cyris agreed. Damien, then, turned to Nadia.

"Take Diamond to the Med Center and see what you can do for her. I'm gonna try to straighten things out with Cyris," he told her. "Let me know as soon as she wakes up."

"I will," Nadia replied. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine," he answered. "Have Morgan take these people to the residence and set them up with food and clean clothing. I need Christian to get this place fully operational."

He gave Nadia a kiss and went off with Cyris. Nothing but their footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the building as they walked down the hallways. Most lights hung from the ceiling by nothing more than a couple of bolts and wires. The others were so badly worn down that they barely flickered on and off. It was cold and dark as if it been abandoned for decades.

Once they made into the conference room, Cyris eased down into one of the chairs. Damien sat in one of the chairs across the table from him. They looked into each other's eyes momentarily trying to gauge the other's demeanor.

"So, I'm listening, kid," Cyris told him. "You look awful familiar, son. What's your name?"

"Damien," he answered. "My name is Damien. And I'm not who you think I am... not exactly."

"You've got my attention, son," the old man said. "I suggest you use it before you lose it."

Damien took a deep breath. "The reason I look so familiar to you is that I'm also Dante."

Cyris was confused. "That's impossible. Dante is dead."

"Only in a manner of speaking," Damien answered. "The Dante from this world - this Earth, this time period - is dead. You see, five years ago, Dante invaded my world and destroyed it completely. He left only remnants of the population. Just enough to tell the tale. Two years after that is when everything started to change."

"What do you mean?" Cyris inquired.

Damien opened the palm of his hand and a small flame rose from it. Then, his body began to generate an electrical field around him. The more he concentrated, the more his power grew. Cyris sat in amazement.

"You have the same abilities as Dante," he said.

Damien powered down. "It's like I said, I am him - just another version of him."

"That still doesn't explain to me what you all are doing at this bunker," Cyris said as he grew annoyed. "This place is supposed to be off the grid."

"And it is off the grid," Damien answered. "At least it was until now. We knew about the bunker because we had one on our Earth. Same exact spot."

"What do you mean 'had?'" Cyris asked.

"It was destroyed. That's a long story. But the point is, we need your help to stop whatever threat this is because it doesn't just threaten our world, but yours and every other Earth out there in the parallel universe."