His hair was a matted mess, and he was covered in dirt. He hadn't put his shirt on, but I could see it in his hands, covered in blood. His bare chest was covered in large gashes of varying sizes and stages of healing, especially around one area on his arm where there were many very deep wounds.
What had happened to him that had put him in such a bad state? I dreaded to think of what he had been doing all night. My imagination flashed scenarios through my mind, each one worse than the other. For some reason, I had been thinking of Dameon as indestructible, but this was just proof of how he was still mortal. I couldn't stand the scars all over his body, and the thought of how they had been inflicted. I wanted to hide him away somewhere safe and never let him get into danger again.
I ran over to him, my eyes still wide with shock, and threw my arms around him. He lightly hugged me back.
"Dameon... what happened last night?! Why..."
"Don't worry Emily. I'm fine. I'm invincible, remember?!" he laughed, obviously trying to lighten the situation. It wasn't working. Nothing could distract me from these wounds all over his body or make them seem any less serious.
I pulled away to look up at his face and looked into his eyes. "Dameon. What happened?"
He held my gaze for a minute and looked over at his father. He sighed.
"We caught a new vampire trail last night during patrol and decided to follow it"
I gasped. They followed a vampire trail?! Were they crazy?!
Dameon's hand squeezed mine as if to reassure me. "We followed it quite far but when we were almost in Canada and were about to give up and come back, we caught a fresh wave and figured it was nearby. We caught up to it near a small village; we assume it was planning to feed."
I clenched his hand tighter. This story seemed to be coming to the conclusion I was dreading. I knew vampire venom was poisonous to werewolves; what if they'd faced this vampire and it had bitten him? I glanced at him; he didn't look in severe pain, surely he'd be in a worse state if he'd been bitten?
"The thing didn't sense us until we had surrounded it, its senses must have weakened because it was hungry or something, I don't know, but it wasn't up for a fight. It must have realised we could take it. Wesley told us not to advance, but Dan got excited. I jumped in to try and help but the thing had gotten angry. It attacked us, me and Dan, but the others stepped in and we managed to get rid of it."
Jessie must have had the same thought as I had before. "Dameon, did it bi-" he started to ask, but Dameon's head started shaking before jessie had even finished.
"No one got bitten. This-" he gestured the multitude of wounds all over him "-is really nothing. It looks much worse than it was. It'll heal up fine in a few hours."
I raised my eyebrows at him. He was trying to downplay this when it was so obviously terrible?!
He smiled at me "Honestly Emily. It's nothing to worry about." He held my unbelieving gaze for a few seconds, as if trying to convince me with his eyes, but then looked up to his father.
"The only thing is, we didn't quite finish it off. We were all worried about who'd gotten hurt and the thoughts were such a confusion that it kind of snuck off." His eyes fell to the floor. "We know it's been to Forks before, and it might come back."
Jessie nodded. "I'll have to talk to Wesley. We'll need more protection, just in case. The thing might follow your trail back here and want revenge." He wheeled himself to the phone and dialled a number.
While Jessie was busy, I turned my eyes back to Dameon. The panic and fear which had overcome me when dameon walked through the door had ebbed slightly, mainly because Dameon's scars did seem to be healing fast and he was standing straight and didn't seem to be in any pain.
"You're really fine?" I said softly to him, still needing reassurance.
"Emily." He took my face in his hands. "I am fine. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Honestly."
I nodded and smiled briefly at him.
"He said to come over for a meeting right away." Jessie's voice broke our exchange and Dameon's hands dropped from my face as he turned to his father. "I think it's best if you stay here, Dameon. You need some rest. I'll let you know what's said."
Dameon nodded and walked over to help Jessie through the door. "You get there alright?" he asked when Jessie was out the doorway.
"Yes I'll be fine. Now you get some rest. Emily will look after you."
Billy started wheeling himself in the direction of Wesley's house and Dameon watched him for a while, before closing the door. He turned to me.
"You look like you need a rest. Go to sleep." I ushered him towards his room, taking the role of carer.
"No no, you've come all the way here, I'm not even tired..." he gave a large yawn contradicting himself and proving my point.
"You're sleeping Dameon. It'll help you heal." I ordered him, but he still showed signs of resistance. "Ok, will it make you happier if I went to sleep as well? Then you're not wasting any time with me."
He smiled and nodded. "Fine, you win. I'll sleep." He sat down on his bed and I turned around to leave him in peace, but before I'd left he called out. "Hey Emily, you have to keep your end of the deal!"
I smiled. "Don't worry, I will!" I called back. I needed some rest anyway; all this had tired me out.
As I curled up on the sofa, I just thought about how relieved I was that Dameon was alright.
