Chapter 15

Since the incident at the Imperial Hall, Damien had shut himself away.

It had been three days and he'd barely left his room, only doing so to shower and brush his teeth. He just sat on the floor, no lights on or curtains open, and drank whatever alcohol he could get his hands on. His burns were slowly healing, but his mind was far from recovered.

Every night when Kitty went to bed, he found him slumped over, passed out, a dozen bottles scattered around him. Tonight was no different. He let out a sad sigh at the sight. He shuffled over to him and lifted him up, as careful as he could. He didn't wake up or even make a sound. Kitty figured he'd be like this until morning. Then he'd drink some more and pass out again. He didn't have human organs like a liver or kidneys, but surely that much alcohol would damage him in some way. That scared Kitty.

Kitty carried Damien to their bed and lay him down. But as soon as his head hit the pillow, he awoke with a jolt. His eyes were wide and searched his surroundings. Once he remembered where he was, that he was safe, he sat back against the headboard. He cringed and touched his head. It must have hurt pretty bad.

Judging by the bags under his eyes, he hadn't been sleeping well. Kitty noticed he had been waking up in the night. He had seen him sitting there in the darkness, staring at his hands with a blank expression. He never said anything, and Kitty decided it would be best to go back to sleep. He didn't want to overstep his boundaries with him. He wasn't scared of him. Far from it. He knew Damien would never hurt him, no matter how drunk he was. He just didn't want to stick his nose in and upset him further. He might think he was judging him if he mentioned how concerning his behaviour was.

Kitty helped him sit up and placed a pillow behind him to rest his aching head on. Damien relaxed against it, but his eyes were still vacant. Kitty searched his face for emotion, but found nothing. He was hollow, so zoned out that Kitty didn't think he even knew he was there. He put his hand under Damien's chin and gently guided his face to look at his. His eyes caught sight of him, and Kitty smiled. Damien blinked a few times, then averted his vision.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"What for?" Kitty asked, stroking his pale face. "You didn't do anything wrong."

There was no answer. Damien leaned into his hand and closed his eyes. He looked tired. Kitty figured he should get some sleep. He picked up the blankets and tucked him in. Damien must have realised what he was doing. He placed his hand on top of Kitty's to stop him.

"I don't want to sleep." He said. He gazed into Kitty's eyes with a look of pain. "Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone. It scares me."

This simple sentence made Kitty's heart ache. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes again. Despite his sadness, he blinked away the tears, smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, I won't. I'll always be here for you."

Damien gave him a small smile and relaxed. He must have been relieved that he wasn't alone. Seeing Dana must have frightened him. But why? She was just a little girl. She did pour holy water on his face, which would be traumatising, but was there something more to this?

"Um," Kitty didn't know if he should ask. It might upset Damien, but it would help Kitty understand what he was going through. He wanted to help him. He wanted to know how to help him. "You know Dana, right?" He saw Damien freeze up at the mention of her name. He continued anyway. He had to know to fix this, how to help. "Why does she scare you so much? What happened?"

For a few seconds, Damien didn't speak. Then he bit his lip and said, "We grew up together. Of course we did, we had the same mother. Dana's always been... unstable, to but it lightly. I had a bad childhood." He paused. "I don't want to go into detail about it. She reminds me of it. She was part of it, even if only a small part. She's always been obsessed with me. Says she loves me, but I doubt she even know what that word means. She used to... spy on me. Steal my clothes, and strands of my hair when I slept." He looked Kitty in the eye. "She's a psychopath." He whispered. "She wants my corpse, and she'll stop at nothing to get it."

Green eyes widened in horror. He knew Dana wanted to kill Damien, but he didn't think it was that sick. He believed she was only doing it because it was her purpose in life. In reality, it seemed she was doing it because she wanted his remains for herself. For whatever purpose, Kitty didn't want to know.

"She'll only kill me if I agree to fight her." Damien said.

"But you won't do it?"

Damien shook his head.

"Then she can't kill you." Kitty said. "You're safe."

"It's not that simple." Damien muttered. "She'll torment me until I agree. She even said that herself. She'll target all of you." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "If I die, the world will be hers. It'll be the end of half the population on Earth. But if I don't fight her, she'll kill everyone I love. But if I fight her and lose, she'll still kill you all."

Fear coursed through Kitty's veins. He wanted to say something comforting, but he couldn't think of anything. He was starting to feel afraid of Dana himself.

"I don't know what to do." Damien said. "I know I'll die. She's stronger than me in every way. I don't stand a chance. I don't care about myself, but all of you..." He trailed off, eyes full of fear and confusion.

Kitty saw the tears building up in his eyes, despite his efforts to stop them. He pulled Damien into a hug.

"He's right." Damien sobbed. "I am a coward."

"No, you're not. You're the strongest, bravest person I know." Kitty stroked his hair. "I don't know how this will turn out, but I'm here for you. I'll fight with you, and help you every step of the way. We all will."

Damien pulled back and sniffed, wiping his eyes. He stared into Kitty's eyes and moved his face closer. Kitty knew what he was going to do and didn't stop him. He wanted it, too. Damien watched his face, as if asking for permission. Kitty smiled and nodded. He closed his eyes and felt warm, soft lips press against his own.

A slight tingle ran down his spine at the contact. He had never felt anything like this before, the intense excitement. He had no idea what he was doing. He had never kissed anyone, so he didn't know what to do. He decided to let Damien take control. He didn't mind at all.

It started off innocent, just pressing their lips together and moving them slightly. Kitty copied everything Damien did. Then he felt Damien's tongue swipe against his lip. His eyes snapped open in shock. Damien noticed and pulled back, looking nervous. His face was red and he had a dazed expression. He was a little out of breath, as was Kitty. Kitty felt a his heart skip a beat as he gaped at him. He had never looked more handsome despite his exhaustion, dishevelled and romantic.

As if in a trance, Kitty felt himself move his face back to Damien's and continue the kiss. He would let him do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn't stop. He never wanted him to stop. He once again felt Damien's tongue on his lips, but this time he opened his mouth and accepted it. As soon as his tongue entered his mouth, Kitty let out a soft sigh of content. He thought it would feel gross, but it riled him up even more. He surrendered himself to Damien, allowing him to take control. It felt amazing, thrilling. He wasn't even embarrassed about the little noises he was making. They seemed to please Damien, since he pulled him even closer and let out sweet sounds of his own.

His stomach was doing little flips. He felt like he was in a dream. Damien was amazing at this, so much so that Kitty couldn't believe it was real. He must have done this a lot. This made Kitty feel a bit jealous of the other men he must have kissed.

At some point, they lay down on the bed, Damien on top of Kitty. Damien must have noticed since he pulled back, much to Kitty's disappointment. He let out a soft whine, which made Damien smile. He kissed Kitty on the cheek and then on the forehead, and hid his flushed face in his neck, kissing him there as well. Kitty closed his eyes and stroked his hair again. He had never felt so loved, so safe and secure. His heart hadn't stopped thumping the whole time, but he didn't care. He wanted to stay in this bubble of bliss forever.

Then the goddamn doorbell rang.

Kitty opened his eyes and frowned. Way to ruin the mood. He waited for a minute, but nobody answered it. It rang again, but still, no one went to get it. With a grumble, Kitty tapped Damien's head, signalling him to move. Damien sat up, equally annoyed by the irksome door. They shared a gentle smile between them, and Kitty left to see who it was that was visiting them so late.

He went downstairs and opened the door. In front of him was a young girl with shoulder-length black hair and icy blue eyes, smiling at him with dull eyes.