Chapter 2

Only Bite When Provoked

2 Weeks Later

Trigger warning: Rape

Damien ran down the staircase of the main Thorn residence as if the mansion were on fire. He was able to take two steps at a time, which had amazed the shy fifteen-year-old girl standing in the archway. He never saw her before. She had long straight brown hair that was mousy and it covered her face.

"Hello." She began when he came to a complete stop.

"Hi."

"I'm Mary Rose." She introduced herself.

She was wearing her school uniform. She was wearing the obligatory navy blue and kelly green plaid. Her Uncle was the Father Rose. She was living at the convent since her parents were killed ten years ago. He was here to see Richard Thorn about making a donation, as the church needed extensive repairs. It was the church that Richard married his first wife Mary in and also the church Mark was baptized in. She wore a small golden crucifix on a thin chain. It made Damien extremely uncomfortable but unlike his toddler self who couldn't bear to be on church grounds, this time he wanted to do something about it.

"I'm Damien Thorn."

"My Uncle Father Rose is here to see your FATHER about donating money to help fix the church."

"He's NOT my Father, he's my Uncle." And he wasn't even that.

"I'm sorry," She twisted her fingers, she was so nervous. He was the most beautiful young man she had ever seen.

"Would you like to look at the horses?" Damien needed the air to hit his face.

"Sure, Damien." Mary was unaware that her innocence was about to fade.

The Thorn's had two-prized Arabians, as well other breeds, but those were the two that belonged to the boys. Mark named his "Lucky" even though his horse never won a race and Damien named his "Ruby". His horse won about eight competitions so far, never winning less than third place.

"He's pretty." She put her hand out to Mark's horse who was more passive than Ruby.

"That's Mark's horse." Damien stated matter-of-factly, he opened up the gate as Mary walked in behind him.

"What's his name?"

"Lucky."

"May I feed him?"

She liked horses. Her Uncle wouldn't let her have one. She couldn't listen to rock and roll music or get her ears pierced. She never experienced any of the normal teenage rites of passage. Living in a convent was not how she wanted to live her life. She just wanted to be a typical teenage girl.

"Sure, go ahead," Damien took the latch off Ruby's gate as he rested his hands on the wooden paneling, "There are some apples in the basket."

Mary bent down and took an apple out of the basket for Lucky, as Ruby grew increasingly uncomfortable with the scent of a human stranger in the air. She polished the apple with her sweater and put it up to Lucky's mouth.

He seemed to smile a gentle smile as he ate the apple from her hand. Damien focused his stare on Ruby and his horse dug his legs in the dirt.

Mary turned around, her face frightened, she didn't have the room to move anywhere.

"Damien, what do I do?" She was anxious and didn't know what to do.

"That's my horse, Ruby, he doesn't bite." Damien went inside and pet Ruby's head.

Mary sighed when Damien put him safely back in his stall.

"Are you sure?" She walked out of Lucky's stall as Damien locked both horses in.

"Of course. They only bite when provoked."

It was the law of the land.

Damien sat on the small haystack and invited Mary to sit next to him. She was nervous at first, what if her uncle came out here?

"Where do you go to school?" She sat down but on the other side of him. Just to be safe like her friends Mothers taught her.

"Davidson Military Academy…" Damien was certainly not in the mood for small talk. "Have you ever been kissed, Mary?"

He sat next to her, and she flinched when he put his arm around her.

"Not really."

Damien put his hands on Mary's shoulders to keep her steady as he kissed her hard. Her back arched down on the haystack. And she thought about the safety film she saw in school about girls who do things like this before they are ready. She tried to get up but he kept pinning her down.

"Damien, please I don't want to."

He was completely deaf to her anguished pleas as he slid her sweater off her shoulders and pulled her close to his throbbing body.

"N-o, no, S-t-op," Mary's tears burned down her cheeks. She couldn't fight him off, he was too strong for her.

Damien couldn't hear Mary's muffled screams, all he could hear were the sounds of twenty 747 jets taking off all at once and the sound of twisting almost breaking metal was pounding in his head as if he wasn't human.

He wasn't human at all.

He was the Antichrist.

The clouds covered the afternoon sun as Ruby kicked his gate open with a thunderous crash and raised his front legs as Damien thrust himself into Mary's stiff and shaking body. She tried to break away from him, but he was too forceful for her. One would doubt if it would have given Mary Rose much comfort to know that even a boy built like Mark wouldn't have been able to break away from Damien's firm hold. She did manage to wind up on top of him, but he was pinning her down like cold, hardened collapsed steel. She was violently trembling and crying as her crucifix dangled like a pendulum in front of his face. In between her legs she was bleeding a river of tainted blood. It was the worst pain of her life.

"Dam-ien...I...want...you...to...stop."

She pleaded for one last time. For the love of God, why wouldn't he stop?

The sound of wings flapping outside the barn went unnoticed as Mark ran all over the vast Thorn estate trying to find his cousin.

"Damien, where are you?"

Damien's hands reached up with a force that he didn't even know he had and through all of the clatter in his mind he tore off her necklace slashing the side of his right hand leaving a — Mark played random notes on his bugle stopping Mary's nightmare.

"Damien!"

"Shit. It's my Cousin Mark, he can't see you here." Damien said casually to Mary as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. Damien threw Mary's clothes back at her.

She was too stunned and in pain to move, but when she saw Damien pierce his eyes into hers as if to command her to "leave or die". She got dressed in the stall with the horses that witnessed it all. Mary quickly forgot that she was even afraid of Ruby as he was quietly standing next to Lucky.

Damien got dressed quickly taking pleasure watching Mary Rose's slow walk of shame out the back door. By the time Mark reached Damien he was dressed and made it appear that he was here all this time, that he was by himself and just lying around on the hay in the barn.

"Damien, what are you doing?"

"Relaxing."

"We should be outside having fun."

Damien laughed on the inside.

"I am having fun."

"How about a little one on one basketball?" Mark requested.

"Sure, but you know I'm going to win."

"You can't win at everything, Damien."

Damien nodded at his foolish cousin.

"Hey, what happened to your hand?" Mark noticed. It was red and bleeding.

"Nothing. I must have scratched it on a nail."

He didn't even remember HOW his hand got scratched. He wouldn't notice the faint crucifix imprint on his hand until much later and how much it angered him that it took about two hours for the imprint to completely disappear.


"You always, always win." Mark complained to Damien as he was out-of-breath as they went back to the main house after their basketball game.

"That's because I practice." Damien gloated as they made their way through the back kitchen entrance.

Mark grabbed a can of soda out of the refrigerator and threw one at Damien who caught it with one hand. Sometimes it hit Mark of just how envious of Damien that he really was. He was better looking, excelled at the academy, and Ann seemed to like him better. He remembered when Damien came to live with them he was showered with hugs and kisses from Ann. He knew he was partly imagining things that she loved the both of them the same. Didn't she?

Mark didn't understand why Damien was ignoring him lately? He seemed to be spending more time with his friends than with him. They used to be the best of friends. They used to be like brothers. It's not like they didn't interact with each other, but it wasn't the same. Something was different ever since that day that Damien ran down the stairs at the academy, as the band marched, running far as his legs could take him.

Mark kept it all to himself. He must have gained ten pounds, which he got grief from Sgt. Neff and some of their fellow cadets like Teddy, who wasn't exactly thin himself!


Next Day:

Mark decided on his free time to go to the Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public Library to do research on Shakespeare for his literature composition. The reason why he didn't want to use the school's vast library was because he couldn't face being where Damien was going to be or somebody coming up to him asking if he knew where Damien was. He was lost in his thoughts and didn't realize that he bumped into someone and their books went all over the floor.

"I'm sorry..." He looked up; she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She had long blonde hair and light blue eyes. There was something very familiar about her.

"Hello."

He was the most beautiful young man she had ever seen. She knew exactly who he was.

"Hello, Mark Thorn."

"How do you know me?" He picked up her books for her and extended his hand to help her off the floor.

"Everyone knows the Thorn family."

There was something very familiar about him.

"And you are?"

"Vanessa Greenhill."

"Well, hello, Vanessa Greenhill..." He almost forgot that he was ten pounds overweight and had to deal with his overbearing and bordering on arrogant cousin."Would you like to go to the café across the street?"

"Sure."

They put their library books on the side table and left together.


Café that caters to mostly teens and young adults

"What time do you have to go back to school, Vanessa?"

"I'm staying at home right now. There was some kind of water main break so all of us had to make alternate plans. What time do you have to go back to the academy?"

She stirred her soda with her straw.

"In an hour."

They didn't get much free time, but when they did Mark wanted to get as far away from Davidson as he could.

"Oh." She sighed disappointingly.

If her parents saw her with a boy she'd be in huge trouble. The rule was nada until she was sixteen – granted, that was only a month away, but a rule was a rule.

"I was going to look you up." She admitted after the second soda. She explained that her and her family moved back to Illinois after years of living in Manhattan.

"You were?"

It surprised him as every girl seemed to have wanted or preferred Damien over him.

"Yeah. Don't be so surprised, Mark. I think you are adorable."

He blushed. Mark's flush quickly turned to an unexplained nervousness when Damien walked in with George and Ryan.

"Mark, you were supposed to be at the library!" Damien playfully scolded his cousin.

Vanessa seemed to jump out of her skin.

"Looks like Mark Thorn has got himself a little crush!" George chided.

Ryan sat down on one of the stools almost glad that he was gay and didn't have to worry about being picked on for being with someone in public.

"I think I better go." Vanessa tried to whisper in Mark's ear; she could feel Damien's hot breath on her neck. She quickly wrote her phone number on a napkin and ran out of the restaurant as fast as she could.

"What was that all about?" Mark felt an anger rise to the surface.

"Nothing." Damien stated as he sat down where Vanessa was not two minutes ago.

"Come on, Thorn, can't you take a joke?" George quipped.

"She's a cute girl." Ryan added sitting next to Mark in the booth.

"Now what would you know about that, Kelly?!" Damien laughed.

So much for his new found self-esteem as Mark proceeded to order the biggest ice cream sundae on the menu; he suddenly hated himself and wondered what could Vanessa Greenhill possibly see in him?

He was starting to have different feelings about Damien and what perplexed him the most was the eternal question of why?


Three days later after the Thorn Industries field trip where all the boys got sick

Thorn Estate

Damien and Mark's Bedroom

Sorry Sgt., but sometimes, there indeed was a time for showing off.

Not that Damien was actually sorry.

"Come on, Mark, you can't still possibly feel sick!" Damien was already out of bed and dressed, doing jumping jacks to prove for no other reason that he could.

"How come nothing's wrong with you?" Mark moaned into his pillow.

"I guess I'm just stronger than the rest of you guys!"

There was a knock on their door.

"I don't want to talk to anyone."

Mark felt like he was going to be sick again.

Damien opened the door and Vanessa thought she was going to drop the flowers. "Are you sure you don't want any visitors, Mark?"

Damien thought he should just slam the door in her face. There was something about her that he did not like. Mark turned around and saw Vanessa standing there wearing a blue dress with a matching blue hair ribbon.

"Can you give us some privacy, Damien?" He tried to sit up.

Damien thought about it. "Sure, after you, Vanessa." He used a forced politeness like how he and Mark used to deal with their stodgy Aunt Marion.

They took care of her, just like journalist Joan Hart, Atherton, Parisian, and Dr. Kane…..all for him.

Vanessa's body tensed up, as she had to pass Damien to get to Mark. His green eyes sizing her up for a future unknown reference. She waited for Damien to close the door behind him before talking.

"How are you, Mark? I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

"It's all right, Vanessa." He motioned for her to sit next to her. She put the flowers in an empty crystal Waterford vase that was on his side table.

"I was so worried when I heard…"

"Ssh..." He held her hand. "I'm okay."

"Everybody got sick except for Damien?"

"Yeah. I can't figure it out. Mom says we should all be grateful that he's okay."

"Mark, don't take offense, but I find your cousin to be arrogant, insufferable, and a generally rude person."

Mark and Vanessa didn't even get to go on "proper date" yet, between her at her private Catholic girls school and him at the military academy all they had were stolen moments on the telephone and on their free time from conformist establishments to go out for a quick bite to eat. Richard had "the talk" with Damien and Mark when they were thirteen about "respecting women". He still felt like a drunken sailor on shore leave when he leaned in and kissed her. It was the first kiss for the both of them.

"I love you." Mark admitted out loud, he knew it the day he bumped into her at the library.

"I love you, too." She smoothed the hair out of his eyes.

"I think we're going to have to get around your parents rules, 'Nessa."

She smiled. The both of them remembered at exactly the same time why they were both so familiar to each other.

Flashback

Upper Class Daycare

"How old are you sweetie?" Asked the young waif to the little girl who was the teacher's aide.

"Four!"

"You want to play and make a new friend?"

She nodded, smiling

A little blond haired boy was seated at his tiny kid-sized table coloring in his book.

"Mark, this is Vanessa."

"Hi. Would you like to color, 'Nessa?" His mother Mary laughed that he couldn't pronounce her name.

He handed her a purple crayon and a coloring book.

"Yeah. How old are you, Mark?"

"Four!" He announced just as proudly as she did.

"Be careful, son. This is how they reel you in." Richard joked kissing his wife.

"Aren't they adorable?" Mary hoped that she could get pregnant again so Mark would have a sibling.

A brother would be nice.

"I told Robert that we cannot make Damien's birthday party this year." Richard stated.

At that moment, Vanessa even at four-years-old could color inside the lines, but for reasons she wouldn't understand until much later, at the mere mention of Damien's name her crayon went harshly outside the lines.

Back to Current

"You were my playmate!" Vanessa exclaimed blocking out the parts about Damien.

"It's a small world you coming back into my life, Vanessa."

Mark felt better. His stomach was still a little unsettled but emotionally he felt like he could climb the highest mountain.

"Vanessa Marie Greenhill! What do you think you are doing here?"

Enter housekeeper and general nuisance to Vanessa's life Edwina Hollingsworth. Damien was behind her trying his best not to laugh out loud. He had nothing to do with it. Vanessa was very poor in covering her tracks.

Her eyes said "Mark". Her mouth said, "This is hardly a date Miss Hollingsworth. Mark is sick."

"Say goodbye to Mark. You know you are not supposed to be with boys until you are sixteen or unless your parents are present."

Vanessa wanted to scream. She was almost of age! This was so embarrassing. Her parents were liberal and helped everyone else on the planet, but hardly gave their only daughter any real freedoms.

"Goodbye, Mark." She kissed him on the cheek; let Miss Hollingsworth tell her parents! She just did not care anymore.

"Bye, Vanessa."

"Did you two kiss?" Damien teased, after he closed the door.

"Shut up, Damien! I'm not supposed to nose around in your life, but you are allowed to poke yours in mine?"

"Something like that."

"Don't you have some place to go?" All of a sudden Mark felt ill again and sank down into his bed wishing Vanessa was still here by his side.

"Yeah, tonight. George and I are going to the Blackhawks game."

He had to go home due to a family emergency and missed the field trip to Thorn so he avoided being involved in the accident.

"Good."

"So do you love her?"

"That's NONE of your business." Mark replied, putting the covers over his head.

"Oh, Mark," Damien sighed, "Never, ever, tell them you love them. She's going to make your life miserable."

Mark felt like replying, "You mean like you do?" But for some reason he refrained.

He just fell back to sleep dreaming of what life would be like with Vanessa but without Damien as the world watched.