It indeed has been a while. I'm sorry. I've gone through depression the passing months and didn't want it influencing my writing in any way. You guys deserve the best, and that's what I'll aim on giving you. Cheers, and enjoy.
PS: This will be the last chapter in The Pain of Yesterday, but worry not! There will be a sequel soon, called "Today is Recovery."
"I've got a really bad feeling about this," said Stefan as Damon, Jeremy and Elena prepared to enter the Mystic Grill at 7:10pm.
"Don't you trust me, brother?" replied Damon, holding on to Jeremy's hand which was shaking, as warm as the weather was.
"I don't."
"Well too bad." And Damon, Jeremy and Elena walked into the restaurant, leaving Stefan in position, with Caroline positioned at the only other entrance of the restaurant, just in case. She had gracefully agreed to help them.
Damon scanned the sitting tables before spotting a tortured-looking Max sitting on one of them with scotch whiskey in a glass he had apparently forgotten about. As they slowly made to sit at that table, Max snapped back to reality and looked at them, counting them. For a moment there, Damon thought he had spotted a flash of violet in Max's eyes, but then it was gone and he shrugged it off.
"Isn't someone missing?" Max looked specifically at Damon who shrugged again. His eyes moved towards Jeremy, and now Damon was sure there was violet in his eyes; deep, pure violet. He got up and so did Jeremy, Damon's eyes attentively following them, and Jeremy hugged his long lost brother. Tears welled up in both guys' eyes and Jeremy sobbed into the brother he had always considered as his guardian angel's shoulder. Elena's eyes were cold.
They separated and sat around the table, Jeremy sitting once again near Damon who possessively put his arm around him, and Max across the table, facing his siblings.
"Elena," he looks at his sister he missed so much, "please understand that coming here was never an easy task. I had to run away. I am still under Master's control, and if he ever knows about my whereabouts, which won't take long, he will not be pleased at all. But I had to come; it's been so long. Please forgive me."
"Who is this Master you speak of, Max? Where did he take you? What did he do to you? We can help you if you let us." Elena's tough act was shattering, it was her own flesh she was talking to, it was that someone who she had thought was dead like her parents for most of her life, and now he was alive, breathing. And he was in front of her and indirectly asking for her help. How could she deny him that? Who knows about all the horrors he had probably been through all his life?
"Elena, it's not that easy. I can't say His name, because he has forbidden me. I can't tell you where he lives or where he's taken me or what he's done to me, because he had forbidden me to." Damon's eyes lit up. Perhaps the definition of "Master" they had understood wasn't very accurate. He sat up and came a bit closer, his voice slightly lower than usual.
"You're referring to a sexual master, aren't you?" He did not wait for confirmation, he looked at Jeremy and Elena's confused eyes and cursed his luck as he now had to explain to them what a sexual master was.
"A master related to sex is very similar to a real life master, but it just means that the slave must also serve his master in… um… sexual ways."
Jeremy understood it immediately, having read a very disturbing book that contained a master/slave relationship. Elena was confused as hell.
"You know… Umm…" Damon continued, not wanting to further disturb the teenage girl. "You know how, in every relationship, is someone who leads and controls it, in straight relationships, it's the guy; in gay relationships, it's usually the top. It really depends. So the Master is the dominant that controls and orders the slave, called Submissive, around."
When Elena finally grasped the concept, Jeremy spoke up. "How do you know so much about this, Damon?" Jeremy's mouth was forming a very crooked, teasing smile. He admitted to himself that he was very interested in that lifestyle.
Damon further blushed and looked at Jeremy's hands that were crossed on the table, not wanting to make eye-contact. "I had many friends in my youth that exercised it, and I once attended an event where all of them met, like in groups." He was very interested in that lifestyle as well but wouldn't want it to seem like it. "So Max, you're a Sub, right?"
"That is correct," answered Max. "I know I told you guys this was a meeting for me to get to know Elena and Jeremy more, but I believe it's the right time to show you all something."
"We haven't ordered anything yet," Jeremy remarked as he noticed the waiters staring at them. Max put two $100 bills on the table and stood up, going for the door. Jeremy's eyes widened.
Damon made for the door and asked Max to wait a minute before stepping out. He told Stefan and Caroline to join them and not to attack. When the whole group was out, they headed towards the woods by foot, no one saying a word, Stefan and Caroline in full awareness mode and Damon protectively wrapping his arms around his baby.
When they reached a place where the moonlight shone on the ground, Max held out his hand to stop the others. He stood under the light, the others looking at him, observing his every action and waiting for his action. He took his jacket off, then his very expensive-looking shirt. He nodded them over, and they all examined his chest and arms, full of scars, some still fresh.
"The abuse was before our Dom/Sub contract."
"Some scars are still fresh, Max," said Elena, choking down sobs.
"All the pain is for pleasure, Elena," was his only reply. He turned around and walked away from them; Stefan, Damon and Caroline all gasped while Elena and Jeremy didn't understand what made their friends do that. Max's back was strong and full of muscles, and there was only one very clear scar just above his waist. And then two vertical scarlet lines on his upper back were shown opening up and widening. And then something was coming out of the gaping scars. White, glorious wings were erect in front of them. The scars disappeared and only the wings were left. They were huge.
Max turned around, and now they all saw the beautiful violet color that embellished his eyes.
Surprisingly, Elena was first to recover from the shock. "What are you?"
"Master calls me White," was his answer that was pronounced as it was something obvious. Elena looked questioningly at Stefan, then at Damon, Jeremy and finally Caroline. No clue.
"Does your Master forbid you to answer everything a stranger asks?" Stefan said. He had jumped to the point, knowing it was exactly how he could get his answers. Max did not reply but a spark in his eyes indicated that Stefan had correctly assumed.
"Do you need somewhere to stay?" Jeremy questioned. Stefan and Damon looked at him like he was insane, Elena looked at him in an almost pitying way, and Caroline smiled. "You can answer, Max. You've already disobeyed your Master, it wouldn't matter if you answered this. We'll try to help you as much as we can."
"Yes."
Not able to turn back, they took Max to the Boarding House and gave him a room, securing it every way possible and adding loads of locks to it. They did not know what to do at this point, they had never seen such a creature. They could assume that he could was changed this way, that he needn't be born an "angel", as all had agreed to call his species. They now have been debating about different sources of information they could go to, people they might be able to ask…
Max was no help. The more they tried to force out of him the name or address or any information whatsoever about his master, the harder it was for them to be able to communicate. The more he was held captive, the angrier he got, and the more worried Jeremy had become that he might burst his huge wings and run away.
"He was sent with a purpose. If he does not accomplish it, his Master probably would hurt him intensely. Why do you think isn't he struggling to get out of here? How come he isn't at least trying to fulfill his Master's purpose? Don't you think it might be to stay here or keep us distracted?" Stefan thought out loud as he paced in front of the fire. Damon and Jeremy were curled up together on the couch while Elena and Caroline were unsuccessfully trying to talk to Max or get any information off him.
"A Dom, or Master as he likes to call him, might be greatly hurting him. Part of him wants to escape from his Master and doesn't want to be physically nor emotionally hurt or bound to him, while at the same time, he's afraid of the outcome. Can you imagine how painful his punishment could be?" Damon had sat up, a blush in his cheeks. The blush did not go unnoticed to Jeremy. Everyone was surprised that such a heart-felt statement could have been formed by careless-as-fuck Damon…
"I think I need some fresh air," said Jeremy as he got up and headed towards the door. As the cold wind hit his face, he ventured into the woods for a long walk. Birds everywhere and creatures of the night marked their presence, making such a peaceful atmosphere. Jeremy ended up settling for a big stone next to a small pond. He took advantage of the alone time to think… How come Damon knew so much about not only Dom/Sub relationships, but also about what Subs might feel? Had Damon been in such a relationship? Most importantly, though, did Damon somehow expect him to be in one? Was Jeremy's love not enough to satisfy the vampire's urges?
His mind wandered and his eyes settled on two golden ones glowing in the dark. Jeremy gasped and got up, tripping and falling behind because of the rock blocking his way. He landed on his back, his breath knocked out of him and his arm nearly ripped open. Less than five seconds later, Damon was with him, pulling him up and comforting him. "What happened? Are you okay? I didn't want to come out into the woods because I thought you'd want some alone time. God, Jeremy, can't I leave you alone for a minute? Is it still hurting?"
"Damon… there were eyes there, big gold eyes," Jeremy breathed out, but Damon had put him on his back and they were already on their way towards the house. Arriving there, Damon put Jeremy on the porch and wiped off the blood coming from his arm.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Damon looked worriedly in Jeremy's eyes. Jeremy just ignored the gold eyes because apparently, Damon wouldn't believe a word he said. They got up and Jeremy started heading towards the woods instead of the house, nodding Damon forward, so Damon followed him.
They walked for twenty minutes at least until they were far from home. Jeremy sat down and waited for Damon. Damon gracefully fell down onto the earth. "Damon… how come you know that much about all of this?" Jeremy hopelessly stuttered out, as he tried to control his shaking. It was freezing out there.
"Ah, I thought this would come…" Damon sighed, almost peacefully. His eyes changed, the look in them much softer. Fragility radiated out of them. "It happened when I was human." He takes a deep breath.
"At fifteen, I was reckless. Newly fond of my unlimited amount of money, I pretty much spent my time outside of the house. Needless to say, I hung out with the richest of people. Alcoholics, most of them, even though they were my age. It was unbelievably, but truly one of the best times of my life. Until came a night when I was out camping with them.
We all had those fancy tents, we didn't even share them. And then it happened." Another deep breath was taken. "I remember it like it was yesterday. At almost 3am, the oldest one of us.. a man called Kyle went into my tent. He carried me out of it while I was still asleep, and he took me far from the rest of the people there. I had slightly awakened in his arms, but I daren't react in fear of what he might do to me."
Damon took a little pause, adding a dramatic effect to the whole story. Jeremy already regretted opening it up, and felt ashamed of the spark of curiosity that was ignited in him. He wanted to know everything: every single detail of what had happened to his lover.
"He finally entered some kind of an abandoned building. Turns out, one of the apartments inside that building was far from "abandoned". He took me into a room rather weird-looking. When I realized that I had to run, when I realized what he was going to do… I came to my senses and flipped out of his hold. It was too late; the doors were locked, and he was huge. There was no way out. After running and running away from him, I got tired. He didn't.
He grabbed me and he tied me up on a bed, my ass exposed, I was vulnerable. And then, he raped me. During all of it, he slapped me, asked me who my "master" was, he tortured me, some things I can't even say out loud. It was painful, Jer…"
"Eventually, when he was done, he untied me from some kind of a machine and took me to another one. He put me in a bent down position and tied me up again. Then he mentioned something about Marking me… I was blindfolded, you see, so I was not ready for the white-hot blade he slowly dragged on my lower-back. And that's how I got that scar," Damon stood up and took off his shirt. The pale moonlight reflected off his smooth skin, he was not white nor was he tan, his skin was a perfect mix of the Sun and the Moon, of the hot and the cold. It was appealing to everyone, it was every daughter of Eve's darkest fantasy for him to hold dominion over her. His body was that which triggered every guy's jealousy.
Turning around, he came closer to Jeremy and Jeremy had to squint to be able to make out an extensive scar starting from his left hip to the right one under his pants. Jeremy was shocked he had never noticed it. "How come I've never seen this?"
"Because I didn't want you to."
"Why didn't you want me to?" Jeremy was now even more intrigued.
"The story's not one I enjoy sharing, Jeremy. Stefan only knows part of it, he has no clue just how much it affected me nor does he know who it was."
Jeremy got up and got closer to Damon. He wrapped his arms around him and pressed their bodies together, hugging bare-chested Damon as hard as he could. Jeremy then broke the hug and lightly kissed Damon on the cheek, his arms caressing the vampire's lower back, tracing the length of the scar. He trailed kisses down until reaching his neck, and he nuzzled his head in, breathing warmly into Damon's shoulder and giving him the warmth that both lovers craved.
Jeremy did not kiss down Damon's body, he did not do anything sexual with him; in that cold night, with the love of his life standing vulnerable in his arms, sex was the least of their worries; the sheer body contact they shared spread warmth and love in both of them. And Jeremy knew that if he could, he would spend the rest of his life like this.
