Chapter 11
It was July 8th, 1983. Four days before on the Fourth of July, Damien Thorn and Bella Giles hosted another party, although a lot less people then their party a month before showed up.
Mostly for the fact that a lot of the people they knew had been Rose's friends and like Rose, had already moved on to bigger and better places. Thankfully Teddy and Foster didn't abandon the couple and even though Teddy had been sad that Rose was no longer his girlfriend, everyone had a great time eating barbecued food and watching the Thorn firework show.
A lot of Paul Buhers friends were there too, including Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States.
Damien and he spent quite a lot of time talking more about the internship position, with the support of Bella, of course. The two felt completely honored when the President told them that he thought they looked good together. After only the teenagers were left at the party, they lit all the sparklers and swam in the lake nearby and had a great time.
Now four days later, they had finally cleaned everything up and were in the kitchen dancing together to "Beat It" by Michael Jackson singing and laughing when Bella failed to do the newest move by him, the "Moon Walk" as people were calling it, slipping and falling to the floor on one of her purple leg warmers landing on her bottom.
The girl had been spending quite a lot of time with Damien ever since they started spending the night together. In fact, the blonde girl had even been given a key to the house and was allowed to keep some clothes, bathroom products, her back up Polaroid camera, tape player, and some music tapes in her own personal room and bathroom in the house.
The blonde multicolored eyed girl laid down on her back laughing as her boyfriend made sure she was okay.
"You alright, love?" He asked lying beside her as "Beat It" became "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. The brunette boy quickly got their very large order of the new attraction, Chicken McNuggets, from McDonalds they had bought earlier off of the counter and they fed them to each other.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just hate these damned leg warmers; I don't know why everyone thinks they're so cool." Bella laughed removing her leg warmers revealing the bottom half of her aquamarine colored leggings, leaving her purple tank top tunic shirt falling to her upper thighs, her aquamarine jewelry clinking as she threw the leg warmers across the room carelessly, eating another McNugget, then feeding another one to her boyfriend laughing harder as Damien pulled her closer kissing an nibbling that special ticklish spot on her ear lobe.
"I love you." Bella said to her boyfriend feeding him once more.
"I love you more." Damien teased kissing her nose and feeding her one again as well.
"Lies! You can't possibly love me more!" Bella laughed before swallowing.
"How about... We love each other equally?" Damien tried rising an eyebrow smiling feeding himself one.
"Sure." Bella said getting up and as she ate the last McNugget, took a few steps away she looked behind her,
"I love you more!" Bella yelled.
"You little..." Damien said getting up smiling.
"No!" Bella laughed as she began to be chased by the Antichrist. After a few minutes of Cat and Mouse, Damien finally caught up to her in one of the storage rooms and the two slipped and fell tangled in one another laughing despite knowing they'll probably have a few bruises.
"Hey, what's that?" Bella said as she crawled over to a big box of empty jars noticing the reflection off one of them.
"Oh, just a load of jars we never use. Paul thought we'd fill them with this jam he introduced to Thorn Industries a few years ago, and we signed a contract with this jar making company to use our jams in, and so they gave us the gift of one big bloody box of glass jars. We never use these ones, though." Damien explained as he crawled and sat next to his girlfriend.
"You know what we could do?" Bella said smiling.
"What?"
"Get a wagon and two pairs of wood shop goggles and my Polaroid Camera, and meet me at the front door in ten minutes. You and I, mister Thorn, are going on a field trip." Bella said dragging the box of jars out of the room an evil grin on her face.
"What in the name of Satan are you up to, this time?" Damien said crossing his arms smirking.
"You'll see! Trust me; I'm the Ambassador of Fun!" Bella responded winking as she disappeared.
"Are you sure this is safe, Bella? Glass could get in our eyes or something." Damien commented as he dragged the wagon full of the empty jars down to the Brick built tool shed a little ways behind the house.
"That's why we're wearing wood shop goggles. We'll be fine, Damien. I promise." Bella said smiling at him. She walked to the wagon and pulled out an empty glass jar and stared at the brick wall before them.
"Take a picture while I do this, and then join me. Just grab one... Think of something that's made you frustrated or angry, then... You let it out. For example. This... Is for my mother's death." Bella said before throwing the jar overhand as hard as she could relishing the feeling when the jar hit the wall with a loud smash as Damien took the picture.
"I won't lie; it might make me crazy... But it does help. Try it." Bella said handing him another jar. Damien put down the picture and camera and accepted the jar and thought a moment as Bella grabbed the camera. There were so many things to pick from, Damien thought to himself. But the first was easiest.
"This is for me having to kill my best friend." Damien muttered before throwing the jar with all his might. As he watched the jar smash into tiny pieces and heard Bella take the picture, he felt... strangely, A little bit better.
"For my grandfather." Bella said putting the camera and picture down and smashing another jar.
"For having a Jackal as a mother." Another smash.
"For not having a real friend or even a friend of any kind until I was in sixth grade." Another smash.
"For the man who raised me trying to stab me." Another smash.
"For a father who hates me." Another smash.
"For having to be in fear of my own life at five years old." Smash.
"For the death of a brother I'll never know." Smash.
"For never getting to keep family." Smash.
"For having to grow up at seven years old." Smash.
"For not getting the choice to be what I want when I grow up!" Smash.
"For always being hated... No matter whom I met or what I did." Smash.
"For never getting a chance at heaven." Smash.
"For being ridiculed and tortured almost every single goddamned day!" Smash.
"For everyone trying to kill me!" Smash.
"For a family who never wants to see me!" Smash.
"For friends who only want me for my money." Smash.
"For being forced to walk through my life alone." Smash.
"For never getting a chance to be normal!" The two Said in unison smashing a jar together. Damien grabbed the rest of the jars and yelled, beginning to cry,
"For being!" Smash.
"The god damned!" Smash.
"Satan incarnate!" Smash.
"Prince of evil!" Smash.
"ANTICHRIST!" At the last word he threw two jars. As they smashed he fell to the ground throwing off his goggles and places his head to his knees and began to sob a little.
Bella took off her goggles and began crying as well. She walked to her boyfriend and sat beside him, hugging him and kissing the top of his head rubbing circles into his back.
"I accept who I'm supposed to be... I plan to follow through. But I don't know why everyone thinks that means I'm bloody happy about it... Who would be happy with this life?" Damien said quietly.
"I know it's harder for you than me, but... I do know how you feel..." Bella whispered to him.
"I know... I know you do." Damien responded weakly hugging her back and breathing her in. She always smelled good. And after a while, he stopped crying and calmed down and met his girlfriend for a loving kiss.
"We should probably clean this entire mess up, huh?" Bella commented noting all the broken glass.
"Hold on, I've been meaning to try my telekinetic abilities." Damien said as he concentrated on the broken pieces as they lifted from the ground and moved back into the wagon. After a second, the ground had been cleaned up and Bella gave Damien an impressed look.
"I'll take you home, love." Damien said quietly helping her up.
"I'd like that." Bella said smiling as she intertwined their fingers, grabbed the wagon, and began to walk back.
"Bye Damien!" Bella yelled to the car driving away as she walked into her home, she turned to see her father talking with someone in the living room, she sat up a little straighter and smoothed out her outfit to greet them with a smile.
She walked to the living room and slowly her smile fell. A priest had been sitting in the chair across from her father drinking a cup of tea. What the Hell was he doing there?! Her father was the most Anti-religious person she knew, what on earth was he thinking letting a priest into their home?!
"Oh, Father Abel, this is my daughter, Bella." Peter said to the priest. He looked like he was in his early 40's, matted dark hair, and a kind face. A kind face that became very unkind when he looked into Bella's eyes. His eyes widened in shocked horror at her for quite a while, his tea falling and smashing against the floor.
"God, are you having a stroke!? Bella, call 9-1-1!" Peter demanded.
"Whore!" Father Abel spat at the blonde girl, Bella's eyes widened. This was not good.
"What did you just call my daughter?!" Peter asked angrily. Bella had a bad feeling in her stomach.
"You harlot of Hell! Leave this place!" The priest said standing, Bella's father stood as well.
"Now you listen here, that is my daughter you're speaking to and I think it's time you get you're Jesus-nit wittedness and get the Hell out of my house!" Peter yelled at the priest leading the man by his shoulder out of the house.
The priest shouted in tongues at the girl over his shoulder as he was kicked out of the house and had the door slammed in his face and having it locked on him.
Peter took a deep breath before turning around and walking back to Bella.
"He had wanted to talk to us about his church and God, and me, being stupid, decided to let him in since we haven't had too much interaction with the community since we've moved to Chicago. I knew he was nuts. I'm sorry that he said those things to you. And I know I can be harsh sometimes, but I hope you know it's because I love you. I love you, so much, Bella." Her father said pulling her in a hug.
Bella wanted to believe him. And on one level she did. But she still believed there was a part of her father that hated her, as well. She lived with her dad too long to fool herself. He will never completely love his daughter, but he sometimes made her feel as if he did.
Bella hugged her dad back and savored it. She couldn't help it. Damien had made a good point in January, her Dad could be a real jerk, but he was still her only parent left and the only living family member who wanted anything to do with her.
She cringed at the last part, knowing that wasn't even completely true. When she was nine, Bella lived with her aunt, uncle and cousins for a month, and almost permanently because her dad no longer wanted to raise her as a widowed man, preferring the bachelor lifestyle.
But her aunt and uncle wanted more money per month than what he was willing to pay for, so he continued to raise her himself instead, after which, her aunt and uncle never bothered to speak to her again.
"I love you, too, Daddy. Is it alright if I call Damien?" Bella asked her father innocently.
"Of course. But not too long, don't forget what I told you about the damn phone bill. I'm going to town to grocery shop, do you need anything?"
"No, I'm fine. Maybe some salad?"
"Alright." He said smiling before kissing the top of her head and grabbing his coat to leave.
Bella waited until he left and frowned gravely and ran to the closest phone and dialed Damien's number.
"Thorn residence, who may I ask is calling?" She heard her boyfriend's adorable slight English accent on the other line. She scolded herself, as much as she loved Damien, now wasn't the time to admire him.
"Damien, its Bella. We have a situation."
"What happened?"
"My father let in a priest and the second he saw me, he went insane and started calling me a whore and screaming in tongues at me!"
"Damn! Is your father suspicious? What's this priest's name?! I'll have him killed!"
"My Dad isn't suspicious and Damien, you are not going to kill him! At least not yet, if he dies immediately after this that WILL make my father suspicious. Unless he attacks first, Do not kill him, just watch him."
"Alright, I'll keep an eye on him... But I'm still uneasy."
"I'll be alright, there was a time I didn't have you in my life. I know how to survive, baby."
"Alright... I put my trust in you. I love you, Bella, goodnight."
"Goodnight Damien, I love you, too." The two hung up for the night.