Shining among Darkness
By
WingzemonX
Chapter 29.
Bad Things
Damien and Abra did not go very far. Actually, they only went up to the second level, where there was a small food area. There was a bit of everything, from salads and rolls for the most demanding, to hamburgers and pizzas for the most conventional. Thorn ordered a chicken salad, and in contrast, his guest ordered a medium burger and fries. They both sat facing each other at one of the small tables near the railing that surrounded the food area. The zone was actually like a small terrace where they could see the rest of the convention center from above; the companies and the people that came and went. From that position, it looked like one of those overloaded element images from Where's Wally? , although with movement.
From the start, Abra looked quite curious about the camera hanging from the boy's neck. She asked if he would let her see it, and he indicated that only if she cleaned her fingers smeared with ketchup and oil from the fries.
"Oops, alright, little princess," she exclaimed in an ironic tone, and immediately rubbed her hands together hard with a napkin. Then she took an antibacterial gel out of her backpack, poured some on her palms, and re-carved herself. She showed both hands on both sides with a satirical attitude, which Damien actually found quite amusing. "Satisfied?"
"So, so."
He removed the camera and pass it across the table to her. When Abra held it in her hands, the weight of it seemed to surprise her. She was rotating it, looking at its lens, all the buttons and options it had, the screen on the back… More than interested, she seemed perhaps scared.
"It does look expensive," she said apprehensively. "How much are we talking about?"
"I don't remember," Damien muttered, leaning fully against his chair. "Including all its attachments I bought recently, I think about four thousand."
"Dollars?" The blonde girl exclaimed, almost horrified. "Wow, for a Thorn, I guess that's like buying a bar of chocolate at the store."
Abra then raised the expensive device and placed it in front of her face. She put her eye to the peephole and focus directly on the boy sitting in front of her. He was smiling very subtly, with a plate of half-eaten salad in front of him.
"I just need press here, right?" Abra asked as she fumbled with her finger at the shutter button on the side.
"Basically."
Abra seemed to hesitate for a few moments between taking the photo or not. In the end, she chose to lower the camera and look at his companion with uncertainty.
"No, wait…"
She placed the camera on the table for a few moments, then leaned forward, extending her hand toward him. Before Damien could react, the young woman placed her hand on her head, and violently shook his combed hair, causing it to fall out of place.
"Hey," Damien said reproachfully, but immediately the same hand took his tie from its knot and tugged it off.
"Unbutton the first two buttons," the young woman indicated, just afterward in a playful tone. Damien looked at her reluctantly for a few seconds. Still, then he seemed more relaxed and complied with her request by opening his shirt until he showed a little of his pectoral major. "Better. You don't look like a yuppie anymore."
"Do you at least know what that word means?"
Abra ignored his question. She retook the camera and focused on him once more.
"Look this way, baby."
Damien did not draw a smile or opt for an unusual look. He just looked at the lens naturally, and a few seconds later, he clearly heard the characteristic sound of a photograph taken. Abra glanced at the photo on the rear digital display, and almost immediately passed it to Damien for him to see.
"What do you say? Do I have talent?"
The boy in a suit, although now without a tie, took his camera back and inspected the last photograph taken. He surveyed her in an intriguing silence for a while. He then slowly turned to see the young girl before him with a little seriousness in his eyes.
"It is a little out of focus," he informed her normally. "And you cut off the top of my head. And I think it would have been better if you had taken it vertically."
Abra's face covered with slight pout-like anger, which made her already childish face look even more out of place.
"I bet you're still one of those people who always looks good in all the photos," she muttered angrily as if trying to make that sound like an insult, though he didn't really feel like one at all. "I always ended up looking terrible."
"Perhaps you've never met the right photographer," the young Thorn pointed out, and then allowed himself to take the camera upright and focus on her while adjusting the lenses. "Look here with your best smile."
"I only have a smile," the blonde replied wryly. Then she took a deep breath, sat up straight in her chair, stared straight ahead, and smiled in a soft and decorous way.
Damien kept focusing on her, trying to find the right angle and focus.
"Just let me..." He reached out a hand toward her then, not releasing the camera with the other, and ran his fingers across her forehead to remove one of her curls from her face. This act took Abra by surprise, but it was made even more so by the fact that at that very moment, he took the photo without even warning her. "Done. It's perfect."
Without glancing at the screen, he extended the camera back to his model so she could see the result herself. Abra, skeptical enough, reluctantly took the camera to see what he had done. Surely she looked stupid or something like that.
It was not so.
Abra was stunned to see the spontaneous photograph taken. She was looking up at a small upward angle as if she were looking at something far above. In reality, what her eyes were currently looking for was the hand of her photographer. Her face at that moment was not one of surprise or anger, but instead seemed thoughtful, dreamy. The light streaming through the stained glass above their heads made their skin take on a brilliant hue, and played well with the shadows on their side.
Maybe she was just looking at it through a small square screen, but Abra immediately thought it might be her best photo ever taken.
"Wow..." she muttered, unable to get out of his amazement. Then she looked at Damien, who from his chair seemed quite proud of his work. "How did you do it?"
Young Thorn shrugged.
"I think I have the gift of bringing out the best and worst in people... in their photographs, of course," he hastened to clarify. "I like the photos because they capture a fixed moment of the people. Everything that crossed their minds, everything they feared and wanted, you can interpret it in their expression, in their gaze, or posture. Small details that in a video or the naked eye go unnoticed.
Abra did not show much reactions to his words. She seemed to be still digesting the impression of having seen such a photo and did not have enough energy to try to completely decipher what he was trying to tell with all that.
Then he passed his camera back to him.
"And what do you see in my picture?" She asked curiously.
Damien glanced at the camera screen before answering something.
"You shine brightly," he mentioned abruptly. "And intensely."
A trace of surprise was drawn in the blonde girl's eyes, and her cheeks took on a slight pink hue, which she tried to hide by turning away. She cleared her throat discreetly, and with the movement of her fingers, she put the same lock of hair that he had accommodated back out of place.
"Well," she exclaimed, apparently calmer though perhaps she was somewhat feigned in reality, "in addition to being rich, an amateur photographer, and a reader of minds, what else can you do?"
"Do you mean…?" Damien pointed a finger at his own head. Abra didn't answer anything, but her single glance was enough to indicate that it was just that.
The boy smiled, amused.
(I really don't think I can read minds precisely. I usually am only able to feel what people feel or get an idea of their concerns, fears and desires, and other strong emotions.)
"It's the first time that someone's thoughts come to me as if they were part of a conversation," he concluded in his own voice.
"For your first time, you're doing pretty well," Abra pointed out, placing a hand on her chin in an almost overactive thoughtful expression. "You even manage to block me completely and very easy, apparently.
"Block you?" Damien asked, intrigued.
Abra was now the one who smiled, leaning her body slightly forward.
(Yes, I'm not able to get into that small head of yours on my own, only what you want me to see. It's not so weird, really. I can do it too, and my uncle Dan the same. But I find it curious that you do it so naturally if you have never done this before.)
She took one of her fries, dipped it halfway into her ketchup pot, and immediately afterward put it entirely in her mouth. She seemed to enjoy it pleasantly.
"I've always been told that I have a knack for learning new things," Damien replied with a shrug.
"Uh-huh, but seriously" the young woman insisted, "can you do something else?"
"You can?"
"I asked first."
"Tell me, and I tell you."
"So mature, uh?" Abra mumbled with a bit of false annoyance. She took a deep sip of her soda, before deigning to reply. "I have a little telekinesis. You know, moving objects with the mind, or breaking things. When I was little, I think I had more. But, as I grew, that ability was diluted a little. Now it only comes to me when I'm upset, in danger, angry or something like that."
Damien's face turned somewhat serious upon hearing her.
"That's interesting," he murmured with genuine interest, which had possibly inadvertently sounded a little sarcastic.
"Well, it's your turn. What else can you do?"
Damien leaned fully against his chair, brooding a little. He sipped from his water bottle, looking at the ceiling for the best answer to give.
"I can... make some animals do as I tell them."
Abra's eyebrow arched in disbelief.
"No, of course not," she muttered, almost offended.
"It's true."
"Seriously? Do you want me to think you have mental control over animals?"
"In some, mainly dogs."
Abra laughed forced; it was evident that she did not believe him. She took his glass of drink and sipped until he seemed to run out of what little she had left.
"How convenient that there isn't a dog around here to show that impressive act," she murmured sarcastically. "I have a little dog named Brownie. It was a gift from my uncle Dan; it was from an acquaintance of his who passed away. It's an adorable creature, but sometimes I wish I could get him to obey me when I tell him to get off the couch or not to chew on what he shouldn't."
"I can help you with that."
"Oh, yeah? You could be like the Dog Whisperer, but in a millennial version."
"I think we are actually Gen Z."
"Does not matter."
Abra laughed then, with a natural and soft laugh. Everything about her seemed too... authentic and transparent as if she wasn't afraid in the least to say or do as she pleased. That was something really unusual for Thorn, at least when people were before him. Even those who did not know his supposed true nature, simply because he was a Thorn or many times because of his mere presence, tended to say and act in such a way to please him. It sounds great at first, but the truth is that it gets a little boring in the long run. This girl was certainly unusual for him, and therefore attractive. Definitely more interesting than the adulterer couple from a while ago.
"Can you do something else?" Damien asked directly and bluntly. Abra was halfway through a bite of her burger when she heard the question, so she had trouble starting to focus and answer at first.
He chewed quickly, covering her mouth with one hand, and swallowed as fast as she could.
"Let me see... I can project my consciousness to other places," Abra declared quite naturally, despite the unusual nature of his statement. "I can see and hear a person who is miles from me as vividly as if I were in front of them. But it requires a lot of concentration, and I need to know where I want to go or with whom I want to go. Sometimes touching an object or a photo helps, or I just focus on an idea or desire and let myself be carried away by it."
"I think I can do something similar, too," Damien commented excitedly. He did not know if it was precisely the same, but he was indeed able to see and hear people who were very far from him; sometimes he could even do much more to them than just see and hear them.
"It's not strange," said Abra, a little indifferently, "my uncle Dan can too."
"That Uncle Dan you mention so much, did he teach you how to do all those things?"
"Not precisely." Abra took another bite of her burger; she only had about two more bites left. "I could do all this from a very young age, and most of them I was learning on my own. I knew my uncle until I was twelve. In general, my abilities are more powerful than his. But he has a lot more experience and control. So yes, his advice and guides have helped me."
So there was not only one other person in this world who could do things similar to his, but there were at least two. And on top of everything, it was someone with more "experience and control." The idea provoked a real mixture of feelings; among them, there was definitely anger, but he didn't want to think about it just yet.
He took a bite of his salad, a piece of chicken, and a bit of lettuce, to be exact. Then he looked down at the rest of the people, and at the same time began to capture more clearly all the noise they made: their voices, their steps... and their minds.
"There is something else I can do," he murmured suddenly once he finished chewing. Then he ran a napkin over his lips to wipe off any traces of dressing that might have been left there. "I can't only influence animals, but also some people. In those with weaker or more vulnerable minds, in fact. I can make them do things."
"Things like what?" Abra questioned, apparently skeptical as well, but not as much as with animals.
Damien smirked.
Then he looked again at the crowd.
"Let me see..." he whispered slowly as he ran his gaze through the tumult, looking for someone who could serve as an example. The perfect subject crossed was presented without much waiting. "See that man over there?"
Damien pointed down toward the booth area. Abra looked in the direction he was pointing. It took her a while to identify who he was talking about. Still, it seemed clear to her that was pointing to a man in his forties, in a gray suit and a bald head, who was standing in front of the stand of some motorcycle brand, or so it seemed. The stand was attended by beautiful women in short, tight silver dresses with glitters. That was the only thing she could perceive from that distance.
"He hasn't taken his eyes off that promo girl in quite a while," Damien added, pointing now to one of the girls, a tall blonde and quite, quite curvy, who was currently attending to another man interested in one of the machines they displayed. "From here, I can feel all the bad emotions caused by her figure and her tiny dress. He's a married man, and he's still considering inviting her out with him tonight."
Abra stared at him for a moment, but almost immediately, she turned back to the man, trying to focus on him. There were a lot of people, a lot of noise and movement. He couldn't quite grasp what Damien was describing so clearly. Still, she did get a somewhat uncomfortable and unpleasant sensation from him.
"How disgusting," she muttered, annoyed.
"Undue thoughts are the easiest for me to perceive," Damien commented, "and also the most vulnerable to a person's mind. How about we give him a little push to fulfill his wish?"
Abra did not understand what he was referring to. The boy in black stared at the bald man very intently, as if looking at a riddle that was difficult for him to understand. Although, in reality, that subject could be many things, but not difficult to understand. He was a fairly common subject entirely… boring.
Out of nowhere, the man shuddered as if he'd given a little shiver. He stood up straight and stared right ahead as if meditating on something deep, very deep. Abra noticed this change. She looked at Damien intending to ask him if he was doing it. He kept his attention on the man, and she didn't think it was a good idea to interrupt him.
Suddenly, the bald man began to walk with a determined and firm step, in the direction of the promo girl, who now turned her back on him while talking to the other gentleman. Without a doubt or hesitation in his act, the man stood just behind the young lady and immediately brought his right hand towards his buttock, taking it firmly between his fingers.
Abra held her breath when she saw this.
The woman startled and immediately turned and stepped back. The bald man was still looking at her, his expression absent, as if he were not aware of where he was. This did not matter to the girl, because with good reason, she launched herself against him, beginning to hit him with both hands on his polished and shiny head. They couldn't hear what she was saying, but she seemed to be yelling at him all the insults in the manual. The man, confused as if he had just been awakened from a dream, awkwardly covered himself with his arms. The other client that the young lady attended, immediately approached him with a defiant attitude and took him from his suit, shaking him, and also giving him his dose of insults without a doubt. Others of the girls approached the affected young woman to support her. She didn't look scared or sad, but rather furious. Several more people, including a security guard, they approached the site. A few seconds later, they were pulling the man out.
Abra couldn't help but giggle at the scene. It looked almost like something out of a bad Sunday comedy.
"That was terrible," she exclaimed giggling.
"You're laughing."
"I didn't say it wasn't funny."
Damien didn't laugh, but he did smile. But he did not do it so much because of what happened, but because of the reaction his companion had had.
"That was a small thing. I can make them do bigger things."
"Like what?"
He regretted about say that as soon as he heard that question. "Like what?" That was definitely not something he wanted to answer. Did she want to know what he was able to make people do? No, she really didn't want to know.
Then he felt her name floating in the air, reaching him from behind directly to the nape of his neck. It was not a sound as such. They never precisely sounded, except for those conversations he had with that girl he had just met. It was more like thoughts or feelings, but they were somewhat colder and more distant. He turned on his shoulder, then looked back down at the crowd. He could easily make out two men in black suits and glasses, making their way through the crowd, while constantly looking everywhere. Damien recognized them immediately.
"They're my aunt's guards," he commented a little annoyed. "They must be looking for me."
"Did you run away from her?"
"Something like that." Then he stood up quickly. "Let's get out of this place."
"From the Convention?"
"Yes. Don't worry about your report. I'll tell you everything you need to know about Thorn Industries, my aunt, and their businesses."
"How can I reject that offer?" Abra shrugged, and immediately stood up too and put her backpack on her shoulder. Damien started to walk in a bit of a rush toward the stairs, and she followed.
Later that night, the young woman with the blond curls would question herself how it was that she had done all this so easily and without thinking it a bit first.
It was like a little spy adventure. Both of them sneaking their way through the crowd, trying to go unnoticed. Ann Thorn's alleged guards did not appear to be aware of their closeness at any time. Damien led his partner through the hallways toward the underground parking. Once there, everything felt more peaceful and quieter, as if the noise above their heads simply did not exist.
"Do you have a vehicle?" Abra questioned as they walked among the parked vehicles.
"We arrived here in a pair of vehicles from our company. We will borrow one."
The company's pair of vehicles were actually three black vans of the year with the Thorn Industries logo on the sides of the doors. Three drivers were waiting there, although in those moments they had taken a moment to smoke, chat and check their cell phones. One of them, tall and stocky, perhaps too tall and stocky to be just a driver, was the first to notice that they were approaching. The man jumped almost scared, and immediately threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it with the toe of his shoe.
"Mr. Thorn," he exclaimed in a respectful and somewhat self-conscious tone.
"I'll take this car, Chuck," said the young man in black, pointing his thumb at one of the vans. The driver looked at the vehicle, somewhat puzzled.
"But, Mrs. Thorn..."
"My aunt is already aware," he interrupted abruptly and then held out his hand. "The keys?"
The driver looked at the boy's white hand with an expression as if it had been pointed at him by a gun. In the end, however, he obeyed, taking the keys out of his pocket and handing them over. Abra found this whole scene strange. The fear or nervousness that this man, and incidentally his colleagues, showed, was a little more than the normal that would be expected from an employee to his boss. Or rather the son/nephew of his boss.
Damien gladly took the keys. Then he took his wallet out of the inside pocket of his jacket and extracted a bill from it, which he extended to the driver to put in his shirt pocket.
"For the inconveniences," the young man muttered, followed by a wink from his right eye. The man only thanked with a discreet nod of his head. Abra did not see how much that bill had been, but she would have sworn that she saw Benjamin Franklin's face for an instant."
Damien walked without waiting to the driver's door.
"Get in," he suggested cheerfully.
Abra circled the vehicle to go to the passenger door. Another of the drivers rushed to open it.
"Thank you," the young woman exclaimed as she climbed up and placed her backpack on her legs. The driver closed the door behind her, and she immediately put on her seat belt.
Damien started the vehicle and, with remarkable dexterity, pulled it out of its park in a single movement. Then hurried toward the exit, a little faster than necessary. Abra smiled, amused at how exciting and new all this was for her.
They almost shot out of the convention center, and then Damien pushed his way through the city streets with the skill of a Nascar driver, but with relatively less speed. He didn't really know where he was going or what for; he was just letting himself go, without any plan or agenda, for a change.
He still wasn't sure what to do with all the new information he had just received, or even what to do with the girl sitting next to him. He had too many intertwined thoughts and too many emotions that were not his own or his nature. But he would have plenty of time to deal with it already. For now, he just wanted to keep driving and enjoy that moment, until he couldn't do it anymore.
"I don't think I've ever been in such an expensive car before," he heard Abra comment from his right hand. When Damien glanced sideways at her, she felt her hand run across the dark skin of the seat. "Just be sitting here, I feel intimidated."
Damien smiled, amused by that reaction, which was actually not that unusual.
"People are very intimidated by material things like these," he murmured sarcastically, staring at the road. "But at the end of the day, it is only plastic and metal, arranged differently and therefore give it more value."
Abra chuckled incredulously.
"Is the rich boy from the National Top 5 going to talk to me about not being materialistic?"
Damien shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I won't lie. Money has its power, but there are more powerful forces that move more people."
"Love or some similar kitsch?"
The boy was silent, thoughtful for a moment.
"Yes, something similar…"
Abra did not insist much more on the subject; maybe it was just a minor comment that had come out. She hugged the backpack to herself, and turned to the window, watching the shops and people go by as they advanced. What exactly crossed that little blond head? Damien tried to focus on finding out but didn't sense anything. She had said something about a defense. He didn't think there really was anyone who could "defend" him completely. Surely if he pushed and insisted enough, he could get through it and see from the other side, but he didn't feel like doing such a thing right now. Not yet, at least.
"So," the young woman began to pronounce, without taking her eyes off the window, "recapitulating, you read minds or something similar, you can influence dogs and people to do what you want, and just as I, you can see other places and people even if they are far from you. Anything else you want to share?"
Another question that forced him to remain silent. There was only one other thing he could think of that he hadn't mentioned... one that he was still unable to fully understand. He could have omitted it, answered her question with a "no, nothing more," leaving that topic over. She would not know that he was lying to her because apparently he also had his own defense. But somehow his reasoning ended in trying something totally different: be a little more honest, at least to some extent.
"There is something, but... I'm not sure how to describe it." His voice became much more serious, so much so that it baffled Abra a little. She turned to him again. He was staring at the road, with perhaps too much reverie. "Sometimes, if I focus enough, or sometimes without realizing it, things can happen around me."
Abra raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"What kind of things?"
"I don't know," he replied a little more jovially. "All kinds of things. Forget it, it's nothing."
He waved his hand, trying to downplay the matter so that she would let it go. He didn't have to read her mind, or whatever, to know that she wasn't entirely convinced by it. But he didn't seem to intend to insist either. Either Abra Stone was not as curious as it seemed, or she simply did not want to over tempt her fate in that situation
If she wanted more information, he wasn't entirely sure what he would have done. Perhaps then he would have to use some of the skills he had described to try to convince her the hard way to let him pass. Maybe she would have noticed, or maybe not. He didn't know how it would work for someone like her. But he would still try, all in order not to tell her that those things that were happening around him were, in fact, only bad things...
Their aimless walk took them up a hill on the outskirts of the city, a very convenient place to park and take a look at the whole panorama of the town; well, for that and for other things. The place was totally alone. It was relatively early, the sun was just beginning to go down, and the sky was slowly turning bright orange. Maybe there were no starry sky or city lights, but they definitely had a beautiful sunset in front of them.
"This looks like a good place to take a picture," Abra commented, his hands and chin resting on the dashboard of the vehicle.
"It's true," Damien seconded, leaning fully back in his seat. "But at the moment, I think I want to just enjoy it directly."
He had placed the expensive camera in the backseat, possibly so it wouldn't get in the way while he drove. Indeed, he seemed to have no intention of taking it. He had his hands crossed over his legs, and his cold blue eyes reflected the hue of the sunset, making them actually look bright and warm, like lit in fire.
Abra looked at him, resting her head a little on her hands. His profile was almost perfect. And, bathed in that orange light, he looked even more attractive if that was possible.
The girl chuckled, almost gawking.
"If my parents found out that I ran away from the convention in a complete stranger's car, they wouldn't let me go on another trip in my life."
"You seem to be a girl who obviously knows how to take care of herself," Damien pointed out eloquently.
"That is what I say." Abra sat straighter in her seat. Her gaze and tone became a little more cunning and mischievous, making her childish and innocent air that she had brought with her all day fade a little. "If you wanted to do something to me, it would definitely be awful for you, my friend."
Damien smiled, amused.
(It's a threat?)
Abra shrugged slightly indifferently.
(Take it as you like)
And then there was silence. Neither said anything, neither with their mouth nor with their mind. They just looked at each other, trying to convey with their single pure gaze everything they needed to say. Even people who were not shining at all were sometimes able to make those kinds of immaterial connections with others. To look someone to eyes and simply know what they want. Of course, many times, people are somewhat insecure when trying to interpret this, and even more so when it comes to deciding how to react, or not react at all. But Damien Thorn was not insecure at all. He always knew what to do, how, and when to do it. And Abra's expression made it quite clear to him.
The boy leaned carefully toward her, and Abra allowed it. The young woman's body pressed itself against her seat, not taking her eyes off the boy's deep blue eyes. Damien brought his face close to hers and did the same with his torso as the separation between the two seats made it possible. And, again, she allowed it.
Abra looked at him, quite calmly, as if his presence so close meant nothing to her, but he knew it was not so. He could feel her heart beating faster and faster, and her cheeks were turning a very flirty pink. He advanced a little further, keeping his face at a fairly short distance. The young woman's eyes closed on their own, and a light sigh escaped from her lips. Damien could feel that warm sigh on his face. He did not cut the distance immediately; he let her to dive in the scent of his cologne and shampoo, and the sting of his own skin.
The boy's right hand landed on her right thigh, subtly stroking the denim of her jeans. She also allowed it. He nullified the separation of their faces, giving her a kiss that was initially slow and delicate, barely noticeable by the touch of their lips. Still, it was almost like an electric shock that made Abra flinch slightly in her seat, but without hesitation, she reciprocated. Not only that, because it was precisely she who decided to suddenly apply a little more effort in the kiss and less delicacy. One of her hands went behind Damien's head and ran her fingers through his dark hair. Little sighs escaped from her, but he shut the majority up with his lips.
The hand he had placed on her thigh continued in that place for a few more seconds, running up and down with its entire palm. However, it dared to climb a little higher, running her hip, then her side over her sweater, although the restless fingers managed to raise it a little in its path and lightly brush her skin with the yolks. They continued on their way on a regular basis. The hand climbed up her right side until it reached the height of her breast. His hand came to rest there, but not roughly or obscenely. It was like a warm caress, similar to if he had put it on her cheek, even though she had her clothes in between.
Abra allowed it. She flinched slightly in the first second, but calmed down almost immediately and didn't even open her eyes. Now she had her two arms around the boy's neck, and she surrounded him as if she wanted to hug him and draw him closer to him.
Damien tasted it with satisfaction, savoring her lips and the shape of her body. She was somewhat thin for his taste, and her breasts ranged from small to medium. A 60 out of 100 on his scale, if he had to give a grade. But he didn't really think about it at the time. There was something about her scent, her smell, her taste, or entire aura that was too attractive to him. Maybe it wasn't any of that, and it was just knowing that she really wasn't another ordinary and boring person. The knowledge that underneath that appearance of a normal girl without a very outstanding attractiveness, a powerful and dangerous force was hidden that he did not know. And the things he did not know about that world were really few, and therefore when he found one, he wanted to explore it and get to know it until it was boring again. And that's what he was doing at that moment.
And it was then, while his mind moved between all those thoughts and sensations, and before he tried any other action beyond how far he had come, that Abra Stone abruptly… stopped allowing it.
The blonde girl's eyes snapped open wide. Damien was not aware of this until Abra's hands moved away from him for a second, then placed on his chest and pushed him back and away from her with surprising force considering her complexion. Their kiss was broken, and the boy's body suddenly returned to the driver's seat. By the time the boy was able to react to the sudden change, he had noticed how the girl was now practically pressed against the door on her side and was staring at him silently. Her breathing fast, and her eyes almost wide.
"What?" Damien questioned in a playful tone, accompanied by a small chuckle. "What happens?"
He guessed right away that it would be the classic play of "This is not right," "I can't do it," "I'm not that kind of girl," or something similar. It didn't really matter. After all, getting people to do just what he wanted to do was perhaps one of his primary skills, whether it be by supernatural effect and not. And no girl could say an absolute "no" to him. He always just had to insist enough, and push the necessary buttons, in more ways than one.
However, little by little, he realized how that girl was actually seeing him. There was no longer that same desire and longing in his eyes as there had been only moments ago. What he saw now was not amazement, guilt, or even fear. It was instead... horror, a deep-rooted and shocking horror that paralyzed her and made her stick against the door in an unconscious attempt to create more distance between them. In fact, if the door had not been there, it was likely that she would have crawled away on the floor. This horror was not because of what they were doing, nor what they were about to do after that. No, that expression was directly influenced by him... and only by him.
Slowly, Damien's candid smile also faded, for he had already understood. He did not occupy using any kind of unique perception since her single face was clear enough for him. At that exact moment, perhaps that near-perfect defense she'd talked about came down at last for a second, or maybe the closeness so intense had made it easier for her. It didn't really matter what it had been, it only mattered that… she had seen it. She had seen what was hidden behind the barrier, and what she saw… had terrified her in every inch of her body.
Damien's face hardened like a rock. He quickly approached her, and before she could react, he took her firmly by the wrist and pulled her toward him. Abra froze, unable to move her body to even take her eyes off him.
"What did you see?" He asked her from the front, squeezing her wrist so hard it almost hurt her. "What did you see?! Tell me!"
Abra remained unreacted for a while longer, even though he yelled and shook her. She uses all her strength and all her efforts to overcome, to get herself out of that lethargy. Her gaze also became hard, or rather aggressive, almost like that of a beast."
"Let me go!" She yelled loudly, and Damien's body was abruptly pushed back against the driver's door as if a horse had kicked him in the chest. The push was so strong that his head slammed into the glass of the door, splintering it into a cobweb, its center just at the point of impact.
The young man's body collapsed onto the seat, and Abra didn't stay a second longer to check if he was still conscious or not. She opened her door as fast as he could, struggling a bit as her hands felt nervous and trembling. She fell almost flat on her face to the unpaved ground where they had parked, putting her hands and knees so as not to hit her face. She scratched her palms a little, but she didn't care. She stood up with awkward steps and began to run towards the road they had climbed. She hadn't taken more than five steps when she heard Damien behind.
"Abra! Stop right now!" Damien's voice shouted with high power, but for a moment it seemed to her that it was not the only voice that was screaming. It was as if there was a more severe, stronger, and more threatening one accompanying his in the background.
But it was not the scream that made her stop, but two dark figures that suddenly came in front of her, as if they had come out of nowhere. They were two dogs, large and dark, that barked loudly at her, and their barking rumbled like thunder. They growled, annoyed, and thick saliva ran from their snouts, falling to the ground below them. Their eyes were bloodshot, and despite being in the body of two dogs, they transmitted a great fury quite typical of humans.
I can make some animals do what I tell them... mainly dogs.
She turned cautiously back. Damien had already got out of the vehicle and was circling it with a firm, hurried step to head in her direction. Abra was surprised, or perhaps rather frightened, realizing that there was no trace of injury to his head after the blow he had received. Not a scrape, not a cut; nothing…
Adrenaline ran through her body at thousand per minute. Her breathing became much heavier, and her heartbeat so hard that she thought it would end up exploding right there. And as this guy approached her, his eyes burning like coals, her condition only increased.
That was just the perfect formula...
"Get away from me! Don't touch me!" Abra screamed with all her might, almost ripping her throat.
Everyone seemed to shake a little. Damien felt himself being pushed back again, but now with much more intensity. It was no longer the kick of a horse, but rather the direct collision of a passenger bus. His body flew off, straight to the van. All the windows smashed into pieces as soon as his body touched it. The pieces of glass flew back as if blown by the wind. The boy's body dented the door from the force of the impact, and then he fell down onto the floor, staying there for a few moments.
He was not the only one pushed. The two dogs blocking Abra's path also flew off, albeit in different directions. One of them collided with a tree on the side of the road, moaning in pain, and then falling to the ground to stay. The other went further, past the security fence and rolling a few meters down the hill.
Once the path was clear, Abra did not hesitate for another moment and began to run like a hare fleeing from his predator. She ran and ran without looking back, and didn't stop until her legs couldn't take it anymore.
Damien got up as best he could, leaning against the bruised vehicle. Puzzled and confused, he searched his gaze for the young woman. He made out her figure, running several meters away along the path next to the highway. He could have stopped her. If he had concentrated enough, he could have used hundreds of different measures to make her stop, fall, or perhaps worse.
However, he didn't do it...
Instead, he stood up straight and adjusted his hair and jacket. Wanting to adjust his tie, he realized that he was not wearing it, but he did not give it much importance. He circled the vehicle again and climbed into the driver's seat, slamming the door behind him. With the same skill demonstrated earlier, he exited the small parking space. He took the road in the opposite direction that Abra had left.
The boy was upset about that bad time, but his gratitude far outweighed it. After all, the information the girl had given him throughout their conversation was far more valuable than any "fun" act they might have had in that van. Now he had to go back to his reality, and face that information.
END OF CHAPTER 29
Author's Notes:
—The description made in this chapter of the powers of Abra and Damien is mainly a personal interpretation of what was shown in their own works. In Damien's case, in all three films (four if the 2006 remake is counted) and in Damien's series from 2016, his powers are always somewhat ambiguous about what he can do, how much, and to what extent exactly. The intention here was to give a little more base and clarity to these abilities, using as inspiration, of course, the different moments in which they were seen to make use of them, as well as some additions and my own adjustments. That is why it is likely that some people may feel that it does not entirely match what is shown in the original works. It should also be mentioned that what is described or shown in this chapter does not wholly cover the total of what both can do (especially Damien). Throughout the story, we will see both characters in more detail.