Chapter 20
Damien barely made it into the motel room before he crashed onto the floor, his eyes closing as the lack of sleep was too overwhelming, blackness surrounded him, but as his dreams shifted he knew there was going to be no peaceful rest
He saw the man materialise before him, he was skinny and pale, he wore large glasses, behind which were tired looking dull eyes, it was clear to see that his sister got all the looks between them, she also got all the morals and compassion, unlike Elliot
"Hello again Damien" he sneered "Decided to get some rest?"
Damien stayed quiet, he had figured out long ago that it was useless to try and fight back or even to try and reason with him, Elliot was hell-bent on destroying Damien for taking his sister away from his family and allowing her to die
"What shall we do today Damien?" He smiled cruelly at Damien, he closed his eyes "I see that we still have strong feelings for this Reyna girl… is that why you let my sister die? So you could be with this Roman whore?"
Damien felt his hands shaking, his anger bubbling within him as Elliot spoke of Reyna in that way
"Did you kill Elena so that you could run off and be with this scum Damien?"
"I loved her" Damien snapped back
Elliot let out a cold laugh "If you loved her you would have protected her, never taken her away of the safety of her home, her family" he stepped closer to Damien "You murdered her, just so you could get in the pants of some quisquilian"
Damien roared to life and lunged for Elliot, not caring it was a dream control by him, Before he could reach the scrawny rat he was thrown back and an invisible weight pushed down on his keeping him perfectly still, he saw Elliot come to stand over him
"Shall we begin?" he said menacingly through gritted teeth
Damien's mind went blank and then a land formed in front of him, he recognised it instantly, Camp Jupiter.
"It's just a dream… it's just a dream" he chanted in his mind, he had to keep his thoughts real
"Damien?" a hand came to rest on his shoulder, turning him around slowly
"No" the word fell from his lips as he heard the voice and saw her face, Elena in all her beauty was standing before him, a smile on her lips, her hair cascading over her shoulders, she reached out and caressed his face softly
"Did you miss me?" she asked sweetly, her eyes soaking up the sun
"Not real… Not real" he repeated over and over
"Damien" she said sweetly "Of course this isn't real" she smiled up at him and brought his lips down to hers, her lips were just as he remembered, the way her arms wrapped around his neck
She pulled back slightly "I've missed you agápi mou"
Damien watched her wishing that this was somehow real, but he had to remember that it wasn't, he couldn't get lost in this fantasy
Elena suddenly went ridged, her eyes going dull, her mouth agape
"Elena?" Damien asked
She fell away from him, revealing someone behind her, no… not just anyone
"Reyna" Damien looked down at the Praetor's hands, her silver dagger in her hand, covered in blood
His eyes dropped to Elena's body on the ground, blood seeping from a wound on her back, a wound made from Reyna's dagger
"Now we can be together" she said
Damien looked back up at Reyna's cold eyes, an equally cold smile across her lips
"This isn't real" Damien said, his hands balling into fists "It's a dream"
He began to hit the sides of his head, trying to wake himself from this nightmare
"You're not real" he hit his head harder and harder trying to drum this image from his mind
"Damien"
He kept hitting and hitting, keeping his eyes squeezed shut
"Damien wake up"
He could feel hands on his arms
"WAKE UP!"
He opened his eyes and was staring up into Reyna's eyes, he was on his back, he looked around wildly, he was in the motel room
"Damien… look at me"
Damien stared up into Reyna's warm dark eyes,
"Reyna?" he asked
"Breathe Damien" she said softly "Just breathe"
"Am I awake?" he asked
"You know I can't answer that for you" she said, a hand stroking his hair out of his eyes "You wouldn't believe me whatever my answer"
Damien sat up slowly, not taking his eyes from Reyna's face, he reached up and caressed her cheek, allowing his thumb to stroke her cheek
"Are you okay?" she whispered, swallowing slowly
Damien shook his head, he moved his other hand up to her neck, his finger curling around her throat
"Damien?"
His other hand dropped from her face to her neck so now both squeezed around her slim throat, she tried to speak but nothing came out, tighter and tighter. Her fingers scraped against his arms, trying to pry away his grip, she clawed at his face as her face grew purple, her mouth trying to gasp for air but Damien's hands didn't allow it. He watched as her eyes started to roll back into her head, her arms growing weaker, Damien just stared at her as the life drained from her eyes. Her body went limp and he finally released her, looking down at her dead body, just lying there on the floor
Damien stood and looked around the motel room, it was night and the room was dark, He didn't see Hazel at first, but something hitting the floor caught his attention, the daughter of Pluto stood in the doorway looking between Reyna's body and Damien
"What did you do?" she asked
Damien saw her hand slowly going for her weapon, Damien lunged for her and shoved her against the wall before she could draw her sword, he heard her gasp in pain as he reached forward and with his strong hands snapped her neck, she too fell to the floor, her eyes still open