I'm honestly quite surprised how quickly I got this out. Let me know what you think of Lukas! He's the one I've been fighting with for months... I'm still kind of iffy about how he came out, though. Anyways, I suddenly have a relatively clear, well, significantly more clear, idea about how these last couple chapters will go, so I'm quite excited to get them written! Warning, though, we're nearly the end of this term college-wise, sooo, yeah... we'll see how it goes.
How to Correct a Regret
"Lukas"
His eyes flinched slightly, but his scowled grin didn't fade. Almost tenderly, he caressed my cheek.
"Clever bird," he murmured. "My, it has been an eternity since I've been called that." Without warning he struck me again, leaving me limp again my shackles. "You were not given permission to use it." I coughed as the nerves recoiled in pain; limbs trembling, wing and leg screaming in agony. Doesn't matter…
"You want this?" he murmured lovingly. I glanced weakly up at him and froze. Between his fingers he twirled a stake. Perfectly sharpened at one end. "You want to drive it through my heart? Kill me?" Rage. Softly, he laughed at the darkness in my eyes. He would regret taunting me. With a feral shout, I sprang savagely at him, kicking violently at the stake. A gleam entered his eyes, but I felt no fear. There was nothing more he could take from me. I felt only rage. Effortlessly, he caught my still aching ankle. Screaming against the agony, I lashing out with my other leg, ignoring the pain shooting through my thigh. Frowning at my determination, he snatched the shin of my injured leg as well.
"Bone needs to be set anyway." He mumbled, dropping the stake. In the span of a heartbeat, he gripped the thigh with both hands and wrenched the limb straight. I couldn't scream. A choked cough sounded from my lips and my body crumbled, unable even to relieve the weight from my wrists. My body writhed desperately, barely able to gasp. I didn't hear his laughter. I didn't feel the cold or smell the rancid earth around me. There was only pain. In a futile attempt to escape, I struggled to free my wings, but, instantly, the shattered left wing redoubled my torture. Disregarding my suffering, Lukas held something against my thigh and tightly wrapped it. Vaguely, I realized he was tying a splint, but my mind couldn't fully comprehend it.
"Quiet!" he suddenly roared, striking me hard across my cheek. I hadn't realized I was screaming. His blow silenced me only because there was no air left within my lungs. "Much better." He nearly praised as he finished wrapping the limb. Desperate, stifled gasps escaped me in muted whispers as I struggled not to cry.
"You feel that pain? That agony?" he whispered, leaning until mere inches separated up. "I can make it stop. Free you from it." He used a finger nail to pierce the flesh of his neck. "Just a few sips and it'll all go away. Dread. I knew what he wanted. Rage stormed through me. To bond with me, I had to willingly accept him. Scowling in pain and anger, I spat at him. Before the phlegm had reached his face, before I had time to acknowledge his fist racing toward me, the darkness consumed me.
Dizzy. Cold. My shoulders ached and my arms were numb. But my wing, my leg… my jaw clenched as I fought to keep from crying out.
Thea?! My body startled at the shout. Shock. Panic. Had the call been real? Or had the agony finally robbed me of my sanity?
"Damon?" I barely managed to whisper over the ball suddenly choking me. But, even across the thousand miles separating us, I felt his heart stop. Everything stopped.
Thea! he shouted, torn between joy and terror. Where are you?! Are you alright?! I think he was yelling. Trembling, I shook my head, knowing he could feel it.
You're alive? Even in my mind, the words were hesitant, afraid to let myself even try to believe it.
I'm fine. Thea, where are you? He struggled to reign in his panic. Distinctly, I heard Alarich and Steffan bombard him with questions. Questions. Couldn't think. Something like a sob shook my shoulders, aggravating my wing even further. But… he was alive… Damon was alive! The room spun violently. My head… Athena! He called desperately. I tried to focus, to answer him, but something moved maybe twenty feet from me: a door. No… please no. Thea! Laughter. Desperate gasps shook my body. Unable to quell the terror, a series of avian shrieks tore through me. Before the second one reached my lips, something slammed into my stomach, sending an agonizing crack echoing through me. With a painful wretch, the air fled my lungs. My body could only writhe in agony, suffocating. Damon raged in the manor, screaming for me. Convulsing, I struggled to catch a gasp of air, however tiny.
No, Damon! Alarich was shouting. What can you do right now? Even if you find them, what could you do?! I felt Damon's heart breaking.
I'll destroy him. He growled, shaking off the distraught hunter. Another blow hit my side, that sick laughter rippling softly around me. What little air I'd managed to catch left in an agonized cry. The muscles in my abdomen and ribs convulsed in shock. Couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. I barely felt Damon raging an eternity away.
Something pressed against my lips; bittersweet. With a gasp, I jerked away from the offered limb, desperately spitting any trace of blood from my mouth.
"Fool." Still coughing to rid myself of his essence, a thud echoed though my head. And everything faded to black.
Thea! Come on, Thea, say something! So far away. But couldn't ignore that voice. Drudgingly, my consciousness returned to me. Thea?
Damon. I sighed, focusing solely on him, his presence. Regarding the distance, the futility of our circumstance, he sighed in relief.
Athena, we have a plan, but I need your help. It took every ounce of concentration to focus on his words. I'm trying to find you, but out link's getting weaker. I know it's hard, but I need you to focus. We need-"
"Agh!" My own scream caught me by surprise as my wing - barely healed from Lukas' forced blood – was wrenched back. My body thrashed and distorted to somehow lessen the strain.
"The yearling's woken?" Lukas asked sweetly, still holding me back, feathers snapping beneath his fingers. Vaguely, I heard Damon shout, but couldn't make out his words. "And he can still hear you?" he continued. Scowling, I merely glared at him. With a sharp tug, he sent a surge of agony through me, the newly knit bones threatening to cave.
"I'll take that as a 'yes.'" He answered himself. "You know, once you're mine, I'll be able to use that link you have with the yearling. I'll find him. And I'll put an end to him." My anger flared. "And you'll watch everything." He continued with a smile. "You'll see through his eyes as I drive a stake through his heart; through my eyes as the life seeps from his veins. It can be quick, or it can be slow. That depends on how long you fight." Something like a snarl resonated from my throat.
"You won't lay a hand on him, Lukas." I groaned, immediately earning a sharp slap. Damon faltered, just managing to suppress a sudden surge of fear.
Damon? I knew that voice… Steffen.
"You were instructed not to use that name." he scolded.
It's Lukas. Damon growled before quickly giving his younger brother a brief explanation. Listening to Damon retell the story – how Evelyn had been killed – everything suddenly clicked.
"This is about Evelyn." I gasped. The vampire visibly faltered. "She died because of you, so you're trying to bring her back." His shouldered tensed. That was my only warning. I don't know what he stuck me with, but the air suddenly fled my lungs and I briefly feared my neck would break from the assault. Momentarily blinked, I staggered, gasping, barely able to near his enraged shouts.
"I was not the cause for her death!" I think he began to strike me again, but caught himself and stepped back, turning away from me. "The Mayans," he started, voice audibly straining, "They are to blame: playing with powers they didn't understand. They were ignorant; blinding by religious heresy. They were responsible for her death."
"You want to use the link to bring her back." I clarified.
"Want and will. Evelyn was stolen from me. With you, I will hold her again."
"But, that was centuries ago… her body's" the words dies on my lips.
"Ah, you are clever." Lukas murmured. Dread. Echoing through both mine and Damon's minds.
"My body… you plan to give her… my body." That deranged grin spread across his face. Swallowing hard, I struggled to collect myself. "If you plan to give her my body, then why…"
"Oh, I do apologize for all the theatrics," he started, "but I needed you to fear me." Struggling to reign in my growing fear, I met his dark gaze.
"Why?" I asked again, somehow knowing the answer.
"Because I needed him to fear me." He replied, something like excitement in his voice. "A wondrous thing: fear. Physically, it empower like nothing else; giving strength and speed to the body which shouldn't be possible. But to the mind… ah, such a delicate think: the mind. The mind becomes blinded. The greater the fear becomes, the weaker grows the mind." His speech steadily slowed; his smile fading. "With fear comes mistakes." He paused a moment. Something flashes in his eyes. Just a heartbeat. What was that? Regret?
"And with mistakes…" The words died on his lips as he stared blankly into the shadows for several seconds. He gave a hard blink, as though he'd forgotten where he was, what he was saying. But then that dark smile returned to his gaze as his attention returned to me. "I have fantastic plans for you, little bird. I couldn't risk a live-struck yearling interfering."
An objection instantly entered my head, defending Damon's age, and, thereby, his strength. But, as that sick smile grew on Lukas' scared lips, I realized, compared to him, Damon was young. Alone, Lukas was his better without question. But Damon wasn't alone. And Lukas knew it; knew that, were Damon and I to utilize the link, there would be nothing he could do to claim me. As though hearing my thoughts clearly through the near unnoticeable gleam of confidence in my eyes, a flare of rage shot through him. Before I could even flinch, he slammed his hand across my cheek with enough force to rob the vision from my gaze.
"You will not doubt me!" he roared, madness clear in his voice. "I am the strongest! I am the most powerful! Even without you, I could save her! I will-" His voice broke and he choked back the rest of his words. Clenching his jaw, he turned to compose himself. Damon screamed for me to be quiet, begged me not to tempt him, but the words had already found voice.
"And what, exactly, would be coming back to?" Lukas tensed, hiding from the answer; hiding from the very question itself. "A madman? An empty shell mocking the likeness of a man she once loved? Tarnishing whatever memory of you-"
With a powerful strike, he silenced me.
Short, rattled breaths. Choppy. Agonizing. The cold set in my joint; wounds burning. An icy sweat covered my skin. Was I shivering? Whimpering? I couldn't tell.
Thea! My eyes parted slightly. I tried to call his name, but even my thoughts were muddled. I'm coming, Thea! Just hold on! Words. Noises. I was sure they held meaning.
Something latched against my mouth. With a gasp, I jumped back, somehow knowing I should drink. No matter what, don't drink! Something pinched my nose shut.
"Eventually, you will cave." Muttered words. Couldn't breathe. I thrashed violently, desperate for some taste of air. My vision began to fade. Fuzzy. Couldn't feel my limbs. Don't drink… don't… Damon.
People make mistakes when they're afraid; become blinded by it." He paused and looked at me with something that may once have mutated from longing. "I have fantastic plans for you, Little Bird. I couldn't risk a love struck yearling interfering."
An objection instantly entered my head, defending Damon's age and, thereby, his strength. But then that sick smile returned to Lukas' scared lips and I realized, compared to him, Damon was young. Alone, he was Damon's better without question. But Damon wasn't alone. And he knew it; knew that, were Damon to utilize the link, there was nothing he could do to claim me. A flare of rage shot through him as though he'd heard my thoughts and, before I could even flinch, he slammed his hand across my cheek with enough force to rob the vision from my gaze.
"You will not doubt me!" he roared, madness clear in his voice. "I am the strongest! I am the most powerful! Even without you, I could save her! I will!" His words broke and he choked back the rest of his words. Clenching his jaw, he turned to compose himself. Damon screamed for me to be quiet, begged me not to tempt him, but the words had already found voice.
"And, what, exactly, would she be coming back to?" He tensed, hiding from the answer; hiding from the very question itself. "A madman? An empty shell mocking the likeness of a man she once loved? Tarnishing whatever memory of you"
With another power slap, he silenced me.
A little teaser about the next chapter!
We're going to get a lot deeper into Lukas' craziness. I'll also be bringing back some relatively minor characters in a relatively major way! If everything works out properly, we have two chapters to go.