Into the dark (Helen)
Darkness, by Trümmerwelten (part 1)
"I cry this night
Like every night
All days the same
Have driven me insane.
Torture in my mind
Made me blind
Empty is my vision
Like every night.
Darkness comes over me
Covers me, teases me
Darkness shelters me
Touches me, penetrates me
One way to escape
So I escape
This life."
Warmly wrapped up in my thick jacket I leaned my back on Damon and we looked into the sky. It was a clear, cold night and the colorful lights of the fireworks threw amazing reflections on the snow. "This is so beautiful", I said to my Aunt Abigail. She just nodded excitedly. Damon had wrapped his arms protectively around me while we stood in the midst of our small group on Mystic Falls' town square to see the local New Year's Eve fireworks. We had celebrated at the Grill, together with Caroline and Tyler, Stefan and Elena, Bonnie and Jeremy as well as my family. At first, Damon had strictly disapproved, but all of them had promised him to keep an eye on me and finally he could be persuaded to go. Even Liz had claimed that I would be safe in such a large group after a long talk with John who had left right after Christmas. Nevertheless, she had also made her appearance at the Grill tonight. It had been a great evening; we had danced and laughed, we had been drinking, well, the others had been drinking, and we had played pool. It seemed as if all worries had subsided for one night, but I knew better. I had noticed Damon's nervous glances darting across the celebrating crowd and none of them had left me alone even for a second, not even at the restroom. I felt like a VIP with a bunch of bodyguards.
At midnight, we'd gone through the usual shake hands and congratulations. Even Bonnie seemed a lot more relaxed. "You brought them all together, Helen", she'd said. I had waved aside. „I don't think so. You guys would've done your thing anyway, even if Damon and I hadn't been there, wouldn't you?" She had shrugged. "Sure, but your reunion makes it a special occasion." I had hugged her briefly. „Thank you, Bonnie. I really hope we can be friends one day." She smiled openly. "We will see." Damon had approached me from behind and looked at Bonnie. „May I borrow Helen from you for a moment?" he had asked. For a second, the reserved expression had returned to her face, but then she had relaxed again. "Sure." She had turned to leave, but then she had changed her mind. "By the way, happy New Year, Damon." She had held out her hand to him. He looked surprised, but then he'd taken it. "Happy New Year for you too…", he'd replied and pulled her into his arms for a hug, "… little witch." Bonnie had looked surprised, but she hadn't fought him. "Thanks, Damon. You can let go of me now", she had replied and he quickly had stepped back a few. The situation had suddenly been a little awkward, but not in a negative sense. She had winked at him with a smile and gone back to Jeremy.
Damon had looked baffled and I couldn't help a grin. "I think she'll like you someday", I'd told him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "You really think?" he'd teased and kissed me. Our child had obviously also wanted to have a say in this and had kicked the spot where Damon leaned on my belly. I had giggled while he'd looked down with a shake of his head. "It's got to be a boy, just like Stefan back then", he'd huffed. "Nah, it's just getting too tight in there", I had replied. During the training of the past few days, I'd had quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions. While I had only been frightened for a moment, Damon had been outright fearful that I had gone into preterm labor. A short call to Dr. Fell and she had been able to assure me that according to my description it had been false alarm. She'd said I would experience them more often during the next six to eight weeks. "Let me get our jackets and we'll join the others outside, okay?" Damon had asked and I had agreed. Now, we'd been standing out here among our friends for at least half an hour and enjoyed the spectacle. "Are we going back to the boarding house afterwards?" I asked Damon while we walked back into the Grill. I had been very cold outside and was glad to get warm again. "If you want", he replied. "We can continue our own party at home", he whispered seductively into my ear and I blushed. Damn it, he always leaves me flustered! I thought.
We said goodbye to the others. "We'll go back now, Mom, I'm cold somehow." She winked at me. "Well, have fun while Damon's warming you up, honey. See you later for brunch!" With a smug grin she turned around and headed back to the dance floor. A little lost for words, I watched her. Somehow this side of my Mom was new to me. We left and walked along a row of parking cars to his Camaro. The parking lot had been pretty crowded earlier this evening. "I will be so glad to put up my feet", I sighed while he unlocked the car and held the passenger door for me. Seconds later our personal hell broke loose. I saw Kane jumping at Damon from behind a van and before I could react he injected something into his neck. With a groan Damon collapsed in his grip. "Make a sound and he dies!" he hissed and I saw a stake pointed to Damon's ribcage just below the heart. I just nodded, terrified that he would really kill him. "And now you, darling", he said and placed a metal armlet on my left wrist in vampire speed, letting Damon fall to the ground. A moment later, I felt weak, my knees trembled and I felt so dizzy that I had to hold on to the car. "What the hell is this?" I groaned. „It'll be over soon. Inside, quick!" Kane opened the rear door of the large white van next to us and threw Damon onto the load bed as if he was a doll. All of this had only lasted seconds.
Then he shoved me up and inside too. "Stay down and hold tight." He closed the door and I heard him fastening something on the outside, probably a lock. A second later, the van started to move at a high speed and all I could do was to cling to Damon's lifeless body. It had been so easy for him to subdue us! I was embarrassed at my own slowness! "Damon, wake up, please!" I whispered repeatedly into his ear, but I got no reaction. He was out cold. I lost count of how long we had been driving. After what seemed to be hours, the van started to rock and sway as if we were going off road. I couldn't see anything, the windows had been painted black, but outside it was dark anyway. Suddenly the car came to a halt. Damon was still unconscious and I wondered how much vervain Kane had used on him. The weak and dizzy feeling I had gotten when Kane had put the armlet on my wrist, was gone and I prepared myself to attack him with magic as soon as he would open the rear door. Seconds later, I got the chance. I concentrated on popping the blood vessels in his head, but nothing happened! I tried again, but when he saw my strained and surprised face, he just laughed at me. "Forget it!" He grabbed my wrist with the armlet and held it up. "Don't you know what this is? It's a repressor! I had to go to length to find it", he said triumphantly.
The question mark above my desperate face seemed to amuse him. "God, you're really the dumbest witch I've ever had!" He grinned menacingly. "Or will have, that is! It blocks your magic power – you are completely at my mercy… darling!" The tone of his voice and the lusty stare he gave me frightened me. I had to get rid of the armlet and tugged wildly at it. He pulled me out of the van and shoved me against it. "Try it, go on!" He lowered his head near to my face and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. I started to tremble. "The only one who can take this off again, is me!" he hissed. I tugged at the armlet once more with all my might, but it was in vain. "Come", he ordered harshly and grabbed my arm. I glanced back at Damon. "What about him?" I asked scared. „Forget about him!" he stated and pulled me with him. Through the darkness, all I could see was a small wooden farmhouse in front of us and a lot of trees surrounding a clearing. Apart from that the darkness was impenetrable. Smoke came out of the large chimney which protruded from the right side of the building, meaning it was inhabited. When we reached the front porch, the door opened. "Well, well, well!"
The tall, dark-skinned man who had opened the door could only be Bree's brother. He was very tall and slender, the black kinky hair had been formed into dreadlocks that hung loosely down his back. In his own ferocious way he looked good, but his cold and piercing stare made me shiver. Pitilessly he looked me over from head to toe. "Where is he?" he asked, never taking his eyes off me. "In the van", Kane answered. "I'll take her downstairs", he added and pulled me into the house. Inside, he pushed one door open. "Move it!" he ordered me and kept shoving me ahead. In the light of a naked bulb I carefully descended some stairs downwards. I was surprised that they were made of stone. After a few steps, the stairs led into a narrow corridor which had been drilled into the solid rock. "Where are we going? What is this?" I asked frantically. „You'll see", he just growled and shoved me again. „Keep moving!" The air got cooler and damp, and at the end of the tunnel there was a light. The corridor opened into a wide cavern at its end. On the left and on the right, large niches had been cut into the rock, with bars, like prison cells. I almost got the feeling of being on a movie set, but this was bitter reality.
Kane opened the largest cell. "Get inside!" The view drove me to seriously resist him for the first time. "No, please don't!" I begged and tried to escape, but I had no chance. He grabbed my upper arms and simply pushed me into the cell. I tripped and almost fell. He banged the gate closed and locked it. Trepidation got a hold of me. He was stronger, my magic wasn't available and I was locked away like a prisoner. I clung to the bars. "What are you doing, Kane? What do you want? Why am I here?" I shouted. He looked me over intently and came closer. „You've killed my brother and I'll make you pay, but I won't just kill you, oh no! I will make you suffer and I will let you give birth to your spawn. If it's a girl, I will use it. And I will use you to breed a whole new generation of witches at my command and this will make me the most powerful vampire on earth!" Horrified I stepped back a few and felt my blood draining from my face. "Never!" I whispered aghast. „Of course, darling, and believe me – you will do everything I want!" he stated forcefully. He turned on his heel and left me alone. Numbly I staggered back to the bedstead in the corner.
Desperation clawed itself from my heart through my whole body. I sat down and started rocking back and forth like a caged animal, wrapping my arms around myself. My hands were shaking and my sight was blurred with tears welling up in my eyes. Moaning I closed them. This can't be true, it shouldn't have happened, I thought. Tears streamed down my cheeks. "No, no, no…", I sobbed continuously. „Calm down!" A voice startled me out of my pain. "Hello?" I whispered into the blue, thinking I had hallucinated. "Is somebody there?" I asked a little louder. "I'm here", the voice replied. I jumped up. „Where?" I exclaimed. „In the cell next to yours." I ran to the bars and tried to catch a glimpse of the person. According to the voice it must be a woman. "Here", she said and reached a hand through the bars. I couldn't see her, only her hand. "Oh my God! You're really there! Who are you?" I asked and grasped her hand with mine. She felt pretty cold. "Laura Masters. And you are the pregnant woman I'm supposed to take care of?" Her question almost pulled the rug out under my feet. They had abducted a midwife? "Laura, I'm awfully sorry you've got pulled into this", I replied. „How long have you been here?" I asked. „Since yesterday. At first I thought he would kill me, but up to now he didn't harm me. He just said I was here for a special task and ordered me to write down everything that's needed for a delivery." I had trouble coping with this.
„Laura, did Kane tell you about himself?" I wanted to know. "He said he's a vampire. Bullshit! He's completely nuts!" she huffed. She didn't understand, and how should she, I thought. „What's your name and where you're from?" she asked. „I'm Helen Corey, currently residing in Mystic Falls." I heard her giggle softly. "It's really a small world, isn't it?" she said. "What do you mean?" She squeezed my hand gently. „Twentyfive years ago I helped a woman named Jessica Corey in Mystic Falls to delivery a girl." I froze at the thought. Was this coincidence or Kane's doing? „That would be my mother", I replied quietly. „Oh my God! You are… you are… little Helen?" she put one and one together. I felt tears welling up again. "Yes", I croaked and started sobbing softly. She klicked her tongue. „Don't be upset, sweetie. How far are you?" she inquired. Her voice had taken a professional tone. „Almost thirty-first week", I replied. „Such a pig! The most critical phase of all… Listen closely, Helen. No matter what happens, you need to rest as much as possible. A preterm birth under these circumstances would be dangerous", she urged me. "I know, I… I'm scared", I whispered. She patted my hand. „Believe me, we'll make it. Up to now, no baby was able to resist me, you know?" Her words soothed me a little, but this feeling dissolved at the thought of Damon. "There's something else, Laura. They've also got my boyfriend and I don't know what they'll do to him." The fear that rose inside me was almost unbearable. „He's the father?" she asked. „Yes." A sudden loud rumbling from the tunnel made us scatter. I pressed my face to the bars to see what was going on. Kane came into view.
With one hand holding a foot, he dragged a body behind him across the ground. "Oh God!" I blurted and clapped my hands over my mouth. „Is that your boyfriend?" Laura asked quietly. „Yes", I whispered horrified. Kane ignored us and dragged Damon into the smaller cell across from mine. A diagonal wooden cross had been fixed to the wall, with iron shackles on the end of each beam. He lifted Damon's body and chained his ankles and wrists to the cross. A low moan could be heard and raised my attention. "Ah getting back to life I see?" Kane hit his side. „Helen…" Damon's voice could barely be heard. „Damon, I'm here! Wake up!" I called, not caring for Kane. Damon shook his head and blinked, trying to shoo away the last remnants of his sedation. Laughing, Kane stepped out of the cell. "Now isn't this great? You can see him all the time, darling. That is, as long as my friend Reuben here lets him live!" he boomed and pointed to the tunnel. The warlock emerged from the tunnel and entered the cell. Depreciatory he scrutinized Damon and finally grabbed a handful of hair, pulling his head up to look into Damon's face. "You remember my sister Bree?" he hissed hate-filled. "Stupid witch, she set me up", Damon replied. „Tcha, and that's why you ripped her heart out, just like that, didn't you?" Reuben replied coldly, snapping his fingers. Damon returned his stare at least equally coldly. "Had a rough day." Reuben let him go and stepped back. „Maybe I should continue where Lee left off, hm?" Damon started to groan. I winced inwardly, knowing what the warlock was doing to him. Shortly after, Damon's pained screams made my blood run cold.