Chapter Five
—=—
It had been too long, Yuri thought as he climbed up the steps and entered the apartment complex. He pretty much skipped down the hall as he imagined his sister's face greeting and inviting him inside. He carried the delicate box carefully at his side, held slightly away from his body, and he knocked on the door.
"Hello, Yuri. Welcome." Loid said when it opened and Yuri's smile fell. He could have punched this man for showing his face first.
The despicable man with the punchable face stepped aside and Yuri entered, immediately searching for Yor when she emerged from the kitchen adorned with snacks and tea.
"Yuri, you're here!" She said, placing the tray on the coffee table, and Yuri held out the box after taking off his shoes.
"This is for you."
"Oh, thank you. Is it cake?" She set it down on the table and opened it, rendering an answer, moot.
They occupied the living room and, as Yor sliced the cake with precise, quick movements, Loid got right to the point. "What did you find at the lab?"
Yuri narrowed his eyes at him. He still didn't trust him. Yor deserved to know the truth, but if Loid was a spy, he could report back to Westalis. Why should Yuri tell him anything?
"Yuri?" Yor's melodious voice took his attention as she handed him a plate of sugary confection.
"There was nothing there about chihuahua." He said, taking it. "I tried to be the first to read most everything we found, but her name wasn't mentioned anywhere."
The Forger's gave a sigh of relief. Yor looked lighter and Yuri felt he'd done well.
"Thank you, Yuri." Yor placed a hand over his.
"Anything for you, sis."
"What about the other telepaths? Any names?" Loid picked up his teacup and Yuri fwipped a glare at him.
"Is that a no?" Said Yor.
"No other names, no." He obliged and that seemed to relax her, too, though he didn't know why.
"I thought that might be the case. You said you'd call if we should be worried." Yor said and he nodded. "Did you find anything else we should know?" She asked and he shook his head.
"Not really. Nothing that would affect you." Yuri put down his cake and picked up his tea, stirring it. 'Nothing that Loid should know.'
"No indication of what their agenda is?" Yor asked and Yuri looked up from his cup.
"Their agenda? You think they have one besides making money?"
"Maybe. . ." She said and didn't elaborate.
Yuri would have to look into this. If there was more to the director's intentions, which were already deplorable, he wondered how bad it could be.
—-
Damian's feet barely touched the ground, nearly flying, he was running so fast. His heart pounded as he was urged on by an inexplicable fear and he couldn't remember his destination. Or who he was running to. He knew it was important.
The place looked familiar, he couldn't recall why. The gravel paths all looked the same and the trees looked thicker and bigger than they should have been. They blew in the strong winds while dark clouds hid the light. Damian felt chills riding his arms as the pines seemed to darken in colour and bend towards him. They didn't feel like trees anymore, but sentient beings with malicious intent.
It was too dark. Why was it so dark? Where were his classmates and the animals? Weren't they supposed to be here? No. He left them. He had to stop her. He had to catch up. Someone was in danger. How did he know that? Who was he supposed to catch up to?
It started to rain.
Instinctively, Damian turned left at the was the right way he felt. The path was long, stretching further than he thought it should, and he slowed against his will. His legs wouldn't go faster, and his feet seemed to sink into the ground as his sprint turned into a trudge.
He panicked. No. No, no, no, no. He was going to be too late! The danger was happening! What about himself?! Someone would catch up to him and he'd be in danger! He should run away. It wasn't safe. What was he doing here anyway? Something told him he shouldn't go. No. He had to, he had to. Something told him he shouldn't.
No, this was important! He had to go! He couldn't leave her there by herself!
Damian heaved his leg forward and took a step. He took another. He couldn't leave her there by herself.
Leave her where? Who?
Like a crack of thunder rending the sky, a bullet echoed over the zoo and stopped Damian in his tracks.
A gun. This is why he shouldn't go.
And suddenly it was in his face.
A woman held it there and her finger reached for the trigger as if time had slowed. As if giving Damian time to have a panic attack before he died. His heart could have been outside his chest, it was so loud, and the image of the woman grew blurry as his eyes poured out tears like a waterfall.
He remembered he was looking for someone then, and she wasn't here. She'd already been taken away and he heard her splitting scream ripping through him, as if to remind him where'd she'd gone. She was gone, and her scream was an echo of what had already taken place.
She was gone and Damian was too late. He was going to die.
The woman's image morphed and his father stood in her place.
Time sped up again and he pulled the trigger.
"AAAAHH!" Damian sprang upright as if possessed. A hand clapped over his forehead where the bullet had lodged and it wasn't there. He couldn't breathe. Everything was tight, everything was pulsing and racing. He shook and the blankets did nothing to quell it. Tears leaked into his comforter and it took a moment before he realized where he was.
His bed. In his room. In the dorms. He wasn't at the zoo. He was wearing his pyjamas.
Damian's hand slid from his head as he double checked his surroundings. It wasn't another dream. He was back at the dorms. Morning light streamed through the window, it wasn't overcast and dark.
"Damian?!" A hand knocked on the door and worried voices asked him if he was alright. Why he had screamed.
Damian took a gasping breath and shuddered. Another one.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine." He said and they left after a moment.
Another breath.
He was okay. It was over, it was over, it was over.
Either you will come home, or he will.
It was fine. He was okay. The gun was gone. His father wouldn't hurt him.
Or he will.
He was f—
The next breath wouldn't come.
Damian peeled back his covers and sobs caught in his throat. He couldn't silence them and they pushed their way out. It was like the nightmare itself was trying to strangle him.
Damian slid out of bed and he found himself picking up the phone on his desk. Tears dripped and stained it a deeper colour.
He dialled a number.
"Hello?"
He answered and Damian shuddered. What did he say? He couldn't form the words. He didn't have control of his voice and the phone shook slightly in his hand. He didn't know what he was doing. Why was he calling?
"Damian?" Demetrius said when he didn't answer. "Is that you? What's wrong. Why are you crying?" His tone didn't sound concerned, but intent.
". . . . ." Damian hesitated. What was he doing? What could Demetrius possibly do? "I. . ." He couldn't say it. It had only been a nightmare, this was stupid. He told himself, but it didn't change the shaking in his shoulders or how vulnerable he felt. ". . .never-mind. . .sorry. . ." He hated that his voice shook. He hung up and his hand slipped away. His arms hugged his elbows and he crouched on the ground, just trying to breathe, just trying to be calm.
Damian had recalled the gun to his head countless times since it happened, but the nightmare was more real. It was more confusing and vivid, more terrifying. It was almost worse. He knew something bad was going to happen, and he couldn't do anything, he couldn't move. And then somehow it was his father killing him. He was responsible for all of it.
He wouldn't hurt Damian, he wouldn't hurt him. He wouldn't kill him. Damian told himself this so many times, and it was crushing to think it might not be true. Donovan had left him at the lab, Damian didn't know what he was capable of.
And yet, he still wanted to defend him.
Time passed slowly. Too slowly. Too long for Damian to crouch on the floor as if he could hide from his own horrifying memories. He didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be in the dorms. More than anything, in that moment, he wanted his mother. She was his sole provider of warmth and security and yet he felt he couldn't call her. What if she knew he was kidnapped? That he was at the lab? Did she leave him there like his father did?
Damian didn't want to know the answer. And he didn't think he could trust any care or affection she gave him. The comfort he needed was out of reach. There was no one to quiet his anxieties and fears. He needed to not feel alone and the dorms only represented the distance his father put between him and his son.
He needed relief.
Damian didn't know how long he sat enough, that the rattling in his breath, his chest, gradually lessened, and his breathing sounded more like breathing than crying. As the adrenaline wore off, the air grew colder, his clammy skin shivered at it's touch, and it soaked through to his bones. After another while of sitting in drained nothingness, he stood shakily, gripping himself as if he could ward off his damaged nerves.
What did Damian do about this? The thought of living this nightmare again frightened him. He didn't want to attend class. He didn't want be around people. He wanted to curl up in bed where it was warm and hide under the covers.
A jarring knock on his door disturbed his silence. "Damian? Are you okay? We're running out of time. Are you coming to breakfast?" Emile called.
Damian certainly didn't feel like it.
"Just a minute." He replied, and his voice wasn't completely rough. He gathered himself for another moment, waiting for the shivers to die down, leaving him a little shaky. The remaining vestiges, sticking to him like a dying virus refusing to leave.
He got dressed, finding the scattered pieces of his uniform around the room.
He was already exhausted and the day had barely begun. It was like his very life force had been sucked out.
If Damian appeared anything other than fine to Ewen and Emile, they didn't mention it. They had patiently waited for him and didn't ask anything more about why he had screamed. If Damian didn't have his family, he was glad to at least have them.
They headed downstairs to the lobby and out the building. They didn't get too far.
"Damian."
It wasn't loud. It was spoken at normal volume, but Damian spun at the familiar voice calling his name as Demetrius pushed off against the wall behind him. He looked to Damian's two companions as he approached. He wasn't wearing his uniform. "These your friends?"
Damian thought he might cry again when he had the pesky urge to run and hang onto him like a child. "Demetrius?!" He said instead. "What are you doing here?" He asked. He couldn't believe Demetrius had come after one vague phone call.
"Your Damian's brother!" Ewen said excitedly. "You're an imperial scholar! Boss, why didn't you say he was coming?!"
"Boss?" Demetrius' repeated.
He was ignored. "I didn't know." Damian said.
"Hey, you guys go ahead. Damian will catch up with you later." Demetrius informed Ewen and Emile who eyed him like he was some kind of unattainable perfection. The boys left rather reluctantly and glanced back at them multiple times on their way. Damian had a feeling they'd be asking about this later.
"Had a nightmare, huh?" Demetrius said suddenly when they'd gone and Damian startled.
"How did—?"
"A hunch." He said and let his gaze trail over the school grounds. "You sounded funny."
"You came because I sounded funny?"
Demetrius shrugged and looked back at Damian's dorm building. "You doing better now?"
Damian looked at his shoes and also shrugged. He wasn't overwhelmed anymore, but there was a dark cloud hanging over him
"Right." Said Demetrius. "Go get changed." He gestured to the dorm with a nod of his head.
"What? Why? School is gonna start soon."
"You're taking a sick day."
"What?"
"Yeah. Go. Hurry up." Instructed Demetrius and Damian realized this was the reason Demetrius wasn't dressed for school.
"I can't just ditch school! What about attendance?"
"It's already ruined, what's one more day?" Demetrius said and physically turned Damian around and gently prodded him towards the door.
"I'll get in trouble!" Damian said, spinning to face him, but walked backwards.
"No you won't."
"How do you know?"
"I'll figure something out."
How reassuring. Damian reached the door and paused with a hand on the knob. "This is a bad idea."
"Only if you look at it that way."
"It's a bad idea."
Demetrius snorted. "Just go, you little delinquent."
Damian went.
In his room, he quickly changed, contemplating his decision making skills that had apparently been severely damaged. What was he doing? He'd never skipped school on purpose before. Why was Demetrius encouraging this? He was older, he was supposed to be the mature one. Damian made his way down the stairs. If the school finds out he had skipped, he was going to get a bolt. Maybe more than one. He had a stellar record in academics and he never skipped without a good reason. This was so unlike him.
But Demetrius was coming too.
Damian stopped in the middle of the staircase.
Demetrius was skipping with him. Damian had called him and he came. To check on him. To make him feel better? Because he was worried?
He had come.
Damian swallowed before he cried. Demetrius had come because he thought Damian needed him. Demetrius had come for him at the lab when even his own parents hadn't.
Damian went slowly down the stairs.
When had Demetrius started caring about him? Why now? He came for him at the lab and it was like everything changed. Like Demetrius shifted gears or something.
Damian reached the doors and opened them to a Demetrius who looked way too ready, like he'd done this before. But It struck Damian that Demetrius hadn't. This was a new experience for both of them. They were doing it together.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.