The room is quiet. No one speaks a word. The only sound is the unfolding of the piece of paper that holds his client's fate.
Finally, the booming voice of the judge can be heard. "Will the defendant please rise?"
Along with his client, Damon rises too and shares a look with him. Luke Parker is an average guy, an obliging white-collar worker, not the normal profile of a cold-blooded killer. Damon holds his breath as he always does when waiting to hear what the jury has decided.
Turning to the jurors the judge asks, "Has the jury reached a verdict?"
Nodding the jury foreman replies, "Yes we have your honor."
"What say you?"
The juror once again nods, "We the jury, find Luke Parker innocent of counts 1, 2, and 3 of the indictment."
An audible gasp from the audience is followed by an uproar in the courtroom. The judge slams his gavel on its stand and screams, "We will have order! Do I make myself clear?" He turns to Damon and then to Luke. "This court has found you not guilty. You are free to go."
Damon shakes Luke's hand along with the prosecuting attorney's, internally congratulating himself. Looking around as the courtroom empties out, his smile grows even wider when he sees her, his favorite brunette, eyes shining, forcing her way through the crowd to him. He reaches his hand to bring her closer, giving her a wink.
"How was I?"
"The best...," she whispers into his ear.
It was his idea to quit his job with the DA and come to work for the Fell, Lockwood, and Donovan Law Firm. It really took no time at all for him to catch his bosses' attention and earn their admiration.
The extra money's just a pleasant bonus.
Today's dragging slowly, Damon has his hands full with packages requiring signatures in addition to plain old letters. His deliveries today are so massive that he even had to drive back to the post office for another load of mail, seems the citizens of Coos Bay prefer snail mail to email. Whatever made him think being a mailman was a good idea? Uncharacteristically he doesn't notice he's turned onto her street before he's parking in front of her house.
He checks and has nothing but a magazine and a hard small envelope with the address written in colored pencil, at least four different colors, in capital letters. From a kid...
Her birthday, he remembers.
Might be from one of her students.
Easy enough. He can simply put it into her box and be on his way, just like most other days. He leaves the truck and out of habit looks around to see if there's a second car that might be attached to the house. Another man, some handsome bloke with tanned skin, surfer type, always did love the water.
Or Elena herself.
The mail gently flops at the bottom of the box and he turns to go back to his vehicle when the door suddenly opens.
And there she is.
Funny, he's not even surprised, it's actually more astonishing that she hasn't tried to initiate a conversation before now.
"Damon?"
"Elena..."
A few moments pass without either of them speaking, then Damon looks aside and sighs.
"Look, I know I owe you an apology and I'm sorry I disappeared, but...I don't know what you were expecting."
Her lips press together but she doesn't tell him to go to hell, although he can see there's anger in her frustration.
Also, hurt and grief, and helplessness. His heart aches at the image.
"When you left...," she finally starts.
"I had to," he interrupts but she doesn't even pause.
"When you left, I just didn't know how to...go on. The only thing that kept me going was my belief that you would come back. But it's been so long..."
"That was the plan," his voice hardens. Was it too long? He sends a venomous glance at the ring on her finger, that finger.
"And now I find out that you actually did come back but never even bothered to let me know?"
"I've only been back for a few weeks. I have to put my life in order first. I don't need..."
"What? You don't need others to complicate your new simple life? Well so be it, but we still deserved to know."
"We?" he utters, looking at her sharply.
"I mean your family and myself. Or do you want to tell me what you told them?"
He mentally sighs, unable to keep the sting of disappointment, 'we' could also be... But it's been a long time since they dreamt this particular dream, he has no idea why it crosses his mind now.
"I have to go," he mumbles. He can see her disbelieving face.
"That's it? You have nothing else to say?"
"I know you're right, Elena, and yes, you deserve to know everything. More than anyone else. I do plan to have this conversation and I'm pretty sure that's not all you want to tell me but right now, I'm busy. Someone may notice the delivery truck parked here longer than it's usual and the good neighbor might call the post office to make a complaint...I have to actually keep this job."
"This - job? But this isn't what you are."
"Trust me, this is exactly who I am right now. If you don't like it..."
"I didn't say I didn't like it! Can you please stop making assumptions and let me decide on my own?"
"Whatever you need, Elena..."
Despite his words, he's already leaving her once again standing on the porch well aware that she didn't get through to him even just a little bit.
Damon ducks under the second swing. It goes in one direction, always forward, toward the prey. All offense. No holding back. He forms his hands as if he's gripping imaginary tennis balls and launches himself at his opponent. He digs his fingers into the bicep of the swinging arm and rips at the muscle, while striking the forearm on the same side, straight in with the heel of his palm, the "paw" as it were. It is a thousand-year-old battle protocol from the great Kung Fu masters: first, attack the arm that attacks you.
Enzo times himself at six strikes per second, and if anything, at that moment, it feels even faster. A double palm heel blow to both ears, ripping downward along the cheek and collapsing onto his throat; stepping under and inside his flailing arms to shoot an elbow upward into his abdomen, taking his center; rolling into a palm heel strike to the groin; and back into a rising elbow to the underside of his chin; arcing down into another palm heel onto the bridge of his nose. There were no wind-ups, no wasted motion; each movement is designed to roll naturally into the next.
Damon's body jerks from one direction to the other, in rhythm to the opposite lines of each attack. Blood splatters from his nose and mouth. His eyes close and he makes a gurgling sound, flailing his arms impotently as he flies backward. Turning his head, he coughs up a little blood but smiles through it at Enzo. He needed this brutality today, even if it meant Enzo beating him to a pulp.
Enzo offers his hand to help him up and hands Damon a towel. "Enough?" he asks.
"Yeah, I'm good though."
"Bad day?"
"It's been a lot of bad days," Damon wipes the blood off his face and the sweat off of his brow.
"Look, I've been there, I get it. But listen, I have some kids coming in Saturday for some lessons. I could use some help if you're interested?"
"I'm not exactly your best pupil," Damon laughs, guzzling a bottle of water.
"Maybe not but I think you're just the person to help me with them."
"I don't need anyone else deciding what's good for me, Enzo, you can take your kids and..."
Enzo moves to him, and places one hand on each of Damon's shoulders, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Listen, when I tell you, I've been there, I'm not shitting you. Now will you help me or not?"
"If you have that much faith in me... Sure. What time do you want me to be here?"
"Nine."
"See ya then, I'm going to shower and go crash at home." Damon gives him a nod and walks away with the towel around his neck.
Sore after the workout Enzo gave him, Damon throws a couple of aspirin into his mouth and swallows them down with one long slog of orange juice. Taking the jug with him, he plops down on the couch and spreads his legs out, letting them rest on the coffee table. He smiles when Onyx crawls onto his lap and curls up, purring as soon as he starts to stroke her fuzzy black fur.
He can feel the tiredness inside him like a worm, slowly but deliberately draining his strength. Everything seems to move at a dragged pace, all submerged into a hazy fuzz that is his vision. Insomnia and letting Enzo pummel him makes him feel like a zombie, awake while his body begs for rest.
The world is a blur, and random images float aimlessly around in the pool of his thoughts, as though they are being blown around viciously by a hurricane. Soon the only thing he's aware of is the soft couch underneath him and the warmth of Onyx on his lap. His head drops back and he retreats into wallowing blackness, blissfully unaware of anything and everything going on around him.
"I give up! I give up!" Elena's screams are mixed with high-pitched peels of laughter. She rolls to her knees and curls into a tight ball as Damon relentlessly pursues her down the beach. Ignoring her pleas of surrender, he drops onto the white sand next to her and uses both hands to tickle her around her waistline.
"Say you surrender or I shall be forced to make you walk the plank!" Damon waggles his eyebrows playfully. As Elena collapsed on her back, half-laughing, half-crying, he captures both of her wrists and pins them above her head. He stares into her eyes, his own now filled with raw desire. "Warm sand and a beautiful woman at my mercy..."
She's wearing the cross-patchwork bikini Damon bought for her when they went shopping a few days ago. The string panties are solid black and the top is a vivid shade of fuschia. Damon stares at her hungrily, his mouth dropping open when she runs away from him towards the water. Never one to be dissuaded, he comes behind her and traces each side of her neck with one gentle finger.
She winks at him as she edges closer to the water, "Race ya."
"Be prepared to lose," Damon is off and running towards the waves and dives in, his strong arms propelling him through the waves. He's surprised when he looks over his shoulder and she's nearly beside him. They pull themselves up onto the swim platform, both breathing hard. Damon rolls onto his back and covers his eyes with his hand, splitting his fingers so he can watch her.
Elena lays beside him on her belly, pushes the wet hair out of her eyes, and then stretches to give him a quick peck on the lips. He shifts, cradles her neck with his hand, and brings her mouth to his. The only sound they hear is water lapping against the platform and the 'know' sound of the seagulls as they fly overhead.
Damon's dream ends abruptly, as he is shaken back into reality by the sharp sting of tiny claws. His eyelashes bat faintly against his lids when he blinks. "Fuck," he curses, looking down at the bulge in his pants. He knows very well how that day ended in real life.
His muscles ache and he lets out an exasperated sigh, groaning as he lifts Onyx off his lap and sits upright. What time is it? How long has he been asleep? All these questions shoot through his mind as he let out a loud yawn.
He pulls out his phone to order a pizza and walks out onto his deck. It's sunset. Damon watches with an unwavering gaze, as a fiery red orb of light slowly sinks beneath the horizon. The last threads of light linger in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the heavens first orange, then red, then finally dark blue as darkness takes over the sky.
Sequin-silver stars like the glowing embers of a dying fire wink down reminding him what his life used to look like...once upon a time.
Absolutely nothing about this day portended what was to come. As he's pushing the doorbell wearing a totally unnatural smile he has no idea how suddenly his life will grow more complicated.
"Good afternoon, ma'am," he greets but the smile dies the moment Mrs. Zhu opens the door and behind her, his sister's head appears.
She looks... just about the same as she always does. Pissed off.
"Hello Katherine," he says calmly, which positively gets her seething. He can't resist.
"Don't Katherine me, Damon? I can't believe you're... here... like... this...!" she gestures her arms wildly. "I don't believe you!"
Typical Katherine. She doesn't even pause to breathe and he's already getting lectured. He loves his sister but he's not the same scrawny brat that she used to kick around.
"Like what?" he challenges.
"I mean, a mailman, Damon? Really? You're a lawyer for god's sake!"
He winces at the reminder. He also feels embarrassed and it's all very inappropriate in front of Mrs. Zhu, whether she's a friend of Katherine or not.
"I'm working, Kat. My apologies Mrs. Zhu, here's your letter. Have a good day."
He wants to run down the stairs and flee but of course, Kat's right behind him...
"You can't just leave and not tell me anything...," she urges after she blocks his way to the car. "What about mom and dad?"
He doesn't like the way she tries to make him feel guilty. He has enough guilt to carry without her adding to it. "I'll call them when I'm ready. Soon," he adds when he sees Katherine's mouth opening again.
She shuts up but as he expected, it's far from being final words. She follows him to the car. "Did you talk to her?" She just can't resist the disdainful tone.
"You could say that."
He can see his sister's searching for a reason to keep him there longer but he won't, he can't allow it.
"Kat, I'll be in touch."
"Did you know she and my brother-in-law Kol...," she calls after him but he shuts the door before she can finish.
He doesn't want or need to hear that.
Quickly he starts the vehicle and leaves Katherine standing at the side of the road.
Bored after a busy week and taking refuge in his apartment, Damon puts a reluctant Onyx in her carrier for a ride. Sliding behind the wheel, he lights a cigarette and drives The last vestiges of the setting sun disappear over the horizon, the copper hues giving way to a dusty purple scattered with the occasional glitter of a faraway star. The distant skyline stands silhouetted against a velvety sky, the golden dusk is enveloped by the twilight sky.
Whether subconsciously or not, Damon finds himself in the neighborhood he walks every day. When he reaches her block, he slows down and parks at the side of the road. After switching off the ignition, he opens his window to blow the smoke out.
Her porch light comes on suddenly and he ducks in his seat to avoid detection when she steps outside and not alone. He watches intently as she sits down when the man holds open the door for her. Even from where he's parked, Damon can hear the unmistakable sound of her laughter till it's silenced by the slamming of the car door.
Nausea swirls unrestrained in his empty stomach. Damon's head swims with half-formed regrets and melancholy that hangs over him like a black cloud. Dropping his forehead against the steering wheel, he feels like his heart is being pierced from every possible angle, it burns, throbs, and tortures all at the same time.
Squeezing the steering wheel so hard his nails pierce the leather, there's one overriding emotion. It's already burning like wildfire, consuming everything in its path.
Quickly, he turns on the ignition, makes a U-turn, and drives toward the highway, only one thought on his mind.
Thank you all to the moon and back!
Chapter title: Lost Within by Fivefold.
Take care and have a fabulous day.