Damien - The Beginning

Chapter 8 - The Vow

Trigger Warning : The contents of this chapter may be triggering to some readers. 

Hayes slowly opened his eyes, blinking at the ceiling a few times. Even though his eyes were open, he couldn't see anything, and he realized that he was back in his cell. His eyes widened and he sat up, unsure of whether they had made him into a Rogue as yet or not. Had he been unconscious through the ceremony, or did they just throw him back into the dungeon and wait for him to wake up?

Taking a deep breath while his heart hammered in his chest, Hayes willed his eyes to glow. He felt them morph into a different color, and his heart fell instantly. Something felt foreign. He placed his hands before eyes, to see the color of the glow, and the faint light it provided was no longer blue. It was a deep, bright red.

Hayes gulped, as a tear escaped his eyes, before which he let out a loud howl. He began shaking with loud sobs, and tears rolled down his cheeks freely. He felt empty, numb. As if suddenly, he had been stripped of his honour, his name, his family. His claws surfaced and he stared at them with his glassy eyes.

Everything that had happened to him began replaying in his mind.

First, the way Rose accepted him, and how happy he was. Then his father's arrival. The way Rose crushed his heart into a million pieces. The way his mother was left naked in front of four pack members, the way he was too weak to save her. He reminisced how they hurt her, tortured her, and turned her into a Rogue, making the one he loved the most bleed right in front of his eyes.

And finally he thought about what was going to happen next - the execution.

His father, even though he never loved him, would be humiliated and executed, while his pack members, the ones who were supposed to love him and be his strength, will stand there cheering. Happy.

He imagined the look on his mother's face, as she would stare at her mate being murdered in cold blood, and the heart break she would go through.

He wasn't sure he would be able to take it, seeing his own mother fall apart. The person who had always been his rock. And thus, he stared at his claws, contemplating whether to rip his own heart out, and end the pain. He gulped again before taking his T-shirt off and placing it down on the ground. Hayes closed his eyes shut, and tilted his head back, trying to calm his quick breaths. Very carefully, he placed his claws onto his chest, almost being able to hear his heart hammering inside. His mother's face flashed in his mind once again, before he took his hand away from his chest, and brought it back with full force.

A scream escaped his lips, as his claws pierced his skin, but his fingers didn't enter deep enough. Blood dripped down his body, and he removed his hand, taking deep breaths. He sniffed, making up his mind. He tried once again, this time with greater force, and growled in sheer pain. However still, his hand did not enter his chest deep enough. He withdrew it again, completely collapsing onto the ground from the pain, as the metallic taste of blood spread into his mouth. He realized he was not able to kill himself due to the lack of energy left in his arms and his body.

Digging your hand into your own chest and ripping the heart out required a lot of force, a lot of strength. Strength that he had been stripped of when he was left to starve for three days, when he was injected with wolfsbane, when he was turned into a Rogue. He spit the blood out onto the floor, coughing, as he felt his wounds heal extremely slowly due to his condition. His eyelids felt heavy, and the glow abated, as he allowed the darkness to swallow him whole.

- - - -

Something cold splashed across his face, and Hayes's eyes shot open. He shivered on the cold, wet floor, as water dripped from his hair.

"Get up," Sadler ordered him, dragging him up to his feet.

"Where are you taking me?" Hayes asked, bewildered, his mind absolutely blank.

"The Alpha ordered for you to be beside your mother during the execution," Sadler replied, tying heavy weights to his ankles so he would not be able to move too quickly. He then caught him by his arm, and dragged him out of the cell.

"I don't wanna see it happen," Hayes shook his head. "I don't. I don't wanna see it happen, please. Let me go," Hayes begged, trying to free his arm from Sadler's grip, but he was too strong.

"Just co-operate," Sadler rolled his eyes, as he pulled him up the stairs. They entered the ceremonial hall, and Hayes froze. His mother was in chains, kneeling in the middle of the hall. A little distance from her was his father, his body covered in cuts and open wounds. He wasn't even chained, and yet he was so weak that he knelt there quietly, not even trying to fight, in his pure human form.

All ideas of struggle and escaping immediately left him as soon as his mother looked up at him, eyes full of tears, a red nose, disheveled hair. He voluntarily walked up to her, and knelt before her, blocking her view of his father.

"Hayes," Selene broke into sobs, and Hayes cupped her cheeks, wiping away her tears.

"Hayes," a small voice said from behind him, and he stiffened.

"Listen, please," Walter said softly.

Hayes looked at his mother, and she nodded, closing her eyes shut, a signal for him to go talk to his father. He stood up and walked up to him, not caring about the pack members, nor the Alpha and Luna who were watching the three of them.

Hayes knelt down before Walter, and looked him in the eye, his expressions blank like a stone.

"My Son," Walter said softly, giving him a fatherly smile for the first ever time. Hayes's eye twitched, unsure of why his father was smiling in that situation. "I'm sorry for everything I have put you, and your mother through. I know I have been a really bad father to you," he whispered, cupping Hayes's cheek. Hayes frowned at the warmth he received from Walter's touch. The exact warmth and comfort that he had always yearned for, but never actually got.

"But I swear in the name of my pride, all I ever wanted was the best for you. I cursed you, I yelled at you, hurt you, but in you I see the man that I could never become, my son. A person with a kind heart. And I'm proud of who you are. Truly. I love you, my son. Please, don't remember me in hatred after I'm gone. In these... Past few days, I realized how alone I truly am in this world, and you and your mother are the only ones who truly loved me. So I'm sorry for everything."

Tears rolled down Hayes's cheeks, as his father finally said the words he always wanted to hear him say. But he was too late now, and Hayes sniffed, his jaw clenched. He moved away from his father, staring at him with only hurt and rage in his eyes.

"You locked me in a dark room when I was four, whipped me when I was eight, abused me and my mother my whole life, and then expect me to forgive you when you're about to die. So father, just the way you looked me in the eye when I was too weak to fight back, I'm going to look you in the eye right now, and tell you, you were dead to me the moment you laid a hand on my mother for the first time."

Walter closed his eyes shut, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks, while Hayes stood up and walked back to his mother, his throat burning from holding his sobs back. He sat down in front of her, while she cried, shaking her head at him.

"Begin the execution," the Alpha's voice echoed through the room, and although this time Hayes wished for the drums to sound and provide him some distraction, there was only silence. Deafening silence that would soon be destroyed by grunts of pain, screams of agony and sobs of devastation.

Hayes could hear men march towards his father, and he saw his mother began to shake with sobs, sobs that got louder with every step they took towards him. Hayes moved forward and wrapped his arms around her, tightly pulling her to his chest, as tears now rolled down his cheeks as well. He closed his eyes, trying to tune out the sounds, and focus on the woman in his arms, as he was certain that that was the last time he was holding her like that. Selene shivered with cries, and fear, and Hayes tightened his arms around her, caressing the back of her head in a futile attempt to comfort her.

"Hayes," Selene sobbed loudly. "I don't want him to die, and I wanna live too. I wanted to see you happy with your mate, I wanted to-" her voice cracked and she broke into sobs before she could finish her sentence.

"Shh," Hayes whispered, hot tears spilling uncontrollably from his eyes. "I love you. I love you Maa, I love you so much," he said with a trembling voice, before he heard the sounds of a hand being stabbed into a person's chest. A loud howl escaped Walter's mouth, and Hayes covered his mother's ears, trying to save her from as much pain as possible. Her sobs got louder and she shook more violently in his arms, while Hayes felt suffocated, as if the entire world was crashing down upon him, taking away his ability to breathe.

He felt his mother's hands grip tightly onto his arm, as she dug her face into his chest as hard as she could.

And then, they heard the sound of a limp body dropping to the floor.

Selene became quiet, and stopped shaking, suddenly as if the air was knocked out of her. Hayes frowned, and pulled away from her, to see her frozen, her eyes wide. However, she was still breathing, and her pulse was still intact.

"Mama? Maa?" Hayes asked, cupping her cheeks as tears rolled down both their eyes. Selene gulped, and slowly pushed Hayes to the side, trying to look at Walter.

"Mom, no, don't see it," Hayes shook his head, blocking her view.

"I didn't deserve this, Hayes," she whispered, before closing her eyes and collapsing into Hayes's arms, completely numb.

"Mom? Mama?" Hayes asked with wide eyes, shaking her, cupping her cheek. But the warmth was gone. She was pale, and cold. "Maa?" Hayes begged, breaking into a sob, as her smiling face flashed before his eyes. In that single moment, he could recall every beautiful memory he had with her, her beautiful voice reading out stories to him, her soft hands caressing his hair to put him to sleep, her soft, cheerful laugh, and her comforting hugs.

And all of it, had been taken away from him in one single moment.

He let out a loud howl, pulling her to his chest, before breaking into loud,  uncontrollable sobs. He wept for a few moments, before quieting down.

His eyes now began to glow a bright red in silent rage, and he slowly stood up from the ground, the limp, dead, body of his mother in his arms. With slow, painful steps, he walked towards the Alpha, who was staring back at him with a look of sympathy.

Hayes bent down and placed his mother near the Alpha's feet, who instantly moved them away from her, eyes wide in shock. Hayes chuckled at his reaction, before looking back up at him, staring him dead in the eyes with a small, sinister smirk on his face.

"Alpha Craig," Hayes whispered softly,  his eyes glowing dangerously. "Kill me now. Because I swear on the dead body of my mother, if I make it out of here alive, I will come back and kill you. You, and everything you have ever held close."

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