A True Lifestory: Part 2 A Demon’s Obsession

Chapter 20 Trust

[..]

But Carl just turned his attention towards Chase, ignoring Armaros' outburst.

“Who do you trust? The one who kidnapped your daughter or me. I have known Stella her whole life.. When have I ever lied to you?” Carl defended, as he continued to stare at Chase.

Chase then walked over to Armaros without a word, and lifted Stella up and removed her from Armaros' hold, as he had been sitting with her close to him.

Chase kept observing Armaros, as he slowly walked backwards with her, but Armaros didn’t do anything, he just let him do it with no objection whatsoever. When Chase believed he finally was far enough from Armaros, he turned to look at him one last time before he spoke.

“Demons can’t be trusted, take him away from here and place him in the cell, ‘til I find an appropriate punishment for him!” Drake and Peter nodded, before they both grabbed hold of Armaros, as they cuffed him and pulled him towards the car.

“Chase, come on! Shouldn’t you at least consider he is telling the truth?” Vlad argued, as he sent him a hard stare.

“Where did that get me the last time, Vlad? I’m not trusting him unless any proof is presented to me! I can’t take that risk,” Chase snapped.

Vlad looked at Chase, then at Armaros and back again.

“Do as you wish, but I believe you are making a mistake!” Vlad stated, before he walked away, shaking his head in disbelief.

They all then headed back to the tribe.

Cathrine was standing on the porch as they returned, and she watched in horror, as Chase was carrying their unconscious daughter in his arms, as she was still covered in wounds from top to toe.

“What happened?” Cathrine blurred out in shock as she ran over there, while Chase shook his head.

“Carl told me that they were attacked by demons after they had left their territory. Do you think you can heal her, Cathy?” Chase asked, as his eyes were glassy at the sight of their daughter’s condition.

“Take her to her room, we will have to try now.” Cathrine stated, as they headed in to the house and placed her on the bed.

Then Cathrine started to use her healing abilities, and it didn’t take long before all the wounds started to fade away from her body.

She looked as if she had never had a single wound on her body, but she still didn’t regain consciousness.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t she waking up?” Chase asked as his eyes went back and forth between Cathrine and Stella.

“I don’t know, there isn’t anything physically wrong with her, but it’s like she is locked in her mind or something..” She replied, as she placed her hand on her forehead.

“She passed out just after she had jumped through a portal in her wolf-form. Do you think it can have something to do with that?” Chase asked, as he kept a firm hold on Stella’s hand.

“I can’t say for sure, but to both shift and jump through portals in the state she was in, while she probably has been exposed to severe stress and fear, is exhausting, so I think it might be her body’s way of giving her the rest she needs.” Cathrine replied, while she felt how Chase’s worry slowly turned in to anger, as a low growl left his mouth.

“I’m going to kill him for this, it’s all his fault!” Chase snapped as he walked out of the room.

Cathrine knew he needed to get some air when he was like this, so she let him go. But as she was sitting alone with their daughter, she surely felt the tears build up, before they ran down her cheeks.

----

After some time, Vlad had come by and told her about what had happened, so while he stood by Stella’s side, Cathrine decided to head towards the dungeon.

She needed to talk to this man, who everyone had an opinion about and was the one who had kept their daughter imprisoned.

She didn’t know what to expect, but as she, for a moment, observed the man in front of her in the cell.

Her heartbeat started to rise a bit, as she saw the resemblance between this man in front of her and Damon Mortem, who was partly to blame for making her life a living hell all those years ago.

_ _

“So.. You are Damon’s son, aren’t you?” Cathrine asked as she stepped closer to the cell.

Armaros turned to look at her, from where he was seated, and he immediately knew who she was.

“Yeah, I guess.. And you must be Stella’s mother.. She looks a lot like you.” He stated, as he got up from his seat and walked closer to her.

“By the way, how is she doing?” He asked, as Cathrine could see the worry in his eyes, but she needed to be sure if he really was being honest.

Vlad had explained to her what had happened, and if there was something she hated, it was seeing people being judged unfairly.

“She still hasn’t woken up yet, but I need to know for myself.. Did you give the order to send someone after my daughter and those who were bringing her home?” She asked, as his face turned hard.

“I can’t tell you who did it, but I swear, I would never hurt her that way or ask anyone to do so!” Armaros spoke as he was staring seriously into Cathrine’s eyes.

She couldn’t explain why, but she knew that he was telling the truth.

“I believe you.” She stated as he looked at her surprised.

“I will try and find out who did it, but until then, you have to be patient,” Cathrine stated, as he gave a nod.

“I’m not completely sure why you wanna help me, ‘cause I sure as hell don’t deserve it.. But thank you,” He spoke.

“I have always believed in second chances, and I have a feeling that if anyone deserves that.. It would be you,” She spoke, before she headed toward the door.

“One more thing!.. I’m sorry for what Damon did to you..” He spoke, as Cathrine looked at him puzzled.

“If it is to any consolation at all, he still got that nasty scar you gave him all those years ago has.” He added, before he sat back down.

“I’ll see you later, Armaros.” She spoke before she walked out and headed back to her daughter’s room, to check up on her.

Cathrine stared at her unconscious daughter, lying on the bed.

“What happened to you, sweetie?” Cathrine muttered to herself as she gently struck Stella’s cheek, but as she did, she was hit by several memories.

[Memory-flashback - Stella’s POV]

“Stella! Wake up!” I suddenly heard a familiar voice, as I felt a sharp pain strike though my forehead, making me groan.

“I think she is waking up now.” Another voice stated, as I began to open my eyes. When I finally was able to focus, my father’s close friend Carl was squatting down in front of me, as a smile came across his lips. I had known him since I was a kid, and then he was also Nathan’s father.

“Carl? What happened?” I asked, as the last thing I remembered was that I had been sitting inside the car, and then everything was one big blur.

“Arh, you probably have a little headache, it’s completely normal.” Carl chuckled, as I tried to pull my hands to my hurting head, but then I realized my hands were bound to my back.

As I looked around, I didn’t have any idea where I was, but I could see we were in something reminding me of a small cabin.

“What’s going on here? Weren’t you supposed to take me home? Why are we here?” I asked as I tried to get free.

“Well.. We have to make sure we are free from those demons, and the only way to know for sure, is to ask you; why didn't you wanna leave? And why did you defend that bastard?” He growled at me.

I was a bit stunned by him reacting like this, as I never once in my life had seen Nathan’s father mad before, but I knew no one in the tribe really liked demons, so maybe I shouldn’t be.

“Because Armaros is my mate and I love him.” I admitted, as I wasn’t embarrassed to do so.

“.. And it wasn’t like I didn’t wanna leave, I just didn’t want Vlad to hurt him.” I added.

“You love him? HAH! You were nothing more than a pet to him - a simple toy, for him to have fun with whenever he felt like it, Stella - Don’t you get that? He kept you alone for selfish reasons, you are and never will be anything more than that in his eyes!” He growled, as I pressed my eyes closed, as he came all the way up in my face.

“No! I’m not believing anything you’re saying, it’s all just vicious lies coming from your mouth! He loves me and I know it!” I spat, as he forcefully grabbed my face.

“Then you are more stupid than I thought - he kept you as a prisoner, kept you away from your family, manipulated you to believe he loved you - and you’re still defending him!” He taunted.

“But what should I expect? You aren’t even a real werewolf!” He spat at me in disgust.

“And you are a fücking traitor! My parents trusted you and you do this!” I yelled at him.

“I can see you have extended your vocabulary to something less graceful. That is probably one of the downsides of spending so much time with those demons - don’t you think so, boys?” He spoke as they just nodded, as he turned back to me. “Let me ask you - what do you think your father would say, if he found out his sweet, innocent daughter isn’t that innocent anymore? - did you like all the things he did to you?” He continued as he picked up a rope. He began walking around me, as he twisted it around his hand, while he proceeded to send a lash over my leg, making me scream in pain.

“You probably enjoyed every touch from him, right?” Leaving another lash on my thigh, making me scream once again.

“Why are you doing this? I cried out loud as he lashed me one more time.”

“Because you are a threat to the tribe, acting like the enemy’s personal slut, while my son and everyone else were risking their lives, and for what? Tell me! How does it feel to be a personal bedwarmer to the one threatening to kill everyone you care about?” He snapped, grabbing my face harshly, as I proceeded to spit him right in the face.

“Fück you!” I hissed, as I glared at him. I could clearly see how the fury colored his face, as his eyes grew dark and all hint of sanity was washed away from his expression.

----

As an hour had passed by, he had finally grown tired and was having a break. I was covered with several cuts and brushes after Carl’s outburst, and I could feel my whole body ache in pain.

Then another guy named Hunter suddenly walked over to me.

Hunter was just four years older than me and had been like an older brother to Nathan all their lives, so I knew him well from the tribe, as we all used to play together as kids.

“Do you want something to drink?” He asked, as he held a bottle of water out for me. I watched him carefully, but nodded my head, as he proceeded to place the bottle on my lips, so I was able to take a sip.

“Good, wasn’t that better?” Hunter asked with a smile, as he removed some hair from my cheek.

“Please, Hunter! You have to see.. This isn’t right!” I pleaded in a low voice.

Hoping I could find just a small ounce of humanity left in there. We had all been friends for years, so he couldn’t be that coldhearted, right?

“You’re right, it’s not.. So, I’m going to help you.” He spoke, leaving a small hope for me. That I might, would be able to escape the hell I was in - alive.

“I just need a little thing in return..” He added, as his hand gently moved over my cheek, and down my neck, making me tense._

“What are you doing?” I asked hesitantly as I observed him, while his eyes wandered down at me, which left me with an unsettling feeling in my stomach.

“Well, I just thought since you enjoy being a whorè, the least you could do was to share a little sugar with the rest of us, hmm?” Hunter spoke, as he moved his hand over my knee.

“Don’t you dare touch me, or I’ll bite your hand off!” I warned him, as he just grinned.

“And how would you do that? Nathan already told me, that you don’t even know how to shift.” He stated mockingly, as he started to move his hand up my inner thigh.

“I said, don’t touch me!” I screamed, and somehow I was able to get myself free, which surprised Hunter, so he stumbled back in shock.

“What’s going on?” Carl asked as he and Kyle rose from their seats.

“Blue! Why are her eyes blue?” Hunter asked, as they all looked stunned at me.

“Why the hell are you two just standing there? Go, grab her!” Carl yelled as Hunter and Kyle walked towards me, and tried to grab a hold on me, but I fought them and scratched them before I beat them to the ground.

It was like I was connected to my wolf without ever, changing into it. I had no idea how it worked, I just knew I needed to find a way out of that place, before the connection would break.

Carl was blocking the way out, but I decided to try to push through him, making him fall to the floor. He didn’t move, so I believed he might have passed out from the impact, but as I stepped over him, Carl grabbed a hold on my leg, so I fell to the ground, and hit my head on the floor, making me slightly disorientated for a moment.

“You aren’t going anywhere!” He yelled at me, as he pulled me closer to him.

“Let go of me!” I yelled back at him, as I managed to use my other foot to kick him in the face several times until I hit him in the eye, which finally made him let go as he yelled from the pain.

Then I quickly got myself together and stumbled out of the door as I frantically searched my surroundings, trying to find some kind of help or a way to escape this nightmare, but I realized that I had no idea where I was.

It seemed to be out in nowhere - miles from everything. I then glanced over my shoulder, as I realized they were already running behind me again.

“Stella, come back here, now!” Carl yelled.

I felt the panic strike me, while hot tears ran down my cheeks, as I pressed myself to the furthest I could. _I was sure they were going to kill me if they managed to catch me.

But suddenly, I heard a voice in my head whisper: “Let go.” So, that was what I did.

The last thing I thought about before I shifted was Armaros..

[End of Flashback]

[..]

Cathrine immediately pulled her hand away in shock, as she tried to process what she had just seen. Then she stormed out of the room.