A True Lifestory: Part 2 A Demon’s Obsession

Chapter 34 Under The Surface

[..]

“Jaze, can I ask you a favor?” Armaros asked as he walked over to him.

“Sure, what is it?” He asked, as he was on his way to his car.

“I have to talk to Stella’s father about something important, so I can’t drive Stella to school, but I will be there as soon as I’m done.” He explained, as Jaze nodded.

“So, you’re asking me if I can do it?” He asked, and Armaros nodded.

“Okay, I can do that.”

“Just make sure not to leave her alone. I don’t wanna risk anything happening while I'm gone. I’m not trying to sound paranoid, but I know what Damon is capable of,” Armaros stated.

“Sure, I promise to keep an eye on her.”

“Great! I’ll see you soon then.” Armaros added, before heading to Chase’s office.

Rumors about witches who were getting attacked and kidnapped were swirling around, and the methods were awfully close to the ways his father had always been recruiting witches.

That’s why he was sure it was him, and he had to be up to something big, and also the reason that it was so important to talk to Chase about it.

But it wasn’t without an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Leaving the responsibility for Stella’s safety to Jaze was not an easy task for him.

He was trying really hard to trust the people close to Stella because he knew how much she trusted them. But It had never been one of his strong suits, not even when it came to his own men.

He was taught only to rely fully on himself – he had seen the act of betrayal over and over again.

Not even the tribe, which was meant to be a safe space for all species, was free of that kind of misconduct behavior.

That was also one of the reasons why it still nagged him that Chase hadn’t even properly punished those bastards who hurt Stella. Actually, he was infuriated by it because he would not himself have taken it so lightly.

They deserved nothing more than to put down for what they had done to her.

But Chase didn’t take his criticism very well.

“I said, GET OUT!” Chase yelled at him. Armaros knew they had different perspectives on how things like this should be handled, but he had at least hoped he would have been open to the idea.

Of course, he knew he had brought up a sensitive subject when he decided to drag Stella’s mother into it, but he needed Chase to see it from his standpoint.

Armaros was not going to play Damon’s stupid games forever, like Chase had for almost 20 years.

One way or another, he would make sure this would come to an end – with or without Chase’s help.

Armaros then headed to his car before driving directly towards the school ground.

But as he pulled into the parking lot, he saw Jaze digging through some things in his car, as he was clearly looking for something.

“Jaze? Did you already follow Stella to class?” Armaros asked as Jaze looked up.

“Oh, hey Armaros, well almost, she forgot one of her books, so I had to get it for her, but I can’t seem to find it,” Jaze replied as he scratched his hair, confused.

“Did you just let her go alone! Did you already forget what I said?” Armaros hissed, as Jaze was a bit surprised by Armaros' reaction.

“She only needed to go through the hall, what’s the problem?” He asked with a shrug, but the way he seemed to be completely oblivious to the certain situation, didn’t set well with Armaros.

“The problem is that there are people out there waiting for every single opportunity to get to her, and I don’t trust anyone. I told you not to leave her alone!” Armaros scolded, as he ran into the school.

“Armaros, wait!” Jaze called out, as he followed him close by. It didn’t take long before he spotted her things on the floor.

Even though the things were gathered nicely, Armaros was sure she wouldn’t just leave it there, for no reason.

“Jaze, you are going to help find her! You have the right nose for this, don’t you?” Armaros demanded, as Jaze nodded.

“I can try,” he replied, as he immediately tried to pick up her scent.

“I think I got something. She was definitely not here alone, but I did not recognize the scent,” he added.

“Show the way.” Armaros then said, as he followed Jaze to the floor below.

“I can smell she has been here for sure, but something is covering the smell, I can’t search on that alone.” Jaze explained as they started to search the whole floor.

Armaros started to become more and more anxious for every minute that passed by without finding her.

“Stella, where the hell are you!” Armaros yelled, as he frantically opened every door he came by.

Jaze was calling out too, while he proceeded to open the doors on the opposite side. But as they passed the corner at the end of the long hall, he saw Stella sitting on the floor.

He was relieved to see her, but he became worried as soon as he saw how she was shaking and sweating. He tried talking to her, but she didn’t answer him, even though she was conscious.

All he wanted was for her to say something, so he knew how to help her, but when she started to cry, he realized that he just needed to be there for her. He picked her up from the floor, as he tried to calm her down.

“I’m gonna take her home now, and see if I can figure out what happened. I want you to go alarm the guards and the principal to see if they are able to locate whoever is behind this,” Armaros stated emotionless , as he tried not to show how angry he actually was.

“Okay, but Armaros, I am sorry, I didn’t think anything would happen,” Jaze started to apologize, but Armaros was not in the mood to listen to whatever he had to say.

“Just go, I’m not interested in excuses, I just want this bastard found!” He growled before turning away from him, as he headed directly back to his car.

When they finally reached the house, Stella had fallen asleep, she was completely drained of energy, and he knew he had to wait until she would wake up, to find out what had happened.

[..]

“Mr. Mortem, the witch has returned!” One of Damon’s men stated, as he walked into the room. Though Damon was in the middle of a phone call, he didn’t seem to mind, as he proceeded to put the phone down.

“Then please send him in. I have been waiting in anticipation for any news from him,” he replied. He walked around his desk, as he proceeded to lean against it. Shortly after, Ezra walked into the room, as he gave a formal bow.

“Mr. Mortem,” he greeted him with a straight face.

“Arh, Ezra, you’re back, so how did it go? Did you get the information I needed?” Damon asked.

“Yes, they were right, the stones definitely worked,” Ezra replied, as he folded his hands on his back.

“Splendid! I must say I was a little doubtful about it, but I see you did an outstanding job,” Damon spoke.

“So, can I see her now?” Ezra asked, leaving no doubt why he was there in the first place. Damon lit a cigarette and waited a minute before he answered.

“Well, that was the deal, right? Dev, will you please take my friend Ezra here to room 14?” Damon called out to the man standing next to the door.

“Yes, Sir!” Dev answered as he opened the door for Ezra. He walked towards the door, but just before he walked out, he turned back around.

“Can I ask you one thing?” Ezra spoke, as Damon looked at him with a skeptical glance.

“About what?” Damon asked.

“About that hybrid, what is it you want with her?” He asked.

“That is none of your concern, I will tell you what I need you to know, nothing more,” Damon stated coldly.

“It’s just because I saw her with Armaros and..” he started, but then Damon interrupted him.

“Enough! Why don’t you get out of here before I change my mind about our deal!” Damon warned him, which made Ezra flinch.

“Of course, I’m sorry Sir,” he apologized before he turned around and walked out.

He silently followed Dev down to the rehabilitation center, or that was what they called it.

For those who had sworn loyalty to Damon Mortem, but chose to break their vow for some reason.

There were no boundaries to how far they would take their cruelty to make them take it back, or they would end up dead, and Ezra couldn’t let that happen.

“You have 30 minutes with her, so better use them wisely.” Dev grinned, before he closed the door behind him and locked it.

On the floor there was a girl chained to the wall. She had some bruises on her arms, a black eye and a split lip, but they were not new.

At least Damon had kept his promise not to hurt her while he was gone. When she looked at Ezra, she seemed a bit surprised, but glad as well.

“Ezra?” She blurred out, as he gave her a sad smile.

“Yeah it’s me, how are you Daliah?” He asked as he walked over to her and hugged her.

“I’m fine, but please don’t tell me you helped him, Ezra,” Daliah asked as her face took a pained expression.

“I had no choice, I couldn’t let them hurt you, not again. It’s my fault you ended up here in the first place.” Ezra cried, as she hugged him even tighter.

“It’s okay, but you are my little brother, I’m supposed to look out for you, not the other way around,” Daliah replied.

“I know, I just really wanna go home, Daliah, it’s been two years since we saw mom and dad, and I don’t know how to ever make up for all the bad stuff I’ve done.. That hybrid Damon wanted me to find, she is around my age I think, and though she is with that son of a bítch, Armaros, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She doesn’t deserve whatever Damon has in store for her,” Ezra spoke, as he dried the tears from his eyes.

“With? Do you mean like they are a couple?” Daliah asked, shocked, as Ezra nodded.

“I have been watching them for almost a week, waiting for an opening. He was always following her around, and he almost seemed like a person whenever I saw him with her. Believe it or not, he was actually smiling,” Ezra revealed.

“Wow, she must have changed something in him.” Daliah spoke.

“She said the same thing, but how? That Demon never seemed to even have a single good bone in his body, let alone a heart.” Ezra snarled.

“Love makes us do crazy stuff, you know, like, for instance, doing things for someone we would never have imagined we would do,” Daliah explained, as Ezra looked at the ground.

“Maybe, you’re right, I just don’t see how it’s possible,” Ezra mumbled, as memories started to resurface.

[Flashback - two years ago]

“Ezra, come back! You know, mom and dad, don’t want us to go outside the border!” Daliah yelled, as she ran behind him.

”No one asked you to come, I can take care of myself, thank you!” Ezra snapped.

“You are my responsibility, so I have to make sure you don’t do anything stupid, you i***t!” She argued.

“I’m not some child anymore, Daliah , so stop acting like you’re mom!” Ezra yelled at her.

“Perhaps I will, when you stop acting like a child! You’re 16, Ezra, you should understand how dangerous this is,” she argued once again.

“Just go home, and leave me alone!” Ezra stated, as he was turning away from her. He had crossed his arms, but this time Daliah didn’t say anything, so he thought she might have decided to leave him alone after all. But when he turned around, he realized that it was not the case. Instead, they had been surrounded by a whole group of men in suits. They had pulled out their guns, and one of them was holding a gun against his sister.

“You should probably have listened to your sister, kid.” One of them stated.

Even though Ezra had never seen one with his own eyes, there was no doubt in his mind that they were demons.

“So, what do we have here?” Damon asked, as Ezra and Dalya had been cuffed and were pushed to the floor on their knees.

“Two witches from one of the nearby covens, Mr. Mortem.” One of the demons answered.

“I’m a wizard, not a witch!” Ezra snapped.

“Shut up, don’t make this worse than it already is.” Daliah hissed lowly as she turned to Damon.

“I’m sorry, I must apologize on my brother’s behalf. He is very young and still has much to learn. I’m truly sorry if we were trespassing in any way. I promise it won’t happen again.” Daliah spoke.

“No need to apologize my dear, I’m actually happy you’re here, you see, I am in need of some help that only a witch can help me with,” Damon explained, as Daliah knitted her eyebrows.

“Uhm, I’m certain that if I explain it to our coven, that they would be happy to help?” She tried.

“Aren’t you just sweet? I think I like you, you have manners, something a lot of your fellow witches are lacking,” Damon replied.

“But I think I would prefer that you help me, and maybe you are able to talk some sense into the rest of the witches here?” He suggested.

“Are you letting us go home, if I help you?” Dalya asked him, as he walked over to her.

“When I’m in no use for your assistance anymore, then of course I will let you leave.” Damon answered, as Dalya looked at her brother and then back at Damon.

“Okay, then I’ll help you,” she replied, as a smile spread on his lips.

“Great! Danjal, Procell, mark her.” Damon ordered. Her eyes widened, as one of the demons suddenly pushed her flat to the ground.

“Wait, what are you doing, she said she would help you!” Ezra blurred out, as he watched in horror, as one of them took out a branding iron as he placed it in the fireplace.

“I know, and I’m super grateful for that, but you see, I kinda need others to know who there belongs to me, so we won’t risk any confusion,” Damon explained, as the one with the branding iron walked towards Dalya, who started to cry.

“Just calm down, it will only hurt for a moment or two.” Damon spoke, as he then gave a silent order to the one holding the branding iron, as he proceeded to press the hot iron against her shoulder blade, as she let out a scream.

“Stop hurting my sister, you monster!” Ezra yelled, as he fought to get free.

“Armaros, please remove him now.” Damon stated, as the one who had been standing next to Damon most of the time without saying anything suddenly gave a small nod. He then walked up to Ezra and grabbed hold of him and pulled him off the floor.

“Let me go!” Ezra yelled as he was still trying to get free.

“Shut up, and move!” Armaros ordered, as he grabbed hold on his cuffs, before forcing him to his feet, as he then led him out of there. With no way of being able to help his sister.

[End of flashback]