Altercation - Episode 4 (Lost Souls) Read online

  “There’s no one else here.”

  Ben shook his head. “Rose was no threat to Daniel. She was a Freshie. Daniel could have easily taken her. If he did. It had to have been Sam and Christian he fought here.”

  Damien looked down at the gun. “Daniel came ready this time. It was a trap for you. Someone tipped him off you would be here.” Damien looked up at Ben. “Who did you tell you were coming here?”

  The thought hadn’t occurred to him that it could have been a trap. But now that Damien voiced it, it made sense. Ben considered his question. Who did he talk to? “I didn’t…” And then, someone came to his mind. There had been only one person he had spoken with before coming here. Only one person knew. “Lucas. But it couldn’t be –”

  Damien vanished.

  ~ ~ ~

  Damien fazed to Lucas’s apartment.

  Lucas lounged on the couch, watching the small television. He leapt from the couch when Damien appeared.

  Damien slammed into him, grabbing his shirt, shoving him back against the wall. His anger burned through his veins. This bastard had betrayed Sam. “You son of a bitch,” he growled.

  “Damien!” Ben hollered, materializing just behind Damien.

  “You set them up. You told Daniel where they’d be. When they’d be there.”

  Lucas grimaced, trying to wrestle himself free.

  Damien shoved Lucas back against the wall again.

  “He’s our friend!” Ben shouted. “Lucas wouldn’t have done that!”

  Damien didn’t take his gaze from Lucas’s face. His fingers curled in Lucas’s shirt. “Oh yes he would,” he snarled through clenched teeth. “Daniel knew you were friends with Lucas. You don’t think that one threat to his human and Lucas would give Daniel whatever he wanted? Even his friends?”

  Ben was silent. He looked at Lucas.

  “Tell him,” Damien commanded.

  Lucas ripped himself away from Damien. He straightened his shirt with a savage tug as a last act of defiance. “Yes! Okay? Yes. Daniel came here long before you did.”

  Ben’s disbelieving gaze turned to condemnation.

  Lucas ran his hand through his shaggy hair. “He said you had gone rogue. He said the three of you needed to be… tamed or something.” Lucas’s chin dropped to his chest. “I didn’t want to do it, Ben. We’ve been friends for a long time. I told him no. But he…said he remembered Esme. He said he knew about the box and the special connection we had. He said he would like to have his men take a look at her and figure out why she was so special.” Lucas shook his head. “I couldn’t allow that.”

  “So he set you up,” Damien spat through clenched teeth.

  “I had no choice!”

  “You always have choices.”

  “Daniel wanted to know where you would be. When you would be there.”

  “What about Sam?” Ben asked quietly.

  Lucas shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ben.”

  Damien punched him in the face, hard, sending Lucas to the floor. Rage flared inside him, pulsing through his entire body. He pulled him up by his shirt to deliver another blow to his face. Lucas staggered back.

  Ben pulled Damien back, restraining him with his body, and then turned to face Lucas. “What happened? Where is Sam?”

  Lucas rubbed his jaw. “She was in the theater with Christian when Daniel and about twenty Souls showed up.” He shook his head. “I left. I couldn’t watch. I didn’t want –”

  Damien shoved Ben aside and went after Lucas again, smashing a fist to his jaw. Then he fazed and caught Lucas as he fell and punched him in the stomach. He hit him again and again, the fury tidal-waving over him. He was drowning in scalding rage.

  Lucas sagged against the wall.

  Damien let out a savage growl and shoved his fist into him. Lucas’s energy raced up his arm, filling his body with a charged electrical current. Lately, Sam had been his anchor to this world. She had kept him grounded. He could have made the Jump numerous times, but the thought of leaving her, of not having her close, always made him stop. Now… now she was gone. She was not here. He couldn’t feel her.

  “Damien!”

  Ben’s voice came as if from a great distance away. He turned to him.

  “Stop! You’ll kill him!”

  Damien looked down at Lucas. He was fading. Yes. That’s exactly the punishment he deserved for hurting Sam. For betraying her.

  Ben shoved Damien with all his might.

  Damien stumbled back a couple of steps, the force of Ben’s push enough to knock his fist from Lucas. Damien moved forward, intent on draining Lucas completely.

  Ben shook his head, stepping in front of him, holding his hands up. “I won’t let you do it.”

  Damien stood for a long moment; the snapping and popping of blue electricity rippled around his body. He wanted to finish Lucas. He wanted to kill him. It was what he deserved. But even that wouldn’t be enough to calm the storm raging inside him. And they might need him. Damien clenched his teeth and backed up a step, shaking with fury.

  Ben lowered his hands. He turned to Lucas who lay exhausted on the floor. “If I were you, I’d take Esme and disappear.”

  Lucas sat up. “You go near her…”

  “It’s not us you have to worry about. It’s Daniel. He’ll know you helped us. He’ll know you told us. I’m not doing this for you. We’re done. But Esme doesn’t deserve what Daniel will do to her.” Ben turned away.

  “Ben,” Lucas called.

  Ben hesitated, but didn’t turn to him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Ben nodded. “Me too.”

  Damien moved over to Lucas and squatted beside him.

  Lucas backed to the wall.

  “It’s lucky for you that I’m not done here,” Damien snarled. “Lucky for you that I don’t want to make the Jump right now. But when I do, when it’s time, there will be nowhere you can hide that I won’t find you. And Esme is now top on my list.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Ben followed Damien as he walked through the door. Both of them simply passed through the thick wooden door of Lucas’s apartment. Ben watched him pensively. Small blue electrical bolts fizzled and snapped all around Damien, dancing across his skin and clothing. His black eyes seemed to have become even blacker. He was ready for the Jump.

  Ben didn’t want to hurt him, but he would never let him make the Jump.

  Damien paced the hallway, clenching and unclenching his fists. Back and forth he walked. Finally, he stopped before Ben. “You have a dagger. Do it.”

  Ben scowled. Small bolts of lightning shot up Damien’s arm. “Sam wouldn’t like it.”

  “Sam isn’t here.”

  Ben couldn’t do it. No matter how much he wanted to, or how much he thought he should. Damien was working with him to find Sam. He shook his head.

  “Give me your dagger.”

  Ben’s eyes snapped to Damien’s completely black ones. He had learned his lesson with Cora. Never trust a Changed. What would Damien want with an iron dagger?

  Damien held his open palm out. The forks of blue electricity sizzled between his fingers, shifting and crawling across his hand.

  Ben reached behind his back, beneath his flannel shirt. His hand closed around the handle of the dagger tucked into his pants. He hesitated.

  “Now.”

  Ben pulled it out. Every muscle tensed, ready for battle. He held it pointed toward Damien for a moment, then flipped it in his palm so it was handle first.

  Damien took the dagger from Ben.

  Every muscle, every fiber in Ben’s body clenched, ready.

  Damien chuckled. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t use a dagger to do it.” He shoved the sharp edge into his stomach.

  Ben gaped in shock as Damien grit his teeth before he disappeared. What the hell? Who would do that to himself? Who would…?

  Damien reappeared, the dagger in his hand. He tossed the dagger to Ben.

  Ben caught it. He looked down at the dagger for a mome
nt then back at Damien. “Why did you do that?”

  “It helps ease the urge to Jump,” he explained simply. “It releases some of the energy.”

  “I thought all Changed wanted to make the Jump. Why would you…stop yourself?”

  “I have to find Sam.”

  Ben scowled in confusion. Why? Why would Damien feel this need to find Sam? What did he want with her? He still didn’t trust him. He slipped the dagger into his pants beneath his shirt. “Do you have a plan?”

  “Daniel must have her. We need to find out where.”

  Ben nodded. “Since neither of us would be welcomed, we’re going to need some help.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Damien reveled in the fact that Eugene didn’t like this. It made it all the better. He had never met Eugene in person, until now. He only saw the small, nerdy looking man once when he interfered when Damien had tried to reach Sam.

  Damien watched from beneath a large oak tree in a secluded forest as Ben and Eugene exchanged whispered, heated words, most of the heat coming from Eugene. Eugene gestured wildly at Damien, poking a finger in his direction. What they didn’t know was that he could hear every word.

  “I can’t believe you brought a Changed here!” Eugene growled. “And him in particular!”

  “We had nowhere else to go. We need your help.”

  Eugene paced a step and then whirled on Ben. “I will not allow him inside! He’ll have to wait here in the rain and cold.”

  Damien smiled. As if a Soul, or Changed, for that matter, could feel wet or cold.

  “I understand how you feel, Eugene. But we need your help. Daniel has Sam.”

  That got Eugene’s attention. A deep scowl furrowed his brow. “Sam’s in trouble?”

  Ben nodded. “We think Daniel trapped her and Christian. We just don’t know where he’s keeping them.”

  Eugene pursed his lips. “Of course I’ll help.”

  Damien didn’t like how quickly Eugene changed his mind when Sam was mentioned. Maybe they were just close friends. Damien also remembered how Eugene wouldn’t tell Sam he wanted to see her.

  “Damien is helping, too.”

  Eugene cast him a glare of hatred. “What? So he can drain her?” He shook his head. “No way. That decaying piece of dead energy can just pick another Soul to drain. He’s not getting Sam.”

  Damien straightened. Not getting Sam? She was already his wife. He didn’t like how protective Eugene was regarding Sam. Could there be more to it?

  “He’s helping to find and rescue her,” Ben said calmly. “He doesn’t want to hurt her.”

  Eugene glared at Damien. “I don’t trust him. He’s a Changed.”

  Ben shrugged. “I don’t think we have a choice right now. We need his help.”

  “I don’t need his help.”

  “Eugene, be reasonable. You know all the resources Daniel has at his disposal. We can use all the help we can get.”

  Eugene sighed. “Yeah. All right. But I don’t want him inside.”

  Ben grinned. “No Changed can get inside your home unless you want them in, isn’t that right? You have more security than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

  “And the best.”

  “And the best,” Ben agreed. “He only comes in if you want him in.”

  Eugene glanced at Damien again. “I just don’t want him telling all his friends where I live.”

  Friends. Damien grit his teeth. The other Changed were no friends of his. They were less trustworthy than these paranoid Souls. Damien fazed to their side. “Is the matter settled, then?”

  Ben scowled at him.

  “The longer you two argue, the longer Sam stays locked up. I want her out. Now.”

  Ben glanced at Eugene and then at Damien. “We are all in agreement on that.”

  “We don’t have to be friends to work together. We just have to tolerate each other.”

  Eugene sighed, then raised his chin and narrowed his eyes at Damien. “As long as you agree not to drain me.”

  Damien glared at him. “I remember how you tried to keep me away from Sam. Draining you has been one of my goals. But I’m willing to set it aside until Sam is safe.”

  Ben groaned.

  “You see?” Eugene demanded of Ben, holding his hand out toward Damien. “I knew it!”

  “Damien!” Ben exclaimed.

  “Enough! Enough of this,” Damien roared. “Sam is in trouble and we are quarreling over draining?” He took a step toward Eugene. “If Sam dies, there will be nothing holding me back and I will come looking for you. Nothing could stop me then. Make your choice. Work with us or we move on.”

  Eugene half stepped behind Ben. It took a moment for Eugene to consider what Damien had said. He relented with a heavy sigh and whispered, “Fine. I’ll find her.”

  Ben nodded in relief. “Thanks, Eugene.”

  With a grimace, Eugene placed one hand on Damien’s shoulder, the other on Ben’s shoulder. In a second, they were in a room with four iron walls and an iron floor.

  Damien looked around, trying desperately not to show how nervous the iron made him. He was almost trapped. Almost caged. And the fact remained that he didn’t trust Eugene anymore than Eugene trusted him.

  Eugene walked up to a black panel on the wall. The front of the panel slid aside and Eugene leaned his forehead against it. A light scanned across his face and then a door slid open. Eugene entered and Ben followed.

  Damien looked back at the metal room once and followed them through the door. A blue couch was perpendicular to the opposite wall. A door was to his left and there was another door to his right. Gizmos and gadgets cluttered a table to his right. He cautiously stepped up to the table, surveying the mess of metal that looked like scraps. He reached out to one.

  “Don’t touch it!” Eugene said, grabbing the metal from the table. He stroked it and held it close to his face.

  Damien held up his hands and took a step back. “So, you’re some sort of disturbed genius. I get it. How about you put that brain of yours to work finding Sam?”

  Eugene narrowed his eyes at Damien and walked past him, keeping the metal device with him. He moved to the couch and pressed an invisible button on the wall. A screen lowered from the ceiling.

  Damien moved behind the couch, watching the screen. The entire room really was impressive.

  Eugene sat at a table opposite the couch, gently moving his metal garbage out of the way. The table opened and what looked like some sort of laptop computer popped up through the table. “You say Daniel has her?”

  Ben nodded, moving across the room to Eugene’s side. “But we don’t know where.”

  “He keeps prisoners in those iron rooms in the Crypt.”

  “The Crypt?” Damien echoed.

  “It’s his headquarters. We call it the Crypt because it’s so far underground in the dark that it’s like a crypt. Sam and I used to joke about the dead roaming the Crypt.”

  Damien ignored the sadness in Ben’s voice. He refused to entertain the idea they wouldn’t get her back. “So, you know where she is. Then we need to go there and get her out.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Ben said. “The Souls are going to know as soon as we are in. We’ll have minutes –”

  “Seven point three minutes to be exact,” Eugene said, typing on the keyboard.

  “To get Sam and get out.”

  “I’ll get us out. That won’t be a problem,” Damien promised.

  Ben and Eugene glanced at him for a moment before Eugene turned back to typing on the keyboard. “Yes, well. There are over thirty iron rooms. It would take well over seven point three minutes for you to check them all.” Eugene paused to look at him doubtfully and with a sneer of contempt and disbelief. “Unless you Changed have figured out a way to faze through iron.”

  Damien grit his teeth. He didn’t like Eugene and vowed to make his life miserable.

  “Didn’t think so,” Eugene mumbled and turned back to typing on his laptop. “Here.” The screen in fr
ont of the couch lit up with blueprints. “These rooms back here are the iron cages.” He moved his finger on his laptop and a red pointer appeared on the large screen, indicating the rooms.

  The cages were buried deep in the Crypt. Thirty of them. All the way in the back. Damien stared. Sam was in one of them. There were three rows of ten each, five on each side.

  “Daniel has Souls at the front guarding them constantly, whether or not they have anyone in them.”

  A long hallway led past them to a small door at the end.

  “What’s here?” Ben pointed to the doorway at the end.

  “An elevator.”

  Ben’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “There’s another level?”

  Eugene nodded. “No one ever talks of it.”

  “What’s down there?”

  Eugene double tapped a spot on his laptop. Another blueprint came up, showing one huge room. “I don’t know. That elevator leads to that floor, but it is completely sealed off. Whoever goes down there is fazed to that room. I can’t get through…yet. I will.”

  Ben stared hard at the room. “It’s a big room. Almost as big as the entire complex.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Sam is not there. Go back to the cages,” Damien ordered.

  Eugene straightened. “I don’t take orders from a Changed. Ben wanted to see the room.”

  Damien’s energy fizzled. He clenched his teeth.

  “Please, Eugene,” Ben said. “He’s right. We’ll worry about that room later.”

  Eugene nodded and double tapped his laptop, returning the screen to the main level of the Crypt.

  Damien returned his stare to the screen. “Which room is she in?”

  Eugene shrugged. “That’s the problem. She could be in any one of those cages.”

  “Then we go in and fight. We find her and leave.”

  “You’re going to rush in and fight all the Souls Daniel has at his disposal?” Eugene snickered. “You’re not that strong.”

  Damien took a step toward him. “Would you care to test that theory?”

  “How do we find her?” Ben asked. “Do you have cameras down there?”