Seduction and Scars
1288 Words
jumped where I was because the thunder was so loud. The rain hit the windows hard, like it was trying to get in. It felt like the storm outside matched the chaos inside me. Damon stood by the fireplace and looked into the fire. His shirt was only half buttoned, and he had a tight mouth.
His words, "You shouldn't drive back tonight," meant that she shouldn't. "It’s dangerous out there."
I took a deep breath. It wasn't the rain that made it hard for me to breathe; it was him.
I fib and said, "I'll be fine."
Damon spoke up. The light from the fire danced on his face. As he walked toward me, his eyes got red. "Be still, Aurora. "Please."
This time, his voice wasn't strong. It was... broken. My heart was shaking.
I told Damon in a whisper, "You don't have to act with me." "I see through you."
He took a break. "You don’t know anything about me."
"Then show me," I asked.
The air moved around us. Closed the gap, put his hands on my face, and kissed me. It hurt, I was hungry, and I was desperate. He seemed to need to lose himself in me to forget about whatever was bothering him.
We tripped and fell on the couch. He didn't take his lips off of mine. Every kiss and touch was hot and painful at the same time. It hit me. The grief and the guilt.
I cupped his face when we finally took a break to breathe. "Why does it feel like you’re hurting while you’re holding me?"
His eyes looked at mine. I thought for a second that he would pull away. Instead, he said in a whisper, "Because I am."
The room was lit up by lightning. I saw it then. The cuts on his chest. Some new things. A few faded. One, though—the long one under his rib—didn't look like it was an accident at all.
I gave it a light touch. "Who did this to you?"
Damon took a deep breath. That doesn't matter. It's important that you're here.
"It does matter," I said. "Speak to me. Damon, I need to know what you mean."
He moved away and paced while running his hand through his hair.
He told her straight out, "My mother died when I was sixteen." "She jumped off the balcony of our home while I was upstairs... pretending not to hear her cry."
My chest got tight.
"I thought it was just another bad night." Like always, I thought she'd be fine. That night, though, she wasn't."
The room was very quiet, very heavy.
"I found her dead body," he said. "And I’ve hated myself every day since."
"Oh, Damon..." I got closer and reached out to touch him, but he turned away.
"That's why I stay away." That's why I push people. "Because I don't deserve to hold on to anything good."
My voice was shaking. "You deserve to heal."
As Aurora said, "Don't try to fix me. "I'm not a broken toy that you can fix with glue."
I didn't answer. I held him. In peace. As long as he let me.
I tried to go, but he stopped me.
He quickly pulled away and put the mask back on his face.
"Aurora, go to sleep. You are welcome to use the extra room. It can't happen again, no matter what it is.
He turned around and walked down the hall.
I was unable to rest. I felt like something was pulling at me. After a while, I went down the hall quietly and stopped at the library door.
It was only slightly open.
Damon was sitting alone and looking at a worn picture. A woman with nice eyes. His mom.
Over the noise of the storm, he whispered, "I couldn't save her... and now it's happening again."
I held my breath.
What did he mean by that?
Me?
The wind shook the windows, as if nature were telling me to turn around and not fall for him. I didn't listen, though. I was unable to. Even though I said I wouldn't, I kept running toward Damon because he was dangerous.
From behind me, he said, "You should stay out of the storm." It sounded like he had swallowed the noise in his low, rough voice.
It hurt my heart as I turned to face him. "You think I'm more scared of the storm outside than the one inside?"
He took a step closer. When lightning struck outside, it lit up the sides of his face. His eyes were fixed on mine. Don't act like you're not a part of it, please.
We ran into each other. Hands, lips, and breath. He was hungry, lost, and desperate, and his mouth was on mine. It was hard for me to tell if we were kissing to forget or to feel something real for once.
But I could feel the pain under his skin even though it was hot.
I asked Damon in a whisper as our lips split, "What are you running from?"
His eyes lit up. Then it got dull.
"Mother..." Slowly, he breathed out. "When I was 13, she killed herself." I found her. Not a note. Nothing but emptiness.
I went cold. In ways I didn't expect, my heart broke.
"Sorry," I said in a soft voice.
"You don't need to be." He took a step back as if he felt bad about what he said. "It's not new news." It doesn't matter now.
I saw it, though. The hole in his armor. The kid who was never told what to do.
He pulled away when I reached for his hand.
I told Aurora, "Don't do that."
"What should I do?"
"Show me that you care." Get me to want things I shouldn't want.
"Do you think I don't?"
There was no sound like his quiet.
I was cold when he used to be warm in the middle of his room. "Don't push me away; I'm not going anywhere."
"You should." He went to the window while lightning cast dark shadows over his face. "Anyone who comes near me...bleeds."
Daron, I'm not scared of your darkness.
He slowly turned, and his jaw was tight. "You should be."
Then there was a long pause.
He then got closer again. This time it's slower. We feel like gravity is pulling us together.
He touched my face with his hand. "This isn't right for you."
"I'm not good." "I'm just broken in a different way."
He sat down and put his face against mine. "Maybe we'll fit then."
I shut my eyes.
He quickly pulled away and told me, "Go to bed, Aurora." Just when I thought the walls were coming down.
"What?"
"I made a mistake."
I didn't say anything. I tried not to fall apart as I turned and walked away.
But later that night, I couldn't sleep because of the pain. A thread that I couldn't see pulled at my chest.
I got out of bed without being seen. It was dark in the hallway. The storm was over, but the air felt tougher.
He was in the study when I found him.
I wasn't seen by him.
He had an old picture in his hand and was standing in front of the fireplace.
It was a woman. Hair that is dark. Eyes that look sad. It's beautiful in a scary way.
He said in a whisper, "Celeste."
After that, his voice stopped.
"I was unable to save her."
It got cold outside the door. I couldn't breathe.
What did Celeste do?
Also, why did he sound like he was still trying?
- Writer
