Chapter 19

After deliberating about what to wear, Alice finally landed on the black dress she'd bought for her Mum's funeral. She'd ended up wearing a black pants suit, leaving the pretty dress to gather dust at the back of her wardrobe, unutilized but free of sad connotations.

She'd deemed it too sexy for a funeral, but as she pulled it out, feeling the smooth velvety fabric, she smiled. Surely, he would like to see her in this. He always wore black, and though Alice knew it was needy and pathetic to change to suit a guy, she also wanted to see his face as she arrived.

The dress suited her well. She twirled in front of the mirror, smoothing her dark hair, and decided on some dark cherry lipstick. A final pout and she was ready to take the walk to the nice end of town.

The porch light dinged to life as she neared, almost blinding her. She was shielding her face as a young girl answered the door.

"That bloody thing," the girl complained. "Goes off every time it's a little overcast."

"Yeah, I think we're about to have a thunderstorm," Alice told her. The prospect excited her more than it probably should, being a fully grown adult. Something about listening to the growling thunder and waiting for the flash of lightning to appear made her feel alive, like she was viewing something otherworldly.

"Are you Damien's girlfriend or Tom's?" the girl asked. She looked Alice up and down with a dry half-smile. "I'm going to guess Damien."

"I'm here for Damien," Alice confirmed. To call herself his girlfriend was a little forward.

When the girl waved her arm at the stairs, declaring that he was in his room, Alice thanked her and went up. She knocked and waited, feeling oddly nervous when he pulled the door open. It wasn't as if this was her first time in his room, but since their kiss, it felt different.

He looked at her dress with an appreciative nod before wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss. Turning her, he walked slowly as he kissed her, ushering her towards the bed.

When her knees hit the edge of the bed frame she was forced to sit. He laid her back on the mattress, continuing to kiss her the entire time as he positioned himself atop her.

As his hands moved up her leg he kissed from her mouth to her neck before gently biting into her flesh.

"Told you I was going to sink my teeth into you," he said, looking down at her with a smug smile.

"You said you were talking about the apple," Alice cried, feigning shock.

"I knew the moment I saw you, sitting there looking all nervous, with your little skirt riding up your legs," Damien explained. "I knew that I wanted you."

"You did?" Alice asked. She'd had no idea he was attracted to her at that point. All she remembered was the shock of finding out about his gift. Her attraction to him had blossomed later.

He nodded and resumed biting her neck, presumably giving her a love bite. She loved the feeling of his teeth when it was just at the point of bearable, on the precipice between pleasure and pain, occasionally getting so intense a moan would escape her lips.

"Hmm." He looked down with a hint of a smile. "You like pain."

This made her blush, feeling like some kind of pervert. She knew in her mind that it was normal to have kinks, but the scars of past shame ran deeper than her logical mind could stretch. To gouge out the trauma from her psyche would take real work, this much she knew from her profession. Sadly, it didn't make the task any less monumental.

He pulled her breasts free, yanking the dress and her bra in a quick, rough motion.

"You like this?" he asked, pinching her nipple between his fingertips.

Alice nodded, biting her lip and staring up at him with big eyes.

He looked up at the window as the porchlight blinked on. Seconds later there was a knock at the door.

"It's probably not for me," Damien said, pricking up his ears.

"Damien!" a girl’s voice shouted. "It's for you again!"

"Great," he said as he stood and arranged his pants to try and hide the erection he was currently sporting.

"Sorry," Alice muttered.

"I'll be right back," he said, leaving the bedroom door open as he left. Alice could hear the heavy patter of rainfall and a grumble of thunder until the front door closed.

"What are you doing here?" Damien asked. The shock and confusion in his voice prompted Alice to take a sneak peek at the visitor.

"Oh shit," she muttered as her hand flew to her mouth.

A very wet and distressed looking Mrs. Thorpe followed Damien into the living room. Alice tiptoed, after them, careful to stay behind the door and out of sight. Getting caught in Damien's home by a member of the teaching faculty was not an option.

"They said you can cure people," Mrs. Thorpe was saying. "My little girl, she's dying. Can you do something? Is there a way you can help her? Please? Please? I'll do anything."

"I don't know who told you that, but I can't," Damien told her.

"Why would everyone be lying to me? It makes no sense. I thought about it. Why would everyone be lying to a woman who is about to lose her child? Who would do that? It makes no sense!" Mrs. Thorpe cried.

"I mean, yeah, I can do things, but all actions have consequences. What you're asking me to do... it had consequences you don't want to face," Damien explained.

Alice wondered what he meant by that. When she's asked him where his power came from, he'd offered little explanation. Did he know more than he was letting on?

"I don't care what the consequences are. I'll do anything to save her. Literally anything. Please. If you can save her, please, I'm begging you, please, I don't care what happens to me. I'll die in her place," the teacher babbled.

As the teacher fell to her knees, beseeching mercy, Damien's face was oddly blank. It was as though it didn't affect him in the slightest.

"It's not as simple as dying. You are just going to have to trust me. There are things so much worse than death," Damien explained.

"I don't care, I can't lose her," Mrs. Thorpe barely managed to choke the words through her tears.

"I care," Damien told her. "I can't explain in a way you'll understand because you don't have the mental facility to process it. You just have to trust me."

The woman ignored his reasoning, continuing to argue and beg and plead until he ushered her toward the door.

"Go and be with your daughter," he advised in a gentle voice.

"You're evil!" she spat. "I've always thought there was something wrong with you. You evil, spiteful brat! If you don't help me, I'll report you to the government and they'll dissect you and experiment on you—"

"Okay, that's enough out of you," he muttered, shoving her out of the door and slamming it behind her.

Alice froze in the hall outside the living room as he approached, unsure if she should run away or admit to her eavesdropping.

She flashed him a strained, awkward smile as he opened the door.

"You didn't tell her?" he asked, eyes full of suspicion.

"No," Alice said, shaking her head. "It wasn't me I swear."

"Coffee?" Damien asked, walking past her and toward the kitchen.

"Please."

As the kettle boiled Alice couldn't stop thinking about the woman's threat. Would the government be a threat to Damien? Or had she been watching too many films? In reality, there were likely no men in black, just pencil pushers in cheap suits trying to pay the bills like everyone else.

"Can you really not help the little girl?" Alice asked.

Damien looked at her for the longest time before answering.

"I hate that woman. She's not a good person," he said. "I wasn't about to say that to her, though. That would have been needlessly cruel."

Alice looked down at the steaming cup of black coffee in her hands, still too hot to drink.

"So—" Alice was about to quiz him further when he cut her off with a fiery glare.

"It's my power and my choice to make. Gifts like that aren't given just because you beg for them, especially if you threaten me two seconds later," he said.

Alice could almost see his point. Almost. But she knew she couldn't have refused the pleas of a desperate woman and found it hard to fathom his coldness.

Still, her statement from earlier stood; she would love him no matter what he did or didn't do with his ability.

Despite it not affecting her love, she felt the urge to try and change his mind, to see if she could convince him. The idea of saving a life, so precious and important, was surely worth a try.

When she looked up at him, eyes wide and pleading, he seemed to read her mind.

"No," he said simply and shook his head.

"But the little girl is innocent in all of this. It's not her fault her Mum is an awful person or a crappy teacher or... whatever reason it is you decided not to like her. She's just a kid," Alice argued, despite the sour look he was giving her.

"And no matter how much you dislike Mrs. Thorpe, she knows about your powers. She will have to live the rest of her life knowing her daughter could still be alive if she'd just been nicer to you. Imagine the unbearable guilt and pain," Alice went on.

He appeared uninterested, his face blank and bored. It wasn't a surprise to Alice, who had come to realise most teenage boys had the same basic psychology as your average psychopath. Most displayed very little empathy, shallow emotions and acted primarily out of selfishness.

An idea popped into her head out of nowhere, bursting from her lips before she had time to process it.

"If you do it, I'll do anything you want," she offered.

‘Why did I say that?’ Alice wondered, frowning to herself. She briefly questioned whether he’d used his powers to control her, but the mixture of shock and interest on his face suggested otherwise.

"Hmm." He thought about it. "If I do it, you are my slave for the rest of the night."

Alice nodded slowly, unsure what she was agreeing to or why.

"Done." Damien clicked his fingers for effect, eye flashing with intensity. "Now what should I have you do?"

###

Aggie Thorpe collapsed to her knees on the doorstep, unable to stand any longer. A strangled cry escaped her throat as she clawed at her face and hair, admonishing herself for the ridiculous outburst. She was considering banging on the door, screaming apologies until he agreed to listen.

Hearing the approach of footsteps over the hammering rain, she turned and stared up into the face of an angel. His face glowed, surrounded by a halo of golden light as he smiled down at her.

"Damien isn't the only one with healing powers. I will save your child."