Chapter 18: Chapter Eighteen

'Val, you online?' I sent an instant message to my friend, needing bad to vent and get her advice. Damien and I came into his office, and haven't said a word to each other. Or rather, I haven't said a word to him. I knew he was watching me as he worked, before Sam entered the office. I was grateful to Sam for entering when he did, because I could tell Damien was going to try to talk to me again.

'Bast! Where are you? What the fuck happened??' She sent back a few moments later.

'What do you mean?'

'I went to your house this morning. There was a bunch of police and shit. They said you and your boyfriend killed some people, then packed and left? What the fuck?!'

I gaped at the screen for a few moments, then glanced up at Damien. He was reading through paperwork with Sam, discussing which cases they would accept and who they would give them to. I wanted to be mad at Damien for as long as possible, and make him grovel for forgiveness. But life is a cruel bitch. I managed to stay mad for a total of three hours before I needed him again.

I looked back at the screen to see Val typing again. I felt my heart drop to my stomach as I waited for her next message. I knew it would be nothing good, how could it be after the bombshell she'd dropped on me already?

'Yeah, they haven't released everything to the public yet, but your parents told me what they'd told the cops. They said you came home and saw that they had guests, and went ape shit and started screaming and beating up your mom. Then went upstairs and called your boyfriend. When he got there, you two murdered everyone, but left your parents alive, then packed your shit and left. Did you seriously do that to your mom? She's got a broken arm, a busted lip, a black eye, and some other bruises!!' Val sent, as well as a couple of pictures of the cop cars outside the house, and pictures of the supposed beating my mother suffered at my hands.

"Damien..." I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper, as my heart started thumping harder. I continually read the message over and over again, refusing to believe what I was reading. The pictures of my mother made my blood run cold.

Damien came over to my desk and grabbed the laptop, turning the screen towards him as he quickly read the conversation. A deep snarl came up from his depths as he showed the conversation to Sam. I was surprised when I saw Sam's eyes flash red as he looked at the pictures, he growled in response and set the laptop back down on the desk.

"Bast, I won't allow you to be faulted for any of this." Damien said as he walked around the desk, and pulled me into his arms. I wanted to fight back against him, but his embrace brought me so much comfort, I couldn't.

"Damien, they set it up to make it look like I did all of that!" I cried out, no longer sad but pissed. I pulled myself out of Damien's embrace and sat back at the desk, pulling the laptop closer to me, so I could type a new message.

'Val, you keep saying my boyfriend. Didn't they say his name?' I asked her. I already knew the answer to it. My parents were fine with throwing me under the bus, but they would never do the same to Damien. My parents weren't the smartest, but they didn't have a death wish either.

'Well I thought your boyfriend was Mr. Sexy, but your parents said that you too broke up and you started dating Jacob from school.'

"She's purposely not putting my name in, so the cops cannot zero in on me as a suspect." Damien said with respect for her, from behind me. Both Damien and Sam were standing behind me, reading the conversation as it progressed.

"Must be nice, but my parents painted me as the prime suspect. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stopped you from getting rid of the bodies, but I didn't know my parents would do this." I said, turning to face the two men.

"Miss Bast, this is not your fault. Your parents did this, not you." Sam said softly, his blue eyes soft and reassuring.

"I killed Dana, so I'm not completely innocent here."

"Dana was already dead, all you did was finalize it." Damien responded as he shut the laptop and pulled me back into his arms. "I will take care of it, you have no reason to worry."

I sighed as I yielded trying to resist and rested my head on his chest, closing my eyes as I allowed myself to relax. "Please don't kill them." I whispered after a few moments.

"After everything your parents have done, you still won't allow them to die?" Sam asked me incredulously.

I turned in Damien's arms so my back was against his front, but his arms didn't release. I titled my head back, so he could see my roll my eyes at him, then looked back at Sam. "After everything they've done, they are still my parents."

"Yes, Miss Bast." Sam responded, bowing before he turned and left the office.

Damien turned me back around, and looked down into my eyes for a long moment, not saying anything. He was waiting to see if I was still pissed at him. I wanted to lie and say I was, but I knew I couldn't. Even if I did try to lie, he would know I was lying.

"I don't fully forgive you." I said before putting my head back on his chest and sighing deeply. "But I'm not mad anymore."

"I understand. You have every right to hate me, I cannot deny this. I just want you to know how sorry I am." He said, picking me up and sitting me on his desk, before he sat back in his chair, facing me.

I thought about it for a few minutes before responding: "What exactly happens when your eyes turn purple?"

"Purple is when the human part of me is overthrown by the vampire part. Yes, I was still there, but I couldn't pull myself out of it. It's like when you drank my blood earlier. Once you started, it was near impossible forcing yourself to stop. You are still there, but some innate force comes up and takes the reins." He explained, watching me closely to gauge my reaction.

I nodded slowly, surprised that I actually understood what he meant. If I hadn't felt it earlier after drinking his blood, then I would never have forgiven him. I originally thought it was because he didn't want to stop, or didn't care enough to try. But I now had intimate knowledge that proved, he wanted to stop, but couldn't.

"Does a vampire really have a human side of them, left to lose?"

"Not necessarily, no. When I say my human part, I really just mean the part of me that remained human. Such as human emotions and attachments. Like the way I feel about you."

"So what happens with gold?"

"Gold is when that human part is lost forever, never to be regained. You've learned that you can pull me out my purple phase through pain. There is no way to reverse golden, once succumbed, it's gone."

"Do vampires really call it that? Purple or gold phase? Doesn't seem very original." I said with a giggle as Sam entered the office, holding a tray of assorted cookies with a glass of milk. He set it down on the desk next to me, and smiled softly before leaving.

Damien laughed, softly, handing me the glass of milk before speaking. "No, we dont. For purple, we call it: 'The Innate Phase.' Once a vampires eyes are golden, we call them a 'recreant.' As I said before, you do not come back from gold, ever."

"What would make a vampire turn recreant?" I asked as I took a cookie and bit into it, before taking a sip of milk.

"Losing the one reason they had to stay human, is the biggest thing." He responded, looking away from me.

"So if I were to leave you...?" I asked slowly, already knowing the answer. But I wanted to hear it from him.

"I would turn recreant, yes."