Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Seven –

Damon

I was allocated a room on the second floor and I chose the last one in the hallway, knowing that any footsteps walking closer were coming directly for me. We weren’t allowed many personal belongings and absolutely no luxuries.

I had to get up at three am if I wanted any hot water in the shower and even that resulted in a few fights during the first week I was there. Breakfast consisted of a slice of bread, two tablespoons of scrambled eggs and a cup of what looked like very weak tea.

Lunch consisted of a watery stew with two slices of bread and more tea and dinner was usually sandwiches with fruit. It was enough to keep us alive but not enough to keep our strength up and I knew that by the time I got out of here I’d be weak as hell.

“Woods!” the warrior called my name just before we halted work for lunch, “head warrior Enzo is requesting your presence in his office.”

I nodded and headed towards the main building. Enzo was the man I’d met on my first day that showed me around. None of the warriors were violent or demeaning, they were just indifferent and spats had to be sorted out internally, they didn’t get involved.

I’d already been in three fights and it was only my fourth day here. These guys fought about everything, food, blankets, towels, hot water and my room. The end of the hall rooms were the best ones, they were quieter and better protected from an onslaught because all the floorboards creaked so a surprise attack was out of the question.

“Come in,” Enzo said as I knocked on his door.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked him as I walked in and stood in front of his desk.

“The Council has sent representatives to oversee the cleansing ceremony,” he said and Axel growled faintly in the back of my head.

“I see,” I said, feeling dejected. They would take away my memories of Finley and break the bond I had created by marking her.

“You can head to the infirmary after lunch,” he said to me.

“Could I make one phone call?” I asked him.

“Who do you need to call?” he asked me.

“I need to call someone to go and check on my bonded half, she’s going to feel what I feel and she’s human, she can’t suffer through that alone,” I said to him.

“Make it quick,” he said to me as he took his personal cell phone from his pocket. I took his phone and punched Jared’s number in and exhaled slowly as it started to ring.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Jared, it’s me,” I said.

“Damon?” he questioned.

“They’re going to start the cleansing ceremony after lunch, you need to send someone to Finley, she can’t be alone through this,” I said to him.

“Of course. Connor saw her a few days ago when he went to pack up your shit,” he said and I closed my eyes.

“Thanks,” I said to him and ended the call before he could tell me anything else.

I handed Enzo’s phone back to him and thanked him for his help. I sat through lunch and listened to the guys bicker around me. I kept mostly to myself and always sat alone at one of the tables with my back against the wall.

“Damon Woods, I told you we’d meet again. I just never thought it would be stuck in the same place where you put me,” the man said as he sat down across from me at the table.

“Should I know you?” I asked him. I knew exactly who he was but I knew feigning ignorance would rile him up and that would work to my advantage.

“Not so high and mighty now Alpha,” he said as my facial expressions remained stoic.

“You think we’re the same? I’ll always be an Alpha and you’ll always be nothing better than what you are now,” I said to him as he slammed his fist down on the table.

“By the end of the day every man here will know exactly who and what you are, watch your back,” he said with a sly smile as he stood up and walked back to his table.

“Oh great, friends,” Axel said and laughed in my head.

“Yeah everybody’s got beef with an Enforcer,” I said to him.

“You’d better eat up Damon, you’re going to need it for your extracurricular activities later,” he sniggered.

“Yes because we’re not here because of what you did,” I said sarcastically.

“You weren’t complaining while you were busy with her in the shower,” he mused.

“Piss off Axel, today’s not the day,” I said to him.

“Fine,” he said and blocked me completely.

After lunch I headed to the infirmary where two Council members and two witches awaited me. There were no pleasantries involved as I was strapped down to a bed and injected with a sedative. I could easily break the restraints but the sedative made me feel dizzy and tired and this would also make it easier for the witches to enter my mind and wipe it clean of Finley.

I closed my eyes as the first witch touched my forehead and both women started chanting in a language I didn’t know. The pain started in my chest and I could feel the bond weakening as the air around me seemed stifled and I had trouble breathing.

It felt like my soul was being ripped in two and I couldn’t mask the pain anymore as I finally started to scream after an hour. I was covered in sweat and my body was shivering as the final strand of the bond snapped and I felt empty and lonely.

I could feel the void as the witches entered my mind and I fought against them taking my memories of her. Each memory was replaced by darkness, an empty hole where she used to be. It felt suffocating and confusing as I watched her face slip further and further away from me.

There were plenty of memories and the whole process lasted about four hours and by the time they were done I was left with an empty shell of a soul and darkness filling my mind. As if to compensate for the loss my mind filled it with aggression and violence. I felt the undeniable urge to shed blood, to fight for something, but I didn’t know what that something was.

“He’s waking up,” I heard a voice say as my eyelids fluttered open.

My head hurt like hell and my eyes were sensitive to the light and it took a few seconds for them to adjust and focus on the people in front of me. My body ached and my muscles screamed with pain, it felt like I’d been run over by a truck, perhaps a few times.

“Can you tell me your name?” a man asked me.

“Damon Woods,” I answered.

“What is the name of your bonded half?” he asked me.

“I have no bonded half,” I answered him.

“Do you know why you’re here?” he asked me.

“Non assignment kill,” I said to him and he smiled at me.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Like shit,” I said and he nodded his head at the other man.

“You’ll be kept overnight for observation, tomorrow morning you’ll feel like yourself again,” he said.

They left me alone after that and a warrior loosened the restraints around my wrists. I felt tired and for some strange reason I felt depressed. Axel felt far away from me as well and there were gaps in my memory.

I slept fitfully until the next morning and when I woke up I felt refreshed and ready to work. The work itself was hard and unrelenting. We were building houses, digging trenches and removing old water pipes and replacing them with new ones. I needed to occupy my time until I could go back to my clowder and wait for the Oracle to see if I could still be an Enforcer or not since I broke the law.

The next week I had an uneasy feeling knowing that the rogue who told me to watch my back was watching me with four other men. They were always just there, watching me and it was two days later that we finally came to blows when a batch of new prisoners arrived.

For some reason Enzo liked me and every week a parcel would be waiting for me in his office. Jared’s little care packages that he sent faithfully with letters updating me about the status of the clowder, what the Elders were up to and news in general.

My life in Michigan wasn’t all that bad and I quickly fell into a routine that would soon be disrupted when the new kid started following me around. I didn’t want to make any friends or get to know any of the other men there. I wanted to serve my time and then go back home.

“Fresh meat,” Darwin mused as we all watched the group of men exiting the transport vehicle.

My eyes found a young man, most probably just turned eighteen, he didn’t look like he could do any damage. His eyes darted everywhere and you could practically smell the fear on him as the other prisoners jeered at them.

“They’re just kids Darwin,” I said to him.

“They’re prisoners like all of us,” he said without turning to look at me.

I watched as the group was led to the main building to go through processing and even Axel perked up a little with their arrival. Most of them were under twenty and they all smelled like rogues. I didn’t want to get involved but the Enforcer in me wouldn’t stand by and watch these kids get bullied either.

“Tonight we’ll introduce ourselves properly,” Darwin said as his friends laughed.

“I guess we’re not sleeping tonight,” Axel mused.

“No, we’re not,” I said.

That night I sat on the porch as the group of young guys were introduced and shown to their rooms on the third floor and I snuck in behind them and into a utility closet and I waited. I didn’t have to wait too long as I heard Darwin and his friends an hour later. They went for the youngest one of them, the one I saw outside smelling of fear.

His muffled scream was heard five minutes later as he was dragged from his bed and I stepped out of the closet and blocked their exit as they emerged in the doorway. I didn’t talk, I just started hitting as I shoved the kid out of my way and went for Darwin first.

His friends retreated while I was busy hitting Darwin so hard that my knuckles broke and my hands were bleeding. His face was swollen, bruised and bloody by the time I finished and the kid was staring at me with wide eyes filled with fear.

“Bring your mattress,” I said to him.

“Thank you,” he said to me as he grabbed his mattress off the bed with his bedding and pillow and followed me down the stairs.

“Don’t talk,” I said to him as I went back to my room.

“What’s your name?” he asked me.

“I’m not your friend kid, keep your mouth shut and sleep,” I said as I turned my back towards him and left him standing in the middle of the room.