Chapter 3: Strange Occurrence
Damon instantly snapped out of his reverie and, with his quick reflexes, caught the falling figure. The impact of the sudden had pushed him slightly off balance. As he stumbled backwards, the weight in his arms pulled him towards the ground.
After stabling himself by kneeling on the gravel, he gently supported the soft body. His eyes were drawn towards its presence...HER presence. Or perhaps, her lack of presence.
He could not feel her existence, as if she does not exist at all. If she wasn't right in front of his eyes, he would never have noticed her.
Shaking the strangeness away, he tried to wake her up instead. Slowly but gently, he shook her a few times but she showed no response. He began to panic.
Did he unknowingly burn her during the collision? What should he do! Panic and desperation laced his voice as he shook and called out to her.
"Are you alright miss? Are you hurt anywhere?! Please wake up!"
He was frowning deeply and staring intently at her until she slowly stirred awake. She seemed to be shivering, perhaps from the cold, and unconsciously Damon released more heat carefully through his arms to keep her warm.
Her pale and almost ice-cold fingers grasp his shoulder as she feebly pulled herself up from his embrace. She then raised her head slightly and gave him a weak nod.
As she did that, Damon had gotten a glimpse of her hidden face. And he saw her eyes. Her eyes that were so captivating yet sorrowful. As if deeply saddened by something. It agonizingly tugged at his heart-strings and makes him want to make her smile again.
Those exquisitely beautiful eyes that barely contained the struggle of emotions that she felt within herself and before you know it, tears are in your eyes and you couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of suffering she hid beneath the swirling golden flakes that glittered around her iris.
It was all but a glimpse, yet in the darkest of night her innocent radiance shone, barely hidden by the hood. And his heart lurched, his own cold grey orbs drawn towards her like a moth to the undeniably golden flame.
'Why...why is she in such pain?' Damon thought to himself, confused at these sudden unknown feelings within him.
He watch her small figure walk hastily pass him, her footsteps echoed away inconsistently. Only when he finally lost sight of her shadow, did he come out of the trance-like state.
He roughly ran his fingers across his face and through his messy hair, sighing heavily at this weird occurrence. With a strangely heavy heart, he resumed his silent path home.
The night was eerily quiet, there were no cricket sounds, no wind howling anymore. It was like the silence was screaming in his ear that something is wrong. He sped up to a jog as the stairs to his apartment came into view.
At that very moment, when he was about to unlock the door, a sudden torturous scream pierced across the night. His hands stilled immediately. Keys crashing onto the floor.
Damon's breath hitched and his chest pounded with hurt at the sound. It felt like someone or something was forcefully tearing his heart apart and it caused him to fall onto his knees trembling in pain.
It was like experiencing his awakening again but this time the burning came from his heart. He gritted his teeth and refused to cry out. He was no longer a child anymore. His trembling fingers clutched tightly at where his heart was, At where the pain was coming from.
This had never happened before to him. And what was that scream. Who's scream was it? As he struggled to think through his pain, the girl's pale face flashed in his mind and he gasped.
The pain intensified within his chest and a sudden force choking him. He couldn't breathe, but that was not all. He felt lashes of pain against his thighs. Then another at his arm. Finally, he felt the pricks of something sharp poking at his hands and the pain stopped. As suddenly as it came.
Damon took a desperate breath of air. As oxygen slowly filled his lungs, his breathing began to calm. He was utterly confused at this sudden change of events. He did not know what happened at all.
When he tried to get up from the floor, he felt a lingering pain at several places. Places like his arm for example. As he turned to inspect the cause of this pain, he was startled at the discovery of a dark bruise on his arm. The bruise was half the length of his forearm. It was as if some rope-like thing had hit him.
Frowning deeply, Damon unlocked the door and went into his apartment. Once in his room, he quickly stripped to his briefs and stood in front of a mirror. His eyes were wide with shock at what he saw.
Several similar bruises like the one on his arm had appeared on certain parts of his body. There were even some person's finger marks bruised against his neck. All in all, it looked like he was abused by some unknown entity. Not to forget the disturbing pain he felt earlier from his chest. What was going on. He could not understand.
Over the years, ever since he left that dreaded place, nothing strange of this sort had happened to him. Although there were a number of incidents where he used his curse and they went out of control.
Like that particular night when he turned 7 and saw a woman being raped by 4 guys. He had felt a great anger consume him, and in response to his emotions, his flames soared towards the men and burned them. Only when he heard their agonized cries and screams did he smile.
He burned their hair away, and he burned their face into an unrecognizable mess. He burned their arms that touched the woman, and their sickening bodies that they used to prevent the woman from escaping. He burned them all, even their bones.
When all that's left were their ashes he felt satisfied and happy. Happy because he could use his curse to save someone. But when he turned to look at the woman, she stared at him horrified and she screamed at him fearfully. Demon, she called him. Then she ran away while crying hysterically. As if HE was the enemy. The bad guy.
The boy was distraught. He was lost and hurt. Why did the person he save call him a Demon? He did not know. Depressed and struck with sadness, the boy walked into another alley. He saw a group of older kids approaching him. They held knives with them and they were smiling at him.
Relieved, he walked towards them thinking they were there to comfort him, that they were going to become his friends. Oh, how wrong he was. They surrounded him and they stepped on him. They kicked him ruthlessly and when they finally got bored. They used their knives.
The boy was in pain, every part of his body felt bruised and hurt but he did not want to use his curse. He did not want them to call him a Demon.
So he kept silent and still, even when they took out their knives. Even when they used the knives on his skin, like carving on wood. Finally, when blood covered every part of his body, they spit on him and left. But he did not blame them. He blamed himself. It was his own fault. He is a monster, a Demon and he know he could not die.
Already, his broken bones were resetting themselves and his open wounds were slowly closing. Even his bruises were becoming fainter and eventually disappearing from his body as if he was not injured at all. As if the pain he felt before was not real. As if even his body is telling him that he was not human.
He is a monster and he will never be able to escape from his curse. But this time, the man felt strange as he stared at his bruises. They were not disappearing like his previous ones. They were not healing. The man did not know how to feel at this revelation.
There was never a time where his body could not revert to its original state, void of injuries and perfectly healthy. He could not believe what he was seeing right now. Hesitantly, he pressed against his bruises and they hurt. They were real.
Plagued with confusion, the man tried to recall what had brought upon this situation. Hours passed and he could not come up with anything.
He frowned worriedly.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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