Dirty Secret

Chapter 18

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***

I watched with my back against the wall as the scene unfolded. It was just as I had predicted -or rather manipulated into play. The motorcycle swerved into a screeching halt just inches from crashing into the man. He yelled out and fell to his back, then struggled to get back up. There wasn't much time for his reaction, the dark figure had already made his way off of the bike. He had one boot pressed against the neck of my attacker, he hadn't taken his helmet off but I knew exactly who it was.

"Please, let me go!" the man yelped as if he already knew his fate. Damon dug his shoes further into his neck," I wasn't gonna hurt her, please!"

It happened so quickly, I thought I must have imagined it. Damon raised his hands that transformed into claws. Long black talons slashed across the face of the man whose blood curdling scream could have burst my eardrums. Blood splattered the nearby pavement. As the men cried and begged for mercy, Damon only responded with a low growl from beneath his helmet. He raised his talons again, and I suddenly realized what he was capable of.

"Stop it!" I screamed out with a tone desperate enough to stop Damon– for now.

Damon turned to look at me and then back to the man. He raised his deadly claws again.

"Damon, don't!" I choked on my own words but the mention of his name seemed to work. I ran to where he was and grabbed his elbows," you can't kill him."

"He was going to hurt you," he barked rather than spoke.

"You can't kill another person, just let him go."

Damon paused for a moment to study the weeping man. His blood had now stained both of our shoes.The man clutched his left eye and begged," please, I won't hurt another soul, just let me go...please!"

"I'd be doing the world a disservice by letting someone like him live."

"It's my fault. I should have never-"

I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence because my face was suddenly splattered with blood. I stared down at the revolting scene beneath me. Damon had slashed the man's throat with the speed of lighting. His body had already gone limp, his eyes still wide open and the guts of his wounded neck fully exposed.  For a moment, I could not talk. I stared, with eyes and mouth wide open as the river of blood became endless.

"Let's go," Damon barked. He was already headed for his bike but I could not take my eyes off the dead man. I hadn't truly realized the trauma of witnessing something like this. Surely, the image of his insides would haunt me for life.

"Clay, let's go!"

Like the effect of an unfolding memory, my eyes immediately darted to Damon. I had never been called Clay before in my life, although it triggered me somehow like a scene that I had forgotten then retrieved.  Somehow, this felt like deja vu– minus the dead man, I hoped.

I could see that in the distance, we had attracted some attention from a group of people. I hurried to get on the back of Damon's bike. He tightened my grasp around his waist and rode the bike a few meters across from the massive dumpers that blocked the way.

"Hold on tight," he instructed and I realized what he was going to attempt to do.

"Damon, you can't–"

"Well we can't go that way," he bobbed his chin towards the direction of the street that had now at least two dozen homeless people who were yelling and marching our way.

"Shit."

Damon revved the engine and I could not stand to bear anymore witness. I shut my eyes and buried my face into his back as he sped towards the dumpsters. I felt my chest rise with the bike, we were soaring for merely a few seconds, I felt the cold air smash against my lungs and then we crashed back down against solid ground. The impact of the landing was strong enough to make my teeth shake. I opened my eyes again and we were speeding down the empty dim lit street, leaving behind the echoing chaos. Damon parked the bike finally, at an intersection, hidden by the trees that were just a two minute walk from my home.

Of course he knows where I live, I thought. These days, it seems that everyone knows more about me than I could have ever guessed.

I hurried off the bike and Damon finally took off his helmet.

"What were you doing in Byward Alley?" he snapped as if he was the one with the privilege of anger.

"You killed a man," I burst out," again."

"I had to-"

"You didn't! You could have let him go."

"So he can be free to rape and kill others?" 

"It's not your job to punish people, that's what the police are there for!"

"That man would have attacked at least half a dozen more people before the cops in this town even batted an eye!"

It suddenly made complete sense for The Serenity Pack to have treated me as they have if their impression of rogues was anything similar to Damon's.

"You've killed three people!" I hissed," it's rogues like you why people hate us!"

I had not commanded my body to, but the nails on my hands had extended on their own to form talons identical to the ones Damon had before. My eyes widened in both fear and shock as I stared at my own two hands.

Damon had no rebuttal. He was silent for a moment. He placed his hands slowly on my wrists and brought my claws away from his face.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I lost my cool," he whispered. His eyes were glued to mine and his fingers were still on my wrist," it's going to happen to you too, just like right now."