Runaway Girl - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 1

Chapter 12

After dropping Maya off at the mansion, Damian spent the rest of the day sitting in his room working on his new mission. He spent a good few hours just studying the papers and photographs he was given and planting the thoughts in Kaitlin's head that they had met before. He wasn't sure why he was always made to convince the girls that he loved them, but he had to admit that even though he didn't approve of it, it worked in convincing them to trust him. But he knew that no one would be easier to get on his side than Chase.

For some reason, he was instructed to plant the thoughts in Kaitlin's head that he had known her since she was a child, that they met when they were young and were forbidden to see each other, and that each of them were busy seeking each other out. He continued the thought, suggesting that he was the prince of the opposing land to her fathers and that he was the brother of her bodyguard, Alexander, just as he had been instructed to. He was unaware that she was in the bathroom of her apartment when the thoughts bombarded her mind. She stumbled on her way to the sink, and held onto it as she stared into the mirror, watching the false memories play out within her mind.

He took care of Finlay's memories at the same time, searching both his and Kaitlin's thoughts to find out where they were and where they were going to be by the time he could reach them. Finlay was at home, snoozing on the sofa while his girlfriend, Tiffany, danced around the room in her underwear. Damian planted the thought within Finlay's mind that he was his bodyguard and friend who lived in the apartment above his garage. He inserted the idea that he was Finlay's only confidant and discovered that Finlay and Kaitlin were long time friends. She left her world at the age of eighteen to open up her shop and Finlay was her financial benefactor.

None of it was true and it drained Damian to make the thoughts strong enough to appear as real memories when confronted with it. He couldn't risk failing to cement the thoughts in their minds, otherwise they might question the validity of the memories or think of them as dreams. He wasn't sure why he had been instructed to deal with Finlay as well as Kaitlin, but he did as he was told. As he moved on to Alexander—who was sitting to his hotel room meal—Damian knew that it was just as a safety precaution because he was Kaitlin's bodyguard. And if he had to convince anyone, it was the man who was protecting Kaitlin.

It took Damian a good few long hours of severe concentration to finish his task. He fed twice between working on the three victims, but it didn't make his head feel any better. Sometimes he wished he could be human again, to have the luxury of taking an aspirin, to be normal again. He didn't see many benefits of being a vampire over a human, other than that they lived forever ... as long as they weren't spellbound, decapitated, drained or over used by their elders for the little powers they possessed. He suffered from headaches due to his rare ability, a lack of energy for the same reason and excessive exhaustion if he didn't feed for a whole twenty four hours, which resulted in an inability to move and feed. He had to be force fed in such situations and there weren't many people—except the elders—who knew what to do under those circumstances. If it wasn't for his loyalty to his people and the elders being such close and lifelong friends, he wouldn't put in as much effort. But he knew that part of Amelia's disappearance was his fault, that he owed Lucius the opportunity to have his daughter back with him. And if he was honest, he didn't pay much attention to her when he had been guarding her.

Amelia was beautiful and smart, a little feisty and difficult, but he liked those qualities. However, she was also selfish and thoughtless and didn't give two cents what she did to other people or the consequences her actions had, not only for herself, but for her father and for her guard, as well.

As her guard, Damian watched over her diligently, but she didn't want him there. He just hoped to do his best to do his duty and serve his people. If only he would have taught her a few lessons about loyalty and having a genuinely unselfish attitude before she disappeared. Then she probably would never have run away and he wouldn't be searching half the country looking for her. But once she was home, Damian was going to make her into the best person she could possibly be in hope of making up for the awful things she had done to her poor father. If only he could make her appreciate the gifts she had been given and accept herself, then maybe he could forgive her for what she had done.