When first Damien opened his eyes, they hurt. Then he opened them again.
He was just waking from what seemed like a long sleep. He sat up. Immediately he sat up, he realised that his body felt weird, compared to earlier.
"What happened after the crash? Where I am?"
He looked quickly around him. There were wooden chairs and a table. It looked like he was inside a manor.
Moving one of his hands, his attention fell back on the weirdness he felt on his body earlier.
He lifted his hand to his face, then looked down his body, his jaws dropping,
"I'm back to my old self?"
He jumped up on his feet. He shook his legs and his body.
"I'm fully grown. I'm a big man."
He quickly reached his hands to his groin and felt it. He chuckled softly,
"Oh yeah, it's there."
"Where is the emblem?"
A sudden voice grew out of the room. He knew who owned the voice.
"Oh yes! The Emblem."
He wasn't paying any attention to the voice at first. He only felt the need to find the emblem.
He turned around, searching. Then he saw it lying next to one of the wooden mahogany chairs. Olden styled chairs.
"There you are."
He picked it up. Immediately he stood up, something hit his mind.
"You! Hey you! Why did you lie to me?!"
He yelled in the direction he believed the voice had come from.
"What! Why did you do that? Were you trying to prove a point? That you could do whatever you want to me?!"
No reply came from her. He was waiting. The emblem swallowed by his wide palm.
"Lost your voice, did you?"
"You were not wrong."
She replied at last.
"Huh? I'm not wrong? What are you talking about?"
"You are not wrong. I can do whatever I want with you. But then..."
The voice switched its place to his back.
"I didn't do that to prove a point. To use the emblem comes with a condition."
"A condition?"
Damien finally turned in the new direction of the voice.
"What does not have a condition, Damien? You should know by now. Or weren't you listening when I was explaining to you how difficult it would be to return here if you leave for Vegas?!'
There was disgust in her tone.
"Of course I remember. I'm not a slow wit!"
He snapped back.
"So you mean to use the emblem, I'll change into something little? I mean, I would change to that little thing from earlier? That little version of me?!"
"There's a cost for everything. And that's not my rule, but the emblem's"
She defended.
"What are you saying? Didn't you say you are the owner of the system? I mean, wasn't that the whole point of this?"
"Damien, I didn't remember me and you having such a discussion. I mean, we haven't even met in person. Though we have, unconsciously."
The position of the voice had shifted again, and he tried to keep the pace of switching.
"Unconsciously? What do you mean? You have met with me?"
He pressed his finger to his lips,
"Wait a minute, did you mean you had a physical contact with me? Oh... it makes sense now. You were the one who changed me back to my old self."
He started to nod.
"I was about to ask the question, but ---"
"You had a lot to talk about. You had to accuse me and bring your fears back to life."
She pointed out.
"I have no idea what you are talking about. What I know is that, that foolish man told me you are the owner of the system. And that's why you are trying to delay me from returning to Vegas even though I have begged you."
He grunted.
"That foolish Samurai that forced me through the porta---"
"I never forced you."
A masculine voice interrupted. Damien arced his neck in surprise, but he didn't turn to look at the person yet.
THAT VOICE SOUNDS FAMILIAR. COULD IT BE? NO WAY! NO FUCKING WAY.
"I beat you to death then threw you into the portal. There's a difference."
The masculine voice continued, and Damien had no choice but to look. The man was seated, dressed like a Samurai, his back to Damien.
Damien had looked in that direction earlier, but no one was there. The fact that the man appeared suddenly was quite mysterious.
"If I didn't do that, you would have caused a fuss. It's was a fair thing for the both of us."
"This crazy bastard!"
Damien lost it and charged at the man. He grabbed the Samuria by the nape and turned him at once. He pushed his way through the table and pinned the man to the wooden wall of the Manor. Holding the Samurai in a chokehold.
"You should watch your mouth! Remember I still have a score to settle with you, disguising as Der all my life!"
But the Samurai didn't struggle with him, let alone defend himself.
IS THIS SOME SORT OF TRICK? HE IS NOT FIGHTING BACK. THEY MUST BE TRYING TO TRICK ME TO WASTE MORE TIME. I WON'T FALL FOR IT.
He leg go of the Samurai dressed in blue and walked to where he was standing earlier.
"So, is this another condition for me before leaving for Vegas? If I have to fight him, we should get started right away."
He argued, directing it to the lady.
"You must think me shady. I'm a being of my word."
BEING OF MY WORD.
He scorned.
"I think you should know by now that a day here equals to a decade in Vegas. And to leave this realm for Vegas..."
There was a pause from the lady.
"You must die!"
The lady had scarcely said the words when Damien heard a whooshing of sound coming from his side. He looked too late. The Samurai had gotten to him.
A bone-crunching punch in the stomach, blood in the mouth, elbow in the ribs, dropped on his knees, hands to his neck... snap!
That was all. That was all. Then a thud. Gloom.
YOU'LL RETURN TO MARIE. The voice was in his head, and it was very loud. But then other loud voices started to come from his side. His eyes flung open. He tried to turn his neck, but he felt pain,"Ow."He groaned. "Gentle man, are you alright?"A little voice came from beside him. There was an old lady seated next to him. Because of the confused state he was in, he couldn't even answer the woman. Instead, he looked to the other side. He was seated next to a window. He looked through. There were a couple of people and planes outside."An airport?"He asked himself. "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belt. The flight to Vegas is up in five minutes."He heard the loud speaker. "I'm in a plane. In a plane to Vegas?""Yes, you are, dear. Dreams do come true."The old lady beside him said. Damien had been talking to himself because of how confused he was about where he was. But the old lady seemed to have misconstrued. "You see, the first time I got on a plane, it was as
"What's taking so much time?"The yelled at Damien; Damien had been fumbling through his pockets for a while now. He had agreed to pay the caber forgetting that he had no money on him. "I forgot. I have no cash on me. I only have my card."Damien lied. JUST GO AWAY. PLEASE. "Then take me to an ATM stand and let's withdraw.""What!"Damien didn't expect that. "Oh, you don't want to pay? Is that why you are pretending? You are delaying me because you have no money? Is that right? So, you decided to bring to Boldyville to impress me?"At that point, Damien was lost. He had no idea what the man was talking about. "How can someone dressed like you vist Boldyville? You are one of those wannabes who just love to front, eh? Why did I even take you seriously in the first place? You must have ran away from that lady because you stole something from her. Or was it also because you couldn't pay her?"Damien was speechless."You don't even know me. How could you say those things?"Damien felt
"Twenty years are gone now?""What has changed?""What did these girls do to my estate? What did they do to Boldyville?"Damien looked across the small motel room to the bed. The old man from the pub was snoring so loudly it would be mistaken for a raving motorcycle.He turned to the window and lifted the blind. "The day is bright. How did it happen so fast? It was just as if I took a nap."He stood up, stretching his body. "Where could they be? They are obviously not in the estate. Where are they hiding after stealing what belongs to me?""I never wanted to trust them. I always knew that they were shady and evil. How could I have taken such a ris---"A realisation dawned on him. "It wasn't by choice. If that crazy lady hadn't sent that bastard to take me away to the realm, all this wouldn't have happened. But then how could two days equals decades?"The old man grumbled, almost rolling off the bed. Damien walked to him and helped him lie properly. Tucked him in, then walked towar
"It's you, Elisa, isn't it? You are Elisa."Though it was a voice in his head that had given a clue, yet staring at the lady and analysing the features of her face, Damien was slowly putting together the memories. "You have changed a lot. You have grown into a very beautiful woman."At that few seconds, he was mesmerised by her features and looks. Elisa was more curvy, bustier, and her skin clearer. "But then, what's this that I---""Excuse me, I don't know you. I think you have the wrong person."The woman snapped and turned around at once, walking away. Damien watched as she walked briskly away. She almost lost her balance with the manner at which she stomped. "She is the one. I'm positive."Damien nodded firmly. He hurried to catch her. He grabbed her arm and spun her around. "It's you, Elisa. Why are you lying to me. I know it's you. Though you are fully grown now, yet I couldn't have missed you in a glance."The woman eyes were bulging. She looked stunned and surprised. Then
"What was that?""What are you talking about?""Can't you see it?""I can't see shit.""Look closely. The shape of a man is following that car!"A guy in a blue shirt who had been arguing with his mates walked to the mate. "You need to see the doctor. But first, stop watching a lot of fantasy movies."The guy in blue shirt scorned the mate and walked away. "I swear I can see a man. Like Flash. Something like that. Or am I hallucinating?"He turned to look at his mate, but the fellow was walking away. "Hey, will you wait for me?"The car drove into a less busy road. The road was sort of dirty and dusty. Damien kept following, merging with the wind. Because the speed of the car had been significantly reduced, he he had a hard time keeping up the infiltration. Then, finally, the car drove towards a large building. A building that no one could have imagined existed in such a rural area. Damien found a perfect hide and hid himself away as Elisa climbed out of the car and hurried tow
MIRA. A voice said in his head when his gaze fell on a woman in a fluffy white gown. Then his eyes moved to the woman next to her,EVELYNThen, to the next, who had a neighbour, JADA, TENDZELA woman who had a muffler around her neck, with a shade of worry,LAURETTEThen to the one who looked to be a little mature than the rest. ALLISONHis eyes lingered for a while on a melanin skinned woman amongst the rest of the group. She was the only one with a different colour skin. Of course, he knew her even without the voice in his head,AYISHAHis eyes fell on a petite woman grabbing the arm of another,LISA. Staring at each of the girls brought back a lot of memories. Memories which to him happened days ago. But in reality, it was decades ago. WHERE IS CLAIRE? DID SHE REALLY DUMP THE GROUP?He wondered. There were supposed to be ten of them. Elisa was not part of the nine girls. But it seemed as though Elisa had replaced Claire. After all, Elisa was naturally Claire's aunt. A FAIR BA
Elisa led the way, and the rest of the women followed her into the motel room. Damien was almost pushed out of the way. But before that could happen, he had stepped out of the way for them. He looked from one lady to the other. Each lady had a bag. If it wasn't hanging down their shoulders, it was a fancy small one in the left hand. "Don't tell me this is where you live."Lisa started all of a sudden, looking around the room. It was shabby and hardly presentable. So, Damien understood the contempt in their faces. He did know the girls. They were easily smitten by flashy things. He wasn't surprised. He had known them almost all his life. "The mighty and strong Damien is living in this lowly and filthy place. What an irony."He heard Allison say. He looked away from her to the next person who was about to gloat,"What has life done to you, though? Did you lose your mind alongside every other thing?"Damien wasn't really sure of what meaning to make of what Tendzel had just said. Not
Damien walked briskly through the hallway to the small lobby and out of the motel. He halted outside the motel. There were nine sport cars parked across the road. And he could see each of the ladies walking to each of the cars. He scanned through for a while. Then, as soon as his eyes fell on a particular lady, he resumed walking. Briskly. There were already several people hanging around and taking videos of the cars and the ladies. "Oh my God! I can't believe my eyes.""Are those not the elegant queens of Vegas?""I have never seen them from up this close. It feels like a dream.""What could they be doing in a lowly neighbourhood such as this? Did the owner of the motel offend them?"Damien walked past two teenage girls who were commenting on the activity. He walked to a lady who was about to enter into her car. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. "Who is that man?"One of the teenage girls asked. "Damien..."Jada gasped when she saw Damien. He was staring deep into