Damien's newfound siblings insisted on taking him home, Lilith adamant on carrying him like a child. They arrived to find Kitty in a distressed state. He had clearly been crying, and was sat on the sofa staring into space. When he noticed Damien, he leapt up and hugged him in tears.
"Thank goodness you're back." He mumbled into Damien's neck. "I was so worried."
"Sorry." Damien said, wrapping his arms around Kitty's waist. "Were you crying because of me?"
"No, no. Not you. Something else." Kitty pulled back, wiped his eyes and smiled. He noticed Damien's lethargy and became concerned. "What's wrong? Are you sick?"
"Oh, no. I just-"
"He had a massive bitch attack and passed out." Cain said. "We had to carry him home."
Damien glared at Cain. Cain shrugged and went straight for the kitchen to look for food. Kitty gave him a confused frown.
"Who are these people?" Kitty asked Damien.
"Well, funny story actually." Damien let out a nervous laugh. "They kidnapped me. But it's OK, they didn't hurt me or nothing. Then I found out they're kinda my brothers and sister, but we only have the same dad, so it's not full siblings, only half-"
His explanation was cut short by Judas marching up to Kitty. He grabbed his hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed it, then looked up at him with flirty eyes. This shocked Kitty so much that he audibly gasped and yanked his hand away.
"What on earth are you doing?" He screeched, wiping his hand on his shirt.
"I'm sorry. You're just so beautiful I couldn't resist kissing your lovely hand." Judas said with a lecherous grin. "And who might you be, gorgeous?"
"Someone else's boyfriend, you creep!" Kitty snapped. "Don't do that again!"
The embarrassed look on Judas' face made Cain snort. He hadn't noticed Damien's seething rage at his love being manhandled and treated like a piece of meat. His exhaustion stopped him from beating up the dickhead, so he took off his boot and launched it at his head instead. Judas yelped at the impact and rubbed his head with a frown, then skulked away into the corner.
"What did he mean you had a "bitch attack"?" Kitty asked.
Damien pursed his lips and didn't answer. He didn't want to worry Kitty. He was becoming concerned himself. Clearly, the voice wasn't a hallucination. It was powerful enough to knock him unconscious and cause him pain. He didn't know what to do, but he couldn't ask for help, especially not from Kitty. He barely understood it, but it frightened him, so it would frighten Kitty even more. He already had severe anxiety, and the loss he felt when Damien died made him even more fragile. He couldn't push more stress on him right now.
"We don't really know what happened." Lilith said. "We were sitting there, and he suddenly started screaming and passed out."
"Who started screaming and passed out?"
All heads turned to Claire, who had just entered the room. As soon as Lilith saw her, her jaw dropped and her eyes sparkled. Claire didn't seem to notice, more concerned about what they were talking about.
"Nothing, it's fine." Damien said with a fake smile.
"It doesn't sound fine." Claire gave him a weak, worried frown. "Did something happen to you?"
"No, I'm OK." Damien said. "I just felt a bit tired and stressed out. People do weird things were they're stressed. Can we just drop it, please?"
Damien made his excuses and left the room. He wanted to forget about all of it. If he ignored the voice and told it to go away, it might stop harassing him. He could handle whoever was entering his mind. He'd dealt with a lot of dangerous people in his life. He could handle another one, even if they were inside his head.
☽☾
Another resistance group. Dana sighed. The noise of the protestors rang in her ears no matter how much she tried to ignore it.
Ever since she became ruler of Earth, the inhabitants had been rebelling against her. They had grown tired of her and wanted someone else in charge. They wanted a democracy, but they would never get it. They were idiots. True democracy didn't exist. Every world leader and government throughout history had been corrupt. Once a person was in a position of power, it all went to their heads. They start hiding things, lying, conspiring against their own citizens. They rigged the votes to get their rich friends in charge and pretended they had been voted for.
They would never get their utopia. There was no such thing as true peace, no matter how much the morons wished and prayed for it.
Dana wasn't worried. She knew how to regain control. She had the relic, and she was going to fucking use it. They gave her no choice. It was their own fault. She would make an example of this lot to deter the others, and harass Damien at the same time. Two birds with one stone.
She opened the drawer of her desk and took out a small stone angel statue. This was the Angelus, the cure to all of her problems. She made her way over to the window, opened it and held the Angelus an inch outside, careful not to drop it. The eyes of the angel glowed white, and the yelling stopped. All of their faces became vacant, zombie-like. Perfect. She made her commands to the brainwashed population, and they swiftly left to carry out her orders.
She had waited long enough for Damien to step up. She wanted his corpse now, and she was going to make sure she got it.
☽☾
Damien had been trying to relax for an hour now. He didn't want to answer any questions, so he pretended he needed a nap and retreated for his bed. It was only 7p.m. and he was getting unbearably bored, no hint of tiredness at all. He wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. He huffed and sat up. A hot bath should make him drowsy, and maybe some Valium to calm him down – prescribed of course.
He was about to make his way to the bathroom when he heard an almighty bang. He listened for a second and heard more banging, then shouts of fury. He leapt off the bed and ran for the door. Were they being attacked again? Had Dana finally grew sick of waiting?
Panicked thoughts racing through his head, Damien rushed down the stairs and found the others barricading the doors and windows.
"What the hell's going on?" He asked.
"An angry mob is trying to get in." Richard explained. "We don't know what they're here for, but they're not going to get into this fucking house."
A fist shot through one of the windows. The owner didn't relent, still determined to get in despite his injury. Damien saw them outside the partly boarded up glass. They appeared human, but they were acting like a horde of zombies. The mad strength of them together was overwhelming. The barriers wouldn't last. They needed to get out quick.
Before anyone could stop him, Damien broke off the wooden planks blocking the back door. He called everyone over to him, and despite their confusion and the ongoing chaos, they all evacuated the house and ran for their lives.
☽☾
After the attack, the nine of them hid in a cave miles away from Midoriumi. Here, in the middle of nowhere, they were safe. But their home was gone again. They all felt despondent, with good reason. They had lost another place they loved, the place that they hoped to rebuild their lives in.
Damien kept watch while everyone else slept. Alone with his own thoughts, he fell into despair. All hope had left him. He stared out at the forest before him and wished for mercy from God. He knew how futile this was. God probably caused this. Well, Dana at least.
It was during this moment of silence that the voice returned, but it wasn't aggressive. It spoke to him calmly, casually, and he listened. It revealed its true identity. Damien suspected it wasn't just his imagination, but the owner of voice shocked him no less.
He introduced himself as one of the original antichrists, the true Child of Rage, and he needed Damien's help.