I went to the Irish base and started work. I started expanding our work, and instead of just focusing on the naughty medical facilities, we identified where else we could help the innocent, so I put fleas out at whoon the streets at night to investigate, and I did some stalking myself.
What I noticed was that at night there was pretty damn little activity, or if there was, people were walking in groups and skittish. I found out why that was. My fleas talked to people, and we walked around and interviewed. I even went to a few morgues to ask if there was a problem, and then I found it.
Succubus and Incubus were pretty well entrenched in the human world already; they had no one actually to threaten them, and they preyed on humans. Fine, I got us the targets. First, I called Dresden and Constantine. I talked to them for hours about it and got the two wizards cursing pretty damn loud. They would start looking to see if America had the same problem, and soon, the incubus and succubus would have enemies.
Killing them well, I didn't actually want to kill them all. During my recovery, I had been out on the prowl, and these were actually quite good meals, but as I needed a lot of blood and it should be available, it was time to start a blood bank here, too, or blood farm, whatever you want to call it.
I found a suitable farm. There were a lot of suitable buildings, and I got a group of fleas to finish it. Colin supplied a lot of the machines. He got them built because the fleas were always clearing out some of the medical facilities, and there were all sorts of weird things, but when you took them down, you could build anything you wanted.
Now, I wasn't thinking about the pack, not Damon, not even my scars or the fact that I no longer had pheromones. it was just what it was and I found it was easier to work with actually when they weren't all about to worship me, the pheromones had been a nuisance. We were now strictly businesslike.
Then we went out to look for prey. Now, we would initially go in a group, or I would find the victim. Usually, an incubus, I lured it into an alley and tasted it. If it were strong enough, it would be stunned and put in a collection truck that would pass close by. If it were too weak, it would be killed.
The collection truck would then transport the subjects to the farm, where they would be put in special chairs, cannulated, and their blood would be collected as they passed. The stronger the incubus, the more and more blood could be extracted from it. So did the succubus if we found them. They were also ready to attack the women, so I was always getting them to come with us.
This felt right again, and I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to do. As strange as it is, I'm not supposed to be selfish and do what I want. I'm supposed to do my job and do it right. Maybe every once in a while, I'll get some little moments to be selfish.
Damien was happy, he'd got Bran to party, been to the party for a while, had a little drink, he didn't actually fuck much, he could make a woman suck his cock but he didn't want to fuck, he wasn't a fuck machine like Damon.
Now was his chance. He left the party after a couple of days, went and contacted Sark, and went to work in one of his facilities. He kept Damon completely in check, and he wouldn't have any recollection of this time.
He did the most horrible experiments, taught Sark a lot, and every night, he'd go back to the party and drink. He might bully women, pinch them, or hurt them, but he drank little blood, either. He didn't think of himself as a vampire. He left that to Damon and he thought of himself as a black wizard.
He knew their parents had been strong and actually had family magic, but he couldn't get it out, no matter what. He knew that only if he could destroy Damon so that there was only one in this body would the power of magic be activated, and whoever was in power would become the wizard.
Damien thought in his mind that if Damon ever killed him in this body, his contingency plans would ensure that it wouldn't be the end of him. Not even close. He wondered sarcastically that Damon would probably be a sex wizard then, not a strong black wizard, as was his intention.
He wondered what shape Mimi was in. Colin got anything done, and the best part was that Mimi's pheromones were now destroyed, and with him in power, there was no Damon to fix and help Mimi.
He wouldn't let Damon remember anything but vague glimpses of parties, women, Bran. The pleasure of how he was free of Mimi and didn't have to deal with this. He didn't let it make him too emotional lest Damon become suspicious. It was very important that Damon didn't find out about him, so then he couldn't fight back, either.
Damien went to several flea bases when Sark was showing off his new inventions, and he had his own ideas for them. He could play Damon very well, went to the flea warehouse for supplies, and took them to his sheds. Then, every once in a while, if he wasn't working for Sark or partying, he might do a little crafting in his shed with his new toys. Oh, for one day when he could get a Mimi in one of these.
Then, after over three months had passed, Mimi had been in treatment for two and a half months at least, recovered somewhere in the house for a couple of weeks, and was now at work; he retired to his hiding place again to rest and let Damon come out. He knew he couldn't go on much longer, as Damon was already fighting so hard against him.
Damon snapped out of it. He was standing in the middle of the street and frowned. What the fuck has happened again? He looked around for a moment and realized he was in Los Angeles, and he had no recollection of how he had gotten there. He went to a nearby coffee shop, ordered a coffee, and looked at his phone.
Then he remembered how he and Samuel had come to the house and Mimi. Oh my god, what condition is Mimi in, and what the fuck happened? He remembered how they had tried to stabilize Mimi and then nothing. He called Mimi and hoped she would answer.
I was at the base, looking at my next target, when my phone rang.
I answered, " Mimi Salvatore."I was not bothering to look at who it was. I was in working mode.
Damon's voice said, "Darling, what are you doing, and are you okay?"
I replied, " Yes, I am now. It didn't take me more than three months to get in shape. I hope the party was productive." I kept my voice quite sharp.
Damon grunted and said, " What fucking party?"
I sighed and said, " I woke up in the downstairs bedroom a day or two later, you were telling me how you and Bran were going to Montana, and you didn't want to because of erysipelas and the blisters full of pus, pneumonia and how you were disgusted when I threw up pus, Well, that was because Bran made you drink some version of vampire potion, he sent Samuel to Indonesia, then Adam took me to the base in Chicago where Colin was, and he brought me to Ireland because Adam didn't trust Bran not to come after me again. Colin took care of me for two months and kept me asleep at the end because you know me, except now I wasn't so much on the floor when I climbed up to safety. Once I even got into an air duct, he said, I remember nothing myself. Colin didn't say it, but I could tell it had been an intense struggle to get me better."
Damon said, "I'm sure it was, and I'm really sorry, and I'm glad you're okay. But what are you doing now, and where are you?"
I said, " In Ireland, taking care of incubi and succubi out of the day, they are a pretty bad threat to people, and as no one attacks them normally, so I changed that. "
Damon was silent for a moment and said, " Why did Bran drink me a vampire potion?"
I said, "It wasn't against you. It was against me, a lesson for me when I didn't give you my contacts and for Adam when he didn't either, so it's not an attack on you."
Damon was silent and hissed, " Darling, it's an attack on me. It's time for Bran's lesson on actions and consequences. What happens if you force-feed me a vampire potion made by a black wizard? The consequences are not good. I will get back to you sometime, darling. And be careful. The incubi may plot revenge. "
I replied, "Bring it on. We're ready. "
Damon hung up. I sat for a while, and I actually felt pleased. Damon knew how to be ruthless when he got attacked, and the darling side especially. It was time for Bran to learn that not every action was permissible or he had no reason to assume there would be no consequences for him. Damon was more vampire than a wolf, and he didn't fear or respect the marrok like a normal werewolf would.
Damon left for Montana after calling Adam and Samuel. He'd also gone to the pack house. Colin had sent Mimi's records for the whole time. Damon read through them, including the scars and the fact that Mimi's pheromone glands had been destroyed, Mimi's neck was scarred, and Colin wasn't sure how the scar tissue would heal. Damon read every sentence carefully. He realized how bad the infection had been, and now it was time for Bran to learn quite a few lessons.
He went to get the shed ready. There were many tools in there now, but Damon would not use them all that much. They were more for psychological torture. He knew the party was over, and Bran had slowly worked.
He walked into Montana's house, straight to Bran's office, carrying a bag with him. Bran looked up as Damon entered. He was now off the vampire potion and didn't look in an excellent mood.
Bran said, "I hope, my boy, that you have learned your lesson. If you hadn't sucked me dry, I would have let you take care of Mimi, maybe. I heard the lady is well and hiding in Ireland, coward."
Damon said nothing and picked up the bag he had been carrying in front of Bran on the table, placing it on top of Bran's papers. Bran furrowed his brow and then saw the blood soaked into the papers. He opened the bag and took a sharp breath. There was the black wizard's head, severed. Bran could see it had been tortured before death.
Damon said in a deadly, dangerous voice. "Time to give you a proper lesson in actions and consequences."
He lunged and drank Bran dry again.
Bran woke up tied naked to the table again. He had been a prisoner of Salvatore for he didn't even know how long. He knew he wasn't Marrok anymore; that power had gone somewhere, and he didn't know where. He knew he was weak, in pain, and tortured. Salvatore had stabbed him, bruised him. Drugged, brainwashed, or something, he was terrified while fear and terror took over his mind. He couldn't get anywhere.
Damon had been very resourceful in torturing him. He had never felt such intense pain, and what was worse, he felt so fucking helpless. He wasn't Marrok now; now, he wouldn't be able to command Samuel or Charles at all, and he didn't even know if he would ever be Marrok again. Was he losing that power for good when he knew he was doing and had done something really wrong, abusing that power?
The power he had once used to protect and even heal werewolves, and now he used it to make his own son a puppet and prevent him from helping a pack member. Bran hoped he would learn this lesson properly because the lesson was so horrible, so painful, he didn't think it was possible.
Damon looked at Bran. His rage had not yet been satisfied, and he had felt how Mimi had become a marrok. Well, there was some work for Baby to do as he taught Bran to get in line, to learn not to attack him ever again.
Then after that, he would make sure the whole damn vampire potion was wiped off the face of the earth, and he was keen to get his message across; now, no method was too much or wrong. None. This satanic bullshit with this fucking nasty potion would end and once and for all.
He knew the originals hadn't bothered to do anything about it, as the vampire potion didn't work on them, so why bother? Yes, Damon was more than ready. He would show everyone his power, his might, and his rules. He was ready to enforce them to the harshest degree possible. Now no one would be safe from his wrath if they continue to use and make vampire potion.
He took the golden knife and continued to stab Bran. There was still rage left. And also, Samuel had refused to help his father. Then, after a brief lesson, it would be time for Bran to look for help elsewhere, just as he had Adam and Mimi looking. But Colin wouldn't help him either. Damon savored every stab, every scream of pain that erupted from Bran's lips.
To see and feel Bran's fear of terror, to see him in pain, and Damon taught Bran to leave Mimi hell alone because if he ever did that interrogation on Mimi again, he would get revenge, and Bran knew it now; he had gotten a lesson in his mind. Damon could see that now, truly, Bran was afraid of him, as he had planned all along. This was truly an enjoyable lesson to teach. And somehow, Damon knew it wouldn't be the last, not by a long shot.