Taming Darkness

~Aleera-

As more memories wash past me, I can't be bothered to focus on them. I don't care for them. I can't really focus on anything apart from the feeling of agony tearing through my chest as his pain bleeds into me through the bond. The pain is so intense and raw, so fresh, that I don't believe it could be eased by the most skilled of healers. It tears at my soul.

Nothing I do can pull me out of my trance and into my body. It doesn't matter how hard I try to fight back, how much of my energy and my own power I force into breaking the veil-it won't budge. It won't let me go.

I am forced to stay and watch his memories. I remain stuck, trapped between the pain I feel and Darius' past. The veil forces me to endure Darius' pain physically in this memory state and in the waking world.

Even in my current surroundings, I can hear the voices of my mates breaking through. It's almost like the veil took pity on me and lets me listen in while the memories keep playing. The foreign feeling forced me deeper into the past of the very man who shared his pain with me.

Their voices surround me like whispers in the wind. But despite their softness, I can still hear the intense panic resonating through the few words I can actually understand.

From what I can gather, Tobias wanted to help Darius. I could also hear my Phoenixes cawing loudly, desperately wanting me to come back. They were telling me something was seriously wrong.

Nothing works; regardless of what I try, I can't do it. So instead, I decide to focus my anger on Darius' past. Anger at everything I watched him endure, the things I watched adults (who should know better) do to him. Maybe that could help me break the chains that held me in this helpless state.

A storm is brewing fiercely, making the wind howl, making me more and more aware of my outside surroundings. The memories that trapped my mind caught me between both worlds, present and past.

The more I see, the more enraged I become. Along with my rage, I feel my magic strengthen to the point it consumes me whole. But as time passes, the memories slow and still, this one sucking me back into the abyss of his tormented life. "No!" I scream. I was so close to the surface, only to be plunged back into his memories.

Desperate, I push against the wall separating these two states when I hear a laugh. One I recognize. Lysander. Turning, I come face to face with him, once again trapped in a vice-like grip. My hesitation at the sound of his voice has the memory devouring me, drawing me in, and before I know it, I'm in what looks like a courtroom. Only now, Darius is no longer a boy but a man. He is at a council meeting. Lycus, Kalen, and Tobias are all there when Lycus stiffens beside him. Glancing up, Darius leans back in his chair, eyeing the Lycan King.

"Long time no see, my son?" Lysander chuckles at his son as he passes him. Only then do I figure out where this memory has taken me, the council. Lycus growls menacingly and moves to get up, but Darius' hand falls on his chest, pushing him down. Darius can feel Kalen's fear. He's petrified of this man, and so is Lycus, but he is not scared for himself. He's scared for Kalen. Lysander, sensing a change in the energy, turns his gaze to Darius. "Xandrious' boy!" He exclaims. "What a surprise! I haven't seen you since you, since you were a boy," he laughs, and Lycus glances at Darius, giving him a questioning look. "How's your father?"

"Dead," Darius answers bluntly. "Now, if you'll move out of the way, please. We are trying to listen to what's happening." Darius waves him aside. Lysander huffs but moves when Tobias leans to whisper. "Let's leave; I don't understand why we are here anyway?" Tobias states. But Darius' father was a council member, that position being handed down to him after his death, but seeing those who are in charge, he knows Tobias is right. Darius then decides that he does not want to be a part of this corruption. He witnessed firsthand the vile things they were capable of.

He flicks his wrist, opening a portal, and they rise from their seats, moving toward it when Lysander calls out to Lycus. Lycus ignores him, but Darius stops and turns to look at the council members when another speaks up. "You're leaving? You just got here, Darius." a man I don't recognize says. "I have no wish to join your council. I only came to see who is now running it," he states. The man waves him forward, and Darius wanders up the steps to the podium. He instantly notices Tobias' father. Now there is Lycus'. This place is made up of the vilest people.

"If you're standing down, you must sign the withdrawal, so a vote can be placed to replace your seat," Lysander states. Darius fills out the paperwork, handing it to the elder. He then turns, only to run into Lysander, who has his hand outstretched. Darius raises an eyebrow at the man when he feels an opportunity. However, Lysander, the arrogant jerk, pulls him closer. "You can't keep him from me forever," Lysander mocks. Darius chuckles softly, his grip tightening as his magic slivers ice-cold down his arm. Lysander grunts and tries to rip his hand out of Darius'

Darius smiles wickedly as he brands Lysander. "Just like you can't hide from me. One should be careful who they offer their hand to," Darius laughs, letting him go, and Lysander gasps at the black mark seared into his palm.

"See you soon, Lysander," Darius smiles. He then walks back to the portal, stepping through to his mates.

Over the following weeks, Darius tortures Lysander, just as he does in this new memory. We are in a bathroom, one I have never seen before. It is lavish, grandeur even, which is saying something because Darius does not live like a pauper by any means. A huge spa bath sits in the center of the bathroom that could easily fit ten people, it even has a sauna. Darius wanders around the vast space down a short, narrow hallway that leads into yet another part of this oversized bathroom.

This room is fogged up, and the scent in here is thick with lemon and lavender. Steal billows in huge white clouds, turning everything I can see white. This place reminds me of a spa. Even the tiles beneath his feet are heated. As he moves about the room, he stops by the mirror, which goes from floor to ceiling. The bright LED lights illuminate the room, yet with the steam, it's still hard to see. Using his fingers, Darius writes on the fogged mirror. 'Miss me?' two words, so simple, yet a shiver slivers up my spine in the waking world.

Darius turns around, facing the massive shower that is blasting the figure of the person inside. Darius walks around the space to the huge window across the other side of the room, and as he does, he whistles. Yet, within the tiled room, the sound is different. The sound is hollow, or maybe it's another trick he can do with his magic. However, it has its desired effect because the shower screen opens, and Lysander sticks his head out, glancing around nervously. He can't see Darius, but I know he can feel his presence. Lysander's hand shakes as he reaches for a towel, snatching it off the rack. He hastily wraps it around his body and shuts the water off. Darius moves closer, while Lysander moves toward the small hallway that leads back to the huge spa bath and sauna. He peers through the fog, not realizing Darius is right behind him.

Using more of his Demonic magic, I can tell Darius has been enjoying taunting him, keeping Lysander up all hours of the night, haunting him in his dreams and the waking world. Fiddling with his mansion and the man's mind. "Lysander," Darius whispers, and he spins around, only Darius moves, having a portal ready. He opens another, coming up behind Lysander again as his heart rate picks up. Lysander searches for him when he spots the mirror. "I know you're here, Darius," Darius laughs, the sound echoing around the space, and Lysander turns violently, slipping on the tiles and landing on his hip.

Lysander scrambles to his feet, breathless and looking for a way out. He looks around the foggy room, searching for where Darius could be hiding, but it's like he's vanished into thin air. Suddenly, the electricity in the room starts to surge and flicker, and Lysander jumps back with a yelp as sparks fly from the lights.

"Stop it! Stop these games!" Lysander snarls, fear obvious in his voice. He backs away from the lights and stares at what he can only assume is Darius, now materialized in front of him. Looking at Lysander, I can tell he hasn't slept properly in weeks, his face unshaven, huge dark rings circling his eyes, his skin pale, almost grayish. His hands tremble as he climbs to his feet, wiping off the mirror, only to jump when he spots Darius in it standing behind him.

Darius chuckles softly before speaking up, "You know you should be sleeping better, Lysander." His icy cold voice echoing through the steamy room. Lysander turns, swinging blindly, and Darius ducks, punching him in the stomach and dropping him to his knees, winded.

"How has it felt looking over your shoulder every day and every night for weeks?" Darius taunts as he moves to take a seat on the recess that comes out of the wall.

"I knew it was you!" Lysander snarls bitterly. "Well, who else? Karla? Lycus? Maybe Porter? You have so many ghosts of the past surrounding you," Darius says, crossing his legs and resting his arms along the back of the long chair. Lysander doesn't answer, and Darius smiles. "Just get it over with. Whatever it is you are here for, you want to beat me, challenge me for my kingdom. Get it over with, I am sick of your games!" Lysander snarls, getting to his feet. "That's a shame, I was just starting to have fun," Darius taunts. Lysander snarls, turning to the mirror and wiping off the writing. "I had an alliance with your family. One built on trust. And you pull stunts like this?" Lysander snaps angrily. "Wrong.... You had an alliance with my father, and as I said at the council meeting, he's dead!"

"Is that why you're here? You think I had something to do with his death?" Lysander asks. Darius laughs sadistically. "You kill my father?" he laughs again, and Lysander glares at him. "I know you didn't kill my father, Lysander, because I did," Darius tells him. "I did warn the old fool. Little boys grow up. And when they do, they surpass their forefathers." Lysander huffs. "So you're here to challenge me. Shouldn't Lycus be doing that?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. Darius shakes his head.

"Lycus doesn't know I am here. And no, I am not here to challenge you; I am keeping a promise," Darius tells him. Lysander's brows furrow and he scratches his neck. "A promise I made to Karla, though I like her idea better. She wanted you to suffer, and live your life in agony. I merely wanted to kill you, but now I see what she means; her idea is so much better," Darius taunts as he rises to his feet.

"It has been fun, but I am a busy man," Darius says, stalking slowly toward Lysander. Lysander watches him warily. "Why would you promise Karla anything? How do you even remember her?" he asks, looking a little shocked.

"I know her better than anyone. You see Lysander. You're looking at my father's greatest weapon, or have you forgotten?" Darius asks curiously. "I don't see how this has anything to do with Karla?" Lysander states. Darius laughs.

"But it has everything to do with Karla." Darius stops in front of Lysander. "I can see the cogs turning in your head. Your thoughts, you're exhausted, yet still, you can't seem to put the pieces together," Darius whispers.

"I remember all of it, every detail, every haunting second of her life, I felt her pain, her torment, her love, and her hate for you. She was so young, her entire future mapped out for her. Unfortunately, that map led her to you." Darius tells him. Darius circles him while Lysander remains tense and frozen.

"Every day, every minute, every second she lived fearing you. Fear that you would take Lycus, fear you'd take her, all you did was take Lysander. You took her life away, left her in a constant state of terror. Of nervous glances over her shoulder, a life of sleeping with one eye open. These past few weeks, enduring as they were for you?" Darius whispers, coming to stand in front of him again.

"Don't equate to even a day in her shoes. But to make matters worse, you didn't just t*****e this woman, blackmail, cheat, and hurt her. But you didn't stop there. You made her miscarry, you took her freedom, her free will, her family, but do you want to know what hurt her the worst?" Darius asks, and Lysander swallows.

"You destroyed her. Destroyed how she once perceived the world, you showed her true monsters do exist, and well, you've met Porter. Never thought I would see the day when I would find him a better man than anyone," Lysander growls menacingly, and Darius chuckles.

Darius leans closer. "And that is why I am here, Lysander." Darius smirks, and Lysander's lips part. "I am going to show you what a real monster is capable of," Darius warns before clamping his hands on either side of his head. He's flooding Lysander with every single second of Karla's destruction, of his son's, every second of pain he caused them; Darius returns it and amplifies it. He not only witnesses catching the brunt of his own atrocities, but makes him feel every second of it, feel their physical pain.

Lysander screams, brought to his knees, his body taking on every injury, internal and otherwise, then Darius gives him every emotion, every thought, every fear they felt at this man's hand. His screams echo around the room, and bounce off the tiles, a never-ending echo of t*****e.

Darius continues to pour the memories and emotions of Karla into Lysander, not stopping even as Lysander's screams become hoarse and his body shudders from the strain. Darius shows him every sleepless night Karla endured, every time she had to hide from Lysander, and every plan she made to try to escape his grasp. He shows Lysander how he tore apart her family, and how he made her feel like she was nothing.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Darius stops the onslaught. Lysander lies on the ground, panting and covered in sweat. His body is broken, but his mind is shattered. He sees everything differently now, and sees himself as the monster he truly is. Darius stands over him, watching with a cold expression. "I hope you've learned something today, Lysander," he says in a voice that makes Lysander want to crawl away. "I hope you realize what a true monster looks like." Lysander wails loudly. Curled into a ball he rocks back and forth. But still, Darius was not done with him. He had a promise to keep. Sure, he could stop here, knowing that for the rest of his life, Lysander will only dream about what he showed him. Lysander will forever be scared to go to sleep, knowing he'll be a victim of his own self. Trapped living in Karla's shoes for the rest of his miserable life.

But after witnessing firsthand this man's atrocities, death would be a kindness to him, but Darius also can't risk him hurting another woman again like that. So he ensures no woman will ever come near him again. He sets the steam in the air on fire. Darius watches with sick amusement as Lysander burns for his crimes. Darius then lets the flames die away, only to make the air so ice-cold it causes Lysander frostbite. His skin turns black as his mouth opens. He gasps, the air becoming so cold Lysander feels like his lungs are freezing. Smoke clouds puff out with each agonized breath he takes. Like the fire, it dwindles away, his skin black and marred, burned and scarred. Darius squats in front of him.

"Now your outside matches your insides," Darius whispers. He grips Lysander's face, his fingers digging deeply into his cheeks. "Now, my last gift to you, Lysander," Darius smiles. Lysander's dark eyes look hollow, paler, his pupils dilated, his eyes wide in horror. "Now I am going to remove your ability to ever feel happiness again. You will never know anything but misery. You'll never be able to take on energy that reflects happiness, joy, and love. The only emotions I'll grant you, are fear, depression, paranoia, helplessness, pain, loneliness, and inadequacy. You'll never know any emotion, I hex you, Lysander Elliot Lycarian, to a life of misery. Never feel even a glimmer of anything apart from the negative energy bestowed on Karla," Darius whispers. "Congratulations Lysander, you've now entered a tailor-made version of hell," Darius laughs before opening a portal and disappearing.

Yet, when Darius' pain and power surge through the bond, something inside me breaks. My scream echoes in my head and bleeds out of me. It feels powerful enough to force my eyes open and break the veil between reality and memories.

I can now hear and see everything, but my body is paralyzed. I can hear my mates, see them. Hearing glass breaking. Even the tiniest cracks sound like the loudest speakers replaying the same sound over and over again in my mind.

And then, finally, I can hear the power surging as I force it on them, feeding my mates with power through the bond. For a brief moment, relief washes over me. I did something I had no idea I was desperate to do.

I'm not certain how I did it. Furthermore, I was unaware it was even possible. But when I felt Darius fight with a renewed vigor, I knew I must have done something useful. Wherever he is, whatever he's doing, he has me now, and I will do anything to get him out of there alive.

Just like he chose me. Regardless of how wrong or right, his doings were - he always picked me. Now, I am choosing Darius. Now I accept every dark part of him, just like he chose to love every dark and light-filled part of me.

"He's hurt!" Kalen grits out. His voice is filled with anguish, and that alone makes my heart sink. Desperation overtakes my senses again.

I know that, just like me, my mates are desperate to get Darius out of wherever he is and bring him back to safety.

I s**k in a deep, sharp breath, yet I still can't break the trance. Although I think I have gotten past the veil, broken it, that is as far from the truth as something could be.

Darius' memories became translucent as I peered up at the ceiling in our room. I feel like I'm watching everything through cellophane, still stuck in that transient state between the waking world and a time that has already passed.

All of a sudden, the lights flicker brightly, too brightly, and the entire room starts shaking. Even the memories shake as I try to break the hold his bond has on me.

The brickwork cracks, and glass shatters when a loud, deafening scream leaves me. I can't stop it.

But the moment my scream breaks out, a shift in energy ripples around me, and I feel it surging in my veins as it bursts out of me, white-hot and f*****g furious.

Like a slivering crack in the glass, I feel the seal Darius placed start to ripple, bend, and crack before it explodes along with the light bulbs and the windows.

My breath hitches as a cold seeps into my bones. The darkness envelops me, making my bones ache. While I can't move a muscle, the pain continues to surge through me; my heart feels like a raging inferno, growing hotter with each throbbing beat.

When I finally manage to open my eyes, the room is so cold that my breath reminds me of smoke clouds in the air. Fog fills the room as goosebumps lace over my skin.

The room is ice-cold, like a freezer. Whatever awoke inside me wants out. I wonder how long I could last in this frigid tundra before I, too, started to freeze.

Fire and ice, light and darkness, both combative and yet, both fighting to set me free together. Both sides of me fought a war inside as I did my damnedest to fight his memories.

But I can still feel Darius, feel my mates.

Lycus moves to touch me, but once his fingers barely graze my skin, he hisses in pain. I can feel everything, but I can't respond or move.

His fingers turn black as if frostbitten, and he screams, jerking away from me. "How do we wake her?" Lycus says, fear in his voice.

I try to tell them that I'm right here with them, yet no sound leaves my lips. Frozen like a block of ice, trapped in a freezing room and my own mind. I could have screamed and even that sound wouldn't reach my mates.

Instead, I listen to them, focusing on their feelings and words. I barely grasp the short conversation as I try to focus on the clawing caws of my Phoenixes. I attempt to mentally encourage them to go with my mates, but they refuse to leave. Their disobedience only angers me more. My mates need the Phoenixes, yet the stubborn creatures weren't willing to leave their keeper.

Slight relief fills me as I hear them rush to Darius' aid, yet my nightmare is far from over. I am still left paralyzed in this state. I still can't break free and leave this place to look for Darius. Just when he needed me the most-I was... here... Coldness slivers in my veins as I stare at the ceiling, watching the memories play out. Each passing second feels like an eternity. Even the coldness does nothing to numb my torment.