33.

Damon was furious. He couldn't help the way he felt. He had planned to meet Mimi in America, but had got the idea to spy on her thoughts while she was still in Europe.

Damon had phoned Adam, who had told him about the expansion of Mimi's network and how she was becoming a good leader. Adam had listed several men who were helping Mimi, and Damon couldn't help it when jealousy rose.

It was just his nature to be jealous, and he had actually rarely been jealous of women, only of the important ones, the ones he was jealous of. And Mimi was his whole life. He'd had to do those not-so-pleasant jobs again, and the memory of the babies' crying stopped when he walked down the hall and did what he had to do. Being with Mimi helped with that pain, and Mimi being with the others.

Well, Damon couldn't help himself. He was strong and old, but he wasn't without his weaknesses either, and his greatest weakness was within him, and he wasn't the least bit aware of it. He considered his jealousy and impulsiveness to be his weaknesses, but they could have been his strengths, too, if only he had known the truth.

Damon had then monitored his wife's thoughts and noticed how she thought about men's appearance. Often, he found similarities between different actors. How Mimi no longer thought of him or their time together in the same way that she had previously. Damon tried to control himself, but he couldn't help it as the jealousy grew.

For three months, Mimi toured Europe and never left him a single message, although he picked up his phone. He didn't send her a message either, but continued to spy on her.

And then, worst of all, Mimi's new confidant, Jarod. Damon spied on his wife calling Jarod several times a week and telling him everything, things she had never even told him, how Mimi confessed that he, her own husband, would never understand her as well as Jarod. Mimi's thoughts were driving Damon into a rage. Slowly but surely, he felt the rage growing until it exploded when he had had enough.

It would be time for Mimi to learn another little lesson, and for some reason, Damon wanted to hurt her physically, too, to make Mimi feel the pain as hard as he could. Maybe then the lesson would go down better.

He was sitting in the shed he had already prepared, a jar in his hand. When he felt the substance was ready, he sank his fangs through the lid, poured the substance into the jar, and put the jar on the shelf. The shelves filled up, and Damon wanted to prepare for this again.

He even had a torture device with him and didn't think twice about it. What was supposed to be a lesson turned into a torture session, and Damon didn't even realize it was happening.

He was observing what was going on in his wife's mind, sending her the feeling that she was being chased, stalked, and he was stalking her. For weeks, he tormented and haunted her, isolating her from being alone and vulnerable.

Whenever she thought she was making some kind of protection for herself, he would show her his power and destroy it, showing her he was always there. He made his feelings for Jarod very clear.

And at no point did he even consider whether it would have been wiser to just shout at Mimi or maybe confront Jarod, talk to him, not when his rage was getting the better of him, and he was being manipulated without him knowing. He wasn't acting rationally. He didn't follow his own teaching about actions and consequences.

 His ability to hide in the shadows, to go into the shadows to hide, helped. There was always a shadow in the houses to hide in. This was the best. Damon felt his vampire side was enjoying the predation, and Mimi's ever-increasing panic and nervousness were like a balm to Damon's wounded ego.

He still continued with the goal of separating Mimi and Jarod, teaching his wife that she belonged only to Damon, and talking to Jarod on the phone for hours on end was not a good thing. 

What Damon didn't know was that his evil twin brother was manipulating his rage openly, manipulating him all the time because the deep and unconditional love between Mimi and Damon was a force that could even destroy him.

But the evil twin wanted to win. He wanted the body for himself, and he wanted to destroy Damon. Over the centuries, he had separated Damon's core and only sort of let a shell or part of Damon always appear and function, keeping himself and his existence a secret. The evil twin had always been self-aware. Their parents had made sure of that.

The intimidation continued in my head, as did the observation of where I walked and how I dressed. He started stalking me again. I could feel it. I remembered what happened last time, the fear and the terror.

It went on for a few days and escalated, so I contacted Magnum, and he told me to be careful, to change the locks, or rather to get a whole new house. I let them know as early as possible, hoping to prevent this. Maybe, and it was significant, maybe...

Well, let's get another mansion, then. I drove to Minnesota, spent 24 hours in the herd house, ate, and rested because I was early, and my mansion handover wouldn't be just yet. Damon made no comment at all.

I then left in the morning to drive out of Minnesota and there to Canada. In Canada, I had bought a large mansion in Calgary. I told Adam about it too, assured him I was safe for the time being, and maybe Damon would come to his senses. Adam promised to talk to him.

But the panic was getting to me, and so was the feeling that I was being stalked. The paranoia, or maybe more like self-protective instinct or something, made me very wary, but, I felt how incredibly vulnerable I was.

The mansion was enormous, pale yellow, with white door and window frames, albeit ornate. It had six floors, high ceilings, and large rooms, and ornate columns gave a sense of luxury to the porch. Inside, the ornamentation continued with fine wallpaper and decorated railings. The staircases were straight, comfortable to walk up, and wide enough.

I stood on the porch and wondered what kind of furniture I would get for the place. It would actually be nice to sit on, and the weather was beautiful. The yard of the house had old plantings, and while I enjoyed gardening, I couldn't help but wonder if I would get professionals to do the yard.

The house was secluded but had no fence around it, and the plot was partly covered in dense woodland. It just occurred to me in passing that the forest should be cleared. Yeah, I wonder if I could use a chainsaw or an axe. It could be an interesting job.

Damon commented on my mind: "Just think, baby, how would it feel if I took control of your body while you were flailing with an axe and made you plunge that axe into your own thigh? Would you get how badly infected? Sure, you would heal quickly, but the feeling of not controlling your body and knowing you are just a puppet that I am remotely controlling. Oh baby, that's an interesting idea, so grab an axe and start swinging, and I'll try it."

Oh, my goodness, the chills went down my spine and hard. But I didn't call Adam. I didn't want him to get upset yet, and maybe he could calm Damon down.

The mansion was empty, and I was again stocked with air mattresses and bedding, ready to order stuff and decorate. I tried to show that I could function, and that I was not now like a frightened, scared rabbit running away aimlessly.

I put an air mattress in a room to fill and got my grocery bag from the car.

Damon said in my mind: "This forest is a damn good place to hide. By the way, if you don't believe I'm here, a tree is about to fall."

After a while, I saw a pretty tall tree fall. Good thing I didn't run in. I turned on the security code and went into the kitchen. I put the groceries in the fridge with shaking hands.

Damon laughed in my head and said: "Good, baby, that I influence you. It's not quite time yet, but I'm not even going to tell you the exact time. Life has to have surprises, and you love waiting for me..."

The voice was creepily calm, and somehow, I got Damon's sense of contentment again. I called Bridgette. She always calmed me down somehow, and maybe she could reassure me I was okay and nothing bad would happen. I just wanted to pass the word.

But when I called Bridgette, and we talked on the phone, I told her about Damon.

She said: "I'm not getting involved. Now, until that's resolved, I'm not coming over. That's one thing that's between you and Damon, and I'm not part of that equation. I have my reasons, and one day you'll know them."

How mysterious?

Bridgette hung up the phone and sighed. It was about to begin, and so far it was going as it should. She said to herself, "My dear friend, for better or worse, whatever you are going through, everything has a purpose, and it's not my place to interfere, but I have a few other things to arrange." She said a few words, turned into a white dove, and flew out the window toward Montana. 

I told Jarod, and he found Damon's behavior fascinating. He promised to think about it and then give me his opinion. He tried to get into Damon's head, and when I told him about his jealousy, his age, and his experiences with women, including the bad ones, Jarod chuckled.

Then he asked a few dozen more questions and promised to see what his brain could come up with. I told him not to contact Damon. He is now so tuned in I can't swear to what he is going to do. Now, we should just try to be strong and vigilant.