THE MARK

It's been weeks since Vanessa's death, but Darius still wouldn't let Damon out of the basement. He had let him out of the chair, but wasn't going to let him out of the house. He knew that once he let Damon out, he'll definitely do something stupid.

Damon, on the other hand, had protested for weeks hoping his father would let him out, but Darius remained adamant on letting him out. Simply because of this, Damon stopped throwing tantrums and had been acting obediently for days now.

If he could have escaped, he would have done so a long time ago even if it meant attacking his father, but Darius was a black belt in karate. Damon knew he stood no chance in overpowering his father.

Luckily for Damon, his father wasn't too cruel. He left him a TV so he could follow up on what was going on in the outside world. Damon knew the Doombringer was meant to bring doom, but what it had done in just a week after its curse was unleashed was really terrifying!

He sat on the cold floor, changing channels again and again in search for the right station. When he finally found one, his eyes widened in shock. According to the news, the outbreak had turned into something else. Every single person who had the disease had now began attacking those without it.

On the screen, Damon could see several people running helter-skelter, but the majority were the screaming ones. Their voices were so loud they could drive someone insane. Police officers wearing protective suits gathered at the hospital front, creating a blockade with their shields so as to try and stop the infected from getting out.

..

"I'm here live from Standridge Medical Centre! As you can see, there is chaos everywhere. The infected just began attacking everyone! Here with me is a volunteer college student, Andrew Mallows. What exactly is going in here, Mr. Mallows?"

"Well, for starters I think we should run! What were you guys even thinking bringing your cameras here?" Mallow glanced around before looking the other way and sprinting away from the scene as fast as he could.

The reporter was also shocked by his actions. She put down her microphone and said to the cameraman, "Jonathan, I think we should leave."

"But it's not even 9:30 yet..." Jonathan put down the camera and the TV screen went blank.

..

Shortly after the TV screen went dark, there was a blackout. The whole basement became dark.

"Another blackout..." Damon sighed. These blackouts had been happening ever since the disease came into light and no one knew what was causing them. The power station confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the grid, but still, the electricity kept cutting out randomly. "That makes it 15 blackouts in just three weeks."

"Damon, can you see down there?" Darius voice came from the door.

"Like you care," Damon replied from the dark.

Darius sighed before opening the door. He shone the large flashlight in his hand at Damon who squinted. "C'mon out. There's someone you need to meet."

Damon remained quiet and obediently followed his father out of the basement. He silently heaved a sigh of relief knowing that he was out. All that mattered now was his escape.

The lamps in the house were all solar powered so they didn't need to worry about the lighting for now. On getting to the living room, Damon saw Stephan laying there like a dead man. His blood started to boil the moment his eyes fell on Stephan. Beside Stephan sat Betty.

Without any hesitation, Damon ran forward to kill the bastard, but was stopped by his father. Even in his father's grasp, Damon kept on clawing at Stephan. If looks could kill a person, Damon would have killed Stephan a thousand times.

"What's he doing here? How dare you bring him here? I'll kill him! I swear, I'll kill him!" said Damon.

"You can't!" Darius retorted.

"Why not!?"

"Because he's your brother!"

"What?" Damon cocked a brow then chuckled. "Please, tell me you're joking."

"I'm not," Darius replied with a smile. "He's your brother."

Damon paused for a second before he turned to face Stephan and started clawing at him again. "That only makes me want to kill him more!"

"Believe me! I hate this too!" Stephan replied, coughing out fresh red blood.

"You shouldn't raise your tone like that dear," Betty patted his back looking worried.

"He's infected..." said Damon.

"Yes, and he's dying. We have no idea how to save him," said Darius in a sad tone which made Damon feel disgusted.

"Too bad, I would have loved to kill him myself," Damon replied.

"How dare you!?" Darius slapped Damon. "He's your older brother! Treat him with respect!"

Damon chuckled, "This... You... her... him... It makes no sense. So, you cheated on mom?"

"That's not important!" Darius changed the subject. "If you have any idea how to save your brother, you better talk now."

"Or what?" Damon grinned. "He deserved it. He brought this on himself."

"The Doombringer?" asked Darius. "Do you know where the book is?"

"I don't know... Shouldn't the police have it?" Damon replied.

"I went there to ask for it, but it was gone. It just vanished." Darius frowned.

"I keep hearing her voice in my head..." Stephan spoke out of the blue.

"What voice?" Betty asked.

"Vanessa..." He sobbed, but instead of tears, blood flowed from his eyes. "She keeps telling me to do things..."

"That's just you losing your mind," Damon replied. "Very soon you'll snap, and probably murder everyone in this room."

"Mind your words, boy!" Darius glared at Damon.

Damon paused to examine his father and Betty. Stephan's blood were all over their clothes. "Are you two infected?"

"No, we're not," Darius replied with a smile. "For some reasons, the worms wouldn't touch us. Also, Stephan feels more better when we're around him. I think it's because we're family."

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Damon turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Stephan asked.

"Far away from here," Damon answered.

"There's no way you can possibly leave... The borders have all been barricaded by the military. The government aren't taking this infection lightly." Darius warned.

"There are parts of Standridge that haven't been affected yet. I just have to there first," Damon turned to leave again, but was stopped by his father.

"You can stay here with us. There is no need for you to go," Darius loved Damon very much, he certainly did not want to see him go.

"If you cared about me, you should have washed off those blood stains off your body before you brought me out of the basement. I could have been infected you know."

Darius examined his clothes and him palms. Damon was right, he could have gotten infected. "I'm really sorry... It skipped my mind..."

"I'm sorry too, dad."

"Wait!" Darius stopped him and went to his room to fetch something. He then passed his car keys to Damon, "Here..."

Damon hesitated before taking the keys, "Thanks."

"Just as you requested I've changed our surname to your mother's middle name. Just in case you're asked, it's Damon Fitzroy." Darius smiled with tears in his eyes.

Damon smiled back before glaring at Stephan, "I hope you die happy."

"I'm sorry... If you ever see Vanessa, tell her I'm sorry..." said Stephan.

"You killed her. She's dead," Damon replied.

"I know... You're visiting her grave, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Damon sighed. "I'll tell her. But I doubt she'll forgive you."

"It's fine, as long as she hears it," Stephan chuckled before coughing another mouthful of blood.

Damon spotted a strange mark on Stephan's neck and his eyes widened in horror.

His father noticed Damon's changed in expression and trailed his line of sight to spot the mark too. "Do you know what that is? It just appeared this morning."

"I do not," Stephan replied, then hugged his father. "I love you dad."

He left the house as soon as he could. He found his father car, started it and zoomed off, not looking back even for a second.

"Aaahhh!" Pain erupted through Stephan's body and he screamed. The blood flowing out of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears darkened in colour till they eventually turned black.

"What's wrong with you? Talk son! Talk!" Betty panicked, and then she started to weep, but instead of tears, blood streamlined down her cheeks.

Blood began flowing out of Darius's eyes too. He tried not to cry, but the good memories of his dead wife and Damon kept flashing through his mind, causing him to weep even more.

"Aaaah!" Suddenly, Stephan's neck was slashed open, and black blood poured out of opening. A few seconds later, he erupted into flames and the whole house exploded soon after.

Damon heard the explosion, but didn't look back. Tears poured out of his eyes, but a smile laid on his face. Then he said to himself what his grandfather had told him a long time ago:

"When you see the mark, you run. Forget everything else and just run."