23. La Tortura.

Damien made sure that I got better, that there was no evidence in me, at least physical evidence on me from that shed session. Only my mind. My traumatized mind from all of this happening and then, when I was sufficiently healed, he called. "Hello, is this Salvatore?... one of my friends told me you like to hear all the shifter stuff. That there is reward? Well, I heard that here in Romania, four shape-shifters had hundreds of kids when some ex-alpha bitch let them breed themselves, and the bitch got good money."

My vocal cords were down. Damien had given me a muscle relaxant so that I couldn't move a muscle. Damon won't believe him. He won't believe him... I kept repeating in my head. He is a freaking powerful telepath, one scan in my mind and he will see the truth.

"Yeah, she's got a new castle in Romania. She bought it. No, she bought it because it was Salvatore...yeah, I think it was Mimi or something. Yeah, four alphas. A month ago, she already gave birth to those cubs."

Then Damien gave some fake name and the address of my castle and ended the call with, " This is going to be fun." Hs voice was a mere whisper. He was anticipating this so much.

He said to me, crouching next to me, "You see, my little implant so also subtle telepathic disturber, meaning, in a way, damon is not interesting looking at your mind. My implant will make sure of it, no matter how much you plea. You are screwed."

He elaborated on various things Damon might do to me. He kept me paralyzed, drugged, and talked to me all the time, but not yet done anything. It was a week later when Damon came. Damien retreated into hiding after he moved me to the couch to lie down, and he had dressed me. He watched until he heard Damon come into the yard.

Damon came through the door like a panther attacking me. "Mimi. " His voice was icy as ice, murderous at least. His rage was like a black cape around him. His aura of pure blackness.

Then he pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at me. It was a cub, a jaguar, or a leopard, one of their alphas. The cub had been mauled to death. Now I knew what Damon had been doing for a week. My alpha side recognized it and even it had been so wrong for those men to rape me. She mourned her cub. They had not been mine. I have no idea which of my feline had to bear them but my alpha side mourned. Damon saw it in my expression or somewhere. 

"That's what happened to your bastard. Guess what? You were right. Yes, I want to kill your cubs!"

I was shocked and said, "Damon, believe me, this is all a Sark and Damien plot. I was in a shed session for a month." My voice was quiet but I tried to make him understand. "Damien fixed me up. I have been raped, autopsied, tortured and Damien had some witches...."

Damon looked at me for a long time and said, "You're in good shape for a shed session. You are good at that, always trying to manipulate me!"

I said, "Damon, look at my past. Damien's Witches is doing something to it, but please, you are strong. I have an implant in my brain. You'll see I was kidnapped the minute I got here."

He also looked at me like a piece of meat. " Do you think, Mimi, I haven't? Every minute of every fucking moan when you took all four alphas. I heard every freaking bitter word that you told them. My fit of rage was not nice, I was too cruel for you, I admit that, but goddamn, this was too much, you whore. Don't pretend it was Damien or Sark. Here you are now, just enjoying the fruits of your labor. What is it, still bitter me being your legal guardian?"

Damon looked meaningfully at the briefcases Damien had left behind.

Damien had won. He'd fucking turned the past around in who knows how many ways. I was still paralyzed by a muscle relaxant, unable to move, but Damon was too taken by his fury that he did not see this clearly. Damon came and grabbed my head and snapped my neck.

I woke up in the car. I was tied up in several places and naked as a jaybird.

" Awake baby, don't worry, we'll be there in a minute."

I tried to think of something to say to convince him. I talked, told him in detail about autopsies, what they said, minute details of my pain, telling more clearly that I had even done it, meaning with my memory, I went it through. I literally tortured myself just because I tried to make him understand.

Damon's voice trembled with anger as he said, "I thought, Mimi, silly me, I thought you could be an alpha. I gave you everything. Did you hear everything? I took care of you, bred you, helped you give birth, and raised children. I was there for you. I fucking sacrificed what time I could have had with Mariella for you. And this is how you reward me! Well, I should have known that sometimes those old habits would surface. Isn't it just a shame Magnum isn't breeding? He'd probably be the perfect male!"

My heart sank. Damon doesn't understand. He always goes back to the times when I've had affairs. He always has to dig up old ones, even though I could have sworn that all those parties and Damien wasn't the troublemaker. So he was really telling the truth when he said that there was never us because he doesn't even suspect that the past has changed.

This broke something already inside me. Permanently, and it hasn't mended since. He really did not trust me. Not at all. I had spent the entire car ride trying to explain and tell him about the wizards and the witches. But no. Pain tore through me as I went, telling him by detail minute by minute, everything, but no. 

"Do you think I'm stupid, Mimi? You're just so fucking jealous, and you think you've invented witches who can change the past. It's just convenient that I, a vampire over a thousand years old, have never met them, and they just change the past in this case. Fuck, Mimi, you're always trying to manipulate me."

I couldn't find the words to respond. Finally, the car came to a stop, and he forcefully lifted me up onto his shoulder, carrying me to the shed. It was like he had another shed, hidden away. Now, he was brutal. I was swiftly yanked into a chair, my body trembling with fear.

First, the cold CPAP mask was placed over my face, making it hard to breathe. Then, a sharp pain shot through my ribs as he put on a stabber, a very cruel version, followed by the pungent scent of herbs and herbal stabber. 

Time was meaningless once when the pain began. It took over my existence and his cold words echoed in my ears. How he saw my alpha side mourning her cubs, how my betrayal was too much for him to forgive. After an eternity in the stabber, he switched to the next machine.

Once, he tied me tightly to a standing frame and unleashed a storm of blows and kicks, the sound of his rage echoing in my ears. He whipped me relentlessly, his screams filling the air. I repeated the same story repeatedly, hoping someway he would understand, praying that he would peer into my mind and see that the past had been altered.

Finally, Damon grew bored, crushing my throat with his hands, his voice dripping with seething anger as he muttered, "Shut the fuck up already!"

One device after another. He secured me to a metal plate, nailing my wrists and knees this time. Then, with a press of a button, the device began to lower me into a tank of liquid. At first, the warmth enveloped me, lifting me off my feet. But as the device descended further, the water grew hotter and hotter. 

The machine relentlessly pushed me into scalding water until eventually, my skin began to boil off, sliding off upon contact and falling away. Damon approached, removing what was left of my skin. Thankfully, the pain had ceased by then, as it was already dead tissue, but the stench that filled the room was overpowering, a sickening mixture of burnt flesh and decay.

My bones were mercilessly crushed, the sound of hammering, kicking, punching, and even the piercing strike of a chisel reverberated through the air. The intense pain fueled my heightened metabolism.

Amidst the agony, I caught his explanation about the protector radar, once being a glimmer of hope. Now he used it against me. Seeing my state, he told me that he would not kill me; he was just punishing me. And this would not be the only time. There would be more. Every time he had free time, he would make a session. Because I was a betraying whore, doing cubs for money, and this, he wanted to torture me forever.

My muscles, poisoned and torn, screamed in torment. Damon forced me into a chair, its sides emerging like sinister mouths, their sharp metallic edges gnawing away at my skin, devouring my muscles, and even gnashing on my bones.

He relentlessly squeezed my throat, restricting my breath. He kept my throat crushed, me unable to speak a word. With each passing moment, he forcefully injected one ball of his will after another into my already overwhelmed mind. The pressure was unbearable, crushing my sanity.

During the month Damon mercilessly ravaged me, my weight dwindled by half. He injected my womb with chrome beryllium and barium, preventing any possibility of life. He declared that I no longer needed to earn money. The weight of fear, terror, and drugs burdened me, as I was forced to wear an almost suffocating CPAP mask. Panic took over my mind, crushing my soul, my will, and my love for him. 

And then, when I reached a mere 34 kilos, he finally ceased his torment. "This, Mimi, marks the end of a month-long shed session. Never dare to deceive me again by claiming to have experienced it at 68 kilos," he sneered. "Now, I shall grant you one final gift." He presented a bag filled with jelly-like substances, panic-inducing prescription drugs, and countless doses.

He opened me up, smearing the viscous concoction onto my vulnerable abdominal cavity, allowing it to drain into me. Rubbing my abdomen, he ensured that the drugs took effect, administering a 500 dose to my heart. He cruelly extracted my vampire fangs, filling the cavities with cobalt. It burned its way into my skull. No more fangs. 

I was left defenseless, devoid of any means to fight back. The drugs took hold, numbing my senses. I knew I had reached the end. Survival was my only goal. I resolved to escape this pack, to start anew in a distant place. There was no more between us, no love for him. I was crushed physically, mentally, and emotionally. I was a mere shell. 

Damon drove me back to the castle, the soothing purr of the engine providing a backdrop to my shattered existence. As he carried me inside, the unmistakable scent of aged wood filled my nostrils, bringing a fleeting sense of comfort. With hate in his eyes, he laid me down on a plush couch, the cool fabric a gentle relief against my ravaged skin. He looked at me like a piece of meat. I was nothing to him. Yet my alpha side was still mourning her cubs and she hated Damon. 

The room echoed with a soft clapping; the sound bouncing off the stone walls.

"Bravo, bravo, an exquisite session, my brother." Damien's languid voice resonated in the air.

I watched as he leisurely approached Damon, each step creating a muffled thud on the polished floor. A wave of relief washed over me, knowing that Damon had finally come to believe me. Damien stood before him, his presence commanding, a testament to his authority. This was the proof that I had not lied to him.

"Damien?" Damon questioned, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

Damien nodded, his eyes fixed on his brother. With a hint of curiosity, Damien asked, "Do you still have a use for it, or can I handle it? It looks like there's a little bit of spunk left."

Then, to my astonishment, Damon did something I never anticipated. "By all means, I have no further use for that piece of junk. Kill her for me. You whore. Show her how Salvatore does it. She is no longer Salvatore."

Damon's words dripped with venom. Damien extended his hand towards Damon, a silent agreement passing between them. They actually shook hands. I watched in disbelief, my heart sinking.

As Damon walked past me, he abruptly halted and spat in my direction.

His cruel words cut through the air, directed at Damien. "Think about how much I sacrificed with that piece of shit. It really wasn't worth it. Fucking you was a disappointment for a long time, Mimi, and you haven't improved."

Without a backward glance, Damon departed, leaving me shattered.

Damien approached me, his presence looming. "Shall we move on, Baby? No need to be gentle now. I told you, you're gonna learn new things about Damon," he murmured. He took his cell phone from his pocket, called Mr. Sark, and told him that the plan could go ahead, and he was about to enjoy himself in the shed if The boss wanted to come to take part in it.

My mind was stuck on what Damon had done to me. What he has spoken to me. I realized that he did not believe me, not in the way that you are supposed to believe someone you love. I guess no one does, and it is because of my pretender skill. My sore body, my hollow mind, pondered these questions. The realization just hit me like a ton of bricks. 

At that moment, something inside me shattered, the sound of the crack resonating in my ears. It was a piece of myself that I knew could never be repaired, nor did I want it to be. The pain was too overwhelming.

Even to this day, the wound remains open, and Damon is aware of it. Sometimes, his gaze holds regret, a longing for the days when I was whole. But that version of Mimi is long gone. I am scarred, and broken, countless times over, and I will never be complete again. He knows it; he knows how deeply he has wounded me, multiple times. Yet, I am resilient, unbreakable, immortal. I will endure, with my scars etched into my very being, forever.