1. Daydream Believer.

I was standing in one of my decorating dimly lit bedrooms, contemplating the idea of taking a refreshing shower, when suddenly, a sharp beep echoed through the room, jolting me out of my thoughts. I was still pretty full. Damon had really filled me up and a warm shower and maybe a long nap would be in order. Hastily, I reached for my phone and glanced at the screen—a video message awaited me. With a mix of curiosity and apprehension, I reluctantly opened the message, and as the video played, a wave of profanity surged through my mind.

The video was from Damien, but something was wrong. He had somehow taken possession of Damon. This meant that our prestigious pack leader had been sloppy and careless when let himself be captured. He had already done something to him, leaving Damon seemingly unconscious and in a dreadful state. Damon's neck appeared ashen and lifeless, emitting a faint trace of flaking.

Damien callously injected holy water directly into Damon's throat, causing him to convulse in agony. Shockingly, Damon's bare upper torso bore grotesque lacerations and burn marks, as if he had been subjected to unimaginable torture. 

With an air of sadistic delight, Damien approached Damon, wielding a menacing probe that he ruthlessly thrust into Damon's ribs, eliciting a blood-curdling scream. The contact with the probe caused Damon's skin to blister, leaving behind yet another ghastly wound. His healing did not work at all, and that was not good at all. Damon was in a dire state, his body cannulated and subjected to some form of ominous liquid dripping onto him. I could see a few bags being drained into his veins.

As Damien turned his attention towards the camera, a wicked smile spread across his face.

He addressed me, his voice dripping with malice, "Hello, baby. Take a good look at Salvatore. He may be a little worse for wear, but his fate lies in your hands. It's quite simple: surrender yourself and come to me. I'll do a little 'processing,' and Damon will be set free. Here's a little extra incentive. This syringe contains copper birch, a highly toxic substance for magical creatures like Damon. You see, baby, I've taught our dear little brother a thing or two. Just being the big brother, you know. Sometimes, you hurt the ones you love the most."

He callously injected the syringe into Damon's vulnerable neck, causing his eyes to roll back into his head, lost in a state of torment.

He moved the camera. "You know the address. Say nothing to anyone. Don't make a fuss, just come quietly. Well, maybe a little cooperation is expected. Rest assured, I'll release Damon alive. But his condition? That's entirely up to you, baby. I will send you a snippet every half hour. Given the state of your relationship, would you even bother? Or better yet, would Damon bother you? I am so proud of how well I broke you two up. That year was my masterpiece."

The video abruptly ended, leaving me consumed by an overwhelming rage that threatened to consume me. To my horror, they were on my Australian ranch, a place that held so many cherished memories.

I had a solemn duty to the pack, and their desperate need for a leader was palpable. Mariella relied on Damon, and so did the wolves. Immortality coursed through my veins, rendering me impervious to destruction. Everything I did, I did for the pack. Once upon a time, I would have confronted Damon directly, shielding him from harm, but that responsibility no longer fell on my shoulders. He made his choice in that fateful year, shattering the trust between us.

Now, I stood as the alpha, the triple-alpha. The decision before me wasn't difficult. I would make this choice for every single member of my pack. Hell. I had done this more or less for humans, too. Alright, let's proceed. With effortless ease, I teleported, my rage radiating in the surrounding air. I could accompany them, but I refused to be a helpless lamb led to slaughter.

Damien's gaze dissected me like a piece of meat as I strode into the room. He had been waiting, a thin smile playing on his lips.

Damon, confined within a metal chair, lifted his head and uttered in a weak voice, "Fuck, Mimi, you shouldn't be here."

I nodded, my voice dripping with a coolness that exuded confidence. "Don't worry, Salvatore. I'm doing this solely for the greater good of the pack. I will get you out. They need you more than they need me. I am an alpha. This is my duty."

Damien sneered, "Let's indulge in some arrogance, shall we? Fine, be a wonderful baby. Please, have a seat in this chair, place your hands on the armrests, and I'll release Damon."

Damon's gaze locked with mine, his words laced with frustration. "Get the fuck out of here and never return, Mimi."

I paid no mind to his plea, settling into the chair without uttering a word. There was nothing left to say. I clasped the armrests, and with a push of a button, shackles clamped around my arms, extending from my wrists to halfway up my elbows. Damien's delight was apparent as he pressed another button, and a wave of needles pierced my flesh, injecting an unknown substance into my tissues.

Damien turned to Damon, a sinister tone in his voice, "I told you, baby brother, I am an excellent teacher. After all, I have taught you quite many lessons. Look, first, let's stabilize our dear baby here. She's filled with rage, but the cocktail coursing through her veins will help control her. You see, Sark has conducted extensive research on rage, particularly Mimi's rage, and has developed remarkable methods to tame her."

Damon's eyes sparked with a mix of anger and concern. Whatever Damien had injected me with had yet to take effect.

Damien continued, his voice dripping with taunting amusement. "It's quite amusing, you know, how she's forever a baby to me. But to you, she's mostly known as Mimi. Once I'm convinced that the baby poses no threat, I'll set you free. However, I must ensure that you won't immediately attack me, allowing both of you some much-needed rest. Isn't this baby's sanctuary simply charming? Just imagine all the quality time they spent here with Charles."

Damien approached closer and whispered, his voice filled with a sinister edge. "You see, I have something special in store for you. Three drugs, to be precise - novel forms of ketamine, oxycodone, and propofol. These ingenious creations are the work of Sark, an authentic genius. I will administer these drugs to the baby slowly, and while you watch, I'll reveal a few things. Sark has come quite a way in his skill of manipulating molecules and he makes human drugs into supernatural. baby has never gotten them, so she has no resistance, and these are in extreme concentrations. So she will be soon quite harmless."

Oh, how he adored his voice. I really did not want to listen him to drone on. All the time.

Damien continued, a hint of satisfaction clear. "You see, as Sark develops these drugs, he tests them on humans as well. Once a drug is upgraded, it becomes too potent for humans, destroying their minds instead of their bodies. Sark has gained thousands of such bodies, and I have a network of witches and wizards, the dark ones. I have established a connection between these bodies. When one body dies, another awakens. I have handpicked my bodies and created links you are completely unaware of. These links extend beyond my physical form, even reaching into houses. This means that if you were to kill my body, the link within your house could activate, and I might just appear before you. But fear not. I have established links in many other locations as well."

Oh, how he had unknowingly provided me with a purpose. My mission now was clear - to locate and destroy these links, along with the hidden bodies controlled by Sark. Arrogance truly is a sin, and Damien had just confessed this valuable information to the leader of the world's largest underground organization.

What a delight it was to keep my expression composed, concealing my true intentions. I watched intently as Damien rummaged through a bag, retrieving many jars of drugs and jelly tanks. He approached me from behind, making adjustments that caused a slight burning sensation in my arms.

Damien casually remarked, "I've just sped up the effects of those drugs, so you'll truly feel them soon. Propofol tends to sting, you see."

I observed him as he moved towards Damon, tilting his chair horizontally and retrieving a scalpel. He inserted a thick tube into Damon's abdomen, followed by a heat lamp that emitted a warm glow. With the valves open wide, Damien injected copious amounts of panic-inducing substances into Damon's cannula. Within moments, Damon's eyes rolled back into his head as he succumbed to unconsciousness, rendered helpless and trapped in a state of being gelled, with many tanks.

The medicine was incredibly potent, its pungent odor filling the air as I recognized it was almost the same as that from the institution where Charles had sold it to me. I couldn't help but wonder if this was intentional. was Damien jealous of Charles? My eyelids grew heavy, and my head drooped, pressing against my chest. The rage that had consumed me earlier seemed to dissipate, replaced by a disorienting confusion that weakened my resolve. My mind was dizzy. I couldn't think, or try to stay awake.

Damien approached me, his voice barely audible over the buzzing in my ears. "My triple cocktail is damn effective," he said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "It was made with you in mind, my baby. You're not putting up much resistance. You're getting ready, baby. But don't fret, I'll take care of Damon. He won't be a bother for a while."

He explained how he would administer strong pharmaceuticals to Damon, temporarily removing him from the equation.

"I wonder," he mused, "if I released him outside your little bubble, would he recognize his offspring? Would he understand they're his puppies? Or will he attack them?"

I watched in a daze as Damien meticulously applied gel to Damon, exposing him to a heat lamp that swiftly absorbed the jelly-like substance. I had no idea how many tanks he poured into him. He injected Damon's unconscious body with another shot, the sound of the needle piercing the flesh faintly audible.

Damien squatted beside his brother, murmuring to himself, "We could have been an unstoppable team. I could have shown you what I'm truly capable of. We could have shared everything. But alas, you chose a different path, baby brother. Until next time. I can be the big brother and teach you things, as always."

With a purposeful stride, Damien rose and began texting someone, his fingers dancing across the screen. After that, he put this phone in his pocket and looked at me.

He came over to me, his rough hands gripping my chin tightly as he leaned in, his piercing gaze locking onto my eyes. My mind was clouded, my consciousness fading rapidly.

Then, with a sinister grin, he uttered, "Yep, you're finished. Don't worry, Damon will be heavily sedated, but Mariella... well, she's not in good shape. Sark's got her infected. I'll give him that. And those wizard tests. Maybe you can enlighten me about them. As for Damon, he's highly sensitive to copper birch in his system, rendering him utterly helpless. Mariella lacks the strength to do anything, so baby, we have all the time in the world."

Suddenly, three men materialized, swiftly teleporting Damon to an unknown location. Damien, meanwhile, released me from the restraints, stripping away my clothes. My body desperately fought against his advances, but it refused to obey.

He chuckled, saying, "I'm not here to hinder you. No, this is merely to weaken and exhaust you further. You're in such a fit state, it'll be a delight to see you crumble. Gives me much more pleasure when I got this body to about somewhere around 20 kilos or so."

Wrapping a sheet around my naked form, he carried me towards the waiting car. I could feel a fire burning within me, a determination to bring the entire damned ranch down once I escaped his clutches. He had yet again, taken one more thing from me, making me hate him even more if possible.

He placed me not so gently in the car, the cold leather seats chilling my bare skin. Before the vehicle even left the parking lot, he pressed an injection onto my shoulder. It stung and I tried to stay awake but it was useless. Darkness engulfed me, and I slipped into unconsciousness.