AUTHOR'S POV
The dinner ended shortly after Stanley getting a heart attack. The servants clean up the untouched food, and glasses still full of wine. Wrapping up the blooms and carefully picking up the porcelains. The seats that were tumbled over caused by hysteria. In less than an hour, the dining room was arranged back as if nothing ever happened. Sebastian leaves with Stanley going to the hospital, calling Priscilla on his way out but her line just kept ringing. Lily left shortly afterward, despite insisting to stay over night. Meanwhile Scott stood beside Reina by the window overlooking the lake. Together, they watch Damon ride a lone boat cut through the dark water.
"Any news what he's up to in there?", Scott blows smoke from his newly lit cigarette.
"He's been staying in the islet for too long now.", Reina said, nothing more.
"Why haven't you checked?", he asks.
"I did. It's too guarded. Especially now".
"You're not trying enough, Reina", Scott sizzles the end of his cigarette on the window pane, as he leaves.
"Lily", Reina uttered, stopping Scott midway. "Is she a real deal now?".
Scott looked to his side, one hand in his pocket. "You know what's best, Reina", he briefly said, leaving Reina alone by the window.
Meanwhile, Damon rowed the oars harder at every pull. He crossed the lake, in the dark, away from the mansion even after Stanley just had his first massive heart attack. Every grunt towards the Devlin Islet leads him to a more important reason of why he had to go. For days, Damon had rowed across the lake before sunrise. The mansion slept behind him, its towering silhouette reflected upon the black glass of the lake. Every morning he crossed the same path toward the small Devlin islet hidden among reeds and trees.
At first nobody noticed.
Damon had always wandered from hobby to hobby anyway. No one cares now what he do. At least for a while. The first few days was effortless, until he have decided to sink every spare rowboat on the estate. Everything was easy when one have started asking questions and seeing his activities.
Reina.
It shouldn't be her if only she wasn't too affected with the family drama. As soon as she stopped talking with everyone, she began noticing a lot of things. She became the sibling who caught sudden changes in the way anyone in the family acts. The one who spots Damon and Priscilla's secret meetings. The most curious one asking why Damon rows to the islet. Damon had to add more guards just to keep away from her curiosity. He made sure he had tons of excuses to make her understand. Nonetheless, Reina kept being suspicious, despite Damon reassuring nothing is up.
Beneath the islet, however, something far different was taking shape. Years ago, the Devlins had constructed an underground bunker. It was intended as a gentleman's retreat each time the family would choose the islet for their moonbath. There'd be a wine cellar, and a private lounge. A place where they would disappear on the night when the wolves bathe under the moonlight.
However, the project was abandoned for several reasons. Priscilla thought it was dangerous to party underground, worried that they might all end up buried in some way. Scott insisted moonbaths is for connecting with their clan, might as well spend it in their town. Reina felt claustrophobic in its idea. Eventually, Stanley surrendered and from then on, the bunker has been long forgotten.
Priscilla didn't.
She suddenly saw its potential. And with Damon's help, she have made it functional. It had to be Damon. Priscilla's first choice in her four children to succeed on her goal. The lost son who has been searching where he belong. The son who desperately sought after his purpose. The son who never say no to any family member.
And she wasn't wrong.
They formed a secret alliance that began in that bunker driven by an agreeable thought. Damon scrubbed years of grime from the concrete walls. The next following days, he repaired the broken vents and the airconditioning system. Day after day, his hands were covered with grease and dust instead of ink from corporate paperwork. While Damon performed the renovations, Priscilla buried herself in research. Laboratory layouts, medical equipment suppliers, security systems, and reinforced steel doors.
They were careful, discreet, clean, and quick.
Weeks later, the bunker had turned into something unrecognizable. White laboratory walls replaced the cracked concrete. Industrial lighting banished the shadows. Monitors glowed against steel counters. And at the center of it all stood a reinforced cage. Not for an animal, not for a criminal... but for someone important. And after they have perfected the prison, Damon found their prisoner.
Damon arrived on the islet minutes later. A few men greeted him at the dock. They pulled his boat, and helped him up. With a slight nod at his men, he scurried away with a bag of sandwich. He's late than usual. The realization annoyed him more than it should have. The night became deeper as he rush through the trees, down the mud to where his prisoner awaits.
Damon reached a secret hatch buried beneath leaves and moss, where there are less guards. He knelt, brushing away the debris before pulling the metal handle. The entrance groaned open, as the darkness yawn beneath him. He descended the stairs, one step and then another. Motion sensors awakened the lights one section at a time, illuminating the underground corridor as he walked. The corridor stretched deeper, past storage rooms, the chambers and then the reinforced security door that needed face recognition before it opens.
A soft click sound was heard as he shut the door close behind him, and a high pitched tune locked saying the door is secured. Damon crossed through the laboratory and was greeted by a rotting smell of decay. And at the farthest end of the room, right in the middle, sits the glass prison and inside the Luna lays on her side with her eyes close. "Hello, Diana", he greeted, waking her up. He puts the bag of sandwich inside the food slot.
Under the light, her skin have turned pale, looking gaunt and tired. She then opened her eyes. But Diana kept completely still, hugging herself on the cold floor. She has lost the reasons to fight or even lift a finger. "Eat", a command seethed through Damon's lips that didn't made Diana either flinch or blink. "I said eat", he urged. Still, a glare remained in Diana's silence. "I know I'm late, and I apologize for that... Something interesting happened in the mansion. But I'm here now, so eat", he repeated.
"Who would eat with a dead body lying around?", Diana responded wearily, glancing at the dead body laying on the floor, blood staining the ivory floor tiles and its putrid smell spreading across the laboratory.
"It's just mother", Damon dismissed casually, as if the smell of decay and blood is not much of a big deal. With much consideration, he pulls out an army green cloth from one of the aluminum drawers, and covers Priscilla's dead body. "There", he said proudly, assuming it'd make much difference. "Well, if you don't eat, I will call someone to force you grab a grub. Let me see?", he puts one arm across his chest, and his finger on his temple. "Hmm... Sebastian? No.", he shook his head, squinting his eyes. "The doctor in the hospital? Not quite..", he then looks at Diana. "Kate?", he lifted his brows realizing he had hit the jackpot. Forcefully, Diana raised herself up, with dried blood still stuck on the side of her head. She crawled to the food slot on all fours, reaching for the brown bag that smelled of bread.
"Good girl", a glint sparkled in Damon's eyes. He needs Diana strong enough for her daily blood extractions. "I have good news. Scott drank his wine today. All the way until its last drop", he says, as he watch Diana hungrily gobble on the mixed veggie ham and cheese sandwich he brought. "He doesn't had the slightest idea what's in there because some girl had all of his senses busy", he snickered mischievously. He tosses a bottle of water inside the food slot, seeing Diana halfway through her sandwich. "It has been boring down here, hasn't it?", he asked, sitting down against the glass where Diana sits nearby. "Let me entertain you for a bit while you enjoy your dinner. ", he pulls out his phone and went over his gallery. "See this?", he shows to Diana, who kept her eyes on the food showing no interest on whatever Damon says. "That's the new Luna right there. She's pretty right?", he scrolls mindlessly. "This was their first meeting, I believe. I heard they kissed right away.", Damon finally caught her attention. "And this this is where they watched a movie. They had dinner right after. Oh and look, this is a good one", he shows the screen at the much invested Luna. "This was earlier. We had dinner with her. She looks marvelous, doesn't she?".
Diana lost her appetite to finish her sandwich. She stared at the blonde girl on Damon's phone, with Scott's arm resting on her bare shoulder. Suddenly, she felt the urge to vomit every single bite that she ate greedily. The distaste filled her mouth, gouging out everything, including the sips of water, until she could no longer retch anything anymore.
"Oh my God", Damon groused, springing up. "You are such a handful, Diana!", he says.
Somewhere in that displeasure felt frighteningly recognizable. Somehow, in the way Damon stands with radiating dominance beyond the glass looked familiar. "It's you, isn't it?", Diana figured, recalling how Damon relentlessly bashed Priscilla's head and eventually snapped her neck to her death without a tinge of rue. The Devlin matriarch suddenly decided to free her, forcing Damon to end her life. Moreover, Diana was in awe with how equipped the lab is, and how well Damon, who had no experience with medicines and needles, was able to extract blood from her veins. And now, she finally realized the truth behind all of it. "You're..", a wistful smile crossed Diana's face and eyes brimming with tears, as she look down with a sandwich appearing in her hands. "...her".
"I told you I'll keep you safe. Didn't I?", Damon said, flicking his hand cleaning the vomit on Diana's cell floor. Another flick, a nice queen-sized bed, and a classic crystal lamp on top of a square end side table appears. Then another wave of her hand made a thick woven rug cover the cell's floor. In a blink, Diana's clothes were changed to a white lace dress, and her skin were cleared from dirt and dried blood. Suddenly, Diana's prison became warmer and cozier, but still, suffocating. "Better?".
Diana couldn't utter a word. She went back to square one. And this time, there are no other ways to get out of it. Again, she felt light in her head, enduring her slightly turbulent stomach. She retched, until small veins popped out of her forehead, painting her skin scarlet. Nothing came out, but the nauseous feeling remained.
"You should eat. It could be because of low sugar. You know better, you're a doctor or....", Damon insisted.
"I will do what you want.", Diana immediately dismissed. "I will go with you, but please, spare Damon", Diana plead.
"Begging doesn't suit us, Diana. How many times have I told you that? Don't you even want to know how I ended up here?", Damon pulled a chair and sits down. "I'll tell you anyway. I'm sure you have no place else to go", he laughed, lowly. "Priscilla", he then began. "She had the damndest idea ever. From feigning ignorance of his favorite son killing Dolphus. Goodness! That poor boy was losing his wit, I tell you... Then to casting out Scott as the clan Alpha. It sound absurd but yea, she did. Eventually, she thought that if she catches the Luna herself, she gets everything for her broken family. I didn't have to force her into doing anything, she just took a whack at it", she leans back, looking straight into Diana's barely blinking eyes. Every word from Damon gives her a whole lot level of emotional carousel, doubting if any of it is true. "She's very thorough. That woman? I never expected for her to be so... clever. I'm guessing, mothers have that certain kind of magic when it comes to their children", he scoffs, rolling his eyes. Looking away for a moment, Diana withheld her rooted ire in deep breaths. "Always one step ahead of everybody. The two Alphas. The wretched son. The pack.", she smiled. "She made a plan as she prepare for your arrival. A laboratory in their old underground dugout. Who'd you think would hand her how to build one?", Damon leans forward, narrowing her eyes. "Of course she needed help, but certainly not just from anyone. Who'd she call? The loser son who had no direction in life. Well, you know who it is", he spreads his arms wide open, beaming a broad smile.
"Damon", Diana softly uttered.
"This stupid boy! Too hungry for his mother's praises. But hey, I do love his dedication and hard work. I have to compliment him on that. It took him only days to build this glass prison.", he looks around, nodding in approval how intricate the design is. "Then one day, you appeared in their radar. I don't know which part of hell you've been to, but I was so glad you finally showed up", Damon tilted his head up staring at Diana. "Everything the mother and son tandem ever worked hard for landed perfectly on their palms. I was so thrilled to get you back, but I thought I needed to abide my time.", he continued. Diana clutches on the hem of her dress. "I had to pay Scott a visit to let him know I'm still looking for you so he wouldn't keep an eye on me. And so, I started moving... Possessing this boy first, and taking your blood", his face suddenly turned hard like stone. "But things took a turn when Priscilla got cold feet. That night she wanted to free you? I had no choice but to kill her. I wouldn't want their efforts be put to waste just because she chickened out", he glances at Priscilla's body covered with a white cloth. "Poor Priscilla. She didn't even get to say her good byes".
"I am here now.", Diana said. "Let's end this here. Let's... get out. Disappear. And never return", she urged, firmly.
"We'll get to that, as soon as I'm done.", Damon says, looking at her. "For now, eat your goddamn sandwich", he gritted his teeth. "Daughter."