[4.3]

Suspended in nothingness Damien is bound within the darkness. Damien closes his eyes and breaks down from everything that happened to him. After what seemed like an eternity of sobbing in a void he opens his eyes and sees he is in his apartment lying in his bed. Suddenly a baby starts to cry and he is further startled by Roxanne walking out of the bathroom “I’ll get the tike” she says as she closes the door. He sits up in disbelief of what is going on and his surroundings as he closes his eyes and opens them again thinking that this isn’t real. Roxanne walks in with the baby and hands him to Damien who is in marvel of the life that is sitting in his hands. The baby coos excitedly at his touch and smiles brightly. Damien starts tearing up as Roxanne speaks “Jamison here wanted to see his daddy, isn’t that right my little one?” she says stroking the child’s cheek. “You named him after my grandfather.” Damien quips without looking at Roxanne and holds the child tight to his form. “Yes, WE did. What is the matter honey?” she asks as she takes a seat next to him. Damien finally looks into Roxanne’s eyes and instead of seeing the warm loving wife that was with him for what seemed like an eternity he sees nothing. At that point he knows that this is all fake and the image of his child, the love that he feels for it and for Roxanne bring him to his knees with pain that drawered when Roxanne died. “you aren’t real, this isn’t real, what do you want from me?” He asks. “Roxanne” takes the child, walks out of the room as Damien hears the baby cry and finally quiet down as it’s fallen asleep “Roxanne” walks back into the room, shuts the door and sits next to Damien. “Who are you and why are you doing this to me?” he asks “Roxanne” looks at Damien and simply says “This is what you always wanted, do you still want this?” she asks Damien. “I do but this isn’t real.” He says waiving to everything around him. “But you can my love, you can have everything you want Damien. You just have to decide to leave everything behind and come back to me. I miss you and so does Jamison.” She says nodding towards the toddler’s room. Damien reaches out and tightly embraces Roxanne. Instead of her smelling like Lavender like she usually does Damien smells nothing. Pushing her out of his grasp he looks at her. He wants to be with her and the child, He would give everything to be with them but he knows this isn’t real. Jay is real, Ezriel and Paige are real, finally Rachel is real. At that moment Rachel is ripped from her sleep due to an emotional pain so strong that it stabs into her mind like a searing knife. Rachel awakens up screaming which in turn earns a boot to her bedroom door as Toni and Nicole burst in with their powers primed. Rachel looks to her roommates with tears in her eyes.

“Damien just died”

With that the ladies sped towards Damien’s apartment while Nicole is on the phone with Paige. After going to their house to get Damien’s spare from the couple under the guise that Damien called Rachel threatening to kill himself. At **** argument and convincing them to let Rachel handle Damien alone they were back on the road again to their destination. While Rachel was sitting in in the back seat she felt someone enter her mind. “Guys someone is trying to enter my mindscape. I need to retreat, let me know when we get there.” She says as she retreats into her mindscape. Toni and Nicole look upon each other in worry but can’t do anything so they continue to course to Damien’s house. Inside her mindscape Rachel finds her other selves talking to Pin. “How the hell did you get in here?” Rachel asks beginning to enrage. “I am sorry I would never do this to someone willingly but something is going on and I need you to reach our common interest, Damien.” Rachel have felt Damien’s **** is distraught, Pin feeling this tells her what is going on. “Our worse fears are coming to light and I need you to save Damien from himself. I can’t go into his mind now but you can.” Pin says as she feels the body arriving at Damien’s domicile. Rachel feeling it also she draws herself back into reality. “Are you ok?” Nicole asks as the pull into Damien’s complex. They descend on Damien’s apartment and enter. Immediately Nicole and Toni are suppressed heavily and pass out. Only because of Rachel’s mental training and her being psychically connected to Damien is she able to withstand and find him in his room. Upon seeing his body limp on his bed She enters his mind and immediately confronted by the entity who is tempting Damien. The entity took form of his deceased wife and was tempting him into letting his body and conscious fall into the void. “If she wins then your old/new and every other realm will die. You need to bring him back!” Pin says inside her mind.

The entity looks toward Rachel and smiles. “So here you are, what are you going to do? He won’t leave me you know. “It taunts as Rachel looks upon Damien’s lifeless body “Damien I need you to come back to me.” She says as tears form in her eyes. Looking upon Damien’s body she yearns to reach and hold him. Knowing his past and the desperation his wife’s **** caused on him she knew he needed to find something to tie him to this world to her. She thought. The darkness closes and creeps in on Damien’s immobile form. “Damien, I need you to wake up! Push this dream out of your mind” She screams to Damien while getting in a defensive mindset expecting an attack but the entity allows Rachel to pull Damien from his slumber. “It doesn’t matter what you do because we will get our piece back at the end.” The nothingness says as it fades from his mindscape unlocking him from the void. Rachel collapses onto Damien as he wakes up screaming. Damien panics as he finally notices Rachel lying in his lap. Looking about he sees Toni and Nicole with an **** look of fear mixed with relief written into their form. “Ladies, not that I’m not excited to see you (he looks towards the sleeping lady in his lap and could feel himself starting to stir). it’s just somewhat odd that you are here, watching me sleep.” He says shifting in his bed. Toni and Nicole look dumbfounded as Rachel starts to wake up and looks up to a somewhat peeved but greatly surprised and flustered Damien. Hanging her head to avoid his gaze and to have ignore her hunger she and Damien shared in what is now known as “The Shame Section” of their relationship past. After some of the most awkward scene shuffling the two headed back in his room for a silent conversation.” So do you mind telling me what’s going on? Damien asked as Rachel began to fill him on what happened. A few minutes later as Rachel fines up with the part of the entity Pin phases into Rachel/Damien’s world with a look of pain and sheer exhaustion. “You need to tell him everything and right now. It is taken me everything not to tell him.” Rachel declares to Pin surprisingly to Damien’s ability to notice that Pin and Rachel are carrying an actual conversation and moreover they know each other. “What the hell is going on here?” Damien asks as his voice starts to lower creating a thick ambiance in which the ladies break from their conversation and focus on Damien. “Ok, don’t be mad but there is a lot to say. “Pin says as she begins her arduous recollection of everything that happened. By the end to say Damien was floored was beyond words. Looking for a way to escape the sheer distress that is building up over what is being dumped on him he simply shuts down. Not saying anything to anyone Damien retreats further into his mind. Rachel and Pin follow to find Damien.

As Damien pushed further and further into his mind he started to swim against a vast sea of darkness. In the distance as he pushes he can see an image form. Pushing closer and closer he come across a cabin and against his better judgement he enters. Inside is a familiar room he is us4e to seeing. There is a table with various stuffed animals inside the room. He feels a tugging on his leg and as he looks down he sees Jay in a pretty sundress who is beaming at him from ear to ear. “Ukle D I have something to tell you” she says as she continues to tug on your pant leg. “What’s up short stuff?” Damien asks looking down on his favorite person in the whole world. While Jay floated around the room Damien noticed something was off about Jay. While Jay felt like herself Damien could feel somehow that something was off about her in a major way. As Damien thought on this Jay dragged him into a marathon of tea parties. Halfway through Damien decides to break the tension that is building within but before he does Jay looks him in the eye and smiles. “I know what you are about to ask Damien and lets just enjoy ourselves before you have to go.” She says handing him a cup of “tea” and Damien for a while hesitantly participates but after a while he found himself falling into the same motions like did with the real Jay. Jay ended the tea session soon after and sat in Damien’s lap. “I know you have questions about why I chose this form Damien. You need to understand that you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. She wanted you to live your life the best way possible. You should forgive yourself and remember the love and life you had with Roxanne. Let it inspire you for greater things.” Jay says as she fades into nothingness. As the room fills with bright light Damien opens his eyes and is back in his bedroom but he isn’t alone. “Ummm, what are all of you doing here? I get who you are (Pin, Rachel, Nicole, Toni) but who are you (Ashara, Zoqia) guys. Damien asks as Rachel and Pin sit next to him. Rachel can feel Damien’s panic and tries to comfort him. “Why were you in my head?” Damien asks Rachel who is stunned by the question. “Damien, there is so much to say and not a lot of time to say it.” Pin interjects and she tells him everything that happened both inside his head and out. She introduces him to Ashara and Zoqia (who looks like the man he spoke to earlier.) To say that Damien is floored is an understatement and instead of him losing it he listens to what Jay and the man said and relaxed for the first time in a long time. During this time the air and temperature of the room literally dropped and Damien felt free: Free of all his guilt over his disloyalty for having feeling for another woman over his wife. He looked at Rachel and was immediately rendered speechless. For the first time in a long time Damien could see Rachel clearly and he was amazed. As they connected they both could feel a yearning for each other and by the looks of everyone in the room so could they. Damien was so lost in is grief and sorrow, so lost in his vast emptiness that he missed the one person who could literally and figuratively feel his pain. Pin asked for the others to give Rachel and Damien some space and once alone the three of them just sat in silence for a few minutes each lost in the moment. Pin breaking the silence states that while she would rather take her time and forge the connection at her leisure time is of the essence and Damien needs to be protected. “I don’t know if I can deal with this but I’ll try” Damien says as Pin turns towards him.

She moves closer to and cups his face. “I need to render your connection to the **** finally but for me to do that you need to accept your pain and understand that once we go past this point, there is no return.” She says after placing a quick kiss on his lips. As Pin kissed Damien Rachel felt something she hasn’t felt in a long time-Jealousy. While Rachel was lost to her thoughts she is suddenly snapped back to reality when she feels a hand slide along her thigh. Rachel blushes as Pin leans over and whispers into her ear. Whatever Rachel hears illicit a deep blush from her and she starts to rub her thighs together lightly. “Damien I need you to understand something. When I bring your connection to the **** I will merge with your physical body and will cease to exist. I need someone to help you with processing what is happening to you and what will be going on. Rachel here with her unique experience and skills (as she looks at Rachel, Rachel turns away.) will be here to help you through everything. “So you mean to tell me that you are going to die if you help me?” Damien says to Pin “I was never really alive so how can I truly die?” She responds back not wanting to look Damien in the eyes. Pin knew Damien on a beyond deep level and started to fall for him. She wanted to be with him and but couldn’t. This was the closest thing she could do in that aspect. Knowing this she wanted to give Damien a semblance of happiness in his life for he wouldn’t find that peace anywhere else in the known. Pin directs Damien to meditate and as he does this she reaches into his mind opening his eyes to the flow of the **** as she and he became one. Damien opens his eyes after a while and is overwhelmed with the new sensory information of his awakening. Rachel took upon Damien tenderly and wants to ask if he is ok but she can feel the pain and sadness building inside of him as he realizes he is alone again. She wants to hold and comfort him so badly so she simply settles for having him lean into her. Ashara watches Damien’s transformation and she is reminded of her husband later on in their years. “Damien, I understand what you are experiencing right now and it was the wish of my late husband and Pin to have myself and my daughter mentor and teach you the ways of the ****. There is very little we can do here to teach you the ways of the **** but Rachel thinks she can teach you somethings from her perspective.” Ashara says waving to Rachel. Damien looks at Rachel and then to Ashara, dread begins to fill him as he looks back to Rachel and asks “What does she mean, what else can you do?” Toni and Nicole burst into riotous laughter. “What else can she do you ask? THAT woman is something else.” Nicole says to Damien after catching her breath. Rachel blushes as she stands up. Damien looks to Rachel as she closes her eyes. The lights in his room begin to flicker as Rachel seems to begin to be covered in shadows. As the darkness surrounds Rachel Damien feels a familiar tug at his subconscious. The tug grew stronger as a voice crept into Damien’s head. “You will never reach your full potential until you allow me in.” The shadows finally clear and Rachel stands before everyone as Raven. Raven looks upon Damien and instead of fear she sees nothing. Raven looks into Damien’s eyes and they are glazed over pitch darkness. “What happened to him? How long has he been like this?” Raven asks as she float closer Damien. Damien is swaying unfeeling and unaware, locked inside his own subconscious battling the temptation to fall and is failing. Ashara sat and began to try to connect with her mind but was forcefully expelled. Raven remembering Pin’s warning about his struggle. “Let me try, If I can’t reach him Ill suppress him.” She says as her eyes glow. “Please let me reach you and please be safe.” She whispers to herself as she touches her chakra to his forehead. Upon making contact they are surrounded by her dark light. “If anyone can reach Damien it will be Rachel. She reached him before and due to that a bond was forged.” Nicole said as the entirety of the room looked upon the couple.