THE AGONY OF THE CONDEMNED

[draccone]

The Agony Of The Condemned
Chapter Twenty Eight: It's Been Quite Some Time
Summary: Ben is back but he's not like before.
AN: Sorry guys that it took me forever to update this.


Ben's POV

I open my eyes slowly and then sit up quickly. I frown because Max and Quinn are looking at me like I'm from another planet. I get up slowly and then realize that I'm completely naked. I frown not sure what the hell is going on.

"Oh shit," Quinn says and takes a step back. "It worked."

"Hi," Max tells me. "How've you been?"

"Where are my clothes?" I ask them.

"I really don't know man," Quinn says and shrugs.

When I look down at the floor I can see Marcus' body which looks like it exploded from the inside out. "What's going on? How did you bring me here? I don't remember coming down here. And what the fuck happened to him?"

"You were in another place and well, we kind of did a spell. We needed a sacrifice and he was it," Max tells me. "We need your help."

“A sacrifice, you know you shouldn’t be dealing with magic,” I inform them. “Jesus, why do you need my help? And how long was I out?” I ask them.

"Out?" Max asks and then bites his lower lip.

"They knocked me out or something, right? I remember fighting this thing that..." I try to explain but I'm cut short.

"Wait a minute," Max interrupts me. "You mean the one at the burnt orphanage?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Did they hurt me pretty bad? How long was I out of it?" I ask yet again.

The two of them look at each other weird before looking at me.

"Quite a while," Quinn says.

"Should we tell him?" Max asks.

"Tell me what?" I ask getting angry. "What the fuck is going on?"

"You...have...been...gone...for a very...very long time," Max tells me. "You weren't dead but you weren't alive either. You were with them."

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked.

"Uh, it's been a little bit over a year, Ben," Quinn explains to me. "You were fighting death or something to that effect. They took you instead of Justin and I guess they kept you for a very long time."

"Why didn't you do this before?" I ask getting mad. I can't help it. "I need my clothes and I need to speak to master," I inform them. This has to be a very bad joke.

"I really need your help before you talk to master," Max says.

"It's Kevin," Quinn says.

"You know that once he knows we were doing magic we'll be punished and I'm okay with that," Max says to me. "But I need you to save Kevin."

"I thought you guys didn't like each other," I point out and move towards them but they move back a step.

"Oh you've definitely have been gone for a while," Quinn says and then smirks.

"What happened to him? And how come you need my help?" I ask as once again I move forward and once again they jump back. "What's wrong?"

"You look…way different," Quinn says and licks his lips. "Dude," he says leaning forward a bit. "Your skin is covered in black markings and your eyes are purple and your hair is white."

I look down at myself and find out that they are telling me the truth. Well, at least about what I can see.

"Mmph mmm," Max clears his throat. "Are you going to help me?"

"Help you do what?" I ask getting annoyed. What has happened to me?

"There is something wrong with Kevin," Max explains as he rolls his eyes. "Were you not paying attention?"

"Well, yeah," I say as I move towards the door. "Let's go."

"Ben," Quinn says and steps in front of me. "Why don't you take a look at him? I will get you some clothes while you do that and then we can go see master."

I wonder what they are planning. Well, it's my duty to make sure that everyone is safe in the house. So I might as well do what they're saying. We get out of the basement and walk up to Kevin's room. There is no one around the mansion. I wonder where they are. Quinn goes away claiming he's going to get me some clothes. That would be nice. I try to feel my sire but I can’t. There is something wrong with me. I can’t feel anyone anymore.

As soon as I get inside the room the first thing that I notice is that Kevin is in bed and he´s covered by a white net. The rope is really thin, almost like fishing cable. "Why is there a net around him?"

"What are you talking about?" Max asks me as he crosses his arms. "There is nothing on him. What do you see?"

I sigh and move closer. I touch the net and I feel my skin sparkling with fire. I move my hand away and just stare.

"Can you help him?" Kevin said. "He's slowly being killed."

“I don’t know,” I tell him the truth. I don’t know what is going on with him and why I can see things that apparently Max can’t. I just know…that something is really wrong with Kevin.

There is a knock on the door after a few minutes and Max opens it. It's Quinn; he comes inside quickly before closing the door.

"I brought some clothes you had," Quinn tells me as he hands them to me. “They were in your room, nothing has been changed.”

I thank him and quickly get dressed. Then I turn to look back at Kevin. I know something is wrong. I can feel it and I don’t know how.

"What is going on?" Max asks when Kevin starts to shake.

I know what I have to do. I put my hands on his chest and start pulling on the net, before I know it everything changes. I am being transported away from the room.

"Who are you?" he asks as he stands in front of me with a sword. "Where did you come from? How did you escape?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I tell him. "You were hurting one of my own.” I say and look down at my hand. I’m not holding the net anymore, it’s shifted into a clear pebble. I look at my feet and Kevin is there with his eyes close and looking like he’s just sleeping. I throw the pebble towards the man in front of me. “Stay away from him," I tell him.

This creature grins. "He was where he wasn't supposed to be."

"He's no danger to anyone," I tell him. "How do I get back?"

He laughs and lowers his sword. "You shouldn't be here. You should be with the rest of your kind. I'll find out what's going on one way or another. Do you hear me?"

"You're nuts," I say and before I am able to do anything else he spreads a pair of huge white wings.

Then he flies up leaving me behind. As I keep staring at his figure becoming smaller everything around me is getting darker and darker. Then it's all gone and I'm back in the room with Kevin in my arms.

"Ben?" Brian asks.

I look at him and smile. "Hello master."

"Oh my god," Derek says. "It's really him."

"What happened?" I ask wondering when the hell they got there and how come I didn't feel them.

"You and Kevin kind of were stuck for a very long time," Quinn says. "You guys were like statues, you weren’t even blinking or breathing or anything. We didn't know what to do so we called master."

"Pretty statues," Kevin whispered as his eyes opened.

"Kevin," Max yelled and jumped in the bed before he hugged the man.

What the hell is going on here? I get up and move towards Brian. "It's good to see you sire."

My master rubs the back of his neck and looks from Max to Kevin then back at Quinn before looking at me again. "What the fuck have you two been doing?" he asks angry.

"Kevin was really sick," Max points out quickly. "This was the only way to save him."

"You were using magic," Brian spat out.

Oh, they are in trouble now. They should know by now how much our sire dislikes that. I hear Derek growling menacingly towards Quinn. These boys never learn.

"He was dying," Max says. "I had to."

"Go," Derek hisses as he steps in front of Quinn. "To your room and do not come out until I say so."

Quinn doesn't waste a second and does what he's ordered.

"What do we do with him, master?" Derek asks Brian.

Brian just stares at me for a long time. I stare back. He's different now. I can see this blue light coming from him. It's small just bleeding out of the edges of his body wanting to explode, but waiting for something.

"I can see you shinning," I tell him. "You're so beautiful."

"Oh god Ben," my sire laments.

"What is wrong?" I ask coming closer to him. "Have I done something wrong?"

He shakes his head. "You're a human now or...maybe something else. I can hear your heartbeat."

Oh my god. He's right about that. I didn't realize it before. I am even breathing. Oh shit! I look at Brian and smile at him. "I'm still yours," I assure him.

My sire uses his tongue in cheek expression before he caresses my face. That's when everything turns painful. I feel like I'm going to explode in a million pieces. It's so horrible, like a billion pins being pressed deep into my skin, then being pulled back before they are shoved inside again. I feel it everywhere; my fingers, my toes, my ears, my mouth, my tongue, my belly, my legs, my eyes, everywhere! I want it to stop. I fall to my knees and Brian tries to lift me up but he can't. It just keeps getting worse.

"You're hurting him," Kevin says to him.

Everything is becoming blurry now.

"Don't touch," Kevin whispers before jumping out of the bed.

Brian let's go of me and moves away. "What it's going on?" he asks himself.

"Are you okay?" Max asks Kevin but he just gets slapped in the face.

"Bad boy," Kevin hisses and then moves closer to him. "Good boy," he says and pats him.

"What are we going to do with him, master?" Derek asks yet again.

I can’t believe he’s talking about me like I’m nothing. I start to feel stronger by the second so I get up. "You're are definitely different," I say to my sire.

"No Ben," Brian tells me. "You are."

I look at my arms and sigh. I know I am. It's not my fault. I turn and walk towards the mirror. I look magnificent, I might say. My eyes have turned purple and my hair is white, Quinn wasn't lying about that. This is so weird. I turn to look at him and don't even know how to explain what's going on. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."

"We'll figure it out," Brian whispers.

We all leave Kevin and Max in the room and then walk to the study. In there we start talking about what could have happened and what is going to happen. I have to tell him again and again that I'm loyal to him. I would do anything for him. I don't want to go. I want to stay here. They're my family. They've always been my family.

They ask me what I was doing all this time and I tell them that I don’t know. I really don’t remember anything but fighting with the creature. That’s the last thing I can think of.

"I think he should stay," Derek says. "What do you think, master?"

"For now," Brian says. "Yes."

I am so grateful for that.

There is a knock on the door and Stephanie comes inside holding a baby. "Master," she says smiling. Then she looks at me. "Ben…is that you? What's going on?"

"That's what we would like to know," Derek tells her as she hands the baby to Brian.

This baby feels familiar to me. I feel like he’s family. There is light coming off from him just like off of Brian. I can't help but stare and watch how their energy gets bigger now that they are close.

"You should be careful," I blurt out to him. I really don't know why.

"Why?" Brian asks.

"That baby...he's...I don't know," I whisper.

"It's Justin," Stephanie says.

"What happened?" I ask. What do they mean this is Justin?

"It's a long story," Derek tells me with a grin. "You won't believe half of it."

"Look at me," I tell him.

"Right," he mutters.

"Are you staying with us?" Stephanie asks me.

"Of course," I let her know and then look back at Brian and Justin.

There is something wrong here. I move closer and then stop. I can feel some kind of vibration coming off from them and it's not good. It's not good at all. I take one more step and touch Justin's arm and I am send flying all the way back to the wall. I am able to get up fairly quick with the help of Stephanie.

"What was that?" Derek asks.

"I have no idea," I say. He wasn't attacking me. I felt the jolt of power go through me. I feel so much stronger now. "You two have so much power."

Brian looks down at Justin and caresses his face. "Good," he replies.

Oh, not good at all. I stand there not sure what to do. Even though I'm different I'm still loyal to him, he's everything to me. Even if I’m different I see him as my master, my maker, my life, my god. I would do anything to protect them. But everything within me is screaming at me that I should keep them apart. That energy cannot mix or it will be the end of everything. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Fuck!

I have always taken care of everything when they needed me and I'm not going to stop now. I will find the way to make this right. I will find out what's going on and then I'm going to fix it. It's not going to be easy but I'll do it.

"He will be mine again," Brian says. "Ben, you have to protect Justin, no matter what. The rules don't change."

"Of course, master," I tell him.

"Especially now that we're at war," Derek says.

"What?" I ask shocked.

"Yeah," Stephanie says. "Jericho has turned people against Brian. Come with me," she says. "I'll bring you up to date."

Oh boy, this is going to be something. I really have been gone for quite some time.

The Agony Of The Condemned
Chapter Twenty Nine:
Summary: Quinn talks about how he and the gang are trying to help Justin get rid of his demon. Five years have gone by.
AN: Thanks to the betas Sunny and Helen. I am really happy for all their help. Let me know what you guys think of the story.


FIVE YEARS LATER

Quinn's POV

I stand up from the bench and walk closer to Justin and Daphne who are playing at the monkey bars with the help of Angela. They are having the time of their lives apparently by the way they keep on laughing.

"I'm thirsty," Daphne says as she looks at Stephanie.

"I got you some water," Stephanie says as she pulls a bottle of water out of the bag she's carrying. "Do you want some Justin?"

"No," he says and runs to the slide.

I follow him closely. I look up and wish we were doing this at night. I feel so irritated right now because of the sun, but what can I do.

"Look at me," Justin says with a big smile.

I do and smile back. He looks like such a great kid eventhough he's not. I've seen the things he's capable of. If anyone was to evaluate him they would determine without doubt that when Justin grows up he's going to be a serial killer. I think it's because of the demon that's in him, but then again you never know.

"Take a picture of me," Justin tells me. "So Brian can see it."

I smirk as I pull out my cell and take a picture. Even when he was younger he would call master by his first name. The first time he did it Brian looked at him and laughed his heart out. He and Daphne had been raised to believe that Brian and Angela are their parents and while Daphne accepts that without a fight Justin doesn't care much for Angela. He never listen to what she says and even talks back to her.

"Is daddy coming home soon?" Justin asks. "I miss my Brian."

"I know," I tell him. "I don't know when he's coming home."

That gets a pout on Justin's face immediately. It's been five years and we're still at war. Jericho is still raising an army to fight Brian and his allies. No one really knows where he is hiding but we have managed to find some of his allies and destroy them. They have attacked us numerous times but haven't gotten far; we always manage to destroy them. Ever since Justin’s been human there have been at least two attempts against his life. That's why when we go out to the park; I'm here with Stephanie, Max and Ben, even thought Ben is nowhere in sight I know he’s here somewhere. Then there are three other vampires, whose only purpose is to make sure that Justin is okay no matter what. That’s what they are trained to do each day.

"I want to go home," Justin says as he stands in front of me.

"Okay," I say grabbing his hand. "Let's go Angela."

"I want to stay a bit more," Daphne complains.

"Shut up and walk," Justin says to her. "We're going home."

"You're mean," Daphne says and runs to her mother.

I walk to where the cars are parked. I get Justin in the back seat and one of the vampires, Jan I think it is his name, sits next to him. Then I go around the car and sit at the other side of Justin. The driver, Paul gets in and Stephanie goes in the passenger seat. Max gets on the other car with Angela, Daphne and the other driver whose name I can´t remember. Ben doesn't need a ride back home. Soon enough he discovered that he could transport himself from one place to another, among the many other things he can do. He's a god after all.

As we drive home I think about Derek. I haven't seen him in a month and I miss him so much. I hope that he's okay and comes back alright. Sometimes they say they are going to a meeting but I know that’s not true, especially when some of them don’t come back. Once we arrive back Angela and Stephanie go to the kitchen to get the kids something to eat.

Max and I go to the living room with the kids. Once we get there Kevin is sitting in the sofa staring into a wall. I know now that when he's like that it´s because he's looking into the future. He's gotten better at it. He can be in a trance for a long time and then when he comes back to reality he can tell you what's going on with someone up to a month. It's amazing. He's much better than me.

"Kevin!" Justin yells and hits him on the thigh before laughing.

Kevin looks down and smiles before quickly grabbing Justin and throwing him in the air. This makes Justin laugh his heart out.

"Me, me, me," Daphne says putting her hands up.

Kevin then grabs her as well and throws her up with one hand and then catches her again. He does that for a bit before putting them down.

"Anything new?" Max asks as he sits down.

"No," Kevin says to him.

"Kevin," Justin says. "Show me your fangs," he growls.

"No," Daphne whispers and her lower lip trembles.

Kevin shows him his fangs and growls loudly. Daphne gasps and starts crying before she runs away while Justin laughs his ass off.

"My god," Max says as he shakes his head.

"He never gets tired of that," I comment with a smile.

Justin turns around about to leave.

"Where are you going?" Max asks him.

"I'm going to my room," Justin tells him with a face. "I can do whatever I want to."

"I was just asking," Max replies.

"Go," Kevin says with a big smile.

Justin smiles and runs away.

"We got a few new people," Kevin says and smiles like a kid, but evil.

Even though Kevin is better and can form complete sentences there are times that he acts like he’s a kid and sometimes he doesn’t make sense. He’s been getting better thanks to Ben. I don't know what they do together but it´s working.

"They're two pretty boys," Kevin says and claps his hands before he goes and sits next to Max. "Hey Maxi,” he says sexily.

I just roll my eyes but Max smiles before they kiss.

"What do you mean two boys?" I ask putting my hands on my hips.

"Ages six and eight," Kevin explains. "They're brothers."

I shake my head. "Ben is not going to like that."

"Ben is a monster too," Kevin says.

Oh, of that I'm sure. Ben could be the kindest person in the world but he could turn in a second when someone is threatening him or his. I've seen him fight now in a way that shows he's different and it's not a pretty sight.

"Yes, but he's not going to like it," I tell them.

“They were dying,” Kevin assures me. “I swear.”

I nod and walked away. I hope that Ben doesn't give us a hard time about it. Sometimes shit happens and there is nothing you can do about it. I try to stay busy pretty much all day. I go and check on Justin a few times just to make sure that everything is okay. Right now Ben is in charge of the house while Brian is away with Derek and everyone else.

I talk to Ben and he tells me that he feels ready to perform the ritual. That he thinks that this time things will go according to plan and he's going to make the extraction the right way. So by nightfall I'm itching to see what's going to happen.

Kevin, Max, Ben and I meet in the living room and then go down to the basement to do what we've been doing for three years. I think things have progressed since three years ago when Kevin showed us a spell that could get somebody's soul out of their body. The first time I thought that the whole procedure had killed Ben. He was in bed for a whole week before he came out of his coma. Now he can perform it without even fainting.

When we get into the room there is a woman about fifty three years old. She hisses at us showing us her new acquired fangs. She looks like she's about to bolt. She was brought here a week ago with two others. She’s the only left now.

"Who are you?!" she demands.

"Be quite," Kevin says. "It will be over soon."

"What do you want from me?" she asks. "I need to get home."

"No," Kevin hisses at her and shows her his fangs.

"I'm so hungry," she says.

"I need silence," Ben tells us.

Max and I strap her to the table even when she's fighting with all she has. Then we light the candles we need and write over the markings on the floor with the woman's blood.

"Stop!" she yells so Kevin silences her by tying a black leather strap over her mouth. "Quiet and nice."

Ben steps forward and starts carving symbols on her skin. She fights it in the beginning but finally she stops. Her body must be enjoying the pain. That's what vampires do, we thrive on it.

Then when he's done he starts reciting the passage over and over again before he stabs her on the heart. When he pulls out the knife the tip of it has a hold on the soul. It’s nothing but white energy which Ben traps inside a crystal sphere.

"Good," I whisper.

"She needs blood," Ben says to us.

Kevin unbinds her mouth and offers his arm. She doesn't waste any time with questions, but bites down on his arm and sucks the blood greedily. When we see her wounds healing fast Kevin pulls away. As a result the woman tries to break free. All she wants is more blood. There is no stopping her now, no way to teach her anything, no way to make her see reason. There are no coherent words coming from her anymore only growls reminding us more of an animal than a human being.

"Ready," Ben says.

She gets her mouth shut again and we keep quiet as Ben performs the ritual. He puts the sphere on her chest and says a few words. The light inside the sphere penetrates into her body and for a moment we're thinking the procedure has worked but then the soul comes back out and floats up to the ceiling where it explodes into a million tiny stars until there is nothing left.

"Shit!" Max hisses.

"You almost had it," I say as I look at Ben. I can see he looks drained, which I know happens each time he performs this spell.

Ben sits down and takes a deep breath. "Almost is not good enough!"

"You'll get better at this," Max tells him. “We have enough time to do it. You will manage it.”

"Ten years is not a lot of time to practice this," Ben says. "This has to be perfect. I need to be able to do this so fast that Justin will never be in danger. You understand that."

"We got more time than that," Max argues. "Right?"

"Justin is already five," I say.

Max arches a brow.

"Brian is not going to wait until Justin is twenty years old or more than that," Ben points out. "The first time he turned him he was only sixteen and he would do it all over again. He's not going to wait. Have you seen him? He’s yearning to have his mate next to him again. We got to fix the problem before it's too late."

"Ten years is plenty of time," Derek says coming from the shadows. "So stop complaining and do your job."

Ben gets up and glares at him.

For some reason he and Derek don't get along as well as they used to before. I guess it´s because they are always competing for Brian's attention. I remember when Derek caught us the first time trying the “soul transfer”. I was afraid he was going to tell Brian. So we explained to him what was going on and ever since he’s been on board.

We've been going to different hospitals while wandering down barely lit corridors for years now. We listen to see who is about to depart so we could turn them and practice on them. We bring them back here so Ben can take their souls out and then put it them back inside. So far the second part has not worked leaving back an uncontrollable demon. After that we have to put them down, that's why Ben doesn't want us taking anyone from the streets. When he came back he was more humane than ever.

"You guys are back," Max says. "How did everything go?"

"We're here," Derek points out and looks at me. "Come on up. Brian is wondering where all of you are," he says before he comes closer to the woman and breaks her neck. "Get rid of her."

We go upstairs and talk in the living room for a while. Our master wants to know what's been going on with Justin. We assure him again and again that everything is fine and that we have been protecting him with our lives and taking every precaution. He is satisfied with that I guess because he leaves. I know he is going to go see Justin even though he's sleeping by now. I know that he lies next to him and just watches him for the longest time.

"Go back to work," Derek says to all of us. "I'll be waiting for you."

I nod and watch him go. Kevin grabs Max and takes him up the stairs towards their room.

"I guess it´s me and you tonight," I say.

Ben doesn't talk much these days. I guess he misses who he was. I know that ever since he got back things have been different for him. For one he is not treated like everyone else. They don't see him as part of the family even thought he has spent the last five years helping and protecting us every minute he can.

Sometimes I worry because he sees the people who once took him taunting him in his dreams telling him that they will come back for him. I wonder why they haven't done it all this time. Maybe they have more important things to do, who knows. He doesn't know that I can see this things. I can see it not only behind his eyes, but also in my visions and dreams.

"Here are the new ones," I say and I open the door.

When we go in you can hear a kid sobbing and another one trying to tell him that everything is going to be okay.

"What is this?" Ben asks as he looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Kevin assures me that they were about to die," I tell him.

Ben sighs and moves closer to one of the kids. He grabs one and brings it back to the room where the woman is still lying. She will heal eventually but I can't let her. I strap her down and take her to the backroom. While starting a fire I hear the boy yelling and trying to fight for his life but it's useless. I go back to help Ben once again. As soon as he has the soul in the sphere I leave.

It takes me about five minutes to rip this woman to shreds and throw her bit by bit in the fire. Afterwards I clean my hands with a towel as best as I can before I leave that room, close the door behind me and watch as Ben tries to put the soul back into the boy. Once inside we wait for the inevitable, for it to come out again and die but surprisingly that doesn't happen.

"Uh," I say. "Did it work?"

"It looks that way," he whispers and looks at me. "What do you think?"

I shrug. The next thing we do is put the boy back where he was and grab the other one. We try it again and it works.

"Why do you think it worked with them?" I ask.

"I don't know," Ben answer me. "I'll have to turn them back. Get me the book."

There is a book that has a spell that can turn a vampire back into a human. It's pretty complicated but Ben is really good with it. "They were going to die," I point out. “You won’t have that much time to do much.”

"I know,” Ben tells me. "But I’ll give it my best shot.”

"Okay," is all that come out of my mouth.

"I have to find some things," he blurts out. "Just go. I can do this without you."

He leaves and I go to my room where my sire is waiting for me. I smile and take a step forward and then I see images of Justin being a normal kid. He's having the time of his life. I can see Angela and Daphne and some guy I don’t know. He’s happy to have a family and it’s all so wrong. What the hell is going on? I have a bad feeling and I don't know what to do about it. I should talk with Kevin, maybe he'll know what's going on.