Author’s Note: Just a little piece that I’ve had in mind since last week’s PM chapter. While it was WONDERFUL to finally see Damien again, it was also very emotional and bittersweet to see him being help captive. Although the beard really helped distract me.
This also incorporates the @Choices-September-Challenge day 8 prompt of ‘Loss.’ Enjoy this little dose of PM Angst. 😘
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damien
I can’t sleep. I have no idea what time it is or how long I’ve been in this room, but it has to have been at least a few hours since Cecile locked me in here. The concrete room is stark and sterile, dimly lit by a single lightbulb swinging from the ceiling about twenty feet above me. The poor excuse for a mattress laying on the floor does little to buffer the cold seeping through the few layers into my bones. I turn to my side, mashing the thin pillow into a ball to rest my head upon, doing my best to get comfortable on the hard surface, but I can still feel the rigid concrete floor pressing up against my shoulder. I think the term comfort is relative in this place.
I can’t sleep. I want to blame it on the throbbing pain radiating from my busted lip where Cecile had backhanded me earlier. My captivity had been surprisingly non-violent thus far, that is, until Cecile had to put on her little show for my friends. Sure, she hadn’t been pleasant during this little visit, ordering her thugs to usher me here and there as they attempted to plot out their next actions. I could tell she didn’t want to physically harm me, she was merely trying to do her job … retrieve Hayden and the information that was stored on his hard drive. But when push came to shove, she was a pretty convincing actress. I licked my lips, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth as I ran my tongue over the crusty wound left behind.
I can’t sleep. The sound of Cami’s gasp when Cecile hit me keeps echoing in my mind. It was a noise that was both music to my ears and sent a heart-wrenching pain through my chest. It meant she was alive, she was safe. And she cares. While the last thought warms my heart – she cares – it also floods me with guilt, knowing she is out there somewhere worrying about me.
I can’t sleep. Memories of her swirl in my mind, bringing a bittersweet smile to my lips. That crooked smile she gives me when I make a sarcastic joke, her resonating laugh when I can actually earn one from her … the feel of her bare skin against mine, the sound of her heady moans when I touched her, my name on her lips. Why did we waste so much time? I was such a fool to never tell her the truth, never confess my feelings … not until we found ourselves in the middle of a crisis was I brave enough to take that chance. I was such a fool. And now I am going to lose her before she was ever really mine.
~~~~~~~~~~
Camille
I can’t sleep. The bright neon glare of the alarm clock on the nightstand beside me seems to permeate the room, infiltrating my mind with an eerie yellow glow. I turn my head away from the light, admiring how peaceful Nadia looks sleeping on the small bed we are sharing and for a moment I’m envious. I shift carefully on the mattress so as not to disturb her, letting my feet drop to the floor before standing up quietly. I tip-toe my way silently across the rough, thin carpet and settle into the high-backed armchair nestled near the window.
I can’t sleep. I look out onto the deserted night street of Paris below, marveling at the quaint beauty and novelty of it. At any other point in my life I would have been positively ecstatic to finally be in Paris. And I was when we our group first arrived. Relieved that we were all safe and away from Eros, excited to be in the City of Love with the man I had loved from afar for years now … until I realized we weren’t all safe and I wasn’t with Damien. My Damien was taken from me, and I hadn’t even known if he was dead or alive.
I can’t sleep. I can see him in my mind’s eye, sitting in that bare interrogation room bound to a chair. I felt a mixture of joy and pain as I observed him … he was safe, thank God! But he was being held captive, he looked dirty and the broken look in his eyes shook me to the core. He maintained his hard exterior though, that stubborn and tough man, despite Cecile’s taunts and threats. And then she smacked him across the face, the sound of impact reverberating in my eardrums as I saw him flinch and the blood trickle down his chin. I must have screamed out loud, he must have heard me, because I finally saw a glimpse of something besides determination flash across his eyes … sorrow.
I can’t sleep. I feel like a part of me is missing and I don’t even know where he is. And it’s all my fault, I’m the one who got him involved with Eros, he was only trying to help. If I had just told him before how I felt, if I had pushed away my pride and fears and told him the truth … none of this would have happened. But now I fear I have lost him before he was ever really mine.
END