Figments 7
Date Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 02:56 AM PST
Topic Entertainment


Daemon's eyes were lit up with amusement at my show of stubborn pride. "Sooner or later you're going to be very tired of being angry with me, Lauren. What have I really done to you that was so terrible? I took you out of your sad life when you weren't in any shape to go about living it. I gave you a break, so to speak. Ever since you got here you have fought me at every turn. You ran away from me when all I wanted was to give you pleasure." His hand reached out to brush the hair away from my face. I glanced at him beneath my eyelashes. For a moment he looked strangely vulnerable, a deeply sorrowful look on his handsome face. I steeled my resolve. He was only trying to trick me into losing myself to him.
"You want more than to give me pleasure, Daemon. You want to take the power of this world all for yourself. You see me as your ticket to godhood." I could feel the rage building inside me. I raised my head and stared at him in anger. When I spoke again, my voice was cold and powerful. "I've been used my whole life, Daemon. I'll be damned if I'm going to be used by a figment of my own imagination. This is my world. If I die here, I'm strong enough to rule it on my own. You've lost. You may as well release me."

"Lauren, where did you hear this?" he asked, startled. "Did that miscreant Javen tell you that?"

"I got an earful about you from Javen. He told me you did all of this to grab control of my mind. That's why you won't let me go back before I die. If I die here, and you have me in your control at the time, you'll control the new universe that will be born. I am not going to let that happen. If I die, you still lose, because you'll never control me." I kicked at him and he moved smoothly out of reach.

"I think you've been listening to the wrong person, Lauren. You need to take a good look at Javen and see for yourself just what his motives really are." He drew closer to me, warily. "Why was he so intent on stealing you from me? He knew it could cost him his entire existence. The only card he had to play during that battle was you. Neither of us knew how you would react." He smiled brightly. "You behaved flawlessly. You defended yourself and got away from what you saw as a threat." He pushed the hair away from his face revealing the scar above his eye. "You never really harmed me before, even in your dreams. You've grown a lot since you came here."

He reached out and took my face in his hands. Tenderly, he kissed me, his mouth moving over mine like the wings of a butterfly. I drew back quickly, my heart racing. I couldn't let him confuse me like this. I did feel an insane attraction for him, one I knew was very dangerous to me. Why did my sick mind make a figment so appealing to everything in me who was so against everything I wanted for myself? I wanted him desperately, yet I feared the control he could have over me if I gave him what he wanted, my complete surrender. "Daemon, stop." I whispered. "Don't seduce me. It's not fair." He held me closer, stroking my back as he kissed and nibbled at the sensitive flesh at my throat. I gasped at the sensation, electric tingles shooting through my entire body. "I... need... to... think... and... I... can't... when... you're... doing... that. Stop!" I shuddered in his arms. Weakly, I grasped at a thread in my mind. Control. I had to have the control. I had to ignore what he was doing to me so I could be in control of the whole stupid situation. Suddenly, I remembered. I could make things happen by thinking about them. "Javen!" I screamed. "Javen, come help me!"

I saw him appear behind Daemon from the corner of my eye. Daemon had released me as soon as I yelled, his body tensing in anticipation of a confrontation. Javen leapt into motion, like some martial arts master, but Daemon was faster. Javen never touched him. The two were dancing around each other in a fury of movement when I heard a soft feminine voice behind me.

"I'll have you out of here in a jif, hon." It was my twin, the woman I had seen on the stage at the theater. She released the manacles about my wrists and caught me just before I hit the floor. "Javen!" She yelled. "I got her!" She whispered to me "Think about leaving here. Think about Javen's home."

"I've never been there!" I said, panicked. Everything was happening too fast. "Daemon..." I muttered.

"Don't even think about him. Just imagine wherever you think Javen would be likely to hang out. It will be fine. Just get out of here, before he notices you again." She seemed nervous, a sheen of sweat covered her face. Javen threw himself at us, and I thought about Javen's home. I pictured a white house with a pool and sunshine everywhere.

We were there.

I slid to the ground between them, shivering. They knelt beside me, their hands all over me, soothing me. "Is everything okay?" I asked in confusion.

"It's okay now, Lauren." Javen said smoothly. He nodded at my twin and she smirked in a very unsettling manner. She grabbed my wrists and forced them behind my back. my mind was a blank of confusion as I heard the restraints click into place.

"What? What is going on? Javen?" I looked at him in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

My twin grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. "Javen's going to help me get rid of you so Daemon can be all mine, darlin'. You had no right to come in here and take him from me." She snarled unbecomingly at me.

Javen smiled coldly. "Now, we can't go that far, Lauren. We still need her. She's the reality here, the only bit we have. You are a dream to her and she makes the good stuff happen. She's going to make me a God." He knelt beside me and took my chin in his hand. "Isn't that right, Lauren? You'll do whatever I want or you'll be killed here, too. Who knows what will happen to your mind if you die in your dream? I'm sure Lauren would be happy to find that out, right?" His eyes held a hateful look as he glanced at my twin.

"Javen." My mind whirled in confusion. "You're supposed to be my friend... my savior. Why are you doing this?"

He leaned over me, madness shining in his eyes. "You never loved me." he whispered. "It was all about that blond freak Daemon and his oh-so-appealing intensity. His passion. His wanting you at all cost. You were so fucked up that you couldn't even give in to a figment of your own imagination and you made us both suffer. The times I had to come in and rescue you from something you wanted with your whole heart, and to be rejected as just the rescuing friend at every turn drove me to extreme measures. You owe me. You are going to see that I can have the same kind of intensity and passion that he can. I'm just as good as he is, and dammit you are going to understand that." He kissed me, his tongue snaking into my mouth. I tensed and struggled and tried to scream as his hands seemed to be all over my body. I bit down hard and tasted blood as a loud scream roared in my brain. Javen jerked away from me, kicking me hard in the stomach. I saw hazily that blood was dripping from his mouth. My twin stood at the edge of my vision, a strange look on her face. She seemed to be enjoying the show too much for someone who was supposed to be me.

"Bitch." Javen was in my face again, bloody mouth dripping onto my cheek. "I'm going to have you now and there's nothing you can do about it. I'm not going to try to seduce you like Daemon would. You don't deserve that kind of regard from me. I'm just going to take what I want from you and have done with it."

I fought him, but his whole body was weighing me down. He pressed himself to me, licking me with his cut tongue, blood streaking across my face. I had one thought in my mind. Daemon. For once I needed Daemon to come to my rescue. I bucked against Javen, trying to throw him off me. It was hard to fight with my hands behind my back. I thrust one hip and leg over, twisting, catching him off guard and throwing him off me. I scrambled to my feet and kicked him hard in the side, knocking him into the pool. My twin screamed and grabbed me from behind. I threw my head back, hitting her hard in the face and she fell back. I turned and fell right into Daemon's arms. "'Bout time you got here." I said, then passed out.

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