Long time No see Locked myself in Without a key

What is Beauty Where is the other Version of me

Like the Black Forest Filled with dead tress Seems like it’s all crying I feel like it’s not as melancholy

Then I hear a whisper in the breeze A slight noise of hope A slight little tease Not as melancholy

A faint noise of song One that has a steady beat It lifts you up So your not as melancholy

The song gets louder The hope gets higher And as the smile spreads It doesn’t tire

The leaves come back to the tree And they don’t go away It’s the eye of the storm In the hurricane

Long time Happy Unlocking doors That need a key

Don’t need Beauty I found the other verison of me No longer melancholy

Long time no see. Locked myself in without a key.

Which version is even me?

I’ve gotta book Of what they say Heartbreak Is the highest price to pay.

Opinion upon opinion My thoughts Pinned under their dominion.

Guys and Girls can’t be friends Mental games I don’t care to contend.

What’s real, And how much I’ll have to heal?

If I cannot reach that other side, My only choice is to hide.

Each and every ship sinks Reaching that bitter sweet end

So I’ll ignore that pink And every confidential wink

Guys and girls can’t be friends.

That’s why I must reenforce

Each and every rule that bends.

Changing our crash course,

We are strangers.

Until it is all Water under the bridge.

If loving you was a crime, I’d be a guilty man.

And if you knew just who I was, You’d leave while you still can.

If being with you didn’t feel so right, It wouldn’t change the plan.

And if I wasn’t so afraid, Maybe I’d hold your hand.

~Damian’s POV~

I stared down at Vesper as she slept in the sick bed. She had fallen asleep a few hours ago and I was slightly worried that she wouldn’t wake up. That idea had formed in my mind recently. It was the worry that she wouldn’t be ok. That she would die and I wouldn’t be able to help her. I would be the one to blame.

The moment that vampire bit her, I had felt worry and concern pulse through me. I had felt a terror that was unusual and unexpected. It caused me to stab the vampire through the heart and flee with Vesper. I ran as fast I possibly could. I knew the affects of vampire venom and knew that she needed help instantly.

She’d woken up hours before. Her family explained to her what happened and then left her with me. They left her in my care. She had been in my care at the festival and this had happened. I wasn’t sure that I was good enough to watch over her. I had caused this.

I decided now would be a good time to leave. My father had told me that we had a vampire captive to interrogate. I didn’t want to go, but then I looked at Vesper, unconscious and injured, I knew I had to.

I closed the door after peeking at her one more time. She was asleep. Good. This shouldn’t take long.

I made my way down the hallway. My mind was racing. I couldn’t help it. All I could think about was Vesper being bitten. I needed to hurt something. I needed to do something. I needed to get revenge for her.

I made my way to the dungeons. My brother, Lucian, was standing outside the door, leaning against it. He had a dagger in his hand and was tossing it up and down, carelessly. My brother may have been intelligent but he was careless and cocky. It was going to get him killed.

“Thought you were never going to arrive. I was almost worried you lost your touch.” He said.

I glared at him. “I was charged with watching Vesper.”

“You’re on first name basis, now?”

“Jealous?” I teased.

He rolled his eyes. “Stop it. You know that you’re just going to get hurt. She just wants the playboy part of you.”

I paused for a second. My brother was smart, but he never had any romantic interests ever. It was never into girls. He found himself alone most of the time. What did he know about girls?

“Leave me alone. I have a job to do.” I said and moved into the dungeons.

My father noticed me instantly. “There you are.” He said.

I nodded to him. “What do you have for me?”

I joined him by the edge of a cell. “We captured a male vampire. He seems to be important, but he won’t say anything. I figured that you could get him to talk.”

I nodded. I was good at torture. It was a horrible thing really. I hated doing it, but I knew how to weaken people. Except Vesper…

I never knew how to get in that girl’s mind. At first, I thought she was basic. I thought she would completely judge my family. But then she befriended Elle. I knew she would be different. Elle threatened me to leave her alone and not to steal her friend.

She intrigued me.

I stared at the vampire. He was absolutely gorgeous. He had a glint in his eye that said that he was seven steps ahead of us. It unnerved me, but helped me form a plan. He was cocky.

His clothes were well groomed. His hair was slicked back. He was grinning and laying leisurely against the wall. He was very cocky.

“Alright. I’ve got this.” I said.

I entered the cell and sat down on the table in front of him. He eyed me up almost instantly. “What’s your name?” I asked.

“None of your business.” He replied.

I nodded. “Well, vampire, I hear you have information about the vampires attacking us.”

He scoffed. “What makes you think that?”

“Your clothes. Your clothes tell me that your a high class officer. You’re close to the king.” I stated.

A little bit of panic seemed in his eyes, but he hid it well. “So? I’m not going to tell you anything.”

“Sure. You’ve been living away from humans for a while, right?” Redirect the question.

“Maybe.”

“You must be very hungry for a vampire who hasn’t fed on human blood for a few centuries.”

He blanched.

I grinned. “That’s rough. I’m human, so I have no idea what that’s like, but I can imagine it hurts a lot. I bet it’s killing you. I bet you just want to sink your teeth into the closest human, which would be me.”

He struggled uncomfortably. I smirked. Pathetic. He might have been a vampire, but he still had his weaknesses.

“Tell me what you know and I’ll let you bite me.”

I heard a noise of protest outside of the cell. It was probably a soldier. Both my father and brother knew the consequences. They weren’t going to stop me.

“You wouldn’t.” He said.

He had no idea who his friends hurt. He had no idea how badly I wanted information. He had no idea who I was trying to protect.

“I would.”

He hesitated before saying, “We’re going to attack again soon. My king, Azalaric, is tired of the humans reaching out to our ancestors. He wants to burn all bridges. He wants to divide the kingdom.”

I smirked. “Thank you for your help. I guess you deserve a reward.”

I rolled up my sleeve and held out my arm to him. This was going to hurt. I braced myself as he eagerly sunk his teeth into my wrist. It was painful at first. It took all my willpower not to cry out. My breaths turned heavy and ragged.

Suddenly, he pulled away and cried out in pain. He let out a strangled scream. “Who are you?” He screamed.

“Damian Vampire. It would have been wise to ask my name in the beginning of this interrogation, but you’ve been very helpful.” I said and left.

The guard gave me a rag to hold against my wrist until it stopped bleeding. I walked out of the dungeons almost instantly. I wanted to get as far away from him as I could. I was disgusted by him.

I walked for a while until I saw a shadowy figure that I recognized.

“Sunshine?” I asked.

Vesper turned around and saw me. She nodded to me. Oh moonless nights, what was she doing out of bed? I ran over to her instantly and pulled her into my arms.

“What are you doing out here?” I asked her.

“I woke up alone.” She mumbled.

Dear nights. What have I done? I scooped her up and began to carry her to her room. “I’m sorry, sunshine, I shouldn’t have left.” I shouldn’t have. I knew what I did was the help, but Vesper had injured herself more by trying to find me. How stupid was I?

“Where were you?” She asked me.

“Taking care of unimportant things.” I pushed open the door to her room. “I’m sorry.”

I placed her down on the bed and tucked her in. I wanted her to be comfy. I wanted this to be my apology. I was about to move when she said, “Stay with me.”

I paused. “What?”

Did I hear that right?

“Stay with me.” She opened up her arms for me to crawl into bed with her.

No. This couldn’t be happening. She was delusional. She would regret asking me to be here. She would be like all the other girls. Using me for fame. What was this?

She wasn’t like that though. She would regret this in the morning. She would hate me. She would despise me.

But I didn’t want to think about later. I didn’t want to disappoint her anymore. If I did, I didn’t know how I would bear it.

I crawled into her arms and pulled her close. I felt her warmth wash over me. She was rigid, but then relaxed into me. Oh moonless nights, she had no idea how amazing she felt.

“Goodnight, Damian.” She said.

“Goodnight, sunshine.”

Within me there’s an ocean vast and deep, endless and cold and dark as the sky on an overcast night. I fear often that if I misstep, I might slip and plunge into its depths, that it might consume me, rendering me nothing but a soul drowned in my own well.

Curious that my body can contain its infinity, the ponderous swell of it, small as I am. But that’s just it- it’s always there, exerting pressure, pushing at the seams, bruising me from the inside out, and threatening to leak out slowly from my eyes only to fill my room, a deluge, a flood, another way to drown, to choke, to succumb.

It’s been this way since I could first remember being; the knowledge of it, the foresight of bad times, the cuffs of my pants soaking wet and frigid. Even when the ocean’s surface is placid, I’ve feared disturbing it, wished I was a better swimmer or that the waters could at least be warm.

Is it like this way for everyone? Or have others learned how to become seafaring folk- to build boats, to fish, to coexist with the vastness of their own personal oceans? I know others have the same thing inside of them, at least some people, because I’ve seen many a soul sink below their own black waves, some of them never to rise to the surface again.

The night spreads, thick as velvet, a dark weight pressing close, and I lie in its arms, swallowed by the silence— no stars to guide, no moon to soften, only the shadows, breathing beside me.

Beneath this hush, a scream coils, silent, fierce, rising sharp, a raw cry clawing its way up— caught in my chest like jagged glass, its edge scraping, ripping through the tender walls of my heart.

The peace of night is thin, stretched, like fragile skin over something wild. It hums, yes— but with the ache of an open wound, a pulse that drags me deeper into the hollow quiet.

I feel it, a dark presence here, an echo filling every breath, as if my pain is a heartbeat too, beating its own steady rhythm, pressed close in the shadows, woven tight.

I press my palms to my ribs, trying to cage the storm within— but it’s feral, relentless, hungry, tearing in the quiet, breaking free, and I wonder if peace is just a mask the night wears, fragile as breath, as touch.

So here I lie, raw and waiting, wrapped in the arms of the dark, with shadows to cradle my brokenness, and the echo of a scream, silent and sharp, buried in the hollow of my chest, waiting for dawn to stitch me whole.

It’s times like these Where epiphany meets the horizon. And you realize just how good life’s been to you. Yet, ever yet. It’s still hard. Really hard. Times when you get real aquatinted with lost. And pain so thick you can’t breathe. Or move.

I’m having a hard time moving lately.

So I took a walk.

And I talked with the Son.

And He told me what He thought. He told me to breath.

And he gave me hug.

He said

“Just because you can’t see me sometimes, doesn’t mean I’m not there.

I’m just getting tomorrow ready for you.

But I’ll hold your hand while you sleep.”

He wiped my tears.

“Like the sun. You can’t always look directly at it. But you trust it to light your way.”

He lifted me off my knees.

“I need you to trust me.”

So,

I will.

And I’ll hand him my broken heart.

And He will make something out of the fractures.

More beautiful than before.

Positioned at angles

Best for catching

His light.

Because He is

The Son.

Beneath the surface, I am a different girl. One who doesn’t care.

About anything. Like your useless opinions. That no one asked for.

Because in the end. No one really ever cares About all of this.

I’m so evil. I gave a man an opportunity to make a living for himself, Then took it away, Because all he ever thought of was himself.

I stepped down so he could rise, But his ego? It had me mad, had me all messed up inside.

I’m so evil. I truly wanted him to succeed, But he forgot the rule— Never bite the hand that feeds.

It was never about the money, But his switch-up? Man, that was funny.

That’s life’s lesson: Do good to those who do good to you. If you don’t, Life won’t choose to be good to you.

I gave a man the chance to thrive, Then took it away— Because all he thought about was himself.

Friendship is a construct. Freedom is a lie. Fires burn whatever’s in their path. Folktales someday die.

Apples fall so far from the tree. A parent is a myth. ‘Always’ is a made up word. Actually, every word is.

Kings and queens fall. Keys are hidden far beneath. Knifes are plunged into chests. Killers get away scot-free.

Everything is stupid. Elves drown in lakes. Endings happen every day. Everyone is fake.