Chapter 22: Traumatized Leo

’Ha— back here again?’

Damon found himself in a similar space to the one he had experienced when he had undergone his awakening. Yet, this time, there was a clear difference.

The first time, the system had awakened his consciousness to this space, which he believes to be his subconscious. However, this time, there was no system to be seen—just a swirling darkness and a profound sense of... emptiness.

Damon felt a detachment from everything. Similar to how he perceived the world around him, only now, several times more severe. And the more time he spent in this state, the more he could feel parts of him being pulled towards something.

It gave Damon a weird feeling. One that pricked a sense of unease at the back of his mind.

This wasn’t the first time Damon had fallen into unconscious slumber. Hell, almost his entire life had been spent sleeping. Yet, he had never experienced such a state before.

Was this a consequence to his awakening?.

Damon tried to call out to the origin system repeatedly, but there was nothing, no runic characters birthing words before his eyes— just the all-consuming need to relax into this state of nothingness.

’What—is this?’

’Snap out of it, Damon.’

Damon tried to center his consciousness, holding himself back from falling into whatever beckoned to him beyond the depths of his subconscious.

He didn’t feel this was going to cause him harm; rather, he felt a sense of belonging.

But something else buried deeper within his subconscious flooded him with chilling dread. A dread that transcended the concept of self.

’Who am I?—No— rather— What am I?’

"Damon"

’Uh ?’

’Yes. Damon—.Damon Einstein. That’s me.’

"Damon, please wake up!"

’Ah...this voice. The girl with eyes like the skies. My new friend.’

’Yes. Damon also has another friend. One with a gaze as boundless as the vastness of an ocean, clear and wise; as if filled with stars that make up the infinite night.....’

"Please wake up, Damon."

Damon slowly blinked his eyes open and was met with Hazel’s beautiful face leaning over his, her eyes shimmering with specks of held tears as her face blossomed into a dazzling smile of relief.

"I am so sorry— "

"So sorry you have to go through this."

As she spoke, the held tears in her eyes trickled down her face with every intonation, landing on parts of Damon’s chin and chest.

Damon was lost for words. He wasn’t sure what to say or how to act in such a situation. He was left even more baffled by how much concern this person held for him when they hadn’t known each other for long.

He found he was lying in her lap, so with great effort he sat up, enduring the bouts of pain he had running through his face as well as from his torso.

Gathering all the knowledge he could recall about what was a normal response to such a situation, he gently placed his right hand palm behind Hazel’s back, rubbing back and forth in slow strokes of comfort as he uttered—

"There, there."

Damon wasn’t sure how effective this move would be to comfort this girl crying for his sake—

But for some reason, Damon’s action caused the girl to pause; she watched him curiously, with shimmering tears in her eyes, before suddenly bursting into a bout of tear-filled laughter.

Damon wasn’t sure what she found so funny. He was only trying to comfort her, and now she was laughing at his action. Either way, he had fulfilled his purpose, and he was pleased seeing her in a lighter mood.

"Aahh... you... you should be the one being comforted. Not the other way around."

Hazel managed to say as she calmed down. She felt Damon’s action was impossibly cut. She felt a purity to him that was drawing her in at a dangerous pace.

Damon noticed something was different about Hazel. Particularly, there was a difference to the way she looked at him now. It was subtle, but it was there. He wondered why that was.

"Are they back yet?" Damon asked as he tried to get up. He wasn’t sure for how long he was passed out.

"Not yet..." came Hazel’s response, knowing whom he meant.

"Take it easy, Damon; you shouldn’t be moving so much. Let me help you to..."

Hazel was in the middle of helping Damon off the floor, bringing his arm across her shoulders, when, out of nowhere, Leo jumped into Damon’s embrace.

Leo looked like he was running from something, causing Damon to pause, and Hazel to gaze vigilantly at the cat, as she asked cautiously of Damon—

"Is that your cat?"

"Yes."

Damon replied simply; he was really happy to see Leo. Leo seemed to have disappeared when he had entered the living room. He was pleased to see he was okay.

Hazel didn’t follow up with another question, and for some reason, Damon noticed she had a more weary look on her face than even when she was confronting Brad.

Why would she look so wary of such a harmless Leo? Damon wondered.

But he didn’t linger on the reason as a recollection hit him; almost as hard as his cousin’s fist had.

Now that he looked around the room, Brad and the twins were not present. Where had they gone, and what exactly had happened when he was passed out?

"Hazel.... Can you tell me what happened?"

Hazel returned her attention to Damon, away from his cat, and was about to tell him all that had happened when he passed out, no matter how unbelievable it may sound.

However, her attempt was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the girl in a hoodie, who caused the hairs on Leo’s back to literally stand on end as she said—

"There you are."

"Come here, kitty. Don’t be shy."

Damon recognized the new arrival, and he noticed Leo shrink deeper into his embrace as it growled at this person repeatedly. Damon had never seen Leo react this way. She must have really traumatized the poor guy.

"I think that’s enough, Kora."

Hazel chided from the side, causing Kora to pause her advance as she observed the now-conscious Damon with Leo in his embrace with keen interest. Interest more geared towards Leo than Damon.

"Is that your cat?" She asked in a flat tone, her arms folded across her chest.

"Yes?" came Damon’s response.

"What proof do you have that it’s actually yours?"

"What?"