Of Monsters and Humanity: The Genesis

Chapter 67 - Xander

The United States District of Health and Medicine's Project X Masquerade Ball

Damian lived in a gated neighborhood. The homes were large with finely manicured lawns and nice cars parked in the driveways. There was money in this neighborhood, and a lot of it. It was much closer to the Project X building than Terra's--maybe forty miles away. I could probably hear the bomb from his house.

It only took me a few minutes to find his house after running down a few streets. Sure enough, a black Mustang was parked in his driveway. It was about ten minutes to midnight, and I felt so much relief when I saw Damian's car. At least they were both safe.

Bingo, I thought as I walked up the driveway and stood in front of the door. The streets were silent as night set upon them, and almost no sounds were present in the neighborhood.

Except for verbal fighting coming from the inside of Damian's house.

"Tell us what's going on right now!" a man yelled.

"You made me miss my own brother's masque ball!" a woman hollered after him. "Why are you acting like this, Damian?!"

What the hell? I rang the doorbell.

A woman with light blue eyes and a white ball gown opened the door. She looked flustered and almost familiar....

She must have been Balcom's sister.

She looked like him, with her straight nose and similar hair color. I couldn't believe that the man would have family.

"Can I help you?" she asked, exasperated and almost angry.

My mouth opened to speak, but I was without words. I didn't know that Damian's parents would be involved.

"Who is it?" I heard Damian ask from a distance. He showed up next to his mother, rubbing his reddened eyes. He had been crying a lot, I could tell. He was only wearing an undershirt and pressed black pants.

As soon as he saw me, his face went completely pale and his eyes widened. "No," he gasped, then started backing up towards a hallway with shining wooden floors. "Xander, I--" Then, he started sprinting down the hallway. He almost tripped over his own feet, but he ran like someone was chasing him.

"Damian!" his mother screamed, walking hastily after him. "What on Earth is going on?!"

I stood back, shocked. An uneasy, angry, and confused feeling washed over me. Without permission, or nearly anyone paying mind to my presence, I stepped into the house and started walking down the hallway towards Damian.

He was sitting with his back pressed against a white counter in the kitchen, hyperventilating. His father was kneeled next to him, arm on Damian's shoulder, trying to look at his face. His mother stood above him with clenched fists. Their kitchen was clean to the point where it was sparkling. It looked like they never once ate a meal in there.

"Damian," I growled, looking down at him and commanding him to look up at me. I was starting to get angry--really angry. Terra wasn't with Damian.

His mother looked over in surprise to see me in her house. Then she started to back away, covering her mouth with her hand in horror. "Please...." she started to beg, kneeling down and putting an arm out to protect Damian and her husband. "Please, don't hurt us. We didn't do any experiments on you. We don't work for Project X. Please--"

"Where's Terra?" It came out as a two-sentence command. I kneeled down to stare at Damian in the face. My lips were pressed together and my jaw was hard. I was going to break his own.