Gods Among US Part 2 (Patreon)

"Damien….how could you?" Hope managed through her tears. "You killed the mayor and set fire to the orphanage!"

"I...what? There's no way I could do that! I went to check on Mother Ann and saw the Mayor standing in her meeting room and then… I woke up laying here beside you. There's...nothing else…" This was the first hint that something had happened that he was unaware of. "Hope. Just what exactly happened in there after I left to get Ann?" Sitting up, Damien did his best to wipe away Hope's tears and hold her close. "I don't want to risk losing you too since we clearly lost everything else."

Doing her best to calm down, she rested her head on Damien's chest and collected her thoughts. "I heard a loud thud against the wall shortly after you left…" The look in her eyes seemed to shift as she began recalling what happened. Neither happy nor sad but empty. "When I rushed to find you, I heard you and the mayor talking. He was on the ground and there was a dent in the wall." Pausing, she began trying to find all the details she could in her mind.

A Few Hours Earlier

"D-Damien?! What are you doing attacking me like that?" The man known as the Mayor crawled to his knees as a boy stood over him.

"Damien? Is that this boy's birthright? No…" The distorted voice Damien heard in his dream was now leaving his own lips. "Well… He is of my tribe so it makes sense. This boy even bears my mark~" A sick cackle slowly turned into a maniacal laughter as his eyes shifted colors to a deep red. "That doesn't matter. It's not like you'll live long enough to tell anyone anyway."

"Wha-What do you mean?! Boy, speak properly when you talk to an elder!" He was beginning to sound frantic as he gazed over to a now possessed Damien.

"Elder, you say? If only you knew how old I was…." With a wicked smirk, the figure sent a swift kick to the Mayor's head and kicked it off with ease. Blood spurting onto the walls around them for just a moment before the rest of the figure fell limp on the floor. "Bigoted fool. Looking down on a God that chooses to live on through generations."

With that Damien, or at least this split of him, headed for Mother Ann's room and found the woman on the floor.  "Poor thing...you must've known what you were getting into when raising these two. Even just for these few minutes, I can already feel power coursing through the boy's blood. And who knows about the girl? My sibling always was….eccentric to be stronger than me." The room was lit by flickering candlelight that barely showed two silhouettes when looking into the room. The boy kneeled down before her and gasped quietly before mumbling something to himself.

"Now I see...why these two are here and not dead with their families! Worthless whore!!" He kicked the corpse across the room, which made Hope scream in fear while knocking over a few still lit candles. "Oh?"

With a soft chuckle and smile, the nameless being made it's way to the quivering girl. "Don't worry. I need you alive. And while you won't believe me, this wasn't the boy's fault." That's when she got a good look into his eyes. One red and one blue. "Now, be a good girl and run to the outskirts of town. Your friend will return shortly."

Present

"...And then I ran here. To the spot only we know about." Tears were streaming down her cheeks like rushing rivers.

Damien gulped and nodded, looking across to their hometown once more. "Hope… I… you gotta believe that wasn't me! I can't do something like that!"

“I watched you, Damien! You can’t tell me you didn’t do that!” She shouted, standing to her feet in anger and stomping her foot. Tears streamed down her cheeks like rivers.

“I didn’t kill Mother Ann though. The mayor did.” He shouted in response, trying to calm Hope, even if just a little.  “I wasn’t myself when it all happened. You know that… I’ve never acted that way before.”

“I...I…” Hope just needed someone to be mad at and she didn’t know where to place the blame. 

“Come on, Hope. The next town is just down the road a bit. A two hour walk. Just like when Ann would take us shopping. We’ll go and find a place to sleep. Maybe James’s shop will still be open.”

“The one who always gave us free candy…?” She asked, rubbing her eyes and trying to calm down. “He's nice…”

“Yeah. So…” Damien reached his hand out for Hope to hold. “What do you say, Hope? We go on a trip?” He was doing his best to sound encouraging for Hope, but on the inside, he was being torn apart but the realization of what he did tonight.

“Yeah!” The two had been together longer than they could remember, so it only made sense that they could sway each other’s emotions so easily. She knew Damien was gonna beat himself up over what happened, so she was gonna do what she could to help him. Just like he did her. Hope took Damien’s hand into her own and began walking towards the other town. Both children with a smile on their face.