7. Saving Her
Chapter 7
Saving Her
B ellagio Casino, Las Vegas - Nevada
April 17, 2018
(4 Days Before Death)
Though the initial crash through the wall stunned Domencio, he landed hard on his back. His brother seemed paralyzed by the unprovoked attack he launched. It was soon apparent to Domencio that his brother in all of his mania could not hold him down or rip into him as he typically did when they fought. Lucio lay slumped on top of him and wheezed deeply for a much-needed breath. Domencio threw Lucio off his body with little effort. And Lucio rolled to his side. He struggled to sit in the upright position. When he managed to do so, he turned and dragged himself away from the fight. There were black bloodstains on the front of his shirt, and a shard of wall plaster had pierced the center of his chest. Domencio watched as Lucio struggled to pull it out, but could not, and grew paler and weaker after each attempt.
“What the hell is going on here? What is wrong with you?” Domencio scooted back from his brother as if what he had were contagious. When Lucio heard Domencio’s voice, he must have been reminded of his rage. He winced but tried to go at Domencio again, even with his impaled chest. Domencio scrambled to his feet and Lucio went from a crawl to his feet but dropped again to his knees. He slumped forward and avoided a complete collapse with his left hand, bracing his bent posture.
It was now clear that Lucio was in trouble. Domencio found it interesting to watch. Domencio approached. He walked around his wounded brother, observing him with keen interest. The strangeness of Dolly Brown was now set aside. For decades, he dreamed of the moment when Lucio was brought down from his great pedestal. Was this the time he had waited for? Lucio on his knees, staked in the chest, near the precipice of death?
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen, big brother. Are you… are you hurt? Let me help you…” Domencio said with a sneer.
“Darlene?” Dolly said. Her voice was hushed by the vast darkness. Dolly pushed up from the cold black floor with her hands and knees. She coughed and blood rose in her throat and covered her lips. She could taste the bitter coppery bile as if she consumed it. And then the darkness moved. Her head shot upright. She stretched her eyes to believe what she was seeing. The darkness swirled around her like a slithering serpent. The premonition of the disaster to come she warned Lucio of was near. Had she been able to pull them out of Domencio in time to save her sister? Or had she taken them somewhere far worse? Or were they both trapped in purgatory with Domencio’s inner child? She closed her eyes and shuddered.
“Lucio,” she said meekly. “Lucio, can you hear me? We need you. We need help.”
There was no reply. She did not sense him anymore. Was he dead? Dolly did her best to calm the panic rising in her. She could summon a power with Lucio that calmed his Draca. That proved she was strong enough to face this. Lucio told her so. She had to find Darlene and get them out of wherever they were. And she sensed she had to do it fast.
With all her might, Darlene squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated. The cold departed and in rushed the immense pain. She could feel her skin burns, and the heat like liquid acid dissolved tissue and bones. She was in so much pain she thought it would never end. Dolly whimpered out in agony: “Darlene!”
“I’m here,” said a weak voice to her left.
“Where is here?” Dolly said through her tears.
“How the hell would I know? You brought us here,” Darlene coughed, gagged, and groaned. The sound of her was so close that Dolly went to her knees. She used her hands instead of her eyes to find her sister. She uncovered nothing, so she crawled in the darkness toward Darlene’s groaning.
Something was wrong with Darlene. Dolly was not physically hurt, but she felt the pain and barely could move from it. What Darlene must have been experiencing was far more traumatic. She felt every bit of her agony. The Draca’s flames had ravaged every tendon and sinew in Darlene’s body. It meant she had to be mortally wounded by the attack. Why had Dolly even thought she and Darlene could attack Domencio in the way she did? What if Darlene was dying?
“Where are you? I don’t see you!” Dolly stopped crawling. She wept. She had not felt so much fear and grief since her parents died. If she lost Darlene, she didn’t know how she would recover. “Tell me where you are, so I can help you!”
“Right here, dummy!” her sister said. “Geesh, you’re annoying. Stop all of your hollering!”
Dolly wiped at her tears. With a deep breath, she began to crawl into the darkness. She ignored how the darkness parted for her and brushed against her as she moved through it. She hated the darkness. It was scary and vast. It was alive! She wanted out.
If she escaped, she would never do what she attempted with Domencio again. She swore it to herself.And she would never banish Darlene to it again. If she had to share her with Lucio, so be it.
“I’m right here,” replied a child-like voice.
Dolly saw a small hand covered in burns lift out of the smoke. Her vision sharpened and she could see through the dark fog. Darlene lay on her back, only six years old. Her hair had been burned away, leaving her face and scalp covered in burns and lesions. Why was she made to suffer this way? She had been through enough! Dolly thought to herself.
With great care, Dolly looked her over. It was as if Dolly herself carried the light. The closer she was, the more the darkness dispelled. She could see the rest of Darlene’s young body. Aghast, Dolly recoiled in horror at how badly hurt her poor sister was. She tried to help, touch her, do something. Darlene cried out and suffered at any touch. And then Dolly stopped feeling her pain altogether.
“What’s happening? Why can’t I feel you?” Dolly said, hyperventilating.
Darlene smiled. “I stopped it, so you won’t feel it. You freak out too much and it hurts when you do that!”
“What?” Dolly gasped.
“I’ll feel the pain. If it scares you too much, we both are weaker,” Darlene said and her girlish voice softened. “Remember when we were kids, and you were scared of the closet? I’d get out of bed and go in there for you. I was scared too, but I did it for you. I protected you,” said Darlene.
Dolly nodded. She remembered.
“Give me the pain. Let me help. Let-me-let-me-me-me—” Dolly continued to sob and touch Darlene’s young body. Darlene grabbed her hand. She stopped her. Dolly looked down at her. She shook her head and wept. “It’s my fault.”
“Yea, but I kicked the Draca’s ass!” Darlene said.
Dolly couldn’t laugh at the humor. She needed to heal her, and fast. Her deteriorating state was her state as well. They were in trouble.
“Did you see it? Did you? How Domencio came to save me… like a superhero,” Darlene coughed up more blood. It came from her nose, her mouth, and her ears. Dolly put her hand on Darlene’s young chest, closed her eyes, and tried to do with Darlene what she had done with Lucio. She tried her very hardest to summon her light. There were only ambers of it surfacing.
“I don’t know what to do.” Dolly wept harder. “I don’t know how to fix this.”
“Maybe I die, here,” Darlene said. “Maybe this is when I die.”
“No,” Dolly dropped her head and sobbed deeply. “No, please. Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry. I don’t hate you. I just… I just wanted you to let me be me. But you are me. We are sisters. I see that now. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what the doctors made me do to you. I’m sorry for taking Lucio from you. Forgive me. Please stay with me. I’ll do anything, please! I’ll give him back to you. I will. I swear it,” Dolly begged.
“I’m sorry too. But I’m not you and you’re not me. We’re different. We’re sisters. I want to be me too,” Darlene coughed out the words.
Darlene's hand moved. She reached up and touched her sister's hair. She stroked Dolly’s bowed head and Dolly cried into her hands. “Domencio chose to save me. Didn’t he? He went up against his Draca for me.”
“What?” Dolly looked up. “What are you saying?”
Darlene held a smile instead of a grimace.
“What are you talking about? He didn’t—?”Dolly asked.
Then she realized her sisters’ delusion. She saw the whole thing through the eyes of a six-year-old. Darlene had never had a chance to grow up once cast away. She just watched life from a distance. And Dolly understood at that moment how much it meant for Darlene to finally be saved. To have someone choose her. She touched Darlene’s small hand. She held it. “Yes, I saw Domencio. He was the boy, and you were the girl. But then he turned into the man, the hero,” Dolly said and sniffed. “He was a superman. He flew straight up into the fire and pulled you out. I saw it, Darlene. It happened. He didn’t care if he got hurt, he just wanted to save you.”
Darlene nodded and grinned. Half of her face was so mangled and charred that it just oozed blood. “I think I love him now. I love Lucio too. I will love Lucio and let him go. Domencio is mine.”
Dolly laughed. “Okay. Okay. If you want Domencio, then you got to help me help you. We get out of here you can take him. I promise.”
Darlene giggled in a tight strained way, ignoring her pain.
They then fell silent, and the darkness moved in closer to them. “We are not getting out of here, are we?” Darlene whispered. “I’ll never get to see him, to tell him I love him,” Darlene groaned in pain. “I’m so tired of hurting.”
“We are going to get out of here. We got in here, so there is a way out. Now, just calm down and let me think. Let’s figure this out. We must try to—and—,” Dolly rambled.
“What? What is it?” Darlene asked.
“They’re fighting,” Dolly said. Her eyes were closed, but she could sense the drama and see the brothers. “Wait. We’re not in Domencio anymore. I can hear him. We are on the bed, in the suite. On the bed.”
“We are?” Darlene asked.
“Yes, and they… they’re fighting.” Dolly said alarmed.
“Who?” Darlene coughed up more blood.
“Domencio and Lucio. Lucio thinks Domencio killed us. He’s attacking Domencio, but he can’t win. He drank too much of my blood and I think Domencio knows it. He’ll kill him,” Dolly said, seeing it but not seeing it.
“You got to stop Lucio. He can’t fight Domencio. He’s my boyfriend,” said Darlene.
“Shh….” Dolly said to her sister and soothed her. Dolly did her best to settle her distress as well. “Lucio is hurt. Fatally hurt. I don’t know if he can survive it.”
“What!” Darlene screamed out.
“We must try, Darlene. Domencio is about to kill him,”said Dolly.
“No! Domencio wouldn’t do that. He’s a hero,” Darlene cried out.
“He saved us. He’s not liked the vampires.” Darlene reasoned.
“Darlene, there’s no time. We can help him. Close your eyes. We do it together and then we help each other,” said Dolly.
“But we’re trapped. I don’t have any power in me. You have to do it,” Darlene said.
“No. We’re not. I don’t think we are. We’re in our own prison. The one we created for each other. We should unify. That is what Lucio said. We must really unify, like we did with Tyrone. Remember?”
Darline nodded.
“Let’s find a way together. Let’s try, really try, hurry, Concentrate. I need you to help me. Lucio needs your help,” Dolly pleaded.
“We won’t hurt Domencio?” Darlene asked. “Promise me we won’t hurt him!”
“We won’t. I promise. They’re brothers. Half and half, like me and like us, Darlene. We won’t hurt him. We’ll just stop him. I promise.”
Darlene nodded. Dolly closed her eyes and held tight to her sister's hand. Together, they concentrated.
Lucio did his best to summon his strength. Nothing worked. Part of his weakness was the loss of Dolly and Darlene. They were dead, and every feeling in him had died as well. He dragged himself away from Domencio, who towered over him with a look of triumph. “Finally, the great, invisible, chosen son is on his ass. No, Father to protect him. No Draca to heal him. No brothers to babysit him. And no witch to give him a soul. Just you and me. Like I told you, when we were six, and you left me to die. I told you this day would come. It’ll just be you and me.”
Lucio looked up at Domencio. “We were kids. Scared little kids. I didn’t know what was happening, and neither did you. I didn’t do it to you on purpose. It was an accident. You know that.”
“I know you were my twin. We were together, one, and you ran away first.”
“I ran to get Father. To save you. What the fuck could I do at six years old? You fell into that crypt.”
“You pushed me!” Domencio shouted.
“We were playing, wrestling. I didn’t mean—” Lucio tried to explain.
“You pushed me into that hellhole. We were brothers. Sebastiano and Marcello have never turned on each other. They have never left another behind.” Domencio stooped to be at eye level with Lucio. “I have never forgotten the day, the moment those feral vamps ate away at me. I saw you standing at the top of the opening watching, then running away. I have never forgotten the pain, the emptiness, the loneliness, the day, the hour when I needed a brother and you could give a shit.”
“Father saved you!”Lucio shook his head in regret.
“You should have been there!” Domencio yelled so loud in his vampiric voice that the ceiling splintered and cracked.
Lucio lowered his gaze with guilt. He then thought of Dolly, his dead Dolly, and Darlene. Dead now because of him. With his last bite, he’d rip through his brother's throat to avenge them both. If he killed him afterward, so be it. He rather be cast into darkness for eternity than to live without Dolly or Darlene.
Domencio looked from Lucio to the hole in the wall, and then to the bed where the last descendant of Julia Brown lay deceased, like a sleeping beauty of death. For a brief moment, Domencio felt disoriented with terror, a feeling he had not experienced since he was a terrified kid. He blinked twice, unsure of why the memory of that suffering came to mind. It was her. This was not some hoodoo priestess, or witch, or even the woman he had encountered before?—.
The irresistible, dark allure of Darlene had left a fragrant trace that fueled his lust for darkness because she came from darkness—he’d know that version of her if he was blind, deaf, and dumb. This version of her evoked something deeply foreign and threatening to him. It had to be the other one, Dolly, the one Lucio had mentioned. Pure light, her essence filled the hall and calmed both brothers before the discussion he wanted to have happened.
“What has she done to you? To me?” Domencio asked. It was a question he intended to answer after he killed Lucio. There was a moment where he felt her inside of him. She was there, he was certain, but he had no memory of what happened, how it happened, just a lot of feelings of what the experience had been. Strange and protective feelings that he did not understand or want.
“Fuck this shit,” Domencio shook off the emotion like a dog would shake loose fleas. “The bitch is dead. If she isn’t, she will be when I’m done with you.” He started for Lucio. From the bed, unseen by the brothers, Dolly's hand lifted ever so slightly.
Energy, like a glowing orb, passed out of her palm and went through the room to Lucio. In an instant, Lucio was fulfilled. A millisecond before Domencio reached him to drive the stake deeper into his chest. Lucio swept up from his hunkered state, out of Domencio’s reach, startling his brother. He leveled his glowing eyes on him.He ripped out the plaster, impaling his chest.
“You want this? Because I do!” Lucio snarled with a sly curve to the corner of his mouth that revealed his fangs.
“Lucio!” Dolly coughed from the bed. The sound of her voice snatched him back from the attack. Instead of charging Domencio he zipped out of the destroyed bathroom and returned to her side. She was alive. He sent an urgent message to Tristan. His beloved was not dead. He felt her reach out to help him. Domencio remained unaware.