Standing behind Jessie was the man that had been watching Jessie and James through the window, that James now knew to be Damien, Jessie's molester.
"Damien, you are back." said LaDominique, more suprised than happy.
"I told you, La, before; as long as his ashes are grouped together, his mind remains. And since, at the moment, we are in the house of dreams and fears built by that woman, he exists as much as we do."Said Delilah, frustrated now.
"None of that will matter soon, though. We will all be dead soon." Added Dandre grimly
.James couldn't see how Jessie could possibly stand next to that man without cringing. He had abused her for so long, and now he was right behind her, eyeing her as James had seem him do in that torture chamber. He made a move to grab her waist from behind, but grabbed only air as Jessie became transparent and her blood red eyes glowed. Damien threw his head back and screamed, holding his head. Fire appeared around them, engulfing everything in the hall.
"Whats happening?" Asked James, as he tried not to get burned by the fire.
"If I am correct," answered Father Cassius,"She is taking us deeper into his mind."
"What are we going to see now? The man's bloody childhood!?"
"No, of course not. Even one such as yourself should know that the earliest thing Primaves can remeber is the day before their birth as primaves. But I suppose with her powers..." He thought for a moment and then shook his head." No, I think we may be going into either his later memories, or the darker part of his mind, whichever causes him more pain." Father Cassius watched as James was practically performing acrobatics to keep away from the fire."What are you doing, boy? This fire can't burn you. Its not real; its just the symbol that lets us know we're passing from one stage to another."
James stopped, and let the fire come around him. Almost immediatly after, they were outside again, across the street from the building where he, Jessie, Meowth, and Misty had stayed the night before.
Jessie stood near him now, well away from Damien, who was looking around with great interest. James looked at her sadly, wishing that he could hold her, cry with her, only be with her as she was. But now, she seemed indifferent to him as she guided him though a house built by her own will.
They saw Damien walking towards the window, which at first confused them, since there appeared to be two Damiens, but then they remebered that what they were seeing, where they were, was only a memory. They followed the memory Damien to the window and looked in. Inside, they saw Jessie and James, beginning to become intimate when she appeared to see all of them in the window and fell out of bed. James blushed slightly. They then followed the memory Damien as he walked across the street. A moment later, James saw himself looking out the window at the man.
James blinked and they were in front of the vacant building again. This time, memory Jessie and Damien were there. Damien was laying in the snow as Jessie looked frightenedly at him. They watched as the necklace drained into her body in the midst of her screaming and crying and Damien burst into flames. Suprised by what happened, memory Jessie fell backwards. The scene grew dark.
Then, Damien, the mind of Damien began to fade.Jessie(the Aphotic Angel) fell to the ground, gripping her stomache, blood spurting out of her mouth. James immediatly went to her, holding her wriggling body in his arms.
"What's happening?" He asked father Cassius. deeply distressed. Father Cassius looked over at the Primaves, who had joined hands, the fading Damien now in the middly. Cassius' eyes grew wide.
"They, they are overpowering her, their minds are stronger than hers in this moment. They took advantage of the painful memory they shared! If they continue like this much longer, they'll kill her!"
"What do we do?!What do we do?!"
"I don't know," Father Cassius looked at them thoughtfully and then at Jessie. His face lit up as the solution came to him."James, you have to wake up."
"What?" said James through tears as Jessie's became more still in his arms.
"You have to wake up, and find some way to give her pleasant dreams, to make her stronger." Father Cassius slapped him over and over again,"Wake up! WAKE UP..."
James sat up and screamed, slapping the air. It was then he looked around and realized where he was; behind the crates, in the snow. He had been asleep. He ran over to Jessie as soon as he saw her, still in his coat, not dark and unresponsive; but coughing up blood all the same. He hesitated a moment before touching her, afraid of huting her. But it didn't take him long to decide to take her in his arms.
Then, it was dark again. He felt pain, immense pain. He was lying on the ground, coughing up blood as Jessie had before. He looked over at Father Cassius and then at the Primaves. He realized that he was back in the place he was before. But where was Jessie?
He couldn't see her, but he could feel her crying, dying. How that was possible puzzled him, but there was no denying what the feeling was. He tried to move, but found he couldn't. The fact that he couldn't see Jessie troubled him. But he could feel her pain increasing.
Then, all of a sudden, Damien was standing over him. "You've been a bad little girl, sweet Jessica, a bad little girl. You must be punished. Remember the golden rule..."Jessica? Had he and Jessie, become one? One mind?
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." continued Desiree, as the other came over to join the now fully intact mind of Damien. The formed a circle, and the pain grew worse.