Light and Darkness

A filling dinner and a nice bed put Damien in a good mood the following morning. It was a feeling he wasn't quite used to, and it begged an excellent question... what would he do over the summer? Would he have gotten too used to this sort of life? By the time he went back to living on the streets, he'd be like a fish out of water, floundering around trying to get back into the hang of things? But for the time being, he was content. At least he was until rudely woken up by a kid he recognized from the sorting as Keiran Sullivan. "Get up; we've got class. And I'm not letting you ruin my image." A scowl took control of Damien's expression as the boy walked out of the room, leaving him to get dressed. He could already tell he was going to hate him. He took a few minutes to get dressed in one of the few robes he had before walking downstairs to the common room. A prefect had explained the night before where everything they needed was, so they wouldn't get t...

Damien stood in the Great Hall, staring around at the various people sitting at the four tables and the professors seated at the main table. From the enchanted ceiling to the buzz of energy from all the new students, Damien felt like this was a place he might call home during the time he was there. The promise of learning and having a place to rest his head was all too good. From time to time, he wondered what the catch was. He was all too well aware of the eyes that would likely be on him. He wore secondhand robes, and he glanced around as if someone could take everything away from him. From the way he shied away from people at the nearest opportunity to the fact that he had confidence that he could handle himself despite his apparent shyness. All this and more drew many eyes to him as he waited for everything to be over. "As I call your name, step forward to be sorted." The man who had announced himself as the Deputy Headmaster spoke with a dull tone of voice. His eyes were...

Pain is something that never leaves you until death. It's an unexplainable yet mysterious force that can affect anyone at any time. It doesn't care if you're rich or poor, good or evil. Pain is indiscriminate. Pain is physical and mental, sometimes even at the same time. And for some, pain is constant. An ever-present force in their life that will never go away. To some people, like Damien Thorne, the pain never subsided. He had been on the streets since he was three, and he never understood the reason. For three more years, a kindly old man who had been living on the streets raised him. But on a summer night, the old man had passed away because of a heart attack. The fear in the man's eyes stuck with Damien for years. A year before the man had passed, he had pressed into Damien's mind the necessity of being able to survive and to defend oneself. He had taught Damien how to create a crude shiv out of stone and wood, among the arts of thievery. As he grew older, his ...