43"Kate took it for the day" he replied, referring to his sister.
"Oh well" Lauren replied as she left the comfort of her bus shelter to face the cold rain.
"So where are we going again?" she asked him, "In the email you only said to meet you here".
"My house, I need to show you something" he replied.
"Well just as long as my parents don't catch us" she replied, curtly.
"They won't, believe me" he said. Damien could never figure out why her parents didn't want her to associate with him, but that never stopped her from hanging out with him.
So they walked, a few blocks, until they reached his small apartment. Damien opened the door, and they walked inside. He then led her up stairs to his bedroom, where they sat down on his bed. "So what is it you wanted to show me" Laura finally asked. "This" he said walking over and picking up a dusty, old spell book. "I found it abandoned, on a street corner" he finished.
Laura took the book from him, and flipped through the pages. "Neat" she said, "You just needed an excuse to bring me over, didn't you?" she finished.
Damien nodded. "Kate is out of town for the next little while, I needed company"
Laura shrugged her shoulders and said "Well, I'm always here for you".
"Want to get a cup of tea, coffee, anything to drink?" he asked.
"Sure, a coke will do me good" she replied, getting up. Damien did the same, and they headed downstairs.
Damien got her drink, and they sat down at the dinning room table. "So why do your parents despise me so, what have I done?" he asked Lauren.
"Why do they hate you? Why does practically every witch and wizard in Toronto, over 30, hate you. Well you're a rebel. The wizarding society is one based on many rules, and a rebel amongst them isn't a good thing" she replied, "You disobey your parents almost daily. You swear at your parents. You've run away from home at least four times in the past year. You go to parties; all hours of the night, constantly break your curfew. Adults view you as out of control, and I really wouldn't blame them, if I heard your parent's horror stories" she finished.
"That's their problem" he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"You're lucky that you haven't found your self in military school, or boot camp" she replied.
He shrugged his shoulders again. "Why would they want to spend all that money to send me there?" he asked.
"Because, even though you don't realize it, they love you very much" she replied.
"Since when?" he said.
"Since the day you were born. If they didn't love you, then why would they have gone after you all those times you ran away" she replied.
"They went after me because the didn't want to hurt their image amongst the wizarding community, and be seen as bad parents" he replied.
"Oh please. What image did they have to hurt? The one they had, you effectively destroyed with you're bad behaviour at least seven years ago" she replied.
"Oh well, that's their problem" he replied again.
Laura rolled her eyes. It was the way Damien was, she couldn't change that. She knew deep down inside he loved his parents, but he wasn't going to show it. Laura decided to change the subject.
"So, are you going to the next community meeting" she asked.
"I suppose so" he replied "want me to fix you something to eat" he then asked.
"Sure" she replied.
Damien went into the kitchen, and fixed her a small meal. They stayed and chatted for a about a hour afterwards. Finally, Laura decided it was time to leave. Damien walked her home, but he stopped a few feet away from her house, to avoid detection. He then went home.
When he arrived back at his apartment, his father and step mother were home. They questioned him on his whereabouts, but he just ignored them and retreated to his room.
A week later, the monthly wizard's community meeting took place. As always, Damien and his family attended. Before they left the house, his parents had a few words for there son.
"Please Damien, behave for once, it's only going to be two hours, just sit still and down talk or make eye contact with that Laura girl" his father begged. Damien just shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. His parents knew he wasn't going to listen, but they figured it was worth a try to ask him in advance to behave.
The family walked to the meeting. Once inside the meeting hall, they sat down 3 rows from the back. Damien spotted Laura immediately, 2 rows ahead of him, and gave her a smile (the effort in which was monumental, seeing that Damien hardly ever smiled). He quickly received angry glare from his parents.
"Eh m, the meeting is to now begin" said a voice at the front of the room. "First on our agenda tonight is something of utter importance" the voice continued "It seems that a very powerful, and menacing member of our society has escaped from prison. This person's name, as many of you know him by, is Aghorn. He wants supreme control of wizarding society, and will get it if he is not stopped soon. As many of you may remember, a few years back, he caused a huge up roar amongst our community, but we were able to catch him, and lock him away" the man finished, to a crowd full of stunned faces. Shocked whispers filled the room. "So" the man continued "Is there any one who is willing to aide in his recapture". The crowd stayed silent. Damien was willing to go, an adventure, he thought to himself, but it wasn't like anyone would let him, he was only 16.
The meeting ended. People began to group together, and discuss what should be done next. Damien managed to get Laura's attention, and drag her outside, so that they could talk in private.
"I want to do it. I want to help put him away" he said as soon as they reached outside.
"My, are you mad" Laura replied.
"No, just daring" he replied.
"Ah, Damien. How are you?" said a voice. It was Laura's father. Damien knew it was code for "get away from my daughter" and put on his "your not the boss of me" stance.
Damien's father appeared. "I hope he hasn't been causing you any trouble" his father said to Laura's father.
"Oh, no, not at all, it's just time that my daughter went home, that's all" the man replied. Laura and her parents then left. Damien's father was seething.
"What is wrong with you" he said when Laura's parents were out of ear shot. "I thought I told you to stay away from that girl" he finished.
"And" Damien replied smugly "Not like you can stop me old man" he finished and walked home. The rest of his family followed, and for the entire walk, they didn't speak.
Finally, they reached home. Damien did his usual, went up stairs to his room and watched TV. His parents meanwhile stayed downstairs in their living room.
"What are we going to do with that boy" his father said collapsing on the couch "He is getting ruder and ruder by the minute".
"He is also getting more distant by the minute" his step mother replied.
"But I don't know what to do. It's like he has built up a wall between us and him" his father replied.
"Well, look what I found. It might be the help he needs" his step mother replied, handing Damien's father a business card.
Dr. Chaplain, the wizard psychiatrist.
"Oh boy, he is not going to like this" his father replied, looking at the card.
"Well, what other options do we have?" his step mother replied.
"Well, I guess this is what it has come to" his father said, giving in, "I'll try and talk to him" he finished, getting up and heading upstairs.
When he had gotten upstairs, he went over to Damien's room and knocked on the door.
"Open up" he said.
"Make me" Damien replied.
Damien's father opened the door, he walked over and turned off Damien's TV.
"You need to listen to me" his father said.
"No, I don't actually" Damien replied taking his remote and turning the TV back on.
Damien's father snatched the remote out of Damien's hand and turned the TV back off. "Listen" he began "I have something important here to tell you" his father finished.
Damien rolled his eyes. "I have something important to tell you to, leave me the f*** alone" he said.
Giving up, Damien's father threw the business card on Damien's lap. "Read it" he yelled "It's important". "You're sending me to a shrink" Damien exclaimed.
His father nodded. "It's what we think is best" his father remarked.
"I'm not going" Damien said, turning his back to his father.
"Well I'm afraid you have no choice. I'm your parent and I say you have to go" his father replied.
"I don't care, I'm not going. Now will you leave me the f*** alone" Damien replied. His father, deciding not to fight this, left the room.
Damien got up out of his bed. "Ha, send me to a shrink" he muttered to himself "We'll have to see about that" he said as he grabbed a back pack out of the corner, and began throwing clothes into it. When he was content with the number of clothing in his bag, he put some money in his pocket and climbed out his bedroom window and scaled down a tree.