45Stay Out of the Fog
"There's something growing inside of me. Because of you."
Louise was stood, leaning against the door frame in the kitchen. Her legs trembled and her back ached as she had scarcely left her bed for weeks, causing her muscles to become weak and emaciated. Her hand with the broken wrist rested limply against her slightly swollen stomach at an unnatural angle, ugly purple bruises blotting over her milky flesh. The pain was the least of her worries at present, however.
Sebastian studied her coldly, seemingly unfazed by her observation. His vacant eyes merely flickered to her stomach where the creature lay, finally silent.
"What did you do to me now?" She asked, her voice regaining some of its strength. Her blood boiled, grief and newfound rage giving her the strength to confront the beast. At his continued silence, she repeated herself louder. "What did you do?! What did you do?!" She stormed towards him, rattling her unbroken hand against him as hard as she could muster with what little strength she had left. She repeated the question in a mantra, her shouts devolving into hysterical sobbing.
Pain was her entire existence now, and she was not even permitted to leave the house to attend a hospital. He thought of her as little more than a possession now.
Sebastian's brow creased in annoyance and he grabbed a hold of her by the upper arms, sighing in contempt when her legs buckled and she fell against him. Louise continued to sob; her words garbled together into something incoherent.
Pathetic. He thought.
The demon continued to hold her up as he shushed her, rocking them both from side to side in some form of lurid waltz as her wailing only increased in volume. "I've tried to care for you, you must understand. And yet the more I try, the more there is to fix." He said nonchalantly, gazing down at the human girl's damp, ruddy face. "I said I would help you to sleep."
Through her tears, Louise managed a frown. "Wha…" She began, her voice still thick with emotion and her breathing laboured.
"And since you've had my offspring growing inside of you, have you not struggled to stay awake as it slowly drained you? Humans need sleep, do they not?" He stooped down to her height so that their faces were level. His eyes were alight with silent rage and upon his forehead were deep creases from where his brows were knitted together. His mouth was turned down as if in disgust and his grip on her upper arms became increasingly tighter. He shook her, as though her ailments were all her own fault. "Why won't you get better?" He pleaded.
She only gazed at him in shock. Was this how it felt to be an exotic pet in the care of someone who had no clue what they were doing? And how could he know better? How could a creature from another world have any comprehension of dealing with a psychologically compromised human?
She had never asked for his assistance, not once. Except now, it appeared as though she had no choice.
"Get it out of me." She commanded.
The demon knelt before her so that his face was beside her stomach, slightly exposed beneath the flimsy Primark bought material of her tank top. She stared down at him, wondering what he would do. Her insides seized in terror when a wicked grin spread across his marble white face. He looked up at her. "Is that an order, Louise?"
She swallowed thickly. Tears kept coming, but she could not find it in her to care anymore. He had seen her in far worse conditions. A hazy memory of him standing over her with a serine smile while force feeding her via her nose flashed before her eyes like a macabre work of art. "You have torn my family apart. My parents are dead because of your kind. You have hurt me over and over again, and now you have defiled me and left god knows what growing inside me. I don't even remember it happening! I am sick of feeling half dead all of the time! Yes, that is a fucking order. Get. It. Out. Put an end to your twisted, sick games, Sebastian, or whoever you are!"
She stopped in her ranting with a start when Sebastian opened his arms, as if inviting her for an embrace from where he remained on the floor. Taking in a sudden breath, her eyebrows knitted together and her eyes narrowed. Such an action from him was the last thing she had expected. Why would he choose to comfort her now? His skills in dealing with her had been utterly dire, at best. On the other hand, this would not have been the first time he had held her.
She thought back to when her parents had been arguing while she sat on her room floor and cried. Sebastian had consoled her then.
She thought back to when she sat on the cold, damp ground in the woodland after seeing both of her parents slaughtered before her. Sebastian had taken her into his arms then.
Hesitantly, she stepped forward and stiffened slightly as his arms wrapped around her. He pressed the side of his face to her stomach, whispering in some language which she failed to understand. Louise was terrified when a part of her actually found comfort in what was happening. It had been unbearably long since she had any human contact at all, so while being embraced – even by the demon - her body betrayed her and she relaxed into his touch. His arms tightened around her and she hesitantly returned the embrace, clasping her hands behind his neck. Had anyone happened to look through the kitchen window, they may have believed that they were witnessing an intimate moment of a happy couple.
Louise had learned long ago that appearances could be deceiving.
"I cannot take care of you like this, Louise. I truly do not know how to proceed any further." He uttered.
"I know. I've felt like I'm losing my mind." She agreed. Was he saying farewell?
"Now now, dear child." He said, looking up at her once more. His eyes were aglow and his grin was inhumanly large and laden with rows of shark-like, jagged teeth. "Your mind is not lost. It merely belongs to me now." His arms continued to squeeze like hungry serpents until Louise was struggling to breathe.
"I think that's enough," She gasped, trying to step away but his arms would simply not give way. They continued to coil around her, tighter and tighter as Louise began to trash. She opened her mouth to scream but she simply could not get in enough air to let a sound out. Before her face even had the chance to turn blue, her spine gave way with a sickening crunch and in the next moment, hot searing pain tore across her stomach as Sebastian's teeth cut through the vulnerable flesh.
She would not remember what it was like to die.
Then she found herself stood on frigid, barren ground surrounded by white mist. The black, empty sky blended into the haze of swirling wreaths and seemed to melt into the earth. Dead winter trees with branches like the cadaverous fingers of a corpse reached towards her, as if begging for help and the wind carried with it agonised howling from the distance. The stench of decay was everywhere, though seemed to be strongest where the fog was thickest. She brought her hand up in a bid to protect her nose and mouth.
She turned around, slowly, on the spot, taking in her surroundings – what of them she was able to see. Hadn't she been stood in the her kitchen in the middle of the day just seconds ago? It hadn't looked like this! Had Sebastian somehow taken her here? She could only vaguely remember him taking hold of her… However, now she could see no sign of him anywhere. In fact, apart from a distant black silhouette of a building amidst the corpses of trees, the woodland she was stood in was completely lifeless. Nothing but decay and cold, wet slime surrounded her in all directions. It was as though she was stood in some nightmarish version of the woods outside of her own house.
A sudden clap of thunder sounded, followed by a flash of crimson red lightning. Shrieking, she clutched at the fabric of her shirt where it lay over her chest, as if willing her heart to cease its frantic trembling.
Her teeth beginning to chatter, she tentatively began to walk forward. Her shivering arms wrapped themselves around her middle and her breath fogged in front of her face as she went. She let out a noise of repulsion as her foot landed in a puddle of slime and when she let out a hacking cough it seemed to reverberate on for miles. The thick fog seemed to cling to her – it felt as though she was moving through thin jelly.
It was only once she was stood right before the ghastly structure that she recognised it as being her own home. Almost. The bricks were coated in a thick goo-like substance which seemed to coagulate to form strings like the web of some enormous tarantula. The black iron gate, coated in rust, was warped and bent in several areas. Having been torn from its hinges, it was leaning against the equally aged fence – all of which was also coated in slime.
As she approached the looming building, the torn-up stone path seemed to dissolve under her feet and made disgusting squelching sounds as she went. The glass inside the windows and doors had been smashed and the porch light was barely functioning. It faltered and flickered in sync with the frantic beats of her heart, ice blue as if reflecting the temperature. When the door creaked open on its own, her stomach tightened.
"Sebastian?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as she feared whose – or, what's attention she might attract if she spoke any louder.
"Welcome home, my Lady."
The disembodied voice came from deep within the shadows and made the hairs on the back if her neck stand on end. It was similar to the voice of that giant spider – just as deep, though slightly less brittle on the ears. She still recognised it as belonging to Sebastian. His voice may have been different, though its arrogance remained unchanged.
"This isn't home…" She whispered.
He stepped forward into the flickering cobalt light, a simultaneous clap of thunder sounding as he presented himself to her. She jumped back with a screech. Though it wasn't because of the thunder.
"Whatever do you mean?" The innocent seeming question didn't match his appearance.
Gone was the handsome butler and here was the hideous monster who had once hid beneath such a façade. Instead of being a giant arachnid like she would have expected, he was more reminiscent of a crow. Giant black wings dragged along the floor as he walked, leaving a trail of some unknown, charcoal black substance in his wake. His body was akin to a skeleton, and she swore she could see his black heart slowly pumping away behind his ribcage and the grisly bits of rotting flesh clinging between the bones. His face was equally gruesome, piercing red eyes gazed at her through sunken in sockets and she could see where his jagged, shark like teeth met bone. His black, serpent like flesh was denser towards his hands and legs – the former of which descended into deadly black talons.
She was unable to help the whimper which escaped her as she stared at him through tearful eyes. "Where is this? What have you done? You beast!"
He grinned. "I think you know the answer."
"It would appear as though we've been brought a snack."
Instantly, Louise found herself being thrown back towards the house, landing on the slimy cobblestone sprawled out on her back with Sebastian – what was left of him, stood in front of her protectively. She heard him growl, and it was the most unearthly growl her ears had ever drank in. Sitting up to lean on her elbows revealed that before Sebastian was another creature of a macabre disposition stood before them, its hollow eyes somehow still focusing on her trembling form. It licked its lips, foam spilling from its unhinged jaw onto the ground with a spatter.
"I have brought you no such thing. The human soul is mine." Sebastian hissed, his voice now nothing like his human façade. Where Sebastian's human voice sounded smooth and charming, his true voice was inhumanly deep and had a guttural edge to it.
"Why not just devour it then? Or are you just here to wave it in all of our faces?"
The two creatures stood defiant, growling at one another like rabid dogs. "I've decided to savour this one, Memphiles. Run along now and play house for Father like a good little pet."
Another snarl resounded from the other demon, before it turned and skulked away. Sebastian turned towards where Louise sat trembling on the ground, swiftly stooping to grasp her upper arm in an elongated, spindly hand. She let out a yelp as his talons dug into her, continuing to cry as she was dragged into the darkened, alien and yet painfully familiar house.
I forgot this existed. Found this chapter on my PC from a year ago so surprise!
I don't think I will return to this story for a good while, if ever so I am marking as complete for the moment. This seems like a good place to end it.
I wanted to explore more of purgatory (which was inspired by the Upside Down if that wasnt obvious) and Sebastian the demon as opposed to Sebastian the butler. I think this story has done it's job in that regard.
If you are following my other story; Never Meet your Heroes, then I'm nearly done with the next chapter. In the meantime, thank you guys for sticking with It Takes You Away/Until the Very End and I wish I could have given it more attention.