Inner Demons
Inner Demons
Everyone has demons, luckily those demons
rarely come out. Edward's didn't just come out, he lived with them and it was
his own fault. Around 400 years ago he tempted powers beyond his control. It started
one night in the woods. The young black
wolf was angry, probably for something insignificant at the time. It had been
so long Edward had forgotten why he entered the woods that night.
He remembered one thing though while he sat
in darkness, brooding over his life choices. The events in the forest were as
clear as yesterday. Edward took a sip from his cup, it was filled with a dark
red liquid, a liquid with no earthly equivalent. The room was dimly lit by a
large chandelier which hung from the high ceiling.
Back on that fateful night he found a leather-bound
book in the forest. A book he regretted opening. It contained all sorts of
texts and diagrams foreign to him. There was only one page he could understand,
and it promised wealth and immortality. Of course there wasn't exactly a fine
print, not that the wolf would have read it. He spent that night following the
instructions in the book, gathering materials, and drawing diagrams in the dirt.
It must have looked silly at the time, and
he probably would have been put to death by the church if anyone saw him. But
he followed through. He read the incantations after the symbols were drawn and
he slit his paw open to complete the final step. At first nothing happened, the
wind picked up but not alarmingly. After a few long minutes the pentagram on
the ground started to glow. Edward remained inside the symbol as instructed by
the book until he felt something pulling on chest.
The strange sensation grew stronger until
it choked him of air, he felt like he was being split in two. Then as quickly
as it started it was over. The wolf could breathe fine and even cursed at how
stupid his idea was. He tried to move his paw outside the symbol to help
himself up but couldn't. Fear started to set in as he was unable to leave the symbol
with any part of his body.
A dark figure stepped in front of him,
catching his attention. Edward looked up and saw himself, or at least a black
wolf with eerily similar features. The wolf sat down, mirroring Edward, his
face was expressionless.
"Leaving so soon?" it said, with a deeper
and raspier tone than Edwards. "You summoned me, it would be rude of you to
leave now." What did it mean by summoned
me? Edward thought.
"I mean you called me here, spilt blood in
offering, and here I am to answer your call." It replied, having read Edwards
mind. Its face and compositions still devoid of emotion.
"I didn't expect it to work," Edward said,
looking the figure in the eyes. It was difficult to do so, almost draining, the
creatures eyes were like pits.
"Yet here we are. My question for you isn't
whether you thought it would work, but what you thought I could do for you..." It
said.
"Who are you?" Edward swallowed. The
creature's lips canted, as if it was trying to smile but didn't know how.
"I'm you. Your deepest darkest secrets,
your desires, urges, wants and needs, manifested to fulfill your contract."
"Contract? With who? For What?" Edward
asked.
"With me, for your soul and everlasting
servitude... In exchange for good health, power, wealth, everlasting life... or
anything else you desire deeply."
Edward's young mind wasn't able to piece
together that a lifetime of servitude coupled with everlasting life was not a
favorable deal. He was tempted, and without further question he held out his
paw to make the deal. The creature took it, its body lit up with bright red
tribal markings. From that day forward Edward's life was no longer his, and the
identical creature was forever bound to him.
For the next 400 years he maintained his
youth, health, strength and good fortune. He took to moving often to hide his
affliction but there was one thing he could not hide. His demon followed him
wherever he went. At first it nearly drove him mad, now he was used to it. He
only moved to homes with a basement so he could keep the creature hidden from
the world.
Over time he learned that servitude meant
feeding the demon. The more innocent the person he fed it the less he would
have to. It usually worked out to a monthly basis. He would have to bring
someone home to quell the demon's hunger. If he didn't his youth, strength and
fortune would fade, inevitably killing him and breaking his deal. But his soul
already belonged to the devil, and an eternity of servitude alive was arguably
better than an eternity of servitude after death.
Suicide is something Edward had thought of
many times. Each time the creature would invade his mind and remind him of the
consequences. It could still read his mind. They were linked together, and
Edward could occasionally see through its eyes in his nightmares. He didn't
sleep much because of it.
Tonight had been a feeding night. Even
after all this time the wolf felt guilt for his actions, he used to drug people
before he took them down to it. That didn't last because it would wait until
the drugs wore off. A few the wolf killed first but this displeased the
creature also, forcing him to bring another victim. Edward had gotten lazy in
this town, he had settled for picking up hookers and bringing them back. It was
almost time for them to move again.
The wolf sat his glass down on the lone
table in the room. He rarely had any furniture or belongings, but one thing he
kept was the book from that night so long ago. It was in the same condition he
had found it, the leather still pristine and un-cracked. He heard a scream from
downstairs. The mare he brought home was a little larger than the usual's.
Edward hoped that would make up for her lack of innocence.
Claw marks followed, scratching, and some
thumping. All noises which would drive out most paranormal experts. At least he
didn't have to watch anymore. It used to force him to watch, so he would
understand the consequences of his actions when he was young and naive. It was
unsettling to say the least. The wolf could only watch as the carbon copy of
himself, covered in glowing red markings ripped victims to pieces. It would
eat, fuck, and dismember in any order it pleased. After it was finished they
both felt renewed, fulfilled until the time came again to feed it.
In a way it was the summation of all savage
and animalistic urges into one evil form. A creature who's only purpose was to
live out every primal instinct a predator could have. Edward was the balance to
the equation though he certainly didn't feel like it. They formed an odd
symbiotic relationship, needing each other to survive. They even talked
sometimes like when the wolf first made the deal.
Another scream shook the floor, Edward
stomped his foot down, trying to quell the creature. It banged the sealing in
return. The wolf scoffed, he grabbed the pistol he kept holstered under the
table and headed downstairs. He unlatched the door and looked around in the
darkness. The creature used to scare him, but now he knew it well, he knew it
could never harm him.
The mare was cowering in the light of the
doorway, covered in blood, beaten badly and clinging to life. He raised the
pistol toward her and listened to her cry. He looked up to see it, its tribal
markings and glowing red eyes distinguishing itself in the darkness.
Just
kill her, if you don't like her I'll bring you another he thought, knowing
the creature could hear his thoughts. It stepped forward and stood on top of
the mare, shoving her head into the ground. The creature bared its teeth, and
gave a low growl but Edward stood steady, his pistol still pointed at the mare.
The demon huffed and crushed her neck with its foot. Edward knew she wouldn't
die immediately so he shot her in the head to ease her suffering. The shot rang
out loudly in the basement.
The creature grabbed for Edward's neck.
They occasionally fought for dominance over each other, despite needing each
other to survive. They couldn't kill each other, and all it took was one
feeding session to bring them both back to their prime, regardless of injuries.
Edward hated when it grabbed his neck, he brought his pistol up and shot it
once in the abdomen and it reeled and stumbled back. Yeah, I know that shit hurts, lot more than a knife huh? So keep it
down for fucks sake he thought to the creature. It looked down, the fresh
injury was pouring out blood.
The wolf felt a bit of guilt for hurting
his other evil half, he stepped forward into the darkness and close to the
creature, it never wore any kind of clothes. It was the spitting image of himself,
and having a perfect body for 400 years would make anyone conceited. He would
be lying if he said they hadn't mated before. The wolf stood close to the
creature and rubbed its sides, they kissed briefly. I'm sorry Edward thought.
It huffed, it was hurt, but not physically.
Edward ran his paw over the entry wound, the flow of blood was still messy. He
stuck his finger into the hole and moved it around, the creature growled
lustfully and drug its nails down Edward's back, leaving 4 distinct lines as it's
nails cut into his back. The creature's erection grew quickly as they teased
each other with pain. Edward pushed himself away from the creature and pointed
at the corpse of the mare.
The creature wasted no time, it drug the body
out of the light and began fucking it in the darkness, it created an unmistakable
noise while it raped and mutilated the mare's corpse. Edward sighed as his conscious
caught up to him. He often struggled with what he had become. He could never
resist temptation. Somehow he always ended up enjoying himself.
He headed back upstairs after closing the
door, there was no need to lock it now that the offering was dead. He returned
the pistol to its place under the table and went to shower, the entire time
pondering his existence. He had never tried to tell anyone. What was the point?
Even if he did most would assume he was some sick psychopath. After all he was
responsible for luring thousands to their deaths over the generations. By the
time he left the shower the cuts in his back had healed.
He returned to the room with the
chandelier, his cup had been replenished. How
sweet the wolf thought. He took a drink, it was fresher than before, and he
somehow felt much more alive than 40 minutes ago. Edward sat down, happy that
the evening was almost over and that the noise had settled. The creature rarely
left the basement so he probably wouldn't see it until it got hungry again.
The moment of relaxation was cut short by a
knock at the door. The wolf stood, set his drink down and headed towards the
knocking. The home grew eerily quiet, even the demon knew some potential food
was at the door. Edward opened it to see two cops standing there, two well-built
german shepherds.
"Pardon us sir but we've gotten a call
about some screaming, gunshots in the area, possibly from this residence."
"Oh my," Edward said, he opened the door
wider and looked behind him. "I hope it's not coming from here, we've had a
pretty quiet night."
"We?" one of the shepherds asked. The wolf
struggled for a moment to find an excuse.
"Well yes I sometimes refer to the house as
a person, just because I've been here long enough and I'm by myself, it's just
nice to pretend like I'm not totally alone." the wolf was not very charismatic.
"Uh huh..." the two shepherds exchanged
glances. "Do you mind if we come in and look around?" one asked. Shit, I didn't think we were going to need
to move this soon the wolf thought, aware that the creature was most likely
listening and watching from somewhere.
"Sure, come on in," Edward smiled, stepping
out of the way, knowing they would just return later with a warrant. The two
dogs stepped into the home, each brought out their flashlight and began slowly
walking through the home.
"Don't you ever keep any lights on?" One
asked.
"I like to save electricity, times are a
little hard." The wolf lied through his teeth. Edward followed behind them as
they walked through the home. They passed a doorway, shown a light in and kept
walking, when Edward got to it the creature was standing there. Its eyes a dull
red and its tribal markings shining dimly. It gave Edward a toothy grin. No, control yourself he thought as he
stared down the creature.
The two shepherds finished their brief
search by the front door. They hadn't seen the stairwell to the basement yet.
"Things seem pretty quiet here, sorry to
disturb you sir." One said, the other tapped his shoulder and pointed towards
the staircase.
"Oh what's down there?" one asked.
"Nothing just some emergency supplies," the
wolf lied, he made the mistake of swallowing. One of the officers walked over
to the staircase, he shined his light down the stairs and immediately noticed
bloody footprints. Edward had tracked them up after his downstairs visit.
They both drew their sidearm. Each began
barking orders at Edward after making a call over the radio. The wolf remained
calm and raised his arms. The creature moved quickly to protect its other half,
appearing behind one of the officers and biting into his neck, easily ripping
it out and forcing the shepherd to the floor. His partner yelled and spun to
the creature, he shot it probably 5 or 6 times before it grabbed the gun and
crushed it in the shepherds paw. The shepherd screamed in pain, his paw a
twisted mess of blood, fur and metal.
The other shepherd lay quickly dying on the
floor, losing massive amounts of blood. Edward stood still, his arms still
raised as he watched a scene he had seen unfold so many times. The creature was
riddled with holes but still strong after having just finished feeding. The
shepherd missing his neck took his last gasp. The creature clawed at the other
officer, ripping his flesh and slashing his throat.
Edward looked away, knowing this was its
favorite part. It grabbed both of the shepherds and drug them across the room,
it dropped one in front of the wolf and then took the other to the corner.
Edward watched as it devoured chunks of the shepherd while burying its cock in
him. It was a sickening yet arousing scene for the wolf because he knew it made
them stronger.
Sounds of chewing, snapping, and sex filled
the room. Not long after it started feeding again the wolf gave in, he had
started fucking the dead shepherd the creature dropped in front of him. He didn't
have sex often so he was thrilled that this shepherd was tight. The wolf shoved
his knot into the shepherd's hole and started pumping seed into him. He panted
loudly as he finished, he looked up to the demon and it was grinning at him. It
knew that the wolf had given into temptation again. He popped out of the dead
dog and went to the shower, he felt disgusted with himself after the act.
By the time Edward returned from a quick
shower there was no trace of the bodies, it had cleaned up. More police were
arriving outside but held their positon.
They had gotten out of worse situations. The
creature had drawn some symbols on the floor in the shepherd's blood. They both
stepped into it, facing each other. All of its bullet wounds had healed. The creature
spoke in tongues like it usually did, and they vanished in a plume of red and
black dust to resume life somewhere new again.