Cecil

Prologue: Darkness Abound

The blood that flowed over my fingers was warm and throbbing with life, its coppery scent growing stronger with each passing second. The balding man on the floor, lying in an expanding pool of crimson liquid, gurgled once more. My eyes focused on his wide, terrified eyes and my lips stretched wide.

The gurgling returned as he noticed my bloodstained fangs. I crouched down, still keeping the smile on my face, and gently held his paling face. “Don't worry,” I whispered, tilting his neck upwards. The terror shining in his eyes sent a pleasurable shiver through me. “It won't last long.”

Slowly, gently, I lowered my mouth to his neck and gave it a slow, sensuous lick. I could feel him shivering beneath me, and the wet sensation of the blood pool seeping into my shoes. I savored the taste, relishing the salty sensation playing on my taste buds. It wasn’t as good as his daughter’s, but it was still of higher quality than most of my meals.

One quick motion, and I pierced his flesh, a geyser of blood flooding my throat.

 I fed on the dying old man, tearing his body apart until only the bloodstained clothes remained. I sighed, content for the night. Master Heller never specified when I was to return to my cage, so perhaps another stroll through the town would be needed. “Gochisosama,” I said out loud. It wouldn’t do to forget my manners.

Rising to my feet, I straightened my jacket and licked the flecks of blood that were splattered on my hands. While the old man had been satisfying, his younger daughter was the real meal of the day. I glanced up at the ceiling, my ears picking up the faint sounds of footsteps scurrying on the second floor.

My grn couldn’t have been any wider. How fortuitous today had been; not only did I manage to kill that blustering fool Ghazan, but even more meals kept appearing!

Sauntering up the staircase, I let my hand drag against the wallpaper. Watching the blood trail form made me happy, as though I was imparting something to remind the world of my existence. Feeling a little playful, I manipulated the blood soaked in the paper to form various images.

When I reached the upper level, there was a large blood painting of Yomi on the walls. Seeing the image of that place, it suddenly struck me as odd when there was the barest twinge of emotion in my being.

A scream caught my attention, shrill and laced with terror. I glanced at the woman backing away as fast as she could from me, stumbling and tripping in her haste. She was young, a lot younger than the old man, but older than the child he had.

Ah, what did it matter? Flesh was flesh, no matter how much it ages.

I grinned once again. “Hello,” I watched, amused, as she grabbed the closest item and threw it at me. The blunt kitchen knife bounced off my face, useless. “Perfect night for a meal, wouldn’t you say?”

“Get away from me! I’ve already called the cops, they’ll-” My hands clamped over her jaw, silencing her. My free hand seized her hands and wrenched them over her head. I stared deep into her tearful blue eyes as she kicked about helplessly.

I leaned in closer, making sure to grin as broadly as I could. Her thundering heart was music to my ears. “Don’t worry,” I crooned. Tilting her head upwards, revealing her beautiful pale skin, I imagined several arms appearing from my back. Shadowy tendrils, formed from the blood I had spilt, slithered from within my cloak and coagulated into several menacing limbs.

Extending my tongue, I lapped at her neck. The taste was exquisite, such so that I almost wished to save her for another time. Removing my hands, I licked my lips as my other limbs held her down and muzzled her. With a snap of my fingers, the limbs quickly rearranged her position until she was suspended in the air, with her legs spread open.

Tears flowed down her cheeks. I smiled, gently tracing a line on her thighs. It wouldn’t be quite the same if I didn’t hear her screaming. So, to ensure that I could hear her screams even through the muzzle, I tweaked her body a little. If I so much as poked her, she’d feel like I had stabbed her.

I lowered myself until I was right in front of her womanhood. I opened wide, already imagining the taste.

Then I bit down. Hard.

Her screams sent even more tingles down my spine than the old man had. My bites grew more feral, snapping and ripping flesh apart as I tunneled my way through her opening. Bones were crushed and swallowed, blood lapped up and organs chewed as I feasted on her body.

When I started, the screaming had been incredible. By the time i reached her womb, it had dulled to barely a sound. When I sawed through her stomach, she was dead. By the time I reached her brain, I was content.

When I finally stepped out of that house, I glanced at the sky. The moon hung in the sky, a huge pearl surrounded by several little blips of light. Checking my watch, I realized that I still had an hour left to have fun.

I faded away into the night, grinning. Last time I checked, there had been an orphanage down the streets...

 

Chapter 1: Her Beast

Darkness had always been my companion. It walked with me for as long as I could remember; as far back as my infant days, hovering over my fragile form and holding me in its cold embrace. Darkness was my eternal truth; undying, immortal and beyond comprehension. It soothed my soul when Mother died, comforted me when I lost my way and gave me strength beyond anything I had ever imagined.

Darkness was my god. Eternal. Beyond comprehension.

Strange how these thoughts plagued my mind as I stared at the sleeping infant, blissfully ignorant of its fate as it lay in the cotton sheets. It was so small and feeble, less than a month old and barely cognizant of its environment. I frowned, silent as Master Randolph gently picked up the infant and began cradling it.

A foolishly kind man, in my opinion. He was aware of what would happen in the near future, yet still wished to walk down this road. I wasn’t sure if it was his love for family or stupidity that motivated him at this point.

I narrowed my eyes as he placed his palm against the child’s temple, muttering an incantation. The words were garbled and strange, sounding like gibberish in my ears, but I could tell what he was doing. He was placing some protection around her, to prevent her from dying before her early years. It was as plain as day to those that knew him.

My hand flexed, claws extended as they twitched sporadically. Another measure I had anticipated, yet brewed a fierce broth of frustration within my being. I knew that the Rules protected him, but there were always ways around them.

Tonight, my opportunity would come. And I was more than prepared to take it.

“Izanagi,” I was slightly impressed with the steel in his voice; even at the age of eighty-seven, his voice was as strong and resolved as always. I didn’t respond, deliberately fixing my attention on the child in his arms. He knew I was listening to his instructions. “It is time. Prepare for the transfer.”

Ah yes, the Transfer. The moment I was actually looking forward to this time. My lips quirked, unseen in the darkness. “Understood, my Master.”

I retreated to my master’s shadow, thinking and scheming. Soon the Master will die, and his Heir entrusted to me; an unusual occurrence, with the child having no clue as to the Rules governing me. An almost impossible scenario, one I hadn’t even considered in my earlier plans.

I watched from the shadows as Master spoke to his daughter, my eyes narrowing. The boundaries prevented me from attacking now, while he was weak with age and dulled with emotion, so I couldn’t prevent the Transfer. It was necessary for my revenge, but the thought still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Patience, I reminded myself. After all, there was one particular window of opportunity to exploit. Then, when Randolph Bael’s blood stained the hallways, my plan could start.

XXXXXXX

The fire was beautiful.

As brilliant as the sun, lapping at the world with insatiable hunger, the flickering tongues roared throughout the compound. The heat was impressive, managing to reach my skin despite the distance. Had I arrived here later, I would’ve thought Agni was responsible for those flames.

I smirked as the mansion continued to burn, perched upon the branches of a wayward tree. The cool night air felt absolutely divine against my skin, the cooling sensation sending shivers up my spine. It had been so long since I experienced this.

A loud cry cut through my thoughts, bringing me back to reality. I glanced down at the bundle in my hands, which moved every now and then. The child’s screaming face greeted my eyes, wailing in the darkness. Were I anyone else, perhaps a sliver of pity might’ve entered my heart.

I tapped her forehead, silencing the cries and sending her to sleep. It wouldn’t do to have her give our position away just yet. Glancing at the fires in the distance one last time, I tightened my grip on her form and dropped into the ground.

The fall was nothing, and I managed to land as silent as a cat. I peered into the darkness, easily picking out the grunts approaching from the north; two dozen soldiers, armed to the teeth and ready for their deaths. They wouldn’t last long.

I crouched down, keeping out of sight. First things first, the Mistress would have to be placed somewhere safe. The Rules Randolph had imprinted were absolute; no harm was to come to Mistress until she was capable of properly defending herself. Even as I hunkered down, the words continued to ring in my head, like that odd song you could never get out of your mind.

I concentrated slightly, calling upon the vast ocean of power inside my body. A substantial amount, though a mere sliver compared to my past self, filled my being and I felt the world open up once again. Night became day, whispers became shouts, every sense heightened to an entirely new level.

Placing my palm against the earth, I imagined a hole large enough to fit her in, complete with hy and blankets to keep her warm. When I felt the power diminish slightly, I opened my eyes and smiled.

The image I had in my head was before me, perfect down to the smallest detail. It wasn’t the best solution, even temporarily, but that was the most I could do at the time. Randolph hadn’t granted permission to release the first level, thus limiting my options drastically.

Unless Mistress willingly gave her permission for me to access that state, I would have to make do with rudimentary abilities.

For further protection, I crafted a protector of sorts to watch over her. The wolf, as black as charcoal and as big as a pony, bowed lowly. “Protect the Mistress. Kill anything that comes near.” With my orders delivered, it settled down and began its duty.

By now, the fleshbags were almost upon us, just about two meters from our position. Rising to my feet, I imagined two sharpened rods materialising in my hands. When the smooth metal appeared in my hands, I charged towards them.

To be fair to the pursuers, they were in no way prepared to deal with a demon, let alone one of my standard. Even the weakest demon was more than a match for a human; it would take the equivalent of five well-trained men to defeat a truly weak demon, like the brainless, deformed monstrosities that Loki enjoyed spawning.

For them to face someone like myself?

They would have to have a great health plan before approaching.

The first one I killed probably didn’t even see me coming; he was too busy checking his gun, to preoccupied with order to listen to his instincts. The makeshift sword I held stabbed through his heart, and my jaws clamped around his mouth, locking his lips in place. He shuddered once, but I was in a hurry. With the greatest of ease, I bit down and destroyed his jaw.

Tossing the body somewhere, I decided to end this before it started to drag out. Kneeling down, I buried my hands in the earth, willing the black rods to disappear. Concentrating, I felt the bones in my body shift and twist, coil and loosen, grow and sharpen within my body. It was a most curious sensation, feeling my organs shift from their original position and my body cross the line that separated the supernatural and natural.

I smelled the musky odours of six men to my right, one of which was a lot closer than I had thought. Three others stomped to the west, about a meter from my position. Ten farther up north, the ones covering their rear. The final four were just up ahead. I decided to save them for last.

Once I identified my targets, I let my imagination run wild.

Countless pillars of bone, numerous sharpened roots and several metallic rods exploded into existence. Like flipping on a switch, the grounds of the Bael household transformed from the peaceful grounds it was known for into a twisted forest better suited to be in Yomi.

I could hear the heartbeats slow down and stop across the grounds, save those of my Mistress and the four I reserved for last. Disengaging my limbs, I shifted my body back into place and stood up again. Strolling towards the closest living soldier, who had his legs pierced by two bone protrusions, I didn’t bother asking any questions.

Why, you ask? There were more convenient ways for me to get the answers I needed.

So, when he saw my form and began to whimper in fear like a dog, I grabbed his head and ripped it off his shoulders. Had I not been in a hurry, I would’ve had some fun toying with his mind. Oh well. Stabbing my fingers into the skull, I gripped the skull as gently as I could, which was about the same effort humans put in cradling an egg, and pulled it off, revealing the soldier’s brain.

“I-It’s him!” I paid no attention to the arriving soldier, and tore into the prize I had obtained. I heard him load the gun, heard his heart thundering in his ribcage and caught the rustling of bushes as the other two arrived.

Bullets flew through the air, punching their way into my flesh. Shots echoed in the night, spilling blood in torrents unto the earth. I remained silent, letting them have their fun; after all, it was the last thing they would ever do in this world. Might as well let them have some hope that their efforts would achieve something.

Minutes passed, too quickly for my liking. I waited until the last shot had been fired before I lifted my head to look at them. I must’ve looked terrifying at that moment, with the left half of my face torn off and bullet holes riddling my body.

I grinned, revealing my fangs. It amused me to see them sputtering and shaking with fear. “Good work, soldiers. Now, goodnight.”

I flashed forward, bypassing the two before me in favor for the one at the back. My teeth clamped round his throat, piercing through the flesh and biting through his common carotid arteries. The taste was sub-par, barely edible in fact, but I was having too much fun to complain.

When the others fired, all they did was shoot the corpse. I was already circling them, moving silently and quickly through the darkness.

“Where did he go?!” One of them screamed, whipping about like a squirrel. I slithered up to him, cheeks bulging with venom, and waited. Like every other human I had killed, he turned around and jumped when he saw me.

Too bad.

Acid splattered his face, expelled from my cheeks like a cannon. The screams he let out as he fell to the ground, clawing his face in agony, pleased me. I turned away, heading towards the last one. I had nothing to fear from the screaming soldier; not only would his face essentially melt off, but the effects wouldn't stop until he was nothing more than dissolved goop. What better way to kill a man, than to let him have a painful, slow death?

The last one was a special case. When I saw his shaking form, I contemplated making him claw his throat out. However, the Rules were absolute; I couldn’t leave Mistress in any danger until she was able to defend herself. So, instead of a cruel and unusual death, I formed the image of three burly orcs from the game that Randolph had played and breathed life into them. I gestured to the unfortunate fleshbag, “Have fun with him, then kill him when you’re bored.”

Returning to Mistress’s hiding spot, ignoring the terrified screaming and sounds of flesh slapping against flesh, I carefully retrieved her and nodded to the wolf. “Time to leave.”

XXXXXXXXXX

I watched, hidden within Mistress’s shadow, as the caretaker cooed in her ears, cradling her gently. Nodding with satisfaction, I retreated to the deepest corners of the shadows and closed my eyes.

Soon she would dream of many things, strange and horrifying, beautiful and amazing. Soon she would encounter me and the truth of what happened tonight. Soon she would choose her path to walk.

When that happened, then I would strike. Strike and seize the chances offered. One way or another, my plans would come to fruition.