Chapter 24: Death’s New Pet: Chapter 22

The beast escapes. Completely and utterly fucking escapes.

I thought I had a handle on that terrifying creature but seeing my brother near my little mortal forced instinct to take over. Him touching yet another thing that’s mine…

The familiar throbbing of my tattoos racing around my body, my bones and muscles expanding painfully comes to life, until I’m towering over everybody in the room, and that stinging sensation in my eyes which indicates they’re pitch black and bleeding down my face. My fangs shoot out through my lips, and I bare them at my family wickedly.

‘Fucking destroy them.’

Everything happens so quickly. My father charges for me but my talons sink into his hair, and I smash his face against my thigh until it explodes in blood and popped blood vessels.

On my left, my sister tries to restrain my arm but I’m much faster and I snap her arm in half, enjoying the shrieks of torment. I feel multiple forms of energy leap into my brain, but the beast has his protective shield up and completely blocks out any magic.

The room suddenly drains as I steal more and more energy. I move ridiculously fast, smashing into anybody who tries to stop me from getting to my younger brother who frantically tries to escape. He tries to flash out of the room but one fist on his armour has me yanking him back. A terrified noise escapes him as I thrash into him with my talons and claws until the blood stains my face. My tongue darts out and tastes it.

Wrong move.

Any minuscule slither of control I had vanishes. The room explodes as dark grey smoke bursts out, coating everyone in my death particles. Shrieks of horror and pain ring around the room as my particles destroy any Being close to me. In the depths of the agony, one noise rings louder around my mind.

My mortal.

‘Fuck her, kill everyone in the room. They fucking deserve it, Death! Torture! Destroy! Ruin!’

The pain bursts through my own body as my family sends bolts of fire and energy into my skin. I struggle to dodge them as that completely animalistic part controls me. Any thoughts of defending myself vanish, and I work on torturing my younger brother, pushing all of my hatred onto him.

Behind me, another frightened noise tears through my little mortal. It’s panicked, strangled and completely takes me by surprise. I find myself leering towards her and that’s when I see it. True fear stains her face. Her eyes are wide, tearful, and bloodshot, mouth agape as the noise rips through her.

Horrified, she stumbles backwards until her back hits the wall with a thud. I smell the sweat clinging to her body, feel her heartbeat increase in her chest, and her breathing becomes frantic and stressed. Even her lifeline suddenly stops as her heart misses a beat in shock. She scratches at her throat as though she’s being strangled. Her face is purple, her lips a dark shade of blue and I feel her lifeline suddenly drop. She fights, still fucking fights, even as her soul is being murdered. Even as I slowly murder everybody in the room.

“Death, stop!” my sister howls, “You’re killing us!”

Even as the beast pummels and tortures and destroys my family, something deep inside of us cracks. It feels as though somebody is smashing through a wall of ice with a pickaxe. At first, it’s a nagging feeling but it grows and grows until I’m suffocating.

“Harley!” My little mortal cries out as he drops to the floor in a pile of bones. Even as she is being strangled, her niceness is focused on that fucker of a friend.

Suddenly, it dawns on me why she sounds so agonised.

He’s dead.

The monster inside of me howls in celebration as I feel his soul suddenly zap into the sorting circle of Hell. But the jealousy of his name being the last word on her lips has the monster reeling too. Her energy drops more until she is dangerously close to exploding away.

‘Fuck, beast, get her out of here. She’s going to be taken from us! Sorted without our interference! She’ll be sent away! Please! Ple—’

“Death, stop this!” my mother cries out. It’s pained and strangled but I can’t look over to her to see her torture. My black eyes are firmly fixed on the little creature writhing around in uncontrolled agony on the floor. She splutters and gasps as the oxygen starves her little body.

Everything happens so quickly. When I blink again, the little mortal is pressed against my chest, tightly in my grip and I suddenly flash out of the room. I kidnap the small thing and force her into my Realm. A place no soul has ever survived and yet, the beast lets her live. It gives her a way around the curse.

As soon as we land, the strength returns to me. I drain all the energy from the tortured souls in my chamber and lock the creature back up in the depths of my mind. In my arms, my mortal suddenly snatches a sharp breath and I feel her lifeline return strongly.

‘Steal it again,’ the beast howls out. It self-sabotages, reason never seeping into his black mind.

“Death!” The tears flow down her face. She fights me with all her might fear still laced on her small body. Only this time, I let her go. She throws herself to the floor and scrambles away, eyes locked on me. Even though I’m back in the recognisable form, I can feel the terrifying image burnt into her brain. She whimpers and cries but not in a good way.

For a moment, the way she responds has me seriously doubting whether she’ll want me again. It’s such a fucked-up perverted and strange thought, but it flashes across my mind, nonetheless.

“You killed him!” Her voice cracks as she screams at me. “You fucking killed him! You stole his chances of winning—”

“Why do you care, dead girl? He was your competition!”

“And my friend!”

“Friend?” the word spits from my lips disgustedly.

“You awful fucking creature! You—”

Suddenly, I’m across the room, leering over her. “Careful now, dead girl. Don’t say anything you’ll regret.”

“I hate you! I hate you! Take me back! I don’t want this; I don’t want to win!”

I bristle. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do!” she howls. The snot and tears stain her face as she blubbers away. Her whole body cowers from me. I want to feel some sort of pride and joy in her fear. Hell, I’ve been after this reaction since I first laid eyes on the little creature, and yet, this isn’t the fear I want. I don’t want her pure hatred; I want her sin.

“Take me back!”

Despite my regret, selfishness consumes me. She might hate me, but she will not leave me. Whether she likes it or not, she is mine. “You’re mine.”

“I’ll never be yours!”

“You’re Death’s New Pet. You survived the trials.”

“I break the deal! I don’t care! I don’t want to be here! Near you!”

Her words actually do something to me. I flinch. “You’re just saying that.”

“What must I do to prove to you that I don’t want this?”

Suddenly, all resolve cracks. I know that I must go about this gently. The little mortal under my feet is writhing and terrified, and her heart is screaming that it’s going to give up if she takes any more fear. But that has never been my nature. No matter how much I try, I cannot let her leave.

“Nobody can get into my Realm without starting to die,” I snarl. “Nobody is coming to save you and I am sure as Hell not going to let you leave so you better get used to it, dead girl.”

“You are evil! He didn’t deserve to die so unheroically!”

“Stop talking about him.” I feel the dark mist seep from my body as jealousy consumes me.

“No! He was my only friend and you slaughtered him!”

My jaw tenses. “You don’t need friends in Hell.”

She shrieks in frustration, but the noise turns to a whimper as I grab her arm and yank her to her feet. Immediately, she tries to fight me, but I don’t let her escape this time.

“I won’t apologise for killing anyone, ever, little mortal. Now that he’s dead, you’re mine.”

Her arms wrap around her body protectively in a self-soothing manner. My lips curl as the little mortal desperately searches for some warmth.

We have no warmth to give to her.

“You want a hug, little mortal? Let my fingers cuddle your neck.”

She gasps as I wrap my hand around her throat and squeeze slightly. She’s horrified, absolutely terrified, but her anger, as usual, reigns. Her defiant little eyes twinkle angrily and she tries to peel me from her body.

There is that fight that I fucking love.

“Let go of me!”

The burning of the tattoos on my body grows too much as more unsorted souls pour into Hell. Everything within me longs to bring her close and turn her anger into pleasure. How delicious it would be to have her writhing underneath me, cumming repeatedly and hating herself for enjoying my sin so much. But duty calls.

“Fine,” I release her, and she scrambles backwards but I smell that momentary reaction of regret and surprise. She rubs at her neck in a huge display. “Hate me, little girl, but you belong here, as my pet.”

I twist on my feet and drain all the dark smoke from the room so she can fully come to grips with her surroundings. I sense her breathing catch in her throat as she stares around my throne room with the large stage in front of the solitary chair.

Without another look at her, I slump in my chair and summon my beast with a whistle. I hear her breathing grow irregular as the ugly creature sluggishly crawls out of the depths of Hell. He turns to me, dips his head in the lowest bow, and groans.

“Little mortal, come here.” I click my fingers to irritate her. She hesitates, and for a second, she almost disobeys. At the last moment, she stumbles forward next to my chair.

“Sit on the floor.”

“Fuck you,” she spits. With a wave of my hand, I force her to her knees. She cries out in shock as her body is forced to respond to me. “Let me go!”

“No. You’re going to learn what I spend the majority of my days doing. Torturing.”

“Evil beast!”

I ignore her insult even though my fingers throb to punish her. Instead, I turn to my beast. “Bring the first unsorted soul.”

Dutifully, my beast warps in a young man with tan skin and bushy eyebrows. As usual, the fear is palpable, and I feed off of the energy. My beast drives a horn through the human’s chest and the red pixels explode everywhere. The man cries out in a mixture of horror and pain. I lick my lips and soak up his sin.

“This one is being punished for assault and battery on an elderly person after a home invasion went wrong,” I find myself explaining the situation to my little mortal without realising.

Out of the corner of my eye, she watches quietly, her bottom lip between her teeth. Her eyes are wide and startled but she soaks up everything happening on the stage.

“What are you doing to him?”

“My creature is punishing him until all of his sins are expressed. Then, I will sort him into the realm he deserves.”

Her eyebrows burrow together, and she never takes her eyes off the screaming man in the middle of the stage. His guts pour onto the floor and his shrieks grow louder and louder with every attack. She barely flinches.

That’s my good girl.

After a couple of moments, the familiar throbbing pulls through the room. I flick my fingers out and the man explodes into particles. Then, with a headbutt from the monster, he disappears into the sorted realm.

“Where did he go?” She appears almost disappointed that the torture has stopped but I know it’s my perverse mind changing her tone of voice.

Inhaling sharply to stop the dirty thoughts in my mind, I manage to ground the desire. “I sorted him. He will do three thousand years in the worst psychological Hell loop before becoming food for my beasts.”

“Three thousand years?” she startles. “But I only did a couple hours and—”

“He deserved it, little mortal. Don’t try to tell me how to run my Realm.”

Her lips slam shut, and she turns back to the stage. She still hates me and tries to give me the silent treatment. I almost laugh. I sense her frustration and it’s fucking delicious but it’s short-lived as my monster pulls another soul onto the stage.

This one is younger but reeks of poison as though it’s stained his soul. My beast quickly gets to work destroying the soul until its cries are nothing but a melody in my ears. Again, I want my little mortal to react and cuss me out more, but instead, she watches quietly, her eyes never disappearing from the stage.

“What’s his crime?”

“Multiple accounts of rape and petty theft.” I sigh and lift my fingers but before I can send him anywhere, my little mortal speaks again.

“What is his punishment?”

“Four and a half thousand years in a Hell loop and then he will be forced to work the mazes.”

“Make it six thousand.” My little mortal decides to hand out punishments. I should be fucking furious that she dares tells me what to do and yet my cock springs to attention. I physically readjust myself in my chair and she must sense it too.

Her pretty little eyes dart over to me. “I’m not kidding, Death.” She says sternly.

“I know you’re not.”

“Make it six thousand years.”

A small smile creeps to my lips. “Come here.”

“No,”

I pout at her, mockingly. “Are you still sad that I killed your friend?”

“How dare you!”

“Relax,” I roll my eyes. “He is in one of the maze’s. If you behave, you might be able to visit him soon.”

She visibly startles. “Are you lying?”

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Because—”

I wait for her to come up with a good response but there is nothing. Without another word, I pat my lips. She hesitates.

“Join me or you’ll never see him again.”

Shakily, she rises and follows my hand gesture until she is standing in front of me. My hand snatches out and I quickly move her onto my lap. She cries out in shock, only spurring me on more. I force her to sit in my lap, to feel the hardness of my cock against her back. A gasp tumbles from her lips.

“Death—”

“Little mortal wants to make the demands?” I growl into her ear. Her whole body responds to my warm breath, and I audibly hear every hair stand up on the edge of her skin. She slowly trembles under my touch.

“Make them, then. Show me how ruthless and evil you are whilst you still have your human soul, little mortal.”

I lift her body so that my hard cock rubs against her pussy. Her fingers jump to my wrists, and she tries to free herself from me but it’s all for show. I can smell the wetness already soaking the thin material. She whimpers and I almost lose control.

“Do you like feeling my cock against your greedy mortal pussy?”

“Oh God—”

My fangs sharpen and scratch against her neck, drawing blood. She cries out in pain. Fury consumes me. “What did I tell you about using that name down here?”