The Devil's Lover Page 7

  18. NUMBER EIGHT BY THE FLAME

  When Simone reaches her home, it dawns on her that it is still early and her parents are still at work. That means she’ll be home alone. But home is where she feels safe. The most. Nothing could go wrong from there. She gets into her house quickly and closes the door just as quickly. She is still feeling a surge of panic overflowing inside of her. William is a scary guy, she thinks to herself. She can’t believe that only now she starts to realize of this. It is ever since he is around that people are dying one by one. But wait. When was that? When was it that he started to attend the school? Was he there all along? Was he a transfer student? Did he grow up in this town? No. Hold on a second. How did she know him? How did anyone know his name? Did he ever introduce himself? Who… is he? Questions shoot through her brain like bullets and she’s afraid that she has no answer to all of them.

  She feels shiver running down her spine. She was about to walk into the kitchen when suddenly, from a corner of her eyes, she saw a figure sitting on her sofa. As she turns to look at the person, anger mounts up inside of her. So she comes lashing at him in anger. "You psycho! What are you doing in my house?!" She asked angrily. Trance, on the other hand, who was sitting on the sofa, does not look intimidated from the shriek of her voice. He just wears an evil smile on his face like an invisible mask and is looking at Simone calmly.

  "It's your turn, Simone," she then heard a voice of someone familiar whispering from behind her. She turns around to look and it was William standing behind her. Both of his hands are tucked inside his pockets. He looks uninterested in everything. He looks like he is comfortable where he is. Like he belongs there. Like it is his house instead of hers. And that infuriates her even more. She didn't even hear him coming. There was no squeak from the door. What the hell is happening? She no longer knows whether she should be angry or afraid. Which is more powerful?

  "What do you want? I'm calling the cops!" She tried to threaten them. That only makes both Trance and William laugh in replied.

  "Owh Simone... Didn't I say I'll have you burn?" William reminded her. She knows which is more powerful now. It is fear. Engulfed in fear, she has a look on her face like she's about to cry. Must she give up? Is her life going to end? Will they really burn her? She wonders silently.

  Trance gets up from the sofa and walks towards William as he passes by Simone uncaringly. He then pats William's shoulder. "Get it over and done with," he instructed. William smiles wickedly at those words and Trance simply walks out of the house. Hands taken out from his pockets, William steadily steps forward towards Simone with a smile of a monster. His eyes glowing in red…

  From outside of the house, Trance can hear the ringing of Simone's scream. He only laughs to himself at the wonderful sound of torture he is hearing. The scream plays like a song to his ears. William must be making her reliving the pain and sufferings. Oh. He knows the drill. Not long after, staring at sky, without looking at the place where one more soul will be taken, he can hear William getting out of the house and walking towards him who was sitting at the porch. "Let's go," he said. Trance gets up and walks side by side with William away from the house. The house behind them is in flame... but no screaming can be heard. Of course, no matter how painful, they can't scream. It's part of the torture too. It's the beautiful part to the torture.

  ֍֎֍

  Trance slouches down on his bed. His body is tired from the previous intercourse he had with William but he doesn't believe that he needs to rest. Downstairs, his parents are making such a ruckus about the deaths that's been happening in the town lately. They are worried about him. They are worried if he might also commit suicide. That was silly of them...

  His phone starts to ring out of the blue. It sounds foreign to him. It’s been so long since it had rung. It’s been so long since he even has to use it. He looks at the caller ID. It's Peter. Indifferently, he looks at the screen for a few seconds but he answers the call nonetheless. "Yeah?"

  "Trance, I thought you would not pick up."

  "What do you want?" Trance asked uncaringly.

  "Can I see you? At the usual place?"

  Trance keeps silence for a while, pretending to be thinking when in truth, he's not. There’s no need to think about it. The answer is clear. "No," he simply answered and quickly hung up on him. He rests his head back to his pillow. It was a stupid thing to answer the phone in the first place. It’s not like there’s anything he wants to know or has to say. His phone is ringing again... again... and again... He ignores the ringing and closes his eyes. Then, unexpectedly, he hears a loud thud in his room. He opens his eyes calmly to look. And there right beside his window, he spots Peter. That’s when it comes to his realization that this person had sneaked into his room. But he can’t feel angry. He can’t care. He is surprised a little for the effort but for the most part, he is more amused than anything.

  "Trance..." Peter called out to him. His voice soft. Just the way he would call him when they were alone, together, back then. Soft-spoken. Soft touches. Soft kisses on his neck and soft sucking of his skin. This wasn't the first time he sneaks into Trance's room, of course. When they were lovers, he used to do it all the time. And a little memory travels in Trance’s mind of those hot sessions they used to have in his room. Both had to keep the sounds of their moaning down. Him being on top, ravishing him like he was his favorite delicacy. Those were the days.

  Trance only sighs at him, almost as if he had felt defeated. He gets up from his bed to a sit and looks at Peter straight into the eyes nonchalantly. "Your girlfriend is dead. You should be mourning right now. Not sneaking in into someone else’s house, Peter," Trance simply commented.

  Peter does not reply to the comment. He chooses to ignore it. He doesn't even love Simone. He’s sad that she’s gone, of course. Everyone is sad when someone they had been in contact with dies. But the one he was in love with all along is Trance and here, right now, Trance is right before his eyes. He looks at Trance deep in the eyes, savoring the moment. It’s been a long time since he last got to really look into his eyes like this. Them, being alone together like this. In this room. The very room where he had countlessly become one with Trance. Trance, however, only sighs again, refusing to look longer into Peter’s eyes. "I miss you," Peter then said.

  Trance nods a little. "Of course you do," he commented back. And this time, he does look back into Peter’s eyes longer. Peter was looking at him painfully. The look of someone yearning for something he can no longer have. But Trance was only looking at him like he is waiting for Peter to break apart. The look of someone wanting the other person to die a miserable death. How did they get to this?

  Peter can't hold it in anymore being there in the room full of memories between the two of them. So he quickly walks up to Trance and kisses him on the lips, forcing his tongue to enter Trance’s mouth, exploring it with a kind of hunger that could never be satisfied. Trance does not push him away but he is not returning the kiss. He doesn’t agree but he also doesn’t refuse. Peter breaks the kiss after a while, aware of Trance’s indifference. He looks into Trance's eyes quizzically. "Do you love me?" He asked, trying to find assurance if this is right. If this is real. If Trance is still the same person he used to know. Can he just believe that he is still the same? Can he just live in fantasy?

  Trance stares back into Peter's eyes. He then pulls Peter by his wrist unexpectedly to bring him closer. Trance is aware of burning scars on the wrist. But he chooses to ignore it. He is the one who starts to kiss Peter on the lips this time. With that, Peter loses his mind. He quickly gets on top of Trance, lying him down on the bed, kissing him harder than before. A lust. A hunger. An insatiable desire. They were never fulfilled. He keeps wanting for more. It’s always like that when it comes to Trance. As he was kissing Trance’s neck ready to engage in intimacy, Trance words out to him an answer. "I think not," Trance simply said. Stupefied and in shock, Peter stops what he was doing and he can’t hold back tears which started to mount in h
is eyes. That sentence breaks his heart.

  Trance can already read Peter's heart from the start and he knew that Peter is on to him about the suicide circles in school. "You are quite a genius and curious," he then commented. Peter did not understand why Trance had commented so. "If you really want to know, Peter, yes. I killed them," Trance confessed. There’s an evil glow portrayed in his eyes. Peter pulls himself away from Trance as soon as he heard it. He is trembling. He can't believe what he had just heard. He cannot say anything to it. No comments. No nothing. He doesn’t know what to even think. Trance laughs at that reaction by Peter. "And I can tell you who's next," he told. "The mastermind... Chris!" Trance continued. Peter only looks at Trance in disbelief. He then quickly gets back to the window. He looks at Trance with a face full of sadness for a while before he sneaks back out.

  Offshoot. FAIRYTALES UNTOLD 3: Red Riding Hood.

  Red was the color. And is all the color that’s left for them. I promise that when I leave, they will all be covered in red.

  Father Thomas sat in a corner with his head covered in both of his palms, sobbing softly to his defeat. Today, he had failed to save Enrique, a 10-year-old under his care. One by one, the boys in the village had died from an unknown disease. They call it the ‘Red Plague’. The plague begins with dark red spots as tiny as a dot appearing on the bodies of the boys. They first thought it was mosquitoes or some sort of insects’ bite but the red dot grew day by day. It only took three days for the plague to spread to rest of the body. At first, the boys’ bodies looked like they’ve been dyed red. But within seconds, their bodies will start to bleed. Before death, their bodies turn completely red as if they’ve been skinned alive. No one knows what to do or how to cure the disease. Help was requested but before help could even reach the village, Father Thomas feared that it might be too late.

  What was odd was that the disease only seemed to be infecting boys within the age of 5 to 10. And only boys instead of girls. Even when quarantined and with no contact with one another, the disease still hit the boys. It doesn’t seem to infect those who are older or younger than 5 to 10 years old.

  Three more boys were lying on the beds arranged in the infirmary of the church. Father Thomas could only look at the boys. He had lost his hope. Now, all that he could do was to watch them die. This is not right, he thought. They don’t deserve to die this young. But he knew he could not blame God for this. God can’t be at fault. There have got to be a better reason why this was happening.

  “♫Tili-tili-bom. Krichit nochnaya ptitsa. On uzhe probralsya v dom. K tem, komu ne spitsya~~♪”

  He jolted up to a stand in surprise. In the corner where he was sitting, he can see clearly a figure was standing by the side of one of the boys’ bed which was the last bed nearest to an open window. Cold wind blew inside the room. The window was previously shut tight. There was no one there before. It was when he was lost in his thoughts, as he rationalizes, that this cloaked figure had entered the room through the window and sang the lullaby in Russian.

  “Who are you?!” He asked in a stern manner. He felt less intimidated by the figure cloaked in red. It was smaller and shorter than him.

  In answer, the small cloaked figure continued singing the lullaby; “♫On idet... On uzhe blizko... ~~♪”

  “Answer me at once!” Father Thomas demanded. But his eyes were widen in horror as the small figure pulled its’ hood down. It was a boy. Not more than 10 years old with his skin pale, eyes bluer than the sky and hair in the color of ember. “No… It’s not possible,” Father Thomas mumbled to himself as he fell down to a kneeling position which leveled him to the same height of the boy.

  The boy smiled at him sweetly. “Am I not your little red riding hood, father?” The boy asked. The tone was of innocence but the voice was pretty distorted to be that of a boy. He walked closer to Father Thomas who was in tears and had started to pray. “God can’t save you,” he continued. “These boys must die, father. I was merely saving them from men like you! May their innocence remain intact in death, unlike me!” The voice grew in its distortion to a growl as the boy got even closer to the father.

  With their faces only inches apart from one another, the father started to beg; “please…., Kirill. I didn’t mean to kill you. It was an accident,” he explained. His voice trembled.

  “Oh. That must mean you also didn’t mean to rape me?” He asked. To that, the father kept his mouth shut. His days were numbered but he never counted this would be the way for him to pay for his sin. “You’ll come to hell with me, father. Now I’ll forever be your little red riding hood. You’ll have a fate worse than death!” He ended his words with both of his small hands wrapping around the throat of Father Thomas. A twisted smile was formed on his face and his eyes turned dark blood red. There will be four bodies left in the infirmary tomorrow. But only one of those souls will be eternally tormented.

  19. NUMBER NINE A GUN TO THE HEAD

  Chris takes his father's gun from the drawer slowly. Somehow, that was what he was told. To do it all slowly. For him to take his time. But it must be done. There’s no stopping to this. He puts the gun to his head. He has to do this. He just has to. William smiles as he is reading Chris’ thoughts. Chris is afraid. Too afraid that he might as well just piss in his pants if it weren’t for him being compelled to be calm. The normal him would have had done it. He is a coward in a mask of a warrior. All his life, all he ever did was pretending to be that person. A strong person. A brave person. But now, fear is his name. His own body won’t react to how he wants it to be. What a torture… He knows he will go painfully. One fatal blow. His brain will splatter all across the room. But he can’t stop this. The gun is already in his mouth and he pulls the trigger.

  ֍֎֍

  ~1 year and 2 months ago~

  Chris made Trance kneel to the ground. His hands are gripping Trance’s hair, pulling it just so that it would get closer to his erected penis. “You like dick, right? Now, suck!” He ordered. He is forcing Trance to do oral to him and Trance refuses to do it. With all of his might, Trance fights Chris from having his way with him. He is crying with every resistance. His face is already filled with bruises from the punches thrown by Chris in an effort to weaken him so that he’ll surrender to his desire.

  Chris doesn’t think that he himself is gay. But he has to admit that Trance is a cutie in a way and that he wanted this to happen. He thought that Trance is gay anyway so he’ll just suck any dick. But with each resistance from Trance evokes anger inside of him. How can someone as low as a faggot not wanting to suck his dick was what he was wondering. He feels insulted, somehow. And it infuriates him. He then hits Trance one more time on the face and zips his trousers back. “You’re gonna pay, Trance!” He warned. Trance lies down on the floor in distress. The pain he has to endure being in the school doesn’t seem like it’ll ever coming to an end.

  ֍֎֍

  ~1 year and 1 month ago~

  “Hey guys,” Chris calls up to Peter, Noah, Anthony, Justin, and Andy. “I got an idea. Why don’t you guys just… you know? Rape Trance for once?” He suggested.

  “What?! We’re not even gay, Chris,” Justin ridiculed Chris.

  “You don’t have to be gay to rape someone who’s gay, Justin,” Chris said, rolling his eyes at them.

  “Yeah…” Noah nodded. “That’ll teach him not to show his faggot ass around anymore,” Noah added to the idea.

  Andy leans back on his chair. “Well, Trance is pretty cute actually. I wouldn’t mind fucking him,” Andy said and the statement ended with a loud laughter.

  “You asshole! Are you gay?!” Anthony asked while laughing. They all laugh at that remark.

  “No I’m not, silly,” Andy defended himself. “It’s just that I think I’ll enjoy it, that’s all.”

  “So, Peter?” Chris asked.

  Peter simply nodded at them with little interest.

  ֍֎֍

  Trance falls down hard on the pavement. His eyesight is getting bl
urry. He then feels his limbs are weakening. He can’t move his hands and legs. His body feels heavy. Breathing is hard. Gasping for air, he braves himself to speak. “Okay, William. I’m sorry!” Trance apologized. It almost sounds like he was begging instead.

  William only squats next to him. It is written all over his face that he is still angry. “I’m warning you, Trance. If you let Peter lay one more finger on you, I’ll leave you like this!” He hissed.

  “I’m sorry…” Trance apologized again. He didn’t know that what he did would anger the devil. He has no idea that William will be this angry.

  “You will be like this if it weren’t for me. I made your eyesight clear and I made you move just fine! You owed them all to me. Do you think anyone else waking up from a coma would be as functioning as you?! If it weren’t for me, you’ll be like this! So you need to appreciate me more. Understand?” It was not a question. He was not asking. It is an order. A threat, even.

  “Yes,” Trance answered. “Please…” He begged.

  William nodded to himself, partly satisfied with Trance begging. The other part is trying to rationalize his actions. Trying to calm down. He then touches Trance on his wrist. And just like magic, Trance can see clearly and move normally again. “If you let him kiss you again, Trance, I’ll kill you myself,” he threatened. He then gets up from the squat and starting to walk away.

  “Wait! What about the payment?” Trance asked.

  “I don’t want it!” William said and walks farther away from Trance.

  Trance crooks his eyebrow in confusion. He never thought that the devil would be that possessive. In that exact moment, to Trance, William is almost human-like. Almost.

  20. FIRST LOVE WON'T ALWAYS BE YOUR LAST

  ~2 years ago~

  Peter kissed Trance again this time. No matter how many times, it was never enough. He was also tempted to kiss him when he was at school, pretending to be his bully. The smells of him also drove him crazy at times. Trance only smiled at him and he smiled back. They were in Trance’s room. It will be Saturday tomorrow. A day off from school. It felt great to be away from that for a while. Trance also felt great that he was not going to be at school even though it was only for the weekend. “I’m really sorry that you had to go through this, Trance?” Peter said. He did not want to lose his popular friends, of course and that had caused Trance to be a victim for him. Since his popular friends hated Trance. But Trance understood of it. He could be what people would call a willing victim in this. But he couldn’t help himself. He was in love with him. And he couldn’t let him go. Though he knew deep in his heart that this was bad for him. This was going to end badly. But for now, he needed him. He needed Peter’s love.