Page 5

“Why can I see you?” I asked, feeling less afraid and more…curious.

“I already told you,” he snapped back. “I am your monster. Your sleep demon. Always have been and always will be, until the day you die.”

Sleep demon?

“Wait—” I stuttered. “You mean all this time, all those years of torment, facing endless nightmares and evil shadows—that was you ?”

He shrugged, smirking with pride. “Guilty.”

The very thought that this monster was real and the one responsible for my shitty sleep all these years enraged me. I no longer felt scared for my life, but instead, an overpowering urge to beat the shit out of him. Monster or demon, I didn’t care; I wanted to hurt him for what he’d done to me.

“Get the fuck off me!” I yelled, using all my strength to try and kick him off. “You fucking?—”

“Feisty,” he purred, slamming my arms harder into the ground. “I’ll make a deal with you.” I stopped, huffing as I tried to calm my angry heart, sore and tired. “You stop running, stop fighting, and return home with me. Then, once you’ve calmed down, I’ll explain everything.”

Really? This monster wanted to make a fucking deal with me? I stared back at him, breathing heavily as I studied his monstrous face.

“Do we have a deal?” The spade of his tail jabbed the underside of my chin as he impatiently waited for my reply.

I didn’t trust him, and I sure as hell didn’t feel safe with him, but I wanted to know more, to know why he’d been haunting me for so long. Why me? A nd why could I suddenly see him if he’d been here my whole life? But mostly, I wanted to know whose fucking blood was all over me and my room.

My jaw tightened. “Fine.”

“Alright then.” He lifted a brow, slowly easing off me and standing.

I remained on the ground, nervous to move.

He offered a hand to me, his claws frightening and sharp.

I looked at it, hesitating. “We don’t have all day, Libra,” he groaned.

I swallowed, sliding my hand in his palm.

He yanked me from the ground in a single swoop, grasping it tight.

“I’ll tell you what you want to know, but first,” he eyed my body, “you should probably get cleaned up and dressed. Hard to focus when you look like that.” He winked.

The monster under my bed was real. He was here, and he was…hitting on me?

The warm water of my bath washed over my naked body, rinsing the blood that was soaked into my skin. I scrubbed my body raw, trying to clean away every little reminder of what had happened the night before, the bath now a murky brown.

According to the monster, a man had broken in and attempted to assault me.

He spared no details in describing the sick events, how he brutally murdered the man and ate him.

Knowing he ate someone freaked me out, but the thought of a stranger being in my home, straddling me in my bed, jacking off to my exposed, unconscious body.

.. That made me shudder. All of it made me sick.

And to think, if that monster didn’t stop it, what else might have happened…

but shit, he didn’t have to kill him. Could I really believe him when he said he wouldn’t hurt me?

He claimed he protected me, but how did I know he wouldn’t do just the same to me?

The shower curtain above the tub pulled back as his tail poked through, offering me my towel. I gasped at the sight of it, still uneasy over him being here—real. In my bathroom.

“Oh, calm down,” he groaned from the other side, his tail shaking. “It’s just a towel.” I pulled the plug to drain the bath, carefully taking the towel as his tail retreated.

“And you’re not looking?” I asked, wrapping the towel around myself, careful to keep everything covered.

“Not looking,” he groaned.

I yanked the shower curtain back, stepping onto the tile floor and towards the bathroom sink.

My hand wiped the foggy mirror to see his unnatural smile reflected at me.

He was leaning against the wall next to the bathtub, watching me.

I could feel his gaze running along my curves, as if somehow seeing what was under the towel.

“If you’ve always been here, does that mean?—”

“Are you wanting to know if I’ve seen you naked?

” he asked, his brow raising as he grinned, the edges of his mouth curling higher as I paused.

I nodded my head, already sensing the answer.

He pushed from the wall and rotated me to face him as he towered over me.

His eyes fell from mine to my body as I clutched the towel tightly.

“Let’s just say you have nothing to be ashamed of.

” His eyes rose back to mine. “And I say this confidently, having seen my fair share of naked women.” I gasped, jolting away from him.

“You have no right?—”

“I have every right. As my fleshbag, I can?—”

“Stop calling me that.” I stomped my foot, my breasts bouncing.

“Calling you what?” His eyes peeled from my breasts to my face, his claw scraping my jawline. “My fleshbag?”

I swallowed, standing my ground. “Yes. I don’t like it. It makes me sound…”

“Like a pound of flesh?” he asked, chuckling as he crossed his arms. “But you are, technically. All you humans are. You’re just fleshy bags of bones wandering around until disease or bad luck takes you out. That is, if your own stupid choices don't do it first. Besides, what else would I call you?”

“My name, which you obviously know.” I glared at him. “Come to think of it, what’s your name?” I jabbed my pointer finger in his direction as he just stood there, watching me. “You seem to know everything about me, but I know nothing about you. Give me your name, monster.”

“Oh? Demanding, are we?” He grinned as I remained firm, glaring and waiting. “Fine. My name is Axelle,” he bowed sarcastically, “and I am a monster. More specifically, I am a demon. A sleep demon.” He booped my nose with the tip of his tail. “ Your sleep demon.”

A sleep demon. Did that mean there were others just like him? Other sleep demons? If sleep demons were real, were there other kinds of demons and monsters?

“I can see the wheels turning in that pretty skull of yours. Why not just ask me the curious questions you have buzzing about in your brain?” I bit my lower lip, tempted. “Well, go on, I won’t bite—hard,” he purred softly.

“I guess I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this. You say you’re my demon as in specifically for me, chained to my soul.” I looked down and noticed the long chain that hung from his neck and linked to me. “But how is this even possible? Why me?”

Axelle sighed. “Sleep demons are chained, literally, to the soul of their fleshba—human. We live off their fear, consuming it, feeding the toxic addiction we all have. Some of us,” he scratched his head, “are a bit more adventurous than the others.”

“Adventurous? What the fuck does that even mean?” I asked.

“Well, Libra, it means I like scaring you.” He stepped closer, using his tail to push me towards him. “Your fear is one of the most tasteful ones I’ve had in a long while. So, I have spent years pushing you further and further, almost daily, to taste it.”

“M-my fear?” I didn’t fight back, only listened.

“Mhm. You see, every human’s fear is different. Just like your scent, your blood, your cum?—”

“Oh, please, don’t.” I held my hand up to stop him. His tongue extended from his mouth and ran along my palm. I whipped it away and held it to my chest, disgusted.

“I’m not sure what it is about you, but your taste, your smell…

” He inhaled deeply. “It’s all so intoxicating.

Most humans have such boring lives, easily scared to the point of giving up, but not you, Libra.

No, you’re different.” His voice altered as it deepened.

“You are drawn to the shadows, welcoming it. You embrace it, thrive in it. You say you fear nightmares, but you dance in them, secretly enjoying the darkness.”

“I—I?—”

“As your sleep demon, I can see your soul, Libra. And I know for a fact it’s pitch-black, just like mine.” He was making me uncomfortable, uneasy.

“Go away!” I yelled, trying to lean away from him.

“Why? Don’t like hearing the truth?” He hissed.

“Face it, Libra. You’re chained to me the same as I am to you.

And now that I killed that pervert to protect you, you can’t escape me.

There is no going away!” He yanked the chain, pulling the collar around his neck as he growled.

“The best thing you can do is accept your fate and learn to live with it, just like me.”

“But why? I didn’t do anything! You broke whatever fucking rule. You should suffer, not me!” I tried to leave, but he forced me to stay put, clawing my shoulders.

“This is my punishment!” He shook my body. “The only reason you can even see me now is because I broke that fucking rule! So stop acting like you’re the only one suffering. We’re stuck in this torment together. I’m not going anywhere, so get used to it.”

Great, he breaks a demon rule, and I have to fucking deal with the consequences. How lucky for me.

Axelle eased up, releasing me as he stepped back, clawing at his face.

He seemed miserable, enough so that I almost felt bad for him.

My eyes became a bit too curious, grazing along his features.

He was extremely built, his torso almost human-like and covered in tattoos.

He wore a leather, studded jacket, and everything was pierced, including his unnaturally long tongue, though nothing about him seemed natural.

He was menacing, yet…kind of attractive.

Axelle’s eyes met mine, smiling as I noticed I was staring for too long. I glanced away, blushing. “What happened to your chest?” I pointed, trying to avert my eyes. Axelle glanced down, the wound I sliced across his chest now gone. “I cut you, with my knife. But it’s gone.”

He laughed dramatically. “I’m a demon, Libra. You can’t actually hurt or kill me, at least not with a fucking kitchen knife. My demon blood heals me.”

I tried to process what he was saying. “Your blood? How?”

“You know, for a human, you’re pretty accepting about this whole demon thing.” I waited for an answer, unamused. “Call it a fun little perk. A cosmic joke. I can feel pain but never really die. You could cut my head off and I’d still live. That’s how powerful my blood is.”

“Could it heal anyone? Even humans?” I genuinely wondered.

“Aren’t you just a curious cat?” He leaned down, examining me closely. “Yes, I suppose it can.” His eyes fell to my skin, examining the many cuts and forming bruises from him chasing me earlier. “Would you like me to use it to heal you, Libra?”

I scoffed. “You didn’t exactly give a confident response.” Axelle’s smile dropped as he released a low snarl.

“Why don’t you drop to your knees and let me show you just how confident I am?” His voice was deep and threatening yet tempting. An odd mix.

“What?”

“You heard me. If you want me to heal your wounds,” he pressed his forehead against mine, “kneel.” My eyes burrowed into him as my body trembled, slowly dropping to one knee, then the other.

“Good.” He leaned back, removing his jacket.

His body was surprisingly alluring, covered in large black tattoos and piercings.

It was menacing yet attractive, taking me back.

Axelle wasted no time as he raised his arm above my head and placed a single claw from the opposite hand against his skin.

“Now, open wide.” Without a second thought, I did as I was told, my mind in a weird haze as he pushed the claw deep into his forearm, thick, black blood running from his body onto me.

I gasped, the hot liquid startling me as it dripped down my face, running down my forehead and cheeks and into my mouth, pooling.

I coughed, choking on the bitter taste, trying to remain still.

Every ounce of my body wanted to resist his blood, but that curious part of me took control as I remained on my spread knees, taking it.

Axelle removed his claw and pulled his arm back as the deep wound began to instantly heal.

He walked towards me, my head barely reaching his waist as his hand grabbed my chin, tipping it up to look at him.

I tried to hold his blood in my mouth, unsure of what to do, the bitter taste causing my stomach to churn.

“Swallow.”

He wanted me to drink his blood?

His hand squeezed my jaw harder. “Swallow every last drop of me,” he snarled. My body tried to resist, but I did as I was told, swallowing the hot liquid. It burned, the thick blood running down my esophagus. I coughed, spitting up small, black clots as my stomach twisted and turned.

“W-what did you do?” I gagged, turning to the sink, almost sick as I tried to rinse my mouth and clean my face.

“Calm down. It won’t kill you.” He put his leather jacket back on. “You’ll just feel a little off , but as you can see,” he pointed to me, “it’s working.”

I glanced down at my body, the cuts and bruises gone, as if never existing. I examined myself closer, checking everywhere as I realized he was right; his blood had healed me.

“Got to say, I really enjoyed the sight of you on your knees, your mouth wide open, just waiting for me to fill it,” he teased. “What other little games do you think we could play or keep ourselves busy with?” I rolled my eyes, annoyed.

“Look,” I tried to clear my throat, turning to face him, “if I’m going to be stuck with you, the least you could do is leave me alone and clean that fucking mess you made. My room looks like a horror movie.”

He huffed. “Fine. I’ll clean the walls and floors, but I’m not leaving you alone, and I’m sure as hell not doing your damn laundry.”

I grabbed a handful of his chain, yanking it as his head followed and I glared back up at him. “Want to bet?”

He grinned, way too amused by my temper. “Whatever you say, fleshbag.”