Page 9 of Possess Us

Willow

‘ W ake up, Little Soul.’

The world returns with a blink.

It’s still dark outside. The soft patter of rain hits the windows, and the car has stopped.

Outside, I’m still and silent. Inside, I’m strangely empty. I can’t think. I don’t feel the panic I know I should at what’s to come. Nor the amount of guilt I believe I should feel for taking a lust demon to a mansion full of people and sentencing them to death.

Lust rests his hand on my cheek as he softly smiles.

‘There you are. Feeling okay?’ he asks.

‘Are we here?’ I ask. ‘Is it time?’

‘Yes. We’re here. My brothers tell me they have no strength to speak to you, but they are with you. So, whatever you are about to face, know that you are not alone. Okay?’

‘What am I about to face?’

He simply smiles, lowers his white mask and steps out of the car.

My fingers rub the scars on my wrists from the years of chains they kept me in.

The Brotherhood deserve this fate. Nate, Tyler and Kai. Especially Xion, who handed me over to them. All their souls deserve to burn. And Lust is right. I made the pact. I should have known it would not be as simple as I thought it would be. That no one else would get caught in the crossfire.

Demons are trapped in Hell for a reason.

Their souls were already marked, I tell myself. They were destined for Hell no matter what. I just sped up the process, is all.

He opens my door and offers his hand.

‘Why can you speak to me, but they can’t?’ I ask, still sitting in my seat. His hand remains outstretched. ‘Only you ever spoke to me as your shadow form. Then inside my head. The other two were always silent. Why?’

‘Because of the three of us, my worship was stronger.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘You always lusted after the brief moments of pleasure they offered. You lusted after annoying them. You lusted after being wanted. Of the three of us, you channelled me much more than the other two.’

‘What are the other two?’ I ask.

He only smiles in response.

Only then do I look to see where he has brought me.

‘You have to be kidding!’ I recoil, sliding away from him and further into the car when I see what looms in the darkness behind him. ‘No. No way.’

‘You know this place,’ he says. ‘It frightens you. We knew it would. But this is where the next vessel is.’

‘I can’t go in there,’ I admit quietly.

He looks at the giant factory behind him.

There are no lights on to indicate it’s occupied.

It’s deadly silent. Rusted pipes and broken chimney stacks stretch out and upwards.

Soot stains the side of the building, along with decades' worth of dirt and grime.

Mysterious barrels are stacked everywhere, and rusted cars are left for the elements to claim.

No other cars are parked close by. None except ours hidden behind a large tree.

To the world, it looks abandoned and derelict.

But it’s not.

‘It reeks of death. Of suffering,’ he says. He looks back at me. ‘But you know that, don’t you?’

‘I’ve been here before.’

‘We know. We can see glimpses of a human's memories when we possess them.’

‘You can?’ Embarrassment heats my neck and cheeks. What exactly has he seen? A million things I truly hope he hasn’t glimpsed fill my head, which of course makes the mortification worse because now I’m highlighting them all for the two demons still inside me.

He crouches beside me, the rain so light it leaves a small layer of mist on his mask. He lifts it, showing me his face. It’s no longer Tyler’s face. He never mastered emotions such as kindness or patience, yet now, Lust can easily manage them.

He waits silently, looking at me.

‘I don’t have a choice, do I?’ I ask.

He shakes his head and takes my hand in his. My fingers are curled into tight balls. He takes a moment to unfurl them, prising my fingernails from my skin before they can draw blood.

‘Who are these people?’ he asks.

‘Suppliers.’ I look at the old factory. A building containing unimaginable horror and pain.

‘It’s an auction house for people with particular interests or needs of the demonic kind.

Wealthy men and women who bid on human beings.

’ I look from the factory to him. His head is tilted to one side, and he seems to be trying to understand.

‘They bid on people that they can kill in any way they like. The suppliers provide rooms, equipment, and clean-up services. Chain saws. Axes. Knives. Medieval torture devices. Tubs to repeatedly drown their playthings in. Pretty much anything you can think of, they are happy to provide. For a large price tag.’ I swallow painfully.

‘They supply the Brotherhood with their human sacrifices. They supplied them with me. It’s a human cattle market. But less humane.’

‘Death hangs heavy in the air here. Pain and blood.’ He smiles and looks to the building once more. ‘My brother will be thrilled.’ He follows my gaze as we see a couple step out from the tree line, a lantern in hand, guiding them in the darkness as they walk towards the building.

‘They will have an invite,’ I tell him. ‘We will need it to get in. These things are invite-only.’

‘Stay put,’ he says. Before I can say a word, he steps away. The darkness swallows him whole.

Was that a demonic thing? Or just a sly human thing?

As I watch, the lantern suddenly flickers out, and all that remains is the dark silhouette of the factory.

I wait, the silence deafening and the chill of the night air slowly creeping into the car.

I yell when something thuds onto the bonnet of the car. Two people, in a mess of tangled and desperate limbs, have landed on the hood, tearing each other's clothes off.

Lust appears back at the door, his hand out for mine. I jump at his sudden appearance, clasping my chest.

‘You made me jump!’

‘I’m a demon. I would be disappointed if I didn’t scare you shitless occasionally.’

He needs a fucking bell around his neck.

‘Ready?’ he says. In his other hand, he holds the lantern and a red envelope. ‘Come.’

None of me is ready or willing to voluntarily step back inside that building. I have tried my best to forget every day I spent there.

It was two weeks of hell.

But I know if I refuse to go in there now, Lust will show me what real Hell is like.

I take his hand, and he eases me out of the car. I adjust my ridiculously short skirt and look at the writhing couple thoroughly fucking on the hood of Tyler’s precious car.

They’re dressed as a dead bride and groom, so that’s good. It’s a costumed theme event. Otherwise, we may stick out. It’s usually a black tie with black masks to maintain anonymity.

‘We’ve got you,’ he assures me, kissing my knuckles. He smiles up at me, looking deadly and delicious all at once.

‘Only marked souls, yes?’ I ask. ‘The people in cages, can they go free?’

‘If there are innocents in there, they will not be affected. You have my word.’ He lifts the lantern and gently blows on the candle inside it. The dead wick erupts in flame.

‘Hmmm. The word of a demon. Not sure that’s something I can trust.’

‘But what other choice do you have, Little Soul?’ he teases. ‘Put on your mask. Come with me into that house of pain, and let’s show them what real suffering is.’

We approach the door. Lust knocks three times, then twice, then once more.

He’s still smiling as he waits.

A small latch opens, and Lust seamlessly provides the envelope. The latch slams shut, making me flinch.

I’m about to say it hasn’t worked. Oh well, what a shame. We should probably go. Before I can even open my mouth, he squeezes my hand hard and holds his calm smile, waiting silently.

So I face the large metal door and wait, just as he is.

My heart hammers in my throat, and panic fills me as the heavy clunk of a bolt slides across the door. It’s about to open. I’m going to step foot inside this place again.

Lust slides his fingers through mine and tugs me closer. We face one another. My head tilts all the way back as he looks down at me, our hands entwined.

‘Do not be afraid. Remember my vow to you.’

His vow.

He leans in and whispers it into my ear.

‘My hand will never strike you, little soul. It will never hurt you. But it will drip red with the blood of any mortal who dares lay their hands on you again.’ He tilts my chin so he can look me in the eye.

‘Or who has ever hurt you in the past,’ he adds, a dark promise in his soft words.

‘Walk like you belong here. Like you own everyone and everything in here. Because you do.’

With a rusty groan, the door opens. His additional promise to make those who have ever hurt me in the past makes my stomach flip.

Not in a bad way, but an excitedly apprehensive way.

I never wanted to return here. I remember sitting in the cages below, watching others be led out to auction.

I remember hearing screams through the walls and air vents.

I remember the blood-spattered clothes of my handlers and the laughs as they discussed the various methods of death the clients had come up with.

I was a big-ticket item. A conduit. Seven other devil-worshipping assholes bid on me, but Xion won. A sweet thirteen million pounds he paid for me.

Bet he’ll regret that when he sees me next. He paid for his own demise, and I can not wait to be his executioner.

I know what lies inside. What the people here are capable of.

They are all killers. And they love their work.

If any group of people deserve to die, these people do.

I saw what Lust did all alone to a mansion full of people.

I was doubtful if they deserved the fate I brought to them when I turned up at the party.

But the people here deserve a swift and painful exit from their mortal coil.

I stand tall, hand in hand with Lust, and face the doorman.

Well. That’s just crude.

He’s in an executioner's costume. A great bulk of a man with a shirtless, rotund stomach, an axe leaning against the doorframe and black leather cuffs. I cringe seeing his pierced nipples and chains hanging from one to the other.

Lord, that man is sweating like a vicar in a whore house.

He steps aside. Lust walks in like he’s been here a dozen times or more. I feel my hand getting slicker with sweat in his, but he only holds my hand tighter, guiding me onwards.

The walls are dingy and grey, as you would expect an old factory to look. Only some twinkling white lights lead the way, lining the wall and guiding us through the maze of the building.

We approach another door where a second executioner stands. This one is more slender, with nipple clamps.

He opens another door and steps aside to allow us through.

I hold my head high, swaying my hips as I walk past him.

I belong here. I own this place and all those within.

I repeat this to myself, spurring on my courage and resolve.

The demons still inside rise to the surface, bristling beneath my skin as though desperate to escape. To taste and smell the world. To explode into this place and bring down more blood and destruction than is already here.

Lust sees my confident stride. His hand lets me go and rests instead on my ass, feeling the exaggerated sway of my hips.

I smile, knowing that soon, everyone here will pay.