Page 10 of The Other Side

Chapter

Eight

CYPRESS

M y fiery glimpses into the human world flickered as I grit my teeth and glared through the rippled view with disdain. The hellfire that dripped from my fingers and burned along my hair turned white with anger as I growled, shaking the underworld with my rapture.

“What is my bayou witch doing?” My eyes squinted as I peered deeper, watching her perform her familiar tricks as though nothing had changed. Iris-Marie had continued business as usual, the only difference being, Tuft and Bastien were now by her side. My three pets seemed to have bonded over their time together, despite the clear objective I had given them. “What are any of you doing?” My hand clawed the glimpse, cutting through it like smoke before it returned to its undisturbed appearance. “Ozias knows what you are up to, dear witch. You cannot keep going as though everything is the same. He is no fool.”

Iris had continued to retrieve souls from my underworld, summoning them to the townsfolk without any proactiveness on my favor. It had been days of myself watching this spectacle, impatiently waiting for her to make her move.

She is acting as though nothing has occurred, as if I hadn’t presented my favor! Does she think I would just forget or leave her be? Even after our night together, does she still think she can ignore me and pretend I do not exist! Stubborn trickster!

My hand swatted the glimpse away in anger, this time dissolving it as blue lightning cracked from my body. I began to snarl, my true form bubbling into shape. I lunged my large, shadow-like arm out, clawing the walls of the cave as it began to tremble and shake from my aggression. My body stretched and grew as I transformed into the despicable demon I truly was. I tried to control it, to breathe through my anger, but it was too much. Centuries worth of waiting, anticipation, and rage consumed me. I became the very embodiment of the hatred I possessed.

“No! I have waited far too long for this very moment to waste such an opportunity!” I growled in my deep, distorted monstrous voice. “My patience has grown thin, witch.” I stumbled through the hellfire as it splashed in all directions. “Look what you have done to me! All of you! Look at what I have become!”

My unnaturally large mouth opened as I released the most unbearable, spine chilling shriek, the entire Underworld trembling, every soul lost in the Abyss crying out in fear of me. Fire flickered along my shadow body, engulfing me as I began to burn like a pyre, reaching the ceiling of the cave.

“It’s time I remind you all what happens to those who disobey me! Of who I am!”

IRIS-MARIE

T he shop began to tremble and quake as Tuft and I stared at one another in horror, gripping the wooden counter for stability. Bastien hissed, tucking beneath a table as the contents of the display cases and shelves rained around us. Glass and vials shattered as the floorboard began to crack and separate, hellfire reaching through the splintering edges. Shadows and darkness snuffed out the lights of the shop as a deep, vibrating, animalistic sound echoed, reaching into our hearts. We trembled in fear, knowing exactly what was coming.

“Tuft!” I cried out, our hands locking as we struggled to stay balanced and on our feet. “What is she doing? Why is she here?”

Before he could answer, all the light within the shop vanished, as if it had fallen into a pitch-black despair, everything halting in a deafening silence all at once. Cold fear soaked our bodies as we quivered, listening to the unnatural absence of sound, hearing only our quickened breathing and hearts.

“You have failed me.” A low, menacing, altered voice hissed through the darkness, causing the hair on the back of my neck to raise. Despite the unfamiliar tone, I knew exactly who was speaking to us.

Cypress.

Blue lightning cracked within the dark room, striking close. The way it moved reminded me of that glimpse into her true demonic form, the very form that haunted my dreams.

“Please!” Tuft shot out. “We have been doing exactly as you asked! Iris has been—”

“Silence, Pegasus!” Cypress snarled, hellfire and shadows striking his face like a whip, igniting the air between us. He grunted, blood seeping from the gaping cut on his cheek. “You have been nothing but a pain in my side since the moment I saved your precious demi-god!” My hand reached out, pressing against Tuft’s bloodied cheek as I tried to help him.

“It’s okay, Tuft. I’m here. I’m here!”

“And you !” Something wrapped tightly around my waist, constricting as it ripped me back. Tuft clutched my hand, the two of us fighting the shadows, our fingers latched as I groaned.

“Don’t let go!” I cried out, unable to see his face. “Please! Don’t—” Her power was too much. It unlatched me from his grasp, ripping me away. “Tuft!” I screamed, dissolving into the endless darkness.

“Iris!” Tuft called after me, his voice dissolving in the distance, growing silent within seconds.

My body fell for a good minute before she released me. I landed in a thin puddle of hellfire, the flames flickering down my skin as I groaned in pain. It was as though I had landed in a pocket of hell itself—a cold, barren wasteland of death made big enough just for me. My body shivered, the freezing temperature immediately taking hold as an odd frost coated my skin.

“C-Cypress,” I breathed as the air fogged around my face. “P-p--please.” I shivered, standing as my legs wobbled. “W-we—”

“Enough!” The arm of her true form slammed into me, knocking me back into the puddle of hellfire. My magic sputtered from my hands, the cold snuffing out any power I held. “I have given you everything you desire!” The darkness rumbling as her blue lightning cracked above. “ Everything! And yet you and that Pegasus have done nothing but frolic in the very power I have bestowed upon you, forgetting your end of the deal!”

Shadows stretched from nowhere, gripping my torso and limbs as they pinned me into the hellfire, forcing my face into the fiery liquid. She was attempting to drown me, pushing my face beneath the surface.

“P-please!” I choked on my begs, coughing on the flames as they filled my mouth. “Let- m-me explain,” I gasped.

“Explain? Oh, my dear witch.” A long, black tongue of darkness, wrapped in blue electricity, reached from the emptiness above and crawled to my face, licking my cheek as I tried to keep my head afloat. “The only explanation I wish to hear from your pretty, poisonous lips is how you wish to meet your death.” The beastly tongue slithered to the other side of my face, pulling it from the hellfire as I looked up and saw her hovering over me. My eyes welled with tears as I stared back at the darkness hiding true form, her eyes burning as they glared back and absolutely shook me to my core.

“Please,” I begged, a tear falling down my face. “I-I can explain.”

“Iris-Marie,” she hissed my name as the tongue traced my lips. “Look what you have done to me. You have forced me to become a monster—the very one who haunts you in your nightmares. I do not want to hurt you, just as I do not need to hear your words to know your truth. But you are too stubborn, and the only way to know the truth is to feast upon it. You say you want to explain, but I do not want to listen.”

“W-what are y-you going to do t-to me?”

“Why, I am going to taste the lies from your soul. Let me see what the truth is.”

“Please,” I cried. “Don’t do this.”

“You have given me no choice.” Her tongue forced itself into my mouth as I gagged. It moved down my esophagus deep into my body, branching off as her essence stretched into my veins and filled my blood. She completely overcame me, consuming my entire being as hers took control. I was completely helpless, a limp shell of myself in her grasps, feeling the excruciating painful shadow of herself as it branded into me, unable to do anything but feel every bit of her darkness inside me. Before long, even my vision was taken from me, leaving only pain as she moved beneath my skin, overtaking me as her shadows released their hold.

I was absolutely powerless.

“Interesting.” My mouth moved, but it was Cypress’ voice that left my lips and danced around my ears. Without my command, my body flipped as she moved within me, speaking from my mouth. “You thought by performing more tricks, the great god Ozias would simply return to your shop?” My arms cracked in unnatural ways, her eerie laughter pouring from my mouth as hellfire splashed along my body.

“I–I—” My own voice quivered as her claws dug into my skull.

“You what?” she hissed against the bone. “You thought it would be that simple? That easy to lure a god?” Another one of her cackles burped from my mouth. “Humans may be dumb, but you ! You are smarter than that!” Her tongue traced my teeth as my head ached from her presence.

“I-I don’t know what else to do,” I whispered, prisoner to her touch. I was in absolute agony.

“You must think bigger, Iris-Marie. Ozias is no fool, but he will have no choice but to return if you do something unspeakable, something no human could possibly do without a god’s power.” I could feel her flames flickering inside me like maggots wriggling beneath my flesh, reminding me she was always there. Her body squirmed around my bones, my back arching as my head snapped backwards, feeling my bones move in unnatural and impossible ways. I felt everything, all at once. The pain was enough to kill me, but I refused to surrender to it.

Something dug into my skull as I gasped at her claw, scraping the font of my face and digging into my soul, exposing it for her to taste.

“Mmmm.” I could hear her enjoyment. Her tongue dipped into it, tasting the darkness before her teeth began to rip apart tiny pieces of my life and eat it. Hearing her moans of satisfaction had a sick effect. For a brief moment, I actually liked her ingesting me.

Cypress took another bite, reminding me of how helpless I was as her teeth clamped into my soul once more. I could feel the tears falling down my face, but all I could was endure her torture and pray it would end soon.

“Your soul is marvelous. Much like my dreams, your taste will haunt me, my pet. And with every bite of your existence, I savor your desire. You consume my dreams, just as I apparently do yours. We are tortured by the other, doomed to burn in this hellfire together.”

No, I don’t want to burn with you. Another tear rolled down my cheek.

As if hearing my thought, Cypress slithered behind my ribs, the bones cracking as she flipped my head once more, gripping it on her grasp. I could feel her breath upon my face as she spoke elegantly into my ear, sending a shiver down my broken body.

“Your words mean nothing. You say you do not wish to burn with me, but your soul tells another story, Iris-Marie. A story I much rather prefer.” She licked my ear. “I will release you from this torment, but this is your final chance, witch. Lure Ozias back to you and finish the task I left for you. Kill him. But if you fail me—” Her nails dug deep into my flesh as her fire burned me. Her claws scrapped my bones, tearing slowly from my head to my toes in the most excruciating and unbearable pain imaginable. I tried to scream, but she had my voice prisoner, preventing me from doing so. “I will make death seem like heaven as I torture you for the rest of eternity. Your soul will forever dangle in the Abyss, drowning in its never-ending darkness as your eyes remain by my side to watch your body suffer and your soul burn!” She stopped as my heart nearly gave out from the torment. “Do not fail me, Iris-Marie.”

As my name dripped from her tongue, her hold on me vanished, and all feeling and control over my body suddenly snapped back to me all at once. I shot my eyes open and screamed, my voice returned.

“Iris!” Tuft cried out my name as he rushed to me, my body now on the floor of my shop, as though I never left. My hands quickly tucked into my chest as I shook uncontrollably, the feeling of her slithering beneath my flesh and bones, her fire seeping through my veins, the shredding of my soul—all her torture still branded into my nerves. “Iris, what happened? Are you alright?” He reached for me, but I flinched, balling in on myself. “Iris,” he breathed, helplessly watching as I suffered. “What has she done to you?” I cried to myself, cradled in the fetal position as Tuft sat beside me, his head lowered in defeat. He quietly and patiently listened to my painful sobs, knowing I had endured something horrific.

“Forgive me. I should have known better than to assume things would be so easily solved. That this would be enough…that would be too easy. It should have been me she dragged into the darkness, not you.” He bent his knees and rested his head across them, pulling them close to his chest with his arms. “It should have been me,” he whispered once more.

Tuft and I sat there, two tortured souls suffering in silence until the day melted away and darkness blanketed the sky. Even with Cypress gone, I could feel a tiny bit of her spark slithering inside me, a part I feared would haunt me as long as she existed. And that presence, no matter how small, scared the hell out of me.