Page 22 of Unbinding the Demon

Thunder rumbled across the low-bellied sky as a dim street lamp flickered overhead. The frigid rain poured heavily, washing away the blood in sanguine rivulets. I watched in dissatisfaction as the eviscerated man fell lifelessly to the ground and splashed into a crimson puddle. I paid little attention to the car that sped off, noticing the scratched hood. My anger blinded me as I seethed in the soaking rain. Their deaths had been far too quick and painless for what they had just attempted.

I glanced over at Gwendolyn, who was unconscious and slumped against the tire of a vehicle. My blood froze, and I rushed over to her. Water splashed around me as my knees dropped to the wet pavement beside her. With trembling arms, I picked up her limp, disheveled body and pulled her onto my lap. Panic began rising inside me as I took in the disquieting sight of her. Blood was dripping from her nose and mouth, mingling with the droplets of rainwater that cascaded down her pallid face. Her breathing was shallow, and when I tapped her cheek, she was completely unresponsive.

What the fuck is she poisoned with!?

“Belzar, I need you...” I called in distress, my eyes never leaving her face as I did.

Dark wispy tendrils materialized and expanded into a plume of black mist. Belzar’s less threatening, earthly wolf form emerged from the inky darkness, his fur becoming drenched the moment he stepped out. His yellow eyes widened in shock as he took in the sight of Gwendolyn’s condition. Large paws splashed through the crimson puddles as he swiftly approached us. He lowered his head with flattened ears to sniff her hair and gave her cheek a gentle lick, whimpering as though he were in pain.

“How did this happen ?” His glowing eyes bore a look of agony as his distraught, raspy voice echoed in my mind.

“I’ll explain later. I need you to take these bodies to the shadows and devour them while I tend to her. There’s a third one locked in a private room within the building. Leave absolutely no traces behind.” I held Gwendolyn closer to me, readying myself to bring her back to the house.

“I will remove the bodies from this realm, but I will not eat until our precious one has recovered.” He gave me a sorrowful glance.

He snarled and opened his jaws, allowing his teeth to elongate and sharpen so that every tooth was a lethal, razor-sharp fang. He bit down on the disemboweled man’s leg and disappeared in a cloud of black mist, eerily dragging the corpse into the shadow realm. I gripped Gwendolyn, and then we too disappeared in a cloud of black mist.

We journeyed through the shadows and reappeared in my bathroom. It was pitch black in there, but I didn’t bother wasting time to turn on the light. I simply allowed my eyes to glow instead. I held her unconscious head over the toilet and jammed my fingers down her throat, forcing her to vomit. It was unpleasant but needed to be done. I had to get as much of the toxin out of her as I possibly could.

My hands were unsteady as I cleaned her face and stripped her limp body from her wet costume. I dried her off as quickly as I could, then teleported us into the bedroom. She flopped around as I put one of my shirts over her and laid her down on the bed. I then paced back and forth a few times while desperately thinking about what to do. What she needed was a human doctor. However, I couldn’t bring her to the hospital since it was somewhere outside of the magical barrier. And the regular doctor’s office inside it had lousy 9-to-5 hours.

I have to figure something else out... Think, Azathoth! Think!

My eyes glanced back over at her unconscious form, and the panic I had been trying to suppress completely took over my senses. She was deathly pale and softly gasping for air. Her rosy lips were a dull blue color, making her look as though she’d been kissing the ocean waves. Life was slipping from her. My heart sank, and fear coursed through my veins like liquid ice.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

My hands shot up to grasp my head in frazzled panic. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? I hardly knew anything about healing humans without being able to use my powers. However, I knew I needed to lessen the effects of the poison soon! I disappeared and then reappeared with a glass of water. I grabbed her face and sloppily forced the liquid down her throat, spilling some down her chin and onto the bed. I took a step back to see if it worked—her condition remained the same.

Not good enough!

My eyes widened in a eureka moment, as I remembered the internet was a useful source of information in this dimension. I found Gwendolyn’s phone in her costume. The thing was wet and slipped out of my trembling hands a few times like a flopping fish as I frantically tried to get a firm grip on it. I opened the browser and hysterically searched link after link for any sort of useful information. I found hardly anything helpful. It was mostly the life stories of blogging housewives before finding their short homeopathic recipes at the bottom of the page.

“At last!” I exclaimed when I found a promising-looking link, then clicked on it. Some sort of abominable upbeat tune assaulted my ears. “What the Hell is this?” I said to myself, as I furrowed my brows and read the title of the strange video that had played. “Never gonna give you up?” My lips curled back over my fangs as I hissed in disgust. I crumpled the phone in my hand, then threw it to the floor and stomped it to smithereens, silencing that odious music permanently. Darrell had warned me about such malevolent cyber tricks...

Using the little knowledge I managed to absorb, I teleported through the shadows and out into the dark, wet yard. My eyes scanned the grass and landed on a plethora of toothy leaves belonging to a dandelion patch. I rushed as I used my sharp claws to slice through the mud and yanked out the long, yellow roots. I then appeared in front of an uva ursi bush and frantically ripped the entire shrubbery from the ground.

With a quick puff of black mist, I was in the kitchen. Dirt sprayed all over the counter as I threw the plants down. I began scrambling to grab a pot from the shelf, accidentally knocking others to the ground in my haste. The first one I grabbed was just a useless frying pan. I crumpled it up like tin foil and whipped it into the wall, causing it to stick halfway out with little cracks all around it.

I then found an appropriate pot and filled it with water. Little bits of leaves flew around my face as I shredded them from the uva ursi branches and into the pot. I put it on the stove and frantically began rinsing the dandelion roots. I didn’t even finish getting all the dirt off before tearing them up and throwing them into the pot, too.

I appeared beside the bed to check on Gwendolyn while my concoction brewed. She didn’t look good, and her breathing was shallow and sparse. My heart pounded painfully in my chest, the air seemed suffocating, and I felt both sweaty and ice-cold at the same time. Is this what anxiety feels like!? My limbs were numb as I reached out to caress her sickly pale face. I planted a light kiss on her forehead and then reappeared in the kitchen.

With trembling hands, I poured the steaming brew into a mug and reappeared beside the bed. My fingers wove their way through her soft locks as I cradled her head up to force her to drink. As the warm liquid slowly flowed down her weak throat, Belzar appeared beside me with an apprehensive look in his eyes.

“Will she heal?” he asked while looking at her with distress.

“I don’t know.” My voice was raw as I choked out the fear-laced words. “If she doesn’t, we’ll both likely perish as well.”

“You do not long for death, nor do you fear it. Yet, you are fearful?” He looked up at me and tilted his head.

I dismissed his inquiry, put the mug on the nightstand, then crawled onto the bed beside Gwendolyn. I held her against my chest while whispering sweetly to her as I so often did from the shadows. Only this time I was begging her to be strong, to hold on. Her sparse breaths and the weakening rhythm of her heartbeat were the only sounds I was listening to for a few torturous moments… and then I heard nothing but a harrowing silence.

No! No! No!

I squeezed her and held her limp head closer against me. Guilt consumed me as I realized what had just happened. This was my fault . I should have never let that filthy mage lead me away. I should have stayed by her side and protected her! Looking back now, I could see that it had all been an obvious trap. I was so consumed by the possibility of torturing some useful information about the abyssal book out of him that I didn’t suspect their vile machinations.

A hollowing sense of bereavement filled my soul. At that moment, it was as if every star began to crash down from the heavens around me. All hope seemed to fade to ashes. Time stood still, and fate itself whispered sorrowful laments to the very essence of my spirit. I didn’t care that her death ensured my own excruciating demise. I only mourned the fact that I had lost her precious soul to the reaper’s icy embrace.

I failed my Buttercup...

“What in mother Lilith’s gracious name are you waiting for!? Heal her, you pathetic ignoramus!” Belzar snarled at me from beside the bed as he yelled in my mind, snapping me out of my crestfallen moment.

“Need I remind you that my powers are bound!?” I spat my words with a growl while clutching Gwendolyn’s lifeless body even tighter.

“They are extremely weakened, yes, but not gone. She is human, and there is no broken flesh to stitch. Attempt it before it’s too late!” he growled back while baring his fangs.

My arms loosened, and I lovingly gazed at her. Even in death, she was exquisite. My breath hitched at the realization that she had somehow become beloved to me... and I’d lost her . I wanted to let out a tormented roar that could bring the mightiest of mountains trembling to their knees. But I didn’t. I remained silent and held her close. I cradled her body against mine, then used my rage, torment, and love to channel what little power I could convene and desperately poured all its healing energy into her.

I squeezed my eyes closed and willed my soul to be strong enough to bring her back. What felt like almost unnoticeable waves of electricity flowed out from my palms and into her frail body. The power was barely there, but I didn’t give up. I stayed like that and continued my attempt to heal her for a few minutes until I felt I had given everything I had.

While trembling, I leaned her head back and searched her colorless face for any sign of life, yet it seemed my efforts remained in vain. I wasn’t strong enough. I closed my eyes in anguish, and a few hot tears slid down my cheeks. My clawed hand lovingly caressed her cold cheek as Belzar sorrowfully rested his head on the bed beside us.

Then, after a minute or so, a small gasp escaped from her lips. I stiffened as my eyes widened, frantically searching her face. Then I heard it. A gentle thumping followed by a sweet sanguine cadence—the sound of her heart beating once again.

My heavy eyes ever so slowly blinked open, and my body felt as though I’d just been trampled by a stampede of angry rhinoceroses. Ashton was squeezing me with a grip so tight it made me worry my bones might break, which didn’t help either. His hair was all frazzled, and his face held a strange combination of both stress and relief, as his crazed, bloodshot eyes searched me.

“Oh, thank sweet Mother Lilith!” he whispered in relief.

Glistening wet trails streamed down his flushed cheeks. One arm somehow constricted around me even tighter as he began rocking us back and forth. I stared at him with wide, bewildered eyes as he cackled out soft, maniacal laughter while kissing and touching my face. It seemed like he’d just had a severe mental breakdown and was losing his goddamn mind.

What the fuck has this man been smoking?

“I was so afraid that I’d lost you,” he whispered as he loosened his grip, realizing if he kept it up, I might suffocate to death.

I gasped for air and coughed a bit. “What happened?” My voice was embarrassingly raspy, and I felt like I had been stuck in a permanent state of confusion.

He didn’t answer, and there was a long stretch of silence. Ashton continued to hold me close and caress my head as if he were afraid to let go. He then latched onto my face with both of his hands and looked into my eyes. “You don’t remember?” He shifted his crazed eyes back and forth between mine, as if trying to understand something.

“No.”

An excited gleam twinkled in his golden gaze. “You were drugged and almost kidnapped. Whatever they used was extremely toxic. You were coughing up blood and then passed out.” He used a sympathetic tone while caressing my cheek.

And then, all the memories of the night pummeled me like a pile of a thousand falling cinder blocks... Holy fucking dicks on a stick! This diabolical motherfucker went all Freddy Krueger on their asses! I stiffened, and my weary eyes grew wide as I slowly looked up at his face. My blood turned to ice in my veins, and I proceeded to freak the living fuck out.

I screamed and frantically tried to squirm away from him. “You killed those guys! I saw you! You had fangs and claws, and you ripped that man’s fucking guts out!” Ashton swiftly locked my flailing body in a death grip, preventing me from getting away.

“ Shhh, shhh , Gwendolyn... Buttercup. Calm down... listen to me!” Tears streamed down my face and my legs kicked wildly as his hand pressed my head into his hard chest. “You were heavily drugged. It’s possible you could have hallucinated some things,” he reassured me in a calming voice while keeping his unyielding grip on my thrashing form.

Oh...

I immediately stilled. He was right. There was no logical way that could have been real. I had hallucinated the whole damn thing! My trembling hands wrapped around him, and I sobbed against his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m just really disoriented. I hallucinated you were an awful, repulsive demon and that you slaughtered those guys. It all seemed so real. It was horrifying. So, so horrifying.” I sniffled as he wiped my tears away.

“Shh, it’s okay. You’re not the one who should be sorry.” He kissed the top of my head and wistfully gazed over at Belzar with an anguished look in his eyes. His hand trembled as he reached over and grabbed a mug from the nightstand. “Here, drink this. It should help you feel better.” He handed me the cup while avoiding eye contact.

“What is it?” I asked, while inspecting the strange-looking liquid. Little bits of small oval leaves and unappetizing yellow chunks of something floated around in the mysterious concoction. I’m pretty sure there was even some dirt in there, too.

“It’s a detox tea to help remove the drug from your system.” He gave me a slight smile with a somewhat sad look in his eyes. I took a small sip and tried not to gag on the bitter taste, thinking I would rather take my chances with the drug . “I’m sorry, I should have never let you out of my sight at the club.” His voice was soft, and he was staring at the wall while rubbing his hand up and down my arm.

“What happened to those guys? The ones who tried to take me?” I glanced up at him.

Silence stretched between us for a moment before he answered my question. “I... took care of them,” he drawled in a vacant voice, followed by another moment of deafening silence.

I swirled the earthy swill around my mug for a moment, pondering whether I should ask what he meant by that or not. “So, um, did you, you know, kill them ?” I asked while waving my hand in a circle.

He sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his fingers trembling. “Yes,” he whispered. “And that’s all you need to know.”

My eyes stayed on his handsome, downcast profile. He didn’t return my gaze and seemed like he was trying to hide how frazzled and upset he was. The only logical explanation I could think of for his distress was that he must have been feeling remorseful for killing those guys. I knew I should have felt scared or even angry because of what he did. Yet, I felt sympathy for him and a strange sense of relief instead. I closed my eyes and squeezed him close. “Thank you for keeping me safe.”

He seemed a bit surprised by my response, but squeezed me back and kissed my forehead. “Aren’t you upset I killed them?” He lifted my chin and gazed curiously into my eyes.

“A little. But honestly, they deserved to die. Just think of how many other girls they might have kidnapped if no one else had ended them.” I knew it was a fucked-up sense of justice that I was feeling, but I didn’t care.

He smiled at me, then pulled me down so we were lying all snuggled up next to one another. Belzar barked and then jumped up onto the bed, too. I let out a loud, unladylike-sounding wheeze as his large body flopped down on top of both of us while wagging his fluffy tail.

“ Belzar! Get down right now before you crush her, you mongrel!” Ashton said sternly, while pointing to the floor.

Belzar moved over so his body was next to me and rested his head on my stomach. He pitifully looked over at Ashton with big, sad eyes and let out a little whine.

“Aw, come on, Ashton, just look at him! I don’t mind if this sweet, fluffy puppy snuggles with us for a little bit.” I giggled while stroking his soft ear.

“Alright, fine,” he grumbled, then squeezed me a little tighter and kissed my forehead. “Just for a little bit. But know this, he’s no ‘sweet, fluffy puppy.’” He glared over at Belzar.

Belzar seemed to almost give Ashton a taunting look. I’d swear he could understand us sometimes. I laughed as my gaze drifted up to a small, jagged crack in the ceiling while I stroked Belzar’s furry head for a moment.

The memory of my dream with Aunt Elowynn slowly came back to me, and tears threatened to brim in my eyes. I knew the dream felt so real because of the drug in my drink. Still, I wished it had been real. The more I thought about it, the more unrealistic it seemed, though. Like extending mercy to her killer? She died in an accident! And that weird thing about evil needing to defeat corruption for the sake of good?

What kind of wacky hallucinogenic roofies did those crackpots give me!?

My thoughts were interrupted as Ashton began stroking my hair. “Gwendolyn, I want you to know that you really do mean a lot to me.” He kissed the side of my temple. “I care very deeply for you.”

“You mean a lot to me too.” I smiled at his wistful face.

He lovingly smiled back and held me close, as if he were afraid that I might slip away. I was still weak and exhausted, so I allowed my eyes to flutter closed. Then I drifted to sleep, tucked snugly between him and Belzar.