Chapter Summary: Darren is confronted by Babel as she forces him to concede his body, and recognize that help is not coming.
From the earliest age he could remember, Darren had been… different. Subtle things were always off, like things would work out in his favor regardless of how harrowing the odds, he never seemed to want for anything, never even had the need to assert himself. In his twenty-one years of life, this is just how it had always been. He should have really thought more about that.
The impossible beauty stood in front of him… no, that was a poor way to describe it. She had perched herself against his wardrobe, stock still, her arms spread from her as if offering an embrace, or was she allowing Darren to take her in? Her ash-gray skin stood out against the hickory of the wardrobe, the light catching along every curve and crevasse of her body. Had it not also been for her pair of two horns on either side of her head and her spade tail he might have thought her an angelic being or ghost of sorts.
He swallowed hard before speaking, a dry lump threatening to catch his voice. “Who are you?” His voice hitched, great first impression, now she’s going to think we don’t have any confidence. She smiled wickedly at him as she ran her tongue over a harshly pointed canine.
“Me? I have many names. Would it confuse you just as much whether I called myself Babel, or perhaps Helen of Troy? What about Ephialtes of Trachis? I’m a renegade, an apostate, a defector, a quisling. I am all these things, for I contain multitudes. Though, to you, I am your benefactor.”
Darren chuckled, more because he was entirely unsure if he could believe what he was hearing.
“You’re a Demon.”
“Oh, Demon is so archaic. It’s also an abused umbrella term, it’s like me calling you a human and not elaborating. Darren, I’m a Lilith, a Parturient, a birther.” Darren scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, that’s really something I’m going to believe. Demons can’t have children.” She tilted her head down as she stood to her full height, somewhere in the range of seven feet tall. As she moved towards him he was able to take in that her body was heavily toned, the shadows crossing between her abs and over her sinuous shoulders, he realized he was greatly outmatched. Physically speaking he wasn’t in bad shape, but she was much taller, and her definition was something he couldn’t tear his eyes from.
She leaned down to meet his eyes, a hint of happy cruelty behind them. “Oh, my sweet summer child, you’ve been fed lies your whole life… though I do suppose that’s my fault, sorry-not-sorry.” Darren’s heart sank as she said it, causing her smile to widen further. “You see, my little beneficiary, if Demons could not make more of ourselves how would the fight against us seem so… endless? Do you really think Demon Hunters wouldn’t have exterminated us by now? We’re strong, but we’re not invincible.”
Darren felt a couple of his fingers twitch while his mind raced. “So… what? You’re here to turn me into a sex slave? Force me to help you breed more Demons? I’d castrate myself long before I’d let that happen.” He tried letting his voice drip with impudence, if it only weren’t for the involuntary quavering that undermined him. Dammit.
She shook her head, her ruby locks swaying gently as she did. “Wrong again Dee. You see, Demons don’t procreate sexually, we’re not made of physical mass. We’re… what’s a good way to phrase it… we’re Fine Matter while you’re Defined Matter. We’re solid enough when we wish to be, but it takes a lot out of us, and eventually we must return to being Fine Matter. Even while we’re solid we have no DNA of our own, therefore your… seed… is no good. We need to intermingle with your Fine Matter.”
His eyes narrowed, backing up against the door behind him. “So… what? You need to suck out my soul?”
“Hellfire, no! That wouldn't do me any good. I take your soul out and the next thing I know I’m in the same boat again. No, I need you tethered and alive. You could say… I need your whole package.” She was so close to Darren he could feel the malicious intent radiating off of her like a heat, the air between them seemed to buzz with energy.
Darren backed up as much as he could, his back impacted the wall behind him and caused him to jump. He knew he should run, try to get away, find help. “Wh-whole package? You’re going to-”
“Possess you, yes.”
“I won’t let you do that. You can’t make me take an oath!” Darren said defiantly. Although his body shook with fear, the Demoness could tell he meant it. She smiled wickedly, she delighted in his rebellion, however worthless.
“Dee, you seem to misunderstand what’s going on here. You can feel it, can’t you?” She lifted a hand to eye-level, letting him see it. “We’re already connected, we’ve been joining for a long time now, I’m simply here to collect what you owe me.” He had to admit he did feel something, not quite puppet strings, but something of similar design. She was invariably becoming attached to him.
“I won’t let you do it, I will fight you every step of the way.” She smirked as a look of pity came over her face. “You can’t own me, I won’t-” The Demoness waved her hand, and his mirrored the action. He would’ve felt more fear if he hadn’t become numbed by the shock. It wasn’t anything like he’d ever experienced before. He had half expected that any action she took he would be able to fight it, will his body to move differently or not move at all. This was almost instinct. She moved her arm and he moved his in kind. The action didn’t feel involuntary, or like someone else was in control. It felt as if he himself were moving his arm willingly to mimic hers. His mind and spirit begged his appendage to stop its revolt, and yet he did not stop it.
“Darren Michaelson, you have no choice in this matter, you haven’t for a long time. I hand picked you twelve years ago. Every step in your life where hardship presented itself I stood in its way. Every shoulder you needed, every question that needed an answer, every bailout you required, every ounce of mercy in your life… has been at my behest. Each time you were given the option to do it alone or to accept the help, my help, each time you accepted. Graciously, might I add. It’s not my fault your naive self never questioned your stupidly good fortune.”
Darren swallowed again, his throat had begun to hurt. He became keenly aware of the dryness of his throat, the shaking of each individual finger, how his lips quivered in fear, the coolness of the air on his face where the sweat was forming. He was out of options. “Please… don’t do this. Leave me alone, I’m just a college kid! I just barely learned how to do my own taxes for God’s sake! Please don’t destroy me, don’t take everything away from me. I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me, I’m willing to find another way to help, any other!”
She let his words hang in the air a moment, a look of feigned shock. She looked up at the ceiling, but her gaze seemed as if she looked beyond it. When her eyes locked onto him once again there was nothing but joy behind them. “I’ve heard your plea, Darren, as I’m sure every celestial being listening in did as well. But… listen.” She holds her hands to Darren’s ears, as if to let him hear more of the world. And hear more he did, he could hear so much that the silence began to deafen him. “Realize that no one has answered your prayers and pleas. There are no voices but mine in this small space of yours. Your weakness of character has made you fall from grace, my child.” As she looked back down at him, her eyes wide with a hungry anticipation, he felt the remnants of hope drain from his being.
“You broke so easily, you even said you were willing to help a Demon to continue her goals? You were willing to sacrifice how many others in order to keep everything I’ve given to you?” He opened his mouth to protest, but his voice fell silent before it could leave his lips. She was right. He was willing to bring others to her in order to earn a glimmer of mercy, he was no better than a- “I must admit, your lack of morals was not something I’d anticipated, but it does come as an added bonus.” His face burned with shame, but a shame he knew he deserved. “You should know, repentance is easy.”
“It is?” He asked, aware how desperate he sounded.
“Of course. You just have to mean it. And I don’t mean the way you humans tend to think that means, I mean in the eternal sense. The big man upstairs knows your heart, and he knows when your repentance is true, even when you don’t. Do you really believe that you’d never, ever, give in like that again? Be willing to sacrifice another for your own benefit?”
He steeled himself the best he could, gathering what remained of his fortitude and looked her unwaveringly in the eyes. “Yes. I don’t make the same mistake twice.” Her smile faded somewhat, standing tall to tower over him.
“Fine then, but realize you owe me your very life. But, as all things have, there is a price I’m willing to receive to release you from this bondage.” He blinked, he had to admit he was a little dumbstruck. Perhaps the Demoness was just sick of toying with him, or maybe he had been resolute enough to ward her from his eternal soul? “It won’t be easy, it’ll be painful, and people will forever wonder why you did what you did. Although, you will be free, I swear.”
“You want me to cut off a body part or something?”
“You will perform a ritual. It will give me everything I want, everything I need, to bring another Demon into being. I will grow in strength on a seismic scale, putting me well above the efforts of the most powerful of Demon Hunters. The power I would gain would be more than I’d ever get from you, even if you’d live ten lifetimes.” His eyes narrowed, pausing to collect his thoughts. He considered it for a moment before speaking.
“How many people would be hurt?”
“None. It wouldn’t hurt a single one, directly or indirectly.”
“Why don’t you have someone else do it?”
“It has to be done by someone whom I’m already connected to, and it has to be voluntary.”
The seconds felt like centuries as he raced for options in his mind, considering, reconsidering, evolving ideas and morals, weaving possible outcomes that would impact his life or others. “Fine… I’ll do it.”
She cracked the same smile he’d first seen from her when they’d met. “Humans are weak-willed creatures. You would seriously give me that kind of power? For your freedom? I suppose you think you could warn someone in time, tell them of my rising power. Or perhaps you could become a disciple of the Catholic church? Maybe even become a Demon Hunter, have your own stupid anime training montage?” She grabs Darren, lifting him so she no longer hunches over him, effortless as a child and doll. “Demons don’t see humans as people, Darren. You’re food, you’re vessels, you’re entertainment, you’re pets. Of course a ritual of that magnitude would slaughter countless humans, and we’d feel nothing but delight.”
She laughed as his heart sank again, but this time as it sank it hardened like a stone in a lake. He had truly fucked away his life, and now there was nothing he could possibly do about it. His vision swirled into a darkness as his head swam, the only thing that remained, however fleeting, was her laughter echoing into the dimness of his fading mind.
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