Gothoutcast

It was raining when you left the church. You pulled your hood up over your head and shoved your hands deep into your pockets, shoulders hunched against the downpour as you hurried across the street. It was just your luck, you thought. The last few weeks of your life and it looked like it was going to rain the whole time. You had moved to LA to escape the cold and the wet (among other things), but just like said other things, it too had followed you across the country, it seemed.

As you made your way down the street, you got the distinct feeling you were being watched. Your fingers closed around the consecrated knife in your pocket, senses on high alert. From a dark alleyway somewhere ahead of you, two yellow eyes peered out of the darkness. You felt a small thrill of fear before you realised who it was and relaxed.

“Hello, Law,” you sighed.

A man stepped out of the shadows. Except he wasn’t a man—not really. His eyes, though grey now he was in full view, still held a glint of something unnatural, and his canines seemed longer and sharper than any human’s.

“Are you hungry?” you asked him.

He shook his head. “I have information.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

“I found him.”

Your heart quickened at those words, but Law seemed reluctant to say more. “Well?” you prompted, growing impatient.

“[Name]… I don’t think it’s a good idea to go after him.”

You frowned. “Why?”

Law hesitated. “He’s… dangerous. Incredibly so.”

“So, what, I should just wait for my timer to run out and skip on down to Hell without putting up a fight?”

“I’m not saying that. I just… He’s powerful, [Name]. Way more powerful than me or any demon you’ve encountered before. You can’t win.”

“How do you know that?” You folded your arms.

“Listen,” Law took a step closer. “I don’t know his name, but I do know he’s high up the ladder. Perhaps a Marquis or a Lord. Maybe even a Prince. You can’t beat him.”

You sighed. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll see you around, Law.”

“Wait!” He hesitated. “If you… if you still want to find him despite what I told you… There’s a demon called Bellamy. He frequents a demon bar called Corrida. He might know more. But be careful.”

“I know the place. I’ll check it out. Thanks.”

Law melted back into the darkness without another word, and you continued on your way through the rain, contemplating the newly acquired information. Having a demon informant was certainly useful.

Law was an incubus, a demon that fed on sexual energy. In exchange for inside information into the inner workings of Hell, you would keep him ‘fed’, so to speak. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement and nothing more. Rosinante had never approved of the arrangement, but even he had to admit, the incubus had been invaluable thus far.

It only took a few seconds to make your decision. Ignoring your promise to Rosi that you would go home and get some sleep, you changed direction, offering a silent apology to the Father, and going in search of the bar Law had mentioned.

The street was little more than an alley, tucked between a dilapidated office building and a crumbling warehouse. A few loiterers smoking beneath the eaves of a closed club across the street wolf whistled as you passed, but you ignored them. Mortal men were hardly a threat to you these days. Not when your very soul was on the line.

A few patrons looked up as you entered the dark tavern. You ignored them as you made your way to a seat at the bar, gathering more stares as you went. By the time you had sat down, every pair of eyes in the room were fixed on you. You ordered a shot of vodka, which the bartender slammed down in front of you, sloshing liquor over the sides of the glass. You winced as the burning liquid spilled down your throat but ordered a second shot all the same. A demon in the corner stood up.

“You’re not welcome here, Hunter,” he growled.

You held your hands up. “I’m not here to cause trouble. Just looking for a drink and some answers.”

“You’ve had your drink and you’ll get no answers. Leave.”

“Well, that’s rather rude,” you said with mock hurt. “I’m just looking for a guy by the name of Bellamy. Anyone know him?”

A second demon stood up. Horns curled outward from amongst blonde hair and a long, forked tongue lolled out from between pointed teeth. “What’s it to you, Princess? Getting tired of your incubus friend? Fixin’ for some real demon cock?”

The bar patrons chuckled.

You sighed. “Listen, I’ve had a long day of beating up your hellish buddies and I’m real tired. If you could just direct me to your boss, I’ll be happy to get out of your way.”

Bellamy stalked up to you. “So, it was you who killed Caesar today,” he growled. The bar fell silent, and you felt the wave of disbelief and rage that rolled over the crowd. “You made a mistake walking in here, little girl.”

You cursed under your breath, hand slipping into your pocket to close around your knife. You felt the movement of air behind you, and you whirled, knife swinging in a wide arc. The demon who had been sneaking up to grab you from behind reeled backward, his throat gaping and spurting black blood. He fell to the ground and moved no more. There was silence for a beat, before all hell broke loose.

Ragged claws raked at your arm, tearing your sleeve to ribbons and you retaliated with a stab through the offending demon’s eye. You wrenched it out just in time to duck beneath another blow aimed at your head and lunged upwards, feeling the knife sink deep into the space between two ribs and the imminent weight of a body as it grew slack against you. Hot, black ichor poured over your hands and the knife slipped from your hold as the demon went down. You lunged after it, just narrowly avoiding yet another swipe of dagger-sharp claws from a third attacker.

Swearing like a sailor, you retrieved the knife and straightened to find yourself backed against the bar, a wall of bloodthirsty demons between you and the door. Bellamy had slunk away somewhere through the crowd, content to let the lesser demons do his dirty work. Well, there went your one and only lead.

“Enough.”

Though it wasn’t a shout, the word seemed to cut through the chaos like a blade, stilling everyone in their tracks. The dim gloom of the tavern was suddenly cleaved by a shaft of daylight, motes of dust dancing in the air. Some of the demons hissed and shrank away from the light.

A man stood in the doorway. Except that you knew as soon as you laid eyes on him that he was no ordinary man. An oppressive aura seemed to worm its way into the bar, seizing your heart with a cold fear that rendered you motionless. The demons around you all sank to their knees and bowed their horned heads in submission.

He stepped forward and without the halo of light from outside, you could finally see his face. He was beautiful—it was the only way you describe him. High cheekbones, a chiseled jaw, flawless tanned skin. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses, but you could tell they were fixed on you. He grinned.

“I was wondering when we would finally meet, my dear,” he purred. An involuntary shudder ran through you and you held the blood-stained knife a little higher.

He stepped forward, the demons parting for him, until there was barely a foot of space between you. He was so tall, you had to crane your neck to look up into his face. His unnerving grin never faltered as he said: “kneel.”

You felt your body obey his command as if you were just a puppet and he your master. You sank to the floor at his feet, every muscle in your body tense as you tried to fight for control, but it was futile. The knife clattered to the floor as your fingers grew numb and heavy. The man reached out and cradled your chin in one large hand. His touch was like fire. You were sure he could see the fear in your eyes.

“You will make a fine Queen,” he said.

Finally, you were able to exercise enough control over your own body to wrench your face out of his hold.

“What?”

“I’ve been watching you a long time. So determined, so driven. Just what I need in a ruler to stand at my side.”

“Go fuck yourself,” you hissed.

He grinned. “There’s that fighting spirit I can’t wait to break.” He smoothed a hand over your hair, tucking the strands behind one ear. You cringed away from his touch. “You resist me now, but it won’t be long before you seek me out. I know your very soul, what you desire more than anything else in this world.”

“The only thing I want is to kill you.”

The demon king chuckled and a few of the demons in the room snickered along with him. You bared your teeth at them, but it was an empty threat. That all-encompassing power still held you tightly in its fist.

“My, my, what a temper. Will you hurt me, [Name]? Torture me like you tortured my underlings while they begged for death? Or will it be quick and clean so you can get back to your incubus whore?”

You could feel your pulse throbbing in your temples, muscles and tendons straining as you raged against your invisible bonds. Words would not come to you.

“I look forward to finding out.” He bent and pressed a lingering kiss to your cheek, your skin burning at the touch of his lips. “I’ll be waiting, my Queen.”

With that he was gone, and the invisible weight lifted from your limbs. You snatched up your knife and staggered to your feet and were out the door before any of the demons could react. As soon as you were outside, you vomited into the gutter.

It was him. The demon you’d been hunting all this time. The demon who held your contract.