Riley And The White Rabbit
Chapter 3 : Pool Of Tears And Agony
Warnings: blood, some gore, a disgusting parasitic demon worm, torture, gruesome deaths involving Ander’s team
A collective array of disgusted gasps circled around Riley as the demons distanced themselves from her. The White Rabbit didn’t move however, although he slightly curled his lip and tightened his facial features from the sudden expulsion of the bile.
Riley clenched her teeth and breathed shallowly as she remembered what command to use. Her initial thought was correct. Vaysl has used it on himself to extract toxins from his injuries, Riley was there. He didn’t think she paid attention but she was always listening. A pang of stabbing pain gnawed her body and she released a shrill guttural scream. Riley’s thoughts were fragmented, each attempt of coherence splintering into jagged bursts of agony. It felt as though a blade was twisting into her stomach and grew in intensity as seconds ticked by. There’s no other way around it, she’d have to telekinetically remove it. Fuck! She hears the clinking of a belt being removed and recoiled when Rabbit inched himself closer to her. “D-don’t!” She cried out, her machete thrumming warningly.
The Rabbit demon crouched over her and folds the belt in half and gives it to her to bite down on. “You might want this,” he gestures. “Breathe,” he says, taking a pocket knife and clicks it out. “I’m going to cut the fabric away, it’s that alright?”
Riley nodded and whimpered as she hesitantly accepted the belt between her teeth and sunk her fangs into the leather as she prepared for the worst to come. She squirms under the knife but the White Rabbit demon was exceedingly gentle as he snips through the disgustingly seeped fabric to see the full extent of her wound. “Hm-mm.” He spotted something wiggling around in the bulbous blood clot.
Sir?” The large blue ogre demon interjects. “If I may-“
“You may not.” Rabbit cuts in sharply, making his point clear.
“White Rabbit,” the humanoid carnivorous plant demon hisses softly. “The child is dying, she’s of no interest to you-“
“Neither will you, if you don’t make yourself scarce. If you don’t plan to make yourself useful, I strongly suggest you keep watch.” He says without turning his head and helps Riley sit upright. “You’ve done this before, little one?”
Riley shakes her head and she gestures to him to remove the belt. He does so, and Riley retracts her fangs, leaving behind ropes of acidic saliva on the leather. That indication of venomous fangs made Rabbit raise his eyebrows in inquiry about her abilities. “I’d have to say the command to get it out. If I say it wrong…”
The White Rabbit hums. “Say no more,” he removes his handkerchief from his breast pocket to dab her tears from her face and folds it in half to wipe the blood from her chin. “We can’t have that, can we?” He smiles gleefully.
His mannerisms confused Riley. Is he seriously trying to give her a suspended heart attack? He’s being so careful as to not injure her further but his personality screams psychopath behavior to her. She hovers her trembling hand inches above her wound and takes a shallow breath and whispers the command in Devil tongue. She accepts the belt back into her jaws as an unworldly energy pulls at her skin as a thick, visceral black-tar like substance slowly rises up from her abdomen. A raw, guttural cry tore from her throat, the sound desperately clawing through the air. The digits of her hand contorted and stiffened as the mass bubbled and shrieks an eerie sound.
The White Rabbit watched in amazement. His lips parted, eyes widened and his demonic heart raced against his chest. She was a force of nature. Never did he think one so small can endure such torment.
The Demons who stayed around were the cyclops, and the red and blue Demon brothers. They watched in awe and horror of the gruesome sight before them. The plant Demon forms a protective circle around Riley and Rabbit as Cavaliere watches for unwelcome guests in their wake.
“AAGH, MMPPH!” She writhed and her limbs contorted in unrelenting agony. The parasite squirms and fights within her gut, prolonging the fight. Lights flickered around them and suddenly the asphalt beneath them buckled and cracked from the destructive force Riley wielded. Her suffering came to an end at last when the infected mass clumped together as one and was completely lifted from her abdomen before Riley aggressively flung the substance aside with fervor alongside an ear piercing scream. It hits the wall with a wet, sickeningly splat and overtime, its acidic properties were disintegrating the concrete and something slithers out of the blob.
One of the demons stoops low to touch it but Rabbit interrupts them. “Leave it be,” Rabbit orders as he removes a vial from his pocket. He pops open the cork, carefully scoops the wiggling parasite and the substance with it. “Something else to tinker with.” He hums as he tosses it to Cavaliere standing nearby. “Take it to my study immediately.” He says, before returning to Riley.
With Cavaliere disappearing into the night sky, the Plant Demon uncircles herself from White Rabbit and the girl as she slithers back into the crevices. The moonlight above shone on Riley’s bloodied form, giving her an otherworldly appearance.
Riley was much quieter now. She’s slumped over from exhaustion. Her Devil regenerative properties sealing the wound closed once and for all. She sighed deeply, the pain just a little bit ago feeling like a knife twisting in her stomach. After extracting the infection out, a slow, loosening began. The pressure unwinds, allowing her to take deep steady breaths. The tension drained from her shoulders, and a faint smile touched her lips as the sharp edges of pain softened into a dull distant ache. Leaning back, a sense of ease she’s been missing for far too long. She weakly unhinged her jaw to allow access for the Rabbit Demon to retrieve his belt from her and grunted as an earthy and slightly bitter taste danced on her tongue. She thought she'd bitten her cheek.
“Thank you, dear.” The White Rabbit softly hums a tune as he takes his belt back before his amber eyes widened in surprise and a smile pulled at his lips to reveal that the leather had the appearance of Swiss cheese. It was littered with teeth marks and burnt holes where the venom dissolved it. “Oh my,” he says, unfolding it and looking over the damage. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Riley?” He puts it aside, saving it for later study as he removes strands of hair from her eyes.
“Oi! Is she dead?” The red demon asks, approaching the White Rabbit’s left side with his sword in hand. “I reckon we should-“
Rabbit snaps his fingers to abruptly shut him up.
There was a light droning in Riley’s ears, she felt lightheaded and her palms became clammy. Her limbs felt stiff and heavy as her vision fades in and out. She grunted to fight against it, but it was inevitable. She could feel tingling sensations from her lips and fingertips. Riley’s body had just enough strength to make a final plea. “Don’t…” she croaks, her consciousness slipping. “Don’t let them…eat me.” She pleaded as her vision fades to black, therefore passing out from fatigue.
The White Rabbit catches her before her head hits the pavement and he looks her over. He runs his gloved fingers through her bloody, silvery strands and hums. “Quite a mystery aren’t you, Riley Pierce?” He stoops down and scoops her up, bridal style with a single arm supporting her back and under her legs while her bloodied head rests against his shoulder. She appeared so incredibly small in his hold. So helpless, so dependent on him. He holds her protectively against his chest and just before he takes a step, a light thwack lands by his feet. “Hm?” He bends down to investigate. It was a bloodied wallet. He opens it up with his right hand and skims through the information.
Name: Riley Mae Pierce
D.O.B: 8-20-1983
Height: 4’7
Weight: 76 Ibs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
ID NO: 08202022
“How peculiar,” he says, a wryly chuckle rumbling from his throat. Her address has been crossed out with permanent ink. Interesting. His orange eyes shifted to a thick photo slot. He opens it up and he narrows his eyes as he trails down to each one. Two happy children holding each other with two adults, he presumes was her mother and father. With his thumb, he dexterously pushes the photos back in the slot and folds the wallet closed before securing it back into Riley’s pocket. He stands, shifting her position closer and eyes upon her weapons where she was writhing in agony minutes before. He brushes a palm over it and it thrums warningly, sizzling angrily.
“Agni,” he leisurely retracted his palm back to his side.
“Yes, Sir?” The Red ogre demon responds reluctantly.
“Carry those back to the nest. I can’t have her weapons fall into the hands of Darkom.”
“And what of the girl, Sir?” The Cyclops demon asks him.
The White Rabbit tenderly brushes a gloved hand against her bloodied head. “She’s staying with us. No discussion on the matter.”
“W-what!? But Sir-” Cyclops’s pleas are brushed off as the White Rabbit makes his leaps from the rooftop with the little unconscious girl in his hold. He grumbled under his breath as he ordered the demon brothers to pick up the pace.
“Shut it, already! I’m gettin’ to it!” The hot tempered red demon says as he, as gently as he could, uses his thumb and forefinger to pick up Ophelia and Payne from the bloodied ground. He’s rudely greeted with a sudden, searing agony that shot through his fingers the moment he touched the handles of Ophelia-Payne. He screams, recoiling his hands as if being electrocuted. The heat pulsed, throbbing like a monstrous heartbeat, each beating a white hot fiery surge through his nerves. He squeezed his eyes shut, his world narrowing to that burning sensation. A terrible holy entity that demanded his full attention. “YOUCH!!”
His brother cuts in, “What are ye’ waitin for? You mustn’t keep the White Rabbit waiting!”
The red demon rubs his fingers against his palms, trying to soothe the burnt flesh. “Don’t TOUCH those, Brother. They fuckin hurt. They must be ‘Oly weapons. Purified in damn ‘Oly water.”
The Blue ogre demon snickers. “Are you sure you’re not overreacting?”
“YOU grab it then,” he snapped.
The blue demon flaps his lips with a scoff only for him to suffer the same fate as his brother. “AAAGH!” He recoils after two layers of skin melted from his fingertips. “Fffuckin…”
His red brother snorts. “Yeah, not so easy is it?”
The cyclops demon rolls his singular eye irritably. “Oh for the love of…” he pushes the brothers aside. “Get a grip, both of you! Darkom will be upon us soon enough, and I’m not waiting around for those murderous apes to kill us all!” He picks up Ophelia-Payne, the handles searing into his flesh and he grimaces uncomfortably. “Let’s GO!” He jumps off the roof, leaving them behind.
The red ogre shrugs. “Wonder what Rabbit is thinkin, bringin a wee-little girl with him.”
The blue ogre waves him off dismissively. “You don’t get to question his motives, come on.” They continued their bickering in the distance before they too followed the cyclops demon.
Seemingly several hours later into the night, Riley was taken into a very strange place. It was dark and dreary. A pungent smell of blood and mildew hung over Riley’s nose and it was heavy and consistent. Riley swore she heard running water and could smell something faint and flowery. A wet substance rubs against her open skin and a cold chill runs through her along with a shiver. A gloved hand brushes hair from her face and she hears a strange gargled language she can’t recognize nor understand.
She moans helplessly and squirms from their hold. Riley can hear various faint voices, whispers, children and babies crying. “Ar…lo,” she grunted painfully and weakly raised her arm in the air. Someone holds her hand and rubs soothing circles against her palm and then a soft fabric gently brushes against her cheeks. “Don’t…hurt my…brother.” She weakly pleaded with the otherworldly voices. “Take…me…instead.”
Riley detected the voices questioning her. They say something that she couldn’t quite comprehend. She tiredly opens her eyes to see two blurred figures above her. Another wave of cold air hits her and she pulls her body closer to retain any body heat. Someone is moving her from a warm, wet place into a colder room with unbearable bright lights, just to be wrapped in something much warmer and…a new scent hits her nostrils.
Something peppery and woody.
It was strangely comforting. Riley’s vision was hazy and distorted. She blinked blearily, as if her world was a blurry painting she was trying to bring into focus. She couldn’t make out the details of what was holding her close but she could feel and clearly hear the steady Ba-bump, Ba-bump of a heartbeat and it lulls her back to sleep.
“Sweet, little flower…” The White Rabbit croons, placing her down on a bed, treating her with utmost care. He tucks her underneath the covers before placing a stuffed Rabbit into her arms. “Hmm,” he watches her sleep for a moment until the objects that were set aside caught his attention. The Cheshire Cat plush, a silver pendant and a damaged cell phone with a crack on the screen. He sniffs the blood from the cat plush and adjusts his monocle. “Interesting. This isn’t your blood, isn’t it Riley?” He examines the pendant and gingerly picks it up. He notices the lock on it and he carefully flips it open in surprise to find light grey powder inside. “Hm?” He couldn’t detect it from the smell so he dips a finger and feels the texture. Ashes? He looks periodically at Riley, to the pendant then back to the unconscious girl again. Why would a supposed demon girl keep cremated remains of a human? Lastly, was her cell phone. It wouldn’t turn on and most likely it needed to be fixed. He could renew it in a matter of minutes, perhaps with the girl’s permission.
“White Rabbit, Sir?” A deep gurgling voice asks the Rabbit demon. “We’ve secured her weapons and Cavaliere has that thing in the lab.”
“Good. I’ll be down in a minute.” White Rabbit sets the phone down and organizes Riley’s things before checking her vitals. She was breathing steadily through her nose and her heartbeat was normal. An IV needle was inserted into her arm and there were extra bags to the side in case he needed to replace it.
“The Makains have her clothes cleaned and folded,” he says, presenting Riley’s clothes in his large electric hand to his Rabbit boss.
“Ah, yes! Very good!” White Rabbit neatly lays Riley’s newly pressed clothes in the toy box. He takes a final look at her before smiling. “Goodnight, Riley Mae Pierce.” He turns on his heel and leaves the girl to further investigate whatever caused her so much turmoil in the first place. “What have you found out?”
“About Darkom, sir?” The cyclops Demon asked, unsure by what the Rabbit was asking him.
White Rabbit sighs disappointedly. “The substance that Riley expelled. What is it?” He says, shortly as they both enter the elevator.
“Oh, well…” Plasma clears his throat before pressing a button. “It’s not our world. Definitely not from Makai. Whatever struck the girl had every intention of infecting her.” The car shifts as it begins its descent to the lab. “The worm from the substance was terribly violent and it grew larger-“
“Excuse me? Repeat that again? Did you say it has grown larger?” The White Rabbit’s eyes widened in amusement. “Where is it kept now?”
“In a bigger containment. Cavaliere was going to test it on the Darkom soldiers he captured. He caught them trying to investigate the incident a few days prior. We were waiting for your arrival, sir.”
The Rabbit released a satisfied exhale. “Hmm, good work Plasma.” They both hear a ding and the doors open. They both exit and strode down the hallway.
“What of the girl, sir?” The Cyclops demon questioned.
“Riley. Her name is Riley Pierce.” He corrected him.
“Is Riley a spawn of Sparda? The silver hair, the pendant, she’s of the same age, it can’t be a coincidence but-“
“No. Last time I checked, Sparda had two sons. The traitorous brute didn’t magically produce a daughter.” The Rabbit demon says curtly.
“Forgive me sir,” Plasma hesitated, afraid of overstepping his bounds. “Why is she here? What use can she be to you?”
White Rabbit sighs dramatically and glowers at his lackey with a menacing smile. “That’s for me to know. Not you, or anyone else’s concern.” He raised an arm across from Plasma in order to prevent him from entering the lab. “No one goes in that bedroom except for me, understand?”
“Yes…sir.” Plasma lowering his head and quickly shifts his eye to the floor.
“Good~!” He chuckles wryly before he returns his arm to his side and enters the lab with Plasma behind him.
The horned Demon Cavaliere bows respectfully to the White Rabbit as four Darkom soldiers writhed against their bounds. Their voices gagged by strange, thick veiny substances across their mouths.
“Ah, good evening ladies and gentlemen.” The Rabbit greeted the newly appointed test subjects. He finds the blackened wiggling parasite in a small containment chamber and he grins savagely. “Due to the unfortunate circumstances that you found yourselves in, you’re hereby going to suffer until death from my tiny little friend here,” He picks up a pair of forceps and picks up the slippery worm and holds it firmly. It screeches, tiny sharp fangs protruded from its mouth and tiny ropes of acidic saliva descended from its fangs. “The question is, which one of you is the lucky one?” He hums tauntingly. He brought the worm closer until it was inches from their face and each one muffled a scream. “Eeney…menny…miny…moe,” he tormented them with it before using a scalpel to cut an incision in each of their arms. “Catch a Tiger,” he lowers the worm down to the cut and it creepily contorts, making an unholy screech. Eager to dig in and bury within the flesh of its newly found host. “By its toe,” The White Rabbit stoops down in front of a female Darkom soldier who’s whimpering and crying the most from her male compatriots. “If it hollers…let it go~!”
The tension was so thick, it was nearly suffocating. Plasma and Cavaliere eagerly watch on the sidelines, waiting in anticipation for Rabbit to begin.
The Rabbit chooses the male soldier in the middle. “You’re…IT!” He drops the worm in the wound. It was instantaneous. The second the parasitic worm landed with a wet splat, it viciously burrowed into the cut, violently tearing flesh, muscle and bone alike. The thick air was pierced by a blood-curdling scream that made Rabbit tilt his head in amusement and Plasma took a step back. Screams of agony tore from the soldier’s throat as he convulsed in anguish. His back arched, eyes rolling the back of his head as all the veins under his skin turned an inky black.
The other soldiers in question trembled in fear and panic as they sat helplessly, watching in utter horror. They pleaded, begged from their gag, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Hm,” the White Rabbit lifts the infected Darkom soldier's shirt to see his abdomen swelled like a darkened balloon that’s been filled with ink. The soldier was no longer screaming. His head has sagged to the side, all the color draining from his face and something twitched within his insides. “Well, that one didn’t last long did it? What a shame,” The White Rabbit leaned over and simply prodded the soldier's swollen abdomen with the scalpel and shifted behind him.
The abdomen violently bursts with blackened acidic blood as well as shriveled up organs painted the floor and anything in its direct path. The other captive soldiers in close proximity to the blast had died as their skin swiftly corroded down to the bone except for the last one. A black Darkom soldier with blonde hair in a pompadour style screams in terror as he looks at his comrade’s melted corpses.
A splash of blood splashed on Plasma’s shins and he recoiled with disgust. The Rabbit Demon, Plasma and Cavaliere heard a sickening squelch from the bloated corpse and caught sight of the full-bellied worm slithering from the mouth.
“Oh~ho, so THAT’S what it does!” He grips the forceps and takes a hold of the worm and holds up to his face. It grew thicker in centimeters and it had sharp, thorn-like spikes protruding from its body. “Let's do this again! Next please~!” He says gleefully as the blonde haired soldier writhed in his bonds. “Open wide and say aaaaah~!”
-Stay tuned for Chapter 4, The Unexpected Tea Party
