#valak

It wasn’t supposed to happen. The rule was unspoken, but they understood it well. Sure, after they fell, after they became demons, the two didn’t have to abide by many rules. But what they were doing was forbidden. Surely it had to be.

Malthus fell first. He was going to kill you in the beginning. You had come into possession of that doll. The little red-headed doll that he hid away inside of decades ago. It didn’t matter how you got your hands on it. He was just ecstatic that he finally had someone to play with, someone to break down. A soul to devour. It had been so long and he desperately needed it.

But you were hard to break.

Even when you got scared at his tricks you would quickly shake it off, like nothing happened. That was fine. He liked a challenge. He could play with you for as long as he needed to.

But you were strange.

You carried the doll around. That ugly doll in that old white dress. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. You wouldn’t just leave it sitting around. You would move it to different rooms on different days. But you mainly kept it in the living room, sitting in a chair as if it were your roommate. That was okay. He could deal with you being strange.

But you were indifferent.

A month had passed and you were driving the demon mad. Every time he moved the doll you wouldn’t react. You would simply move it back to where you wanted, seemingly completely unfazed by the uptick of strange phenomena in your home. Sounds at night, hands grabbing your feet as you slept, apparitions walking through your house. If you were scared it didn't show through much. You got a bit jumpy here and there but there was no appearance of true terror. And that was unacceptable. He had to end this.

But he couldn’t.

There he was, growling above you. You couldn’t move, paralyzed as you lay in bed, looking up at the demon above you. You didn’t scream. You didn’t cry. You just met his gaze, staring at him. And for the first time since the beginning of time, Malthus felt something that wasn’t rage, that wasn’t a sinister bloodthirsty boiling anger where his soul was supposed to be. He didn’t know what it was but he wasn’t supposed to feel it. It was forbidden. So he left, retreating into the doll, and making it and him disappear from your home.

But that wasn’t the end.

Valak had become a partner in sin with Malthus. The two didn’t necessarily like each other but they accomplished plenty of foul things together. Especially with Valak overseeing everything. But when he found out that Malthus had failed to kill you it left him both confused and enraged. How could he not kill a simple pathetic human? How could he let a soul that was ripe for the taking go to waste?

If Malthus couldn’t do it, Valak would. Maybe Malthus was just rusty. Valak was more powerful after all. It would be easy to take your soul.

Or so he thought.

Every day during your daily routine you would pass a cathedral. As you walked on the sidewalk it felt as if something inside of you was pulling you, whispering into your ear to go in.

It was Valak, of course. Not that you were aware of his presence. In your mind, you thought maybe something holy was trying to reach out to you but it was him luring you, knowing eventually you would crack and take a peek inside. He just needed you to get close enough to latch onto. And you did eventually. On one dreary Sunday morning, you decided to go to mass. His pull had raised some guilt within you, making you seek out the comforts of the pew. And that’s where he grasped hold of you, seeping into your mind without you even realizing it. Divine intervention wasn't in the cards for you on that day.

You took him home with you and you were none the wiser to your new demonic infestation. Valak could’ve killed you right then in there, but he waited. He wanted to make you weak, wanted to watch you break, wanted to savor every morsel of your pain before he took your soul.

But you were very hard to break.

Two months. It had been two months. And much to Valak’s displeasure, you were very much still alive. Weaker perhaps but not broken.

He hated to admit that Malthus was right about anything. You weren't cracking just as the other demon described. You were occasionally fearful, a natural instinct for what Valak was doing to you, but there was no true terror. And what good is a soul taken that's not dripping in terror?

Your resiliency was something he had rarely seen before. Clairvoyants, priests, witches…they all put up fights too. But even they cracked. Valak could make even the most holy of men break if he wanted.

You were truly different and it fascinated him almost as much as it filled him with rage. He could've killed you the first time he laid eyes on you. Malthus could've done the same. But there's no fun in that and even demons liked to have. Albeit their version of fun usually involved slaughtering mortals like a sacrificial lamb.

But just like Malthus, Valak found himself holding off.

He had an idea. A stupid idea but an idea nonetheless.

Valak liked the taste of the small amount of energy he had managed to drain from you. He might not have your soul but every now and then with the restless nights he would give you, he got a tiny morsel of what was inside. It was delicious. And maybe he could work with that.

Nightmares had always been an effective tool used by many demons. Your consciousness slipped just enough when you were asleep that he could slip through the cracks of that fortress that he once thought was impenetrable.

And that's where the real work finally began.

Malthus and Valak took turns. Every night planting a seed inside your mind that would leave you tossing and turning, gasping for air as you woke up startled and confused. Your brain cooked up the nightmares, the demons just had to give it a push in the right direction.

You were starting to see them in your dreams, haunting your sleep and terrifying you from within. It appeared that they had finally solved the puzzle of breaking you down. They could finally revel in the energy as they held you inside your own mind.

As the days went on you became visibly more exhausted. You were physically and mentally drained, slouching and shuffling to and from work, yawning throughout the day. Your friend at work had even offered to step in, thinking that maybe spending time with others would somehow remedy your slow descent into whatever hell you were being pulled into.

It was enough to make even Valak smile. Somehow he found toying with you and keeping you alive more enjoyable than giving you a swift end. It was confusing to him. Undeniably amusing but also confusing.

Neither he nor Malthus kept people alive for very long. Humans were usually easy to manipulate, easy to scare. Their souls were taken quickly, their bodies buried almost as fast by their mourning loved ones, assuming they had them.

But you were a rare exception. A part of him stirred as he watched you beyond the veil, a feeling not unfamiliar but he didn't welcome it gracefully. Something about your mental pushback, whatever in the nine hells was giving you that strength, was oddly alluring to the demon. He knew Malthus had felt it too which piqued his interest even more. It was so rare that the two of them were on the same page about anything. No matter how much they toyed with you they both had come to the same conclusion; you weren't going to die. Not by their hand at least.

_______________

You couldn't take it anymore. For months your mind had been in a steady downward spiral. Your anxiety was at an all-time high, nightmares were plaguing your sleep every night, and the poltergeist activity was starting up again.

You weren't stupid, you knew something was up with that doll from the beginning. The previous owner practically gave it to you for free, desperately wanting it anywhere else. So you took it.

The doll was creepy, sure, but you didn't see any problem with owning it. At least you didn't think there would be a problem until it started moving on its own along with other things in your house.

You were initially freaked out but as time went on you decided to just live with it. You had initially figured the doll was just possessed by a lonely spirit, a little girl perhaps, but you were proven wrong when you were given a dose of sleep paralysis and a horned demon staring into your soul.

When you were left alive you took that as a sign. Maybe something up above was telling you it was time to get the spiritual aspect of your life in line. But ever since that doll disappeared and ever since you set foot in that church you were feeling worse by the day.

The change was small at first. You would hear whispers in your ears with no source, you would smell ash when there was no fire, and your nights would be restless.

But then those restless nights turned into nights where you felt like you were trapped in your sleep, like you were being held down and forced to watch your nightmares unfold until whatever the force was let you slip back into reality. Every day when you walked to work you swore you could see a nun staring at you through the stained glass of the church on your street. The whispering turned into disembodied shouts. You could see things out of the corner of your eye, peeking around the corners of your house, watching you from the shadows.

The worst part about it all, besides the very obvious drain on your energy, was that you felt like you couldn't talk to anyone about it. You wanted to talk to your friends about it but as you ran through what you might say in your mind you realized how crazy you might sound.

But you had had enough, deciding to take matters into your own hands.

You spent the next couple of weeks scouring the local libraries during your free time, finding anything you could get your hands on about demonology and more importantly demonolatry. You spent your time reading every page, taking notes, researching the origins of that doll. You wanted to find out if you could find out who exactly the demon was, who exactly the nun was that stared at you each day. And when you thought you finally had them nailed down you did something that would alter your life forever.

_______________

A summoning wasn't something Valak or Malthus expected. It was bold of you. Stupid, but bold.

They found themselves bound in the confines of a circle, infernal markings in the floor keeping them in place with you just out of reach. The lamb had done some research. If Valak wasn't annoyed he might've just been impressed.

Malthus was enraged. His hand came up, claws swiping at you but missing, an invisible barrier keeping him from getting closer. The skin on his hand singed the closer he got, flesh burning almost as hot as the circle of hell he crawled out of.

"That's not going to work," you said.

You were sitting in your recliner, legs crossed, a borrowed library book resting on your lap. Your fingers tapped against the hard cover as you watched the demons with intrigue. "There really is a book for everything," you thought to yourself.

But you weren't alone inside your head. The demons were bound physically, but mentally they could still roam, even if it wasn't at their full strength.

"You pathetic human. You really think this can hold us for long?"

A voice hissed inside your head. It hurt, pain searing into the nerves of your brain. Your hand pressed on the side of your head, rubbing against it in a desperate attempt to soothe it.

"That's not going to work," the voice echoed, mocking you with your own taunt.

You glanced at the demons and saw one grinning. A truly devious smile bearing rows of sharp teeth. Your gaze faltered as pain struck you once more. Your eyes squeezed shut and you instinctively grasped your head in your palms, groaning at the pain.

It burned, like hot tendrils of fire right behind your skull. The pain intensified and you screamed, falling out of the hair onto the hardwood floor.

"Tsk. Tsk. Poor baby," the voice said, this time out loud.

At least you assumed it was out loud. The voice seemed to dance around the room but a part of you was sure it was the pain confusing you.

The demon chuckled, the sound rattling through the room. Your hearing became muffled, as if your head was being dunked underwater. It felt like a hand slid up your body, lingering at your throat and then gripping it, squeezing as hard as the invisible force could. You felt like you were being dipped in darkness, your vision clouding and becoming blurry.

The demons were trying to kill you with what little power they had while they were confined.

"Stop it!" you tried to scream but it came out garbled. It felt like you were choking on the very air you breathe.

"Why should we?" a simple question flooded into the depths of your mind.

For a fleeting second, you wondered the same thing. Why should they? They were demons after all. They owed you nothing, definitely not your life, and they were currently physically stuck in a circle they couldn't leave. They wanted out and killing you seemed like a simple trade-off.

So why would they stop?

"You know…we had just decided not to kill you but you had to go and ruin everything. We could've been perfect," the voice whispered in your head as the invisible hand tightened.

It was in that moment that you had an idea. It wasn't a good one but you had a feeling that it might just save your life.

"I can…help…you," you choked, those few words being all you could physically get out.

For a split second, there was a sharp ringing in your ears, and your vision was gone. You were sure you were dead, drifting into nothingness, but you were pulled back as quickly as you were gone. You laid on the floor of the living room, coughing as you desperately tried to get air into your lungs.

The grip was gone, so was the ringing. Your vision came back and your eyes slowly drifted up, locking eyes with the demon that was in your head.

Valak. You had figured out his name. Somehow the research had led you exactly to him. It was almost like something out there in the universe wanted you to figure out who he was, even if it almost got you killed.

He had a scowl on his face as his yellow eyes peered down at you. The other demon, Malthus, had a cold look on his face.

"What did you say?" Valak asked, his voice hissing all around you.

You pushed yourself off the floor, huffing as you did so.

"I'll help you. I can help you," you said, voice strained.

Valak moved, his foot stepping directly over your circle on the ground. Your heart felt like it stopped for a moment as you looked on in horror. You realized in your state of distress that your foot had broken the circle, sliding through the salt on the floor. They had used your pain to break out.

He walked over to you, the demon's figure looming over you. You smelled the familiar scent of ash wafting in your face as he grinned.

"Help us how, little lamb?" Valak asked.

He already knew the answer and so did you. He just wanted to hear you say it.

"Souls. I can help you get souls. As long as you don't take mine," you said quietly.

There was a moment of silence and you swore for a second the demons were communicating with each other in their minds.

Valak reached out, gripping your face in his hand, claws scratching at the skin. There was a flicker in his eyes as he looked at you.

"Deal."

Ref

shockingly he’s not very messy. physically wise at least. i mean, yeah he’ll knock over your favorite vase at 3am after trying to make a spell or something. it does end up waking you up, which ends up in you scolding him for the rest of the early morning. no he doesn’t eat real meals, he eats only souls and people in a literal form. nothing humans eat can satisfy him. you have to deal with the smell of rotten flesh in the evening after a very long tiring day. no he does not care so don’t even bring it up to him.

you can always feel him with you. you could be far from home and valak will follow close behind. his presence sends chills down your spine and makes your body shiver. there’s not many positive moments when it comes to dating him. the only thing that i could think about is that you’ll be protected considering his demon abilities. you don’t have to worry about getting hurt or any of that.

don’t have lights on at home. he will break them immediately. as i said he doesn’t care, and light is something that he really doesn’t like so he expects you to respect that. he has a charcoal smell with a strong hint of candle wax. as weird as it is, he doesn’t have a to bad of a smell. i mean you’re thankful at least. it’s always cold with him as well. his temperature can range from very hot to very cold within seconds. it’s based on his mood.

he can be very spooky as a character. he shouldn’t scare you to much, but every once in a while he will give you a good scare. the air feels thin and you take a walk around your home, it’s feels as if someone is in your home. as you turn the corner, there he is with all the shadows and smoke. he can feel your heart beating and the way it rises, making him feel relaxed at the near sight of your fear.

very impatient with you. very sassy, just very mean and rude all the time. imagine if a black cat was a human, that would be him. he only wants to be bothered at certain moments. no company. no friends. ever. you’re his and he’s yours. there’s no in between it. i feel like whenever valak does get defeated, he will try and take you with him to where ever he gets sent back too.

he does talk a small bit. it comes out a different times each day. a little scratchy, but it’s still a voice that can be heard. he calls you “pet” when he does talk to you, making you feel useless but that’s what he feeds off of. he treats you more of a victim than a actual romantic partner. you have to be prepared to date him, i’m warning you he will make you not wanna be alive anymore lmao.