Chapter. 37

Diana froze in place. That…was very close… Emotionally raw and not thinking clearly, Diana sat up to find those red eyes were not in the inner pit anymore. The silhouette of a man with arching horns on his head, clawed hands pressed to the ground on other side of her hands, and knelt before her was the creature from the pit. His red eyes seemed to shimmer with power and give off a heat of their own. Her face was illuminated by their soft light and she was hypnotised.

Literally hypnotised. “I could punish the ones who have harmed you.” His mighty head cocked to one side and he raised his right hand to slowly reach for her chest. Diana trembled and feared he was going to reach clear into her chest and pluck her fluttering heart from her ribcage. Instead, something cold and sharp tapped at the back of the hand gripping her braid to her chest. “Give that to me.”

“Why?” Her voice whispered across the few inches between them.

“Because it can be a powerful totem. A piece of you, both taken and given.” The cold claw traced a line back to her wrist and then hooked in between it and her chest. “In the right hands a few strands of hair can be condensed to release the concentrated essence stored there by the owner. You hold not a few strands, but thousands. The only thing more potent than this, would be your blood.” Diana stared into his red eyes but saw his sharp teeth curl the b word with a grin in her peripheral vision.

“What would you do with my hair?”

“I would not hurt you.” Diana gulped and couldn’t look away from the dark sun pupils of his eyes. So close, she saw the wisps were moving as eerily as the living shadows he was made of. He pried her hand back enough from her chest to wrap his supple icy fingers around.

“What would you do?” Diana pressed. He clearly needs me to give it to him. Otherwise why wouldn’t he just take it. He chuckled and rasped, coughing behind his other hand for a moment. He’s not strong enough to take it from me. Diana realised, though she didn’t put herself quite in the clear from his wrath just yet. This creature was doing something to her wit his eyes. She knew she should be screaming her head off at the sight of this demonic spectre. Not to mention it had a hold of her. But she remained subdued in his gaze.

“I would use this to create a tether between us. I could come to you, as I am now. It is not a true freedom for me, but it is a lot more than I thought I’d ever have again.” He raised her hand up into their shared line of vision, with his gleaming crimson eyes staring over the top of her fist. “Give this to me, and I will punish the one who did this to you.”

“…and if I refuse?” She chuckled, knowing that refusal wasn’t an option, but knew she wouldn’t forgive herself later on if she didn’t at least ask if it was an option. He must have sensed her reasoning, as he chuckled at her as well.

“I will take you down into my prison with me. I would make you cooperate. It would be easier to do so now.” Diana’s mind whirred. She knew refusal wasn’t an option. She would have to agree…but… She thought of the fact that he coughed every now and then. That it took him some time to pry her hand from her chest, and even now his ghostly hand shook with the strain from her resistance. He couldn’t force her to give the hair to him. I’m not so powerless here.

“If you tell on us dirt blood, we’ll burn the rest off.” Jessica sneered. “So do what you do best and do nothing.”

“No one would believe you anyway. She can’t do anything Jess.” Olivia nodded with a grin to her sister.

Diana inclined her head and felt a fresh wave of burning pain from her ordeal. She narrowed her brown eyes up at him and did something she knew she’d regret later.

“You want to use my hair to make a tether and follow me around up there?”

“Yes. In exchange I will punish your tormentors.”

“…how do I know you’ll not just run off the moment you’re free?”

“The tether would bind me to you.” He leaned even closer to her. She let a wobble in her resolve at how close his sharp teeth were to her raised hand. “And you to me.”

“What does that mean?”

“You are full of questions. Are you in the position to be so pedantic?”

“You want to bind yourself to me. Surely I can’t afford not to be pedantic?”

He suddenly licked at her fist with a forked tongue and made her flinch. The phantom sensation of cold wetness lingered afterward and he smirked at her reaction. The threat was received. Don’t sass the scary monster. “I want you to swear that you will do as you promise, but don’t kill them. I-I’m not a bad person. I don’t want you do seriously harm them I just…want them to stop…” Diana felt fresh tears in her eyes. “All my life they’ve hated me because of who I’m meant to be. I swear I’ve never pushed them or provoked them. I actively try to avoid them. I-”

“I can see your pain and sincerity in your aura. It is your kindness and honesty that caused me to trust you on your previous visits. Otherwise, why would I allow you to leave if I didn’t believe you at your word?” He started coughing again and took longer to recover this time. “I don’t believe you are wicked. I will give you my word, but you must give me yours.”

“You want more than just my hair?” Somehow Diana felt the grave she was digging was getting bigger.

“Yes. I will also require your secrecy.” He stood and used his grip on her hand, and the spell of his eyes on hers, to guide her to stand before him. He was so tall he had to crane over to maintain their eyeline. “You will not tell anyone, living dead or spectral of my existence. Not of our arrangement prior to this, or our current one.”

“…don’t tell anyone about you? No one would believe me anyway.”

“You have to swear it.”

“…I will, if you also swear-”

“I swear that whilst the spell tethering my essence to yours is active, I will not harm you, or seriously harm your enemies. I will punish them and protect you. I give you my word. Now you must give me yours with your hair.” Diana felt her heart clench. I shouldn’t do this, but if I refuse he’ll drag be into the pit. He’ll make me cooperate? I don’t want to find out what kind of torture that means. “What are you waiting for child? Don’t you want the ones who took this from you to suffer as you suffer? To be deterred from harming you again?” He shook her hand and Diana found herself imagining Jessica weeping over being bald. I do want them to suffer too…but…what else would he do once out of this pit? She chewed her lip and wondered, not for the first time, why her ancestors had locked this creature away down here. Sensing her hesitation, the beast snarled angrily. “What are you waiting for? What more could I possibly give you?!”