Chapter 116

A/N HI! o/ I put my response here so everyone can see it! I condensed my chapters too hard.... xc SORRY!  Noah got the help he needed, and while he's kind of out of the picture, Jerold is about to try and get back the original caretaker of the orphanage because he feels like who they're about to put in place won't do right by the kids. Yes, the caretaker is a unicorn, BUT that doesn't mean anything if he's oblivious to the vampires' workings, or, even worse, his hands are tied if they adopt those kids out to thralls. Like, once they leave the safety of the caretaker's protection, there's not going to be much tracking done. Vampires won't turn those kids, but there are other means to feed off people besides biting.

Jerold

I blinked, and I knew I fucked up…. I …. I remember being here before…. Dread filled my heart, as I knelt before the Horned One, Zuviel….. I’d been here before….

It was a fuzzy, faded memory, one that I parted with a long time ago, but every once in a while a modicum of recollection would cross my train of thought.

As I knelt, I could feel the weight of this place on my shoulders…. I had killed people… But not because I wanted to…

“You lie only to yourself here.” Said someone behind me, though it was not the Horned One.

I knew that feeling…. I knew who that was from my mother’s retelling of how I came to be…. Those pink bare feet belonged to the Pit, likely the man who put me here.

“I did.” He said simply.

“Like a true warrior, already conscious.” Said the rumbling voice of the one I spoke to… that was the Horned One.

Fur rippled across my skin, and it gave him a chuckle.

“Now…. I have you for 24 hours. You didn’t specify who’s though.”

Another chuckle reverberated around the black stone walls…

The black stone under my feet was cold as I knelt there. My palms were on deceptively soft red carpet, that lined the long walkway in the grand throne room. It was gothic, with either side of the room filled with armored demon guards who sneered at me… The red stained glass windows were enormous, ending at a point, painting pictures of the Horned One, or his mate.

The detail in the various shades of red with black trim, along with the black brick, made me feel the weight of what I’d done… This is an endless plane of oblivion.

Finality.

To be here in general is to either deserve it, or be a victim of a demon.

I could taste the murderous intent as if it were earwax.

One word, and my flesh would be ripped apart, but I doubt I’d die here….. I intrigued him enough to be snatched, taken Below… but Twarznai was above.

I fucked up.

Gods, I fucked up.

“The only god you should call upon now is me.” The Horned One said, moving. I could hear the clank of the black iron armor he’s often depicted in. “You are here for 24 hours, but you forget down here time flows however fast or slow I please.”

“Thank you, Lord of Night,” I said on hands and knees now. Anything less and I would probably find myself being boiled alive. “I don’t belong here, being an unwanted bastard of one of your fallen generals… I cannot serve, nor do I ever wish, but I promised this body. Have it how you like.”

I worried what he would do to me…

I could hear his steps. The clank of those iron boots and armor became louder, with his stomps shaking the stone underneath. His presence made me shift, something I didn’t want, but it happened anyway…

My heart raced as I lost my form. I couldn’t hold it in. I continued to kneel, silent, not knowing if I should say anything, but to say something could spark his ire, and with it, some obscure torment. This is a place of punishment. There is no way out of this place unless he wishes it…. I was yanked Below on a whim, because I opened my mouth, but I would do it again…

It’s only 24 hours, but as he said, he could make that become however long he wanted.

I could be down here 24,000 years… or 24 days, but I doubt it’ll remain only hours….

I felt a clawed hand between my horns.

“You were never unwanted.” He said as if he were speaking to a small child. “It was a matter of pride.”

“…. You could not accept my contradictory soul, nor could the other forces that be.” I said that incredibly carefully because the Light and Night hate each other.

“You would have been mighty, much better than Humblon’s piss work.” He said firmly. “But enough. Why did you agree, knowing you would be captured?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” I said firmly, “Tawrznai helped those children when nobody else either would, or was able…. It would be wrong to allow him to be the focus of your ire for eternity, without so much as an attempt to help him.”

“He is his father’s son, master.” Sighed the Pit.

“Bah.” Said the Horned One. “While I have you, I believe it appropriate to judge you.”

I was lifted with magic, and my arms and legs were splayed wide. I was slowly turned around with magic, feeling as if I would be pulled apart.

“You’re not a sinner, not a pure soul either, but nothing of note is there to punish.” The Horned One Mumbled. “… I suppose if I keep you here 20 years, boiling you alive, lashing you for every time you got in my fucking way, then plopping you back on Urth to hunt your husband for 4 hours, and let you live a couple years mourning that husband of yours, that would be satisfactory.”

“Please rip me apart, flay me as you like… but keep my mate out of this.”

“That is no mate.” He hissed. “Humblon gave that ability to my sweet butterfly. Only if-”

He’d stopped mid-sentence as my body slowly rotated.

But when it got to the side that held my mark, it stopped.

“…. What.” The Horned One snarled. It rumbled like thunder; the low gurgle caused his demon guards to kneel.

What?

In an instant, rough hands grab the top of my head, and he manually yanked my neck to the side. His left hand was firmly around my throat, but I couldn’t move.

“What is This?! Did you speak with her?!” he roared. He thumbed my neck, outlining a crescent moon… so the Pale Lady must have saved me, likely when I started that spell…

“I didn’t know what you’re talking about!” I said as I couldn’t breathe. I don’t think he was trying to harm me, but if he didn’t want to accidently kill me, he should probably let go!

“WHEN WERE YOU BLESSED BY LULLIBA?!” He boomed.

I choked, realizing he meant the Pale Lady.

“I thought only the Hands were on my neck!” I yelled back on leftover air, and I was let go. I gasped there, needing a second to regulate my breathing…. I… I was in the clutches of the Horned One, and I live… Nobody is going to fucking believe me.

I don’t think even a demon would.

“FUCK!” The Horned One boomed.

His hands were on the side of his head, underneath ram’s horns. The pointed crown that floated between them spun, and flames flickered from them like a mighty campfire in his frustration. “…. Your love is true. It is more than marriage…. The mortal is your mate, and what I had planned would break my sweet butterfly’s heart…”

“If you force him to kill his mate, and she sees, she will never speak to you again.” Warned his Herald…. Even the Pit vouched for me….

Why?

What the Fuck did I do to get such mercy?!

How am I not already being tormented in some strange, unusual way?!