A DROP OF LIGHT IN ETERNAL DARKNESS
It was hot, so hot that he felt he would die. The flames spread around them seemed to grow taller, angrier, and hotter every time he looked at them.
Hot...so hot!
The heat along with the pain and exhaustion made him dizzy, and he swayed dangerously on his feet, eyes slowly closing.
God, please let it end here!
Yes; end, death, extinction: what sweet-sounding words... and so very hard to attain. He'd give anything for them... Anything! But again, it was his choice - his choice alone, and funnily, he does not regret it.
A claw-like hand suddenly ripped through his shoulder, eliciting a pain-filled gasp from his dry throat. Fully awake now, the demonic hand released him. A moment passed during which he, under sheer will, managed to bring the pain back under control. He slowly turned and stared at the man – no the thing - that has been torturing him and inflicting all kinds of physical and emotional pain for a very long time. Time: it is something he had lost track of since that day.
The thing he hated with passion and despised with his very soul was smiling at him, a smile of sheer evil.
"Well now, Ciel," It spoke lightly, "You wouldn't be as stupid as to fall asleep right here, that would be highly disrespectful!"
"I'm sorry," he muttered expressionlessly.
"It's Okay," the thing dismissed, his smile widening to a frightening length, and Ciel, who thought he would no longer feel any emotion, felt his heart flicker with renewed fear – a fact that made him hate himself even more... if that was even possible.
The thing, apparently oblivious to the heat, sat on a gold and red crown chair offered to him by one of the servants, and motioned down at the arena-like space in front of them, "As promised, today I will release your demon!"
Ciel shifted his feet, a move made harder by the chains around his hands and feet. And even that slight move made his body flare with pain but he didn't care. He looked down at his feet, his eyes clouding with unreadable emotions, "Then what are you waiting for?"
The thing tsked, "Now, when will you learn boy? This is not the way to address the man who owns you."
A pause, then, "You're no man!"
"True," the thing smiled, "As punishment though, I'm adding a new condition to the release."
Ciel's eyes burned with rage, "You can't! You promised!"
Again that fire burned in the human boy's eyes, the fire that enticed him to no end. It was back and that thrilled him.
"Well, I warned you not to disrespect me."
"You bast..."
Ignoring Ciel's outburst, the thing motioned down at the arena. Before Ciel's eyes, a gate was opened on both sides of the arena, and right then and there, two monsters were dragged inside.
"Monsters" was what first came to Ciel's mind but then it drowned to him what one of these monsters really is.
"Here is my final offer," it says with a smile showing its bloody teeth, "If you can tell your demon out of the two, he walks free."
Ciel blinked then felt a servant shove him down and inside the arena. On either side was an ugly -vicious-looking monster with eyes hungry for blood – human blood.
Fangs gleaming with anticipation, the monsters stared at the human with one thought in mind: the taste of blood, flesh and soul. The moment Ciel was pushed inside the arena, the two creatures roared and hissed, their eyes darkening with blind hunger enticed and aggravated by the smell of Ciel's blood.
For a moment Ciel just stood there staring at the two monsters. He then closed his eyes and listened, and when he finally opened them, his attention was completely directed at one of the creatures in particular. Slowly he walked to the creature restrained by chains, its demonic appearance would scare any human out of their wits, but Ciel was calm and his eyes showed no fear, only recognition and something more.
There they are, just like the first time they met. He is older now, no longer a child, but just as broken and damaged as he was then... and Sebastian, he is just the demonic monster he used to be, but this time it is different. Ciel can tell – can feel it is different. There is something untold, intangible... a recognition, a connection, a link strengthen by all the years they spent together – a link that makes him more than just a broken human and Sebastian more than just a demon. A link beyond any contract. Yes, they were both different now – both changed beyond repair.
Ciel finally reached him, and he extended an injured hand to touch him. "It's okay Sebastian," he said calmly, "You walk free today!"
The moment Ciel touched him, the demon quieted, the mad hunger in his eyes dissolving into something different. And Ciel leaned forward toward the creature, "I've missed you." He released his hold and stepped back. "You'll go free today!" he repeated, then paused, his eyes darkening again, "And this will be the last time we see each other."
The thing shifted as he witnessed the encounter. It smiled, head leaning lazily on hand. "Very good, I didn't think you'd recognize him so easily... and I didn't think he'd be cured of his insanity that quickly. I guess I underestimated you, Ciel!" And right then the two demons, one with chained freedom and a blind hunger and pain, and the other with power beyond limitation and a smile of victory and derision, shared a look; a look of enmity, hatred and a promise for revenge.
Ciel looked up, "Now, will you honor your word?"
"Hmm," the thing smiled, "You haven't learned, have you? We demons don't have a word... We lie, we deceive, we manipulate. Whatever necessary to achieve our goal."
Ciel seethed, his eyes flaring with uncontainable rage.
"But," the thing said lightly, "I already have what I wanted," His smiled widened as he continued, "You! So, I will let him go free, and eh, honor my word. After all, you and I have a contract, don't we, human?"
A contract, yes! It is funny how he first made a contract to escape the pain of degradation and to seek revenge, only to end up making another contract choosing willingly to live again a life of humiliation and pain to... to what? To save a demon? A demon who desires his soul no less. .. To save Sebastian, he was willing to be buried in never-ending pain and misery. Crazy? Certainly sounds so, but for a funny reason he still thinks it's worth it. His life, after all, is worthless.
A contract: it was how his life was restored again, and it is how it has now ended.
The beginning and the end, they are the same. Death, darkness, pain, misery, suffering - they are elements of both. No escape and no salvation. He is alone in this eternal darkness... without a drop of light.
TBC.
Thoughts? Comments? Reviews? Criticism? They are all welcome ^_^