Chapter 4-Something Familiar

"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" is the property of Smashing Pumpkins.

"The world is a vampire, sent to drain;

Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames.

And what do I get for my pain?

Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game..."

Nadine was immortal. She couldn't die. She could, however, feel pain, and the pain caused by the seemingly countless chains that now suspended her in mid-air and hooked her flesh in at least half a dozen places, threatening to rip her very essence apart, was excruciating, bordering on unbearable.

The mortal who had led her to the box was forgotten, as Nadine screamed in agony, her mind trying to process what had happened, even through the pain.

The box.

She had opened the box.

But how could this be pleasure? How could anyone, even she, who had sought pain in pleasure during her mortal lifetime, consider this pleasure?

And then, just like that, the truth came to her.

Elliot.

Oh, Elliot.

He had opened the box in search of pleasure, and instead, had found certain death. As Nadine herself almost felt she had found.

Except she couldn't die this way. Her body was indestructible, as long as she avoided direct sunlight, the one and only thing that could destroy what was now was.

It was then that Nadine realized she wasn't alone. Struggling to keep her eyes open even as twin chains caught in her upper cheeks seemed about to pull them from their sockets, she dimly saw three figures emerge from the light.

And even through her agony, Nadine gasped.

Because, whatever these...things were, they weren't human.

One seemed to be female, her throat cut open completely, and held back with wires. There was more wire in her face, threaded through her cheeks. She, as with the others, was completely bald and dressed in a leather outfit that seemed to be somehow sewn into her flesh.

The second one was hideously deformed, its sex impossible to determine. Its lips and jaw were peeled back from its face, and its fully exposed teeth chattered constantly.

The sight of these two alone would be enough to strike fear into anyone's heart, but it was the third figure that truly held Nadine's attention.

He seemed to be male, and, like his companions, was dressed in leather. On the upper part of his body, however, sections of flesh had been peeled down and sewn into his outfit, leaving open wounds, freshly bleeding. A leather belt that held rusted weapons of some kind were sewn through his stomach. Like the others, his skin was a cold, blue-ish colour, like that of a corpse.

But none of this caused Nadine to take a second look.

What was above his shoulders did.

His head and face were covered in a completely symmetrical grid, and into each corner, a pin had been embedded, right through the flesh, probably through bone and skull as well.

He looked utterly terrifying-and yet, oddly erotic.

And also not very happy.

"Wait!" His voice reverberated through the room, loud and authoritative. Even without knowing, it was clear he was the leader, and Nadine, though every nerve ending was shrieking, locked eyes with him.

And immediately, felt something...familiar, stir inside her.

The female stepped forward, looking none too happy herself. "This one is not...alive."

"Human." The one with the pins said at exactly the same time, and Nadine managed a smile. "Neither, actually." She replied, before slowly and painfully beginning to remove the chains that held her. As she did so, the female moved forward, sniffing, then finally hissed, "Blood hunter."

Bleeding in numerous places, but finally freeing herself, Nadine faced all three of them. Yes, they were frightening, and she wasn't sure she wanted to even hazard a guess as to where they'd come from, but...they couldn't kill her.

And she believed they now knew that.

"Actually, I prefer 'vampire'." She replied casually, and the creature with the pins came closer. "You opened the box?" He questioned her, and she looked deep into eyes as black as night and again felt that surge of...knowing.

How was that even possible?

"Yes." She finally told him. "Yes, I opened the box. But, I..." "You have no soul." The female snapped. "Without the soul, your flesh is worthless to us. Look, it heals already." "No offence," Nadine said sharply. "But when I opened the bloody thing, I didn't expect to be attacked by a bunch of...what exactly are you?!"

"Demons." The one with the pins replied, affecting almost an air of boredom. "Or angels, depending entirely on your point of view. We are explorers of the flesh, of hidden pleasures. We answer the call of desire. And you have called us here under false pretences."

"I didn't call anyone, I..." Nadine stopped, as something the creature had said got through to her. "Wait. You said desire calls you?" "Yes." He replied. "It is desire that opens the box."

Nadine was smiling now, even under her sadness. The dark desire in Elliot's soul had cried out to the box.

And they had answered.

"So, it's not necessarily the person who actually opens the box who calls you?" Nadine asked. "But desire?" The pin demon actually looked a bit interested now. "Precisely." He told her.

"I understand now." Nadine said quietly. "I opened the box-but I didn't call you. I have no soul; my search for pleasure ended a very long time ago. I only sought a friend."

The pin demon stepped even closer to her, the bright, supernatural light reflecting off the metal decorating his head and face, making it look almost as if he were wearing a halo. His onyx eyes bore into hers, and the intensity of his gaze brought forth that sense of familiarity in Nadine once again. Then she noticed he was smiling, ever so slightly.

"A friend?" He repeated, his tone a little mocking, and she nodded, unnerved suddenly. It was almost like he...knew her, even though she saw no recognition on his face-no human expression at all, actually. "Yes, a friend." She responded. "About eighty years ago, he disappeared. After acquiring a box. That box." She pointed to the puzzle box on the floor, now open.

The pin demon now looked highly amused. "You opened the box, because you wished to know what became of your friend." It was a statement, rather than a question, and Nadine glanced sadly at the chains that had held her fast only moments ago. "I believe I already know." She said. "They die, don't they? Those who open the box?"

"Their flesh is torn apart." He told her matter-of-factly, by way of reply. "And their soul is ours, to deliver to Hell and do with as we see fit. There, they learn the true meaning of pleasure."

Nadine swallowed another wave of uncharacteristic sadness. She had never loved Elliot, had never been able to, but she had cared, cared enough to not stop searching for him. And it hurt, hurt some deep, unidentifiable, place inside her, to know he had died so horribly and agonizingly.

The pin demon sensed her upset, and seemed to revel in it. "You have wasted your time, I am afraid." He told her. "If your friend opened the box, he now belongs to us." After a short pause, he added, "I presume you are satisfied now?" Nadine merely shook her head, and he said, more quietly, sounding both amused and puzzled, "No longer human-and yet, you feel grief for that which is long gone."

"You wouldn't understand." She muttered. "You are not of this world." "True." The pin demon agreed. "But neither are you, child."

"Enough!" The female demon suddenly cut in, still looking hugely displeased, while the third party chattered noisily in the background, a sound that jarred on Nadine's nerves. "This trivial talk only wastes time. We cannot return to Hell without a soul-and the blood hunter has none."

And just like that, Nadine remembered.

The mortal.

Turning around, she saw him standing at his apartment door, staring in stupefied horror at the scene that had unfolded before him. He was apparently frozen to the spot, unable to move; otherwise, he would surely have fled long ago.

Nadine smiled, then turned to the demons, focussing on their leader, black eyes meeting green, as she murmured, "I did not seek pleasure-he did. And I have no soul to offer-but he does. "

Ben's eyes widened in sheer terror as the enormity of what she was doing hit him, and he spun for the door, then screamed, far louder than Nadine had, as the chains caught him. They lifted him high into the air, tearing at his flesh, his blood pooling on the ground, as the pin demon said to Nadine, "You offer us this soul?"

"Yes." She immediately replied, as the boy screamed above her head. She felt no remorse, however, no guilt; after all, he would have opened the box anyway, with the same results.

The pin demon reached out a hand, and Nadine shivered as his fingers, cold as the grave, brushed her cheek. Then she saw it-the tiniest spark of recognition in his otherwise empty eyes. "I know you." He murmured. "I cannot recall from where, but...I feel certain I know you."

And although she had the exact same feeling, she denied it. "Impossible." She retorted with a small smile. "I think I'd remember if we'd met before. After all, yours isn't a face I could easily forget."

The pin demon nodded at this, seemingly in agreement, and for the first time, Nadine realized it wasn't just a certain way he looked at her that was familiar-it was the way he carried himself, that aura of aristocracy, of...authority.

Elliot used to carry himself just like that.

But this...creature could not be Elliot.

Elliot was gone.

"You must go now." He ordered. "This is not for your eyes." As the chains pulled tighter on the boy, rending his flesh even further, he screamed ever louder, the noise filling the whole room.

"You Goddamned bitch!" Nadine whirled around as he yelled out at her; he was suspended almost from the ceiling, blood pouring from more than a dozen open wounds on his body, and she felt the bloodlust growing in her. Holding her hands out, she moaned softly as his blood dripped onto them, her eyes becoming red again. Slowly licking the fluid from one hand, she told the terrified, dying mortal, "Make no mistake, boy-it wasn't God who damned me. I damned myself. Just as you have."

Turning to the demons again, she said, "I ask only one thing from you in return." Typically, it was the pin demon who responded-"And what is that?" Gesturing to the bloody mess that had once resembled a fairly handsome young man, she told him, "The soul is your pleasure-but the blood is mine."

Understanding, the demon nodded his assent. "Very well." He replied. "The blood will await you here. But you must go now. We must take him."

Nadine headed for the door, but turned back to look at him once more, this mutilated demon, strangely beautiful, who, in so many ways, resembled her former lover. Their eyes met one last time, and, almost in a gesture of mutual respect, they nodded to each other.

She was already long gone when Ben drew his final scream...