Loran and Ballanar had been roaming the depths of the ship for hours, hunting anyone who was stupid enough to be alone down there. Currently, they were toying with a serf who had been doing weld repairs to a water pipe. Not showing themselves yet they were circling around the middle-aged man in the dank low light of the hallway, down here was like a labyrinth and they could use countless alternate routes to move around. Purposely making loud bang and scraping sounds from multiple directions to strike curiosity and fear into the heart of their prey.
Turning around at the sounds the man squinted as he tried to look in the direction of the noise. Having only service lighting illuminating the halls he held out his welding torch and added more oxygen to the flow to make it burn a bright golden flame. Seeing nothing he was about to write it off as his mind playing tricks, He knew that down here, alone, sounds from far away could echo through the halls and sound much closer than they really were.
Making himself chuckle he said to himself "probably another repairman a few halls over."
Before he could even turn back to his work he heard a screeching sound of metal on metal from behind him. quickly whipping his head around he didn't know what to expect but nothing was not it. there was no movement, nothing to suggest anyone was there as far as he could see. Beginning to panic now he picked up his tool bag and took and went to make for a more crowded place. "Screw the pipe," he thought, "anywhere is better than here."
Hearing a tiny rolling noise at his feet he turned once more and saw something small next to his foot, leaning in close he gasped as he realised it was a human tooth, ripped freshly from the jaw. Now he was terrified, he screamed out into the dark. "What the hell is this?! You think you are funny?!" Picking up his tool bag and making his way down the hall now with his welding torch both lighting his way and his only weapon he made for the upper decks as quick as he could without the flickering golden flame being blown out.
Ballanar and Loran were truly relishing their playtime, having let their demon forms take over their host bodies as they stalked the halls with their twisted features and razor-sharp talons. "Run little man," Ballanar whispered as they slowly pursued their prey.
The man didn't look back and began to run hard. His torch went out leaving him in an eerie low light that cast shadows all about as he ran. He made a left turn then a right then skipped the next three intersections, he was sure he would be getting close to a hall with more people but still, he could hear nothing except the thuds of his footfalls and the gasses escaping from his extinguished welding torch.
Pausing for half a second he stopped at an intersection as he saw a sign for water purification. His heart sank, he realised he had run one intersection too far. Turning around he knew the only way back was to head towards whatever was out there. He reached for a sparking tool and re-lit his torch and adjusted the flame to a small blue flame, Faced with no choice he decided he would burn whatever it was in the dark if it got too close.
The man took one step, two step, three step, then Loran charged from the darkness her taloned hand plunged straight through the human's stomach and lifted him high in the air. "got ya," she said with a sarcastic giggle. The mans face was a twisted mess of terror, shock and pain but still, he managed a dying word. With his last breath he half gargled the word "burn!" With the torch still in his hand, he used the last of his strength to hold the flame right on Loran's eye.
She screamed as the eye boiled within its socket and burst. Quickly she shook the human free of her arm, the gaping wound in his stomach sending blood and viscera spraying everywhere. The body hit the wall with a wet thud as Loran cursed "That hurt you little bastard."
Already the powers of the demon were healing the wound at a visible rate, as blisters formed then flattened, burnt skin dried and fell away leaving fresh pink skin underneath, then finally the eye itself reformed from the burst mess that was still half melted to the socket. By the time three minutes had passed Loran's host did not even bare a scar of the incident. She was however now covered in blood.
Reaching for the human's tool bag she grabbed a rag and his water canteen, Sighing as she began to wipe away the blood "what a damned mess!"
Ballanar appeared from the dark behind her holding his stomach in laughter, "He got you good!" he cackled as he held onto the wall for support.
Loran picked up the still burning torch and lunged for Ballanar, "come here moron, I will give you something to laugh about!" letting out her annoyance at being hurt by a mere human.
Ballanar skipped out of reach and put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "now, now Loran, we have to go get ready to depart. we have had our fun, we need to get back and get our armour fitted, we only have a couple of hours left until our departure.
Loran's stance calmed, she knew her fellow demon was right. They could not fail now, not after so much hard work and tedious acting. "mock me again and I will melt your entire body with one of these." Her tone was vicious as she let the torch drop and finished cleaning the blood off herself.
