"Well I love to
Dream about my baby
But the man in the room has
Been sleepin' in lately"
The Velveteins, Hanging From The Ceiling
TW: attempted sexual assault
The sun was setting as Marcus walked down the sidewalk, tired and shaking in the cold. Contrarily, his demonic compatriot didn't seem bothered by it, more focused on getting them out of the weather. She gently pulled him along, fingers warm even as snow coated her hair and horns.
"Almost there, bud, Just keep walking for me," She spoke warmly, though the tense panic in her voice betrayed her worry, even if the tight grip of her fingers encircled around his wrist didn't already.
They'd been out in the cold almost an hour now, and, steady as he was, Marcus slowed considerably as the minutes passed.
Eventually his steps slowed and he collapsed into the powdery snow, shivering violently.
Justice caught him in a flash, holding him close and trudging forward in a small "abandoned" cabin. Setting him close by, she snapped her fingers, flames roaring to life in her palm, letting it catch on the fresh logs in the fireplace. Justice pulled Marcus toward it, laying him in a blanket.
She lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling as the fire crackled and popped, her eyelids drooping as the warmth of the fire set into the room, soon, much like her charge, the demon slept.
Marcus woke up alone, sitting up in a mess of what felt like… sleeping furs? Standing, he relit the fire and searched about for what food he could find, which granted, was only some fruit, but he wouldn't complain.
Out of habit, he checked his phone, near sick by the end of his brief glance over it. He stared blankly at the ceiling, glanced back at the phone, back to the ceiling, then the phone.
"No one cares," a small voice gnawed at the back of his mind, continuing.
"No one cares about you anymore, worthless, less than nothing at that! Your friends have tired of and abandoned you! She has abandoned you." It spat, growing louder with each word,
"YOU HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN!" It roared in his ears, near screaming now, "THEY HAVE LEFT YOU BEHIND TO ROT AS YOU SHOULD, JUST SPEED UP THE PROCESS!"
He screamed back. In rage, in sorrow, he couldn't differentiate, he just wanted it to stop. He lunged for the knife block, dragging a blade out, a filet knife, he noted dully, it would suffice.
He threw off his jacket, exposing arms covered in fading scars, long and short, horizontal and vertical, they didn't matter now.
"DO IT, NOW!" The voice shouted, almost feral, egging him on, and with a quick breath, he drove the blade lengthwise into his wrist.
The pain stung, more than it should have, the adrenaline should've dulled the pain by now, he thought, shrugging it off as he dragged the blade down his arm, stopping at the elbow, the wound burned as he switched hands, the polished steel stained a dark crimson.
He lay back, the viscous scarlet running down and pooling under him.
Just as the Demon herself walked in.
She ran to him, cursing in alarm, and her hands glowed a gentle orange as she ran them down his arms, the blood steaming in the cool air. He slumped, crying softly from the pain as the warm hug of darkness pulled at him once again.
She was speaking to him, but he was beyond hearing, the pain too much, and he slipped away, into sweet unconsciousness.
"HEY!" Justice yelled, snapping him awake in a haze of pain, "Stay with me, okay, breathe. Breathe."
His vision stopped spinning as the Awesome Demon's face came into focus, wrought with concern.
"You scared me damnit!" She cried, hugging him close to her chest, "Understand… understand I'm not leaving you behind, not anytime soon, so don't feel alone." She whispered in his ear, "I'm here, now, you aren't alone."
The demon held him close a few minutes more then wrapped him in her jacket, stroking his hair.
"What am I messing up?" She whispered to no one in particular, she glanced up to the window overlooking the back of the house, glass crept over with frost.
The demon lay on the opposite side of the couch, crossing her ankles as her shades slid down her nose. She unbuttoned her shirt's topmost buttons, tugging her tie loose with a sigh. Justinia looked over, Marcus snoring quietly, curled into a ball. Softly, she reached over and began to pick him up, startled as he shot awake and leapt out of her grip, hyperventilating.
"Stay the hell away from me!" He yelped, eyes wild, "You already tried once! I don't want to!"
Tears pricked at his eyes as he moved further away from her, curled in a tight ball.
"It's okay," Justice whispered, "You're safe, okay? I won't do anything-"
"How should I know?" He snapped, "How do I know you didn't do anything while I was sleeping!"
She rose, and he bolted through the door into the snow, slamming a shoulder into the door, sending it flying open with a heavy crash.
"Get away get away get away!" His brain yelled, blood roaring in his ears as he moved. Marcus heard the demon chasing after him, rapidly catching up to him, taking a jump, he swung into a snow covered tree, scrambling up as fast as he could.
He panted, his gaze clearing as he snapped back fully to the present, cold and shivering violently. He saw Justice below him, looking around in a panic, though he stayed put.
Eventually, it got too dark to see, so he hopped out of the tree, letting out a cry of pain as he landed awkwardly on his foot, twisting it sideways.
"Ah! Fuck me," he grimaced, beginning to hobble back to the cabin, although, after a few dozen or so yards, he sank into the snow, shaking,
"Gonna rest a bit, then it's back up," he thought sluggishly, sinking down next to a tree. His breath hissed in the cold air, trailing into the leaves.
Faintly, he heard snow crunching and he was picked up, a woman's voice spoke up, strained.
"Damn, you're heavy," she deadpanned, walking deeper into the woods, into what seemed to be a treehouse.
She set him down on her bed, setting his foot back in place with a deft twist.
He yelped as a bolt of hot pain shot like lightning through his leg,
"You'll be fine, you're just cold." She said soothingly, "Just let me warm you up~"
She laid down at his feet, crawling forward and laying on his chest,
"You ever do it before?"
"No," he lied, quiet, shaking.
"Allow me to be your first then~" she whispered, nipping at his ear gently.
"I- I don't want-" Marcus stammered, panicking now.
"Shhh, it's alright, it'll feel amazing for you~"
The woman's weight fully pressed down on him now, crushing him, trapping him.
"I'll just need to get those off you-" she cooed, reaching for the waistband as he thrashed desperately,
Marcus just managed to reach into his hoodie pocket just as the woman pushed him down, her mask of sweet soothing words slipping as she hissed,
"Stop struggling already and I'll make this good for you."
Her hand pulled his from the pocket and she held him by the wrists, him struggling to no avail.
Eventually he went slack and let her continue, seeing as he had no outs, there was no choice but to let her do as she wished.
He was well and truly done, whenever he tried to fight, she just struck him in return,
She continued her "pleasure" of him, occasionally striking out when he refused to cooperate.
Eventually, though, she tired, and with quite a bit of effort on her part, dragged him into a basement, leaving him in a dark corner. If he were honest, he wasn't even sure why the woman didn't just kill him, and so he asked.
"Who… even are you?"
"Call me… Ramiel."
She left him, then, moving upstairs and locking the door.
Marcus sank down, retching in disgust.
"Why'd I just let it happen? I could've fought harder, shoved her off, stabbed her, I always keep a pocket knife on me…"
His head snapped up as she returned, spinning a knife in between her fingers.
"The night is still so young," Ramiel smirked, "And we'll have such fun! This'll only hurt a bit, then you can have as much fun with me as you want~."
She stood over him, slashing open his palm with a flick of her wrist and dipping a few fingers in the stream of red. Ramiel spoke a few words in Latin as she finished using the blood.
A pentagram shone in the faint light, glowing red as the chanting from the woman ceased.
Hazily, Marcus saw the portal open and two women stepped through, about on par with Ramiel herself, if not a bit taller.
"Oi Malinka, what's this?"
"How should I know, dumbass?" The second retorted, taking a swig from a bottle and wiping her mouth with a handkerchief. The first simply smirked, looking down at him.
He, in return, coughed up blood, gasping and sputtering.
"That woman," he slurred, staggering to his feet as the smoker turned with a slight nod to him.
"Good job! You're sacrificing a kid in a blood ritual to summon a demon! Amazing! You did it!"
She grabbed the smaller woman and slammed her head into the wall, growling.
"You get your kicks that way? Kidnapping? Torture? Rape?!"
Ramiel only laughed, her eyes glowing gold for a second before a spike of flames pierced through her chest.
"Like you know anything." She snarked, before the pillar of fire tore a hole through her throat and she disappeared in a flash of gold.
"Fucking Angels." The smoker spat, taking the teen by the shoulder and guiding him out, letting the fire spread throughout the room.
Flame roared behind them as they moved into the quickly falling snow.
"Keep moving," The drunk one, Malinka urged, "we're almost there."
The two demons were a step behind him as he went inside and collapsed into the mess of furs.
Justice entered to the sight of one demon leaning on the wall smoking, and one sitting on the couch, occasionally drinking from a bottle of Polish brand vodka.
"So much for 'Holy Scions of the Lord God'" The smoker growled, grinding the butt of her cig into the wall and tossing it into the trash.
"Lucky coincidence we found him, Justinia." The smoker continued, taking a meaningful glance at the dead asleep teenager. Justice attempted to walk over, but was blocked by the drinker.
"Leave him be for a while," Malina spoke in a moment of sober clarity, "He's been through the wringer tonight."
Justice nodded and she sat back down, finally greeting her old colleagues,
"It's good to see you both well, Malina, Zdrada."
"And you as well, Justinia,"
The three sat, enjoying the camaraderie of old friends.
"You remember our first day?" Zdrada laughed, puffing out a small smoke cloud.
"Satan alive, don't remind me of it!" Malina groaned, as Justice grinned and snickered, remembering the moment with a slight chuckle.
"Everything," Marcus groaned, "hurts like fuck."
"Probably will for a bit," Malina replied, offering her bottle, to which he graciously accepted a swig of the spirit, then lay back down.
"Are you alright? What… what even happened,"
Seeing a pained glance, Zdrada took Malina and said,
"We're headed on a booze run, stay safe."
The two quickly left, and Marcus stood, sitting against the demon's back, slumping over. For her part, the demon nodded,
"Forget I asked, I shouldn't have."
"You already did," He spoke hoarsely, "I may as well answer."
She turned, letting him lean on her shoulder as she replied,
"Only if you want."
He remained silent, the only sound between was when he finally broke, crying into her chest,
"I didn't want to…" he wept, "I tried to get her off but I…"
"Shh, I know." Justice whispered, "I know."
The two sat there, one clutching desperately to the other in hopes to forget their trauma, while the other could only comfort them, as best they could.