THE GOLIATHUS CHRONICLES
Chapter 13- Plagues of Memory
This is an extremely gruesome, angsty chapter... just to warn you. But it's a very important one. I'm frustrated at my limited ability with writing, but I hope it will be portrayed well enough.
/
The squirming brat roiled in my grasp, sputtering obscenities and clawing at my face with his useless human fingers. I remember laughing, finding it all so humorous, before finally growing tired of his constant movements and chaining him to a wall. Just eating a victim was never enough. I had to torture...I had learned well the ways of giving pain. The farmer's son was brave, I had to give him that. Despite everything I did, despite every shriek that emitted from his mouth sounding like a young girl as I cut his flesh, he still cursed at me, damned me to many hells, and stared with an icy glare.
But mine was worse.
His constant noise angered me, made everything fall to darker and darker moods. At first, I would have been satisfied with just watching him scream for a time, but later on, he got on my nerves to dangerous levels. And to do so with me is for certain an ill fate...any human would probably rather take their chances with a numerous variety of ways to die...then to anger me.
I remember...Billy said... "You rotten piece of shit. You think you're going to get away with this. I know my father! He'll come after you!"
Halfheartedly I chuckled, but because I still boiled with irritation, my first impulse was to silence him. I was growing very tired of his persistent jabbering. Slamming his head against the wall as if he were nothing but a rag-doll, I reached out with the other arm, grabbing his lower jaw and slowly twisting. The snapping and cracking produced nothing from him at first, then it was as if the resulting wails of agony were a delayed response. He screamed...loud and shrill in my ears...until blood gargled in his throat and he began choking on it.
I wrenched the jaw from his body entirely, watching the blood come down in rivers and pooling at his feet. Now, he could no longer speak, and the breath came in long ragged gasps. And the demon spoke again, showing me visions of each appendage suffering the same fate.
And what could I do but listen?
THE BRAT. CHILD OF A MAN. KILL HIM, BUT MAKE HIM SUFFER. JUST LIKE THEY MADE YOU SUFFER!
I took one of my favorite daggers. And the poor child, I cut every one of his limbs off, with calculated precision, until finally the blood loss and pain stopped his heart, mercifully ending it all...
Then I ate everything, leaving nothing to put on my walls.
I remember feeling annoyed at myself for that fact.
/
Ami found herself alone the next morning. Alone and on top of a great mountain in a cave. Dressing herself and stepping out carefully to peer outside, she realized there was no hope of getting down, either.
Damn him! Where did he go? Gollie?
He was gonna get it for this one, she knew exactly where he had gone.
/
The trek to the farm seemed to take longer then usual. For some reason he did not understand, he had come down from the air and decided to walk...the rest of the fifteen miles. Walking wasn't all that smart an idea...considering it was daylight and anyone perchance taking a stroll themselves or driving down the country road on East 9 might just see him. Especially a huge, hulking creature with folded wings and talons that would make a dragon quiver.
Eh, but what was the point of worrying about it anyway? No one could hurt him. Not even a blasted mountain could end his existence, he had learned that the hard (very hard) way. And if he scared them, who cared? He promised never to kill another human...willingly at least...not that he wouldn't frighten them.
Unless they planned on giving him one hell of a make-over.
Finally he stopped from his long strides, inhaling great quantities of air and getting the strong scent of animals (which of course induced hunger) and familiar odd scents of humans...sweat, colognes, testosterone...even hair gel.
Foul...
Heading off the road and up a grassy hill, he saw the farm as he reached its crest. It looked exactly the same. He saw the tall barn, the house, the crops. And then instantly...he saw the ghost of Billy, darting straight towards him from the long stalks of wheat, dashing to and fro in strange patterns as if someone was hitting the pause button on a remote on and off.
You fucking...you came here...fucking freak...
He went to move, to avoid the angry spirit and fly towards the farm, but instead, Billy had other plans.
He sent his energy flying, crashing into the heradus, sending waves of pain to his jaw and limbs.
Temporarily crippled, the shocked creature fell to its knees in a mid-jump, clutching its face from the surprising jolt of sensation that gripped him. The memories plagued him again. Over and over he saw the wrenched jaw, dripping blood. The limbs as he cut them off from the writhing and hoarse boy who had resorted now to fear and begging, his eyes unnaturally wide.
His voice exploded in his mind, waves of expletives like a blinding light that drowned out all other sound.
Billy...Billy...
Fucking freak!
Billy...
You took me away...from my family...
And then, still only being the soul of a young child, the emotions shifted, from anger and hate to sadness and despair. The migraine-like pain in his head quieted, being replaced by staring blue eyes that still showed little signs of a willingness to forgive. Billy knew the truth, and yet, he still hated his killer with every fiber of his being.
This would not be easy.
Billy...I am sorry...
Now able to move again, he headed towards the barn and after a few moments of hesitation at the entrance, walked in.
And there it was, the shackles, still hanging from the wall. He remembered those shackles, how they hurt during all those years. He was asleep, yes, in his deep hibernation, but still aware in the back of his mind, still able to perceive things such as sound and smell.
The voice of his Ami...the scent of her perfume.
The very beginnings of something positive welling in his heart, and how he hated her, hated the fact it was happening and that he could do nothing, for his body would not move in its state of suspended animation.
He was forced to listen, forced to acknowledge her presence. Otherwise, he knew, he would have killed her the very moment he had the chance, never hesitated like he did in that cave, listening to her pleading when she was once his intended victim.
And that thought made him feel the rare tears welling in his eyes.
How she had changed him. The only thing close to tears before her was the tears of his laughter when victims would yell at him or try to fight back, and he found it outright amusing. He knew this would be the last time he would ever come to this barn, or this entire farm. But he had to do something first,and he wasn't sure how.
Just as he turned to leave, he heard footsteps, a horrified yell, and the sudden smell of fear that always overpowered every other one of his senses.
"Y-you..."
Jackie. Much older now, gristled, and arms bulging with muscles from the hard duties of farm life. He had an infant clutched tightly in his arms, a baby girl...no more then maybe five months. A thought of his little Navius came to the heradus' mind, and he smiled, just for one moment.
Jackie paled, translating that smile (which always looked wicked even if not intended) into an intent to kill his daughter. Instinctively he reached for a weapon...a rapier hanging on the wall, used to cut wheat.
Funny, humans still use such primitive instruments?
That was the actual thought he had before he found that very instrument cutting into his leg as Jackie struck. He didn't fight him, he deserved this pain, feeling an incredible amount of guilt in his heart about Billy.
In the next moment, he felt Billy cry out, leaving...suddenly forgiving him and letting go as the boy caught his thought and emotions. He also felt the rapier successfully amputate his leg, and he fell to the ground.
Still, he did nothing. But he looked up at Jackie, and forcing himself to speak (which was always a task) the words formed as a deeply felt apology, stunning the farmer into shocked silence.
And as always, despite the words, the human reacted with anger.
"Sorry? Sorry? Is that a fucking joke?" Jackie took the rapier, held it up high, aiming for the neck. Time seemed to slow down, nearly coming to a stop, as it went up high over his head, the sun catching the metal and glinting off the shiny surface as it came down in an arc.
Goliathus shut his eyes, simply waiting for another episode of darkness.
And it came, in a way he had not anticipated on.
The demon reacted for him, he felt a pang of nausea as he suddenly surged forward, grabbing Jackie's leg and causing his swing to miss. In fact, because he had put such force into that swing, he could not stop it fast enough. The rapier released from his grasp, but continued in its arc, and like a boomerang, came right at the farmer, slicing him halfway in the mid-riff.
Damn, but how that demon could time things...as if it could control time in some strange manner on its very own.
Blood rushed from the huge, gaping wounds, and Goliathus found himself being covered in it as well as piles of intestines as they slid out, then the weight of Jackie as he fell upon him. There was only one gasping breath before he was gone.
The suddenness of the event shocked Goliathus, but once his senses were anew, he scrabbled back on his one leg using his arms, getting himself away from the gruesome scene before the scents could take their hold.
But it was far too late.
The lost appendage only made it worse.
EAT... The demon laughed. The infant girl, who had fallen to the ground, was unharmed but was wailing at the top of her lungs, keeping Goliathus from complete insanity.
One arm reached, grabbing a fistful of intestines. The other tried to pull away, towards a horse in a stall that had now started neighing frantically at the scene before it.
NO...EAT THE HUMAN... the demon roared, trying to drown out his resolve. But the heradus refused to give in, and continued to pull himself desperately along the ground towards the horse.
NO!
He found himself turning, back towards the now dead Jackie.
Oh gods...I killed him...
He looked at the infant girl. What was he going to do with her?
YOU WILL EAT HER AS WELL.
No...NO...
Now foaming at the mouth from the mental struggle, Goliathus forced himself away from the humans but it felt like fighting the force of a powerful magnet. He started to feel tired, as if a sense of wanting to give up.
But then he remembered what Darry had been trying to tell him, that it was really him giving this demon power...and strong as it was...he was the only one who could truly fight it...
Determined and with an angry yell, he once again surged forward, and this time...there was no force holding him back, although another splitting headache pounded his brain. The terrified horse kicked out as he neared, and he felt a bone break under its hoof, but he managed to climb onto the back of the animal. Reaching around, he sunk his teeth into its neck, strangling it, and the great beast collapsed.
He gorged himself on the horse, nearly retching at first, then feeling the strength return to him and the leg start to grow back.
Once again defeated, the demon made an awful, unearthly noise as it lost another head, the one of a human visage half-rotted.
It's most powerful force was gone...the desire to eat humans.
Enraged at the tremendous victory, the demon lashed out, sending waves of intense pain and anything else it could manage. Floods of terrible memory once again haunted Goliathus' mind.
MOREN...YOU'VE BLOCKED OUT HIS MOST AWFUL TORTURE, HAVEN'T YOU?
YOU FORGOT ABOUT YOUR MOTHER'S SISTER ADRIEL. DIDN'T YOU?
THEN REMEMBER. DO NOT BE FOOLED! WHY DO YOU INSIST ON FORGIVING THEM?
Adriel...
Moren came, somewhere in the middle of the year of agony, carrying down the stairs with the help of a few others a struggling, yelling woman. Her scent was familiar, and he wondered if perhaps it was his mother.
"Annabelle?"
The name sent the woman into silence, and she stared at the creature, all chained up and withered to nothing, but with a tender recognition in its eyes.
"Go...Golia..." A few tears brimmed in her vivid chestnut eyes. "They killed your mother. It's me, Adriel...do you remember?" Her voice had compassion in it, a sense that she was kind. He knew this was a friend immediately, remembered her fully now. A hope formed in his heart.
"Yes..." he said weakly. "Not many days I knew you...but yes..."
Moren roughly chained Adriel next to him, but unlike Goliathus she was not kept from moving, just shackled.
They were together and left alone for that one and only night.
"Oh Goliathus...forgive your mother..." Adriel sobbed, choking on her words. "...she never meant for them to find you..."
The heradus made no sound at her statements, simply stared down at the ground.
"She loved you. If there was no other human in this world that did, Goliathus...always remember that."
"I am a monster. They say I am a demon." Goliathus was actually starting to believe the words of his tormentors...just slightly...
"No...you are no monster. They are." Adriel came closer, leaning into his withered form, her lips brushing his cheek. Even in his weakened and wrecked state, he felt those powerful aches in his loins, breathed deep her incredible scents, like a sweet drug, intoxicating him.
She was a strange woman. Kind, but she acted differently. Like May...but...it went farther then that...
"Why did they bring you here?"
Adriel looked away, a few tears wetting the cold, stone ground beneath her. "They only said I'd be...part of...your torture..." she managed to whisper, but said nothing more.
And in those last few hours of the night, she kept herself close to Goliathus, warming his cold body and comforting him.
Aunt Adriel.
The next day, they killed her, slicing her throat in front of him, calling her a witch...with the logic that because she was Annabelle's sister, she was immediately an accomplice to her, and needed to die.
They tempted Goliathus with her flesh. He could hardly even know then, and only just realized now...that this was what truly started his cursed hunger and corrupted it to humans.
Though he fought them tooth and nail, they eventually won, forcing him to consume her.
The memory was one of his most painful, and caused the heradus to weep. Rather then succeed, the demon had only reminded him of such a void in his soul and had actually caused it be filled as the emotions, held in for centuries, were now released.
It shrank back, insane with anger over two defeats, and blended back into the shadows.
Somewhere else in his mind, Darry cheered.
/
End of Chapter 13.