Author's Note: Well here it is guys, the big reveal, hope you enjoy it. And stick around, cos things can only get better...Maybe...definitely...Probably ;)
Chapter 4: Embracing The Darkness
I always hate waking up, especially when I've been having such amazing dreams, but today, today feels like it's gonna be a good day, if only for the girl lying next to me in bed, opening my eyes I look at her, and everything just falls into place, I can't believe my luck, I've got everything I ever wanted, and it's like I'm on cloud fucking nine. Checking the bedside clock I decide to get up, being careful as to not disturb Lil, then, creeping out of the bedroom I make my way over to the kitchen, now I'm not being cocky when I say that I can cook, and I don't just mean beans on fucking toast, even though I worked as a doorman I still picked some things up from the restaurant, so I get to work, and a half hour later I'm back in the bedroom with a tray of the best scrambled eggs you ever seen, along with a side of bacon and some juicy little tomatoes. I never did say I can cook fancy, just that I can cook.
The smell of the food, mixed with me calling her name, wakes Lilith up, she looks around, a bit confused, before her eyes focus on me, wearing very little, and then she sees the spread I've lain out for her, sitting up in bed the sheet falls from her shoulders and I look away, blood rushing to both my heads, she glances at me and notices that I'm not looking at her.
"Why so coy, you saw and did a lot more to me last night, remember?" She says, looking at me with those beautiful eyes of hers.
"Yeah I know, just that...that was last night, and I'm still wrapping my head around it is all." I reply, turning around and starting to get dressed, "You're not having anything?", Lil calls to me as I exit the room, "No, I need a new job, and I might as well get looking now, before my money runs out." I say, closing the apartment door behind me.
Things go well after that, after a few setbacks I manage to get a new job, working down at the docks, nothing fancy but pay's pay, over the next few weeks Lilith barely leaves my place apart from to go to work, so I make the suggestion that she move in with me and become my girlfriend, we go to pick up her stuff from her old apartment, the door's been repaired and Tom doesn't say anything when we show up, he looks bad, but I don't really care, as we're leaving I hear him mutter something under his breath, but once again, don't care, time skips by, a few months, then a year.
A few weeks before my 21st I come down with something, something bad, and I'm in the hospital for a week, when I get out, I feel like shit for a couple of days afterwards, but I pull through, and when I'm fully recovered, I visit a jewelers, and buy a ring, I figure there's no point in not living each day to its fullest, right? I plan to ask Lil to marry me on my 21st, but the chance never comes.
Waking up the day before my birthday I feel like death, my face is pale and I can't stop throwing up, weirdest thing is, as the day goes on, it gets darker and darker, until eventually it's like I'm puking tar, that freaks me the fuck out, soon though, I get off work and head home, when I'm in the elevator going up my head starts pounding, and my vision goes all blurry, rubbing my eyes it clears, a bit, all I want to do is just get in and go to sleep, all trace of the proposal gone from my mind, but reaching my door I notice something, the handle's busted, and the door's ajar, pushing it open I'm greeted by a familiar face, Tom, then things go black, drifting in and out of consciousness I hear snippets of a conversation.
"This guy's fuckin heavy."
"Yeah, no shit, what you a fuckin professor, get him in the van you limp dick..."
"Ugh, he's fuckin sweaty as well, looks like he's sick."
"Well don't grab him under the arms then you prick."
Then my head hits the floor and the Darkness envelopes me.
Opening my eyes the first thing I see is Lilith, her hands are tied and she's bleeding from a cut on her cheek. Trying to stand up I can't, glancing at my hands and feet I see thick rope tied around my limbs, but my head isn't bound, glancing round I try to make anything out, but everything is pitch black, the only source of light is the circular one hanging overhead, casting a large, yellowish circle on the ground, calling to Lil I try to wake her but she's out of it, her head sways gently and my chest grows tight, eventually though, I hear a door open, and three shapes enter, two taller than the third, they're talking and I recognize their voices, the goons who were at my apartment, but if they're here then that means...
"Well, well, you're awake." Tom says, stepping into the light.
"You!" I spit, staring at him with venom in my eyes, "What have you done you cunt!"
"Oh you mean her" he motions with his head at Lilith, who is starting raise her head a little, "I've just given her a little something, that's all, it should wear off soon though."
"What do you want?" I ask, sparing a glance at Lil.
"Oh I should think that's obvious, especially to you." he replies, and I feel myself grow a little more nervous under his eyes.
"You're going to kill me then?" I say, "And make her watch." I finish
"Well I was just going to have my associates do to you what you did to me but, you know what?, killing you would be even better." he says, standing in front of me and putting his face just inches from mine, big mistake, whipping my head back I slam into his face, hearing a CRACK and hoping that it's not me, it's not, he pulls away, blood streaming down his face, "Aww look at that," I say, shaking my head to clear it, "Not such a pretty boy now eh?" I finish, as he pulls back his fist and slams it into my face, it barely registers, and the look of pure anger on his face is hilarious, walking to his goons he barks some orders at them and they go to work, now their blows I can feel, they work me over pretty good, I manage to stay awake through my nose getting broken AGAIN, my lip getting busted open, even when one side of my face swells up and I can't see through the blood, I feel a couple of ribs snap and it becomes hard to breathe, the only time I make a noise though is when they take a baseball bat to my kneecaps, then I shout. Then I feel it, truly, and I shout, for what seems like ages before one of then brings the bat against my jaw, and that goes too, spitting blood and teeth out I can barely talk, but then, the worse happens, Lilith wakes up, and she sees me, and she screams, my god is that a sound I never want to relive, she keeps screaming until Tom shoves a rag into her mouth and tells her to shut up, then he admires his goon's handiwork, I'm a mess, and that ain't me being modest, I honestly, for the first time this night truly believe I'm going to die, and you know what, I don't care about me, what really pushes me over the edge though, is knowing that unless I do something, Lil's gonna die too, so though busted lips and a broken jaw I call Tom over.
"Tom," I whisper, any louder and my lungs would go, "Tom, come here."
Walking over to me, Tom keeps his distance for a second, remembering his nose, but then he deems me no longer a threat and so comes closer.
"Yes, what?" he says, and I can hear the revulsion in his voice, funny that, he sees dead and dying people on a daily basis, but me he can't even look at.
"Let her go" I ask, having to repeat myself a few times.
Why, why should I do what you want, she's just going to go to the cops if I do, no, I'm sorry, truly, but I can't let her go." he replies, standing up, "But if it's any consolation, it'll be quick." he finishes, turning around and walking away, just then, as my head drops, I catch a glimpse of my watch on the floor through my one good eye, it's flashing on 00:00pm, in a minute I'll be 21, and I'll be dead, I start to snicker, then chuckle, before finally bursting out in fits of laughter, my entire body jostling in a cacophony of pain, a symphony of agony, a harmony of pure terror as I uncontrollably shake, my hysteria replaced with dread as I realize that I'm losing consciousness, as I realize...
I'm dying.
But then, something happens, something deep inside me moves, I feel myself torn away from my mind, slammed behind some screen as something else takes hold of my body, Tom turned around with a puzzled look on his face when I was laughing, now that I've stopped he just stares at me, as I, looking through my eyes as if they were television screens, start to wonder what the fuck is going on here.
Then his face changes, his eyes widen with... Is that horror?, I can't be sure, because just then the light goes out, and in a single split-second, things get fucking scary, I see my arms, no wait... they're not my arms, what I thought were my arms are in fact two dirty, great, black tentacles, and they have eyes, Fucking eyes, one of them turns to me and opens it huge mouth, row upon row of sharp, jagged teeth stare me in the face, before a resounding voice booms in my mind.
"FINALLY, I AM REBORN!"
Then the other one, the left one, whips out and grabs one of the goons, wrapping itself around his body, before the first one grasps the guy's head and, with little to no effort, tears his head clean off his shoulders, throwing the head into the distance before the "Grabby" tentacle drops the body, blood still pumping through the ragged stump that remains.
"USELESS, PATHETIC MAGGOT!"
I feel myself lifted off the ground as the second goon comes into view, he's brandishing a torch, and he shines it around, finally landing the beam on the body of his friend, it stays there, shaking, as he shouts at the body, I'm behind him now, and just as he turns around that's when they strike, "Grabby" grasping his left leg and pulling it out from under him, suspending him in mid-air, while the other one, different in the fact that it has blades running up and down its head, grabs his right leg, before they both whip themselves in opposite directions and he comes apart down the middle, his entrails and organs spilling onto the ground in a steaming heap, his blood, pooling around the pile of guts, before the "Grabby" tentacle snakes into the pile and emerges with the guys heart in its mouth, turning to me it lets the heart slide further into its jaws before clamping them shut, blood leaks from the sides of its mouth as the voice returns, more forceful and aggressive.
"MY POWER IS UNLEASHED!"
"Wh...What's going on guys?, Guys?, Where the fuck are you pricks it's just a power outa..." and that's when the power comes back on, and Tom sees me, The look on his face, one of both shock and confusion, is matched only by the look on Lilith's face, except hers is more of terror, as she looks around at the Gory mess strewn about the floor I take this momentary opportunity to look at myself, I have to do a double take, my body is completely healed, feeling my face with my hands I'm in shock as I can't feel anything wrong with it, no broken nose, no busted lip, my jaw's even fixed.
"THE HOST WILL NOT DIE!"
Hearing the voice in my head, I finally realize that it's the same voice I've been hearing my whole life, the same and yet completely different, but I have no time to dwell on it now, now I have to deal with Tom, and as I advance towards him, passing through the light as I do so, he starts to cry, before falling on his ass and shuffling backwards, when I reach him, I have no false illusions about what I'm going to do to him, the images flashing through my mind are brutal, gory, downright sadistic, and yet as I lift him by the neck, or more accurately as the oozing black tentacles lift him by the neck into the air, I can't help but smile, and I feel good, I look good, hell I am good, he begs for his life, and then he pisses himself, I just walk into the dark, knowing that while Lilith's seen the dead bodies, I can't show her this.
"YES HOST, FEED ME HIS HEART!"
"Yeah, whatever you say." I reply after I've finished with Tom, his mangled body, what's left of it I leave hidden in the dark, before heading back to Lilith to untie her, when I reach her in the light I untie her, then when I remove the gag from her mouth she starts with the questions, I honestly don't know what to tell her, except that to go home and wait for me there, she says that the place is wrecked and I laugh, telling her that that's where I was ambushed so I know, then I offer her my hand and luckily, she accepts it, pulling her to her feet she tries to walk but stumbles and almost falls, I grab her and ask what's wrong, she explains that when they grabbed her from our place she must have twisted her ankle, so I scoop her up, off the ground, and carry her in my arms to the door, when we get outside it's raining and I recognize the area we're in, it's a warehouse by the docks I work at, no wonder the lights went out then, that place always goes schizo in the rain, the water must be hitting the fuse box. I know that it's more than a few blocks to our place, and with Lil in my arms I'm not sure I could do it, although I'll damn well try, just as I'm thinking about setting off though, a weird feeling comes over me and thick black smoke rises from my feet, enveloping us both before I feel like I'm being ripped in two and then suddenly we're in the apartment, and it's pitch black.
"What the hell was that?" I ask not sure what just happened, I put Lilith down and she limps over to the couch before sitting down, I get the feeling that she's just as wierded out by this as I am, maybe more though, but I still don't know what to tell her, so I sit next to her for a while before I have to get up and pace the apartment, picking up pieces of broken furniture and throwing them down again, not knowing what to do, I make for the door, examining the busted lock I stand back up.
"What am I going to do with this now?" I mutter under my breath, but just then the lock starts to reform, and not long after the door's completely fixed, I test it a few times to be sure before shutting it and feeling like I should say thanks, to whatever it is that helped me, so I do, for everything that night.
"YOU ARE A USEFULL VESSEL!"
"Yeah well, like I said, thanks, whatever your name is."
"I AM THE DARKNESS, WE MUST HAVE OUR REVENGE! WE MUST FIND HER!"
"Revenge against who?" I think to myself as I start picking up bits of crap and putting them into a bin bag, after cleaning up the place and telling Lilith to go to bed I decide to get some air, heading out onto the street I head in a random direction, not feeling like I'm in control, after walking for what seems like hours I find myself at a cemetery, so naturally I head on in, following the feeling I take a few turns before coming to a grave, the name on it is unfamiliar to me, Jenny Romano, "Wonder who she is?" I think, but just as I'm wondering who this woman is my thoughts are interrupted, I'm not alone, turning around I'm hit by an almightily powerful force and thrown backwards, into the statue of the woman's grave, as my spine impacts the stone base I hear the voice, this time though it sounds even more angry.
"FIGHT YOU FOOL, I WILL NOT LOSE, FIGHT!"
And as it says the words I can feel myself losing control again, the tentacles come back out, and this time, my hands and body are also encased in a thick carapace of black armor, as the tentacles lash out, I rise to my feet, feeling more powerful than earlier, before I'm blinded by a brilliant light and The Darkness shrinks back within me, regaining control I put my hand over me eyes and am immediately lifted into the air by hands on my throat, which then start to choke the life out of me, "Who the fuck's strong enough to stop this Darkness guy and what the fuck is that light?" I think, all the while trying in vain to wrestle the arms from around my throat, just as I'm about to fade I hear another voice in my head, this one though, belongs not to the Darkness but to Lilith, it's the memory of when she told me she loves me, and just thinking about that is enough to give me my second wind, so using a little trick from earlier I whip my head back before smashing it into the face of whoever has me, it works miraculously as I'm dropped and the light falters for a second, but that's all it needs. This time, when the Darkness returns I can feel more of myself in control, and it's about fucking time.
Only, I've never used this thing, this "Darkness" before, and I'm a little non-plussed as to how get it to work properly, that proves to be my downfall, as the tentacles flail around under my fledgling control, unable to register any of my incoherent thoughts I'm once again slammed backwards by another powerful blow, this time though I get the wind knocked out of me as my back once again smashes against the stone, I slump to the ground as my legs go numb and blood pours from between my lips, looking up, into the bliinding light I know that unless I get rid of it then I AM going to die, so I do the only thing left to me, I ask a question.
"Who are you?" I ask, spitting blood from my mouth, hoping that whoever it is, that they'll take the bait.
Silence for a few seconds, before I get my reply.
"I found you just in time, the Darkness is not yet strong enough to withstand my light, but I am amazed that Jackie let it go, I thought he was stronger than that, I guess I overestimated him." the voice, a woman's voice says, before the light dims but doesn't go out, still, it's enough for me to see the woman's face, Black hair, in a ponytail, hazel...no wait, green...no wait, her eye color keeps shifting, I can't pin it down, moving down I notice that her nose is still bleeding a bit.
"Sorry about that." I say, motioning to her nose, she just shakes her head and laughs it off, but it's a weird laugh, it scares the crap outta me.
"No need to apologize, it was nothing, although I did underestimate you, foolish of me, but I did not think you would have such fire within you, to retaliate." she says, and as she does her nose fixes itself. "I see you are accustomed to this then?" she asks, as she kneels down in front of me, the light seeming to follow her.
"You could say that, but one thing more before you do whatever the hell it is you're here to do." I say, feeling the Darkness regaining consciousness. "Who are you, and how the fuck can you stand up to me?" I finish, spitting more blood onto the ground.
"I, We, are the Angelus, I am the opposite to you, to the Darkness that festers within you, you are not the first of its hosts, and you will not be the last, but I cannot allow you to live with it inside you." she says, standing up and brushing the dirt from her legs, "It is a plague, a disease, and I am the cure." she finishes, looking at me with...is that sadness in her eyes?.
"Well, you know what they say?" I start as she stands in front of me and the light starts to get brighter.
"No, what do they say?" she asks.
"Opposites attract." I finish, before she lets out a sigh and the light flashes, the brightest I've ever seen, I stare into it, feeling myself fade away, looking down I catch glimpses of my body, it's burning but strangely I don't feel it, my flesh bubbles and blisters before darkening and cracking, my blood boils in my veins before it evaporates in the heat, soon my eyes melt in their sockets, and the world goes dark again, the last thing I hear before my ears go is the woman, the Angelus, saying one final word.
"Sorry."
Author's Note: Well, what do you think?, I said it was only going to be a few more chapters until we got to the big reveal and here it is, or was, I figure having the re-emergence of the Darkness AND the first clash between the Dark and the Light in this sucker, is good enough, it certainly came together quick enough, and boy oh boy is it the longest chapter I have written to date, sorry about having to change the rating to M but I didn't want to get in trouble.
Side Note- Sorry if some of you guys feel like the Darkness is not Bitch/Angry enough. It was tough trying to convey the fact that he's happy to be free and in a new body that respects him, So he's giving us access to these new powers.
