Chapter 6: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

WARNING: There is scenes of intense violence and abuse. Although not fully described, it can be enough to make someone highly uncomfortable. Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with the subject of violence and abuse to someone.

Thank you.

The next morning Layla woke up in the silk-soft bed, her black hair sprawled over a pillow.

She hurt all over, finding bruises on her pale white skin. Layla sits up and the blanket that had covered her, her body bare but covered with dark purple bruises that were painful to the touch. But it wasn't as painful then what happened to her the night previous, although after a few minutes the pain turned into a great pleasure and it was easily ignored.

Layla looks to her left to see that Magum was not there, which made her heart fall. Where did he go? Then again he was the head of everything here, so he had to be busy with things. She glances to over where the orb had stood the night previous to see that it was gone.

Maybe he went to tell the others…

Layla gets out of bed, her legs nearly buckling out beneath her, and she puts her left hand to her pelvic area. Everything still hurt, but she had to get cleaned up as there were spots of blood on her legs. She looks around and finds a device that was similar to her room where a ladder would open to a bathroom beneath, and as she descended the ladder she winced at every movement.

I really wish I had those pain pills now…

The bathroom was just as elegant as the room was. The floor was a solid black marble and the walls were a brilliant white that it seemed like they were producing their own light. There was no shower, just a very large obsidian tub that was built mostly into the floor with a small ledge that resembled a small pool. Multiple soaps lined the edge of the bathtub, some fragrances that Layla did recognize.

She starts to run the water after hitting the button to stop the water from draining, her letting it flow as she put a few drops of soap to create the bubbles. The bubbles released a scent of red roses, it filling the room along with the hot steam. The moment her body hit the water once it was done filling a sigh of bliss escapes her, her sore muscles unknotting. After bathing for about an hour she got out and wrapped a towel around herself.

Layla frowns, her realizing that she had no clothes that were hers. With a sign of irritation she knew she would have to go to her room and get clothing, so that meant she had to wear her "mission suit" again to do so.

She ascends the ladder, her body still a little sore but a lot more manageable after soaking. Just as she reached the top she saw that Magum was looking around. She shuts the door that led down below and he whipped his head toward her direction.

"Oh, there you are, my dear," Magum breathed almost with relief. "For a moment I thought you had gone."

Layla felt a little confused on why he would think that. "No… I just took a bath," she assured him, gesturing to the button. "I just got to get dressed and maybe head to my room to get fresh clothes."

"There's no need for that." Magum harshly snapped. "I can have them sent here."

"But…"

"There is no need." Magum repeated. He had taken a few steps toward her, towering over her in almost a threatening manner.

Layla arches a black brow. "Pardon?" she sputters. "I just want to get my clothes, maybe get something to eat, talk to Mari and Kari-"

Magum then punches the wall that was behind Layla, his fist leaving a hole. She gasped and flinched at the suddenness of it, ducking her head away from any debris. "If it were up to me those two would've been killed the moment they uttered those thoughts and words," he growled. "But you seem to care about them, so they were spared."

"How the hell can you even hear their thoughts when we were in a different sub-dimension?" Layla demanded.

Magum gives a short laugh. "Telepathic demon, remember?" he told her in a condescending tone. In a way he almost sounded like… her father. "I have everyone here equipped to enhance my abilities. Thanks to Dr. Bartek's research with installing metal plates onto the skulls of-"

"WAIT WHAT!?" Layla screamed, her going under his arm and getting away from the wall and striding multiple feet away from him. "What do you mean 'Dr. Bartek's research'!?"

Magum smiles, a wicked wolf-like smile. "Oh… did I forget to mention to you that I knew him?" he says to her, taking another step toward her, causing her to take a step back. "Look, my dear Layla Amelia, that bastard you call a 'father' has played both sides of the fence, making deals with myself and Bill Cipher. That's a very dangerous game."

Layla backs up again, but her back hit another wall, her flinching and dropping the towel. Magum had gotten closer to her and put a hand on her bare waist, but she smacked his hand away. "I am not your dear!" she spat at him, her electric blue eyes narrowed angrily. "Mari and Kari were right… I was a delusional girl! I thought you were actually nice to me! But you're not… you're… you're…"

"A wolf in sheep's clothing?" he offered, his wolf-like smile getting bigger as he forced his hand back onto her waist, but it was much more firm that she couldn't push it off of her.

"I was thinking along the lines of an 'Ass Hat'," Layla scoffed at him trying to force his hand away but to no avail. "But I guess that works too."

"Let's just say the few deals involved you," Magum breathlessly says as he pushed himself against her, causing her to yelp and try to get away from him. He grabbed her wrist and pins it over her head with his free hand. "I helped him along some research, he offered you. A few times I have met you, you just don't remember because of the times he drugged you."

Layla struggled against his grip, it getting tighter and tighter on her. She grunts in pain, trying to raise a leg to kick him away, but was pinned under his leg against the wall. "LET ME GO!" she screamed at him, grunting and using all her strength to try to get away from him.

You have been an ass-hat ever since you made contact with that Mag-

Layla remembered that Rick was trying to mention Magum's name… he got smacked because of it. How could she be so stupid, trusting a demon just because he was nice to her?

That's a mask, you delusional human!

"Shit…" Layla cursed under her breath. How can I be so stupid?

What seemed like amusement, Magum let go of her, causing her to fall to the ground with a loud thud. She scrambles to get up, wrapping herself with the towel. Her hand hovers by the handle of the door, but her wrist was grabbed one again.

"I don't think you understand," Magum almost purred. "I own you, you simply can't walk away from this."

"Why would you take a deal involving me anyway!?" Layla spats, her blue eyes an icy fire. "I'm just a simple human and nothing special, so why take a dumb deal?!"

Magum shrugs. "I thought I could have some fun with you, and as it turned out I was right," he smoothly replied, his words sounding heavy. "I'd say I made a good deal." The way he said that sent cold chills up Layla's spine. "But… as my little lamb you should stay where you are… and as punishment for trying to escape from me…"

A glint caught her eye but she didn't realize what happened until she started feeling her hot blood pour from a wound on her stomach. An intense burning followed afterward and she screamed in pain, putting her left hand on the wound, only to find that a red fire was licking across her fingers, both fully formed and not. She collapses to the ground, trying to preserve her life's blood, her gasping as a mixture of tears and sweat dripped off her face.

"Is my little lamb ready to listen now?" Magum lowly growled in her ear. "Or do you need another lesson?"

"Go… to… HELL!" Layla managed to get out between her gasps of intense pain.

He sighs almost sadly as he forces her up by her black hair, her yelping from it. He dragged her to the bed and threw her onto it, her blood barely noticeable on the red sheets. "You see, my dear Layla, I have been a place you humans would describe as 'Hell'… although much different than the humans' religious standpoint on it," he informed her as he towered over her from the side of the bed. He then puts a hand to her throat, and she felt her heart practically beat into his hand. Magum gave a small squeeze, which cut off Layla's air, her struggling for the sweet oxygen she desperately needed and to preserve her blood. "I will assure you that I have no intentions of returning there. And since you were oh so kind as to remind me of that…"

Layla tried to scream to no avail as no oxygen could get to her lungs. Her vision began to darken as she saw a tinge of red in the corners. As her eyes fluttered shut the last thing she saw was Magum's wolf-like smile over her face, him ready to do what he did to her the night previous but on a much more violent scale.

Layla was covered in her own blood, it brown from drying on her pale skin, and her body felt like it was on fire, and intense burning that seemed to come from her heart.

Betrayal.

She sat up on the bed, her body laced with new bruises that were much darker and painful, as they were practically a red-purple. The wounds that she had received were now thick scars, the one on her stomach thick and risen, it feeling foreign under her fingertips. Her left hand had almost a shine to it as her hand was scared from the fire; the new scar went right along with the multiple punctures from the needles her father gave her.

But nothing hurt more than her heart, her putting her scared hand to her chest, feeling it thud slowly and almost painfully. Her heart seemed to ache painfully as tears stung her eyes, threatening to spill over. Never had she felt such a pain, it more painful than any hit or stab she had ever received.

Layla had thought she could trust him, she had thought he was legitimately nice to her. She had thought that she loved him. But then again, she didn't know what "love" was… she never saw her father in love, or even her early memories of her mother really. She had given what Magum had wanted too easily and it sickened her to her very core, something that she wished she could take back but never could.

Because of her trusting a monster, a demon, she had become nothing more than an appealing object to Magum. The way he had spoken to her made it seem like she was some sort of prize, and the way he threw her surname around to scare or enrage some people, she should've put together the puzzle to see that he was just playing a sick game with her.

It seemed that Magum was not in the room, so she got out of the bed, her collapsing to the floor in pain. If the first time was just a few aches and pains this was more of an intense stabbing in her pelvic region for the forced second time, causing her to wince and groan in pain. She blinks her eyes a few times trying to rid her tears, but as her vision cleared she saw a pair of hallow, pale blue eyes staring at her.

Layla screams and jumps right up, her back hitting the edge of the bedframe, a hand to her mouth to stifle her horror.

What lied before her was Magum's body… but was it truly?

Her head aches as she remembered her waking up a few times during her horrific ordeal. A reptilian-similar form with a fiery pelt with horns that branched out intricately with twists and knots… almost like the Devil himself.

What was in front of her was nothing but a husk of a poor being who had made a deal with demon.

Layla gets up from the floor while grabbing a blanket to cover herself, her avoiding the deceased body she was so used to seeing as "Magum", and heads to the shelf that had his books. She flips through them, only recognizing few words since her self-taught lessons at the library at the facility to learn the multidimensional language. What she did recognize was "bounded to the soul".

"Bounded to the soul…?" she repeated aloud, her heart hammering in her chest.

A hand gripped her shoulder and she screamed as she was spun around. The soulless white eyes of Magum peered into her electric-blue ones. It was him… but not him. He was in a different body, this one a little younger looking than his previous one, that was tall and dark in complexion, almost a deep tan, him adjusting a dress-shirt that was such a deep black it almost looked surreal.

"That's how demons possess vessels," Magum lightly explained, his voice coming out of the new body. He treated the situation as if he put on a new pair of pants, him with no concern at all. "Once a demon possesses a body long enough, the original soul eventually dies out and the demon's aura takes over, since we have no souls.

"However, the body does not last, only a year or two after the soul dies. What we are supposed to do is let the soul have control of the vessel once in a while to keep the soul intact so the body will last, it's supposed to be a symbiotic relationship with a deal between a vessel and a demon. But, that's not how I run things… I prefer to have the soul be tortured and basically rip itself apart trying to gain control." He finished explaining, him ending with a dark chuckle of humorless amusement. "This poor sap still had his soul, but after yesterday I let him have a break and he went and killed himself because he felt so horrible for what I did with his body. How pathetic."

"You sadistic bastard!" Layla screeched out, her adjusting the blanket to cover herself better. "You just toy with people!? Even if these are monsters of different forms of beings they are still living and not your dolls to mess with!"

Magum gave her a mockery of a sympathetic glance. "I am one of the most powerful demons in the universe… my race was once one of the most powerful before a betrayal." He lowly growled, him taking a step closer to Layla, staring at her with hard white eyes. "All forms beneath me are just dolls for my amusement. And that does include you."

Layla's gave was level with his, a new feeling tingling across her body like electricity.

Hatred.

Never in her life had she felt such a feeling. She hated Magum with such a burning passion that she didn't wish death on him. She wished that he was tortured to the brink of death but cannot receive it.

Magum then gingerly took the book from Layla's hand and puts it back on his shelf. "Now, my dear Layla Amelia, I need to get yourself ready, we have a meeting to go to," he ordered as he once again adjusted his shirt. "Damn it… this body is a little bigger than the last one, now I have to get new clothing." Magum seemed annoyed at the fact.

"With what clothes?" Layla pointed out, gesturing to her surroundings. "I don't have anything here." The demon then gestures to the bed where what looked like a long, black dress was and a pair of high-heeled shoes. Layla approached the clothing, her noticing how thin the material was.

"Now, go get ready." Magum ordered harshly.

Layla did as she was told, going down to the bathing chamber to clean herself up. Every time she touched her skin she winced and hissed in pain, her pale skin covered with bruises. She put on the clothing after being cleaned up, the dress feeling smooth and silky on her skin. The dress was long with a large slit on the left side the revealed her leg and almost exposed her hip, which made her extremely uncomfortable.

Magum then goes to the door and opens it. "Come along now, dear," he then says with a false gentleness. He put on a mask that almost seemed literal, his entire features changed from being terrifying to a gentle kindness.

Without a choice, Layla did as she was told by going to Magum's side. He put his hand on the small of her back, almost guiding her with him. She swallowed the bile that rose up her throat, forcing the little contents in her stomach to be released.

Layla was led down a long hallway, them entering a large open room filled with Magum's followers sitting in chairs. Magum and Layla walked on a stage where he stood behind a podium, forcing her to be by his side. She was sweating bullets in nervousness, she didn't like the idea of her being watched by so many people.

Immediately her eyes caught Mari and Kari in the crowd, them looking at Layla with confusion. Layla wanted to rush to them, to tell them that they were right and that she was sorry for saying that she didn't believe them. She noticed that the two were giving her a sympathetic look while holding each other's hands.

A spotlight was cast on both herself and Magum, her being so blinded that she noticed no one in the crowd no longer. She winced from the light as Magum began speaking in one of the foreign multidimensional languages that she was learning to recognize. He was saying on how thanks to the received plans that were stolen from Bill Cipher they would be able to counteract what he was planning on doing. Magum didn't go into detail on what Bill's plan was exactly, it seemed like he was trying to say as little about it as possible.

As the speech dragged on, Layla observed Magum. He seemed to have already gotten used to the new body, treating it as if he put on a newly bought shirt. He was flawless with his execution and the way he gestured, as if he had been doing it for years, which Layla knew that he has. A few times he gestured to her, and she wasn't sure why since she didn't fully understand him.

Everyone in the audience cheered, maybe except for Mari and Kari as far as Layla knew, the room roaring with a thunder of applause to the point that Layla winced from the loudness. She personally hated things being too loud, something that she had developed from being secluded in a cabin in the woods all her life, and she rather enjoy nature's sounds of rainfall and wind in the trees. Once the thunder of applause had subsided there was soft murmurs of the audience as they began to leave the large room, chairs shuffling on the hard floors.

"You lie to them." Layla stated, her not even phrasing a question. "You tell them you're going to do great things, but it's all an elaborate act."

Magum adjusts the sleeves of his shirt, them being a little too short. "My goal is to rule the universe, including the multiverse. I will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal," he replied casually as he led her off the stage though the back. "But I have two all-powerful beings to vanquish before that can become a reality."

"Bill Cipher?" Layla assumed. "He seems to be your biggest enemy."

"He won't be too much of a hassle," Magum assured her lightly. "My dear, there is something coming to him that he won't even begin to comprehend, so he will be ridden of within half a century."

Layla gave him a confused look. "Then… who is more powerful than you or Bill?" she asked slowly, her immediately noticing the anger that began spread across his features. Now she knew that she will be punished later for mentioning it.

"Axolotl."

Layla made a surprised sound. "Isn't that some kind of salamander?" she questioned, baffled at the fact that a tiny little creature would be more powerful than Bill or Magum.

Magum gripped her upper arm with such force that she cried out in pain from her arm beginning to crack. "The Axolotl isn't just some Earth creature!" he hissed in her ear. "It has the power to strip demons of their glory. I have been on the run from him for years, and so has Bill, the Axolotl isn't some cute little creature you humans like to play with!"

Layla nods frantically, agreeing with him so that he would release her arm. He did so and she grabs it gingerly, holding it close to her body as a sudden intense pain emerged from it, along with her arm turning purple and blue as it began to swell. Tears sprung to her eyes as she tried to move it slightly.

"You are to go straight to my quarters," Magum ordered sternly. "I will get medicine for you for your arm. You are to be in the bed waiting for me. If you are in anywhere else… well," he gives his signature wolf-like smile. "You know what will happen. I won't be so gentle next time."

Layla nods once again, trying to get out of his presence as fast as she could. He walked away as she ran the opposite direction. She had to try to get away… this was her chance! As she made her way through the hallways that she recognized, she was getting close to the lobby. Maybe if she could grab Mari and Kari they can all leave together, to get as far away from this place as they could.

As she made it to the lobby she was stopped by no other than Colonel. She skidded to a halt, her breaths coming in gasps. His black eyes bore into her body, seeing that she was extremely bruised and battered. For once his black eyes were actually sympathetic, as if he put two-and-two together of what was going on.

"You know you can't leave, right?" his gruff voice said to her, for once not filled with malice. "Once you become his pet the only way out is death."

"Then I'll kill myself." Layla instantly replied with no fear. Death was nothing compared what he was doing to her.

Colonel shook his massive head sadly. "No… he'll just resurrect you, it'll shave a few years off your life, but he'll do it just to punish you. I've seen it with another girl… the one triplet that was the sister of the two girls you went on a mission with."

"Sari?" Layla gasped. "But… but I thought she went with Bill and that's why the other two went to Magum…"

"Not at first," Colonel explained. "Sari first came here after Bill destroyed her and her sisters' home dimension that she had caused by making a deal with Bill. She thought she could get revenge on him for tricking her by going to Magum, but like with you he kept her by his side until she tried escaping and killing herself.

"Eventually, she did barely escape thanks to an attack by Bill. In a way she saw it as being 'rescued', so she went to Bill and stayed with him until…well…" he concluded.

"But Kari mentioned my father did something to her…" she mentioned, careful with her tone since Colonel already had a bad history with Dr. Bartek.

Colonel gives a sour look. "Dr. Bartek experimented with us… taking stem cell DNA from other creatures and placing it into others. Sari already had electrical powers, but her power was magnified thanks to an experiment by him. It nearly killed her, but after going with Bill she became one of his most powerful henchmen. Not too long after that's when Mari and Kari showed up."

Layla tried to remember back when they had first Sari. It seemed like everything she was doing was forced: a forced smile, a forced act of politeness. Was she truly happy with Bill? Probably not, but it seemed that he was better than Magum.

There was a sudden roar of anger as the building shook. Layla falls down on her but, her dress riding up on her. Colonel had fallen as well, his weight cracking the flooring. Red fire began licking the walls, almost like they were alive as they snaked around. Layla knew that she was in trouble… she spoke with Colonel too long when she could've escaped!

Appearing above her was Magum… but he had discarded the body that he was using as a vessel. He was the size of a normal muscular human, but his head looked reptilian with a pelt of a deep crimson that flicked round like flames. His horns were twisted like branches, since she was close she saw that engraved in his horns were symbols of something… and also scenes of torment and destruction etched into them.

Never had she felt so terrified in her entire life. She wanted to get up and run but her body refused to. She didn't dare breathe, she didn't dare blink, and she didn't dare to do anything. All she did was stare and be frozen.

Layla was grabbed by her injured arm, her screaming and kicking. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to fight but she couldn't. She glanced at Colonel, desperate for any help, but as she did so a flame solidified as a solid blade and cut through his head like it paper. Colonel only blinked as blue blood sprayed from the wound and his head dropped to the floor, the body following soon after.

The raven-haired girl screamed in horror and pain as she witnessed the violent death, her being dragged by her arm. She barely noticed the frightened looks that was being received, all she could do was cry and try to struggle. Nothing was working, so she went limp to try to conserve her energy.

Soon, she was thrown back into the room, her body crashing into the ground painfully. She grunted, coughing through her sobs as her tears fell down her cheeks.

"I gave you one order, Layla!" Magum furiously screamed, the room filling with intense red flames. "And you decide to ignore them… well…" There was a glint in his hand had with a clawed hand he threw the object toward her. What was tossed by her hand was a wickedly sharp knife. "Take off your clothing, stand up, look me in the eyes, and you will slit your own throat." His voice was a low rumble, him trying to control his anger.

"What…!?" Layla managed to cry out, her hand brushing the knife.

"I want to see your blood stain your body!" he demanded. "Now do as I say."

She cried out, "B-but that will kill me!"

"You will be fine, I will heal you." Magum promised.

Layla gently picks up the knife, her seeing her own terrified electric blue eyes staring back at her in the brilliant, metal blade. She stood up shakily, her body trembling with fear. Her stomach was in knots and she felt like she wanted to vomit, but she swallowed the bile down and slowly removed her clothing like she was demanded to. Once her clothing was discarded from her body, she looked at the knife with a new fear.

Death.

She had said to Colonel that she would kill herself if that would mean to escape from Magum. But, now that there was a slight opportunity to do so, she didn't have the strength to do it. She wanted to live, she wanted to live and be free.

"Layla, I'm waiting."

A wolf in sheep's clothing… that's what he is… he's a monster…

Slowly, she raised the blade to her throat. Just touching her skin with the blade caused a small line to form and a tiny trail of scarlet to slowly drip. She takes a shaky breath and pressed harder, the blade digging into her skin.

Like a bandage… just do it fast and get it over with!

Like pulling a cord to a parachute, she ripped the blade across her throat as deep and as fast as she could. A bright scarlet spilled, staining her pale body with the hot liquid. She gurgled as she struggled to keep her eyes open, her seeing a satisfied smile spread across Magum's devilish features.

Her vision began to darken and she felt her knees become wobbly. She struggled to breath, the iron laced scarlet filling her lungs instead of air. Layla coughed and choked, the blood pooling by her feet as it poured down her legs. Finally, she let the darkness take her and the last thing she felt was her own hot blood surrounding her body, pooling beneath her, as her mother's voice began echoing in her darkening mind.

A star that shines as bright as day, how I wish I did not go out to play, for the devil shadow had grasped my hand, the devil shadow pulled my soul and it was at his command.

So heed my warning young soul, please heed it with thole, and do not shake the devil shadow's hand, or forever your young soul shall be damned.

A star that shined as bright as day, now dim with the shadows I have helped taken with the devil shadow's command that are a dark grey, remember how the night holds a strange magic air, and how even something as bright as a star can take you to the devil shadow's lair.

A/N: This chapter focused more on the abuse that Magum began to give to Layla. I am sorry if this was a little violent, but the next chapter is going focus on Layla escaping and living on her own, the the chapter after that will focus on her and Ford and how she developed feelings for him, although it was very difficult due to her experience with Magum.

Thank you for reading as always.

~Skye Hendersen~