-Chpt 2: For Where There is Darkness-
A shift occurred.
It could feel it. Something had changed. A death had been reversed. A death it caused.
The creature snarled. That wasn't allowed. No one reversed one of its kills. That was its prey. And yet, that was what happened.
The Suicide Devil growled as it dangled from the rafters of a run-down home, staring down at its next target, the prey completely unaware of its existence. They were asleep, covered in their blankets. The only notable thing about the girl at the moment was her slightly sun-tanned skin and their electric pink hair.
While at first, it did not recognize the girl, her voice more than made up for the appearance change. This was the person it was looking for—its next target. Its next meal. Its next step toward getting its revenge against the one that wronged it.
This was payback for what That Devil had done to prevent it from growing stronger. And while it hadn't expected the boy to take so long to die, now that he did, he could move on to that girl's friends.
The blond one didn't take too long to kill. But this one… it had a feeling it would be a mix between the blond and the boy. It estimated a few weeks, so long as it was persistent. It had only taken about a week after the boy's death for the blond to end his own. So this girl, who it knew to be a sort of mix between the two, at least in terms of emotionality rather than personality, would be easier than the boy, but harder than the blond.
Typically, it wouldn't matter. Typically, it would take its sweet time to enjoy the suffering of its targets—to bathe in their frustration, desperation, and ultimately, their decline into slowly withering away, before swiftly ending it all. To The Suicide Devil, watching someone's mental decline was like those humans watching their movies.
It would typically relish in what it did. To savour every last second of the person's demise. After all, it loved the sensation of pain. And while some of its kind wanted to see it happen fast, The Suicide Devil found the beauty in the process, to which there was always a pattern. First, it would be the mental guilt-tripping, then the cutting, then the slow decline into insanity, before they'd finally take their life.
And while typically it would relish in that. This time, the process had to speed up. Why? Because something unexpected happened.
The death of that boy had been reversed, and it knew exactly who had done it. It had been that Devil's doing. It had to be. They had been in a semi-war with one another for nearly a decade. Where it craved death, that Devil yearned to be like its inspiration. To uphold a promise it made to The Hero Of Hell.
The creature gnashed its pin-point teeth together as its black, many-eyed body slithered into the rafters. The mere thought of The Hero Of Hell made The Suicide Devil weary of it potentially being here. It was the only Devil to be able to permanently kill Devils. It had many names. The Hero Of Hell, obviously. Chainsaw. Consumption. Eradication. And most importantly of all, Judgment.
And while that Devil was terrifying, that wasn't the one it was dealing with. No. It was dealing with That Devil. The one that disguised itself as the inferior Grief Devil. Well, that was before The Grief Devil became part of That Devil, and used it as another name, much like The Hero Of Hell with the name Chainsaw. But that wasn't its true identity. However, unlike The Hero Of Hell, Its true identity was never to be spoken.
It was common knowledge that, unlike The Hero Of Hell, saying its name would summon it. It had happened to Famine when she had accidentally said its name and nearly killed her for it. It had been the one of the only Devils to make War flee in fear, and it had made Control lock herself in Japan, and only Japan for the past 15 years. The only one of the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse that it didn't scare was Death, but that was because Death was always in hibernation, and passively existed rather than exist like the rest of them.
While yes, The Hero Of Hell was dangerous, "The Grief Devil" was overtly terrifying. And the fact it used Chains made it even more ironic, considering just what it was. It shared that aspect with The Imprisonment Devil, but it wasn't that.
The Imprisonment Devil wished it was that.
Even still, The Suicide Devil had been actively warring with "The Grief Devil" for a reason. It was trying to goad it on. Trying to get it to leave so that the contract could break, and this puny little town could seep into the rest of the world, and finally join everyone else in equal suffering. To do that, it had to make sure that all of its back-ups were gotten rid of, so it had no reason to stick around. That was why it had been targeting specific families in this town. Ones that made contracts with "The Grief Devil" all the way back in Ye Olden Times.
The process had been slow, yes, and it had been gruelling. But it was worth it. The fruits of its labour were finally starting to show. And while that girl had died the way she wanted to, to prevent The Suicide Devil from getting any stronger than it already had, what she failed to consider was that it would target her brother.
It did. It had. And it killed him.
So why was he now back?!
It knew "The Grief Devil" was strong, but strong enough to bring back the dead?! That couldn't have been possible! Unless, of course, the boy hadn't died instantly like it thought he had. Regardless, he was still dead at the end of the day. But now, he was back. And it wasn't as if "The Grief Devil" was puppetting the boy like a Fiend. The boy's soul was back within the cycle, meaning that the boy was truly alive.
That was a problem. It meant "The Grief Devil" now had a host. And if it had a host, that meant it would be able to use its power. That meant The Suicide Devil had to be quick. It had to make sure that everyone related to that girl would die. And in doing that, it could get the hell out of the way, leave this godforsaken town, and avoid the wrath of "The Grief Devil."
As its soon-to-be victim slept peacefully, unaware of its presence, The Suicide Devil's grimace was replaced by a grin. The glow of the moon illuminated the massive creature in the rafters, its many eyes and many mouths facing the girl. All of the mouths were upturned into smiles, and all of the eyes were filled with bloodshot madness.
It would have the last laugh. No matter what.
xxXXxxXXxx
It wasn't often that Sunny was woken up by someone poking him with a stick. In fact, this was probably the first time it happened, but he digressed. Most of the time it was his stomach rumbling at him to wake up so that he could eat, only for him to ignore it and go back to sleep so he could be in White Space.
Of course, that was in the past. Still, though, he wasn't too happy to be woken up by someone poking him with a stick, as if he had been a dog. He didn't move, mostly because he wanted whoever was doing it to go away. He reckoned that it was far too early for him to be up in the first place.
So, it was no harm, no foul. Hell, he was even content with going back to sleep. And he would have, had it not been for the voice of the person who was poking him. And it just so happened to be someone of familiarity.
"Yeah… uh, I don't know whose idea it was, but… Sunny's corpse is on his doorstep. Yes sir… no sir, I don't know why. I just woke up, and…" the voice sighed, before speaking again, this time with an air of detachment in their voice. "Yes sir, I understand."
The voice in question wasn't too hard to pinpoint. It was unique among most of the people in his town, and it had a very slight accent only typically seen within the person's family. After all, there was only one family in this town that was distinctly Mexican.
The person who had been poking him was Kel. It wasn't hard to figure it out, nor was it difficult to think of a reason why. After all, they had been neighbours, and Sunny had practically known him all of his life. Plus, this was such a Kel thing to do, that it pained him to believe that he had thought it was anyone else other than him.
As for who the boy was talking to, it was likely that he was probably on the phone with someone, that someone being The Police. He most likely borrowed his mother's flip phone to call them to report a body. Unless, of course, in the two months he had been dead Kel had gotten his own—either way, it didn't matter. He thought about moving, he really did. But he didn't want to traumatize Kel even more than he already had by dying. He doubted it'd make it any better if he just got up and walked.
But… he was still poking him with the stick. And it was getting annoying.
The sound of something being closed confirmed to Sunny that he was using his mother's flip phone, or a flip phone in general. He couldn't tell the expression on Kel's face because he had his eyes closed, but he had to guess it wasn't an amused one.
"Whoever's idea of a "prank" this was is going to get a stern talking to from me. I know it wasn't The Hooligans. They wouldn't do something like this. So it's probably a couple of 12th graders…" Kel murmured to himself, before pausing, and then sighing. "For a corpse, it doesn't smell like one…. Did the people who put it here spray it with Febreze or something to mask the smell? Well, if they clothed him, I'd have to assume that they did."
As Kel kept speaking, he kept poking Sunny with the stick. The boy was about to reach his limits. And when he was poked again, this time in the nose, Sunny had had enough. Once again, he thought about not moving, but if Kel wasn't going to stop poking him with the stick—which knowing Kel was most likely going to be the case until the police arrived, which take a while knowing just how slow they were in acting—he had to do something; even if it was a little bit on the traumatizing side.
Sunny reached out, hearing a gasp coming from his friend before he grabbed the stick between his right index and pointer fingers and broke it. When he did, Sunny sat up and stared at Kel with an annoyed gleam in his eyes. "Stop it."
Kel shouted, cursing as he fell backwards on the stairs, landing flat on his rear as he looked up at Sunny's stationary form. The two looked at one another, brown eyes meeting black, as Kel shook, fear, confusion, and alarm on his face. Sunny didn't say a word, he just stared. Neither spoke a word to the other—one out of fear, the other out of a lack of a need to speak.
Kel was tall. That was a given. He typically stood three heads higher than Sunny, which if he was correct, meant that the boy was easily a little over six feet. Despite being as young as Kel had been, only recently turning 16 years old the last he had checked, the boy was muscular. His arms were slim, yet built, as were his legs. His hair was a shaggy brown, and his overall facial features were sharp.
The boy's attire was rather simple, being all orange-coloured. He wore a baggy tank top with white stripes highlighting the neck and sleeve holes, two stripes going through the center, and an image of a cartoonish owl on the front. He wore shorts that stopped just below the knees, and they looked a little baggier on him, meaning he had lost a couple of pounds since Sunny had last seen his best friend. This coupled with pure white socks and black sneakers made him look like a basketball player, which was what he was aspiring to be, at least, last he had checked.
It was only after Kel slowly began to stand up, that the boy spoke, voice shaky and eyes filled with confusion. "S-Sunny…? I-Is that you?"
Sunny nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. Kel's expression broke into a shaky smile, before crushing the boy in a hug unlike any that the boy had felt before. "It's really you! It's actually you! Y-you're alive!" Kel said, before letting Sunny go, who had to catch his breath because goddamn did that boy reek! When was the last time he had a shower?! "But… wait a second. H-how can you be alive if you… well, you know?"
Sunny coughed, waving a hand to his nose before sighing. "Later," the boy muttered, before standing up and dusting himself off. Kel raised an eyebrow and tilted his head like a dog hearing something that they weren't used to hearing.
"Did you just… talk? Like… with your voice?" Kel asked as Sunny blinked. Well, to be fair to Kel, he seldom ever spoke, and it was usually only in whispers, and specifically only to Mari. But with Mari gone, he had no one to really talk to. So he kind of just stayed quiet. That, and four years of isolation made someone kind of unlikely to talk to others.
Either way, Sunny nodded to Kel's question. The boy stared at him and then proceeded to shrug. "Well, I guess… uh… death can change someone…?" As Kel spoke, his tone of voice attempted to take a shift to the comedic, but it didn't really work out. He slumped a little, before sniffling, most likely because he was on the verge of tears, which was a rare sight from the boy. "I just… how? This h-has to be some sort of miracle from God, or whatever the priest says, because… this… I swear I have to be dreaming."
In response, Sunny reached up to his face, and slapped, making him recoil. "Ow! That hurt—oh… wait if it hurt, then that means I'm not dreaming, right? That means this is real… that you're… alive…" It seemed that then was when the boy finally realized that yes, in fact, Sunny was alive, which made Sunny want to chuckle, though he bit it back so as to not ruin the moment. "So… does that mean you're a Zombie or something?"
Sunny shrugged. He guessed he was a Zombie. He just didn't eat brains. At least, he didn't think so. Making a deal with a Devil might make it so he has to later down the line. He never really questioned the contract in its entirety, only just the part where he had to "protect the town" like The Grief Devil had wanted him to.
The two teenagers stared at one another in awkward silence. It wasn't till after at least a minute passed that Kel spoke up again. "So… was there an afterlife?" When Kel asked that, Sunny shook his head.
"Nothing." When Sunny said that, Kel paled.
"Y-You mean there's nothing after we… after we die?" Kel asked in a hushed whisper of disbelief as Sunny nodded. He went to open his mouth but fell short. Did he really have to describe the place that he was at when he died? Where he had met The Grief Devil? Was that supposed to be Heaven, or did The Grief Devil make it up for him so they could meet there? If it had disguised itself as Mari, then it was a possibility.
Kel looked at the ground, before clearing his throat. "Okay!" As Kel spoke, he faced Sunny with a bright smile on his face. "Let's take our minds off of this with some basketball! I mean, that is if you want to join in on that. I can understand if you don't want to."
Sunny thought about it for a second, then shook his head. He had other things to do. Such as getting a job so that he could rent a place somewhere because he was not going to remain homeless. Also, he kind of had to straighten out his status as "alive" with the mayor, who was apparently Basil's father. He honestly didn't know that until he read that newspaper. He always wondered where Basil's parents were, and why they never really helped the poor boy out. The answer was now clear as day—they were, or at least his father was, extremely busy running the town.
Kel looked a little upset at his answer but didn't exactly overtly show it. Though Sunny could tell, because of the way how his shoulders dropped, and his expression slightly soured. Say what you will about his social skills, Sunny knew how to read a person, and knew what body language meant. "Well, I'm sure you have your reasons. Um… but don't be a stranger Sunny. Please… It's… I won't lie, it's been a living hell without you around. Just… come by my house when you can and we'll talk. I need to fill you in on a lot… I'm… You know what, we'll talk later."
With Kel's vague and cryptic sentence finished, the boy jogged off back to his house, most likely going to go get his basketball, and then he would presumably head to the park. And while what he said was interesting, and made Sunny a little curious as to what he meant, he wasn't all too interested in finding out what the issue was right now. At the moment, he needed to get a job and to do that, he had to be legally declared "alive."
And so, with that in mind, Sunny went off to speak to the Mayor of Faraway.
xxXXxxXXxx
A faint chill blew through the air around a well-dressed figure. Specifically speaking, the figure was wearing a black pinstripe suit with grey stripes, a pink shirt underneath, and a red tie. A strange combination to most, but to them it was just right. The similarly coloured fedora on their head rested plainly, a single white-gloved hand tilting the brim down over their eyes as they overlooked the town of Faraway.
The small, quaint, innocent town of Faraway had been far separated from the outside world for a long, long time. Since the 1600s, the town had made a deal with a certain Devil to promise that the town would be immune to the effects of any kind of Devil with the sole exception of that Devil as it had been the one to make the contract. It was to preserve the town's motto and nature. So that it could thrive and not be ruined by "The Dredges of Hell."
The motto of the town was a very basic, if not charming one. "Come to Faraway, and forget life's troubles." With a population barely eeking into the three-thousands, that was true for most people. Most families knew one another, and any newcomers were greeted with open arms. The Church had a stranglehold on the town and pushed their Christian religion on anyone who breathed.
Of course, it wasn't required to be a part of the community. At that point, it would've been a cult town. Although the majority of people in that town were religious, a good chunk of them weren't. The figure could feel it, and with the contract that that Devil made with the town ending in a week's time… well, the figure could finally sink its figurative teeth into this place.
Any time that they had tried to do something to that town while the contract was still active, there had always been a Devil Hunter there, all of which belonged to that bloodline. The same bloodline that made the contract with that Devil so that Faraway could be protected. But now that that bloodline was no longer living in that town, and with those whom it was associated with having been dead. Well… if The Suicide Devil had been allowed to run rampant for the last decade or so, then that meant that their time was coming soon.
The current body the figure was using was outliving its use. It could only exist in it for so long. Every body had a limit to which it could be used. In this case, this one was outliving its use. The last four years had been painfully slow for it. And in that time, this particular body had aged like milk. It was going to need a new one, and soon.
The figure, or more rather, The Devil that was inhabiting the figure had an idea of whom it wished to take over. It would be poetic irony, should they be able to do it. Of course, they still had a week to wait, so it wouldn't be anytime soon that they would be able to take over the body they wanted. By then, they guessed that The Suicide Devil would be dealt with.
Why? Because that Devil was still there. It was no doubt looking for a host to continue its "vow". That was why it was prudent to get the body as soon as the figure could. Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to. That Devil, for whatever reason, had a devotion to that bloodline and would protect it until it drew its final breath.
The figure sighed, before turning around to face the small entourage of cohorts behind them. They were all unsightly creatures. Some had many eyes, a few looked like oversized animals, others were more humanoid than the rest, and some looked as if they were true demons. They all looked hungry and ready to feast upon the flesh of the virgin town of Faraway. A town completely separated from the rest of the world, free from the Devils.
But that would soon end.
The figure wouldn't lie, they were excited. The fresh terror of a group of people who would not know a thing about the Devils. Something that seemed foreign, impossible almost. Nonetheless, it was true. These people did not of what they were. And that was the best part. Of course, it wouldn't last, and they would soon become used to their presence. But such a feast was not normal.
Humanity, for as long as they existed, has always known about Devils. They had been there since the beginning. So for a group of people who had lived for centuries who knew nothing of the threat of Devils? It was almost a pipe dream for them.
But here they were, at the edge of the town of Faraway. A twisted smile made its way onto the figure's masculine face, revealing teeth much like that of a shark. Pupiless eyes bore into the town, waiting, yearning for the countdown to end.
Death would run rampant in this blissfully unaware town. And with it, only pure joy would exist within the figure's heart. Death was what fuelled all self-respecting Devils. Even that Devil had to admit it that. After all, it killed Devils to protect this prosperous town of flesh and blood.
"Demons and Monsters!" The figure said, its arms outstretched to encompass the town behind them. "In a week's time, this town will be ours! We shall be the first to feast on the flesh of these miscreants, who have been blind to our existence for so long! With no one left to protect them, they will fall to our mercy!" The figure declared, bringing their right arm behind their back, and their left arm to their front, balling their hand into a fist and shaking it with determination in front of their entourage.
"This town has not known true pain like the rest of the world has. So, let us be the ones to teach it!" The figure declared, its eyes becoming manic. "We shall bathe in their blood, feast on their flesh, and suck the marrow out of their bones! These pathetic humans will not know what is coming for them! I swear on the good graces of our Lord War, we shall destroy them all!"
Cheers, gurgles, and roars sang into the air, as the figure smiled. Yes. This week would be the best one of their life. That was most assured. Beelzebub as their witness, they would bring true pain to this town. One way or another.
-To Be Continued-
Some world-building and setting up the stakes. I figured it would be needed. Also for those who are worried that I will be stripping the story of any comedy, don't be. Chainsaw Man is as funny as it is grim. I'm not going to throw that away for pure grim dark.
Till next time, have a great day! Comment, Kudos, Favourite, or whatever.
