-Chpt 7: Be One With Thy Demons-
Breakfast with Mirabel was tense. It had something to do with how she looked at him. Her light brown eyes reflected both judgment and hate. Judgment he understood—he was supposed to be dead after all. But hate? That was what Sunny didn't understand. Why would Mirabel hate him?
When she noticed that he had been staring at her, she blinked before looking away, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "Uh, I shouldn't be staring…" Mirabel murmured. Sunny shrugged, looking down at his partially finished plate of scrambled eggs and toast. Shovelling his spoon underneath a small pile of scrambled eggs, he brought the food to his mouth. As he did, Mirabel glanced at him, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"What is her problem?" Sunny thought, raising an eyebrow, putting his spoon down as Mirabel went rigid, before looking back down at her food. "Stop staring at me," Sunny said bluntly, picking up his spoon and putting it in his mouth. Mirabel frowned, sighing as she crossed her arms.
"Can you blame me? Forgive me for being blunt, but… what are you, Sunny Suzuki?" Mirabel asked as Sunny narrowed his eyes at her. She flinched, reaching for something next to her. They were sitting on the loveseat because she didn't have a table to eat at.
"Fushiguro. Not Suzuki," Sunny corrected, looking back at his food. "Parents disowned me, so I went with a name that is more fitting for my current situation."
Her hand went away from the corner of the couch, and back to her lap. She was hiding something there. Whatever it was, he didn't care. It was probably something to defend herself with. But what would she need to defend herself from? Did she think he was some kind of imposter?
That made sense. Again, given the fact that he should be dead right now.
"That doesn't answer my question. What are you? Are you a Human or a Devil?"
"Both," Sunny replied curtly. Considering Mirabel was from The City, it made sense that she knew about Devils. While he didn't know why Devils primarily stayed away from Faraway, he had a feeling that The City was more populated with them. Mirabel's expression twisted into one of confusion, and she once again went for the side of her couch.
This time, Sunny wasn't going to just let her vaguely threaten him. That was what it was supposed to mean. He wasn't stupid. So in an act of self-defence, Sunny lunged for Mirabel and grabbed her wrist. She gasped, before kicking him in the stomach.
It hurt, but not as much as it should have. His body coursed with adrenaline, and with a weak, or what he thought was weak, pull Mirabel flew off of the couch and over to the wall, causing a loud thud to echo throughout the small apartment.
When she hit the wall, her breath hitched in shock. Sunny scanned her figure and saw that in her right hand was a gun. A handgun, not one he knew about—which was none, he had no time to study guns, but that hardly mattered.
In the time it took for her to raise the gun to a level point, he had already taken a step forward. With speed he had no idea he had, he closed the distance, pinned her to the wall with his right forearm, and grabbed the barrel of the pistol with his left hand.
There was a distinct fear in her eyes that Sunny felt bad about, but that wasn't to discount the fear building up in his chest. She had pointed a gun at her. She was going to kill him. Mirabel was breathing heavily, as Sunny stared at her, eyes wide with shock.
"I-I knew I-I shouldn't have b-brought you in here. I-If you're going to kill me, just get it over with already..." Mirabel said, her tone of voice filled with terror as she shook like a leaf in the wind. She was genuinely afraid of him. But why? Was it because of what he had said?
He backed up, letting go of the gun before looking down at his hands. Where had all of that strength come from? Where had all of that speed come from? Was this because he had become one with that Grief Devil thing? His hands shook. It was just like in those comics Kel read.
He looked back up at Mirabel and saw the cracks in the wall that had been made by her impacting it. He also saw the gun barrel pointed at him. He didn't have time to stop it, as she discharged the weapon in his direction. The bullet tore through his shoulder, which made him scream in pain. She kept shooting the gun at him, loud bangs echoing throughout the small apartment as all seven bullets hit him.
One through the shoulder, one through the chest, one through the stomach, one through his neck, another through his pelvis, one through his right lung, and another right between his eyes. His body was in immeasurable amounts of pain as he fell to the floor in the middle of the living room, his body twitching.
Mirabel stared down at him, lowering her gun as she breathed heavily. He was still very much alive, though he didn't know how. Despite the pain he was in, his mind was shouting at him to do something. That something was to drink blood. There was plenty of that around him, but he wasn't sure if his blood would work. What it would do, he didn't know. That was when he noticed that there was blood streaming from the corner of Mirabel's mouth.
"She must've bit her lip when I slammed into her!" Sunny thought, as she walked past him going to go get something. Probably cleaning products. As she ran past him, a single droplet of blood fell from her split lip, and into his gaping mouth. When it hit the back of his throat, his wounds began to regenerate. Slowly. Very slowly, but they were repairing.
There was no doubting it. His newfound strength and speed were from fusing with The Grief Devil. And this was also probably part of it too. But deep in his chest, in his heart, something was beginning to bubble. It was anger. This was not new. For a large portion of his life, even if he had suppressed it like all of his other emotions when Mari died, anger had been the one that had come the quickest.
He blamed that on his father. Just like his father, he was quick to anger and to make rash decisions. What Mirabel… no. What Ms. Polly had done was not something he would soon forgive. She had shot him not once, but multiple times. All because of what? Because he was part Devil? Was it because she was scared of him? Even so, why shoot a child?
It was simply unforgivable.
"Punish her."
A voice rang out from the back of his mind. He blinked, and for a split second, he could see that same Mari-lookalike he had seen in that white dimension after he had fallen from the roof of the hospital. It stared at him, black void-like eyes staring into his. It did not move. It did not speak after that. It just stared.
"Punish her."
It spoke again. Punish her? For attacking him? For shooting him. That sounded like a good idea. How dare she… Ms. Polly was supposed to be a nice person, right? He trusted her, and she betrayed that trust. All because he was a Hybrid Devil. But why? What did he ever do to her? Why did she want him dead?
That was what her intent was, wasn't it? You don't just shoot someone seven times without the intent of killing them, right?
There was a difference between accidentally killing someone, and trying to do so on purpose. After all, Sunny would know that. He had experience in that regard, albeit not willingly. So if Ms. Polly didn't shoot him on accident—she had aimed the gun at him for Christ's sake—that meant that she had genuinely tried to kill him.
And that couldn't go unpunished.
He slowly rose from his spot on the floor, the final two bullet holes regenerating. Bone reformed, muscle formed back together like the interconnecting knots on a rope, and skin smoothed over like running water on a dirty plate.
Sunny narrowed his eyes as he stood up, clenching his fists in front of himself. He no longer felt the pain from the gunshot wounds. It was like it had never happened. "All from a single drop of blood…" Sunny thought, unclenching his fists as he looked over his shoulder.
There she was. The woman of the hour. Ms. Polly stared at him with wide eyes. She had a mop in her hand—one that quickly fell to the floor as soon as she saw Sunny. She didn't have her gun on her person.
That was a mistake.
A tinge of anger flared through his body upon seeing her. She saw that anger in his eyes, and she immediately made a run for her room—most likely where she had left her weapon. It was too bad that Sunny was faster than her, quickly catching her by the collar of her nightgown. Before she could say or do anything, Sunny spun around and flung her back into the rear wall—the same spot that he had thrown her in before.
When she made an impact with the wall, she gasped in pain. Her body shuttered in response to the shock, as she stood still, not because she wanted to but because she was stunned by the impact. And without a weapon to retaliate with, she an open target.
Sunny closed the distance between himself and Ms. Polly, doing so in the time it took to blink. When he did, she screamed, eyes wide with fear. It didn't last for long, as he reared back his fist and slammed it squarely into her face.
Time slowed for Sunny.
What should have happened, was for his fist to have harmlessly bounced off of her nose, drawing some blood in the process as most punches did, and knocked her out. After all, what else was Sunny supposed to suspect?
That was what was supposed to have happened.
That was not what had happened.
The moment his fist made contact with her face, it did not harmlessly bounce off of it. Instead, her face caved under his fist, breaking skin and causing her right eye to pop out of its socket. Her whole body rattled against the wall, the back of her head hitting with a loud thud, followed by a sickening crunch, and a splattering of blood exploding from the back of her head and painting her white pristine wall in a smattering of crimson.
Sunny's expression changed from one of neutral anger to one of shock once it was all said and done. Shakily, he pulled his fist away, taking a step back in the process. Blood dripped from his knuckles and fingers which were now covered in the crimson fluid. He turned his hand around to see it, with blood trailing down his fingers and into his palms.
He looked back up at Ms. Polly's body and saw something he had rather wished he didn't. Her entire face had been caved in. Her nose had been pushed inward, as had the center of her face. Her upper jaw was sucked in too, exposing her gums and teeth. Her lower jaw was tilted upward, and her right eye was dangling from its socket.
What made things worse was how her body crumpled as soon as his hand had been removed from what remained of her face. It fell to the ground in a slump, her head leaning against the TV stand, with the rest of her body resting at an odd angle.
Sunny backed away further, breathing heavily as he did so.
He had killed her.
He killed Ms. Polly.
He murdered Ms. Polly.
He killed her just like he had killed Mari.
He fell on his rear, his vision clouding and his ears ringing. What had he done? He just killed her! He just killed someone. Why? How? Where did that strength come from? How was he supposed to stop Aubrey from killing herself at the hands of The Suicide Devil if he would just kill her with his own strength? What was he going to do now?!
Sunny blinked, his vision slowly returning to normal as he sat up straight. His breathing calmed, and his hearing had returned to normal. He stared at Ms. Polly's lifeless body and stood up. Now was not the time to be upset or afraid about what he had done. He had other things to worry about, such as the body.
What was he going to do with the body? He couldn't just leave it there. Granted, what else was there to do? He could always clean it up. But… clean up the mess with what? It wasn't like he knew how to dispose of a body. And besides, he couldn't leave any of his footprints or fingerprints on or around her. However, the police might have been able to get DNA from him off of his skin cells that could've been placed on her body after he had punched her.
God… he was thinking like a serial killer now. What the hell was he supposed to do?
He could just… leave.
The security cameras would spot him leaving through the front door. Thankfully, Ms. Polly's apartment was on the second floor out of twenty. So if he exited out of the apartment from the patio and left around the building, he'd be okay. His legs might have been sore, but that would've been it.
But… if he did that, wouldn't make him a monster?
No. No, he wouldn't be a monster for defending himself. A normal person would've died if they were in the situation he was put in. He didn't intend to kill Ms. Polly. It was all just self-defence. Any person who saw things from his perspective would understand why he did what he did.
He just wished he hadn't had to do it.
So, with no other option other than leaving through the patio, that was exactly what he did. He walked toward the sliding glass door and stopped. He needed to cover his hands—his bloodied hand, mind you. He couldn't leave behind any fingerprints or blood smearings anywhere. He looked around, then down at his sleeves. That could work… if it wasn't for the blood.
He looked down at his pants. Well, it wasn't like these were technically his. They were, after all, borrowed from the morgue lost and found. He had no real sentimental value attached to them. Besides, he'd need to get rid of those sooner rather than later.
Wiping his bloodied hand on his pants, smearing the red substance across his upper thigh and knee, he looked back at his hands. They were less bloody than before, but they were still covered in blood. It was the best he was going to do.
Unless….
He hesitated for a brief moment as he put his hand up to his mouth. He was a hybrid, and blood healed him. Did that mean that blood potentially did other things for him, too? Maybe, and seeing as he had no way of getting rid of the blood other than licking it off, that was exactly what he started to do.
And much to his shock, when he licked away at the blood on his pointer finger, he found that it tasted almost like caramel. It was sweet, and not at all what he had been expecting, that being it tasting like copper. After a few minutes of licking his hand clean of blood, he felt a sensation akin to adrenaline being pumped through his body.
It was almost like… Blood did more than just heal him. He felt… stronger. Not a lot stronger, mind you. But he did feel stronger. He noticed that his arms looked slightly bigger than they had before. Almost like he had put on muscle. Which was strange, but considering his current circumstances, that was the least of his issues.
With his hand now clean of blood, he started to enact his plan to get out of the apartment. Tucking his hand into his hoodie sleeve, he went to open the door, only to stop. He was forgetting something. And if he left it here, it would've made this whole thing redundant.
His mask.
Turning back around, he walked toward the entrance of the house and grabbed his mask off of the coat rack, before slipping it over his face and putting up his hood. The cameras of the building would have seen him go in there with it. Not only that, but it saw him enter the building with Ms. Polly.
He was probably already doomed from the start. Then again, the only two people who had seen him with that mask were Kel and Kimberely. As long as they didn't say anything, he'd be fine. Just as he was about to turn and head back to the sliding glass door, he saw his shoes and frowned. His shoes would leave shoeprints if he walked throughout the house with them on, and that wasn't a good idea considering it was something the police could track him by.
He didn't want to be arrested for what he did. Accident or not, murder was murder and he could be put away for a long time if he didn't think this through.
That was when an idea struck him. He could just carry them, walk to the patio door, go outside, close it, then put his shoes on before jumping. Yeah, that was exactly what he was going to do.
Picking up his shoes, Sunny marched back over to the sliding glass door, opened it with his covered hand, and then closed it once he got outside. Turning around he faced the black metal railing of the patio. He crouched, narrowing his eyes underneath his mask. He hoped that this worked.
Jumping from his crouched position, he leapt over the railing—something he wasn't prepared for, and fell two storeys. He panicked, flailing his arms about until he landed mask-first on the concrete below. A groan escaped him as he shakily rose to his feet. His shoes had tumbled a few inches in front of him, which he quickly grabbed.
Standing up, he felt his legs shake for a split second before the pain went away. It was done, he was out. Putting his shoes back on, Sunny began to walk away. He wished he didn't have to do that, and he knew he would live to regret it, but what was done was done.
Untucking his hand from his sleeve, he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and began to walk to where he needed to be for the plan to work. All the while a few questions bounced around in his head. How was he going to control his strength? How did the Mari-lookalike appear before him? And why did Ms. Polly shoot him?
Questions he would figure out on his own.
And as he walked away from the apartment complex, Sunny couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. Little had he known that a cloaked figure was watching him from the shadows. A large toothy smile spread across its pale face, before slinking back into the alley next to the apartment complex….
xxXXxxXXxx
Aubrey was shaken for various reasons. He didn't let it show on her face, but she had woken up to a trashed house, and a missing mother. Not that she cared that her mom was gone—good riddance—but the fact that her house was trashed more than usual had shaken her up badly.
But, she didn't let that bother her. She had more pressing matters to deal with. Such as the fact that she was starting to hear voices in the back of her head. Voices that kept telling her that she was worthless. Voices that told her no one would miss her if she just died.
She knew that wasn't true. She had friends. They would be devastated if she had died.
Right?
Well… maybe not Kelsey. Not after what she had done to his arm. She didn't mean to hurt him that bad. But… that didn't mean he wouldn't be upset if she had died. If not because they were friends, but because they had been close.
Right?
"Yo, Aubrey, you good?" Angel's voice cut through her thoughts as she blinked, turning to face the pompadour-haired teen. "You look a little down. Why don't we go to Ginos?"
"The Great Maverick could really go for some of that amazing Pizza!" The Maverick said with his usual bombastic tone of voice.
"Hnnn…" Charlie grunted in approval. The selective mute had a small smile on her face. Kim was sitting on her shoulders, flashing a thumbs up at the idea, and Vance was spaced out giving another thumbs up at the idea of getting pizza.
Aubrey smiled. Of course, people would miss her if she was dead. Those voices knew nothing. She was fine.
She was completely fine.
She did not, in any way, want to die.
Even if life sucked. Even if she lived in a rundown house. Even if she was now without a mother—who was shit by the way but she still needed her welfare cheques to get by which, with her disappearance probably would stop showing up now since it made the news. Even if she was running out of money and with this pizza she would be flat broke.
Even if the fact that no one would hire her due to her current affairs with The Hooligans. She was seen as a public menace.
Her life sucked.
But she wasn't going to die. She wasn't going to go the coward's way out. It was too easy.
…even if life wasn't really worth living.
"Berry?" Kim spoke up, her voice containing a hint of worry within it. Berry was her nickname for Aubrey. It was cute, and she liked it. It cut through those awful thoughts as she blinked.
"Yeah, let's get Pizza guys. We deserve it after today," Aubrey said as she looked at her phone. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. It was Wednesday, and four days from now, school was gonna start up again. She hated school….
Gino's was open for another three hours, so they had time to get something to eat. And so that was exactly what they did. They walked to Gino's, with the others talking up a storm. She blocked it out, too drawn into her thoughts. One hand in her pocket and the other holding onto her bat, which was sitting on her shoulder.
Last night, she went with Kim to meet with some masked creep. His voice sounded familiar…. She recognized it, if only vaguely. But… that couldn't be right. He was dead. And besides, that guy's name was Fushiguro—a strange Japanese name. Then again, Suzuki was also a strange Japanese name too.
She wanted to see them again. If she died, would she be able to see Mari and Sunny again? Basil, too….
"Aubrey!" A hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back as a car sped down the street. She stared, eyes wide as she swallowed the confusion and shock that coursed through her body. How had she not seen that? She looked over her shoulder and saw Vance, who frowned. "What is up with you today? You good?"
"I'm fine," Aubrey grunted, shrugging Vance's hand off of her shoulder. No. She was not fine. She would admit that something was wrong with her. For the last few weeks, she had been hearing these stupid voices in the back of her head. They kept saying things. Kept telling her that she was worthless. That she should just die.
And those stupid sympathetic looks her friends gave her didn't help things. She didn't need their pity. She didn't want their pity. If she told them what was going on, they probably wouldn't have cared anyway. This was all just a shame, a lie, and she knew it. She knew that they judged her behind her back.
All of their questions of whether she was okay were just a bunch of lies and niceties. If she actually told them, they wouldn't care. They were only using her to get pizza anyway.
Once they got to Ginos, it was empty aside from the sole worker. Ginos was a family-run business that the son of Mister and Missus Gino ran, maintained, and operated. He was the cook, the manager, the cash register, and the janitor.
Entering the building, Aubrey walked up to the desk. She didn't need to say anything. He already got to work making the Pizza that they typically ordered. The Hooligans had shown up so many times that he had memorized their order. A colossal half vegetable half meat-lovers pizza with ranch sauce off to the side. It was about $19.00, plus tax which was $21.83. She had $25.91 to her name, so she would have enough for a large soda.
She sat at the table with everyone, all of whom were talking amongst one another. She sat in silence, wanting to be left alone. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and ignore the world.
Was that how Basil felt before he did himself in….
Did Sunny feel the same way?
Did Mari….
The pizza arrived and Aubrey paid for it. Everyone thanked her and they started to eat. She only had one slice this time. She wasn't that hungry. The entire time Kim was looking at her with a concerned expression.
It was fake. Her worry was false and candid. She didn't really care. Why would she? Ever since they broke up, things had been dicey between them so all that false concern was just a way to make her feel even worse than she already had been.
Can't she see the pain that she was feeling? Kim out of all people should've known that she was in pain, and yet she had said nothing. She had been giving her the silent treatment the whole day. What a bitch.
Why…? Why did everyone hate her? Kelsey refused to talk to her anymore. Basil, Sunny, and Mari were gone, and Hero ran off to the city and forgot all about them.
Maybe she would be better off if she just died….
After they ate, everyone decided to call it a day. And so they all went off on their own. Everyone except Kim. "What are you still doing here?" Aubrey asked. Kim stared at her with a not-so-amused expression on her face.
"For one, that was rude," Kim said, crossing her arms. "And secondly… wanna go to the park? I know you're probably tired but I want someone to talk to."
Aubrey sighed. Fine. She could handle a little bit longer with Kim. That lying bitch.
And so they walked. Kim did most of the talking because Aubrey was too in her own head to say anything other than "uh huh" or "cool." Kim didn't look the least bit impressed. But she didn't seem to care. So now she was showing her true nature. Wonderful. About damn time.
"Aubrey…" Kim said, looking over at her with a concerned look on her face. "Are you sure you're okay?" Kim questioned as Aubrey huffed.
"I told you I'm fine," Aubrey said as she noticed where they were now. They were near the entrance to the forest next to the abandoned swingset. The same place they met up with that masked person. Were they meeting him again? Why?
"Alright… if you say so. I don't buy it though. You haven't been acting like yourself for a while now," Kim said, her tone skeptical. Aubrey did not want to hear this. She just wanted to go home….
"Stuff it, Kim. I said I'm fine." And I'll be better once this is over. You won't have to deal with me again after this.
"Alright, alright. But… before you go… You want some candy?"
It happened faster than she could've seen coming. She heard something run up behind her, and as she turned around, the masked individual appeared—Fushiguro if she remembered correctly—and swung at her. She would've brought up her bat to protect herself if she hadn't left it back at Gino's. His fist collided with her stomach, as pain exploded throughout her body.
It was like she was hit by a car. She felt something break, and as she stumbled backward, she felt something hit the back of her head. She stumbled forward as Fushiguro backhanded her, causing her to stumble to the left. Anger bubbled to the surface as she glared at her attackers. So this was what Kim wanted.
Kim was going to beat her up with that masked bastard. Both were facing her, Kim's face neutral and the masked boy staring down at her. Great way to prove to her that this was what her true colours were. What a—
"How DARE YOU?!" A loud, booming voice echoed throughout the park. Aubrey blinked. Who said that, and where were they? That was when Aubrey saw a massive, gigantic black goo-like hand slam next to her as something shadowed over her. The arm had at least a hundred eyes and mouths, and it easily stood over twice the size of a house.
Each eye was bloodshot, filled with anger and panic. Aubrey didn't know whether or not she wanted to scream, cry, or do both. What the fuck was that thing!? Where the fuck did it come from?!
The voices…. They were gone when this thing appeared. Was it responsible for that?
"It's here!" Kim shouted, before bringing her hand to her mouth and… biting. Aubrey was about to ask why, only for a giant blood-red hammer to form out of her hand, it easily being twice the size of Kim herself. What the hell?! "We got you now, Bastard!"
The masked man snarled, reaching for his pocket and bringing out a strange-looking knife. It had a black blade and a spine for a handle with a skull as the base. Aubrey had no idea what was happening. It felt like a fever dream. The monstrous creature roared, the bellowing cry easily drowning out every other noise.
"YOU DARE GET IN BETWEEN ME AND MY PREY, PUNY HUMAN?!" The monster roared. Prey? Was it talking about her? The creature's eyes narrowed in the direction of the masked boy. "AND YOU… YOU SHOULD BE DEAD! I KILLED YOU SO HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!"
"Clearly not…" the masked boy spat, glaring at the creature as it snarled. Aubrey didn't know what to do other than run. That was exactly what she tried to do, only for the creature to hit her with its massive arm, sending her flying backward and into one of the trees.
"Aubrey!" Kim called out as Aubrey coughed. She was in pain. Everything hurt, and she was slowly losing consciousness. Just before she did, the last thing she saw was Kim and that masked boy rushing the monster, who roared in response to their challenge.
And then everything went black.
-To Be Continued-
