章 59: Blood

[Do you feel that, Luci?]

(Yes.)

[This is the power that rightfully belongs to you. Not even Syryn has the authority to keep it from you.]

(It feels strange)

[Are you still afraid to kill?]

(No)

[That's it, Luci. Let's have some fun now.]

Red revelled in the power that filled them up like a vessel overflowing with boiling hot water. His hands transformed into black claws that still looked human in shape but were tapered into needle points at their tips. The onyx colour of his claws extended halfway up to his arms like it was covered in pitch.

[Never underestimate the strength of these. You can crack right through a human skull if you choose to.]

Red proved his point by punching through the centre of their door.

(Was that necessary?)

[How else did you think we were leaving?]

There was a guard outside who was alarmed by the punch that left a hole in the door. Unlatching the door, he walked in with his weapon out. A wickedly curved blade was in his hand and it looked like the man knew how to use it.

[Here's your first task. Defeat the guard]

Luci was thrown out without preamble. The abrupt action surprised the boy but he was quick enough to evade the sword that came down upon him.

(He's trying to kill me for real!)

[Is that so?] Red's reply called Luci an idiot.

Crawling into the space under the bed, Luci was allowed a moment's breather. (I'm precious to his mistress. Shouldn't he just be trying to subdue me?!) Luci heard the sound of the bed splitting into two halves under the cleaving power of the guard's sword.

[If you talked less, maybe you would remember that you're a mage who can actually attack.]

(If you don't stop being an asshole, I'll just let him kill the both of us!) Luci froze the guard's feet to the floor with ice and at the same time, iced the man's arm in a layer so thick, it bore his weapon arm down with its weight.

[Ok pretend you're punching through a wall and- oh.. calm down Luci. Pushing his intestine back inside won't save him. It's too late.]

[Luci, get your head back in the game!]

(I can't Red! I just killed a person..)

[Lucien Rivenspire! I'm ashamed to be stuck in a body with a wimp like you.]

(How do you know my last name?!)

[Another guard is coming. Quick, act pathetic.]

(How?)

[Just be yourself.]

Luci was huddled into a ball at the corner of the room. The redhead summoned tears that ran like a river down his round cheeks, making him look lovable and utterly innocent.

The investigating guards rushed into the room and saw their dead colleague, guts ripped open and death in his pallor.

"You, tell me who did this?!" The head guard asked. A vicious scar across his face reinforced the terrifying aura he radiated.

Luci cried louder and wiped the snot off his nose on the sleeves of his shirt. "I don't- I don't know!"

"You've got blood on your hands, boy." The head guard walked up to where Luci was seated. One knee on the floor, the guard came down to Luci's eye level and tangled his fist into the red hair in a tight grip. Luci's head was tilted back roughly by the hand in his hair. "I'm asking you again. Who killed the guard?" Each word was spat out with a threat underlying his calm tone.

[Move over Luci. This got personal as soon as he touched the hair.]

Red's eyes flashed a crimson that was brighter than any fire that the guards had seen.

"What are you doing?" The guard realised that the redhead was up to something. Immediately, his skin greyed, and fine wrinkles appeared all over his body. In the timespan of a few breaths, the man was reduced to a husk of his former self.

(What was that?)

[A display of what I'm truly capable of Luci. This young body confines our power. I hope we can find a way to make us grow faster.]

"Why aren't any of you screaming?" Red addressed the 5 guards sullenly. It wasn't fun if they didn't show outward signs of fear.

(I think they're all mute.)

"Tsk. Fine."

With the life essence that he had stolen from the guard, Red powered his demonic aura and released it around him. It was similar to the anti mage field but its effects were on the psych alone.

The guards who had snapped out of their shock from seeing their leader drained like a wineskin, warily approached the redhead. Red's aura quickly hit them and it was akin to a breath from hell filling their minds with fear and terror. Unreasonable horror gripped their hearts and they fell to their knees one by one, paralysed by the evil that came from the angelic child.

"If you know what's good for you, you will stay on your knees and pretend you're deaf to the screams that we might hear."

Red could have killed them all but he wanted to save his strength for the madam whose powers remained unknown to him. The boy wasn't sure which way to go so he followed the scent of blood that was like perfume to him. In the process, he happened to pass by an unlucky maid who immediately fell to her knees and sobbed as she was enveloped in the terrible aura.

"Miss maid lady, where can I find the guest that came with me tonight?" He retracted the aura so she could say something without pissing herself when Red spoke to her.

The maid shook her head in fear. Her trembling hands were pressed to her mouth.

(I.. think she's mute too.)

"Can you lead me to his room? I'll spare you if you do. You can run away while I spend some quality time with him."

The guest room wing was on the other side of the mansion. The maid led Lucien to the room where his kidnapper was presumably asleep.

"Knock on his door."

The woman who had stopped crying rapidly knocked on the hard wood. A while later, they could hear the sounds of muffled footsteps. A slit appeared between the door and its frame, revealing half the face of the kidnapper. He suspiciously eyed the maid and then spoke.

"What do you want?"

Red promptly kicked the door with his supernatural strength. The man was flung backwards like he weighed nothing at all.

"I'm here to kill you." Red stood at the door, eyes filled with a terrible power, cold and dispassionate. "I'll make sure to savour you like the meat bag you are."

The kidnapper's body was covered in a cold sweat as he realised he had offended someone he couldn't afford to antagonise.

"It was madam Zelli! She made me do it! Please, young sir, spare me!" He fell to the floor and grovelled at Lucien's feet.

[Not fun like this.]

(His screaming might alert the woman.)

[She probably already knows. Maybe she's busy with her own killings. I can still smell fresh blood in the air.]

Red kicked the man in his face, bloodying his mouth and nose with the force of it.

"Say, tell me something, who exactly is madam Zelli?" He asked with one foot on the man's cheek. Red's dark booted leg ground the man's other cheek into the wooden flooring with just enough force to cause some pain. After all, he still needed the man to speak.

His cheeks were comically squished together like the face of a fish. "Will you spare me if I tell you?"

"Sure."

"Oath. Make a blood oath."

"Huh? It seems you still don't understand how fucked you are." Red snapped the man's arm backwards at the elbow. The scream of pain that should have woken the dead was muffled by the foot that kept his jaw locked. "What makes you think you have the right to dictate terms to me?"

(I'm gonna be sick..)

[Get used to it.]

"Jus kill me I wonttell you anyting" the kidnapper forced out through clenched teeth.

[There's some life in him after all] Luci perceived the thread of joy that Red was feeling.

"I understand that your mother was screwed by a pig and that's why you're smart - smarter than a pig, but still stupid for a human. I'll try and make this simple so even you can comprehend it."

Red bent over to poke the man on his cheek. "See, I don't care enough about the information to capitulate to a pig's grunting. I asked because I was curious. Regardless, you will die."

"Ma- madam Zelli is powerful. She will- she kill you when she finds yo-" Red's foot pressed down hard to shut the man's offensive mouth.

[You might want to look away now Luci.]

(Okay..)

[Don't look, don't listen, don't think too hard. It'll be over in a few minutes.]

Red walked out of the room feeling a hard curl of satisfaction settle in his gut. His demon self had fed on the pain and fear that the victim had oozed when Red began work - a sloppy mess of it too because he had lost himself to hunger - on the kidnapper. He wasn't as affected as Syryn because Red welcomed the violence and befriended it. The bloodthirst did get annoying when the boy required clear-headed thinking. So as much as he loved his demon, Red kept the lid shut on it for the most part.

The boy set a quick pace towards his destination while bullying down anyone he met on the way.

(I am going to have nightmares for years.)

[You disobeyed and took a peek. That's your fault. I knew you'd do it and still failed to put up a wall, and that's my fault. So, I'll help you deal with the nightmares as an apology.]

(Thank you... but I don't blame you Red. Why do you care so much for me?)

Red did not want the boy to know that he was the Lucien that Luci would have become if Syryn hadn't rescued him. Until today, Luci had been shielded from most of the conversations that involved information about Red's identity but it was getting harder and harder to keep him out if Luci so desired to listen in.

[It's because we share the same body, dumbass. If something happened to you, I'd get affected too.]

(But you said you're leaving me..)

[You're so damn sticky.]

(Why are you leaving?)

[Because you're really annoying.]

(That hurts..)

[Do you smell blood? It's getting stronger.]

(Yes, I can. We're following it aren't we?)

[Mhmm, I can tell that it's from under us; maybe a dungeon that's hidden away.]

(Please be careful... I don't want anything to happen to you.)

[You're worried about me? How cute. Did you forget we are in the same body, Luci? If I die, you die too.]

(At least we'll die together, Red. It's a bit comforting to know that.)

[Okay, first of all, no one's dying. Second, don't say weird shit. I only want to hear words like that from my lover.]

Red could feel the grumpiness radiating from his counterpart. Luci was such a warm presence in their mind and it tempered the worst of Red's negative traits. In turn, Luci shared in a maturity that was uncommon in children his age.

(A wall.. we've hit a dead end.)

[Yes but the scent of blood is so much stronger here.]

(Break the wall down.)

[Good idea.]

BOOM!

Lucien's devastating punch created a hole big enough for his head to pass through. He could see a well-lit cubicle that had a staircase disappearing into the ground.

(Can I punch the wall next?)

[Sure]

It took a few punches to create a hole that was big enough for him to climb past.

[My turn.]

Red looked down the dark staircase and took a deep breath. It was here that the smell of blood came in waves.

(Let's go.)

[Why are you so eager?]

(Someone could be in trouble down there.)

[This isn't a rescue mission.] The disapproval in his reply did not faze Luci.

(It won't hurt you to help if someone needs it.)

[Didn't I ask you to worry about yourself first?!]

(I believe in you Red! You are powerful and I'm safe with you.)