Chương 12: We Pay for Our Sins
Chapter Eleven
We Pay for Our Sins
Sitting up, Dais looked over at the sleeping form of his guest. For over a month now he had slept beside her, and every now and then she would curl up to him or hold his hand in her sleep. When this happened, he would lay awake a blush on his face and no strength to pull her off. He never mentioned these incidents to her when she was awake, seeing no need to stir up something she probably did without knowing in her sleep. Mixing this in with the fact that just days before they had danced together, a thought that still sent his mind into fireworks, and he was beginning to doubt his sanity in the company of this young woman.
Sleepless and restless, Dais moved again trying to convince his body to sleep. This is sort of hard to do when your mind and body are waring against each other for the command of ones actions. It was all in futile effort, as it seems he moved too much for his sleeping guests liking. Briar murmured something along the lines of "Quit moving so damn much." in her sleep, moving slightly to accommodate Dais's new position. Beside her sat a thick tome tucked halfway under the covers, its pages brown and fading. They had long since finished The Picture of Dorian Grey, and now had gotten halfway through The Man in the Iron Mask. Over the weeks she had listened through the night, and sometimes into the dawn as he had retold her the stories held within the thick volumes on his shelves.
Over a month had passed and Briar had been getting better each day. Most of her strength had returned and her movements no longer caused her pain. Trying to be a good guest, she had begun to clean and help about the place, making sure to cook, and leave him to be in his mysterious study. He had been in said study for a few days lately, avoiding seeing Briar unless absolutely necessary. Those moments as they were dancing, as he held her in his arms, Dais began to feel something oddly new to him rising within his chest. It was a burning sensation of sorts, and though it hurt, it had the oddest sensation of being pleasant. That second where she looked into the hood of his cloak, aside from the fear of her seeing his face, was one of the happiest of his life. Ever more so than the day when he found the entire collection of Tolkien untarnished and in mint condition in a box beside some dumpster. That was how amazing that moment had been, in Dais's mind it had trumped Tolkien.
Now he hid himself away, trying to act as if nothing had changed. In truth, everything had changed at that moment, as even Briar had begun acting weird. Whenever she caught him, and his mind would freeze as he looked upon her , she would question him about himself.
"You know a lot about me, but I only really know your name." she asked, not looking at him as she fidgeted with the small fire in the pit.
"Is anything more really required? You will be leaving soon."
Briar was silent for a moment. "Still, it would be nice. You are actually enjoyable to talk to."
He had held his breath for a moment as his heart beat faster in his chest at her words. "I tire, shall we continue our path into the livelihood of our dear Mr. Gray?"
She had nodded, and climbed into the bed they had shared for so many nights, as he tried to focus on the words in front of him and not the body beside him.
For some odd reason unknown to him, Briar's questions upset him, forcing him to dredge up bad memories just to answer her. The worst was when she breached the subject of her near death in his tunnels. At the mere mention of her ex lover, and she would begin to question why she was there in the first place bile would rise in his throat. Guilt over the the circumstances that lead to her nearly fatal accident always resurfaced. Even now, as he looked at her sleeping peacefully it struck him hard as any hit he had ever taken.
Dais ran one hand over his face, the hood pulled across his shoulders. Briar was asleep and all worry of her seeing his face vanished in the few hours in which he slept beside her at night. She was down here because of him, stuck in the sewer amongst the rats and the slime. Something she did not deserve in the slightest. Adam and himself had condemned her to this pit of darkness for the time being, as Dais slowly felt the movements of an unseen pendulum growing closer with each breath. It was not right, somewhere in the world above Adam was sitting pretty in his apartment, thinking the world was not a damnably darker place now that she was not in it.
That arrogant coward was more to blame than himself, yet Dais had pushed the man too far. After reading all those psychology books Dais could not resist playing the monster. With a sigh he thought to himself, A part I was born for.
"I did not even begin to think he would bring you down here Briar." he whispered to her sleeping form. She did not stir, chest moving slightly as she breathed in and out. Yet the guilt did not dissipate at the confession, it lingered clenching at his heart and paining him. Anger settled into his soul as well, more anger than he thought he could ever have for a person. Dais was mad at himself for having to push Adam that far for no reason other than his own selfish pleasure, then a fury rose for Adam.
"Adam..." Spitting the word out as if some horrid taste in his mouth, it coming out in a low guttural growl. The worm had caused all the pain the girl was going through and more. One man had ripped Dais's sanctuary in half twice by two random acts of stupidity. That man was now free and enjoying himself. Dais could not allow that to go on. Adam's freedom had come to an end, he was going to make sure of it.
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Stars once brighter than an oil fire, dampened themselves almost to nothing. It was as if they hid themselves to prevent anyone from seeing the dark figure on the old fire escape. A common courtesy for the night and her children, and tonight Dais could not be more thankful for the nurturing mother of darkness. He leaned forward, peering into the darkened window. A piece of paper in Briar's wallet had lead him here, and he was stalking the one person in the world to whom he wished harm. Crouching like some over sized predatory bird and silent as the grave, he waited for the person he was seeking to reveal themselves.
His wait was not long, as the light near the front door soon grew dim as a smiling Adam lead a young red head out of the front door. Leaning against the doorway, he gently pushed her out and kissed her neck lightly. Smiling she started talking to him, touching him with every other word. The display made Dais's stomach churn. How he longed for Briar to look at him the way this young woman looked at his prey. After chatting for a moment he shut the door, and leaned against it. Walking into the living room, Adam lit a cigarette and set himself on a chair. Dais whipped one clawed hand out, and rapped once on the window.
A confused look passed over Adam's face, soon becoming fear as he saw who it was. The old urge to play the part of this man's nightmare resurfaced, and against his better judgment Dais decided to once more play the part of monster. Dais then pushed both hands onto the window pane before he crashed through it. Glass flew through the air, littering the dirty floor. Both hands now at his feet, Dais crawled his way toward Adam, crunching glass and growling like some sort of feral beast. He ignored the pain as some of the glass shards pricked at his blackened skin, for what he planned to do to Adam he needed to be the monster Adam had known. The man in question was now on his feet, his cigarette now forgotten on the floor still glowing red.
"Wha...what do you want?" he called, voice quivering slightly. Dais did not respond, letting only a low growl erupt from his throat echo throughout the room. Dais himself was slightly impressed at the monstrous quality within the sound and made a mental note to use it again later. Again Adam tried and failed to assert himself, panic showing in his face as he fell over himself trying to get away from the large bulk slowly moving toward him.
"What do you want now? I kept the deal! I kept the fucking deal!" he nearly screamed. Again no answer came from Dais as he continued to crawl forward. Finally letting the tension break Dais spoke, his deep whisper like baritone sounding throughout the room silencing Adam's pleas.
"Forgive my intrusion Worm, I was just feeling nostalgic." Slowly he formed the last word relishing the widening eyes of the man before him. He cocked his head to the side, letting a sadistic grin slip onto his face. "The act of you pissing yourself brings back so many memories. Wouldn't you agree, Worm?" Suddenly he vanished from Adam's view and reappeared in front of him. Drawn to his full height, Dais wrapped one claw around his throat squeezing only slightly. Lifting the terrified man from the floor, he breathed lightly in his face. His breath smelt of Briar's perfume, as he had purposely swallowed some to add to the believability of his final tale.
"I came to tell you the girl has been taken care of." he growled lowly. At this, the look of fear on Adam's face faded, replaced now by something darker and more twisted than anything Dais had ever witnessed.
The noise started low, like a whimper from a wounded animal. Then it grew, increasingly getting louder and more depraved. Adam was laughing. The mere sound of it caused shivers to race up Dais's spine. Something was wrong here, this much he knew, and his instincts were kicking him for having pushed again. With a flick of the wrist Dais tossed the man to the floor, sending him sprawling on his side against the farthest wall. His insane laughter did not stop.
Adam pushed himself up from the floor, laughing all the while. Stepping back one step into some of the glass, Dais raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. Leaning forward, two hands on his knees Adam was laughing hard. Too hard. Almost hysterically, and he looked at Dais with a wicked grin on his face.
"What did you do? Eat her bit by bit? Skin her and sit it at your chairs feet? Tell me, what did you DO!"
Instinct told him to get out of there, and fast. His only retort was to let out an indignant snort at Adam and his rude suggestions. Turning on his heel, Dais headed toward the window and was leaving. That was until he heard the last thing Adam said to him.
"Thank god." he breathed out between bursts of laughter. "I was really getting tired of the bitch."
Dais stopped short, a growl coming from his throat. He did not know what made him do what he did next. All he knew was that he could not stop his hand as it whipped from his side.
Air rushing around him, Adam never saw or felt the punch. It even took him a few seconds to realize he was flying through the air. With a huge crash he slammed into the wall, slumping to the ground. Before him stood Dais breathing heavily, a furious look in his red eyes. Blood stained his hand, the crimson color standing bright against the ebony black of his claws. He stepped back, then turned and bolted for the window. Adam finally was able to pull his head up, and he looked over at his assailant. Sitting on the window sill, Dais turned and spit disgustedly at him. Then he threw himself out of the window and into the night beyond.
Getting to his feet Adam wobbled forward toward the window. Grabbing onto the sill still covered in broken glass, he peered blearily into the night. The only thing to be seen was a dark shadow slipping unnaturally fast along the rooftops. Adam looked around stunned, it was a few moments before he even felt the hot substance running down his face. Reaching one hand up to touch the side of his face, he felt a stinging sensation on the left side of his entire head. Adam had not even realized he had been cut, but the blood on his fingers was the proof. The Beast had marked him, and Adam was going to figure out someway to get him back. He bet his life on it.
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