Page 4 of Unbinding the Demon
“I second that. Don’t even think about skipping it, Missy!” William added while putting his hands on his hips and tapping his foot.
“Don’t worry, you guys, I’ll go.” I held a hand up while cradling my kitty with the other.
“You’d better,” William laughed.
“Alright, we’re heading out.” Oliver stood up and brushed off his groovy bellbottom jeans. Then he grabbed a goofy brown afro wig from the couch and placed it over his short chocolate waves. There was a pair of sunglasses tucked into his shiny red shirt, which he pulled out and placed over his eyes despite it being dark outside. “William’s spending the night at my place. And don’t forget, call if you need a ride again.” He pointed at me with a stern expression while opening the door, his wig bouncing as he did so.
A gust of cool night air caressed my skin as I saluted them farewell. “Will do.”
“See ya later, lovies!” William waved and blew kisses to both Lacey and me with a playful smile. The door clicked closed behind him, making it a lot quieter in the house.
“Well, Darrell’s taking me to some fancy mystery place for our five-year anniversary, so I won’t be coming home tonight either,” Lacey said. She looped a pair of silver dangle earrings through her earlobes while smiling about her date.
“Okay, I’ll be sure to lock the door then.” Loving amusement glimmered in my eyes as I watched her fuss with her dress. I was happy for her and Darrell. A tad bit jealous, but genuinely happy. “And happy anniversary, by the way!”
“Thanks.” She giggled, her voice light and playful.
Once she was gone, I fed the cats dinner and went upstairs to get ready for bed. My room was cozy and decorated with a weird combination of various skulls, plants, and crystals. I picked a few random pieces of cat hair off the oversized band tee I was wearing and tucked myself under the warm purple blanket draped across my bed. Pepper Paws and Esquire, William’s rather plump orange and white cat, prowled in to snuggle with me. Esquire’s rounded body struggled to claw its way onto the bed. I had to help him by lifting the purring little ball of gelatinous fluff up.
I laid there, staring up at my ceiling, lost in thought as the darkness surrounded me. The cats happily kneaded the blanket with their cute little razor claws, while I pondered my questionable life decisions...Maybe I should have gone to the club with William and Oliver? It would be nice to meet someone after all.
It was unlikely that I’d ever find a good match at a place like that, though. I suffered from crippling crowd anxiety, and my style was sort of bland yet somewhat gothic. My antisocial tendencies would surely make any club guy hit the road quicker than I could blink once he got to know me. However, I was lonely, and I wished to meet someone special. My thoughts drifted to that beautiful yet bizarre man I’d met at the library and our quick yet awkward interaction. I sighed, feeling a bit embarrassed. I gave the cats a gentle pat on their heads, then I drifted off to sleep, lost in my secret pirate fantasy.
“Gwendolyn...”A deep voice, smooth and rich, called from within the darkness of my subconscious mind.
The slumbering spell I was under broke with a sudden jolt. I sat straight up, gasping like a frightened goose. It felt as though I were waking from a terrifying nightmare. Sweat clung to my forehead and my heart pounded in my chest. My wide, confused eyes darted in every direction to take in my unfamiliar surroundings, discovering that I was no longer in my bedroom and was, in fact, in a goddamn nightmare.
Oh, shit! Have I been abducted!?
The room looked like some sort of dingy medieval dungeon. The crumbling stone walls were embellished with old weaponry, and sinister skulls were tucked away into dark crevices. Cobwebs decorated the cracks and corners, with their black many-legged occupants creepily crawling around them. There was no furniture, only a large yet dim ring of low flames circling around me. The flames hissed and twisted while they rose from the stone ground, burning as though fueled by some sort of dark ensorcellment. The thick air smelled of smoke and earth, making me feel suffocated and dizzy.
I tried to stand up to search for a way out, but I was prevented from doing so. Looking down, I realized my wrists were shackled to the floor by thick metal chains, allowing me only enough room to kneel... and also that I wascompletelynaked. Naturally, I freaked the fuck out and struggled against my restraints. They rattled as I yanked and cursed, finding that they were deeply secured to the floor. While I continued to fight my binds, a deep, sinister chuckle echoed right outside the flaming ring. I froze in place, eyes wide with terror.
“My sweet little Buttercup,” a man devilishly purred while emerging from the shadows and into view.
Oh my fucking god...
My blood ran ice cold and my breath froze in my lungs. The being before me had me questioning whether or not this could be reality. The frantic pounding in my chest seemed to drown out all other noise as I stared at the otherworldly sight in utter shock. He looked exactly like that weirdo I had met earlier at the library; however, he now appeared as a diabolical visitant.
His powerful frame was taller, sinewed with muscle that looked carved by centuries of battle rather than the modern world. Two black horns twisted from his head, flicking up at the tips. The same long dark hair now cascaded down his back, flowing between two massive dragon-like wings with spiky horns jutting from the joints and tips.Those beautiful golden eyes I’d admired back at the library were now glowing like two enchanted embers ready to hypnotize unsuspecting victims with their beauty.
Everything about him was forbidding, even his tattoos.Across his broad chest was a black sun burning in an eternal eclipse. Its rays were jagged, dripping downward in rivulets of void-black ink that branched across his ribs and wrapped like thorned roots around his back and hips. The sun’s center was hollow, but within that emptiness, the negative space took the shape of an open maw. Jagged teeth were layered in rings, like something from the forgotten deep.
The tattoos moved with the contours of his body, alive in their stillness. Just beneath his jawline, I got a full view of the horned skull that snarled on his throat. Its jagged teeth were gnashing as if ready to tear into its enemies flesh. Its horns curled downward toward his collarbones, splitting into spiked tendrils that wrapped around his trapezius muscles like twisted vines. Coiling slightly over his right pectoral and down his right arm was a seven-eyed serpent. Each eye was different as they peered from along the serpent's spine, seeming to watch me even when he did not. One was like a goat’s, one like a cat’s, one entirely black and cracked like glass, and so on. Its body was a maze of demonic runes, winding around itself in impossible ways, the tail vanishing into his forearm.
Another intricate tattoo webbed down from his left shoulder and along his bicep.This tattoo looked carved more than drawn. Each line was deep and layered, almost textured like a raised scar. It looked as if someone had injected black ink straight into his veins. It menacingly twisted over some of his other tattoos like an invasive vine, all of which were also black and depicted occult symbols and images of death.
Slowly, he stepped toward me, the dim flames flickering all around his nude, muscled body. They licked at his skin but did not burn him as though the fire itself was worshiping his unholy magnificence. Flickering shadows accentuated each sensual ridge and plane of his powerful figure, moving to highlight a new area with each menacing step he took. He held an upside-down skull in one hand and his massive erect cock in the other. His infernal eyes gazed down upon me with both burning lust and dark malice. I stared back up at him in terror, the tension between us seeming to form some sort of unseen cord pulling us together.
Is this the moment I die?
I wanted to scream and tried to back away, but the restraints held me in place. He ominously crouched down in front of me, the licentious glint in his gaze betraying his emotionless expression. I felt small and helpless as his strong, inked thighs flexed on either side of me. It was then that my eyes fell to the abominable appendage between his legs—I nearly died on the spot. Black bumps and ridges adorned the underside and base, adding to its massive, foreboding presence. The tattoos on his hips extended along the sides of it like sharp striations of black mist curving around the impressive girth.
Oh, snap-dang! That’s no ordinary dick!
My breathing became strained and uneven while a long black claw leisurely trailed up from my collarbone, across my jawline, and to the bottom of my chin. Then he grabbed my face with his large, tattooed hand and forcefully tilted my head back.
“Open your mouth,” he commanded darkly.
