Page 85 of Unbinding the Demon
I peered over at the flickering flames in the fireplace for a minute as I tried to process everything. I had literally been living in an old abandoned house occupied by a murderous demon that had just been on a violent killing spree. And now I was being hunted down by an evil wizard priest and his cannibalistic horde of zombies.How has my life turned into the script for a rudimentary horror film in less than a day?
I sighed, dreading my next question, but I had to ask it. “What’s the deal with the scar on my neck?” My voice was distant and my gaze stayed on the fire. Azathoth squeezed my hands, then let go. He stood up and began picking a few books off the floor. “Um, what are you doing?” I eyed him with nervous suspicion.
“I’m just getting some books ready for you to throw. You’re not going to be happy with what I’m about to tell you.” He opened one of the books and took a quick glance at it. “Asmodeus has three heads... and the feet of a chicken? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. He’s even hotter than I am, and a king no less. What kind of blasphemous cunts wrote this shit?” he grumbled to himself with irritation, then handed me the book. “Aim for the fire when you throw this one. It’s full of rubbish.” He sat back down and placed the small pile of books he’d gathered next to me.
I traced my fingers over the glossy black cover of the book he’d handed me. It was small and titled,The Goetia.“Am I really going to be that upset about the bite mark?” I furrowed my brows and kept my eyes on the book.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I hope not, but I think you will be.” He gazed over at me with a penitent look in his eyes. “It’s not just a bite mark. It’s a claim.”
My head snapped up.“What do you mean a cla—?”
He pressed his finger against my mouth to silence me. “Shh,let me finish.” He removed his finger and grabbed my hand. “It’s the first of three steps for an infernal matrimony. When I bit you, I quite literally claimed you as mine. However, without the second step, the wound would have healed and faded normally.
I placed the book in my lap and narrowed my eyes. “So, why the hell did it heal so quickly the second time you bit me, then?”
An apprehensive look crossed his face. “Because I realized I loved you, and I didn’t want my claim to fade.” He took a deep breath. “So I used my blood to draw an inverted pentagram over your heart center while under a dark moon and then had you drink my blood, all while my cock was inside you. Then you verbally proclaimed that you belonged to me, completing the second step. That’s why it’s now so much more pleasurable when I touch or bite it, and why it healed so quickly the second time.” He gave me a soft, shameful smile, resembling a guilty child who'd been caught stealing cookies.
What the fuck.
My mouth fell agape. “Wait, so let me get this straight.” I held my hand up. “You didn’t even love me when you‘claimed’me!? And that’s what we were really doing in the graveyard!? Some weird, clandestine infernal matrimony thing!?” I threw The Goetia into the fire, and my anger grew as I watched the pages combust.
He shrugged as he watched the book burn with an air of indifference. “Honestly, I wanted to claim you the very first time we slept together. I don’t know if you noticed how much I would gnash my teeth and graze them along your throat, but it took a lot of effort not to sink my fangs into you each time. And yes, I claimed you before I was in love with you. I lost control of myself, but figured it’d be fine because at the time I planned to let the mark fade.” He looked me dead in the eyes. “But that plan changed.”
“So, am I understanding this correctly? You secretly half-married me!?” I held my palms up and shook my head, with a downright dumbfounded expression.
He tapped his chin, pretending to think, then pointed his finger up while speaking. “Yes, that’s a perfect way to put it. Only, we’re more like two-thirds married now, I suppose.” He grinned and handed me another book to throw.
I snatched the book from his hand, then smacked him over the head with it. “Is there a way to get two-thirds divorced!?”
My assault seemed to have no effect on him, which was quite irritating. “No, we would have to wait for the claim to fade, which will take a very long time since we’ve already completed the second step.” He pushed me onto my back and loomed over my body, with his menacing face just above mine. “But I don’t want to let that happen. Like I said earlier, I want you to come back to Hell with me and be my bride.” A wicked grin stretched across his handsome face, but his ethereal eyes beamed with endearment and devotion.
This psychotic motherfucker.
I glared up at him. “Well, before we go and order ourselves a three-tier wedding cake, why don’t we deal with the elephant in the room? And by elephant, I mean you, you gargantuan slab of demonic muscle, and why you killed my aunt.” My words came out harsh and hateful.
Azathoth’s face turned somber in an instant, and he sat back up with slow, deliberate movements. “Alright, but just know it wasn’t pleasant. I wish I could tell you she hadn’t suffered, but she did.” Remorse filled his eyes as he shifted them from me to the fire.
“I need to know,” I said softly as I sat back up. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I stared at the warmly illuminated, stoic profile of my aunt’s killer, the “man” I had fallen in love with.
He ran a hand through his long hair and twiddled the end of a strand between his fingers, then he spoke in a low voice. He explained that he thought he would never escape The Abyss, and how shocking it was to be suddenly pulled out and thrown into the modern world. He explained about my aunt chanting the unbinding spell, and Adelstein stabbing him in the shoulder with a poisoned dagger. He knitted his brows, recalling how the poison had made him dizzy and disoriented. He didn’t realize his wing had struck her until the commotion died down and he removed the dagger. Once he could see straight again, he worried Belzar wouldn’t escape The Abyss. Belzar's soul was apparently somehow connected to his, so the summoning brought him into this world too. He didn’t notice her dying figure until after Belzar had arrived.
He said she mentioned his name and something else. But he didn’t understand English at that time, so he wasn’t sure what her last words were. Tears streamed down my face as he described how he cradled her hand at the moment of her death. I placed my trembling hands over my face and began crying my eyes out. His large arms enveloped me in a comforting embrace, and we lingered in that moment for a long time.
My sobbing eventually quieted down, and I traced the black veiny design on his shoulder with my finger. “So this isn’t one of your tattoos, then, is it?”
He looked down at me and ran his hand through my hair, his touch warm and soothing. “No, it’s the poison.”
My gaze shifted over to the fire as a fresh wave of anger crashed over me. I was angry because I had wanted to hate Azathoth for what he had done. But I couldn’t after hearing his story. Yes, he had killed my aunt, but it wasn’t his fault.It was Adelstein’s fault. I seethed at the thought of that vile, corrupt man and began to throw the rest of the books into the fire with resentment.
Azathoth watched me with an anxious look in his eyes. “Are you all right?” he asked with uncertainty while I hurled the last book into the flames, watching the curling pages turn ash gray and black as they burned in the bright orange flames.
I sighed, with tears still streaming down my cheeks. “Look, I’m ticked off about all that devious infernal matrimony stuff. And I’m still not sure how I feel about performing the mysterious, hocus pocus unbinding spell for you.” I sighed. “But I don’t blame you for my aunt’s death anymore. I’m willing to let the pages of the past burn, and I forgive you.”
A loving smile lit up his face. I let out a little“Oof”as he pulled me into a big, tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered, and kissed the top of my head.
Once he released his tight, strangling hold on me, I leaned into him and rested the side of my face on his hard chest. He cradled me and caressed my back with endearment as we shared a quiet moment, gazing into the crackling flames together.
36. Distant Memories
