Page 89 of Unbinding the Demon
I furrowed my brows in confusion when I noticed an unsettling cadence of sibilant lamentations whispering in the warm breeze. Then my eyes widened in terror, as a high-pitched, sickly roar that reminded me of a cheesy dinosaur movie screeched eerily in the distance. “What the fuck!?” I scrambled up and latched my arms around Azathoth’s neck like a startled poltroon.
His arms wrapped around me, and he leaned his head back to look into my eyes with a sly, guilty grin. “Welcome to The Abyss, my love.” He gave me a swift peck on the cheek.
The Abyss!? Did he seriously just say The motherfucking Abyss!?
“What!?”
One of my now trembling hands latched onto the nape of his neck. The other gripped his back, slipping beneath his curtain of obsidian locks and in between where his wings protruded. In complete shock and horror, I timidly peered over his veiny shoulder at my strange surroundings.
We were sitting on a large rock on the edge of some ghoulish, forbidding forest. The towering trees were thick and ancient, standing gnarled and ghostly. Their barren branches twisted skyward, whispering secrets in what sounded almost like their own language. Undead, ashen corpses were imprisoned within their dark umber bark. It appeared as if the trunks had swallowed part of them whole and then grown around them. Their skin were different shades of gray, rotted, and papery. While their soulless eyes and gaping mouths looked like abyssal holes leading into the unknown. Skeletal, branch-like limbs extended out from them, grasping randomly into the darkness with their jagged clawed hands.
In the canopy above, long, drooping black vines swayed like shadows. Ethereal gossamer sheets hung mournfully from the branches. Together, they wove a veil of melancholy over the forest. A shadowy, unnatural fog slithered ominously along the slimy ground. It slithered through the gnarled embrace of sinister thorn bushes and sparse ancient weaponry woven into the protruding roots like whispers of death. Above, ghastly, undead bat-like creatures flitted among the twisted branches, screeching in the unyielding darkness.
Horror filled my soul as one of the tree corpses snatched a poor, unsuspecting bat creature right out of the air with its skeletal limb. Then it ravenously devoured it as the bat squeaked in agony; and then it fell silent. A nervous gulp caught in my throat. I turned my head away, seeking solace in the opposite direction.
There was a large, desolate valley. The ground was composed of ash and dark, jagged stones. Thorny black shrubs writhed and hissed as they jetted up from the dark crevices along the rocks. In the far distance, sharp, jagged mountains towered like a formidable row of thrawn spikes. Some sort of large, beastly creature flew in circles around the narrow peaks. There was no color other than shades of black and gray in that dismal direction. It felt as if I were in the world’s most terrifying black-and-white horror film.
What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck!
I didn’t want to believe it, but there was just no flippin’ way that this malignant, abysmal place was Earth! “No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening!” Panic struck like lightning as I clutched Azathoth’s horns. They became my makeshift handles as I tried to climb atop his head and shoulders, driven by pure terror. “Why are we here!?”
He chuckled while wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me down. “Shh, calm down. It’s alright.” My hands slipped from his horns as he placed me in a straddling position over his lap with his arms wound around my back. “We won’t be here long. I just need to acquire a special weapon, then we can leave. We’ll be home within a day or two. I promise.” His large, leathery wings folded around me in a protective embrace that actually made me feel a little safer.
“You just need a weapon!? Then why the goddamn fuck did you bring me along!? And don’t you think you should have at least woken me up before dragging me off to this godawful place!? A heads-up would have been nice!” I waved my arms in the air, unable to control my hysteria.
He shrugged as if it didn't matter. “I tried to wake you up, but you were so exhausted from yesterday’s escapades you wouldn’t even open your eyes.” His hand brushed a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “And why would I leave you back on Earth when a corrupted, enraged priest is out to kill you? Besides, I figured this would be fun... sort of like a romantic getaway.” A deep purring noise rumbled in his chest as he slowly ran his nose up the side of my neck.
“A romantic getaway?” I shrieked, while leaning away from his grinning face.“You seriously think this is ro-fucking-mantic!? We’re literally in The Abyss! This is not romantic at all! Now put me down!” I hastily spun around, then swatted his wings away while shimmying off him. “This is fucking bonkers!” I threw my hands up and grabbed my head in panic as I started freaking the fuck out and running around in small circles.“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!”My eyes darted wildly around as I rushed toward the shadowy tree line like a crazed, bouncing lunatic.
Ashen soil kicked up around my boots as I skidded to an abrupt halt. I froze in terror as I glimpsed amassive, walrus-sized, black, spidery creature scurrying into the foggy darkness. A loud, horrified noise that probably sounded similar to the distressed squawk of a chain-smoking chicken came out of me. Then I frantically rushed back over to Azathoth, practically leaping into his arms. “Never mind! Pick me up! Pick me up!”
He immediately swooped me up bridal style with a cocky grin. “Well, I suppose you’re right. Our surroundings aren’t all that romantic, but getting to hold you like this certainly is.” He lustfully growled, then licked my cheek like a lascivious freak. I wanted to come up with some kind of witty remark. To tell this diabolical douchebag to go fuck himself for bringing me here. But I was so terrified that I could only grasp his neck and stare into the accursed nightmarish forest with nervous eyes. “Alright, let’s go.” To my complete horror, he started to walk toward that very same accursed nightmarish forest with an air of indifference.
“Wait! Wait! Wait!”I freaked out in his arms while attempting to shake his shoulders with my trembling hands. He stopped and raised a brow as he gazed at me with his infernal eyes. “We’re not seriously going into that dangerous, terrifying-looking forest, are we!?” I pointed to the menacing line of corpse-ridden trees, a sense of distress sinking over my soul.
“Yes, we are,” he chuckled, then to my dismay, continued walking. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you and kill anything that comes near us. Believe me, this place may seem frightening, but you’re still safer here with me than back on Earth where Adelstein can find you.” He squeezed me tighter into his embrace, as if he were loving every minute of our proximity. “Besides, I know this place like the back of my hand and how to navigate it. I was here for five thousand years, after all.” I thought about what he said, and it did kind of make sense that this was the safer option for me.
Who would have guessed that there would come a day when being spontaneously dragged off to some otherworldly, nightmarish abyss by a murderous demon would be safer than staying at home and loafing on the couch with a plate of leftover tortellini?
Azathoth’s heavy boots crunched over small, slimy stones, decaying leaves, and little bony twigs as he traversed the tree line. Dying leaves softly fluttered to the ground around us, hinting that the season was likely autumn. My eyes shifted all over the place, following dark shadows that scuttled through the thick, swirling fog not too far from us. A few locks of his hair fell over his shoulder and onto me. I jumped in fright, thinking it might be some horrid creepy-crawly skittering over the exposed flesh of my arm.
With a sudden case of the heebie-jeebies, I began scanning my body for any malign insects that could be hitching a ride. My face twisted in confusion when I realized I was no longer wearing my pajamas. I had on a short black dress and my trusty, dusty ankle boots instead. “Um, did you change my clothes while I was asleep?”
“Oh, yes, I did. It’s far too warm here for sweatpants, and I didn’t want you to overheat. I even made sure you had a fresh pair of panties on, too.” He grinned and smacked my bum, causing me to bounce in his arms. I let out a little yelp, then averted my gaze while blushing. “You don’t need to blush about that, Buttercup,” he chuckled. “You and I both know I’ve seen more of your pussy than you have.”
Wow, way to make me blush even more.
I honestly didn’t know what to say to that because I didn’t know where I stood regarding our relationship anymore. Sure, I had forgiven him for killing my aunt. And after hearing the story about why he destroyed those cities, I couldn’t really hold that against him either. But the truth was, our relationship was built on a house of cards—lies and deception. The shaky foundation made me question if it was worth saving. If I should invest my heart again or let it go? Not only was the guy a perfidious demon, but he also wasn’t truly interested in me when we started dating, and that made me feel really shitty about myself. It made me want to go out and meet someone new. Someone who would want me the moment they laid eyes on me. However, now was not a good time to have that talk with him.
“Now, I have a few rules I need you to strictly follow, no matter what.” He pulled me out of my woebegone thoughts with his assertive statement. “First, never, ever leave my sight while we’re here. In fact, it would be best if you remained within a radius of ten feet of me. Got it?” He ducked beneath a large gossamer curtain that draped mournfully from a gnarled bough, catching some of the silken web within his horns.
“Yes,” I whispered while nodding my head. The forest grew darker and thicker as we wandered deeper into the labyrinth of carnivorous trees. I tightened my hold on his neck as my eyes darted around in paranoid fear.
He tightened one arm around me in return. Then he used his other hand to remove the sticky webbing from his horns. “The second rule is that you are not to touch anything, and I mean anything, not even a measly pebble. You must always assume that everything here is hostile unless I state otherwise.” He shook his hand, then wiped the silken strands off on his pants. “There are sentient things here that wouldn’t normally be sentient back on Earth, like these trees, for example.” He kicked one of the tree corpses right in the face, causing the dreadful thing to screech in pain. The sound was echoed and eerie, sending an icy shiver up my spine. “Or these vines.” One of his claws sliced a long, slimy black vine that dangled from a branch. It let out a sickening, sibilant hiss, then recoiled away from us.
As my gaze shifted from the vine, I glimpsed huge, spindly, rotting legs creeping out of the darkness, heading toward us from between the tree trunks. Six malevolent, milky eyes came into view as a massive, decaying black spider flashed its jagged fangs at us. Putrid saliva dripped from its mouth in thick strings as it let out an eldritch hiss.
Holy fuck! Holy fuck! Holy fuck!
