The Second Floor Ch. 04

I couldn't sleep. I could hear him scratching and panting, and moaning for me. I pushed my dresser against my door and lay quietly, hoping he'd stop. Heavy steps paced the hall outside my door, nails raked against it, and he moaned my name in an incredibly seductive tone. Had I been face to face with him, I probably would've given in. It sounded like he was dragging knives against my door as he called, begged, and even ordered me to come out.

"I'll be gentle," He said softly, something pained in his tone.

He isn't giving up.. I doubt my door is going to hold up to him...

I snatched my phone from my nightstand and used it's weak, grey lighting to search around for the book. Then, to skim through it. There had to be something to get him to leave me alone. Feeding habits, wake and sleep cycle, development and regression, summoning and rituals, runes and significant symbols; That sounds about right. I flipped through pages of crudely sketched symbols and breezed over their purposes, nothing useful. Then, I saw a symbol that stood out and briefed over it's uses and effects on demons.

My door groaned on it's hinges against his weight.

"Cadence," His voice was an irritated wisp of breath. "I need you. You can't ignore me."

"Yes, I can." I spat before I thought twice.

An angry thump and a groan from him and the door. I'm so glad I replaced that thing with a solid wood door. I dug around my room hurriedly, found a pair of scissors, and scratched the rune into the door. I felt a wave of heat come off the door and then it was like it exploded. I was lying on my side trying to shake myself back to conscious thought and heard scrambling around on the floor, he was making animalistic sounds, nails scraping against the wood, and then a weak whimper.

I cautiously cracked my door open and peeked out. He was lying on his side shaking and jerking like he had before, his strong body looked frail, curled in pain and fear against the far wall of the hallway.

"Da?"

He flinched and tried to drag himself away, his now long, razor-sharp nails scoring into the hall floor and tail tucked against his legs. He whined softly, an unbearably animal sound, and refused to look at me.

"Are you alright?"

"Don't look at me.." He snarled as his shoulders heaved and buckled painfully, his tail whipping violently behind him as he snapped his teeth.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I said look away," He spat coldly as his horns pushed their way through his hair once again.

"No. I want to know what's going on," I insisted, considering offering him help and hesitating as I stared at his nails. Horrifyingly long, slender razors ripping curling strips of wood out of the floor.

"Get away from me."

"Why should I?" I didn't put as much confidence into the question as I'd hoped, but it was too late. He squirmed slightly and let out a tense sound, which could've been pain or pleasure.

"Please, don't look at me like this."

He turned his face slightly and I could barely see his eyes through his hair; black with golden, yellow irises. His teeth were barely visible, but I could see the sad shape of his mouth and color of his skin fading to an ill, ashy white. His body curled and he made a pitiful choking sound. I flicked on the light in the hall just as he twisted; crimson smearing against his cheek and the floor, sticking in the ends of his hair and beginning to pool by his mouth.

I reacted without considering the obvious danger of his claws and teeth, crouching and lifting his head into my lap. I brushed the hair away from his face and his eyes were locked on my face, lifeless and blackening around the edges. He didn't blush, but he looked away and shifted weakly.

"I wish you would stop. I don't want to hurt you." He said it like it hurt him to and I wondered what he was thinking about. Why would he be worried about hurting me? Didn't he live off of other people's suffering?

I petted his hair and he closed his eyes, he looked sorrowfully peaceful for an instant and then he shifted and turned further away from me.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't be near you. You smell good, but you're dangerous."

"How am I the dangerous one?" I asked, raising my eyebrows slightly.

He didn't answer for a moment.

"You're the one with the freaky powers, teeth and nails; and the tail.." I muttered defensively.

"You have the book." He said quietly.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"The runes in it are active. They burn me," He said, shifting away a bit; That's when I noticed him hiding his arm slightly.

"What do you mean? Are you alright?"

He shook his head and groaned softly.

"I've been hit multiple times. This last time, it hit my whole body."

"Good, then you won't grind on my door anymore."

He shook his head and sighed quietly.

"So, that really hurt you?" Another nod, more cautious. His defenses were down, but I couldn't tell how vulnerable he was. "Where are you bleeding from and what's wrong with your arm?"

"It's nothing. It's just a little burn and a headache," He said, weak yet dismissive.

He still wouldn't look at me and I started noticing how shifty he was, his tail seemed to give away most of his emotions. Switching anxiously and curling when a shot of pain was too much for him. I turned his face back towards me and felt a shiver go through his shoulders as his lips parted slightly, expecting me to kiss him maybe. His teeth were a bit more visible now, long and sharp almost like his claws. I wanted to see just how sharp they were and without thinking, opened his mouth and started studying the inside of it.

It looked oddly human, yet there were noticeable differences. Little hard spots on his tongue and tiny pits in his gums, his teeth were like knives all crammed together and sharpened to terrifying points. The roof of his mouth had what looked like barbicels on the ridges going all the way to the back of his throat to his tonsils, then I noticed his breath wasn't warm. It was cold as if he had no body temperature.

I was so fascinated by his mouth, I hadn't noticed the terrified look he was giving me as I held him down gently and studied him. When I finally noticed his eyes, tinged with red and golden-yellow, he was shaking almost visibly with fear. I held him in place for a moment longer, just to see if he'd fight but he didn't.

"Sorry, I'm just really curious about you. Like how do you work? Are you like..."

"I'd like to rest a bit, if I may. I'm awfully hungry." He said softly.

"I thought you didn't like food cause you couldn't tas-" The desperation on his face when he looked up at me reminded me of what he meant and made me wonder how much he needed to feed to be satisfied. "Why don't you go feed then?"

"I can't leave without your permission, you're my master until you break the circle."

"You have my permission. Don't lay here and be miserable because I'm an idiot."

His face softened and he gently petted my hair.

"You aren't an idiot. You just don't know," He said calmly. "I could've said something. I should've, but I didn't. That's my fault, not yours."

He closed his eyes and turned into my lap slightly, beautifully dangerous and oddly at peace. For an instant I imagined him being a snow leopard or a lion with a fluffy black mane, the air of danger seemed similar but he looked more dog-like. Maybe a wolf or something like that, a jackal or coyote.

He cracked the one eye I could see, just enough for me to see a sliver of his golden iris, and then rolled it back before closing it once again.

"Hey, sleepy, would you like to sleep in a bed?"

His eyes flashed open and darted to me.

"In a bed..?" Like it was strange or dangerous to him. His eyes flashed and he tried to sit up, wincing in pain before laying all the way back, his head leaned back and exposing his throat.

"Yeah, a bed." I repeated as I started looking at his jaw and neck, his adam's apple jutting up awkwardly from his smooth-muscled neck. I ran my fingers over a line formed by his muscles and he squirmed slightly.

"How often do you feed?" Wow, I sounded like a doctor asking a girl about her period.

He stopped moving, but didn't turn toward me. Anxious again.

"I'm just curious."

"I know. I honestly haven't been keeping track lately. Just every chance I get..." His body tensed and he shifted his legs a bit.

"Do you have a rough estimate or a time frame?"

"Maybe every two hours..."

"EVERY TWO HOURS?! What are you a horse?"

Now he looked at me and he looked ashamed of himself.

"I don't like doing it.. but it makes me feel," He paused for a moment. "Imagine if you were burned all over your body. You can take pain medicine, but every time you take it somebody has to lose a pint of blood."

"You don't have to explain yourself. I understand that you need it. I just didn't realize you needed it so often. Is that normal?"

"For me, I don't know about the others. It's not really something we talk about." Interesting.

"So, there are more Incubi around here?"

He looked apprehensive for a moment.

"Not exactly."

"Hmm, alright. Do you want to rest or go feed?"

He buried his face against my side and sighed softly.

"I'm too weak right now. I wouldn't mind staying with you."

I was about to say 'Oh, no you don't mister.', then I got an idea and decided to see what would happen.

"Alright, come on, let's get you to bed."