THE DEMONS

But I got smarter,
I got harder in the nick of time
Honey, I rose up from the dead,
I do it all the time

***

CHAPTER XV

*****

THE NEXT DAY, I found myself sat outside with Teo on my lap. I was well aware of the fact that he had nothing to do with his time and no toys to play with, so I made sure to always be with him so he wouldn't get bored and get into trouble.

I wasn't a big fan of running around in the backyard, but I did so anyway, engaging him in a game of catch until we had both got tired and decided to take a short breath. Now I was sitting under the hot sun with him resting his head on my chest like he usually did.

The sound of loud footsteps had caught my attention and I turned just in time to catch a large, burly man making his way towards us. He was adorned in a black turtle neck and black pants and shoes with a shiny, bald head to top off the look.

Even though I was sure I had no business with him, his eyes were focused intently on me and I found worry begin to eat at me. In that single minute, I had made note of all possible ways I could get out of the situation if anything went south before resuming my 'relaxed' position albeit much more alert this time.

I had fully expected him to walk past us and pin my worry down to paranoia, but he had stopped right behind me and waited patiently until I turned around and gave him my attention.

“Boss is requesting your presence.”

I squinted up at him, the blank look on my face slipping to make way for a confused one. “Me?” I asked foolishly as I pointed to myself.

“Yes, ma'am.” He didn't seem to be judging me nearly as harsh as I was judging myself, but that revelation still wasn't enough to make me stop. “He says you should not bring the child with you.”

I further narrowed my eyes, my lips falling into a thin line. “Then who do I leave Mateo with?” It was like I trusted nobody in this house to take care of him.

At the sound of his name, Teo raised his head and looked up at me before looking up at the guard in fascination. The man seemed to have melted at the sight of Teo despite his cold front and opened his mouth to say something when a third voice joined the conversation.

“Leave him with me.”

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the sight of Celeste strutting her way over to us. She looked glamorous as per usual, in her loose black romper and her red hair tied high into a loose, but elegant looking bun. She had gone with light, natural makeup but her lips was still smeared in her signature blood red colour.

I couldn't help but stare at her in doubt as I got up and balanced Teo against my hip. Celeste didn't seem like the type that was particularly good with children. She didn't seem like she liked them at all.

“Don't look at me like that,” she scoffed before eyeing him on my hip. Teo didn't seem to have any particular issue with her and even smiled widely in her presence. “I'm not doing this willingly. Daniel forced me.”

“Oh,” I muttered, wanting to hide the fact that her words made me feel somewhat better. At least I didn't have to worry about any ill-intent from her since she didn't actually want to be near Teo, if that made any sense. “Okay.”

I peeled Mateo away from my side, not missing the way he giggled and reached out to Celeste who had taken a small step back. She extended her hands as far away from her body as she could and wrapped them around Mateo's torso, holding him up in the air as I stepped back and let her carry him.

He giggled again, reaching for her but she only stayed rooted to her spot, staring at him as if he was an alien that had just landed on earth.

“Okay,” she said quickly, placing him down onto his feet after looking like she was trying to force herself to hold him. “I'll watch him but I won't carry him.”

“You don't have to,” I smiled at her, but I doubt it did anything to reassure her.

She watched the boy run in circles around her legs for a couple more seconds before she looked back at me. “He doesn't bite, does he?”

A part of me found it so hard to believe that Celeste, a full-grown woman, was afraid of a small child, but a different part of me realised that I also probably wouldn't even like Teo if he wasn't my son. As much as I loved the boy, he could be an annoyance when he wanted to.

“He barely has teeth,” I answered, watching the way she nodded but still kept a nervous eye on him. With a sigh, I turned back to the guard who looked as if he was surpressing a laugh and gestured forward sarcastically. “Lead the way.”

The guard had no qualms and quietly began to walk in the direction he probably wanted me to go. He led me down a few familiar hallways to a set of stairs I knew led down to the basement. I wanted to ask why, but I decided to keep the question to myself since it seemed that I would be getting the answer soon anyway.

Why rush the process?

The basement was a large, open space with not a lot of things in it. The walls were made of brick that hadn't been painted or plastered and the walls were a grey cement. Due to a lack of insulation, it seemed to be the only room in the house that was cold and stayed cold without the need of air conditioning.

It used to be the old laundry room, but after the washing machines and dryers were relocated to a room upstairs, it stayed relatively empty. Unless, of course, you were trying to hide something. I wasn't entirely sure, but I heard rumours that this was the place that some of the workers used to get together while on the job. Considering who I used to work with, I wasn't going to put it past some people.

The guard led me towards a large bookshelf that stood a few feet away from the adjoining wall. Taking me by surprise, he had walked around the bookshelf and revealed a large wooden door that I had no idea existed.

I stared in awe as he pulled it open and revealed a long hallway. How had I never noticed that it existed?

We continued down the hall quietly before he turned a corner and I followed. We were met with a familiar looking place that instantly brought memories back to me.

The little torture room that Daniel kept under the house. Right down the hallway, I could see the stairs that led up to the garage.

It didn't take long to find Daniel from there. His back was to us as he faced his attention to the man that was sitting, groaning in a chair he seemed to be tied down to. At first I questioned why he wanted me here, but the answer came later once I realised who his victim was.

Jacob.

He looked worse than I remembered. His left eye was purple and almost swollen shut while a large, red bruise was forming on his right cheek. Several gashes and superficial cuts decorated his face with most of them appearing on his forehead and cheek.

I looked away from the deteriorating man and instead took in my surroundings. It was the same room as always. The same four walls with a single light bulb in the middle of the ceiling casting a warm yellow glow onto us. Behind Jacob was a table with different tools ranging from knives to saws to pliers to mystery liquids that I knew better than to stick my finger in.

No doubt things Daniel fully intended on using on him. There was a man at every corner, but they weren't like Daniel's usual men. These ones resembled soldiers with bulletproof vests and a stoic posture. They kept their eyes trained on one place without wavering even when made aware of my presence and in their hands were large intimidating guns that looked like it could blow your head off in a single blow.

“You took your time,” Daniel commented, drawing my attention from one of his guards to him instead. He was in a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt with an unknown necklace tucked into the neckline.

His words were directed to the guard who had brought me here. The man had only nodded his head at him in apology before taking a step back. “I'm sorry, boss.”

Daniel seemed to care not for his apology and instead turned his attention back to Jacob sitting in the chair. He twirled the silver blade that I hadn't originally taken note of in his hands as he spoke. “I'll ask again since I'm in a good mood,” he said, sounding like he was about to start laughing even though I could tell he was nowhere near humoured. “Who sent you?”

“I don't know!” Jacob cried out, desperation clear in his voice. “Someone came to my office and paid me. I didn't want to do it, but he threatened my family!”

“You didn't want to do it...” Daniel repeated, his voice coming out calm. “Yet you didn't think to come to me?”

Jacob fell silent, finding himself caught up in his own lie. He looked around his surroundings before his eyes settled on me and something near dread filled them.

Daniel, noticing the change in Jacob's demeanour, turned around to smile at me. As per usual, he didn't hesitate to show the blatant humour he derived from the fucked up situation. Without another word said, he extended his hand out and gestured for me to come to him.

I looked to the guard beside me, as if asking him if it was really safe before taking a small step towards him. I had counted down the seconds, wanting to prolong it for as long as I could, but before I knew it, my hand was slipping into his like a piece to a puzzle and a warm feeling had filled my stomach at the contact.

Daniel's hand wrapped around my own and squeezed before he used it as a way to pull me closer to him with no resistance on my part.

“Aww,” Jacob cooed with a high level of sarcasm, his voice being the thing to break me away from staring at our joined hands. “Aren't you two just the cutest couple.”

“I could say the same about you and Sadie,” I bit quickly, making him remember the woman that he was never going to return to and scowl.

He glared hard at us, specifically at our hands before rolling his eyes and looking away. “Fuck you.”

“Be nice, Jake,” Daniel teased, tugging on my hand again. “She decides the way you die today.”

“I can kill him?” I asked, looking up at him with wide eyes as he nodded, not breaking away from his staring contest with Jacob.

“Si, Cariña,” he replied, completely unaware of the effect his words had on me. “El es todo tuyo.”

I watched Daniel for a couple more seconds, letting my eyes scan over his features again before turning back to Jacob. Staring at him, it was hard not to think about what had transpired two years ago. Just being right in front of him, watching his smirking face was such a big trigger for me.

As I slipped my hand out of Daniel's and began walking towards him, I couldn't help but feel like I was walking on a tightrope. Like the small piece of thread I was balancing on was my sanity, and if I fell, that would be me giving into the demons lurking in the back of my mind. The anxiety and paranoia and the panic.

My heart beat faster in my chest. I didn't think I'd be able to survive the panic.

Jacob stared up at me, the fear in his eyes hard to miss yet there was something else there. Confidence or superiority maybe? He still believed that he was better than I was.

“Why did you do it?” I asked, my voice coming out croaky and thick with emotion.

I would've given everything just to be stronger than he was in the situation, but by the way he smirked up at me with that superior, cocky look in his eyes, I knew I was letting my fear of him slip. I was being illogical. I knew what happened back then wasn't going to happen again, yet a part of me believed that maybe it would.

“Why wouldn't I do it, sweetheart?” he asked, shrugging. “Look at the check I was offered and tell me you wouldn't do it too.”

I hummed at his words, acknowledging them but not responding because he didn't deserve a response. I walked across the room, scanning my eyes over the table of tools as he continued to brag about how he was able to take his wife out to the Bahamas.

Of course, I heard nothing of what he was saying. I was too busy dangling from the single, thin thread of sanity I had left within me. But as I started contemplating what weapon to use, I realised that that sanity was probably already gone. The thread had snapped a long time ago.

And now he had to face whatever was left of me.

I didn't know what was happening in my head, but I knew I had never experienced it before.

Killing had never been something easy for me. It was always contemplated and happened in the spur of the moment and then proceeded to haunt me for the next few months. With Jacob though, I just wanted to kill him. I was blood-thirsty, but what scared me the most was the fact that I was no longer emotionally present.

And when I wasn't emotionally present, I was capable of all kinds of things.

I didn't realise when the room had gone silent because I was so out of it, but once I did I stopped and took in my surroundings again. Not because I wanted to. Only because I wanted to savour the moment. I wanted the taste of death on my tongue to last as long as I could stretch it for.

I wanted to enjoy it.

The guards were as stoic as ever and I briefly considered stabbing one of them just to know how they would react. I decided not to though. I was way too invested in Jacob and I wanted to save all my strength for him.

Daniel's eyes followed me, what looked to be concern shining in them but how could I know? I didn't know anything when it came to Daniel.

I hadn't realised when I reached Jacob again until I had bumped into the spine of the chair and was suddenly jolted out of my reverie. I seemed to be lost in thought a lot lately. I didn't like how I seemed to have little control over my body, but as long as I was killing him, I didn't really care either.

From behind him, I ran my hands along his collarbone, over his neck and along his jaw. I continued the same pattern, searching for the single artery that would end it all once it was severed.

Fortunately for me, death by slicing his neck meant he had a long few seconds to suffer. A long few seconds to savour his torture.

“Her hands are soft,” he observed, making it obvious he was referring to me as he jerked his head in my general direction. “You would know this.” But then he laughed. “Unless I'm closer to her than you've been in two years.”

I glanced at Daniel, taking note of his blank face as if he wasn't affected. But then my eyes zeroed in on the way his jaw clenched and his hands formed fists and then I knew he was.

Jacob had hit a nerve.

“I can bet a lot of men have been closer to her than you have. Felt her hands in a lot of places you haven't,” he laughed. Maybe if I wasn't so out of it, I would've been angry, but I found myself smiling instead, overjoyed at the simple fact that he was as good as dead. “Even better if she wasn't willing.”

I grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked it back, making him grit his teeth as I leaned down to speak into his ear. “Was it all worth it in the end?”

“What are you talking about, you psychotic bitch?”

I let out a humoured laugh and let my hand sift through his blond hair. “You made a pact with the devil, did you not?” His shoulders visibly relaxed as I ran my fingers through his hair, his body unable to hide the effect my touch had on him. “You got money and in exchange, he would take your life. Was it worth it?”

Jacob said nothing as his eyes fluttered close. Either in pleasure or in deep thought. I wanted to wait and hear his answer before I killed him, but then I also just wanted to get it done and over with. I wasn't going to get fear our of him until he was struggling to stay alive so I decided not to waste my time trying.

“I don't care really,” I muttered as I brought my other hand around his neck. The cold blade of the knife pressed against his skin and he jolted up, immediately becoming alert. “All I can do for you is pray, Jacob. Pray that God receives you and in your short life, you enjoyed it.” I added more pressure to the blade, feeling myself get high off the way his breath hitched and his heart beat faster in his chest. “But a deal is a deal. The devil wants your soul now and I'm here to give it to him.”

“They shouldn't call you venom,” he said, making me raise an eyebrow at his words. “Angel of Death seems more fitting.”

I smiled at the name and thought over it for a second, but shook my head after a moment. Angel of Death seemed to fit Daniel better.

Or maybe Daniel was the devil and I really was his angel of death that he sent out to lure people in and then kill them. Was this me delivering Jacob's soul to him?

I couldn't help but look up at him, my actions faltering once I realised that his eyes were already trained intently on me. I couldn't tell how he was feeling, but the concern from earlier was long gone.

In fact, he almost seemed... proud.

I tilted my head to the side before letting out a shaky breath and focusing back on my task. Daniel wasn't important right now. I wanted to kill Jacob because I believed that he had to die. Not because Daniel wanted me to.

Right?

I hated being confused. I didn't know how I was feeling and that directly translated to anger so without a moment's notice, I had brought the blade across his neck and left a deep gash in his throat. One that was sure to kill.

Blood had squirt out from the cut onto my hand and dripped onto his shirt and pants as he began to struggle for his life. Silently, I stood behind him, watching him die and I waited.

I waited for the moment when the satisfaction would set in. Waited for the anger to dissipate from my body so I could relax. Waited for the moment where I would feel like my suffering had finally been avenged.

Yet nothing came.

I was still angry, still upset, still bitter, still confused. Still waiting for the moment where all I would feel would be relief. Then the realisation had set in. The one thing that I had feared the most ever since I had taken my first life. Like a warning in my head, the words painted in blood flashed through my mind. That it wasn't enough.

I needed more. I needed another life to feel satisfied. I needed to prolong his death and truly bask in it, but looking down at his convulsing body, I realised that it was too late. Even if we were to try and save him now, he wouldn't make it.

Jacob was as good as dead and finally, after taking a life, I was upset about it. Only because his suffering didn't last long enough.

“Fuck,” I cursed, throwing the stained knife onto the cemented floor before taking a step back.

I could hear the demons in my head hissing for more blood, beating me up because I didn't make it hurt enough. I didn't make him hurt the way I had hurt.

“Fuck me, ouch,” I muttered, holding a hand to my head as the onset of a headache hit me harder than a jackhammer.

Something was very wrong with me. While a part of me felt bad as I always did for killing someone, a bigger, much more powerful part of me felt bad because it just hadn't been enough. And that scared me.

“Cut off his head and send it to his wife,” Daniel ordered, drawing me out of my own troubling thoughts as I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings again. “She can decide what to do with the rest of the body,” he said, gesturing with his head to me.

The men in the room all turned to me, awaiting my command in patient silence. It felt like I had finally returned, whoever that person was now gone as I looked at the scene I had created and the life I had taken.

Blood was everywhere. Yet I felt nothing.

“Stew his body in diesel,” I ordered before walking out of the room after Daniel because I had questions he needed to answer.

*****

The quotes up top are from Taylor Swift's song Look What You Made Me Do. I didn't want to add it to the media section because I don't feel like the song fits the chapter, but the quote kind of does.

If you think Araceli is bad ass in this chapter, wait until you read the next one lmao and then maybe the one after that. God, I can't wait for yall to get like a proper full chapter just dedicated to Daniel because the shit you'll learn about him...

I don't want to give away too much though.

Anyway, I'm reaching that stage in my life where I'm realising that I can make of the world whatever I want of it and I'm the only one responsible for my decision and... it's been hard. I had a mental breakdown just thinking about my future yesterday and shit. Scary af.

It's not only been yesterday, it's been like the whole month. I was only in school three days last week and I'm hella confused but I just smile and nod chile.

Anyways, lemme leave yall.