Inner Demons Pt. 2
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For the next several days, neither saw much of the other. Marcus steered clear, and River didn’t impose, letting him have his distance.
This new-found consideration wasn’t something Marcus was used to. If any of his colleagues knew he’d picked to spare the girl by choosing not to corrupt her, well, let’s just say he’d be out a job.
When being in the same house became too much, Marcus started taking trips to the city, immersing himself in the work that normally filled him with a great sense of satisfaction. But staring out his large office window, the bright lights of Londinium filling his vision, he was distracted, itching for the one thing he denied himself.
Marcus looked at the clock, automatically calculating the time in Bellerophon. It was approximately 1600 hours there. He imagined that River was swimming in the pool as she often did in the golden afternoons, floating still and silent as death. Puzzled by the routine, he had asked her once what she was trying to achieve, and she had simply answered, “It’s quiet.”
He wanted to be with her now, hear her talk about random things, her perspective never dull. He wouldn’t even mind if she teased him in that way she did. It had become almost endearing, much like everything else he originally found trying about her.
Pulling out her file for the hundredth time, Marcus read through it, trying to understand this creature who enraptured him so. Maybe if he could figure her out, she could be simplified and discarded along with the rest. There was always a way around these things.
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Back on the island, there was a scratching sound somewhere in the distance, pulling River awake. Opening her eyes, she blinked and listened for the sound, but only heard the light blowing of the wind as she stared up at the dim ceiling.
The atmosphere felt chilly, and the light from the moon cast her room in an ethereal hue. Turning her head towards the cool air, she noticed that the blue-glow was brighter just beyond the billowing curtains.
She watched as they blew freely, rising and falling along with the gusts. It was a gentle dance that was almost hypnotizing. It suddenly came to her that there was nothing separating her from the open air and balcony beyond.
River carefully crawled from her bed to shut the glass door. Every night was like this, waking to a fierce chill because she couldn’t seem to remember to lock up. As she slid the door closed, the room became still, warming instantly.
Then she heard it again. A clicking sound. It was louder this time. She tried to place it among the noises she’d grown accustomed to, the creaks of the settling house, but it belonged nowhere.
Click, click, click. It was advancing, drawing nearer. River froze in terror, unable to rationalize the noise. There was a pattern to the clicks, sets of four repeated. Then they ceased abruptly, right outside her door.
River slowly backed into the far corner of the room, a feeling of dread knotting in her stomach, causing her skin to tighten, every molecule aware. Except, she did want to know. Her back hit a hard surface and she slumped down, shutting her eyes and mind, refusing to reach out and determine the source.
The door handle rattled, jerking her back to reality. As River watched the long lever turn, she tried to shrink further into the wall, digging her heals into the ground and pushing futilely against the unmoving mass. The door creaked as it was pushed open, the sound long and drawn out, propelling her anxiety further.
“I’m sleeping. REM. A flight of the imagination. I’m not right and this is not real.” River whispered the words internally as a hulking figure emerged from the dark hall, sniffing like something wild.
The clicking was sharp now, and River realized with horror that the sound was from its claws tapping hard against the floor as it walked. There was a smell, like something rotting, something that had died ages ago.
Then she saw it and it her, its blazing yellow eyes still and unblinking. Its skin was dark, and it was larger than a man, hunched, with clawed hands dangling at the end of abnormally long arms. One swipe from those blades would cause insurmountable damage.
A wave of nausea washed over her as it inched closer, stalking sideways as if trying to figure out the best angle in which to pounce. Her heart was pounding, blood racing and for all the times she wished she was dead, she had never wanted to live more.
A whimper escaped past her trembling lips. “Please. Don’t.”
The creature cocked its head, and she swore it grinned at her, its long, skinny teeth looking razor sharp. River swallowed thickly, this was it.
In a flash, it was upon her, pinning her small body to the ground. Her head smacked the floor hard, causing everything to become unfocused. As she tried to thrash, fight the useless fight, she found she couldn’t move under its tremendous weight. The air had left her lungs, and she was certain she was being crushed.
A sharp pain stabbed her thigh, and she cried out, everything a blur. Its hind claw had pierced her leg, sinking in deep and hitting bone. The pain was so unbearable, she now hoped the thing would be quick, show her mercy before it devoured her whole.
Then she felt a sudden weightlessness, and for a split second imagined she was gone, it was over…until she heard the creature let out a guttural cry as it hit the opposite wall with a thunderous crash, causing the room to shudder violently.
River scampered up blindly, straining through the haze. The room was dim, and her vision swirled. But there it was, the familiar outline of Marcus, squaring off with the thing that had already risen to full height.
It shrunk back defensively, crouching to all fours, and snarled viciously at Marcus who stood impassive, simply waiting, a game. The thing grew easily impatient and leapt up. Marcus raised his arm, batting it down with the back of his fist in one swift motion.
Hitting the floor with a bone crunching sound, it faltered a moment before scrambling up and striking again. This time, its face connected with the end of Marcus’ foot as he lashed out, its teeth shattering as its head snapped back. Blood oozed everywhere, making the insistent thing slip on its own fluids.
Marcus reached down, grabbing the creature by the neck. It flailed, shredding the arm it was held by with its razor sharp claws. But Marcus flinched not.
He said something to it in a language River didn’t understand, and then dropped the damaged thing to the ground where it scampered off like a dog, running out of the room and leaving behind a thick trail of blood.
Marcus shot River a look, and then turned, leaving her behind to follow the creature.
Trying to stand on shaky legs, River used the wall for support, wavering a moment before moving forward. The pain in her injured leg was an afterthought as she followed the slippery trail. Then slowly, the feeling began to return, every step causing her to wince in agony as she trekked through the large house, down the hall, up some stairs and through another corridor until she reached a circular room.
Marcus was standing across the room with his back towards her, facing an open door and looking down at something just beyond. Instantly, River knew that this was all her fault. Her heart stuttered faster with a mixture of guilt, fear and apprehension.
Wind screamed out the narrow opening, blowing a torrent of icy air into the room. River’s hair whipped around her, her scant nightgown plastered to her flesh by the velocity as she stepped closer, peering down into the black cavern situated impossibly in the middle of the mansion; through the very door that she had opened hours before.
Slamming the entry shut, Marcus muttered something and turned to face River, his eyes shouting at her before his words could. How could she do something so stupid? Opening a portal to another dimension, one that happened to be filled with carnivorous demons. She was lucky only one had found the opening. These types usually traveled in packs.
As Marcus looked River up and down, taking in her tattered gown, the blood streaking down her leg, he had never felt so furious. She had been inches away from death. If he hadn’t come when he did… if he hadn’t been missing her, he corrected, everything would have been lost.
River opened her mouth to speak, to apologize, but found she couldn’t. The room was spinning faster and faster and there was a distant high-pitched laughter that grew more shrill. Marcus faded in and out as River wavered, as she desperately tried to focus on him, fight the thing that was sucking her back inside herself, but there was no strength left, and in an instant, everything went black.
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When River woke next, it took her a moment to place herself. She was in a large bed, soft and lavish, not her own. Struggling to sit up, she still felt woozy and drained. The arms she pushed herself up with bowed against the effort, but she managed, plopping back against the pillows and headboard, breathing heavily from the effort.
It was quiet and still very dark, but she could feel she wasn’t alone. His presence was always grand whether he was asleep or not. Turning her head to the right, she found that Marcus was in fact slumbering, lying flat on his back next to her, bare down to where the sheet came up to his navel.
He was so still, it was unnerving.
The image of that thing lingered in her recent memory, but at least the stench was gone and she felt clean. River lifted a hand to her hair, the locks still slightly damp, and realized he must have bathed her during her sleep. Looking down, she found she had been redressed in a nightgown, one not shredded and drenched in blood.
Moving her right leg, River grimaced. The ache was dull and raw as she heaved it up, the sheet falling away. She pulled back the silky material of her nightdress to reveal a large bandage covering her injury. Lightly, she ran her fingers over the thick layers which covered a good part of her thigh, noticing a faint outline of red seeping through. He had done this too. Fixed her up and put her back together again.
Looking back over to the large form next to her, River was filled with a sense of warmth, and despite everything or maybe because of it, she couldn’t help but love him.
Scooting the short distance, River ignored the pain and sunk down into Marcus arms, where she carefully fit her body alongside of his, nestling her head onto his chest. She felt him stir beneath her, so she held on, anchoring herself to his strength, never wanting to let go.
Tensing as she curled her fingers into his side, River waited for him to chuck her, reject her as he had weeks before. She knew he was awake, he always slept light, and she hoped against all hope to remain in his arms.
Marcus shifted and placed his large hand on the small of River’s back, where it lingered heavily before he smoothed it up over the silken material to the naked skin just below her shoulders. As he touched her, slow and deliberate, River had to remember to breathe.
Then he pulled her closer, caging her to him, his strength encompassing and the heat from his body sedating. A flood of relief washed over River, and she buried her face in Marcus’ skin, euphoric at finally having her affections reciprocated. Tears pricked out of the corners of her eyes, excess from the uncontained emotions she felt.
“I’m sorry.” River mumbled against him. She could taste her own salty tears as she pressed her lips against his skin, kissing him softly.
Marcus raised his other had to River’s hair, stroking it softly, and holding her as close as possible without crushing her. “Just Sleep.” He encouraged, reveling in how good their bodies felt together. He could feel her heart beating, fluttering and small but steady, and he supposed that was the way he preferred it.
TBC...
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Next: The Devil is in the Details