The Bane of Light

Taming

Three hours later,  Cesarie had returned with the requested materials, and quickly slipped out of my room, like a mouse scuttling between the walls of the castle.  Paris had collapsed on the rug near my bed, wrapped in my spare blankets and pillows. Only after I had ensured a pillow was tucked between his arms, in my place,  did I finally open the portal to the realm of night. I had downed the entirety of Cesarie's elixir, shuddering at the way the artificial energy felt against my bones. I could feel that it was fake, unfulfilling and nothing like true, natural energy. It would not provide me the energy I would fully need, so it was crucial that acted quick and efficiently. 

A brown bag was clenched in my white fists, shaking slightly alongside my body. The odor of raw meat was wafting up my nose, and had I not been used to the regular slaughter of demons, alongside Beastly's morning breath, I would have been hurling where I stood. I attempted to breathe through my mouth, though I was repulsed by the thought of the airborne germs wafting up to my mouth and into my system. Surely I would catch some diseases through the air particles. 

My entire body was tense, my shoulders hunched up as I slowly made my way through the realm, barefoot as to not raise any noise. The Chudovische was where I had last left it, bound and pressed to floor, whining in pain. My jaw was clenched so hard that I could not breathe. The beast, having sensed my presence, perked up, but was unable to look in my direction, since its head was restrained. I knew it smelt the meat in my hand, and nearly hurled in relief when I saw telltales signs of interest in the demon. It kept trying to turn to me, its tail not necessarily wagging, but thumping on the ground.

There had been nothing on the eating habits of the Chudovische in the book I had accessed in the library, so I only hoped it was the type of demon that could eat dead meat. I was thankful it wasn't the type that fed on spiritual energy, because I hardly had any to spare for myself. It would suck me dry where I stood. 

I quickly sat down crisscrossed on the floor, breathing heavy as I stared at the Chudovische a few feet away. I made sure I was in direct eyesight of it-- right infront of it's snout, since it seemed to rely on smell rather than eyesight. It was only natural for it, seeing it thrived in dark habitats and was nocturnal. I assumed it lived in caves underground, where little light reached, and where humans could not reach it. How on earth it managed to appear at our school was a true mystery. 

"Hello" I said to it quietly. It screeched back in reply, making me cringe at the high pitched noise.

"I can't release you. I don't trust you to behave. And you have a history of eating people" I tried to reason with it. The demon screeched again, its long legs attempting to push up against the binds holding it in place. They did not nudge. With a swish of my hand, I dissipated the one against Its head.

The Chudovische lifted its massive skull, looking up at me and releasing another screech, this one rattling the room around us. I cringed, and when it opened its mouth to release another wail, I quickly snapped my hand into a fist, making my shadows do the same thing with its jaw. The beast emitted low whines from its throat when it could no longer open its mouth.

"No screaming" I said quietly. The demon attempted to scramble up from its position again, to no avail. It collapsed back down, huffing, tilting its head at me. If it had any eyes, I would assume it was blinking at me.

"Good girl. Good. That's progress" I said softly, opening the crinkled, brown bag. I would kill Cesarie if the heavy meat fell through the bottom, and onto the floor of my realm.

The demon riled up at the meat wafting out the bag. I grabbed a chunk of meat, the size of my fist, weighing the thing in my small hand. It reminded me of a slug, the way it held no form. The chunk was pure red, making me realize it was probably liver. I froze in place once the horrifying realization processed. This was not demon meat that I had provided Cesarie in the past weeks. This was fresh. Painfully fresh. And it was red-- a color that only usually naturally occurred in humans and mortal animals. The school did not deal with mortal animals.  Cesarie had snatched a human liver from somewhere in the infirmary.