The first thing I notice is the smell of cookies, fresh out from the oven.
Before my eyes adjust to the new light surrounding us, I walk blindly to a place that looks like a kitchen. I feel Noah's touch beside me before I see him. He squeezes my hand in his, gazes at me with confused eyes, one brow furrowed, one corner of his mouth twisting up to form a grimace. We don't know where we are, but a feeling of familiarity washes over me, my heart starts to race with incoming footsteps we hear next. A pleasant feeling runs through my brain, as if to tell me not to be afraid, not to worry, for this is a place of safety and happiness.
My eyes finally adjust to the light, and as I look around, I see that the pair of footsteps have arrived in the kitchen. A couple standing before the cookie-making oven. The latter is tucked in between two sets of wooden closets hanging on the wall. Under the closets are stacked dirty dishes on amethyst-colored kitchen counters, its surface so flat and clear it might as well do the job of a mirror. In the middle of the room stands a wooden square table, reminding me a lot of Typhon's technology shop in its proportions. Only this time, there were exactly three chairs hanging around the table. One of them was designed to hold a baby.
Only when I realized who it might be that I finally recognized the couple. A beautiful woman, pitch black hair tied into a loose ponytail, a few strands escaping from the space behind her ears to hang loose on her cheeks, tickling her at the slightest movement. Thin rose lips with bored-looking honey eyes. A long pointy nose over a round face. Arms that seem out of shape are carrying a baby, devoured by pink cloth, its face hidden from our direct view from this distance. A man stands before the woman, a smile immortal on his scarlet-blood lips, his black silky hair loose, reaching the summit of his shoulders. His face was covered in shadows I did not know the source of, for the entire room was bathed in light as if to welcome us into this new world with a warmth we have missed for a long time. Noah's pulsing emotions reach me like the rhythmic sounds of a heart resonating within a monitoring machine. He knows who this man is. A flashback of memories wash over me, a sea sending its waters my way, flooding me with one vivid image inside my boyfriend's mind. Belleth. He was Noah's kidnapper, he was the one who forced him into this parallel world, only so I can find him later, and save him from perishing under the demons' feet.
Belleth was also my biological father. I know it without anyone telling me. I know it like a newborn recognizing their mother for the very first time. I know it from pure instinct. This man was my father before he became the monster inside Noah's nightmares. This man is the one who wrote me that letter, begging me to kill him as punishment for his deeds.
What did he do? What is he about to do to the world, for it to be so grave that it deserves death?
Noah let go of my hand to grasp my arm instead. He squeezed it so tight he got a tiny dream-scream out of me.
"Noah, that hurts--"
The boy's eyes said it all: they were wide with alarm as he lifted his index in front of his lips, signaling me to be silenced. I pierced my lips and nodded, ashamed of the loud thoughts inside my heart.
He nodded towards the couple, and as we approached, we could hear their whispers.
"She's going to turn out as a very wild girl" , Mother says.
"Very strong, very kind" , Belleth smiled. Mother nodded at him.
"Must you leave at once?" , she asked.
"I must, duty awaits."
Mother rocked me back and forth a little too quickly, as if trying to comfort herself instead of the other way around.
"Get home safe, okay?"
Afterwards, Belleth was sent off with a kiss, as Mother sat back on the kitchen chair, burying her head in my dormant chest, comforting an already sleeping baby.
I had the same question as Noah. Where was he going? Why?
Why was I having an ominous feeling that he will never come back?
That was the beginning of my life as Hitori Yuuki.
The world around us shifts, and we find ourselves this time in a dark alley, streetlights cowering away from it, refusing to let a single ounce of yellow creep its way down the black walls, the wet pavement reflecting shadows of stray cats like enormous monsters, waiting for their prey to manifest, to start the hunting.
There was the smell of blood.
He hasn't felt something so strong in quite a while...Belleth's scarlet eyes gleam of hope, his heart beats faster in his chest, as though it wanted to leave his body behind and run for the source of the smell. He licks his lips in delight, and without a hint of hesitation, his legs start moving.
We follow the demon, our footsteps not daring to make a single sound. Our emotions are in sync with his: his anger is ours, his excitement is ours, and his bloodlust pumps endorphins into our brains, turning our eyes into slits, clearing our heads, strengthening our muscles for what's yet to come.
We were Belleth, through and through.
One step at a time, two steps, three, the silence of the night killed by the sound of his, our feet on the cold asphalt.
It's right there, he is so close, we are so close... We turn right, no, he turns right, following a narrow alley, and he finds...
He was on his way to work. He was supposed to be on a night patrol, looking for a famous robber that walked the streets of Hiroshima as the very first dark spirits devoured the dying rays of sunset. He was supposed to find the culprit, put him into custody, and bring him back to the police station, but what a marvelous discovery he made, in this night patrol. What a blissful sight!
Red. A color conquering the scenery. What a nice feeling it gave him, at that moment. He wonders about the reason. He was a policeman, a man of justice. Why did he rejoice when he saw such a horrid crime happen before his eyes?
He's seen many murders before, but not a single one was like this.... No, this one was special.
This stank of pure evil. When the darkest parts of a human mind was pushed away by most, this killer did not fight his nature, did not hesitate while performing such a sin.
The Demon approaches the murder scene. If he were a human, he would have to worry about leaving footprints everywhere.He wasn't a human, he now knows it, like a fact deeply ingrained in his essence. He now remembers who he once was, and how he ended up like this.
He steps on the pool of blood. The woman looks so serene, as though she is relaxing under the moonlight, in the middle of the sea. Only she was dead, decapitated, and the sea was actually her own blood.
He kneels down, we kneel with him, our names forgotten, our hearts one with Belleth's, our eyes fixing this ragged doll, broken, nonetheless beautiful as the sun.
We caress her wet hair, her thin lips, open her eyelids to glance at the irises one last time, gaze at the frozen look of fear lingering in them.
He realizes with a sinking feeling of dread that his whole life had been one huge lie. He knew why this crime was so special to him.
He was a demon, a very powerful one at that. The humans have made him forget. How long was it, when the gates of the other worlds closed on them abruptly, ending the War and their own immortal lives with it?
How long was this World making a fool out of him?
It doesn't matter anymore, does it? Everyone has to pay for this.
They have suppressed a demon's existence for so long. Now, it is not a demon they shall see, but an entirely new creature.
Born from the darkest depths of hell.
YOU ARE READING
The Voodoo Doll
Fantasy[COMPLETED] Noah is a boy who was raised by demons all his life. He has the ability to commit perfect crimes by using voodoo dolls and killing with them. He was taught ever since he was young to show no mercy to his enemies. Yet, because of his unu...
