Worthless

Chapter Seven

"Just seven days..." Ichimatsu thought as his heart throbbed with anger and pain. "I'm such a weak moron. I should have never allowed myself to get so attached to Karamatsu. Now look at me, I'm being a traitor to everyone. There is no correct way to do this. Not in my situation. Either way, I'll just end up hurting someone. My existence is pointless. But if I killed myself here on Earth, I'd just go back to Hell, same soul and all. And if I killed myself in Hell, nothing would happen. It's impossible for me to escape..."

Ichimatsu watched the priest closely as he took a large sip of water. His cup was already nearly empty. He set his glass down, letting out a quiet sigh as he straightened the cross pin on his religious clothing.

"Would you like me to refill your
g-glass?" Ichimatsu croaked, his voice trembling in fear as he hid the round bottle of poison under his shirt.

"Why, of course! You'll be saving me quite a bit of time, Ichimatsu," Karamatsu answered, smiling as he approached that same couple who had been in the church before.

Ichimatsu quickly grabbed the glass cup and walked into the small kitchen that the church had. The freezing cold air inside the church made the demon's hands tremble even more than they already were. He was utterly terrified.

Briskly removing the cap to the bottle, Ichimatsu watched the poison pour into the cup. It was completely clear when he finished, the bottle now completely empty. Dread filled his filthy heart as he flapped his wings tiredly back to where the priest was.

"Please visit me again anytime you wish!" Karamatsu called out to the couple, waving goodbye. They had come and gone quite quickly this time. Perhaps the sight of Ichimatsu had scared them.

"H-here..." Ichimatsu muttered, setting the glass back down on the small wooden table it had been on. Trembling, the demon sat down in the distance, watching Karamatsu's every move.

And finally, he decided to take a sip of the "water".

Ichimatsu's heart stopped beating for several moments, waiting for the priests reaction.

Gagging literally immediately after he had swallowed a great deal of the poison, Karamatsu ran to a nearby sink, washing his mouth out with water, the cup still in his hand. He didn't say a word to Ichimatsu. He acted as if nothing were wrong at all.

Still choking, Karamatsu walked back into the church sanctuary. Then just like that, he fell onto the ground face first. The glass in his hand rolled to Ichimatsu's feet, leaving the rest of the poison on the floor.

Tears welled up in the demon's tired sunken in eyes. He couldn't believe he had just killed the one person who ever acted like his existence mattered.

Crying, the demon threw himself on top of Karamatsu's body, his tears landing on the lifeless back of the priest.

"I'm sorry..." he cried. "I'm so...sorry.."

After a few moments, two separate pairs of hands grabbed ahold of Ichimatsu, jerking him away from Karamatsu's body. They were the hands of demons. It wasn't hard for Ichimatsu to tell. Their hands were rough on his worn out skin as his entire world, once again, turned into complete darkness.

And when his eyes opened once again, he was in Osomatsu's terrifying presence.

"You traitor!" Osomatsu spat, at Ichimatsu grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off of the ground. "What were you doing just now?! Crying over the pure man? You filthy scum bag."

Ichimatsu breathed heavily as Osomatsu threw him back to the burning hot ground. Satan's sharp claws had ripped another hole in his pitiful wings, but for some reason, it felt nice.

Not saying a single word, Ichimatsu kept his eyes on the ground. He made no attempts to get to his feet. Whatever pain he was feeling at the moment, he felt he deserved. In fact, he wanted more than just burns on his hands and legs. He wanted death. Nothing more. Just death.

"I feel like execution isn't good enough for a worthless demon like you. Who are you? Thinking you can just go about caring for that filth! You deserve to live a terrible eternity here! Not only do you deserve it, but you will have just that," Osomatsu laughed in disgust as he kicked Ichimatsu's damaged body.

Weakly, the broken-hearted demon fell onto his side, showing no signs of even caring. Ichimatsu didn't dare fight back. His punishment would only worsen.

"Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu!" Osomatsu called out loudly. "Take this filth to the single cell beneath lower Hell."

Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu, apparently the two demons that were now next in command to Osomatsu, grabbed Ichimatsu by his arms, throwing him down a hole in the ground.

Closing his eyes as tightly as possible, Ichimatsu began to cry, wishing for everything to be over. As he slid to a stop at the end of the tight, burning hot hole, his body was thrown up into the air. Flailing his arms around, the demon couldn't help but scream. It only lasted for a few moments. Then, his body came crashing onto the even hotter ground. It was a hundred times worse than the ground where Osomatsu's throne was.

This time, just Jyushimatsu grabbed Ichimatsu, dragging his frail body towards a single jail cell.

"You'll be staying here for eternity. I hope you enjoy it," Jyushimatsu said harshly before slamming the cell door in his face.

Still crying hot tears, Ichimatsu threw his body onto the long stone bench in the very back of his cell. Never in his entire life had he felt so alone.

"I wish you could take me to the place you are..." Ichimatsu thought bitterly as he banged his fists on the stone. "I wish I could tell you how sorry I am..."