Beast of Shadows

》Eight《

Sanji carefully shed his shirt, wincing at all the tears but promising to himself that he would bring it to his tailor later. He turned back toward the mirror and froze, eyes locked on his chest. On his upper left pec was a fucking brand, the scarring looked exactly like the same symbols that were on that band around the bell. Sanji's face turned red, leaning more toward purple as he yelled in frustration. Forcefully calming himself with a heavy exhale before hesitantly pushing a pad of his finger around the burnt tissue; the demon must've healed it as well, because it didn't hurt at all.

He quietly seethed as he turned on the shower to step in, raising the temperature until it was almost scalding before letting his head fall back. He mentally pictured the horrible satanism experience swirl down the drain, it helped calm his frayed nerves. A part of him didn't want to know about what had become of Felicity and her cult after he had passed out, the demon had looked pissed. Sanji decided he'd play twenty questions with the evil entity later, after a proper rest.

He groggily dried himself off and wrapped it around his waist, stumbling out of the bathroom. His gaze immediately falling onto the bell, sitting atop his pillow with yet another delicate black chain connected to the bell to make it a necklace. Sanji made a face at it before striding over to his dresser to yank out a pair of cotton sweats and a tank top.

He regarded the bell for a whole of three seconds before spinning on his heel to march back toward the bathroom to change, body jerking to a stop as that taunting voice echoed around him once again.

"Feeling modest, curly brow?"

Sanji's blood boiled and he had to force his legs to keep walking. It didn't matter if he turned around, no matter how fast he swirled...

there would be nothing there.

He swiftly tugged on his sleepwear and stomped back into the room to see the bell was still in the same spot on his pillow. Sanji scowled and walked to the bed, picking the bell up to place onto his nightstand like he normally did. He stood there for a few moments, peering down at the golden object as if he could read the answers it held on its smooth shiny surface. 

"I know you can talk to me." Sanji stated, shifting on his feet while feeling only slightly ridiculous for talking to an inanimate object. His eyebrow twitched when he got no response, he crossed his arms with newfound hostility.

"You wanna play it that way? Fine. I'm bringing you to a church this weekend." Now that got the demon's attention. The temperature in the room fell, causing a shiver to rattle down the chef's spine. The lights flickered before dimming as if something was drawing energy from the bulbs, Sanji spun when the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"...Shit." Sanji gasped as he caught sight of the dark silhouette in the far corner of his room. Its head brushed the ceiling, it's body pitch black as dark wisps of shadow arched up from obsidian skin. Large claws adorned massive hands, it's feet had dark scales with bird-like claws hooked into the floor. The blond dragged his eyes up to the fluttering wings connected to the beasts back, they were also a silky black and resembled bats wings. The elfish ears threw Sanji for a loop, eyes pausing on the three dangling earrings. He fidgeted as he moved his gaze over monstrously sharp teeth, finally settling on a glowing crimson eye that screamed annoyance. It shifted and the blond's wide stare shot down to the thick tail that swished against the floor, connected to the demon's lower back.

"You wanted to talk."

Sanji was greeted with a low growl, filling every nook and cranny of the room. The chef was minutely surprised that the apartment complex didn't start shaking with how thunderous its voice was. Sanji had to take a second to drag his bravery back to him kicking and screaming, staring the demon down with a carefully guarded expression.