I barely choke down a breath. I cough, trying to inhale; only dirty thick air filled my lungs. It smells here. Like a dying skunk left on the road for days, like spoiled food found in the corner of your fridge, like, like—whatever disgusting smell you can think of! But worst! Take all those scents, throw ‘em in a pot, blend them, and you’ll kind of get what I smell right now. The worst smells my nose ever—ever!—had the challenge of sorting though. This hallway is like a sensory battlefield! I don’t even want to open my eyes—they might sting or melt from these stinks!
It’s so bad. It’s so thick with rotting stenches. I throw up. Then cough, spitting out the last bits of bile at my feet, my legs tremble. Unexpectedly I felt like a little kid again, tossed back into a time I thought I forgotten, tensing up as if my dad was right here yelling at me for the mess I made.
“S-sorry,” I found myself saying out of my childhood habit. But it wasn’t my dad I was speaking to.
A heavy, deep as a sea trench, grumbly voice spoke back. “Keep moving!”
I felt a sharp kick at my legs forcing me forward. I still can taste sour bile in my mouth Gross. I desperately wished for water, to the point it’s all I could think about. Cold, refreshing, water. I want to drink it endless, watch the surface ripple, feel streams of the cold liquid run down the corners of my lips. I would trade anything for it! (Also I would trade anything for a gas mask right now) Just one glass…
“I said keep moving! You worthless sack of flesh!”
I couldn’t hold in my yelp. A powerful hand shoved at my back, claws scrapped the back of my shirt, my face smacked into a wall that’s cold and sticky with god knows what. “I-I’m sorry,” my voice cracks, “I’m moving.” I dared not look behind me. Only once did I look at it, once laying my eyes on the…the demon that barks at me. And once was enough! The image still burns in my brain! Its face looked as if someone took a flame thrower and tried to burn its face off! Twisted and misshapen! With thick yellow teeth. Black eyes. I remember its neck is as thick as an elephant’s leg. With a bulky body to match. Little bat like wings fanned out behind it. I don’t remember if it had a tail. I think it was wearing a necklace…or maybe it was something else.
I don’t want to look behind me again. I don’t want to face the demon again. I don’t want to look into its eyes. My heart still beats wildly, pumping dread throughout my limbs; I’m trying to steady my nerves with little success. Its close behind me, I smell its fish breath, I hear its nose making snorting sounds like a pig, its feet stomping away. The horror! I feel like a walking snack! The demon is going to eat me any second! Why doesn’t it? I’m just a human. It a demon. Surely I am but a puny bug to it! Maybe this is it! I’m being lead to my death! It’ll throw me in a fire pit to cook! Would a burnt crispy human taste good to it?
“Get in!”
Before I could make sense of my surrounding I’m thrown into a room. A loud Bang! of iron behind me and I see the bars sealed shut. I’m trapped! Is this a holding pin? Were I’m to stay till he comes to eat me!? “W-wait!” I shouted gripping some of the bars in my hands.
The demon’s gone. Vanished as if it never existed to begin with. I don’t even see him down the hall. Not that I could, it’s so dark and murky I don’t think I could make out the demon against the walls.
My hands slip of the bars. There’s no point in shouting. No one is going to help me. No one. Not in this hell!
I…I don’t know what to do. My heart still pounds at my chest. My breath shaky. The room around me starts to spin. I hold my head in my hands. “…why…why,” I repeat to myself over and over, “…why me. What did I do? What—what did I do!” I almost start crying when—
I realized I’m not alone. Something stands nearby. The faded glow of warmth—fire—a little torch in the corner of the room gave off the only source of light, it highlight the edges of a figure. Still it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust; finally I can make out the body. It’s standing at the other side of the room, almost the same height as me I think. I make out the familiar shapes of the human body, legs, torso, arms, head, so on. It takes me another moment. Then. It hits me—I’m staring at a naked body. I feel a heat rush to my face and quickly look away. “Sorry.” I say sorry a lot I noticed.
She didn’t respond.
Maybe she didn’t speak English? I don’t know. I’m still working out feelings of fear and embarrassment so I didn’t bother asking. From what I gathered in my short observation she has long black hair, a thin body, lanky arms…that’s all I made out…among other things I shouldn’t have been looking at. Shameful! I almost can feel my mother smacking me in the back of the head for being so rude.
We didn’t try to communicate with each other. She never stepped closer. And I never looked her way…expect for one glance, only to make sure she was real and it wasn’t my imagination. Other than that I never looked.
My legs cramped. No longer could I stand at the bars. How long have I’ve been standing? Hours? I never saw a clock, and my watch was taken by the demon. I had to move. Turning around, eyeing the corner of the room—cell—the corner of this cell I collapsed in. A long, tired, breath I didn’t know I was holding let out. My stomach hurt. My legs hurt. My head hurt. My everything hurt! I should sleep—at least try to—a sickening ugly feeling told me to stay awake. I don’t think I could sleep anyways. Who needs it.
Silence. So silent. Just the soft flicking of the torch flame. No demons shouting. No cursing and growling. I didn’t like it. It feels like…time isn’t moving. Everything is standing still, she wasn’t moving, I wasn’t moving, nothing gave any indication of progress. No window to tell me if it’s morning or night outside. No meals telling me if it’s lunch or dinner. No watch to track time.
I try to keep my mind busy. Looking around (but avoiding looking at her) I take in details of the room. Like the green moss stuff hanging down the walls, the one torch in the corner, a short bench—maybe that’s supposed to be the bed—against the back wall, and some dug out hole in the opposite corner. No water. No bathroom (actually I have a feeling that’s what the hole is for). No blankets or food.
I’m quick to grow bored. There’s not much to look at. My stomach still hurts and my mouth is dry as a desert. I don’t want to sleep. And—
“Hey.”
The voice, sudden, sounding like a thunderous drum in this silence, vibrating through my body, I gasped so hard I caught spit in my throat. She’s right in front of me! Crouched low to meet me eye level. I didn’t even hear her walk over! Forgetting I was already resting my back against the wall I had lunged backwards, slamming the back of my head into the wall. I bite my tongue to avoid cursing.
“You alright?” She asks a small hand reaching out.
“Y-Yeah!” I said louder then I meant to. “I’m good. I’m fine.” Up close I see her sunken eyes—brown I think but it’s hard to make out colors in this dull light—with heavy shadows resting under them, thin dry looking skin pulled outward across her cheeks and around her cracked lips. Some of her black hair hung over her face; I can see now how tangle it is with strands sticking out at odd angles. Her neck is thin too…I didn’t look any farther down.
“Um…” I couldn’t pull my eyes off her gaze…a hollow gaze…her eyes deep with an emptiness I couldn’t possible start to comprehend. There’s no flicker of life in her, no warmth or compassion I could find. Just cold, dark, pits of black in her irises. I feel like I'm staring into the eyes of a corpse.
“How did you get here?” She asks her voice so delicate I thought it would crack under the weight of her words.
“A demon threw me in here.”
She shakes her head. “No. How did you get here.”
I blink. “You mean. Here here?” I gesture to the cell itself, the walls, the bars, and what lies beyond those cold bars. “I—I think—“ Do I even remember anymore? Those memories of sunshine and busy streets are as fidgety as that flame on the torch. I remember walking on a sidewalk. I remember the night sky, it was cloudy, I couldn’t see the stars. And then…I panicked. Running. A bright light, a car headlights, sounds of crunching metal and—
She suddenly grabbed my shoulder, saying, “Hey—calm down. I’m sorry for prying. Calm down.”
I couldn’t speak, my whole body shook violently, my hands shot up to my ears covering them as if I heard a thunderous sound, maybe I screamed, if I did I didn’t hear it, she keeps speaking to me but her words too I couldn’t make out—
I open my eyes finally. She’s still staring at me. My body didn’t shake anymore; I’m not sure what just happened…maybe a panic attack? Maybe I just locked up again, I don’t know, I get these episodes a lot. Anyway now I had to find my voice again somewhere in my shaking breath.
“What’s your name?” She asks with a slight tilt of her head like what a curious animal would do.
I swallow, licking my lips, “Shepherd.”
She stares at me. Did she expect me to keep talking? I wasn’t sure what else to say so I just awkwardly shift my legs to sit cross-legged.
“I guess you’re my new cellmate.” She whispers more to herself then to me I think. “I wonder how long you’ll last. I’m betting a week tops. Unless the doctor is in a good mood. Then I’m betting four days tops.”
I swallow thickly. My heart beats against my chest again; I want to ask her what she meant by ‘…the doctor in a good mood’ and who this doctor is—never mind, I think it’ll be better for my health to be left in the dark…
Apologizes for any typos or grammar mistakes, I'm no except at proofreading x'D and I just wrote this up one night for enjoyment. This is just a look into what Shepherd deals with here in the demon world. Here Shepherd is still rather new, he hasn't met the 'doctor' yet and this is his first time having a cellmate.
I like to write these little random stories to give more life into my characters, so you can see what they're thinking and how they react to the environment I've forced them into lol. And of course I'm going to draw a pic to go with it! I'm sure I'll write more little stories for other characters too since I have so many I want to work with~
Category Story / Human
Species Human
Size 1280 x 970px
File Size 119.4 kB
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