Prequel to The Infant's Secrets

Chapter 3: Eternity

He drops his head in his hands and rests his elbows on his thighs for support. He appears deep in thought about something as we continue to sit in silence.

"My Lord?" I say and he glances at me. "Why did the human's boredom call to you?"

I watch as he straightens up on the couch.  "Humans change when they become bored. They become willing to be more spontaneous and do things that don't necessarily go with their morals. They do 'wrong' things and the turmoil after... it's alluring as it can go one of two ways."

He grimaces and his jaw clenches. "One: their guilt fixes their 'wrong' ways and they return to their boring lives or two," a malevolent yet pleased grin takes over his face, "they fall into this seemingly endless hole and do more things that are 'wrong' and they can even become helpless enough to sell their souls to me."

"Although selling their souls doesn't happen often, I obtain the souls of those who remain doing 'wrong', so eventually it all goes my way. Even for those in the first group, some fall back into their old ways. And once their souls are mine, no matter if they were sold or eventually given over time, they go to Hell and that's where you demons come in and torture them for all eternity."

He shoots me a slanted smirk and I blush. "That's your first lesson."

"Thank you!" I'm genuinely pleased to have learned more about the whole process and directly from him.

"Lesson number two." He extends his hand and draws a circle in the air with his index finger. A bottle and two small glasses appear on the table between us."One of the many ways humans unbore themselves." He flicks his finger and the bottle opens. It levitates and angles itself above the two small glasses and a dark liquid pours into them. "This speeds up their spontaneous inner self."

I look at the liquid curiously. Was it like some magic elixir of sorts? I didn't know humans used magic. "What is it?"

He gives me an odd smile. "Drink it."

I pick up one of the glasses and instead of cautiously taking a sip of the liquid, I drink it all in one gulp. "OH!" I grimace and begin to cough. "It's horrid! Why do they drink this?!"

Joshua begins to laugh. "They ignore the flavor for its effect."

"What's its effect?" I ask even though I think I feel some of it already. My head becomes a little cloudy and I can't help but think how beautiful he looks smiling and laughing. My heartbeat quickens in pace in my chest.

"You'll see once you drink more."

I snap out of my daze immediately. "M-more?!"

He grins. "Nothing like experimental learning."

After a while, we've both drank the entire bottle of what Joshua has informed me to be alcohol. Liquor to be more precise. And apparently, it causes a condition called drunkenness. So basically we were both drunk or at least I think I was because I didn't feel much like myself anymore. I think the same goes for Joshua as he seemed to be more relaxed and kind of not totally present. Yet we kept making contact with each other.

Suddenly, he smiles. "Liquid courage, demon."

I blink. I don't know what he's talking about.

"You're having a lack of fear for your own well-being in order to do what you want. You know your place and you know I can kill you for this."

Huh? What was I doing? And that's when I realize that we are no longer both in separate couches nor are we even on the same one. I was sitting on his lap and facing him.

"But your judgment is clouded and you—"

Apparently, he was still talking but I didn't care nor was I even listening. I just liked being close to him and nothing else really mattered. And I made that explicitly clear.

"Then kill me, my Lord." I lean in diminishing the small space between us and press my lips to his.

His lips part as if surprised, but he doesn't respond. His eyes regard me silently and intently as our lips remain the same. But suddenly his eyes begin protruding with scars and they glow an intense crimson.

I immediately begin begging for forgiveness. "My Lord I'm sorry! Please forgive my—"

But he doesn't let me finish. "Is this what you want in exchange?"

I'm confused. Again, he wasn't even hurting me. "'In exchange', my Lord?"

"Your service."

My eyes widen. "You mean as a deal?!" This was unheard of. He only made deals with humans and even that didn't happen very often.

His crimson eyes don't waver from mine as he speaks. "I keep my part and you keep yours and you obey for eternity."

The way he said 'eternity' should have made the hairs at the back of my neck stand. It should have been taken as a warning. But I took it as an opportunity.

"Yes. I accept, my Lord."

The second it leaves my lips the lights go out, lightning and thunder boom, and all the windows explode. Smoke erupts in the room and I fall back onto the couch. His blue eyes seem to glow in the darkness, no longer reflecting the crimson gleam.

"No turning back now, demon. We said for eternity."