The Devil's Guard Dog

Chapter five: A Way Out

I didn’t sleep that night, then again, I don’t think either of us did. The food was delivered, but I didn’t touch it, only listening to the echo of the door closing as nothing else really seemed to catch my attention. My head was between my knees, the right side of my face pulsating and my eye slightly swollen from the fight, not to mention the bruises around my wrist. I couldn’t help but feel like I deserved worse.

I looked up slightly, looking at the food tray that had been left for me. Dicaius was right, it’d been days since he bit me, and God only knew what he was struggling with.

I took a deep breath and looked over at him, watching him in the corner, trying to think of how I could break the silence.

I looked up at the sink, reaching over and running my hands over the rubble that was left over from Dicaius getting pissed. Gripping a small piece of the pewter, I looked back over to Dicaius, and gently tossed it at his back, watching it bounce and gently clatter back to the ground.

I could hear him softly sigh, however he didn’t move or speak, so I grabbed another small piece, and tossed it at him again. This time he curled up tighter, letting out a soft hiss, and it wouldn’t be until I annoyed him with a third chunk of the broken sink that he finally sat up and looked over at me. “Would you knock it off?”

“I would have sooner if you said something about the first one.” I said, trying to make some kind of friendly jab to lighten things up a bit, but failing miserably.

He just groaned and laid back down on his back, looking at nothing in particular.

“So… Who was he?” I asked.

“Who are you talking about?”

“I think you know who… Your body, who was he?”

Dicaius sighed, reaching over and picking up one of the pieces of the sink I’d thrown at him, twirling it between his clawed fingers as he began. “He was a young murderer. The last memory I have of his life outside of this place is him sitting in a car, a girl in the passenger seat, and about a mile of duct tape with a gun in the back. Everything before that isn’t exactly pleasant… His soul was exorcized, I was forced in, and after that I was left with only memories. It’s the only reason I know anything about your world, but it’s also the reason why I’m not the easiest to talk to… Emotions aren’t something I’m good at, and I only have his to work with. So, well, you get the picture.”

“Look, Dicaius, I’m sorry about what happened.”

“Save it, you couldn’t have known… and I guess I’m sorry about attacking you.”

“Dude, it’s alright, I was being an ass hole. I guess I just want to go home, and everything became too much.”

“Yeah, I know how that one feels…” He said, tossing the rubble against the wall and going back to staring at nothing.

I slowly got up, walking over to him and sitting down beside him. I was highly hesitant, reluctant, and overall, just not wanting him to fucking bite me again. I knew full well that he was painful and starving, but I really didn’t like the idea of some creature I knew hardly anything about biting down into my flesh… However, with that being said, I didn’t want him to be in pain either, especially after what happened. My sympathetic side and sense of empathy overpowered my fear and reluctance, and I struggled with the idea before beginning to loosen the collar on my shirt.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sitting up and looking over at me.

“Look don’t make a big thing out of it, just take what you need so you feel better.”

Dicaius turned his head, narrowing his eyes as he looked at me for a moment. “And you’re sure about this? I can heal you right after but- “

“Ok, ok, whatever just… Just shut up and get it over with.” I cut him off, glancing over at him before keeping my eyes forward, really not wanting to look at what I’d just invited him to do.

He got behind my back, placing his hands on my shoulders and getting close to me. “Hold very, still.” He said before pulling the collar of my shirt aside further and plunging his teeth in, reopening the wound he’d previously left.

He may have told me to hold still, but I couldn’t exactly help but flinch from the feeling of teeth the size of nails piercing my skin. I half expected him to rip out a chunk, and I bit down hard on my tongue to keep myself from screaming, but to my surprise, he seemed to be just drinking my blood, however that didn’t exactly make me feel better about this.

My shoulder twitched and throbbed before he let me go, and my stomach turned when I felt him run his tongue over the mark before he cast me aside. I actually gagged at that and quickly held my shoulder where he’d bitten me, but just like with the gashes, there was nothing there, even the scabbing from his previous attack was now gone.

He casually wiped his mouth and stood up, a wash of relief over his face as he gave me a sideways glance. “Stop being a drama queen. You’re lucky you didn’t encounter me in my world.”

“Good to see you’re feeling better.” I said with a roll of my eyes as I stood up as well.

He chuckled, stretching his arms above his head. “I would have ripped your soul to shreds, along with my brethren. God, what I would give to taste that energy again, the feeling of a pure soul between my teeth…” He trailed off as he spoke, looking down at his hand with a pensive expression as he gently clicked his claws between one another.

“The hell made you go quiet, are you actually going to be considerate for a change and give my stomach a break?” I asked, visibly disturbed by the entire ordeal. He didn’t say anything as I calmed down, and I was once more shocked as he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me over to the sink. “Hey! HEY! No, you’re not doing it again, just because I let you feed from me once does NOT give you a free pass.” I protested.

“Would you just shut up and come here.” He said, blunt and to the point as he looked around as if someone was listening. “You wanted my help; I have an idea. Are you familiar with Astro Travel?”

I stopped dead in my tracks and raised an eyebrow as I watched him. I knew what it was, or what people said it was. Basically, it was the idea that a soul could travel outside of your body for a time before returning, and from what I’ve heard, you could even visit other planets this way, or gain control over your dreams. I thought for a long time that it was all just rumors and conjecture, something someone probably made up while on some heavy drugs. However, the fact that he of all people brought it up meant only one thing. “…You’re joking right?”

“Have I ever? Look, your soul belongs to your body. I can’t get out of here through this because I was forced to be here, I was forced to be in this body, but you weren’t.” He said as he turned on the sink, a small trickle of water coming from the faucet. “You can go out there, look around for an exit, and then come right back.”

“That’s impossible! And even if it wasn’t, what makes you think I can do something like that?”

“You can’t, not alone, but I can help you.” He said, clicking his claws against the side of the pewter sink that was still mostly intact. “You aren’t going to like this, but without any practice or training, the only way to travel outside of your body… is to die.” Those words made my heart jump into my throat, however he continued. “I can heal you as long as your brain remains functioning. I sever the right nerve in your neck, and it’s lights out. I’d gladly just break your neck, but I can’t heal bone. It’ll have to be precise.”

“And how would you even know how to do that?”

“I don’t… But the memories do.” He said, looking away from me. “Unless you have a better idea, this is all we have.”

I wanted to refuse, no way in hell was I letting him do this. He didn’t know what he was doing, for all I knew, he was just wanting to kill me and using this as the excuse for his conscience. I could die right here, right now, just one wrong move and it’s lights out for good. But, with that being said, I didn’t know what else to do. I was scrambling for any other options, anything that would get me out of this… But if this worked, we could find a way out of here, and the other alternative of staying and not knowing when the cultists could come back to torture me again seemed more like a hell than dying. Or worse, dying down here as a captive in a cell, forever in this dark place, rotting away.

Sometimes life will boil down to one crazy choice, a one and only shot to either win or lose, and this was mine. So, with a deep breath, fear building in my mind, I looked up at him and asked. “…What do I have to do?”

“Just come over to me and face the sink.” Dicaius said, moving aside for me.

I slowly walked over to the sink, placing my hands on the cracked rim and looking down, watching the water swirl down into the drain below, down into the blackness. I could feel Dicaius walk behind me and place his hands on my shoulders. I gripped the sink hard and closed my eyes, my knuckles turning white as I shook. “Is… Is it going to hurt?”

“Only for a moment.” He said, and I could actually hear the reluctance in his voice as he clasped his hand to the side of my neck, his claws feeling like cold steal as his thumb pressed to the back of my neck. “I’m going to tell you something, and I need you to listen carefully. What you will see on the other side will be a shock. It can be frightening, comforting or even pleasurable, but whatever you do, do not get lost to it. Remember that you’re still alive, you’re not meant for that place yet, you need to focus on finding your way back.

“I know it can be tempting to stay, or things may conjure up to frighten you away from your body, but you cannot give into it. You’ll have to fight.” He said, taking on a caring tone as he spoke to me, and all I could do was nod as I listened, fighting back tears.

I could feel the tip of his claw press against the skin of the back of my neck, just below my hairline at the base of my scull, and I felt like passing out. “I’m going to give you exactly two minutes to make it back to your body before I heal you.” He began. “Any more time and I fear I’d do permanent damage… And one more thing. You may see my kind on the other side. Do not, and I’ll say it again, do not let them see you. You only know me in this body, but outside of this I am very different, and so are they. If you see them, run, do you understand? Don’t talk to them, don’t engage with them, you run, and you don’t look back.” I gulped, wondering what he meant by he was different outside of his current body, but not wanting to think further on it knowing what his kind fed on.

“…Ok, I understand… just please get it over with, I’m ready.” I said, my words shaking just as much as my body was.

“Two minutes, and I’ll be right here when you wake up.” With that, he pressed his claw quickly into the back of my neck. I felt a sharp sting and an unfathomable amount of pressure in my spine, and although I knew it probably wouldn’t do anything, I began praying, praying that he would hit the right set of nerves and wouldn’t permanently kill or paralyze me.

I could feel the claw go straight into the base of my scull, scraping the bone as it hit deep, only taking a split second. My ears rang, I felt my body involuntarily jump, and within that second, like a lightbulb bursting and shattering to the floor, sparks filled my vision, and my world went bright like the flash of a spotlight, before flashing to black.

Lights out.