Venator : Devil's Moon

XLVI Dawn Of Despair

Dedicated to razetheunderworld for being such a nice friend.

"Laura, it's so nice to see you," her father said. Only for a brief moment he seemed genuinely sad. But then the grief disappeared. And what Laura saw in his eyes frightened her. They were so cold, so emotionless, almost demonic.

"Laura, he's not your father. He's not himself, he's been possessed. You need to remember that, okay?" Sebastian said. He looked intently in her broken eyes. She blinked, and nodded weakly.

"I'm not possessed. I am your old man, Laura Hannigan. I always will be," the man remarked.

"He's not lying, Sebastian. We're only a few miles away from Mor Alore. And my psychic powers have thus risen. I can feel no demonic vibes escaping his psyche," Pamela said.

Another set of warm tears appeared in Laura's wet eyes. Her breathing grew further unsteady. Even the thought of her father teaming up with the demons made her lose faith in everything.

"Dad, why are you here?" She said. Her eyes were glassy, and her cheeks wet. The sight of her father supporting the demons was simply unbearable. How could he, a loyal follower of Him, descend to such darkness?

"Doing what I should've done long ago," he said, "Come here, Laura, Lord Alzaknos is waiting for us." As he spoke, he walked toward her. With every step he took, Laura felt more and more weak.

"That's never going to happen. Step back, Mr Hannigan. You're Laura's father. That's why I'm asking you nicely. I won't be so nice the second time," Sebastian said with such coldness in his eyes, Laura wondered if he was turning into his old self, a heartless hunter. He pulled Laura behind him, blocking her from her father's reach.

Laura buried her face in his back, wondering how God could be so cruel, her eyes welling up. Facing an army of demons was bad enough, but facing the fact that her once kind and loving father now stood on the side of cunningness and hatred...it was simply too much for her to handle.

"I think you haven't had a nice look around, Sebastian was it? One word and my pals will come pouring down on you. The rain of demons will destroy you," Laura's father said. There was a grin on his face, and ice in his voice.

"Demons don't scare me, Mr Hannigan. I'd be more than happy to bring every one of them down. And I also won't give a second thought before slitting your throat." Sebastian said.

"Well, let's see then who slits whose throat, shall we?" He said, eyes full of malice. 

"Why are you doing this, father?" Laura said. "Why a man who loved God so much suddenly sides with the creatures of darkness?" She stepped forward, her eyes still filled with disbelief and grief.

She refused to believe that her father had turned into someone so nasty and dark. He must be pretending. Alzaknos must've had threatened him about something. No way could her father ever talk of slitting throats.

"I never wished for this, Laura," he said calmly as he walked toward her.

"Laura!" Sebastian whispered when Laura's father was only a few feet away.

"It's okay. He's my dad. He will never hurt me," Laura loosened her grip on Sebastian's hand, and stared into the dark abyss of her father's eyes. Was he still in there, hiding somewhere beneath the darkness? Was this darkness emanating through him only a part of his mask? Or the source of kindness and love he'd showed her all those years of her growing up was the mask, and this darkness, his reality?

"I missed you." He was so near her now that she'd smell fresh mint, the scent he always had no matter what. He opened his arms and waited patiently for his daughter to bury herself in his chest.