A Little More Time...

EIGHT

Ryan was still burning inside. Was he really? Or was it in his head? He couldn't tell. He opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw were his hands, resting just in front of him. They were blistering red in color, and felt as if they were radiating heat. Ryan brought his hands together, but they were cool to the touch. His brow furrowed as he brought them close to his chest. Why did they feel so hot by themselves, but cool together?

"So, you are awake."

Ryan looked up to see Brendon, and he looked angry. Ryan sucked in a breath, wanting nothing more than to sink into himself.

"So, how did you do it, Ryan?" Brendon asked, kneeling down in front of him. "What are you?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan asked, flinching at the demon's closeness.

Brendon growled, lifting the corner of his top lip like a dog. "You know what."

Ryan didn't. He remembered fire and heat. He remembered an anger to fuel it. He remembered... Oh.

The memories rushed to the front of his mind. How the black veins had spread through him. The ringing in his ears. How Brendon had used them to manipulate Ryan in an unforgivable way...

He glared at the demon now. "I don't know, but I'd do it again." He said, lowly. He didn't know he had done, but if it gave him some kind of upper hand against Brendon, he'd use it.

To his surprise, however, the demon started laughing. It was a deep laugh that chilled Ryan's burning bones.

"Fair." Brendon said once his laughter had calmed. He flashed a wicked grin at Ryan. "I like you. You're a surprise..." He leaned closer to Ryan, prompting Ryan to lean back against the wall. "You'd make a good demon."

"A demon?" Ryan repeated as Brendon eyed him like an animal, "What good would that do?"

"There's power in it, first of all." Brendon spoke just before blinking his eyes black, "Don't you want eyes like mine?"

Ryan sucked in a breath. Looking at the dark abyss of Brendon's eyes brought him back to the bathroom, however long ago it was. He was powerless as his own eyes went dark and the black veins spread underneath his skin. He had no control.

"No." Ryan shut his eyes and shook his head, "No... I want my eyes to show that I have the power you promise." He reopened his eyes to face Brendon's dark ones. "Those are the eyes of enslavement." He added in a low voice.

Brendon took a moment to consider Ryan's words. He stared Ryan down during that time, as if to test if his will would waver. When it didn't, he blinked again. This time, when his eyes opened, a ring of yellow around the demon's pupils looked back at Ryan. "So, like this?"

"Does color symbolize power?" Ryan asked.

"Depends on how you look at it." Brendon shrugged, "Sometimes it only occurs due to the nature of the death and means nothing more." He placed a hand on the ground near Ryan's leg, "The demon makes himself, his eyes are just a perk."

Ryan fought himself from moving his leg away from Brendon's hand. "Then... Then I want to make myself." Ryan said, holding his head up and holding, what he hoped was a determined gaze. He was dead. What other path was there in this after life? He was already in hell.

"You want to become a demon alongside me?" Brendon grinned, "There are two options."

"Yes?"

Brendon leaned forward again. He didn't stop until his face was just mere inches away from Ryan's. "Retrieve your human soul." Evil gleamed in Brendon's unnatural eyes as he spoke, causing Ryan's stomach to flipflop... Not in a good way. "Or, destroy those who sacrificed you to me."

"Kill them?" Ryan asked, earning a nod.

"They killed you." Brendon replied simply, "Killing them is just evening the score."

"They killed me on your order." Ryan shot back.

"That they followed like lemmings." Brendon growled, bringing his hand up and smacking it against Ryan's leg.

Ryan shut his eyes as the tingling and ringing started, simultaneously. Had it grown worse than before? Ryan didn't want to give into the darkness spreading through him from Brendon's touch.

"You can't justify their actions, Ryan." Brendon snarled before finally pulling his hand away, clawing at the flesh as he went.

Ryan's head dropped. He tried to ignore the fresh pain in his leg and the dull pain in his head as Brendon continued to speak.

"They were ready to kill anyone. It could have been a mother instead of you. It could have been a child instead of you. You just got lucky." The last word was hissed in Ryan's ear.

Lucky? To be dead? Even if it did mean someone else got to live, it felt like poor justification.

"How do I retrieve my soul?" Ryan asked, bringing his head up to look at Brendon. "You haven't explained that option to me yet."

Disappointment flickered across Brendon's expression before he shrugged. "You'd have to talk to the Soul Keeper." He replied.

"Who's the Soul Keeper?"

"Are you sure you really want to know?" Brendon asked with the raise of an eyebrow, "He's not one to be taken lightly."

Ryan locked eyes with the demon. He wanted to prove himself, but it took all he had not to shudder at Brendon's piercing gaze. Did he really want to become something like Brendon? Evil and manipulative?..

The only thought that followed the question was beats being the prey.

"Tell me." Ryan spoke confidently, "I want to retrieve my soul, I don't care who this Soul Keeper is."