This Demon of Mine

III

Nox woke up to the familiar smell of burning flesh and rotting corpses.
He never got used to the smell, not even as a boy.
Now that he was back though, he didn't have a choice but to deal with it.
He quickly got up and got dressed in the small cell of a room they gave him.
He didn't want to be late again, the last time he was he regretted it for weeks.
He made sure to make his room as tidy as possible before the guards came to bring him to work.

The cry's of thousands of souls made his stomach turn and his ears want to bleed.
The only thing keeping him sane at this point was the thought of Zahi.
His beautiful purple eyes and perfectly tanned skin made a picture that was etched into his mind forever and it put a smile on his face when he thought of him.

He remembered the last time he saw him.

His wings were out and looked a beautiful shade of white with an iridescent look in the sunlight.
It was the day before his birthday and he wanted to do something special since he would most likely be out all day on his birthday looking for something to give him. Zahi was walking through the flowers on a little hill towards Nox. He was walking back from the small pond behind their cottage and he had his shoes in his hand and his pants rolled up. He loved to talk to the fish and he seemed to have some sort of actual conversations with them which Nox really couldn't understand- he just assumed it was an angel thing -but he liked how happy he looked when he got back from chatting with them.

Nox walked towards him and noticed that his wings were out again. He couldn't keep his wings in for too long otherwise they ached and the sun felt good on them according to Zahi. He noticed the different color today at the bottom. Usually they were some shade of orange or yellow to show how happy he was but today they were a light shade of pink. The closer Nox got the brighter the pink got both on Zahi's wings and face. He never acted like this before, but when they finally met in the middle Zahi gave Nox a shy smile.

"Your wings are different today Zahi." Nox pulled Zahi into a big hug, "I like them."
Zahi buried his face deep into Nox's neck and groaned, "I know, I can't control it."

Nox pulled Zahi away from him and looked him in the eyes.
"So what does pink mean anyways?"
Nox held Zahi's hand as they walked back to the cottage.
Zahi avoided eye contact and Nox could feel his hands starting to get sweaty, "It's for... well.."
Nox stopped them and gave Zahi a stare that got any secret out of him.
Biting his lip he let out a sigh and confessed,
"Its means l-love."

Nox stopped staring and frowned.
"You...love me?"

Zahi saw the smile leave Nox's face and he panicked, "I mean! W-well only if you're ok with it!"
Nox started laughing and pulled Zahi into another hug, picking him up and twirling him around.
"Of course I'm ok with it you dummy!"

Zahi started laughing as well and the pink started to glow. When he was set down he looked into Nox's eyes and noticed the normal gold specks were the shade of pink on his wings.

He thought he was just imagining things, but he couldn't help but feel a little more connected to him.
But just in case he kept it to himself.

Nox couldn't reminisce for long because the guard, Xavier, came by and rounded everyone up.
"Alright listen up you freaks! Today you're going to be doing some of the dirty work. You all should be honored that the boss even thinks about giving you useless demons jobs. Now follow me and don't fall behind. Nox can vouch for me if you don't believe the punishment will be severe."

Xavier gave Nox a sinister smile and started walking down the corridor towards a room full of screaming souls.
Nox's stomach turned at the sound and he wanted to cry for all of them.
To the best of his knowledge, half of the souls in Hell did nothing wrong and the boss just wanted more souls to fill his collection.

Xavier opened the door marked 'The Fun House' and the screaming got louder. He seemed to enjoy the sound and all of the others did too.
Nox never could understand the appeal and wanted to run away from that room as fast as he could, but he couldn't. He couldn't go through that again.
He just had to be strong. For Zahi.

"Nox. Since you seem to love this room so much, I'll let you pick your victim today. You have five choices. Choose quickly." Xavier smiled and stepped aside letting Nox see five poor humans hanging from hooks, screaming for forgiveness or pleading their innocence.
He almost threw up, but pointed towards a guy who seemed to deserve it more than the others.

Xavier snapped his fingers and the guy was pulled down from the hook and put on a table in another room.
"Do your worst Nox. Or I will do mine."
His eyes glared daggers at Nox and he ran into the room to escape the stare.

The man was now crying and begging Nox to spare him. Nox wanted to listen to him, he wanted to set him free, let him enjoy paradise.
But he couldn't. He couldn't take another beating from Xavier. He would die.
So he walked over to the man with tears in his eyes and shook his head, "I'm so sorry. I'll make it quick, just please don't look at me."

The man knew he couldn't escape and saw the empathy in Nox's eyes. He understood he didn't want to do this, but rather had to.
"You're too young for this. I'm sorry for you."

Nox looked at the man and sighed nodding.
He picked up a small knife and slit his throat, hoping he could do some things while he was recovering from death. Of course they can't die on the table, it's endless suffering, but it takes them a few minutes to wake back up so while he bled out, Nox started to do what he was taught and forced to learn.
He tortured that poor man's soul.
And every time he woke up screaming Nox would slit his throat again, until Xavier came in and told him he was done for the day.

He was relived he could go out now, but looking back at the man on the table made him gag.
Each cut was deep and at the bone in most places, his throat was now just a mess of flesh and blood, and when Nox looked down at himself he was covered in blood.
He ran from the room feeling the stinging of tears and ignored the laugh from Xavier.

When he got to his room he slammed the door shut and ran towards the little corner which was supposed to be a bathroom.
Nox was finally able to show his feelings.
He threw up. A lot. He couldn't even look at himself without thinking awful thoughts. He stripped down and got into the shower, scrubbing the blood off of himself and trying not to scream.

When he got out, he looked in the mirror and saw his eyes were puffy and red. His hair was a mess and the scars all over his body were irritated.

Zahi. Wherever you are. Please. Please forgive me.
Nox begged and prayed to Zahi that he wouldn't be upset with him. He did what he had to do and he hoped that Zahi would understand.

When he calmed down and his eyes weren't puffy anymore, he decided to go out.
Besides, what is there to do in Hell anyways?