Of Gods and Monsters

Kalypso

"The Devil is real. And he's not a little red man with horns and a tail. He can be beautiful. Because he's a fallen angel, and he used to be God's favorite."

"Elek. I need you to leave here. Forever."

Elek blinked a few times before registering Ambrus's words. Rejection, anger, sadness, and shock etched itself across his face in rapid succession. Victor was pleased, Ambrus was in pain, but his face remained stoic.

"You don't mean that...."

Elek finally managed in a small and helpless voice. Ambrus's face remained empty, and Elek felt his throat constrict.

"I do, Elek. Leave us. Before Victor changes his mind and decides to kill you instead."

The words were empty, void of emotion. Ambrus felt himself drowning and breaking apart as he said them, but his tone and face remained expressionless. He needed Elek to believe him. Elek stared blankly for a few moments before anger took over his entire body. He walked forward, inhumanly quick, his hand raised back as if he were going to strike him in the face. Ambrus winced in preparation. Utter silence.

"So you don't love me then?"

Elek said, his voice inhumanly small, weak, vulnerable. Ambrus felt bile threatened to spill over his throat as he spoke.

"No. You were a toy, but now your time is up. I've grown tired of you. You're lucky Victor decided to spare you."

Elek let his hand fall and instead of striking Ambrus, he turned to their couch in hurt and anger, flipping it over and sending it crashing into a wall. Shaking the very foundations of their home. He was panting, silent red tears streaming from his eyes. Ambrus could tell he was ashamed of his tears. He could tell they were more from anger, than anything else, and felt his heart break. Victor stifled a laugh from beside Ambrus, who stiffened from the noise.

"No wonder you've grown tired, such hysterics. He's too human for you, mon amor. He'll eventually get you killed with all of that, raw feeling. You need someone more like---me."

Elek whipped his head around, his eyes becoming red, his hands suddenly grabbing for Victor's throat. A gloved white hand grabbed his wrist's instead, crushing them, stopping him in place. He groaned in slight pain, Victor winced in front of him in thinly veiled fear.

"You need to leave. Now."

Ambrus said, voice constricted, as if he were in pain. Elek snatched his hand away, rubbing it, and with tears in his eyes made his way for the steps. He paused suddenly, his back to both Victor and Ambrus.

"You told me you'd given me a gift. You told me we were Gods. You told me you'd take care of me. And then worst of all, you told me you loved me. Nobody has ever told me that before. Ever."

His body shook with each sentence and Ambrus winced in physical pain at them.

"I hope you both burn in hell."

And with that, he left.

I hope I do burn in Hell, Ambrus thought to himself, as he watched his frame disappear.

--

Alone. Alone. Alone.

The word kept repeating in Elek's head as he strode through the streets of Budapest. Alone, at nearly dawn. Where would he go? How would he live? He'd relied on Ambrus for everything, now what would he do? The rejection stung him again, making him take a gasp of air as he felt it constrict his chest. He swallowed hard and stopped walking, fighting the panic he felt rising in him. Having a panic attack right now would do nothing to help his current dire state. He knew this. He needed a place to hide, and fast.

Suddenly, he remembered the whorehouse. The one he'd visited with Ambrus almost a year prior, where he'd learned what he truly was. The stout red-faced man who called Ambrus a friend, he knew what Elek was, what he needed. Surely he could lie a little. At least have him set him up for one night, to avoid being incinerated. Elek thought bleakly how it didn't really seem like a bad thing right now, to simply just---expire, not have to deal with all of this anymore. But, he pushed the negative thoughts out of his head.

If he stayed there, then he could figure out what to do next. The only silver lining in the entire damned situation was that he was now free to go wherever he wanted, within reason of course. It still didn't seem like much of a silver lining, especially when the cost was his first and only love.

He thought of Victor's last words and felt bile fill up his mouth, thinking of what this implied about his and Ambrus's--- relationship with one another. Had Ambrus just replaced him with Victor? Or worse yet, had Elek just been a temporary replacement for Victor? He shook his head to clear his thoughts, right as he approached the brothel. He remembered feeling scared and lost the first time he'd entered with Ambrus, but now he felt indifferent. The women no longer scared him. He approached the red-faced man finally, who turned and began to plaster a fake smile across his face.

"Ahhh, young lord Elek, what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

He said, almost convincingly chipper. Elek cut to the chase.

"I'm in need of a place to stay for the night. I've stayed out far too late and traveling now would be----unwise."

He said carefully, the red-faced man nodded his understanding.

"I see. Like I said, any friend of Ambrus is my own. You can take any of the rooms upstairs my friend."

Elek nodded his thanks and began to turn to walk away, then paused.

"Oh and----send my package up in about an hour."

He said darkly. Why did Elek care about anything anymore? Why attempt to somehow stay just in a world that clearly wasn't? What did he have to lose anymore? Only a few minutes ago had he thought of simply incinerating himself, what was left? He'd had enough of half starving himself to death on his apparent false sense of justice. Perhaps it was time to show Ambrus and Victor just how inhuman he really was. 

The red-face man's smile flickered for a moment. Elek could smell his fear and hear his muddled thoughts. Most of them about what he was, how horrid he was.  He kept repeating the same phrase. "Devil, Devil, Devil." Good, let him, Elek thought. That's what he was, after all. A devil in human skin.

"Of course, certainly."