"Come on, Lakey. You know I'm right." Alake twisted away from the image before him. "No, you're not. You're a monster. There's no way I would kill Cian!" Sicarius smiled sickly. Thoughts of pestilence and death; rats scurrying over curdled trash came to mind. "You've already killed your brother," A wave of despair swept through Alake, almost crumbling him to the floor. "That Ophelia girl," Sicarius lifted another finger, and Alake's knees buckled. He hit the floor with a thud, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. Sicarius only advanced, his smile growing. "And who knows what happened to Amara...it's not exactly out of the question, little lamb."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Alake's scream was raw and hoarse, tears splattering the floor beneath him as he tried to cave inside himself, his body racking with sobs. "Just...please...leave me alone. You've killed my friends, my family, I can't kill him." He looked up at Sicarius. "I love him." Sicarius gripped Alake's jaw in his clammy hands, moving his face closer to Alake's. "He doesn't love you." He shoved Alake's jaw away, smirking. "If you're so hung up about it, go ahead, make it boring. Slit his throat. Stab him through the heart. Just get it over with." Sicarius' gaze swept over Alake. "We're all waiting for you."
Alake lifted his head, and Sicarius was gone. Retreated into the background of Alake's mind, no doubt. Waiting for the right moment to strike once again. Alake held his face in his hands, shuddering breaths passing through his lips. Sicarius was insane. There was no way he could ever harm Cian. You already have, a voice within him hissed. Alake slammed his head onto the floor, a red welt blossoming between his brows. But the voice persisted. You killed his friends, his lover. Taking away his life would be a mercy. "STOP!" He shrieked, covering his ears in a vain attempt to silence the voice inside. This won't stop unless you stop it. Alake pounded his head onto the floor repeatedly. "I won't! I won't! I won't!" His words became unintelligible as blood poured from his head, blinding him. The sick thud of his head repeated over and over and over, and soon the floor was wet with crimson.
Suddenly, he stopped. His face a mutilated mess of tears and snot and blood. You forget your place, little lamb. I am the one in charge. In an instant, his face was clear. His body trembled as the stream of blood abruptly ended, a scream of rage present in the back of his throat. You will do as I say, little lamb. Alake stood, his own conscious in the back of his mind, screaming for Sicarius to stop. To kill him. But all the demon did was laugh. You don't have a choice.
—-
Cian looked so peaceful when he slept, Alake thought to himself as he stood by Cian's bed. He looked more innocent, the lasting impression of Titus' death only seen in the dark circles stamped underneath his eyes. Alake felt his lips tremble as the blade in his hand reflected the moonlight that streamed in through the windows. The light cast upon Cian's face, and he mumbled, readjusting his body away from Alake. Deep inside of himself, Alake felt a thrill of excitement thrum through him. And he was horrified that he couldn't tell if it was from him, or Sicarius.
"Come on, little lamb. This is the only way we can defeat the big guy," Sicarius' form
appeared, nonchalantly leaning against the wall. He inspected his claws before gesturing to Cian with a sweeping motion. "Take away all his little pawns." Alake felt a wave of revulsion hit him, not quite drowning out the excitement, the thrill, that filled him. "Cian isn't a pawn." He mumbled past the lump in his throat, his voice quivering. Sicarius pushed himself off of the wall, advancing toward Alake with a sneer on his inhuman lips. "But he is. He's been one for decades now. We're helping them. How can you not see that? Their lives are insignificant. You are not. You are the only vessel that is strong enough to contain me. This is the only way to set you, all of you, free." Alake nodded helplessly, gripping the knife in his hand with all of his life. "I know." He whispered, gazing at Cian's sleeping form. "It has to be done."
Alake lifted his blade, his hands trembling so extremely that the sweat on his palms almost caused him to drop it. He swallowed down the panic building in his throat as he moved to slam the knife down, but was interrupted by Cian's stirring. His eyes fluttered open as Alake stumbled off of the bed, his gulps of air the only noise in the room. "Lake?" Cian mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he lifted his body onto his elbows. "What're you doin' here?" Tears had begun to stream down Alake's face as he stared, unbelievably, at Cian. "Run. Please." The sleep evaporated from Cian at the words, springing from his bed as he ran over to Alake.
"What the hell happened?"
Cian felt the heavy thrum of Alake's heart as panic filled his entire being. "Nothing! Just go! Now!" In between words, Alake hiccupped, the tears that raced down his face splattering onto Cian's floor. "Not until you tell me what's happening." Something inside Alake broke. Here he was again, trying to save the only person he had ever loved with his entire being, and they were doubting him. Treating him as if he were a child. He was so much more that a child now, so much more than human now. Alake could see the pity, the unending pity, within Cian's eyes. Alake hated it.
Alake laughed, a hollow, horribly empty sound. "Why were you always so stupid?" Cian stumbled back slightly. "Stupid? I'm just trying to help. What's happening?" Alake stood, steady on his feet, as the tears stopped. "Nothing. Ci." He plucked the blade off of the ground, twirling it in his hands. "Nothing at all." Alake turned, smiling his signature smile, and Cian felt a cold fear creep into him. It was only Alake, his best friend for pretty much his entire life, and it was only the smile Cian had seen almost everyday, but something behind Alake's eyes made him pause. "Lake?"
Alake turned toward him, his smile twisted now. "Don't. Call. Me. That." Then he sprung, the rage that he had held onto for twenty-two years rising to the surface as he slammed the blade into Cian's shoulder. Cian screamed in pain, his hands clawing at Alake's chest. "You never saw me as a person." Alake hissed into Cian's ear, now straddling him. "You, all of you, only saw me as a dog. Something less than human. Just your punching bag." Alake twisted the knife and Cian let out another scream. Music to Alake's ears. "I am so much more than human now." Alake ripped out the knife from Cian's shoulder, a gasp leaving Cian's lips, before stabbing him in the abdomen.
"ALAKE, STOP!" Cian screeched, blood blossoming from his stomach as the blade twisted inside his intestines. "No." Alake chuckled at Cian's expression, the one of fear and hopelessness. "I'm saving you. Or are you too stupid to get that?" He repeated his actions. "Come on, beg for it. Beg for me to kill you." Cian's eyes were glazed over, his breath ragged and shallow. "Ti...tus." He murmured under his breath, only just loud enough for Alake to hear him.
And suddenly, Alake came to his senses. "Why?" He sobbed as tears began to form in his eyes. "Why him?" He seethed. He ripped out the knife before shoving it back in. Memories flooding to the surface, times that Alake felt the most embarrassment, the most shame. Alake screamed out in frustration. "I LOVED YOU MORE THAN HE EVER COULD!" Cian was silent as the blade entered his body repeatedly, more times than Alake dared to count. Tears fell onto Cian's body, stiff and unmoving, except for the stabs that jostled it.
The knife cut deeper. Each word remembered, a stab followed.
You're my best friend, Lake.
Another.
C'mon guys! It's not like I'd ever actually get with Alake.
Another.
Titus...I love you.
Hot tears streamed down Alake's face as he continued to mutilate Cian's body, who was well past dead as of now. The echo of his piercing screams rung throughout his mind, tearing through the last pieces of sanity Alake held close. He sobbed as he shoved the knife through one more time. The knife passing through Cian's heart. "I...love...you." He whispered, stroking Cian's face tenderly. Alake pressed his face to Cian's chest and let out screams of despair.
Sicarius appeared then, his hands clasped together formally. "I didn't believe you'd actually do it." He muttered. But, Alake didn't respond, only shoving his face deeper into the blood-soaked, mutilated body before him. "Now is not the time to mourn, little lamb. Ziginiar awaits us." Alake released one laste terrible, soul-wrenching sob before rising, his face caked in his lover's blood. "Let's finish this."
