Castle of Demons

The Vanishing Man

   Subaru brushed his white-and-lilac hair from his eyes and looked at their new leader. He analyzed Bløød's face carefully so he could tell reporters about his encounter with the demon. He'd be extraordinarily popular. And the money - oh, the money - he'd be a billionaire. People would pay him millions just to touch where the demon did. He touched his flaky skin where Bløød gripped his shoulder. I need to moisturize, he noted. That way they'll think the demon gave me heavenly smooth skin.

"You won't be a billionaire worth your salt," Bløød said to Subaru, tapping into his thoughts as easily as running through a cool, gentle waterfall. "Nobody likes a cocky brat. Also, I hope you realize nobody's going to believe that a demon turned your nasty flaky skin into skin as smooth as a baby's ass. That's not how demons work - you're thinking of angels."

The poor skinny prisoner tried to mask his fear, tried to block off his thoughts- but he knew he couldn't. This guy was clever, and he was just a human. "I hate it when you do that telepathy thing; it's creepy. Hey, how long are we going to be here?"

Bløød walked over to Subaru, then pulled him close by his belt loops on his brand-new jeans. "Patience, small one. As long as it takes for my brother to find me."

Red as a cherry, Subaru whimpered; "How long will that take?" He had to admit, the king wasn't bad looking, but a relationship with a demon would simply be the end of him.

"As long as it takes for my friends to find him, and that shouldn't be too long."

He nodded and asked him if he could be let down, and the king and unhooked his fingers from the loops. Subaru looked at Porter with wide eyes, unsure of what to say now. He shot him a look of sympathy, but immediately averted his gaze elsewhere. He didn't want to get in trouble with the evil guy.

"What happens now?" Subaru asked the demon. "What happens if they never show up? I want to be free, not trapped in some cave for the rest of my life," He said, running his fingers through his hair. He's been in jail since he was 12, and the transfer from juvy to jail wasn't all that pleasant. He was 33 years old now, and he's grown claustrophobic. The demon in the room wasn't comforting, either.

"They'll show up. It may be a while, but they will. I've set out some clues for them, but I don't think they'll be able to follow my tracks as easily as they may find Flapjack's, my brother." Bløød sat on the couch they'd stolen when they raided a human home for goods. He did like that humans taste- expensive and well-cared for items. I guess that's just what I'm used to, Bløød thought to himself.

Their trip to this cave was extremely odd, and Subaru'd never experienced anything like it. Teleportation. Something he'd only seen in the movies he'd watch with his mom when he was 9. How is she nowadays, Subaru asked himself as he plopped down on the couch next to Bløød. After he made the switch from juvy to jail, she never visited. It was sad, he'd missed her lots, but he forgot about her until moments ago. She wrote letters to Porter, but that was it. Nothing to him ever.

"Quite the sob story, care to talk about it?" Bløød smiled amusedly.

"No," Subaru grumbled. "It's none of your business."

"Well, how'd you end up in prison?"

Subaru surprised himself and let out a laugh. He'd never told anyone the full story about that, but for some reason, he felt comfortable sharing it with him. "Me and Porter stabbed someone."

Bløød looked at him blankly. "That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it?'"

"Is that it? No life story, reason why, nothing?"

Subaru shrugged and tilted his head up to look at the ceiling of the dirt-walled building. "It was our sister. If you want a reason why, ask Porter. He remembers it clearer than I do." He looked up at his brother, who was painting a picture on a snow white canvas.

"It was a long time ago," Porter said, putting down his paints. "But I remember it very clearly." He brushed his hands on his apron, untied it from his waist, and sat it down next to the other supplies he stole. "It was 9:30. We'd just finished our supper, and Mother was tucking in our eldest brother. He went to bed earlier because he had to go to school earlier than we woke up. When she went to bed, we all got up - me, Subaru, and Havyn, our sister- and went to the woods that surrounded the house, specifically the lake.

"We'd been more than careful not to wake Mum or the eldest. We went to the lake - reminder, me and Subaru have been planning to do this for months - and we sat around a campfire. For two hours we told stories of ghosts or school or our parents, until she'd finally said she was ready to leave. We dropped the knives we'd stored in our sleeves into our hands. I'd let Subaru take the first few stabs as I played with the weight of the knives, then when she started fighting back I jumped from behind and grabbed her by the neck and slit her throat." Porter's voice broke and he looked at Subaru.

"Thank you, Porter," His brother said, his blue eyes watery and his lips pulled into a tight line. Porter probably thought about that day every waking moment. It was his fault- he was the one who'd planned the murder, not his little brother. He wrapped his fingers around the warm cup of tea Porter had poured for him not too long ago.

"How did they find her body?" Their leader crossed his legs and watched them like he didn't have any other choice.

The lilac haired man slouched and looked at Porter expectantly. He composed himself quickly and sat on the recliner. "Mother reported her missing, and our eldest brother claimed that he heard her screams. She had people investigate and they dug up the entire area. They found her body 4 days after the incident."

"How'd you end up in prison?" Subaru asked Bløød curiously.

"It's truly a long story."

"We have time," Porter piped in.

Bløød nodded and inhaled deeply, looking at the faces of his newly acquired acquaintances. "There was a distress call from Earth. I hadn't told them our whole plan or why we were visiting the planet. I didn't want them sharing the plan with other castle goers - or in my friend's case, the other lands on the planet. We came here, visited a few places, and entered a convenience store. My cat shot someone, police arrived, some sweaty man in blue arrested me and, well, I went into the prison and met you. Quite eventful, really."

Porter looked at his exposed toes and kicked up some dust, coughing as he breathed it in. "I don't have the luxury of knowing how to make friends. I always scare people away."
Bløød grunted. "I have but one friend - and he's beaten me pretty much every day when I lived with him. I suppose it wasn't his fault, I'd kill or strike other demons. His name's Jorn, brother of the god and enemy of mine called Tovuu. I guarantee you, I'm not the same around those men."

"You're a murderer?"

"Why is this surprising to you? I shoved your brother's head in the jail bars."

Porter let out a staccato laugh and smiled at Subaru, who didn't look too happy. He told his brother to lighten up, making Subaru's shoulders tense.

"I'm not being a stick in the mud, I don't understand how much more I can 'lighten up.'" He didn't enjoy being told what to do, and he felt a little ripped off; Bløød's story was less dramatic - hell, Bløød wasn't even the one who killed the man. They'd told the man his whole prison story, and they didn't even relate. His cat shot someone! "What's your cat's name?"

 "I have two twin cats- Ace and Eca. They're part human but-" There was a loud sound of metal on concrete and Porter was gone. "Fuck."