Under the Cover of Darkness

Chapter 23 - Hellbent

It didn't take long for boredom to set in. Without Fitch or their newly acquired roommate, Haley, to accompany the day-to-day drag of life in a treehouse in the middle of a decedent forest, Bryce found himself mainly loafing around the house, his mind wandering on when his next nap would be until something would remind him of Fitch or Alric or the words Kirby left him with, "Don't leave his side!" Already, the demon had failed in his mission, and his worry only grew when the mission they were to be separated during was a trip to Set, the place where Quanti resided. Instead of going with Fitch, Alric chose Haley over him.

To Bryce, he knew what it meant. Alric couldn't be trusted, or he was too stupid to realize that the very person he was once going to execute several months before was deserving of attending a high stakes mission in a foreign kingdom. However, Bryce knew a cunning man when he saw one. Throughout his time on earth, he had seen rulers granted immense power, only for it to slowly corrupt them towards personal gain and glory. Alric was no different. Bryce could simply watch as Alric manipulated his chess pieces towards his goal, a goal that Bryce still couldn't piece out though.

Their relationship was strained by their shared need for Fitch. It was evident that Alric saw promise in the young swordsman, training him through redundant missions, harnessing a killer instinct within the mind of an adolescent, raising him to be an exact copy of himself, a cold-blooded, nearly psychopathic murder. In turn, the demon knew he had to separate this forced mentorship before it got out of hand because if Kirby's hypothesis was correct, then Fitch needed to be separated from such a figure.

At the same time though, Bryce knew that Alric's plan of manipulating Fitch's character into that of a battle-tested warrior wasn't without its inherent flaws because he hadn't accounted for his other relationships, namely his love relationships. If anyone other than himself were to keep Fitch from falling into the corrupted evil surrounding Netueeia, Haley would. His attraction was obvious, and as a result, Bryce was at least confident that the trip to Set wouldn't stray Fitch onto a dark path because of her mere presence. In turn, Bryce could allow his mind to wander temporarily as he lounged around the treehouse for weeks, awaiting Fitch's return.

Laying on his back on the couch in the den, Bryce, in his cat form, juggled the keys to the laboratory in his palms. Since the day Kirby was kidnapped, Bryce accepted his fate of likely never knowing what truly happened in the charred lab, but he couldn't help feel a draw to the room during the weeks of break. At the same time, Bryce kept on sensing visitors in the forest, but none of his perceptions manifested into a living being stalking the treehouse. Especially as the final week of the Ardorian return trip from Set crept slowly along, Bryce constantly found himself flinging doors open, checking for any unwanted visitors. The only door he never opened was that of the laboratory, its hidden secrets and odd history locked away with the key that Bryce, the day before Fitch's return, bobbled in his cat paws.

Morphing back into his human form, Bryce, in a yellow, pineapple button-down shirt and tan trousers, yawned and stretched his legs out. "Damn, do I really want to go to that dreaded city, right now?" he exclaimed to himself, his patience unable to contain his desire to leave the spacious, yet socially cramped house.

"Ugh! When's that kid getting back?" he asked out loud with one last exaggerated reach for the air around him. Finally, he retracted his limbs from their stretched state and stood up, becoming aware of the world outside the house for the first time in a couple days. He walked down the small hallway to the front frame of the house, still without a door attached after Quanti so rudely barged in.

Scratching the back of his head, Bryce frowned at the makeshift door, two mahogany-colored, overlapping curtains taped to the frame. He inspected the craftsmanship with a feeling of pride and accomplishment. Eventually though, with a sigh, he muttered to himself, "That's what I was supposed to do while they were gone."