Demon // EXO

Chapter 17

"Wakey wakey, little mortal."

Consciousness ripped through me like scissors through paper. All I felt was an intense ache pulsating through every inch of my being.

"Your saviours are doing a good job of messing things up for us. It's only making things worse for you."

I couldn't see, I couldn't feel anything but the aching. I couldn't even tell which demon twin was speaking, I felt like I was floating in oblivion with no way out of the darkness.

There was no whisper of another voice, of another sound or noise. It was silent, except the mumbling voices of twins, who seemed to be speaking in a bone chilling ancient language that had my stomach curdling. Something about the sound of the words, the way they were pronounced and spoken, the way it rolled from their tongues; it was terrifying.

One of them laughed, like a crow screaming. I wanted to flinch, but it felt like I wasn't in my body, like I couldn't tell myself to move, to speak, to do anything.

I faded out of consciousness once again.

~

"So she's agreed to help us?" Minseok urged as him and his eight brothers were seated in their dining room, blank faced.

Yixing made a face, "to some extent. She's agreed to find them and lure them away long enough for us to grab Isla and return her here. But we had to swear on Satan not to cause the twins any harm."

Chanyeol snarled under his breath, large, splinter sharp canines poking through his mouth, fiery eyes swirling. "You swore. I didn't."

Baekhyun shot his brother an unusually sharp look, one that he never usually used for his closest sibling. "We swore that the nine of us wouldn't harm the twins, Chanyeol."

Before the demon could make a retort, Junmyeon held up a silencing hand, Minseok sat beside him deep in thought. "Namjoon will deal with the twins' punishment once we've retrieved Isla. But right now, the main focus is her."

"She's been with them for days. She'll be an empty shell by now." Minseok commented, "you all know as well as I do the twins torment stretches far beyond what any mortal is capable of. They've brought Higher Demons to their knees and crumbling, do you really think that there will be anything left of Isla?"

Silence. The nine of them looked at each other, yet nobody uttered a word to reply to their older brother. Not when they knew he was right. The twins were a force to be reckoned with, and at times Satan struggles to contain them fully, if they unleashed themselves wholly on Isla then her soul wouldn't survive it, let alone recover from it.

"Then we need to make a move." Jongin stood, nodding at Sehun as the youngest of them stood as well. "The longer we sit here figuring out our best plan the longer Isla is in their grimy hands. We need to split up into groups and just take them head on if need be. They may be powerful, but we're the most feared group of demons in Hell for a reason."

"Agreed," Jongdae spoke, "I want to get into the action."

The eight of them looked to Junmyeon, who was staring at them all as if he'd never met them before, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips, onyx eyes endless. "Then let's go."

~

Eyes opening, light blinded me as I felt my body being jiggled around as if someone was carrying me whilst running. Blinking past the never ending brightness, my gaze focused in on the face that was leaning over me.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Jongin?"

The demon gave a grin and nodded, still carrying me as he appeared to be running. I wanted to release a breath of relief, but I knew that if Jongin was running and not teleporting, then my rescue must have gone wrong somehow.

"We'll be out soon." He whispered as my eyes focused on my surroundings. We were in a grubby old building with narrow corridors and sharp turns, it almost seemed like a never ending maze with no windows or decorations. The concrete flooring, walls and ceiling glared down at me uglily.

"Where are we?" I breathed, unable to lift my head properly.

Jongin paused, nearly dropping me forward he stopped that fast. "Purgatory."

My throat constricted, but I blinked. I trusted this demon brother, knowing he'd try and get me out as quick as he could. "Why have we stopped then?"

He moved, putting me down and allowing me to stand up, regaining the feeling through my body simultaneously. Despite being able to move again, I felt claustrophobic in the tight hallways which seemed to be getting smaller slowly.

"Let's keep moving. What's wrong?" I urged, moving to reach for him, but he evaded my grasp, his demonic eyes swallowing the usual brown irises.

I pulled my hand back, an odd sinking feeling in my gut and chest as something didn't feel right all of a sudden.

"We're in purgatory, Isla." He spoke, but the voice didn't belong to Jongin. "We're in the Seventh Circle of Hell. The Seventh Sin is calling for you, examining your very soul. Will you pass the test?"

Something red hot went through my heart, and a lance of anger shot along my veins along with pure adrenaline as I snarled.

"Will you give in to the Violence? Or will you come out victorious the way you did with Lust?" Slowly, his features transformed from the Jongin I knew, to Taehyung's beautiful face.

"This was a trick," I seemed to growl, an odd sort of feeling washing over me. I wanted to bash his head against the concrete wall, laugh as his face caved in and blood coated my skin.

He grinned, as if sensing my destructive thoughts. "Does that make you angry Isla?"

A ferocity I'd never experienced before swept over me, encompassing my very being until an animalistic hunger began to grow within my soul and body. My fists trembled, my jaw clenched, I wanted to see his eyes fade as I ripped his heart from his chest with my bare hands.

I liked it, loved it; this feeling.

Growling, I pounced, as I let The Seventh Sin of Violence awake within me.