Discover L (Book 2) | Complete |

~ Puppet Master ~

They went over the plan one more time before L and Bryce appeared from the side of the ginnel. They'd decided to go for a battered, unassuming look, something that wouldn't get them noticed instantly. They'd roughed themselves up a little, rubbed dirt on their skin and clothes, and L had messed up her hair further. They walked in step with everyone else, their faces slack jawed and eyes glazed over.

At first glance they would look like the rest of the town, and it should get them close enough to the house to get inside. They needed to be caught once they were inside, to be sure they would be taken to the Demon and not dealt with out on the street. L knew Bryce still wasn't happy with her idea but they had no other options. Despite being distracted, L made herself look when they passed under the archway of bodies, unseeing eyes stared above them.

L could make out men and women of varying ages, some were dressed in suits or uniforms while the others were in casual clothes. It wasn't clear when this Demon had made itself at home here but it had certainly caught this town off guard. The smell that came from the house suggested at least a few days, L felt pain at the thought of them all suffering for so long. She clenched her fists and they simultaneously turned towards a downstairs window.

The black mist was seeping out towards them, L got the impression that the moment it touched them the Demon would know of their arrival.

"Ready?" L asked from the corner of her mouth.

"No but we're doing it anyway." Bryce responded quietly, his eyes never wavered from the house.

That was as good a response as she was going to get, L would try to defeat the Demon as fast as possible, for his sake as well as the townspeople. Before either of them had the chance to rethink their decision, L ran at the house with Bryce on her heels. She burst through the window, into the unknown room and black mist beyond. She landed on a dirty grey carpet, sprinkled with glass and debris from the window frame.

Bryce landed beside her, his eyes scanning the room as L's did. There were people in what looked to be someone's lounge, all standing still and slack, they appeared even more zombie-like than those outside. Pale and sickly, no expression or forced movement. However, the latter changed when L and Bryce stood from their spots, every body turned to face them.

L held back her shudder, it wasn't natural the way they looked. She wanted to test her idea on these people, release them now, but they needed to be led to the Demon first. They couldn't afford for it to figure them out and make a run for it, they were too close. The townspeople moved in unison towards them, arms outstretched in grabbing motions. L's instincts told her to fight, to defend herself, but they couldn't. They had to submit. The people laid their hands on her and Bryce, pulling on them both to go in the direction they wanted.

And yet none of them reacted to what they were doing, their blank, expressionless faces didn't change despite their actions. L saw more of the puppet metaphor when they were led upstairs, the way they walked up each step was jolting. It was clear someone else was making them do it, and L couldn't wait to get her hands on the Demon behind it.

L and Bryce were pulled to the top of the stairs and over to the last room off the landing. There were pictures on the walls of a family, likely some of the faces in the crowd of people under the Demon's thrall. L turned from their faces in time to watch the door open and reveal a scene straight out of a nightmare. The room looked to have once been a large bedroom, maybe a guest bedroom, but it was far from that now.

The black mist hung denser inside, the walls were splattered with who knew what and the window had been blacked out. The furniture was broken and pushed to the side of the room, likely to make way for the disgusting, horrific scene in the centre. Sitting on a sofa made from multiple people, was a black mass of a Demon. Its shape resembled that of a familiar film character L had once watched, the characteristics were not dissimilar; large, lazy and willing to enslave others.