Monster

~*~ Chapter 14 - A Deal ~*~

Deceit looked around at everyone in the room, pulling at the invisible binds that kept him stuck to the ground. The eyes on him were strong and angry, and this was uncomfortable. "I don't think returning Virgil's memories will be good for him." He repeated. "When I found him, he was... unhinged. We don't know what those memories will do to him if he gets them back, but if you want to fry his brain, be my guest." He elongated the S, a habit when he was stressed.

That apparently was not the answer Virgil wanted as his anger grew. He pulled away from Patton, standing up. Patton's eyes flashed with worry, but Logan looked contemplative. He seemed to understand the possible implications of what they were asking.

"You don't get a say in this matter snake. You lost that right." Virgil hissed.

"What about me?" The four of them heard the strident voice of Remus from the stairwell, echoing off the wall like a shrill call to reality. "Because I think you should do it. Let's see what happens to a cat when you fry its brain." His twisted smile played on his face as he gripped the banister.

"Where's Roman?" Virgil's anger shifted from one man to the other, vaulting himself over the couch so that he could get to Remus quicker. That didn't seem to bother the demon as he caught Virgil's throat and screamed a demonic scream, distracting everyone in the room. For a moment there was silence, no one dared to utter a word until Remus began laughing, letting go of Virgil.

"You are all so easy to distract. Better head upstairs to check on little RoRo, I don't know how long he will last with a wound like that." He didn't hesitate, pushing past Remus and running up to Roman's room. His feet didn't make a sound as he flew across the carpet. Remus didn't care. He had more entertaining matters to deal with. The demon took one last step off of the staircase, finally one the same level as everyone else. It seemed to snap Logan out of his surprise.

In one movement, Logan had pushed Patton behind him, readying himself for a fight, but Remus looked bored.

"That won't do, what fun would it be to fight a human. I have feasted, and you are weak" He raised a hand and dark shadows engulfed Logan, slamming him to the floor, bound by his wrist and ankles. "I could bury you alive, that might be fun, wait, you are the one that likes to mess with science. I wonder what would happen if I took everything from your lab and poured it on you."

"Don't touch him." Patton finally said, raising his hands up as magic filled his palms.

"I think you didn't hear me, witch," A cruel smile crossing his face. "I have feasted." Dark shadowy tentacles engulfed Patton next, covering his mouth so he couldn't cast spells. "Lucky for both of you. I don't want you two." Remus walked past Patton as he began to choke and struggle for air. He almost skipped up to Deceit, kneeling in front of him. "I know you offered me a deal, but I think I have one instead. Come with me, snake boy." Patton's concentration on the spell was broken and Dee was able to move. Remus' hand was held in front of him, tempting him. Deceit could hear Patton struggling to say something. He could hear Logan protesting, but the sound was being drowned out by the black ooze that swallowed them.

"I'll come with, but there is no need to kill them." Deceit calmly dusted off his pants as he stood. He looked calm, his appearance as controlled as ever.

"The sooner we are gone the sooner my magic will fade from them."

"Then let's go." Dee began to leave, not even checking to see if Remus was following, but he could hear it. He could hear Remus skipping behind him.

True to his word, the black ink faded when the two were far enough away from the house. Deceit wouldn't know this, he wouldn't be able to see it, but Patton gasped for air, tears pricking his eyes. He was alive.

"The memories." Patton cried, trying not to fall to his knees.

"The memories can wait." Logan was by his side in an instant, holding him tightly, "Breath with me." His voice didn't show it, but his eyes were terrified. Logan didn't know where all of this power had come from and he feared the worst. "Deep breaths bluebird, deep breaths." He had Patton mimic his breathing patterns until he was able to breathe normally on his own. Logan was able to hide his fear from his love. He was able to push his emotions down like he had so many times before.

"We need to check on Roman," Patton whined and Logan nodded, completely overwhelmed with everything that had happened in the past few minutes.

"Yes, let's go check on him." This day had not gone as planned, they had lost Dee, they had lost Virgil's memories. Logan wasn't sure if Patton could handle losing Roman as well. As the two of them stood, Logan slowly led them up the stairs, praying that the silence meant only good things.

When they pushed the door open, Virgil was holding Roman tightly in his arms. Their cat-eared friend was sobbing softly, but Logan could see Roman's chest rising and falling, his head bandaged, poorly. Roman was still alive, which meant there was still hope.

"Virgil, may I look him over?" Virgil nodded hesitantly, letting Logan do his thing. This was the one area where Logan could truly help his family. Unfortunately, he had had to use his skills as a medic far too often in the past week. As callous as it was to think, at least it wasn't Patton. Logan was not sure his mind could have focused enough had Patton been the one lying unconscious in this gold and red room.

"It's okay, we will figure this out." Patton wrapped his arms around Virgil, giving him an anchor that they both knew Virgil needed. "It will be okay." Patton might have believed that, but Virgil wasn't so sure. He was still so confused by everything, but he knew one thing for certain. He could not lose Roman.

AN: I'm sorry, I know this is coming out a few hours than it normally would, also the fact it is not one of my better chapters. I was having a really hard time writing this, not because I didn't enjoy this scene, but literally because I saw Frozen 2 recently and I have Into the Unknown stuck in my head. I couldn't focus on anything else because I just kept hearing it over and over. Hopefully, it wasn't too awful. Have a good night lovelies!