The End Is Near

Chapter Three

Sotiris Anastasius' POV
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Jekyll and his brother have been fighting since they got back, but I don't think Drew really notices it. It may be that they're used to fighting. After all, they're both harboring resentment.

And if I know these twins like I believe I do, nobody can be quite so resentful. They don't realize it, but they've always been dark. Sylwia wasn't the first to notice their darkness.

Really, and Jekyll wonders why his brother nicknamed him so...

I look down at the musty open book on my coffee table. The same one Jekyll and that Eli fellow were reading in the library only a little while ago. Maybe I could have just checked it out, but stealing it was more my style.

I feel the power of Jekyll's soul hovering over pages imbued with dust, and I miss him desperately. I don't know if I'm missing his presence or the power he gave to me, but as I breathe in his scent I have a hard time keeping myself inside the house I had fixed up.

I knew he was coming months in advance, and I thought I was ready for this moment where I would be close to him again, but it's killing me.

Of course, not in the literal sense, it's rather difficult work killing a demon such as myself.

Perhaps getting close to Jekyll is a bad idea. Maybe I should try to get close to Drew, instead... But then, Drew was the twin to notice my duplicity. And he doesn't have the same power as his brother does.

And if the way Jekyll acts now is any indication, the magick in his soul has only gotten stronger. He's slowly becoming more confident, more... corrupt. And he doesn't even know enough to fight it! The perfect pawn...

Of course, Drew's magic still holds a chance of changing. His temperament could be the affect   of unbalance in his soul. At this point, he could either aid or hinder me in the path of world domination. And I hope it doesn't come to hindrance, because I'm not sure Jekyll would allow me to destroy his brother.

Of course, if I bend his will enough, he could just do it for me.

I can't help but smile a little at the thought of those brothers attempting to destroy one another. Wouldn't that be a sight? Everyone thinks they get along, after all...

We'd just have to cheat a little to ensure Drew doesn't win.

I close the book below me, and think of how I can get Jekyll to obey me.

His trust is harder to earn, I know, but he's still naive enough to fall hard for pretty faces. As I've seen with this Eli guy.

I tap my claws on the table, unsure of what to do, how much I can get away with. I mean, clearly I can't stroll out of the house in my natural form...

I glance in the silver looking glass hanging across the room, my glowing eyes and fangs staring back at me. I look down at my hands, clawed and a charred-black color fading up my arms into a deep mahogany.

Definitely not how I want to be seen. People would be on me in an instant, fully prepared with salt and iron, to send me back to that damned prison I barely managed to escape with my life.

My escape was justified, they were planning on killing me. Those 'Angels' that run the IDC are capable of killing a demon like me with a touch. Or, well, one of them is.

The thing is, nobody had any idea which angel it was that was capable of smiting us. So we feared every angel the same. And it wasn't only demons in the prison. There were human mages, kitsunes, weres, sirens; any number of different phantasms. If they were a threat to their world, they were caught by the Organization and brought to the Angelî Order.

I was the only one there caught by two preteens and one retired member of the Organization. So, of course, I was scorned.

I will get revenge on the Moss family, if it's the last thing I do.

Of course, Dianna Moss already suspects I'm back to their realm, but she's rather certain she's simply being paranoid. An idiotic notion. She should be calling her brother in the Organization by now, but she doesn't want to worry her nephews.

I laugh shortly.

Family is weakness. It may have been strength before, but now, she's only destroying her chances.

Jeffrey Moss might be able to kill me, but without him... They don't have a chance this time around. And not telling Drew and Jekyll of their Organization heritage is just hindering them more.

I snap, and a servant steps out of the shadows of the room, his dark form wavering in the candlelight.

"Get me the scrying liquid. In the silver chalice."

He bows. "Yes, sire," His voice flickers in and out of existence, and he vanishes from my sight.

I don't like when they do that. It leaves a stink of Sulfur in the air. And it clings to everything, cloying. I decide to invest in some scented candles. Vanilla is always welcoming, or cinnamon...

The servant appears back in the room, holding the chalice in his transparent hands. He approaches me cautiously, the light of the candle no doubt bothering him. I wait until he's closer, and take the chalice from his hands, ignoring his discomfort as my claws brush his shadow-skin.

"Will that be all, sire?" He asks, drawing back a ways.

I give him a considering look, trying to think if I need anything.

"A pen and paper, mayhaps?"

He nods, bows, and goes to fetch it, walking this time into the darkness of the upstairs area and the confines of my study. All of the Shadow Demons I house like to be in the study; because it doesn't have windows so light barely reaches it.

Finally, the servant comes back and sets the things before me with a bow.

"Thank you."

I test the pen with a scribble, and spell the scrying liquid to fruition. I gaze into it, choosing to see first Jeffrey Moss, and make sure he's still isolated from his family. Which, of course, he is. He's the only one remaining with the Organization, and the rest of the family doesn't like that. Petty Moss's.

I then check on the rest of the dangerous part if the Moss family, first with Dianna. She seems to be making a ball of twine, singing an old song that hurts my ears. I know it's a warding song against demons. It would damage my mind to get too close to someone singing such a song.

I switch over to check on the twins. Jekyll is sleeping, but Drew is gazing out the window, humming the same song his Aunt downstairs is singing. I don't know if he just overheard it or if he knows what it means. I hope it's the former, for my own sake.

And I wouldn't want to have to destroy him before Jekyll is on my side.

I look at Jekyll, my favorite of the insipid race of humans. Considering his species, he is slightly attractive. His brown hair falls in strands over his face as he sleeps, a tiny smile lingering on his deep pink lips. He's paler than before he came here, I'm sure he stays indoors reading a lot.

I guess we're similar that way. Of course, I have the advantage of naturally dark skin, while he looks close to death but for the color in his cheeks. Somehow, despite his naturally mocha skin, he really holds a pallor.

But the dead are often the ones my particular species of demons prey on. I don't think my kind has devoured a live soul since the time that live sacrifices were given to us. Most of them have died, unable to fight the other demons for souls or taken by the Organization. I am the most powerful of my kind.

I have followers among the humans, a cult if you will, who kill to bring me souls. The Shadow demons bow to my power, and plenty of demons are willing to follow me in my plan of world domination.

As soon as I devour the Moss family, they will be unleashed.