DEMENTED | Ethan Dolan

RAMPAGE

"Grayson," Y/N mutters, eyes flicking towards the angel who stood pretty close to her. In an instant, she fully flung herself into his arms, feeling him embrace her protectively as she practically cried into his chest, "Oh God, Grayson!"

"It's going to be okay, Y/N," Grayson murmured, rubbing his hands up and down her chest and feeling that blessed oh-so warmth he gets whenever they touch. He could feel his own cheeks blush as she pulls back slightly away, rubbing at her tear-stained face. He grabs her hand and pulls her back into him. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He guides her out of the rowdy bar and into the cold air that barely made her flinch; it was a gift to feel the frigid weather after all that running she's done tonight. Y/N stays close to his side as she says, "D-Did he hurt you?"

His name is on the tip of her tongue, but she cannot bring herself to speak it, so she let's it dissolve away and slide back down her throat where it leaves a nervous lump.

"We... fought," the angel replied vaguely, not sure if the poor woman could handle the gruesome details of his brotherly battle. "But I'm fine, I promise Y/N. I can also assure you that he won't be bothering you anymore."

Her eyes went fearfully wide. "Is he-"

"No, he's not dead," Grayson sighed. "But I made sure that he wouldn't be able to pop up with you whenever he pleases. He's bounded to that house for good, or at least until Lucifer or God decides to cast him back to Hell."

"Oh," she breathed out, seemingly relieved. "Okay."

He sucked in a deep breath. "I know you're obviously not okay but... are you hurt?"

Y/N smiled sadly. "Not physically. But who knows what could have happened if you hadn't been there to save me. Thank you, Gray, for coming back."

"No need to thank me, I'll always come back to help you," he whispers, running a comforting hand down her back again. "As long as you're safe, I'm happy. Now, you need some rest - let's get back to your parents' house, yeah?"

She wanted to say so much more to him, go on about how he was a hero in her heart and that she should have listened the first time he warned her about him, but she didn't have enough energy to bring herself to do so. Instead, she nodded and slumped tiredly in his arms, continuing to walk with him towards a mysteriously appeared taxi cab on the side of the road.

-

Everything in the house is broken.

Everything.

It was a demonic explosion of every piece of furniture Ethan could get his hands on - and that includes tearing the couch and bed to shreds, shattering every single mirror and pictures hung on the walls, snapping the spoons, forks, and knives in half, ripping up all of the books, setting fire to the curtains, breaking the television and other electrical objects of entertainment or of everyday living, punching holes in the walls, flushing random miscellaneous objects down the toilet including several pairs of sunglasses, socks, necklaces, and hand lotion. He's torn up the entire house he had spent hundreds of years in, releasing his incredulous rage that never seems to expire. He's broken everything, to mimick the way he feels inside without her.

The only thing he hasn't broken was the engagement ring she once accepted, but through back at him with a horrified look on her face.

Ethan could never get that look out of his mind.

He was currently sitting in the bathtub, trying to calm himself down as he glares down at his own demonic claws sprouting from his fingernails. He's left scratches on so many surfaces, it would probably take centuries to count them all. He's rocking back at forth in the tub, remembering the beautiful times he's spent with his lovely Y/N - who had left him without a second thought, though he couldn't blame her.

He's a monster.

He burning from the inside out, scratching and tugging at his own skin as if trying to release the pain swimming in his bloodstream. This was one of the reasons he often wished he didn't have a Dark Soulmate and was just any ordinary cold-hearted demon. Feeling anything but malice was painful for him, well, except loving Y/N. He'd trade anything in the world just to have her back in his arms, but just like everybody else who has resided in the Seeker's Chambers, she took off.

Ethan hears footsteps approaching the bathroom door, and at first, he has a small burst of hope that it could be Y/N - but then that hope deflates when he realizes that's too good to be true, she's long gone by now. The presence, anyway, was something he recognized as his Father's, who he wasn't quite sure he wanted to see. He didn't want to appear weak to him, for getting so fed up over a mortal (albeit a woman he fated him to be with). The door pushes open and in walks Lucifer, a seldom expression on his face. He crouched down beside his Son and exhales a deep breath.

"So I see you're angry, Son."

Ethan clenched his fists, unable to respond.

Lucifer continued to talk, "A natural response to a pesky Angel taking away what rightfully belongs to you. I don't blame you. But I can tell you're giving up."

"What else can I do?" Ethan growled, blowing out steam from his nostrils. He could burn this house down in just a few mere seconds, but then he wouldn't have a place to live. Nor would Y/N, on the small chance that she would ever come back. "I ruined everything, Father. I've broken everything in this damned house and I feel angry. I want to break more."

"That's love for you," chuckled Satan. "It's a cruel, unforgiving thing. But I have an idea that could express that rampage of yours, Ethan. Do you want that? To release your inner rampage?"

The demon looked up, and in a twist of his already dark mind, smiled maniacally. He stood up from the tub, along with Lucifer, and asked excitedly, "How?"

Lucifer grinned. "A message with a tinge of revenge always seems to do the trick."

-

The car pulled up to Y/N's childhood home, and immediately she felt like something was off. The lights were on in the house, but the bartender claimed that no one had answered the phone with an insinuation that they were asleep. Their car sat in the driveway, so they were clearly home.

An uneasy feeling creeped up her spine, and she slowly crawled out of the car with Grayson in tow behind her. Her legs felt like they could give out any second, but her mind was still focused on her parents who she had a terrible feeling about.

When she went to turn the knob of the door, it opened, seemingly unlocked.

"Oh God..." she gasped, her fear increasing.

A worried Grayson pulled her back, standing in front of her protectively. "I'll go in first. Stay behind me."

Y/N nodded, following Grayson into the house as she called out, "Mom? Dad?"

Silence.

It was incredibly cold in the house, too cold for her parents' liking. Her mother always preferred for the heat to be cranked up, and her father was the same, so it was unlikely that the temperature in here would be close to freezing unless it was summertime.

They move further into the house, passing the dining room that filled her with memories of bringing him over to meet her folks. Surely just for him to betray her in the end. She doesn't even want to think about what happened after dinner when they went to bed... all the seductive words he'd spoken to her that night... they all went spoiled in her mind. Tainted after what he did to her today. God, even being in this house was a reminder of him, maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea.

That theory was also proven correct, when the pair stepped into the living to a sight neither of them expected to see.

"Dear Lord," Grayson mumbled, moving to shield Y/N's eyes but it was too late.

She'd already seen it.

The sight of her dead, bloody parents sprawled on the floor together, barely recognizable by their gruesome attack. There was seriously too much blood for one to handle, and it was all over the carpet, the coffee table, the sofa - the walls...

Oh, the wall.

They looked up, noticing a random word written in their blood along the white walls in gigantic, sloppy letters.

RAMPAGE.