You are My Doom

Chapter 8: Doom

Chapter 8: Doom

Reaths flicker in and out of my peripheral vision. Their eyes plead with me to end their torment, but they no longer bother to ask me. Everyone knows I am my father's son. I am a weapon in the armory, to be kept, sharpened, and used by my owner.

The tortured souls of the keep are not the worst of the worst, instead they are those who's only crime was indecision. Those Luke-Warm Christians who thought they were clever having one foot in the church while still continuing living their lives in whatever manor they saw fit, now serve at the feet of those who they condemned.

My father rewards those who embraced their hedonistic nature, but punishes those who thought to outsmart the system. Mortals, they never learn. Do they really believe they can really outsmart a millennia old divine being? They arrogance would be amusing if I did not have to see the results of such insolence every day.

Dozens of hallowed cheeks and protruding ethereal bones haunt the halls of the palace. In my father's castle of excess, they have nothing. No clothes to protect their skin, no food to fill their stomachs, no friends to spend eternity with. Loneliness is cancer eating away at the sanity of the lost souls. They cannot see one another; instead, they are forced to watch as the angels of the below indulge their every sadistic pleasure, every glutenous desire.

Every bite of food, every drop of wine consumed by Hell's gentry is a lance in the side of the spirits who prepared it. Nothing is saved, and every scrap is wasted.

She hadn't eaten all day. She was clearly hungry and upset. I don't understand what I did wrong. She ate the fruit and seemed to like it. Maybe it was the card? All I did was tell her not to forget to eat. So, maybe I'm not good with the note writing.

I've been trying to come up with a plan for my next step for the past few days. I want to try again with leaving her a gift, but I need to be more careful with the delivery. Also, I've realized I don't know what to give her. She doesn't have any obvious needs. I would like to move her into a house with a yard, or but I haven't figured out how to make that happen, yet.

I am still watching over Eden. Even if Pain has something for me to deal with that day, I make sure Eden is safe at her office and check in on her periodically throughout the day to ensure she is still safe and happy. I have developed a relationship with her in my mind. I know she doesn't even know my name, but I feel like I play an important roll in her life. I protect her even when she doesn't know she's in danger.

I have felt men's emotions change when they look at her. When I feel their intents turn sinister, I change their feelings to something innocuous like amusement or annoyance at her presence instead of their lustful and violent natural inclinations. When Eden schedules home visits in her computer, I make sure I am available to be her shadow. She always tends to go to the seedier neighborhoods and is completely oblivious to the filth that inhabit those areas; all she focuses on is the single bright spot in the gloom. Eden only has eyes for the health and well being of the child she came to see.

Eden's single-minded intent only further enders her to me. She is so focused on seeing the good in the world, she ignores all of the evil around her. Maybe, I'm hoping she can do the same with me. Maybe, just maybe, she can look past all of my darkness too.

I am waiting for Eden to come back from her after lunch meeting, when I hear her office phone ring. I've learned in my time watching her, only bad news comes from that phone. Every time it rings, something has gone terribly wrong. Either a Bio Parent has gone off their rocker again, or one of her kids is in trouble. Fighting the temptation to answer it myself and deal with whatever crisis is awaiting my sweet cherub, I wait for her to come in.