"**** ****** ****** *******" A strange, piercing shriek tore through the room, the boys writhing in pain as they both clamped their ears with their hands, their faces contorting from the pain the unknown sound was causing them, both suddenly bleeding from their ears, their eyes bulging. Dustin fell to the ground, his stomach contents spilling onto the rug. Balair, jaw clenching tight, hands still pressed to his ears, stared with hatred at what stood before them.
It was Jim, or rather, whatever possessed him. A dark, heavy crimson hue pulsed from its form, staining the very air in the room. Jim's face contorted as whatever was in him smiled in contempt for what he was doing to the boys before him.
"Humuno's comuno's…" It chanted its voice, ringing in their ears, ancient and harsh, scraping against their eardrums as Jim's head began to snap backwards as blood gushed from every orifice on his face, the flickering lights in the curtain-closed room only serving to worsen the grotesque spectacle.
"A demon… cough!" Dustin wheezed as he coughed hysterically, grasping at the air for oxygen, drool escaping his lips uncontrollably.
"It's a… A DEMON!" he shrieked as he collapsed face flat on the fluid-stained rug.
Balair knew what stood before them; though he was confused as to why none of them had sensed the demon's presence before entering the room, he knew it was a demon. His anger in that moment told that he knew about them to a level far beyond what books could teach.
"Oh? This is no fun. He's down already? And from just this?" The demon, blood splashing from its mouth as it spoke, worsened the already grim stains on the rug, some of it also hitting the wall.
"But you, you piqued my interest," it added, each word flowing forcefully as the blood seemed unending. Jim's skin showed the toll on his body, shining a pale white; he was losing blood at a dangerous pace.
Balair looked around him, seeing the still sprawled Dustin on the floor and Jim's dire state. He needed to act, and quickly. Jim's body wasn't its own, so the demon was using it as it pleased; if things continued at that pace, he was going to die. While it was true that Balair had a bit of experience with demons, though all those had been lesser demons—ones who couldn't hide their presence as this one had done. The aura he felt from this one suggested it had lived at least a few centuries. Its control over its host was also greater than that of lesser demons, though its hold over Jim's body wasn't perfect, evident by how much Jim was bleeding.
He didn't have the luxury of time to weigh his options; he had to make a decision quickly. He wasn't trained to handle high demons, so this was basically a suicide mission, no matter how well he could try to look at it.
"I can hear the gears in your head breaking, haha, haha!" It laughed maniacally at Balair's state. Though it was fascinating that Balair had been able to endure so much of the aura it had put out, it found the suffering of humans utterly amusing, so it continued its teasing.
"Mr Hero, Saviour of all, whom will you choose to save? Because I know that you know, that none of your tricks will work on me, GRIT your teeth as much as you want, they'll file out before you can raise a finger against me" it mocked the smile on Jim's face contorting even more that it had before, cracks could be heard as a force started to bend Jim's right arm back on its self.
"Act quickly or an arm will not be all he loses due to your hesitation…" it jested, its blood-curdling laughter ringing around the room.
"Stop!" Balair screamed at Jim's torture, Jim's arm snapping as he did.
"Arrrgrrrrhhhhhh!!!!!" Jim's blood-muffled cry ripped through the air as tears of blood streamed down his face.
That was Jim! Balair thought. That was certainly him; he was still in there, fighting for his body! If he wanted to save him, he needed to act now! A glint of hope flashed across his eyes.
"Why do you even bother breaking those poor gears in your head if that's the best you can do with them? Haha!" the demon laughed. This time, the sound of cracking came from Jim's left arm as it bent backwards, bones piercing through his flesh to reveal themselves. Another piercing scream tore from Jim, the look of terror and realisation hitting Balair's face like a truck.
That scream was Jim, yes, but Balair understood now: the demon wasn't losing control. Instead, it was deliberately letting the full agony of the shattered limb flood Jim's mind—a sickening act, perfectly befitting a creature of its kind.
"What? Why the long face? Oh no…" it paused, putting Jim's broken arms over his mouth as it began to chuckle hysterically.
"Don't tell me you actually thought I was losing hold of this body!? That's a bit mean now, don't you think?" it said, mocking Balair's earlier thoughts, slowly closing the distance between them. Balair slowly bent to pick up Dustin from the ground, noticing a sudden shift in the demon's behaviour.
"A being as magnificent as me losing control of a body as weak as this!?" Its voice sounded a bit more serious, a bit of irritation leaking in as its sickening smile began to fade, its movements starting to blur from Balair's vision.
Crash! Crack!
That was all Balair heard as he found himself now outside the room and in the gallery, his back shattering the wall behind him. "HEUP!" The sudden need to cough came up as he reached for his throbbing stomach, his body shivering in pain from the impact.
"HAA-AAACK! GURGLE!" Blood streamed out of his mouth as each heavy cough echoed around the empty gallery.
He had just been hit before he could even react. That thing was dangerous; the speed it just pulled off was inhumane, especially considering its host body.
Like a blur, it appeared again, now face to face with Balair, squatting and looking up at him, its smile now returned.
"Human cursed of weakness, it's your move, now, what will you do?" it questioned mockingly, suddenly springing back up to his feet and turning his back at Balair, who was still coughing up blood, to look at Dustin.
"Why don't we make this a bit more fun?" it said, blurring out of sight again and appearing beside Dustin. It stood for a bit, as if trying to recall something, before kicking Dustin onto his back.
"Oh? What's this now? Silver hair? A Mall? It's been a while since I've had one of these; this will be splendid indeed," It exclaimed, and then, as if attempting to brush back a stray hair, it moved Jim's hands, only to be pricked by a protruding bone. A slight chuckle escaped it as it began to heal the hands, holding them both up in a fist and staring as the bones reconstructed themselves.
Balair was still shivering, pain emanating from his gut. He reached for his stomach, his fingers meeting something liquid and viscous. Blood, he thought, his vision already blurring at the edges. The already dim gallery lights flickered, doing little to help in the slightest. The lights came back on for a moment, and he raised his hands to look at them. Red—that was all he needed to confirm the viscous liquid was his blood, an iron smell hitting his nose, the metallic taste of it filling his mouth.
He felt the area he had been holding. Poking at it, he felt nothing—the area was numb. A gaping hole welcomed his fingers, introducing them to his own organs.
Why didn't it just finish me off? Balair thought as tears started to flow freely. It was as if the demon merely wished to toy with him, seeing as the wound wasn't fatal. All the hopes Balair had desperately clung to vanished, flushed by despair as he watched the demon kick the already fallen Dustin onto his back.
"St-stop," Balair mumbled, slumping to his knees. His hands dropped heavily beside him, landing with a deadened thud..
"Was that it? I only stabbed you a bit, don't be a show spoiler!" the demon whined like a child who had lost one of its playthings. It stopped what it was doing to Dustin and slowly walked towards Balair, putting its bloodstained hands into the pockets of the now blood-soaked black overalls Jim wore.
"Ugh, why are you things so fragile!?" it asked as it reached Balair's side, squatting as it raised Balair's head by the chin. Balair's eyes were still open, making the two lock eyes. Balair's now lifeless jet-black eyes met the demon's bloodshot gaze he was no longer breathing.
"Click, click, click..." The demon's head shook in mock disappointment, a hand rising to its chin as it stood.
"That's it for you, I guess. Your friend's next," it drawled, strolling away from Balair's body towards Dustin.
Hisssssssssssssss!
A piercing hiss slammed the demon to a stop. It came from the boy it had just written off as dead. The demon spun, its eyes meeting Balair's eyes the darkness in them seeming to have intensified, the air becoming heavier than it was a moment ago, a furious surge of emerald hue emanated from Balair rippling across the ground like a shockwave smashing ferociously into the demons aura and like a cornered animal an instinctive blast of aura shot forth from the demon its red hue smashing up against Balairs. Its confident sneer shattered, replaced by an enveloping look of desperation, a long-buried fear violently clawing its way back to the surface.