∞ Colin ∞

All I can do is watch. Jo can’t hear me, and I can’t do anything to help her. Not right now at least. Rabisu is too strong. He needs to grow weaker and then maybe I can try and take over for a bit. Luckily, this demon is sadistic enough to let me watch, despite me tricking him and imprisoning him tonight. I still can’t believe I managed to pull through the hallucinations, and I think I have to thank Jo for that. Rabisu was so consumed by trying to torture me with his fantasies about Jo that I could finish the ritual and bind him.

But now, now I know what he wants to do with her, and it makes me sick.

Waking up to Jo’s voice calling me and hearing me respond to her; luring her in was the most terrible thing ever to happen to me. Having to watch her now, being so close to imminent danger is the worst. The only thing I can really do is try to distract him just as he wanted to distract me as I conducted the ritual.

I can’t sit by and do nothing as Jo faces him.

The only thing I can do right now is to keep talking to him and scream at him until he shuts me down completely and that will take energy, the energy he doesn’t want to sacrifice because he still believes that he can break this prison down. However, I don’t know if I should threaten him, mock him, or simply insult him since I have no idea if he would take it out on Jo. I’m not good at improvising. At least not with words. I’m the man who lets his deeds speak for him.

If I could punch Rabisu in the face, I would.

 

∞ Jo ∞

“Come here,” he growls at me because I don’t move. “Or I will make you.”

I don’t like being ordered around, and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t bring myself to submit. I am physically incapable of obeying blindly. One will have to force me. And I am curious how this Rabisu is going to make me move when he’s in the middle of the room, and I am about six feet away from him.

I cross my arms in front of my chest again and wait, the silver dagger in my sight out of the corner of my eye. I’m not stupid. He wanted to get rid of that blade, which means I must get my hands back on it.

“Then make me,” I tell him.

His response makes me shudder; he chuckles.

Again, I can feel the sound coming from him in my bones, it’s so demonic. A rush of ice runs through my body as I finish that thought. Demonic. Is Colin possessed? No, that can’t be.

There are no such things as demons.

A split personality? Is that what happened to him? Is this what he is trying to get rid of through some sort of ritual? All of this could be coming from his imagination. How can I help him?

All my questions are answered suddenly and just as undeniably: Colin lifts his right hand and waves me towards him, and I move. My legs don’t start walking on their own, they don’t even twitch. No. I am being pulled towards him, and my feet are being dragged across the floor.

Fuck. My. Life.

I stare down at my feet because I cannot believe what is happening right now. I am being moved like a piece of furniture; like a lifeless doll just because Colin made a gesture.

Before I can completely process what happened that exact hand holds my jaw captive again and pulls me even closer towards Colin – or should I use the demon’s name: Rabisu?

I try to stay calm, keep my mind in the game, and not lose my shit. But I make the mistake of looking Rabisu in the eyes, these gaping pits of darkness.

A lot of mocking remarks come up in my head as I try to deal with the un-dealable. I want to dare him to prove it to me that he is, in fact, a demon, but then he already has. I just can’t wrap my head around what just happened. Am I dreaming, maybe?

“So, that is what you do?” I hear myself ask.

Now I am willing to believe that this is merely a dream because why would I be so stupid, as to tease a frigging demon?

“What, Joana?” He responds, not tilting his head as I would have expected, and grins, but slightly.

Is it just me or have Colin’s teeth become more prominent? Rabisu. This one is Rabisu wearing Colin. That’s a difference, Jo.

“Force people?” I answer honestly.

“Make them, yes,” he nods, once. “I usually do not need to use force.”

“So, you’ve made an exception for me?” I keep him talking, and that actually is the idea: Distract him so I can assess my situation; I need to stay calm and get my mind to work, and my hands on the dagger.

“That I did,” Rabisu admits without changing his expression, which makes it impossible for me to learn how this creature is ticking.

“So, what kind of demon are you?” I inquire, while I wonder if I ever read something about demons or if my entire knowledge is from Supernatural.

“That is not important, Joana,” he evades me.

“So, what, you’re shy now?” I mock him, and he doesn’t like it.

I know that because Rabisu lifts me up from the ground just by my head which hurts. There are probably humans who are able to pull that off but this body ain’t sure one of them. Still, why does that turn me on? Is it because of my dreams?

“You are going to do something for me, Joana,” he tells me as if it’s a statement rather than a request.

I want to ask what if I don’t, but again my body shows me that I should be terrified. I remember the goosebumps and the upstanding hair, both have not changed since I got here. I’m feeling cold although the air around me and especially Rabisu’s hands are hot. It has to be his presence, him wearing Colin that causes this.

“You are going to do exactly what I say,” he continues. “No questions asked. No hesitation. Am I clear?”

“Perfectly clear,” I respond, and he puts me on my feet again, he even let’s go of my jaw.

I fight my instinct to leap for the knife and don’t move an inch, waiting for his instruction. While I do that I notice him tensing and slightly twitching as if something is disturbing him. What could it be? That body? Or maybe his original owner?

Rabisu breathes out, slowly, before states what he wants me to do: “Get that sledgehammer from over there” – he points out of the room, and I instantly turn to look at the massive tool, with the silver dagger in my line of sight – “and get back here.”

I instantly move, trying to make up what to do as I walk. Carefully, I proceed and step onto the dagger, pretend to stumble and kick it back into the room only to catch my balance as I continue towards the sledgehammer. I get it with both hands and return to Rabisu, handing it to him.

What he wants with that is a riddle to me. He just moved me for several feet without touching me, and now he needs a hammer?

“Use the sledgehammer on the floor, there,” he points at what looks like two or three rows of white, slightly curved mosaic tiles.

Getting a closer look, I follow the lines and turn as I do so. I realize that it forms a full, perfect circle and inside that is another one. It’s the circle around the sign that looked like a pentagram to me when I got here. I completely forgot about it until now. Now I see that inside that large circle are two squares that are slightly removed from each other so that they form what looks similar to the pentagram or a star. Their lines form triangles fitting right between the spaces of the more prominent and smaller circle.

“Why don’t you use it yourself?” I ask Rabisu and hand him the hammer, but he only cocks his brow. “What?” I continue and make a step backward. “Or is it because you can’t?”

I take another step while his expression freezes again and I know I got him.

“You can’t can you?” I keep his attention on my words and my face and not where I am heading.

Somewhere, closer to me should be the dagger.

“Where do you think you are going, Joana?” And there it is again that low voice that makes my bones vibrate and I stop moving, involuntarily, because my feet aren’t touching the ground anymore.

I look up and see that Rabisu has lifted his index finger pointing up, and that’s the direction my body went. Then he turns his hand and wiggles his index finger at me just as he shakes his head, flicking his tongue.

“I have been trying to make this easy for you,” he sighed. “But I am a very impatient character, Joana.”

That’s when I realize he’s not using my nickname like Colin does, and he’s not abbreviating words like every human being does. A very unhelpful discovery.

“Why?” I jump in before he can continue teaching me, knowing that I am testing his patience further. “You’re a demon, why…”

“Because I like you, Joana,” he cuts me off.

Well, this is a surprise, and I fail to hide it. And apparently, I’m not good at covering up my confusion either. How can this creature like me? He doesn’t know me, does he?

Again, my mind starts racing, trying to come up with an explanation for all this and it is quite easily explained, really: He knows me because he knows all that Colin knows. The question now is, does Colin also have access to everything Rabisu’s knows? A quick glance at the enormous cryptograms in this room answers that, too.

Eventually, I must admit that I try to stay rational here so that I don’t freak out about this.

“Joana,” Rabisu retrieves my attention. “Destroy those lines.”

“What happens, if I do?” I ask straightforward, but I know the answer; I just don’t know what to do.

Colin must have had his reasons to create this and lock the demon inside. The last thing he would want is for me to destroy his work. This also means that Rabisu is dangerous, very dangerous.

 

∞ Rabisu ∞

This is a strong-willed one. I can easily understand Colin’s attraction to her. Yet there is more, beneath the surface. How can Joana be so calm and collected when meeting the inconceivable truth that is me?

Usually, I wouldn’t waste time in a situation like this. I would make Joana do what I want by any means necessary. But then again, people do instantly obey my every command after being confronted with the reality that is me, unless they are my new host. As Colin did, they fight me, but that is why I pick them.

Joana is stronger than Colin. She has not been broken by her fate like him. I should ditch my current host and take her body for myself. But even if I were not bound to Colin right now, I would not want Joana as my host because I want her.

It is not like this has not happened before, but my experience tells me it is different this time. Again. So, I humor Joana and play along just to see more of her and get a chance to figure her out. She feels familiar, which eventually will turn into a weakness and that I cannot allow. However, for now, I will let it happen.

“You will not destroy them unless I tell you and if I tell you, you will not destroy them either,” I tell her, and she looks at me as if I have read her mind.

I could. I should.

Joana does the unexpected and does not drop the sledgehammer. Even more so she seems intrigued, which only makes me fall for her more. Joana is different. It is refreshing. Fascinating.

“This symbol,” she deduces, “it is imprisoning you and me destroying it would free you from it. Right?”

“You are brilliant,” I compliment and affirm her with a nod.

“I’ve been told,” she gives back, and I cannot help but smile.

That response came back without assessing her words. Joana is not a pretender. She is not even aware of the fact that her answer might come off as arrogant because she is stating the truth. It only makes me want her more.

“Listen, Rabisu,” she tells me and hearing her say my name gives me goosebumps and Colin screams at me from the inside.

He does not like it which makes me enjoy this so much more. Colin does not want us to talk. He does not like this at all. Although he has no advantage, he is threatening me, demanding that I leave her alone or I will regret it. I might. But I have a strong feeling that I will not.

“Destroy it,” I tell her again after I remember that I have been imprisoned once again; I barely sense it with her being close.

I wonder how it might feel should she be closer to me right now. That thought encourages me to make a step towards her.

Joana does not seem to notice, and I take another, smaller step, and then another. She appears to be lost in thoughts, and I seize the opportunity.

“What will happen to Colin?” Joana suddenly asks, and I stop moving altogether.

There it is again: Jealousy.

“He will be safe,” I answer honestly. “I will take care of him.”

“So, you need him alive to keep his body alive?” She connects the dots again, and I am stunned.

Joana seems to have a natural understanding of the lore of possession. She must carry old blood.

“Yes.” My response is truthful yet again.

I am usually a brilliant liar. This situation is beyond me. It does not make any sense. I am in control of all and everything and yet here she is Joana degrading me to nothing.

This time she drops the sledgehammer but what she does next surprises me. She closes in on me, her eyes fixating on mine.

“Why would I do that?” She asks, not giving me a chance to answer – I would not have one anyway. “Colin must have had his reasons to lock you away like that. Who am I to intervene with this?”

I expect her to retreat as I get closer. It is what humans do when facing an entity like me. But she is clouding my judgment, turning me into something less than I am. Joana is making me vulnerable, and I do not know how she is doing it.

What is it about her?

“Not all demons are bad,” I respond to which she instantly scoffs: “Not all… I’ve heard that one time too many. I trust Colin over you anytime.”

“Why?” That question has a will of its own.

I am hurt, but I never show, until now.

“Because I know him,” she gives back. “He was best friends with my big brother, and Theo was picky about the people he surrounded himself with, believe me. If Colin thinks you should be locked away, you should be locked away.”

These words sting sharper than they should, and I act on them instinctively.

 

∞ Jo ∞

Just as I thought I had the situation under control he – as in Rabisu – flies forward and pins me against the wall. I instantly know I haven't been careful enough and as I look down at his arm and my chest, I can see the tip of the symbol’s star touching the wall behind me.

Rabisu uses Colin’s hand to choke me and press my neck against the wall behind me. I meet his glare, and his eyes are black as ever. He doesn’t choke me enough for me to lose my breath but just enough to let me know who is in charge.

I don’t want to, but his demonstration of power arouses me. What’s wrong with me?

Rabisu moves in on me, his face closing in. But it’s not his face, not really, it’s Colin’s, and that messes with my head. My mind perceives Colin, but my heart knows it’s not him, it’s someone else, something else.

It’s these black eyes that remind me of whom is pressing Colin’s body against mine. My body doesn’t care who is residing in this form, all that it cares about is getting laid. I want to repress my body’s reaction. I want to ignore its answer to what Rabisu wants but I can’t.

“Joana,” he whispers, and his voice sounds hoarse, almost labored, which only makes things worse for me.

He is a demon, millennia old, as far as I know, and he wants me. This immortal, evil entity wants me. I know that because he could have crushed me by now, killed me by far, but he didn't. Instead, he took the time to pin me against a wall and press Colin’s body against me, showing me that he wants me. I can feel that rock-hard cock against my lower abdomen.

I move my face away from his, trying to evade him because I feel like I should not give in to a demon. It’s just wrong. If it would be Colin that’s something else, but a beast? I can’t have a demon fuck me.

And still the mere thought of it. I cannot escape it. A demon, a foul creature of hell, yearning to defile me. That’s what forbidden dreams are made of.

He leans in and kisses my neck. I try to ignore the sensation and deny it. The warmth of his breath is not rolling down my skin, and I am not pretending to not feel it. His tongue runs up my sinew to my jaw, and I act as if it doesn’t, despite me feeling it in every fiber of my being.

“I want you,” he whispers, still pinning me to the wall behind me, but I know what he is saying, I feel it against my pussy.

I want Colin, I tell myself, but the thought of such a powerful defiled creature wanting me is clouding my judgment. I feel dirty. I feel guilty. But I want him inside me. And I know it’s wrong, but that makes me want him even more. What is wrong with me?

Not all… it echoes in my head. This is so different because this isn’t an abusive husband or a misled boyfriend. This is something else.

As much as I want to retreat from him, the more I feel drawn to him.

What is wrong with me?

This is a demon!

This creature is beyond saving. I can’t turn Colin into a broken hero, no matter how much I want him. He is lost, he is bound to hell, to the abyss, and nothing I can do will pull him from the endless pit he is tied to.

He will pull me down with him.

He’ll pull Colin down unless I’ll be his anchor.

I just don’t know how.

I need more time to wrap my mind around this.

I know this is wrong. I shouldn’t even think in this direction, but I do. There is this pull I feel. This pull to this creature that isn’t Colin. I don’t understand the intensity of it, the gravity of it.

There is this undeniable gravity towards him which is new and unexpected. I feel this sense of protection that I haven’t felt before. This spirit you feel towards a rescue that will most likely maul you to bloody shreds before knowing that your touch is beyond pain or consequence.

This just doesn’t make any sense.

I shouldn’t feel protective about Rabisu. I should respect Colin’s wishes and follow through with his plan. And yet, I find myself standing there in the middle of the sigil that is their prison, pondering whether I should move and destroy the borders that are keeping them captive. It would mean chaining Rabisu forever and along with him Colin as a paralyzed corpse or witness to the endless torment that is being bound to a demon. A demon who will do as he pleased forever while pretending to be more human than he could possibly be.

“Colin,” I breathe out, knowing right this second that I shouldn’t have.

The pressure on my throat increases and I have trouble sucking in air to fill my lungs. I sense a power descending upon me, but I don’t have it, and that is the grave disappointment of my life.

“Is it still him you see?” Rabisu demands to know, and I meet his deep eyes.

I can’t help but just stare back at him with a look on my face that asks him if he's serious. I just can’t control myself around him. However, this question is nagging at me. Is it Colin who has this effect on me or is it because of Rabisu?

“I can change that,” he tells me, leaning in while I still have trouble breathing.

His words don't make sense to me, and maybe that’s because of the lack of oxygen in my system. The moment fear strikes me that he might actually harm Colin’s body or change it Rabisu shows me what he is talking about. Suddenly, there is a strange glow surrounding him. But then brightness seems to be the wrong word because it is darkness instead of light. As if he is swallowing the light surrounding him.

This is not possible.