Devour my Soul

My eyes traced the hard, smooth lines with unblinking concentration. Taking in every inch of detail as a single line suddenly burst into two. The smell of erupting smoke billowed around my senses, threading through my thoughts and blinding my rationality.

The smoke was all in my head. Festering in a clogged cloud as though my apartment were filled with it. But it was paranoia playing with my mind, telling me what was inside the mysterious box that sat ominously wrapped in brown paper atop the coffee table.

I wished it didn’t look so tempting. The pretty white ribbon wrapped perfectly into a bow was begging to be pulled and undone. If it wasn’t for my paranoia, I’d have done it already. It was a ticking bomb, waiting to explode and shroud my apartment in smoke and fire.

“What do you think it is?” Lauren asked curiously, cutting into the fiery chasm burning through my thoughts.

Shaking myself to attention, I brushed off my fear, hoping to appear as daring as Lauren seemed to be. “Well there’s only one way to find out,” I replied, tapping a finger against my lip in consideration.

My feet felt heavy as I stepped closer to the wrapped package, hoping it was as harmless as my iPod, but a sinking feeling churned in my gut. Still I forced myself to pick at the edge of the satin ribbon, gently pulling the bow undone as if the bow itself would explode.

Sweat beaded my forehead, my eyes trained intently on the ribbon as it slid gently down the sides of the package. By then, Lauren had grown impatient as she reached over my shoulder and scratched at the brown paper covering the box. Swatting her hand away, I moved a little faster, peeling back a thin strip of the wrapping before gently folding the rest of it back.

“It’s a –” Lauren began as I lifted the lid of the box and peered in.

“Movie,” I breathed in a deep relieved sigh, reaching in to pull out the movie from its scrap paper bedding.

The case of the DVD was blank. Just a simple clear cover exposing a shiny silver disk behind its protection but as harmless as it looked, I still fingered the edge of the case nervously. The nameless package was strange enough, turning up on my doorstep on the inside of my front door. I couldn’t help but feel suspicious towards the contents on the disk.

My fingers trembled slightly as I unclipped the DVD and slid it into the player. My heart pumped wildly in excitement and fear, my eyes glued to the screen as it sprang to life from the darkness.

It took me a moment to gather the scene playing on the screen, allowing my mouth to drop in shock as I stared wide-eyed at a familiar face. Only, he wasn’t smiling like I remembered he always did. His chin was resting against his chest, his eyes flickering as they attempted to remain open.

“What? What’s going…” Lauren trailed off, her eyes widening.

My body shook involuntarily as his greying hair was suddenly yanked forcefully though he barely flinched. A faceless man pulled his head up to look at the unsteady camera. Lauren squeaked in surprise, mumbling an incoherent disbelief under her breath. It wasn’t until a crying sob choked out of her throat that I realised tears were welling in her eyes.

“Lauren, what is it?” I asked, reaching a hand out to her.

“It’s my – Oh my God!” She screamed, diving desperately at the television. “Daddy!”

Snapping my gaze back to the screen, I almost choked on my own spit, as I sat frozen in complete shock. Hayden’s father gazed back at me with eyes as bright as his daughter’s; I was surprised I’d never connected them before.

Lauren was bawling in grief and frustration as she watched her father on screen. Blood dripped down his arms from the chains digging into his wrists as he hung limply from the ceiling like a punching bag. I winced at the sight of his battered body, knowing well that he didn’t have the ability that I did. He was in pain, and that pain wasn’t healing anytime soon.

Lauren’s shriek pounded in my ears as a hooded figure appeared beside her father, his hands clasped around the handle of a bloodied whip. Obscenities rolled from my tongue, most of which I’d never uttered before in my life. Lauren whimpered as the man brought his arm back, the length of the whip trailing after him like a snake, but before the deafening crack sounded the scene changed.

Muffling her sobs, Lauren moved back from the screen, her eyes never leaving it.

A familiar box sat on a table, though without the brown wrapping and white satin bow. It sat alone and waiting beneath the light of a dull glow until a hand came into view wiggling a piece of paper between his fingers. The motion was so light and random that for a moment it seemed we both had completely forgotten the previous scene. The piece of paper was dropped into the box, followed closely by two bundles wrapped in cloth.

My eyes narrowed as I watched intently, recognising the scraps of paper now being thrown nonchalantly into the box and an empty DVD case neatly placed on top before the screen went black.

Seconds went by as we sat silently staring at the dark television. I wasn’t quite sure if I was waiting for something else to happen, but my attention wavered as Lauren suddenly turned to the box. Digging the stuffing out, Lauren paused as she reached the bundles of wrapped cloth, pushing them to the side as she stole the note stuck to the bottom.

Docks. Immediately. More will die.

Lauren clutched the letter tightly, her tears falling down her face and liquidating the dried blood smeared over it. My hands were shaking terribly as we both peered into the box at the bundles. More will die. More. Which could only mean…

Lauren tentatively plucked at the edge of the bandage, much like I had with the ribbon, and it was just as easy to undo. Flicking her wrist slightly, the bandage rolled out until whatever had been hidden inside dropped to the bottom of the box.

“Holy shit!” I yelled, jumping back into the couch and pointing, horrified, at the dried corpse hand.

The shadow master remained where she was, unmoving except to unwrap the other bandaged hand. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I realised this hand was feminine. Older too. And though I’d once despised her, I knew the guilt building inside of me that I had ever said a bad word about Hayden’s mother.

“I have to go,” Lauren gasped through choking sobs, and I couldn’t help but agree.

I wasn’t going to deny that my thoughts had immediately jumped to one man in particular at the sight of his parent’s hands.

“I don’t have a car,” I noted, pursing my lips helplessly, and Lauren’s face fell.

We both knew exactly what that meant. My own personal taxi driver was likely to report back to Evan as to my whereabouts, and Lauren’s. And at the moment I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad. Only Antheon seemed to have already made up his mind as he grumbled awake from his slumber.

“There’s not much else we can do,” Lauren mumbled, brushing her sleeve hastily across her eyes. “I have brothers, and I can’t afford to let them get hurt because of me.”

My heart wrenched painfully at her words. More will die. That’s what the note had said. I just hoped that Hayden wasn’t more.