The Demons of a Poet (Chapters 1-3)

CHAPTER 1

NEW BEGINNINGS

 

“Poet, can you come give me a hand?” Rain calls as she struggled to lift a box. Poet runs downstairs and meets her at the front door. “Just grab that end.”

“Where are we going with it?” Poet asks as he grabs the other end of the box that she was holding.

“To your room. This is part of your bed set.” She replies. They start walking towards the stairs. “Be careful going up, take it one step at a time.”

“I got it.” They begin going up the stairs. As they continue to take the box to Poet’s room, Reign enters the house with a box as well.

“I’m right behind y’all.” She says as she followed them up the stairs.

“Is that going to my room as well?” Poet inquired.

“It’s also part of your bed set.” Reign replied.

“I don’t want too much stuff at one time. You know I don’t want my room to get cluttered.” Poet expressed.

“It’ll be an incentive to finish up faster.” Rain stated. “When is Seven supposed to come over to help?”

“He should be here in a little bit.” Poet replied. They got to the top of the stairs and headed for Poet’s room. Poet guided Rain to where he wanted the box. “You can just put that box on top of this one, Mom.” He said to Reign. She sets the box down where he requested and they all head back downstairs.

“Looks like you’re not making as much progress as you thought.” Seven says to Poet as he approaches the house.

“Not even close.” Poet says with a smile. They approach each other and immediately do their secret handshake. “Wasn’t Verona coming with you?”

“Originally, but she had to suddenly go tutor her cousin.” He looks towards the moving truck and then back at Poet. “So, where do we start?” Poet looks at Rain for guidance.

“Start getting the living room furniture. That should be accessible now.” She replied as she grabbed a smaller box and started taking it inside.

“Understood.” Poet and Seven both say in unison.

The four of them continue unloading the moving truck, managing to finish completely unloading it before the sun set. As Poet closes the truck’s rolling door, Reign gets in her car and Rain gets in the truck.

“We’ll be back with dinner. Until then, start working on the kitchen.” Reign yells to Poet. He gives her a thumbs up and then watches her leave, followed by Rain in the truck.

“Let’s get it.” Seven says to Poet, who just nods in response. “I’ve been wondering this for a while, what made y’all move from the other house?”

“Besides me putting a huge hole in the floor, the landlord was an asshole.” Poet replied.

“Yeah, he was a bit of a dick. I’m just glad y’all didn’t completely leave town.”

“They wanted to, but I talked them out of it.” They approach the kitchen and start opening boxes. “I didn’t expect to end up moving to your neighborhood, but I at least wanted to make sure it was the same school district. We lucked up landing this house.”

“You know the twins are right across the street, right?” Seven teased.

“I actually didn’t know that.” Poet admitted.

“Yeah, man… I ran into Adalee the other day and she was beyond excited. You know they’ve been after you for a while, right? Are you going to get on that at some point?”

“Unlikely. As sexy as they are, they just don’t do it for me, ya know?” The home phone begins ringing. Poet starts walking towards it as he continues to say, “I see them flirt with a lot, so I guess I feel like they fuck wit most guys and I don’t want to be another number to them.” The phone continues to ring.

“I actually heard they’re virgins.” Seven proclaims as the phone continues to ring. “They may be succubus, but apparently they have a lot of self-control and only go after those they really like.” Poet starts to look for the phone that’s buried under clothes. “They do flirt a lot, though, can’t lie about that.”

“Interesting.” Poet finally finds the phone. “Trii residence, this is Poet.” He says as he answers the phone.

“Hey, Poet, it’s Lunnie.” Lunar responds. “How are you doing? How’s the move going?”

“I’m good and it’s going well. Me and Seven are making a good dent. How are you?”

“I’m ok. I just got back from camp. I haven’t seen you in a couple weeks, so I was wondering if you’ll be free tomorrow?”

“I’ll probably be unpacking, but I’m sure I can get away for a little bit. Where did you want to meet?”

“Let’s just make it easy and I come to your house, probably sometime in the morning.” She suggested.

“Sounds good, I’ll be here.”

“Great. I’ll let you get back to work. If I don’t talk to you again tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good deal. Later, Lunnie.”

“Later, Poetry.” Poet hangs up the phone and starts walking back to the kitchen.

“Remind me again why you never dated Lunar…” Seven immediately asked Poet after he hung up the phone. “I mean she’s sexy as hell, definitely likes you… I don’t get it.”

“Mmmm… If I was being completely honest, I guess it’s a fear that we both share. We’ve known each other our whole lives and been best friends for as long as I can remember. I’m well aware of her feelings for me; trust me, I like her as well. I guess we both feel like if we got serious and it failed, we’d lose our friendship.”

“I guess. Fear is definitely the right word for it.”

“I’m not afraid to admit my fears.” Poet stated.

“How noble of you.” Seven said sarcastically. “This box is empty; I’ll leave the putting away to you.”

“And I’ll leave that to Mom. She’s very particular about her kitchen.” Poet said.

“I actually pegged Rain to be the one fixated on the kitchen.”

“They both are, but Mom usually decides where everything goes.”

“How does Rain feel about that?” Seven wondered.

“She volunteered for it, so naturally she loves it.” Poet replied as he continued emptying a box.

“She volunteered for Reign to handle the kitchen?”

“Huh?” Now Poet was confused.

“Dammit, I did it again. I meant Raina. How does Raina feel about it?” Seven corrected himself. In order to avoid confusion, most people refer to Rain as Raina, a way of differentiating them, making her Rain "A".

“Oh… She hated it at first but got used to it after a while.” Poet turns towards the hallway that leads to the front door. The sound of loud music could be heard. “Speak of the devils. They got back quicker than I thought.”

“We made a little progress. At least enough to keep from getting fussed at.” Seven thought.

“Oh you poor, spoiled child. Mom is going to walk in and say, “what the fuck, that’s all y’all did?” and Ma is going to shake her head in disappointment and say “teenagers are so useless nowadays” which will lead them to having a 5 minute rant about how efficient they are and blah, blah, blah, kill me now already.” Poet sharply exhaled as he thought about what he felt was going to transpire.

“We got through four boxes in the 15 minutes they were gone, why will they complain?” Seven wondered.

“Cuz we didn’t finish completely.” Poet said as he put an empty box on top of the other ones that were piling up in the hallway. They hear the front door open and the voices of the two ladies as they walked into the house. The first one to come into the kitchen was Reign.

“What the fuck, that’s all y’all did?” She stated as she looked into the kitchen. Poet and Seven look at Rain as she came into view, already shaking her head.

“Teenagers ain’t shit nowadays.” Rain declares. “Boxes aren’t lined up correctly, dishes all over the place. There’s just wasted energy everywhere.”

“I remember unpacking an entire 2-bedroom apartment in 45 minutes by myself when I was younger than you were, Poet.” Reign added. “Had the kitchen done in 20 minutes.”

“I had a system going and everything.” Rain expressed. They continued going back and forth, completely doing exactly what Poet had predicted. The whole time, Poet looked at Seven with an “I told you” face as well as mouthing and mocking everything they were saying, which was causing Seven to try to hold in his laughter.

“We’ll just have to make do with what little space we have.” Reign said after they finished ranting for 4 minutes and 42 seconds. “Wash y’all hands and come eat.”

Poet and Seven finished up what they were doing and washed their hands. They then went to the dining room table and sat down. They looked at the food that was placed on the table and both had an uneasy look on their faces.

“Ummm…. Ma…” Poet began, “what is this?”

“It’s from that new Gremlin shop. There’s chicken, duck, frog nuggets and fried beast legs. The stewed rice and fried soft noodles are pretty good too.” Rain replied.

“Why does it look so strange?” Seven asked.

“It’s the type of sauce they use. I don’t know what’s in it but it has a tangy flavor to it. I assure you, you’ll love it.”

Poet and Seven remained hesitant but they gathered courage to try the food out. To their surprise, the food was really good as they couldn’t stop eating it. As the four ate, they casually talked about random things, including plans for the next couple days.

 

It was close to midnight when Seven left to go home. Rain and Reign continued getting the kitchen and living room in order while Poet resigned to his room. He was going through one of his boxes when he found a small jewelry box inside of it. Unfamiliar with it, he picks it up and looks at it. The box wasn’t heavy, nor was it big. It didn’t have any markings on it, but it did have a small shiny square on it. He touched the square and maroon colored markings streaked across the box. Seconds later, the box opens and reveals a mirror. Poet partially looks into the mirror, but he immediately drops the box in a panic.

“What the fuck was that?!” He said in fear. The reflection he saw wasn’t his own. What he saw was the face of a dark being with fangs and devil horns.

“Now, now, now… Is that any way to treat yourself?” A sinister voice seeped from the directed of the box.

“No, it can’t be…” Poet quivered. “I got rid of you…”

“You can’t get rid of me, Triipo. I’m part of you. I will always be part of you.”

Nervously, Poet grabs the box, opens it and grabs the mirror. The dark being was sitting on a couch, on his side with his right knee up, right arm draped across his body, head supported by his left hand, tail wagging and a huge smile on his face that showed all of his fangs. In his right hand was a lit cigar and a glass that had ice and a brown liquid in it. The drink was expensive cognac.

“Why now? What do you want?” Poet asked.

“You know what’s coming in a few days, don’t you?” Poet thought about it and shook his head. “Come on, you know the answer to this. It’s a day you shouldn’t forget.” Poet thought about it some more.

“My birthday?” He guessed.

“Sweet, sweet 16… On that day, you and I will become quite close.”

“What do you mean?”

“This seal will shatter, and we will be reunited. There’s nothing you can do about it, so it’s in your best interest to get used to it and accept your destiny.”

“I refuse.”

“You don’t have a choice, Triipo. I’m you and you are me. Our fates are tied together and there’s nothing you can do to change that.” He takes a sip of his drink and a puff of his cigar. He blows the cigar smoke in Poet’s direction and the smoke seeps through the mirror. Poet begins coughing from the smoke. “Already the seal is weakening.”

“I’ll just get it resealed.”

“Not if you want to continue the normal life you have.”

“What do you mean?”

“Whether you want to admit it or not, you need me. Without me, you’ll lose yourself again. Next time it won’t be just a hole in the floor…”

“You know about that?”

“I am you and you are me.”

“I will not let you control me.”

“I think you’re mistaking something. I don’t want to control you.”

“What do you want?”

“You are my vessel. I want to DOMINATE you!!”

The pressure in the room got heavy and poet struggled to breathe. He slammed the lid of the box shut and everything went back to normal. He could hear the demon’s sinister laugh before silence set into the room. Poet through the box and then kicked the box that it was in out of frustration. Burying his face in his arms, Poet sobbed a little before calming down. He takes a few deep breaths, stands up and goes downstairs to the living room. Rain and Reign are dancing to music as they continue to clean.

“Mom?” Poet calls for Reign with a little shakiness in his voice. Reign immediately turns to him with a bit of concern.

“What’s wrong, baby?” She asks. Rain also looks on with worry.

“He’s back.” They both gasp and their eyes widen. “Can you still do it?” She looks at Rain. Rain goes to the pantry and pulls down a box from the top shelf. She looks in it and holds up two bags.

“That’s not going to be enough.” Reign says. “Considering his power, we’ll need at least 7 bags. It’ll be difficult to acquire that many before your birthday, but I will do it.” She approaches Poet and hugs him. She could feel him shaking as he stood motionless. “I swear I will make sure he doesn’t control you.”

“He doesn’t want to control me… He wants to dominate me.” Poet cried as he really thought about what that would mean.

“Dominate?” Rain repeated. “Complete body takeover?”

“Essentially eliminating his human side.” Reign explained. “We will never let that happen. It’s going to be ok, Poet. I promise.”

 

All night Poet stared at the ceiling in pure fear. He feared what would happen to him. He feared his birthday. Most of all, he feared the chance of domination by his demon. He trusted his moms to do everything they could to save him, but could he trust himself not to-

                “Poet!” Lunar yelled standing in Poet’s doorway and knocking him out of his thoughts. He looks at her with an expression-less gaze. “I’ve been calling your name for like three minutes!”

“Oh, sorry Lu...I didn’t know you were here already.”

“Well, you agreed to me coming over in the morning and it’s the morning, ya bum!” Lunar giggled. “Are you that tired?”

“Hell yeah; I’m tired as shit. I didn’t sleep a wink last night.” Poet complained while yawning. Lunar moved into the room slowly from the doorway and made her way to sit next to Poet on the bed. She knew something was off.

“Why didn’t you sleep, are you okay?” Lunar asked with a bit of concern. Poet sat up on his bed and looked straight into his best friend’s eyes.

“He’s back, Lunar.” He said with a straight face.

“Who’s back?” Lunar questioned, yet already fearing the answer.

“Akuma.” Lunar gasped when she heard Poet say the name. “The demon that we thought we sealed away is back.” Poet looks away and stares at the floor. “He doesn’t want to influence me this time.”

“What do you mean?” Lunar wondered.

“He wants to completely take over my body, minimizing me to nothingness.” Poet explained. Lunar couldn’t help but cover her mouth in surprise and astonishment. Poet looks into her eyes again and says, “Lunnie, I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. For the second time in my life, I’m not sure if I can remain in this world.” A stray tear drops from Poet’s right eye. “I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t scared.” Seeing the stray tear drop caused Lunar’s eyes to really well up. Lunar watched as Poet began getting angry, “how did I let this happen?” He clinched his fists and scowled as he stared at the floor. “The last ceremony was flawless. They said that the only way he could return is if I showed weakness in my heart and soul. In the end, I didn’t do enough!” He punches the bed, startling Lunar, yet she continued to look at him completely speechless. It took her a few minutes to fully understand what Poet had just said to her. She immediately grabs him and hugs him tightly.

“It’ll be okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s him that we underestimated.” She softly said in his ear, but with an unwavering determination. “We’re not going to let him take you away from us. You’re not going anywhere.”

“How can you be so sure?” Poet asked as his voice cracked.

“How can I not be when I already know how strong you are?” A smile managed to creep on Lunar’s face as she spoke, and Poet felt it. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Lunar as he tried to calm himself down. “Everything will be fine.” She assures him. Poet nods, putting his faith in her. “Let me guess, this will happen on your birthday?” Poet nods. She pulls back, places her hands on his cheek and forces him to look at her. “Your mothers and I will handle it. There is nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about…” Poet repeats.

“I need you to really believe that.” Lunar states. “There is nothing to worry about. We’re good.” Poet smiles.

“There’s nothing to worry about. We’re good.” He repeats with a bit more confidence. Lunar nods in approval.

“Good. So, let’s put that aside and get this room together.” They both look around, realizing the daunting task at hand. “This may take some time.”

“I’ll put on some music.” Poet says as he stands up. He goes to his stereo system and turns it on. Lunar stands up and takes off her shirt, exposing the lighter t-shirt she had under it. Poet grabs his portable music player and hands it to her. “You’re usually the DJ in these scenarios.” He says to her.

“Yes, I am, I was just making sure you remembered that.” Lunar snickered as she took the device from him. Poet grinned and walked to the other side of the room as she selected the playlist she wanted to play.

“OH!!” She said excitedly as she picked the first song, “I forgot to tell you, Ryan asked me out the other day!”

“Really??” Poet said in surprise as he turned towards her. “The dude finally did it…”

“What do you mean “finally”?” Lunar inquired.

“He’s been crushing on you for years, but stayed to the side cuz he thought you and I were dating.” Poet explained as he continued unpacking a box.

“People still think that?”

“Yep. He flat out asked me last week if we were dating and I laughed at him.”

“Rude.”

“I’on give a fuck, he should have known better.” Lunar laughed and nodded in agreement. “I guess he finally took the leap though. The real question is…” Poet paused and turned towards Lunar in dramatic effect, “what did you tell him?”

“I told him I’ll think about it. I wanted to talk to you first.” She said as she threw her empty box into the hallway and opened another one.

“What’s there to talk to me about?” Poet wondered, slightly confused.

“You know him better than I do. You also know me better than I do. Is he good for me?”

“Hmmm…” Poet thought about it for a few seconds. “He has a lot of qualities you’ll like but the real wild card is how much his fatal flaw will irritate you.”

“What fatal flaw?” She asked in a high-pitched, defensive voice.

“His clinginess. He gets a bit overbearing.” Poet informed her.

“Oh no, how bad?”

“Well, as much as you like affection and constant communication, he gets a bit extra. He’ll start trippin if you don’t hit him up within a certain amount of time. Always wants to know where you are and shit like that. I think you’ll be good for a while, thinking it’s sweet, but then you’ll get tired of it. So it all depends on how well you can get him to chill out.” Hearing his words made her stop working and process exactly what he was saying.

“Is that the only fatal flaw?” She wondered.

“As far as I know.” Poet declared.

“Ok. Thanks, Poetry.” She said with a smile, feeling better about things.

“Anytime, you know I’mma look out for you.”

“You always do.”

“This is so fuckin sweet…” Poet gasps and goes wide eyed as that voice reverberated in his head. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You’re not here…” Poet said softly as he closed his eyes in an attempt to tune the voice out.

“I’m definitely here, wondering why you’re such a pussy… Look at her, standing there going through your stuff…” Poet continued to try to tune him out. “I’m not going away until you turn the fuck around and look at her!” Poet’s eyes shot open and he slowly turned his head to look at Lunar. His heart started racing as he watched her grabbing a shirt out of the box, holding it up and smiling before folding it. “Yeah, you see it…They don’t make elves like this anymore. That ass is something serious. I just want to put my thumb in it…no, my TONGUE in it!!” He starts laughing.

“Shut up!” Poet implored the demon.

“The way that t-shirt clings to her curvaceous body and exfoliates those….hmmm…36C titties?! Damn, she grew! I thought she was going to be a B-cup forever. I can’t wait to titty fuck those in a couple days.” He laughed some more.

“Stop it!” Poet demanded, still speaking low enough to not alert Lunar.

“You’re over here trying to get her to date some clown when you should be sliding in that pussy every day! Why unpack boxes when you can be putting your face in that box right now?!” Poet grinded his teeth as he started to get angry. “The first thing I’m doing when I dominate your bitch ass is raw dawgin the fuck outta that and be nuttin in these hoes!”

“You’ll leave her the fuck alone!!” Poet yells, startling Lunar. The voice completely disappears, as it trails off with laughter, leaving Poet to deal with the awkward moment.

“What the hell, Poet?” Lunar said as she tried to catch her breath. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry.” Poet drops the shoe box that he had in his hand and starts wiping his face. “Akuma is definitely getting stronger.” Lunar drops the shirt she had in her hands. “I need to see Mom.”

“I don’t think they’re back yet.” Lunar said softly, still reeling. “I’ll try calling her.” She goes into her backpack and grabs her phone. She dials Reign’s number and places the call. After a few seconds, Reign answers the phone. “Hey, Reign, where are you right now?”

“I’m actually on my way to your family shop.” Reign replied.

“Really? What for?” Lunar wondered.

“To pick up the Hi-Si powder.”

“I thought we were out of that.”

“Your father managed to get a little. I’ve been to 5 different shops and the little bit that he has will give me just enough. What’s going on, though? Are you okay?” Reign wondered.

“Yes, I’m okay. It’s about Poet though…I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like Akuma is in his head.”

“What?!? Are you serious?!”

“Yes.” Lunar refrained from explaining further than that. “Poet wanted to know where you were, so that’s why I called.” She looks at Poet and see’s him staring at the wall, most likely in deep thought.

“This is bad, Lunar.”

“Tell me about it.” Sensing the dire tone in Reign’s voice, Lunar walks out of the room and away from Poet so he couldn’t hear the conversation.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to seal the demon anymore. If he’s able to go into Poet’s mind at will, he’s too powerful to be sealed away without more Hi-Si. There won’t be another shipment for at least 3-weeks. Poet’s birthday is in two days.” Reign explained.

“What are we going to do?”

“We’ll discuss that when we get home. I’ll tell your father the situation when I get to the shop. For now, I think you should put him to sleep.”

“That could make it easier for Akuma to take him over.” Lunar proclaimed.

“With your normal spell, yes. I mean the other one.” Reign clarified, causing an unintentional gasp to slip by Lunar’s lips.

“I’ve never tried that spell before… If it goes wrong, he could be in a prolonged coma.”

“At this point it’s worth the risk. It’ll keep the demon from picking up on his soul-line. Worse case scenario, it will buy us some time.” Lunar took a deep breath.

“Understood. I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Lunar. See you in a couple hours.”

“May the spirits protect you.” Lunar said before ending the call.

She held the phone to her chest with her eyes closed as she tried to gather herself. She knew the task that she had to do, but she wasn’t confident in her ability to do it. She took another deep breath, exhaling slowly, and opened her eyes. Determined and confident, she turned around and went back to Poet’s room. As she walked in, she looked in the direction where Poet was standing, but didn’t see him there. He was no where in her field of vision as she took a couple more steps into the room.

“Poetry?” She called. She scanned the room, but saw no sign of him. “Where did he go?” She softly said to herself. As she turned around to walk out of the room, she shrieks as she sees Poet stand in front of her. “What the fuck?!?!” She yells.

“I’m sorry, Lunnie, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Poet says with a smile. Lunar immediately realizes that something is off about him.

“Poetry…” She says in deep concern. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing at all.” He says as he slowly approaches her. Lunar starts to back step, nervously and a bit scared.

“Your moms will be here soon.” She states.

“Thank you for calling her.” The way he spoke was different and Lunar knew it. “I really appreciate you being here.” Lunar was getting scared… not so much fearful for her well-being but scared of the affect that he was having on her. The way he spoke was having a strange affect.

“What’s gotten into you?” She asked as she continued to keep her distance from him as he continued to walk towards her.

“Nothing has gotten into me. I’m just realizing how lucky I am to have you in my life.” Poet said in a way that can only be described as…..sexy.

“Poet-”

Before she could say anything else, Poet grabs her arms and pins her down on the bed. Before she could do or say anything, he presses his lips against her. She was completely caught off guard, but, more importantly, she was completely defenseless. She wanted to stop this but her body said otherwise. The next thing she knew, her lips were pushing against his; her mouth was opening was his mouth as their tongues met in the middle. She was falling into a trance, swallowed by his advances and overwhelmed by his seductiveness. He took his right arm off of her left arm and placed his hand on her left breast. She softly moaned as she continued to get entangled with his tongue. She subconsciously wrapped her legs around him as her body continued to act on its own. She takes her, now free, left hand, grabs his hair and pulls his head away from her. They lock eyes.

“Taka no latta dimo niatta!” She quickly says. His eyes slowly close and he collapses on top of her. She rolls him off her, sits up and starts breathing deeply in attempts to calm herself. “Holy shit…” She says to herself. Completely turned on, she couldn’t stop herself from touching her own breasts and crossing her legs as the sensation lingered. She badly wanted to touch herself…wait, that’s inaccurate… she wanted him to touch her. Her right hand starts to trickle down into her pants. “Fuck.” She says to herself as she realizes that she’s losing control. While her right hand was going into her pants, she used her left hand to reach for her bag. She grabs a knife out of her bag, but before she could do anything with it, her right index finger begins playing with her clit. The euphoric sensation made her head spin as the extra sensitivity made it more pleasurable. She lets out an unintentional moan, but it was just enough to slightly snap her out of the intense euphoria. She regains control of the knife and stabs herself in the thigh. She immediately screams from the pain. Completely out of the trance, she removes the knife and says, “Mend.” The wound completely heals and disappears before blood could be released from it. Even the damage to her pants was completely gone. She falls back on the bed, out of breath, as she stared at the ceiling. “This is really bad.” She says to herself. She looks over at Poet and starts to admire how peaceful he looks. She then immediately realizes that the effect that he had on her was still present and was slowly starting to turn her on again. She aggressively turns to look away from him and starts to think about something else to take her mind off of him. “This is completely different from last time. Fuck, fuck, fuck…” She shut her eyes, trying to get the sexual thoughts out of her head. “What are we going to do?”

CHAPTER 2

PREPARATION

 

“Thank you, Lunar. See you in a couple hours.” Reign told Lunar as she pulled into the parking lot of the shop.

“May the spirits protect you.” Lunar said before ending the call.

“I really hope Nilite has more than what he says, or we’ll be in trouble.” Reign says to Rain as she parks the car in front of the shop. They get out the car and start walking to the shop entrance.

“I’m starting to wonder if this method is going to work at all, no matter how much powder we get our hands on.” Rain stated. She opens the shop door and lets Reign walk through first before following after her. The tall gentleman behind the counter looks at them and removes his glasses from his eyes.

“Raina. Reign. Good to see you.” He greeted them with a slight bow.

“You too, Nilite.” Reign replied while Rain nodded. “Apologies to be in a rush, but it looks like things are escalating a bit.”

“I understand the situation.” He replies as he goes through the items in his display case. He then pauses and looks up at the ladies. “How strong does the demon seem to you?” He wondered.

“His influence has leaked out to a point where Poet can hear his voice almost at will.” Rain replied. “We’re thinking that he may need to be put in a coma before his birthday.”

“That’s pretty serious…” Nilite says in dismay. He starts thinking. “Hi-Si may not be strong enough at this point. It’s not a substance that will gain potency with higher quantities.”

“I did fear that possibility.” Reign admitted. “What other option do we have though?”

“With Poet in a coma, our best bet will be to give him the strength to fight him.” Nilite suggested.

“Fight him?” The ladies repeated in unison.

“I know how that sounds, however, it may be the only way to truly get rid of him. In the spiritual space, Poet can fight on equal terms as the demon. We’d just have to arm him with the right spells.”

“How will he learn them?” Rain asked.

“There’s an incantation that will allow him to acquire any skill and use it as if he knew it his whole life. When he awakens, he’ll have no memory of the demon or the experience.” Nilite explained. “I know this is a lot to take in right now, but it really may be the best path to take.”

“You’re the expert, Nilite. If you think this is best, then we’ll ride wit you on it.” Reign stated. “What do we need to do this?”

“I will get everything together and meet you at your house in three hours. If Lunar doesn’t have him in a coma by then, I will do it myself. She may be a bit scared to do it herself, so it will not surprise me if she doesn’t.” He goes into his micro-fridge and pulls out a small bottle with a clear liquid in it. “If he’s not in a coma, have him drink this. If he is, inject it into his neck.” Rain receives the bottle and needle pack from Nilite and places them in her purse.

“Thank you, Nilite. See you in a few hours.” Reign said as they both bowed and walked out of the shop.

“I don’t know about this.” Rain said as they got into the car. “Having Poet fight the demon doesn’t sound like the best course to take.”

“I know what you mean but we have to trust Nilite on this. More than that, we’ll have to put our faith in Poet.” Reign replies as she starts the car. “Right now, I hope he hasn’t done anything to Lunar.”

 

 

“This is really bad.” Lunar says to herself. She looks over at Poet and starts to admire how peaceful he looks. She then immediately realizes that the effect that he had on her was still present and was slowly starting to turn her on again. She aggressively turns to look away from him and starts to think about something else to take her mind off of him. “This is completely different from last time. Fuck, fuck, fuck…” She shut her eyes, trying to get the sexual thoughts out of her head. “What are we going to do?” She starts breathing heavier as her urges started to come back. Then her phone rings. The distraction she needed came through for her as she grabbed her phone and answered the call.

“Lunar, are you okay?” It was her father, Nilite, on the other end of the phone.

“Yes, Papa.” Lunar replied, with complete composure.

“Raina and Reign are on their way home. They’ve updated me on Poet’s condition, but I wanted to make sure nothing has changed.” He explained.

“Changed?” Lunar repeated in confusion.

“To my understanding, the demon can only talk to Poet. Is that the case?” Lunar hesitated to reply. She wasn’t sure how to.

“I don’t know.” She looks at Poet and then stares at the ceiling. “I’m not really sure how to describe it, Papa. He was like a whole different person but also the same person, if that makes any sense. If I had to guess, part of me thinks Akuma can influence him. Yet, part of me also thinks that Akuma took complete control of him.”

“That’s definitely further along than I anticipated. Where is he now?” Nilite inquired.

“I put him to sleep. I wanted to wait for them before trying to put him in a coma.” Lunar replied.

“Very good. I will be there in about three hours, however, y’all safety is the most important thing. If he becomes unstable, don’t wait for me; put him in a come.”

“Yes, Papa.”

“May the spirits protect you.” Nilite says before ending the call.

Lunar sets her phone down on the bed and takes a deep breath. She sits up, goes to the bathroom and splashes cold water on her face. She grabs a hand towel and wipes the water off her face and hands. She stares at herself in the mirror as she tries to wrap her head around what’s going on. She feared what would happen if Poet woke up before his mothers got home and if she could safely put him into a coma. She feared how strong Akuma has become and if they’ll be able to stop him from taking over Poet’s body. Despite all her fears, she wasn’t going to leave his side, which is why she returned to his room. Instead of sitting next to him, though, she continued working on getting his room situated.

 

Meanwhile, inside Poet’s mind, things weren’t as peaceful. Poet’s subconscious was a dark, demonic abyss of temptations. While Akuma wasn’t anywhere to be found, it was also too soon to say he wasn’t around at all. However, Poet was familiar with this feeling and this experience. He recognized where he was and why he was there. He also recognized how much control he had. With nothing but a thought, the environment changed to a beach setting, where he sat on the sand and watched the waves crash into the shores.

“So this is your peace?” A woman’s voice serenaded his ears from his left. He looks and sees a gorgeous woman standing next to him in a bikini and summer hat. “Not what I would have expected.” She said with a smile.

“Who are you?” Poet asked her.

“Don’t hurt my feelings like that, Triipo. It’s only been a few years.” She replies.

“I really don’t like that name.” Poet sternly stated.

“I’m sure it’ll grow on you.” She sits down next to him. “It’s taken some time to track you down.”

“Why were you looking for me to begin with?”

“You really are trying to hurt my feelings.” She chuckles. “I guess I don’t have a choice.” She grabs his shirt and pulls him towards her. Their lips meet, catching Poet by surprise but not stopping him from returning the action. Their mouths open and tongues begin to twist and tangle. After a few seconds, she backs away from his lips and looks into his eyes. “How about now?” Poet closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and opens his eyes.

“Lilith.” He says calmly. “What are you doing here? How did you even get here?”

“I told you before that we were connected through Akuma. With his awakening, we will finally be together.” She replies.

“I thought you had no interest in Akuma?”

“I have no interest in him. My interest is only in you.”

“But if he fully awakens, I will be gone.” Poet explains.

“Is that what he told you?” She laughs. “He’s just trying to drop you into despair in order to take control of your body. It’s not that easy.”

“Hard to believe considering he took control of me not too long ago.”

“My sweet, Triipo… He didn’t take control of you.” She takes his hand and places it on her cheek. “He doesn’t have the power to take control of you.” She kisses the palm of his hand before guiding it to her left breast. “If you don’t want your hand to be here, take your hand away.” Poet knew what she meant by that. “I guided your hand here, but if you didn’t want me to, you could have stopped me at any time.”

“Are you saying that I let him act out my desires?” Poet asked, somewhat rhetorically.

“Urges that have been suppressed for a long time are the easiest to act on.” She states as she places his hand under her bikini top. With his hand directly on her bare breast, Poet was unable to fight the urge to remove his hand. At the same time, he wasn’t really focused on his hand. His main attention was on the information that Lilith possessed.

“If he’s not able to dominate me, then what is his goal?” Poet wondered.

“If he can’t send you into despair, then the next best option is to influence you so much that you lose who you are.” She replies.

“How do I stop him?”

“That answer is simple, my love.” She places her hand on his leg as she slides her fingers up his thigh to go under his shorts. “You’ve been avoiding the idea for a long time.” She leans closer to him and starts kissing his neck.

“What have I been avoiding?” Poet asks as he stops her hand from going further up his shorts. She kisses and licks his neck once more before approaching his ear.

“Dominating him…” She whispers. She sinks her fangs into his neck…

 

Poet’s eyes shoot open. He looks around and notices he’s on a table in the living room. He can vaguely make out voices in the distance. He takes his right hand and places it on the left side of his neck, feeling the spot that Lilith bit him. He could faintly feel the indentations that the bite left.

“What the hell was that for, Lilith?” Poet softly says to himself. He sits up and tries to shake the grogginess that he was feeling. He looks down and notices the cloak he was wearing. “Must be close to that time.”

“Yes, it is.” Poet looks to his right and sees Nilite sitting on the couch, reading a book.

“Mr. Nilite.” Poet says in surprise.

“Things are going to go a little different this time, Poet.” He says as he stands up. “For now, I just need you to relax and clear your mind.”

“I can relax, but I don’t think it’ll be possible to clear my mind.” Poet chuckles.

“Well, don’t think about anything unnecessary.” Nilite tells him with a grin. He puts his hand on Poet’s shoulder. “This is going to be a long process, but we’re going to get through it.” Poet nods in agreement.

“Poet!” Lunar calls as she enters the room, followed by Reign and Rain. “How long have you been awake?”

“A couple minutes.” He replies as she hugs him.

“How are you feeling, pumpkin?” Reign asks him.

“I’m ok.” Poet smiles to show his sincerity in his words.

“Do you remember what happened?” Rain inquired. Poet nods. Rain looks at Nilite. “That confirms it wasn’t a takeover.” Nilite nods in acknowledgement.

“So, what’s the plan?” Poet wonders. The 3 women and Nilite all look back and forth at each other before Rain, Nilite and Lunar stare at Reign. She sighs.

“This may sound crazy, but we’re going to have you fight Akuma. Now before you say that you can’t, I---”

“Agreed.” Poet emphatically said before Reign could continue, to everyone’s surprise. “My approach has been wrong from the start; I should have never tried to avoid him.”

“Well, that’s unexpected.” Nilite said softly.

“I’ve had some time to think about it.” Poet proclaimed. Granted, Lilith had a lot to do with that, but there was no need to divulge such information. “Whenever y’all are ready, let’s do this.”

“You heard the man,” Rain began, “let’s get this done.”  Rain takes her jacket off and then her shirt. In jeans and a sports bra, she stood at the end of the table where Poet’s head will be. “Lay back for me, baby.” She says to him. Poet lays on his back and looks up at the ceiling. Rain looks down at him. “We’re going to restrain you, ok?” Poet nods. “No, baby, I need verbal answers.”

“Yes, Ma, that’s ok.” Poet answers. With long chain cuffs, Lunar cuffed each wrist and ankle and cuffed the other ends to anchor points that were in the floor. While Poet’s heart started to beat a bit faster, he was mostly calm. He took deep breaths to keep his composure even though he was nervous and unsure what to expect.

“The first thing to do is instill the blood of protection.” Nilite instructed. “Those that share the blood, draw and mark.”

Rain, standing at the head of the table, and Reign, standing at the foot of the table, both took a knife and cut across the palms of their left hands. Rain expressed her hand to drop blood onto Poet’s forehead. Reign expressed her hand to drop blood onto Poet’s feet. They licked and kissed the cuts on their hands. Rain leans down and kisses Poet’s cheeks with her blood smeared lips. Reign leans down and kisses Poet’s ankles with her blood smeared lips.

“As the head, I protect.” Rain says.

“As the foundation, I protect.” Reign says. Nilite nods and looks at Lunar. Lunar takes the bottle that Nilite gave to Reign at the shop. She walks to Poet’s left and stands next to his head.

“This is the elixir that will awaken the demon,” Nilite explains, “and when the demon awakens, we will quarantine you to the spirit realm. At that point, you will fight and kill the demon, ridding him for good. Do you understand your task?”

“I understand.” Poet replies.

“At this time, you need to rid of your mind of all negative thoughts. The slightest bit of negativity can give the demon unbelievable strength.”

“My mind is clear.” Poet assures him.

Nilite nods and looks at Lunar. Lunar nods and brings the bottle to Poet’s lips. She tilts the bottle slowly, allowing Poet to completely drink it. Poet closes his eyes and maintains his calm demeanor. He opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is the eyes of Akuma on the ceiling; correction…in a mirror that was hung above him.

“Never thought you would have the balls to seek me, Triipo.” Akuma quips. “You look pathetic.”

“Why are you wearing a beach shirt and swimming trucks?” Poet asked him, ignoring his insults.

“I already told you; I’m swimming in Lunar’s ass in T-minus 8 hours… Gotta be ready.” Akuma replies as he starts stretching. Poet chuckles.

“That’s actually funny.” Poet replies. “However, it’s a waste of time.”

“Is he here right now, Poet?” Nilite asks, as no one has been able to hear Akuma except Poet.

“Yes.” Poet answers him.

“Cute words from a clown in a girl’s robe.” Akuma claps.

“Thanks, it’s your mama’s.” Poet claps back.

“Who died and gave you their jokes?”

“Probably the same person that gave you that shirt.”

“Ummm…” Lunar begins as she looks at Rain, “what the hell is going on?”

“I have no clue.” Rain replies. “Is he playing snaps with him?”

“I honestly don’t know what to make of this.” Nilite says. “The fact that we can’t hear him or see him in the mirror is unexpected. Has the demon’s power weakened?”

“Should we just send him now?” Reign wondered.

“We may not have to.” Nilite replied. “Poet may be able to defeat him as is. All he has to do is trap him in the mirror and then shatter the mirror.”

“It can’t be that easy.” Rain stated.

“Oh, it’s not that easy.” Akuma declared. Everyone heard him that time. “Give the elixir time to take effect, baby!”

“It ends tonight, Akuma!” Lunar states as she looks into the mirror and sees the demon.

“If you’re talking about your virginity, I couldn’t agree with you more!” Akuma laughs and then looks at Nilite, “you may not want to be home though… You won’t be able to look at your daughter the same! I’m talking about some dirty shit…” He then looks at Rain and Reign. “I’m sure you two know what I’m talkin bout… I’ve seen the freaky shit y’all have done!”

“And we were having such a fun time.” Poet sighs. “You just don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”  Poet’s eyes go solid black. His teeth begin transforming into fangs and his body begins to swell up into a muscular, toned beast.

“There he is.” Akuma calmly says with a smile. “Now we’re talking.” Akuma gets into a boxing stance, ready for a fight. “Huh?” Then his eyes go wide as he notices something wrong with Poet.

“AHHHH!!!” Poet lets out a deep, human/demonic mixed shriek that alarms everyone. “ARGGRHRHHHH!!!” He couldn’t lay still any longer as he struggled with the pain and tried to break the chains.

“Nilite, what’s going on?” Reign frantically asked.

“I don’t know!” Nilite panicked. “I’ve never seen this before.” Rain, Reign and Lunar tried to hold him down, but they immediately let him go as their hands burned.

“His body is on fire!” Lunar cried. “Papa, we have to do something!”

Before Nilite could begin to do anything, they notice a leg drop from above. Almost as if in slow motion, they watched Akuma descend from the mirror and appear in front of them. With a huge smile on his face, he shoves his hand into Poet’s chest. Blood splatters across the faces of Lunar, Rain and Nilite. They wanted to scream but nothing was coming out as the shock silenced them. All they could do was watch in complete horror as Akuma attempted to pull Poet’s heart from his body. Tears fell from the ladies’ eyes as Poet screamed in pain.

CHAPTER 3

CONTROL

 

On a beach, bathing in sunlight, stood a vacation home. In this vacation home there was a master bedroom where the sun shined through. The curtains waved from the breeze that danced through the open window. The dance of the breeze reached the king-sized bed that was occupied by a young man that slept soundly. However, the young man wasn’t alone; as to his right laid a gorgeous woman covered in the bed sheets. She lovingly, lustfully looked at the sleeping young man; strumming her fingers across his chest. A smile crept on her face as she watched him sleep. She could no longer contain herself as her fingers began walking down his stomach and to the object of her lust. Before she could grasp it, a hand quickly catches her hand.

“What are you doing?” The young man asks the woman without even opening his eyes.

“Just helping myself to a little breakfast.” She replies without hesitation.

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Awww, why not?” She playfully whines.

“Cuz this isn’t real and I’m tired of cleaning up the mess.” He replies, drawing a chuckle from the woman.

“Are you saying you’d let me if this was real?” She wondered. The young man didn’t reply. “You’re such a tease.” A loud thud can be heard in the distance. Followed by another one; the sound can be described as if someone is knocking at the door at the apartment upstairs. The knocking didn’t both the two, because they knew what it was. They just chose to ignore it. “The ocean waves look so beautiful.” The woman says as she looked out through the window. “You have such a vivid imagination.”

“It’s not just my imagination.” The young man contended. “It’s based off actual memories.” The young man finally opens his eyes and immediately fixates on the scenery she was referring to. “It was the only place that I can remember that actually calms me.” The thuds get louder as if it was getting closer to them. “The only place I could be at peace with my life.” He continued as if the thud was starting to bother him.

“What’s my place in this peace of yours?” The woman asked. Confused, the young man turns and looks at her.

“What do you mean?” He wondered.

“Every time I come to talk to you, you bring me here. Is this the only place you’re willing to show me? Are you afraid that I will abandon you if I saw other memories?” She inquired.

“That’s not it.” He turns towards her. Facing each other, looking into each other’s eyes, the young man places his hand on her cheek. “I still don’t completely understand who or what you are. While I’m grateful for all that you’ve done, I don’t completely trust you.”

“Ouch…” She stated with a wry smile. “What could I possibly be after that prevents you from trusting me?” The thud gets even louder and now more consistent; around 2-3 second intervals.

“I don’t know…my soul? My freedom? Everything important to me? There’s no telling.” He places his hand around her throat. He doesn’t apply pressure at all, just holds it there. With his thumb, he goes across the woman’s lips before pulling her bottom lip down, exposing her fangs. “After all…. You are a demon.”

They look at each other for several seconds, waiting to see what the other will do. The woman breaks eye contact as she closes her eyes. After several more seconds, her eyes open. Her eyeballs were solid black, and her irises were green with red pupils. In a blink of an eye, she gets on top of the young man and holds his arms up above his head. As she straddled him, her demonic side started to creep out as she hissed and showed off her fangs. The young man looked at her, unfazed, as she held his arms down, threatening to attack him.

“I can feel your arousal.” She teases.

“Can’t be helped…You are naked and all…” He replies.

“You’re lucky we’re out of time. It would be quite hilarious knowing you would have a mess to clean up with your mothers and girlfriend right there.”

“I guess it is time to deal with the issue at hand.” The young man sighs. “A situation I would have handled if you didn’t interfere.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Triipo. You ridding yourself of Akuma would break our connection. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“What’s the plan then? From where I’m laying, you’re helping him take control of me.”

“I’m going to help you dominate him.” She tells him as she leans down and kisses him.

“There is no dominating me!”

The woman flies across the room and hits the wall as if she was pulled into it. A hand wraps around Poet’s throat. Struggling to breathe, Poet begins to see Akuma materialize in front of him as the house that they were in begins to collapse and crumble. The beach setting transitions to a rainy, stormy, forest setting. Lightning flashes across the sky; high winds swirl as the trees violently waved in the air. Lilith, struggling to stand, attempts to catch her breath as she looks at Akuma choke Poet.

“Take control, Triipo!!” She yells. “This is your space! Be stronger than him!”

Akuma turns towards Lilith as he became bothered by her attempts to aid him. He then grins, grabs Poet’s right arm and rips it off from his body. Poet screams in pain as blood pours from his shoulder. Holding his right arm, Akuma begins to consume it as if it was a chicken drumstick, except eating the bones as well. From that, Akuma grew in size and strength as the world within Poet’s mind became darker. The thunderstorm became more like a hurricane. Lilith had a look of despair plastered on her face as she began to fear Poet being completely consumed. With this being Poet’s mind and Poet’s demon, she was powerless to do anything beyond giving words of encouragement…it was how things went in this world…

 

 

Nilite, Lunar, Rain, Reign…. They all stood in shock as the demon that Poet named Akuma stood before them with his hand in Poet’s chest. They all stood in shock as the screams from Poet roared throughout the house. It wasn’t as if they were completely too shocked to move; they just literally couldn’t. With Akuma’s descent into the living world, it rendered everyone in his presence motionless. The only thing they could move was their eyes and it was with their eyes that they noticed Akuma was trying to remove his arm, most likely with Poet’s heart, from Poet’s chest. It was with their eyes that they noticed his inability to do so and he actually appeared trapped. It was Lunar’s eyes that noticed a red mark on Poet’s neck. She recognized it as a demonic bite. She became confused about how that appeared but, more importantly, she was unaware of what affect it had on the entire ceremony.

“INTEGRATE!!!”

A woman’s voice is heard over Poet’s screams and a tall, beautiful woman emerges above Akuma as her hand grabs Akuma’s head. Surprised, Akuma lets out an audible groan and then begins to yell as if he was in pain and being pulled; sucked in, rather, like dust in a vacuum. In one full, swift motion, she drives Akuma’s head into Poet’s chest and, within a second, Akuma disappears and his voice begins to fade. The hole in Poet’s chest disappears, his screams completely stop, and everything goes quiet. Now able to move, everyone drops to their knees as their bodies relax from the immense pressure that they were under. They only one standing is the woman that appeared. She had gold eyes and long black hair that draped over her breasts, standing over Poet, looking directly at Lunar.

“Put him in the coma.” She demanded, oscillating her gaze between Lunar and Nilite.

With no questions asked, nor any hesitation, Lunar and Nilite stood, extended there arms forward with their palms out, and started chanting. The facial expressions that were on Poet’s face subsided. They finish chanting and drop their arms as Poet peacefully laid on the table. A wave of silence that was filled with worry and relief suffocated the room. It lasted for a minute before all attention was put towards the newly arrived woman. The woman noticed that all attention was on her, so she grinned, walked away from the table that Poet was laying on and sat on the couch. She reaches into her cleavage, takes out a long locasto (which is kind of like a tobacco cigarette) pipe. She lights the end of it, takes a puff and exhales.

“I’m sure you all have many questions,” she begins, “and I’m willing to answer them as much as I can.”

“Who are you?” Reign asks first.

“My name is Lilith Li’Lith. A mouthful, I know.” She chuckles. “You can say I’m Akuma’s distant cousin.”

“You’re a demon…” Rain concluded. Lilith looks at Rain and grins. “Does that mean you’re on Akuma’s side?” Lilith laughs at the question.

“That’s a difficult question to answer.” She then looks at Reign. “Calm down, Reign, there’s no need for you to do anything crazy. I can assure you that I’m here to save Poet.” Reign, who had her hand behind her back and on the handle of a gun, takes her hand and puts it back on the table.

“A bit difficult to believe.” Lunar quipped.

“You really are protective when it comes to him.” Lilith stated. They stared at each other for a moment before Nilite broke the silence.

“What did you do?” He asked Lilith. Lilith looks at him. “To me, it looked like you just forced Akuma into Poet’s body, solidifying Poet’s demise.”

“Poet is stronger than you think.” She says as she puffs on her pipe. She looks at Rain. “To address your question, Raina, I’m on Poet’s side, but I need Akuma alive.”

“Real quick; how do you know our names?” Reign asked.

“I’ve been with Poet for a long time, of course I know everyone here.” Lilith replies.

“With him?” Reign repeated. “In the same way as Akuma?”

“Of course not. As you can see, I’m physically in this world. Akuma is the product of the crime against you, Reign.” Lilith declares, drawing an audible gasp from both Reign and Rain. “That wasn’t just a normal demon; he is the equivalent to a noble in the human world. His official ranking is unknown, but he was easily in the top 4 among demon royalty. Most demons felt that he was next in line to become the Devil.” She takes a puff of her pipe. “I know y’all are only partially familiar with the way the demon world works. The biggest takeaway from this is he had the ability to make Poet what he is.” Lilith closes her eyes and takes another puff of her pipe. She then stands up and approaches the table that Poet was lying on. “He’s waking up.”

“Already?” Nilite said in surprise. “It’s only been 10 minutes.”

“Be on alert.” Lilith warned. “All I’m feeling is Akuma’s aura.”

Everyone looks on as Poet starts to stir as if he was about to wake up from a night’s sleep. His eyes open and he blinks a few times to get clarity in his vision. He looks around and notices the concerns on every one’s faces. As he smiles, his eyes go solid black and his teeth begin to morph into fangs.

“What’s happening?” Lunar quietly asks, mostly rhetorical.

“Shit…” Lilith says in dismay.

Poet looks at Lilith and immediately grabs her by the neck. Lilith tries to back away from him, but Poet sits up and follows. All of the shackles that were around his ligaments snapped off effortlessly like they weren’t even there. As everyone else tries to pull him away from Lilith, Poet releases energy from his body that pushes everyone 10 feet away from him. Now in the kitchen, Poet holds Lilith against the wall, several inches off the floor. She struggled to breathe as she threw punches at Poet’s head, none affecting him. Then Poet releases Lilith’s throat. Lilith drops to the floor, gasping for air, as Poet begins backing away from her. He then drops to his knees, collapses to the floor and goes unconscious as blood spewed from a knife wound on the right side of his neck.