I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere, baby.
‘Return to me, child.’
The voice of my master scratched down the insides of my host’s skull.
‘Return to me; it is time to receive the holy sacrament.’
My host fought me, but I was stronger. The weak-willed witch that struggled for dominance in this mortal body had been easy enough to overcome.
It hadn’t taken long for me to achieve a solid purchase deep in the poor thing’s chest. My master assured me that, in time, I would grow strong enough to completely overtake her.
Her body was a temporary limitation.
An incubator.
A safe space for me to feed and grow.
Forcing my host’s legs to walk, I left the witch’s home and stepped out into the dark street, clutching the holy book of Yahweh tight to mytemporary body.
The slowly fattening moon hung heavy overhead, and I resisted the urge to hiss at it. Using the shadows of passing trees strategically, I avoided the silvery pools of moonlight that splashed across the street.
The moon made my host stronger, and I wasn’t interested in fighting her tonight, not when I was overdue to receive my sacrament.
The streets were empty, which made me anxious. If there weren’t others of my kind making their way to midnight mass, it meant I was already late.
I didn’t want to invoke the wrath of my master.
I only wanted to please him.
If I pleased him, I would be rewarded.
If I angered him, I would be punished.
Punishment from Raziel was not something I wished to experience. I had seen it firsthand, and it was terrifying.
Hurrying, I forced my host to walk faster, her modest shoes tapping softly on the concrete sidewalk as we passed Howard Street Cemetery.
The longer I walked, the more exposed I felt. Eyes were burning into the back of my host’s head, and they weren’t the familiar burn of Raziel’s limitless sight.
No.
It was something warmer.
Hotter.
Somethingother.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here, Sköll?”
A man dropped in front of me, and I jumped.
He had chestnut hair and was wearing a pair of soft blue jeans and a white T-shirt. His brown eyes burned in the silver light of the moon.
He smirked at me, his white teeth flashing in something closer to a snarl than a smile.
I turned on my heel to walk in the other direction, only to be intercepted by another man.
This one was identical to the first. The only difference was his state of dress. Black jeans and shirt. His clothes had been shredded and then stitched back together with an obscene amount of safety pins.
