The energy he’d been collecting shot from his hand like a bolt of lightning–and smashed the building into pieces. Screams pierced the air and he felt his eyes pop wide in shock.
Cullen opened his mouth to say something–or maybe scream, he wasn’t sure–but Leviathan grabbed his throat in a tight grasp and stepped forward, shoving him into a pool of shadows.
Darkness swallowed him up and then he was falling…falling…he had the vague sense that he was traveling much farther than before, that he was being taken somewhere he did not want to be–
He landed hard on a patch of scraggly grass, Leviathan’s grasp on his throat loosening so he could fall to his knees. He knelt there, his hand pressed to his throat as he coughed and sucked in air. He’d been drowning in that darkness, with an iron grip locked on his windpipe, and terror had fully seeped into him by the time he looked up at the man standing in front of him.
Leviathan was smiling calmly, looking as if he had all the time in the world. Though, as Cullen cast a terrified glance around, he realized that they were standing in the courtyard of the school, the buildings devoid of life–because everyone was down in the city below. He opened his mouth with a gasp, terror bringing pleas to his lips. But before he could get a word out, Leviathan spoke.
"I think we have a minute before they find us." Hemurmured, moving closer to him.
“L-let me go.” He choked out, scrambling away from him, his arms strangely weak and shaky. The fear had seeped into his muscles, his bones, leaving him feeling cold as ice.
The demon smiled. “But I haven’t given you your present, yet.”
"I don't want it!" He cried, springing to his feet. His knees wobbled as he stumbled backwards, his arm coming out at his side to call up the energy inside of him.
"I don't care." Leviathan said simply. When Cullen started to slide his foot back again, Leviathan let out a low snarl that made a shudder run down his spine. "Take one more step and I'll rip your leg off."
Cullen froze, his jaw clenching. He thought about calling for help, but he didn't want to piss Leviathan off. So many people had already died tonight because of him. Probably, anyway, with how that building had splintered and exploded in a burst of dust.
The demon hesitated for a few moments, looking thoughtful as he shifted from foot to foot. Almost as if he were…nervous.
“Did you know that demons can be made?” He asked finally.
Cullen jolted at the words.
Made? No, demons were fallen angels. Demons spawned from Hell and from the five princes that ruled it…didn’t they?
“We can create them.” Leviathan said softly, as if he’d heard his thoughts. “They come from our blood, our will.” He smiled and held up a black knife made of bone.
Cullen stared blankly at the blade, his blood turning to ice in his veins. He couldn’t possibly mean…
“Iwant to show you something first.” Leviathan murmured, stepping closer. He reached towards him; Cullen flinched, his mouth opening in a scream. But Leviathan had already brought his hand down on his head, sending him reeling into darkness again.
But this time the darkness passed quickly. And when he opened his eyes again he was somewhere else.Someoneelse. A bigger body, with more strength and fire in his veins than he had ever known before.
The sky above reeled with flame and smoke, heavy clouds swirling in dangerous eddies that promised deadly storms. Thunder cracked and when rain began to pour, it pelted them in fierce black streams that pierced his skin.
Nearby, a beautiful blonde man stood above him, his chin raised high and his golden eyes colder than any ice-coated night Cullen had ever seen.
Slowly, as Cullen watched from eyes that were not his, the man took this body’s arm–and snapped it.
The body let out a cry, but Cullen could not feel any pain. Not even when the beautiful man took a tight grip of the shard of bone sticking out of the body’s arm and pulled, yanking it out.
He watched in awe and horror as the man waved a slow hand over the blackened bone, morphing it into a thick blade. It glowed faintly as he lowered it, his other hand–covered in a thick layer of black ichor–reaching for this body’s good arm.
To his shock, the arm raised on its own, his palm coming up as an offering. The blonde man drew the knife across his palm. And then his own, his face calm as the blade sliced into him.
Low words in a language Cullen did not know werespoken, this body translating them instantly.
“Do you swear loyalty to Hell and to me?”
“I do.”His eyes widened when Leviathan’s voice came from this body he was inhabiting.
“Do you swear to never fall prey to heaven’s will again?”
“I do.”
