Bond Made for Blood

Death Day swiftly arrived and my execution was quicker still. I don't know why, but after they approved of my execution instead of confinement, the time leading up to my death became a blur. Between eating prison food, sleeping, and pissing, my free time was spent 'repenting.' At least that's what the guards told me to do. The voices... they told me otherwise.

You might think that the voices' would complain about not having their desires properly sated, making my days of torment long and hellish, but no. As I said, the days flew by swiftly. I was only forced to come to terms with my insanity; the insanity that I came to call my only friends. However, telling you about the personalities behind the whispers is irrelevant since they are all fiends who I wouldn't dare associate with if I wasn't already knocking on death's door.

On the morning of March 3rd, 1983, I died in the electric chair.

Curiously, it felt like my body was being ripped apart; each muscle spasming and deforming in ways I never knew they could. Approximately 2000 volts of pure energy raged through my body and in seconds, it was over.

Silence ensued.

It was over and I knew it. My life had ended as if someone had snuffed out a candle. Pitiable sure, yet true. I never did anything impactful and I never was well known. I didn't even know my own executioner's name. Sure I may have burnt the hands of a few people, but that was all in the past. My story had ended.

But... I was glad. I finally discovered what the sound of silence meant: bliss.

Unfortunately though, what I first presumed to be true turned out to not be my reality.

'Curious,' I thought. 'How can I think?'

I wracked my brain that was supposed to be fried out of existence like an overheated CPU for an answer and one finally came: the contract. Only the contract could explain my current predicament. I was alive. The only problem is that I was lost in a starless night, floating without feeling, without seeing, without hearing.

"Curious," I spoke aloud to the darkness just hear my own voice, not expecting an answer, but I wasn't alone. My entire life was never spent alone.

"What's curious?"

A powerful voice resonated from the darkness, reverberating through the innermost core of my being. The voice was as unforgettable then as it was now.

"Lucifer?" Although I can't see him, I still shout into the black.

"No need to holler, Dr. Mangelle. I am right here along with your so-called friends," Lucifer said. His voice was calm and lilting but the way he formed his words still sent shivers down my spinal cord.

'Friends? No, it can't be. They... They worked for Lucifer." I tried to voice my thoughts, but Lucifer continued before I was given the chance to speak.

"But I suppose that that doesn't matter anymore. You see, I came to judge you. After all, we did make a contract, right Doctor?"

I nod. Fortunately, I still had the contract memorized as if it had been inscribed upon my brain the day I signed it. It also helped that the contract was so utterly simple that it never was hard to memorize or understand in the first place.

As if he had been reading my mind, Lucifer barged ahead.

"Good, since we both know the terms of the contract, there is no need for us to review it. So, now..." The devil's face split open in a maniacal grin. "...offer me your soul."

"What are you talking about?!"

A rolling laugh escaped from the Devil's jaws.

"What is there to be confused about, Dr. Mangelle? You failed to fulfill the terms of the contract so I will be taking your soul now."

A sudden, overwhelming pressure attacked my body, ravaging my once orderly thoughts. Every modicum of composure I once had was scattered to the furthest corners of my mind.

While fighting for control over my own thoughts, I attempted to speak.

"How did..."

Finally, I realized the source of my unease. The devil only viewed me as frightened and cornered prey, left without a path to escape. Not once did he view me as a person.

"Mr. Mangelle, unless you can prove your case, your soul will permanently belong to me. Do you have any defense for yourself?"

Strangely, it sounded like Lucifer was trying to appeal to someone, but I had larger issues to worry about than a devil's goading words. If I had a body, I knew that it would have been sweating long ago as the mental burden placed upon me began to sap my strength.

"Nothing? Don't you have anything to say in your defense?"

I began to wrack my brain. The Devil's goading words pushing me further and further into delirium, that oddly familiar madness.

Instincts from years of insanity fought to the surface of my raging mind. Soon, only one notion could materialize within my head.

'Blood.' A silent desire for blood.

The command pulsed through my system, infesting within my very being. The only way I knew how to keep myself alive survive resurfaced within my soul. My now secular mind was as tranquil as a stagnant pond, and just as corrupted. The murky occupation that had allowed me to live on despite the obsessive whispers, for the first time, completely seized my being and my rationality.

I wasn't me anymore. I was madness incarnate.

The maniacal grin wasn't so frightening now. In fact, it only served to anger me.

"Can a soul belong to the dead, Lucifer?"

"Care to repeat that, Mr. Mangelle?" The Devil's grin only grew wider. "Did you just challenge me to a trial by combat? ME?"

The situation's unexpected development took me by surprise, but I didn't care anymore; I couldn't care anymore. The thirst for blood was still deeply imprinted within my brain.

Instead of answering, I attack. I don't know how I managed to attack Lucifer, but my soul moved along with my will as if it was simply following a law of nature. My essence looked nothing like my physical form from when I was alive. Instead, my soul manifested as a spear as it shot towards Lucifer's heart.

Grey blood splattered behind the demon, but that disgusting grin remained, sewn across his face as if his victory was inevitable. Alas, the figure in front of me began to wilt. Pieces of flesh crumbling into dust as the body greyed until only a rapidly vanishing ash pile remained. And then, nothing.

I stood, entranced by the new, seemingly brighter darkness that still enveloped me. Within the night, I failed to realize that my vision was fading until my consciousness left my past life's soul behind. There was no pain. There were no whispers. Only silence.

For the first time in my life, I escaped my nightmares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You let the boy go." A deadpan voice broke the silence. "Is he the boy from the Earthen Realm you have been so intent on, Lucifer?"

"Heheheh. So you noticed."

Out of the darkness, Lucifer's body rematerialized where it had previously turned to dust and disappeared.

"Of course, how could a mere soul kill you, the Lord of the Underworld? Is he an incompetent?" The voice paused. "So what do you want me to do?"

Lucifer's grin resurfaced upon his face.

"Well, too be honest, I didn't expect him to attack me, but he did manage to break the soul bond proving his strength. As for your other question, I want you to bless him. Don't make life easy for that boy though. He may prove useful with the right, conditions if you will."

The voice scoffed.

"How so?"

Lucifer ignored the remark and continued on.

"The boy is strong. With the right conditions, he could prove to be a loyal asset to you and the Old Ones. Consider it as my gift."

"A human loyal to us? I never remembered you to be an ignorant God, Lucifer."

"That's where you're wrong; he is another world's human. I trained him to fight for survival. Now, you can use him as you will."

The voice scoffed again. "Fine, your debt is repaid, but if I ever feel you approaching my domain again, don't expect me to be nearly as diplomatic as this time."

"But of course, my liege."