Chapter 11

He wouldn't wake up. Why wouldn't he wake up?

Kitty desperately tried to rouse Damien. Without the use of his hands, he couldn't shake him. Fear ran through him. Was he dead? The tears poured down his face and he didn't even try to stop them. He shouted Damien's name, hoping he would get up and be all right. He prayed that he would be all right.

Without a hint of remorse, Dante strolled over to them. He grabbed Damien under the armpits and yanked up his limp body. He dragged him over to the dentists chair, his feet scraping against the dirty floor.

"Leave him alone!" Kitty begged. "Please don't hurt him!"

He had never felt so helpless, hopeless and terrified. He knew he had to do something. He couldn't use his arms or legs. They were tied up. He decided to do the first thing that popped into his head – bite the bastard, hard. He threw himself down, landing on his front at Dante's feet. Before Dante had the chance to move further, Kitty sunk his teeth into his ankle. His teeth were strong, his canines were sharp. If he could gnaw off Dante's foot, he would either bleed to death or retreat. But it was tougher than he thought. Dante hissed, pulled his foot back and kicked Kitty in the face.

All he could do was watch as Dante strapped Damien into the chair. He picked up the table and placed every tool back on it. A horrified gasp escaped Kitty's throat.

He was going to use those horrendous tools on Damien.

"No," Kitty mumbled before yelling, "No! Please stop! If you want to hurt someone, hurt me! Just let him go!"

Damien told him he would die for him, and Kitty realised he would do the same. He'd never been so close to a person, apart from his family members. He was someone he'd go to the ends of the earth for, and they had only known each other for a few months. If anyone was getting tortured today, it would be him, not Damien.

But Dante ignored his pleas. He slapped Damien once, twice, yelling at him to wake up. When he got no response, he grumbled something under his breath. He picked up a long knife and stabbed it into Damien's thigh. He finally woke up with a gasp of pain. His head snapped around, his eyes were wide, and he was panting and perspiring a little. He looked afraid and worn out.

When his eyes fell on Dante, the fear turned to rage. He glared at him with pure hate. Dante grinned.

"Good morning, little Aoi! Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Fuck you." Damien growled. "Stop fucking calling me that."

Dante laughed and patted Damien's head. Damien gritted his teeth and scowled harder.

"Why are you doing this?" Damien asked, trying to keep his anger in check. He was trying to negotiate a way out. "You want revenge or something cause I bit your dick off?" He grinned, which angered Dante. Damien gestured towards Kitty with his head. "He's not part of your little game. Let him go."

His efforts to save Kitty made his heart ache. What an idiot he was, thinking Damien was evil and even being afraid of him. True, he had killed before, but he was an assassin. Murder came with the job. He told him he'd killed two people, but that they were bad. They must have been pretty horrible for him to have done so. He was genuine, sweet and caring. He felt remorse for the ones he'd killed, even though they were brutal criminals. Now Kitty knew why he didn't sleep at night. If only Kitty had realised sooner. They could have been best friends.

"Yeah, I am a little pissed about you mangling me, you little shit." Dante said with a frown.

Damien shrugged, or at least tried to within the restraints. "It was your own fault. Shouldn't have shoved your cock down my throat."

Kitty blushed bright red at this comment. So they did know each other after all. And Damien had apparently bitten Dante's penis off. He cringed a little, imagining the pain he must have felt. It would have been excruciating.

When Dante unzipped Damien's jacket, a horrified look appeared on his face. He started hyperventilating, and squeezed his eyes shut. Why was he so panicked by such a small thing? Dante must have noticed, because he laughed.

"Stop fucking laughing and get on with it!" Damien shouted with a newfound rage. Underneath that anger was gut-wrenching fear.

Dante stroked Damien's bare stomach. He shrank away as much as he could, being bound on a chair, and trembled. Dante smiled.

"Don't worry! I'm not going to do what you're thinking. Not now anyway, and not just because of my... condition." Dante wrinkled his nose. He must have been remembering the incident. "I would have years ago, but you're too old for me now."

Too old? How was he too old? Damien was only 16, a year younger than Kitty himself. How could he be too old for anything?

Grabbing the knife he used before, Dante kissed Damien's stomach and plunged the blade deep inside his gut. Kitty shrieked Damien's name in horror. Damien grunted and gritted his teeth. He was obviously in agony, but was trying to suppress his cries of pain. Was he doing that so Kitty wouldn't panic? It definitely didn't work. Kitty feared for him, silent tears running down his face.

He was watching him die.

The knife sliced through Damien's stomach like it was made of butter. Dante cut his stomach open, releasing thick, almost black blood and, to Kitty's shock, red spiders. Why the hell were spiders pouring out of his stomach?

As if it couldn't get more gruesome, Dante plunged his hand into the wound and pulled out black squidgy things that looked like giant kidney beans. They were Damien's organs. Kitty was sure of it. Unable to control his nausea any more, Kitty threw up. He felt disgusting, face covered in tears and vomit. But he didn't care about that right now. He sobbed, forced to observe Damien's demise, unable to do anything to stop it.

Dante scattered Damien's organs across the grimy floor. He was cackling like a deranged clown. By that point, Kitty had closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch anymore, but he opened his eyes to see if it was over. Damien was lifeless in the chair, splattered head to toe in his own blood. His eyes had shut at some point. He looked like he was only sleeping, but Kitty knew the truth. He was dead. Kitty couldn't take it anymore. He crumbled to the floor, managing not to fall into his vomit, and cried harder than he ever had before. He had always been an emotional person, but nothing he had been through had ever compared to these past few days. He felt his world shatter. He felt broken beyond repair. First his dad and Jack, now Damien. He couldn't bear to lose anyone else.

Dante stroked Damien's face with a gentle smile, as if he were looking at someone he loved. This made rage bubble up inside Kitty. He was mocking them, he was sure of it.

"Good riddance to a disgusting monster."

That was the last straw. Kitty had never been so angry. He was going to destroy Dante, even if it killed him.

He scrambled to get up. Without the use of his arms and restrained legs, this was impossible. Every time he managed to get onto his feet and tried to walk, he fell back down. Dante watched him struggle with a bored expression. This only served to make Kitty more rageful. He started breathing heavily. He wanted to destroy. He wanted to kill. He felt his emotions surge. He swore his personality was slipping away, replaced by contempt and the urge to butcher this bastard. A ferocious growl escaped his throat.

Dante's eyes went wide, like he was afraid. Was he scared of Kitty? Fucking good. He should be. He was about to tear him apart.

Gripping the knife in his hands, Dante rushed over to Kitty. He was going to stab him. But Kitty was too quick. He got to his feet once more and headbutted Dante hard in the stomach. He fell over along with him.

The damage he did to Dante was the same as the man who tried to kidnap him. His stomach had caved in. He clutched his damaged gut, coughing up blood and struggling to breath.

Kitty fought to stand up, but he was too emotional. His eagerness to get back up and attack made him clumsy. Every time he was almost up, he slipped back down. Dante took advantage of this. He rose to his feet, weak from the pain and trauma of his injury. He grabbed Kitty by the hair and yanked him up, knife in hand. Kitty was too exhausted to fight back by now. Misery replaced his aggression.

It would be better to die. At least then he'd be with his dad and Jack, and with Damien, the only person who actually wanted to be his friend.

As Dante's arm lowered, bringing the knife closer to his heart, Kitty could have sworn that he saw Damien move. The weapon was about to plunge into him when Damien's eyes snapped open, glowing red, and his head turned towards them. Dante didn't notice. But that didn't matter. He didn't stand a chance.

An unseen force hauled Dante into the air. As quickly as he rose up, he was turned around to face Damien. Kitty got a good look at Damien. He was awake, but he looked remarkably different. His sweet, handsome face had now contorted into a devilish grin. His eyes were glowing crimson, snake-like and inhuman. Sharp fangs replaced his straight teeth, sharper and longer than Kitty's own. Blood covered his face, under his eyes, nose and mouth. But he wasn't stabbed in the face, so why was there blood there?

This must have been what he really looked like. He wasn't human. Kitty forgot that fact since he looked like everyone else. He was the antichrist, and right now, he looked the part. But Kitty wasn't afraid. He knew he would never hurt him. He took on his original form to protect him.

The fear on Dante's face was satisfying. Now he knew what he had put them through, what he likely put many innocent people through. He began coughing and retching. Then a gallon of blood poured from his mouth. He was facing away from Kitty, but he could see it falling to the floor. Dante's body was twitching as the red liquid drained from him. After a few seconds, he dropped to the floor, dead as a doornail.

A worn out sigh left Damien's lips. He hadn't returned to his human form, but the reassuring smile he gave Kitty was beautiful. He was overcome by intense emotion again, but this time it was joy and relief. He wanted to hug him and never let go.

As if Damien had read his mind, the ropes binding Kitty fell off. He got up as fast as he could and raced to Damien, almost tripping over in his desperation to get to him. He tore off the belts nailed to the chair, not noticing how easy it was. He was too excited to notice. His arms wrapped around Damien and he sobbed into his shoulder. He heard Damien hiss in pain, then chuckle and hug him back.

"Are you OK?" Damien asked, voice hoarse.

"Who the hell cares about me?" Kitty pulled away and shouted. "You're the one who needs medical attention! Your injuries-" He paused, trying to suppress the sob he felt in his throat.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Damien tucked a lock of Kitty's hair behind his ear and grinned. "I'm hard to kill."

Kitty stared at him in shock, then smiled and shook his head. "Idiot." He sniffed and gazed into Damien's eyes. "I'm glad you're all right."

He helped Damien sit up. He instructed him to pick up his organs and shove them back in. He said they'd rearrange themselves. Kitty did as he was told, marvelling at Damien's strange anatomy. He took off Damien's jacket and tied it around his torso to keep them in.

"How did you kill that guy?" Kitty asked, watching Dante's corpse as if it might move at any second.

"I can manipulate shadows. I used the shadows inside his body to crush his organs." Damien wiped the blood from his face as best he could. "I raised him up using telekinesis, but it makes my face bleed. I don't like using it. It hurts."

That explained all the blood. Damien was slowly returning to how Kitty knew him best, bright eyed and cute.

"Is this what you really look like?"

Damien nodded. "You haven't seen the half of it. When I go full hellish, I look even worse, like a giant demonic spider man." He looked ashamed. "Do you think I'm ugly? The real me?"

With a gentle smile, Kitty shook his head. "Ugly is the last word I'd use to describe you." He genuinely meant it.

His heart fluttered when Damien gave him a shy grin. He saw the redness in his cheeks, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

"Anyway," Damien made a move to get off the chair, wincing from the pain. "We've gotta get home. Better set off now or we won't make it back until night."

Kitty nodded. He helped Damien to his feet, then swept him up in his arms. He released a surprised gasp, wrapping his arms around Kitty's neck.

"You're treating me like a fucking princess." Damien frowned weakly, but his amused smile broke through it.

"You can be my princess!" Kitty grinned.

The blush that covered Damien's face made Kitty giggle. Damien gave him a mock sigh.

"Then hurry up and carry this princess home. I need a drink to forget this shit."

Kitty did as he told him and carried Damien back to the house.