The Carrot And The Stick

Spoiler alert!

I didn't kill her. That was just a little piece of theater. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it and a whole lot more. I didn't do it, not because I'm afraid of the consequences. I didn't do it because I had much more interesting things in mind. Choking her out of existence would've been too easy. The souls of her victims would never forgive me if I let her off that easily.

So, why did I do it? I wanted to see the fear in her eyes. By the Goddess! It felt incredible.

I wanted to revel in my superiority for a little longer, but I knew she wouldn't be out that long. I decided the best thing to do would be to snoop around and see what I could find.

Surprisingly, everything was pretty mundane. Her vanity contained a collection of make-up and hair supplies. Her dresser contained clothes and a few sex toys. Nothing disturbing or overly erotic. Everything was looking fairly run of the mill until I looked under the bed. Beneath her bed was a collection of clothes that she shoved under there like any teenage girl who doesn't do their own laundry is likely to do.

I moved them aside and found a locked box.

"Interesting." I pulled the box from beneath the bed. It needed either a key or a passcode. I didn't have either, and I seriously doubted I could convince the little devil to give it to me.

But did it matter? Could this little locked box keep me out with my newfound strength?

Kacha!

The quick answer is nope!

When I tried to pry the sides apart, it opened with a loud cracking sound. I smiled. This body of mine was pretty damn incredible.

What I saw made my stomach churn. I already knew that this little deviant was messed up in the head, but this brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "creep factor".

Inside the box was a collection of memorabilia. It wasn't the standard type of memorabilia, though. It was like if Jack the Ripper and Hannibal Lecter had a deranged little love child.

At a quick glance, there were over 60 of them. Each with their own individual date. Some went back as far as 7-years ago. We would've been 11, then.

There were 60 or more individually packaged storage bags. Each was meticulously packaged and contained the same material. Each contained the following: 2 photos, a flash drive, a lock of hair, a piece of jewelry, a date, and a first name.

The photos differed in that some would be candid shots when the girls weren't paying attention. Some were smiling and laughing. Some were eating. Others were staring off into space. The second photo all contained the same theme—tears, shame, and humiliation. The second photo would be of the girls after Celeste had done whatever it was she did to them.

It was her own little serial killer-in-training souvenir box.

I looked up at her passed out body and felt a sickness rising inside of me. She's been at it for so long, and she's hurt so many girls. She deserves…

Death!

The word filled my brain. They were dark and disturbing. The voice in my head was loud, powerful, dark, deep, and not my own. My body convulsed for a moment, and I glanced at myself in the mirror on her vanity.

I was surprised by what I saw. The girl in the reflection looked like me, but there was a red tint to her eyes that wasn't there before. It was like blood but darker and more malevolent.

"No!"

I closed my eyes and turned my head. My heart was pounding. I counted to 3 and then opened my eyes again. The eyes reflected back, were my normal hazel eyes.

"What the hell was that?" My heart was still pounding in my chest. For a moment, it seemed like I'd been taken over by a demon. Regarding the changes to my body, there were too many things that I really didn't understand. Calypso wasn't helpful. Kokopelli was even less helpful. I was on my own, and it terrified me.

I felt like I'd just learned to drive a car and was suddenly asked to fly a freaking airplane! It was like giving a baby an assault rifle. I felt like I was out of my depth, dangerous and deadly. My time in Pandora helped me understand my soul a little more but I felt like it didn't even scratch the surface. The golden and red lights were my divine sparks, but this whole shining red eye was a whole new bundle of crap.

"I need to get this under control before I hurt someone." …Well, someone who doesn't deserve it.

I glanced at Celeste then the box in my hand.

"I'll deal with my laser eyes, later. Right now, I've got some snooping to do."

I kept rifling through the box and found a portable disk player. It had a spot for a USB drive. I turned it on and put in the flash drive.

A moment later the video popped up.

From start to finish, the video lasted for 2-hours. In the beginning, Celeste was sweet-talking the girl. The girl with the auburn hair was blushing. She looked proud and almost smug. It was like she felt validated by having Celeste's attention.

When Celeste made a move on her, she didn't resist. She kissed her back and then some. Suddenly, things got hot and heavy. The girl was on her back panting and calling out Celeste's name. Then those cries of pleasure turned into cries of astonishment when Celeste's hand wrapped around the girl's neck, and she started choking her.

Soon, Celeste was hitting her, hurting her, abusing her. I skipped to the end of the movie. The girl was covered in wounds from her head to her toes. She was crying nonstop—her smug expression from earlier was nowhere to be seen. In the background, I could hear Celeste's voice as she laughed and verbally demeaned the girl on the ground.

I closed the disk player. There were over 60 more of these to go? Fucking shit!

I wasn't planning on watching all of this. I closed the broken lid and left the room. I placed the box by the door. It was now mine. I wasn't entirely sure what I'd do with it, but I couldn't leave it now that I stumbled upon it.

I went back into the room found the little demoness still passed out.

I smiled as I looked down at her. "Let's try out my new trick."

I held out my hand, and a red light formed. The red light spread across the room causing everything within the room to be tinged by the color of blood.

Then the light was gone.

The room looked just the same. Nothing seemed out of place.

She was still passed out on the bed. I smiled menacingly.

"She needs some divine retribution." Fortunately, there was a vessel of the gods right before her. I kneeled on the bed and started removing each layer of her clothes. Soon, she was as naked as the day she was born.

I remained fully clothed.

I watched her as she slowly came around. The light in my eyes grew colder as she gingerly moved around.

"Grah…umps!" When she came to, her eyes were still glazed. She hadn't yet noticed that I was there or that the two of us were naked.

"Wake up, you little bitch. It's time for your lesson."

When she heard my voice, her entire body shivered.

"L-lesson? What lesson?"

"Oh come on now. Don't act like you don't know."

"H-Help! Someone, help me!" She was screaming as loud as she could, but no one came to her aid.

"Pretty good soundproofing you've got going on here. I guess you 3 little bitches don't want each other to know the dirty little things you're into, huh?"

I pulled out the chair tucked beneath her vanity.

She watched with fear in her eyes. "Are you here to hurt me?"

"Yes." My gaze was steady. My voice was calm. That seemed to terrify her even more.

"Wh-what are you going to do to me?"

I smiled. "Not going to fight?"

She shook her head. "No."

A little boring, but whatever. "Okay. You choose. Do you want the carrot or the stick?"

"I don't understand. Are you saying I can get out of this without being hurt?"

"Not a chance. No matter what you chose, I'm going to hurt you."

"Are…are you going to kill me?"

"That depends on you. It's not like you don't deserve it."

"Look, I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry for all of the things I did to you. What do you want? Do you want money? I can pay you money. I can give you all the money you want."

"I don't want your filthy money."

"Then what do you want?" She was getting desperate. Those big eyes of hers were spilling over with tears. I was unmoved. Those crocodile tears did nothing for me.

"If you want an apology, I'll give you one! If you want something else, just tell me. I'll do anything. I swear!"

"It's too late to buy your way out of this with these shortsighted gestures and empty promises. Besides, I only want 1 thing from you."

"Wh-what?"

"I want you to feel the same fear, pain, and hopelessness of all the girls you've hurt. I want to take everything away from you, and I'll start with your sanity."

I turned closed my eyes and focused. When I opened them, there was a bright red flash, which encompassed the entire room. Then the world turned black.