3.17 OBSESSIVE LOVE: Weapon

Nightfall is especially eerie without the ever glowing lights of the cityscape. 

With the moon and stars obscured by billowing clouds, Kyden's heart throbs with terror. His eyes strain with futility, unable to make out more than the barest of outlines. He's without shoes and his socks do little to protect him from the twigs and pebbles that litter the ground. 

Still, he marches forth, eager to get away from the dim lights emitting from the house. He will go anywhere else, even if it's shrouded with darkness.

He will go anywhere else, even if it results in death. So long as it isn't with the monster that wears Raziel's skin.

The thought causes him to shudder, knowing that the beast is hot on his trail, likely having discovered his mischief in the bathroom already. 

But all Kyden hears is the gusting wind, the singing crickets, and the rustling of leaves. All he sees is darkness.

Disorientated, he rests his hand on tree bark and lets himself catch his breath. Shrubbery scrapes his legs, poking through his pants but Kyden ignores the stinging pain and summons calm. 

Weapon. He needs a weapon.

But his knife was gone and his eyesight strains. Kyden kneels and feels around on the ground, eager for something, anything.

He finds a stone with something that's like an edge. It's heavy and a little bit bigger than his palm. Though not much, it's something. He takes it with him. Other smaller pebbles are around as well and Kyden stuffs them in his pocket. He needs to get creative. Aside from the demon who uses Raziel as his host, there are wild animals lurking about the wilderness, their likeness only ever glimmered in the lines of ancient books. It's said that the fauna has long been twisted into more aggressive and savage forms due to the corruption that festered after the Collapse. 

Kyden doesn't know how many of those things are true, but he's not eager to find out.

First, he needs to escape. Second, he needs to find shelter and survive the night. 

The task is almost insurmountable but Kyden marches forth. He chooses to creep quietly in favor of his earlier frantic running, scared of leaving too much of a trail. 

In good time as well. Because a beam of light suddenly startles him, parting through the dense shrubs and trees. It's faint at first but it approaches. Closer and closer. Brighter and brighter.

Kyden curses below his breath. He ducks, hand tightening around his makeshift weapon. He considers fleeing but knows that it will only make him easier to track. Raziel will likely catch up, with those demonic abilities that will undoubtedly incapacitate Kyden if he isn't careful.

So he practices caution. 

Slowly, he steps towards a dense shrub, lowering himself as much as possible. There are a few trees nearby as well that will help mask his presence. More importantly, he's close to older trails but not quite on them. 

Kyden holds his breath and waits.

Step, step, step. The leaves crinkle, branches snapping beneath heavy footsteps. 

Raziel swoops his flashlight across the grass. He uses the tip of the dark rifle to part the shrubs. He holds himself up straight, his movements are steady and patient. The trail he follows isn't hard to track, his poor Kyden knows little of the wilderness, he thinks ruefully. All that effort to run away will merely result in nothing. Though Kyden's antics might be cute, Raziel needs to ensure that his beloved doesn't go out and hurt himself after all.

The trails are getting fresh and Raziel spots a small thread of fabric caught on the rough bark of the tree. 

He's close. He can feel it in his blood, bubbling and boiling with anticipation. Raziel smiles and licks his lips. His eyes are dark and his finger slots itself against the trigger.

It's not like he needs the tranquilizer. But for whatever reason, due to the riling emotions that simmer under his skin, Raziel can't help but think it appropriate.

He raises the tranquilizer. His steps slow when he realizes that the trail is starting to thin. His Kyden slowed down around here to catch his breath it seems.

Raziel hears a rustle and he snaps his gun in that direction—

Crash! White flashes before his eyes as Raziel staggers, there's a sharp pain in his skull and when he reaches up to cradle his head, his fingers come away wet, bloodied.

The flashlight drops and he hears shuffling in the grass. Raziel's vision is spinning, he cannot aim with his vision so blurred but he catches movement at his side. Adrenaline hot under his skin, Raziel lunges and uses the tranquilizer like a bat instead of a gun. It hits something, or rather someone because he hears an 'oof'.

The person backs off, turns, and flees.

Raziel's eyes flash violet but he quells his demonic power. He picks up his flashlight and marches forward with the rifle raised.

He sees a shadow in the distance and pulls the trigger. A sharp snap sounds. The dart shoots out but it misses its mark as it wedges itself into tree bark.

Raziel clicks his tongue, wasting no time to reach for a second dart and reloading the rifle. He's like a machine, a hunter starved, marching forward with no regard to anything aside from his prey.

The shrubs up ahead rustle. Something darts at him and he barely dodges as he flinches away. The tiny pebble grazes his cheek and leaves behind a cut. Blood dribbles from his scalp but Raziel merely raises his sleeve and wipes it away.

There are more stones that come at him, but he's undaunted and marched forward. Those that he cannot dodge, he happily takes the blow. One lands against his shoulder, another on his thigh. The pain is sharp and bruising but it's nothing compared to the ravaging gluttony in his gut. The flashlight is attached to his belt, it doesn't do much to light his path but he's a bulldozer that stomps through any and everything.

A peddle whizzes right at him, knocking him in the head, leaving behind a bloodied mark but Raziel doesn't even flinch, noting the direction from which it came. He pulls the trigger and he hears a thud and rustling. Stumbling perhaps. Target hit, he thinks as he wets his lips. The rifle is lowered and no more pebbles come. He can hear his precious prey running away, but it's likely that he won't get far.

He doesn't get far.

Kyden curses when the dart gets him in the arm. Ignoring the pain, he rips it out as fast as he can but it's already too late. He can feel a tingling in his limb. Panicked, he makes a break for it. But his body feels weird, the tingling spreading. 

It's too late, he thinks. It's too late, he won't be able to fight the poison in his system that will render him paralyzed sooner or later. His mind churns, finger tightening around the large rock to the point it begins to cut into his skin.

He stumbles and falls, colliding with dirt, grass, and weeds. He doesn't get up and waits. And prays.

The footsteps that approach drum to the beat of his heart. Loud and awful, full of promise. Kyden feels nauseous, lightheaded but he refuses to give up. He can't give up.

The footsteps stop and Kyden remains still. The tranquilizer is working its way into his blood but it's not fast, he still has time before numbness completely takes over. He landed awkwardly, his right knee resting atop his hand that hides the stone he grips there. He tries to discreetly flex his muscle, willing blood to flow and his nerves to retain their senses. 

The few seconds are agonizingly long. He swears that he can hear Raziel breathe past the gusting wind. 

Finally, the man squats down. He can feel the presence come closer and that's when Kyden lashes out. The stone is thrust upward with its pointed edge and—

"Too slow, my love," Raziel chuckles and catches Kyden's wrist. His grip is iron, fingers digging into Kyden's flesh while he wears a calm, eerie smile on his lips.

Kyden gasped, his chest straining from the tranquilizer in his blood. His grip loosens and the rock tumbles to the ground. And he realizes with horror that his escape has failed.

"Just…kill me," he grits out and spits at Raziel's face. He hopes to rile the demon up so that death could come swiftly rather than slowly.

However, Raziel doesn't even flinch when he reaches up to wipe the saliva away. His face is messy with streaks of blood, the look in his eyes intense and haunted. Kyden feels his eyes go heavy while his heart struggles to pump blood throughout his body.

Raziel opens his mouth and says something but the words sound blurred. The word shifts and Kyden realizes with the last of his waking consciousness that he's being carried. Dread settles in his gut but he cannot fight sedation. He's out like a light and prays that he doesn't wake again.

Of course, he's not so lucky.