Chapter 27

Gabe stared at Michael as he sat curled against the wall.

Gabe: “Michael, is that you?”

Michael slowly lifted his head.

Michael didn’t respond for a second.

Gabe shifted on his feet, unsure of what to say.

Michael finally forced out a few weak words.

Michael: “are you real?”

Gabe blinked.

Gabe looked around his body.

Gabe: “I think so.”

Gabe looked around.

Gabe: “Where’s Julie? Is she okay?”

Michael buried his face again.

Michael: “I don’t know. We got separated.”

Gabe: “Oh.”

Gabe stared at Michael for a second.

He cleared his throat.

Gabe: “Hey. Are you doing okay?”

Michael rubbed his eyes.

He didn’t respond.

Gabe hesitated.

Then he sat down next to Michael.

Neither one said anything.

Gabe leaned back. His head hit the wall behind him.

His legs were sprawled out in front of him. He slid down the wall, until only his head was touching it.

Gabe: “What is even happening anymore? How am I supposed to process any of this?”

Michael still didn’t move.

The silence returned.

A voice came from above the two.

Voice: “Maybe I can help?”

Gabe looked up. He quickly picked himself up.

A figure had appeared out of the shadows beside them.

It was Lord Byorn.

Gabe: “You.”

Lord Byorn put a hand up and Gabe froze.

He looked down. His hand was shaking.

Gabe shook his head. He held out his hand.

Gabe: “Barth, get him!”
Gabe closed his eyes.

Nothing happened.

Gabe: “Barth?”

Lord Byorn squatted down in front of Gabe.

Lord Byorn: “Your demon is smart enough not to attack me. If only you were too.”

Gabe swallowed. He turned pale.

Lord Byorn stood up.

Lord Byorn: “To tell you the truth, I am very bored. You do amuse me a little. It’s the same feeling as seeing a dog eat its own shit.”

Gabe clenched his teeth.

Lord Byorn turned to Michael.

Lord Byorn: “This boy, however, I’ve had my eye on for a while now.”

Gabe’s throat went dry. He managed to croak out a few words.

Gabe: “I thought I was the one you were after.”

Lord Byorn looked at him. His outer lip curled upwards.

Lord Byorn: “Who would ever want someone like you?”

Gabe’s eyes widened. He fell back against the wall.

Lord Byorn grabbed Michael by the hair. He raised him up to his eye level.

Michael made no reaction. His eyes were glazed over.

Lord Byorn smiled.

Lord Byorn: “I definitely made the right choice.”

He stood up and called into the dark.

Lord Byorn: “Agares!”

Agares instantly appeared, bowing down.
Agares: “Yes, my Lord.”

Lord Byorn: “You are dismissed. I have no more use for you now.”

Agares blinked.

He opened his mouth.

Agares: “My Lord…?”

Lord Byorn stared at him.

Lord Byorn: “Are you going to make me repeat myself? You are relieved from your duty.”

Agares pursed his lips. He tried to form a sentence, but found that he couldn’t.

Lord Byorn: “Begone, now.”

Lord Byorn glanced at Gabe. He hadn’t moved.

Lord Byorn: “And take this one too. You seem like you would get along.”

Lord Byorn turned and walked off. He still had Michael held by the hair. His limp body was dragged along behind him.

Lord Byorn entered a room. The door opened and closed on its own as he walked by.

Gabe looked over at Michael. He tried to stand, but his legs were shaking too much.

Gabe clenched his jaw.

Gabe: “Dammit.”

Agares hadn’t moved. His breathing was shallow and came in short spurts.

Gabe looked up at him. Then he fell back into the wall and covered his face.

Neither one of them spoke.

Neither one of them moved.

Gabe rubbed his hand on his face.

He looked at Agares.

Gabe: “What now?”

Agares didn’t look at him.

Agares: “I’m leaving. Do whatever you want.”

Gabe pulled himself to his feet.

Gabe: “So what? Are you just done with Lord Byron?"

Agares clenched his fist at his side.

Gabe frowned. He looked down at his hands.

Gabe: “Are you still going to kill me?”

Agares’s shoulders slumped.

Agares: “I have no reason to kill anyone anymore.”

Gabe sighed.

Gabe: “That’s a relief, I guess.”
Gabe thought back to when he first saw Agares.

Gabe: “Didn’t you say your last name was Hearthstone? Like the country?”

Agares furrowed his brow.

Agares: “Why are you bringing this up? I have no reason to talk to you.”
Gabe swallowed.

Gabe: “Yeah, well. I just figured we were kinda in the same boat here.”
Agares stared at him for a second. Then he looked away.

Agares: “Yes, I have royal blood.”

Gabe paused.

Gabe: “So, then why work for this guy?”

Agares looked at Gabe.

Agares: “I don’t understand you. I’ve killed dozens of DMS. I serve under Lord Byorn. You should be terrified of me! Look at me! Tell me I don’t scare you!”
Gabe blinked. He looked down at the carnage at the bottom of the stairs.

Gabe: “You think you’re the only one who’s ever killed someone?”

Agares: “You know nothing of what it means to kill someone!”

Gabe turned to Agares.

He took a breath.

Gabe: “I killed my own parents.”
Agares froze.

Agares: “What are you talking about?”

Gabe looked down at his hands.

Gabe: “Ever since I was born, I experienced emotions differently. Anger, fear, sadness, happiness, love, I didn’t really have them. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to feel strongly about anything. Then one day, I found this insect. I couldn’t explain why, but something about it interested me. So I put it in a jar and brought it home. It was a praying mantis, and every day I would find crickets to give it and watch as it bit their heads off. For the first time, I felt real excitement. My parents didn’t like it. They were convinced I was some kind of demon child.”

Agares didn’t say anything. He just listened.

Gabe: “They used to say, ‘He’s not normal.’ and ‘He must be possessed.’ I didn’t really think much of it. Until one day when I came home from school. They had smashed the jar that I kept my praying mantis in. His body parts were scattered across the floor. ‘Now he’ll finally be normal’ they said. But I wasn’t. In that moment, I experienced another new emotion: anger.”

Agares stared at Gabe.

Agares: “And that’s why you killed them?”

Gabe shook his head.

Gabe: “To be honest, I don’t remember why. Everything else was a gap in my memory.”

Agares furrowed his brow.

Agares: “I see.”
Gabe: “After that, I bounced around from foster house to foster house until one day…”

He looked up at Agares.

Gabe: “I ended up here in this world.”

Agares crossed his arms. He didn’t speak for a moment.

Gabe swallowed.

Agares: “I don’t know what to make of what you just told me.”

Gabe felt his armpits start to sweat.

Gabe: “I don’t really know either.”

The two sat in silence.

Agares: “So what now?”

Gabe shook his head.

Gabe: “I don’t know.”

Agares sighed.

He uncrossed his arms.

Agares: “No point in staying here, then.”

Gabe looked at the ground.

Agares started down the staircase.

Gabe bit his lip.

Agares glanced back at him.

Agares: “Are you coming?”

Gabe blinked. He looked up at him.

Gabe: “You heard what I just told you, right? I killed my own parents.”

Agares raised an eyebrow.

Agares: “Kid, I’ve been trying to kill my parents for the past ten years.”

Gabe looked at him.

Gabe: “What?”

Agares started down the stairs.

Agares: “Well, are you coming or what?”

Gabe watched for a moment as Agares walked off. Then he scrambled up and ran to join him.

Agares: “Watch your step. The stairs are slippery because of the blood.”

Gabe stepped over a body on the stairs.

The two made their way out of the palace.