The Sins We Hide

Paul struggled under Ian’s body, his weight pressed heavily against his shoulders, making the journey hard. His back ached from the shrapnel that struck at point-blank range. He dragged his feet across the concrete floor, his muscles trembling from exhaustion. The distant sounds of Luis’s voice grew faint as he neared the entrance to the storage area.

I’m getting too old for this. He thought, dragging Ian’s limp body next to the wall.

“Come on, kid, work with me a little,” Paul grumbled, but of course didn’t get an answer.

He leaned Ian’s body against the wall and noticed his breathing growing slower. Paul paled, uncertainty eating at his gut. He took a deep breath and reached out for the handle — only to grimace as he discovered it locked.

“Fuck me! Of all times to be locked out—”

“Fuck you? I can make that happen,” Luis’s voice rumbled from behind.

Paul’s heart pounded against his ribs as a thick demonic presence settled over the area. His breath caught in his throat, and he turned, immediately recoiling in shock. Luis’s once-handsome face was unrecognizable. His features had been burned beyond repair from the blast of fire. Angry, glowing red eyes peered out from beneath a sunken face. The once-blonde hair was now matted and destroyed.

The monster chuckled at the shocked expression on Paul’s face and advanced slowly. A subtle scent came out from Luis’s scorched skin, wafting throughout the air. Paul breathed in a sickening mix of honey and floral incense that made his nostrils flare. The older man fought against the hypnotic pull on his mind and backed away until his spine pressed against the cold stone wall.

Alright, we got a sicko in front of me, and bullets don’t work against him, he thought while trying to stay calm. How the hell are we going to get out of this one, Paul?

“I have to admit, I underestimated you. For a human, you’re not half bad.” The torn features of Luis’s face twisted into a sneer. “I’ll pay you back tenfold for destroying my face.”

With predatory grace, the mangled monster closed the distance between them, flooding Paul’s brain with a false sense of peace. Paul’s breath caught in his throat, and his stiffened muscles relaxed, his fingers going numb. The pain in his back dulled.

Keep it together, Paul, don’t let the mist affect you, he encouraged, biting his lip hard. The pain broke the mental spell enough for him to regain control of his body.

Paul fumbled through his jacket pocket until his fingers wrapped around the handle of his taser. In an instant, Luis was upon him, lifting him into the air by his throat with one hand. Scorched skin brushed against Paul’s bare chest, sending a jolt of pleasure through his body.

“Enough of that,” he growled.

The moment Luis’s skin touched him, Paul’s muscles collapsed. His brain seemed to freeze, and his hand loosened its grip on his weapon. His legs tried to step closer into the monster’s embrace instead of pulling away.

I have to move now! His lungs burned for air.

Fighting the urge to surrender to the bliss, Paul quickly brought the object straight to Luis’s neck and pressed the button down. In the end, the two metal probes lit up with electricity.

When it struck his neck, Luis’s entire body locked up, and his hand opened on its own, dropping Paul to the ground. The older man stood up from the floor, gasping; the clean air helped to clear the fog from his head.

He glanced at Ian and snorted. When we survive this, I’ll think about never having another pack of smokes, I swear to God.

Rubbing his throat with his left hand and holding ‌the taser in his right. He took one look at Luis’s shaking body and took off sprinting. He headed in the opposite direction towards the shelves to get as far away from Rook as possible.

While Paul ran, he had a feeling that something was behind him. Listening to his guy, he quickly slid on the ground, and a winged figure flew over him. It crashed straight into the shelves in front of him.

The winged creature slamming into the steel supports triggered a domino effect, causing other shelves to fall. One after another, loud impacts echoed through the area. The concrete floor shook violently from under their heavy weight.

Paul threw his body into a side corridor to avoid being crushed by falling wooden pallets, taking notice that one load wrapped in plastic held oxygen canisters. Hopping to his feet, he turned his back on the shelves.

A long black whip-like tail wrapped tightly around his legs and tripped him up, making the older man fall hard against the ground. Emerging from the wreckage with dark blood dripping down his face came Luis in his full demonic transformation.

This was part of the job I didn’t miss! Paul screamed mentally, ripping at the tentacle.

Luis’ form became twisted, his charred skin fully exposed, the red and black coat gone. Large black wings sprouted from his back. Sharp claws flashed in the light, and his whip-like tail shook with rage. With a twitch, the tail tightened and started pulling the old detective back.

“You’re one ugly monster, you know that,” Paul yelled as he tried to grab onto anything around him, but failed. His grip was weak compared to the tail that dragged him across the floor.

“I’m going to make you suffer for burning me!” Luis replied, pulling hard on his tail and forcing Paul toward his sharp claws.

Paul looked around desperately before finding a container marked “oxygen” sitting on a fallen pallet. He grabbed it using all the strength he could muster and threw it straight at Luis.

The metal canister bounced off Luis’ chest with a dull thud. “Was that supposed to do something?” he mocked, arrogance in his tone.

“Don’t blink,” Paul responded with a smirk on his face, quickly pulling out his gun.

Taking careful aim, he fired all his bullets straight into the small oxygen tank. The metal cylinder caught fire instantly and exploded directly underneath Luis’ feet. The oxygen tank to his left caught the blast as well, and all of them exploded together in a violent fireball that completely engulfed Luis in a blaze.

The demon roared in pain and dropped to the ground. His entire body was on fire as he rolled around frantically, attempting to put it out. His screams were a loud screech that echoed around the entire building.

That’s for making me suffer by looking at you, ugly mug,” Paul grunted, his Boston accent slipping out in full force.

He quickly unwrapped the whip-like tail from around his legs and threw the tip directly into the flames. He took one last glance at the monster on fire, praying this was finally the end, and limped away with his back aching.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Luis’s voice echoed through the smoke.