All Hail the Demon Queen of Hell?

The low creaking of rusted hinges became very apparent as the door gently closed shut. Swift footsteps echoedacross the hallway, moving towards the kitchen. With his cold and clammy hands, Kaito opened the fridge to see the assortment of foods and drinks that were present. Apart from the fact that the fridge was quite old and vintage, it looked relatively normal on the inside. 

There were the average leftovers, neatly stacked and placed in containers within eyesight. The contents ranged from savory meals like fried egg rice and vegetable soup, all the way to sweet desserts like apple cinnamon pie and cookies-n-cream cheesecake. As for the drink options, there were bottles of water, a few soda cans, and a carton of fruit juice. There was also a gallon of milk that was almost empty. With the lack of food variety available, no wonder Haruka’s mother had entrusted him with keeping her company. 

Kaito continued scanning through the fridge, and suddenly stood still. His blue eyes lighted up with hope as he had finally spotted his target...

“Eureka!”

Three vanilla flavored pudding cups were available. Kaito grabbedthe nearest cup to him, and grabs a spoon from the cabinet. Feeling relieved, he rushed back towards Haruka’s room.

At least she answered my question with wanting to eat some pudding. I don't even want to know what would have happened to me if she wanted to eat something else…

He was about to knock on the door, but it opened ajar. Three little imps had all decided to stand up on each other's shoulders to reach the door handle. One was feminine while the rest were masculine.They all shared the same characteristics of Haruka when she first arrived at the school; the cute pair of horns and bat wings, the itty-bitty claws and fangs, and the slitted eyes.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that they greatly resembled the plushies from earlier, who were walking around and tripping upon the items, wearing the same stylish gothic clothing. He even recognized the one that had handed him the papers, it was now the imp standing at the top. The trio decided to speak in unison:

“Hello Kaido, Seeker of Truth. Our Queen of Hell desires to consume her pudding as soon as possible.”

Kaito staggered back, gasping loudly as his mouth hung wide open. His eyes widened in shock, almost popping out of his head. The imps all shared Haruka’s quirk of calling him anything else other than his actual name and making up titles for him. This just left him with multitudes of questions and theories.

How did the toys become living breathing beings? Why are they capable of speech now? Are they her minions? Are they somehow connected to her? Is she even aware of the bizarre things that are happening around her?! What other demonic powers has she awakened!

As the eyes of the imps narrowed in annoyance for making their Lady of Darkness wait even longer, Kaito rapidly attempted to gain back his composure, vigorously nodding his head while quickly entering the room. “I'll hand it to her right away!” 

The surrounding air was heavy and oppressive, almost palpable. Extending his arms towards the bed, they wobbled just like warm jello would, trying to muster up the bravest face he could possibly convey.

“Here you go Haruka– the pudding that you've asked for.”

Long tendrils of wispy hair flowed underneath the thick blanket, slithering towards Kaito. They slowly wrapped themselves around his hands, gently grabbing the pudding cup and the spoon as it retreated back towards the bed. It was silent, save for the rustling of the moths fluttering about and the imps attempting to clean up the bedroom to the best of their abilities. 

It took around two minutes for the pudding to be fully consumed, as the tendrils placed the empty cup and dirty spoon on the nightstand. Her voice was rough and hoarse, attempting to speak with her usual signature tone that he wasway too familiar with.

“Thank you Kaidan for your tribute. It was absolutely delicious, but this isn't enough.”

“WHAT?!” Kaito immediately broke out in a cold sweat, trying hard not to sound panicked. “What more do you want to eat, Haruka?”

After another sneeze, she spoke up. “My dear nemesis, if there's still pudding inside the fridge, bring it to me! If not, bring me the cheesecake! Actually, fetch me anything sweet that you can find in the house! Runa, Sebek and Vash will help you in your quest for my satiation.”

The three imps immediately surrounded Kaito, and slowly dragged him out of the room. One of the male imps spoke up in reassurance, “Don't you worry about anything, Miss. I, Vash, along with the others, will get you everything that your heart desires.”

Without further delay, Kaito and the imps gathered everything that fitthe parameters of Haruka’s request. The remaining pudding cups with the pie and the cheesecake from the fridge, the assortment of cookies and donuts from the pantry, and even the jar of candies were brought to her.

One of the imps, Sebek, stood in front of the doorway, announcing their successful return towards the demon girl.

“We have all brought you a wonderful offering. Bon appétit. Enjoy your scrumptious meal.”

***

While remaining hidden under the warmth of her blanket, empty containers and wrappers started piling up on the nightstand. No matter how many sweets and pastries she consumed, nothing seemed to satisfy her cravings.

“No, this won't do at all!” The young demon girl tossed her blanket aside in exasperation, not knowing what else to munch on.

Kaito's eyes gradually peered towards her bloodshot eyes, having a strong sense of dread bubbling inside of him. Her skin had turned pasty and bloodless, with her claws taking a much darker appearance reaching to her forearms, a sure sign of corruption. The same could be said for her legs, spreading towards her calves.

Oh no… Haruka’s being taken over by the demonic madness!

Haruka slowly stood up and walked closer towards him, flashing him with the friendliest toothy smile a demon could produce. “Let's go, Kaizou. Help me find more sustenance, since my body doesn't yearn for sweets anymore.”

Her larger claws lightly held his smaller hand, as they both walked towards the kitchen, with the imps following suit. From there, Kaito and the imps gatheredeven more food in hopes to satiate her. 

It didn't matter if it was something simple or more complex, gorging herself didn't do anything to quell her cravings. In fact, the opposite happened.

“None of this is enough! Why? Oh, why do I feel such painful hunger? Why won't it go away!”

She chewed on a piece of bread, aggravated that nothing worked. The remaining edible food that was available had completely depleted, leaving only the raw and unprepared items. Her slitted eyes trailed towards the raw meat, reaching her claws towards it and breaking a chunk.

“Haruka, hold on! Don't you dare eat that.”

She ignored Vash's words, bringing the piece towards her mouth. The metallic taste coated her taste buds, making her giddy and ravenous. She continued eating the thawing flesh, blood staining her fangs and lips, leaving crimson trails down her chin and claws with each morsel. Kaito was at a loss of words, but Rune was able to voice one of his numerous concerns.

“Hold your horses! Please don't eat so quickly! You'll get a stomach ache from having eaten so much food already.”

Those words fell on deaf ears, as the Herald of the Damned didn't stop consuming at all. Sobek and Vash dashed towards her legs, scratching and biting as hard as they possibly could to make her snap out of it. Their efforts were rewarded with getting whipped back by thorny vines. Everyone, human and imp alike, was pushed aside to ensure that her rapturous meal won't get ripped away from her. They all gazed in wariness as new flora sprouted around her. 

It started as simple buds, before rapidly growing in size. A monster flower and a corpse flower appeared, writhing and throbbing abnormally. It was almost as if they're filled to the brim with life. The buds took their time in opening, with a large amount of maggots bursting out of the giant blossoms. 

A putrid stench permeated the room, which could make even the strongest of people faint on the spot. With a sickening and disturbing sight, Kaito's stomach churned intensely. This whole time, he had been fighting back the waves of nausea.

Haruka finished her raw delicacy, licking her lips as she searched for more. Breathing heavily, she finally gazed upon the face of her queasy best friend and her nervous little imps, along with the emergence of the strange flowers and the maggots sprawled all over the floor. She broke out of her trance, and for a brief moment, the reflection of a pan on the wall reflected something unsettling. Kaito was there, standing in front of a nightmarish freak of nature.

She saw, and she knew. She wasno longer human.

“K-Kaito. Please… help me…”

Her claw reached towards him, before falling to her knees with a thud. Curling herself up, her claws went over the sides of her face. Dark energies of hellish origin started rapidly swirling around her, violently shaking. A blood curdling scream escaped from her lips, shattering and breaking apart everything fragile, making everything suddenly turn black.

***

Recuperating from the sudden burst of dark energy, Kaito weakly raised his body up, his eyes narrowing to catch a better glimpse at his surroundings. 

While everything was blurry, the broken pieces of the house floated around.  The surrounding plant life withered and decayed, while slews of rhododendrons, poppies and other poisonous flowers bloomed in their place instead. In contrast to the foul scent of the previous flowers, these blossoms released a sickly sweet and heady scent.

Amid the devastation and foliage, a large and demonic presence stood still. Noticing that the boy had awakened, the dark blur left the area like the strike of a lightning bolt. Kaito looked up aimlessly. The sky had darkened, bringing along foreboding clouds. Both the sun and moon were visible, slowly inching towards each other. 

He couldn't hold back those feelings anymore. A great tremor overtook him, grief overflowing his entire being. Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to flood out while muttering quietly.

“It's too late… isn't it? It's all my fault. I couldn't do anything to stop it. If I hadn't been so focused in trying to expose her as a monster, then none of this would have happened…”

One of the imps dragged themselves close towards him, trying not to slip back towards unconsciousness. Tugging at his clothes, Runa looked up with a saddened expression.

“Help her, Kaito! Out of your good heart, please help our Haruka, we beg of you! You're the only one who knows what she's going through! You're our last hope to bring her back towards her old self!”

His hands slowly lowered, holding the imp and bringing it close towards him in a tight embrace squeezing his eyes shut. Gut-wrenching sobs tore through his chest, unable to stop. When he had no more tears left to cry with, he slowly let go of the sleeping imp. Wiping his wet cheeks and rubbing his puffy eyes, that's when he saw it. 

Spider lilies sprouting and blooming amongst the darkness, leading the way towards Haruka’s path of deliriousness.