Heart of Darkness

“Are you sure he will come around?” Rayven asked Lazarus.

“I used to be sure but with time I am not sure about him anymore.”

“Then he needs help more than ever.”

“Well, you are here to help him. I am leaving.” He said.

“You scolded me for pretending to not care. What are you doing now?” Rayven asked.

Lazarus’s silver eyes glowed as his jaw tensed. “I. Am. Not. Pretending.”

“So you suddenly don’t care about him.”

“I do. I just don’t care right now.”

Rayven was confused. What kind of nonsense was this?

“Perhaps he said hurtful things. He is just trying to push you away,” Rayven explained understanding what Acheron was going through.

Lazarus chuckled while looking sad. “You don’t have to tell me that. I know him. But if you keep pushing someone, they will eventually fall over the edge. You are lucky to have won after all the pushing you have done so what would you know? But being on the receiving end feels terrible.”

Receiving end?

Lazarus walked away kicking a stone on his way. This was hard on him too. Acheron was slapping away a hand that kept offering him help. Just like he did with Angelica but she held her hand out until the last moment. Hopefully, Acheron wouldn’t be too late and lose his friend.

Rayven followed Lazarus. “Let’s have a drink.”

Lazarus smirked. “Do you only come to me for a drink?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head at him.

Lazarus always had drinks to offer yet Rayven had never seen him drunk. Everyone would get drunk while Lazarus kept pouring more and more and enjoying their drunken state. Not that he needed to drink. The man already had the behavior of a drunk man more often than never. He just spoke whatever was in his heart.

Rayven usually spoke whatever was in his head. Well, he didn’t have a heart until recently, and talking about emotions was something new to him.

“Your face is getting better,” Lazarus pointed out.

It would be better if he wasn’t reminded because then the itching began.

“Why did you agree to help? You could get hurt.” Rayven said.

Lazarus shrugged. “I have nothing better to do anyway and I am already hurting every day. Besides, it would be a shame if something happened to you or Angelica after all the time I spent planning your wedding. You should at least have a child before you die. You owe me that.”

A child? Never! Rayven couldn’t have small humans in his home.

“So how close or far are you from mating?” He asked.

Not this question, Rayven thought.

“Far away,” he said.

“Well, it has only been a few days since she found out about us.” He took a sip from his drink.

It had indeed only been a few days but it felt much longer.

“Whatever you do, never use the safety argument to convince her about mating. It is like asking a woman to sleep with you for her own safety.”

Rayven grimaced. Thankfully he said no such thing or he would be hit by more pillows. He forced back the smile on his face.

Angry Angelica was something else. Her eyes blazed with that blue fire yet the rudest words she could find were “stupid” and “ugly”. He guessed she had never had a fight before or she would have found something more effective after he told her to freeze to death.

“It seems like he has changed his mind already,” Lazarus spoke pulling Rayven out of his thoughts.

Rayven sensed Acheron’s presence before he came to sit with them. He had bathed and changed his clothes but he still looked dead. It was his eyes and his face that was empty of emotion.

“Well, shall we go ahead then?” Lazarus said.

Rayven wondered what would happen now? He hadn’t seen them in action before and Acheron looked worse than ever. He wasn’t thrilled to do this.

As expected they went to a wild party. If not a brothel, this is where Rayven thought they would go. “He needs more food than ever now so we will find more here,” Lazarus explained casually.

Acheron stood stiff next to him. His eyes searched the room with fear but he could also see the hunger in them.

“Oh, look who is here,” a dark-haired woman with a corset that forced her breasts out of her dress came to greet them. “Lord Quintus, Lord Valos,” she curtsied and then turned to Rayven.

“This is Lord Rayven,” Lazarus introduced.

“Oh, I am glad you are bringing more gorgeous men to our parties. We have many young beautiful ladies available.”

Rayven was confused. This wasn’t a brothel so what was happening. Reading a few minds he realized this was where people came to get drunk and have that kind of fun. Even women. A man was sharing his wife with another and two other men exchanged their wives.

Where did he come to?

“Lord Valos, you look so tense today.” The woman said.

“Do you have a free room?” Lazarus asked.

“I always have a free space for you, My Lord. Follow me,” she said.

She took them to an empty room. “Shall I bring a few ladies?”

“Don’t worry about it. We will pick them,” Lazarus told her.

She smirked and then left them alone. Rayven just stood there confused.

“What are we doing?”

Acheron sat down with a sigh, as if he could finally breathe.

“We will do some picking and compelling,” Lazarus explained. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

“Picking?” It was like humans were different fruits. Wasn’t blood just blood or was this more than just feeding? Was it sexual? He didn’t think that was the case with Acheron.

“I’ll show you everything so maybe you can help him alone next time,” Lazarus said. “Follow me.”

Rayven already got a bad feeling. “Do you just leave him alone in the room?”

“Well, usually it is when he starts feeding that he can’t stop otherwise it is alright. Mostly.”

Mostly?! This was bad but Lazarus was so relaxed.

They walked through the party halls while Lazarus’s gaze searched for the prey. “I choose women often. He drinks and I have my fun so it is all done at once.” He began. “But we might need a man today.”

A man? Why?

“That one looks strong and covered with veins. I think Ash would like him. Me, not so much. But I can survive today.”

“How bad is it for you?” Rayven wondered since he used the word survive.

“Well, how can I explain it?” He became thoughtful as he kept looking around to find another man. “Have you been so hard it hurts and then when you found relief it only lasted for a few moments and you were hard again? Or how about you woke up being hard and you had to walk like a crippled man all day. It’s like walking with a stick in your trousers that sometimes only grows larger and more painful.”

Rayven frowned. These two men were tortured every day and it wasn’t only in their heads like it had been for him. This was horrible. How could the man even think?

“Is there nothing that helps?”

“You mean besides releasing the tension which would require me to lay in bed with women all day? Then it is freezing myself, starving myself, or hurting myself. What else?” He nodded toward another large man. “That one looks good too. I won’t have to be concerned for his neck. The way he feeds today might not look good.”

Rayven sighed. What else could they do?

When the muscular man got up from his seat Lazarus followed him and Rayven trailed behind to see what he would do.

“Excuse me, My Lord.”

The man halted and turned around. He recognized him, “Is it, Lord Quintus?” He asked.

“Yes,” Lazarus reached his hand out and when the man took it he pulled him closer and gazed into his eyes. “We will have some good time together, Roger,” he told him.

Roger got under Lazarus’s spell and then followed him obediently. God! What would he witness today?

Lazarus took him back to Acheron who waited restlessly. As soon as he saw the man his eyes darkened and Lazarus smirked. “He does look nice. He has a sturdy neck too. I thought a female would be bad when you are so hungry.”

Rayven stood at the door, just watching. A female could be bad but he wasn’t sure if the man was any safer.

“My friend here will take good care of you,” Lazarus told Roger as Acheron neared.

Clearly, Acheron couldn’t compel the man himself. He was too starved and weak to manipulate so Lazarus did all the compelling, making the man sit lie down and lean back on the sofa so his neck was bared.

Acheron loomed over him, his demon slowly coming out to the surface and as he watched the pulsating veins on the man’s neck. His eyes turned completely dark, the veins around them darkening as well. His fangs elongated to their fullest as he put one hand on the back of the man’s neck and another one on his shoulder to hold him still. Then he sank his fangs into his neck.

Rayven could hear the tearing sound and knew that had to be painful if the man hadn’t been compelled to believe otherwise. He could hear the sucking of blood and the way Acheron breathed and groaned just told him how starved he was.

He pulled back, mouth covered with blood as he made an animalistic sound. Rayven recognized it as a cry or a plea before he sank his fangs on the other side of the man’s neck. The whole thing looked horrifying and Rayven didn’t know who to feel more worried about.

Acheron looked like a whole other person when he fed. He wasn’t there anymore. All he could see was hunger and thirst. A frightening obsession, a deadly addiction.

He turned to Lazarus to see his reaction but he had already poured himself a drink and sat relaxed. “You should stop him now,” he said.

Rayven listened to the man’s heartbeat that was slowing down.

“Stop now!”

Acheron ignored him.

“Ash! You should stop now! You will kill him!”

Acheron kept ignoring him.

“That won’t work,” Lazarus said.

Oh God!

Rayven rushed to pull Acheron away from the one but Acheron hit him hard with one arm causing him to fall back.

Rayven was shocked for a moment but then got up quickly. So he would have to fight him?

“It is enough now!” He said and tore him away forcefully from the man, sending him flying into the wall.

Acheron was quick on his feet and attacked him with a loud growl. The hunger made him much stronger than he was as he pushed him down on the floor and punched him so hard his jaw got misplaced.

Rayven was quick to maneuver and placed himself on top instead. This time being the one to land punches. Acheron got his leg in between them and kicked him away. Then he got up and kicked him in the stomach before grabbing him by the hair and kneeing him in the face.

Pain shot through Rayven’s face as he fell back. Blood seeped from his nose and mouth.

Lazarus was just sitting watching the fight with a smile. “Now you know what I have to deal with.”

Acheron turned to the sofa but Lazarus had already arranged for the man to leave. His dark eyes lifted to look at Lazarus with rage and hatred.

“Come one! Give me a break today. Rayven has volunteered. Don’t look at me like that.”

But Acheron was determined to destroy whoever took his food.

Rayven got up on his feet and took the opportunity to attack Acheron while he was focused on Lazarus. He went from behind him and snapped his neck.

“Ouch. That will hurt for a few days but well done,” Lazarus nodded.

“Well done? This is bad!” Rayven said realizing how bad it just was. He didn’t think he would have to fight him.

“Welcome to our world.. Every day is the same adventure but still full of suspense. When will things not be the same anymore?”