Demons That Haunt Me

Chapter 14; Memories

Rin felt his heart break throughout the whole ordeal. He had never wanted to relive that moment ever again, had never wanted to feel his father's blood stain his hands for the second time. So, why? Why did he have to go through this pain, just as he was starting to believe he could forget?

He wondered if this was a higher power's cruel way of punishing him for his cursed bloodline. Maybe he was born for the sole purpose of suffering?

Amidst all the emotions and old memories resurfacing, Rin could only feel, could only grasp onto one solid thing: the one thing he wanted most in this world, the one thing he longed for. He wanted to curl up and die in his father's place, but his mind—clouded with a hazy brown mist that seemed to amplify his sadness—was pulled into yet another image.

He was watching from the sidelines as Yukio confronted another Rin, shooting hobgoblins as they solidified while maintaining heated conversation.

"All these years—all that time—what'd you think of me?" Rin was shouting at Yukio, taking a desperate stance.

"What did I think of you?" Yukio moved a gun behind his back and shot, making Rin jump, but the bullets sailed past him and hit their designated hobgoblins. "That should be obvious."

Yukio turned around and glared a hole through Rin, before opening his mouth and spitting out, "I mean, you are a demon, aren't you? As far as I was concerned, you were a threat. You still are."

Rin looked on, eyes widening in hurt as the meaning sunk in—but those cruel words didn't stop, they just kept coming, one after another, breaking his heart.

The memory began to speed up, skipping more of the argument, but then it abruptly stopped—it stopped just in time for Rin to see the indisputable hatred on his brother's face, just in time for him to hear those words that made him want to tear himself apart.  That made him want to follow the exact order commanded of him.

"...then you should surrender to the Knights of the True Cross—better yet, you should just die."

By then, the Rin that was watching the scene unfold was sobbing, screaming for this torture to stop, all he wanted was for it to stop, was that too much to ask, damn it?

And yet, like always, the mist didn't stop. It didn't hold back. Never.

Rin held on. He held on to the hope that any minute now, his friends were coming to get him. Yukio and Shura would break down the doors and lead the cram class in, and he would be saved. He would be free from this nightmare.

His hopes did nothing. It flicked to the next scene.

Suguro was pinning Rin up against the wall as he practically spat at him. "Those damn flames of yers can kill people, you jerk! Why can't you get that through your head already? Get outta here."

The scene flashed to another, and another, faster and faster, until Rin was basically just hearing hateful voices in his head, over and over and over again. He slammed his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and dug his nails into the side of his head—hard. And yet he was still hearing those voices, still seeing the venomous faces. He couldn't escape.

"I'm scared, Bon. He's going to loose control! He's going to kill us! He's a monster!"

"Why did they let him live?"

"Your damn flames killed Shima's brother! Konekomaru's parent's!"

"Oh—there's a third option. You could kill yourself, too!"

"No one wants you here. What are you even living for anymore?"

"Demon."

"I hate you!"

"He's a monster! Help!"

~•§•~

Rin let loose a feral, raw scream. The sound was ripped from his throat like a breath stolen from gasping lungs, so powerful that it tore through his mind and managed to strangle it's way out of his unresponsive body, which proceeded to jerk and spasm violently. It would have burst into flames by now, if not for the gunk-y black substance injected into him earlier. Wolfsbane.

Dr. Bisheer jolted from the desk he was sitting at. "Abort! Get him out of there!"

As soon as the words had left his mouth, people had rushed into the room, donned in the same hazard suits as before. They opened the first airlock and filed into the small chamber, before closing it and opening the next door.

They then rushed in and grabbed the ever spasming Rin, multiple people trying to keep him still as he was picked up.

The sight of the half demon was not pleasant in the slightest. His eyes were rolled back in his head, and his mouth was agape as he attempted to gasp for air. The mist had gathered in heavy amounts around him, and tendrils of it were up his nose, in his ears, and even in his mouth—effectively choking him, drawing out those memories as it slowly ate away at the part of Rin that made him, well, him.

But then Rin was being dragged into the middle of the airlock, and the mist was following but the holy water had turned on, and it withdrew from the holes in Rin's face so quickly that it probably gave itself whiplash. Rin's skin was sizzling under the water, but once the mist had withdrawn and the door had closed, the dangerous liquid had turned itself off. They brought Rin towards Dr. Bisheer.

"Bring him back to his room. Don't forget to cuff him in the chair again."

And just like that, Rin was gone. Still gasping and slowly waking up, tears in his eyes as he relived some of his worst moments, the effects of this mist more long term than it would seem.

Dr. Bisheer followed soon after, a grin on his face so big it seemed like it was going to shatter his frail, porcelain skin.

Let's see how willing he is to cooperate now... If you can't break them physically, you do it mentally. Reciting his motto with a laugh, Bisheer and the men carrying Rin had disappeared back into his cell.

for people that didn't understand this, you probably didn't read chapter 12. I've noticed more than half of my readers skipped it. as always, ty for reading!

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