vivid

viii. liar

Y/N'S POV

My eyes twitched open and fluttered away the drops of cold water on my lashes. I squirmed, my clothes were soaking wet. It seemed I was laying in some shallow stream. I sat up as my clothes clung to me. I looked around. Everything was nearly dark. It was like I was in some dimly lit cave.

I tapped my forehead and tried to remember prior events. Flashing images of panic entered my brain. I remembered being in the bathroom, checking the mark, and then... his voice... and my body hitting the floor.

I gazed before me. A mound of bones laid. It was like I was in a den of something inhuman. My eyes trailed up the hill only to see Sukuna resting himself on a throne. His chin sat lazily in the palm of his hand as he looked down on me. A brazen grin. He was decked out in a crisp white robe. It draped over his skin the way you'd imagine an old lord.

I clenched my jaw. The distance between us was never enough to keep me safe from him.

"I see you've got my message." He chuckled.

My stomach pulsed at the sound of his voice. It was a more subconscious fear at this point that had manifested itself bodily.

"Message....?" I murmured.

"That little branding seems to be doing its job. They've been unreliable in the past but, I guess I've gotten lucky with you Miss. y/n, ah?"

"Where am I? How did you..." I glanced around, Bring me here?"

"That's not of much importance to you. For the sake of subduing your incessant questions, it's my domain. And this, this is just your soul."

He took a deep breath, "That's all I'll give you for now."

My heart dropped, I had know idea what a 'domain' was or any of this. I wasn't a sorcerer and I sure as hell didn't know anything about souls.

"Why did you do this to me? My neck!"

"Enough, you brat."

"Tell me!"

Sukuna jumped down from his chair and onto the mound of bones. I jolted back. He walked down the slope effortlessly as if the skulls were setting him a staircase. He stepped into the stream. I trailed my eyes up the length of his body while he stood before me in a towering conduit of fear.

He knelt down to meet my gaze and situated his knees in the water just like me.

I gulped, pumped with panic and dread. My hands jittered.

He looked deep into my eyes, a meager distance sat between our faces. Sukuna had this expression that played between the lines of sensual desire and brutality. An ambiguous disguise. It horrified me. I couldn't tell if I was looking at the face of a man or a devil.

His eyes swirled with a deep red hue like a beast with irises of blood. He raised his callous hand and caressed my cheek. Shocks of cold shivered down my spine. I wanted to scream. I needed to. My breath hitched and he parted his lips.

"You must be petrified? Ah, y/n?" He moved closer, the hairs on the back of my neck sat upright.

"I can sense it... The fear. Your heart... Beneath that nice layer of skin. It's beating like this." Sukuna lightly knocked his fist against my chest.

"Is that how I make you feel? Unerved? You see y/n..." He gripped my neck as I let out a staggering pant. "I can feel everything you feel. Your fear, your hatred, your love, your lust... Absolutely everything. That's the beauty of our little branding ritual. So... When you speak to me, don't you dare pretend like your body isn't in a terror stricken sweat. I don't like liars... You're not a liar now, are you y/n?"

My heart was beating out of my chest. Every inch of me froze up. The devil looked right back into my eyes. He tightened the grip around my neck, "That was a question you were supposed to answer."

"I... I am a liar." I whispered. Sukuna threw my neck back as I landed against the water.

"Finally, some honesty." He stood over me. "It seems I'm getting to know you better..."

"Go to hell." I spat

Sukuna grinned. "I've already been there a million times. However, it would be interesting if I could drag you down with me."

~ ~ ~

I gasped for air, waking up on the bathroom floor. It felt like I'd just escaped an endless nightmare. But when I looked up, I felt a faint sense of warmth...

"Megumi?" I whispered.

☾