Hope was asleep now. She had crashed again, as soon as the lights in the Park started coming on.
He exhaled. Currently, she was resting on his shoulder as he stared into the distance. The night sky was beautiful.
The stars were twinkling wonderfully as though oblivious to what was currently happening on the Earth.
On top of the current pandemic, there would be an evacuation soon.
Seth glanced down at the petite woman beside him.
He sighed closing his eyes.
"Hope we have to leave now," Seth said steering her gently.
Groaning her eyes fluttered open.
Seth saw as her eyes adjusted to the darkness till they found his.
"Seth."
"Yeah?"
"I fell asleep?"
Seth nodded.
She sat up resting her head in her hands.
"Must have been really out of it."
"Yeah, you were." Seth smiled, "How were we ever friends in Uni? You never liked staying up late, not even to study. It's like a taboo for you."
Blushing red, Hope glared at him mumbling under her breath.
"What Hope, I couldn't hear you." His lips tilted up a bit.
"Never mind," Hope mumbled.
She chanced a look at the sky above and it warmed her heart.
"Things were simpler then." The wind blew her hair gently across her face and Seth felt that feeling again.
This time when he tried shoving it down, it didn't budge.
"Yeah, they were."
"You were like the smartest kid in our year, you were like a star I kept ogling at."
Seth chuckled.
"I was in Public Relation, but you didn't look down on me. The first time I saw you, I knew I just had to meet you. You seemed...different, like in a good way, like you didn't belong here."
"You're special Seth, you always have been." She looked up at him and he saw the sincerity in her eyes.
"I'm nothing special Hope, I just have a great Dad."
Those words brought a priceless smile to her face.
"You went through all that Seth and still you became stronger for it. Your parents will be proud of the man you've become."
Seth looked at her,
"As will yours."
"I'm happy we met. I didn't see anything worthwhile in myself but you told me otherwise. I was a kid in college trying to get by, I didn't have any friends, but there you walked up to me one day, in the library, " she glared at him when he chuckled.
"During the only time I stayed up to study, there you were. Your eyes, " She smiled remembering,
"Your eyes felt like the sun. You saw through me and I felt bare. You carried this aura around you that makes everyone want to be associated with."
"I was drawn to you, "
Hope didn't know what Seth was thinking, but his face was tranquil giving nothing away.
"I became the second cherished because of you. You showed me what love was, true love, the kind of love that gives and expects nothing in return."
She sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Whew, I'm rambling now, I must be very tired."
"We should go—"
She was about to stand up but a hand held her back.
"Hope," He saw her eyes widen.
"Ditto." He whispered.
For the first time in a long time, her heart raced and she couldn't figure out why.
"Come on, it's getting cold." He stood up helped her up and she still had that dazed look in her eyes.
He took her home in his car. The drive was quiet, almost as though none had anything to say but Hope's mind was a jumbled mess.
She held a hand over her heart.
Seth was stoic but he was anything but inside.
His heart was beating fast against his chest, such that he was hyper-aware of everything around him; every rustle of leaves as they drove past, every sharp inhale of breath, every gust of the wind.
He knew what he was feeling, what he'd been feeling. Unconsciously his hands tightened around the steering wheel.
He didn't want to admit it to himself
"How long do you think we have left?"
It was a whisper, it caught him off guard but he quickly recovered.
He turned to look at her and he felt his heart skip a beat again.
He looked away.
"About seven years give or take."
"Things are happening so fast, it's a lot more awful than we'd all thought. So many deaths..."
"It's inevitable."
"I wish it wasn't."
"Those three are coming. It ends with them." Hope's hands tightened around herself.
"We're not nearly enough,"
She felt his hand on hers. She looked up at him.
"We're more than enough."
He parked in front of her apartment building.
They both got down and Seth walked her up to her door.
"Today was...nice." She said turning to him.
Seth smiled. Hope noticed his eyes glimmered more when light reflected off them; they looked nearly hazel now.
"Sleep well, Hope." She closed her eyes when he kissed her goodbye.
It was a soft kiss to the cheek but it warmed her heart.
For some reason, she didn't want him to leave.
"I'm sorry but I can't stay Hope." Electricity flickered through her chest.
"I-I know. I'm sorry for even thinking about it."
She blushed.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled at her one last time before turning around and heading to his car.
He unlocked the door and got in.
He looked at her one last time and pulled out of the parking space.
The clouds darkened and before long, the rain started falling from the sky.
Pit-pat.
Pit-pat.
Thump...thump...thump.
His heart was beating faster than what he knew to be normal.
"Not now," Seth sighed.
"Not her."
He got to his apartment twenty minutes later. It was on the other side of the island.
Seth parked in his driveway and quickly got out of his car. He forgot to bring the umbrella and by the time he was at the door, he was already drenched.
His brown hair stuck to his face as he leaned down to unlock his door.
Clean fresh air greeted him as he entered his apartment.
The apartment was an architectural masterpiece. Amber was the prevailing colour in the room. It was cozy but much too big for one person.
He walked past the fireplace dripping wet. The fire was controlled remotely and he put it on. On the kitchen island were an equally brown chopping board, a bowl of fruits, and an assortment of very sharp knives.
Behind the island were two refrigerators; they were used for food storage.
The floor was made of brown marble and it sparkled so much you could see your own reflection.
He climbed the curved segmented stairs up to his room and threw his clothes into the dryer.
He had a quick hot shower and came back down for breakfast.
All the while, his mind had been clouded, consumed with thoughts of one person and one person only.
All he could think of were brown eyes and brown hair.
"You had your chance and you didn't take it."
A voice tsked.
Seth turned to his right and saw the presence that spoke. It was very far away, right at the edge of his room.
Without a doubt, Seth knew only a few entities could even make it past his door. The shadow fizzled in and out of existence as it spoke.
"Right now she's probably alone on her bed, in need of the warmth only you can give her." It said.
"What do you want, Bennett?"
The silhouette materialized and became a person.
"The human heart is such a fickle thing, isn't it Seth?"
A beating heart materialized in Bennett's hand, veins, and blood akimbo.
He looked different, seemed different too.
"You've loved her for a long time, now that ol' Will is out of the picture, why won't you take your chance? She clearly fancies you too, probably has for a while now."
"Silence." It was a whisper but it was enough to make Bennett's tongue roll up into his mouth.
Seth could feel that Bennett had gotten stronger and he could perceive why. He had a lot of people's blood on his hands now. The blood of thousands. People he'd tortured and killed all in the name of power and rank.
"You still won't repent?"
Seth could see the personalities that resided in him, but of course, now, they were no longer three but innumerable.
"Some of us like the dark Seth. I love the thrill of taking what I want from whoever I want. I love being able to satisfy my want with whoever I want whenever I want. Sin is the most beautiful thing. I can't get enough of it."
"What has self-control and abstinence ever done for anybody?"
Bennett smirked.
"Unlike you Seth, I don't quench my desires, I explore them and get drunk off of them. The body likes forbidden things, it craves it."
"And if you're being honest with yourself, it's what you want,"
"She's what you want."
"You're right, it's what I want," Seth said clearly and Bennett thought he heard wrong.
"Well, it's what this body wants anyway. But the sensible part of me knows what I'll become if I give in to those lusts—I'll become you, Bennett."
His eyes widened.
"I'd rather be satisfied with fruits than die of junk."
"I feed my spirit daily and die to self so that I can face people like you in battle whose only reason for existing is to facilitate the continuous fall of man."
"People like you are the reason millions are trapped in their lust and wants down there. You keep the truth from them and feed them lies and tell them it's okay. You smile as you destroy lives."
"I like who I am, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I am light, and I'm proud to be. Now, leave."
Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew into the house from nowhere and assaulted Bennett.
Bennett gritted his teeth. The power he felt from those word made his whole body tremble.
Seth's gotten much stronger.
Reflexively he felt fear. Even the demons inside of him screamed in terror,
'We cannot stay!'
One by one, Bennett felt what seemed like arrows pierce him simultaneously all over.
"Tell Fil that we're coming and he better be ready."
Bennett disappeared, screaming into oblivion; his echo the only thing left behind.
Seth sighed leaning back against the couch, his eyes trained on the chandelier above him. He loved how they shimmered.
His thoughts went to Hope again.
"Please be safe." He whispered.
{¶{¶{¶{¶{¶{¶}
Splash...
Splash...
Splash.
"Be careful William, make sure you stay close to the shore."
"Yes, mummy!"
The sound of waves hitting the shoreline could be heard. It sounded far away.
"William, there you are. Dinner's ready."
He smiled a toothy smile.
"Yes, mum."
"Big brother, come play with me."
"Laura, I'm coming..."
I'm coming...
I'm...coming.
William opened his eyes.
He was in a room. It was expensive, he was at a hotel. The tv was on and the reporters kept going on and on about something but he was feeling so hazy that he barely make out what they were saying.
The last thing he remembered was the mansion.
His eyes widened. His hands shook as he recollected the events of that night.
William stood and ran to the bathroom. He emptied everything inside of him and to his utmost shock, it was more blood.
All he heard were screams, his family's screams.
They were crying out to him but he couldn't help himself.
Another part of him had been in control and had devoured them all.
William was shaking. He sank to his knees and screamed.
His family was gone; he killed them.
He held both hands to his head and felt his mind cracking as the images kept playing over and over again.
Please make it stop, please.
"Will, how you been?"
Wide eyed he looked up and saw him.
"You."
With all the strength he had, he got up from the floor and wrapped his hands around Fil's neck. He squeezed.
"Why, why did you do this to me?!"
Fil's black eyes darkened.
"Isn't it obvious? I get a kick out of seeing you suffer."
Easily like he was flicking a crumb of bread, he tossed William off of him and he slammed into the nearby wall.
"You should be proud. No human has been responsible for as many deaths as you have."
"What are you talking about?" William gritted up managing to remove himself from the wall he'd been stuck in. Blood trickled down his jaw as well as several other parts of his body.
Fil nodded his head towards the tv.
Wiping the blood off his chin, William turned to the tv and his jaw dropped.
The whole world was in flames.
"How, how did this happen?" His voice shook.
"You made it happen, well technically I made it happen but let's not get into specifics."
Fil walked up to him and held his head as he wanted to look away. The girl on the news hadn't been older than six. She was lying on the ground dead along with hundred others.
Nuclear war. Plagues. Tsunamis—you name it, all were happening simultaneously.
"It's been months since that night."
William's eyes widened again.
Months?
"I haven't been this thrilled since that day." Fil had a faraway look on his face.
"Not since Father threw me under the bus and kept me sealed away."
He looked at Will who looked like he would be sick again any second.
Fil smiled sardonically.
"I'm excited, each battle keeps bringing us closer to that time of prophecy. I have the support of the powers of the world and even men and women of affluence. I'm going to crush the church once and for all. Let's see how He likes it."
"You're sick." Fil shrugged.
"Guilty as charged."
"But why me?"
Fil glanced at him and frowned.
"As I said before, you're not special or anything like that. You were just a sorry guy who happened to have fallen in love with the wrong woman."
Hope.
His eyes widened.
"Is she still alive?" His heart was beating like it would break out of his rib-cage and run right off.
Fil looked at Will and chuckled.
"She's the reason you're in this mess and yet you still think of her?"
"Humans are so pathetic, none of you deserve what you got. You're so far beneath me that crushing you like a bug hardly seems like a chore."
"Not all of us are beneath you." William boldly said.
Fil's black eyes flashed red and he held Will by the neck.
"Do you still think God will save you?" He asked the question so lowly that it made goosebumps rise all over his skin.
"Do you think He loves you?"
"He wasted His love and power on insects." He dropped him and he fell like a log of wood to the floor.
"Bennett." As though he had been waiting for the signal all this while, the door opened to his left and in came Bennett with two children. A boy and a girl.
They couldn't have been more than eight years old. They were so afraid they couldn't speak.
Fil walked over to them and petted them. Scared, they whimpered in fear.
He looked at Will and smirked.
"This is what I think of His love."
A knife appeared out of nowhere in his hand and before William could react, he held their heads back and slit their throats in quick succession.
"No!"
Fil smirked as their bodies dropped to the floor after the other.
They were dead.
Fil licked the blood off the knife, looking at William.
"I am your god now."
In front of the mirror, adjacent where he stood, the knife remained in William's hand as well as a sickly grin.
"Why do you keep allowing him consciousness?" Bennett asked his master who was currently speaking through Will's body.
He looked at him and furrowed his brow.
"That's the problem, I'm not, he's doing it all by himself."
Finally William was silent. Fil was fully in control of Will's body now. He walked closer to the mirror.
Startling blue eyes stared back at him. He blinked.
This was going to be a problem.
.
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A/N: Who loved this chappie?
I know I did!!
Wow, The Concession is officially back, bigger and stronger than ever!!!
Don't forget to comment on your favourite part of the chapter and tell me what you think of Seth's home.😊❤
I'll see you guys tomorrow,
Taiwolilly, out👌