₊˚.༄ God Complex
CHAPTER SEVEN:
( the prey & the predator. )
"please — what becomes of the shepherd
when the sheep are cannibals?"
Several weeks had passed by in a blink of an eye, and Seira couldn't help but remember how cruel and unforgiving time can truly be.
Aki and herself had slowly begun to make their rented condo a home, but it would be nothing like their four walls back in Japan, and both couldn't help but miss such a comfort. Neither one of them enjoyed the tip toeing on eggshells, and the short, coded words spoken in between both of them hoping the other understood what they were saying. Aki missed seeing Seira bath herself in light day dresses and listening to her softly hum the lyrics of a record that filled the rooms with melody. Seira missed the sight of Aki reading one of her books that he had asked to read from her ever-growing collection, and he always looked so peaceful laying on the couch with his feet propped up on the arm rest. They ached to return back to their lives, as if neither one of them had sold their souls to hunting down devils; like they both lived regular everyday lives.
Neither one of them lived normal lives though, and Seira often had to pinch herself back to reality with that fact.
There were no leads being made on their witch hunt for the primal fear, and day by day the hunt only became more grueling and agonizing. Seira was tired of walking around the small town knocking on every door and asking the same line of questions, "Have you seen anything unusual," or, "Does it have an active spot, or is it pretty erratic," and "Thank you for your time, if you see anything weird, please, contact me at blah blah blah." Seira was on the verge of ripping her own hair out, and Aki couldn't help but watch as she slowly became a ticking time bomb.
Ever since they had set foot in Wazuka Aki had taken notice how on edge this town made Seira feel. She tried to hide it, but the irritation that made her eyes slant daggers and forced her jaw to clench gave the emotionless woman away, and Aki only wished to know what the deeply rooted reason was behind the rigid and unmoving stance she had on the town. He couldn't pinpoint if it was the fact that a primal fear was terrorizing the town, or if it was because she originated in some form or fashion from this town.
Lucky for both of them today Seira had decided to give up on the useless door knocking and turn to a more suitable approach, trap setting. Seira had told Aki that the devil most likely ran for the forest that consumed the outskirts of Wazuka, and that they would ambush the servant of Hell back to its safe space, only to catch it there. They were going to make the predator a prey; they were going to make the devil's playing field their court of thorns.
They had left early morning, the sun just barely peaking over the surrounding mountains, and Aki had barely had a few sips of his coffee before Seira was practically dragging him out the front door. She had a backpack strapped to her shoulders, and a bag filled with assortment of hunting objects flowing out of it. She had a pep in her step, and it was the first time on this trip Aki had seen Seira content in Wazuka. He liked to see her in such an ethereal state, for it often made his stomach flutter with butterflies.
When they had reached the forest, they snaked their way through the overarching trees, and Aki couldn't help but find himself thinking that if he had done this alone, he would have been scared of getting lost in natures maze. Seira bobbed and weaved her way through with ease, as if she had done this every day for her whole life, and Aki caught himself thinking on how many times had she come out to these woods to maybe read or become with nature.
Aki would never admit this, and often times had to erase it from his mind so as not to give away his secret, but he had read Seira's diary awhile back when she had left to attend Sunday mass. He felt ashamed by this, and often he kept himself up with the thought that he had committed a sin, and figured a confession to the priest would wash away his sin. Her diary didn't reveal much, or at least nothing that he was looking for in particular, but it had revealed how mesmerized Seira was to nature, for she often described the need to return to a place called Eden. He didn't quit know if she was talking about a physical Eden or using it as a metaphor for a place she had to abandon for the small apartment in Tokyo, but he often wondered what her Eden must have looked like. Was it a gorgeous garden overflowing with towering trees, the grass and bushes painted with the brightest of greens nature could offer. Did the animals talk with fluent sentences and live in harmony of one another. Did Seira have an Adam accompanying her amidst her stay in paradise, and did she get seduced by a talking serpent. Did she damn herself for her deal with the Devil? Was this forest her Eden at one point?
They had been out in the forest for a good majority of the day, and Aki grew hungry for lunch as he set up the last of his handful of traps. He couldn't help but wonder if he was actually trying to catch a bear with all the traps he was setting up. Seira set up more intricate pieces of equipment, such as a trip wire that shot out needles of poison that would prick the enemy if they fell into the trap. Aki had questioned if they should really be doing such a thing, for he worried that a passerby would fall into such menacing traps, but Seira insisted that no one ever came into these woods, especially not after the sudden appearance of a devil.
"Seira, it's past lunch, do you think we could take a small break from this?" Aki shouted so that she could hear him, for she was a few feet ahead of him, but she never responded.
Aki waited a few minutes for a response, but one never came, and with the seconds ticking by he become more anxious. He slowly approached the place he last saw her at, each step carried more fear than a child who feared the darkness of their bedroom. As he came up on the half put together trap that Seira was working on, he stared mortified by the sight in front of him. A deer had been brutally disfigured, almost to the point of unrecognizable, with fresh putrid blood smeared everywhere. Its stomach torn open, and intestines pulled out of their rightful place, the long fragile legs of the docile animal twisted and turned in weird shapes. The head beaten and battered as if it were smashed several times by a blunt object, the skull struct open, but the brain was missing.
"Seira!" Aki called for his master in a panic, the worst possible outcome coming to his mind. His breathing becoming erratic, and his eyes searched everywhere they could for his pillar of peace.
He never noticed in such a state that he was being stalked, or more so hunted, for the Devil lurked in the shadows of the forest. It had been watching them since their first steps in the Devil's domain, and Aki never noticed the sudden attack flying at him by the predator. A pure white sharp object came flying at him, and before he could react in time to deflect the attack Seira had appeared in front of him swinging a beautiful blade at the attacker's weapon, deflecting it back into the abyss of nature. Her blade was a gorgeous silver blade carved with ancient text and hieroglyphics that continued onto the hilt of the white and gold lining of the weapon. Aki couldn't help but be memorized by how the blade reflected the sun's rays, and he couldn't keep his eyes off the beauty that painted Seira in such holy light. She could be his religion; she was his God, and he wanted so badly to reach out and touch her with his sin tainted hands and ravage upon her holy body like a starving animal.
"Stay behind me," Seira quickly told him as she deflected the continuing attacks that came at both of them, and Aki studied every move she made with a halted breath. She moved with the speed of light.
While Aki was too distracted by the blonde woman, and Seira too focused on keeping Aki and her alive, neither one of them noticed the Devil coming with another attack from behind. With just mere second to spare Seira felt the moving of the Devil's attack coming at Aki, and she quickly threw him to the ground. She had no time to ready a counterattack, and the Devils sharp arm pierced through the delicate skin of Seira's shoulder. She seethed with pain, drawing in a deep breath, but swiftly cut the arm of the predators arm off like a tree limb. A loud and wounded screech bellowed from the depths of the forest, and the monsters now wounded arm drew back into the shadows of the woodland, slithering away like a snake.
Once Seira knew they were both safe and out of any watchful gazes she cursed quietly under her breath, "For fuck sakes, that hurt worse than I thought it would," she complained as she held her shoulder in discomfort.
Aki quickly drew himself out of the dirt he had been pushed to, worried trying to peak at the wound left on his beauty's skin, "Are you ok?"
Seira couldn't help but stare at him with stone cold gaze, and he knew that she would be scolding him later for letting his guard down, and his irrational emotions to take control of him. He would worry about all those things later though, for he worried even more by the mark that would be left on her skin and swore to himself he'd kill the bastard devil for touching his holy priestesses' milky white skin with its disgusting unholy hands. She lowered her hand to allow Aki to bear witness to the phenomenon in front of him. He watched in mesmerized horror as the open wounded started to stitch itself back together like magic; the blood spilt from the wound snaking its way back into her body, and ragged skin slowly growing back in its rightful place. A scar replaced the once smooth and pure skin once the healing process was done.
Aki looked up at Seira and drowned in her silver eyes that greyed at times of sorrow, and he watched longingly as her lips delicately moved to speak to him, "I'm fine."
( WORD COUNT ) 1885
—— unedited
Howdy, my lovely little souls, and finally an update for you dearest to read. Sorry, this took me so long, had some writers block, and then all the sudden got really busy with work, graduation, and other hobbies. Anyways, not much to say, but I hope you lovelies enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment, vote, and share. I love you, my lovely little souls.