"she's fucking insane. a maniac. i'd be more concerned if you told me she wasn't a serial killer," mike remarked, his head shaking as he looked around the bar, swaying his drink.
the man with a cap on that was sat next to him smiled. "seems like your type then,"
he shook his head, sighing. "she keeps saying we once dated," he let out a mocking laugh. "i fucking doubt it but it just makes it easier," he finished his drink in one gulp before setting the glass down.
standing up, he turned, garnering his stuff as he prepared to walk away.
"call me if anything happens,"
"don't worry, i have it all under controlled," mike assured, walking out of the bar as he straightened his shirt, looking both ways before he crossed the street.
home wasn't where he wanted to be at the moment and chicago was truly a limit to things he could do at this time of the night.
he walked through the park to cut his walk short but as he did so, his eyes caught on a girl with her head hung low, looking down at her thigh.
she had a purple skirt on, a huge but torn sweater to show the scars all over her arms.
then he recognised her.
he noticed how she held a knife, how she trailed it over her thighs and how she didn't stop even with blood pooling over her skin.
he noticed how her body shook, sniffles escaping her as she tried to wipe her hot tears with the back of her wrist, though more still flowed.
walking up to her, he sat down next to her on the bench, watching how her head slowly tipped up sadly and noticed him.
"don't call me insane again," her voice cracked, coming out weak. "do it tomorrow,"
he reached out, touching the knife to stop her. "i'll call you insane if you don't stop,"
she blinked, more tears dropping. "demons evil. demons don't go,"
"you said you make the evils go," he murmured and she shook her head. "other evils."
she then pointed to her head, pointing roughly right at her temple. "these don't go. they never go. they're EVIL! SO EVIL!" she let out chocked sobs, raising a hand to hit her heart, the end of the knife dangerously close to her neck.
"so painful," she cried loudly, hitting her heart even more as eyes fell shut, the knife touching her neck now.
he pulled her hand back, taking the knife from her so she wouldn't hurt herself.
"give it back," she whispered, crying softly. "give it back,"
"no," he emphasised. "i won't,"
she pouted, looking down to the floor. "that's okay, i have more," she stood and the blood trailed down her slim thighs, falling down her black fishnet tights. "i'm gonna go back,"
she intertwined her fingers sadly just as her phone rang, a spooky ringtone bursting through the air as she pulled out her phone to answer it.
"hi dante... yes, yes. i'm okay... no, i'm fine. i'm coming back now. no, i can walk— yes, i'll be fine. promise. no, i'm not sad. just..." she glanced at mike. "tell you later," she murmured. "bye bye..." she hung up the phone and forced a weak smile at mike.
"you can keep the knife..." her voice cracked, holding back a whimper as she sniffled loudly, wiping her tears with both wrists before running away.
"el!" he shouted after her but she ran faster, cries louder as she tried to make her way back to the house herself.
✿
"blaze, you naughty. dante will kill you," xavier whispered to him as blaze stole a piece of cake from the fridge.
"it's for el!" damien exclaimed and shook his head as el walked down the hall, titling her head at the sight.
she looked around with a slow blink. "what is happening?"
"blaze is stealing the cake in the fridge and dante will come back and yell at him,"
el giggled at the though, covering her mouth with both hands. "uhoh,"
she continued her giggles as the front door opened and el instantly gasped. "it's him! it was them!"
dante looked over to the fridge, where she was pointing. "they ate the cake?"
she nodded and skipped over to him. "don't yell at them, dante. i wouldn't have ate it anyways,"
"you have to," he told her. "it's your birthday. a celebration," he handed her some store bought flowers.
"aww, they're black!"
"eat your cake,"
she pouted at him and took the cake from blaze's hands. "thanks, dante." she murmured and he pulled out some candles and lit it up.
"make a wish, piccolo," he whispered as her eyes closed, holding her hands together. "i wish that all evil—"
"shh, it won't come true if you say it," dante stopped her and she let out a giggle and remained quiet for a second before blowing out the candles.
"i really don't want the cake though... it's so creamy," she let out a fake gag and his eyes rolled. "at least a bite,"
she leaned forward and took a bite of the cake without a fork and then smiled as the frosting coated her lips, chin and button nose.
she smiled widely over at him. "thanks, dante."
"you're welcome," he took a tissue and wiped the frosting off for her. "i have a present for you tonight but right now, what would you like to do?"
"ooh! is it a demon!?"
"you'll know soon enough," he smiled at her and then looked down, seeing the bleeding scars all over her. "sit down, i'll help you with that,"
she bit down on her lip. "not mad?"
he shook his head. "never," he walked into the open kitchen, reaching up to a cabinet to pull out the first aid kit. "why would i be?"
"'cuz i ran away."
"you always run away,"
"but i... i..."
"you nothing. you answered and came home,"
"home isn't here," she remarked, "home is nowhere," she told him and sat down on a stool as he inspected her cuts.
"el," he whispered as she shrugged weakly. "it doesn't hurt... it'll be fine," she murmured as he shook his head. "they'll get infected."
"then i'll die. how amazing,"
"el, stop that,"
she shrugged again. "just a thought," she whispered before pointing to her temple. "sometimes it hurts a lot. it always does. then i remember... i remember..." she glanced over at blaze, damien and xavier stood by the fridge.
"yeah?" dante brought her attention back as she nodded. "but she was a cunt. i don't believe a word she says,"
"you say you don't but deep down, you know," dante told her, gently cleaning her wounds. "and you'll come to accept it one day,"
she remained silent. "i don't want to,"
"you find the source, you cut it off. you don't run from the pain, el." he told her, putting numerous bandages on her.
el's body shook, her breathing increasing. "i don't think i'm strong enough to,"
his eyes snapped up. "yes, you are," he emphasised. "you are, el. you are strong. you are brave. you can do this, el, you hear me?"
"i don't know..." her voice cracked. "i don't know,"
"el—"
"it's suffocating, dante. i feel suffocated from all this!" she pointed to her head as she began to cry. "i want it to stop, to end," she covered her ears as she bit down on her lip.
"don't cry," he reached out to wipe her tears. "especially not on your birthday,"
"who cares about this stupid day!?"
"i do," he told her gently and she sunk down, dropping her hands. "it's not a day worth celebrated anyways," she whispered. "my mother made a grave mistake of giving birth to me. it shan't be congratulated,"
"your mother should be proud—"
"my mother would only be proud that i finally reached her target weight for me. my mother made a mistake and though reminded everyday, i think so too," el stood and turned away. "then again, everything would have been easier if you just had left me stepping off the train,"
"and again, i would have never done that," he followed her up and down the hall to her room.
since the day he met her, he knew when she seemed calm. overly calm... is when she shouldn't be left alone.
she turned. "then it's your fault. YOUR FAULT IM LIKE THIS! IM CRAZY, IM NOT HUMAN! IM BEING DESTROYED FROM THE INSIDE AND ITS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME GO AND THE WORLD WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER FUCKING PLACE!" she screamed, shoving him backwards but he barely moved an inch.
a chocked sob escaped her and she dropped to her knees, hugging the close as she hid her head between them with a loud cry. "it hurts so much, i can't do this anymore. i just can't. i can't live like this anymore." she began to scratch on her skin, crying in pain as she did so.
he knelt to her, stoping her hands from hurting herself further. "i know it hurts. i understand."
"you should've left me,"
"tell that to the other 3 people that saved you, el. right now, you need to take your meds," he whispered. "you can do this. listen to me. you deserve the world though it may not seem like it. the world wouldn't be a better place without you because you aren't there to save it from the demons. ain't that right?"
she slowly looked up. "but i'm evil too,"
"no you're not," he told her before pointing to her temple. "the thoughts here are,"
"and they can't go..."
"yes, they can. if you take your medication like i tell you to,"
she looked towards the door. "but... but..." she shook her head. "i can't, i can't,"
"el..." he sighed as she let out a whimper, eyes softening. "please don't make me, i don't want to,"
"you'll continue to hurt,"
"but then they'll go. they can't," her voice cracked, tears falling and dripping on the wooden ground. "i rather suffer because i will either way,"
she waited a few seconds before asking, her voice soft when she did. "don't be mad," her voice barely audible. "can i have my knife back?"
"no," his head shook. "you can have it back for night events only,"
she looked up, the saddest expression on her face. "please?"
his head shook again and firmly. "no, el. you're not getting it back just to hurt yourself again,"
her bottom lip quivered and she broke into more broken cries. "it's not my fault. i just can't control it,"
her head shook repeatedly and she went to cover her ears, pressing down tightly. "it's not my fault. not my fault. not my fault. i don't want this. it's not my fault, just SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" a wail escaped her as she fell to the side, her body falling weak as he leaned forward to hold her, holding her together as she broke down into a million pieces that'll she stitch back later.
then she would pretend.
she would pretend she was fine and she wasn't like any other evil out there.
when she was equally as evil.
✿
"hush little dolly, hush hush hush," el murmured, her trembling hand running through their hair as she patted them on the head like they were dogs.
five men, chained up and hanging on the wooden wall, blood spilling in all areas of their body
one even with the side of their face sliced open. they would probably bleed out soon.
"little dolly's... evil little demons. shh, it's okay. i'll make it better," el murmured, moving around them as she dragged the large axe behind her that was drowning in blood.
a sex trafficking organisation, dante had told her.
they deserved a long, suffering, torture.
el inched forward to one of them. a whimpering one.
"my mother used to tell me to suck it up when i did that," she raised a hand and slapped his across the face hard.
"she'd hit me, tell me that i am grown. i should learn to own it." she grabbed ahold of his hair and tugged his head to the side. "she'd hold me like this, dragging me across the kitchen to make me feel belittled. and she would tell me this is how the world is. work, succeed and crawl home. fail, and dig your own grave." she inched closer, gently stroking his face. "she said all this whilst holding a knife to my neck."
"THATS NOT OUR FAULT!"
"it's a shame you're just like her. preying on the ones beneath you," she whispered. "shoving them down to feel a sort of accomplishment,"
"it's people like you that make the world a dirty place. i'm ashamed to say we were born on the same earth!" she screamed, grabbing his collar, squeezing down on his air pipes. "PEOPLE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE PERISHED! BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL EVIL!"
she raised the axe, resting it on her shoulder as her breathing increased, sobs escaping as she slammed the axe down, chopping his head off which rolled onto the ground.
she watched it with a gentle smile before looking to the side. "who's next?" she sang with a giggle before walking up to them, inspecting their fingers in the chains. "these deserve a little manicure i think," she looked over her shoulder and smirked.
"say, xavier, care for some soup?"
his grin widened, eyes twinkling at the thought. "sounds delicious,"
she giggled, standing up before straightening her skirt. "perfect... hand me the materials, xavy,"
"on it,"
and dinner was for sure fulfilling.