I woke up to my own hand pulling the knife out of my chest.
I felt myself sit up and look around, my eyes settling on Randall. I still felt very out of it, like I hadn't fully woken up yet. My limbs felt numb, even though they moved with ease. It was like I was set back inside myself a bit, unable to reach the controls.
"Well fuck me sideways," I heard myself mutter. But I hadn't even thought that. It just rolled off my tongue.
A slow clap started where Randall stood, "Nice choice. It would have been a pain to have to find another one of you."
I got to my feet. My muscles felt odd, taut like a coiled snake. Every movement felt so direct and purposeful. And as my eyes whipped around I felt something. The closest I could relate it to was rage but on a level I'd never experienced before. It was pure blackness, right in the center of me.
I moved towards Randall who was looking exceptionally pleased with himself.
"Nice eyes." He joked.
I didn't reply, I just stared at him, tipping my head to the side.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
I remembered the past few months, every moment leading up to this, and he got what he wanted.
"You're my wife." He smiled, a strange warmth in his voice I'd never heard.
I continued to be silent, seemingly in deep contemplation. More than anything I wanted to punch him in the face.
"Okay." I heard myself say. Randall was about to smile when my arm shot out, getting him right on the jaw.
I felt about as surprised as he looked. Why would this thing say okay and then hit him? Was this some kind of demon mating ritual I was unfamiliar with?
"I wasn't answering him, I was answering you stupid."
The demon could hear me. I wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Randall held a hand over his jaw, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Fuck you, fuck you so much." The words rolled out of my mouth.
"Don't worry, you'll feel differently soon enough." He smiled, a little less fondly this time,
"Nah," they replied before wielding the knife into his stomach.
He looked surprised, but not nearly as surprised as he looked when I stabbed him the second time or the third.
He stumbled backwards, trying to press his hands over the puncture wounds.
"What are you doing?"
"Ending this stupid pussy foot ass shit." I heard my voice say, stooping down next to him.
"We were supposed to be a team, we would have done great together." I was surprised by the sadness in his eyes as he said it. Like everything he'd believed was dissolving before his eyes.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're not supposed to do anything without someone's consent, much less trap them inside a damn human." They growled. The feeling grew, stretching its long tentacles around my heart and squeezing.
Suddenly his face changed from remorse to a sinister grin, "Oh Bowen, have fun with this one, and the others too."
And as soon as he said it he winked and then grabbed my hand that held the knife and drove it into his throat.
If I had any control over my own body I would have flinched. I didn't, whatever was controlling me decided it would be better to finish the job. I would have looked away if I could.
When It was done I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Someone who'd had such power over me for so long, laying at my feet in two pieces.
I ran my finger over the blade, collecting a drop of blood before licking it off my finger.
Gross.
"What? It's not bad." They responded.
"Oh, and you might as well call me a she, since you humans insist on gendering everything." She said, picking up the head and tossing it to the other side of the tarp, "At least you guys aren't as bad as the Germans, or the Spaniards! It gender city over there man, everything's got a gender."
She stood in the middle of the bloody tarp, her tapping foot making a sloshing sound every time she lifted it. like she didn't really know what to do next.
I knew Randall kept his cell phone in the pocket on the inside of his coat. She needed to text one of the guards and tell them to bring Peter to the greenhouse as soon as possible.
After that, she walked over to the body and pulled out his phone. It still worked, despite being covered in a layer of blood. She scrolled through the contacts until I saw one I recognized.
Bring Peter to the greenhouse immediately. And matches. And gasoline.
When that was done I felt like I could finally relax a little.
I needed to be myself when Peter got here. I can't imagine what he would think if I wasn't there as myself to explain.
She groaned audibly, but I ignored it. I couldn't bear the thought of him expecting me and getting this demon instead. At least at first.
"Gee thanks." She said, using the hem of the dress to wipe off the phone screen.
I was going to formulate a response when we heard a crashing sound in the far corner of the room.
I felt her tense up, ready to attack. But she had to take it easy.
She squinted and made her way over to the noise.
And there, huddling in the corner, was a terrified Ivan.