Just One Bite

                       Spring Season Finale
        
           "Who knew paradise would have such an infestation."

The morning weather is surprisingly dreary for this to be Florida.
I have to admit that while I do hate this place, it is rather enjoyable. It rains almost every afternoon which is like heaven for me. Storms make me happy and feel at peace. Krow is always a little more jumpy in the rain, which is also nice because then I get to harass him. Basically, everything about the rain is wonderful.

I am sitting on the balcony that leads off from our hotel room drinking a cup of coffee. Today is going to be an interesting day.
One of Krow's connections left a note with him that said,

"Ripley's: Believe it or not! Museum at 9 PM right after closing. Enter around backside the EE door will be open. Good luck." They set up the meeting between us and Kasper the Rattus so this will be our last day in Florida. I know its wrong but I am excited to finally spill his blood.

I shake my head to clear away these thoughts. I zip up my hoodie and go get Nix's leash, for a cat she has very good leash manners. She likes to jog with me from time to time so despite the rain I am going to take her with me.
I gently close the door behind me so I don't wake up Krow.
I need some time to think, alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Achoo!" I sneeze and rub my nose. I grab the blanket that Krow had been sleeping under and curl up. It started pouring while Nix and I were out and that was a disaster. I ended up wrapping her in my jacket so she wouldn't get soaked but in turn I got drenched.
I can hear Krow stifling a laugh from the kitchenette area.
"What?" I ask and glare at him. He finished packing everything up while I was gone and is finishing the little bit of food that I had bought for our stay. He tosses me a bottle of pills.

"Cold medicine. I went out and bought it when you were putting Nix and her cage in the Jeep." He says while throwing away the empty packages. I read the label real fast just to make sure it is what he says it is and then I take two of the pills.

"Whenever you feel better we can head towards Ripley's." He says while leaning against the door frame. He has been in a weird mood all morning. If I didn't know better I would say he was nervous.

"Pssht. I am good to go right now." I say as I stand up and throw the blanket to the side. I do a mental checklist of my staple possessions. Watch? Check. Knife? Check. Nix? Check.
That's about it. I left the other items at home.
I head out the door and prepare to close this chapter of my afterlife. Krow smirks and follows me.

~~~~~~~~~9PM at the Emergency Exit door~~~~~~~~~
*EE = Emergency Exit

Krow opens the EE door and walks in without hesitation. I am suspicious of the set up but I follow him anyways. I have never been inside a Ripley's building before but the décor is just as creepy as I thought it would be. There is an array of oddities, everything from shrunken heads to people who survived being impaled, the worlds largest tire and strangest collection of tattooed humans, well mannequins but based off of real humans. This place might be a fun thriller when the lights are on and is inhabited by other human beings however with the electricity off and there only being demons in here it reaches a new level of disturbing. I stop to stare at a strange mannequin, they all look lifelike but this one is a perfect recreation of a human except it has little scaly details. The eyes are something else though, they sort of reflect and look like they are wet with the natural human tears. I look for his plaque but I can't find it. I step aside and look at the "lizard man" exhibit next to it. This one doesn't look anywhere near as real nor plausible. I read the plaque in front of him and realize this is a normal whacko human being who wanted to be a dragon... And people think demons are weird.
I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder and that makes me jump. I hear a stifled laugh.

"Relax man. These are all wax. Have you seen this one?" He says while pointing at the first one. I nod my head and he pulls me over.

"Watch the eyes they will follow you when you move." He says with a smile. I think he is enjoying this. I stare into the eyes for a few moments when we both blink.
When we both blink. I jump backwards as the mannequin steps forward. Krow walks over and claps it on the back.
"Soul, this is Nagahebi. My partner back when we first met. He is a Serpens and also the connection that set up this meeting." He introduces me formally. Nagahebi walks past me and sighs loudly.

This is what Nagahebi looks like. This is actually Snake from Black Butler.

"I can't believe he thought I was one of those ridiculous things." He says while gesturing to the lizard man. I blink bewildered. If he is here does that mean he is going to help us?

I don't think we need that kind of help. Krow snorts and they both walk further into the shadows of this creepy place. For those of you who have never been inside a Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum they go one way. You walk through in one direction with all these different exhibits staring you down and making you feel uncomfortable, well I guess it might be enjoyable if it was open. I will have to experience that sometime...
While I was lost in my thoughts I strayed from the main path, I jog to find Krow and Nagahebi. They appear to be discussing something.
As I approach Nagahebi casts a glance in my direction and slips away into a door I didn't realize was there. Krow is waiting on me, I take a mental note of the changes in his behavior. When Nagahebi was here he was more relaxed but now he has his arms crossed, seems to be chewing on his lip and his down feathers are bristling.

He silently leads me over to this weird tunnel with a bridge down the middle. The bridge is rickety but I have a feeling that's on purpose for the effect.

SWHRRRRRRRR "Krow?" I whisper questioningly as everything begins to come to life. The power was flipped on. The walls of the tunnel start spinning and the bridge starts swaying back and forth. I am standing directly behind Krow but I can see someone at the end of the tunnel over his shoulder.

"Welcome to the rat's maze! Lets see how well you play!" The figure yells as it turns and runs. Krow starts to emit a dark feeling that even I can sense, a type of "Demon mode" so to speak. I take the hint that things have just gotten serious. I flex my claws and reach out to the edges of the tunnel I gently tap the wall of the tunnel to get the feel. It is a one directional rotation, easy enough.
I dig my nails into the walls of the tunnel, disrupting its formally resistance free rotation causing it to squeal with defiance. It slows to a stop revealing a long spiral of claw marks.
Krow looks over his shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Hunting time." I whisper to him as I slide past him and allow my instincts to lead me. I take control and follow the stench of rodent into a different hall. This room is more open  and features all kinds of disturbing sea life creatures. I inhale trying to pick out the freshest sent but it simply reeks in here. If I think about how it smells I may very well pass out or throw up. I let my ears do the work for me this time. The faintest scuffling can be heard from somewhere inside a giant shark model. The over-sized mouth is the entrance into this thing and I doubt he would get himself trapped inside but I have to check anyways. I sneak over and stare inside, it is too dark to tell if something is in there so I have to go in.
This is a bad idea. I think to myself as I begin to crawl in. I step down on the fleshy tongue. I feel it sink beneath my feet. Uh oh! 

"Oof!" I grunt as I am shoved to the side. The moment my weight is off of the tongue the jaws slam shut. Krow was the one who shoved me aside, I look up at him and notice nose crinkled in pain. His foot is caught in the jaws of the shark. I sit up and slide over to inspect the jaws.

"How much pressure is there?" I ask him as I fiddle with the upper portion.

"Too much." He says from between clenched teeth. Hmmm..."Soul!" He caws as I feel a hand grab a fist full of my hair and jerk me backwards. I let the momentum aid me in spinning around and sweeping his legs out from beneath him. The attacker falls to the floor as I engage. I grab hold of whatever I can reach, in this case it is his shirt. We grapple for a few moments, rolling away from Krow. I pin him down by the shoulders and breath for a moment. This person beneath me is indeed Kasper Rattus. He sneers at me as he throws me off of him and takes off down a darkened hallway. I briefly glance at Krow who is yelling for me to stop and then chase him down the hallway. Even though it's dark my cat eyes are aiding my sight and I can see him not too far ahead of me. I pick up my pace and almost catch him as we barrel through a doorway at the end of the tunnel. On the other side of the door is a spotlight shining in my face.
The sudden contrast of light blinds me and throws me off balance I lean against whatever is to my side and rub my eyes trying to make them refocus faster.

"Your move, kitty." A clever voice taunts me.  I blink a few times and am left speechless by what I see. I am trapped in a room of mirrors. All I can see is endless panels reflecting myself and my reflection. No doorways or distinguishable differences. I am completely and utterly alone.

"Stop hiding!" I yell and punch the mirror closest to me. It shatters and leaves a black empty panel almost worse than the endless reflections.

"Ah I see... You are a brute. Krow would have been fun in here, this game is about intelligence whereas the other was better suited  for your.. processing abilities." He says cautiously.
I think he just called me stupid. Okay Soul, calm down. What would Krow do? I think to myself trying to come up with a solution. Now that one panel is broken it is easier to identify just how many I am truly dealing with, there appears to be about nine unshattered panels. One of them has to be the door I came in here with and the other has to be the door Casper left from. It didn't take me too long to recover from the blindness so it wont be one on the far end of the room. That leaves around four mirrors for me to check. I inspect every edge of the mirrors but can't find anything about them that might be off. Then I remember the sharks tongue, this guy likes to deal with things in a pressure sensitive way. I put a small amount of pressure on a mirror to my left then let up. Nothing.
Click Click Click
I look up to see a ceiling tile sliding to the side. Yes! I scream internally. A stream of water pours down from the tile space and drenches me, water continues to flow from the ceiling. I sputter and cough as I move out of the way. I hate being wet.
If I guess the right tiles then I will be one step closer to Kasper, if I guess wrong I could drown, possibly to actual death since this is a demon trap.
I put weight onto the next mirror, as I release another ceiling tile moves and water comes crashing down on the other side of the room. Two down, seven to go and the water is lapping around my ankles already.
I test every mirror, even the broken one and the water keeps flooding the room.  The water is just below my shoulders and keeps splashing into my face as I slosh around re-checking the mirrors.
Panic sets in as I realize I am trapped.
What do I do? I had the right idea about the pressure sensitive trigger but I am not doing it right. Is there a sequence? No that would take too long... DANG IT I HATE SMART GUYS! I rant mentally. I cling to the edges of a mirror as the water starts to make me float upwards. I stare into my reflection. Think, you idiot!
Demons revel in three things. Pain, Fear and Anger. That means that this trap is supposed to entice all three. The fear is coming from being caged, the anger is coming from the sense of helplessness but where should the pain come from? Drowning is painful but he would want me to suffer longer... that means he wants me on the floor... The floor! I take a deep breath and dive down, I never went to the middle of the room to check the flooring. I try to swim down and push on the tile but the water is fighting against me so I can't push down. I swim back up and get another large breath. The water is almost to the top now.. Last chance.
I dive back down and use my claws to cling to the flooring. I grip the floor on either side of the center panel and kick it the best I can. The first kick doesn't make it budge but with the second kick I feel a slight shift. My lunges throb, begging for air. I open my mouth to yell in frustration as I kick the last time. No sound comes out of my mouth but the panel gives way and the water gets sucked down the hole like a drain. I try to swim up for air but the current is pulling me down.
My body shudders as it is running out of air... Just a little bit more and I can breath...

"GAH!" I burst to the surface and inhale as much air as possible. I sit there panting as the water slowly drains out of the room.
Once the water is all gone I lay on the floor not moving, trying to conserve my energy. It looks like I am supposed to go down the rabbit hole but I don't want to.

I drag myself over to the hole and inspect it. There is a breeze coming from it which means it at least leads to somewhere not filled with water, it is pitch black which doesn't mean a thing and it reeks of rodent. I sigh and rub my face preparing myself mentally.
This is gonna suck.. I know its a bad idea... I think as I lower myself into the floor. I can't feel a landing or anything beneath me so there is only one choice left.
I let go.

I slide down in complete darkness, the tunnel feels never ending and my other heightened sense are making me nauseous. Everything is spinning as the tunnel suddenly ends and I crash hard into the floor. I try to catch myself at the last minute and roll with the hit but I don't do a very good job and still take damage. I clutch my knees (which took the brunt of the damage) as I look at where I landed. It appears I am in some sort of medieval torture room shaped like a coliseum.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap* 
I look over to see Kasper sitting on a bed of nails, staring at me curiously.

"I didn't expect you to make it here first." He says with a mixture of emotion that I can't identify. He crosses his legs and looks perfectly content. He should be concerned..
I launch myself across the room, taking him by surprise, and pin him to the bed. An evil smile stretches across my face as I smell blood. I push him further into the nails, putting all of my weight into it. His face contorts with pain as me tries to wiggle free of my grasp.

"Don't underestimate me." I warn him. I dig my nails into him as he gets an arm free, he uses it to swing and knock me upside the head distracting me just long enough for him to get free. I back off a little bit so I can properly analyze the situation.
Casper Rattus is a formidable opponent. Fairly intelligent looking and above average fitness, chances are he is incredibly agile like a rat should be.                                 

 

Depiction of Kasper.

He is an interesting choice for an opponent for Krow because they are on par with each other.

"I can understand Krow wanting to bring a partner, seeing how he is out classed and all but what I can't understand is how a rare Panthera escaped from Befoul's grasp. He is usually so possessive of the things that are his, just look at Krow. I guess since you aren't with him it doesn't matter if I kill you and that's all that matters to me." Casper rambles out loud.

What? I feel like I just learned something very important but I can't figure out why its relevant, I don't have time to mess with it either.                                             
This is taking too long.. I am afraid Casper will escape again if I don't make a move. Now. I let my demons take over and all sense of "self" goes black.



Befoul's POV

I watch from the fake throne as Soul viciously chases after Casper. Beside me in the queens throne and a sneaky demon named Nagahebi. He joined me here a while ago and said the show would begin shortly.
I didn't know why I was summoned here but this was not what I was expecting. The cursed child from so long ago is not only alive but he is thriving in a demon way. The anger in his eyes that pulses in sync with his very own heartbeat, the blitz attack with inhuman speed and most importantly the way he loses every shred of humanity and gives way to a new variety of monster.

"No matter how smart or skilled our little rat friend is there is no way for him to survive." Nagahebi says casually from beside me. I glance at him, intrigued by the suddenly sociable side of him.

"It doesn't matter, he was a flawed servant. I would have done far worse to him someday soon so in a way this is mercy." I say nonchalantly. That is entirely the truth, Kaz got on my last nerve with that stunt he pulled and especially when he let Krow escape. I had made it very clear that he would be punished if anything happened and somehow he still managed to fail. As much as I would have enjoyed killing him it is far more interesting to watch Soul do it. The way he moves is almost like looking in a mirror, the natural predatory attacks and the compulsion to be a wild animal are all my traits but somehow when he does it he has more grace and a more fluid and light-footed approach. It must have something to do with his smaller frame because I would never move like that.

"Does that mean you are looking for a new partner?" Nagahebi questions me, drawing me away from my observations. Ah, this is a different type of interest.

"The last one isn't even dead yet. Are you sure you want to be asking that?" I counter. The scent of blood floats up to us from the battle floor. Soul just sank his fangs into Casper's lower left flank and tore the flesh away, the blood curdling screams bring me joy.


Soul, no control.

A picture I edited for Befoul. Fitting right?

"I have ulterior motives but I would still make a great asset to The Cause. Besides, it looks like the position is open." He says flatly referring to the way Soul is hunched over Casper's almost unmoving body practically foaming at the mouth. I just scoff, ending the conversation. I lean forward and watch intently, this should be the final move. If he is like me then he should go for the throat.
Soul freezes as a side door opens, Krow comes limping in while calling out to him.

"Stop! SOUL!" He yells. Soul turns his head but his eyes are still that of a demon... Why is he listening to him? Only a Deviser should be able to control a demon in that state.
Krow reaches Soul and pulls him off of Casper, I only just now realized that Krow is in his full out demon state as well. He doesn't waste time and instantly mangles Caspers face and throat. He rolls off to the side and collapses. It appears the he had his own struggles to go through in this maze.

"Naga, I think our time here is done. Cut off the power, calls the cops and then meet me outback by my car. We have business to discuss." I say as I get up to leave. Krow and Soul are both mentally and physically drained and it is blatently obvious that someone other than me is training them and playing with them. As ticked as I am about Souls existence I am also thrilled, he will be the key to unleashing a demons full potential and reaping havoc on this world and whoever hid him from me will suffer indefinitely.

"Yes sir." Naga mumbles as he slips out of the room.


Krows POV

I regain control and gather my thoughts. Soul is currently passed out and based on his actions earlier I would say he got impatient or injured and gave in to his demon side. If his "tests" were anything like mine then it is safe to assume that they were catered to emphasize his weakest points, being his intelligence and patience. Mine required strength and mandatory rash decisions and I barely survived... 
The power has been turned off because it is almost pitch black which makes me think that its just about time to take our leave. I grab Soul and drag his lifeless body outside, its time we left this awful place.

END
"It's been a blast these past few months and I look forward to the Fall/Winter season. I hope you all have a wonderful Summer and don't forget about me! I will still have mini stories (Non-plot related) that I will post at least probably twice a month so be sure to check back for traditional serial killer specials seeing how they don't really feature our demons in full swing. TBH I like writing those because I get to be disturbingly specific about what they do and how they do it. Anyways, See you soon!" -Soul

Bye!