Grayson's Veil
Chapter 41

“Where are you?!” Grayson yelled loudly at the darkness.

He knew he was passed out.

He knew this was a dream.

But he was pissed off and wanted his demon to face him.

“Why are you hiding?”

The black surrounding him shot him forward until he was in front of the horrid tree. The familiar bodies hanging and swinging in the breeze that somehow Grayson could not feel.

He walked around the tree, climbed the branches, and checked the bodies.

The demon was not there.

Grayson jumped off a branch and landed hard on his feet.

“WHERE ARE YOU?!” Grayson roared.

Silence was his only answer.

Falling to his knees, Grayson put his hands on his face.

He was ashamed.

He could not help his companions, even though they seemed to be drawn to him.

Their fascination with him was in bad taste.

As was Grayson’s ideas that he could replace his wife.

A soft thud made him jerk his head up.

“Demon?” He asked as he turned his head, hope filling his voice.

But it was not his demon. It was the boy that hung from the tree.

Grayson slowly rose to his feet, not taking his eyes off the boy.

The boy watched Grayson rise tall above him, having to tilt his head to continue to stare into his eyes. The action gave Grayson a better view of his neck, chaffed harshly from the rope.

The boy stepped forward, then another. He continued to limp to Grayson until he was directly in front of him.

Grayson could hardly look at the boy. Every wound seemed so much worse than when he was up in the tree.

The dried blood, the torn skin, the bruised flesh.

It was overwhelming.

“It hurts. Why do I still hurt?” The boy spoke through cracked lips, his voice painfully hoarse from being dehydrated and hung.

Grayson opened his mouth to answer, only to shut it right away.

Why was he still hurting? This was inside his head, merely a dream and the child was in pain?

What the fuck is this place?

The boy looked back at the tree, giving Grayson a good view of his whipped back.

“This is where I died. Why am I still here? Was I not a good boy? Did I not suffer enough?” The boy asked, turning back to Grayson with tears in his eyes.

“I cannot answer that,” Grayson whispered.

A shadow-like hand sneaked over the boy’s shoulder. It gripped the shoulder tightly, almost painfully, before a body manifested behind him.

“Still not familiar to you?” The demon tapped his long claws on the boy’s shoulder.

The boy whimpered, staring at Grayson for help.

Grayson shook his head.

“Amazing,” the Demon smiled. “You have so much pride that you would not allow yourself to remember. Father would be proud.”

Leaning his face next to the boy’s face, the demon whispered, “Look into his eyes.”

Grayson hesitated, unsure if he really wanted to know who this boy was.

Slowly lowering himself to one knee, he looked into the boy’s eyes.

The eyes… they were changing. Several different colors shifting every second Grayson continued to stare.

It was hypnotizing.

It was familiar.

He’s seen those colors before.

But where?

Until he heard it in his head… snap.

Grayson grabbed his face and screamed.

He remembered.

The boy is him.

Grayson had cast his younger self out, into this place. A memory. A memory that was the core of his agony.

It was the weakest part of him, and he no longer wanted it a part of him.

“There is more to it, Grayson.” The demon smirked while Grayson continued to scream.

The demon started to laugh, “Oh there is so much more! This is only the tip of the iceberg Grayson!” He grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled sharply.

Grayson stopped screaming once he saw the arm dangle between the demon’s fingers.

The boy cried in pain, holding his shoulder where the arm should have been.

The demon, still laughing and increasing in hysteria, offered it to Grayson.

“If you want your power back, if you want me back, then you must consume this weakness.”

Grayson stared at the demon in confusion. His eyes were so black, they were like a mirror. Grayson could see his own face, scratched up bloody and wet with tears.

The demon pulled the arm back, using the hand like it was his own touching his chin. “You must have noticed that I have not been around. I pulled back my powers so you would seek me out. I know you’re desperate to get your wife back. Why? I honestly don’t know, nor do I care. I just want to be whole again.”

The demon flung the arm at Grayson, making it hit him with such force he grunted.

“This was never about you!” The demon’s eye’s flashed with malevolence, his wings spread wide in a display of dominance. “You were able to wander the world without a care, while I was stuck defending and rotting alongside this tree!” The demon roared.

It was so loud, Grayson dropped the arm he was holding to cover his already bleeding ears. He looked to the child that was still being held against the demon.

The boy’s lower lip trembled in fear.

The demon took a breath and folded his wings before smiling at Grayson again. “You need me, Grayson. I am a part of you. Just like this boy,” he patted the trembling boy’s head, “is a part of us.”

His smile dropped and his face turned stern. “Now eat. Eat that arm so you can gain some of my power.”

Grayson glanced at the arm. “I just need to eat the arm and then we will be one again? We will have full power to save Ellie?”

The demon grabbed the boy around his chest, shaking his head as he walked him back to the tree.

“No, we cannot go full power right away. It will kill us in your ‘human’ form. That body has to readjust, so you will have to come back to eat more of this boy.” The demon tossed the boy up onto the branch he hung from every time Grayson was here. The boy silently allowed his fate.

Grayson stared at the arm, unsure of what to do.

Phoebe’s face flashed in his mind.

If he had power, he could have saved her. If he had been whole instead of casting out his weak side and demon side, none of this would have happened.

Grayson squatted over the arm, tenderly taking it within his hands.

He felt the demon behind him, watching him.

Shaking, Grayson brought the flesh up to his mouth and bit down. Blood, muscle and skin filled his mouth as he began to tear away.

“YES!!” The demon screamed, his arms raised up and his wings spread out in victory. He began to laugh happily while Grayson continued to eat.

Grayson was surprised at how much he enjoyed eating the arm. His senses heightened at each bite, making the taste and smell so much more appetizing.

Within a blink of an eye, the arm was gone. He had chewed through the muscles, torn the tendons, and gnawed on the bone. He even slurped up the marrow.

He licked his fingers as he looked over his shoulder at the demon.

The demon wore a large smile of victory and relief on his face.

But the smile was gone before Grayson could comment.

A red pulse was felt and heard. The same pulse that Grayson had felt from the tree the night he met Noel.

He was about to question his demon when another wave of the pulse hit them, nearly making Grayson fall over.

The pulses began to come quicker, so quick they barely had enough time to recover.

Then it stopped.

A red hugh clung to the atmosphere, creating an eerie feel to the dream.

A sound off in the dark distance grabbed the demon’s attention.

He looked over his shoulder, his jaw clenching tightly at the current situation .

More sounds drifted towards them. Grayson could have sworn he was hearing footsteps. And not just one pair, but several.

As the demon turned back to Grayson the smell of sulfur assaulted their nostrils. He watched as Grayson covered his nose and looked at him with a questioning gaze.

The demon did not need to hear his question.

“Another time, another dream.” The demon said, lifting his arm and putting a long finger on Grayson’s forehead. He paused, savoring his moments with his counterpart.

“Until we meet again, Grayson.”

With those parting words, the demon pushed.