Akugami

9. At the Motel

Tatsumi's mind was suddenly racing a thousand miles per second, did he hear right? "Demon?" He asked, almost in a whisper while the word made trails around his head several times over. "You said Demon, I'm sure you said DEMON!!"

"That's right." She responded in kind.

"Demon!?"

"Yes, however, I would suggest you call me by my title, unless you cannot help it, you use my name from now on, since for now, we are practically inseparable "

"Why the hell am I here, how'd you find me!?" Tatsumi tried to turn and run, but the only part of his body that would work was his mouth. "s**t!" The reincarnated teen cursed on top of his voice, causing the demon to yet again snicker in amusement at his struggles.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?" He asked himself aloud as even while knowing he couldn't move, he still tried with all the strength he could imagine he was mustering.

"I gotta get outta here!"

"Gleez kid, at least listen for a little bef-" She was laughing as she tried to explain his situation in a somewhat mocking tone, causing his fright at the whole situation that much more terrifying for him, never in any situation had he imagined this to be the case, a demon, what in all the f***s of f**k was a demon doing talking to him?

"I don't wanna hear it, no, eave me the hell alone!" His panic arose to the surface when she inched nearer to him, but fighting against an impossibly strong unseen force holding his entire body he was helpless.

"Tatsumi, you are a more stupid human than I had imagined, I thought you would want this, having come all the way from the future, but here you are just being pathetic, before me, stop it." She scoffed, turning sideways and pouting like a child, staying true to the form she had taken.

"How did you know that-" Tatsumi was about to begin questioning her on how she knew about his reincarnation, but then stopped and thought about another possible scenario, becoming even more fearful.

"Why the hell, would I want any of this, I don't wanna be possessed!-"

"I do not have a single bit of interest in that weak body of yours." She quickly cut him off. "What I want is to help you survive, until the end." She dropped the antics and became serious, looking at him.

"I don't believe you, why would I believe a word a demon says?-" Tatsumi grit his teeth and tried closing his eyes, but even they were obedient to this demon, his eyes started glued to her firm as she paced back and forth before him.

"Do you really even have a choice?" she cut him off again." You need my power to fight, without me, you would have died four times over already... Without me, you and your prescious loved ones wouldhavd already been dead, but you already know that, don't you?" The demon replied smiling racking up another sinister smile again.

Tatsumi went silent afterward, she was right, he knew it, first in the building after Teru had been knocked down, he felt a strange and foreign strength give sustenance to his body, delivering to him strength he hadn't possessed in his former life, and that wasp Akugami was supposed to have killed him, their claws are laden with unique paralyzing components that their pores secreted which could put a horse to sleep within seconds.

"... No, no, this .Ames no sense, why would you want to help me -a human, it doesn't make any sense at all, I thought that demons were all selfish beings who did anything to kill us." He said calmly, feeling the force around his body lessen it's intense grip. "Demons, are evil beings, capable of terrible things, how could I have been helped by one?" He looked at her with hateful eyes.

"You humans and your assumptions, it was always amusing, I have to say, after centuries of seeing a human last, your kind has not changed… though you are correct." She gave him a humble smile that then turned devilish as it widened almost entirely to her ears. "Demons are indeed evil, I am no different, I too am a being with power designed to cause harm and destruction, I am a devil, the red-eyed devil, the bringer of crimson death and bloody tempests, I am several hundred thousand legions incarnate with a single mind!" Her hair split into tendrils that floated around her head as her crimson gaze intensified into a brighter glow and she brought out her hands in a gesture of welcoming to herself. "That is me."

"Th-then-" Tatsumi began but was silenced by her hand as she raised it.

"OK, shut up now, the first thing you should know is that my name is Ravana, and you may only address me as Lord-Ravana, second; you need to wake up, now." she looked off to the distant and ordered him as though she could see something he couldn't while setting her feet to stand.

"Wait, you haven't told me what I wanna know yet-" Tatsumi felt his body's movements become his own again and instantly began running at her. "Just tell me, why am I here?"

"Wake up!!" She Snapped just as he reached her face conjuring the voice of an army while her skin turned ashen and grey like a rotting corpse's and her face became indescribably monstrous.

For a few seconds Tatsumi thought his heart had stopped, his lungs began burning from the inability to be refreshed with any intake of oxygen, and his throat and eyes succenly lost their moisture and begged for nourishment, all in that moment; he felt utterly dead. Then he suddenly woke up panting and grasping onto the katana, quickly shuffling through his bag and swallowing a mouthful of water then breathing heavily as he tried to process all he'd learned, while lamenting on all the unanswered questions, demons, sure he'd thought that Akugami were demons, but he only gave them the name because of their behaviour, in his mind he had always believed that demons didn't exist and everything had a scientific explanation; not that he could ever explain his reincarnation through science.

"Must've been one hell of a nightmare" Teru's voice resonated calmly beside him, waking his other senses. "Are you okay?" He asked placing his hand on Tatsumi's shoulder, but Tatsumi didn't replied with words, instead he took another gulp of water again before nodding and looking around to realize that Yukiyo was on high alert.

"Guys, keep it down." Yukiyo whispered, leaning down from the window and placing her hand over her chest with a frightful gaze.

Just as Tatsumi was about to ask what the problem was, thinking it to he human related this time, they heard a thud outside, followed by a growl at the door; right at the door.

"Damnit." Still sweating, Tatsumi knocked his forehead against the handle of the katana and looked deep into his memories. From what he remembered, Akugami were relentless in their pursuit of human flesh, and it carried on for seven days before the first horde appeared and took down the first defences, he remembered that surviving through that was the hardest of all his times and countless people had been left behind so that he, Yukiyo, Mai, and one other could survive, that wasn't much from the hundreds of thousands of them that tried escaping, this was why being in clusters were a huge no-no; it made Akugami find them easier.

The sole Akugami outside seemed to linger about before them, it definitely knew people were in there, the real question was why it hadn't attacked or at least tried yet, its tail audibly dragged behind it as it paced down the corridor and back over and over again.

"...I can fight now, I say we take this one down and get outta here while we still have a shot." Teru suggested and started to stand, making Tatsumi wary of him. "What?" He asked.

"You were injured pretty bad Teru, you have only rested for a single day, I'm no expert on head injuries, but that's not enough time to heal what happened to you just yesterday." Tatsumi stood and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Besides, Teru, we don't actually know if it's the only one out there, they haven't shown much intelligence, but what if it's a lure?" He asked back thinking about it thoroughly." Aside from the first one that had chased Yukiyo, Akugami tended to stay together, in groups ranging from a mere three or four to literal millions, depending on geological location and sustenance. "I mean, it clearly heard us just now right, so why isn't it trying to get in?" He made his point It's not their usual behavior."

"When'd you become an expert on man-eating monster's behavior?" Teru scoffed. "We've only been exposed to them for two days now."

"Just listen to me." Tatsumi narrowed his eyes, but Teru seemed just as if even not even more sure than Tatsumi was of himself.

"No you listen, we left the van directly in front of the door, just in case we needed a quick getaway, approximately eight metres out because of the roof getting in its way, we already know that they're not usually alone, so there's a high chance that there's more than just one out there, but this motel is small, and it's not a drive in, so if there is more than one, we're gonna see them once we're out there, or do you plan to stay in here out of fear and starve once our supplies run out?" Teru pointed out, he made sense of course, but he was nothing if not completely green to this all, Tatsumi knew better, but at the same time, he could afford to concede this early in, th|y were just two days into the end so the chances of more than three Akugami gathering were rear.

He latched the strap of the sheath around his waist and pulled the katana from it.

"If there's a chance, let's not waste it, Yukiyo and Mai, you'll run to the van and unlock the doors, make sure you have the steering wheel ready to reattach as fast as you can, Teru, your blade is in the truck, so you'll run with them." Tatsumi took chacmrge again, Teru was headstrong but he wasn't unreasonable, not was he stupid, he wouldn't dare approach an Akugami without his blade so he had no choice but to obey that time.

After giving those orders, they started to remove the blockage from the door, then waiting and timing the creature's cycle, Teru and Tatsumi kicked the door clean off with a unified grunt, running outside with Yukiyo and Mai trailing right after them.

Tatsumi turned facing the Akugami, and damn... he was shocked motionless when he saw three more Akugami on the concrete roof, and then the one that was pacing around; it was absolutely huge, with a shell covering it's weak spot. "s**t, it's a Shell-head." He raised the katana.

"Looks like you drew the short straw." Tatsumi was further shocked when Ravana suddenly spoke to him. Staying inside of his head was gonna prove troublesome after all, he couldn't shake the feeling of pressure he got as he thought of the demon residing within him, it was shaking to even think about.

The Shell-head Akugami; without any sign of provocation or warning started pacing toward them, smashing the column in it's path and gaining speed quickly as it approached.

"If that one is there, you are going to need my help, Tatsumi..." The voice in his head spoke again, and Tatsumi immediately began growing both frightful and annoyed, could he be able to fight properly with this damn haunting?

He suddenly realized how much he liked it better when she was quiet, and began wishing that she would remain that way.

Left with no choice, he charged straight at the Akugami whilst splitting his concentration to the others that were making a slow descent to Teru and the girls.

The Akugami threw its hand at him in an attempt to grab him, luckily hes able to dodge the big hand by making a sudden dive beneath it, hittinh the gravel and thrusting his katana upward at its chest, to his shock the katana slid off the monster's skin like it was made of rubber, that was proof of how much sturdier than the regular ones the Shell-heads were, had that been a regular Akugami the blade would have at least made a slice into the skin. "Damn!" He snapped as he prepared to strike its underbelly again, but then another shock came to him when the Akugami did something new he'd never witnessed before; it jumped away from him, wether it was out of surprise from having its stomach targeted or an instinctive drive to protect another weaker spot, the teen didn't know, but so shocked was Tatsumi that he froze for a few full seconds on witnessing this behavior before Mai's scream distracted him from the beast completely.

Her and Yukiyo were in the van hiding as one of the smaller Akugami had its hands on the top, seeming to be trying to find a way in, while Teru was busy dodging the other two and trying to get close to their weak spots, seeing the obvious pinch they were in, and blaming himself for not being more stern when he knew Teru was still injured, Tatsumi took a step toward them. "This could all go wrong very fast, I gotta help them n-"

Involuntarily jumping to the side he dodged being snapped in two by the Akugami he had ignored as it clamped its massive jaws right where he had been, that move was definitely in thanks to Ravana, once again, she had saved him.

“This won't end well at all, we can't manage this many yet.” Tatsumi slid through the material on the ground and then flipped back to a stand before having to dodge as the Akugami came rushing at him again with suddenly overbearing speed and a ravenous roar.

"f**k'n bastard monster!" Tatsumi screamed right beck before stepping backward to dodge the creature's hand and then swinging his katana at its rapidly approaching tongue. "Damn you!"