Reaper

Chapter 2

He found himself stuck in the SUV outside of a shady looking convenience store. His mom had called and he told him he was with his dad. He was instructed not to release details, just that they were together. Now he was staring at the front of the store, just waiting for his dad to emerge. He turned as a man walked up to the window and stared at him, his lips twitching up. The windows were heavily tinted so he doubted he could see him, but his smirk seemed like he might.

It took a few awkward moments before he walked away towards the back of he SUV. He watched him in the mirrors before he couldn’t see him anymore. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he waited breathlessly, his need for his dad to return becoming more urgent. Something was wrong.

The doors clicked to unlock making him jump but as he looked at the store, his dad wasn’t in sight. The back door swung open rapidly on the driver’s side, the man popping in to grab him. He was belted in and he pushed the man away as best he could. While distracted the passenger side door opened and he was roughly yanked, the first man hitting the seat belt button.

Kouzen popped out of the seat with a yelp of surprise. The seatbelt was still tangled around him, yanking his arm in an unsavory way. He felt his elbow pop painfully as it finally released him with a loud metallic clang against the interior of the car. He fought hard, body convulsing in ways he didn’t know it could as he was dragged towards the store.

The other man tried to grab his feet and he kicked him, making the bottom half of his body thud against the cement sidewalk. People were watching, but none of them dared to come help him. He saw the fear on their faces as he managed a strangled ‘help’. Their eyes averted and everyone who could see quickly disappeared. He didn’t dare yell out for his dad, they might not know he was Nick’s son even if the resemblance was clearly there.

There was lots of cussing as they managed to get him the door as he kicked and swung his arms at every opportunity. His dad would be proud as he put every bit of advice he’d ever been given into practice. He managed to knock things off the shelf, making the biggest commotion he could. He heard the sound of a fist hitting flesh and it stunned him momentarily. These men wouldn’t be dragging him like this if his dad was doing the punching.

It was enough of a pause that the two men were quick to get all his limbs together so he could no longer flail like a rabid animal caught in a snare. He growled at them, his dog demon blood boiling. He could feel his beast inside pacing, his mom had told him all about the beast inside and he’d never felt it as strong as he did now.

He was dumped unceremoniously against the floor. His dad was in a chair, hands cuffed behind his back. He cussed in Russian as he looked at him, carefully guarding the fear for his child. Kouzen glowered at the men in the room, they looked like mafia just as much as his dad did. Their nice suits were too nice for the area, polished shoes and perfectly coifed hair. He glanced to his dad, the same bored glare on his face as he tried to assess the situation.

Nick looked ashamed for only a brief moment as their eyes connected. It was enough that one of the men in front of him gave a wicked smirk, “Oh, something about this boy is important. Daddy brought his little boy, huh?”

Neither of them reacted, though Kouzen got the impression this man didn’t think he was his son. His head tilted slightly, eyebrow raising at him. The man got a look on his face similar to how Evander looked at him: unadulterated disgust.

“Well Daddy? You brought a little snack with you, maybe we’ll have some fun with him instead,” Kouzen felt one of the men grab his horns. Using them like a steering wheel he held his head in place, tilting his head slightly back as the main guy approached. He undid his belt and Kouzen glanced to Nick.

His father looked furious. If he was demon like the rest of their family he’d snap the cuffs that held him in place, Kou recognized that look well. His eyes darted back as the man’s boxers were in front of his nose. A small bulge presented itself and Kouzen’s eyes looked up to him in distaste, “Get your disgusting crotch out of my face. Smells like you haven’t washed in a month.”

“He’s got a mouth on him, gonna be fun to break him. Daddy must let you get away with a lot,” The man stroked his jaw bone with his thumb as his hand cupped his chin.

Nick pulled at his chains dragging their attention to him, “Leave him alone. He has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, but he’s something I can use against you. You really care about him, huh?” The man smirked, pulling his junk from his pants. He didn’t actually smell bad but the thought of what he was about to do made Kouzen’s stomach flip as if he was smelling sour milk. Musk filled his nose, his eyes giving away his fear as he met his dad’s gaze again.

“I wouldn’t want to see anyone get hurt, it’s not that he’s important,” Nick’s insides flinched at the words, not wanting to expose how they were related to the danger in the room.

Kouzen felt the heat of the head of his c**k against his lip, it was so close to being pressed into his mouth. That’s when hell broke loose. Faster than anyone could react pitch black engulfed him, raging like an out of control fire around his body but it gave off no heat. He felt relief as the men let go of him in fear.

He felt his eyes blow out at the smell of their fear, it was so strong and addicting he wanted to squeeze more from them. He got to his feet, laughter rumbling low from his body as he walked towards the man who’d held his horns. He wanted to break him with his horns, ram him against the wall and listen to his skull crack with a headbutt. He held himself back, a psychotic grin coming across his face as the mere thought was already making the man quiver with more delicious terror.

He heard the sound of one of the men coming at him and he turned, his head tilting to a disturbing angle. It gave the man enough pause for him to swing his arm out, surprising him as the darkness flew at him with a ferocity that slammed him across the room. He looked to his dad, shocked to see his eyes wide with fear as well. The darkness faded away so his dad could see his outline, eyes glowing through to him.

A gunshot rang out and Nick hollered out, “Kouzen! Get down!”

The bullet smacked into the darkness, stopping an inch inside of the smoke like mass. It darkened back up and Kouzen looked for a weapon. As if the shroud listened to him, it provided a scythe. He took it in hand and gave a wicked grin, walking towards the man. He swung it, slicing him open. Blood poured out and he watched with curiosity as his guts spilled from his stomach.

The two other men ran out and the shroud dissipated, leaving the morbid little demon in the room with his dad. He kneeled down, looking closely at the damage he’d done. Nick cleared his throat and Kouzen slowly turned towards him. His eyes dragged back to the gruesome scene on the floor right in front of him. His hand drifted to touch, “Kouzen… come here. Don’t.”

He listened to his dad, tearing himself away from the gore and walking over to him. He looked him over before finding something to get the cuffs off of him. He managed to find something to pick the lock and freed him. Nick pulled him into a hesitant embrace.

“What was that?” Nick smoothed his hair back and Kouzen frowned at his tone.

“I don’t know. I got scared and it just happened,” Kouzen studied his face, trying to determine if his father was afraid of him. It was apparent he didn’t know what to do about the situation. He was unsure, Kou supposed that was better than afraid.

Nick started to direct him out of the room but Kouzen tore from his hold as something else pinged in his mind. He turned to the mess that was a man and slowly approached. Something was calling to him. He kneeled back down and he felt his dad try and pull his shoulder gently but it didn’t stop him from delving his hand into the mess of blood and guts.

Everything was still warm and it gave him an odd thrill that rolled through his body as the mess slid through his fingers. He could feel the tension from his father. Then he found what screamed out for him, a pearl the size of his palm. It swirled with grey smoke, small bits of white speckling through. He rotated it then held his bloodied hand towards his dad, “What is this?”

“What is what? There is blood on your hands, Kouzen. Come on, your mother…. Gods your mother is going to be pissed. He’s tried so hard to… nevermind. Come on,” Kouzen’s pointed ears drooped a little. His mother tried to tell everyone he wasn’t like this and here he was, so incredibly pleased that he’d been wrist deep inside of a body.

He stood, holding the pearl in both hands so the light from the ceiling could shine through it. Nick seemed confused but ran a hand down his face slowly. Kouzen saw him, frowning again before following him. He ducked into the bathroom and cleaned his hands, cleaning the pearl as well before tucking it into his pocket. When he came out he looked at his dad, “You really didn’t see it?”

“See what, Kou?” His father looked exhausted.

“The pearl in my hand. You didn’t see it? This,” He pulled it from his pocket and showed it to him again. Nick looked at him as if he’d finally snapped and it made him sadder. His dad thought he was just as psycho as everyone else did. His safety net was gone.

“Kouzen, I don’t see anything, kiddo,” he led his son back to the SUV. They left the store, Kouzen looking back once before staring at his dad. He had put the pearl safely back in his pocket and it seemed to feel heavier and heavier as they made their way home.

“Dad…. I’m not… I didn’t want to do that,” Kouzen looked at him pleadingly as they parked in the driveway.

Nick shifted it into park, taking in a big breath and exhaling as he thought about it, “Let’s just not tell your mom about it, okay?”

Their eyes met and Kouzen felt heartbroken. Nick quickly reacted to the look in his eyes as if realizing he wasn’t handling this like he should. He tried to fix it but Kouzen was already out of the door and brooding towards the front door. He rested his forehead against the steering wheel.

He went straight up the stairs and to his bedroom once inside. Tears welled up in his eyes and he felt like he was hyperventilating. He pulled his pearl out, looking at it angrily before throwing it against the wall. It fell to his bed and sat on his comforter, smoke swirling more quickly, “This is your f*****g fault! You had to make me go all… ugh! They’re never going to love me again!”

He paced for ten minutes before going to his bed and looking at the pearl again. He clenched it in his fist, willing it to burst into fragments. He didn’t think he was strong enough for it but it still frustrated him and he tossed it again, watching it roll across his floor and come to a stop against a pair of pants on his floor. He glared at it, laying down on his bed until he fell asleep.