Jane took a deep breath, found the switch, and flicked it on. A blinding white light coursed through the enormous house that was Jane’s mind. Deafening screams filled her ears and yelled the ugliest things to her.
She was an Ugly, Evil Freak. A Fatherless, and Motherless, Science Experiment! She was Unworthy of Love! Her Tiny Body was Dysfunctional! No Man would ever Want her! No Society would ever Accept her! She deserved to Die, Die, Die!
Jane’s eyes adjusted to the light. Her ears grew accustomed to the noise. She knew the voice that screamed out to her. It wasn’t some evil, alien force assaulting her. No, the voice was her own.These were the things she believed about herself. The things that she had learned through her childhood of lab experiments, of being treated like a tool, of receiving no love.
Jane ignored the messages that looped through her head the best she could and stepped outside. She walked into the vast darkness surrounding her house and looked around. He had to be close to her; there was no way he could leave that quickly.
Her ears caught him before her eyes ever could. Subtle footsteps echoed rapidly through the darkness. He was running. Running away from her. Away from her house. Where was he, exactly? Jane focused her mind to the extreme as she tried to locate him.
When she found him she gave pursuit. In the real world her small body was a useless distraction. She was ugly, clumsy, and incapable. In here, in her world, she was very strong, and very fast. In here her abilities would never betray her.
Jane ran into the darkness as she listened for the footsteps. She knew exactly where they came from and, more importantly, she was gaining on them.
The light of her mental house served as an uncomfortable beacon, a necessary evil that showed her the way back. The way back through the impenetrable darkness into a damaging light that would only hurt her.
Jane ran and ran until, in the distance, she saw the silver skin of the gorgeous Baal. It reflected, impossibly, in the darkness that surrounded him as if he were made from precious diamond stones.
“Baal! Stop running and face me!” she yelled.
Baal stopped in his tracks and turned around. He gave her an eager smile and waved at her, the same as he had done when they first met.
“You make good on your promises, Jane Elring,” the demon taunted from afar. “You said it would end before the month was up and here we are!”
“Yes, Baal. Here we are.”
Jane stopped running and slowly walked toward the demon that stood waiting for her.
When she came closer she realized for the first time how impossibly tall he was. She had to stretch her neck just to get a glimpse of his stunning face.
“So now what, Jane Elring? What is the next part of your diabolic plan? Who do we kill next? I’m up for some killing!
“Shall we take on the frustrated Larry Bradford? Or maybe something tastier? Ellie Aulding was quite good, I will have you know. I kind of resented you for that one….”
Jane stood silently as the stunning man’s voice sang the vilest things to her. It spoke of death and torture, yet it sounded like the most beautiful song she had ever heard.
“We’re not killing anybody,” Jane said as her dark eyes tried to reach a face that hovered high above her own. “The killing is done. You’re done.”
With a taunting grin Baal whispered, “I’ll never be done, Jane Elring. Not now, not in another thousand years. So go home before it is too late. If you’re not careful I might just start dining on you….”
Jane’s stare was cold and calculating. She knew what an enormous ego looked like. She had seen it in Dr. Greer and she saw it now, exponentially larger, in the demonic presence in front of her. And that was her chance.
“You really think you could consume me, Baal? I don’t think you can….”
“No?”
“No. You feed on the bottom of the barrel. Victims of child abuse. Delinquents. No shit you can defeat the feebleminded. Who fucking can’t?”
“You are delightful indeed,” Baal said as the grin started to fade from his face.
“Am I? You looking for excuses, Baal? I’m standing right here and I want to fight!”
It was now that the mocking demon became cold as ice. His grin had vanished; his eyes were suddenly made of stone. A freezing aura emanated from his beautiful body as he stepped toward her.
“You want to fight me? A challenge then? Yes, I am curious to see how far we can take this.”
Jane waited two seconds and then, when she realized Baal would never make the first move, she spat in his face. The large glob of saliva flew through the dark sky and reached the lower part of his cheek.
“Fuck you, Baal! What are you waiting for?!”
Without a word Baal launched forward and Jane ran. She ran like the wind back to the light coming from her mental house.
Baal’s roar echoed through the darkness. “Running now, are we?! Regretting our arrogance, yes?! It is too late now, Jane Elring! It is too late now!”
Jane didn’t have to look back. She knew that the proud and arrogant Baal was giving chase. He was blind now to the risks that she posed. Or, perhaps, he just didn’t believe there was anything in this world or the next that could harm him. Perhaps he just saw a little girl running for her life after enraging the bull. After playing with the unquenchable fire.
Jane ran until she reached her mental house. The light burned her skin but she couldn’t hesitate.
She stepped into the doorway and turned around to see where Baal was. When she saw him appear in the near distance she turned and ran inside. Up the stairs, toward the new room that she had created just for this moment.
She ignored the screams that echoed through the house. She ran through the self-hatred and focused her mind away from all the images in her house that reminded her of how bad and dangerous she was.
Am I dangerous? Good! Let me be dangerous. Let me be so fucking dangerous that I can even beat a demon!
“Jaaaaannneeeeee?! Where are you, Jane?!” Baal’s voice boomed through the house.
“Right here, motherfucker!”
Jane stood next to the door of the room she had built for Baal. It was the biggest, toughest door she had ever created. It was made of fortified steel and not even man’s terrible atomic bomb would ever be able to rupture it.
She pulled open the heavy door and stepped inside the room. Its emptiness felt so intoxicating that she almost became dizzy. There was no air, no light, no sound. There was only the absolute nothingness that came with Jane’s heavy burden.
Jane waited in the darkness until Baal approached. She watched him step inside the room and look around.
Again she was tempted by the gorgeous man’s physique. Maybe they could stay in this darkness together. Maybe she could finally feel somebody pressed close against her. A warm body to hold, to connect with. He would consume her, but perhaps that was a fair price to pay for the intimacy she feared she would otherwise never receive.
No. That wasn’t the solution. Deep down inside Jane knew it wasn’t the solution. If she had to go through life afraid and alone, then so be it. She had not killed Arthur Toaves only to fall victim to this terrible force of destruction now.
Baal walked toward her and placed his hand on her shoulder. It was large and powerful and so warm that it made Jane tremble. All she wanted was to be with this beautiful man. To feel him against her, on top of her, inside of her. If all she could ever be was a vessel for his beauty, then….