72 Pillar

Covered in sweat, I sprinted down the dark road that led to my house, my only thoughts centered on my family.

"Please, let them be okay," I prayed, my pace quickening with each step.

Soon, I reached Lavender Way, a street filled with houses of varying sizes and small businesses. Amidst the nighttime allure and liveliness, my house stood in stark contrast.

Exhausted and anxious, I spotted my house at the end of the block. To my relief, it looked normal – the door was closed, the wooden walls were intact, and the front yard retained its morning grandeur. A sense of calm washed over me, and just as I was about to surrender to these reassuring feelings, something caught my eye.

The house was in darkness, and my mom should have been home by now. With trepidation, I burst through the front door, gasping for air.

"Mom!" I yelled into the darkness.

An icy chill shot down my spine as a familiar, diabolical voice responded, "Welcome home, young man."

The lights suddenly flicked on throughout the house, revealing a nightmarish sight. My eyes met the demon I had encountered earlier today, the same one Madelyn had battled, complete with the severed arm. He was grinning sinisterly while sitting on my living room couch.

"YOU?" I exclaimed in disbelief, my heart pounding.

But what truly made my heart skip a beat was seeing my mother, tied up and sitting on the ground right beside that dreadful creature. She had been taken hostage, and all I wanted was for this day to come to an end.

"Oh, great," I muttered.

I'd never imagined myself in a situation like this, with my mom taken hostage by a demon, and my once-safe home now a place of danger.

The demon sat on our living room couch with a twisted grin on his face, while my mom was on the ground, tied up like some helpless captive, which honestly infuriated me. This monster, this demon, showed no remorse as he threatened my mother, and yet, there was something that still didn't make sense to me.

"Your eyes, they're not pitch black," I blurted out, utterly confused by the inconsistency.

"Oh, yes," the demon replied with a smile. "I've found that it's easier to blend in with you humans when I hide my true nature."

As I heard the demon's explanation, I realized just how well these monsters could conceal themselves among people. This guy looked like a regular person. Honestly, if it weren't for his pitch-black eyes and ominous aura, I would never have known how dangerous he really was.

"Demon," I muttered with resentment.

The demon looked at me with confusion. "It seems your eyes are more open than before?" he responded with surprise. "No matter. The small insight you've gained will do little to save you."

The demon stood up and advanced menacingly toward me. "I will devour your soul, then your mother's, and with their power, I'll exact my revenge on the one who cut off my arm," he declared.

My rage continued to swell until I couldn't contain it any longer. "Y-you BASTARD!" I yelled, unleashing a punch with all my might toward the demon's face.

It was a terrible idea, especially when my full-powered punch found itself caught in the demon's grip

"So much fight," the demon exclaimed with excitement, painfully tightening his grip on my hand, making me think it was about to break.

"Yes, fight, little pillar, fight. It will make this all the more fun."

I couldn't understand anything that was happening. One moment, I was staring into the eyes of a psychotic monster, and the next, my world was turned upside down as I was thrown through the air into the living room wall.

The impact knocked the air out of me, and I gasped for breath, my hands and knees on the ground. The strength this guy possessed was far beyond human, which, I guess, made sense given to at he wasn't human at all.

"Oh, don't tell me it's already over. Was I too rough?" the demon mocked.

Summoning every ounce of determination, I mustered the strength to stand on my feet, my hands clenched and ready to fight.

"Bring it on," I declared, despite the cliché nature of my words. I knew I was about to get my ass beaten, but what choice did I have?

To my dissatisfaction, the demon only seemed to grow happier and more excited upon hearing my defiant words.

"Yes, that's the way, the way of a man," the demon taunted.

I wished I could say that I put up a good fight, that I managed to land a few punches, but that would be a lie. The fight only lasted a few moments, and after the first few brutal blows to the face and stomach, I knew I was in deep trouble.

I had seen this guy fight earlier, and I was fully aware that he was holding back. He could have likely killed me with a single punch, but as I gazed into the demon's eyes, I realized he was relishing my suffering. He may have been missing an arm, but I had severely underestimated his strength.

The worst part wasn't the pain I felt or my physical injuries. It wasn't even the helplessness that washed over me in that moment. The most agonizing part was seeing the terror in my mother's eyes as she witnessed her son being mercilessly beaten.

Lying on the floor, I could barely move, and my body ached from head to toe. As I struggled to catch my breath, a single thought echoed in my mind, "How could I be so weak?"

This wasn't the first time I had found myself in such a dire situation today, and I was exhausted by it all. I couldn't protect Harold earlier, and now, I couldn't even shield my own mother from this monstrous threat.

"How unfortunate, but it looks like our time is over," the demon remarked as he walked closer to my battered body.

As the demon approached, my thoughts wandered to my mother, to my best friend Harold, and to my younger sister. Was I really going to have to say goodbye to them?

Deep inside, I felt a surge of anger rekindle like a small candle flickering in the darkness, a candle that kept growing and growing.

"I-I can't die here," I muttered through my weariness and pain.

"I can't afford to lose here!" I yelled, and my body began to overflow with power. The pain that had once wracked my body gradually faded, and my fatigue was replaced with newfound energy. I found myself back on my feet, and that's when I noticed something strange. My body was now covered with the same dark aura that had surrounded Madelyn before.

The demon who had my mom looked just as startled by this phenomenon, and it was clear that something unusual was happening.

Though I was surrounded by darkness, I couldn't help but think that maybe this newfound power was a good thing. As I glanced at the shroud of darkness around me, I heard laughter inside my head – laughter that was all too familiar. The girl with crimson eyes, it seemed, was finding joy in my use of this power.

"That couldn't be good," I muttered to myself, recognizing that the situation was growing more complex by the moment.

I had countless questions, but there was no time to ponder them now. I needed to end this immediately.

"I'm going to kill you, you monster!" I said with all the truth I could muster.

***

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