THREE

Once Aya returned to her room, I moved from my bed. Going down the hall towards Shu's room. I needed to talk to him. We needed to move on from the Blood Demon. Even Shu had to realize that by now. His grandfather never put off paying work this long. It was time for Shu to wake up from his dream and get back to the real world.

Today seemed to go on forever. First finding the Blood Demon latest work this morning. Then we had to make the drive back to the city. It was around two when I got back in the house and yet there was still no rest for the wicked.

Standing outside of his door my hand rose to knock but I paused. I could hear voices from within. One of the voices were Shu, the other was his wife, Amy. Shu and Amy had been together since they were teenagers. I never saw love as strong as the one they had for each other. They were nothing like the fighting parents I remember.

"Why wasn't Zero with you?" Amy's voice was the one that I heard. Amy was like a mother to me. It was weird since I watched her grow as well. We had all been teenagers together. Now these two acted as if they were my parents. Maybe they forgot that I was the same boy who was there with them.

"I sent him to eat," Shu's voice replied to her. He had demanded that I went to eat. He was always like that even when he was a child. Orders and demands. Shu just had that kind of personality. It was one of the reasons that I liked Shu. He was a take-charge kind of man. He was a leader, just like his grandfather.

"What about the Blood Demon?" I licked my lips. My mind casting back to this morning. We were late again. I wasn't so sure that it was a bad thing. The Blood Demon was one of the most powerful demons walking the earth. I didn't know how well equipped we were in dealing with him.

"We were too late." Always too late, always a step behind. Always, always, always. I knew it annoyed Shu. I knew talking about it annoyed him more. Shu didn't like to fail. Being late meant he was failing.

"How is Zero?" Why was she always asking about me? Amy was a good woman. She was the kind of person who worried about people. Amy was bright, sweet, and always smiling. She had a way of making you smile. She was also a great mother to her daughter. She was a great mother to everyone on the team.

"Zero's strong; he has to be," Shu answered. I frowned at his words. He was right though. Shaking my head, I raised my hand again. This time knocking on the door. "Enter," Shu called and I turned the knob opening the door.

"You made it home." Amy gave me that famous smile of her. She was always a very pretty person. Her brown hair, her gray eyes, her tanned skin. She didn't seem to fit in this world. She stood out against the dull backdrop of this city.

We met Amy on the road when Shu and Amy were teenagers. She once was a Demon Hunter, as well. It wasn't until they had their daughter that Amy settled into the life of a stay at home mom. We got this house. We brought in the team to live here with us. We were all family.

"You've eaten?" Shu asked me and I nodded my head. Why would I come back if I hadn't already? Even if Shu was annoying with his worrying, I always ate when he told me to. Most times I did it before he told me to. We were just . . . busy looking for the Blood Demon these last three months.

"I collected on a bounty." I waved my card at him a bit teasingly. Shu rolled his eyes. Even if he was older now, even if he pretended to be my father at times. In the end, Shu was my best friend. Nothing could change that. I teased him and he teased me.

"What do you want?" he asked when he reached for the card a few times, but I yanked it back before he could grab it from me. Shu knew that any credits I earned was for both of us. Not just the two of us but the whole team.

"We have to get real work Shu." He had to know this by now. We couldn't keep chasing after someone without money anyway.

"We're close, Zero." I could hear the desperation in his voice. I closed my eyes shaking my head. We were days behind the Blood Demon with no idea where he went next. I wouldn't call that being close.

"We have no idea where he is. He won't feed again for months. We have nothing." That was the simple truth. I never bit my words for Shu. He has never sugar coated his for me. Shu was wrong; he knew he was wrong. I could see his shoulders slump as he let out a sigh. He nodded his head in defeat.

"We'll pick someone tomorrow," he spoke. Picking someone meant going to the Demon Hunter bar and finding someone to collect on the board. I hoped that we were lucky and found someone that we could make credits off quickly.

"It's the right move." Shu looked at me before he nodded again.

"Maybe some other demon will put us on his trail." That was true. Demons had no loyalties. Maybe if we squeezed one of them tight enough, they would give us the Blood Demon. "Maybe we'll find your demon, as well." My eyes shifted to Shu.

I only nodded turning from the room and going back to my own. I laid down in my bed my mind racing. I had been putting so much effect into Shu's demons I forgot about mine. My demon, my white whale, my . . . Ban.

My hands were above my head. They were tied to the bars of the headboard. There was fear in me that I've never known before. I tried to struggle, I tried to free myself. I couldn't. I was powerless. Fingers pressed up my chest. It made my back arch as a moan parted my lips.

The pleasure the man brought was horrifying. It almost scared me as much as the blood that covered him. Or maybe right now I was scared of myself. Frighten that even after the evil I saw this man do I still . . . enjoyed his touch.

My eyes shifted around my brother's room. I didn't know why he had brought me in here. It was a violation of my brother. Maybe it was because he couldn't actually kill my brother. I silently cursed myself for not leaving tonight. For not going with my brother and seeing this horror. At the same time, a small twisted part of me was happy I stayed. This stranger were doing things to my body that I never even dreamed of before.

His mouth was covered in blood as he ran his tongue over my chest. It was my family's blood that coated his tongue. It circled around my nipple and I moaned again as my back arched. I wanted this, but I didn't want this. I knew that soon it was going to be my blood on his tongue, as well. He was going to kill me. He was going to eat me just like he did my family.

As his tongue explored me, I looked into his black eyes. The eyes were the windows to the soul. Did that mean this man had no soul? Was he one of them? It was the first thought that came to my mind.

All over the news in the last few months was about the government opening a door to hell. They said that demons poured from that door. No one wanted to believe them until there were witnessing demons flying through the sky. They were everywhere and now one was overtop of me.

How could someone so beautiful be a demon? This man was everything I could want in a person. Everything about him invited me in. That was how he charmed his way into our house. That was why before we knew it we were all at his mercy. Mercy, demons didn't have mercy.

We all begged; we cried; we pleaded for him not to kill us. I could still hear the screams of my family. I could still see the awful things he made us do. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to feel the pain that I saw reflected on my family faces.

I could feel the tears leaking from my eyes. Even though his touch felt amazing, it still scared me. I still knew that he was going to do to me what he had done to the others. I didn't want to die. That was why I cried. Because I wanted to live.

The demon pressed his finger to my lips. I looked at him. God, he was so beautiful. He was so evil as well. His other hand was under my body. His fingers were inside of me. It felt so good. Still death was the only thing I could think of.

"Death isn't so bad." His voice was sweet in my ear. More tears came with his words.

"I don't want to die. Please, I don't want to die." I begged him as my body arched again. He was still moving his fingers inside of me. Leaning down he pressed his lips to mine. His tongue slipped into my mouth. I could taste my family's blood. It made me . . . hard.

"Forgive me," he said as he bite into my neck. The pain and pleasure of it were numbing. It hurt, but the hurt felt good, as well. The fact that it felt good frighten me even more. Removing his fingers, he shoved inside of me.

I gasped at the feel of his thrusting. He released my hands from the headboard and I grabbed a fist full of long red hair. I could hear the headboard hitting against the wall as he thrusted. His mouth was still on my neck. He was still drinking from me. My fingers knotted in his hair. I didn't know if I wanted to hold him closer to yank him away.

My vision was starting to fade. Reaching with my other hand I pressed it up his chest. He was slick with sweat and blood. Moving my fingers higher they touched something cold and hard. Some kind of object that he was wearing around his neck. The demon pulled away before I could determine what the object was.

"Take me with you. Take me to hell. You don't have to kill me. I choose you. Please, take me to hell." Hell was better than death. I didn't want to die. He told me that I could choose death or hell. I would rather go to hell.

The demon smiled. He kissed me again. This time it was the taste of my own blood that filled my mouth. I didn't care. I would endure a million bloody kisses if it meant I got to live. I would do anything if it meant he would keep me alive.

"You're the only one that ever choose hell." He seemed pleased by that fact. Maybe it met he would listen. Maybe it meant he would let me live. I let out a breath leaning into his chest and licking away the sweat and blood that collocated there. He was still inside of me. He felt . . . amazing. He was big and his thrust were powerful. He moaned with pleasure and I did the same.

Moving to his arm I kissed along his bicep. Then as hard as I could I bit into the demon flesh. My teeth broke into his pale skin and his poisonous blood flowed into my mouth. It was as black as his eyes and the blood burned like acid as it slid down my throat.

My body jerked around on the bed. I felt like a fish out of water as I flopped around. He watched me letting me as he still reached his ending. I could feel him explode inside of me not for the first time tonight.

That seemed to make the jerking stop as my body went still. I watched as he came overtop of me. He pressed his fangs back into my neck. It hurt. The blood I had swallowed was burning me from the inside. This was more pain than I could handle. I could feel myself fading away.

"I'll never forget you." He whispered in my ear. His lips pressing against mine as he stole away my breath. I used the last bit of strength that I had to reach up. To touch the object around his neck. My hand jerked and the object came away from him.

When I woke from my death, I noticed there was a ring on a chain. Inside of that ring was the name Ban. Ban, the demon that fucked me senseless. Ban, the demon that killed my family. Ban, the demon that killed me.