Chapter One:
The Beast Unleashed
Malachi's POV :
Erevos has taken control again. My body is no longer mine. I am just a
prisoner inside my own flesh, watching from the depths of my mind as he moves
with terrifying grace. Each night, I lose myself to him, a demon born from the
darkness that lurks within me. Usually, he hunts the innocent, leaving behind
trails of blood and fear. But tonight is different.
Tonight, he is not the hunter. He is the hunted.
The five demons circle him in the moonlit alley, their grotesque, twisted
forms shifting in the shadows. Their snarls fill the air, dripping with malice.
Fanged mouths open wide, their claws gleaming under the pale light.
But Erevos does not falter. He does not fear.
He grins.
Then he moves.
In an instant, Erevos vanishes from sight, his speed beyond what the demons
can track. One of them barely has time to react before—SNAP SNAP —Erevos
's hand plunges through its chest, fingers curling around its pulsing heart.
The demon screeches, thrashing, but Erevos merely tightens his grip. With a
cruel chuckle, he rips the heart free, letting the creature
collapse into a heap of decaying flesh.
The remaining four hesitate. They were expecting prey. Not a monster
stronger than them.
He lifts his other hand, and black strings ripple from his
fingertips—thin, deadly threads of darkness. They slither like living shadows,
wrapping around the demons' limbs. The creatures shriek as Erevos yanks, tearing one's arm from
its socket, another's leg clean off.
One desperate demon lunges at him, but Erevos simply sidesteps, his speed
unnatural, fluid. With a flick of his wrist, a single dark string slices
through its throat. It gurgles, clutching its neck as black blood spills onto
the pavement.
Two left.
They try to flee.
Ian laughs. The sound is cruel. Amused.
With a sharp motion, the dark strings extend—lightning-fast—piercing
through the demons' backs. The threads tighten, lifting them into the air like
puppets on broken strings. Their bodies convulse, twitching helplessly.
Ian tilts his head. "Pathetic."
Then, he clenches his fist. The strings shred them apart,
flesh and bone scattering into the night.
A massacre.
Like always.
When
I Turned Eighteen
I used to believe my family was normal. That the Graves name was
nothing more than an old lineage. That my life would be just like anyone
else's. I was wrong.
Every boy in our bloodline had a ritual on their eighteenth birthday—a
tradition that was whispered about, never spoken of openly. That night, a demon
would attach itself to us, a "guardian" meant to protect us,
or so they claimed. But that was a lie.
The truth was much worse.
The demons weren't guardians. They were parasites. We
weren't meant to control them. They were meant to control us. To use
our bodies to hunt and devour human souls in the most horrific ways
imaginable. My ancestors accepted it. They welcomed the power. Most of my
family had semi-control over their demons because they submitted.
But I didn't.
I ran.
I tried to escape the fate carved into my blood, but the
demon found me anyway. Ian was patient, lurking in my shadow until the moment
my resistance meant nothing. I never accepted him, never allowed him to take me
willingly—so now, he takes full control every night when the
sun goes down.
And I am forced to watch.
My family? I left them behind. Ran as far as I could. And oddly enough, Ian
was okay with that. At first, I thought maybe I had some
control after all. But it took me time to understand the real reason.
A bigger city meant more victims.
Ian isn't bound by love, loyalty, or tradition. He's bound by hunger. And I
am nothing more than the prison that holds him until night falls again.
A Normal Day... Almost :
Malachi's POV:
I was dreaming peacefully, my mouth wide open, drool slipping out.
Finally—rest. My body felt like lead, sinking into the abyss of sleep.
Then something jolted me awake.
"Malachi!"
I flinched, blinking rapidly as my head shot up. Ivy was standing over me,
arms crossed, looking unimpressed. My heart was still racing from the sudden
wake-up call.
Shit. I'm at work.
"You fell asleep again," Ivy said, tapping her foot. "What do
you even do at night? You never go out with us, but you're always exhausted
during the day!"
I rubbed my eyes and forced a lazy smile. "Sorry, Ivy. I was up late
watching a movie."
Finn suddenly rolled up in his ridiculous, squeaky office chair,
spinning himself into our conversation like a tornado. "Oh? A movie?
What's it called?"
I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "How to Escape
From Me: Volume 2."
Finn nodded seriously, grabbed a sticky note, and wrote it down.
"Sounds like a psychological thriller. I'm watching that tonight."
Ivy groaned. "Finn, he just made that up."
Finn shrugged. "Still sounds better than half the garbage on streaming
these days."
Ivy sighed, leaning against my desk. "You know, Bernard's gonna chew
you out if he finds you slacking off again."
I chuckled, but before we could continue, the office door slammed
open with a force that shook the walls.
Oh no. Here we go.
Bernard, the big, bald, and furious boss of Bernard's
Paint Society (because apparently, his ego required naming the company
after himself), stormed in. His face was red, his mustache twitching in anger,
and—oh. He was headed straight for me.
Ivy muttered under her breath, "Oh… I shouldn't have mentioned
him."
Finn, ever the bystander, leaned back in his chair, watching the drama
unfold like it was free entertainment.
Bernard slammed a sheet of paper on my desk. No, wait. It
wasn't a paper. It was a blank paper.
"What the hell is this, Malachi?!" he bellowed.
I stared at it. Yeah, that was just a white piece of paper.
I cleared my throat. "Uh… a white paper, sir?"
The other workers snickered, except for my two loyal idiots—Ivy
and Finn.
Bernard's nostrils flared. "This was supposed to be last week's report!
Would you care to explain why it's EMPTY?!"
Oh no. I didn't do it. I completely forgot. Most likely, I had just
handed him a random paper when he asked for it because I was too tired
to function.
Think, Malachi, think!
"Sir, wait, I can explain—"
Bernard's eyes darkened with rage. I was dead. Fired. Done
for.
But before I could dig my grave any deeper, Ivy suddenly stepped in.
She held up a real report—one with actual words on it.
"You mean this one? Yeah, Malachi made it. He just mixed up the documents.
My fault—I cleaned his desk and must have misplaced it."
Bernard snatched the report from her hands, scanned it with
suspicion, then grunted. "You got lucky this time." He shot me a
final glare before storming off.
I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding. That was way too close.
I turned to Ivy, staring at her in shock. "How did you do that?"
Ivy smirked. "I saw Bernard telling you about the report last week. And
since you never sleep, I figured you wouldn't do it. So, I made it myself and
put your name on it."
For the first time today, I actually felt awake. Without
thinking, I stood up and hugged her.
Ivy went rigid in my arms, her face instantly turning red.
"Thanks, Ivy. You're the best."
Before she could respond, Finn jumped up and hugged us both.
"Group hug! I want in too!"
We stood there for a second, awkwardly wrapped in each other's arms, until
Ivy pushed Finn off with a groan.
Everything felt so… normal. A peaceful day at work.
No demons. No blood. No Erevos .
But that was only because the sun was still up.
Tonight, things would be different.
Erevos will take control again ...