Chapter twelve

In every single horror movie that Bonnie had ever watched, she shouted at the idiot who was stupid enough to walk head first into danger. That character annoyed her the most. Not the ones who were naïve or disbelieving and ended up dead because they didn't take it seriously, but the ones who knew the danger, heard something spooky, and continued to walk straight into the trap set for them.

And yet here she was. Doing the exact same thing.

The tunnel was as horrifying as she'd imagined it to be. Coated with cobwebs and roots that slid along the floor, she tried not to picture the creatures living in it. Especially when it appeared to have been sealed for many, many years. Either that or somehow rock grew speedily.

As she made her way down, the echo of her footsteps gave a hint to how long it actually was. She turned back to the entrance, glaring at the figures who still stood outside, the bright sunlight bathing their silhouettes.

"This isn't far enough?" she asked, hope lingering in her words.

"Obviously not! Keep going—chicken!"

"I'm going to murder him," she muttered to herself as she turned back around, imagining black hair between her fingers as she ripped it out of his sarcastic head. "I wonder what it takes to kill a daemon."

Turning her torch back to the path in front of her, Bonnie tried not to pay too much attention to the scurrying of small bugs that she could undoubtedly see at her feet. As long as spiders didn't start dropping from the ceiling, she could stay calm. They couldn't hurt her.

"But something else definitely could," she whispered, wanting to laugh at how absurd it was that she was concerned about creepy crawlies when they'd informed her that a literal daemon lived down here. Or wait—a demon? Had they actually told her what exactly Bifrons was? "Of course they haven't, why would they give me a straight answer for anything, I'm just a measly human."

Bonnie looked back over her shoulder, judging how far away the boys were. Surely the metres between them were enough now. But by the looks of it, they still hadn't moved.

"Right, then. On we go."

If she had been told a mere forty-eight hours ago that she would be in the highlands of Scotland, in a cave leading to a house where a daemon lived, hoping to lure him out, Bonnie would have laughed. But here she was, slowly becoming engulfed by darkness that felt as though it stretched for miles. And for what? Because other worldly creatures had asked her to? If that was the case then she truly needed to have a word with herself about people pleasing.

Slowly, a smell so foul that it made her stomach recoil swept over her, making her gag. The lingering scent of death was undeniable, and she now knew why exactly Gremory had complained about being able to smell. It reminded her of the stench of the demon that had attacked her at the cafe—like a fungus slowly spreading over your senses.

With a stumble, Bonnie's foot collided with something that made a scattering noise across the floor. Startled, she swung her light down to see what it was. She wished she hadn't. While the rest of the features had an earthy tone and were natural in the habitat—these were not. White bones dotted the floor, previously piled together in a fashion that she could only guess was a ribcage, they now stretched out in front of her, merging with other bones of differing sizes. All picked clean of any flesh.

Her mind screamed at her to turn back. It begged her to make a life preserving decision and bolt out of there as fast as she could, but with a shake of her shoulders she took a deep breath and continued forward, stepping over the remains of those who had been down here before her.

She yearned to switch the light off—the sight in front of her being illuminated was more horrifying than the pitch black. At least then she could live in blissful unawareness, but having a view of the stretched out path...it only made the tension more crippling. Perhaps she could swap her sight and smell, at least then she wouldn't have to cover her mouth.

She tried to ignore the sounds of clacking bones below her, aiming to point her torch above them so she could pretend they didn't exist. But when she saw the reflective surface of what looked like metal, she stopped.

It was a box with ornamental designs on the sides coloured by the gems stuck to it. It looked incredibly old, and as she leaned forward to get a better look, she realised beside it were more things. A sweep of her light showed that they continued down, dotted along the edges of the floor as far as she could see. As if someone had collected them.

"Hey guys!" she called, preparing to turn to them. "I think that—"

The smell had got worse. In fact, it was almost overpowering. The hot tones of it that infiltrated straight up her nostril, and the jagged, ruptured tinge to it that felt like it scratched her throat, combined to make her eyes water. But there was also a noise. One a faint hum, but the other similar to the gurgling sounds of bubbling oil.

She knew that sound.

The hairs on the back of her neck rose, and she tried to keep her hands from shaking as she bent down, pretending to be unaware.

Surely the boys had eyes on her, there was no way they would have just left her to walk in here on her own—would they?

The sound moved closer, the vibrations from it bouncing down the walls as it made its way to her, inching closer every second. She could hear it clearer now, no longer muffled by distance it crept forward, the shadows still hiding it from view.

Maybe if she just stayed still, and tried to shine her torch towards it, they'd be able to see it and know she was in danger.

What if they were too far away?

Quivering, Bonnie gripped her phone tighter, trying to subtly bend the light to the side of her in order to peak at what was there.

As soon as the light hit it, the demon let out a deafening shriek. It hadn't just been darkness she had seen from the corner of her eye; it was this thing. This hulking figure that was taking up the entire width of the tunnel.

Before a sound could leave her mouth, one of the long limbs reached out and wrapped around Bonnie's ankle, making her glance down in alarm. With a scream, it pulled her off of her feet and her phone went clattering to the ground as her back hit the stone floor, knocking the breath out of her. The floor of the cave was rough on her body as it dragged her further in, away from the only light that her phone was providing and into the shadows. Her fingers tried to grab onto the cracks in the rocks that flew past but she barely had time to reach for them before they were gone, and it had smacked her against another piece of stone.

She wasn't entirely sure if God was real, but in that moment she prayed for her life. There was no way that the boys could catch up to her, and she did not know just how long this went for, but the burning feeling around her ankle wasn't letting up and she had no way of fighting back.

Right when she thought her leg might fall off from the strain, the demon let her go. Blinking, she realised it was no longer pitch black above her, and she was no longer in a tunnel. This was more like a room, although that might have been a favourable word for it. It was still a cave, it just had belongings that seemed odd to be there, and light breaking in through a crack above. But she wasn't wasting time in studying her surroundings, no—she was more concerned about the figure that was looming at her feet, its teeth bared.

It looked identical to the one from the cafe.

Bonnie felt her courage dissipate. She'd already learned that she was defenceless against it, and that made the fear looming over her crash down in a torrential flood. It shook her to her bones. She should have ended up the same as those skeletons. She still might.

The creature seemed to sway slightly, its body ever changing, like gloop turning in on itself.

"How did you get in here?"

The voice rooted her in her spot. For a moment, she thought the demon in front of her had spoken, but it had come from behind her. Or maybe it was to the side of her. She wasn't sure; it was as though it joined up from every corner, but crumbled as it spoke, with pieces falling away at odd moments and splintering in the strength of it. It felt like a door creaking open.

"No matter," the voice said at her silence, no doubt knowing that she could not form words. "It's unimportant after all."

The blood in her body went cold at the tone of finality that his words offered. It was as if a signal had been given to the demon in front of her, and he crept back over, his skin slipping over her leg and making the burning sensation return. She watched as it stretched up to full height, its mouth opening to show the image that she could never forget. The one that almost killed her last time.

With a final push of strength she tried to kick the creature away, but it did not let go of her as her foot connected with a part of it. Instead, it let out another noise that resembled a shrieking owl, and rose, ready to pounce, with slime like drool dripping onto her skin.

As its mouth widened, letting its breath blow the hairs from her face, Bonnie sent one last prayer.

If guardian angels exist, I think I need one.

And then, it was gone from above her, and the cave filled with the deafening, earth shattering scream of the tar-like being. It thrashed in agony, it's back pinned to the wall, and Bonnie almost cried with relief when she saw the glimmering sparkle of gold sticking out from the region that should have been a shoulder.

Her head whipped around to look down the tunnel, but she couldn't see anything, let alone them. Kimaris must have blessed eyesight as a talent too.

She scrambled on her elbows, pushing herself backwards as she tried to put as much distance between her, and the writhing figure in front of her whose skin was burning at the point of impact.

"WHAT!" the broken voice cried, its disbelief as clear as its disappointment. "WHO ARE YOU?"

The walls now felt like they were shaking. The anger in each syllable caused dust to fall from above and Bonnie moved quickly, hoping that she could find some safety behind the walls, instead of being out in the open.

Her back hit something. Not the stone surface she was expecting, no this was softer. Almost bouncy. With a horrified grip on her lungs, she tilted her head upwards, straining to see what it was she had collided with.

"Dead end, human."

The voice was now clear, resonating from only one place, which was above her. The figure was unlike any she'd ever seen; she would have quicker said it was a wax figurine who had melted than a living being. With sides slipping and oozing unidentifiable liquids that dripped down onto her, she could clearly see the resemblance to the demon that had attacked her. This was a man, or at least partially a man; his face structured the same as a human, but the features distorted. A nose that pulled to the left, brow bones that were too far forward and chins that seemed to stack on top of each other. Bonnie felt like she was waiting for him to slip to one side.

And he was so pale. The small amount of light let in by whatever holes were above them almost reflected his skin, and she could see veins of blue underneath, boldly coloured against the rest of him. If he wasn't the size he was, she would have assumed he was malnourished, but she also wasn't quite sure how weight worked with demons.

His hand gripped into her hair, pulling her back as she tried to lunge forward and out of his gasp, a pained and frustrated grunt leaving her as he did.

"Now, now. Struggling is futile," he gurgled, his words spilling out over his rotting teeth. "Just tell me where you got that arrow."

"From me."

Almost instantaneously it released her, and she fell forward, relief washing over her with the sound of Kimaris' voice. She would scold them later on what defined 'safe' in her words, but for now, she was just grateful that they'd got there.

Bifrons reacted in a very different way. He whipped around to look at where the voices had come from, a gasp escaping his over inflated lips as Kimaris and Gremory came into view. Their eyes quickly glanced over Bonnie and her cowering figure, making their scowls deepen. Bifrons cowered lower, his grotesque figure folding in on itself, and his feet taking him away from them cautiously.

"An honour," his scraggly voice hissed, far less confident than before. "Not one, but two of my brothers visiting me."

"We're not your brothers," Gremory corrected harshly, the usual kind emotion in his words absent. A gasp left Bonnie's mouth as he whipped his hand out in her direction, a streak of gold barely missing the side of her face. "Keep trying these tricks and we'll see what happens."

Bonnie followed the line of gold to only a foot behind her, where the demon was writhing on the floor in agony, its neck compressed by the item in Gremory's hand. Its arm hung lifelessly behind it.

It looked like he'd used a lasso, or a rope of some kind. Whatever it was, it glimmered in his hold and when the creature tried to strain against it, it only appeared to tighten.

"Change and surrender," Gremory ordered, his head tilting to the side as he eyes wrinkled, and Bifrons let out a noise that reminded her of the pained howls of a feline.

"Fineeeee," he croaked, resentment tilting his tone.

The figure on the floor that Bonnie had been staring at vanished, and the hulking form of Bifrons deteriorated into a smaller version of himself, almost half the size. What looked liked pieces of sludge dripped off of him and vanished, revealing a more human appearance under it, albeit still strangely warped.

Gremory gave a pleased, but tight, grin and flicked his wrist, bringing the item in his hands furling back towards them. Like a slinky, it shrunk down to a portion of its size, and Gremory attached it around his waist, clicking the two parts together.

"Fashion and function," he winked at Bonnie as he held a hand out to her, bringing her to her feet. "I can wear it as a crown too, but it ruins the hair."

"I'm glad that is what you're concerned about at this moment," Bonnie pointed out, brushing her trousers. "Remind me to clarify with you what 'right behind' means in the future."

"She speaks to you as though an equal—punishment is deserved."

Bifrons' face, although less in size, was still as grotesque and disgusted as it had been, if not more so now. He locked his eyes on Bonnie and stepped towards her, but Kimaris' long arm shot out, making him stumble back.

"Unfortunately, that one is off limits," he stated, jabbing his thumb over to her. "I doubt she'd be that delicious, anyway. Very bland and boring."

"Hey!" Kimaris shrugged at her offended tone, while Gremory offered an apologetic smile. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "That's the last time I'm being bait for you two. I get zero respect around here."

"How do you talk to us?" It was as though Bifrons' head was too big for his body, it twisted and tilted to look at her in surprise and suspicion, overturning the wrong way. Bonnie could feel his eyes peering at her, bloodshot and yellowed ones that flickered from side to side. "Are you a Sacred Whore?"

Am I a—what?

"No, she's just a human," Kimaris answered, stepping in the way of his view of Bonnie. "Which you may already know as I assume it was one of your stock that attacked her?" There's no response from the figure whose neck was bending to allow him another look at her. He clicked his fingers. "Ahem, Bifrons."

"No." He returned his stare to Kimaris, and Bonnie relaxed a little. "Not me."

"Are you sure?" Kimaris pushed as Bifrons attempted to get around him. "Because it looked almost identical to the one that was just here, and you don't seem to have many of them around at the moment."

Bifrons stopped and looked up at the man who stood at least a metre above him, the things that were supposed to be his brows pulling together in contemplation.

"Where?"

"Glasgow."

She could hear the change in his voice.

"No. Not me. Too far. Not enough power."

"Really?" Kimaris asked again, but this time let him walk around to continue looking at Bonnie as though she was the last meal on earth. "You're sure? Because you hear everything in this place, and I need you to be completely honest."

"Yeeees," Bifrons answered, his rotting teeth shining as he grinned at Bonnie, inching closer. "Too weak."

Gremory tensed beside her, putting an arm into her back to reassure her as Bifrons reached out, his claw-like fingers dangling near her face. She did not know what their plan was, but if he got any closer, she was going to run.

"That's a shame you can't tell us anything, I guess I have no reason to give you this basil then."

It was as though someone had flicked a switch: one moment he was in front of her, practically salivating while he stared, and the next he was back in front of Kimaris, his previously glazed eyes now wide and fixed on the tall man.

"Basil?" The voice that left him was now almost gleeful. The crackling tone of it slightly piercing to the senses, and terrifying in every way.

Kimaris' smirk widened as he reached into his jacket at the chest, pulling out something green and twirling it between his fingers. Bonnie expected there to be some other-worldly or magical element to what he had produced, but from where she stood it looked like the exact basil that was sold at her local shop. How bizarre.

But to Bifrons, it was more than that. The way he looked at it made her question what she knew about the plant. He gazed in awe, the previous lines of hatred disappearing from his skin as Kimaris held it just out of arm's reach. When he tried to take it from him, he lifted it higher.

"Like I said, it's a shame we have no reason to give it to you." Kimaris looked over at Bonnie and Gremory, giving them a dramatic roll of his eyes as he pulled out a huge wad of leaves from under his lapel. "What are we going to do with all of this now?"

Bifrons face contorted as if in pain, his lips curling. In a blink he had lunged for Kimaris' fist, his tongue practically falling out of his mouth, but Kimaris was quicker. He swung his hand upwards and above their heads, keeping the herb in midair, while his other pulled out an arrow from the other side and held it against the struggling mans throat.

"I don't appreciate you doing that. This jacket is quite expensive and you've slobbered on it," he said, his voice low with warning. "And as I've said—If you have nothing to tell us, then we have nothing to give you."

Bifrons grumbled. His shoulders shaking with either frustration or rage as he stared at the spot above them, his lips moving over silent words. Kimaris wiggled his hand and a small piece of the plant floated down between them, teasingly. The hobbit of a man inhaled, and the leaf shot up his nostril, making his whole body shake in pleasure.

"How about this," Kimaris brought his hand back down, holding the herbs like a bouquet. "For every question you answer, I'll give you more. How does that sound?"

He pulled a bit from the pile, handing it to Bifrons who instantaneously repeated the same action from before. It made Bonnie want to look away. But she didn't. She held it together, watching as his eyes slowly opened and a sort of resolve settled in them.

"Yes."

His voice was more even than before. It was no longer jarring or broken into pieces, but came out smoothly, as though it had calmed him.

"Great!" Kimaris gave a forced grin, starting to walk around the room as he looked at the items sitting against the walls. "Do you keep moving the bodies up at the graveyard?"

"Yes."

He passed him another piece.

"Are you the one that set fire to Boleskine House?"

"Yes."

Another piece.

"Why?"

Bifrons eyes flickered over to Bonnie. "Because I don't want humans living here."

"Why's that?"

His eyes darkened, his expression becoming more of a man in rage than a monster. "Because I live here, and I have for over a hundred years. They don't belong here. I do. I cannot leave, they can. They can go anywhere they choose."

Kimaris stopped, peering quizzically at him. Then he put not just a single stem but a chunk of basil into his outstretched palm. He watched as he gobbled it down, as though a starving man. Then he bent towards him, his back hinging like a ballet dancer at a barre, and studied his increasingly relaxed face.

"I see," Kimaris murmured, his gaze hardening. "How is it then that one of your children attacked her, if you say it's too far for you to have done?"

The previously enamoured expression slid off of Bifrons face as he halted in chewing, his eyes now returning some of their refusal. But the basil did the trick, whatever it was doing to him, and he winced slightly before squeezing his mouth into a line, struggling to keep quiet.

"It... wasn't...me," he gritted, eyes shooting between Kimaris' expectant face and the goodies curled in his hand. "Someone else."

"What?" Kimaris frowned, his expression as puzzled as Bonnie's. "How could they be yours if someone else sent them? That's impossible! Where did they come from?" At this, Bifrons shook his head, and the blue veins in his neck pulsed at his jaw. "Bifrons...!"

"From home," he snapped, his teeth gnashing with every word. "They came from home! They are the ones I left behind, repurposed for a new world!"

Bonnie did not know what that meant, but Kimaris' eyes popped open in an expression somewhere between fear and shock. He stilled for a second, before throwing the rest of the basil on the floor in front of Bifrons and turning to look at Gremory, who had already started walking over. While Bifrons clambered to the ground and began practically licking it, the two men huddled together, their voices hushed.

"Is that possible?"

"It shouldn't be, and even if somehow it was there's no way anyone would agree to it."

"Exactly, the risk is—"

"Unparalleled. The only thing that would convince anyone is if—"

"Someone had enough power, I know."

There was something in the way the two of them were talking, as if this was something they'd never had to experience or even talk about before. Bonnie wished she could follow along and understand it, but it was taking everything in her to keep up with listening, and her eyes had moved themselves over to more objects at the side of the cave, which were sparkling in the light.

Amongst the piles of bones and pieces of fabric that she pretended weren't definitely clothes of other people, there were boxes. Much like the ones she had seen in the tunnel, the jewels encrusted on the sides of them glistened, and as she looked around, she realised that there were many of them, all slightly different from the last. There had to be hundreds.

"Someone has a hobby," she whispered to herself, bending down to examine one that had the most intricate lining on the edges and sat out from the rest. The swirls on it were almost hypnotic in design.

As she stood up to bring it into the light, the corners of it grew hot and without warning, it started to glow in her hands. She looked over at the two men who were still crouched together in conversation, their attention completely taken.

"Um... guys?"

No response. The box got hotter.

"Guys!"

They looked over, their expressions annoyed at the interruption and probably ready to argue. But when they saw the glowing object in her hands, that was quickly forgotten. They ran to her, yanking it from her grip.

"It can't be," Kimaris said, rolling the object as though checking it. "How is this here?"

The noise that came from Bifrons was disturbing. The low chuckle of a dark creature that brought all eyes to him as he unfurled from his ball on the ground. The previous gloop that had hung was now receding, and revealing a stronger, yet still warbled figure underneath. It smelled like burning flesh.

"You think you know everything. That you're so above us here in the human land, forgetting about those you've left behind." There was a new strength to his voice, one that made the fear in Bonnie come back with a force. "But that's not all you forget, you forget what's coming. You forget the power in unity and the strength of your brothers. You forget what power lies in the realms you no longer acquaint."

Around them, the vibrations started again, making Bonnie's bones feel as though they were rattling. The darkness seemed to grow, seeping out from the shadows. When the smell came, she knew exactly what was coming.

"You forget who you truly are, Kimaris."

"We need to go!" she stated, grabbing their arms and knocking them out of the daze that had caught their minds. "Three times is not the charm!"

Kimaris blinked at her, his dark eyes clearing as she pointed at the corner where limbs had sprouted from the wall. With a grunt of effort, he threw the box to the side of them and it hit the wall with a resounding thud. Immediately, Bifrons whipped around, enraged and screaming as the box split in half and pieces flew in all directions. Behind them, the tunnel they had come from began to fall in, and their exit route quickly disappeared.

"This way!" Gremory shouted, yanking her towards a flat wall of stone which was lit by a stream of light. Hope filled her chest once again.

"Here!" Kimaris hurriedly thrust an arrow into her hand. "Hold this!"

Without another word he took off to the right of them, straight towards Bifrons and the black patches growing. At first, Bonnie wanted to yell at him to not be so stupid, but when she saw him leap and grab his arrow that was still pinned in the wall in one swift motion, she decided he probably didn't need her input. He ran across the wall as if it was the ground.

Gremory gripped her hand tighter. A demon had risen in front of them, blocking the way to the light. His belt unclipped instantaneously and flung out, stretching to slice the figure in half, and melting it down to gloop. The shrieks echoed around them. Bonnie spun around to see another running behind them, almost catching up.

"Kimaris!" Gremory yelled, making the raven haired boy look to them as he whipped his belt again. He wasn't far away, but he was cutting through at least two of the demons, and Bonnie could see that Gremory was pointing at the hole in the sky that he had just made bigger. It now let a pool of light through.

Kimaris nodded at him and sprang off of a wall, bits of stone flying behind him.

"You've got to hold on to me." Gremory was talking to her, his arm that wasn't holding the belt had wrapped around her tightly, or as tight as he could while they were running. "That's our exit."

It took Bonnie a moment to piece together the belt that had coiled around his wrist and the hole in the roof. When she realised, it didn't make the panic die.

"Okay," she whispered, looking back at the approaching demons and the only way out. She had to trust this idea more than staying here. Death was inevitable if they stayed, but at least this way they had a minimal chance.

As she gripped onto him, she looked over at Kimaris who was leaping and jumping over figures to make it to them in time. But she wasn't sure he would, his clothes were becoming increasingly torn with every claw that almost caught him.

"We have to go!" Gremory yelled, cracking his arm and letting the belt shoot through the hole in the cave ceiling. "Now Kimaris!"

As their feet left the ground, Bonnie wanted to close her eyes—after all, flying had never really enticed her. But she could only watch Kimaris. He ran halfway up the wall before propelling himself backwards, and towards the golden rope that hung across from it. He was so elegant, like a dolphin leaping out of water or a cat from a tree, he moved with a grace that could not be taught, and she was in awe.

But, as he headed straight for them, his arms outstretched to grab on, Bonnie saw the shadowy figure of a demon below him, leaping up at the same time and heading straight for his legs, where he couldn't see.

She looked at the arrow in her hand, feeling the heat tingling in her palm as she pictured Kimaris getting caught and dragged down, disappearing into darkness. Gremory's hands were full, there was no way he could help, but her—she could do something about it.

Kimaris' fingers were almost around the belt, the sun starting to cast down on them—and the demon below.

Right as the claws prepared to curl around his foot, she tightened her grip and then swung her arm, releasing the arrow downwards towards its snarling face and impending teeth.

It connected perfectly, right where its two eyes met. The noise it released was a pained howl that echoed through the surrounding air. It fell back, the force of the weapon pinning it to the ground, and then its skin began to bubble, its limbs flailing in agony.

Beside it, Bifrons appeared, his furious gaze merging into one of shock and loathing. He looked up at her, his black eyes watching in a way that made her skin crawl. His mouth opened, and in a whisper that she was unsure how she had heard, he called to her.

"Scarlet Woman."

The last thing she saw as they propelled to safety was the figure exploding into a million pieces of darkness, and the agonising wail of Bifrons that crumbled the walls and brought them crashing down on top of him.

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AN:// A bit of a long one so I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a vote and a comment if you are!! I love hearing from you guys! 

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