Ari rattled each window trying to figure out which ones were locked and which ones were not. The ones that were, were up on the third floor and too high for him to jump from. It was no surprise to him that the demon had thought of this before him. As he said once before, he was well over thousands of years old. His name was ancient in of itself.

There was one last window left unchecked and Ari walked towards it. He stopped a couple steps away as soon as he noticed Cyrus' presence. His green eyes looked into his, for a moment, before cutting from his and walked towards him. Since being here, Cyrus paid no mind to him and looked at him as if he were an annoying bug. He did not want him here and Ari did not want to be here. If only his gazes did not hold the feel of anger and murder, he would have asked for his help. He was too loyal to Auovin, nonetheless.

As he stepped closer, Ari backed away. Cyrus closed in the space and pressed his body against Ari's until Ari felt his back hit against the wall. His breath hitched in his throat as Cyrus bent down staring into his eyes. He was a tall man with long blond hair. Compared to him, Ari was quite small in stature and seemed much younger than he really was in face of this demon.

Ari turned his head away as Cyrus' finger touched his chin.

"Hold still. Let me look at you... "

Ari grabbed Cyrus' wrist and tried to move his hand away from him, but he would not budge. To them, he was weak, something to be trifled with. Ari knew he was powerless against them the way he was now. He had to become stronger, so then, just maybe, they would not take him so lightly.

Cyrus turned Ari's face and continued to look at him with a critical eye.

"You are very much human," Cyrus mumbled. "Such soft skin and features. Why is it that you are slaying demons? You seem much more of a house servant or a whore."

Ari saw his fangs as he spoke. He was the same as Auovin, Ari concluded and pressed his back further against the wall. There was no amusement to be found in his voice or face. He gave nothing away, but the semblance of malice. He tried to move away again, but Cyrus jerked his head right back causing him to yelp. Cyrus' grip fell from his chin and grew tighter around his throat. He could hardly breathe before he decided to let him go.

He scoffed in distaste. Ari could see it in his eyes as they narrowed into tiny little slits.

"Do not believe yourself to be special, human." Ari continued to cough as he took in some much-needed air. "When he tires of you, in which he will, I will kill you myself."

Ari wrapped his own hand around his throat and stared back at Cyrus unafraid. His blond hair was tied back close to the ends of his hair. Unlike the time before, he wore a long sleeve shirt and a leather vest hiding his bite marks. He cocked his head to the side and stepped closer to him causing Ari to reach behind him for anything that could be used as a weapon.

"Cyrus."

Cyrus turned around and lowered his eyes as Auovin approached from the other end of the hallway.

"Had you kept him away from the windows as I asked?"

Cyrus nodded as Auovin took a hand through his hair and smiled. They kissed and they touched, but their relationship did not seem romantic no matter the many times Ari had seen them together. It struck him as odd. He did not let his mind linger there for long. Instead, he continued to push himself back up. He stopped the moment Auovin's eyes fell on him, however. His eyes went wide, for a couple seconds, before blinking away from him.

"Ari."

Ari heard as he rolled the r in his name. He had an accent so unfamiliar and archaic-like. He made the simplest of words sound very ancient. How old was he, Ari wondered with kneaded brows. Again, curiosity ate away at him like a festering wound. He was poison. Every bit of him.

"Shall I show you something today?"

Ari kept his mouth closed and continued to stare into his amber eyes. They were more golden than he had realized. Instead of his hair being pulled back, it swept across the sides of shoulders and down his upper back. He wore no shirt, only pants. Unlike Cyrus, his chest and neck were free of bite marks or any scars, for the matter.

Auovin grabbed hold of Ari's wrist and pushed him further down the hall until they reached the stairs. He pushed him again causing Ari to grind his teeth and go to the bottom floor. Ari watched as Auovin walked to the front door and opened it. Ari narrowed his eyes and stayed still wondering if the demon was trying to play a trick on him, test him. He liked to toy with him and play all sorts of deadly games. He could never be too cautious.

"Come here."

Ari's eyes lowered to the ground.

"Are you afraid now?" it laughed. "Do not be. After all, I am nothing but a demon. Something that you are quite familiar with, no?"

He was right in that. However, most demons could not speak. Most demons could not laugh and grin and fill him with the chills of uncertainty, curiosity. As always, he gave in to him and took a couple steps outside the door. His eyes widened in horror at the sights that laid before him.

Burning, everything was burning.

Dozens and dozens of bodies littered the ground. Men, women, children, he had seen them all lying there lifeless and soaked with blood. Ari blinked repeatedly as he walked further. The smoke from the burning buildings filled the air with ash making it hard to see anything from above. He covered his mouth and pushed further into the town.

His heart hammered out of his chest as he saw some townspeople still alive and being dragged across the cobblestone by some demons he had never seen before. Some were red with large dark eyes and horns protruding from every part of its skin. One spared him a glance, flashing him a smile full of jagged teeth before continuing on as if it had never seen him.

He continued forward, mouth agape. Soon, he shut it and pursed his lips. He could nothing but close his eyes not wanting to see any more of it. Auovin grabbed his shoulder turning him in another direction. Out of instinct, he lurched back seeing Seeres crawling from out of the shadows to drag bodies back into the darkness. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Wyhils tearing into dead flesh. It made his mouth water at the ill feeling nestling in the pit of his stomach.

"Do you not like this surprise?"

Ari looked at Auovin with deadened eyes.

"I had waited two days for this for you. I had expected more of a reaction than this one," the demon said as his lips twitched into a smile.

"How am I to react to this?" Ari cut his eyes away from him as tears threatened to come from his eyes. He was boiling with anger, so much anger and nothing to do with it. He had never once felt so helpless as he did then.

Ari sensed the demon's eyes on him, assessing him as he always did. He pushed him making him walk further into the massacre. He stepped over the dead bodies only to splash into a puddle of blood. Auovin walked on them as if they were grass, dirt beneath his shoes. Ari clenched his hands tight into fists and bit down against the bottom of his lip until it bled.

"What are you to do? What are you to do?" Auovin asked. "But watch?"

As they reached the clock tower, Ari could hear a voice coming up from above.

"Burn, burn, burn, burn," it sang as it pranced around the raging fire and banged its fist against a human head. "We are going to let it all burn!" it cackled.

As Ari turned to look at Auovin, Ari saw him moving his index fingers to the rhythm of its song. Soon, his laughter joined in the cacophony. People were screaming, shouting their cries for mercy, and Ari could do nothing but watch in horror as his world burned around him.

"Did you think I had forgotten?" The demon's voice pierced through Ari's ear. " You running away."

Ari's body shook.

"You think all demons are the same? We are not." He felt his smile on the skin of his neck sending chills down his spine. "Because, little Ari, you will soon come to know I am far much worse."

Truly, then, he was afraid.