Dominic stared at the still-smoking ruins of the warehouse his goons had taken Shou. It was a total loss, but he had insurance, and could invest the net worth elsewhere. He didn’t mind the building. No, what he minded was that out of the dozen armed guards he’d paid, not a single one had any real idea what had happened.

Those who’d emerged unscathed had conflicting stories about a warped realities, insane, endless hallucinations, and Satan herself burning the place down. Shouyousei hadn’t been located in the rubble, but he somehow knew they wouldn’t find her body.

How did this go so terribly? This was his backup plan; he’d have Shou kidnapped, stage a rescue, be the hero she wanted him to be, and convince her that she needed his protection. Instead, he’d lost… well, he’d certainly lost Shou, for the time being.

Two of the guards particularly had gotten the worst of it. They’d be in the hospital for the foreseeable future, and he visited them personally to try and gain at least some idea of what was going on.

He went to the exterior patrolman’s bed first and sat down next to him, rubbing his eyes. “Please. Try to focus.” What was his name again? Tom something.  “Tell me what happened Tom.”

“Oh. It’s you. He said you’d want to talk to me.” Nothing else was forthcoming, and Tom turned back to staring at the ceiling blankly.

“Who?!?” He grabbed the man’s neck and stared down into his soul. “You saw him. Who did this? Who came after us?”

Shuddering, the man swallowed. They could find no external source of injury, but the paramedics said it looked like he’d suffered a heart attack and an apoplexy at the same time. It was a miracle he’d lived.

“He showed me eternity. He told me… so many things. He whispered secrets. Spent years talking to me. It made so much sense… I wish you could hear him talk. Then you’d understand too.” He didn’t react to the hand at his throat, as if he didn’t even notice it.

With a sigh, Dom released him, repeating the question. “Who. Give me a name. A description. A fucking skin color, something!”

“He said he knows who you are. He knows what you can do. He’ll be coming for you next.” With a sigh, one of his best guards and personal friends lay back and closed his eyes. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? That was the only part I didn’t understand then, but I get it now. You’re one of them.” Not a question now, but a statement.

Dom sighed, standing to leave as he considered it. One of them. One of what? The easiest conclusion was that he’d been drugged with some kind of psychoactive drug that had destroyed his mind, but those didn’t sound like the words of a madman. He turned towards the burn ward, turning thoughts over and over as he made his way down the hospital halls. He was so absorbed in thought that he didn’t take time to mentally prepare himself for he found there.

Bo had nearly half his face missing, wrapped up in gauze, ear gone, scorched away. Even covered with medical gauze it was disturbing, more so was the constant stream of gibberish flowing from his mouth. “She’s coming back she’s coming back she’s coming for me. Can’t hide can’t run she’ll find me. Going to finish what she started.”

Now this was the gibbering of a madman. “Hit the brakes Bo, talk to me. Did you get scorched on the way out?”

He’d needed to talk over the man to get in a word, but he wasn’t sure Bo had even heard him; a steady stream of words continued from his mouth as his remaining eye darted back and forth. “Wasn’t the fire that burned. Coming for revenge. Can’t run can’t hide can’t run can’t hide!” He was gently flailing against the restraints, constantly trying them as if he expected them to vanish, so he could get up and leave.

“Hey…. Hey Bo, it’s me. It’s Dom. You’re going to be alright-”

“NO!” The scream caught him off guard and he jumped back. “She said I was special. Said she’d come find me and keep me forever. The devil’s going to swallow my soul Dom, she’s going to torture me forever!”

Dom took his hand and gripped it hard, trying to bring him back to earth. “The devil isn’t real, Bo. Tell me what you saw.”

Shuddering, dripping with sweat, he stared up at Dom, still whispering his mantra of ‘can’t run can’t hide.’ Over and over and over. Dom leaned into him, pressuring down on his soul, clamping into his mind like a vice, hard enough to stop the panic, at least for a moment. “Tell me what you saw, Bo.”

Free for the moment, tears dripped down his face as they both struggled against his madness. “She’s worse than hell. Shouyousei wrapped herself in fire and just walked out. All she did was touch me… l-look at the pictures.” Dom had seen them already. They weren’t pretty. “You have to kill me Dom. You have to kill me before she comes back, before she finds me.

Soul magic was Dominic’s favorite, but even he couldn’t maintain his grip on Bo’s mind for long. It squirmed, writhing in his grasp like a wounded serpent, flailing until it broke free, panic and madness consuming him again.

Dom stared down at him and sighed. Nothing to be done about it. Even if his body healed, they’d never put his mind back together. He pulled a syringe out of his pocket and emptied it into Bo’s IV drip. That, at least, was one mercy he could afford. Then, he sat there and waited, holding his friends hand, listening to that maddening chant until the next drip fed through his veins. With a faint shudder, Bo collapsed backwards, breath escaping him, mind easing as death became a reality, a release, far better than the alternative. “Thank… you…” he whispered as he faded.

Then, as his soul left his body, Dominic reached over and plucked it out of the air. His mind was shattered, too warped by pain and fear to risk, so he plucked it out of his emotional cloud like plucking a pit from a peach before he devoured his comrade’s essence. When he’d finished, fresh power boiled in his veins, and he crushed what remained of Bo’s soul, granting him the oblivion he so clearly desired.

“Right. Now, to find Shouyousei. She has some explaining to do.”