Branded. (AkiBlue and Bowels)

[bowels]

“Aren’t you just a button?” A woman, quite obviously suffering from mid-life crisis, cooed daintily. “Shoot—it’s like you were made along with the shop, don’t it! Right, Al?”

The portly, listless man she’d elbowed, Al, was unresponsive, his humdrum, brown eyes fixated on an aimless particle that had long-since taken flight. The woman’s face twisted with annoyance, and she abruptly dug her elbow into him harder. His eyes burst wide, and he unintelligently muttered a few constants slurred with some vowels. As if awoken from a reverie, he looked left and right before nodding, an incoherent grumble of sounds following. Her wrinkled cheeks tugged upward, her lips pulling into a smile—one that indicated how many face lifts she’d gotten in the last decade.

“Here, darlin’,” her irregularly tan arm stretched across the threshold of the white countertop, “keep the change. You’re just the cutest darned server I ever did see! This must be your callin’.”

Lily, slowly and quite awkwardly, took the offered twenty, and forced a very crooked (and wavering) smile. The woman, with all of her Southern charm, batted her blue eyes into a flirtatious wink before turning on the heel of her pink boots, swatted her husband, and made her way out of the store.

She held her breath until they were gone, her whole body releasing. It wasn’t the first time she’d been put in the line of fire of obnoxious tourists just drooling over their little café, but this had probably been, by far, the most unsettling. The woman had pinched her cheeks damn near three times, and without so much as a blink of her eye. That woman had some nerve, assuming that her life’s destiny was to continue working at ‘Flo’s Soda Shoppe’. Her raw, heavy hands balled up into a weak fist, and she shook her head.

From then on, she carried through protocol. Closing time had come and gone 20 minutes ago, and with that crazy bat talking up a storm and perusing all of their little doo-dads and knick-knacks, she was already behind schedule. Her light pink character heels clicked on the glitzy, checkered tiles as she approached the front door with a yellow broom, using it as a lever to meet the button that locked it tight. Afterward, she cleaned off the few tables and the bar, soaked the ice cream scoops, and shut all the freezers. Bringing all of their little gadgets in their display window to the front was just the icing on the cake.

Flo’s Soda Shoppe was Waterloo’s blast to the past, as well as a hub of great income. The shop was nothing but a fancy ice cream store decorated with 50’s-era décor that sold neat, witty things, but it was so much more to the people that often passed through the small town of Waterloo, Iowa. With the airport nearby, travelers usually took a while to scavenge Waterloo for anything satisfying, and Flo’s Soda Shoppe was usually the first thing they came across, what with all the big, neon lights and checkered furniture—or the girls kept in the form-fitting dresses that billowed out in extravagant skirts, cutting just below the knee.

Why she was still stuck there, she wasn’t sure.

“Meant to be here…” she mumbled to herself, in spite, as she scrubbed down the retro countertop. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’d prefer to live somewhere where the population of people exceeds the population of corn.”

By the time the cute, aqua-blue clock ticked over 10:42 P.M., Lily had finished her duties, and after tugging off the ridiculous apron and shrugged on her black, mock-pea coat, she was out. Her heels clicked against the faulted concrete beneath her, and she tucked her aggravated, red hands into her pockets, careful not to harm the clumps of napkins that were stuffed within them.

Lily didn’t belong there; but wasn’t that the thought all young minds pursued? Her bright brown eyes gazed up at the looming harvest moon and her heart began to ache. She only wished she could see this somewhere else, somewhere big—somewhere that was happening. Agriculture did little to inspire her artistic muse, and the longer she stayed, the more she felt her will and soul crush beneath the suffocation of, well, Waterloo, Iowa—by her stupid job—and most of all, by the very dry funds in her bank account. She was 20 years old. Why was she stuck here, of all places?

Behind her, she heard a ragged breath. Curious, she stopped in her tracks, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips as she turned to find nothing but grass swaying in the night’s cool breeze. Dismissing it, she shook her head and resumed her brisk walk once again—only to be interrupted by the tumble of a rock. This time, her heart leapt, and she whipped around, to the point where her brown, naturally (slightly) curled hair bounced enthusiastically.

Nothing; not a thing in sight.

She gave a small, airy chuckle, and shook her head. This time, though, when she turned around, a face was directly in front of hers—skewed by the dark, but still just as intimidating. His thin lips screwed into a tight, amused smile.

“’Ello, love,” he groaned, his voice rattling, like a loose piece in an engine, “don’t you look like a tasty bit?”

Lily didn’t have the sense, or modesty, to scream. All she did was inhale deeply, her already delicately pale skin dropping to a sheer white, before being roughly tossed against a brick wall with inhumane strength. Every bone and muscle in her body cried out with agony, and she felt the pitiful tears of pain welt up in her eyes, though she did her best to keep them back.

He smiled—a tainted, cruel smirk. His black, studded jacket glistened at this angle beneath the dim moonlight, and his greasy features came into view. His black eyes, though so bottomless and eternal, gleamed with mischief, and held an anomaly within them. His hands gripped around her shoulders, and they felt as if they were going to shatter.

“You scream, and I break your pelvis,” he grumbled throatily into her ear, his knee driving between her legs forcefully. Lily held her breath, obediently, though instead craned down to bite into his bare skin as hard as possible—and though all of her jaw muscles became dedicated to a single bite, she didn’t draw a single drop of blood, and all he did was chortle.

“’Ah, ain’t that cute. I’ll have fun with you.” He snarled huskily.

[AkiBlue]

(*picture will go here* -can't find a pic that I deem worthy- >.<)

"You died again Alex. You aren't worth my time. I really hope you know that." Alex stood, dusting off his torn and blood stained shirt. "Then kill me. Besides, how was I suppose to know drinking the poison would actually kill me?" "Nah-even if you are an idiot. Our Boss still needs you as a pawn." In the all black and empty space, another older and a lot angrier male stood over him. His red eyes full of blood lust stared at Alex. Yet Alex only stared back with uninterested dull red eyes. "You still have that assignment on Earth to get done."
"Impress the 'Boss'. Rank up. Got it. Now send me back to Earth." The older demon who was nothing more than fangs and claws growled lightly and snapped his fingers."

There was a shearing pain through the demon's body, and he gasped sitting up and looking around. "Damn, I hate that! Is..this corn..?" Alex lifted a stalk beside him and then tossed it away, realizing he was surrounded by corn.
Instead of the fiery red his eyes once were, they were now an electric blue that seemed to pierce anyone's soul.
Everything about Alex was human. He was an average height, with a skinny build. Jet black hair and electric blue eyes accompanied his new human form.

"Now where the hell am I?" He mumbled, standing on his feet. Seeing as though no one would answer- and because he was in the middle of nowhere- he started walking toward a group of lights. It had to be a city. Thankfully, he was right. Alex could almost smell the souls of everyone. Some were happy, some were upset, and...one particular one was fearful. This caught his attention and he set out on a journey to discover why anyone in this small town would be in that much fear.

Wearing a black hoodie, Alex slipped the hood over his head and put his hands in his pockets. If anyone saw him, he would just look like another guy walking home, and it was going to stay that way. The close he got, the stronger an awfully pungent smell got. "There are more demons here?" Alex frowned. He didn't appreciate such competition, especially if he was going to be in the city, so he pursued after the demon. It would be easier to just take its life rather than asking nicely to get out of town.

"How degrading...How awful." Alex's hood covered his left eye, making him look even more mysterious. He watched the seen go about in front of him. A demon trying to rape a human. "You're a sick dog you." He chuckled evilly and smirked, showing rather sharp canines. Ignoring the girl, he looked at the man. "How about you leave the girl there...and fight me? I haven't been in a good one for awhile." His smirk never faded as he looked at his potential opponent.

[bowels]

(It's so fine! <3 Also, feel free to do whatever you'd like with this demon; if you wanna kick his ass and kill him, go ahead! XD)

This asshole didn’t wait to roughen her up. He liked his sex violent—forced, ruthless and in utter chaos. Therefore, when she tried to draw in a breath, he knocked the breath clean out of her chest with a swift elbow, and when she croaked insignificantly and tried squirm in retaliation, he nearly knocked her lights. Her nose had snapped to bits under the pressure, and blood was running down the front of her face like a faucet.

“Much prettier,” the guy had muttered, and Lily gave a pained growl, trying to muster up some sort of strength to save herself. She could already feel part of her face swelling up alongside her bloodied and battered nose.

Then, another voice came, and with the good eye she had left she looked toward the source. It was another man—seemingly unimportant, save the mysterious hood he sported.

To keep her in place, her predator seized her throat and secured her to the wall, and with his forearm and elbow pressed her into her spot tightly. She gave an insignificant cry.

“Another demon?” he mused, and a wolfish smirk tugged at his lips. Then, without so much as a blink of an eye, he cupped Lily’s jaw and smacked her head back against the brick, hard. She slumped to the ground, temporarily knocked out. “Sounds fun to me.”

The demon bared his teeth together tightly, and in one packed blow he threw his arm out, in an attempt to knock the other down to his behind.
This asshole didn’t wait to roughen her up. He liked his sex violent—forced, ruthless and in utter chaos. Therefore, when she tried to draw in a breath, he knocked the breath clean out of her chest with a swift elbow, and when she croaked insignificantly and tried squirm in retaliation, he nearly knocked her lights. Her nose had snapped to bits under the pressure, and blood was running down the front of her face like a faucet.

“Much prettier,” the guy had muttered, and Lily gave a pained growl, trying to muster up some sort of strength to save herself. She could already feel part of her face swelling up alongside her bloodied and battered nose.

Then, another voice came, and with the good eye she had left she looked toward the source. It was another man—seemingly unimportant, save the mysterious hood he sported.

To keep her in place, her predator seized her throat and secured her to the wall, and with his forearm and elbow pressed her into her spot tightly. She gave an insignificant cry.

“Another demon?” he mused, and a wolfish smirk tugged at his lips. Then, without so much as a blink of an eye, he cupped Lily’s jaw and smacked her head back against the brick, hard. She slumped to the ground, temporarily knocked out. “Sounds fun to me.”

The demon bared his teeth together tightly, and in one packed blow he threw his arm out, in an attempt to knock the other down to his behind.

[AkiBlue]

"Of course it sounds fun." Alex smirked, but never moved a muscle. Even when the demon lunged forward to attack, he stayed still.

"Your attacks will be nothing more than-" A thought sprang into his head. Damn...I'm only in my human form. I can't use all of my powers.
At the very last second, Alex manage to dodge to the demon's side, and using much force, knocked him onto the ground. Despite the kid's stature, he was abnormally strong. "How about this," Alex spoke calmly after dodging each attack, not earning a single bruise. The other demon stopped to listen, breathing heavily.
"What." He hissed in frustration. "How about we call this the end, and I let you run away? It's obvious you can't go on anymore."

"You bastard!" Again, the demon lunged toward him. And yet again, Alex side stepped him. This time, one his claw appeared, letting Alex slice the demon's side open. If that happened to a human, the sight was probably suppose to be gruesome, but not to a demon. Instead of blood that was suppose to pool out, it was replaced with what looked like black ink. One final blow to the neck with Alex's claws, and the demon's entire body was a puddle of black liquid, until it slowly faded away. "Tch, what a dirty demon."

Alex lifted his hood back onto his head and crouched down in front of the dead unconscious body. It just seemed too easy to take her soul. And he didn't beat her himself, so she was basically tainted. He then thought of a wonderful idea, it made the corners of his mouth curl into a smile. One way to impress his 'Boss' was to kill other demons. Why not use the girl as bait? But of course...he had to get her fixed up. With one quick sigh, the wounds on her face healed along with the other injuries she earned, though some did leave a scar. Alex continued to crouch in front of her, waiting for the human to wake up.

[bowels]

Without outside interference, she would have come to within ten minutes. After Alex’s healing touch (or breath, or influence; whatever it was), though, she was back in the realm of the conscious in a matter of seconds once her injuries dissipated into mere blemishes.

There was a permanent scar near her nose where the impact had broken through the skin and rippled to shatter the tiny bits of bone and cartilage, but it wasn’t disfiguring. Hiding in the midst of her semi-curly brown hair was also a scar on her scalp, though it would only be found through massaging her scalp or buzzing it clean. And, besides those two marks and the leftover blood, it looked as though nothing had ever happened.

She fell back to consciousness with a deep gasp, and her amber eyes flew wide open to take in whoever was in front of her—her predator, her savior?

“Hey,” she said weakly upon realizing it was not her attacker but the one who had confronted him, and she looked around. “Where’d that guy go?”

She was glad to see him gone, no doubt, but she was definitely curious as to what had become of him.

Then, she remembered her nose, and she lifted her hand up to tap it. It was a little sore, as was the rest of her body (particularly the upper-half), but it wasn’t broken. She could also see out both eyes, and that surprised her, too.

“Whoa,” she muttered, “I’m all healed. Did you…?”

[AkiBlue]

"Well good morning." Alex smirked, tilting his head a bit as the girl woke. He watched the girl check herself for broken bones and bad bruises, staying silent until she was done. Soon enough she would realize she wasn't dead. The gasp only made his smirk grow, giving hints toward his sharp teeth. Alex lifted himself to a stand and raised an eyebrow at the mention of the other demon.

Alex tilted his head back, looking over his shoulder and grinned. "Oh...he ran away. The guy was a big baby. Don't worry, you won't see him anymore." His vibrant blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the night. He stared at her and waited for her to stand. Alex thought about introducing himself, by it seemed too formal- and all that stuff would come later.

Without a sound, he stepped closer to her and had crouched in front of her again, never taking his eyes off of her. This time, he slipped a finger over his lips. "Ssh." He chuckled, moving her hands away from her scars. "They were never there." Alex leaned his back against the wall, and then looked up to the sky. "You know, there will be more of guys like him...trying to come after you- well you and other people. But you'll be...a more noticeable target." He paused to make sure she was listening. "I suggest you get a...bodyguard or stay indoors. Or in churches..." The last part was mumbled under his breath. This time, Alex hid an evil smile. He didn't want to be too obvious with his generous offer. He had to sell it, and play the part.

[bowels]

It was very unlikely that he’d simply run off, she thought. He couldn’t have been that big of a baby if he’d roughed her up the way he had; though, according to her rescuer’s strange dismal of it, it supposedly hadn’t happened. Yet, there was still dried blood down the front of her face, and where she swore there had been damage was quite sore. Surely her nose must have broken something for it to have bled so much.

This was still a lot to take in, and even though he’d remedied her wounds she was still a little disoriented, maybe even dizzy. Her eyebrows drew in tightly as she tried to work out what possibly could have happened exactly, and when he began to give her suggestions for her next steps of action it only got worse.

Her bright eyes turned to him, and though they were still quite luminous they gazed at him flatly. Her jaw clenched thoughtfully. Then, after an elongated moment, she raised her shoulders up in a single shrug, and shook her head almost angrily.

“What the hell kind of advice is that?” she asked. Her arms slapped down at her sides again limply, and she looked him up and down. Her voice was still raw, and she asked again, “Who was he? You’ve obviously got more answers than I do. Tell me everything.”

[AkiBlue]

Alex rolled his eyes. The girl came to, and was now upset. He stood up straight and faced her, with a smirk. It was deathly quiet as he took a step closer. With one quick movement, one hand was by her head and pressed against the wall. "You know...It would be wise to rest after the injuries you had." His voice was in a menacing whisper. "Why are you so upset girlie? You're alive aren't you?" He scoffed as he leaned a bit closer. "I could've let you die...and had no remorse about it." His eyes narrowed only for a second and then he stepped back.

"Well. I didn't." Alex ran fingers through his hair, letting his hood fall. He sighed and then glanced at the girl. "You wouldn't survive against things like monsters and the latter." He chuckled and slipped his hands in his pockets. "You want me to tell you everything? You asked for it."

"I'm your worst nightmare." He grinned evilly and and then winked. "The big guy that tried to fondle you is- was a demon. And you would've been dead if I hadn't been here a second earlier."

Alex spun on his heel to walk away from her, though he did pause and look back at her. "You should really consider it though. The bodyguard thing...Demons can be nasty things."

[bowels]

Lily visibly tensed when the man spun around and stamped his hand directly next to her head. He was very close, but despite previous events she held herself together again; she looked him in the eye and maintained her breath, and reminded herself that the odds were in her favor if he’d (supposedly) saved her once already.

When he pulled away, agreeing to explain things, she listened as closely as she watched him. In the back of her mind she memorized his gait, the way his shoulders shifted with every step, and beyond all of these confusing thoughts she found something tickle her artistic muse. She stashed it away for later.

Demons, she thought to herself. It seemed ridiculous; impossible, in fact. Yet, he’d healed her, and that was impossible—and the man had possessed unnatural strength and roughed her up good. Maybe it was half of the truth? Maybe it was an all-out lie? Or, most startlingly, perhaps it was the truth?

He started to walk away, and she clambered up to her feet. Fortunately she didn’t land face-first, though it’d been a close call.

“Wait!” she called out to him, and a little clumsily she took a few steps after him. She was determined not to crumble, though. “You think a normal bodyguard would save me from a demon? And if he was a demon, then what would that make you? Mysterious, gloomy vigilante?”

The last part was said out sarcasm, of course, but that was just a key piece of her personality.

[AkiBlue]

"Careful. You might hurt yourself again." He teased and put his hands on his head. He stopped as he was told and waited for her to catch up to his side. "A normal bodyguard will give you about five seconds to plead for freedom. Two might even give you a chance to convince them." He laughed and put his hands back into his pocket.

Alex swiftly turned facing her. Again, at a whisper he spoke. "It makes me your key to survival." He had her right where he needed her. Now all she had to do was take the bait. Alex began walking away slowly so he could keep up. "But I do suppose...I could be wrong. And this could be a one time thing." He paused and shrugged. "What do I know?"

The night seemed to be at a standstill. Everything was quiet, and nothing seemed to move. "You should get home. Things like to play in the dark of the night." This made him wonder where he'd crash for the night- but there were more important matters to deal with, like his mission. This mission, which included the girl.