Jackson was frozen, not by seeing Mary force a kiss onto the Kitsune, but at the words the spirit had spoken to him, the way she had acted towards him . . . and the way it had made him feel. In truth, it was only one word that had struck him so forcefully, stopping all other trains of thought and leaving him blind and deaf to the happenings around him. It rang in his head like the bells of a church, only seeming to get louder the more he focused on it, and nearly impossible to escape.
[center]
[i][u]"Demon"[/u][/i]

[i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demon[/color][/i][/b][b][i][color=ed1c24]Demo-[/color][/i][/b]
[/center]

Jackson shook his head, breaking himself from his self-induced stupor. He was over this, and besides, maybe the Kitsune was just sensing what was inside of him. Yeah, that was it, there was no other explanation . . . right? Deep in his mind, he could hear Apophsis' hollow laughter echo throughout his mind, mocking him, mocking him for daring to hope that he'd ever be in control of his life other than how it ended. Still in somewhat of a daze, he stood up and walked over to the unconscious kid that the spirit had been trying to heal, slowly easing the guy on to his shoulder before turning to follow Kanoa out. All the while, he couldn't stop from violently shivering,, the cold of the cave sinking in more quickly through the dampness of his long-sleeved thermal, the fabric seeming to stick to the 3 jagged reminders, forever carved into his skin, always there to let him know exactly when his life began it's downward spiral into insanity. 

[color=9e0b0f][i]The fox isn't wrong, Jackson, you and I are one in the same now. You know it, and I know it, and everyone around you does to. They fear us, from the slightest shiver to the coldest chill, it lies present inside them . . . and you want them to, because it means they notice you. Just try and tell me it that isn't the truth.[/i][/color]

Jackson gave no response, because he couldn't deny it, he'd been feeling strange for a couple days now, and he only just found out why. He was losing himself to the terror inside him, and a part of him really . . . really liked what came with it. He felt empowered, confident, powerful, like a predator on the prowl. When the Kitsune had backed away from him, a strange look had come into his eyes, a predatory glare and a hidden half-smile that only she could see. It had been for a split-second, but it had been there, and with it a feeling of control and acknowledgement, of dominance and presence.He hadn't been shocked or disheartened by her response, but excited and eager to pursue it, to attack her, make her fear him, make her bend to his will. In the split second of time, there was no Jackson, nor was there Apophsis either, only the dangerous being that was left in their wake when the two souls became one.

[sub][color=6ecff6]". . . .Shit."[/color][/sub] He muttered under his breath as he walked, feeling a familiar wave of self-loathing and disgust wash over him. He couldn't let Apophsis get into his head with his mind games, or else he was as good as dead. . . or worse. Jackson tried his best to forget the dark spirit's whispered words and dark promises, instead focusing on anything else. The walls of the cave, sound of the water lapping in the cave, Mary's shirtless fo- Jackson immediately decided to rephrase his idea of 'anything', re-focusing his attention on getting the unconscious guy out of here. [color=6ecff6][i]Fuck, swimming him out of here is going to be a pain, why did I even volunteer for this in the first place . . . oh right, my body went on auto-pilot while I was dealing with possible demonification of my mortal soul.[/i][/color]

Great, now he was back on that subject again, fucking brillant. What else could possible go wrong for him today, the answer: just about everything and more. He sighed as he dived in to the water struggling to effectively swim while the other guy took up his other arm. After a short while, however, he had an idea that, while he didn't like it, would help him get up to the surface faster. And right now, he wanted to be as far away from that cave, and the fox girl as well for that matter, as he possibly could. Taking a breath to focus his energy, he felt his arm take on a chill before a etheral silver arm rose out of it, this one looking vaguely normal except for the fact that it was half-way rotted an seemed to be crawling with maggots and other disgusting things he dared not name. A trend he noticed with Apophsis' soul, it never took on the same appearance twice in a row, which did lead him to question what Apophsis actually looked like, but he always shook away the thought because he soon realized he didn't want to know if his other parts were of any indication.

His right eye blazing a soft silver glow through the lake's murk, Jackson had the arm grab the kid by the collar of his shirt, then released him, feeling the weight of the boy lessen, but the strain on his mind increased by a moderate amount. He pushed through it, however, and was able to rise up to the surface quicker than before, soon coming on to the shallow edge of the beast, the arm dragging the boy behind him aways before Jackson sent a command to have him eased down to the ground. The arm then dispersed into silver missed and flowed back into Jackson's body, the strain of using it is causing him to hold his head as it pulsed with a slight pain. 

Turning towards August and Maxwell, he gave a wave as he walked over to collect his stuff, putting on his shirt and jacket without bothering to take off his completely drenched shirt, his hands were shivering violently as he put on his pants, foiling his attempts to zip the zipper before he let out a curse and gave up, sitting down in the sand with a huff. He waited a second before he addressed the other two, wondering if he had interrupted something.

"So, Mary roofie-kissed the Kitsune and KAnoa is bringing it up shortly. Obviously we found the kid, the Kitsune drugged him or something, wasn't very good at it and gave him and overdose, which is why she came here as she was attempting to heal him. But she was attempting to feed on him though. I think that's everything important that happened down there." He reclined onto the sand, trying his best to warm himself up by rubbing his arms, and failing terribly due to his refusal to remove the offending article that was currently causing him to feel so cold. "So, have any questions?"

[@Constantine]
[@Spawnling]