Chapter 26: The Devil Deals the Cards, Part 6

Sam fell back onto the bed, laughing from deep in his throat. He brought both hands to his stomach, shaking his legs up and down.

In short, like a child, but there was no point in holding back.

Life was fun and there was nothing wrong with enjoying it.

Satan, who was watching him as usual from the fireplace, seemed to have a different opinion on the matter. He was looking at him strangely for some reason, even though he should understand his pleasure. They were both demons, weren't they? What the hell was wrong with him?

"What's wrong?" Before he could think better of it, he asked defiantly.

"Nothing. It's just that you enjoy it so much."

"Isn't that normal? I'm of your blood, after all." Although he still wondered if Satan had impregnated his human mommy, or if he had corrupted, replaced, or somehow altered the soul of the child Mary Wright should have had. For him, there was no difference, since he had come to take the place of whatever had come out, however it had come out. But it was interesting to a certain extent.

"Yes, but you haven't even seen or felt what happened."

He had only felt the demons return to hell when they finished their task. That was true, however...

"I guess you can't understand since you're the king of hell and you're used to these things, but for me, simply summoning those beings to do my dirty work was a great high."

So, of course, the impact of the end had been much greater. There was no need to say that out loud, it should be obvious. Satan seemed thoughtful. Then, he believed, he shrugged his shoulders. It was difficult to know when he could only see his face.

"I see. It doesn't really matter anyway. As long as you fulfill your purpose, you can enjoy it as much or as little as you want.

We'll see each other again soon."

"Wait, what are you saying? Father, I've killed those four slippery bastards and I feel it inside me. I feel the power growing. I need..."

"I know what you need, but I already warned you. Creating that illusory space tires me, weakens me. And no, it wouldn't be any easier at all if I took you to a void, that's not how it works. You'll have to manage for now."

"How? Is there any other safe way to test a power I don't know?"

"As I said, figure it out."

"Father!"

The face in the flames disappeared.

Completely ignoring him. Sam, like a petulant child (it had to be admitted), kicked the wall. A useless gesture that did nothing to help him manage his frustration. Rather the opposite.

"You're still better than my other father, but if you keep this up..."

Sam shook his head, falling silent. Anyway, he had to get used to not depending on Satan's help. For now, they were allies with the same purpose, but sooner or later he would cross his path, he had no doubt, and he would be forced to eliminate him.

He had no allies. He had pieces on the board.

The only person he could unquestionably depend on was himself.

"That's not entirely fair," he spoke to the empty room, hoping that speaking aloud would help him put his thoughts in order. "Anabelle is mine. She'll do whatever I want because it's not about her, but about her mother, her brothers and sisters. She's mine, I have her tied hand and foot."

Two people. Only two people who would unquestionably have his back. He'd like to add Christina and Violet to that list soon, that he had slipped between the legs of the former didn't mean he had achieved that and with Violet he hadn't made much progress. Yet.

Regardless of progress, he still couldn't add them to that small list. That's what counted.

Sam started pacing around the room.

Thinking about the next murder, thinking about the power growing inside him, waiting to be discovered. He longed to find out what he could do now so much that it almost hurt. Powers were the keys to dominate and crush his enemies, to get away with it. How could he not crave it with every fiber of his being? How could he not tremble with pleasure thinking about the possibilities that would open up before him, if he achieved this or that?

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The third murder had allowed him to obtain the ability to summon demons. Only one type of demon, but still an incredibly powerful ability. It was a bit debatable since telekinesis was the first thing he had achieved, but generally each ability was more powerful than the previous one, more versatile.

Maybe he was rushing too much, turning three points into a pattern, but he kept thinking about it.

A safe way to experiment with his new power.

He just had to think about it. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Something like that had to exist, he wasn't going to settle for being patient and waiting for Satan to regain his strength and desire to help him. He would be unable to bear it.

Then something occurred to him and it made him feel like an idiot for not thinking of it before.

It was the first thing that should have occurred to him, the most natural thing really.

There were two people he could unquestionably depend on, so it was obvious who he should turn to.

——

"Are you sure this isn't some kind of sexual game?" Anabelle asked.

She was standing in the middle of her room with a blindfold covering her eyes. Just in case. In case, well, she saw something that might seem more infernal than magical.

He had no interest in the woman's sexual tastes (not this one's or anyone's, he was only interested in his own pleasure), but considering that the first thing she had thought of after being forced to put on the blindfold had been sex, he could get a good idea.

It was an unwanted glimpse into the private life of the housekeeper, especially now, thinking about what she might have done with Adams.

Under his orders, of course. He didn't forget that. It was good that she was an obedient toy, but he didn't want those mental images right now. Maybe in the near future, when Adams was dead and Anabelle was sucking his cock, he could think about that differently.

"I just want to test something. A magic I've been studying."

"Do you really need to be so secretive, sir?"

"Yes. I don't care if you don't understand, the point is I need you, and I also need you to keep your mouth shut."

She nodded.

Sam extended his hand. He extended his inner power, his will, trying to give it shape while drawing out what he carried inside. It was difficult to express in words, but he could clearly feel the difference between all his powers. He knew he was pulling on one he had never used before, without a doubt, pulling it to the surface.

It should become easier with practice. Hopefully, but he couldn't say that. It was like pulling a tooth. The same pain.

But he would do whatever was necessary.

"Sir. I can't see."

"I know, that's for this..."

"No, I'm telling you I can't see." Her voice trembled. If she weren't so scared, she'd be screaming. She took off the blindfold with hands that shook even more. "I can't see."

Her eyes were bulging out of their sockets, tears already burning in them, about to spill. If Anabelle didn't act quickly, she would naturally make a big scene and what he had been doing would probably come to light. It wasn't an obviously demonic ability, after all, so it wasn't a big problem, but he didn't want anyone to know about it either, it would reduce the range of possibilities, to begin with.

The worst of all would be if they caught Anabelle in his room. Adams would know that Sam was the one who had sent her for him. Adams would have good reasons to suspect him, keep him under watch, and everything would get complicated.

Sam crouched in front of her and hugged her, preparing to cover her mouth if she started screaming. Anyone would become hysterical if they suddenly went blind. He'd prefer to be deaf-mute rather than blind by far.

"Calm down, it will pass, it will pass." He had no idea if he was lying or not. It no longer seemed like such a safe way to test his new power, but even in the worst case, he could take her to a healer to recover her sight, right? Blind, she would be practically useless, damn it. "I'm your... your benefactor. I wouldn't hurt you. Right? You know that, right?"

Anabelle hugged him, squeezing him tightly, as if she were adrift clinging to a floating piece of wood. He could almost hear her thinking about the darkness that now dominated her world, as she dug her nails into his back. He felt the tears falling on his cheeks too.

He had said nothing but nonsense, but at least she hadn't started screaming, if it worked, it worked.

After a while that felt eternal, Anabelle broke the hug. And she also stopped digging her nails so hard into him. It was obvious that she had already regained her sight. The difference between her blind eyes, like foggy glass, and the eyes with which she looked at him now. Her eyes bathed in tears excited him.

"You could have warned me." Her voice still trembled, naturally. The time had felt eternal to him, but how long could it have been? Twenty seconds, at most?

In any case, should he tell her the truth?

"I didn't know it was going to happen."

Anabelle made a face. She knew he had been using her as a guinea pig from the start, of course, but not to this extent. He could easily have killed her or worse. He could have left her blind forever. But her opinion of him didn't matter. That woman would cooperate with him as long as her family depended on it. Her mother was getting better, but not enough to find a job. They not only depended on the medical care he financed, but on the extra pay that only he would be willing to provide.

As long as that remained true, Anabelle would belong to him.

And that wouldn't change soon.

Besides, when the massacre in this mansion was over, he would probably have to get rid of her anyway.

In any case, Anabelle looked away. It seemed she was going to say something, but in the end, she bit her tongue. Good, good, kneel before me. And that's what she did, another bow, another show of complete submission, and she left with an apology (not even she would know why) and calling him sir several times.

Sam sighed as soon as she left.

His new power wasn't useless, but it was somewhat disappointing.

Like the power to summon demons, it had limited use in his current situation. He couldn't take advantage of it as much as in a direct fight, for example.

Any person on whom he used this ability would lose their sight for about twenty seconds and he would have to catch them alone, so they couldn't tell anyone, ask for help.

That or use it only on one target.

Otherwise, everyone would know something was happening.

That is, obviously. An epidemic of blindness didn't just happen like that.

"Well, as daddy said," he practically spat, "I'll have to make do. And I already know who will be next."

The Devil Deals the Cards, Part 6: END