Chapter 14: I Am The God of Hellfire, Part 14

"I shouldn't have listened to you," said Christina, looking at him intently with her hands on his cheeks as if she was going to see something the healers had overlooked.

He appreciated her concern for what it was, another thing he could take full advantage of. Well, he had to play his part. Sam took a deep breath, more to buy time than anything else. He had been thinking about the right words.

He wasn't sure he had found them, but maybe there was something more important than the words themselves.

"If you had intervened earlier, that madman would still be on the loose. Things went wrong, yes. But it wasn't your fault. And it could have been worse. It could have been me, not Jaiden." He forced himself to grimace. "I know how that sounds..."

Like the damn truth, no more, no less.

Even if he weren't this way, who would worry about others before themselves, the so-called heroes? Well, the completely insane, there was no way around it.

And Sam wasn't crazy.

Christina suddenly kissed him on the forehead, as if she were the older sister. As he had said, he appreciated her concern, her love. It was another tool to get what he wanted. But she was going a bit overboard.

"I understand you. I'm sorry." Why exactly was she apologizing? Would she know herself? That was the million-dollar question. "Does it still hurt?"

"A little." Sam answered without thinking twice.

There was no practical reason to hide the truth from her. Besides, it was no longer possible. He had lost count of the times she had asked him that. Seriously.

In a few minutes she would have asked him again as if something could have changed for the worse (he had had the opportunity to look at himself in the mirror and he looked perfect, without the slightest imperfection on his skin, much less scars) if it weren't because Violet suddenly entered the infirmary, slamming the door.

Violet sighed with relief as soon as she saw them, approaching.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been there, but... I'm glad you took care of it."

"Of course. I would do anything for him too," Christina replied.

She's never told you otherwise, little sister, he thought.

No reason to say it out loud.

If they had a little rivalry because of him, he would only reap the benefits, it couldn't affect him negatively. In fact, it wouldn't hurt for them to be motivated to outdo each other.

Or just motivated, maybe the older one didn't care about that, didn't even realize her younger sister's inferiority complex.

In any case, he would keep quiet about it.

It's not like he thought he could so easily fix an emotional problem that would have been cultivating for almost two decades, anyway.

He wasn't any psychologist.

In fact, he had only had a detrimental effect on Christina's mental health. Two family members less, three soon, in the same number of days. And that was just the beginning.

"Sam, I'm so sorry this had to happen," Violet said. "One thing after another, with no time to catch your breath. It hasn't been a good start to your sweet eighteen."

Sam simply shrugged. Acting like a normal person was tiring. He hoped they would detect that tiredness and interpret it in their own way. Certainly there was little he could do or decide to convince them that he wasn't Sam, unless he was exposed as the devil's son by someone.

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The two women would seek the most charitable interpretation of his actions, what fit into what they saw as natural for him.

Because they loved him.

"It is what it is. None of what happened makes me happy," Sam said. It could be the biggest lie he had told since he arrived in this world "but, as I was telling Christina, it could have been worse. That madman could still be on the loose, for example."

"Do you think he killed Evelyn too?" Christina asked, looking in his direction, but through him. At least for now she had her head elsewhere. It was obvious what. Her first time seeing a corpse.

Sam might be a monster, but he understood the difference. He understood what the normal reactions were supposed to be.

Still, he wished she would get over it already.

He didn't even have that idiot's corpse in the middle, which could have prevented it all if he hadn't let his friend drag him into the jaws of death...

Although of course, if Jaiden had had an ounce of common sense, his plan wouldn't have been nearly as effective. Part of its success was due to his mental deficiencies.

"Why not, sister? He killed Jaiden and the poor bastard was helping him."

Believing all along that he was committing a stupidity, helping a friend who had gone mad with grief, but one way or another he had done it.

Christina frowned, biting her lower lip.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of that, but..." There was barely any inflection in his tone, no real feeling. It was almost worrying that they would realize something was wrong. Acting wasn't his forte and he had had to do it very often, non-stop.

However, they didn't notice.

They just kept looking at him with wide eyes full of concern for him.

"What? It doesn't matter," Christina said. "You had it much worse."

More like a little kid on Christmas, he thought.

The thing is that once again she was putting her older brother's interests above her own. She was a good little sister. Sam smiled, thinking: I can't wait to make you mine.

Violet put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. Surprising him.

"She's right. Just relax and let yourself be taken care of, only."

"Soon Ivor will be locked up and... we can all get over this," Christina said.

In fact, he would help her get over it faster than she thought.

Since Ivor would never get anywhere. Instead of letting the rubble of his life slowly crush him, he had to put him out of his misery.

It was a shame, but there were more important things than sadism.

He didn't mean fulfilling Satan's orders, although it wasn't something he could afford to ignore, at least for now. Socially destroying Ivor and ensuring that he was locked up in some asylum for the mentally ill clearly hadn't been enough.

That is, nothing had changed inside him.

He needed to kill him, above all, to obtain a new power. Using telekinesis to make Ivor kill Jaiden had been orgasmic. What other dark powers would the gift of his demonic blood hide?

He really couldn't wait to find out.

——

Sam snuck out as soon as night fell. Despite how tired he was, he hadn't allowed himself to even take a nap, or close his eyes for an instant.

Even if it was just one last job, he still had work to do, that was the point. He wanted to go to sleep knowing that all the loose ends were tied up.

He could have entered Ivor's room using the mansion keys, but even if he had found a way to steal the keys from Annabelle and then return them to their place (because otherwise it would be as if he had simply asked for them, when dawn came she would know he was the killer), that added one more step.

Many more things that could go wrong.

It was better to finish the job in the least risky way possible. Theoretically, at least. Just like when he escaped from the roof, he crawled along the wall until he reached Ivor's window. He opened it from the outside with his powers.

Maybe he could have done it just by pulling, but he didn't want to let go of the wall to try that.

So, he went for the safe option.

He slid into the darkness of his victim's room without making a sound. No problems. There was no one else inside, naturally, but neither were there guards watching at the door. He knew that for sure, it wasn't just an assumption. He had taken a look a few minutes ago.

Even if they were out there, right next door, they wouldn't see anything. They wouldn't hear anything.

Not until it was too late.

Sam rummaged through Ivor's desk until he found what he was looking for. He lifted the letter opener, but not with his own hands.

Then he used it to slit the little son of a bitch's throat.

He made a very deep wound. He couldn't scream, only choke on his own blood.

Just like Jaiden.

And he stayed by his side, so he could see him, even in the gloom, so he could look him in the eyes and know who was stealing his life. Smiling, he was always smiling in this world, this was happiness.

The hope to dream and the power to fulfill your dreams.

"Sleep forever." Sam laughed softly, his whole body trembling with pleasure.

And when death suffocated all trace of light in his eyes, Sam turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

If anyone were out there to see him, his shadow distorted and elongated by the light of the moon, that gigantic blind eye, they might believe him to be some kind of creature. Maybe a human spider.

One thing was clear, the true devil had gotten away with it.

It was a perfect victory.

I Am The God of Hellfire, Part 14: END