Wales, England, 11th of August, 1888

Bethyinine stepped out of the carriage and onto the street, her prey followed after her. She smiled and walked up the stairs of the ebony house in front of her. She waited before knocking on the door which opened a second later.

”Oh, you came back sooner than I expected!” Luxcious shrieked.

”Well, the case wasn’t really too long, darling.” Bethyinine chided.

”Case? What case?” Luxcious sputtered as Bethyinine walked past him.

”I had jury duty Laurence, I thought you would have remembered that!” Bethyinine hissed.

”Sorry, I’ve just been having a long day so far.” Luxcious muttered.

He shuffled towards the door only to be met with the bartender who had just finished climbing the steps.

”You brought another guest home with you!” Luxcious yelled.

”Well, I didn’t bring him home, the judge made me!” Bethyinine retorted.

“So… are you two married by chance?” the bartender squeaked.

”What kind of person asks a question like that?” Bethyinine sneered.

”Someone who’s probably lost their mind or is just about to.” Luxcious answered dryly.

The bartender lowered his head, walked into the kitchen, and sat down at the table. Bethyinine smiled, sat down next to him, and absentmindedly started tapping her fingers against the table. Luxcious watched the pair and shrugged before returning to his office.

”It would be best to leave Bethyinine to her own devices. I just hope she doesn’t stay for long or ruin the furniture.” Luxcious groaned.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Bethyinine started making some salad. The bartender stayed at the table and simply watched her cook. She turned her head to look back at him and smiled before returning to her work. After around half an hour Bethyinine returned to the table with her salad in hand. She turned to her prey before handing him a plate and a fork. The bartender said nothing as he started to work on the salad.

”So, you’re probably wondering who, or what, I am.” Bethyinine cooed.

“Of course, I have a lot of questions, I just got accused of murdering my own friend for Pete’s sake!” The bartender spat.

“Well, then ask away my boy!” Bethyinine chuckled.

”Your name isn’t really Claire, now is it?” the bartender chided.

”My, aren’t we a clever bastard! Though I do have to say, what led you to that conclusion my dear?” Bethyinine smirked.

“Your mannerisms, they just seemed off, if that makes any sense. How you acted in the courtroom, it almost seems like you were someone else.” the bartender smiled.

”How clever of you, [O prey mine].” Bethyinine hissed.

“I beg your pardon…” The bartender stuttered.

Bethyinine grinned before tilting her head in confusion.

”Anyways, I have to ask, just what the hell are you?” He spat.

“[Death]. To your kind I am extinction itself. Though I for one prefer to be referred to as a judge, jury, and executioner. I’m the reason as to why all of you are still breathing.” Bethyinine chuckled.

“So, you’re some kind of god?” the bartender inquired.

”Darling! What kind of logic are you even using?” Bethyinine hissed.

”That was the only logical answer that I had.” the bartender muttered.

”Knowing your kind that does make sense. You see something that doesn’t look natural and refer to it with some aspect of divinity.” Bethyinine sneered.

”Do.. do we really do that?” the bartender asked.

”Yes! Of course, you do! Why else would some of your kin be throwing their lives away as sacrifices for me!” Bethyinine cried.

”Fair point, but why exactly would people be so willing to do such a thing in the first place? It’s not like you would understand or even care about them, right?” The bartender mused.

”Why, don’t you catch on fast?” Bethyinine declared.

“Well, I have studied myths all my life.” the bartender chuckled.

Bethyinine smiled and stared longingly into the eyes of her prey. Slowly her illusion began to fade away as her tail was now visible.

”[How would you like to spend eternity with me?]” Bethyinine whispered.

”What? Your lips moved, but you didn’t say anything. That or you did, and I just couldn’t hear.” the bartender stated.

“So, you can understand some things, just not everything. Now allow me to tell you in your own tongue.” Bethyinine chided.

The bartender simply nodded and smiled.

”Would you like to spend eternity with me?” Bethyinine repeated.

“What do you mean? How exactly would I spend eternity with you?” the bartender asked.

”What if I told you there is life after death.” Bethyinine stated.

”Ok, now you’ve piqued my interest, but you still haven’t answered my question.” the bartender sneered.

”Well, it would more or less be spending eternity as a part of me.” Bethyinine cackled and readied her claws.

”Whoa, easy there, no need to act rash!” the bartender yelled.

”What? You’re not ready to accept your fate [Darling]?” Bethyinine smirked.

”No, I’m not! Now please sit down!” the bartender hissed.

”Why should I listen to [prey] you?” Bethyinine snarled and lunged towards her prey.

The bartender did nothing to stop her, for why should he? To something like her, he was probably just another name. Yet another body for her to add to her ever growing-pile. So, he smiled when she pressed all her weight onto him. When she let him glimpse her razor-sharp fangs, he simply chuckled.

”[So, you find finality to be amusing?]” Bethyinine gasped.

The bartender didn’t answer and continued to laugh.

”[Are you not afraid of death! Do you not care for your own life!]” Bethyinine yelled as she broke into tears.

“So, you do care for us after all. You voluptuously murderous psycho.” the bartender smirked.

”Well of course I care for you, not you specifically, but you get my point. Your lives are precious to me, I find joy in just watching you exist. Whenever I do interact with you, one of you ends up dead. Not unwillingly of course, I would rather have my prey make peace with their fate. I don’t want to kill someone who wasn’t accepting of death. I would feel guilty if I did.” Bethyinine sighed.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

”So, you’re a creature who refuses to be called a god. You refuse to be worshipped and let people sacrifice themselves to you. Yet you kill those who are willing to die for you. Tell me then, is that not the thoughts of a hypocrite? Where exactly is your logic here?” the bartender sneered.

”Those who sacrifice themselves to me are willing. While they are willing, I am not, for I believe that all decisions must be respected. You cannot willingly throw your own life away in “service” to me and expect me to accept it. Only if I am wholly willing to accept your sacrifice will it be accepted. This is a two-way street that I operate on.” Bethyinine chuckled.

”Life is precious, and yet its value is subjective.” the bartender mused.

”Aww, now I don’t want to kill you. You’re just too much fun when you’re alive.” Bethyinine smiled.

“I can’t tell if you’re being genuine or not. So, I’ll just take your word as is.” the bartender chuckled.

Bethyinine nodded and went to sit in the foyer. The bartender followed her and watched as her tail swayed back and forth. Bethyinine turned back to look at her guest and watched that something captured his gaze. She giggled and went to sit down in one of the chairs next to the fire. The bartender sat down next to her, his gaze still fixed on her tail.

”So, you’re transfixed by it?” Bethyinine asked.

”By what? Your tail? Yes, it’s rhythmic swaying is rather captivating.” the bartender mused.

”I figured as much.” Bethyinine chuckled.

”How exactly would I live forever?” the bartender inquired.

“Your body will die, yet your soul will be a part of me. You keep your consciousness, and you exist inside my mind. You will be a voice in my head if you please.” Bethyinine mused.

”So, that’s immortality? Living vicariously through someone else? That doesn’t sound too exciting.” the bartender groaned.

”Well, there are other ways of gaining immortality. Yet they have had volatile results to say the least.” Bethyinine chided.

”Understood, so there’s only one way to gain immortality if that’s the case.” the bartender stated.

Bethyinine smiled and walked over to her prey. Her tail slowly rapping itself around him, starting with his chest and slowly working its way up his frame. The bartender watched and chuckled as his movements became increasingly restricted. He simply shrugged as his captor’s tail wrapped itself around his throat. Bethyinine walked around to face her guest as a Kubrick-esque smile overtook her face. She chuckled and watched as the life slowly faded from his eyes which were surrounded by his pale blue skin.

Bethyinine placed her hand on her prey’s chin. She smiled and sat down next to his lifeless corpse. The fire roared behind them as embers danced around the room. Bethyinine reached out to grab one, but it drifted away from her. She sighed and looked at the corpse of her guest. Something felt off about it, about the act that she had just committed.

”Am I to torment myself like this? Am I forever destined to kill those that I love?” She lamented as tears poured down her cheeks.

Bethyinine got up and knelt before the corpse of her prey. She gazed longingly for a time into his sky-blue eyes.

”No, I can change, I will change. You showed me that there is more to myself than just this.” Bethyinine weeped.

She touched her hand against him one last time before whispering in his ear.

”I will not fail you.” she muttered.

Bethyinine smiled, hoisted the corpse into her arms, and walked upstairs. Luxcious watched in abject horror as she entered his office. He gazed at the corpse which Bethyinine was holding and then her. He could see the sorrow in her eyes, all the pain that she carried, all the guilt that she bore.

”You kill your prey, and yet, you mourn their deaths.” Luxcious mused.

”And? So what, who cares if I feel remorse? Who cares if I feel any real emotion? I do, I care, not you!” Bethyinine yelled.

“Why exactly did you come into my office exactly?” Luxcious inquired.

Bethyinine just looked at him and refused to answer. She sighed and just started to whistle as tears poured down her face. Rain began to cover the window as the sky turned gray. Luxcious watched as bolts of lightning spread through the clouds. The screams of thunder followed them only a few minutes later. Bethyinine got up as the thunder echoed throughout the room. She walked over to the window, taking the corpse along with her. Her claws touched the glass, feeling the cold rain through the window. Bethyinine smiled and simply vanished from Luxcious’s office. Luxcious shrugged and just went back to his work as the rain continued to fall.

Bethyinine struggled to drag the corpse onto dry land. After finally getting it onto her island, Bethyinine sat down and rested for a while. Once she had finished her rest, the sun had started to set on the horizon. She smiled and laid down next to the corpse. The two of them watched the sunset together for a while. Bethyinine stared into the sunken eyes of the corpse. She noticed the lack of light in his eyes and frowned.

After a few more hours, Bethyinine buried the corpse in the sand before going to sleep herself. The next morning, she dove into the sea to catch some fish. Oddly enough, all the fish seemed to be hiding from her. No matter how long she searched, Bethyinine couldn’t find any. She sighed and started to head back up towards the surface. Yet as she made her way back, the fish began to return to the coral reef. Bethyinine smiled and immediately began to chase after some of the larger fish.

She managed to grab three of the four bass that swam past her. Bethyinine smiled before slowly devouring them one by one. She enjoyed feeling them squirm as she devoured them inch by inch. After that, Bethyinine swam off to find more fish to devour. Several hours passed by before she finally returned to dry land. The sun was directly overhead as Bethyinine went to sit next to the corpse. Upon locking eyes with it, a feral urge overtook her, and Bethyinine lunged towards the corpse. She quickly pinned it to the ground and began laughing. Soon Bethyinine started to lose consciousness as her feral urge took further control over her.

Once she finally regained consciousness, Bethyinine looked up to see the moon shining in the sky. She gazed at her surroundings and noticed that the corpse was gone. She sighed and simply went to sleep, waiting for tomorrow’s endeavors to come carry and her away. Bethyinine was awoken the next morning by a seagull poking at her scales. She hissed before grabbing the bird and plucking off its feathers. Once that was done, Bethyinine slowly began to tear off its wings. Now that the bird was completely flightless, she put it back on the ground and chuckled as it stumbled about.

After a few minutes, Bethyinine grabbed the bird by the tail and dangled it above her. The seagull struggled and tried to free itself from her grasp to no avail. She smiled, opened her maw, and slowly lowered the bird inside. The seagull made one last attempt to free itself before its vision was consumed by darkness. Bethyinine chuckled for a little while before coughing up a handful of feathers. She laid down on the sand with her head in her hands and watched the tide roll in. Her tail swayed behind her as the leaves of the nearby palm trees drifted in the wind.

Bethyinine yawned as the moon took its place in the sky. Yet she did not go to sleep and instead dove beneath the waves. The reef was now full of eels and octopuses alongside schools upon schools of fish. All of them helping to illuminate the water as Bethyinine swam past them. Some of the eels swam over to her and began to encircle her. Bethyinine grabbed one of the eels and scratched its chin for a moment. She smiled and watched as the second of the two eels worked its way down her frame.

She chuckled as it coiled itself further and further down her body. She could only see the frame of the eel through the bright neon cyan lights along its body. Eventually, the lights disappeared from her sight as the eel seemed to dart behind her. A few moments later, Bethyinine felt her body shake and shuddered a little. She looked at the first eel which just absentmindedly stared at her. Bethyinine could see something in its eyes, a small spark that wasn’t there before.

The eel moved closer to her and Bethyinine tapped it on the nose. Bethyinine smiled and simply swam off further into the reef. The eel followed her, its gaze was fixed on her tail. Bethyinine turned to look at the eel and groaned in sheer annoyance. She turned her head back and noticed a grouper swimming nearby. Bethyinine hastily darted towards it, yet the eel reached it before she did. Bethyinine hissed and watched in anger as the eel greedily devoured its prey, her prey.

”Fine, have it your way.” Bethyinine muttered.

She lunged towards the eel; its slender frame now bloated by the grouper. Bethyinine grabbed the thief and began to smile. She noticed that the eel did not struggle, nor did it make any attempts to free itself. The spark in its eyes was now growing brighter and brighter. Bethyinine watched in horror as the creature slowly moved towards her. She felt a mix of both rage and confusion as the eel got closer and closer to her. Bethyinine then fixed her gaze to the grouper which continued to struggle despite the futility of its situation. She opened her mouth to laugh, and to her horror, the eel rushed itself inside her maw.

Bethyinine attempted to force the eel out of her mouth to no avail. The creature had already dug itself in too deep for her to even reach. Now she struggled to breathe as the fattened eel forced its way down her throat. After a moment, Bethyinine regained her composure and hastily swam to the surface. She could feel the eel wriggling around inside her and that made her sick. Once Bethyinine breached the water’s surface she scrambled onto dry land. Upon feeling the sand beneath her scales, she immediately drifted off to sleep.

That following morning, she woke to rain caressing her scales. Bethyinine smiled for all but a moment as she felt the eel once again. It sickened her, the very idea that a creature was so willing to do such a thing. She dared not to look down at herself out of fear of what the eel might have been doing inside her. Bethyinine struggled to think about how such a creature was even still alive at all. Normally they would be long dead by now, and yet this eel was somehow still alive, unlike her guest. Bethyinine hastily rushed over and unburied the corpse from the sand.

She looked into his eyes and started to weep. Then she knelt next to his ear and a thought overtook her mind. Bethyinine started to sing her lullaby, slowly increasing the tempo as time went on. Hours passed by before she finally stopped singing. Bethyinine stopped to catch her breath and looked up at the corpse before her. She smiled upon noticing that the skin had returned to its normal complexion. Then Bethyinine felt a hand touch her cheek and she looked up at the corpse.

“I missed you.” Bethyinine whispered.

”Did you now?” the bartender chuckled.

Bethyinine nodded and pounced on the bartender as the sun set on the horizon. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

At last, she was at peace, she was no longer alone…