Chapter Three: No Mercy from Jopp

He called me stupid, didn't he? I was just being friendly, that old geezer. How was I supposed to know to not give my name to not be possessed? Why didn't my parents give me more than one name, too?! Thanks a lot, fam!

Oh, well. What's done is done. He told me the same thing, that the last angel died, and that's why the demons are coming out. They're hungry for human souls and all that jazz. I didn't expect for him to stare at my house like it was stabbing him and lifting him up for a smackdown. I could only guess that maybe he was a forest nymph at some point before becoming enraged. I would be mad as hell, too, if someone killed my friends and turned them into their house. Where was he when the forest was being lumbered, though? Did the power of the angels keep the demons at bay? I had so many questions, but Jopp wasn't interested in playing trivia all night.

Once I glanced out the window and saw the witches dance at their usual campfire, Jopp became silent. If Death had a sound, it would've been at that moment.

I found myself at the mercy of Jopp's whim as he moved my body faster than my nuts could follow. My hands reached into the campfire and threw the hot ashes into the faces of the witches. They screamed as they batted away the embers.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" the witch with black hair shrieked. Her fiery green eyes were livid as she tried to punch me. Jopp smirked before paralyzing her with a blow to her neck. She fell like a limp noodle, and her hair caught fire from being so close to the flames. I wanted to save her, but Jopp wasn't having it.

The smell of burning human hair and flesh isn't something you want to keep in your brain. Jopp kept me from saving her, and all I could do was yell at him to do something. It was then that I learned he could shut me out and control me completely. "Don't do this, Jopp!" My voice didn't echo in my head. My emotions flowed from me, but Jopp was like a wall that blocked anything from controlling my body. I felt like a zombie that could walk and talk with someone else at the remote. I could still see what he was doing, and it was nothing pretty.

The other young witch bolted into the deeper parts of the forest. Her golden hair fluttered behind her as the leaves wisped and twigs cracked beneath her feet.

The old witch stared in awe as Jopp approached her. Was this what she was dancing for? To meet an ancient demon hellbent on eradicating humans?

Her white hair reflected the crimson glow of the moon. Sad, grey eyes gazed at Jopp's unfathomable ones. "The last angel has perished," she notified. "Command me, oh, ancient one."

"You worship this devil," Jopp hissed. "What has he ever done for you?"

The old witch smiled as she held up her hands. "He has given me life, for I am immortal." She showed him the mark of the goat on a bed of roses on the back of her hands.

Jopp laughed before he sneered. "That won't protect you from me." Claws emerged from where my fingers used to be. They were as red as the sun on a dark day.

The old witch screamed as the claws cut into her wrists. He sliced into her slowly, as if enjoying the wretched wails. Black blood spewed from her deep cuts, and most of it stained my shirt. Inklets of the blood began to travel up my clothes and seemed to aim for my mouth. Jopp collected them into his claws and threw them into the fire.

I wanted it to stop, but Jopp was beyond my reach. This was my body, dammit! How could he?!

The torture didn't end until her hands were hanging by threads of flesh. The old witch herself had lost too much blood, and she lay in the dead leaves, unconscious.

Jopp stared at her body as the inklets of blood manifested into the rotting corpse of a half-eaten goat. Its lower half was gone, leaving the bottom of the spine protruding from its still-moving corpse. The gurgling sound that came from its mouth released a flow of maggots that began to crawl up my legs. Jopp didn't seem alarmed but rather fascinated. He closed his eyes as the maggots began to fall off and wither away. Frost had formed around him, killing any creatures nearby.

What kind of ancient demon was this Jopp? Red claws and impervious to fire, yet powerful enough to drop the temperature around him in seconds.

Even I didn't want to mess with him.

The blonde witch was still out there. My heart went out to her. Part of me wished she could get out of this alive. That part died when Jopp appeared in front of her. She crashed into him and gasped. Jopp didn't spare her a glance. Something else, something dark was nearby. Was it another demon? I tried to get Jopp to answer, but he was utterly focused on detecting the entity.

A soft meow escaped the shadows.

"Penny Lee!!!" I shouted. "Get out of here!!! Jopp will kill your cute furry ass!"

It took everything I had to warn my cat buddy. Her black body blended into the darkness, and her golden eyes continued to stare back at Jopp. Neither of them moved until the blonde witch dashed deeper into the woods.

Jopp growled before setting off after her. I sighed with relief, knowing that Penny Lee would live to see another day.

Jopp chuckled as he gave chase to the witch. "You'd rather save your little puss than your own human kind?"

"Penny Lee is my only friend," I admitted. "She's been with me since I was a kid."

"She hasn't aged a day, has she?" Jopp mused.

I didn't know what to say. Cats could live for twenty years, right? Right?

Jopp caught the blonde witch by the hair and pulled her body close. She smelled like frankincense and pine. She tried to wrench free from his grip, but his claws cut into her hips and shoulder.

"The last angel was killed by you," Jopp snarled. "You knew what she was; you knew what would happen."

That was news for me.

The blonde witch hissed as his claws clasped her throat.

"Everything you did to her, I will do to you." He started by biting off her fingers, one by one. She screamed until her voice gave out. Black blood dripped down her quivering lips.

Jopp chewed on the fingers & crunched the bones. His blue tongue licked his lips before he held up her nubs for hands. Inklets of the blood wriggled on the ground until he froze the air. Frost formed on the witch's body, and she trembled. Jopp pierced her arm from the wrist to the elbow with an ice dagger. The crack of bones and rips of muscle sounded through the quiet night air. The shock of pain made her stagger, and she fell to her knees before him.

While this was going on, I wondered why was Jopp doing this? Did he know the last angel? Did she mean something to him?

Jopp seemed to answer by evicerating the witch's belly. An unborn child wriggled amongst what was left of her on the forest floor.

"They sacrificed the last angel and her unborn child," Jopp explained, his voice laced with anger. "This world is doomed, now that I'm here."

"Did you know her?" I asked.

Silence met Death that night.