The God Who Haunts Worlds

Ivan's Interrogation

(Theseus Attucks)

Night Reaper was strapped down to a wheelchair. Even with his strength, he wouldn't be able to break free. Personally, it was a shame; if he could escape, then I'd have a reason to crush his skull. Although, I doubt the two heroes, Torngarsuk and Hanuman, would let me. On the far side of the table, Detective Ripley sat opposite Reaper.

"Would you rather I called you Ivan or Night Reaper?" Ripley asked.

"Ivan," Ivan answered. "I never wanted an alias."

"Alright Ivan, can you please tell me how you got to Duat without having magic of your own?"

"I was brought here against my will."

Ripley furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"I had just drained the blood a college student when some woman appeared out of nowhere. She called herself Lily."

"Could you describe Lily?"

"Middle Eastern woman with red eyes, black hair, brown skin, and dressed in a black gown. After she appeared, she manipulated the darkness to swallow me up. When the darkness cleared, we were in an abandoned building."

"Which building was it?"

"I didn't bother keeping track. After she brought me to the building, she told me to wait there and then left me. I disobeyed and fled...only to find that I was now on Duat. After that, I wondered around looking to see if I could find a source of blood."

"Why do that?"

"Vampires don't live long without blood; I only survived for as long as I did because I always played it safe. Anyways, I found a place that sold blood but had neither an ID nor the right currency. I attempted to rob a random woman behind a restaurant, but she got away, alerted a bunch of mercenaries, got a hero involved, and so on. The polar bear could fill you in on the details." Ivan gestured to Torngarsuk.

"Ripley, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask Ivan a question," Torngarsuk said.

"Sure," Ripley said.

"Thank you. Now, Ivan, you butchered my friends without remorse, but when you gutted me, you said that you were sorry; could you explain your line of logic?"

Ivan took a deep breath. "My victims usually suffer head damage because I tend to knock them out before killing them; I do this before they see it coming, and then they can't feel fear or pain. As for the mercenaries, I was acting out based on my instinct for self-preservation. Since the mercenaries were threats, I acted with extreme prejudice. As for you...I acted out of anger, and not instinct, which is why I apologized."

I wrapped my hand around Ivan's throat and began squeezing.

"THESEUS!" Ripley shouted.

I ignored her and focused on Ivan. "Do you think that it was only your victims that felt pain? What about their families and friends? How many people lost mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, all because you couldn't keep your fangs in your FUCKING MOUTH!"

Ivan strained as he tried to draw air into his lungs, but my grip was too tight. I could absolutely do it. I could strangle him to death here and now. Fuck, I could twist his head and rip it clean off; he wouldn't be the first vampire to die this way, and he would deserve it too.

My vision went foggy and I fell the to the ground. Ivan gasped for air as I recovered. I was confused momentarily before I figured it out.

"What did you do to me?"

"I directed your blood to leave your brain so you wouldn't have sufficient oxygen to stay conscious," Torngarsuk said. "You were out of line and I had to stop you."