LinieBaru: ObsessionIF: Chapter 06 (Patreon)

It's been 6 days since the last chapter was published. I guess this is an early update.

Stark lay on his back in the narrow bed inside the church room and stared at the plain wooden ceiling above him. The boards ran in straight lines from one wall to the other and a few thin cracks showed where the wood had dried over the years. Afternoon light came through the single window and painted a pale rectangle across the far wall. He kept his arms folded behind his head and let his thoughts turn over the same hard facts again and again. He could try to kill Subaru right here and now. The idea sat in the front of his mind like a solid stone. 

She was still a demon no matter what story she told about coming from another world and her body carried the same natural hunger for harm that every demon he had ever met carried. Ending her would remove the constant danger that followed her wherever she went. The only thing that stopped him from rising and reaching for his axe was the knowledge that civilians lived all around the church. A real fight between them would not stay neat or quiet. Walls would break. Magic would fly. People who had nothing to do with either of them could die in the crossfire and that price was too high for him to pay.

Running away was not a clean answer either. He could slip out the window or walk straight through the door if she left him alone for even a short time. His legs still held the speed Eisen had beaten into him and he was certain he could put real distance between them before she caught up. 

The problem came after that. 

If she discovered he was gone and the anger took hold of her she might turn that anger on the first soft targets she found. The children who had laughed with her earlier in the day lived only a short walk from this building. The priest who had already suffered enough under her control still moved through the halls. Stark had seen enough battlefields to know how quickly a demon’s rage could spill onto the wrong people. Leaving her alone with that risk felt almost as bad as starting a fight in the middle of the village.

It had taken a great deal of quiet talking and careful patience to convince her not to stay inside the room and stare at him through the entire afternoon. She had wanted to sit on the stool again and keep her eyes fixed on his face the way she had done for the last several nights. He had spoken in a calm voice and told her he needed rest and space if he was going to heal fully. She had argued at first and then slowly given in when he promised he would not leave the building. From the soft sounds that reached him through the wood he understood she was standing right behind the closed door. Her presence was not only about making sure he stayed put. She wanted to remain close enough to hear him breathe and to know that nothing stood between them except a thin barrier of planks. The knowledge made the air in the room feel heavier.

He had no clear idea what had caused the change in her. On the day they had fought inside Graf Garant’s domain her face had stayed calm and almost empty of feeling. She had swung her weapons and spoken the same short phrase about her superiority that showed nothing but the cold focus of a hunter. Now every expression she wore pointed straight at him. Joy and worry and a kind of desperate hope moved across her features in rapid waves whenever she looked in his direction. He did not particularly believe the story she repeated about being a human who had woken up inside a demon’s body after some strange transfer from another world. 

The most likely truth was that she was simply mentally unstable. 

Everything he had watched her do since the first day supported that idea. She had been ready to cut off her own horns because he asked. She cooked food that did not belong to this world and watched him eat it with the intensity of someone who believed a single meal could rewrite the past. She played with village children while hiding the proof of her nature under a cloth turban. None of those actions belonged to a clear and steady mind.

Stark knew he was not a very intelligent man. Frieren and Fern had sharp planning and a long view of history. He carried the axe and the willingness to stand in front of the danger. Even so he could still put together something close to a workable plan. He had decided they would leave the village together in the morning. He would tell her they needed to move farther north to a safer place and she would agree because any suggestion that kept them side by side already matched what she wanted. Once they reached open ground far from houses and children he would choose the moment and attack. If the first strike failed he would simply keep fighting until her strength ran low and an opening appeared. The fight would be hard and dirty but at least no one else would die in the process. That single fact made the plan worth the risk.

He felt almost nothing toward her except a thin layer of pity. She was a demon and demons carried instincts that pushed them to harm people. Even when she named those instincts love the result stayed the same. She forced her attention onto him without asking whether he wanted any part of it. She kept him close by threat and by soft words that never quite matched. The pity he carried was the kind a person might feel for a wild animal that had broken its own leg and still tried to hunt. It did not change what needed to be done.

A soft knock sounded against the door. Stark turned his head on the pillow and waited. After a few seconds Subaru’s voice came through the wood in a careful tone.

“Stark. Are you awake?”

He answered without raising his voice.

“I am awake.”

The door handle turned and she stepped inside. The turban still covered her horns and her hands stayed empty at her sides. She looked at him lying on the bed and then at the empty stool near the wall.

“I brought water. You should drink some.”

She set a wooden cup on the small table beside the bed and then stood there as if waiting for permission to stay. Stark sat up slowly and reached for the cup. The water tasted clean and cool. He drank half of it before he spoke again.

“You do not have to stand in the hall. I told you I will not leave the building today.”

Subaru shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“I know. I just feel better when I can hear you. The hall is quiet and I keep thinking something might happen.”

Stark set the cup down and looked at her directly.

“Nothing is going to happen while I am resting. Go help the priest with whatever work still needs doing. You have been making him do too much of the load since we arrived.”

She hesitated and then gave a small nod.

“I will check on him. But I will come back soon. If you need anything just call.”

She stepped back into the hall and closed the door with soft care. Stark listened to her footsteps fade toward the main part of the church and then settle somewhere nearby. She had not gone far. The knowledge that she remained close enough to hear a whisper settled over him again. 

He lay back down and returned his eyes to the ceiling. The plan for tomorrow stayed fixed in his mind. Leave the village. Reach empty ground. End the threat before it could spread any farther. The pity he felt for her did not soften the edges of that decision. It only made the whole situation feel heavier as the afternoon light continued its slow slide across the wall.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘ 🫀 ⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

It was almost midnight and Subaru lay on the thin mattress in the small side room she had claimed for herself. She tried to close her eyes and force her body into rest but the strange demon anatomy she now inhabited refused to settle. Her limbs felt too light and too heavy at the same time. The soft rise and fall of her own breathing sounded wrong in her ears. Sleep hovered just out of reach no matter how still she kept herself. 

A faint echo began to move through the back of her mind as if someone else was speaking with the exact same voice she now carried in this body. The words arrived broken and distant at first. She caught pieces of them one after another. 

Disappointing. 

Kill. 

Devour. 

The echo grew clearer with every passing minute and the meaning behind the fragments pressed against her thoughts like cold fingers.

Disappointing. 

Kill. 

Devour. 

A deep urge to eat rose from somewhere below her ribs and filled her mouth with the memory of sharp hunger. She sat up and walked to the kitchen without lighting a candle. 

The dark did not trouble her eyes the way it once had. She opened the cupboard and pulled out whatever food remained from earlier meals. A piece of cooked meat went into her mouth first. It tasted like dry sand and turned to grit against her tongue. She spat it into the basin and tried a thick slice of bread. The same sandy texture filled her senses and made her gag. Fresh fruit from the basket offered no better result. Each bite left her emptier than before. The idea of walking down the short hall to the priest’s room and sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of his shoulder rose unbidden and refused to leave. The voice in her head grew louder and more insistent with every rejected mouthful. 

Kill. 

Devour. 

The words repeated until they drowned out almost everything else.

Subaru’s gaze landed on a bright red apple that sat alone on the counter. She picked it up and turned it once in her hand. The skin felt smooth and cool. She brought it to her mouth and took a firm bite. Sweet juice flooded her tongue and for a few seconds nothing changed. Then the effect arrived all at once. A wave of deep relaxation rolled through her muscles and the loud voice in her head began to fade into a distant murmur. The hunger eased. The urge to hunt quieted. She stood in the dark kitchen and let the calm settle over her like a warm blanket. It felt nice. She wanted to rest.

She left the half eaten apple on the counter and walked without clear direction. Her bare feet made almost no sound against the wooden floor. Hallways passed in a soft blur until she found a door that stood slightly open. She pushed it wider and stepped inside. A bed waited against the far wall. Without any question or pause she lay down on the mattress and pulled the nearest blanket over her shoulders. A warm shape rested beside her under the covers. She reached out and wrapped both arms around it. The body pillow felt solid and steady against her chest. She hugged it tighter and let her eyes close. Sleep finally claimed her.

Morning light crept through the window and touched Stark’s face. He woke with a clear sense of purpose. Today he would take Subaru away from the village and every civilian who lived in it. Once they reached empty ground far from houses and children he would end the threat she represented. The plan felt solid in his mind. 

He started to turn onto his side so he could rise and prepare. His body froze halfway through the motion. An arm lay wrapped firmly around his torso. Warm breath brushed the back of his neck. Realization hit him with the force of a physical blow. He turned his head slowly and found himself locked in an embrace with the sleeping demon girl.

Instinct or disgust or both moved through him at once. He planted both hands against her and shoved with every bit of strength his arms held. Subaru’s body left the bed in a sudden arc. She crashed through the thin wooden wall that separated the room from the next chamber. Boards splintered and dust filled the air. The sound of breaking timber echoed through the quiet church.

Stark sat up and stared at the jagged hole. He wondered for a moment whether the impact had knocked her unconscious or left her injured beyond easy recovery. The pile of rubble shifted. Wood and plaster fell aside as Subaru pushed herself upright. Her left arm hung at a completely wrong angle broken and turned sideways from the shoulder. Blood ran in thin lines down the side of her face and from a cut along her hairline. She smiled at him through the open hole in the wall as if the entire collision had given her deep satisfaction.

She began walking toward him with slow steady steps that made her look almost like one of the undead creatures Frieren had once described. Her voice carried clearly across the short distance.

“You should have been a little more gentle. But I do not dislike it. You can hit me as many times as you want.”

She stepped over the scattered debris and continued speaking while blood still dripped from her chin.

“I can heal myself so you do not have to worry about going all out.”

When she finally stood close enough that he could see the full damage to her arm she tilted her head and asked a simple question.

“Did you have good sleep?”

Stark had no answer ready. Words refused to form. Inside his mind the last traces of hesitation burned away. The plan he had built the day before now felt like the only possible path. He would take her away from civilization today and he would end this before her presence grew any more problematic.