“You seem like you have some dark shit going on with you, man.”
Thanatos turned to the older male, missing several teeth, who was speaking to him from across the cell.
“I am the dark shit,” Thanatos growled, agitated that he was sitting in jail, waiting on his phone call since he couldn’t just up and disappear into shadows.
“How dark we talking? Because I bet I can go darker.” The man flashed Thanatos a nearly toothless smile.
Thanatos let one side of his lips go up, not in the mood to play games with the locals. When he turned away, the man stood up, puffing out his chest.
“Hey! I’m talking to you!”
“Yes, I gathered since we are the only two people in this cell together.” Thanatos rolled his eyes and tried to keep himself from becoming so annoyed that he did something thoughtless. He was still far too close to the edge from his bout earlier which landed him in the delightful Halcyon Central holding cells.
“If I had my knife, you wouldn’t be so tough. I’d cut you up into itty bitty pieces—”
“Wonderful,” Thanatos cut him off. “If you’re done proving your cock is two sizes bigger than mine, I’d like some silence to think.”
A human growl, very unimpressive, gave him more than enough warning. The man launched at him, but instead of his plan to take down the new guy, toothless found himself against the wall with Thanatos’s hand clenching his shirt and his forearm cutting off his air.
The man’s rancid breath hit Thanatos as the man gaped, only serving to further annoy him.
“I’ve been very, very nice so far. We could have sat nicely like civilized gentlemen, but you had to go and try to prove you have the bigger balls. Congrats. You are a fearsome male. All shall fall to their knees, trembling at the sight of you.” Thanatos pushed his forearm harder. “Except when I say I am the darkness that happens in the shadows,”—he let his face go skeletal— “I am not lying.”
Now fear, along with Thanatos’s arm, choked the man.
“…no fingerprints in the system, doesn’t even exist. You say when we ran him it flagged you?” An officer opened the door to the hallway where rows of cells were, and Thanatos heedlessly dropped the man to the floor as the once puffed-up male deflated.
Shoes tapped along the cement floor until two men stood on the other side of the bars where Thanatos found himself contained.
“Yeah, he is a shifty one. Surprised you managed to catch him.” Stepping in front of Thanatos, Gerrit gave the reaper a smirk before motioning for the officer to unlock the cell door.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Thanatos remarked as he straightened his sleeves. “I didn’t prepare for company. I was enjoying a little chat with my new friend here since he was certain we have a lot in common.”
The man’s jeans turned dark when Thanatos looked at him, the smell of urine filling the cell.
Turning back to Gerrit and the officer, Thanatos gave a smile and a shrug.
“A truly misunderstood soul.” Thanatos walked to the bars where he turned his back to be cuffed again before the door was opened.
“I’d hate to deprive you of such captivating conversation,” Gerrit laughed, grabbing Thanatos by the elbow and escorting him out.
“I am glad everyone here can have a good laugh when he killed a guy in broad daylight,” the police officer muttered, locking the cell again and jumping when toothless started to cry, holding onto the metal bunk as he sobbed.
The officer’s face was horrified at the sight. “He is a drug dealer who has killed so many people. How did…” He turned to look at Thanatos, skepticism brighter than ever in his eyes.
“Everyone fears something, officer.” Thanatos peered into the man’s eyes, returning his stare without flinching or looking away.
“Let me handle this,” Gerrit ordered as he gave Thanatos a little push to get him going again. “Thank you, Officer Jansen, for bringing this to my attention. I left the appropriate transfer paperwork on your desk.”
The officer only returned a nod, his eyes never leaving Thanatos as the man in the cell serenaded the room with his heart-wrenching sobs.
“I think I understand why my uncle wants to throttle you all the time,” Gerrit sighed as they walked out of the dreary hallway, making it through another room where other mortals were staring and moving out of their way.
They may not know the devil was there, but they sure as hell felt it.
