After blinking the pixelated blurriness from my eyes, I find myself in a familiar room. A twin bed sits in the corner of the room, with a nightstand next to it. There's a dresser pushed up against the wall, but the majority of the room's clothes seem to be strewn in piles on the floor. Suddenly, I realize who's room I'm in.

"Um... Why'd you take me to Lukas's room?" I ask nervously. Anti lets go of my shirt and I stumble back.

"I'm gonna take care of something, and I want you–" he points the tip of the knife at me "– to sit and watch."

A shrill giggle escapes him and a chill shoots up my spine, causing my shoulders to tense. I feel a bit sick with worry. Before I can ask what his business here is, Lukas enters through the door of his bedroom. His eyes go to Anti first, then to me, filling with anger. The boy takes a step back in surprise, then two steps forward in fury.

"What the fuck are you doing in my room?!" he shouts. Luckily, I don't think his mom is home. "And who the hell is he?!" Lukas jabs a finger in Anti's direction. He seems not to notice the bloody gash stretching across the demon's neck. I sigh, not ready to deal with his shit today.

Anti intervenes. "Don't worry about it."

The demon steps in front of me, blocking Lukas's view of me. It's almost a protective gesture, as if Anti's shielding me, but I quickly shake my head to dismiss the feeling.

Anti begins to walk toward Lukas, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a pocketknife that he flicks open. Lukas's face goes pale as he begins to back up, trying to reach the door. Just as his hand brushes the ajar entrance, the door slams shut, causing both he and I to jump in surprise. He quickly turns and tries to open it, but the thing is shut fast.

Though I feel a bit bad about doing so, I move to the side so I can see what Anti's about to do to him. I'm not encouraging Anti, but I'm not about to try to stop him when he's like this, either. Besides, I'll admit – it's kinda interesting. I won't say that I'm completely against him stabbing the son-of-a-bitch. Lukas was nothing but an asshole to me, even during a decent portion of our relationship. I was planning on cutting him out before, so that's probably why I wasn't a complete mess after it ended.

Lukas turns back around after realizing that the door had no intention of giving. Trembling, he looks up at Anti with frightened eyes, like a mouse before a snake. The boy's eyes finally notice the red smile carved into the man's throat.

"Y-Your neck..." is all he can manage.

I suppress a giggle. C'mon dude, I think. Stop being such a pussy.

"[Y/N]," Anti calls, snapping me from my thoughts. His tone is commanding, so I quickly hop forward and stand next to him and slightly to his left. I peek from behind his shoulder, wondering what he wants. "What should I do to him?"

I'm shocked by his question. Blinking, my mind goes blank for an instant. Then, without thinking, I blurt: "An apology from him would be nice."

It's a simple request, but the moment it exits my mouth I feel something change. Biting my lower lip for a second, I look Lukas over for, taking in his terrified gaze with a small smirk. Anti watches me with a raised eyebrow, egging me on silently.

"In fact," I continue, feeling the power of the position I'm in, "I demand an apology. Say you're sorry. For everything. List it out. I wanna hear it from your lips."

Lukas glares at me for an instant, but a bit of pressure from Anti's knife changes all that. He swallows hard, then begins:

"I-I'm sorry for cheating on you. I'm so s-sorry for lying to you."

I nod in agreement. "And?"

"And... And for trying to lie to you again."

"And?"

"And.... I'm sorry for bothering you so much, even though you said no?"

"What else, Lukas?"

He snaps. "I don't fucking know what you want to hear! Just get this guy off of me!"

I laugh. "You think I'm in charge of Anti? He does whatever the hell he wants."

Anti begins to giggle, slowly applying more and more pressure to the knife until he breaks through the skin on Lukas's neck, drawing a thin line of blood across its length. The boy winces.

"What are you– a psychopath? Tell him to stop!" he screams.

I put my right hand over my heart and my left hand in the air. "Let the record show that I do not condone the maiming, mutilation, or murder of Lukas Forsman." A snigger passes through my lips as I can't help but add, "That doesn't mean I won't enjoy it."

A deft movement of Anti's hand deepens the gash in Lukas's throat. He promptly shoves the blade into Lukas's stomach, and the boy coughs up a wave of blood. Some gurgles onto Anti's hand and shirt, but the demon doesn't seem to mind. When he's finished, Anti drops the boy's body to the ground, letting his internal fluids soak the light brown carpet.

That'll be a bitch to scrub out, I grimace.

"Welp. That was satisfying," I say, placing my hands on my hips with a grin.

"Oh, we're far from done," Anti laughs.

Plucking a much larger knife out of thin air, the heterochromia-eyed man sets to work. The blade itself is as long as my forearm, and is currently being used to carve into Lukas's shoulder. There's a lot of blood, but that's to be expected. It becomes an issue for me when the metal hits the bone. I cringe at the sound of sawing away the bone in the boy's arm, turning away and plugging my ears. When it stops, I turn back around. 

Immediate regret.

In Anti's sangria-painted hand is the detached left arm of Lukas Forsman. I fight a gag, then avert my eyes.

"Why the fuck are you taking that?" I ask, regaining composure. Steeling myself, I turn back to Anti and the disembodied limb. He swings it around in his hand and laughs, childishly.

"It's gonna be a gift to someone," he says, simply.

"Who'd want that?"

"It's not about whether they want it or not," Anti explains. "I'm gonna enjoy their reaction, though. And I think you are, too."

Another glitchy cloud surrounds me, and I'm transported to another area.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "Plaything" as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and votes are super appreciated. Thanks for reading! ~Blue