Corruption Ch. 03

Hi everyone! I know its been a while but life has been one chaotic, crazy, mess and I'm getting my shit back together. I'm also working on other series to hopefully publish here.

In the meantime I've been seeing comments on my (poor) grammar in past chapters, and so I'm trying out different grammar programs to fix that :) But just a reminder that I'm doing this for free and for fun with no editors, between classes and work shifts with google doc and Microsoft word so it's still not going to be as perfect as it could be!

Keep your fingers crossed for quicker updates in the future and new stories!

~~~

Cassandra hummed, bringing the blanket she had clutched in her fist closer under her chin as she appreciated how absolutely cozy she was right then. No scratchy thin blankets piled heavily on top of her to make up for their inadequacy, no flat musty pillow that she'd had for ages now. As she curled in on herself the mattress springs didn't even whine or creak like they always did if she even breathed too heavily.

She cracked open an eye remembering that this wasn't her bed. Still ultimately grateful for that as well.

Sunlight cascaded through dark drapes onto the floor beside her, it must have been well into the morning or maybe even early afternoon. The fathers would have her head on a platter for being out so late.

But she didn't really care.

Long into the night after having been bent over just about every which way she could have, and torn into over and over by the body that no longer laid beside her, the demon had given her what he'd promised. A key that could open her locked library door, a cloak he claimed that would keep her hidden as long as it was worn when the sun was below the horizon, and an odd medallion that could bring her to his home. He said he'd show her how to use it in the morning.

Cassandra turned over, humming at how her body ached in nostalgia from the previous night, seeing that the demon was nowhere to be found, she settled for the few minutes of peace and quiet she hardly ever had the luxury to enjoy.

She grinned softly, taking a long moment to stretch and enjoy the light of the day before rolling out of the bed as gracefully as her clumsy, sore, body would let her as she made a beeline for the open bathroom door. Her lover had admittedly cum all over her the night before but she'd been far too exhausted and shaky to do more than run a wet cloth over her body. Which to say was not sufficient for her standards of cleanliness.

No sooner had she figured out the foreign temperature system of the demon's shower and stepped into warm water that the door opened and a disheveled head of raven hair, strung chaotically on black and red horns, greeted her with a dopey smile.

"Morning nun." He stretched, yawning to show giant fang-like teeth that went all the way to the back of his mouth, which explained the dark crescent-shaped bruises that bloomed over her body.

"I do have a name you know." She shook her head good-naturedly as she turned around the small glass box to try and find some soap, glad to see a tile shelf attached to the wall behind her with all the supplies shed need.

"Let me guess, it's something ironic like 'Chastity' or 'Hope' right?" He hadn't been with an abbess in quite some time, but he remembered they all had quite amusing names of faith.

"No, no." she chuckled. "It's Cassandra." she began to lather a bar of what she knew to be shampoo in her hair, not deterred by the demon's gaze at all now as he admired her body despite how foreign it was. "And what about you? Any name I can call you besides 'Demon?"

He smirked as he decided to join her, plucking the soap from her hands as he slicked back his now dampened hair.

Cassandra realized how... big he was in comparison to her for the first time. He had to stand at least a whole foot taller if not more, and he was built wide, not lean perse, but he must have done a lot of physical labor in his day, scars common on the flesh she could see now that the sun touched him.

"I have many names, but I'll give you a fond one." He leaned his head back to rinse the lather out of his hair, grooming the stray strands that were caught on his horns so they finally laid against his head. "My friends call me Amon."

"Like the demon lord?" She paused, blinking hard to comprehend it.

"While I'm impressed by your history knowledge, I'm glad to say that is not the case." He tapped her nose again, amused at how she took a breath of relief. "I'm much younger than that senile old fool."

"So humble." She rolled her eyes, rinsing the last of the soap from her body before stepping away from the warm water. Grabbing her towel as she sat back on the lip of a nearby tub to watch Amon preen and show off for her. She thought it was cute when he even brought his tail around to scrub the dark wine colored scales.

"Mind handing me a towel?" He raised his eyebrow at the fact she had stolen his.

She grinned, mischief lingering on her lips as she took off her own towel to give to him, a dark hand reaching out to take it only for the young girl to snatch it away at the last second.

He grinned at her antics when she brought it back to him, leaning forward to take the cloth only for her to dance out of his reach with a snicker.

"You are quite the imp." He shook his head. "Come on now, I'm getting cold."

"If you want it why don't you come get it?" She quipped, delighting in the goosebumps that rose on her skin with how Amon licked his lips. She put the towel behind her back and rocked on her heels waiting. He looked her up and down a moment, snapping his fingers so a crackle of dark magic crawled around her waist, pulling her forward despite her digging her heels into the tile in surprise.

"You have no idea who you're in company with." He winked as he took the towel from her awe loosened hands. Snaking his fingers around the soft lines of her jaw to pull her close, kiss her deeply. "But I have to say your boldness is refreshing."

She felt slightly dopey between the magic he'd used and his own kiss.

***

Cassandra held her newest trinket high in the air in front of her. Ironically the demon had given her a star, the holy symbol of her temple. To the rest of the world, it was carved from simple wood and strung on a chord with beads of the same material, modest enough for a nun that no one would blink, certainly not like they would have if she accepted the crystal-studded silver chain initially offered to her.

The young abbess pinched the bottom longest point of the star, pulling slightly to reveal the strong blade hidden inside the small nick-nack. She reminisced about how she'd used it over the past two weeks, slicing literal holes in reality that always led her to the demon's library. She'd hardly slept between her duties at the temple and the way she'd get lost in her research at night. She was behind the outermost garden wall now so she could get five minutes of quiet, so irritated at the incessant squeaking of her sisters that she'd just about resorted to violence before ducking away from the group. She'd certainly be scolded for ditching them to do her chores by herself but she didn't care. With all the pent-up frustration she held she might as well look forward to at least some kind of stimulation.

She'd tried to find the demon to help her with her... desires, the past four nights she had visited his home. But he warded the doors carefully so she couldn't leave the room unless she had his explicit permission. The magic that sealed her into the library stung like fire and would root itself in her spine the harder she tried to press through it, and the demon hadn't visited her once since the second night she came to read.

The blade made a satisfying click as she rammed it back into its holster in frustration. There truly was no rest for the wicked was there?

She looked around the wooded area in front of her, realizing that no one on the road would be able to see her through the brush and long stretch of trees that sheltered the west side of the temple. She looked up, the stone wall that separated the garden from the local wildlife standing far enough above her head that no one would be able to see her from the other side as long as she rested against it as she was now. And since she had jumped the fence there was no path or gap to her isolated little side for some time. Nobody would be wandering past her unless they were slinking about for quiet like Cassandra was.

Her heart beat a little quickly at the realization, the nagging between her legs becoming more urgent now that she wasn't distracted...

She looked around a moment, keeping a sharp ear to the wind. There were no footsteps, no yelling, just the very distant chatter of the nuns hiding in the shade of the stone porch on the opposite side of the building, birds chirping, and a cow baying far away on the road.

She peaked her head over the wall, her nose pressed flat to the rough grout as she made sure no one was in the garden. Which to her anxiety and delight, there was not a soul.

She slid back down, letting the stone slowly hike up her robes as she sat, sliding hands down the buttons on the front, slowly releasing the top few toggles so she could dip her hand to graze across a hardening nipple. Cassandra noted that while it was nice, it was nothing like the demons hands on her, and certainly not comparable to his mouth.

She took her hand away, feeling no loss at the mild tingling left behind as she inched lower towards her hips.

She dared not take off her underwear with how out in the open she was, but she hissed softly as she dove fingers down the front of the white cotton.

She gently trailed over the coarse hairs between her legs, now trimmed as she had seen in various literature she had nosed through in the past week, humming at how the gentle touch rippled over her flesh.

"Shit." She whispered at how wet she was as she slid a single digit upward to part her lips. How pent up was she at this point? Not even a stiff breeze had passed by her today but she was this drenched?

She wasted no time to dip a finger shallowly inside, immediately sighing in relief at how her hips clenched, the hungry spot in her desperate to be fed as she let her other hand clumsily dance over the bead of pleasure at the top of her slit.

She let her head lean back on the wall, body suddenly abuzz as the memories of her first night with Amon forced their way into the black space behind her eyelids. While the bruises had faded she could still feel his teeth in her, the softness of the sheets and the way he had devoured her over and over.

She could swear that if she opened her eyes she'd see his horns, ready to hold onto for dear life from between her legs, tongue deftly writhing over her sex as he kissed and sucked at her lower lips. Eyes full of yellow flame and desire.

"Oh, Gods..." She was grateful for her vivid imagination then. Holding on to the image of him beneath her, switching between the idea of holding onto the dark horns on his head while she rode his face and taking him deep into her mouth as he fingered and lapped at her, or maybe holding her down by the throat and making her thank him for causing her the sweetest pain.

Her fingers quickened, Cassandra biting her lip to try and keep quiet as her orgasm loomed closer, muscles wound tight as she pressed herself harder against the cool stone wall.

Blood rushed into her face, in her mind she was face down on the ground, Amon striking her ass without reserve as he tongue fucked her center.

What do you say? She fantasized him pulling away, replacing his tongue with fingers so he could tease her with his words.

"T-thank you." She choked out to the empty air.

Her hips began to clench, waves washing over her as she climbed further up the wall, mind completely blank minus the image of her lover bringing his face back to her hole. Cassandra hiccupped, instead of volume rising, her breath quickening as the pleasure built and built, bringing her to the peak of rocking hips and hot breath.

"Cassandra!"

She snapped her eyes open, hands flying quickly out of her underwear as she instinctually attempted to close the toggles at her collar, panicking at the stomping footsteps of the father's as they ground into the gravel towards her. Her heart pounded, and she knew her face must be flushed, if not from her arousal at least from embarrassment. Her fingers were slick and shaky, she couldn't seem to get the fang shaped buttons through their sister loops for the life of her.

"Cassandra! Don't pretend you aren't here, Helen saw you!" She knew they were aggravated, and she wasn't just going to get a few stripes on her hands by the tone.

She whined, wiping her hands on her side as she gave up on the buttons and popped up so she could be seen.

"S-sorry!" She was still so aroused, the cotton between her legs so damp that she felt it smear between her thighs.

"We need to talk." He scowled at her, looking her up and down as though he were assessing a pile of garbage "For the love of the god's woman button up your robe." he shook his head, clenching and unclenching his fists in rage before he barked for the girl to follow him.

Cassandra felt her stomach ice over, the fact they didn't ask her what she was doing outside the wall, why her robe was half open or just why she wasn't doing her duties... she was in for a world of trouble.

***

"Do you understand why you were punished, Cassandra?"

The young nun looked down, her knuckles were bloodied, swollen around the patches of pink and red blisters that speckled her already scarred hands. The cuts took in what now felt like cold air, the muscle pulsing underneath to desperately tell her that something wasn't right with the area of her body in question.

"Yes." she felt like she was watching her raw fingers through a window, like the pain wasn't her own. She realized he was speaking from behind her, by the closet where he kept canes of various sizes and other implements of punishment. She knew the retaliation was unfair, it was his ego and his prized moral narcissism that spurred him on. But the cane still struck down to her soul nonetheless, surprisingly he hadn't tried to clip her in the face this time.

"Then what do you have to say to Sister Helen?" She could hear him, cane at the ready to be put away, but still held in preparation to be used again if he needed to change the course of punishment.

She wiped her tear covered face with the untouched heal of her palm, refusing to look at the blonde she shared a room with. "I don't have anything to say to Helen." she scowled, gods she sounded like a pathetic child.

There was a long sigh. A click of the cane being hung and the rough sliding of another tool being taken down.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself then? Any shame at all?"

"Why should I?" She spat, feeling fire roar up the back of her throat like bile. "It's not my fault you never give me five minutes to even breathe by myself."

"You slink off to be unattended at two in the morning to read by yourself every week. You know that's not why you're here."

She stayed silent, refusing to look at the mousy woman who had betrayed her. It wasn't her sister's fault she knew, the naive girl didn't know any better.

Or maybe she did. Helen certainly never got in as much trouble as Cassandra since she followed the rules so tightly, just as she did today. But what kind of life was that? The young abbess was angry at her sister for being so gullible, so compliant and ignorant, and hurting her for trying to be something different than herself.

"What happened to you, Cassandra?" The same girl finally blurted out, tears on her cheeks now as she finally broke her previously uninterrupted, uncomfortable silence. "You- you've always been willful! But you changed... the past two weeks you've been so cruel and cold! You don't talk to me at all, you just read and do your chores and disappear to who knows where every single night and come back whenever you feel like it. Now you're slinking off to... to..."

"Fuck myself?" She could see why the demon had liked teasing her with those words on their first encounter, Helen's face was priceless. Like she'd reached out and struck her without lifting a finger. Cassandra still couldn't recall any hint that her roommate had spied on her while she was alone, but she had been lost in her thoughts enough that she didn't doubt it. She had known there was a risk of getting caught.

"Now that's enough!" The priest cuffed her harshly on the back of her head. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but-

"But what?" she laughed, anger blurring her judgment. "You'll strike me till you can see bone?" She held up her bloodied hands to make a point. "You've been doing this for two decades now and it doesn't seem to work, does it? So why don't you give it a fucking rest?"

Cassandra stood up, both her sister and the Father's moving backward in alarm. She knew her eyes were strange, something disturbingly inhuman to the two of them as an unnatural ice clung to the back of their necks, and it frightened them.

Good.

"Maybe instead of hitting me until you feel relieved of your own moral failings or locking me up, you should learn to not meddle with things you don't understand."

The father's mouth fell open wide before rage overtook their face. She saw his fists clench and her moment of courage withered as old habits and memories took over. She knew that face well, Cassandra no longer felt like the novice mage learning to control her supernatural talents, but a small child who didn't want to be locked in the dark by the cruel priest that now grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

"You have gone too far, Cassandra." Was all that was said, dragging her violently past Helen and out of the room to the hall. Cassandra knew where they were going and her stomach iced over, it fought with the fire and wind that stirred in her to fight for her pride. She felt like the room had grown larger, suffocating her with how vulnerable and exposed it made her, the fathers' grip almost burned her flesh.

"Let me go!" She tried to wriggle out of his grip, battling the suffocating fear that tried to crawl down her throat. She couldn't do this again. She had come so far, the nightmares hadn't hit her in weeks, the bouts of panic were rare now. This would bring all of her progress to a grinding halt if not send her hurling backward.

"Helen come and help me with her!" Her assailant yelled in frustration, wrestling with her futilely.

"Fuck you!" Cassandra couldn't get him to release the grip he now had on her robes, She was so angry, she felt like a child, she was scared. He'd lock her in that tiny black room till the next day, there would be no sound, no wind, no light. It would grow unbearably hot throughout the afternoon and before he threw her in there he'd take a leather strap to her back till he drew blood. She'd never been a compliant child, while she'd learned how to make the temple work for her and vise-versa she'd never been able to be quiet and compliant. While they hadn't made this punishment for her, they never used it on anyone in the monastery asides from Cassandra and that just made it worse.

A fist came over the back of her head so hard it stunned her a moment, enough where the fathers were able to restrain her easily. Tears came to her cheeks again.

"I'm not going back into that god damned room." The girl whispered, desperately trying to hold onto her will and determination. She'd had it taken from her too many times in the past.

"There are consequences to your actions. You will face them."

"No." She whispered. There was a new flavor on her tongue she didn't recognize, not the copper of blood or the salt of tears, the bile of fear or anything else. This was bitter like dirt and sour like spoiled food. This was hatred, this was rage.