I call him the devil because he makes me want to sin
(and every time he knocks, I can't help but let him in)
She gives in easily to the Fear, handing over the keys to the kingdom, and he thrills at the ease of it—thrills at the ways that he unlocks Pandora’s box, letting it spill over with treasure. She sees flames, and he lets them light up from within him, licking away at his throat as he tips his head back gleefully. He hooks his claws into her psyche, digging deep and latching onto the proverbial jugular she has exposed.
So when she retreats, her motions too fast, too graceful to be natural, he follows—the Krampus crawling out from beneath his skin and taking control. He too moves too fast, too quick, his cloven hooves not stumbling over intertwined root and rock. He still feels the Fear beneath his grasp, and he holds onto it, still pulling the strings, drawing out the terror from her bones and the horror from her throat.
He wills the world away, bleeding it and replacing it with the masterpiece of his own making.
His pulse races, burning with a feverish delight at the widening of her eyes and flaring of her nostrils. His actual form remains the same, but his gift laces up his limbs, warping them in her eyes—turning him inside out. His sooty gold hide cracks, lava flooding outward. His jaw splits open, revealing a wide, crocodile smile—teeth blackened and sharp. His eye circles in its socket, flames racing to replace the mane down his neck, his spine visibly breaking and then reforming along his back, burning on his flesh.
He can barely see her in the shadows, but he can sense her, and he clings to the Fear, warping the world with each breath, trembling with his joy. “Come now, lovely,” smoke rolls out of his mouth, his voice the sound of branches cracking in a forest fire. “Don’t leave me all alone here.” The ground next to him erupts with flames, rising up his monstrous body. “I miss you so already. Won’t you come back out?”
haha sorry! he can't help himself. <3