Desires of a Monster

(5 / 5)

Submerged in bliss, blind with passion… I became less of my own person with every second we spent together. I thought often like he was turning me into an extension of him, and if he had ever told me to leave, I would have decayed like a severed limb. Often at night, I lay awake, bare, carved and hollow inside, as though he had already taken something from me as if I could only be whole when he was inside me.
I no longer knew if what I was feeling was love or insanity.

Rees’s life had come to an end at nineteen. There is no possibility that an orphan packing ships for a living will die with dignity. He won’t be able to function anymore, and then maybe starvation can kill him before he can get sick. When offering his body to the everlasting Demon to eat, he feels no fear or remorse.
The Demon is a realistic and compassionate landlord, despite the vivid, frightening stories surrounding him. In taking care of his land, planting, raising horses, and seeing the villagers flourish, he finds pleasure. His only vice would be seduction. He likes the appetite of human beings, their warmth and fragrance, their primal desires. He allows only his lovers to linger for a little while. After all, human lives are fleeting, like shooting stars. Best to enjoy them and send them on their way as they shine brightly.
Until a dying boy comes to the estate one day and changes everything.
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In the spring of 2020, Desires of a Monster first came out as a short novella. This is the entire story, more than twice as long, complete with the point of view of Rees.