My first coupling was with Shabriri, the first acolyte to mark me during my initiation. She looked even more youthful than her voice had previously suggested. She couldn't have been a day over eighteen, with gorgeous honey-blonde hair that fell in waves down her back and sapphire blue eyes. After positioning her on all fours, I took her roughly from behind, my rigid cock sliding into her like a hand into a well fitted glove.

My last was with my two eldest Brothers, both easily in their sixties but with the stamina of teenagers and flexibility of Olympic gymnasts. They did things to me I never even knew were physically possible.

In between were positions and combinations too numerous to remember. I was treated like a God, worshipped and made love to with a tenderness that was completely at odds with the carnage that surrounded us. I know it was fear of harming Master's pet that saved me from being torn to shreds like a couple of my less fortunate siblings.

I was also something more than a mere pet, though how I knew this I have no idea. With Sire Bakula's body annihilated by Master's entry into this world, He would need a new vessel to occupy once the power drawn by the Ritual had dissipated. Just the same as I knew my own name and birthdate, I knew I was to be that vessel. Even though I knew it would be total and irreversible Possession and that nothing of me would survive, I would have willingly given up my body and offered up my soul so that Master could prosper. I was His Heir, so to speak. All my Brothers and Sisters knew it and treated me accordingly.

Those of my siblings who had survived the gang-bang, slumped around Master's throne, exhausted from an overabundance of sex and multiple orgasms, bloated from feeding on Master's left-over scraps and each other.

With a click of His fingers, Master summoned me and I crawled over to His throne. My body was alive and tingling with sexual energy that was almost electric and just this side of painful.

Master looked down at me, an unreadable expression on His reptilian face. "It's yours. Do with it as you wish." His whole being glowed with a luminescence that was nearly blinding.

I was at a loss as to what he was referring to when I noticed he was pointing over my shoulder at something behind me. I twisted my head around and saw the cage, still guarded by the four solidly built men who had carried it into the cavern. It took me a few seconds to realize that the thick chains and black shroud-like covering had been removed and I could see the occupant imprisoned behind bars as thick as my arm.

"Master?" I turned back to face my demon lover, still unsure if I had really heard what I thought I had.

"The creature in there." He made a dismissive gesture with one hand. "I have no use of it, so you may as well have it. A pet of your own."

I didn't want to turn around again, didn't want to look and find out that my eyes had deceived me.

I didn't want to look, but I had to. I had to know whether the bound person restrained within was a wonderful fantasy come true or the cruelest of nightmares.

I slowly rose to my feet, turning in a half-circle. What greeted my sight looked as real as any of the ghosts and spirits that I had interacted with that night.

The cage he was in was tiny, just big enough to hold his nude, crouching body. Spreader bars separated wrists and ankles, which were secured to the top and floor bars with tight metal cuffs that dug into his flesh. He briefly held his head as high as he could, considering the cramped conditions, but dirty, matted hair covered his face. Under the thick, greasy locks I could see black cloth covering his eyes and the black leather of a large ball gag wedged between cracked, bleeding lips. But I didn't need to see brilliant jade eyes, elfin nose and perfectly formed mouth to know who my new pet was.

And yet deep, deep down there was still a tiny bit of doubt that I was really looking at my gorgeous, spirited former lover for the first time in almost two years. I thought back to the numerous clones of my sister that Spender had paraded before me over the years. He had access to cloning technology and the authority to use it to his own devious ends.

There was only one way to determine whether the caged man really was my Alex. I stepped forward a few paces, one hand held out in a gesture of peace, even though the intended recipient couldn't see it.

"Alex..." My voice failed me before I could speak his full name. His head jerked upwards at the sound and my hopes rose then plummeted when it slumped lower than it was previously. It was probably just a reflex action to a familiar name, rather than a familiar voice. For all I knew he thought I was the clone and imposter.

I continued to move closer, whispering his name once more, this time with more success. "Alexander. It's me. Fox."

His head shot up again and, to my relief, stayed up. A low growl escaped the gag that I easily translated as: "I've told you a fucking thousand times not to call me that."

I nearly jumped for joy. It was Alex, my Alex, my one and only beautiful Alexander. I rushed forward the last few steps, putting my hand between the bars so I could stroke his cheek.

He leaned into my caress and I nearly broke down in tears. We were together once more and this time we would never be parted, not by Spender, not by death. Not even the most powerful of demons could extinguish my love for Alex. He would sit by Master's side, His eternal companion. He would be the only part of me that would survive once Master consumed my soul and claimed my body as His own.

"Free him now," I commanded one of the guards in my most forceful tone, even though I was shaking inside. He made the error of looking at Master for permission. It was an insult to me of the highest magnitude, and I slapped him hard across the face. "He belongs to me and I order you to release him at once."

The thrill I got from knowing that muscle-boy didn't dare retaliate was almost orgasmic. I could have beaten him senseless and he wouldn't have lifted a finger in self-defence. His fellow servants wouldn't have come to his aid, either.

Within seconds, keys were produced and the handcuffs around his wrists released. Alex thrashed about madly, nearly crushing the arm of the guard trying to unlock his ankle cuff from inside the cage. I did my best to calm him with next to no success. He was literally out of control and I knew the sooner he was out of the cage and restraints, the better.

Before I could stop them, two of the guards had shoved the cage onto its side. Alex landed on his back, his head hitting the thick bars with a sickening thud.

If I hadn't been so concerned about Alex, I would have beaten the crap out of them for causing him harm. Instead I demanded the key and told them to get the fuck away from us both.

Soon, I had his ankles freed. But the enclosure was too small and confining to remove the spreader bars with him still inside. He would have to crawl out after I righted the cage.

He had obviously exhausted the little energy he had and he just lay there, trembling in shock or fear or both. The door to his cage was now situated above him and I reached inside to remove his blindfold. I talked to him constantly in low, soothing whispers.

"Alex, it's me. It's going to be okay. I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you." I almost said I wasn't going to hurt him, but I knew that wasn't the case and I couldn't bring myself to lie to him. Just as I had to endure the Abyss to kneel at Master's feet, so Alex would also have to endure some pain, perhaps even death, so he could take his place at Master's side.

"I'm going to take off your blindfold so you can see me, okay?"

He gave a tiny nod which I presumed was permission. He turned his head so that I could reach the velcro at the back that held it in place. I removed the cloth and held my breath, not knowing what his reaction would be.

Almost a minute passed before he slowly turned his face back towards me. I pushed his long, dishevelled hair out of his eyes, only to find they were closed, the lids sticky with sleep and tears. Licking my thumb, I wiped the crust from his eyelids.

I had forgotten how smooth and youthful his skin had been. It was still as soft as a baby's bottom, even after all the abuse and neglect he had obviously suffered.

Alex opened his eyes and looked up at me, his expression one of ingrained distrust warring with hope.

"Yes, Alexander. It's really me." I stroked his cheek again, longing to hold him in my arms and wash away all the grime and dried blood with my kisses alone.

He leaned into my caress for a second time before pulling away, though he continued to look at me or, rather, at my bare chest that was covered in scars and scratches and bloody demonic sigils. He stared in particular at the heart shaped wound near my left nipple.

I realized the sight I must have made with my own long hair and scarred body.

I knew I had to get things moving so I ignored his silent plea for an explanation. "I'm going to shift the cage so you can crawl out. Then we can get rid of those," I said, pointing to the rigid rod between his wrists.

He braced himself by grabbing onto the bars above his head and I lifted the cage back to its upright position as gently as I could. It wasn't easy, as its weight combined with Alex's was considerable, but I didn't want Bakula's thugs anywhere near Alex unless it was absolutely necessary.

He quickly crawled out the opening and tried to stand, anxious to stretch cramped muscles.

I helped him with a hand under his left arm then knelt down to release the cuffs of the spreader bar between his ankles. All of a sudden, his right foot connected with my jaw and I went flying backwards. Before I could recover, two of the guards had grabbed Alex, dragging him towards the cross which was being lowered and tilted into a horizontal position by the other two.

Alex fought them with everything he had, but he was too weak to break free. He could do nothing but struggle feebly as he was bound to the cross.

Jumping to my feet, I yelled for them to let him go, but they ignored me. I figured they thought he was a danger to me, one that I was unable to control. I knew that Alex would never intentionally harm me. He was just frightened and had lashed out at the closest available target.

His arms were pulled above his head and stretched to either end of the crossbeam with the spreader bar still in place. Only when he was firmly secured, his feet tied with thick rope, did the guards retreat. They had accomplished with brute strength what I wanted to do with love and kindness and passion.

Alex's wild green eyes zeroed in on me as I stepped into his line of sight. There was no love in them, only anger and betrayal. Did he know what was going to happen? Was he told that he was to be the final sacrifice to a demonic entity?

If so, then I was just following a script I had no prior knowledge of, just like the final minutes of my initiation. Yet, this time I didn't mind playing the part of the puppet. I wanted what Master wanted, wanted to kill for Him, to die for Him, just as He told me. We were both chosen to serve Master, destined to die so that He would live and grow stronger.

I moved closer and unbuckled the strap that held the ball gag in place. Alex all but spat it out at me.

"What the..." he said before stopping to lick dry lips and clear his throat. His voice was croaky, much rougher than its usual huskiness, as if he hadn't used it in a long time. "What the fuck has he done to you?"

"He's my Master. He's chosen me as His host-"

"I'm not talking about LizardMan," Alex interrupted me.

I slapped his cheek, outraged at his insolence and disrespect. "He is your Master as well and you will address Him as that and only that." I leaned in to kiss away the sting, to soothe the red imprint my palm had left. Just one taste of his warm flesh, just one sniff of his musky scent, and I wanted to devour him whole.

"I meant the black-lunged bastard who kidnapped you."

I didn't want to talk about my Father, didn't even want to think about him. My lips travelled to Alex's mouth without losing contact and I kissed him hard and long, until I had to let him go, my lungs screaming for oxygen.

"God, Alex, I've missed you so fucking much. I always knew we would be together at the end." Only it wouldn't really be the end, just the beginning of a new existence.

I laid my body over his, rubbing my hands over him, grinding my crotch into his, feeling him grow hard beneath me. We fitted together perfectly, like two jigsaw puzzle pieces.

"What do you mean, the end?" he asked me as we broke apart to breathe.

"Just a little pain, Alex, in return for a pleasure you could never imagine." I was parroting Master's words without realizing it. I slid down his body and straddled his legs. Bending forward, I took his cock in my mouth in one smooth movement till his balls touched my chin. What he lacked in thickness, he more than made up in length.

On the first upstroke, I quickly coated two fingers with saliva and thrust them up his ass. He moaned and bucked under me, his cock stiffening almost immediately. I finger fucked him with as much force as I could manage while at the same time sucking him so hard that I swear his balls were being drawn into his dick.

He cried out and began to shudder, the classic signs of impending orgasm. I didn't let him come, pinching him hard just under the head of his penis and totally withdrawing my mouth and fingers. I was being cruel in order to be kind. The human body tolerates more pain before orgasm than afterward. I know only too well from personal experience as I'd had too many sadists as clients to count.

"Mulder! Please... don't leave me like this," he begged me, his voice rising in pitch as his distress increased.

"I won´t keep you waiting long, Alex. I promise." I climbed off him, keeping one hand on his cock, stroking and squeezing, keeping him on the edge, but never allowing him to go over it. I picked up the hammer and a couple of nails and positioned myself next to the left end of the crossbeam. Only at the last moment did I release his purple, engorged cock.

Alex looked up at me, saw what I held and put two and two together. I saw fear flash across his eyes, before he turned his face away from me. He didn't scream or struggle, didn't curse me or beg me.

"Alex?" His dismissal of me- of us- hurt more than I could have possibly imagined.

When he looked at me again, his face was blank of all emotion, all feeling. "I've been invaded and controlled by fucking aliens, faced a long slow death from suffocation and starvation, had my arm hacked off with a blunt, rusty blade and no anaesthesia. You think the pin-prick of a nail though my wrist is gonna have me in tears and begging for mercy?"

"Alex, I love you. I want us to be together forever. Isn't that worth just a little pain?"

"Looks like Spender fucked your mind as well as your ass."

"I'm not doing this for my father. I'm doing this for my-for OUR- Master and for us. He wants us both, needs us both."

"I risked my life trying to rescue you, to get you out of Smokey's dirty fuckin' bed. And now you're gonna kill me, just to get a pat on the head and LizardMan's cock up your ass?"

I had no reply to his accusations, had no choice but to do what I had to in order to please Master. He was my number one priority, obeying Him my only purpose. It was an immense honor to deliver the final sacrifice, and the fact that it was to be Alex, further proof that I was my Master's favorite and Chosen One. Alex would understand, even thank me for it afterwards, I was sure.

"You can't possibly understand or appreciate what serving Him means." I held the nail in place over his left wrist, the hammer just an couple of inches above it. Without hesitating, I swung the hammer down, driving the iron through flesh and muscle, deep into the wood below. Blood spurted out before the nail plugged the hole, stopping the flow almost instantly.

Alex screamed, long and loud. It was like music to my ears, it was beautiful, so full of pain and anguish and terror.

I covered his mouth with mine, tasting his fear. It transmuted into ecstasy, sweeter than honey, more potent than the most pure synthetic opiate. I moved quickly to his other side, wanting his suffering to be as short as possible.

"Just a little more, my love. And then it will be all over."

I repeated my actions, nailing his other wrist to the crossbeam. More blood spurted upwards, more screams filled the air and then it was all over.

Alex whimpered softly, on the verge of unconsciousness but in too much pain to pass out. His hands were twitching, his breathing shallow and fast.

I cradled his tear-streaked face in my hands, brushed his long hair away so I could look into his beautiful eyes.

"Alex, my sweet, precious Alexander." I smothered his cheeks and lips and throat in kisses as I ran one hand down his chest. I teased his dusky nipples till they were hard peaks, then nuzzled them with my tongue.

"Fox?" he whispered in an almost inaudible voice. It was the voice of a hurt little boy, not that of a grown man. "Why?"

I grasped his cock lightly, pleased to find he was still half erect. "I told you why, baby." I pumped him once, twice, three times, running my thumb over the sensitive head, spreading the pearly liquid that oozed from the slit.

I sensed movement behind me, but didn't need to turn around to see that Master had joined us. I would know His scent, the way the air around Him shifted and vibrated, anywhere.

He put His powerful arms around me, drawing me against His rough skin. I bowed my head submissively, baring my nape for Him. He licked me and scraped His sharp teeth along my skin. I longed for Him to bite down, to feast on my flesh, to suckle my blood.

"What a magnificent looking beast. I can well understand your attraction to him, pet," Master said in His deep, rumbling voice. He reached out and stroked Alex from chin to groin as I continued to jerk him off.

I had never been more content than at that precise moment.

Master handed me the dagger, its blade covered in my blood as well as Alex's, the first sacrificial victim. It was fitting that my Alex's blood would soon be on it as well.

"I am hungry. Feed me."

"Yes, Master."

I took the dagger in my left hand whilst my right still grasped Alex's weeping cock. I sped up my movements, bringing Alex closer and closer to the brink of climaxing. At the exact same moment as he came, I plunged the blade into his heart, severing veins and arteries. I prayed that the pleasure would overshadow the pain, that the last thing he experienced would be the overwhelming power of my love for him. I knew I would be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes after his "rebirth".

Alex gasped, his eyes flying open in shock. He struggled to focus on me, the life quickly draining out of his tortured body. Somehow, he managed to draw a shallow breath and I leaned in close to hear his final words.

"I.. I love you, Fox. And I..." Another short breath, this one certain to be his last. "And I for... forgive... you."

Blood flowed down his chest and dribbled out of his mouth. I licked it up, savouring it like the rarest of fine vintage wine. It tasted different than the boy's; richer, sweeter with an underlying trace of peppery sharpness.

"I love you, too, Alex. I'll come for you soon and then we will be as one for all eternity."

And then he was gone. My beautiful, brave Alexander was dead.

Master pulled me upright, turning me around so He could kiss me passionately. We shared the taste and essence of Alex, then He licked Alex's semen off my fingers.

"It's time for you to give up to me that which has always been mine."

"Yes, Master," I replied, relieved that it was soon to be all over. It seemed I had been awaiting this moment my whole life, but didn't know it until right then.

I dropped to my knees, holding the bloody dagger up to Master, my final offering. I exposed the tender flesh of my forearms for Him to slash.

He didn't move, just looked down at me. "No, Fox. I can't take your life. You have to give it to me of your own free will."

"It is my own free will, Master."

"Then do it."

Before I could make the first incision, the cavern was bathed in impossibly bright, white light. I couldn't tell what the source or direction was; it seemed to come from everywhere at once- just like Master's voice, the first time I heard it.

I felt a gentle breeze behind me. It whispered my name and I cried. I knew that voice. It had haunted my nightmares for almost three decades and filled my dreams for the last couple of years.

"Samantha?"

"Yes, Fox. It's me."

Master grew restless and suddenly it felt as if I had been doused in acid.

"DO IT!" He screamed. So much for it having to be my choice to die.

Samantha spoke again and I felt the burning sensation that had engulfed me diminish a little. "It's not real, Fox. He's not real, Fox."

"But Alex.. he's gone... I killed him... he needs me."

The dagger hovered over my left forearm, the blade mere millimetres above the long blue vein that runs from wrist to elbow. There was no heavy weight pressing my right hand down, but none the less, the tip pierced my skin. I needed to do this, even wanted to do it. I couldn't desert Alex, just when he needed me most.

"He'll be okay, Fox. You don't need to die to save him." Samantha appeared in front of me, looking just the same as the last time I saw her.

Master stood behind her, His huge, reptilian body aflame with anger and hate and lust. Lust for a sweet, innocent girl who had already suffered so much.

For the first time I hated Him, despised Him with every fibre of my being. I struggled in vain to pull the blade out of my arm, but it just cut deeper, slicing through my flesh, dissecting the main vein. Blood gushed out, quickly coating my arm and pooling on the ground in front of me.

"He most certainly must die. He is mine and I will not be denied," Master roared.

I finally managed to drop the dagger, cradling my arm to my chest in a useless attempt to stem the flow of blood. The pain was bad, but bearable.

Samantha had turned her back on me, shielding me from Master's wrath, bathing me with her love and gentle spirit. She was totally focussed on the demon before her. Defiantly, she gestured at my remaining siblings who had gathered around us.

"Any of those fawning sycophants would be suitable. You don't have to take Fox."

"It's not a case of having to, my sweet." He reached out and touched Samantha's cheek. She didn't flinch or react in anyway. "It's wanting what I have been promised, what I have hunted and wanting it now!"

"Well, we can't always have what we want," she replied.

Way to go, Sam! I cheered silently.

Master was still for a moment, like a chess player evaluating their opponent's strengths and weaknesses before deciding on their next move. "What would you offer in trade for your brother's life, little girl?"

Samantha didn't hesitate. "A kiss."

"Sam! No!" I cried out in horror.

"SILENCE!"

Master's voice hit me like a shockwave from a massive bomb blast. I tumbled backwards a few feet, landing on my ass. I tried to get up but found myself paralyzed, unable to move.

Master chuckled. "A kiss, you say?" He walked slowly around my sister. She turned in time with His steps, always keeping her eyes fixed on His.

Samantha nodded.

"Surely your brother's life, your brother's soul, is worth more than a simple kiss."

"A kiss is what I'm offering and a kiss is all you'll receive." She presented him with her sweetest, most angelic smile, one which never failed to melt my heart and get her exactly what she wanted when we were kids.

"Very well. Let me kiss you and your brother shall go free." He leant over her, His scaly hands ready to paw and grope.

I wanted to throw up, but even my internal muscles were frozen. I couldn't even close my eyes. Not that I would have even if I could. I owed it to her to witness what my weakness had lead to. It was my fault she was here, about to be molested by a demon, instead of playing and laughing with all the other children in a field bathed in starlight.

She raised a finger to His lips, stopping Him. "Let Fox go and *then* you'll get your kiss."

Master clicked His fingers and the paralysis disappeared. I was free to go, but I didn't move. I couldn't abandon Samantha as I had abandoned Alex.

"Sam, you don't have to do this," I pleaded with her. "I should die, I deserve to die."

"No, Fox. Get away from here." She looked at me, her eyes filled with love- pure, beautiful and innocent. "You saved me. Let me save you, let me set you free."

She turned back to face Master, determined and brave and I saw the teenager who had written a diary describing her hopes, her dreams, her memories of a brother with brown hair who teased her, her torture; who had managed to escape the tests and the doctors, preferring a life on the run rather than life as a lab-rat.

Before I could do anything, she rose up on tip-toe and planted a kiss on Master's cheek. There was a bright flash of light and I stumbled backwards, shielding my eyes. I tripped over the low altar, knocking the boy's lifeless body to the floor.

I couldn't see anything but white, the light so dazzling it brought tears to my eyes. When they cleared many minutes later, the light having faded to its previous level, I looked for Samantha but she was nowhere to be found. Neither was Mast... the demon.

Suddenly it all seemed like a terrible nightmare, one I wasn't sure I would ever wake up from. I looked down at my arm, still cradled against my chest and was amazed at what I saw, or, rather, didn't see.

The deep gash I had carved into my forearm was gone. There was no blood, no sign that it had ever been injured. I looked at my chest and it was also unmarked. The ragged scar where the demon had cut me with his claw was completely gone, as was Roche's heart shaped wound. The only mark remaining was the demonic sigil that had been painted with the blood of the child that now lay at my feet.

I collapsed to the stone floor of the cavern, utterly exhausted, drained of energy and the will to move, to even breathe. The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes was the wooden cross. Somehow, some when, it had been raised back into its vertical position, but now it was the right way up, rather than inverted. Alex hung from it, his muscular arms stretched to the ends of the crossbeam, blood drenched nails pinning his wrists, his head slumped over his right collarbone. Long, dark lashes lay on pale cheeks, perfect bowed lips slightly parted as if ready to accept a lover's kiss.

I reached out to him but he was too far away, both in body and in spirit.

"Alex, my sweet Alexander. I love you and I'm sorry, so very, very sorry."

EPILOGUE

November 1, 2002 12:35AM

"Facilis decensis Averno."

'Easy and swift is the descent into hell'. That's one translation. 'The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way.' That's another.

I remember others from my studies at Oxford,(every scholar had his own interpretation) but those two stick in my memory. Virgil didn't know how accurate he was when he wrote those words just over 2000 years ago.

I wish I hadn't had the opportunity of validating his vision. The horror and brutality I've just witnessed and, to my complete and utter shame, participated in, will stay with me for all eternity. I'm certain not even death could erase the sights, sounds and smells from my senses and memory.

I thought I had seen every atrocity imaginable, every example of man's inhumanity to man during my career in the FBI, first as a profiler and then on the X-Files.

I was wrong.

I thought I couldn't be subjected to anything worse than what I've already experienced in the last couple of years.

I was wrong.

I thought I had already been to hell and back.

I was wrong.

I look down at the body that lies on the cold stone ground in front of me, drained of blood and life and spirit.

I killed him.

I slit his throat.

I drank his blood.

I look up at the body that is suspended above me, held aloft with iron and wood, also drained of blood and life and spirit.

I loved him.

I betrayed him.

I abandoned him.

I'm kneeling subserviently at my Master's feet, flanked by the two muscle bound thugs who had previously been guarding my Father. Without their hands under my armpits, fingers digging painfully into my flesh, I wouldn't be able to stay upright. I'm faint, nauseous and shivering from shock.

I admit defeat. I'm ready to ask-to beg and plead- for my sanity; for the memories, the terrible, sickening memories to be erased, eradicated, obliterated. I'd demand but demanding suggests I have rights and am entitled to expect them to be observed. I have no rights. I gave them up along with everything else I once held precious.

Now, more than ever, I'm at the mercy of my Master, Father and lover. Will he grant my request or will he choose to prolong my suffering as punishment for declining his offer?

Father doesn't look at me as he issues his orders. "Take my son to the limousine. I will be along shortly."

I'm hauled to my feet and half-carried, half-dragged out of the ritual cavern and into the man-made tropical forest.

THE END