…“There is some pain, with the separation.” Gavin says with a broad smile across his lips. “Do you think you can take it?”

“H-H-H-How bad i-i-is it?”

He laughs softly, “How bad is it now?”

“T-T-There isn’t any pain,” he says with starry eyes and a raised eyebrows.

“Not the pain child, how is the symbiosis? Is it everything you feared it to be, or is it everything you wanted?”

“I-I-I, I don’t understand what that’s g-got to d-do with any of this.”

“It’s everything and more. It’s why you’re here, no?”

“N-No, I’m not h-h-here to be rid of t-the beast,” Carlo grunts as sweat drips from his brow.

“Then,” he says as he leans back in his crude throne and cross his legs over each other. “Why are you here, if it is not to be separated from the beast? Are you here to kill me?”

“N-N-No, I-I-I’m not h-h-here to kill you.”

“What about the beast then. Is the beast here to kill me?”

Carlo smiles wryly, “The beast is always hungry.”…