An Eternity of Eclipse

by Con Template

  Perhaps it was because we were in the corner of a busy street stand, where music and noise drowned out our conversation to those around us. Perhaps it was because we were outside in the middle of the rain where we felt safe and secure, but at that moment, something monumental happened: Eclipse spoke without filter. I listened and the world quieted down, fading out behind us as if to encourage the dialogue that was taking place.

  “In all the millennia of my existence,” he began quietly, his voice holding every ounce of my unwavering attention, “I have never once toyed with the idea of converting a human into a Demon. I had other interests that vied for my time. I had never once cared about coming up to your world to deal with this extracurricular activity. However, when word of what you did came floating down to me, I knew I had to have you. I wanted the soul of the one who murdered her entire family. I wanted the soul of the one who had become a precious commodity to my world, and most simply, I want you because you are a very interesting human being to me. You fascinate me to every degree, and no human girl—or any other entity for that matter—has ever held that type of spell over me. I knew that you’d be an interesting human to be around, but I couldn’t have imagined how refreshing being in your presence would actually be.” A muscle in his jaw suddenly leapt. “But the fucked up thing about the venture to turn you into a Demon is that a veil was placed over you to prevent any powerful entities from finding you.”

  “A veil?” I spurted out.

  He nodded. “After what happened with your family, you became famous. Too famous.” His ominous voice sent chills crawling up my spine. “Being famous in Hell isn’t a thing to take pride in, especially when it is the attention of Demons you’ve garnered. Every Demon was after you and wanted your soul that night. It got so bad that pandemonium broke out because Demons were going to war for you. To bring an end to this chaos, the Elder Demons came to an agreement that a veil must be placed over you in order to stop Demons from seeking you out—from going to war with one another to claim you. The veil was supposed to stay over you until you reached the Age of Enlightenment.”

  “Age of Enlightenment?”

  “The age where you’re supposed to know better, to have enough sensibility to make your own decision, and the age where the veil will lift and whatever is looking for you will find you.”

  “Why put a veil over me if Demons can find me when I turn twenty-one anyway? Won’t that start the war again?”

  He nodded at my concerns and addressed them right away.

  “It is hopeful on the Elder Demons’ part that because of your Enlightenment Age, you will be smart enough to know that you are not invincible and that you are close to death. It is hopeful on their part that you will be afraid enough of death to give up your soul to the first Demon who comes after you, and thereby avoid any war that could take place.” Upon seeing my comprehension, he went on with his explanation. “In order to find you before the veil is lifted, I had to strike a deal with the Elders of my world. The full potency of my power was stripped and my own existence was placed on the line. The deal was to succeed in turning you into a Demon before the expiration date comes or I vanish into thin air.”

  “So, if you don’t turn me into a Demon, then you’re going to become human. Like full on human?”

  His eyes blinked in frustrated confirmation. “Yes.”

  Two of his words flashed like neon lights in my mind.

  “Expiration date?” I asked swiftly, perturbed by how absolute and foreboding those two words sounded. “What is the expiration date?”

  “That,” Eclipse prompted, gazing dimly at me, “is the question, isn’t it?”

  “You don’t know?”

  He shook his head. “That’s why I’m trying to hurry this up.”

  I shifted uneasily. I was positively spooked to learn that there were Demons out there, sitting around and waiting for the “veil” to lift so that they could find me and force me to give my soul to them. Granted, I wasn’t certain that I trusted everything Eclipse was telling me—he was a Demon after all, and it would only work to his benefit to scare me into giving up my soul right away—I still took everything under consideration.

  “What’s so special about my soul that makes every Demon want me?” I asked moments later, nervously playing with an empty bottle of soju. My gold bangles hit the surface of the table, choiring after my movements with the glass bottle. Whether there were truly other Demons coming after me or not, the fact that I currently had one with me was enough to have an impact on me.

  “Because of the unforgivable sins you bestowed upon your family,” he answered, staring at my hands while I anxiously played with the soju bottle. The pouring rain picked up as smoke continued to stream from his cigarette. “Killing your own blood is a very heinous crime. For a human being to do that, it must mean that your soul is very sadistic. This type of soul is very powerful to have, and what Demon wouldn’t want to acquire such a sadistic soul?”

  As if the reminder of my sins enraged the Heavens, thunder boomed above, shaking the world below it.

  I was quiet for a long time, simply playing with my empty soju bottle. The pitter-pattering of the rain, the orchestra of voices, and the sound of thunder continued to surround us, inundating us with their noises until my voice disturbed the chaos.

  “Were you there the night it happened?”

  A puzzled look troubled his beautiful face. Eclipse stared at me in curiosity as he allowed a stream of smoke to slip away from his lips. He rested his hand on the table, tapped the cigarette butt to allow the ashes to sprinkle onto the floor, and then looked at me with persevering confusion. “There for what?”

  “The night it happened,” I clarified. The icy wind whipped through my hair and ate at the warmth of my body. Lips quivering from the blast of chills, I said, “The night I killed my family. Were you there?”

  He shook his head after my elaboration. “I didn’t even know of your existence until after it occurred.”

  “Was I possessed?” The desperation to exonerate myself from this horrible crime came out more quickly than I thought it would. “Did something else make me do it?”

  I barely finished my question before he firmly answered, “No.”

  “How do you know?” I challenged at once. I didn’t care about my family, but I didn’t want this type of crime to hang over me, to remind me of what a monster I was and why I suddenly had Demons after me. I was still desperate to clear myself. Since I was now pulled into a world where Demons existed, then there must be a possibility that one of them possessed me. That could be the reason why I couldn’t remember anything . . . because it obviously wasn’t me who executed the killings.

  “What if a Demon possessed me and made me do all those horrible things?” I insisted with an earnest voice. My mind churned with the possibilities. “What if some Demon possessed me and that Demon was the one who killed my family? That’s possible, right? I mean, I’ve heard of it happening to other people. Why couldn’t that be the same for me? It could’ve happened to me too, right?”

  There was no ignoring the anguish in my voice, and I knew Eclipse caught all of it. He understood my desperation to distance myself from this crime, but he also didn’t want to lie to me and give me false hope.

  “It’s not possible, Gracie,” he whispered tenderly, his eyes on me gentle.

  “Why?”

  “Because then I would know,” he said with conviction. “That’s one of the powers Demons are gifted with. It is inherent in our blood. We know all the sins committed by a human being. All I have to do is think of your name and all the sins you committed will come to me. That’s how I know about your little art show with the Lamborghini, that’s how I know about the homeless man, and that’s how I know about the murders . . . because they are sins that you committed—sins that are embedded in the very fibers that make up your existence. I was not there the night you killed your family, but I know that you killed them because that very sin is embedded in you. There w
as no possession, no persuasion from Demons, and no misunderstanding. It was you and only you that night.”

  The aggravation inside me mounted. I couldn’t accept his answer. I just couldn’t. Especially not when there were so many gaps in my memories. “Why can’t I remember what happened that night then?”

  “I don’t know,” he said with a light shrug. “You were very young. Maybe you were traumatized? The human mind can be very self-preserving when it needs to be. Denial seems to be everyone’s best friend in this world. Perhaps even as a young child, you knew that denial was the only thing that would help you stay sane and help you survive into your adult years. There are a lot of reasons why you can’t remember, but none of it will absolve you from what happened—”

  “Let’s go back to you turning into a human being,” I interrupted at once, too irritated that he was not giving me the answer I wanted. I no longer wanted to talk about me. I wanted to talk about him. “Why would you vanish into thin air after you become human and die?”

  Eclipse miserably stared at the cigarette that was slowly dying out in his hands. “If I become human,” he began slowly, “then it is likely that all the sins I committed will catch up to me. Humans are created to live, yet for me, I will be created to die. If a human dies, then their soul will go elsewhere—be it Heaven or Hell. However, if a Demon dies, even in human form, then they will vanish for the rest of eternity. Their existence will never come again.”

  “What a gruesome fate,” I whispered after the enormity of his words weighed in my mind.

  I looked at him, and for the first time since he had made an appearance in my life, I saw fear and uncertainty pulse within his eyes. As humans, we were raised to expect death. We may fear it, but we know that we cannot escape it and we accept it as part of the cycle of life. But for someone like Eclipse—a Demon who was born with the gift of immortality—he was created to defy death, to outlive death. For him, dying without any chance of being resurrected was not scary. It was terrifying.

  An eternity was all that he had ever known. Eclipse could never handle a mere lifetime.

  Eclipse must have seen the pity in my eyes because a cool mask immediately shrouded his face. Fear no longer existed for him. He was, once again, the Demon of Lust—a Demon so powerful that fear and weakness did not exist for him. Had I not witnessed his fleeting fear firsthand, it would be difficult for me to believe that a Demon like himself could ever be spooked.

  “Yes,” he went on with an easygoing voice. “For someone who has been spoiled by the ages, this is a fate that I would very much like to avoid.” He smiled, pouring me soju while gazing at me with hope in his eyes. “If only someone could save me, right?”

  I threw him a blank look. I was not impressed with his quick progression from confiding in me to trying to take my soul away. “You’re not getting my soul.”

  Eclipse showcased a pout that was truly award-worthy. “Even after hearing about my dilemma, you still won’t give a poor Demon a bone and help me out?”

  “Do I look like a saint to you?” I asked critically, drinking my soju. I empathized with him, but I wasn’t stupid and I definitely wasn’t charitable. I was still territorial over my soul, and a dead Demon or not, nothing was powerful enough to convince me to give up something as precious as my soul. “I know I may appear nice and soft-spoken, but I hurt people because I find entertainment in it. I like to revel in their misery, and I apparently killed my entire family when I was six. I think all of that shows that I’m not exactly a morally just girl.”

  Eclipse favored me with a breathtaking grin. Instead of appearing disgusted with all that I listed, he appeared proud. “You’re so sadistic, Gracie.”

  I was aware that he meant it as a compliment, but I didn’t take it as such. I only felt shame and disappointment in myself. Regardless, I didn’t let this show on my face. I didn’t like to outwardly show people my true emotions. Since Eclipse was closed off with me, I planned on giving him the same courtesy.

  After concluding that I was as stubborn as ever to keep my soul, Eclipse sighed to himself and buried his face into his hands. Like a child, he cutely murmured, “My life hangs in the hands of a naïve little minx who can’t accept a good thing when it flashes in front of her eyes. I don’t believe this.” Another bitter groan emitted from him. “Fuck my life.”

  Before I could help myself, a ghost of a smile formed on my lips. Eclipse’s behavior was very heartwarming. He looked just like an innocent little boy. If I were not such a sadistic soul, I would have given him my soul right then and there. However, seeing as I was a sadistic girl, I found myself enjoying his misery all too much. I turned away from him to keep myself from smiling. Although I was a vicious person, I did not want to be openly rude either. Demon or not, Eclipse should have some privacy while misery overtook him.

  I surveyed the outdoor restaurant that was still bopping with people. My face lit up when I saw something that caught my superficial eyes.

  “Oh, that workout outfit is cute,” I commented thoughtlessly, watching as a girl walked under the tent with her boyfriend by her side. She was dressed in an adorable purple velour workout pants and a black velour hoodie. Although I was absolutely miserable with my own state of affairs, a girl could always appreciate cute clothes.

  Eclipse pulled his face from his hands and followed the direction of my gaze. He assessed the girl’s outfit before he turned back to me. Mindlessly, he said, “That two-piece, pink spandex outfit you always wear is much better lookin–”

  He shut his mouth upon seeing the shocked wrath in my eyes.

  I could feel my blood boil as his words flowed over me.

  I owned a hot pink spandex workout bra and spandex shorts. It was easily the most provocative outfit I owned. I only wore it in the privacy of my own bedroom while I practiced my yoga moves. Never once had I worn it outside. For a long time, I couldn’t understand how Eclipse could have seen it. My eyes widened. Unless . . .

  “How do you know about my spandex two-piece?” I incited carefully, my voice soft yet filled with foreboding venom.

  A guilty expression marred his face as my unforgiving gaze on him became stronger.

  Smiling uncomfortably, Eclipse gave me his innocent puppy dog eyes. “I,” he cleared his throat. “I may have popped in on you while you were doing the downward-facing dog pose the other night. In an effort to not bother you, I may have just sat there with my invisibility cloak on and watched as you did a little yoga. You know,” he hastened to add, “so I could learn a few moves.”

  “In other words,” I corrected lividly, “you popped in, saw my butt hiked in the air, decided to remain invisible, and basically enjoyed the ‘view’ as I did all those stretchy moves with my unsuspecting body?”

  Eclipse was getting ready to shake his head. However, when he saw the blazing fire in my eyes, he then nodded guiltily. He offered me an apologetic smile. Charm started to radiate from him like the rays from the sun.

  “Isn’t it more important that I didn’t ruin the tranquility by making my presence known?” he provided charismatically. “Shouldn’t I be rewarded for not bothering you? Hell, you have no idea how much I had to restrain myself to keep from running over to you, making myself known, and doing some ‘yoga’ with you as well.”

  “Did you only watch once or did you watch often?”

  He didn’t say anything. His inability to maintain eye contact told me that he knew the answer to this question would be the one to mark his execution.

  “Eclipse,” I grounded out, rage brimming in my eyes.

  Upon seeing that I wasn’t letting this go, he quietly admitted, “I may have made a habit of it once or twice.”

  “A habit of it once or twi—”

  I fisted my hands together and recalled all those nights where I was wearing the spandex hot-pink shorts. It was one thing to have Eclipse make himself invisible to everyone but me when we first met (making me look crazy in the process whenever he conversed with me). It was anothe
r thing entirely to take advantage of me and help himself to provocative views of my body in weird angles. He went too far this time.

  I stood up from my table and backed away from him. I could feel the splatters of rain hitting my back as I slowly inched out of the tent.

  “Bloody hell, are you kidding me?” he breathed out. Eclipse got up and made an effort to use his charms on me. “Gracie, don’t be like this. Are you really angry at me over this?”

  My reply was the demure flipping of the middle finger, the splashing of lukewarm noodles on his face, and last words that garnered the attention of the diners surrounding us before I ran off in anger.

  “Go back to Hell and stay there, you perverted chain-smoking-Ashtray!”

  "I’ve waited a lifetime for him to sweep me off my feet . . ."

  16: OinkOink

  When I woke up the next day, I was still angry.

  Untrusting of my depraved “Guardian” Demon, I went about the day as on guard as I had ever been. When I got ready to leave for Sanctuary, I took it upon myself to grab my comforter, drape it over my head, and stand with it veiling over me while I struggled to put on my white cashmere sweater and jeans.

  My vigilant eyes swam over my living room as I walked out of my apartment. When I didn’t catch sight of Eclipse, I didn’t bother to count my blessings—I just got the hell out of there. Eclipse wasn’t the type of Demon who would feel guilty for pissing me off. He was going to materialize soon and time was of the essence. If I wanted to successfully ditch him today, then I would have to use this opportune moment.

  With anxiousness plaguing my body, I hurried down to the waiting cab. I was in the backseat of the car, ready to slam the door shut to make my escape when a hand caught the door in mid-slam. The hand easily pulled the door open, leaving me to simmer in fury once I made eye contact with the one who dared to foil my exit plan.

  Staring down at me with amusement on his face was none other than Eclipse.