The Demon Realm

by Annette Morris

The questions in my head were multiplying and lining up in a long queue. I couldn't seem to focus on any one specific question though. It was like they were all jockeying for a better position in the queue.

  Keogh just continued his explanation. "So… the demons always try to leave their realm. To many of them, it is comparable to a prison. To others, it is the only place they know."

  "Has the Flame ever come down?"

  He nodded. "Yes, of course. It has come down many times over the centuries."

  I gaped at him. "Why would it come down?"

  He sat back further in his seat as if he was enjoying explaining this to me. "The Flame takes an immense amount of power, or energy, to maintain and keep up. There are many times when it falls. The trick is to not let the Flame down for long. Or for much at all. If the Flame only comes down a little way, it is impossible for the demons to escape through. It is only when it comes down completely that they can escape." He hesitated and then said, "It is the responsibility of only one person to manage the Flame and to keep it up at all times."

  "Um… okay." I was getting confused again. "So what powers the Flame?"

  "Serentis does, now."

  I tried to add those facts up in my head, but couldn't quite get there. "So, Serentis is the one who keeps the Flame up?"

  He nodded. "Yes. We now know Serentis as the Keeper of the Flames and Veils."

  "So when he took over from you…"

  He nodded again. "The Flame went down. It wasn't down for long. But in that time, there would have been…" he shrugged, "Perhaps hundreds of demons who escaped."

  I blanched at his words. So hundreds of demons had just come here. Through the barrier and onto earth… or was it a different dimension on earth. I sighed. I was getting so confused now.

  Keogh kept talking though. "There are always demons watching the Flame. As soon as it goes down, the demons charge to get through it, before it rises again."

  I forgot about the different dimensions for now. I'd get back to that later… maybe. "And what do the demons do when they get to this side? Where do they go?"

  He shrugged. "I have no idea. Where would you go if someone released you from a land where you lived for centuries?"

  I frowned at him. Another couple of dozen questions just queued in my mind. "So let me see if I understand this. Lucifer creates these demons…" I jerked my head up to look at Keogh. "Wait! Are these demons men? I mean do they look like men? Or do they stand ten foot tall and have horns?" I grinned at the thought of demons looking like that.

  Keogh didn't grin back. "The demons look like us."

  "Okay then." I moved embarrassed on my chair. I figured either Keogh didn't understand a joke, or he was normally this serious all the time." So…" I continued, "these demons are created in fire, and they live in caves. They can't leave their realm unless the Flame comes down." I thought for a minute and then asked, "So what do they do on a normal day, in that realm?"

  Keogh surprised me by leaning forward in his chair and laughing. Loudly. Great! I'd said something stupid again.

  When he'd finished laughing, he explained, "The demons enjoy sports. They play many group games. They work… just like you and I. There are always jobs to be done." He steepled his fingers and sat back in his chair. "Imagine, if you will, a group of men, living together. What chores would there be?"

  "Um… there would be cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, shopping. But they are just chores. Surely they work? They get paid, don't they?"

  He shook his head. "No, they don't get paid. There is no money there."

  I frowned in confusion. "But chores wouldn't take all day to do. And they couldn't play sports at night. Or all day for that matter. So what do they do for most of their time?"

  "They learn," he said. "They can read any book in existence. Most demons are extremely intelligent. Many can speak a multitude of languages. Even some extinct languages. Sometimes Lucifer calls on them to carry out specific jobs for him. But mostly, they read, and learn."

  "Huh!" I was amazed at what Keogh was telling me. Life in the demon realm didn't sound half bad as far as I was concerned. All day to read and learn. Yeah, that sounded spectacular, in my book.

  "Then, of course," Keogh looked straight at me. I saw a glint in his eyes. "There are the fights."

  My eyes blinked. I felt shivers run down my back. "Fights?" I squeaked out between closed tight lips.

  He nodded. "Yes. There are always fights when a group of men live together for a long period. There are challenge fights. And other fights as they jockey for ranking positions."

  "Hang on! What challenge fights? To who? And what ranking positions?"

  "There is always a leader of every demon group."

  "Groups? What groups are there?"

  Keogh ignored my question and continued explaining. "The leader's position enjoys privileges that other demons don't get. So there is always someone trying to kill the leader, or challenge him for that position."

  "Okay. I could understand that."

  "Then there are the other recognised positions. Some are enviable. Like there is a second in command. Someone always challenges for this role. It is believed that whoever gets that role is favoured above all others. There are also more general positions such as cooks."

  I gaped at him in disbelief. "They fight for positions as a cook?" In our country, not many people wanted to be cooks. It was too hard and too stressful.

  "To be a cook in the demon realm allows you access to all the food." His eyes gleamed at me. "With the numbers of demons in each group, food is always a scarce commodity."

  "Wow! I had no idea."

  He shrugged. "Most humans never hear about the different realms. And, the Demon Realm is kept apart from the human world for obvious reasons."

  "Um… could you elaborate on those reasons?"

  "Well, for starters. Could you imagine what a massive group of demons would do if released into the human world? Thousands of women available for them… just for the taking. The chance for them to have their own children. There is money to steal. Luxuries unheard of in the demon realm. Here on earth, these things are plentiful. All the food you can eat." He shook his head. "It would be a disaster waiting to happen."

  "Sorry to interrupt," Diego said.

  I jumped at Diego's voice. I'd been so enthralled in what Keogh was saying. We both glanced over at him.

  "Janey… you need to come and eat."

  Keogh stood. "I will go now. I hope to see you sometime," he said as he turned and left.

  "Thank you," I called back. I felt like I was in shock. It had all happened so fast. I vowed to make time to create a list of questions for Keogh to answer the next time I saw him. Then I'd be a little bit more prepared.

  My mind bulged at the knowledge I'd gained in that short time I'd been talking to Keogh. And I was rapt I'd had some of my questions answered. Although, my question queue was still long. The information I had gained would now go towards the book I was creating on the demon realm.

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  Janey

  I was deep in my mind, thinking about everything that Keogh had told me. I was eating my food and not even realising I was doing it.

  "How about taking a few hours off?"

  Diego's voice startled me. I looked up to see Diego staring at me.

  My fork slipped from my fingers and crashed down onto the plate. "Now?"

  He nodded. "Tomorrow we will both be busy. So I think a rest before then would be good for both of us."

  "But I haven't finished my work. I haven't got everything ready that I need. There are articles I need to photocopy. I haven't finished my notes about the demon realm. That class is tomorrow in case you didn't know."

  Diego threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, Janey. Do you think everything has to be ready by tomorrow? Let the students do some of that work. It will make them feel more involved that way, anyway. Let it go, Janey. You need a break."

  I looked at him. A break would be good. E
specially if he was thinking of a break, in the same mannerism I was. Like an in bed together, sort of break. I nodded. "Okay, I'm game if you are."

  He smirked. "I think you'll like what I have in mind."

  "I hope it's nothing energetic, like sports?"

  He laughed out loud again. "I'm certain you will enjoy it."

  We finished the meal and walked back to his room.

  Janey

  What a break!

  We spent hours enjoying being with each other in private. We talked and touched each other continuously. Then, at some stage, we both crashed.

  The next time I opened my eyes was morning. Early in the morning, but it was still morning. I saw the time and screamed out loud.

  Too late, I realised Diego had been fast asleep beside me. He woke up with such a fright; he went full vamp. In a flash, he was standing beside the bed, scanning the room, with his eyes flashing red. His fangs were out, and he was standing in an attack position. Luckily, there was no-one else around. He stilled as he continued to scan the room. His eyes drifted back to normal. His fangs receded. He stood up tall and looked at me. "Why the hell did you scream?"

  "Oops!" I felt so bad now. I was so embarrassed. "I wasn't intending to scream. It just came out. I woke up and got a fright when I saw the time."

  He stood there staring at me, not saying a word. Then with a shake of his head, he turned and meandered off towards the bathroom.

  I remained where I was for a few minutes, then went in search of him. At the least, I owed him an apology, and I knew how I would give it.

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  Janey

  "I like your apologies," Diego whispered in my ear as he nuzzled close.

  I giggled and pushed him away.

  We were standing in the lift going up, towards day one of the course. My bodyguards were in the lift. So it prevented me from saying what I wanted to. I smirked and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

  He smiled and kissed me back. "I've got things I have to do."

  I nodded. "So do I."

  "Okay, so how about we meet in the classroom in an hour? Is that enough time?"

  I nodded. "It'll have to be."

  He squeezed me. "It will be fine. You'll see."

  I nodded. Nerves had already taken hold of my insides. My first class was getting closer. My first class with vampires? What made it worse was I hadn't finished all of my research, yet. Yeah, everything will be fine.

  Diego laughed and gave me another quick kiss.

  The lift opened way too quickly, and I had to step out.

  Diego walked off down the hall.

  I headed in the opposite direction. One hour! I had one hour to finish everything I needed to get done. No way was that going to happen.

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  Janey

  Sitting down, I quickly scanned the notes for the first lot of classes. "Oh, crap!" I'd forgotten to do any research, for the first subject… Colours and their Effects. How stupid could I be? I'd been so focused on the demon realm and the other subjects, I'd forgotten this one, just about in its entirety. I clicked the power button on the laptop Diego had bought for me. The majority of this hour would now have to be spent on this topic alone. How could I have been so stupid?

  I quickly researched and then created essay questions for the assignments. This would at least force them to research and hopefully learn as they went. For the first assignment… the class needed to describe the implications of different colours. They'd need to get into groups to discuss this. Each group member would have to research one colour. They could then bring their findings back to the group. Together, they could create a chart that was showing each colour, and how it related to battles. That was one issue out of the way, but what could I do with the actual teaching of the subject.

  Panic set in. I risked a quick glance at my watch. Time was running out.

  I already had essay questions ready for the History of Witchcraft. So that was a relief. I had come up with some basic questions. But I was hoping it would be enough to get the students interested and started. We could always go deeper as the course went on. The broad questions included… 'What is a witch?', 'What caused the witch trials?', 'How were the witches classed as a witch?', and 'What did a witch do?'

  Some essay questions I had come up with, for the History of Magic included 'What is the difference between magic and witchcraft?', 'Are there different types of magic?', 'What is an alchemist?', 'What did an alchemist do?', 'How does it relate to magic?' and 'Who was Nicolas Flamel?'

  The essay questions for the History of the Demon Realm included 'What is a Demon?', 'How many types of Demons are there?', 'Where do Demons live?', 'Are Demons mentioned in the bible?', 'If so, in what context?', And of course 'What is the difference between Hades and Hell?'

  "Ready to go?" I jumped at the voice and looked over to see Diego standing at the door. "You scared me!"

  "Well, considering you were supposed to meet me…"

  "Oh!" I jumped again as I checked my watch. "I'm late. I'm so sorry. I was just…"

  Diego grabbed me around the shoulders, pulled me in close to him and kissed me hard. His tongue snaked inside my mouth and I forgot everything I was thinking about. He pulled back and pushed me away, so he could see my face. "Come on. Grab your gear. Let's go."

  Dazed by the kiss, I snatched up what I thought I'd need and followed Diego as he walked towards the classroom. My bodyguards followed along behind. I had no thought of nerves or anything else. I felt numb, still dazed from that blinding kiss. I knew I had to clear my head, but I found myself reliving the kiss. Imagining Diego still holding me. Imagining his tongue…

  "Janey?"

  I stopped walking and looked up.

  I had no idea what expression I had on my face, but Diego laughed. He grabbed my arm and tugged me inside the classroom.

  It took me a few moments to register that the classroom was full. It was full to capacity with vampires. And… they were all staring at me.

  Janey

  I gulped and plopped all my books and notes down on the desk at the front of the class.

  Diego stepped forward, in front of the group. He introduced himself, and me as the co-ordinator and trainer. Then he went onto explain the goals of the course. "The goals of this course are: to create super-soldiers... vampires who can fight both mentally and physically, to overcome any supernatural challenges."

  He let that sink in for a few minutes then explained further. "We are here to train you to become super-soldiers."

  There was a general murmuring after that. A few of the vampires called out, "Alright!"

  Diego grinned and then held up his hand for silence. "Now to the next part," he said.

  The vampires were hooked now. I could see their level of interest had risen dramatically. They were all leaning forward eager to begin.

  "The goal of this course is for vampires who can fight both mentally and physically."

  A few of the vampires frowned at that. Others nodded.

  'What we're talking about now is for you to be able to be the best you can. For you to learn how to fight with different weapons."

  One of the vampires called out, "Yeah!"

  A few of the others laughed.

  "Now," Diego continued, "Don't forget I said mentally."

  There was dead silence. I noticed a few frowning, but no-one said anything.

  "You can be the fittest person in a fight. You can be at your top-notch game," Diego said. "But what happens if your opponent casts a spell and throws it at you?"

  A few of the vampires jumped. Others glanced warily around as if expecting someone to throw a spell.

  "You need to be at your fighting fit both mentally and physically to achieve the goal." Diego waited a few moments, and then said, "Now to the last part of the goal… to overcome any supernatural challenges." He looked around the room and asked, "How many of you here have ever fought a demon?"

  No-one raised their hand.

  "
How many of you have ever fought a ghost?"

  Again no-one raised their hand.

  "Well, I can tell you here and now… both exist."

  There was quiet for a few minutes, then all hell broke loose. Vampires rose and began shouting at Diego and at each other. Loud arguments broke out. It was absolute pandemonium. My guards stepped quickly to my side.

  I glanced over at Diego and he was standing there with a smile on his face. I frowned. Why would he be happy at getting this kind of reaction? Then it dawned on me. Oh! Of course. Because now the vampires would listen. Now they would believe. And they would pay more attention in class. Huh! That was pretty smart of Diego.

  He let the noise and arguing continue for a few more minutes and then called them to order. He waited until they were all seated again before continuing. "You've all seen or heard of Keogh?"

  A few vampires nodded.

  "Keogh used to be the Keeper of Flames and Veils. Now, he's passed that onto Serentis. What you may not know is that the Flame Realm houses demons."

  The silence this time was so deafening it was scary.

  "I will be bringing Keogh into this class to talk to you, to explain about the Flame Realm, the demons who live there and, how to defeat them in a fight. What you also may not know is that during the changeover between Keogh and Serentis… the Flame which controls the barrier between the two worlds… theirs and ours, it collapsed. It was down for long enough to allow hundreds of demons to escape their world."

  A few vampires began fidgeting.

  "So… it is not implausible that some time in the future… you may have to fight demons. First though, you need to learn about them. You need to learn who they are. What they eat. How they fight. How they live. You may have to track them… in order to fight them. This is all theory work."

  There were a few grumbles.

  Diego stepped forward and asked, "Who here thinks they can go straight out now and fight demons… and survive?"

  No-one put their hand up.

  Diego nodded. "Now. As I said before… ghosts also exist." Diego turned and pointed over to me. "This is Janey. Her sister is Alex. Of course you all know Alex?"