by Con Template
By now, all the horsemen had caught up with me.
My instincts going into overdrive, I zigzagged from one corner to the other, battling to avoid being caught by the demonic riders who were reaching out for me. They were quick, but they didn’t have my dexterity. Every time they reached for me, I would tumble underneath one horse, sweep around the other, and scramble away until I was running ahead of them in the open fields, regaining my lead.
Huff . . . Huff!
When I felt my knees grow weak, I knew I couldn’t attempt to outrun them anymore. It was only a matter of time before I had to stop, which meant that I had to think up something fast. An idea then flashed in my mind. Why didn’t I think of this before? I tugged my backpack in front of me and abruptly stopped in the middle of the field. I ripped out my big bag of emergency salt and poured a big circle of salt around me.
Once I was done, I took out the rest of my emergency supplies and poured holy water over myself for safe measure.
Panting and dripping wet, I waited, my eyes widening when I discovered that there were more Demons pursuing me than I had realized. I had only been paying attention to the horsemen, but in reality, there were also twenty foot soldiers behind them, chasing after me as well.
As if on cue, they all came to an abrupt stop at the circle formation I fashioned with my salt.
There was nowhere else for me to run.
I was completely and utterly surrounded.
“iiEumin nehsoya, ni eterniie.”
Epilogue: Something Deadly is Coming
The five horsemen stopped at the lower curve of the circle, approximately twenty feet away from me. They loomed before me like imposing skyscrapers.
Outside of that immediate curve, roughly another thirty feet away, were the foot soldiers: Red Tie and his minions. I stared at them and then back at the ones who caused unrivaled fear to bubble in my gut.
Steam continued to rise out of the Demonic Horsemen’s black horses. I knew they weren’t ordinary horses, not by a long shot. Our horses may eat hay, but I had a sinking feeling that these horses ate human flesh. I could feel the wind creep over the missing fabric where the horse tried to take a chunk out of me. Judging by how those horses were baring their teeth at me, I suspected they were very hungry for a taste of my flesh.
Thunder peeled in the sky as the Demonic Horsemen continued to sit there, merely regarding me with quiet interest. A minute later, as the flurry of snow began to calm and wither away, the riders finally relieved the cloaks of their duties. The blazing fabric rested on their horses, revealing the true faces of the Demons.
Apparently the five “horsemen” weren’t all men.
There were two female Demons and three male Demons. All appeared to be in their forties and all had an air of aristocracy attached to them. With a black mask covering the upper portions of their faces, they couldn’t have looked more intimidating.
However, the masks didn’t stay on for long.
They waved a careless hand over their faces, and in adherence, the masks began to evaporate like water under the sun.
Unlike Red Tie and the Demons in the outer limits of the formation, all of whom had intricate lines and tattoos on their faces, these Demons only possessed tattoos on the upper portions of their faces.
The Demonic Horsemen had the silhouette of two serpents as eyebrows while there was a faint white shadow of a crucifix on their foreheads that ran down to the bridge of their noses. They had the eyes of snakes—narrow pupils that were in the shape of sharp, elongated diamonds. They were all dressed in dark business apparel that blended in almost perfectly with the shadows. The only anomaly in their attire was the clerical collars around their necks.
Much to my dismay, I concluded that they resembled demonic priests and priestesses rather than “regular” Demons.
When they spoke, I was surprised that they didn’t possess the tongue of a snake as well.
“You’re right,” one of the female Demons with long white hair verbalized, her voice sounding more like a hiss than a voice. “This one is a very fast runner.”
Though she wasn’t looking at him, I realized she was speaking to Red Tie.
When I glanced at him, Red Tie fixed me with a stare that promised pain. Soundlessly, he said, “You’re going to get it now.”
The Demons on the horses dismounted, landing so viciously on the snow that the ground shook, the earth pitifully attempting to readjust to their commanding strength. As their heavy boots dug into the snow, the five Demons began to circle me like sharks, their expressions unhurried as they stepped around the salt, never once coming close to it.
“There’s nowhere to run,” one of the male Demons, the palest one out of the group, cautioned with a raspy voice. He was smiling—or what I presumed to be a smile—while I was trying to figure out the next step of my escape plan. “We are the best of our kind. It is virtually impossible to outrun us.”
Another male Demon, the most heavy-set out of the group, peered up at the skies. “Your Demon must be a very powerful Demon if he can blind the Heavens in a matter of minutes. Then again, if I had my own Source, then I would fight Heaven and Hell to protect you as well.”
“Come out of the circle, Source,” the second female Demon coaxed. Her long black hair flapped with the current of the wind. “You cannot stay in there forever.”
“S-screw you,” I whispered shakily.
Though the protection of the salt and the holy water gave me some semblance of comfort, I only had a small ounce of bravado left. Sadly, the last vestige of my bravery eviscerated when they all smiled sadistically at me. The smiles they presented froze my blood and their next words rendered me paralyzed.
“Far be it from us to go easy on you then . . .”
What happened next occurred so quickly that I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Without so much as a hint of trepidation, they each raised their left foot, stepped over the line of salt, and moved into the circle formation with me.
Oh no.
Before I could even think to run, they already advanced towards me. The male Demon who had been quiet the entire time—the one who wore silver cross earrings—approached me with blinding speed. In one breath, he was five feet away with the rest of the Demons, and when I blinked, he was right in front of me.
“Ah!”
He grabbed at the area of my throat that was drenched with holy water and he did not even blink an eye of concern. Judging from the authoritative power that poured out of him, it was clear that he was the leader of this terrifying group.
I concluded then how screwed I was.
I wasn’t dealing with low-level Demons. No, I was dealing with those at the very top of the demonic pyramid.
“You were able to get away last time because we were unprepared for the Holy Land, but now, the titans have come for you, Source,” the Demon hissed, the bloodlust prominent in his savage face. “Consider yourself honored. We rarely leave our thrones. For us to personally come out to acquire you is eventful in itself.”
Though I was shaking, I managed to ask, “What kind of Demons are you?”
I didn’t understand how the salt and the holy water did little to affect them.
The Demon laughed, the pale cross on his face seemingly gleaming with pride. “The type of Demons a Source like you should never meet.”
“Brother, we were ordered to bring her back alive,” the heavy-set Demon warned hoarsely, though he made no effort to come and save me.
“And she will be,” the Demon leader answered before diabolically canting his head at me. “Barely.”
Displaying savage strength, he tugged my hair and pointed in the direction of Red Tie and his minions, all of whom were glowering at me like they couldn’t wait to rip my flesh apart.
“Do you know who they are?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “Our disciples,” he growled.
It dawned on me why they harbored such hostility towards me. Eclipse and I embarrassed these guys the last time
we came, and as a result, we had indirectly slapped the faces of these higher-level Demons as well.
The Demon leader laughed humorlessly, his cold chortle making my skin crawl. “We are not fans of anyone making fools out of them as it reflects poorly on us. They have all received their punishments for such an atrocity, and you, my dear, will receive the same treatment.”
Bam!
The assault came at a mind-numbing speed.
One moment I was on my feet, and the next, I was picked up and tossed viciously onto the ground.
My limbs pounded onto the snow-covered land, slamming the air out of me. I skidded to a violent stop, landing at the feet of the foot soldiers. They calmly moved out of the way, making room for me—or whoever was coming after me next.
I wasn’t given a second to breathe when the female Demon with black hair pulled me up, kneed me in the stomach, and kicked me so hard in the chest that I was sent flying into a nearby tree.
“Ugh!”
Agonizing pain burst into all the fibers that made up my existence. This time the backpack didn’t break my fall. The left side of my body slammed into the tree and I felt my bones crack.
“Ahhhh!”
I plummeted facedown to the icy ground. Tears blurred my vision as I trembled from the aftershocks. The gut-wrenching thing about this assault was that deep in my heart, I knew that this was just the beginning.
These Demons weren’t even close to finishing my punishment.
“I’ve always wanted to meet you,” the palest male Demon spoke, seizing me by the collar of my jacket. Excitement rippled in his words. “The child murderer! And to think, the famous child is also a coveted Source. You have no idea how much you’ve made our day. If only you hadn’t embarrassed our disciples, then we would’ve gone easy on you. Since you did, you will now know our wrath. Fare well, child. If you are going to be one of the most powerful Demons when converted, then you will prove your worth tonight.”
And with that, he punched me in the face and kicked me with great ferocity across the field, causing me to slam chest first against another tree.
Bam!
More of my bones cracked as dark spots sparked in my eyes. I blinked with hardship while I remained on the ground, my extremities convulsing with pain. I could barely move, but when the white-haired female leaned over me, she whispered a spell, and I could feel my body heal.
I shook my head, knowing exactly why she was doing this.
With an evil smile, she ripped out a knife from her pocket. Before I could fight to get away from her, she pinned me down, climbed over me, and poised the knife above my cheek. A sinister cackle streamed from her thin lips and she wasted no more time.
Digging the knife into my skin, she proceeded to carve into my cheek. The flesh ripped apart, allowing the snow to sift into my mouth. I started to convulse with an agonized scream.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
My cheek automatically healed itself, but the searing pain persisted, torturing me alive. I shuddered because I could still feel the sensation of the cold air wafting through my once ripped skin.
This sensation reminded me of the night with Sony’s father when he stabbed me repeatedly with a knife. The only difference was that this was a thousand times worse. These Demons may be healing me physically, but they were torturing me psychologically. Despite my healed wounds, I could feel the pain of every wound inflicted onto me.
With me as their plaything, the Demonic Horsemen continued to torment me while relishing in my misery.
It was Hell on earth.
There were no scars or traces of bleeding, but the pain remained prominent. Every time they attacked me, slit into my flesh, kicked me hard in the gut, or broke my bones, my bloodcurdling scream would filter into the air.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs when one of the Demons pierced a knife into my hip and curled the blade around.
With a twisted laugh, he began to cleave into it like he was butchering meat.
I wanted to die.
“Please stop! Please stop!”
The more I begged them to stop, the more they would laugh at me. It soon became so hopeless that I stopped screaming and stopped begging altogether.
“Augh!”
Gasping for air, I laid on the snow, staring up at the lightning-lit sky after they had knocked me around for what felt like hours. My body was fine, but my mind was battered beyond reason. The torture reached its apex, and I couldn’t help but cry. I was going to die from the mental exertion alone. I was sure of it.
“Aw, our little Source is exhausted,” the heavy-set Demon jeered as every Demon in the vicinity laughed.
“As entertaining as this is,” the black-haired women spoke, “she is a very prized commodity and my powers are waning fast in the Holy Land. Finish this now. We must leave soon.”
With that warning prevailing over them, the others nodded before their leader came to me and pulled me up.
“You should know that we’re actually going easy on you right now, Source. This is a courtesy that we’re showing because the orders were to take you back alive. But let this be ingrained in your mind: when our Creator demands your soul for the conversion, you will give it without hesitation. If you don’t . . .” The leader smiled cruelly. “Well then, allow me to show you the consequences of such audacity.”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
He dug his bare hand into the laceration on my hip that had yet to heal itself. He began to tear at the flap of skin there, slowly ripping the flesh apart.
My heart missed a beat; I twisted and convulsed in agony, screaming and fighting to get out of his hold, but to no avail.
He then stopped, pushed me down, and stared at me with a vicious grin.
“Time to bring her to our Creator,” said one of the horsemen in the back.
Their eyes turned cold as a storm funnel appeared above us like a tornado, whipping everything in sight and bearing down on me. Snow from the ground rose up and danced from the force of the funnel.
I could scarcely feel gravity give way underneath me, and I deduced quickly that this funnel cloud was their means of leaving the Holy Land.
This vortex was going to take me to their Creator—the one I had never met and the one my Source instinct was deathly afraid of.
“No,” I whispered in a broken cry, burying my face into the snow. The dread coursing through me was one that I had never experienced. I had never felt this much terror. I feared these Demonic Horsemen, but for an unexplainable reason, I feared their Creator more. “Please, don’t.”
My pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Get up,” the leader said through clenched teeth, growing sick of my disobedience. “We have a long journey ahead of us.”
I shook my head and tried to crawl away, but the white-haired Demon woman stopped me.
“Since you won’t get up, we’ll drag your unconscious body instead,” she voiced before kicking me clear across the face.
Pain exploded through me, blinding my field of vision. I could feel my teeth clack together as I trembled in agony. I could scarcely breathe, let alone stay awake any longer . . .
Mocking laughter poured throughout the field as the vortex above me grew stronger.
“I think she’s ready to meet our Creator now,” the leader said as I found myself losing consciousness.
They all peered down at me, excitement teeming in their black eyes before darkness consumed my world.
“Good night, Grace.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Con Template currently resides in California. When she is not daydreaming about her next overseas destination, you can find her in between realities when she is writing about the King of Serpents, the Demon of Lust, the Kingmaker, the Ancient, and the Ambassador.
She is currently working on the third book of the An Eternity of Eclipse series and looking to introduce a new thriller series, Petals to Wonderland, in 2016.
You can follow her at contemplate13.wordpress.com or twi
tter.com/contemplate13