Just as I thought that this little human girl might have been the end of me, a strange thing happened. The girl’s hair fell gently around her shoulders once more. The black veins sprinted down her neck and shirt, scampering like the little feet from the twisted toddlers. I could see the same pattern of spiderweb veins beginning on the palms of her hands.
She was losing control.
Within seconds, the mass of shadow children began to swarm the girl, crawling up her body, their claws tearing at the clothes, leaving scratch marks on her flesh wherever there was exposed skin.
She screamed as her summoned creatures turned on her. They pulled her down onto her knees.
The creatures on me were more cautious. I might have been pinned, but I was full of energy, and I was much bigger than the girl.
She screamed again, and then she said in a hoarse whisper, “Help me.”
The words gurgled out of her as small appendages pushed their way into her open mouth and started pulling her jaw open and reefing on her tongue. It appeared as if they were trying to find a way to pull her apart. Tiny hands wrenched on her ears, yanking her limbs, poking fingers into her blood-red orbs. The distorted infants hissed and wailed in excitement.
At that moment, the Shishi turned from their stone guard stance into full-on protection mode. With teeth snapping, they went after the shadow creepers. The Shishi had changed into the menacing demon guards they had been created to be.
The guardians snagged the creatures one by one with their teeth. How they managed to bite into shadow is beyond me, but they were capable.
Screeches of terror filled the room. With each bite from the Shishi, the shadow forms would dissolve, their childlike screams fading as their corporeal forms dissipated.
My guardians kept at it until the girl was completely free from the horde, until she lay on the floor motionless, facing away from me on her side and barely breathing. The shadows retreated back into the corners, letting go of me all at once.
I fell face-first onto the floor with a thud.
My living room was completely destroyed, broken glass covered the floor from the coffee table, the lamp was bent in half, the leather couch ripped. Black remnants of the veining evil of the incantation stained the walls and ceilings where the shadow had grown and expanded, then ultimately receded. The apartment was completely ruined.
Great, a door that needs to be replaced, and now I have to get this all fixed too. I hauled myself up off the floor and crawled over to the girl, while the Shishi growled in warning. Clearly they were no longer mine, and contrary to their purpose, they were guarding a person, not a place. Exactly what the Hell had she done to them?
I pushed the girl over so that she lay on her back. She was wide-eyed and staring at the ceiling, but even though her eyes had returned to their normal blue colour, there was no blinking. She looked dead, pale skinned with her face frozen in shock. Her eyes had huge bags under them, and although the veins had receded somewhat, they were still present in the creases around her eyes and the corners of her mouth.
“Where the Hell did you learn to do that?” I asked.
I grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse. It was definitely there, and in fact, it was racing.
She mumbled something.
Fantastic. I brought her home in an attempt to keep her alive only to drive her to cast a spell that made her go mad. Well, one thing was clear. It was obvious what I had dragged home. D’Alae, meet Dark Witch.
I inched closer and the dogs bared their teeth. “I’m trying to help,” I said to them. They relaxed a little but were still on point.
“Come on, get up.” There was nothing, no movement from her at all, just the same mumbling, her lips moving but nothing coming out. The girl had drained herself to the very edge of death.
“Well, you certainly smell like one of us now,” I said aloud as I picked her up, placing her on the couch. That acrid burnt plastic smell wafted off of her. “And just who taught you a spell that you can’t control? Your creator should be flayed. You sure as Hell aren’t ready to be casting anything that complicated.”
Most newly darkened spent a lot of time with their creator, learning everything they could. The human world rules no longer applied; you had to learn to walk again, in demonesque skin, so to speak.
Her face had aged. The skin was wrinkled and sagging. She appeared to have matured several decades in only a few minutes.
“What happened?” she asked. “What did I do this time?” Her lips were cracked at the corners from the shadow creepers, and a little blood wept from the wound. She was a mess, and she would need to replenish the life energy she had just spent.
“What do you mean, what happened? You called forth a little army of shadow creepers to protect you against me,” I said, somewhat alarmed she had no memory.
“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? You scared me,” she said.
“You mean to tell me you have no idea or memory of what just happened?” I asked, still slightly annoyed with the whole situation.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, it happens every time I get mad or scared.” She sobbed. “I think you really must have scared me good. I’ve never felt this bad afterwards.”
“You look like shit.”
A tear rolled down her still rather unnervingly still face. She reached for the side table, where at one point a houseplant had been sitting. After the destruction of the living room, the plant was now on the floor in a pile of dirt, surrounded by broken pot shards, but a single stem, a twisted little piece of vine, had broken off, still green, resting on the table.
With her touch, it curled, turned black and died. She had absorbed the life force out of it.
“You’re going to need a lot more than just a leaf from a houseplant after what you just did. We’ll have to find you an adult human.”
This was turning into a whole lot more trouble than I needed or wanted.
Her eyes were once again blank and vacant. She was a mess. The borrowed clothes from my bedroom had been shredded by the shadow creepers.
Walking into the master bathroom, I grabbed a washcloth and wet it, and then I found her another set of clothes, which wouldn’t fit any better but would have to do for now.
I hadn’t left her alone for five minutes, and when I returned, she was gone. I peered around the corner into the kitchen: nothing. I dropped the clothes and washrag on the kitchen counter, and walked towards the front door, which was moved to allow entry into the hallway of the apartment building.
There she was, floating down the corridor.
Literally floating, like a ghost, a couple of inches off the floor, her hair swirling behind her from some unknown wind, like Medusa’s snakes. She hovered off the ground and moved from door to door, the Shishi at her feet.
I was amazed. Where was she finding the energy for this? Clearly she was still capable of casting spells, and I wasn’t in any physical condition to bear the brunt of another one. I followed her with caution.
She became ghostlike, pale and gaunt, the black veining adding to the ghoulish appearance, hovering above the floor with her shredded and tattered clothes hanging from her.
She had stopped in front of each apartment in the hallway and lightly touched the doors’ wooden surface with her fingers. Black veining rot emanated from her touch, and then she turned and went to the next. She repeated this until she came to the last in the hallway. She stared vacantly at the entrance. Then she reached out and touched it, and the door swung open.
She disappeared into the condo, the dogs following along behind her.
And then there was a scream.
I rushed into the neighbour’s apartment after her.
On the floor lay a woman, in her late thirties, her face frozen in fear at the sight of the floating girl.
The ghoulish pale-faced girl took one finger, placed it over the woman’s lips, and made the motion of shushing her, then moved her macabrely white digit from the chin of her victim who remained wide-eyed and stil
l.
The girl moved her finger down the woman’s throat, over her chest, and to just above her groin. As her finger moved, the clothes ripped in half and the flesh underneath peeled back, exposing sinew and ribcage and gelatinous insides that glistened with fresh blood. The woman screamed in pain as red gurgled down her body and pooled atop the hardwood floor. She sucked in fast breaths until blood filled her mouth, gradually suffocating her and ceasing the screams.
“No!” I yelled.
Her face whipped around towards me with an evil glare, warning me to stay away.
The ghostlike witch floated above her victim, took her hands, dug them into the fresh wound, and then peeled it back even further. The woman was still alive and continued to choke on her own blood, convulsing as she was held down.
She moved her maw closer to the chest cavity where the woman’s beating heart would lie beneath the ribcage, and she inhaled.
Tendrils of light floated out of the body, like steam rising from a hot bath, emanating mostly from the victim’s heart. The light was white, tinged with wisps of yellow, and it wafted up towards the mouth and nose of the hag. It continued to swirl around, until she took another deep breath, inhaling it in. She was sucking the life force out of the woman.
I stood there, disgusted, watching the murder of not only a life, but of a soul. The woman stopped moving after losing so much energy. She was done. Even if the heart continued to beat, however slowly, she was gone.
The witch pulled in every last little bit of light with deep inhales, until there was nothing left.
Finally, she plunged her hand down into the ribcage just beside the heart. Bone shattered with audible cracks, as the emaciated fingers disappeared into the chest cavity, and then emerged, holding her prey’s heart. It had stopped beating, but her hand was covered in viscous deep-red blood. The heart was plump and full.
The witch’s jaw lowered and unhinged like a snake, and then she placed the entire heart into her mouth and chewed. Blood ran out her mouth and down her chin.
Her expression that of pure satisfaction.
Beside the now dead body, a side table had been prepped with a glass of wine, a couple of pills, and a remote. The TV mindlessly spouted out voices. Several bottles of wine were scattered across the kitchen counter, a bottle of pills nestled between them. This apartment held the right contents for a personal party—a last party.
The hag’s face slowly disappeared, and the young girl that I had originally seen at the Master’s summoning table reemerged, innocent, young, and perky, no traces of black veins, no gaunt cheeks or hollow eyes, but from the dead unblinking stare, I could tell she was still catatonic.
I was angered by what I had just seen and yet, very hesitant to do anything about it. Interrupting her feast might have provoked another attack on me, which in turn would have caused her to require another meal.
This constant need to treat humans as food, held by demons and other creatures of the dark, repulsed me. I had spent so many years watching the human species. They had more value than a simple meal. They felt the fear and terror my kin imposed. It was cruel to treat them as we did.
She floated towards me. I moved out of the way as she and the Shishi went out the door she had entered, turned towards my apartment, and floated back down the hall.
I followed, but not closely, and as I reached my door, I found her lying on the couch, eyes opened but staring at the ceiling with hands resting on her chest like a body at a funeral. Her expression finally appeared rested and serene, while her chest rose and fell slowly. She was fast asleep.
Well, so much for having to look after the girl. Clearly she was quite capable of doing that herself.
The Shishi were back in statue form, and they were both sitting directly in front of the couch, protecting the girl.
I sat down carefully in the chair on the other side of the living room, making sure I didn’t crush the splinted wing, and kept an eye on her. If I had to, I’d sit up all night, but there was no way I was going to sleep. I didn’t trust her, and she was clearly powerful enough to bind me, kill a human, and eat their soul.
No, there most definitely would be no sleep tonight.
Repression
DATI
The girl on the couch shifted her position and let out a soft sigh. It was hard to resolve her propensity for death and wickedness with the soft face and pouty lips that slept so peacefully. Sitting in a chair throughout the night gave me plenty of time to examine her, as she slept away her murderous feast. I still didn’t even know her name.
A witch. She wasn’t exactly human anymore, but her blood wouldn’t match that of a demon either. Her soul, however, had to be as dark and twisted as any demon in order to command the spell she cast last night. It was only a matter of time until the rot of the dark side seeped from her spirit into her human flesh.
The Shishi had reverted back to their stone façade. They sat in front of the couch, waiting for her to arise and bid them their next set of orders. I had lost them to her.
I stared at her. She was such a tiny person. Long gone were the black spider veins of leeching darkness. She was full, both physically and psychically, but her childlike demeanour and guise of innocence was misleading.
Only a few hours had passed since she returned to the couch. My eyelids were heavy, and I found myself straining to keep them open.
So what, if anything, should I do about the woman down the hall, split open from chin to belly, lying in a pool of her own blood with a missing heart? It was yet another mess I would have to clean up, and it would have to wait until the morning.
I yawned. I was so damn tired.
My tired mind drifted to Alyx and the dream I’d had the previous night. I remembered a woodland, deep in nature, where green moss flourished and ferns littered the forest floor. I ran my hand across old tree stumps whose roots stuck out, making the glen knotted and gnarled. Near my feet, odd little mushrooms poked their heads out from underneath the leaf debris, showing their unassuming little caps.
In the middle of it all stood Alyx. Simple and beautiful, his auburn hair a tousled mess, with leaves stuck in his mop and beard and a smear of dirt across his nose. His body was wrapped in that violet swirling aura. It danced around his neck and spiraled around his shoulder, then came back under his arm and across his chest.
I wanted to reach out and touch him, but hesitated. Alyx smiled and I smiled back, feeling silly, unsure of myself. I glanced away from him, embarrassed. Alyx took a step forward, autumn leaves crunching underneath his foot, and I leered at him, devouring his image, saving it in my mind to enjoy over and over. I reached out to take his hand.
A searing pain in my gut startled me awake. My eyes opened wide and I stood up quickly, then doubled over, wrapping my arms around my midsection and sucking in a deep breath.
The silver monsters living in my gut rolled, poking my insides with their sharp spines.
I had fallen asleep. But thinking of Alyx had stirred the minions, just as they had jostled me when I met him in Marta’s store. There would be no way I’d let Alyx go through some demon infection and drag him into the pit of despair I lived every day. I had to find a way to get these things out of me.
I decided that I would find a way to rid myself of these without harming anyone, despite the fact that the very of thought of it was mutiny against Master.
The couch was empty. The Shishi guardians were gone as well.
Shit.
I scanned the room quickly, my thoughts racing through all the options of where she could have gone. A rustling noise came from the kitchen. I tiptoed towards the sounds.
As I poked my head around the door, I discovered her surrounded by plastic bags and placing items into my fridge. The Shishi were at her feet, tails waggling as they curiously watched her.
I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She was still there and in one piece, and not about to cast her next apartment-destroying spell.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
>
“Oh my God,” she said shrilly, dropping the juice bottle she held onto the ceramic tiles. The plastic bottle bounced a few times and then spun like a top and skittered off across the floor. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“What’s with the food? And where did it come from?” I asked.
“I’m starving, and when I woke up, you were sleeping there in front of me. Creepy, I might add, and so I came into the kitchen to get something to eat, but the only thing in this fridge is raw meat. So I, um, ‘borrowed’ some money from your coat pocket and went out to find some food.” She smiled warily.
So she was a witch and a thief, but at least she was honest. I groaned and rolled my eyes.
“I have a lot of questions for you, so fix your food and come back to the living room. We have things to discuss.”
She seemed disappointed, concerned, and confused all at once. “Oh, okay. Do you want any?” She pointed to a crate of eggs.
“No.”
The young witch did as she was told, eventually anyway. She brought a large glass of orange juice, a huge plate of scrambled eggs with cheese and a few pieces of toast piled on top, and sat down on the couch that she had called home for the last couple of days.
She piled the eggs and melted cheese over top of the bread and shoved it into her mouth. A cold shiver went down my spine. I had a hard time watching humans eat.
“Who are you?” I asked bluntly.
“Oh, yeah, I guess we never did that part, um, sorry. My name is Jenae,” she said through a mouthful of food, all perky and happy. Putting the plate of eggs to the side, she wiped her hand on my sweatpants, then held it out in typical human custom. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Dati Amon.” I shook her hand, somewhat reluctantly.
“Say again? Da…what, I’m sorry, how’d you say that?” she asked, shaking my hand. As she touched my skin, she seemed to flinch a little, as if she somehow knew that the hot demonic flesh was not to be trusted.
“Just call me Dati.”
“Okay, Dati it is. That’s an unusual name. I’ve never heard that before. What is it, like French?”
Daimonion (The Apocalypse Book 1) Page 7