Demonic laughter rolled around me. The two Demon women looked at me with smiling faces while others crept out from the shadows to get a better view of me. No one got up to kill me right away, and I knew it was because I was their new entertainment for the night. They were going to keep me alive for as long as possible before they deigned it was time to kill me.
I gulped uneasily.
What had I gotten myself into?
“What a feisty one,” the blonde Demon woman remarked, staring at me like I was a newfound toy she was excited to torture. “I want to be the one to take her soul.”
“No, I want it,” the red-haired Demon argued. She wheeled around and flashed me a hideously sadistic grin. “With all that heroic blood flowing through your veins, your soul will be delicious to own.” She glanced down at the two bags of salt in my possession. “Look at this little human carrying those bags of salt like they will help her.” Her cold eyes laughed at me. “You would need to spread all that salt in a big line. Since I could snap your head before even a grain of that salt could hit the ground, I think you’re shit out of luck.” She cackled, mockingly holding the tip of the knife against her head. Her face became more animalistic as she motioned me forward. “Come here, little puppy. Let me show you the consequences of being a bad pet and interrupting your masters.”
My teeth chattered against one another as I continued to move closer to my fellow humans. I could feel the other four shake behind me. All they could do was stare wide-eyed and wonder how someone like me could save them. In my state of immense fear, I did the only thing I could do: follow my instincts.
Without warning, I dropped the package of salts, withdrew a small bottle of holy water from my pocket, and wasted no time in splashing it over the two Demon women. As an added defense, I also threw excess water into the crowd for good measure—just to scare them and distract them.
After Lyna, the mysterious Demon woman who had been asked to help “watch over” Eclipse, gave us the green light to head to Serenity, I found myself scared shitless. In an effort to ease my paranoia, I brought two emergency bottles of holy water to protect myself from Demons who were looking to make a meal out of me. I kept the small bottle in my pocket at all times and kept the bigger bottle safely stashed in my backpack. I had never been more grateful that my paranoia had paid off in this instance.
Splash!
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The holy water boiled on the Demon women’s skin like acid, causing them to violently thrust backwards onto the tiles. At the exact same time, the Demons who got splashed by the excess water screamed at the top of their lungs, retreating further back into the shadows. Heart still pounding relentlessly, I opened one package of salt and began to pour it onto the ground, forming a circle with it and allowing it to be a protective barrier. The Demons were staring at me, stunned at what had transpired. They couldn’t believe that I not only knew what they were, but that I also had protection against them.
“Let’s go!” I shouted, seizing the black collar of the rocker-dressed girl. I pulled her up with a single jolt and motioned my head at the other three humans to follow my lead.
I could hear restless Demons clamor in the background, furious that they were stuck behind the salt barrier. A handful moved deeper into the shadows to determine a way out of the room. My salt circle may have worked against them, but it would only be a matter of time before those Demons found their way around it.
“How did you do that?!” the guy with the preppy-looking glasses screamed, rising up from behind me. While he was staring at the Demons around us in horror, the rest of his friends blinked numbly, traumatized and dazed from everything. Since all of his friends looked like they were ready to break apart at any moment, he was the only person left to help me with my next course of action.
“They’re Demons,” I explained, thrusting a bag of salt against his chest. Across from us, some of the Demons started to punch a hole through the walls. They were all fighting to get out of there, to get to us in some other way. “They want our souls,” I went on urgently. “Salt will keep them away from us. Pour the salt down as we run. They can’t touch us as long as we’re in this salt barrier. Now let’s go!”
I said everything to him in one breath, but he caught all of it. No matter how confused Preppy Glasses appeared, he, along with his three friends, did everything I instructed.
While pouring salt from our respective bags, we began to run for our lives. We ran through the hallways of the building, moving from one wing to the other and further trapping Demons in various parts of the inn. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of running, we made it into the foyer. Panting relentlessly, we busted out of the big oak doors and sprinted onto the lawn where rain poured over us, drenching us immediately.
“We’re running low!” Preppy Glasses shouted as thunder and lightning blasted across the dark skies.
I looked ahead, spotting the road through the forest that would lead us back out to the highway—back to civilization.
“We’re almost there!” I encouraged when I saw that Preppy Glasses and his friends were becoming fatigued.
Desperate now that we were running low on salt, I did something odd. Reaching into the bag, I grabbed a handful of what was left of the salt and threw it onto each of them. I had hoped that the grains of salt sticking to their rain-dampened skin would prevent Demons from touching them, basically turning their own bodies into protective cloaks.
“Go! Go! Go!” I shouted to each of them afterwards.
I pivoted around to Preppy Glasses as his friends ran over the expanse of the lawn, delved into the forest, and moved into the outskirts of the property. I was ready to dab the salt over him as well when a force knocked the salt bag from my grasp and tossed it out of my reach.
“No!”
I lunged forward and reached for the salt bag. Right when I was about to grab it, someone tackled me from behind.
Bam!
“Augh!”
The air was knocked out of my lungs after my attacker and I plummeted face-first onto the damp grass. As rain and wind slammed into my face, I looked to my right to see who had attacked me.
“Oh shit . . .”
Dread consumed me the moment I spotted Phix. His face was drenched from rain and he looked furious.
Desperate to get away from him, I attempted to rise up. I barely moved an inch when a foot connected with my back and forced me to the ground. While the side of my face pressed against the wet grass, my distressed eyes traveled to the salt bag. I could see Preppy Glasses standing close to it, shaking as he stared wide-eyed at me, Phix, and whoever it was that kicked me back down to the ground. His petrified gaze went towards the bag of salt again, and with no regard for me, he grabbed the salt bag and took off with it, completely abandoning me.
I gaped after him, furious at the cowardice he displayed. Here I was, risking my life to save him and his friends. Instead of returning the favor, he decided to run out on me when I needed him the most. I seethed to myself. That spineless rat. This was a prime example of why Eclipse and the rest of his demonic race looked down on humans so much. We were supposed to be virtuous creatures—the ones created in the image of God—but when faced with the prospect of death, we were nothing but spineless cowards.
I felt so stupid.
I should’ve known I wouldn’t be able to count on anyone else but myself.
“You know what the funny thing about you is?” the Demon girl from earlier whispered, revealing herself to be the one who had kicked me. She crouched down beside me as Phix came over and pinned me to the grass with his weight. “You caught us off guard because everyone thinks you’re this innocent girl who can’t fend for herself.” A ruthless smile appeared on her face as a stampede of Demons joined us on the lawn. “Now that we know your game, you won’t be getting away so easily.”
Without another word, she grabbed a fistful of my hair. My head briefly extended back before it was mercilessly rammed into the ground.
“Ah!”
A deluge of pain sprouted inside me, leaving me with black spots that had cloaked my vision. I breathed hoarsely, doing my best to endure this newfound pain while rain continued to drench me. Prior to blacking out, I heard footsteps approach me before someone lifted me up from the ground.
The last thought that entered my mind was Eclipse.
I wondered if he was safe, if he was still in the inn, and I wondered if he was looking for me.
And just as I began to lose consciousness, the only thing I could think about was how much I missed him and that I hoped he was okay . . .
“Let the wrath of Hell engulf it . . .”
04: The Wrath of Eclipse
I woke up to the feel of static electricity humming in my ears.
My eyes slowly fluttered open. I had barely regained consciousness when an onslaught of dread hit me.
The first thing I saw was a pair of black eyes. With the exception of the red tints burning within them, they were as black as the night. I fearfully looked to my right side—the area where the mysterious humming sound originated from—and saw that there was a hand parallel to my temple. Sparks of blue electricity emitted from the palm and jumped into my head.
I turned back to face the Demon in question and he smiled at me, tilting his head to the side. I instantly recognized him as San, the guy who helped carry our bags and the supposed son of the “elderly couple.”
“You,” he prompted calmly, sitting back on a chair across from me, “have caused us a lot of trouble tonight.”
The fine hair on my nape stood when I realized that I was sitting in a chair bound by ropes. I swallowed uneasily as my gaze charted the room. We were back in the same gathering area where I saved those couples. The only difference was that the room had been cleaned up. It was absent of the mess I created and free of the dead couple I was unable to save.
In the dark corners of the room, I could see Demons glaring at me with bloodthirsty eyes. The two Demon women I attacked wore the most vicious stares. The flesh from their faces was hanging off, a direct side effect of having holy water thrown on them. The fury radiating from them was unmistakable. They wanted to punish me and literally eat me alive.
With my stomach coiling in uneasiness, I turned my head to look behind me. I could see Phix and Demon Girl standing close to me, their eyes looking nervous. I stayed silent and shifted my gaze to the floor. I briefly wondered how they were freely standing beside me when I had thrown so much salt on the ground. My pulse slowed when I discovered that the salt that once had been a perfect line was now broken and completely destroyed.
A chuckle moved around me.
San followed my line of sight.
He proceeded to answer my unspoken question by causing a draft of wind to blow at the remaining salt, whipping it out of the room and into the hall outside. I had the answer I needed. The Demons themselves didn’t break the salt apart. They needed a powerful Demon to do that—they needed San. It didn’t take me long to deduce that he was the leader of this little “establishment.”
Considering how unhappy he looked, I was definitely in for a world of trouble.
“Needless to say,” San went on, his voice composed but laced with steel, “I was very upset when I came back to find that my Demons were trapped inside this room. Luckily for them, I’ve been gifted with enough power to protect myself if such imprisoning tactics are used.” He gave me a smile that didn’t reach his cold eyes. “Nevertheless . . .” He turned to Phix and Demon Girl. “Despite doing a sloppy job, you caught her regardless. Making a mess out of everything aside, you’ve certainly proven your worth.”
Phix and Demon Girl said nothing, and I reverted my attention to the rest of the Demons. I hadn’t noticed this before, but with the exception of Phix and Demon Girl, the rest of the Demons were professionally dressed; they all wore collared dress shirts and dark pants. If I couldn’t smell the blood on them and didn’t know that they were Demons, I would’ve thought they were all attending a business convention. Even San, who was dressed so casually when we first met him, was now wearing a gray suit that made him look older, more mature, and more dangerous.
My hands shook as I feigned courage and asked, “What do you want?”
San grinned and crossed one leg over the other. “We thought we hit the jackpot when that evening crowd came in, but when you and your little boyfriend walked in, you definitely made our night. I only needed a whiff of the two of you to know that you have very special souls. It gave us more flexibility to”—he briefly paused to utilize the right words—“play with the other couples while we saved the two of you for last.”
I froze the instant he mentioned Eclipse.
“Where is he?” I asked immediately, anxiety settling into my stomach.
I had been gone for far too long. Wherever Eclipse was, I knew that he had to be looking for me.
“Blissfully unaware of where you are,” answered San. He flashed me his razor-sharp teeth. “Don’t worry. We’ll get to him as soon as we’re done with you.”
My expression hardened. “What do you mean ‘blissfully unaware’?”
At that moment, a male Demon with long brown hair moved behind me and pushed Phix and Demon Girl away. He wrapped several strands of my hair in his hand and started sniffing at it. His face twisted in mystification.
“San,” he began softly, savoring in the scent. “Brother, why does she smell so good?”
“He’s looking for you,” San said to me, ignoring the weird hair-sniffing idiot. He grinned. “But we’re not too worried. It’s a big inn. It will be a while before he finds you. And by the time he does, we’ll be done with you.”
I swallowed apprehensively, sensing imminent danger in the way he dropped his words. I looked around once more and reluctantly asked the obvious questions. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”
San chuckled at the blatant fear emitting from me. Malice swam into his eyes as he leaned in closer. “Judging by your defense tactics, I presume that you’re already very much aware of what we are. We’ll definitely have to revisit the specifics as to how you know about us, but to answer your questions, you can look at us as recruiters of sorts. We scour the country looking for potential Demons. When we see potentials that we feel could benefit our cause, we get together to persuade them to give us their souls.”
“You’re stealing souls and forcing humans to become Demons,” I corrected, horrified that there were Demons out there who were torturing humans in order to steal their souls and turn them into Demons.
Now I knew why our cars broke down so abruptly. It was because of these Demons.
“We’re recruiting and offering a better life,” he amended shamelessly.
I scoffed. “Isn’t this job usually a solo job?”
“Solo jobs take too long.” A cruel smile played on his lips as his eyes landed on the area where the dead couple once laid. “And we all want entertainment as well. The young couple that died here was very religious. Instead of forking over their souls like the good animals they should be, they decided to hold out, which of course meant extreme entertainment for me and my co-workers.” He laughed at the remembrance of the dead couple. “We were given the opportunity to use our persuasion skills, and as I’m sure you have already guessed, we’re very good at what we do.”
“Did you get their souls?”
“We had too much fun torturing them, so no, we didn’t. And you already know what happened to the other four.” His typically composed face darkened at the reminder of my intervention—that I was the one who set them free. After taking in a sharp breath to calm himself down, he turned back to me with a controlled smile. “They’re long gone now . . . very lucky, to say the least.” He rose from his seat and inched closer to me. His bloodied fingers ran through my wet hair, transferring the blood of my fellow humans onto me. “You’re our last hope tonight, pretty girl.”
I whipped my head away, my heart thundering at the way he said this.
>
“What were you doing to me earlier?” I asked, recalling the sparks emitting around my temple. I feared that it had something to do with my soul.
He responded with a vicious laugh before extracting his hand away. With a sigh, he studied the palm of his hand with increasing interest. “I wanted to see what made you human and more importantly, what made you inhuman.” A blue electrical spark that was the size of a tennis ball hovered over the palm of his hand. “Have you been a good girl?”
I stared into the ball of blue sparks and felt chills spread over me. Inside it, I was able to make out various images. There were images of me enjoying the Sanctuary kids’ misery, images of me getting a homeless man beaten up, images of me causing people to hurt themselves, and various images of me showcasing my inhuman side. When San asked me his next question, I knew then what that ball contained.
“What are your sins?”
I stared unblinkingly at the electrical ball that held all my secrets—all my sins as a human being. My lower lip quivered as I closed my eyes. I could not find the strength to answer him because I knew they would find out the truth. They were going to find out my true identity soon enough.
At long last, San threw the ball of electricity into a wooden barrel in the center of the room. The electrical force slammed into the water in the barrel with unmatched strength. Then—
Boom!
A blast of blue light exploded from the barrel, illuminating the entire room. A ring of gray smoke rose from the blast, along with whispers that unnerved every ounce of my soul. Although the whispers spoke in an ancient language I didn’t understand, I knew what they were telling the Demons in the room. The whispers were sharing the secrets of my past—the secrets of who I was.
As these demonic whispers faded away, the entire room gasped in sheer astonishment. San was not spared from this shock. His eyes grew wide before an exhilarated smile overcame his face.
“The most coveted soul of the new millennium,” he announced to the stupefied room.