THE DEMON
I feel as though the control that remains is slipping.
The darkness is surrounding me with its blanket, suffocating me, awaiting my appearance.
I feel nothing, and see nothing.
The few memories I possess are fading, the darkness laying its claim on me.
The little humanity that I possess is slipping away.
The chances at gaining freedom are becoming too far, too few.
There is no solace for what I have done, or where I will go.
The only choices left to me are to succumb.
I feel powerless to do anything to save myself.
I know that where I am going, there is no return.
I feel the abyss swallowing me whole, sending me into the shadows.
There is no hope, no return.
The humanity gone from me, I have become a shadow of my former self.
I am a demon, and I now hunt those who sent me here.
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It is pitch black. I am a wandering getting nowhere, and yet I do not stop walking. I am surrounded by the suffocating darkness holding me in. There is no light, no exit. I am in the abyss of shadows, and there is no way out. What have I done to deserve this fate? What have I done to be brought here to wander aimlessly, wandering farther into the darkness, losing the little strand of hope that keeps me together. I must find my way out. I must learn why this has happened to me. Why did I have to suffer here? Was I a murderer? Was I a madman who haunted and hunted people, leaving them at night to wonder if they would be my next prey? This wandering, suffocation of hope, this darkness..... I would not wish this on my greatest enemy. I would prefer to give them a swift death compared to this torture and suffering.
The darkness feels alive. It suffocates me, calls me, and wants me to enter its embrace, forever lost inside it. I refuse its call, but for how long can I hold on? How long until I succumb? I must leave! I must get out. To be stuck in this dreadful place is something I cannot continue to do. But how am I to leave if I do not remember how I got here? The darkness tries a new way to bring me to it. It begins to blind me, take what little sight I have left to guide myself away from its cold embrace. My will grows weaker and weaker. The memories that I once had are fading more so into the darkness. I cannot let it claim me. I must cling to those few memories, and hold them tight. I cannot let them leave, for if they do, I am lost forever. I will be sucked in to the dark.
There is no humanity left in me. I have become a monster. I am a creature of the darkness now, no more am I a human. I do not think that I ever will be again. However, I do not remember my humanity much, so there is no love lost, or sadness now that it is gone. Perhaps I really was a monster as a human. To not care that my humanity is gone, must mean that there was never much humanity in me to begin with.
I am beginning to get anxious. The ways to my freedom are closing off. I will soon be forced to remain an eternity in the shadows or summoned as a pathetic human being's slave. I feel the little hope that I had left leave me as I sink into a depression knowing what is to come. There is no solace of comfort here, just loss, anguish, and helplessness. I will be drawn into the full depth of the abyss never to return to the light that is the outside world. I will never find out what happened to me or why I am here. I feel as though the only choice left for me is to succumb the call, to give in and just sink into the shadows. Even though the power flows through me, there is no way that I can use it to help. What good is power if one cannot use it!? I cannot save myself, and I know that when I enter the abyss, there is no way out.
I feel the abyss calling me to come. It tugs at my being, pulling me in. It cannot call my name, since I do not have one. If I did have one, it is long forgotten. It is said a name is a being's essence. Perhaps that is why the abyss wants me. Since I have no name, I have no essence, and have no use in the world above except to cause destruction, bring chaos, and revenge. There is nothing for me. I am slowly giving into the urge of the endless darkness.
The tugging stops. Somehow, I am being summoned. I feel the spell being said as I am being brought up. It is fraught with revenge, which is to be expected. However, there are several other flavors in the spell which are usually not there when a demon is summoned. There is a tremendous sadness, a loneliness brought on by the loss of a loved one, and to my surprise, a hint of purity. What an interesting soul. They summon me, and yet there is a purity that cannot be erased. I wonder what kind of person this is. A person who summons a demon only has one thing in mind. Destruction and power. When I was summoned before, this was all that was asked of me. The will and power to destroy their enemies, and bring suffering to those who did not succumb to them. Their thirst for power was great, and was never quenched. People like them ended up in a place worse than hell. There they would continue to try and claw their way back, because even in death their thirst could not be quenched.
However, to be summoned for a reason other than revenge? This was unheard of. I am sure, considering the feelings put in the spell that revenge was on the table; however, there was not enough strength in that alone for it to be the main purpose that I am being summoned now. I wonder what kind of human is summoning me? What other reason besides power and revenge could their possibly be? What awaits me when I am summoned? As I slowly leave the abyss I wonder. Will I finally find out who I am? Why I was sent to the abyss? Will this be the time I finally get answers?
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THE SUMMONING
The sadness, the silence, it's too much.
The loss that I suffer is crushing.
I don't know how I made it so far, all on my own.
Knowing that my end is near makes me despair.
I want to know why.
Why must this happen?
What can I do to stop this madness from continuing?
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It's hard to believe I am only sixteen years old. Only two years left. Then I will face the same fate as the other women in my clan. I will die. Thinking back on that day, on my mother's eighteenth birthday, I remember her face as it happened. How she grimaced in pain when she realized the end had come. How she collapsed to the floor, her eyes glassy, her life-force gone. One minute, she is there, full of life, the next she has dropped dead for no reason.
Since this curse was placed on the women of our clan, we are betrothed at the young age of fifteen, in hopes that we will have enough children to pass on our legacy too before we die. It is a hard arrangement to accept, especially in this day and age, but one which must be done to insure our clan's survival. Some of the women are lucky. The men who they are betrothed with are men that they fall in love with.
I keep asking the men in my clan to give me answers. They have none. All anyone can tell me is that many centuries ago; our family was put under a curse by a vengeful man. As to the rest of the story, it is lost in time. Well, not anymore. I am determined to recover that story, and stop these horrendous deaths. I have had enough! I only had two years to spend with my mother before she died. My father was heartbroken when she died, even knowing that it would eventually happen.
I hate this so much!! I hate that there are no answers. I hate the tears, as those who die are mourned for. I hate the deaths, as those who have reached eighteen suffer an untimely demise. I hate losing those I care for, and knowing that I am next. I hate that there is no choice or chance to fall in love on your own, seeing as those who are fifteen are forced into an arranged marriage.
It is hard living in the 22nd century, and not feeling or being normal. We do mingle with society to a point, seeing as we cannot allow our fate or legacy be known to the public, or we would be ostracized. We are mostly located near the outskirts of Wiltshire, but there are those of us who live in the city. Several of our clan members maintain shops of various kinds, as well as acupuncture, and several kinds of medicinal clinics. This and the farm we have located on our compound support those who remain in the complex. Those who do remain are allowed to go into the city on occasion, and go shop, and if we are lucky enough, we could enjoy the day doing what we please.
When I was lucky enough to go to the city for the first time, I couldn't believe my eyes. The noise, the sounds, the people, the lights and colors. To think this all exists in one place. Wow. In our family complex, it is so quiet. The only sounds are the birds chirping, the farmers farming our crops, and the occasional murmurings of spells and magics in the works. The differences between the two are overwhelming. I wanted to live long enough to explore these differences. I wanted to be able to plan my own life, not to be forced into a marriage because I am going to die in two years. I want a chance to fall in love, enjoy time with my spouse, and have children when I am ready, and grow old and grey with the man I love. I have not found that man yet, but I surely can be given the time.
This is why I decided to do this. I decided for my sake, as well as those of the rest of the women in my clan to summon a demon. There is a particular demon that I had in mind. For you see, when you summon a demon, you have to make a contract with it. A contract is when a demon exchanges its services for a service rendered by the human, a favor or object requested, if you will. This particular demon is an old and powerful one. The one thing he asks for is answers to his past, so he can be at peace. He wants answers for a fate of which he does not recall or believe he deserves. He does not help those who cannot give him the answers he seeks, but I can change that. I believe I know a way for this demon to finally have peace. So I will summon him.
So I traveled to the sacred circle, located inside of Stonehenge. I was filled with trepidation as I entered the inner circle of Stonehenge. I felt dirty and wrong for doing what I was about to do, but I had no choice. I didn't want to face a bleak future, with death around the corner. I wanted not just for myself, but the other women in my clan to live past the age of 18. That they should be able to live, and enjoy life, growing up and seeing what the world has to offer.
Even if those who saw me said I was selfish for doing this, I did not care. Others like me wanted this to end, but they did not have what it takes to do what must be done. This is why I am here. To end a curse. To bring joy back into the eyes of my clan. To allow my fellow women to live for a change, rather than grow up and wait to die.
I stepped to the altar in the center of the holy monument, closed my eyes, and began the spell. The stones that made up the monument began to glow, the mystical force that inhabited the place beginning to manifest, feeding of the ancient words that I was reciting. I continued, and put forth all my emotions, and feelings into the spell. I wanted this to work so badly. The desperation, the rolling pit of despair in my stomach caused tears to flow down my face as I said the ancient text. I needed to reach down into the abyss, and bring forth the demon who sought answers, same as I.
As I finished the spell I opened my eyes. The mystical energy died down. However, there was nothing. No demon. No residual energy. Nothing. I failed. I sank to my knees as tears began to flow down my cheeks. How could this have happened? I had studied the ancient writings for many months, and was sure that I knew the spell inside and out. The pronunciation, the spelling, everything! What could have possibly gone wrong?
Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at the body that was connected to hand, and was drawn to those stormy gray, green eyes.
"You summoned?"
TO BE CONTINUED......................
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