by Logan Jacobs
Chapter 1
At first, all I could feel was pure darkness.
It was a darkness of the mind and soul, and it coursed through me as lethal and potent as poison. I couldn’t explain it, but I sensed the presence of black and ominous energy. It was so alive that if I reached out, I thought I would be able to touch it with my fingertips, like it was a living thing.
As I became more aware of my surroundings, I realized I was lying on something that felt like wet soil. I had no idea what time it was, or how I ended up lying on the ground with my eyes tightly shut.
I couldn’t even remember anything before this moment.
I needed to figure out where I was, so I tried to pry my eyelids open, but it seemed like an impossible challenge. Everything within me felt as if it had been broken, repaired, and then broken again. My bones, my organs, and my mind. Absolutely everything felt old and then new again.
As I laid there, I strained to listen, but it was deadly quiet around me. Something told me it was the dead of night, though, and if I wanted to live, I should get up.
I tried to move, but my body was numb. I tried to fight against the feeling, but my arms and legs were heavy as lead, and my head throbbed uncontrollably.
“He’s alive,” a sultry voice muttered from above me.
What the hell was that?
Who the hell was that?
“He? What do you mean, he?” another shrill, feminine voice demanded. “How is that possible? This has never happened before … maybe it’s an illusion or some kind of test.”
“It’s no test,” the other voice answered. “Mother said the chosen one would be here. Therefore, we have no choice but to take … him to the devil.”
The devil? Did I hear that correctly?
Now, I knew I had to get up.
I slowly lifted my head and peeled my eyes open, and shock instantly spread through my body as I adjusted my eyes to the vision before me. My mouth hung open when I realized I was staring at a group of cloaked figures, all dressed in long black robes. Their faces were all hidden, they stood as still as stone, and there must have been at least ten of them circled around me.
Then, suddenly, two of the figures stepped forward, and it took me another moment to grasp that they were women, but they didn’t look like ordinary women. They were breathtakingly beautiful … but too beautiful and too strange to be real. No, these had to be actresses from a movie or fashion models on a shoot.
On the right stood a tall woman with the longest, raven black hair I’d ever seen. Her eyes were illuminated, and they shone a vivid, ice blue.
The other woman had similar hair in length, except hers was almost white in color. Her eyes were moonlight yellow, and it felt like they were burning right through me.
The skin of both women glowed, though, like they were a pair of menacing angels, but what stood out above anything else was the fiery, green glow that illuminated their celestial faces. Flames were spurting out from the palms of their hands, and it almost looked like emerald fire.
I tried to make sense of the vision before me, but I couldn’t collect my thoughts in order. I could barely find the strength to open my mouth to speak. There were just too many questions roaming through my mind at once.
“Are you hurt?” the raven-haired woman asked. “Can you speak, mortal?”
“What--” I tried to say, but my voice was hoarse, and it felt like I hadn’t had water in days. “What’s going on?”
“Ah, so it does have a tongue.” The other woman smirked. “Well, I suppose that’s somewhat good news.”
“Who are you?” I asked as I shook my head. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I could wake myself up from this senseless dream.
“We’ll explain later, now come along,” the dark-haired one ordered. “Stand up.”
With no other choice, I stood slowly and with shaking legs. As soon as I was upright, I could feel something thick running down my forehead and into my eyes, and when I wiped it away, my fingertips were stained with dark blood.
My blood.
“You’ll be fine, now follow us,” the white-haired woman commanded.
I nodded robotically, and for a brief moment, I did consider following them, but then something took over. An animalistic instinct of terror.
It told me to run.
I didn’t know who these women were or what the hell they wanted from me. They were clearly not human, and they mentioned something about the devil, so I wasn’t about to take my chances with them.
Not without a fight.
So, I took a small step forward, and they smiled as I neared them, but with all the energy I could muster, I shoved past them.
Then I fucking ran. And I didn’t bother to look back.
“Stop him!” one of the women called out. “Stop him now!”
Something glowing and purple whipped right past me and hit a nearby tree, and then it made a hissing noise as it dissolved into the bark.
“How could you miss?” one of the women shrieked.
“Don’t try to kill him, you fools!” another woman screeched.
I heard someone yell something in a foreign language I’d never heard before, and then something hit my back. It felt like a rubber bullet, and it stung, but I kept moving.
“How the devil did he do that? That’s not possible!”
“It doesn’t matter, we can’t lose him!”
As I sprinted through the night, a thicket of trees loomed before me, and I slipped into a forest. I ran aimlessly through the darkness, and the only light I had to guide me was from the moon hanging high above the canopy of trees. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but I dug deep and pushed more strength into my muscles. I needed to get as far away from those women as possible.
That’s all that mattered right now, even if I had no sense of direction or a plan.
My breathing grew heavy and ragged, and blood pumped in my ears. My boots were caked with mud, and I nearly slipped as I ran past the trees and thorny thicket.
When I couldn’t run anymore, I finally came to a halt by a river.
As I stopped to catch my breath, I glanced around the deep, dark wood and listened carefully. Were they still behind me? Or had they given up?
All I could hear was the coursing river, the sound of owls, and the calls of other night-time creatures echoing all around me. There was no sign the women were chasing after me, either, since I couldn’t hear any voices or footsteps.
I bent down with relief and splashed my face with icy water. Then I stared at my murky, moon-lit reflection.
I didn’t recognize my face.
My skin was pallid and drenched with sweat and blood. There was a massive gash over my eyebrow, my light blue eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, and when I stared down at my white t-shirt, I found it was also stained with sweat, blood, and dirt.
Again, questions began to race through my mind. Why couldn’t I remember anything? Where the hell was I? How did I get here? What happened to me?
I couldn’t even remember my own goddamn name. All I knew was that I didn’t belong in this world … it wasn’t my own.
I decided I couldn’t dwell on it any longer. At least not out here in the open and in the darkness. I couldn’t hear the strange robed women anymore, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a few dozen yards behind me.
I needed to keep moving.
As I was about to take a step past the river, something made my blood run ice cold, and I froze.
It sounded like a low rumbling growl.
Silence followed, and I strained to listen as I wondered if it was just my imagination.
But then I heard it again. A deep, mean, and feral growl.
I whipped around, and what I saw before me made me freeze in both awe and bloodcur
dling fear.
There was a bear-like beast staring right at me.
At first, I thought it was an oversized grizzly, but then I realized it didn’t look like an ordinary bear. It was much, much larger, and it was hunched over, with massive saber-tooth like fangs protruding from its mouth. Thick saliva dripped from its razor-sharp, yellowed teeth, and its beady eyes shone a crimson red.
The monster growled again and stood up, and it towered over me as it blocked out the moon. It tossed its head back and let out a raging roar. Then it lowered its ugly head, and when it stared at me, I felt like the creature was sucking the soul right out of my body.
Well, fuck. This was bad.
I should have been frozen with fear, but I found myself taking a tentative step back, and as I did, I tried my best not to look into its red eyes and hoped it was just territorial and not ravenous.
But as soon as I moved, the beast leaped toward me, and my heart started to race.
Then I spun around and ran for my goddamn life.
I sped through the thicket and avoided the roots and rocks below me. My sweat-drenched and matted hair kept falling in front of my face, but I didn’t have time to brush it aside. I could hear the beast panting and growling as its heavy footsteps followed me into the wood, and the only advantage I had was that the creature was slower due to its enormous size.
With the moonlight now guiding me, I saw a path leading upwards and followed it. I ran hard and fast and then took a sharp turn. I thought I was going to outrun the beast until I ended up at a dead-end with a small cave built into a stone wall.
“Fuck,” I breathed.
There was no way in hell I was going to run inside a mysterious cave where that fucker could corner and devour me. I knew, deep down, that I had to find a way to fight it off.
There was nowhere else to run.
I knew the monster had caught up with me when I heard the same, deep, alarming growl behind me, and when I turned around, I was face to face with death.
The beast was staring at me, with its body positioned and ready to leap and attack. I slowly crouched down, and without taking my eyes off the monster, I searched the ground for any kind of heavy rock. The creature stared at my hand, and I could have sworn it smirked at me for my efforts.
It had no idea how hard I was willing to fight to survive, though.
Finally, I found a cold, heavy, sharp stone and curled my fingers around it. Then I lifted it up and steadied my feet.
“Bring it on, motherfucker,” I growled. “Come at me.”
As if the thing understood my words, it suddenly leaped into the air and pounced on top of me. My body hit the ground, and the wind was knocked out of me. I still held the rock in one hand, though, and I used my other hand to grasp the beast’s throat as it tried to chomp down on me. I had to do whatever I needed to in order to stop it from biting my face off.
The bear-creature wildly snapped its jaws, and it was probably impatient and confused as to why its prey was fighting it off. My eyes stung from its foul breath, and its hairy and heavy body was crushing me.
Then I instinctively brought up my other hand and smacked the beast in the side of the head with the rock. The bear-thing flinched back with a howl and shook its massive head, and I took that crucial, life depending moment to bring the stone up and hit it as hard as I could in the head again. My would-be-killer yelped and was stunned for another second by the force of my blow.
So, I beat it again and again.
I beat the beast repeatedly with all my might until it collapsed to my side, and as soon as its body was off mine, I could breathe again. Then I sucked in a deep, shaking breath and stood up on wobbly legs.
Fuck this guy.
I looked down at the creature as it laid as still as stone. I wasn’t going to risk the possibility of it getting back up, so I took the same rock, and with one final hit, I smashed its face in with a satisfying crack. Blood, brains, and bone were exposed, and I was covered in its gore.
I let the rock fall down to the earth and tried to steady my rapid breathing. I had just faced death and defeated it. Nausea washed over me as I tried to suck in sharp gasps of air, everything was spinning, and I thought I was about to faint.
But then, I immediately came to my full senses when I heard a twig crunch nearby. I snatched the same rock and wildly looked around as I tried to locate the source.
“Interesting … ” muttered an eerily familiar voice from behind me.
I spun around to see two mysterious cloaked women staring at me with their mouths agape. It was the same two women who had stepped forward and spoken to me before, but they lacked their entourage now. Both their palms were held out toward me, and the same green glow illuminated from their hands. In the light of their emerald flames, I could see both their beautiful faces were contoured into looks of confusion.
“You’ve just killed an onikuma,” the white-haired woman breathed before she spun around to face the other one. “How … how is that possible, sister? No mortal can do that …”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” the other woman whispered.
They both looked at the dead beast and then back at me in total confusion and awe.
“Will one of you tell me what the hell is going on?” I demanded as I neared them. “First, you chase me through the woods, and then some kind of animal I’ve never seen before attacks me out of nowhere.”
“Time will tell you everything that you need to know,” the women replied in unison.
So fucking creepy.
“Listen--” I started to say, but then the raven-haired woman raised her hand to stop me.
“Fear not, for the feral she-wolf emerges at night, with only the moon to guide her way,” she muttered, as if she were talking to herself. “Hide the lambs, the children, and the weak … because she will only leave blood and bone in her wake.”
What the fuck?
“And bear in mind,” the white-haired woman added, “even when the glittering stars illuminate the night, their beauty cannot prevent the wildest of thunderstorms from destroying everything in its path.”
“What in the hell are you babbling?” I spat. “Look … I’m not in the mood for any riddles. Just tell me, who the hell are you?”
The women stood there silent for a long moment as if they, too, couldn’t remember their own names.
“My name is Vanessa,” the dark-haired woman finally answered. “This is my sister, Luna. We are a part of the Devil’s Academy and have been sent to bring you forth.”
“The … what?” I asked with a raised brow.
“You’ll see.” Luna smiled.
I slowly lowered the rock and stared hard at them. Compared to the beast I just killed, I didn’t feel as if these women were a threat.
Still, something didn’t feel right.
“How do I know that I can trust you?” I demanded.
“You can either follow us or continue to wander through the dark wood,” Luna said with a light shrug, “but if I were you, I’d come along.”
“Not that he has a choice,” Vanessa muttered. “The devil commands it.”
“The devil?” I almost laughed. “First, you mention an academy, and now the devil himself? What the hell are you people?”
“Come,” Luna whispered and crooked a finger at me, “and you’ll see.”
I glanced between the two of them, and after a long moment of deliberation, I finally nodded in agreement. I decided it was smarter to head back with them, rather than face another near-fatal encounter.
As I took a step forward, I felt something fall on my face. I thought it was rain at first, but it smelled metallic, and it was much too thick to be water. The liquid trickled down my cheeks, and when I brushed it away, I saw blood.
Was I bleeding again?
As if to answer my question, another droplet hit my hand and then another, and I realized it was raining blood.
“Come now, it’s pouring,” Vanessa purred as her blue eyes studied me cur
iously. “Trust us.”
The word trust sent a cold shiver down my spine. Even though my chances with them were better than being out here, how could I possibly trust these odd women? I had no idea where I was or how I got here … but a primal feeling, deep inside me, told me following them back to wherever they wanted to take me was the wisest course of action.
“Fine,” I finally replied. “I’ll follow you.”
The women curled their lips into satisfied smiles and turned their backs on me. Then I trotted after them as twigs and dead leaves crunched under my boots, and blood poured from the sky.
We walked in silence as the red rain continued to fall down from the black clouds. When we finally left the forest, I looked up and saw rolling, deep green hills, surrounded by willow trees, and on top of the tallest hill stood a massive, gothic castle with the moon behind it.
“Holy shit,” I breathed.
“He can see it,” Luna whispered, and her white hair shone brightly in the moonlight. “He must be the one.”
“Of course, he is,” Vanessa hissed back. “The devil is never wrong.”
I still had no idea what they were talking about, but I continued to follow them as they marched toward a towering, black iron gate, where the hooded women were all waiting, as if they had known that I would return all along.
I tried not to stare at the unnerving group of women, and I instead turned my attention back to the gate. I immediately noticed there were a pair of gargoyles placed on both sides, and their eyes glowed a fiery red as we approached the lock.
Luna pulled out a large, golden key from her pocket, and the thing looked like something out of the Victorian period. It was thick, with intricate designs carved at the handle, and seemed heavy, maybe even made out of real gold.
When the white-haired woman turned the lock, I immediately noticed the gargoyles’ eyes flashed from lava red to lime green, and then the gates slowly pulled open.
“Welcome to your new home,” Vanessa said with a smirk, and it wasn’t a kind expression.
I breathed in sharply before I took a step forward. There were still a thousand questions swarming swiftly through my mind, and I hoped they would be answered soon enough.
I had a feeling that my life depended on it.
