The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within)

by Jessica Stark

  ‘Summer, is that you? What a relief. We are being held hostage at the house by Lauren, and she said she had you and some guy named Michel. Ethan is talking with her now, because she asked if anyone has heard of him, and Ethan said you called him Michel. Summer, we are all scared, and we haven’t heard from Ethan in hours.’

  Michel looked at me and shook his head.

  ‘So what, you are reading my thoughts?’ I said to him.

  ‘No, sometimes you don’t even know what you are doing. While you were talking to Amanda, you were also sending me the conversation in your own words.’ At least we were on the same page. We both heard a twig snap in the distance. ‘We have to move,’ he whispered to me, and I started to follow him deeper into the woods.

  ‘How do you know where you are going?’ I whispered, because I didn’t want to get lost in here.

  ‘I live around here, and I have been through every part of theses woods. They lead on to where you are staying, but that is like a two-day walk. From here, it is like a day and a half, but I have never come across the torture place. They must have had it hidden.’ We kept walking until the sun had risen.

  ‘Michel, we need to stop. My leg…’ I looked down to see blood dripping onto the white snow. Wait- white snow? I looked around to see that this was the place from my dream. ‘Michel, we have to hide! I had a dream, and this is where it started.’ I started to hobble my way over to some long grass.

  ‘Summer, what are you talking about? It was just a dream.’ He was following me, not having a clue what I was saying.

  ‘Michel, listen. All of last year, I had dreams about me being stabbed, tortured, and…you know the rest. I just thought they were bad dreams until they became real. In my dreams this year, we are here hiding. We are both out of breath from running. You call my name, but I don’t respond. Then you call it again…I run towards you…then we are found by someone. You are very close on my left, and you call my name, then you are dragged off by someone. You can’t materialize, and then there is a knife at your throat- and I know the person holding the knife, because I feel paralyzed.’ I had finally found a decent hiding spot when we heard a voice. Lauren’s voice.

  ‘Ah, Summer. I knew I would find you and Michel.’ Her voice was closer to us than I thought.

  ‘Michel, we have to run- and avoid the events I just told you.’ We saw something fly our way. ‘Michel, run!’ And we both took off running in different directions.

  While I was hobbling for my life, I could feel my powers returning slowly. I managed to make a small wind, but that was all. Once I was sure that Lauren was no longer chasing after me, I found some long grass and hid in it. I took a look at my leg. It was still bleeding through Michel’s shirt. I placed my hand on my wound and tried to heal it with whatever power I had left. The best that I could do was to close up the wound. I sat still, wondering if Michel had been caught yet.

  ‘You know what, Summer? You don’t do a very good job at hiding. You left a trail of blood behind you, and I am pretty sure you are close by.’ I heard Lauren’s voice to my left. I was about to get up and run, when I heard a dominant voice.

  Chapter 21

  ‘Lauren, if you really want me, come and get me.’

  No, Michel! What are you doing? The one thing I asked him not to do, and he did it. Lauren had moved towards Michel’s voice, and I got up and ran towards it, too.

  I was right on Lauren’s tail when she turned around. I ducked into the grass, watching her very carefully. ‘Summer,’ someone whispered next to me.

  ‘Bloody hell, Michel! Don’t do that!’ Michel was sitting to the left of me.

  ‘Have your powers come back?’ I whispered.

  He just shook his head. ‘I can vanish small spaces, like this.’ And he was gone. ‘Hey, Lauren! What would you do if I said I have my powers back?’ he said from deeper in the forest, and then he was back at my side.

  ‘I highly doubt that. The way we drained you both, I am surprised you even have enough power to walk.’ She was walking over to where she heard Michel’s voice. ‘I must say, Michel, you are much better at hiding than Summer. Join me, and I will spare your life.’

  I looked at Michel with a frown on my face. I could hear another person coming. Michel disappeared and came back again.

  ‘Summer, they are getting stronger-’ but before he could finish his sentence, he was being dragged away, through the long grass. I started to chase after him when Lauren spotted me.

  ‘Summer, nice to see you again.’ I kept running after Michel, until I froze where I stood, just like in my dream. Michel was at knifepoint, and now I knew why I had felt so paralyzed in my dream. The person holding the knife at Michel’s throat was Ethan.

  Chapter 22

  I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t move. I felt like I was in a very bad dream, and any minute I would wake up.

  ‘So this is Michel? I have to say, Summer, you sure know how to pick out the right guy.’ Ethan was smiling at me, which creeped me out. What was he doing?

  ‘Lost for words, Summer? That’s a first. I thought you would be happy to see me again.’ He looked at Michel, who for some reason was smiling.

  ‘So I finally get to meet the jerk that is always breaking Summer’s heart,’ Michel said, and his voice was cold.

  Ethan used his other hand and punched Michel in the nose, but it didn’t seem to deter Michel at all.

  ‘I hope that is not how you treat Summer. She really did love you. She still does. Do you have any idea how hard it was for her to break up with you?’ Michel was on the ground, but I couldn’t seem to move. I wanted to help him, but seeing Ethan brought back everything, and I started to wish I had never broken up with him.

  ‘Shut up, you demon!’ Ethan kicked Michel, but Michel just glared at him.

  ‘So, Summer, what do you think of my master plan? I knew that if you got away, I would need something that would shock you. Maybe even kill you. And you see, it was very easy to get him to join me. He was heartbroken the day you almost died.’ She was walking in front of me. ‘See, I made a little deal with Ethan that day. If he wanted to save your life, he had to join us- and great knight in shining armor that he was, he said he would. So I saved you. At first he didn’t believe any of the things I was telling him. He would say, “No, Summer would never do that,” but over time, with a bit of persuasion, he came to see what you really are. You’re just a selfish person who doesn’t care about other people.’

  I looked at Ethan to see him smiling at me, and I noticed the darkness consuming him. Lauren was laughing and walking over to Ethan and Michel.

  ‘Stay away from them both,’ I manage to find my voice, but it sounded strained.

  ‘I know, I know. If I don’t stay away, you will kill me, but with what powers, Summer?’ She was right. I was powerless and useless. ‘Ethan, the honor is all yours.’ She was walking towards me when I felt something fly at me- a lambo. It was not strong to kill me, but strong enough to knock me down. ‘You see, Summer, this is a special lambo. It is filled with poison, and with all your open wounds…well, I guess you don’t have long to live.’

  I didn’t feel anything at first, but then I started to feel faint and light-headed. I could feel Lauren using the knife to cut open my skin, allowing the poison to spread. I screamed every time the knife came in contact with my skin.

  ‘Stop!’ I screamed, and I felt a small dose of power. I use it to shove Lauren off me. I tried to stand up, but my legs crumpled beneath me. ‘Michel!’ I yelled. I could see Michel and Ethan fighting each other.

  ‘Stop, everyone!’ Lauren spoke, and both of the boys stopped. ‘Michel, come and join us, and we will spare your life. Come and join the winning side of the war.’ She had her hand open for Michel.

  ‘What war?’ I coughed as I felt the poison choking me.

  ‘The war between fairies and demons. It began the moment you were born, Summer, the last pure fairy. Have you never been told the legend?’ She was moving closer to me. />
  ‘You see, because Michel is half demon, half fairy, he is the tipping point. If he joins us, we will rule over both fairy and the human world. So Michel, join us, and you will be worshiped like a king. Join us, and no more blood will be spilled.’ She started to make her way over to where Michel was. ‘Ethan has already joined us, Michel. Come. We will be a family. You will finally fit in, for once.’

  For a second, I thought Michel was going to join Lauren, with the way his eyes lit up at her mention of family and fitting. Just when I thought he was going to join he shouted, ‘Never!’ He broke away from Ethan and ran towards me. ‘I will see you at the battlefield, where I will rip your heart out!’

  I could see Lauren shouting to Ethan as Michel picked me up, cradling my body close. We vanished into the day as I felt myself slowly slipping away.