Hells Royalty The Princess

by Wennberg, Jessica

  It used to be hard to tell when a demon has absorbed a human’s soul and taken over their body. There were many times I had been by one too long and didn't notice till the last minute that I was right beside a demon infested human.

  But now I am older and more attuned to the signs, I don't befriend anyone and I perform some simple tests that help decide if they are humans. Holy water replaces regular water and a spell that I have created lets me know if a demon or anything else dead is nearby, and so far it has been about ninety five percent accurate. Since I am constantly encountering demons, I wish I could find proof of angels, but all I can keep doing is keeping my faith that they are because if I let myself believe that only the bad things are real, then I become afraid that the dark side will take over my soul.

  After checking over all my weapons, I put them away in the locker. I did keep out a vial of holy water and all my witch tools. I was going to perform some serious spells on the house and the new Jeep to ward off the darkness that I knew was coming. I placed my athame, candles, and the last picture I had of my mom and me on the bedside table. The photo was taken three days before she died, five days before I turned 16. The picture was of us on the porch of our house and it was beautiful with all the flowers that we had growing around us, kind of like we were secluded from the evil stuff in our own little fairy tale garden. I miss my mom dearly and sometimes it’s hard to keep the anger at bay because of the situation that I am in, but then I remember how much she loved me and all that she did to protect me and prepare me for the future that I would have to lead without her.

  I closed the locker up with its magical locks and placed it at the foot of the bed for easy access if necessary. Normally I can go for about three days without sleep but right now sleep was all I was wanting along with a hot shower. With all the restless dreams of the stranger I have been having, lately I am waking up tired and a tired hybrid is a poorly reacting hybrid. So I got my shower and headed to bed by seven o'clock.

  I woke up in the bed with the moonlight filtering through the large windows. With a quick look the clock told me it was 1:45 in the morning. I had been asleep for over six hours. Footsteps on the main floor alerted me to someone's presence. I closed my eyes to concentrate on the figure and who it might be, but when I opened my eyes again to get up I was in the woods---well damn this was another dream! I could hear the dry leaves of the woods being crunched on as I stood there in my pajamas listening, terrified I would see that blue eyed stranger again. I was turning in a small circle trying to determine which way I should run. Yes, I was running away because in my dreams I have no weapons and my magic seems to be useless against this particular demon. As I made a complete turnaround the black fog rolled out of the trees in front of me and the ice blue eyes appeared. The face was in the shadows so I could not completely see his features but I knew he was a demon and one with some very advanced skills. I was not stupid enough to stay around and ask questions, so I took off in the opposite direction. In my shorts and tank top I was quickly getting cut up, leaving a blood trail for the demon to follow, well hells bells. I made many different turns because out of nowhere the stranger would appear like he was expecting me to go that direction, but tonight he actually decided to speak to me.

  "Katilyn, I am coming for you. You will be mine, you were meant to be mine. I will find you; it is only a matter of time. Katilyn you will not have to wait for me much longer, my dear sweet Katilyn" he whispered in the dark, and then I saw his teeth in a menacing smile that made my skin crawl. It was like looking at the Cheshire cat, when it was just his eyes and his smile.

  I had stopped running because the voice was coming from every direction and I was paralyzed with fear of his eyes and now his smile. Whoever this was he scared me almost as much as Damien did. I fell to the ground and pleaded with myself to wake up; reminding myself that this is only a dream, that all I have to do is wake up. I closed my eyes and cried, when I had cried myself dry I opened my eyes to find myself back in bed and it was 7:30 am. I was covered in dirt, leaves, and scrapes all over my body; somehow I had physically been there.

  My reaction in the shower was to vomit from the harsh reality of it all and then I had a boiling rage building inside of me. I was angry that I was weak, that someone had been able to get to me in my dreams and physically transport me wherever they wanted me to. There were no tracks in the house anywhere so I knew that they had not been there, but there had been someone there in my dreams and that witch helping him was going to pay for crossing me, let her hide and watch!

  After I was done showering and eating, I immediately began my protection and warding spells on the house, Jeep, and property. I first did some purification spells on the house to rid it of any old negativity that could have been there and that could perhaps draw in evil beings. Then I put spells up that would let me know if there was either a human or a dead thing on my property that was trying to get near me. A human would give off a buzzing sound, kind of like a loud mosquito and anything dead would alert me with an ear piercing scream that even hurts my head.

  The purification and protection spells took me till noon and I was physically and emotionally drained so I decided I needed a break from the stress, some get back to me time. I got my swimsuit on and headed down to the lake, my house was supposed to have a boat dock with its lease so I was pleased to see a small personal beach and a little boat shack which held some floats and life rafts. I placed my towel on the sand and saw no one in sight for at least a mile, which made me feel so much better giving the fact that I was wearing the skimpiest black bikini I owned which was revealing all my scars and tattoos.

  Since nature is a form of magic for me, it is also a way for me to revitalize my magic and reenergize my body. I sunk into the water and enjoyed the cool water and its relaxing effect it had on my body. I pulled myself up on the float and relaxed in the sun absorbing the warmth of the rays. I must have fallen asleep in the float because when I awoke it was evening and the sun was setting.

  I heard a splashing sound about ten feet away from me and looked to see a bird splashing in the water, struggling for its life. I paddled my way over to it so I could help it out. If I could only get my hands on it, I could heal it with my powers. As I reached into the water to pick it up a snake let go of it and then struck me with its fangs. It sunk its fangs into my right forearm and injected a lot of poison into me. I finally got him pried off with my left hand and then ripped his head off tossing him aside.

  My right arm instantly began going numb; I had to get to the house to treat this. I needed to cut this open to bleed the poison and then apply some herbs to help fight the poison and heal the wound. My body was strong but natural poisons could harm me, just like a vampire bite could kill me and a werewolf scratch could change me, this poison was going to either kill me or seriously put me out of commission for a little while.

  As I made it to shore I swore I could hear a dark laugh whispering in the wind, laughing at my misfortune. I was halfway to the house and my body had broken into a sweat and my heart had started slowing. The venom was making its course through my body, wreaking havoc on my systems. Without draining my blood the poison was going to actually kill me, my demon powers were weak along with my witch magic so I was in a position to die and I really did not want to die. I wasn't sure where I would be going when I actually did die and I was not ready to find out.

  It came down to marring my body again, making another nasty scar, yes I have a healing ability, but I can still scar. Without tools I would have to use my fingers to create a really nasty tear in my arm, and that doesn't always heal nicely. I dug my fingernails into my arm creating a really disgusting gash and causing me to scream in agony at the pain I was causing myself. After I had about a five inch long gash in my arm and the blood was flowing freely I started to feel better. My heartbeat was back up and I could at least see straight now. But with my wonderful healing powers my body was sealing the skin back up so I had to keep ripping my fingers through the skin
keeping the wound fresh so it would drain the poison.

  I was weak from blood loss and poison by the time I made it to my back porch. I made it up two steps and then collapsed barely able to keep my eyes open. As tough as I was this attack had weakened me severely and I wasn't recuperating fast enough to stay awake, that's when the blackness finally took over my brain.

  A humming interrupted the darkness, alerting me to the fact that I was still alive. It was dark outside and I was in the bed, in clean clothes. I forced myself to remember getting here but I couldn't, then I recognized the hum for what it was. A human was in my house and without my knowledge of them coming in. I bolted out of the bed and realized several things at once. 1. I was in my tank top and panties. 2. Someone had cleaned and bandaged my arm. 3. That someone was still in my house at 3 am and 4. I was dizzy as hell.

  I guess I should be thankful that it wasn't an ear piercing scream telling me a demon had found me. I grabbed a pair of shorts and headed out the door on uneasy feet, then down the stairs where I ran smack into Matthews.

  "Whoa there, please no more accidents" Matthews grabbed my shoulders to steady me so I would not continue down the stairs.

  "Holy hell what are you doing in my house Matthews. You scared the crap out of me." I sat down on the top stair thankful that it was only him, but curious how he got in here.

  "I'm sorry; I didn't know that you were awake yet. I thought that I was being as quiet as possible. You've been asleep for almost five hours and I was starting to wonder if I should take you to the hospital with that wound. But I know you detest them so I was trying to be strong and watch you all night, but I fell asleep earlier on the floor in your room. About an hour ago I woke up and came down stairs to get some water and stretch out on the couch. But the truth is you are the one who scared the crap out of me. What the hell happened to you?" he pointed to my arm.

  "I scared you? Are you the one who bandaged my arm and changed me?" I looked at him skeptically, hoping against hope it wasn't true. He only shook his head yes in response. I cringed inside knowing he had seen that horrible gash I made in my arm and me in that tiny bikini, and all my scars and tattoos.

  "It was dark on my way back from the lake and I caught a broken branch on my arm and gashed it open. Remember I'm a hemophiliac so I bleed very easily, I must have lost too much blood and passed out on the porch." I said to him, creating the lie so effortlessly.

  "I put your clothes that you must have taken off on before I untied your bikini, so I promise that I did not see anything that I wasn't supposed to. Although I have to admit those are some amazing tattoos that you have on your back and stomach. They are absolutely beautiful" he smiled shyly at me.

  Oh great, was he starting to like me more than he should, please tell me no.

  "Matthews how did you get in, did I leave the back door unlocked?" I swear I locked it just in case someone got past the defenses.

  "Um yeah actually you did, good thing too though. If I had not stopped by to see your new Jeep you just might have died back there on the porch steps. Now would you like something to drink and some medicine for that arm? I will get you some water and you get back into bed, with so much blood loss you really do need to rest some more." He helped me up and I willingly went back to bed.

  Matthews brought me my water and some pills that were supposed to help me, but he didn't know that they were useless in my body. As soon as I could I would get my trunk open and treat my wound and body with some herbs but right now all I wanted to do was sleep some more. Thankfully my blue eyed stranger had stayed away this time when I slept and it had been some of the best sleep I'd had in a while. I wanted more and didn't care how I got it.

  "Katilyn, would you mind if I stayed till later in the morning? I would feel better about your health if I knew I could come and check on you every so often. Plus I am dead tired and really don't want to drive the ten minutes home to my house, no matter how close it is." He looked at me from the side of the bed.

  I thought about it a moment and then decided something that I had never done before.

  "Ok Matthews, you are more than welcome to stay. In fact you can even stay here in my bed, on top of the covers if you want full access to the condition of my health, besides you are not going to be a perv, you already had your chance at that and you blew it." I put the glass on the bedside table and curled up to go to sleep. Matthews lay down beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. It felt nice having someone beside me. It had been a long time since I had let anyone even remotely this close and I at last had some peace in my sleep.

  Chapter 5--Green, Blue, and Jellybeans too!

  A week and a half had passed since my incident with the snake and Matthews. I was finally all healed up, but for human purposes I was still wearing a bandage on my arm because a normal human would still have a nasty cut on their arm. I really hated pretending things like this, because then I have to use my arm differently, favor it more because of its supposed injury. But I guess I can't really complain much since I probably would be dead had Matthews not come and found me that night.

  Today was Saturday and I had been in the house all week so I was heading out today to see all that this town had to offer. It was a tiny town that was having a festival of some sorts today, so that was where I was headed. The end of May in the south is hot and humid and today was no exception. Still I donned my Frye boots, jeans, and a fitted t-shirt for my attire. This honestly was the best fighting attire hands down, I could move freely and the boots were kick ass so I could get great grip or kick a demon in the face with no issues, the added knife also helped. I also decided to carry my big leather bag, others call it an ugly purse, and either way it is a great way to carry extra tools for the hunt. I was being more careful and more vigilant with my safety. I was carrying holy water, salt, stakes, and even silver because you just never know what might be lurking around the next corner.

  On a day like to today with all the visitors in town it would have been very easy to blend in and walk around unnoticed had it not been for Matthews. I swear I had tried to figure out this feeling about him, but I couldn't place why I should connect to him or why I would even recognize him, something was clearly not clicking in my brain and that was really aggravating me.

  "Katilyn, I didn't know that you were going to be coming here today. You should have said something I could have picked you up and we come together." Matthews eyed my arm and then came right back to my face.

  Okay so there is something fishy about that and so help me I will get to the bottom of this.

  "Gee Matthews, not to be rude or anything but I don't think I need to call you anytime I need to go somewhere. I also don't believe that a bandaged arm requires me to have a baby sitter watching me all the time." I rolled my eyes and turned back to the booth that I was at.

  He turned his head up to the sky and sighed heavily. "Katilyn, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I could have brought you here and showed you around since I am a member of this community." He smiled that killer smile and so help me I couldn't help but smile back at him.

  Maybe if I worked the angle just right I might get some better answers to the questions that I don't really know to ask.

  "Ok Matthews show the new girl the sights" I held my hands out for him to lead the way.

  After two hours of walking booths, viewing prize animals, and watching a child's talent show I was actually starving. I really hadn't eaten anything in about 24 hours so I really needed some nourishment. Matthews decided that I had to try his favorite burger diner, best burgers in the state he said.

  We took a booth seat and I sipped on the water that the hostess brought us, while I perused the menu and waited for the waitress.

  "Oh my goodness, look who it is! Jace Matthews why haven't you been around here lately? Are you still trying to…Oh, well who are you?" the waitress caught herself and finally realized that I was sitting across from him. The look that crossed her face was nothing short of hatred that l
asted for about two heartbeats and then it was gone. I focused on her aura and could tell that she was clouded with a heavy black.

  Matthews took over, "Hi Elsie. Well I have been busy, not avoiding you if that is what you were going to ask. Elsie this is Katilyn, Katilyn this is Elsie Canders." Matthews motioned between the two of us.

  "It's nice to meet you Elsie." I nodded in her direction and held my hand out for her to shake, which I could tell that she did reluctantly. The simple act let me know that she was indeed only human.

  "Mmm, you too. So are you two ready to order?" she was very short with her words now. She took our orders and was gone.

  "Ok, correct me if I'm wrong but did I miss something with her. Because she was all giggly with you and then she saw me and there were these daggers being thrown at me with her eyes. If you really could die from looks alone I would be a freaking corpse right now. Spill, what the hell is going on?" I kept my voice low, tried to keep my attention on him, but there was energy in the air that was trying to warn me it seemed.

  Matthews sighed, "You noticed that did you. Well long story short, Elsie and I were high school sweethearts, got engaged, and then I realized that I didn't love her like I thought I did and I called off the wedding one month before the date. When my parents died I changed as a person, but Elsie didn't change with me. I still proposed to her despite my feelings and then we stayed engaged for a year before setting the date. I still felt differently about her, but I thought I was just going through a phase. That was until I told her that I wanted to hold off getting married because I was still grieving, but she told me it had already been three years and that I should be over my grieving process. So, I canceled the wedding, I even called all the guests and told them myself. She thought I would eventually change my mind and come back to her, but she will be waiting for a long time." He finished up as a different waitress brought us our drink refills.