Soul of a Demon

by Lacy Andersen

  “I don’t know.”

  Everything had become so hectic in the battle. Bodies were dropping left and right and I couldn’t say for sure whether they were Nephilim or ferals.

  “There he is!” Raquel pointed into a thick crowd of fighting. “They’ve got him surrounded.”

  Sure enough, Manuel stood in a circle of five ferals. They prowled around him in a slow, calculating pace. He’d been reduced to a dagger, the rest of his weapons stripped. A large feral charged and he managed to drive it back, but not before another came up behind him and slashed through the back of his thigh. His scream of pain tore at my ears. Raquel and I sprinted forward to help.

  I called out to him, but my scream was lost in the clatter of battle. He had dropped to his knees in the green grass and the dagger torn from his grip. His dark eyes met mine from across the yard. Despite the panic coursing through my body, Manuel had an expression of complete serenity.

  “Manuel,” I screamed, urging my legs to run faster. “Manuel!”

  He never broke our gaze as a third demon lunged forward and split open his chest cavity. Blood began to pour from his wound, his life force draining into the soil below. His eyes went blank and then he collapsed face first into the blood-soaked soil.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tears blurred my vision. All around me, blood flowed across the lawn and black clouds of smoke coiled. I blinked back the tears and gazed at the carnage. Gabe still fought back at the tide of ferals, who seemed to be multiplying by the minute. Luke was somewhere in the mess and every once in a while I could catch a glimpse of his tall figure bobbing and weaving. Raquel stood next to me, sobbing. Her hand reached for mine and I took it, clutching it tightly.

  Manuel was gone. Our friends were dying.

  I’d watched war movies as a child on Granny’s tiny little box television. Something about them had kept me glued to the screen—the good guys overcoming the bad. But real life was different. It was chaotic and loud and overwhelming. And then there was the smell. The tangy scent of blood, sweat, and dirt. And fear. It was the strongest smell of all. Like sulfur in the nose, it filled my nasal cavities with a stench I would never forget.

  As I stared at the devastation, a flutter of white in the forest caught my eye. I squinted and saw the shape of Elizabeth below a Ponderosa pine. On her face she wore a mask of glee. Her entire body reveled in the sight of war as she danced upon her tiptoes.

  Something inside of me snapped, rage pouring into my head. She was orchestrating this whole thing. That demon spawn inside my mother had caused this. And worse: she was enjoying it. The thought made me want to place a dagger between her ribs myself.

  “I’ll be back,” I said to Raquel, dropping her hand. She didn’t protest. The tears were falling too hard for her to ask me where I was going.

  I dodged the rings of fights and made my way across the lawn, pausing here and there to avoid a feral rampage. My eyes never left their target. Elizabeth saw me headed in her direction and her expression changed from glee to one of curiosity. She beckoned for me to follow her and headed deeper into the forest.

  I passed an outcropping of pine trees and slid down a small incline toward a gathering of boulders. Here, the sounds of battle began to fade. Elizabeth had perched herself on one of the smaller stones, her legs crossed. She smiled at me as I approached, delight evident in the joyful curve of her lips.

  “You’re back. You survived Hell.”

  “I did.” Stopping just short of her boulder, I lowered my head to hide the rage simmering in my gaze. “It really opened my eyes to the power of your prince.”

  She clapped her hands. “He really is powerful, isn’t he? He has command of the armies of Hell. Just imagine what he could do on this Earth. No more crime, no more murder.”

  I glanced over my shoulder toward the manor. “No more wars.”

  “Exactly.” She hopped off the boulder and approached. “You understand now why we must set him free?”

  I bowed my head even lower. “I do.”

  She clapped her hands again in delight. I bit the inside of my cheek just to keep from lashing out. All the rage in the world couldn’t help me right now. I needed to be calm and collected. I had to keep the demon from taking over. Manuel had taught me that. All his lessons paid off. With deep breathing, I kept my heart rate low and the anger on simmer.

  “Are you ready to join us?” Placing a warm hand on my shoulder, she laughed. “Oh, my daughter, I’ve waited for this day to come.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t look at her face any longer. My heart needed to separate the face of my mother from the evil of the beast inside her. She was a stranger to me. A demon who used me for her own devices. There was no love between us.

  One kill was all I needed. If I could drive a dagger into her heart, she’d be finished. But if I did that, the battle would continue. My friends wouldn’t be safe. I needed to find a way to stop this.

  Leaves rustled to the right of us. I looked over to see five ferals rising up out of the ground. Their bodily forms twisted and morphed into human figures. On my other side, two more appeared. They snarled and hissed as they flexed their new bodies.

  I felt the ground give way below me. More ferals were popping up everywhere. The Nephilim didn’t stand a chance.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Elizabeth proudly appraised her soldiers. “Your little trip into Hell widened the gate even further. Soon, all the armies of Hell and my Prince will be through. Soon, we will own this world.”

  At least the gate hadn’t been fully opened with my little unexpected field trip. Still, I had to do something to end this battle.

  “Tell me about this Prince.” I said as I side-eyed the ferals surrounding us. They didn’t look too tough. I could probably take them out by myself, but my mother was a different story. She was a deceiver. Stronger than ten ferals alone.

  “He’s the most powerful Prince of Hell.” She leaned down toward me, her blonde hair falling in her face. “His armies are legion. Prophecies have foretold his reign upon this earth since the beginning of time. My Prince is patient and has worked toward this day for many lifetimes.”

  My eyes grew wide. “And he sent you?”

  “Yes,” she replied with a triumphant laugh. “I was chosen especially for this trial. He will reward me handsomely for my part in his grand plan. You, too, shall be rewarded. Just imagine—the whole world at your fingertips.”

  Something stirred in the back of my mind. A darkness, one that I had come to recognize as my demonic side, thanks to Manuel’s training sessions. It had always been there, I realized, playing on the sidelines for as long as I could remember. It thrilled at what Elizabeth was saying. Images flashed across my mind. Pictures of a future where the demon could take over our body once and for all. No more Nephilim conscious to hold it back. It was tired of sitting and watching. It wanted to be set free.

  “Let’s go to the gate,” I said, jumping up to my feet, riding on my demon’s energy, a new plan springing to life in my head. “Show me how to open it once and for all. I want to meet this Prince of yours.”

  Elizabeth’s eyes danced with excitement. She swayed side to side to an imaginary beat. “Yes, yes. We should go now.”

  “The Nephilim will surrender soon.” My voice shook slightly, but I was sure I hid it well. I had to save my friends. “They can’t last for much longer. The Prince will want to meet the prisoners, I’m sure.”

  She paused her dancing to gaze at me. Her nose wrinkled in disgust and she took a step closer. My breath caught in my lungs as I waited for her to respond. She had to know my end game. It was just a matter of time before she sicced her feral dogs on me.

  “You’re probably right.” She raised her arms above her and began to sway again. “He’ll want to show the Nephilim the error of their ways. You!” Pointing to the nearest feral, a woman with flaming red hair and pale skin. “Call back the troops. Keep them ready for my command. We’re off to release their master.
”

  The feral snapped its teeth and screeched before sprinting off in the direction of the manor. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. It wasn’t much, but at least this would give the Nephilim a chance to regroup. I hoped the casualty numbers were low. The thought of Manuel’s lifeless body laying on that field made me want to cry.

  “Come.” Elizabeth held out a hand. “Let’s do this. Together.”

  I reached out and took her tiny hand in mine. A voice inside me told me that I needed to kill her here and now. I might not get the chance again when we got to the Hell Gate. My free hand inched toward the dagger at my belt. This would take all my training and all my concentration. Killing a feral was one thing, but a deceiver was a whole other boat. Few Nephilim lived to talk about it. I’d already killed one. Two might be pushing my luck.

  My fingers closed around the hilt of my dagger. This was it. I had to kill her.

  Just as I began to yank the blade from its sheath, a shot rang out through the woods. Elizabeth lurched forward, taking me down with her. We landed in a tangled heap among the leaves and dirt. Scrambling to my back, I looked up to see who’d found us. With surprise, I stared at the gray-haired woman who stood above us, a shotgun held tight in her hands.

  It was Granny.

  “Elizabeth Quinn Redding, I brought you into this world.” She cocked her shotgun in one fluid motion and aimed it on the snarling woman sitting next to me. “I can take you out of it.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Elizabeth smoothed down the front of her shirt, brushing off pine needles and little specks of dirt. Slowly, but surely, she picked herself off the ground. A cocky grin lingered on her mouth as she regarded Granny and the shotgun in her hands.

  “Hello to you, too, mother.”

  She twisted and flexed her back. From my vantage point on the ground, I could see the bloody wound right between her shoulder blades. Little shotgun pellets rained from the tattered shirt as her body began to heal itself.

  “Elizabeth Quinn, I’m warning you.” Granny blew a strand of hair out of her face and grimaced. “One wrong move and I’ll annihilate you.”

  I began to push myself up and she swung the shotgun in my direction.

  “That goes for you, too, child. I’m taking you both back to the manor, where I expect they’ll execute you on the spot.”

  My lips parted, ready to explain to Granny the mistake she’d made, but I quickly swallowed down my retort. Granny would never believe me. She’d dance on my grave as soon as they buried me six-foot under. Besides, I couldn’t give up my act with Elizabeth. Not yet. Not until I had slide my dagger into her beating heart.

  “You’re making a big mistake.” Elizabeth leaned casually on the boulder behind us.

  “My only mistake was in keeping you.” Granny sucked in her cheeks. “I should’ve left you behind with those monstrous parents of mine. They would’ve sold you off for marriage at the age of fourteen, too, and we never would’ve gotten into this predicament. Look at what my softness led me to. That’s a lesson in life if I ever did hear one.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk? I know I did.”

  “Maybe if you’d have listened a little harder, you wouldn’t have gone off and become a whore for the devil.”

  Hissing, Elizabeth leaned forward. “You know who’s to blame for little Miss Elizabeth Quinn running off. Don’t think it’s the brown-eyed innocent little girl you see in front of you. I have her memories. I have her history. You have no one to blame but yourself.”

  Granny’s face crumbled into a mask of pain. For the first time in my life, she faltered and swayed in front of my eyes. Her finger slipped from the trigger and the barrel lowered just the slightest. Elizabeth grinned, triumph clear in her rosy cheeks. With a snap of her fingers, three ferals sprang from the forest.

  They surrounded her in an instant. Swinging wildly, she blasted the shotgun off. It hit the first feral smack dab in the chest. Shock crossed its face just moments before it burst into a cloud of smoke. Granny must’ve had her shotgun pellets coated in blessed silver. It was the only way to kill a demon. The remaining two ferals snarled in anger.

  “Grab her,” Elizabeth ordered. She held her hand out in front of me, as if to keep me from charging into the fray.

  I watched with morbid curiosity. Part of me wanted the ferals to take her out. Extinguish her from this Earth. She’d made my life Hell on Earth and tried to end it as well. I couldn’t help wishing she was dead. But, another part of me wanted her to win and prove to Elizabeth that she was more than just an old haggard woman. Wipe that smile off of my mother’s evil face.

  The ferals managed to snatch the shotgun from Granny’s vice-like grip. They clawed at her back, leaving harsh red trails of blood across her flannel shirt. She grimaced and groaned as they forced her down to her knees, but never cried out in pain. The ferals kept their claws at their ready and pulled back on her mane of gray hair to expose her neck. One wrong move, and they’d rip open her throat. I had no doubt they’d jump on the opportunity.

  “Finally.” Elizabeth strode forward, her head held high. “The great Ethel Redding is in my hands. How good it feels to be on the giving end of misery for once.”

  Granny gave a coarse laugh. “Girl, you’ve been giving me misery since before you were born.”

  Elizabeth’s smile wilted as she stopped in front of her and looked down at the kneeling woman. Without warning, she backhanded her across the cheek. Granny’s head turned at the impact and she had to catch herself from falling to the ground. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, she turned back to her daughter and grinned, her teeth red.

  “I guess you finally get your revenge.” She spat again. “Kill me, if that’s what you want. At least I know the place I’m going won’t have you in it.”

  “Oh, no, no, no.” Elizabeth turned her head to smile at me. Darkness twinkled in her eyes. “I won’t be the one killing you. My beloved daughter will have the honor. She has as many grievances to file with you as I do, I’m sure.”

  Granny harrumphed and spit out another mouthful of blood.

  Every atom in my body split apart for the briefest moment. Elizabeth wanted me to kill Granny. I’d sent plenty of demons back into the ground, but Nephilim didn’t harm humans. It was a part of our code - our very being. The idea made me sick, no matter how much I hated that woman kneeling in front of me.

  “Come, come.” She waved me forward. “Don’t be shy. You’ve already got a weapon in your hands. Use it.”

  I looked down. The dagger I’d grabbed just moments ago to kill Elizabeth was still in my hand. The tip gleamed in the midday light of the forest. It could slice through skin, sinew, and even bone. The Nephilim only had the best.

  But could something so small and insignificant kill a woman as domineering as my grandmother? I found myself staring at her and asking that very question. She had seemed so untouchable my whole life. Like a god standing on Mount Olympus, ready to crush me with her rod of lighting. Surely, this little knife couldn’t eradicate all that. All the fear and pain she’d put me through. I wouldn’t believe it.

  “I don’t know...” I glanced at Elizabeth. She stood watching me, her lips pursing out impatiently. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

  “You will.” Her eyes narrow in suspicion. “You will prove your loyalty to me and my Prince. Or, you will die. Take your pick.”

  My lips went dry. I ran my tongue along them as I thought about the implications of what she asked. Could I kill the woman who’d raised me? The same woman who had also tried to murder me?

  I thought back to that day in the forest when I’d been hunting ferals with Gabe. Seeing Granny walk through the forest, free and clear of any guilt for giving me up to a demon, had made me burn with anger. I would’ve killed her then had Gabe let me. The fury I felt then had driven me in my hunting and my training. A byproduct of the demon residing in my head. That anger had since been buried beneath hours and h
ours of training with Manuel. I needed it now. I needed it to survive.

  Three more ferals appeared out of the woods. They prowled behind me, waiting for Elizabeth’s command to attack. I watched them out of the corner of my eye and shifted slightly to keep them in view. Having demons at my back made every part of my Nephilim body shiver with distrust. A Nephilim should never turn her back on a demon. Gabe had taught me that.

  Granny stared up at me. Large bags had formed under her eyes and wrinkles around her mouth since the last time we’d met, face-to-face. The last few months had definitely aged her. Her skin was sallow and patchy. She’d lost a good twenty pounds as well. Still, the strength of her hatred for me burned bright in her alert eyes. I could feel it oozing from her skin, like the aroma of roadkill left on the highway during a summer day.

  “Get it over with, will ya?” she grumbled, shaking her head. “If you’re going to kill me, do it now.”

  My hand trembled as I adjusted my grip on the blade. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck, cold against my feverish skin.

  “Do it.” Elizabeth bobbed her head. “Do it, now.”

  My eyes snapped shut. Somewhere, inside of me, I knew that familiar rage still existed. Reaching out with my mind, I searched for the hazy tendrils of my demonic side. It was there, in the dark corners. Distrust came off it in waves. It flinched when I approached, drawing even further into the dark.

  Come to me, I whispered to it. I need your help.

  It laughed, harsh and cold. What help could you need from me?

  We have to kill.

  At that, it perked up and began to expand. Kill, kill, kill.

  The darkness in my mind swirled. I dropped down my walls of defense and let it surround me. Uncomfortable pricks of pain hit me between the eyes. Revulsion made me bend in half, as my stomach tried to eject its contents. The demon stretched with glee and turned to face Granny through my eyes.

  Kill her.