The Banished Demon

The Banished Demon

I am a demon. Or so the humans believe. Millennia ago, I would have been considered a god, but humans have grown so closed minded that any being other than a human must be an animal, and if it’s not an animal, it must be a demon. They have no room for the possibility that those of my kind are simply another race inhabiting this planet.

But humans no longer concern me. I no longer care what happens to them in the slightest. There once was a time when their antics interested me, but that quickly grew into disappointment over how often they went to war with each other. My disappointment has long faded, and these days, there’s nothing humans can do to interest me in the slightest.

It’s not that I want them to die; I simply do not care what they do. They die so quickly that it is hard to think of them as anything more than bugs on a windshield. Their lives are so fleeting that they simply do not matter.

For a long time, we demons stuck together, and mostly kept to ourselves. We have a few areas where humans cannot survive, so we hid, and left the humans alone. There were always dissenters, of course, but any demon who ventured from here inevitably died at the hands of humans.

Like the gods we used to be, we demons have a pecking order – or rank. The absolute strongest is our ruler, and has been since time immemorial. I was his second in command; the second most powerful demon who ever lived.

I say was because not too long ago, he decided that we had multiplied to the point that – even though many of us gone to live among humans and/or had been slain – we no longer fit comfortably inside our “nests.” Our secret dwelling places could no longer sustain our numbers, and our ruler decided to declare war on the humans.

I was not needed to go into the battle front, merely administer it from the safety of the demon lair, so for a while, I paid it no attention. Then, one day, I realized that our ruler wasn’t truly waging war against the humans. Yes, he did prey on them, and yes he did hope to claim some more territory from them, but mostly he hoped that their warriors would thin out our population.

Of course, he couldn’t just order his subjects to go provoke a fight, and then let themselves be slaughtered, so the war was actually going well for us for a time. Some of our lower ranking demons even managed to kill a powerful human priestess, and after that it seemed like we might even win the war.

So, imagine my surprise when I discovered our ruler enraged by our success. He knew that killing humans who devote their lives to slaying demons was one thing, but if we actually managed to eradicate all of the priests, priestesses, and slayers, then we would have no one and nothing to stop us from going after the regular humans. As second in command, I knew that we needed humans to care for this planet, so exterminating them would be bad for us as well.

But to purposely hope that our people would be slaughtered by the humans? It seemed evil on a grand scale of evilness! I was shocked!

He bade me come closer. “I want you to complete a secret mission for me… I need you to go out and assassinate several of our commanding officers.”

“I don’t understand; why?” I asked.

“Because, our side has become too victorious. If we continue at this rate, we’ll have no choice but to take over the entire planet. It may take us some time, but what chance would regular humans have against us? We would win the war in less than a century, and then how long do you think it would take our kind to destroy everything?”

I could see his point, but I could not condone the meaningless slaughter of our own people. “Why not simply declare an end to the war? Call our people home.”

“Sadly, I cannot do that either. There are still far more of us than we can sustain here. And besides, this war gives them something to do so that they do not cause trouble here.”

“I am sorry, Majesty, but I will not kill my people without a just reason.”

The look on my ruler’s face left no doubt that he was incredulous over my statement. “You will not kill? You? Since when? You have never had a problem killing anyone or anything in your path before.”

“True, I do not, but this would be me hunting down and assassinating those who are not in my way; who have done nothing to provoke me. I will not do it.” I knew that I was signing my death sentence, but I had grown weary of life anyway, so what did it matter?

A glaring frown crossed his face, and the next moment, I was missing my left arm. He had struck me quick as lightning, and sliced it from my body. I waited for the next blow; the one that would surely remove my head from my neck, but it did not come.

“You have served me well for thousands of years, so I will be lenient now. Leave here, and do not return until I send for you!”

“Yes, Majesty,” I said as I bowed in obeisance. The next moment, I was alone in a forest. I had transported myself here by the mere thought of a secluded place far from the demon lair.

I sat in front of a tree, and leaned on it for a small measure of comfort. My arm was bleeding profusely, and I waited to see if I would die from it. Or would it heal?

I could heal it with my power, but I didn’t want to. I was a bit disappointed that my liege had not ended my life and claimed my power for himself. He is the only being on the planet with the power to do so.

I was a demon of very few words, and it was generally agreed that I was cold – born without a heart. Among a people known for hot tempered passion and violence bordering on true evil, my lack of any response whatsoever often scared my people most of all. It was probably the very reason why my liege had been surprised when I refused his order.

I looked at my arm once more. I knew it was in agony, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. It was the first time in my life that I was in actual pain, and yet I could only stare at my arm, wondering what death would be like.

I might find out.

*******

I regained consciousness gradually, and held my breath to prevent myself from making any noise. I absolutely did not want to draw any attention to myself. What if my attackers were still here?

It’s not like I could save my parents anyway. I knew they were already dead long before…

Yesterday – was it only yesterday? – I came home from school to discover my front door slightly open. I didn’t think anything of it since my father often left the door open absentmindedly. I walked in my house, knowing that I’d probably find my mom in the kitchen making me a snack.

I felt a moment of unease, and couldn’t figure out why, but it caused me to stop and look around. There was blood splattered on the living room wall and a pool of it on the floor. The pool gave way to a trail leading towards my parents’ bedroom, and I knew that one of them – I wasn’t sure which yet – had crawled down the hall while bleeding heavily.

I heard muffled crying, and tiptoed down the hall to see what was going on. I was not so stupid that I neglected to call the police. I dialed 911 on my cell phone, and placed it on the floor outside my parents’ bedroom. I knew that they were legally bound to come investigate this mysterious call, and hopefully this way they would hear something to identify the criminals with.

I saw at least two men in the bedroom, but I could hear a couple more laughing. My father was strewn on the floor at the foot of the bed, and was obviously dead. His eyes were open and dull, and I will never forget the way they looked for as long as I live. Even dead, they seemed to be pleading with me to run away.

My mother was still alive, and it was her that I heard crying. I knew by the fact that one man was between her legs that she was being hurt horribly, and I wasn’t sure at the time, but now I do know that another one was violating her mouth. I backed away as quietly as I possibly could.

I did not make any sounds, I know I didn’t, but I was caught anyway. One of the men had seen me come home, and knew I was lurking in the hall. Thankfully, he did not notice my cell phone.

I screamed and begged them not to hurt me, but it made no difference. My mom started to struggle frantically, and I watched them choke her to death.

Her unseeing eyes stared at me as the men violated me, and I know exactly what they did to her because they did it all to me too… maybe more. I looked into my mother’s eyes and prayed for death. They were obviously going to kill me when they were done; I just hoped that the police would get here in time to catch them murdering me.

My mother’s dead eyes looked sympathetic, like she was trying to comfort me. They also looked intense, as if she was searing these men into her memory for all eternity so that she could take her revenge upon them someday. I knew exactly how she felt, and was confident that in just a few minutes more, the police would be here. I would have my vengeance.

I lost consciousness not too long after that, and I was certain that death had come to claim me, but I must not be dead after all since I was awake and in horrible pain. The only thing I heard was a steady beeping, and I knew that my attackers were not here. I lost the battle not to cry.

Someone must have heard me crying, because soon a woman was shushing me, and attempting to soothe me. It wasn’t working, but I was in no mood to argue. In fact, I was rather afraid she might smack me if I didn’t quiet down.

“There now, I’ve given you something for the pain. I’m sure it will take effect quickly.”

I felt a strange burning in my hand, and a moment later, my pain actually faded until I was numb. I opened an eye to look at my hand, and discovered a small hose taped to the back of my hand. I opened the other eye, and looked around. I was in a hospital, hooked up to monitors and an IV.

“I’ll be right back,” the woman dressed as a nurse informed me, and then disappeared. A minute later, she reappeared with two officers. They got comfortable next to my bed, and watched me watch them for a few moments.

“Can you tell us what happened?” The man asked. I shuddered, and looked away from him.

“You are safe now,” the woman promised me, and I focused on her. I told her everything that happened, or at least as much of it as I knew. Whatever the nurse had given me made me feel emotionally numb as well, and I found that I could talk about it without crying too much.

The man cleared his throat. “The very best thing would have been to run away the first moment you saw blood, but calling the police and hiding the phone was a good second choice. We have the entire 911 call recorded, and it is clear in the recording how many of them there were, and that they did indeed not take no for an answer.

“We caught them all, though they did try to run once we got there, and we have more than enough evidence to convict them of murder and raping a minor.”

This made me feel much better, and I tried to smile at the cop.

“Can you tell us your name, and how old you are?” The woman cop asked me.

“Gwen Maven… I’m 8 years old…” I watched the cops both close their eyes, and somehow I knew that they both wished they could go back to the moment they arrived on the scene of the crime, and shoot the men repeatedly. I nodded in agreement.

“We have the death penalty in this state…” The man informed me, and I was grateful to hear it.

“In the meantime, once you are out of the hospital – if we haven’t located any other family members – we will bring you to the local children’s home. You might like it there; it has a large playground, and peaceful woods nearby.

I shrugged, and drifted off to sleep. I knew that I had no other family, so there was no point in hoping someone would come for me. I guess I would get placed in a foster home or perhaps adopted. It was only until I was old enough to inherit the money my parents left me.

I would much rather be in heaven with my parents, of course, but no matter how bad things might get, at least I knew one day I would have enough money to do whatever I wanted. I wouldn’t need to deal with anyone if I didn’t want to. I could buy a house in the middle of nowhere, and just forget the rest of the world. Too bad I wasn’t considered old enough to care for myself already.

A week later, I wandered the peaceful woods surrounding the children’s home. The quiet helped to soothe my nerves, and I was beginning to feel like there weren’t men lurking around every corner waiting to rape me again. I crossed a small stream, and noticed something a little farther.

I wanted to scream and run, but curiosity got the better of me. I approached as silently as I could, and realized that there was a man sleeping against a tree. He was missing an arm, and blood oozed from him.

I knew he must be in pain, and ran to call the police to come help him, but then I heard a voice in my head tell me to stop. I was torn between my desire to help him, and the command not to. I decided to bring him a bunch of grapes from a wild-growing vine that caught my eye.

I remembered that I had some pain medication in my pocket if needed, and wondered if he might want it. I couldn’t bring myself to get close enough to touch him – or let him touch me – but I did get close enough that he should have no problems leaning over to grab the grapes.

“Would you like medicine for the pain?” I asked. I saw him open his eyes and look at me. His eyes were green and cold… and sad… but I did not detect any intent to harm me in his eyes, and I relaxed slightly.

“No,” he stated after a long silence.

“You can have those grapes, if you’re hungry.”

“I require neither food nor medicine. It seems I will be fine in practically no time at all.”

“You will? I’m glad.” I left him, intending to call the police after all, but that voice entered my head again, ordering me not to. I sighed.

Every day for a week, I brought the man food, water, and medicine, and though he denied needing any of it, only the medicine remained untouched. I sat and kept him company whenever I could, taking advantage of the fact that I was “too emotionally traumatized to go to school.” In fact, talking about helping an injured man in the woods convinced the psychiatrist that I was attempting to work through my issues by placing myself in the position of helping someone else who was a victim of extreme trauma.

In other words, I was fantasizing and role-playing, which are natural ways children cope. It didn’t bother me at all that no one believed I was telling the literal truth. They let me be, that’s all that mattered.

*******

The human girl insisted on bringing me food and water, and I could sense pain and suffering in her aura. Since she was not a threat to me, I let her be. It was a unique experience, having someone want to help me.

I didn’t actually need to eat, but I was mildly curious about human food. It smelled appealing, and so I tasted whatever she gave me. Some of it was tasty, and some was disgusting, and I soon learned to tell which was which before putting it in my mouth.

I realized a week later that my shoulder was fine now, and that I was lingering for some inexplicable reason. I decided to leave before the girl returned, but not having any place in particular to go, I merely picked a direction, and walked. I did not know it at first, but I was walking in the direction of the place she stayed.

“Poor pitiful Gwen! The bad men hurt her, and now she’s stuck here with us!” A couple of boys teased.

I heard the girl suck in a hurt breath, and force herself not to cry. I wondered what the human boys meant by bad men had hurt her.

“Don’t walk away! Aren’t you angry? Don’t you want to scream and fight?” The boys asked.

The girl took a few more steps.

“Hey! I heard that the bad men killed your parents. Did you watch them die?”

I was certain that this question was intended as mere curiosity, but strangely, it had the effect the previous taunts had not. I watched her launch herself at the asker, and scream in outrage. She was determined to hurt, maim, or possibly kill the boy, and this puzzled me.

“What’s going on here?” A woman demanded.

“Gwen’s gone crazy! She’s attacking us!” The boys all lied.

“Is this true, Gwen?”

Gwen nodded. The woman narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and turned to face the boys. “What really happened?”

Gwen took the opportunity to slink off, and I watched her head to the tree I had rested under for the past few days. I noticed two older boys notice this and sneak off to follow her. I knew trouble when I saw it, and this was trouble.

I quietly followed them until I found the two boys harassing her just far enough away from the place they stayed not to be overheard.

“Show us how the bad men hurt you, Gwen.”

“What is wrong with you?” Gwen whispered.

In several thousand years, I rarely ever spoke to anyone other than my ruler, and yet I had spoken to her once… and now I was going to speak to her again. I wonder what it is about her that compels me so. Perhaps it is because she tried to take care of me, even if I didn’t need it.

“Gwen, follow me.”

She looked up, and her eyes lit up the moment she saw me. Something about that pure light in her eyes made me want to protect her. She took a step in my direction, and was stopped by one of the boys.

“Hold it! There’s no way that we can allow you to follow this strange man. He looks like one of your bad guys,” one boy said.

“Yeah, plus we’d get into so much trouble,” the other added.

Gwen stared the boys down. “This man is the only family I have, and I will not let you stop me from going with him!”

Family?! What does she mean by that? I was baffled, and this was the first thing I recall feeling in a very long time.

The boys were smart enough to realize that they were no match for me, and quickly fled. They shouted about a man come to kidnap Gwen the whole way back to the woman in charge. I knew they hoped that I would get caught, and I was tempted to walk into the place next to Gwen and back up her claim that we were family, but I had no way of proving the fabricated tale, and so I turned to walk away.

I assumed that Gwen would return to where she belonged, but she followed me. I had no real reason to stop her. She was – after all – a free person capable of doing whatever she wanted.

In which case, why was she following me? I stopped to give her a probing look, and that light in her eyes nearly blinded me. I instinctively knew that this girl would follow me to the ends of the Earth. I suppressed the urge to shake my head, and continued on my way.

We heard shouts, and I knew that people were coming to look for her. They would probably want to lock me up, and I couldn’t let myself – the second most powerful demon in the world – be captured by mere humans so easily. My pride would not allow it!

I summoned my beast, and mounted it. I was prepared to ride out of her life forever, after all she would not be able to follow me, but she held out her hand, and pleaded, “Please, take me with you!”

I still don’t understand why I took hold of her hand that day, but I did, and now – four years later – I knew for certain that I was right when I thought that she would follow me to the ends of the Earth. I had nowhere to go, and so I simply walked. No matter where I went, she followed me.

For a short while, a woman possessed by a greedy demon had joined us. She claimed to love me, and vowed to also follow me until the end of time, but she annoyed me, and her demon kept trying to steal my power. I tolerated her only because I wondered what it would be like to love someone, but eventually I had to vanquish the demon possessing her.

I still have no idea what that woman meant when she claimed to love me, but at least now her soul is at peace. For some reason, the thought comforts me. I continued to walk, and Gwen continued to follow me.

*******

I hummed happily as I gathered flowers in a sunny meadow. If I had my days correct, today was my 16^th birthday! It was hard to keep track of time since I had no need for it. Samuel walked, and I followed him. What did it matter what day it was?

I call him Samuel, but only because I could not pronounce his real name. I have asked him to tell me it several times, but he long since told me that Samuel was close enough, and stopped telling me his name. It’s a shame too because even if I can’t pronounce it, I like hearing him say it.

Samuel reminded me of a fairy or an elf. An extremely tall, handsome fairy or elf. I don’t know why, but there is something about him that makes me think he is not human.

Well, that’s not true anymore. I know he is a demon. He has encountered – and fought – enough demons by now that I almost know everything there is to know about him.

The demons that come after him are such blabbermouths; yammering on and on about how he is supposed to be the demon king’s second in command. They all feel that he betrayed their king, and wish to punish him for his misdeeds.

Samuel simply looks at them until he is certain that they will not leave him alone, and then kills them. There is no one in the whole world that can hurt him, and so there is no one in the world that can hurt me. I feel incredibly safe by his side!

Ironically, the only people who have ever come close to killing him –a few days later – were a pair of humans. A man and a woman. They reminded me of the cops who had once saved me from a nasty situation, and I was uncomfortable at the thought of Samuel killing them.

They caught us unawares, and shot Samuel with holy bullets before he knew they were there. I saw blood gush from his chest, and gasped in dismay. I knew that no one ever cared if I were caught in the middle, and so I scrambled to get out of the way.

I watched from the relative safety of a tree branch as the man flung energy balls and spells at Samuel, only to have them sent back at him. They hit him, and his partner flung herself atop him to protect him.

“Marcus!” She cried in grief. “Are you hurt?”

“Idiot, run away! Don’t let him kill you too!”

I watched Samuel raise his hand, and knew that he was about to end their lives. “My lord?” I wasn’t about to say his name in front of strangers, and besides, it was true, he was a demon lord.

He cast me a questioning look.

“Please spare them, just this once,” I begged.

“Why?” Samuel asked.

“They remind me of a pair of police officers who helped me a long time ago. I would be saddened to see them killed.”

I smiled as Samuel turned away from them, and walked. If they tried to pursue us, he would summon his flying beast – which reminded me of a cross between a dragon and a horse – and we would be gone in no time at all.

I took my time climbing down from the tree. I knew that he would never walk too fast for me to catch up eventually, and I wanted to see if the humans were hurt. I watched the woman fuss over her partner, and knew that they were deeply in love.

“You there, girl!” The woman demanded of me. I cast her one of Samuel’s trademark looks. “If that demon has enslaved you, we can set you free.”

“Oh no,” I smiled brilliantly. “My lord would never enslave a human; they are too bothersome and annoying. I follow him because I choose to.”

“Why did you ask him to spare us?” The man asked.

“You must have heard what I told him. It’s the truth. Besides, I wouldn’t have had to save you if you hadn’t attacked without provocation!” I added almost angrily.

“He’s a demon!” The woman protested as if this fact were reason enough.

“So? I have traveled with him for 8 years now, and never once have I seen him kill a human. He has never killed anything without a reason. Just as there are good human and bad, perhaps you should consider that there are good demons too.”

I took two steps to follow Samuel, when a new demon appeared before me. I uttered a small, startled scream.

“I have the girl!” The demon announced, and a ring of demons appeared around me.

Now that I knew these were just demons, I calmed down. Samuel would have them vanquished in no time at all. I heard the woman who had attacked Samuel leap to her feet, and wondered why she bothered trying to save me. After all, I had just announced my willing allegiance to a demon.

She really needn’t have bothered though. Samuel appeared next to me like lightning, and glared at the leader of the ring of demons. If the demon had any sense, he’d let me go now.

“You made a mistake, Lord,” the demon uttered something garbled that I barely recognized as Samuel’s true name. “I have your human, and I shall be greatly rewarded when I present her to the king.”

“Why would the demon king wish to see a human girl?” Samuel wondered.

“He wants to know why you have not killed her yet,” the demon replied.

“What reason have I to kill her? She has never done anything to me,” Samuel stated.

“She’s human!”

I could tell that Samuel was mentally rolling his eyes. He would never allow anyone to see him react, but I knew him well enough by now to know what he was thinking. He was also tempted to sigh.

“This is my only warning, release her.”

“Not even you can defeat us all with those injuries, my lord,” the demon sneered.

Samuel shook out a whip of pure power, and swung it in a circle. He hit every demon surrounding us just once, and they all fell to the ground. They screamed and writhed in agony for a few moments before disintegrating. I stared at them dispassionately.

Samuel began to walk away once more, and I rushed after him. “Injuries? What injuries?” I demanded.

“They are nothing,” Samuel remarked.

“Let me see them. I may need to bandage them!”

“I was merely shot with holy bullets. I will recover soon enough,” Samuel assured me.

I wanted to protest, but knew it would do me no good. I heard the woman muttering to her partner.

“Merely shot with holy bullets! Just who is that demon? No demon should be able to survive three shots to the heart. I should have used my Chakram.”

“Now now, Serena, I think it’s clear that we are lucky to be alive. Perhaps we shouldn’t tempt our luck by bad mouthing him.”

I waved goodbye to them. If Samuel really was going to be ok, then I had no reason to be angry at them. The man waved back at me, and winked flirtatiously. I watched his partner gasp, and hit him over the head. I laughed, and silently wished them well.

Later that night, Samuel finally showed me his wounds. They looked like they had already been healing for a week, but I could tell they pained him. I placed my hands on his chest. I had no magical powers, but I willed him to feel better anyway, and besides, my warm hands were bound to soothe him.

He patiently let me try to heal him for at least a half an hour before he finally ordered me to stop. I obeyed, and started a fire. I made it small so we didn’t attract attention, but big enough to cook on and keep us warm during the coldest part of the night.

*******

For the past two years, I have noticed something strange about Gwen. One night each month, she smells absolutely delicious. I am not sure if I want to eat her or what, but she is utterly mouth watering!

To protect her, as I smell her scent grow increasingly delectable, I tell her to wait for me while I take care of “business.” She never questions me, and I am reasonably certain she doesn’t suspect that I am considering devouring her. I stay away for 2 full days, but inevitably find myself returning just as her scent is fading. It drives me crazy, and makes me hide nearby until I can stand to be around her without licking my lips and picturing tearing her flesh off with my teeth.

Thankfully, the night she smells good enough to eat is soon replaced with her normal scent, and then that is replaced with her monthly blood for about one week each month. The blood scent mildly repulses me, and so I know she is completely safe for at least one week each month. I wonder why she smells so incredible?

I thought about this as I absently rubbed the wound in my chest. She may not realize it, but her touch really had sped up the healing. Something about the light in her eyes… It burns me and makes me long for more all at the same time.

I knew that I needed to leave soon, as she was becoming more delicious smelling by the moment, and I had caught myself licking my lips more than once. The problem was that I was in actual pain, and I didn’t want to move, let alone walk away. I suppose I’ll just have to summon my beast.

She tossed in her sleep, and moaned. I wondered if she were having nightmares again. I had slipped into her mind enough times to witness her nightmares to know for certain that she had suffered horrible abuse at the hands of a few humans shortly before we met.

If I ever came across the humans in her nightmares…

Her restlessness settled, and I realized she was awake again. She turned to face me. I was grateful for the darkness that hid my horrified expression.

“Are you still in pain, my lord?”

I still wasn’t sure if I liked her calling me that. Why had she stopped calling me Samuel? In any case, it was much too late to leave her now. She smelled the best I had ever noticed, and it was going to take all of my self control to not eat her.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have started a fire; I feel so hot,” she informed me as she tossed her thin blanket aside. She stood, and retrieved the water bottle she carried in her bag. I watched the water slide down her throat, and licked my lips again.

“Are you thirsty?” She asked. “Here, let me…” She held the bottle to my lips, and her scent was so close and intoxicating that I didn’t dare open my mouth!

“Not thirsty?” She asked and moved the bottle away, screwing the top on tightly. She kneeled next to me, and I watched her face as she looked at my chest. I felt her fingers pull down my shirt until she could see my wounds.

Having her this close to me was sheer torture, but again, I didn’t want to open my mouth to tell her to get away. I was afraid that once my mouth opened, I would eat her, and then I would be all alone again. I’m not sure when I got so used to having her next to me that being alone was such a horrible thought, but it was.

A tear escaped her left eye. “My poor Samuel,” she whispered. “I wish I could make your pain go away.” She wrapped her arms around me, and hugged me tight.

I didn’t dare breathe! I know she had never hugged me before. I had never even let her sit in my lap when she was still a child. This thought reminded me that she was no longer a child…

“Does it hurt that bad?” She asked when she noticed that I wasn’t breathing. She looked me straight in the eye, and I have no idea what she saw there, but her expression changed. “Oh…”

I slowly released the breath I was holding, and allowed myself to breath in her intoxicating scent. I vowed not to eat her. I was strong enough to resist!

“Oh…” she repeated, and I wondered what she understood that I didn’t. She hugged me again, only this time she inhaled my scent. I was immediately assaulted by the urge to devour her once more. I wanted to tear open her chest, and drink from her still beating heart.

“Dearest Samuel…” She whispered, and kissed me. The first kiss was nothing more than her lips pressed against mine, but the second… she licked my lips, and I wondered if she wanted to eat me too.

I couldn’t stop myself any longer! I really did not want to hurt her, but she was driving me crazy! Her scent made me lose all reason!

I kissed her, taking her bottom lip in my mouth, and biting it just hard enough to make her bleed. I licked the blood from her lip, and then thrust my tongue inside her mouth.

I pulled her close, and held her tight. I may only have one arm, but I was more than strong enough to prevent her from escaping. I heard her whimper, and paused to reconsider what I was doing.

“Please, don’t stop,” she whispered.

“Do you have any idea what kind of danger you are in?” I asked her.

“Yes…” she replied sincerely, and I remembered once again that she knew exactly what could be done to her. I was confused again. Eating her and mating with her were two entirely separate things, and though I had the strong urge to consume her, I seemed to be on the verge of mating with her.

My urge to protect her fought with my desire to make her a part of me, and the look she gave me left no doubt what she wanted to happen. I sighed in defeat, and kissed her again. I prayed that I would not kill her.

I kissed her and bit her all over her body… licking up her blood made me want to possess her all the more, and I still wasn’t entirely certain that I would mate with her before I consumed her. It was very tempting to drink all of her blood, and I wasn’t even a blood drinking demon!

“Please…” she begged once more, and I knew what she wanted. I settled myself between her legs, and looked at our respective genitalia. Would I even fit inside her? I suppose that if I hurt her, I could always kill her quickly to end her pain. I did not want her to suffer!

I tried to be careful. I tried not to hurt her, but I knew that she was in pain. I stopped, and realized that I could think clearly again. There’s no way that I would do this to her.

“Please, don’t stop now! If you do, I’ll never know what it is like to feel pleasure… I’ll only have the memory of pain…”

Who could say no to that? I nodded, and resumed my task. She stared at me as I tried to do as she asked without hurting her, and I felt suddenly nervous.

She dug her fingers into my back, and scratched me as hard as she could. I smelled a tiny amount of my own blood, which reminded me of her blood, which reminded me of her incredible scent. I lost control again, and began to move with a natural speed… perhaps even a supernatural, slightly demonic speed.

I continued to kiss and bite her, and listened as she moaned in pleasure. She drew in a breath, and held it. I counted the seconds as I sucked a small amount of blood from her breast, and just when I thought she must surely take a breath or perish, she began to shudder violently.

She gasped, and cried out. She clung to me, and I knew that I was about to join her in the bliss she felt. I held my own breath for a moment to stop myself from making any noise, and felt an indescribably intense relief as I filled her with my hot seed.

I did not want to be separated from her quite so soon, and so I carefully rested atop her body. I closed my eyes, and listened to her heartbeat and breathing. I purposely inhaled her scent over and over. I felt like a cat in a field of catnip!

In the morning, I was horrified! She was badly bruised in several places, and was covered in dried blood and scabs! I was indescribably evil for what I had done to her!

I was grateful that I hadn’t smothered her as she slept, and carefully lifted myself off of her. I was much too dangerous for her. If I didn’t leave her now, I was going to hurt her over and over again until I killed her.

I resisted the urge to kiss her, and run my fingers through her soft hair. I resisted the urge to bite her again, and drink more of her blood. Most of all, I resisted the urge to wake her and tell her to run away with me, which would entirely defeat the purpose of leaving her for her own safety.

I turned my back on her, and walked away. I couldn’t understand why it was only raining on my face, but it fit perfectly with my mood, so I ignored it. For her safety, I must never see her again.

*******

I waited for Samuel for several days. He had often gone away, but never for this long. I really wished I knew where he went, and was grateful that he’d left his dragon horse with me.

If he hadn’t, I may well have been killed by the many lesser demons that came to investigate his scent. I realized that I was going to remain a target until I got away from this place that was filled with the strong scent of our lovemaking. I gathered up my few belongings, and mounted the flying beast.

I knew that my lover would be able to find me no matter where I went, and even if he couldn’t, he could simply summon his beast and have him fly him to me. I had no fear of losing Samuel, so I let the beast fly until I spotted an abandoned house in the middle of a thick, huge forest. If it turned out not to be abandoned, I could always find somewhere else.

Judging by the interior, and the web-covered skeleton in the bed, the place definitely hadn’t had anyone visit here in a long time. I buried the human remains, wondering if the person had once been a man or a woman, and if they had died naturally, or suddenly. The only thing I knew for certain was that no one had ever come looking for him or her.

Days passed, and I grew very worried that Samuel had been severely injured, or had even died. Why else hadn’t he come for me? I didn’t understand; why had he left me without a word?

Food was no problem – there was plenty of wildlife to hunt, and fish to catch – but I could seem to muster up the appetite to eat anything. I fell sick, and it was only natural for me to assume that I was heartbroken. Or perhaps I was suffering withdrawals from his demonic aura…

My stomach turning illness lasted about three months, and then one day I woke up feeling wonderful. I was ravenous and ready to get on with my life! I was still worried that something serious had happened to my lover, but I knew that no matter what, as long as he was still alive, he would come for me someday.

I caught a good dozen fish, and cooked them up. I ate half of them right away, and the other half a few hours later. No matter how much food I caught, it never seemed to be enough! I think I spent 12 hours a day hunting, cooking, and eating!

Three more months passed, and I felt something strange – like a movement – in my belly. I smacked myself, and mentally called me an idiot. I was old enough by now to know that sex often led to babies. No wonder I had been gaining weight!

I wondered if I should return to my hometown and try to claim my inheritance. I quickly decided against it as I would only be 17 once the baby was born. I seriously doubted anyone would consider a teenage mother responsible enough to live on her own with full access to her own money.

I shook my head, and told myself, “I guess I am just going to have to stay here and do this on my own.”

The first thing I need to do is figure out how to have enough food on hand to survive the imminent winter, especially once I had a newborn to care for. This presented me with a challenge to occupy my thoughts. I didn’t even notice when the dragon horse disappeared… at first.

Then I hoped that it was a sign my lover was on his way to me, but I knew it was not to be the next day when neither the beast nor my lover appeared. What had I done to drive him away?

*******

I had been avoiding Gwen for 8 years now, and I seriously wondered why. I still caught her scent on the wind often enough to drive me crazy, and if I was going to be alone anyway, why not eat her and be done with it?

I made up my mind, and commanded my beast to take me to her. I knew he knew exactly where she was. He brought me to a large forest, and I could smell her getting closer. I had my beast set me down out of sight. Now that I was here, I suffered from doubt.

Could I really eat her? If not, could I take her with me knowing that I was going to hurt her again at some point? Which would be worse?

I heard a rustling in the bushes that was not caused by the wind, and I froze. Was she so close without me knowing? The bushes rustled again, and I heard a faint giggling.

I watched the bushes – blooming with raspberries – and waited for Gwen to emerge. Would she still be able to see me? Not all humans could, in fact most couldn’t.

A girl stepped out of the bushes, and held up a full basket. She beamed with triumph, and I was open mouthed with shock! How in the world had Gwen reverted to her childhood self… somehow she even had a demonic aura. Was she possessed?

“Alyda! Where are you?”

“Coming, mama!” The girl skipped towards the summoning voice, but stopped short, and turned her head to stare at me.

I saw my green eyes watching me from this child, and I was speechless! What’s going on here?

“Who. Are. You?” The girl demanded. “I warn you, I may not look like much, but I am very powerful.”

“I…I…I believe you,” I stammered.

“Alyda,” a woman called again, but she was much nearer this time.

“Don’t come any closer, mama! There’s a demon here,” the girl called out, but it was too late. Gwen stepped into the clearing, and gasped.

“Samuel…” She whispered, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.

“Oh…” I finally understood. This child was such a puzzling enigma because she was mine. Mine and Gwen’s.

“It’s really you!” Gwen announced, and flung herself into my embrace. It was extremely gratifying to have her there after all this time, and I held her close.

“I missed you so much! Where have you been?”

I didn’t really know what to say, and apparently Gwen did not expect me to speak – I never did much anyway – because she babbled on before I could answer.

“I am so happy you’re here! I finally get to introduce you to Alyda. Alyda, come here and meet your father.”

“That’s my father?” Alyda harrumphed.

“Of course he is!” Gwen laughed.

“I thought you told me that my father was the most powerful demon in the world. He doesn’t look very powerful at all.”

“Alyda!” Gwen smiled and shook her head. She looked at me as if to say, ‘this wouldn’t have happened if you had been here,’ and I knew it was true. I had abandoned them for silly reasons, and I was now certain that I would never do it again. 8 years was a long time to waste in the life of a human, so I prayed that I could make it up to her.

I knelt in front of Alyda so that she could see my eyes, and that I was serious. I wondered what to say when she smiled unexpectedly.

“Aha! There it is! That strong demon power that my mother told me about. You really are my father.”

I nodded, and she smacked me across the face. I held my hand to my cheek in bafflement.

“That’s for abandoning my mother!”

She slapped me again. “That’s for taking so long to come back, and that’s for making me think a demon had come to attack us!” She ended with a third slap.

I had no idea how to react, and looked to Gwen for some indication. She was trying very hard to suppress the urge to laugh, and I raised my eyebrow. She wanted to laugh at a time like this?

Alyda used a hand to turn my face to her once more. “Now that that is done, I am glad you are here.” She smiled, and hugged me.

I returned her hug, and lifted her up. Now the only thing I needed to decide was whether to stay here with them, or take them with me. It might be nice to have a place to stay for once… and maybe Alyda could grow up happy here away from all the humans and demons that were sure to misunderstand her and call her names. Yes… staying here was probably better than anywhere else in the world.

I followed Gwen back to her house, and for the first time ever, felt like I was coming home.