Red Lips Always Lie

    It was cold, her skin prickled as the hair on her arms rose and her dark skin exploded with goosebumps. She pushed her dark hair out of her eyes sitting up in the mossy undergrowth. Looking around she didn’t recognize the landscape, it was dark and enclosed by trees reaching up to the night sky. Wind ruffled the leaves and made the tall trees sway, almost as if they were in a slow, enchanting dance. Kneffi hugged her knees to her chest trying to save as much body heat as possible. Looking down at her nude form she cursed her father for not sending her with any coverings.      Realizing sitting on the damp ground would do little to keep her warm, Kneffi stood and decided to explore the forest around her. Her deep black eyes scanned the landscape in search of any clues thrown up by her father and possible dangers lurking in the bush. Being trained as a hunter made it easy for Kneffi to navigate the soft forest floor all while making little to no sound. She wove in and out of the trees feeding her curiosity, she had never been top-side before. It was cold yes, but also beautiful.     She reached a small clearing and looked up at the starry sky. Mesmerized by it’s beauty she sunk to her knees and took a long deep breath of the fresh air humming in pleasure. It smelt so good, unlike the heavy cloak of soot and smoke she came to tolerate downstairs.      Forgetting the cold, Kneffi leaned back on her hands and slowly lay down on the soft moss. Running her fingers through the dirt beneath, she lay on her back keeping her eyes closed and smiled. She hadn’t felt this free her whole life, her father was always barking orders at her to deal with the “fresh scum” as he called it. Really that just meant the new men and women who couldn’t make it to heaven and instead came to crowd up their living space. These people were usually the business men and women who abused power, murderers, rapists, and anyone else who was just a d**k.      They had really given Hell a bad reputation, initially it was just a place her father had created because he was different from his brothers and sisters. They cast him out for his uniqueness. He made the most of it, but to further punish him, God sent down the stragglers too. Anyone else who didn’t fit in upstairs was sent down to her father, he grew angry and had no one to take the anger out on aside from those residing in his Hell. Over the centuries his hatred for God and the angels grew and fed the fire burning in his stomach, he began torturing those who entered his realm for eternity.      Kneffi had been a product of such torture, her mother had been human and cast to Hell after death. Lucifer took a personal liking to the woman and tortured  her himself, eventually she ended up pregnant. The next 9 months were probably the worst torture yet, Kneffi wreaked havoc on her mothers body. Being a child possessing dark angelic blood she required more than an average child while growing, her mothers body was left as nothing more than skin and bones after the birth.     Kneffi was not her fathers only child, after she was born he decided he wanted an army. Over the centuries he chose women whom he believed were the strongest and would be able to produce his offspring. Some he chose incorrectly and the child would be stillborn or the women were incapable of conceiving, but those who were capable gave birth to what the humans call demons.      Kneffi was always her fathers favourite and he made sure everyone else knew, she was the first after all. She was able to boss her siblings around, and was never disrespected. She was treated like a queen in her world, always wore golden bodices and transparent silk as to not hide her beautiful blood red skin, her eyes were always lined with kohl from the fires that constantly burned and her hair always woven in intricate braids signalling her power over the others.      She wasn’t always happy though. Being in power was a thrill and something her brothers and sisters could be jealous of, but little did they know she was jealous of them. Being her fathers favourite she was never let out of his sight, whereas her siblings got to walk top-side. They were sent on missions to find servants of the lord and execute them; every quest was a specific servant. Get the wrong one or miss the chance, Lucifer would plan a personal funeral.      With that thought, Kneffi came back to reality and was suddenly overcome with extreme cold once again. Feeling an odd pulling sensation on her chest she looked down to see her erect n*pples, worried something was wrong with her body she quickly sat up and covered her chest with her palms. After a few moments the sensation disappeared and she looked down again to her chest seeing it was back to normal.      “Thank the Devil,” she sighed with relief while standing up.      Moving back into the forest Kneffi went back on to high alert. She was here for a reason, but she didn’t know what. She would have to figure that out soon though, otherwise her father would be upset and she would never hear the end of it.      Searching the forest for any clues, Kneffi absentmindedly reached for her necklace only to discover it was not there. She stopped in her tracks feeling her neck again, she combed her fingers through her unruly hair frantically searching for a chain. Nothing. It was no longer on her. Whipping her head around she searched the ground nearby and still saw nothing.     Kneffi turned and raced through the trees retracing her steps to the clearing where she tore up the moss and dirt covering her fingers in mud and packing it under her finger nails. She groaned in frustration and felt her heart hammering in her chest.  I can’t have lost it! She thought to herself. Once she had torn up the whole clearing she got up once more and raced through the forest towards where she had first woken up. Branches were whipping her face and rocks digging into her soles as she ran, her lungs burned and eyes stung, but she couldn’t stop. She needed that necklace.      Suddenly Kneffi stopped, she tried to regulate her breathing. In through the nose and out through her mouth, she pulled her hair back and tilted her head, listening.  Crack     There was something else in the forest with her.