The Bride the Demon Chose
1221 Words
The creature stepped fully into the chamber.
The first thing I noticed was its height.
It had to be at least eight feet tall, maybe more. Its body was long and crooked, like its bones had been broken and twisted back together the wrong way. Black veins crawled beneath its gray skin, pulsing slowly like something alive was moving underneath.
Its eyes glowed.
Not like human eyes.
These burned like two small fires in the darkness.
And they were staring directly at me.
The air in the chamber became so cold it felt like my lungs were freezing every time I tried to breathe.
Behind me, the spirits of the previous wives began screaming again.
“NO!”
“DON’T TAKE HER!”
“RUN!”
But my legs refused to move.
The creature tilted its head slowly, studying me.
Then it smiled.
Or at least… I think it smiled.
Its mouth opened wider than any human mouth ever could. Rows of jagged black teeth stretched from one side of its face to the other.
My stomach turned.
“What… is it doing?” I whispered.
Adrian stood beside me, completely still.
His face had gone pale.
“It’s judging you,” he said quietly.
“Judging me for what?” I asked.
His voice felt heavy when he answered.
“To see if you’re worthy.”
My heart slammed in my chest.
“Worthy of what?”
Adrian didn’t respond.
The creature suddenly began moving toward us.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Each step echoed across the stone floor like a hammer striking metal.
The wives’ spirits shrieked louder.
“IT’S CHOSING!”
“DON’T LET IT TOUCH YOU!”
I stumbled backward as the creature approached.
Adrian grabbed my arm suddenly.
“Don’t run.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Are you insane?!”
“If you run, it will hunt you,” he said.
The creature stopped a few feet away.
Its glowing eyes moved slowly from my face to my chest… then down to my hands.
Then it spoke.
The sound that came out of its mouth didn’t sound human.
It sounded like many voices speaking at once.
“Elena… Blackwood…”
My blood froze.
“How does it know my name?” I whispered.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“The house told it.”
The creature leaned closer to me.
I could smell something horrible coming from it.
Rot.
Decay.
Death.
Its long fingers reached out slowly.
I flinched, but Adrian tightened his grip on my arm.
“Stay still.”
“Adrian—”
“Trust me.”
I almost laughed.
Trust him?
After everything I had just learned?
But before I could move, the creature’s finger touched my forehead.
The moment it did—
My entire world exploded.
Pain shot through my head like lightning.
Suddenly I wasn’t standing in the chamber anymore.
I was somewhere else.
Somewhere older.
Darker.
I was standing inside Blackwood Manor…
but it looked different.
The walls were new.
The furniture looked ancient.
Candles lit the hallways instead of electric lights.
And in front of me stood a man wearing old-fashioned clothing.
Dark hair.
Sharp features.
Cold eyes.
Victor Blackwood.
Adrian’s ancestor.
The man who started the curse.
I realized I wasn’t just watching the scene.
I was inside it.
Seeing through someone else’s eyes.
A woman’s eyes.
A woman wearing a white wedding dress.
Victor’s wife.
My heart pounded.
This was the night the curse began.
Victor stood inside the stone chamber.
The same chamber Adrian and I had just been in.
The same stone circle.
The same dark stains.
But this time the circle was fresh with blood.
Victor’s wife was crying.
“Please don’t do this,” she begged.
Victor’s face showed no emotion.
“It must be done.”
“You’re my husband!”
“I am also a Blackwood.”
The woman tried to run.
Victor grabbed her arm violently and dragged her back into the circle.
The shadows around the room began moving.
Growing.
Twisting.
Something massive formed inside the darkness.
The demon.
The same creature that now stood before me.
Victor forced his wife to her knees.
“I give you my bride,” he said coldly.
The creature’s glowing eyes appeared in the darkness.
The woman screamed.
“NO!”
Victor stepped back as the creature approached her.
It reached out slowly.
Just like it had reached for me.
Its long finger touched her forehead.
The woman suddenly stopped screaming.
Her eyes went wide.
Then her body began to change.
Black veins spread across her skin.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Then her entire body collapsed into dust.
The chamber went silent.
Victor stared at the ashes on the floor.
Then the demon spoke.
“THE DEAL IS ACCEPTED.”
The vision shattered.
I was back in the present.
Back in the chamber.
Back in front of the creature.
My entire body shook violently.
“That… that woman…”
Adrian looked at me carefully.
“You saw it, didn’t you?”
“You killed her,” I whispered.
Adrian shook his head.
“Not me.”
“Your family did!”
The creature’s glowing eyes were still studying me.
The wives’ spirits watched silently now.
Waiting.
The demon leaned closer.
Then it spoke again.
“THIS ONE… IS DIFFERENT.”
My heart skipped.
Adrian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The demon’s smile widened.
“THIS BRIDE… IS NOT MEANT TO DIE.”
Every spirit in the chamber gasped at once.
Adrian stared at the creature in disbelief.
“What?”
The demon turned its burning gaze toward him.
“THE CURSE HAS CHANGED.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
The creature ignored him.
Its eyes remained locked on me.
“THIS BRIDE… WILL NOT BE SACRIFICED.”
My pulse raced.
“Then… what happens to me?” I asked.
The demon’s grin stretched wider.
“YOU WILL BECOME SOMETHING ELSE.”
Fear crawled up my spine.
“What do you mean?”
The creature pointed one long finger at Adrian.
“THE BLACKWOOD BLOODLINE… MUST CONTINUE.”
Adrian’s face went completely still.
“No.”
The demon laughed.
“YES.”
My stomach dropped as the meaning slowly sank in.
“You mean…” I whispered.
The demon’s voice boomed through the chamber.
“THIS BRIDE WILL NOT DIE.”
It leaned closer to me.
“So she may give birth to the next heir.”
The wives’ spirits began screaming again.
But this time their screams weren’t warnings.
They were filled with rage.
“She can’t replace us!”
“She will become one of us!”
“THE HOUSE WILL TAKE HER TOO!”
The chamber began shaking violently.
Cracks spread across the walls.
The spirits rushed toward me all at once.
Adrian grabbed my arm again.
“Elena, we need to leave.”
But it was too late.
The spirits surrounded us.
Their hands reaching.
Grabbing.
Cold fingers wrapping around my arms.
My legs.
My throat.
They were trying to drag me down.
Trying to pull me into the stone floor itself.
I screamed.
“ADRIAN!”
For the first time since I met him…
Adrian looked terrified.
Because the demon was no longer watching me.
It was watching him.
And it was smiling.
- Writer
