The Devil's Little Bride

The first time Naya Eze dreamed about Hell, she woke up screaming. She sat upright in bed, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she stared into the darkness of her bedroom. For several seconds, she couldn't remember where she was. The room was familiar. Her blue curtains hung beside the window. Her wardrobe stood against the wall. Her phone was charging on the small table beside her bed. Everything was normal. Except for the smell. Smoke. Naya slowly lowered her feet to the floor. She sniffed. Nothing. She looked toward the window. Closed. Her heart continued pounding. "It was just a dream," she whispered. She rubbed her arms and tried to calm herself. It had been the same dream again. The fifth time this week. And every time, it became more vivid. She had seen fire. Endless fire. A sky that looked like it had been painted with blood. And a castle. A gigantic black castle standing in the middle of a wasteland. But the worst part wasn't the castle. It was the people. Thousands of them. Men and women wandering through the darkness, screaming, crying, begging for mercy. Some were chained. Some were running. Some were crawling. And some simply stood there, staring at her with empty eyes. Naya had no idea who they were. She didn't want to know. She reached for her phone. 3:17 a.m. "Great." She groaned and fell back onto her pillow. She had an eight o'clock lecture. There was no way she was going to fall asleep again. She closed her eyes anyway. And immediately heard the voice. Naya. Her eyes snapped open. Silence. She sat still. Her breathing stopped. "Naya..." The voice came again. A man's voice. Deep. Calm. Almost impossibly close. She turned toward the bedroom door. Nothing. "Who's there?" No answer. Naya grabbed her phone and switched on the flashlight. She searched the room. Under the bed. Behind the curtains. Inside the bathroom. Nothing. She laughed nervously. "Okay. I'm officially losing my mind." She returned to bed. Then her phone vibrated. Naya nearly screamed. She looked at the screen. No notification. No message. Just the time. 3:18 a.m. She frowned. Then she noticed something on her wrist. A mark. Naya pulled her arm closer. There was a dark red line wrapped around her wrist like a bracelet. She touched it. It wasn't paint. It wasn't ink. It looked almost like a burn. "What the..." Suddenly, pain shot through her arm. Naya gasped. The lights flickered. Once. Twice. Then went out. Darkness swallowed the room. Her phone flashlight remained on. Naya stood frozen. A sound came from the corner. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Her eyes slowly moved toward it. Nothing. "Who's there?" Scratch. This time, the sound came from behind her. Naya spun around. Nothing. Then her bedroom window slammed open. She screamed. The curtains flew violently into the room. Rain poured through the open window even though the sky had been clear moments earlier. Naya ran toward it. "Jesus!" She grabbed the curtains and tried to close the window. Then she saw him. A man. Standing across the street. Completely motionless. Naya froze. He was tall. Too tall. He wore a long black coat that seemed to blend into the darkness. She couldn't see his face. Only his eyes. Two faintly glowing points in the darkness. Naya's stomach tightened. The stranger raised one hand. Slowly. And pointed directly at her. She stumbled backward. "No..." The man didn't move. He simply watched her. Then the streetlight above him flickered. For one brief second, Naya saw his face. Pale skin. Sharp features. Black hair. And eyes that looked almost red. Then the light went out. He disappeared. Naya stood by the window, trembling. She stared into the empty street. Nothing. No footsteps. No car. No movement. Just rain. She slammed the window shut. Her hands were shaking. She locked it. Then locked it again. She turned around. Her bedroom was empty. Except for one thing. A black feather lay on her pillow. Naya slowly approached it. She picked it up. The moment her fingers touched it— BOOM! The bedroom door slammed shut. Naya screamed. The feather fell from her hand. A voice whispered directly into her ear. "Don't let them find you." Naya spun around. Nobody was there. She backed away from the door. "Who are you?" Silence. Then— Knock. Naya froze. Another knock. Knock. Knock. Someone was standing outside her bedroom. "Naya?" Her mother's voice. Relief washed over her. "Mum?" She hurried toward the door. "Naya, open the door." Naya reached for the handle. Then stopped. Something felt wrong. Her mother never called her by her full name. Never. "Mum?" No answer. Naya stared at the door. "Say something." Silence. Then her mother's voice came again. But this time it sounded different. Deeper. Colder. "Open the door, Naya." Her blood ran cold. She stepped backward. The doorknob slowly began turning. Naya covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming. The door opened. A hand appeared through the gap. Blackened. Long fingers. Sharp nails. Naya stumbled backward. The creature pushed the door wider. And then she saw its face. It wasn't human. Its mouth stretched impossibly wide. Its eyes were completely black. It smiled at her. "We finally found you." Naya screamed. The creature lunged. And everything went black. --- Naya woke up gasping. She shot upright in bed. Morning sunlight streamed through the curtains. Her room was perfectly normal. No creature. No rain. No black feather. No strange man. She stared around in confusion. Then she looked at her wrist. The mark was gone. Naya slowly exhaled. "A dream." She laughed shakily. "Just another stupid dream." Her phone vibrated. She reached for it. A message. Unknown Number Naya frowned. She opened it. There was only one sentence. Her smile disappeared. «YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO WAKE UP.» Naya stared at the screen. Then another message appeared. UNKNOWN NUMBER: «AND TONIGHT, THEY WILL COME FOR YOU.»