A Devil's Journey

Demons at the Park

Vincent seemed quite angry at whatever was out there, not that I could see his face anymore. He had put himself between me and whatever was out there, holding his arm out as a signal for me to stay behind him. "Stay close to the fire!" he shouted back at me, still not looking my way.

I backed up until I was nearly in the fire, looking around at the shadows. Shadows that seemed to be moving, and not with the light of the fire. They seemed to be rising off of the ground into strange looking forms. Forms that were getting much closer, so close she swore something brushed against her ankle. But how was that possible? Shadows can't touch you, they are just shadows!

"Hopefully he helps you" Vincent suddenly said very calmly.

"He? He who-" I found myself cut off as there was a sudden radiating red glow around Vincent appeared - his clothing transforming before her eyes into a black armor. His already shaggy hair growing longer with red horns appearing on his head and a red spiked tail appearing at his tailbone.

I stood absolutely still as the red glow faded and I was greeted with a new voice "they have found us again I see... you really called on me for these lesser demons?" he sighed as though he was annoyed.

Demons? There are no such thing as demons I thought to myself. Although, how could I explain what he had turned into? His entire aura seemed different, as thought Vincent wasn't there anymore.

He let out a deep laugh and shook his head "fine, I will deal with them then. Let's see what you've got!" he said, which seemed to egg the shadows on as they suddenly sprung to life, jumping into fully formed beings.

I took another step back towards the fire, my eyes wide in horror as they started jumping on and attacking Vincent. They were about 3 feet tall with horns and tails of their own as they were fully formed and were clearly aiming for Vincent, not even bothering to come toward me.

I was trying to find the will to step in, to find a branch or something to whack them and help when I noticed Vincent was smiling as he attacked these beings. He had pulled out a sword (where on earth did that come from?!) and was slicing into them left right and center.

Finally I caught sight of his eyes, gasping as I saw fire dancing in them, and not from the fire that was behind me. He looked toward me, meeting my eyes and I found myself instantly terrified, taking another step back, only to trip over the fire that was behind me, whirling around so I caught myself with my hands. I looked up only to be met with the face of one of these beings next to mine, snarling and looking ready to pounce on me.

Vincent suddenly sent out some sort of blast of energy, it looked similar to the red glow that had surrounded him earlier. While I didn't feel a blast, I saw it knock back all of the shadows that had been around us including the one that was in front of me. I breathed a sigh of relief as Vincent yelled out into the darkness "run back to your master, if he wants me tell him he can come and get me himself!"

The shadows started backing away, slowly disappearing back into the darkness until it was just them and the fire again. Vincent walked over and I slowly looked up at him. He barely looked like the guy I had met at the cafe. Fire still dancing in his eyes, the long hair, the horns, and the tail! Who or what was this creature?

He stood over me looking down, not offering a hand up. Weird. He seemed nice up to now. I slowly got to my feet, realizing I was still looking up at him even standing. Vincent had been taller in the first place, but only by a couple inches. It was only now I realized he had grown taller as well. While I was 5 feet 6 inches, Vincent now looked to be over 6 feet tall. I felt horribly small looking up at him.

"So what are you supposed to be? A familiar?" he stepped up to me and started smelling me. I stood frozen unsure what to say or do. "Hmm you don't smell like a familiar... oh don't tell me your the kids girl?" he roared with laughter, causing me to cower. He emanated power and was incredibly intimidating.

"I-I don't know what you mean" I stuttered back. "W-we already met, remember? My name is Trinity..." I trailed off as I looked into his eyes which clearly held no recognition.

He shook his head, finally coming down from his laughter "No sweet girl, you met Vincent my human counterpart. My name is Sa-" he stopped talking, his brows furrowing as though he was confused "what do you mean come back, I'm not done here I-" he got cut off again, shaking his head. "It appears I have to go now, he's lucky he still has control of this body of ours". He closed his eyes and that strange red glow appeared around his body again.

Before I knew it, the same boy I met at the cafe was standing in front of me. His clothes changing back, his hair shrinking back into his scalp, and his horns and tail disappearing. After the glow was gone, he opened his eyes, those hypnotizing eyes that sucked me in in the first place reappearing. He looked around quickly before looking back at me.

"Are you okay?" he asked with what seemed like genuine concern.

"Okay? Am I okay?" I was close to hysterics. What on earth had just happened? "What was that!" I finally yelled at him, gesturing around at the general area and him.

He sighed, scratching the back of his head. For once, being the one not able to meet my eyes it seemed. "Lesser demons... they've been after us for a number of years now".

"Demons? Us?" I could hardly form coherent thoughts. Simply stating words he said to me back in question form in hopes of getting a straight answer.

"Yes, demons exist in this world. Most hiding in plain sight, but lesser ones like the ones that showed up here exist only in the shadows. They belong to higher up demons and act sort of like attack dogs do" he explained, still not meeting my gaze. "As for us... well, you've met me properly. The demon you just met is Samael" he finally looked at me as he stated the name of what I had just encountered, clearly watching me for what my reaction would be.

I stood for a few seconds, trying to collect my thoughts. Demons are real. That's a horrifying reality. Just how many of them are out there? Are they all like these shadow figures? No. Because he described Samael as a demon as well. Samael... "A demon is inside of you?" I whispered, looking up to meet his eyes.

He nodded, clearly still gauging my reaction "Yes, he's been with me for years. He doesn't mean humans harm, at least most of the time" he grumbled at the end of that, shaking his head again "at the very least, he doesn't mean you any harm. I'm really sorry you had to see all of that". He finally broke our eye contact and started packing up his stuff and putting out the fire.

I stood in the same spot I have been rooted to since I stood back up, absorbing everything. I was in the company of a demon. What must have been a powerful one. Did he have shadow demons that he could control? What powers did he have? I was quickly going from scared s**t-less to intrigued all over again. Did I have a death wish?

"Look, I'm really sorry for causing you trouble, I won't be in town for long. Once my business is taken care of I will be on my way. I promise I won't run into you again". He was scrambling now to finish packing his stuff, clearly trying to leave me in peace. I guess he had been taking my silence as sign that I was not interested in whatever was going on.

"W-where are you going to stay" I finally blurted out, making him stop what he was doing to look at me again, a sad expression on his face.

"Don't worry about me, I've been doing the wandering thing for years, I will make camp nearby and take care of my business in the morning" he said as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, ready to walk away.

"You can stay with me" I stated firmly, watching him freeze and look toward me again. "Honestly, I've got a huge place and my parents will never even know your there. You can sleep somewhere comfortable and go from there". He looked sad but also hopeful, like he hadn't been offered something nice in a long while.

"You don't have to do this, you don't know me and after what you've witnessed, I would certainly never want to see me again" he said and looked down, trying to squash the hope that had appeared on his face.

I slowly walked over, taking a deep breath and reaching my hand up to cup the side of his face and force him to look at me. I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life. This was a terrible idea. But I wanted to know more. "It's just one night and I have so many questions... please take my offer" it came out as a whisper. I was just as scared of him saying no as I was of him saying yes.

He stared at me for a while, maybe waiting to see if I would turn around and run scared. When I didn't move, he slowly nodded with a simple "okay".