Mark of The Demon

Of Competition and Jealousy

The Sinclair manor had gone up in flames, with it went all her support. She had been orphaned at a young age yet fortunately she had been the heiress to her estates, Thornerose estates, the secondary family off the main Sinclair family. 

Long ago, the Sinclair owned a vast amount of lands in France when the monarch was cut down it was split into two families. One in the main city with a huge manor that ruled all the businesses and higher up property, the other was located in and owned all the country sides and non-vineyard related farms. Though the two families stayed very close the thornerose family lost all holding in the Sinclair name. It was beyond stupid. They were biologically related, when she heard they all died in the fire she had proclaimed that she would be happy to take over. It was immediately declined. All the properties and businesses refused to be led by the off brand family and that was exaggerated as she was a woman. 

She was now a singular woman in a hateful, and uncaring world. Her uncle had always helped her when he was alive. He was so very forward thinking. He had been there for her the moment her family disappeared. Her parents before their demise had made marriage arrangements for her to be with a very rich and influential man in the city. She couldn't back out and he helped her through the process. Then, when her husband was a gay man with no interest in her, or in helping her with the lands she had, he helped her again in controlling her unruly husband. She was now alone in this situation. 

She didn't blame her husband for having no interest in her property and its many unending chores. She didn't like it either. Rather she preferred the art of science. She still ran her farm as best she could on her own. However when her husband found out her uncle was gone, he cut her ties with his monetary value. His only use to her in this world. She had to fire her staff. The servants, gardeners, and farm hands. It was not a good farm anymore due to the dismissive care. At its best, the animals were fed when she remembered to, the crops watered by the rains, and then harvested when men came knocking at her door needing the supplies. She would rally men in town to help her pull the food from the ground for a cut of what little the crops would give her. She wasn't a good owner. This she knew very well. 

It wasn't in her mental world to care about such things. Her world revolved around books, the great dramas, arts, of course the law, and in the growing technology of the world. She had made many inventions, though none had made it past prototype steps. No one took her seriously in the field. Without the funds to get better products she was not in the best position to make anything special. The old lady Queen Antoinette had really f****d up the French's image of women in society with her grande parties. She stripped women down to a tenth of what they had once been able to be. For a moment women were getting to a good place there, not anymore. 

She was now nineteen and in a loveless, sexless, husbandless marriage, and all alone out here in the countryside. People were starting to notice. This past year had been a roller-coaster. She slowly started to notice the fact that the same men she rallied in the town to help her were hanging around at her gates when she didn't want them their. It made her feel like she was some kind of exotic pet to the men of the town. Woman had started to treat her oddly as well. They glared at her and no longer exchanged pleasantries with her. She could swear one of them called her a vixen. She wasn't interested. That was for sure. If she was going to have an affair with a man it would be a handsome man like in the Scottish love stories. A hero sweeping her off her feet like some kind of demigod. Not some country bumpkin with seven dirty faced kids. No way. 

Still her uncle gone… she was actually kind of lonely. She had considered maybe searching for a hero, but instead, she focused on her current invention. 

That is until that fateful day. She was sitting in her once kitchen, it was now a makeshift laboratory. She was really getting close to making a box that displayed images. Like a radio but for images! She was having a bit of an issue with the amount of heat it created. As she pulled the trigger on the electric current connection ending the stream before the fourth fire of today started, the phone rang. It was loud and echoed dramatically. It was an invention as well and she was hopeful that the non rotary phone would stay connected as she talked. It was a prototype of what she called a 'corded' phone. 

"Hello, Thornerose estates." 

A girl, her cousin Sapphire, was on the line. The moment of shock she felt at her voice was nothing compared to the amount of shock she experienced as the girls words rang throughout her brain. Her cousin Sapphire Sinclair was taking over the family and was "casually" calling to inform her that she was going to be picking up where her father left off. She wanted to meet up and discuss matters. To understand any changes that occurred in the past year. 

Anger rose, she was much older than Sapphire! She was much more prepared to be a family leader than that girl! She was a married, dignified, woman of her prime years. That Sinclair child was only 16! A dark jealousy fell over Fayaline Thornerose, a deep desire to beat that little girl at the game she didn't realize she was playing. 

“Yes," she said after a long pause."Lady S-sapphire…" never had saying words been such a struggle. She nearly choked on the title. It should be her title. "I would love to… to visit.”

" Ah yes, well then, I expect to be seeing you in a day or two. You aren't that far out." 

The familiar voice rang out the command almost like it was lyrics to some song she had missed. The girl then dismissed her, the call ending adruptly leaving Faye to think over her options.

The pulse in her ears was almost like a drum beat of war. She was seeing red. A quick series of movements brought her to the bookshelf in the corner of the attic. Her father kept a box of forbidden books there. A long time ago she had read these pages, yet kept them put away as a respect to him. She owed him that at least he was the one that gave her the mindset of language and science. She was always second best to her husband, her uncle, and now to let sapphire beat her? Not anymore she would use dark arts if needed. She got the book of ancient gods down and opened it up. Looking at the occult books table of contents she saw a large chapter called "Daemon Summoning." It went into extensive detail on the demon's one could contact, summon, and make wishes on. She looked through each one of them. Yet there was one she couldn't get out of her head. She felt  herself stick on the one page of the demon. Which honestly sounded promising. She continued through each but turned back to the one she couldn't get out of her head. Oddly the book opened up right to that page and she didn't spend anytime researching for it. His contract name was Shiwa, a demon or god of knowledge, corruption, death, magic, and ancestor worship. He was apparently also known as Baron Samedi in some cultures. The picture next to his name was of Eve holding an apple in her hand, a snake hanging above her, its tail hanging down wrapping about her body. It then went into detail on how to contact the… Man, demon, God person. 

“Shiwa? Alright.” She then stood, determination had set deep inside her. She would succeed in this. She turned and ran off to collect the items needed to get the ritual on the way.