The Demon King's Favorite

Chapter Three

The sun was blazing high in the sky by the time I had searched my third building. So far my searches have proved unfruitful. Every once in a while, a group of demons pass and I hurry to keep myself hidden.

Deciding to take a two minutes break after ransacking the house I am in, I sip some water and gnaw on my ganola bar gazing out the window. Looking below, I see some demons with their armor glinting brightly marching in a V-formation. Taking out my binoculars, I peer around the city noticing smoke coming from an almost burnt out building. Packing my stuffs I decided to head in that direction.

The smoke as I neared closer to that area clogged my throat and made my eyes tear up. Not far away to my right was a convenience store. Even though the front glass has been broken and it looked very creepy with vines intertwining at the entrance, I decided to head in.

The interior was even worse than the exterior with caved in roof and birds making nest on the dusty shelves. To my surprise, there were still some canned foods underneath the counter.

Probably someone's stash

Wiping away at the dust with my fingers, I try to read the expiry date.

Expired but who cares

Stuffing the twelve cans into my backpack, I smile to my self imagining their look of joy when I show them my loot. Looking around some more, I find a half pack of bottle water and almost tap dance from happiness.

Checking my time, I decide to head back. I so don't wanna be caught here.

Unfortunately while trying to leave the store, I cut my hand on a shard of glass sticking our the door frame. Drops of my blood trickles down the doorway and I panic knowing I just sent my a 'I am here' signal out to any demon within 2 kilometers of where I am.

Breaking into a run, I tear a piece of my top wrapping it around my arm to step the blood flow. I can hear their throaty call to one another and I know they are already after me. I don't rest or break this time and soon the boundary is in sight.

Looking over my shoulders, I see they've almost caught up with me.

But the building is so close

Deciding not to lead them to where my sister and friend are, I swerve to the right and then to the right again, leading them in a u-turn. Losing them in twists and turns, I decide to hid my backpack under an upturned trashcan. I know they'll soon catch up to me because they have my scent already. Placing my mom's wristwatch on the can, I know Jumani will be able to find it even without magic.

Hearing their shrieks close-by, I take out my knife. If I'm going to go down, I'll go down fighting.

As one came running round the corner, I sidestepped tripping it, it's momentum caused to to crash all the floor and I wasted no time stabbing it with vengeance. By the time the others yanked me off her, she was a twitching mess on the gravel.

In spite of my fear, I grinned up at them. They all overshadowed my petite self at 5'5 and they stared furiously at me. A demon with more armor than the others stepped up to me and I could sense he was of higher rank than his companions. His blonde hair was parted in a way where half of it fell over his red eyes and I knew I had seen that crazy smile some where..

He was the one who killed my mom. There was no way I could forget his face. 

I spat into his face and struggled against the demons holding me. "You're gonna regret doing that and killing one of us" he sneered, his foul breathe fanning my face and I fought the urge to retch.

The movement of his hand was too fast for my eyes to follow. I felt my head snap back and my world became black.

***

My head was pounding and the left side of my face was throbbing painfully. I tried to touch my face, my face but couldn't. Panicking, I open my eyes to see that my hands were tied behind my back but that wasn't the worst part. We were all shackled together by large chains at our necks. The manacles bit into my tender flesh and I winced with pain.

Looking around, I saw I wasn't alone. There were people of all ages, some weeping and others staring blankly into the distance. I knew I had been stripped of my weapons when I was asleep because I could not longer feel the reassuring pressure of my knives in my coat. Even my google and handkerchief had been removed.

Suddenly a large alarm sounded and we were all jostled up. They loaded us into a large wagon drawn by a team of four magnificent horses and four demons climbed on board with one taking the reins. We were soon on our way and I look back in the direction of my sister and my friend with my heart breaking.

I hope they find what I left for them and they stay safe.