Gift For A Demon

Surrounded

The next morning Eve crawls out of her small bed feeling like less than herself. Her spirit has been somewhat crushed with the recent loss of her already meek identity. Not helping the situation, is Papa’s bad cough that took a turn for the worst in the night.

This morning if Eve can finish up her chores quickly enough, she hopes to make it into town. In town she can pick up some better medicine from the Herbalist. Papa keeps a little extra money where Krista can’t find it and luckily enough for Eve, she was able to talk him into giving it to her. He has to stick around longer, for Nana’s sake.

Thankfully Krista needs to sleep in after her drunken fueled romp from the night before. The sounds of her moaning still linger hauntingly on Eve’s mind.. But at least she won’t be stomping down the stairs ready to take her life’s frustrations out on anyone. Specifically, Evangeline.

Eve changes out of her drab black nightgown and puts on a knee length dark blue skirt and a gray t-shirt. Clothes that were handed down from Krista that were not to Delilah’s liking. The shirt is a little tight, but it’s really all she has. She takes a final look at herself in the tiny mirror to pull her hair back into a low ponytail. A sigh escapes her lips. It’s simple and she feels as though she isn’t that much to look at, but it will do. Hopefully she can slip in and out of town without any of the paranormals giving her any trouble.

Once she is in town, she instantly feels that same insecure feeling as if all eyes are on her. Before, she felt out of place because she is a human. Now, she feels as though everyone knows she’s hiding a secret. That she is a witch. If anyone knew they could attack her and kill her for her powerful essence. Any demon would be happy to have it or even happier to trade it for a contract.

Contracts are any demon or paranormal’s ticket to making a name for themselves. The better the contract or the more of them that you have, the better of a demon you are. More power comes to those with more contracts. Eve has never been out of the wilderness and into the Districts, but she has heard a lot of talk about them over the years. The Districts are where the big name demons with the big contracts are. If she can help it, she is going to stay as far away from there as possible.

That’s it.. Maybe she can find a way across the river and up into the mountains. She could live peacefully off of the land with a few animals and hopefully no one would ever find her.

Just then she gets startled and jumps at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. When she whips her head around she is pleasantly surprised to see it is her one and only long time friend. Alan Cole. Alan became her friend in elementary school when kids are still innocent about the ways of humans being lesser beings. Once they grew older and she started being rejected by the other kids, he was the one that stayed by her side. He never cared what the others thought.

His sparkling blue eyes light up whenever he sees her. She has known for a while now that his feelings have gone past the point of friendship. And if truth be told.. Eve cares for him too. Shamefully she never has the time to spend with him or else maybe they would have already expressed their feelings for one another. Perhaps Alan is more sensitive to her emotions, because he is indeed an empathy demon. Not that demons have empathy themselves or experience it often, but he can sense it within others. Even now he is looking at her with a strange expression on his face.

“Are you okay, Eve? I haven’t seen you around in a while. I mean.. I know you don’t really like coming to town very much.” Alan’s cheeks turn red as he says this and his hand goes through his blonde hair instinctively.

“Alan! You scared me. I thought you were.. Well, I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter either.” She says nervously. “What are you doing? Do you want to walk to the Herbalist Hut with me?”

“I would love to, but you have to tell me what’s wrong first.” His caring smile warms her neglected soul.

Her mind races as she wonders if he knows just what she is thinking. If he can tell that she’s a witch. Has he always known somehow? She bites her lip before answering.

“My papa isn’t doing well. I’ve come to town to get some medicine. If something were to happen to him..” Eve trails off while looking down at her feet.

Alan places one of his hands on her shoulder and the other under her chin. He raises her face to look at his. Their eyes meet, both of them want so much more from each other than these small interactions.

“Hey, it will be okay. Let’s go to the Herbalist. I have to pick up an order from the grocery store anyways.” He takes her by the hand and leads her down the street.

Her heart is racing at his touch. The warmth of his hand in her own. The boldness of his public display of affection for such a simple human. She smiles to herself and then sees him look over to her with his own smile. He can sense her happiness and her feelings of affection towards him.

When they get to the Herbalist Hut the two split up momentarily to go their own ways. They will only be a few buildings apart from each other on the same street. He rubs her elbow gently while smiling into her eyes and then walks away.

Inside the Hut it is much dimmer and her eyes have to adjust. The windows to the store are covered in purple velvet cloth and the smoke from the sandalwood incense is heavy in the air. A jewelry covered woman with the long black hair stands behind the counter. Eve explains to her what she needs and so the woman walks into the back of the store through the beaded curtain.

Eve takes a moment to look around. She always loves coming into this shop. It’s filled with all different kinds of curious things. The back of her fingers gently run down the feathery chest of a stuffed crow. It’s feathers still shiny and full of everlasting life. She walks down the isle past the interesting specimens preserved in different sized jars. When she gets to the back of the store her eyes wander down the wall of paintings to one in particular.

It’s a hideously beautiful picture that she can’t seem to take her eyes off of. It’s the image of a two witches holding hands and standing in front of a man. He has to be a demon and a powerful one, because in his hand he displays a bright ball of orange and blue fire. He’s looking at the witches with an expression on his face that is very questioning. He isn’t mad at them or excited by what he is about to do. Suddenly, the ball of fire in his hand begins to sway and change colors. Red. Yellow. Blue again. The fire moves from his hands and swirls around the two witches in a brilliant cyclone of every color imaginable. The witches shrink into the fire in agony.

Eve gasps and steps back, nearly knocking over a large brass bird cage. When she turns to look back at the painting it is once again still. The ball of fire has moved back to the demons hand. The young woman quickly puts distance between herself and the painting and tries to shake off the sudden fear that has crept into her gut. That’s when she notices the store is full of strange devices and weapons used by demons to hunt and kill witches. Eve can hardly breathe surrounded by such horror. She is barely able to pay and thank the woman at the counter. Her head feels strange and light as her heavy feet lead her out of the store.

The sunlight is welcoming and the fresh air cools the sweat at her forehead. Her hand goes to her chest to calm her beating heart. For some reason, she thinks of Alan. He has such a way of making her feel better. She begins to walk in the direction of the grocery store to meet him, when she hears her name being called from behind.

It’s Delilah, looking smug in a short dark pink dress. Around her waist is the arm of an attractive young man or actually a demon. Surrounding them is a small group of other paranormals. What does she want, why is she calling her out like this? Eve turns her head away and tries to keep going. Delilah calls out her name again.

This time Eve turns to face them and says hello. Right away she can feel something in the air and it isn’t friendliness. Inside, she begins to panic.

“What are you doing in town? Looking for trouble?” Delilah questions with a wicked laugh.

“Nothing.” Evangeline stammers. “No, I was just leaving.”

She turns to walk away when Delilah’s companion chimes in.

“You don’t need to be so rude, baby. Your sister should come around more often. She’s really filled out since high school and I’m digging that little skirt.” His eyes roam up and down Eve’s body making her feel uncomfortable.

Again, she turns to walk away.

“Hey! Don’t go! Let’s have a little fun..” Says the voice of another boy in their group.

Eve turns back to them to politely say goodbye when she is suddenly splashed with water. Paranormals! They have no respect for their powers and no right to treat humans this way! She tries to cry out when she is splashed again, completely soaking her.

“Whoa! Now she’s looking even better in that shirt!” Eve looks down and notices the wet shirt is tight to the curves of her chest and nearly transparent.

Her arms wrap around her chest while still holding onto the brown paper bag from the Herbalist. She begins to walk away from them when they start to shout different obscene things at her. Delilah whispers something into her companion’s ear and then presses her body against his persuasively. The corner of his mouth curls up at her and then he raises his hand in Eve’s direction.

The young woman’s eyes grow wide as a small bolt of lightning leaves the man’s fingertips. All at once Eve can feel her entire body jolted with electric energy. She stumbles backwards and cries out as she slams her back into a metal pole on the sidewalk. Her back arches as she feels a burning sensation at her shoulder blade.

Delilah’s laughter echos through Eve’s head while the world around her begins to fade to black and she loses consciousness. She tries to stay awake when she sees the group of paranormals surrounding her. Eve’s last thought on her mind is her inevitable death. This must be the end.