Chapter 1
Hundred of years later
Little Raine was tucked into her bed after her mother was done with her bedtime story. Her ink black curly hair scattered all over the white pillow as her cherry lips formed a cute yawn and her eyes fluttered in an attempt to fight the drowsiness.
She still wanted to hear her mother's story, but her sleepiness got the best of her.
Raine Tatum was an adorable eight years old girl who would turn nine the day after tomorrow. She was so excited for her birthday party that had been arranged by her parents.
"Goodnight Raine…" Her mother kissed her forehead before she stood up and turned off the light while walking out of the bedroom.
"Goodnight mommy." said Raine, while cuddling her teddy bear. Seconds later, the little girl fell into a deep sleep.
The night was silent, too silent.
The unusual thick darkness felt like heavy mist, surrounding Raine. The feeling of a cold hand touching her legs, woke her up. She tried to brush it away and went back to sleep, thinking it was only a dream.
The next thing she knew, the grab tightened. Only after that Raine's eyes widened. She looked down to her legs. There she met a pair of eyes, as red as blood. They were locked to hers.
The chills crawled all over her body instantly. And that 'thing' with red eyes was crawling on top of her too. A hollow with sharp teeth around it placed there, where a mouth was supposed to be.
This thing's cold hands were moving from her legs to her neck, trying to strangle her. The hot breath of that thing blew in her face, leaving the poor little girl frightened.
Frozen and in shock, she couldn't breathe, let alone screamed asking for help. Her body was trembling uncontrollably.
As if the air was sucked out from her lungs, she was breathless. She didn't know what would happen, but the pain in her chest caused by the lack of air, made her uncomfortable. Her body convulsed, as an effect of the event.
Raine tried to kick the 'thing' that strangled her, but it was just another futile attempt.
When she felt her vision turned blurry and darkness was about to pull her in, the door was slammed open along with this high pitch gruff voice of a man.
"Stop!" He yelled.
The red-eyed man jerked away and released her. Raine took the opportunity to fill her lungs with air as her body collapsed to the floor with pain.
"Mommy…" She managed to call her mother weakly. "Mommy…" She called her again between her sobs, however her weakened voice no louder than a whisper.
With her remaining strength, Raine raised her head slowly to look at the man who was standing on the doorstep of her bedroom. He was wearing a black sweater and ripped jeans, his long black hair was tied at the back of his neck, and his smile…
His smile was so vicious, showing his elongated canines from his gums. Raine gasped loudly, before breaking into a fit of cry.
"Shut up!!!" he snarled.
Raine was afraid and her cry became louder, then desperately calling for her mother. "Mommy… Mommy…"
"SHUT UP!!!" he growled. His right hand smashed the top of Raine's drawer and it shattered into pieces. The little girl breathed in cold breath and crawled backward to under her bed, sheltered herself there while cowering in fear.
"Shift!" he ordered the red-eyed man to shift.
Grunted, that 'thing's body shook strangely as its long and cold fingers shrunk into a normal human size. The hollow on his face turned into a pair of lips that curled into a smirk and his body transformed into a shirtless human. His red eyes stayed unchanged.
"Why did you stop me?" he asked. That man intentionally sat on the top of the bed. Made the bed hollowed down by his weight. Raine flinched and shrieked while crouching under the bed. "She is the girl that Lucifer has been looking for this past century."
"How do you know it's her?" the red-eyed man shrugged his shoulder as he spoke to the man on the doorstep who was narrowing his eyes dangerously at him.
"She is able to see me when I shift."
The fact that any other ordinary humans would never be able to see shapeshifters in their other form, thus Raine wasn't supposed to be able to see him like before then, but she did. It was crystal clear for her. The other man's eyes gleamed as he stroked his chin.
"We will bring her to Beelzebub. Alive."
When he finished his words, the dreadful growl of the red-eyed man filled the room. It made the bed shaking with his growling voice and Raine whimpered under the bed.
The man's black sweater had torn into shreds while his long black hair hung behind him.
Raine whimpered when without warning, his bloody hand grabbed the back of her pajamas and rushed her out of the room.
He dragged the little girl away along the hallway out of her bedroom. Once again, she screamed once on top of her lungs, in an attempt of calling her mother and father. But, there was no response from any living soul around.
Impossible…
The scary man just passed her parents' bedroom, there was no way that they couldn't hear her loud scream, no matter how deep they had fallen asleep. She cried and tried to free herself away from the man's tight grip.
She scratched his hand with her nails, but his skin was solid hard, as if it was made of marble. She tried to hit his leg, but her attempt was another pointless aggression, he wasn't even budged for that.
Then, she bit his hand that was grabbing her pajamas. And only then, had she gotten the man's attention.
The man stopped walking as he raised Raine on his left hand. Her attempt to run away annoyed him to the point where it made him angry.
With a low growl of rage, he threw Raine towards the glass display cabinet, where her father put his collection of tower miniatures that he got from the places he had been to.
The glass was shattering the moment her body slammed into the display cabinet and in no time the tiny shards pierced her skin in certain places on Raine's body, causing the little girl to cry in pain. The broken glasses scattered all over the floor.
"Mommy… Daddy…" She cried when the fragment cut her feet while trying to stand up.
But, her fear of the man in front of her, turned her numb as she backed away from him and ran towards the open door in the living room.
As Raine dashed towards the entrance direction, she caught a glimpse of two dead bodies laid on the floor. Blood was oozing out from the open wounds on their body.
She knew them!
"Mommy! Daddy!!" She cried in horror. The scene was too terrifying for her.
Traumatized by the scene in front of her eyes, Raine slumped to the ground as the loud shattering scream escaped from her lips. She was shivering and shaking uncontrollably.
Covering her eyes with her hands, she felt that the man approach her again and swung her up from the floor.
Raine screamed when she felt her body flew in the air as she crashed the wall, the pain was simply unbearable.
However, it wasn't only her who cried in pain.
Strangely, that man also shouted in high-pitched sound while suffering in pain for some unknown reason.