Phantom

Damon 'The Demon King' King was the singular most feared man in all of Wynsborough. The mere mention of his name struck fear into the hearts of the townspeople. He was also the wealthiest. He owned half the land in Wynsborough and two-thirds of the working population. His wealth and cruelty had won him a few local legends. Some said he had sold his soul to the devil, others said he had exchanged his heart for his wealth and other silly superstitious things. Damon knew and didn't care. He had seven children;Alisa, Berenice, Byron, Carmella and Elliot, who were twins, Eden and Faye. They all had different mothers, all non-citizens of Wynsborough, all never seen again after at most two years. No one ever knew what happened to them and in keeping with the townspeople's knack for creating stories around every strange occurrence, there were several stories to explain their disappearance. Some said he had sold them as slaves, even though the slave trade had been abolished for longer than the town's oldest man had been alive. Some said he killed them and carved them up for meat. Some others said other even more ridiculous things. But with all the stories, one thing was established;Damon King was an evil man, had the very essence of Satan running in his veins. And it was in anyone's best interests to avoid him like the plague. *** One night, as he sat having a brandy before the fire, his foreman, Jack Baines, came in with news from the overseer of one of his farms on the outskirts of town:a theft had been foiled and the offenders apprehended. They needed him to come decide what to do with them. He immediately got a horse and went to the farm. On getting there, he asked for the thieves. It turned out to be a man, his wife, daughter and a small goat, who's bleating turned out to be the reason they were caught. They had a small bundle with them, which suggested they were travelers. They also didn't look like citizens of Wynsborough, with their dark skin and hair. But no matter, they had been caught stealing and would be duly punished. 'So', he said in his deceptively calm voice, 'you are the thieves of my hard work. What are your names? ' When they said nothing, the overseer slapped the man hard, shouting in his face, 'answer him when he talks to you!' 'Jonas', the man stammered. 'And the women? 'Damon asked. 'My wife, Maria, and my daughter, Seraphine. ' Damon nodded. The man suddenly burst into tears. 'Please sir, have mercy, we're poor travelers, and we had no food. Please sir, we'll leave and not bother you anymore. If you want, we can even work for you... ' Damon quickly interrupted him, 'I do not keep thieves in my employ.' The man continued to beg, but Damon wasn't listening anymore. He was now studying the man's young daughter. Seraphine. A pretty name, fitting for a girl of her considerable beauty. She was slight, but even with that, Damon could see she was very beautiful. She looked sixteen, with dark hair and eyes, just like her parents. He smiled, he could have fun with her. And with that thought, he made his decision. He yanked the girl out if her mother's arms, eliciting a scream from Seraphine and a string of anguished screams from her mother. 'Seraphine! My daughter! No! 'She looked uo at Damon's face and began to beg. 'Please! Please no, don't do this! Anything! Just don't take my Seraphine.... 'And she kept begging until the overseer had enough and hit her hard. She hit the ground, out cold. Seraphine was still screaming in Damon's arms and he slapped her so that her cries quieted down to a soft whimper. But she kept pushing at his arms trying to get free. He tightened his grip on her. Turning to Jonas, he said 'you really shouldn't have tried stealing from me. Now you will know how I punish thieves. 'Then, to the overseer, he said 'tie them up'. When they were tied up, he said to the overseer, 'bring the hounds'. At this, Jonas' eyes widened and he began to struggle and beg harder. 'Please! Please! Don't kill my family! Take me, just don't hurt them. 'But Damon wasn't listening anymore. The hounds were brought, sniffing Jonas and Maria, growling and slobbering. Damon then unleashed the hounds and said to them 'eat.' The hounds, trained to respond to Damon's voice, immediately pounced and began to eat. Jonas' screams increased exponentially. Maria, however, made no sounds. Seraphine's screams became louder and more anguished. 'No! No! Father! Father! No!' But Damon had already began walking to his horse. He tossed a distraught Seraphine onto the saddle and climbed up behind her. Turning to the overseer, he said 'let this never happen again.' Then to Jack, he said 'let's go'. With that he rode off into the night, with Seraphine's cries fading off. *** On reaching home, Damon gave Seraphine to Mrs Meadow, the housekeeper and told her Seraphine was the new scullery maid. Mrs Meadow took one look at her and felt compassion. She looked haggerd and worn out. She was also skinny and had obviously crying for a long time, her eyes were as red as ripe peppers. She looked like she had gone through a lot. Seraphine looked around the kitchen. It was the largest room she'd ever seen. It had a fireplace and a large wooden table in the middle. It was larger that their whole tent. She remembered her mother cooking their spare meals and her father singing by the night fire. The memories brought tears rushing to her eyes. Mrs Meadow quietly left her there to her sorrow. When she was able to stop crying, Mrs Meadow came back in with a thin pallet and a blanket that didn't look like it could keep off even a mild chill. She then set it beside the fire. Then she brought out a wooden platter with some bread, cheese and water on it. Then she turned to Seraphine and said, 'dear, I know you must have gone through a lot. I know you must be going through a lot of pain. But this is your home now, we're family here. Leave your old life behind. This is your life now. I promise to take care if you while you're here. Just let me know what you need ' Seraphine just looked at her and softly nodded. Mrs Meadow smiled at her, stroked her hair and left the kitchen. As she left, Seraphine sank to the floor, put her head between her knees and cried for the family she had lost forever. *** Over the next few weeks, Seraphine adjusted to her life in the King household. She woke up at four in the morning and went to sleep after everyone else had gone to sleep. She did all the lowest work, cleaning the floors, fetching water, laundry, feeding the animals and any other rough work that had to be done. Every night, she went to bed with her hands red and chapped, her back sore and her head heavy. She no longer cried for her parents, but she didn't talk about them either. She spoke to no one but Mrs Meadow, which earned her the title of a snob and several enemies. She expected nothing from no one, not kindness, love or even a smile, and she wasn't offered any. Her jadedness helped her brush off the unkind comments she heard about herself. She no longer expected kindness from life in general. But one day, she experienced something that served to change her view. She had just come in from emptying the day's kitchen wastes when she see Mrs Meadow waiting for her in the kitchen, which was odd because Mrs Meadow went up when the Kings were done with dinner, and they had been for a while. 'Mrs Meadow! What are you doing here at this time? ', she asked in surprise. 'Oh, nothing', she replied, 'I have something for you'. Then she bent and pulled out a platter from the lower layer of the kitchen table. She opened it and on it was meat, bread, a small wedge of cheese, an apple and a glass of milk. Seraphine looked at her, puzzled. Then Mrs Meadow smiled at her and said, 'go on, its for you. Just eat it quickly before anyone sees you.' Seraphine couldn't believe it. It looked like a feast for royalty. She tentatively touched the bread. It was soft and brown, not the hard, dry stuff she was used to. The apple was fresh, without worms. The milk and cheese reminded her of her mother, she had made cheese from goat milk. But the meat was what really got to her. Even when she was with her parents, she hadn't eaten much meat because it was too expensive. But here it was, all for her. She began to cry. Mrs Meadow looked at her sadly. So young and so full of pain. She wondered where Mr King had found her. She watched her touch the food almost reverently then she began to eat, ravenously, like she hadn't eaten in a while. Soon she was done with the food. She looked up at Mrs Meadow with tears in her eyes. 'Thank you', she said with a shaky voice. Mrs Meadow looked at her kindly. 'Now dear, don't be like that. It was nothing. I said I'd take care of you. Now, go to bed, keep the embers burning to keep off the cold. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night dear. ' 'Good night', Seraphine responded. Them Mrs Meadow walked out. Seraphine lay on her pallet for a long time after Mrs Meadow left. She was an oddity in this place where there was no kindness. She reminded Seraphine so much of her mother. She was a beacon of kindness in this dark, unfriendly place. So maybe not everyone was a demon from hell. She fell asleep thinking of how she could maybe be more friendly with the workers, maybe she could even make new friends. That night, she dreamt of her former life. Her mother, warm and sweet and kind. Her father, who seemed to be the most jovial man in the world. She remembered the warmth and live and laughter in their small tent. They had never lived in a real house before, but she had never felt the need to live in one, because that tent had everything she could possibly want. Her dreams were full of the happiness she once knew. As she dreamt, tears escaped her eyes to soak her pallet. *** Damon watched Seraphine sleep from the darkness beyond the kitchen door. She was still beautiful, just like the day he brought her home. Just as slight, too. He frowned. He had thought she'd fill out now. But no matter. Hr didn't care much about her size. She was stubborn. She didn't pay attention to him when he looked at her. He did everything but tell her he wanted her body. He decided then that he wouldn't entice anymore. Now was the time to take. He walked into the kitchen. He came to a halt just beside her pallet. Her face was illuminated by the dying fire. He felt a stirring in him as he thought of taking her body. The stirring became stronger when he realized he might be the first to partake of her. He bent and tapped her. She opened her eyes and looked around. When her eyes focused in him, she sat up quickly in surprise. He smiled at her, a smile that sent chills down her spine. In the dying firefight, he looked more sinister. 'Mr King! ', she exclaimed, 'what are you doing here? ' Still with that sinister smile, he said 'nothing much, I just want to see you. Small matter I wish to discuss. ' Seraphine became more wary than before. He sounded nice, he was never nice. 'What for, sir? Is there anything you need?' 'Yes,' he responded, 'and you are in the perfect position to provide it' and he began to run his hand up her leg. Seraphine was not a worldly girl, but she realized exactly what he wanted. She began to hurry backwards, her eyes wide. 'Don't do this, sir', she said in her firmest voice despite the panic coursing through her blood, 'if you come any closer, I'll scream' Damon laughed, an icy sound that caused her panic to go a notch higher. Then he slapped her, so suddenly she didn't see it coming. 'This is my house,'he said in a low growl, 'and since you are in it, you are my property and I shall use you as I wish' Just then, they heard the sound of Jesse, the youngest of the farm workers who also slept in the kitchen with Seraphine, coming in from the farm. Damon quickly got up. 'You're lucky today,' he growled, 'you won't be next time.' Then he turned and walked out if the kitchen just as Jesse walked in. 'Hey, Seraphine, you're awake', he said in surprise, then he looked closer at her and worry filled his eyes. 'Why, Seraphine, you're crying. Why? Are you hurt? Did you have a bad dream?' 'Y-yes', she stammered, using the out he had so conveniently provided. 'Just a bad dream. I'll be alright.' With that she turned her face to the wall, and put her head back on her pallet, wincing when her sore cheek touched it. As she lay down, she thought of what had just happened. She was no naive maiden, she knew what he expected from her. She also knew she could not provide it. But as long as she was she lived in that house, she knew he'd try again. She had to find a way to escape him, even if it meant escaping the farm. And she had to do it soon.