The Demons New Princess, page 5
Breathe out. I can see a crack in the road that looks to be three feet wide.
Breathe in. I can see a weird crack in the sky, a long black line in faded blue. What the holy fuck is that? A red color is slowly oozing from the line. How the hell is this all happening? Fuck me. Nope, we are going to pretend we don’t see that.
Breathe out. I see a blue and white house up the road with a broken front gate.
Breathe in. I see blood splashed across the sidewalk in front of us.
Breathe out. There’s a lot. The person it belonged to couldn’t still be alive. Imani lets out a small gasp from beside me. I turn towards her mouth, hanging open as she stares at the pile of blood. She looks about to burst into tears; I wonder if she’s just barely registering what’s going on. Joey bumps into Imani’s back, causing her to fall and scrape her knees on the asphalt.
I’m by her side in an instant, my movements on autopilot. My hand held in the air, ready to cover her mouth if she cries loudly, but to my surprise she bites down on her bottom lip as silent tears fall. With Joey on her other side, we help her stand back up, moving slowly forward to let the pain subside a bit for Imani.
Let’s keep going. Next four things I can feel. Breathe in and feel what’s around me. I feel sweat on my forehead, just below my hairline.
Breathe out. I can feel a cramp in my left hamstring from keeping my legs basically in a squat for so long.
Breathe in. I can feel the hand-woven handle of my hunting knife in my hand.
Breathe out. I can feel a breeze on my cheeks.
Breathe in. Okay, I’m feeling better, and we are getting closer to the end of the street now.
Breathe out. Three things I can hear. Let’s go MJ. We got this.
Breathe in. I can hear distant screams of agony.
Breathe out. I can hear a gut-wrenching howl.
Breathe in. I can hear my heartbeat pounding inside my ears.
We come up to the street corner, and I position the kids to lie on the ground next to a car just before the intersection. After they are almost completely hidden beneath the shade of the vehicle, I linger on the balls of my feet. Looking to my left, I see nothing, but turning my body in that direction makes the screams grow increasingly louder, urging me to quicken my pace, surpassing my initial expectations. Looking to the right, I see nothing. It’s almost as if that part of the road has been placed inside a giant bubble. No sound going in or coming out. Looking back to the road in front of me, I move as fast as I dare to the opposite side of the street, searching for a good place to get the children to move to one at a time. It takes a minute, but I notice a hedge they should be able to get behind quietly. I silently return to the shivering kids across the road.
Are they okay? Scanning their bodies, the fear pulsing from their bodies is clearly visible coming off of them. When they notice me, they push themselves up to their knees, and I put a hand out to stop them from moving before I get to them. I can hear the rocks scraping across each other as they moved my ears, wanting to bleed. Looking around, I do a double check nothing has heard us before finishing my walk to them.
“Okay, kiddos. One at a time. Imani first. There’s a bush beside the silver car. I’ll take you to the middle of the road, then you run to the rest of the way.” They nod as I look each one in the eye to make sure they understand. I gesture for Imani to stand up, and we walk quickly, and quietly, to the intersection. Taking a quick precautionary glance in both directions, I sprint quietly to the center of the street, making sure it’s safe. I point again to the bush I want Imani to go to, and she nods and takes off across the street. I stand there an extra second before turning to Joey, but he’s already standing and walking towards me, his eyes constantly checking his surroundings.
The way I want to throttle this child. Taking a deep breath, I press my molars together. Okay, not really, since I’d never do that, but he’s making me grow old in just the short time I’ve known him. He thinks he knows everything and can’t just listen when I give him simple instructions. I tighten my grip on the weapon as I try to cool my temper.
He’s next to me in an instant, and we both take off to the other side of the road to meet up with Imani. I have to bite the inside of my cheek as he walks past me to stop me from yelling. He couldn’t just follow the plan? He couldn’t wait another minute before moving and coming towards us? I stifle my growl of annoyance, knowing we’re not in the clear yet. The boy is going to be the death of me; I swear. Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself than necessary, I decide leaving it alone and moving on is the best option. I signal for them to follow me and quietly take off down the road again.
Even though I’m actually feeling better now, other than the gray hairs Joey is giving me, I need to finish my grounding technique because I will go insane if I don’t. I was in a place where my senses guided me. I observed, felt, and listened to everything around me. Now, let’s focus on the sense of smell. What are two distinct scents I can detect? I can smell smoke. It’s like the air is created from it.
I take some time to look around more, slowing down but not stopping. There’s smoke moving up into the sky from behind the house we are passing, either from the backyard or the house on the next street. I pick up the pace, wanting to get further from the fire in case it draws the creatures or something explodes. Second, I can smell myself. This fear and exercise made me pretty pungent. I can smell my own B.O. Gross.
Okay, last one; something I can taste. I’m not sure if this counts, but I can’t get this mucus dryness from all the moving out of my mouth.
We’re a few blocks away now and the noise is getting louder as we get closer to the next road. I stop in my tracks. My gut suddenly feels gross, like the acid is slipping into the rest of my body. I move behind the nearest fenced house where the kids could have a few places to hide. Sighing in relief as the gate doesn’t squeak, I gesture for them to follow me inside before bringing my head close to theirs.
“I have a feeling there are some of those creatures up ahead. You two hide somewhere in this yard.” I turn to Joey. “If I’m not back in ten minutes, get you and your sister to the school. Do you remember the street number?”
“Yeah; 600, and it should be easy to see,” he whispers, a mix of fear and determination swirling in his eyes.
I turn to Imani and give her a reassuring smile, but fear has taken over and tears pool along the edges of her eyes before. She gives me a bear hug, jumping into my arms without thought, and I stiffen at the gesture. I don’t like being touched; it’s awkward for me. Relenting, I wrap my hand around her and lightly pat her back before peeling her off me.
“It’s okay. I’ll be back. I just want to make sure they aren’t coming this way,” I explain, standing up and turning away, unable to stomach the tears streaming down the little girl’s face. My skin feels sticky from the lie, but hopefully the Goddess will take it as me manifesting rather than lying. I want it to be true more than anything because I don’t want to die out there.
Opening the gate, barely enough for me to see there’s still no one on the street, I slide it open just enough to slip out of before engaging the lock on the gate by hand. Squatting down, I keep myself low to the ground as I move forward, towards the next cross street, as growls, loud and deep echo from the left. Thankfully, a car stopped at the intersection beforehand, providing necessary cover as I adjust my grip on my blade.
Lowering myself down to the ground, I army crawl to the front end of the car. What I see is enough, despite the limited angle. I wish I could see better so I could be surer about what is going on over there. The knowledge that I have no control over what is going to happen to me if I’m found is paralyzing. The surrounding air grows cold as an agonizing screech of pain radiates through it.
Two creatures stand on the side of the road, but they’re nothing like the beast we saw on TV. A tall, deep gray skinned, oddly human looking creature with long gold hair, only appearing other worldly from their skin and two goatlike horns protruding from its head, stands above a trembling couple kneeling on the ground. The young woman curls into herself, her arms wrapped around her stomach while her head lies on her knees, her bloody blonde hair draped over the ground in front of her as she rocks. Even from here, I can see her fast-paced breathing, making it obvious she’s hyperventilating and is likely to pass out in the next few minutes if she continues. I can feel my own breaths speeding up as I watch her, my body wanting to take on her emotions, but I push the urge away. I have to stay collected right now if I want to survive this.
The slightly older man is sitting on his heels with his hands up in a surrendering pose. I can’t hear what he’s saying but my guess is he’s begging for their lives because there’s a giant dog-like creature with red eyes and deep gray fur shark tanking the group of three, I’m assuming it’s a different version of the one we’d seen earlier. The standing demonic creature makes a slight gesture towards the woman on the ground.
Suddenly the dog pounces, landing hard on the woman’s back, the cracking bones reaching all the way to my hiding spot. With a gurgled scream, the dog’s front paws drag down the woman’s back.
He must have extracted his claws because I can see blood sliding down the woman’s side. The dog makes an eerie chuckling sound, reminding me of a hyena, as it begins slowly lapping up some of the blood from the woman with its lanky tongue.
The woman’s pained cries echo through the air as the creature relentlessly probes its snout into her wounds, her futile attempts to escape him only shown by her arms moving slightly.
It’s clear that the creature has inflicted severe damage to her spinal cord, rendering her struggle meaningless.
The man is now crying, begging, and screaming for the dog to stop, tears streaming down his face as he moves to interfere with the dog’s meal, but he’s abruptly stopped short when the demon grabs a fistful of the man’s hair yanking him back, so he remains just out of reach of the woman.
The demon lets out a deep baritone laugh as he plays a sadistic game of keep away from the man releasing his hair just slightly so he can slide his fingers along the woman’s sides and arms before tugging him back, causing the man to let out pain filled yelps.
The demon drags the man closer, bending down with his other hand outstretched moments before sliding his long, pointed finger like claws into the unmoving woman’s back before pulling out a long, slimy, pink sausage looking internal organ that seems to never end. The demon continues to pull it out with him as he stands back to his full height. The organ has puncture holes in it from the demon dog, blood and yellowish ooze seeping from the wounds.
The man’s gaze fixates on the woman, even though she’s been silent for too long, that he must know she’s gone. He’s completely frozen, staring at her, his mouth agape, bottom lip trembling drastically.
The demon dog must have gotten bored with the woman because he’s now next to the trembling man, his nose smearing blood slowly up his cheek. Its unblinking eyes locked on his new toy. I’m sure the dog is going to strike when instead the demon yanks the man’s head back by his hair, not giving him a second to react before taking the internal organ he’d pulled from the woman and shoving it deep down the man’s throat.
I vomit.
Nope. No. Nada. That’s so fucking gross. The blood and guts; just no.
Trying to keep myself as quiet as humanly possible while trying to empty my stomach is hard, but I hope I’m managing because I don’t want to endure the same fate as the man and woman I just witnessed. I slide back, hoping to get away from the rancid smell so I can look and see where the demons are now. Please, Goddess, let them still be standing there and not gone. I need to make sure they aren’t heading towards the kids or towards me. My pleas are answered when I see them still standing there, tormenting the poor man as he gags and fights for air. I watch as the light goes out in his pale green eyes, leaving them an almost a hazy gray as they throw him with a thud to the pavement below.
Besides praying to the Goddess for these two souls, I push away the thoughts of sadness for them. I want to celebrate their lives, or at least pay my condolences to their bodies, but I can’t. I can’t take the time away from staying safe right now. I have to keep myself as priority number one and then getting the kids to the school as priority two.
“Go search that house for anymore humans,” the tall demon says in a gruff voice, pointing off somewhere in my direction. I sigh in relief that it’s this way rather than back down the street towards the kids. Then reality sets in.
Fuck! What am I going to do? If I try to run, they are going to find me, and if I sit here, they are going to find me. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m going to have to force myself under the car and hope that’s enough. Please, Goddess, don’t let them find me. I can’t just leave those kids alone in this fucked up place.
Shimmying under the car silently proves to be very difficult. My curves make some spots more difficult than others to maneuver in between. It doesn’t help that I’m also pulling my gear behind me, but I eventually manage and focus on the demon who is still standing over the couple’s bodies, a shiny gold chalice in hand as he talks.
Nine of Wands
May 14, 2026, 2:45 P.M.
“Why am I in this pointless little town? I’ve been here for hours now, and I can’t find a single fucking reason for you to have sent me here. I want answers. Now!” he growls at the chalice as if he’s speaking to it. I notice a bird, maybe a raven, tattoo spanning his ribs, the only colored part of his body I can see.
“A girl? You sent me here to find a fucking human?”
His gravelly shout makes me jump and hit my head on the undercarriage of the car. Black spots flood my vision for a moment as I breathe through the pain now radiating through my skull. Please let the pounding I’m hearing only be in my head and not an echo from my idiotic jump.
“Goddammit, Machiavelli; why me? I should be out assisting in the demolition of the larger cities that aren’t underwater. I am your most skilled torturer, not a fucking chauffeur.” Shit, he’s hunting for someone? Who could he be looking for? It has to be someone who’s still alive, otherwise I’m sure they’d know. What if it’s Imani? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I curl my fingers into a ball, feeling my nails dig into my palm at the thought. They will not touch either of those children on my watch. They’ve already been through way too much. “I should be with the groups, causing earthquakes and tornadoes. I should be destroying shit. It’s literally in my job description, and you have me here?” The demon slams his foot into the ground, shaking the asphalt below me.
The car creaks above me, and I worry my hiding spot isn’t as safe as I believed it to be. I hope the kids are okay. I glance around. Where’d the demon dog go?
“I don’t give a fuck about the stupid deal they made with the scientist group. It’s fucking pointless. We aren’t guns for hire. We are demons! We are supposed to be in hell, tormenting people or occasionally on Earth tormenting people. I hate it up here. It’s too bright. It smells weird, and all these humans do is cry and not in pain! They cry over everything. It’s sickening.”
Goddess, this demon is bitchy. Does he do anything other than kill and complain?
Oh, my gods, MJ, stop; that’s not important right now. You have to get back to the kids. They are waiting for you, and it’s been longer than ten minutes. Biting my lip, I fight the urge to tap my foot. Patience is only a virtue when you’re not in a life-or-death situation. I do not want to be patient right now. I need to get out of here.
How am I going to get out of here without drawing his attention or the attention of the dog creature? I also haven’t seen it come back, so it could be anywhere I don’t want to run into it, and I certainly don’t want it to follow me back to Joey and Imani.
“Fine. Yes, sir. I’ll find her and bring her to the meeting place. Send one of the lower levels with a picture of my target.” I watch as he twirls his hand in a circle as if telling the thing on the other end to hurry. I stifle a giggle seeing a demon act like a typical teenager getting a lecture from their parents is oddly comforting. “I understand, sir. She will be unharmed.” The words look painful as he finishes. Until he dumps the contents of the chalice, and the demon dog comes bounding up to his side, greedily lopping up the fluid.
The duo walks towards me, and I carefully scoot further back towards the rear passenger tire in hopes they won’t see me as they get closer. Every tiny scrape of rock has me convinced they are going to find me. I hear him mumbling as their feet get closer, my breath stalling in my chest before they walk in front of the car. A deafening thud, undoubtedly his hand striking the hood, resonates through me, causing my entire body to tremble. I’m so absorbed in the moment that I don’t even realize the car has lifted off the ground until something strikes the back of my head, plunging me into darkness.
May 14, 2026, 5:07 P.M.
I wake up to a pounding headache and shivering. The temperature feels like it’s dropped a thousand degrees in the last… Peeking out from beneath the car; I realize the streetlights are on. Looking up towards the sky, I notice I was barely being covered by the car, only a few inches between the end of it and where I lay.
Fuck, how long have I been out? Bringing my wrist up to my face, my athletic watch shines brightly, reading 5:07 P.M. Crap! I’ve been out for hours. Wait, why are the streetlights on if it’s only five? Hell, how am I still alive? The demon and hell hound were literally right above me. Blinking, I stare at the watch, expecting the watch to tell me something different. I have to get out of here and check on the kids; please, to all the gods listening, please let them have made it to the school when I didn’t show up, but I have to know for sure they aren’t still waiting for me.
Head throbbing, I set a silent alarm on my watch for three minutes. The feeling of controlling how long I wait, even if I’ve already been knocked out for hours, gives me a sense of security. I have to know there’s nothing. A sticky sensation against my cheek has me following it up to the top of my head, noting a clotted cut that’s extremely tender. Wincing, I pull my hand away, glad the bleeding stopped even though I probably bled a lot while I was out. Closing my eyes; I lean my head on my wrist; I listen for any sound. The silence in the area is thick and feels like it’s crushing me. Blanketing the world and forcing an unnatural calm. Not even the crickets are talking to each other. It’s like time has frozen around me. A sultry breeze slips through the air, breaking the silence as it pushes a leaf. It skitters across the ground, the sound grating on my ears. Looking at my watch, I choke back a groan.
