Demon's Dark Claim

The table was long and made of wood. It was polished to a dark finish, chairs lining it as it spread across the room. There was a white lace runner that ran down the center and only seven of the fourteen chairs were filled. The room was lit only by the candles as night had fallen and this was the only available light source.

There were four women and six men. Four of which stood in the room. At the head of the table was a young boy of no more than six. His head was down at the moment and his dark brown hair was over his forehead. He didn’t even look like he was breathing. Though none of the adults cared about the child’s well being in all honesty.

There was no talking in the room, which was different from a moment before. A moment prior there had been chanting and unearthly sounds. Servants had fled the house or crossed themselves. Odd shadows moved where they shouldn’t have.

Those in this room doing unholy things. Summoning devils that no sane person would dare. This group believing they were more powerful, stronger and able to control what they thought to summon.

The people present looked at the boy waiting expectantly. Their small sacrifice for power. A mix of fear and uncertainty about their faces. Before this evening the child had been catatonic. His body alive but nothing inside. His father was standing to the left of him just watching. A cold hearted man that cared not for his son.

The child raised his hand and placed it on the table flat, but then pulled his fingers closer together so that only the tips of his fingers now touched the table. He made a walking motion with his fingers across the surface, moving his pointer and middle finger. His pointer finger crossing the middle and he spoke.

“One,” his middle finger moved forward in the slow walking motion. “two,” he continued in an almost amused voice. The voice was not that of a child for a moment but deeper. He continued the odd gesture, “three.” He said holding the ending e a bit longer on the word three. The man in the third chair on the right made an odd sound. Like he was choking or could no longer breathe.

Fear shown bright in his eyes and then they went dull. His face hitting the table and the breath sliding out of him as his eyes glassed over. Those sitting tried to stand and those standing tried to leave. The boy held up his hands slightly over the table palms down and with a voice that was far from that of a young boy shouted.

“I am not done!” The chairs didn’t move back for the occupants and those standing couldn’t move from their spots. His hands came down to the table and his head stayed down as well. Whatever was in the child mentally controlled the situation at the moment.

“I need more of you. You will pay the offered price.” He said in a more childlike amused tone. Though a hiss escaped him a moment later.

“One,” He said doing the gesture with both his hands on the table, walking his fingers forward. His right hand stopped at one, but his other hand moved forward. “two,” His fingers stopped their forward movement and he dropped his right thumb to the table, “three,” then dropped his left thumb to the table. “four.”

The woman in the first chair to the right, followed by the man in the second seat to the left and one of the men standing behind him died. Just like the first man. The two sitting hit the table hard dead instantly. Where the other one standing fell to the floor. There was no movement from them, and the air slid out of their lungs and none rushed back in. There was silence and the boy’s head moved slightly tipping to the side his eyes closed and his hair moving from his face.

“Who offered the child?” The boy asked.

“I did.” Came the voice of the father and the boy held a slight smile. He then opened his eyes looking at the women in the chair to the left who sat next to him. Solid black eyes looked at the woman with dark curling brown hair and a pale complexion made worse by her sudden fear.

“But mother, why would you let him?” The boy asked a moment later his eyes going from black to normal with a vibrant dark blue color.

“You are not my child.” She said almost haughtily. “I do not have a child.” The boy looked at her a very innocent and hurt childlike look that the woman almost thought real. She had seen horrifying things in the past hour. None of them knew what now resided in the body of the child.

On the floor below the chair that he sat in was a circle drawn in white, with lettering and symbols. They didn’t believe that thi creature would be getting out of that. They had put protection from demons as they summoned one they could use. The boy looked forward and his eyes went solid black again.

“No.” He sighed, letting the air out as if he was bored. “I guess you don’t. I am surprised that the boy’s body didn’t die with the leaving of his soul. I should really thank the father of this child, after all he’s the reason the boy was catatonic that his spirit was so ready to go. I appreciate the empty vessel to possess.” He glanced sideways at the father.

“To whom do we speak?” A man to the left asked, the boy glancing at him. “Are you the demon we summoned?”

“Just what were you looking to accomplish by bringing me here?” He asked instead his hands now flat on the table.

“The rules are that if we provide you with a body to live in this world, you must give us what we ask for in return or be sent back.”

“Hmm.” The boy said staring at the back wall of the room as if the conversation was of little to no significance to him. His right hand started to trace a figure eight on the table.

“You want the materialistic things that all humans do. That all are willing to sell themselves for. That would so willingly make a deal with a demon for it.”

“We are waiting, do you wish to know what we want in exchange for you living here?” The father of the boy said.

“I already know what each of you want. You should really read the fine print when performing rituals Mr. Clancy, sometimes you don’t get the thing that you wanted.” It was disconcerting to hear a child speak in such a grown up manner.

“Meaning?” He asked and the boy turned his head looking at him, not moving any other part of his body.

“A demon, could not harm anyone outside of the circle you have drawn on the floor. You had gaps in the ritual. I filled them so I could come in. You weren’t specific enough when opening the door.” He gestured to the dead in the room. “I needed a sacrifice to stay and complete what you so poorly did.” At least to seal the door or be sent back. He had other things that would free him of the man now holding his chain. They had no idea what was really sitting in the room, and those like him never escaped hell. So he was going to cling to this chance by tooth and claw. He’d gotten a lucky chance to escape.

“What are you then?” Mrs. Clancy asked, the thing looked at her with its solid black eyes.

“A dealer of death. Your human tongue is insufficient to name what I am. However I will settle for the demon that you wished to have brought here and then kill after getting what you want. Unfortunately I cannot be killed.”

“So you will give us what we wish for?” A different man asked eagerly, clearly not carrying that others had died. Why would he though? They had sacrificed this small child. They were all one way tickets to hell.

“Of course, I do not wish to go back where I came from.” The boy closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “After all you were all so willing to sell your souls for what you want. Just didn’t do it well enough to be rid of the demon you conjured before that happened.”

“How do we know that you speak the truth?” Mrs. Clancy asked.

“You’ll know. One at a time if you would.” He said standing, and his eyes sliding back to a very normal human color.

“Mother.” He said and she looked at the others but slowly slid her chair back no one else could move, just her. The demon creature toying with her saying that. Plus in this world he would have to get used to hiding among the humans. They had summoned him after all

So right now he was chained to them. He had a plan though.

She came over by the child that was far from the innocence that it looked. He held out a small hand and motioned for her to kneel. She hesitated but then did and he took her arm. She knelt with her skirt pooling around her.

His eyes sliding black he put his right hand to her throat and then bit into her wrist. She gave a cry of pain and it looked like ink was spilling over her eyes. She made no sound after a minute and her features twisted slightly. It lasted no more than a minute and he told her to leave.

He repeated this with those that were left until he stood there at the head of the table with only Mr. Clancy left. The man was taller and muscled. He had an air of an aristocrat about him. The boy gave a slight bow and looked at him.

“You’re a very smart man Mr. Clancy, you knew what you were calling up just failed a bit in preparing. Lucky I desire to stay here more than return and completed it for you.” They others may have helped but Mr. Clancy was the performer.

“You are my property then, you know this.” The boy made a wave of his hand as if it was of no consequence to him.

“This is true, all the “do thy bidding”.” Mr. Clancy just looked at the boy. It was eerie to hear the thing speaking in his son’s voice. “I don’t see a problem regarding the arrangement. After all a man that is willing to destroy his own flesh for power can’t be to bad of an owner for one such as me. You realize what it is that I need to stay alive here.”

“I do.”

“If I die, so do you. For the crimes that you’ve committed you know that the deepest part of hell has a spot saved for you? I have seen it and I do not envy you.”

“I’m not planning on dying so it doesn’t matter.” The boy pointed to the floor and the man knelt down. The boy took his wrist and put his hand to his throat but didn’t bite into the wrist to drink the blood.

“You can kill with a touch can you not?”

“Yes.” Mr. Clancy said.

“So you are a carrier of death.” The demon looked at the man before him. He found it slightly ironic that the man had named his son Damien. He wasn’t going to stay bound to this man forever. There would be a time and a place that he would part from this human and his ownership. He just had to find it and when he did this man would die instantly. He took Mr. Clancy’s arm and did the same as the others but this time he gave the man blood as well.

This small body felt foreign to him, and now here on earth he would grow at the rate that this human child would have. The soul of the child was gone from the body. The moment that he’d been slammed into the small child, he’d seen the white soul leave. It was relieved, more than happy to go and find a new place in the universe.

This man before him now, had tortured and beaten the boy until he couldn’t function. The soul had curled up into a ball waiting for the death of the body. He’d come in and given it that release. However unlike those that he killed in the room he hadn’t touched it, hadn‘t taken it for himself. Good souls were not to his liking. He was meant for devouring the dark souls and for killing.

He would adopt the name of this human child seeing as he really didn’t have a name. He didn’t like the idea of being owned but it was much better than the place than he had been in. Plus he had an out clause that he’d be looking for. Like finding a needle in a haystack, more like hay field. He had the advantage of being attuned to it.

“Just some friendly advice, don’t abuse your control of me. You’d be surprised what I could get away without actually breaking a rule and being sent back to hell.” With that this creature of hell stepped from the circle and left the room. The barrier doing nothing to stop him as it should a normal demon. This human body was starving and he needed to see to its needs until he was grown.