The Devil's Tail - The Devil Chronicles Book One - ROUGH DRAFT

Chapter Twenty-One

The dance hall's lights were dimmed with a reddish hue, blinding the occupants.

"And we welcome professor John Reiling to the stage."

The convention floor fell to a quiet hush after the last lingering laugh. Shkeesha reached for Levi's hand, but he leaned forward in his seat, ready to run.

"Levi?"

His eyes were pressed to the stage and his hands folded beneath his chin.

"The cryptic that we hope will gain more traction in online forums and communities is that of the Devil Cycle. For centuries, across cultures and religions, there have been accounts of humans with supernatural abilities." The presenter clicked on the next slide –the PowerPoint brightly lit on the projector screen in the dim room. Sepia tone images of Devil Nuns, clergy, Devil academies of years past, and one of previous Devil children cluttered the screen. The crowd held its breath, eager for more. "Encounters and testimonies of ghosts, demons, the unseen –may only be scratching the surface of the depths of what lies beyond our world. Because as we know, we should be fearing what is sitting next to us."

Levi squirmed in his seat and grimaced.

"What," Shkeesha mumbled, mockingly with a huff.

"If they fear us then –"

"I'm still reeling that they can accept our existence."

The presenter continued after detailing the images. "They are Devils – a special breed of humans, separate from our own humanity. They are born of mortal mothers, but it is evident early on that their father is not of this world. They are children of Satan himself and are his heirs to Hell."

Several attendees zoned out and rolled their eyes, scoffing. "This is ridiculous."

Levi shot Shkeesha a knowing look. "Bullshit."

Shkeesha placed a concerning hand on his thigh. "They don't even know the half of it."

"Last I checked, everyone else knew their Dad --"

The mic boomed as they changed speakers. A high-pitched noise irritated Levi's ears. He squinted at the bright stage.

John Reiling cleared his throat. "Since my college years, I've been interested in the existence of Devils. My father taught me everything he knew and his father --"

"Men," Shkeesha sighed.

"The Devils had it out for my family lineage for centuries. They took my sister away from me --"

"Marty never mentioned anything like that, and I never heard of this."

"You'd think living in that house, you would've figured it out. I should have never let you stay there."

Levi scrunched his nose. "Should we be more careful?"

"What's the harm in them knowing about us?" she shrugged.

Mr. Reiling continued. "My intentions are for everyone to be alert, so they can protect their families, as I have been many years. Your loved ones can become targets. My sister left with a Devil, though they had attacked and stalked her apartment for weeks on end. I haven't heard from her since. You may wonder how you can identify a Devil to protect yourself and loved ones. They look just like us. Historically, they have had dark hair and eyes, though that accounts for much of the earth's population. They are often taller than average. There are seven chosen in a cycle -roughly occurring over every half-century."

Marty sulked through the convention floor with Michael trailing behind.

"I'm sorry. She's -"