Beautiful Monster

Fire and Flames

Evelyn walked outside the bathroom in dark blue jeans and a light blue top, the things she grabbed out of the closet at random. As she paused to close the door behind her she saw that Asmodeus was still reading a book.

Bored and wondering what to do Evelyn walked closer to Asmodeus to try and get a glimpse of what he was reading over his shoulder.

The only thing she had time to make out about the book was that it was written in a language she had never seen before, much less understood before Asmodeus closed the book and set it down on the bed.

“Did you enjoy your shower?” Asmodeus asked, sitting up and turning to face her.

“Yeah, it feels awesome to no longer be covered in blood.” Evelyn said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Why did you have so much blood on you in the first place? Where you so clumsy that u couldn’t help but cut yourself that often?” He asked, teasing her.

Evelyn glowered at him. “No.” She said, indignant. “Leviathan was that much better than me. I couldn’t move fast enough to block her attacks or get a hit on her. I couldn’t even scratch her.” Evelyn groaned.

“Poor baby.” Asmodeus said, smirking. “Maybe you should try harder next time.”

Evelyn scowled at him.

Suddenly the door flew open and in walked Belphegor with a grim expression on his face.

“Sorry to interrupt, but there is something you need to see.” He said turning back around and walking outside the room.

With a worried look on his face Asmodeus quickly got up and followed him, with Evelyn following behind both of them.

Belphegor walked straight towards a window at the end of the hall, where an orange light seemed to be filtering in from.

“Belphegor, what’s wrong?” Asmodeus asked as they approached the window.

Belphegor nodded his head in the direction of the window once they had stopped in front it. “Look outside and you will see.”

With a worried and confused look directed at Belphegor Asmodeus did as he was told and turned to look out the window. As soon as he saw what was outside he tensed up, his entire back going rigid.

Evelyn, wondering what all this drama was about, decided to look around Asmodeus to try and see what was going on outside.

She let out a gasp as she took in the scene outside the window. The orange light that was emanating from outside the window was actually coming from an immense fire that didn’t quite act like a fire; it kept pulsing and growing like a giant heart beating. It was taking place in the forest but was still fairly close to where they were standing.

Suddenly the fire turned a deep ominous red and started hungrily devouring the nearby trees and growing until its edges couldn’t be seen from the window. Next the fire turned a bright neon blue and shot up far above the tree line.

“What’s going on?” Evelyn asked.

“That’s the question.” Belphegor said. And then all three of them turned back around to see what the mysterious fire would do next.

Evelyn reeled back in shock while the other two remained unmoving as the fire suddenly disappeared. There was no slow dissipation or puff of smoke. It was simply there one second and gone the next.

 “What in the world just happened?” Evelyn asked after a long stretch of silence.

“A message was just delivered.” Asmodeus replied.

“And what did that message say.” Evelyn asked.

“That is exactly what we are going to find out.” Belphegor said and, with one last look out the window, turned and walked down the hall.

Evelyn started to follow but then she realized that Asmodeus hadn’t moved from the window. So she walked back to him and placed a hand on his arm, causing him to look down at her with dark, grim eyes.

“Are you okay?” Evelyn asked him softly.

“Yes.” He said, taking a lingering glance outside before turning around and starting to walk and follow Belphegor with Evelyn at his side. “Just thinking.”

They walked in silence and had almost caught up to Belphegor before Evelyn Asked another question. “Do you know what the message said?”

Asmodeus breathed out in a deep long suffering sigh. “Maybe. I don’t know.” He said, running a hand through his hair. “But what I do know is that whatever that message said, it wasn’t good.” He added as they caught up to and walked alongside Belphegor.

“I think so too.” Belphegor said.

And even though Evelyn had little knowledge of the world she now inhabited, she couldn’t help but agree with both of them.