Bedeviled

Chapter 11

Elizabeth sat with me at the table in the dining hall. I made her sit alongside me, being the only one at such a large table made me uncomfortable.

"Who healed you?" She asked lightly, referring to my neck.

"Uh..." I hesitated to say his name, still not knowing how to pronounce it. I smiled at her, leaning in close, "how do you say his name?" I whispered, giggling. She and I have become quite close.

She smiled and giggled back, "Az-rin-eer" She sounded out slowly.

"Oh" I laughed louder now, she reciprocated me, leaning back in her chair "Yeah, him. Are there others?" I asked squinting at her.

"A few," She said.

"Like, that live here?" I said in bewilderment. I have barely seen anyone here besides the spirits and Azerynir last night.

"Yes, they are pretty sneaky. They probably don't want to frighten you. They know why you are here and Azerynir would kill them if they messed with you. They also are probably a bit unsettle by a human living here with them."

"Aren't you human? Or were, sorry". I corrected myself.

"Yes, I'm talking about ones who are alive. Some demons feed off humans in various ways and these ones probably don't want to risk it." She informed me.

"They what?" The tone in my voice hardened. When grandmother referred to demons as if they were creatures she wasn't kidding.

"Yes, it doesn't hurt though." She said, placing a hand on mine in reassurance.

"How do they feed?" I said quieter now, looking around the dining hall. I thought of what she said about them being sneaky.

She laughed, looked around, and bit her lip, "Why don't we talk about this upstairs in your room."

I nodded my head and finished eating before hurrying to my room with her.

"Where did we leave off again?" She asked me, sitting on the couch across from my bed.

"You were telling me that they feed on humans". I replied quickly, sitting opposite her on my bed. I kicked my heels off and crossed my feet under myself, giving them their long-needed relief.

"Oh, yes. Do you know about the different types of demons?" She asked me. I shook my head in response. "There are three different types of demons, Nightmares, Incubi or Sucubi, and Reapers. The Nightmares are the most common, they feed on fear and negative emotions."

I felt my body chill at the thought of this. Is that was has been chasing me around? A Nightmare? Feeding on my fear?

"Most of the ones living here in the castle only feed on pre-existing emotions. Although, its not uncommon for them to manipulate it out of you and feed off of it. Succubi and Incubi are sex demons. I think that one is self-explanatory".

My eyes widened slightly as I put the puzzle pieces together, Azerynir was a sex demon and he has been feeding off of me. I felt slightly violated.

"Incubi can feed on other demons but it isn't quite the same as humans. Kind of like vampires, animals fulfill them, but humans satisfy them. The reapers are the demons who guide souls into the afterlife. They get their life source from death. They rarely ever cause it to feed, they get more than enough of it with their jobs."

"What about angels, don't they guide people to heaven? I've been told stories about people seeing them when and being told it wasn't their time?" I asked.

"Those were probably Reaper demons they saw. They are very kind beings, dealing with scared, sometimes even traumatized souls all day. The angles are the ones who guide souls back for rebirth." Elizabeth told me.