Crimson Rebirth

Part 28

 If there were such things as Dragons, surely there was such a thing as the Devil.

 No one had any words for what he looked like, other than calling him not as a being but a place. The Void, the Abyss, he embodied the shadows at night and the nightmares that haunted the living. He was sloth, wrath, gluttony, lust, greed, envy, pride...he was mortality and immortality's deepest fears in the form of a skull face with six long, bone-white horns that crowned about his face and six eyes that constantly changed colors, but oftentimes were red, a demonic, blood-soaked red...

 Footfalls told Gene, Riskel and Jewelle that the Devil was approaching them, as if peeling from the very night that encompassed the forest and the shadows that were cast from the moon above. They were eerily quiet, so much so that the leaves bending only told them of his feet placement.

 He was huge, enough for his lithe body lined with bone to brush the lowest of the high branches above their heads. Yet he was like a ghost, moving through them the closer he approached.

 There was no smell to him, which was all the more unnerving. He wasn't a beast that could be touched or smelled...but seen, felt and heard...

 A real demon.

 His maw closed with his grin as wide as ever, stalking towards them. it beckoned the instinct to run, to run as far as one could humanly do so, and continue running...

Genevieve stood perfectly still, as Jewelle hid behind Riskel, and Riskel took a step or five back. "This is not my day..." She managed to mumble, feeling her heart race in her chest. It took every ounce of courage and strength she had to not run, yet she couldn't bring herself to face the demon who had come.

"Who are you?" She asked, trying to keep her voice even. She would've felt better if she knew that the Starglow flowers would be able to help her. But they were burning, the air filled with their sweet scent mixed with smoke.

"Where is my sister." Riskel practically snarled, keeping himself between the demon and Jewelle, who had her face hidden in Riskel's jacket.

 The Devil eyed Gene, then rolled to gaze at Riskel and his little girl Jewelle. One could almost detect a sneer of intent on his face as he rumbled at the child, "...BOO..."

 Jewelle screamed. And it wasn't a scream of surprise, of laughter or any of that. It was a scream of a child seized completely with fear.

 The Devil relished it and cackled. He turned to Gene, the damned smile still there. She had her answer in the form of a screaming child who clambered to Riskel like a mortified cat looking for the highest branch of a tree to hide in.

"Ti a jor." Gene mumbled, her right hand rising slightly, in an attempt to calm Jewelle. While the sight was comical, Riskel trying to balance the eight year old on his shoulders and Jewelle trying to hide on him, it wasn't helping matters any.

If there was one thing that aggravated Genevieve, it was when someone intentionally tried to scare a child, especially one that was already spooked by the appearance of the Devil. "And while that answers WHAT you are, I'm looking for a name." She snapped, her tone that of a woman who had been having the worst day of her life, and the sudden appearance of the demon wasn't making it any better.

The devil looked at her. He rattled, "What's it to you, Little Lioness? Who I am to you is of no importance..."

He turned to Riskel. "And as for your bitch of a sister...As I said before...she's mine now..."

"She made no deal with you." Riskel spat, thankful for the magic calming Jewelle down. The little girl still hid behind him, but was now on the ground rather than his shoulders.