Unleashing Demons | D.D. Bk. 1 | ✔️

Chapter 1: The Vision

[Twelve years later...]

The vestige of the past loomed like a dark silhouette, shadowing my every movement. The memory of that night, which was shoved and kept in the farthest corner of my mind, seemed to have unleashed itself to haunt me yet again. Unnerving me to a fault.

I rocked back and forth, hugging my knees tightly against my chest. Almost as if the very act would create a barrier, repelling the pain that pulsated within my core and rippled outwards to each tendril of my body. The soft earth beneath me parted each time my heels dug deeper into the ground. My mind wished it would engulf me into its embrace instead, just to escape this torment.

Calm down, I urged myself. Usually, I find peace and solitude whenever I came to visit. The void within me would temporarily alleviate, only to be replaced with tranquility, leaving me lighthearted whenever I exited the gates.

But tonight was different.

The sadness and anger welled up the emptiness in my soul. It was overwhelming, this emotion I felt. It kept crashing through me in waves, which left me struggling to resurface.

"What does this mean?" I whispered against the gentle midnight breeze, leaving it to fate if they'll be able to get my message.

I stared back half-expectantly at the two tombstones, in lieu of my parents, and waited for an answer I'll never receive. It was the only perceptible trace that they ever existed-had ever lived, breathed and laughed. Everything else had burned into ashes, none left even for kindling.

My fingernails dug into my arms. It had been more than five years since I've last dreamt of the tragedy that took my parents' lives; somehow the move to the city had shoved those nightmares to the back of my head. Yet even so, I always find myself driving the hour-drive to the grounds of my parents' burial place, seeking comfort in time of need as a child seeks the warmth of her mother.

I lightly grazed my left cheek, the scars from that night almost faded into a faint indention. My left eye wasn't too lucky though; the incision stabbed a nerve that won't let me recover my sight and I have been half blind ever since.

Police investigation ruled out arson-they were unable to distinguish the cause of the fire. But I've always believed otherwise. They turned a deaf ear on my statement about an unseen attacker, and my cries for justice were left unheard.

The deep grumble from the dark skies signaled an impending downpour. It had been rain or shine for the past few days, due to a current storm. I snapped back to reality, away from the unpleasant memories and checked my phone for the time; 1:15 AM.

I kneeled over towards my parents, stroking a hand on each stone in an unspoken farewell. My heart ached for them in each passing second, yearned for their love and guidance. Yet fate wasn't in my favor and I was forced to face this cruel world parentless.

The drizzle began to trickle down my face, and with a last silent prayer, I was off. I sprinted against the moistened earth; the mud clung to my shoes as though part of it. I dodged the hindering maze of headstones and the rain gradually evolved into an onslaught, assaulting my clothes until I was drenched.

I finally reached the stone barricade that encircled the expansive land full of graves. Camouflaged within the vines that clustered the wall, were half-a-foot protrusions that served as a kind of step ladder, something I discovered a few years back. A testament that I wasn't alone in having unexpected midnight excursions in the cemetery.

Once I made it over the precarious obstacle and climbed down a neighboring tree, I found myself in the dry refinements of my car. I immediately booted up the heater, the warm air caressed my cheeks in greeting.