Source
A cool breeze blew across the town carrying with it a chill that sent shivers down the spine. The night was dark and stormy. Rain pouring down in sheet building up the intensity. The air so thick that it seemed to hold secrets and danger.
The darkness pressing in from all sides. The silence heavy, weighing as a sense of anticipation lingered in that air. Shadows loomed ominously under the twinkling stars, a silent reminder of the vastness of the the unknown.
In a distance an owl hoots, a sound that was almost eerie in its intensity. The night was alive with mystery and potential, masked with a promise.
A promise of the unknown.
The town was quiet as Theodora made her way to the town hall where the people of Blackwood gathered already speaking to themselves in whispers. It had happened again, another person disappearing without a single trace.
What was once a happy small neighborly town was now filled with fear. It started a few months with a boy going to the woods to hunt for a meal and never returning.
"He had run off with the mind to look for greener pastures", most people said.
A week later the town became plagued with strange occurrences. No one knew what was causing the strange events. People falling sick without cause, crops dying and withering away, homes being mysteriously burnt to the ground, more people disappearing from their homes at night. Everyone was left on edge.
Could the sins of their fathers many years ago, come back to hunt them?
The question was somewhat answered when an old townsman survived an attack and came back to tell them. He spoke of a hooded figure with a pale face, glowing red eyes with black wings that lurks around in the shadows. A demon who was haunting their town, causing havoc and taking them as a sport but no one paid heed to him.
"Demons do not exist", they said.
Now they were gathered at midnight to discuss the course of action before the town would be left without inhabitants.
"We cannot continue like this, I cannot go to bed at night with my eyes closed knowing I could be next, someone cried out.
Suddenly, the doors of the town hall burst open and a woman ran in erratic, "I saw it. I saw the demon"
The people's whispers turned into murmurs which grew louder.
The Chief who had been quiet until now loudly cleared his throat dying the noise down.
Sighing he started, "I didn't want to believe but at the same time I feared for the worst. Many years ago my father told me about a demon that existed thousands of years before. He almost left the town in ruins but fortunately the town elders were able to banish it. I don't know how he escaped and has returned. I have and will always tell you the truth. No one is safe until he is stopped".
He paused increasing the growing suspense in the room.
"How did the elders manage to banish the demon, with holy water,by fighting it with weapons?"
The Chief smiled sadly, "I wish it were that easy. A ritual was performed. One that cost one of the town's founding family's more heartache than anyone should be made to endure".
"The Salem family have blood that goes back to the first
ancient witches. Sacrifices had to be made. But they succeeded in trapping and banishing the demon".
Theodora gasped. She was the last standing member of the Salem family. She knew exactly what was coming.
The Chief spoke in low tones to the guards. She didn't wait a second later, she ran.
Unfortunately it was to no avail, she begged and pleaded as she was dragged back. The Chief announced that a ritual would take place at first light the next day. Everyone was to convene.
She looked at the faces of the people she considered friends, no one came forward to help her. A few hours later she found herself in the dungeon.
She sat there for what felt like hours, about to close her eyes to sleep, perhaps for the last time, she heard a deep gravely voice.
"You accept your fate so easily little human?"
"Who is there?"
The demon materialized.
Theodora whimpered. He was even more petrifying than how he was described.
It continued, "They have taken so much from your line already yet they seek to take more"
"I-I-I-I don't know what to do", she stammered.
The demon smiled making his face look even more cruel, "I'll make you a deal. I will set you free and in exchange you'll disappear. Without your blood I cannot be harmed".
"Why would I do that, you'll destroy the village?"
"You humans sicken me. You speak of the village as if they had stood up to help you. They watched while you begged while you were dragged away. Tell me, do they deserve your sympathy?"
"How do you know I wouldn't have done the same?"
"Because I've seen you. I've watched you. Your kind heart makes my skin crawl. Now do not waste my time little human"
Theodora stayed quiet for a moment.
"Time is ticking", it all but bellowed.
"Okay I've made a decision, I'll-"
She was interrupted mid sentence by the seeping in of the day's first light.
