"Taming Demons" Chapter 1

Taming Demons Chapter 1

         The young demon sat in the chair, his arms strapped together behind him. The blacksmith grinned wickedly and took something out of the fire. It’s the Brand. On the red hot end were three numbers, the most typical for the devil to give you, 666. In the Brand’s light the youth could see the blacksmith’s missing teeth in the darkness and the way his eyes held no reflection of anything. The youth tried to focus on a more positive thing. Who was he doing this for? He was doing it for Jane, soon to be Jane Cole. The brand grew nearer and hotter; he ignored it with thoughts of her. Her blue eyes had their own light in the dark, her blonde hair blew in the wind like silk, and her smooth tan skin was like a baby’s to touch. Her beautiful voice had sung him to sleep even as it echoed in his head. The door to the dungeon sprung open and a tall man entered. This man wasn’t ordinary and everyone knew it. He hovered two feet above the ground and his mouth was see through to reveal is long sharp teeth, mostly to intimidate others. His black eyes didn’t help the look of the sight either.
         “Halt!” cried an angry voice. The blacksmith placed the rod in the fire and got on his knees. He bowed down without words and stayed. “I want to do it myself.”
         “What have we here?!” The youth bellowed. “It’s the Devil himself what a lovely surprise. Have you come to visit me in this dark moment of my eternity Luscious?” The devil laughed. His laugh was more like a cackle of an old woman with the vicious hissing of a tyrant snake.
         “I have come to condemn you.” His voice was eerily calm and matched those of thousands of evil men together. He spoke as though he owned all of the evil matter in the world. He did in fact; he owned all of it but one. This one was told in a prophecy it would be the end of The Devil. However, there will always be horrific things in the world and it was told that his son would take over. In everything, even attitudes, there is essence. Evil is an essence of which the devil longs to control all of. If he can’t control it, he kills it. “You want to go to Earth to find Jane Cole do you?” The devil’s bony jaw moved up and down with his teeth clamping together at every word. The youth nodded. “I can get you there with a snap of my fingers. All you need to do is sign a document.”
         “What do you wish me to sign?” The youth asked.
         “I want you’re soul boy. We can be of use to each other; I can help you get the girl. All you have to do is sign.” The devil extended his skinless arm and flicked his wrist pulling a scroll from the thin air. The scroll unraveled and a quill fell hovered over the document. The youth’s ropes disappeared. He was no fool, he knew the devil, but he was going to find Jane, even if it meant the freedom of his soul is denied to him forever. The youth hesitated; he grasped the quill and scribbled his name on the paper. The quill and the document vanished. The devil smiled with his sharp teeth. The youth was yanked back in the chair and he felt the brand on his chest. His skin smoldered and he could feel his very soul being scorched. His breath was gone and for the first time in his extremely long life, he fell unconscious, the way humans do.

         The youth woke up in a hospital room; he felt the AC blowing softly on his cheek. He moaned. The devil’s spell had worked. His vision slowly recovered. He stared up at the ceiling.
         “He’s awake, quick, call up the family.” He heard the nurse say beside him. The youth sat up in the uncomfortable white sheets and exhaled. It was the first time he felt breath in his lungs as if he was flesh and bone. “Lay down Jason, you need your rest.” He fell into another unconscious slumber where he dreamed real dreams.

         The youth awoke, the pain in his head was gone and he felt very happy about it. Being happy felt good and somewhat familiar; it felt like when he was with Jane. She always smiled and melted his anger. Three people ran into the room; a man with slightly grey hair and taller than all the others. The woman was tall and her black hair looked as if it had been dyed too many times and white hairs still stood out. The younger girl smiled and squealed when she saw him.
         “Jason! You’re awake!” All of the people came in gasping and crying.
         “Who are you?” The youth asked.
         “Jason? It’s Casey remember?” The youth stared at the little girl, her eyes watered up. “Don’t you remember your little sister? Don’t you remember Mom and Dad?” The youth shook his head. He finally understood what the devil had done to him. He was put in a boy’s body, a boy who had been lost to a coma. The youth had taken his place before he could come back. The youth decided to act as though he had forgotten everything. It would certainly make things easier on the family than thinking their son had gone mad.
         “My name is not Jason. I have no name. Do I?” The youth played the part perfectly and after all, part of it was true. As a demon the devil had chosen to never give him a name. The youth himself decided to leave his name unknown, but Jane had given him the name Vladimir a long time ago. He hadn’t used it for himself in the last 17 years. Apparently now he was a human with the memories of a demon and his name is Jason. “His” family cried and after the end of their sorrow he went “home” to a place where his room was scattered with clothes and he woke up to the feeling of hunger and the smells of food. After days of silence he discovered his cell phone. It was a blue razor from T Mobile. He flipped it open. What if he could text Jane? That is impossible; there are millions of phone numbers in the world. How could he ever manage to get hers? Maybe… He took his finger and tapped the end of the phone. A blue magnetic wave washed over it and seven numbers appeared on the screen.
         “Please let this work.” He mumbled. He sent a simple text to the number and waited patiently.



         I sat on the cold frozen sidewalk waiting for the school bus. I exhaled deeply and watched my breath sail away to the depths of the winter air. My whole life was in this small town but the last thing I wanted was pity. I just hoped that somehow some part of me would reach the outskirts of my small prison, Flagstaff, Arizona. The bus screeched to a sudden halt that made me jump out of my worn thin tennis shoes. Although Flagstaff could be cold at times my stepmother never bothered to buy me anything more than what I already had. That’s why my favorite black shirt was a tad bit too short and I always had to roll up my pants to make them look normal. What’s worse is I have two younger siblings John, who is 15, and Gabrielle who is 5 years old. John is obsessed with video games and is spoiled rotten by my stepmother. Gabrielle has more clothes than the average billionaire and for some strange reason hates me. They all hate the girl in the basement sleeping with the washer and dryer downstairs. They hate how I move, dress, and how I breathe their air. Then there are my nightmares that start out as primped and beautiful at the ball and ending up in a coffin all alone at 80 years old. That or I just get eaten by monsters.
         Being 17 with endless nightmares, no car, and no future I wasn’t really sure where my life was headed. I always assumed that I was meant for this. I thought that maybe I was put in this position for being stupid in my younger years.
         “Make sure you finish that essay, it’s due by Friday.” John shoved me out of the way and climbed onboard the bus.
         “Thank you.” I murmured to the bus driver. I sat in the front as I always did and crouched. The only time I looked up was when he passed by. Cody Peterson, the high school’s varsity quarterback. He had his sleek black hair with his wide, strong shoulders. I loved to just stare. It was a complete obsession; I called it a sick pathetic little hobby (which it was). There was only one problem, Cody had no idea I even existed. Being me left me at the lowest of the low which meant even my teachers had no idea who I was in this tiny town. I always felt like a Cinderella, I am the slave under my stepmother (minus the stepsisters), Cody was a prince charming I’ll never get, and the school is the castle, and Flagstaff is the kingdom. Take the whole Cinderella story and you have my life, oh yeah, but take away the happily ever after. Yep, that’s me. Something popped into my head. It was really stupid but something urged me to try it. Pray. Well why hot? What’s there to lose? I folded my arms.
         “Uh hello up there, God…I need something. I guess I don’t need but I want a new life. Something that keeps me smiling, something that gives me a reason to move on.” My phone rang. I opened it. I had a text message from an unknown number.
         “Amen.” I pulled up the text and examined the simple text.

Hello, my name is Jason. Is this Jane?

I blinked several times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. How can I answer that? I decided to keep it simple and make sure I didn’t reveal too much. I didn’t know anybody named Jason. I barely knew anybody period. Let alone someone I would give my phone number to. Maybe it was Austin, pulling a prank on me.

Maybe, what’s it to you? I don’t know you do I?

I waited for the answer. What the heck was this Jason doing texting me?

It means the world to me…You don’t remember anything about me do you?

It meant the world to him? Well that’s…Very flattering. The problem is I really don’t remember this guy. Another text popped up.

That’s ok. I didn’t expect you to. We met a LONG time ago.

I sighed.
         
         That’s good. Now I don’t feel like I am being rude for forgetting you. How did we meet exactly?
         
         I waited as he replied. The bus came to a sudden and abrupt halt. My face slammed against the seat in front of me. I groaned and hopped off the bus turning my phone to vibrate. Just then I jumped as the phone went off and flipped open the phone.

         We met in a field of golden grain. I was lost in the new meadow and you helped me back. We used to meet there every day. You were a lot of fun. Is your hair as blonde as I remember?

         How did he know my hair was blonde? I shrugged and decided to play along with his strange game.

         That sounds like a romantic meeting. How could I forget?

         I sat and waited to see what kind of elaborate answer he could come up with. This guy wasn’t going so well on the convincing side; still I decided to let him plead his case before I convicted him of lying. How could I have known that nothing in the world could be closer to the truth?