Demon's Guard

         Carter was on his way home to study up on some books he’d recently started when his friend Tom stopped him a few feet from his door. "Hey, Carter, are you heading to church tonight?" He asked. Unlike the majority of the townsfolk of York, Carter didn't see worshipping God as that big of a priority. It's not that he didn't believe in God, it was just that he was much more interested in reading and learning what he could of the world in the short time he had.

         "Nah, I'm calling it a night.” Carter lied, he wasn't about to tell Tom he was going to read his books instead of going to church and he certainly wouldn't let him do it if he did. “I’m not feeling too swell.”

         "Are you sure?" Tom asked, but before Carter could respond movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned his head and saw an unfamiliar man in a pitch black suit and a wide brimmed hat looking his way. Carter never felt very comfortable around new faces, but there was something about this man that made him feel more nervous than usual.

         He wasn’t doing anything too shady; he was just leaning against a nearby tree with his hat pulled over his eyes. Maybe he was taking a nap, or just enjoying the shade, but somehow Carter knew it wasn’t anything so innocent.  Suddenly, as if he knew he was being watched, the man tilted his hat up and returned Carter’s gaze with an unsettling smile.

         Carter couldn't stop staring at the man; maybe staring wasn't the right word. It was more glaring, and he couldn't understand what it was about him that elicited this response. That is until a flash of light clouded his vision, and for a second all he could see were consuming flames, enveloping the whole of his village.

         As quickly as it had come, the vision left and Carter was left staring blankly at the mysterious stranger. The man's disturbing smile slowly became one of the creepiest smiles Carter had, or would ever see. The man gave Carter a wink before turning and walking away. "Carter?" Tom called. "Are you okay?"

         "Huh?" Was Carter's first response, but quickly he recovered from the shock of the man and the vision. "Did you see that guy back there?" He said pointing behind him, at the spot where he'd seen the man.

         "What man?" Tom asked. Carter turned around to point him out, but he was gone. Not a trace of the man remained. Even if he was running he wouldn't have gotten far enough away in such a short amount of time. Carter turned back to his friend who was now wearing a worried look. "Maybe you should call it a night Carter, I'll see you tomorrow."

         "Yeah," Carter murmured. "I'll see you."

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         Later that night, while Tom and the rest of the townsfolk were at church praying to the lord, Carter was home, reading from a book after book, trying to commit the knowledge inside each tome to memory. The current book was about swordplay; the rules, the tricks, how to get the upper hand on a skilled opponent. But no matter how much he read his mind continued to wander to earlier in the day, to that stranger, more specifically to the vision he had while looking at him.

         It had made him feel as if he had been fully engulfed in flames, but he hadn’t felt hot, actually he had felt incredibly cold; his hair burning from his scalp, his flesh melting from the bone, and his skeleton slowly becoming black from the passion of the immense fire. It was terrifying, but somewhere, deep inside him, Carter had felt powerful. For some reason, some reason he didn’t understand, Carter felt like he could do anything during that gruesome vision. It was the very definition of a mixed feeling.

         Had that man actually caused his vision, or was he just going crazy? Tom hadn’t even seen him; maybe he was just seeing things.

         “Good evening, Mr. Morcant,” Carter stood up from his chair and turned toward his door. Standing in his doorway was the stranger from earlier. Surprised, Carter dropped his book and took a few steps back. “May I come in?”

         Carter moved to the blade he kept on his desk. “You’ll find that won’t be of much use young sir.” The man said leaning on the doorframe. Carter held his blade out in front of him protectively. “In fact,” with a snap of his fingers the sword was consumed by a dark purple flame, leaving nothing but the hilt. “After tonight, hopefully you will no longer need that pathetic little weapon.”

         That fire, it was the same as his vision. “How did you do that?” Carter asked, dropping the now useless hilt.

         “Allow me to come in and I’ll tell you. If all things go as I hope, you’ll be able to do it too.” The man snapped his fingers once again and the dark fire appeared, this time licking up and down his hand.

         “Why, do you need my permission?” Carter thought back to a few books he had already memorized. These were books on myths and legends, on magical creatures and mystical monsters; more specifically, Vampires. There was some lore in one of his books about them needing permission before entering a person’s dwelling.

         “I don’t need your permission. It’s just good manners to ask.” With a flick of his wrist the flames disappeared. “But, if you’re going to be indecisive.” The man stood up straight and walked casually into the room. He certainly wasn’t a vampire, but he couldn’t be human, he was able to do the most amazing things. Wait, what was going on? These things don’t actually happen, monsters aren’t real. “Oh, I wouldn’t be to certain about that if I were you Mr. Morcant. Monsters are certainly real.”

         “What?” Carter stumbled back and landed on the floor hard. Could this man read his mind? There didn't seem to be any other explanation. "Did you just read my mind?"

         "Yes, yes I did Mr. Morcant. But the things I can do make that look like a measly parlor trick." The man reached his hand out to Carter, to help him up. "I have power; the power to do the most amazing things, things you've read about I'm sure, things you've even thought about, but more than likely things you could never even dreamed about.  And I want to give it all to you.”

         Carter was speechless. He never would’ve imagined such an astounding scenario; this man just comes out of nowhere and offers him this amazing power. There had to be a catch. Carter accepted the man’s hand and asked, “Why me?”

         “Well,” The man paused for a second, as if he wasn’t sure quite what to say. “Mr. Morcant, you seem to be the only person suitable for this power in the entire town. I suppose I could move on to a new town, but I’d rather end my search here.” The man lifted Carter and took a step back before mumbling under his breath, “I never thought I’d find a town so full of worship.”

         “Look, I’ve been watching you for a while now; I know you have certain aspirations that would make this very beneficial for both of us. You want to do so very much, unfortunately your short lifespan won’t allow you to fulfill your many dreams.” Carter pulled a chair from his table and sat down in front of the man. If he was serious then he would definitely give him his full attention. “How old would you say I am?” The stranger asked, removing his hat.

         Carter examined the man’s face. He didn’t look too old, but he certainly wasn’t a young man. “Twenty-eight?” He guessed.

         The man let out a low chuckle. “You flatter me, good sir. But no, I am many, many centuries old.” Did he just say centuries? Carter couldn’t believe it. “I am so old in fact, that I no longer remember my exact age.” The man replaced his hat and stretched his arms out wide and took in a deep breath. “I am offering you power, life, and in your case, happiness. Do you want it, or should I move on to the next town?”

         He had to answer fast. Was he willing to trust this man selling his possibly false promises? He did have a point; there was so much he wanted to do, and so little time. Could he take the risk?

         “Yes.” He blurted out. “What do I have to do?”

         “You’ve already done it.” The man clapped his hands and as the sounded echoed through the room, flames jutted out from the wooden floorboards. But the flames weren’t spreading throughout the house; they seemed to be creating some kind of pattern on the floor, a pattern that they were both in the middle of. “Get ready Carter! Your life is about to begin!” The glass panes of the windows in the room imploded, letting the chill breeze fly in. The fire grew higher and higher, resembling the inky purple tentacles of an ominous deep sea dwelling creature.

         The tendrils reached toward Carter. “What’s happening?!” He shouted as the sound of the wind joined with the roaring blaze of the fire, creating the cacophony of some sort of hellish orchestra.

         I AM YOUR POWER!

         “Don’t be scared Carter!” Carter looked toward the man; he seemed to be falling apart, his smiling face blown away piece by piece by the growing speed of the wind. “This is everything you wanted!”

         I AM YOUR STRENGTH!

         The burning black flames began to twist and twirl with the wind as it circled around the room. It created an isolated whirlwind that knocked all of his books from their shelves; his candles went out, leaving only the light of the dark flames; and slowly Carter’s sight was limited to the space above the pattern on the floor.

         “I wish you luck Carter.” Carter’s eyes returned to where the man stood. He was now only a shadow of his former self; barely more than his clothes were left standing in his place. “I hope I was right to choose you.” Carter saw a hint of movement under his hat, but it was gone before he could inspect further. And before he knew it the man’s clothes sunk to the floor, he was gone.

         I AM YOUR EVERYTHING!

         “Who is that!?” Carter screamed at the ethereal voice. “What are you, and what do you want with me!?”

         In answer a dark silhouette began to rise up from the floor as if from a wooden lake. Little by little the figure began to straighten, revealing its devilish form. Carter stared open mouth as the demonic entity slowly reached out to him with its dark, murky claws. He hurried backward until he was stopped by the windy barrier. Carter tried to scream, but the sound was stolen away by the gust.

         Unsuccessfully, Carter tried to fight off the shadowy monster. His punches met with no resistance as the shadow simply parted to allow his fist through. Carter was scared, he wasn’t sure of anything anymore; was this all a dream, or could it be a hallucination?

         Carter sunk down onto the floor as the shadow grew larger and larger. It moved closer to him, whispering something into his ear about not bothering to fight it, that this was what he wanted.

         The demon rose up to the ceiling and the last thing Carter could remember was the pain he felt as it dove into his chest. Then the wind died down, the flames slowly receded into the cracks of the floorboard and Carter collapsed to the ground unconscious.