Demon Host

Prologue

Long, long and lonely nights, I cried my eyes out over you...

Music surged from the house, whose lights and life were wrapped in curtains and locked doors. Down the street, the rest of the neighborhood was quiet—not sleeping, but lurking within the safety of their homes like mice in burrows. It was a pity to snuff out that single point of light where fear hadn't yet driven the joy away.

The three figures watched from the street as silhouettes danced by the curtain, one tall and two others shorter. 

"You understand the terms?"

"I'll take the mother and boy."

"But leave the girl. It isn't her time."

A smile spread across the man's face. He looked to the demon standing next to him and thought for a moment that he glimpsed a sly grin hidden somewhere inside the yawning darkness of its being. 

The third man said nothing. He watched the demon and the other man converse and began to see the resemblance in the two. It would be better if they got it done quickly, so man and shadow could part ways once again. It wasn't natural to talk to the demons in this way; it crossed a boundary.

"No second thoughts?" The third man looked up and shook his head before he had a chance to think about it. "I'll uphold my end if you uphold yours."

"Good. Then it's time."

Both humans stepped forward, but the demon reached out and grabbed the second man, the one who had a bit of darkness of his own. 

"That woman...make sure she's dead."

He grinned and tried to ignore the horrid dread that spread from the place where the shadow touched him. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. Don't worry; I'm not about to mess it up."