Satan's Hunger

10

It was quiet as Kaitlyn stared up at the candelabra. Unusually, the candles were out, the room dark. Kaitlyn hunkered further down under the sheets as though they could protect her.

The bed was empty but it did nothing to allay her fears. Where was he? She squinted as she looked around the room. Kaitlyn pulled back with a gasp. A figure was standing beside her bed, tall and forbidding and barely discernible against the darkness.

'Stay away!' She pulled the sheets up to her neck. 'It's over!'

He didn't speak. He didn't move. Kaitlyn scrambled from the bed, pulling her sheet along with her, concealing her nakedness.

'You have no power over me anymore. So you might as well give up.' Her heart was racing so fast her eyes throbbed, but she would not back down. 'Leave! Leave me alone!'

'Is that really what you want?' Satan said in a steady voice.

'Yes. I want you to go. I never want to see you again. I-I hate you.'

'Like I said once, that's all you need ask.'

Kaitlyn hugged herself. Why was he so calm? Why wasn't he angry? Kaitlyn clutched the sheet more tightly around her. What was he scheming?

'You—' she began.

He vanished. Kaitlyn stared at his empty spot in disbelief. She spun around, checking the corners of the room, checking the fireplace where he liked to sit. As her eyes continued to adjust, she could see things more clearly: the lizard-skin chair before the now cold fireplace, the cabinets and desks and other useless furniture she doubted he ever used.

Carefully, she crept towards the door, one arm holding up her sheet, the other outstretched so she wouldn't run into anything. She was panting. Her heart continued to thunder.

She turned with a shriek at the sound of running footsteps. She squinted frantically into the dark but saw nothing. She'd definitely heard it. It wasn't her imagination.

Something was happening.

Turning, she sped towards the door. She sucked in a breath as a dark figure darted across the floor on scurrying footsteps not far from her feet. It was hunched low and was dragging something along the floor behind it. It squeaked as it disappeared into the shadows.

Kaitlyn reached the door and found that it was shut. Heart in her throat, she turned the handle, knowing it must be locked. It wasn't! She tried to yank it open but only managed a small gap. It was stuck! She pulled and she pulled, using all her weight, but it wouldn't open. Her hands slipped and she stumbled back, falling to the floor with a cry.

The door shuddered in its frame. Kaitlyn froze as a figure reared up slowly in the darkness—a familiar figure. Tall and rake-thin and breathing long, rattling breaths. It was pinning the door shut with a long spindly arm. Slowly, it turned its faceless head towards her.

Kaitlyn couldn't move. She wanted to scream. But her body felt oddly sluggish and cold. She tried to crawl away, but her strength had drained away and all she could do was writhe against the floor.

The "thing" stood over her, its concave face looking down at her. Did it have eyes? Did it have a mouth? She couldn't see. She didn't want to see. Kaitlyn turned her face with a whimper.

Its breaths continued to rattle. Something wet dripped against the floor. Kaitlyn looked desperately towards the bed. Where was Satan? He could stop this!

She jerked her head back towards the demon as it crouched in front of her, looking like some kind of hideous praying mantis with its long, gangly legs. Its knees were bending backwards, disturbingly wrong. Slowly, it reached over a long, clawed hand. The same mottled, diseased hand she'd seen in the cell back at the police station.