Death Will Always Win

complete

 "Oh god," Madeline started as she looked down to his trembling form. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't-"

"He killed your brother girl!" A screeching voice rang in her ears, making her stiffen where she stood. Madeline felt the creature behind her, felt its icy tendrils grasp her shoulders, her waist, her legs. Oh, it was crawling on her! "He deserves to die. He will feel the pain. You will give it to him!"

"N-no!" Madeline shook her head as she took another step back, away from the teary man on the ground. "It wasn't his fault. It wasn't!"

"Girl, we made a bargain and you will fulfill your end of it." It tightened its grip on her and she cried out, feeling its tendrils stab in and through her skin. A shocking, cold pain ran through her veins and she struggled to keep her body straight. "You will honor it by your own choice or not!" Those tendrils of shadows stabbed deeply into the flesh of her hand and took hold of it by what felt like the very bones inside her body. She screamed in pain and shut her eyes. Madeline had no idea if Ryan could see the thing attached to her or mot but his expression still held a look of growing terror.

The creature's body forced her own forward, marching her on like a puppet as her hand yanked itself up in the air despite her attempts to hold it down. This thing was going to make her kill him! She didn't want to! This was wrong! Everything was wrong!

"No, no please!" Madeline begged as another step carried her once again over the fallen man. She opened her eyes to look down and see Ryan, sobbing on the floor as he raised his wounded arm up in a vain attempt to shield himself from the coming onslaught. "Run! You have to run! Get away from me!" Madeline yelled to him, but the man's fear had gotten the best of him. He was frozen in his spot, sobbing as death loomed closer. Madeline felt the shadows jerk downward, tearing her arm down with it.

The scythe fell upon him.

Ryan screamed as the first slash stabbed into his arm again. Another tore more flesh away from the appendage. A third knocked it aside, blood spurting along the kitchen cabinets. The next series found their way into his torso, tearing flesh and scraping along bone. Madeline screamed along with him as she was forced to carry out her deal to the end. Soon, only her own screams and cries echoed in the house. His faded away along with his life.

Madeline soon found herself released of that icy grasp and slumped down over him. The girl sobbed as she fell forward and her hands landed in the warm, yet rapidly cooling blood that pooled around Ryan's corpse.

"I'm sorry." she whispered through her tears. "I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was wrong." Madeline repeated, vainly attempting to resurrect him with her words. That creature tricked her! It made her do all this! Her thoughts were suddenly cut-off by another voice shouting in the room!

"Freeze!" a deep, authoritative voice resounded through the room. Madeline lift her tear-stained voice toward it to see a uniformed police officer standing in the kitchen entrance-way. His gun was out and pointed right at her, his face a mixture of disgust and anger. "Slowly, step away from the body miss. And put your hands in the air!" Madeline hung her head for a moment and drew in a long breath, enough to calm what few nerves she still had in her. This was justice. She'd be punished for her crimes. It was what she deserved. Resigned to her fate, she went to lift herself up.

Her body didn't move.

A terrified squeak emitted from her as, once again, those cold talons of shadow latched themselves into her skin. She felt a numbingly cold breath in her ear, followed by a screeching of words right up against it.

"Our deal does not end with your revenge. You will bring pain to the world far beyond that." It wrapped itself around her fingers and tightened, causing her to close her hand about the demon's scythe.