Demon Saviour

Refuge

I thought of my dear friend, Marie. She had known every black magic and voodoo spell in the world in life. In death, she had learned every spell, potion, and hex from both Heaven and Hell. She lived among the living. She was an entity who both angels and demons looked to for help. And, for a small payment, they received it.

I landed in the deepest, darkest part of a swamp somewhere in Louisiana. This is where Marie had live before death and vowed to remain for all eternity. I walked atop the water, hoping an alligator wouldn't come to attempt making me a meal. I came to a shabby shack in a large clearing. As I walked up to it, an alligator that was the size of a small whale walked up in front of me and hissed.

"Hello Titus." I smiled and scratched him on his back.

Titus was Maries guard dog, though because I had been here so much in the past, he welcomed me. She had put a spell on him so his size was larger than the average gator. He was really very sweet, with the temperament of a well-loved Blue Heeler or Great Dane. If he knew you. Otherwise, he would eat you. His smooth skin was wet. He must've been hunting before I arrived.

"Aria!" Said Maries familiar voice, "My sweetheart, I thought you would never come back and visit me. I figured Lucy would never let you leave Hell again after your last rendezvous." She threw her arms around me.

"Actually, Marie, he didn't let me leave." I told her as we embraced each other. "I need your help, my friend."

"Oh, Aria. What have you done?" She took my hands. I pulled my right one away before she could grasp it. She looked at it and gasped. "Aria, where did you find that?"

"I was above today, in a lake that was in the middle of nowhere. It was somewhere in Minnesota, I belive. This was in the water, though it was a gauntlet when I put it on. It burned me and took this shape. Why, Marie? Do you know what it is?"

"I have to hide you." She mumbled, "Come inside."

She led me inside her shack. It was one large, round room. The floor was dirt, the ceiling was made of straw and twigs. There was a big, fluffy bed in the corner, though Marie barley ever slept. All of her ingredients and supplies hung from her ceiling or sat in clay jars on a large, wooden table. There was a great fire in the center of the room, with a large, cast iron crock in the middle. There was a greenish liquid bubbling inside. I leaned over it and an eyeball floated to the top. I cringed. Marie laughed.

"That there is the latest request from the angels." She explained. "One of their beloved prophets has gone and developed lung cancer from smoking cigarettes for too long. They have commissioned me to make an elixir of life to heal her."

"What was your price?" I asked.

"Well," she smiled, "my baby needed a girlfriend. I now have a croc named Fiona to keep our beloved Titus company."

"Creative request. What am I to give you for your help?"

"Nothing. You have been my friend for so long. My truest and most trusted friend. I ask of nothing. Except that you do not let Lucy kill you." She laughed.

Marie motioned to a large, cushy chair and I sat down. I sank into the cushion. Maries black cat, Creep, sank into my lap and began to purr as I scratched him behind the ears. Creep was dead too. Marie had him as a pet when she was still alive. She couldn't bare his death, so she brought him back.

I stared into the fire and watched the elixir bubble. Numerous strange ingredients floated to the top and then sank. I listened to Marie humming and digging around on her shelf. I heard the clink of multiple vials as she sat them down on her large, stone work table. The splash of liquid and the crunch of her grinding stone. I never spoke to her as she worked. No one was to speak to her as she worked. I heard her footsteps as she walked over to me. She handed me a goblet.

"Don't smell it dear." She warned me. "I know you were going to."

"Does it taste bad?" I asked.

"No."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Yes. And it will hurt. But, no angel or demon will be able to locate you. Not easily."

"Okay." I held my nose and downed the red liquid. "That's not so bad."

"Tree...two...one." Marie counted down.

"What are you-" I began, then choked on what felt like fire. It burned my throat and, oddly enough, my ribs. It hurt enough that, after a few seconds, I passed out in the chair.

Naomie Harris

Bw^Jד