Her Demon Eyes

Chapter One

I ran, I ran faster than I ever had before. I ducked under tree branches and stumbled over roots. Leaves crunched under my feet and my hair flew across my face. It was late, it was really late. I could see the moon clear through the trees, but it was about all I could see. There were few stars in the sky but it didn't matter. Getting away mattered.

Here's where the background info comes in:

My name is Ariana. I'm seventeen years old and I live alone. My eyes are greeny-blue and my hair is black, green and blue. Damned demon traits. The guards are after me, I'm illegitimate. To be illegitimate means having one human parent or one lesser demon parent and one full blooded demon parent. Legitimate obviously means two demon or two human. Demons and humans don't really get along, years ago there was a war between the Demons and Humans. After the war, the demons built a large wall and forced all humans to live on one side while the demons lived on the other.

Human Land was quaint, almost cute. It was split into five provinces, North, South, East, West and Central. Creative, I know. On a map, it would look like a diamond with square in the centre. The provinces were all separated by one large lake, which completely surrounded Central. East and North had the lowest populations because the touched the Wall which was obviously protected by guards. Each province was made up of towns, some rich, some poor, some modern, some not. You get the idea.

Demon Land was different, it was just one big city with a castle which had the only entrance to Hell in both Demon and Human Land. All demons in existence came from Hell, they were either banished or emigrated. It's complicated. The castle was also surrounded by a large circular lake. Demon Land was basically one big black market but also the worlds biggest club. It was insane.

But unless you were the monarch of Demon Land, you stopped your party if the Dead Man came by. He was the head guard. I, personally, am not his biggest fan, he's in charge of capturing illegitimates, so I don't intend on having tea and biscuits with him any time soon. He has black hair to his shoulders, dark grey eyes and strong features. He wears a grey masquerade mask and matching tight, grey trousers. He has a black jacket, almost like a blazer but wears nothing underneath. When he moves, you can see his muscles ripple and roll. If he didn't have a sword strapped to his side, he's be pretty hot. The sword which is held up by a gold belt has a ruby encrusted handle, the blade looks sharp enough to cut through diamond but mostly, it just cuts through spines and skulls. The Dead Man is much more dressed up than the average guard. The rest of the guards just wear tight, black trousers and a matching blazer with either a sword or a bow and a quiver of arrows.

If I stay anywhere to long, a swarm of guards will notice me so usually, I stay somewhere for a week, probably by a lake or an empty house. I only sneak out at night to get food, clean water and clean clothes. That's not how it worked out this time.

It was late, or maybe you'd call it early, you know what I mean, around 3am, I was sneaking around the village. Darkness had swallowed the little stone cottages, the nicely painted shops, the children's park, everything. The place was completely black, save for the delicate glow which shone from the few stars that were in the sky. I noticed a little shop, in the window, there was bread and canned food, I couldn't resist. I picked the lock and tip-toed inside. The owners probably lived upstairs, I had to be silent. The shop had three isles, one with bread and pastry's, one with canned food and drinks and one fridge for meat and cold drinks. I grabbed a plastic bag from behind the counter and made my way around the shop. I grabbed loaves of bread in plastic wrapping, tin's of beans, pasta and some cheese. I then walked over to the fridge and took bottles of water and an odd pink energy drink. There was a small noise upstairs, like a book dropping and I froze, I waited but nothing happened. I hopped back behind the till, opened it and took some money, waited again to make sure there was no noise and left the cute little shop.

I closed the door silently and looked back at the village. The stone cottages were all identical, they all had pale red and orange stones, one large brown door and three windows. Two on the first storey and one on the second. The shops were mostly identical too, save for the intricate designs. Take for example, the butchers. The large blue door which had a small window at the top stood tall at the left side of the petite building, the window which was most predominant had 'BUTCHERS' written in large block writing, the window was outlined with drawings of sausages, bacon and other meats but what lay inside the window was the best part. On a fancy wooden stand there was bacon wrapped up in intricately designed plastic, sausages in a cardboard carton, meats I had never heard of hung from nets with little price tags. I nearly began drooling at the sight.

I was fantasising so much that I never heard the woman creep up behind me until she tapped my back. I spun round and reached for the knife in my pocket, the woman froze. She had gentle features and caramel coloured hair which was wrapped in a bun, her soft green eyes were wide with shock and her pale cheeks were slightly pink from the cold. She gripped the green shawl that hung around her shoulders and a worn blue midi dress so tight that you could see the veins in her hand squirm. She was terrified. She took one look at my eyes and screamed. Because I am half demon, the whites of my eyes are black, it's the giveaway. Proper demons have fully black eyes. No colour, just black.

The woman screamed and the cottages that were sleeping in the dark began to wake up. Children were crying and dogs were barking. I couldn't move, guards were on their way. I was going to die, I did what I had to do. The knife slit the woman's throat like it was butter, I watched as the crimson blood poured from her throat, she began choking and then she fell to the ground, still and cold. She was dead. I fled for the river where I was staying, grabbed some necessities and ran.

Welcome to my life.

Okay so, prologue/chapter 1! This chapter has been edited and rewritten several times over the course of the story so I apologise if everything's a bit chopped-and-changed. If you notice anything that doesn't make sense, just drop a comment and I'll fix it. Also, don't forget to vote! Also, ignore the tenses. Who fucking knows what I'm at.

~CM x