The Demon Boy

Terrorized Village

I have changed the story!!! If you've read this before, it's different now... I didn't like how I had it written so I decided to change it...

1854

Captain Archer's army ran quickly through the forest, rain drenching their clothes and weapons. The village ahead burned bright as a beacon, lighting up the night sky. The men burst out of the forest and into the streets of chaos, villagers rushed in every direction screaming and cursing. Archer had heard that the village had been under attack, but he didn't expect what he saw when he and his men reached the source of all the havoc.

A gigantic dragonesque demon stood tall in the center of the village square. The terrifying beast had gigantic black wings sprouting from his scaly back, and its long tail swept the ground behind him. His body was on fire and, when it turned to meet its opponents, his eyes burned blood red. The demons' lip curled as he lifted a clawed hand and swung it towards Archer's men. Half the troops screamed as they burst into flame and Archer stumbled away as one of the burning men lurched toward him, skin sizzling as the fire seared his flesh. The remaining army began to shoot at the demon, terrified out of their minds. The bullets never seemed to hit him though, they either whizzed past or melted in the air.

The Captain looked over suddenly as four men in priests' robes approached the demon one on each side, and began to chant, each in a different language. Suddenly, the demon pitched forward, stunned by some unseen force, then he glared at the priests and turned in a circle, pondering which to attack. Archer raised his gun to the demon and fired. That didn't stop him though, it just blew flames at Archer. The next thing Archer knew the priests stopped talking and each raised a string of beads. The tiny crosses at the ends began to glow and the demon screamed, his wings and tail disappeared and the bright light of the little crosses seemed to flow into his body, halting the dark flow of demonic energy. At once, three of the priests collapsed to the ground and the demon dissipated into dust carried on the wind. A glowing red orb hung, throbbing in the air and slowly began to disappear. Then, suddenly the orb shone brighter and jerked straight up into the sky and out of sight.

The last standing priest stared after it with a distraught look about him, mouth agape. "Oh, no..." he said.

Archer walked over to the man, "what just happened to that thing?"

"That glowing orb you saw was the demon's powers, or, more specifically, all of its demonic energy. The fact that it just flew away like that, instead of burning out, means that it was called away."

"What do you mean 'called away'?"

The priest looked at him, "It means that someone has summoned it." They stood there in silence, the priest in despair and Archer absorbing what he had just learned.

                                                                   *     *     *

I can't breathe. That is the first thing I think, then: where am I? Then I remember, I'm in my foster home. The reason I can't breathe, though, is the same reason as always, Austin is trying to smother me again. The rolled-up towel presses harder on my face when he sees my eyes open. I reach out for him and he dodges, but just as he moves out of reach of my hands I swing my leg up and kick him in the head. He cries out and lets me go to wrap is thick hands around the lump I just gave him.

"What is your problem, numbskull?!" he asks from his seat on the ground.

"My problem! You're the one who keeps trying to kill me!"

"Mo-o-o-o-o-m!" he cries, I immediately hear footsteps thumping down the hall.

Mrs. Nolan's fat face comes around the corner, red and angry. Angry at me... again. She's practically spitting at me - oh wait, she is - as she gives me the traditional "screaming-at-Dante" routine. "I've told you over and over, DO NOT FIGHT WITH MY BABY!" her voice is now a higher pitch than Mariah Carrie could ever hit. I tune out when she gets to "you UNGRATEFUL little demon!" and put on a rebellious face, one eyebrow raised and my lips curling up at one corner.

She treats me like a child! I think, yeah, I am totally incapable of being a sweet little angel, when her own "angel" runs around smothering kids in their sleep!

Just then she holds out her hand, palm up, "Give me your hand, child." she spits the last word. I hold it out and she takes it, turning it so that my palm is toward the ground. She then rabs a thin ruler and slams it down on my knuckles. I don't even flinch. (Sure I feel the sting, but it's just as if my hand went to sleep.) I lost track of the strikes around fifteen, but the last one is when the ruler snaps in half. Mrs. Nolan stares at the broken piece of wood in her hand and lets me go. Then she looks sharply at me and says, "Get ready for school..."

When she and Austin leave, I examine my bleeding knuckles, dismiss it and get dressed.