Deal With The Devil

Loneliness

Darkness invaded my eyes as I shut them tightly, yet as that unbearably hot feeling that prickled my skin started to fade I could no longer hear the flickering of the flames or feel the heat against my skin, no. it was silence now, coldness. Darkness. There was no longer the smell of burning flesh or the eerie smoke that slowly clogged the air.

The faintest sound of voices could be heard, arguing. Instantly I knew where I was. Opening my eyes I found myself alone in my dark room, my parents arguing downstairs as usual. The clatter of glass breaking and sound of yelling could be heard. Home sweet home.

But my mind remained on the events that had occured, surely not a dream. The smell of  flesh being burnt, fried , the children, him. His face wouldn't leave my mind and those green eyes turning a foggy black, his skin going from smooth and invitingly perfection to cold, dark, and broken, and those nails.

I could feel shivers down my spine and goose bumps on me as I thought about it . That's when it dawned on me, I was just in the arms of the devil himself yet, he let me go? Brought me home? What was the point? The scare he gave me? Amusement, Did it entertain him?

I looked around the room, too scared to really move, still in shock. On my bed I could see a note and a single red rose. With slow steps towards it, I managed to pick the flower up gently, twirling it in my hand. Looking towards the folded note I reached out and grabbed it. Unfolding the crisp and almost old looking paper slowly.

'Believe me now?'

It read.  Instantly I dropped the note to the floor, a bit shocked. I set the flower on my bedside table sitting down on the edge of the bed in disbelief.

"I must be going crazy.." I whispered out loud. "There's no way..." I shook my head.

Then I realized. This is all a dream! It had to be right? After All, the Devil was merely a made up creature created by religious freaks to keep their kids in line. At Least that was what I believed.

The next day at school was a long and unbearable drag. I hadn't slept much that night, because real or not, I knew hed haunt my nightmares. Despite this, I still searched for the man. My eyes would dart across people in the hall looking for a glimpse of the tall figure, or my sight would dash along people in class hoping for a hint of those sinister yet inviting eyes as if waiting for any proof at all of the events. But that day he didn't show, nor did he show the day after that, or the one after that. As days had passed I began wondering if he even existed. Maybe I had imagined him, but still there was this itch in the back of my mind, a feeling deep in my gut, that something or someone had been watching me this whole time.

"Amelia sweetheart?" my mothers soft voice cooed as she sat next to me on my bed a few nights later. But I didn't seem to pay attention to her. My eyes glued to the rose on my bedside table which hadn't wilted since i got it.

"Yes mom?" I stuttered out in a daze of thought.

"I know things between me and your father haven't been the best.." she had said.. I hated talks like this...where one of my parents would come up, out of guilt, or feeling of failure as the role of a parent as if to comfort a wounded puppy, only i wasn't wounded. "But I'd like you to know things are going to get better. "

The amount of times I've heard that line, that word.

'Better'

Enough to make me go insane, but I knew she was trying. I knew by dragging herself up the stairs and into the mess I called a room, she meant no harm. I simply smiled to her.

"Yeah mom." I nodded. "Okay. "

There was a rather awkward pause and she looked away perhaps in thought.