The Dominant Demon (Finished)

9. The Forest

Pictured: Moskil

You meet him in this chapter!

This flashback starts differently. In the others, I saw through the eyes of my old selves. In this memory, I am standing in the distance, staring at a woman almost identical to me. She sits in the middle of a broad field, running her fingers through the grass and humming to herself.

She glances around, drawing in a deep breath, and then she stands, dusting off her flowy, white, cotton, dress. I walk a little closer and hear her mumble to herself, "Better get home. It's almost dark."

Studying her features, I would say she is just about my age. It's almost like looking in the mirror, except she has a bit of a flatter figure, and the bridge of her nose isn't splayed with freckles like mine.

We begin to walk together. I trail only a few feet behind, but as I notice the direction that we are headed in, my stomach begins to churn, dread filling me. I stop in my tracks and watch as the woman enters a forest. It's filled with dark, twisted trees. It's the forest from my nightmares.

As I come to a halt, the woman stops, too, and suddenly, her thoughts fill my head, surprising the hell out of me. You think I'd be use to surprises by now, huh? "This is the fastest way home, but is it the safest? Definitely not. I need to get home to mother though."

"God, don't go in there," I mumble to myself. Both of my selves.

She lets out another heavy sigh, and then slowly, we enter the forest together. I never thought that I would voluntarily enter this place, but I need to know why I am here.

"Hello, Gorgeous," I hear a chillingly grungy voice call.

The woman and I both turn at the same time, and I hear her ask, "What do you want?"

His red hair is wild, and his expression comes across as disheveled and unhinged. "You."

She nods. "OK, well sorry, but I really need to get going now."

Out of no where, he dramatically throws his head back, letting out a wicked cackle. It echos through the trees, and I wish that the woman could hear me, because I would be screaming at her to run right now. Instead, she stands frozen in fear. "I'll let you get going then, Beautiful. You have a ten second head start."

"Wh-what?" She sputters, backing up, slowly.

He grins, and for the first time, I notice razor sharp teeth jutting out of his mouth. The sound of fabric ripping fills the air, and then a pair of black, feather, wings sprout from his back. "Time starts now! Ten, Nine, Eight..."

"Go!" I scream, tears filling my eyes from the fear building inside of me. She turns to run just as I shout, and I follow, hearing the maniac's countdown in the distance. Realization hits me. My night terrors weren't me running from Colvin in a present time realm. They were a memory from this life, running for this man. Why is that the one memory that haunted me though? Why was that the one specific one that tried to make it's way through my brain years before my awakening even began?

"Two..." I hear the man shout. "One!"

The woman lets out an ear-piercing scream, fearing for her life as the man's feet begin to pound the ground much harder and faster than she could ever hope for her's to.

I glance over my shoulder, watching as he nears her. "No!" I shout, tears falling down my cheeks. I glance forward again and recognize the area that I'm in. Here it comes. It's the part where she will fling herself off the cliff to die. Will I wake up when she jumps?

I watch, helplessly as she falls to her knees, curling into a ball on the ground at the edge of the cliff. "Jump, or die at the hands of a Moskil?" She thinks to herself, frantically.

I want to tell her to jump. It's better than being torn apart by the demon's razor teeth, but as I turn back to look for him, I see something that I would have never fathomed.

Colvin tackles the man to the ground, his wings spreading out and horns sprouting from his head in an instant. That's it. That's what triggered the flashback. I saw Colvin in his true demon form for the first time in this life a minute ago, just like I'm about to see him for the first time in this past life.

The girl turns around and gasps, falling onto her butt as we both watch Colvin hold him down by the throat. The guy doesn't have a chance in Hell, much less on earth. He's much smaller and scrawnier than Colvin.

"Remind me, Moskil. Are you a reaper, or a lower rank demon?" Colvin asks through a clenched jaw, anger dripping from his tone.

"King Colvin!" The demon exclaims, struggling to talk or breath. "I-I didn't know that you were in the area!"

Colvin grins down at him. "Answer my question, Moskil."

Moskil gasps for air, attempting to claw at Colvin's hand around his throat. "I'm a lower rank demon," he replies, quietly.

The next words Colvin shouts come out as a rage-filled, earth-shaking, growl. "Then what where you doing trying to kill an innocent mortal girl?" He stands, carrying Moskil by the throat.

"Get rid of me now," Moskil says, smiling as he dangles from Colvin's hand. His eyes flash directly over to the woman, and I see her scamper closer to the edge of the cliff. "I'll be back for the girl, though. I want to hear her screams as I rip into that beautiful, soft, flesh."

"Go to Hell," Colvin says, simply, and with that, a portal opens up on the forest floor, much like the one that appeared under the two of us in the diner supply room. He violently tosses Moskil into the deep, black hole, and then the portal closes up, silencing the forest.

As soon as the hole closes, I watch as Colvin turns and strides over to the woman. She stares up at him, terrified, but as he sticks out his hand to her, she takes it, shivering from fear. He pulls her up, and I watch as they gaze into each other's eyes.

"A-are you an angel?" She manages to stutter out.

Oh, how innocent you are, Lady.

Colvin lets out a deep and sexy laugh. "Not quite. Tell me your name," he says, smiling down at the woman.

She steps away from him, slowly, feeling nervous. "My name is Thara. I really need to get home to my mother. She's probably already worried sick."

Thara. How could I not realize it until now? I went back to this memory, because it's the first time that Colvin and I ever met. This is how we found each other. He saved me from another demon.

He steps closer and takes her hands back into his. "Listen, Thara. I know that you want to get home to your mother, but an important part of my job is to make sure that dark souls don't harm innocent ones like yours. Moskil will try to come back for you. Until I take care of him, I feel like you should come with me. It's important for you to stay safe. I still feel that you have a very distinct purpose in this life."

"What do you mean?" She asks, confused.

A moment passes as Colvin studies her, but then I see an affection smile cross his face. "I mean that I need to keep you safe. Your energy feels very special and intimate. Come with me, and I won't let him hurt you. I promise."

She thinks about it for a moment, staring off into the forest, and then she nods. "I'll come, but only because I never want to see him again."

Colvin's hand comes up to her cheek, lovingly brushing a few locks of hair out of her face. He even did that to me back then. "No one will hurt you as long as I am around, Beautiful."

As soon as the words leave his lips, I feel myself being pulled from the memory. The earth begins to shift around me, and the wind blows violently. I take a deep breath and squeeze my eyes shut, tightly as I am brought back to my present day, hoping that Colvin is still in my room when I wake up.