Short Stories : Afterl!fe

Coals (Blair)

I rubbed my eyes. The warm air from the fire made my body lull closer to sleep. The fabric from the arm chair had been warmed by my body heat. The sound of fire cracking gently was the only thing to fill the room.

My eye lids slipped closed for just a moment before a voice jolted me awake.

"Mam, it's getting late. If your tired, may have suggest retiring to your room?" Her voice was proper and clear. The fire light reflected off her metal broach in the center of her body. It was pinned onto to her neck scarf.

"Yeah, I was hoping I would be able to see the master of the house tonight. It seems like he won't be in until after 2am at this rate."

"He arrives back in the late night for a reason Miss. Grim. I'm afraid he is a very solitary man."

"Then why run a hotel?"

"I do not understand his motives in many things." She stood straight up and walked over the the hearth of the fire place. She placed a new log on the red and white coals. Her long lilac hair slowly fell from her shoulder. The painfully straight hair was tucked neatly behind her ear as she stood up once more and sauntered towards the exit to the living quarters. "Try and get some rest Miss. Grim. I shall see you in the morning." Her Indigo tail coat was the last thing I saw as she disappeared behind the darkness behind the door. The sent of demon dispersed and the smell of fire returned.

She's a full demon yet I never see it. She looks completely human.

I suppose I'm not one to talk. Half demons normally only have two forms. There human and there demon. Full demons are only supposed to have one, like how a human can only be a human. If a demon can change themself to look human that means one of two things. There are able to channel there soul to be so small that the demon is hidden by an original human soul. Or the demons a shape shifter.

The first one is extremely improbable. She must shape shift.

I yawned and found myself falling asleep again. My eyes slipped closed and my subconscious blackened. I fell into an empty gray space.

As my eyes flicked open I saw a familiar figure before me. White and purple streamers flew from her waist as the mechanical and bone skirt twisted and turned in the wind which I couldn't see nor hear. Gentle clattering of bones filled the space and her face was to me.

She had no hair, no nose or mouth, just a white face with horns and eyes which normally lie shut. They were barely open.

"What." My mouth opened and I felt the space shift as the air was thrown through the particles.

Her voice was heard without her having a mouth. "Your waiting is futile. You know you'll probably never see the master of the house." She glided using her fragile-white legs to bound off the floor as she side stepped around me. The skirt floated through the air as if gravity didn't effect it. Her various arms acted in various ways.

"It doesn't hurt to give it a try."

"Yes but why are you so set on it? What draws you to him?" She leaped towards my back. My head turned to see her was turned and held forwards with a gentle strength as she replayed memories in my mind. "You hope for the impossible."

An image of my childhood came up. I was playing in the park with my parents. I was on a swing and they were right next to me.

Then next one was in my old room. The yellow walls will all ways remain my favorite color. I could hear an argument outside the doors. A feeling of evil.

I saw my dad.

I ripped her hands off my head and the pictures faded. I threw her away from me and a twisted slobbery smile tore out of the skin on her 'face'.

"Don't push it."

"Sorry. Couldn't help myself." She stepped back in a bow like motion.

"Is that all you wanted to do? Shove it in my face more?"

"A little. I'm sorry. It's entertaining. It's gets so boring in here." Her voice twisted from gentle and a lot like Silvia's to harsh and gravely like mine.

"So I've been told." I turned away from her. "I don't want to miss him coming home."

And I woke up.

The log which had just been added was now mixed among the coals. Over 20 minuets had passed. There was a blanket wrapped around me. I pulled it off as I sat up and yawned.

"Miss. Grim. I believe it's pasted your bed time."

I heard the master study door from over the balcony gently close. The heavy wood creaked against the hinges and the click of the lock was so unique it's unforgettable.

My eyes felt so tired as the voice echoed in my head. As I drifted off to sleep in some kind of trance I heard her voice again accompanied by another strange male one. I fell into black. Not my usual gray. The usual void of sleep instead of my subconscious. I barely heard them speak before falling to far away.

"Well good evening."

"Shut it, you know why I'm here."