Inner Demons

Chapter 1

Jagged rocks bit into my bare feet, poking at the tender bruises that laced up and down my soles. I wiggled my toes, trying to get some feeling back in them as brackish gusts of wind tore at my green jumper and twisted my hair into a halo of tangles. I licked my cracked, dry lips, unable to keep them from stretching into a small smile, as the sun peak over the horizon. My breathing was ragged from running to cliffs in the dark, as I took in that small moment of peace.

These stolen moments were few and far between. Being the oldest in the family was not the easiest job in the world, and opportunities to slip away, especially during the in between time, we're getting harder and harder to come by. Minutes passed as the sun slowly climb higher, highlighting a tiny dot in the distance. A place my siblings and I had dubbed "The Speck"; my only connection to the rest of the world.

Leaves rustled behind me as another gust blew a chunk of my unruly chestnut curls into my face. I struggled to pull a few strands out of my mouth as the sun continued to edge itself higher still, shooting beams of warm oranges and yellows across the water and painting the sky like one of Emma's elegant brush strokes.

I stood there, taking in the light, the wind, and most blessedly the silence, knowing it would only last a couple minutes more. I closed my eyes and drank in every second of it, willing it to last forever. That is until my concentration was broken by a sickly sweet, sarcastic cadence.

Why, hello darling, it chorused.

Deprived of my wish I groaned inwardly. How could I let this happen again? I hadn't been watching the sun. I glanced up, noticing a sliver of sky in-between the sun and the sweet, sweet horizon. My moment of peace was over. The in-between time wouldn't come again until the next sunrise.

"Hello Iika," I muttered rolling my eyes.

Now Kiera, you know you don't have to use something as inconvenient as speaking out loud to have a conversation with me.

"I know, but at least this way I can feel like I'm talking to an actual person and not just the voice in my head."

That's harsh.

"Oh sorry, pardon my mistake. I meant the voice of the demon that's stuck in my head."

Well, it doesn't sound much nicer when you put it that way.

"It wasn't supposed to."

Would you quit that! Just speak to me in your head like everyone else! This echo is getting on my nerves!

I chuckled, "good."

Why can't you just be civilized about this?

"Are you really going to try and pull that card? Hmm, let me think. Maybe it's because you keep trying to take over my body."

She and her kind had already taken my family and ripped any sense of normalcy from under our feet. There was no way that I would let her have my body as well. Unfortunately, I had a temper, and she used it against me.

Iika's form flickered in and out of view, a human like outline with leathery wings folded back, all made of a loose swirling cloud of dust. Her face was plastered with a cruel smirk, and her eyes refracted the sunlight so that they glinted with a cold shine.

You know its hopeless fighting me. Eventually your spirit will die and all your struggles will have just prolonged your suffering, and the same will happen to all your siblings.

My fists clenched at my sides.

Not that you have many siblings left

Blood roared in my ears, drowning out the crashing waves that had brought me peace just minutes before.