Demon's Design

Chapter 24

A little later Zandra saw the woman leave the shop and head down the street. She followed close by, but still far enough away that the woman wouldn't know. Soon the woman stopped near the mayor's house and Samantha came out and they started talking. The woman played with the bandage around her hand while they talked. It was clear she was planning something, and it was making her nervous.

Henry came out of the mayor's place and smiled at the two women. They both stopped talking to say "hello" and introduce themselves to him. He stood there like an awkward idiot and talked with them for a bit.

Zandra rolled her eyes as the girls flirted with him and asked him about all the things he was wearing and the lady they were following asked him what he was doing later. Just as it was getting too painful to watch he broke away from them and walked back into the woods. While he walked away, Zandra stayed where she was, watching the women to gain information. Samantha told the woman what Henry said to the mayor, while she continued to fiddle with her bandage. Several minutes later they broke off and the woman headed back to the shop. Zandra went back to the woods where Henry was waiting.

"Seems like she bought the story," Zandra told him. 

"The mayor seemed to too. Though, he seemed sad to hear that Tyrn was still alive somewhere." There was a look of turmoil on his face as he continued to work through his moral values. 

"If the whole village complained to you about him, you would want him dead too." She said flatly.

He sighed, "I guess so." His voice was sullen.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He was at a loss for words as everything seemed so complicated. "I don't know. Everything seems so—I don't know." A small shrug rolled off his shoulders. 

"Surreal?" She finished his sentence.

He nodded, "yeah."

"What were you expecting?" Zandra gave him a quizzical expression. 

"I don't know. Something simple," he said as he attempted to wrap his mind around the reality they were living in. 

"Life isn't simple, you should know that by now." She gave him a skeptical look and stated, "look at your life, is it black and white?"

He became a bit distant for a second. "No, I suppose not."

There was some noise from the shop and the young woman came out and headed down the street in the opposite direction from before. They followed her after her and stopped when she reached a house and went inside with haste. It was getting late in the day and the sun was starting to set before she came back out with a bag. She looked around with apprehension before heading into the woods.

Zandra and Henry picked up their pace, closing the distance between them as to not lose sight of her in the woods ahead. Walking further into the woods, they stopped as she paused to kneel down and set up a summoning circle. Henry took a step forward to interrupt her when Zandra lifted her arm up to block him, "she's about to—" he started to say.

"Wait," she whispered.

They watched her go through the whole ritual and energy started crackling as another imp appeared. The woman informed it that she wanted to make a pact, which was to cause terror in the village and hang out around Tyrn's place. After she said her binding, she cut her hand and dripped blood into the circle, and a new mark formed on the other hand. As the circle disappeared Zandra threw a dagger at the demon and hit it square in the face. It fell over and dissipated.

The woman looked over at Zandra and Henry in horror as they stepped into the clearing. "It's not what it looks like," she tried to defend herself.