HELLBORN | j. jk

p r o l o g u e

"Father, please save her soul," The tear stricken woman begged for the life of her daughter. "I don't know why this happened to us. We have always been close to the Lord."

The aged man in a black tunic wore a cross around his neck, he took the woman's hands in his and drew the sign of the cross across her forehead. "The Devil's desire is to corrupt the faith of those who follow the Lord. Strengthen your faith and pray."

"Lord have mercy." The woman whispered.

"Where is she?" The clergyman asked and the woman pointed to the bedroom at the end of the hall. The door had a cross nailed into it, under it, colorful blocked letters spelled out the name of a girl. The girl who the Devil has defiled.

She was tied to the bed, her wrists and feet are each bound to the posters of the bed to hold her down but it was only temporary. She has the Devil in her. Soon, she won't be contained by those ties anymore. The girl gazed into the ceiling as if she was seeing something that no one else can see. Dark circles under her eyes are heavy, her cheeks have become gaunt and her skin stuck to her bones; she didn't look like a person anymore and that is because she bore the Devil's young in her womb.

"She hid the pregnancy from everyone and we only found out when she started acting strange a few days ago." Her mother explained, hands shaking at the sight of her own daughter. "I sometimes hear her talking to someone in an unknown language and she wasn't sleeping. Every night she'd be talking by herself."

The walls of her bedroom had scrapes as if someone was trying to escape by putting a hole through it. She was trying to flee. Her eyes moved and stopped at the direction of her mother and out of the blue, she started to sob. "Mom, I'm in so much pain. Please, you don't have to do this..

The man recited prayers, holding his weapon in hand, he opened the Bible and spoke verses of the angels. The girl cried hysterically as he approached her, his thumb drew a cross on her forehead and covered her eyes with a cloth. "What is your name demon?"

"Mom, please believe me. I'm not possessed. I'm telling the truth.. let me go." Her lips quivered and tears soaked the cloth that covered her eyes.

"Reveal your name demon! You are in the presence of the Lord!"

She screamed, her body twisted in agony. Mighty air came in through the windows and blew all the candles out. The room was filled by darkness and only the moon that shone its light behind the sheer curtains provided them with light. The wind spoke to her, he was calling her;

Come to me, woman.

He released her from the ties that bound her. Her eyes darted to the two confused figures in the dark and, right then, she realized that this was her chance. He was helping her. She stood on her feet and ran towards the moonlight, passing through the thin curtains like a ghost. She jumped out of the window and fell, her rib broke upon impact against the ground but she had to go on.

"Chase after her!"

She ran to the woods, barefooted, stepping on twigs and sharp rocks. She limped and her body ached everywhere. The swell of her stomach is getting heavier but she kept on running. He told her where to go, his voice guiding her.

She wasn't possessed. She was never possessed in the first place. She met him and wholeheartedly accepted him into her body, despite the truth that he spoke to her, that he is not a man. She knew that and understood what it meant yet she still invited him in. He was the very evil that they spoke of in the scriptures. The one her mother always prayed for protection against but she was wrong. They are wrong.

He isn't evil.