Devil's Soul

Chapter 28 (a Halloween special: part iv)

I instinctively reached out, and my right hand managed to close around something solid. A railing. I was falling down a flight of stairs. The momentum overpowered my grip, and I continued to tumble backward, the old railing leaving a trail of splinters in my hand as it slid down it. I released the railing, unable to bear the pain in my hand, and slammed into the wall that marked the turn in the staircase.

My hand was throbbing, and I was disoriented, but when the monster uttered the word “catch,” I came to full attention. I launched myself forward, just as he shoved Geo down the stairs.

“Mavis!” she cried as gravity pulled her toward me. He hands flew out and saved her head from making contact with the stairs. She continued to roll forward, and I caught her before she could finish the summersault. I hugged her tightly against me before shoeing her further down the stairs.

“Go see if there’s a way out,” I instructed.

She nodded and obediently disappeared into the darkness of the basement. I shakily stood and took up a defensive stance.

The Child Corruptor cackled. “There is no way out! First I will eat her soul. Then I will eat the souls of the other children I have locked away. After that I will eat your scrawny fragments for dessert!” His words dissolved into heinous laughter as he barreled down the stairs, toward me.

I snapped my fingers, and a timid flame ignited. “St-stay back!” I stammered.

He seemed to find this more amusing than threatening. He continued forward and backed me into the wall, placing his meaty hands on either side of me. He had to stand on his tiptoes to level his face with mine, but I still felt small beneath him. I was holding my burning hand level with my chest and the flame was causing beads of sweat to form on both our faces. “That’s a cute little ability the Devil lent you. Do you want to know what power the Devil lent to me?”

I nodded slowly, too scared to speak. Maybe if I could stall him, Geo would have more time to hide.

“He lent me his charisma, but he only gave me part of it. Do you want to know what part he gave to me?”

I nodded.

“He gave me charisma that only works on children. Do you know how frustrating that has been? Adults won’t take me seriously because I’m short, but those little monkeys hang on every word I say! They wouldn’t leave me alone, following me around like insects. Then I started to entice them into sinning so I could collect their soul fragments. The souls made my power stronger, but never did my power grow enough to encompass adults. It makes me so angry!” He slammed his fist against the wall for emphasis, and I cringed. “That’s why I need to keep collecting souls. I need to become powerful. I need it!” Spit flew out of his mouth and evaporated in the flame as he spoke in a crazed rhythm.

I shoved my hand forward, in an attempt to light his hair on fire, but he grabbed my fingers before I could reach it and extinguished the flame with his bare hand. Then he pulled me down the rest of the stairs and threw me into a cage. Once I was locked inside, he flicked on the lights, filling the room with a fluorescent hum.

The Child Corruptor spun around, frantically gazing into the line of the empty cages. “Where are all the children!” he cried. In his rage, he grabbed at his hair and pulled chunks out. He charged at me and rattled the bars of my cage, as if he was the one locked inside. He was digressing before my very eyes. “What did you do with them?!” he demanded.

I scooted as far away from him as I could, thankful for the bars between us. But as much as I thought he was overreacting, I was also perplexed about where Geo and the other kids had disappeared off to. The basement offered no hiding places. There was a single window, but it was too high for children to reach, and there was nothing that could have been used as a stool. They had to have had help.