(Based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven)
Technically it's some weird mix of horror, sadness(thing), comfort, and a smidge of romance…it may be one-sided, or not, whatever you choose, it's all up to the imagination of the reader.
The Demon
It had been a bleak December night such as tonight that I had been orphaned. It started with my elder sister, and then Mother. A year later my younger brother and grandmother. Then finally my father. They had all died from the same illness, or so the Doctor had told me. Apparently there were many other families that were suffering from the same illness. Everyone had feared that the dreaded Black plague had returned. If it granted my death, then I would have been more than happy to welcome such a terrible epidemic back.
I stared at the black squiggles on the stiff paper of an old book. I read, but none of the words seemed to stay in my head. It was as if these letters, once inside, hid themselves in some secluded corner of my brain. If only the happy memories with my family would do the same.
I had once read before, "Those who do not understand fire, do not fear it, and those who have not experienced light, do not seek it." I thought it could be the same for me. If I forgot how much I loved my family, and how much happiness I gained by being with them, I wouldn't miss them so much. If I forgot the comfort of company, I wouldn't be lonely. That was how I thought these days. Several times, priests and nuns have stopped by. Their last visit had been three months ago. I was sure that they had given up on me. I understand, I've given up on myself as well.
A sudden rap at the door to my flat pulled me from my train wreck of thoughts. Someone knocked four or five times before stopping. I stared at the wooden door, the rapping had been faint. So faint and light that I scarcely thought I heard it. For a second I might have thought that the sound was the fire in the hearth crackling and not the door.
Then it came again. This time there were five light raps on the door before silence. Maybe it was the priest or nun. I stood up "Father, or Sister, my apologies" I started as I made my way over to the door, the stiff book still in my hand "I was quite lost in my book, and your knocking too faint, I wasn't sure I had heard properly." I opened the door without checking and stood staring at an empty hall. No-one stood at the door.
"Wrong flat…" I guessed.
I returned to my sofa sitting before the fireplace and opened the book once more. The howling wind of a December storm whispered into my flat, and I shivered. There was no real possible way for the cold of the storm to enter my flat, but I added some more wood to the orange flames. Watching the dancing tongues of the fire lick the wood, as if tasting, before engulfing it. Too hypnotised I had barely heard the rapping.
Again someone was knocking, faintly, lightly, at my door. This time it was four raps before a lengthy pause. Slowly, suddenly fearing for my safety, I made my way to the door. My hand touched the cool surface of the metal knob.
Tap. Tap. Tap. This time three.
I immediately let go of the door knob. This knocking, this rapping was like a count down, and I feared what would happen when it reached one.
Tap. Tap. Now two.
Tap. One.
I waited. The ticking of the old clock rang in the air, my heart pounding and my ears rushing with blood. Nothing.
The old clock struck midnight, and still nothing.
I turned from the door, towards the couch when a terrible screech came from the door. It was like nails on the chalkboard. Then just as suddenly as it had happened. It ended. Fearful, I hurried to the fireplace, pulled the blanket off the foot of my bed and huddled on the couch.
I begged, prayed, cried, and fell asleep with the fire roaring as my watchdog.
The time was just after two in the morning when I woke up. The last coals of the fire glowing their last bit of life. An unsettling feeling crept up from my stomach. This time a light tap came from the window. I was three stories up, I had no fear for this. I knew this was just the tree branches scratching my window.
I stood up, ignoring the feeling in my gut, and went to open the shutters and snap the branches off.
As if it was a daily routine, I pulled the velvet curtains back and slammed opened the shutters, when a flurry of black barreled into my chamber. Quickly, more from the cold than anything else, I closed the shutters and drew the curtains.
Slowly I turned to see what had forced its way into my flat, and standing on the rug was a tall, handsome man in a large black cloak. He had ghastly pale skin, and inky black hair, but in the dark, I could hardly make any more out, other than that.
He turned with a rustle of feathers, and I had noticed, what I had mistaken as a black cloak were two large wings.
"It took you long enough" his voice was deep, satin smooth, and unnatural. "Although I do think that my little bit of mischief earlier, was a smidge too much."
My usual depression and somber expression faded as this man, or thing, continued to brush invisible dust off his clothes. It was like watching a bird preening. "Who…what are you" I could barely manage.
The man, thing, stopped his grooming to stare at me. Through the dark, his eyes seemed to glow a reddish pink while a saccharine smile split his face. "I am your darkest fears and your most dreadful nightmares. I am a being created by the ugly hearts of the arrogant animals called Humans." He then bowed after his self-introduction.
"Do you have a name?" I inquired at him. I was sure I was the first to have a winged man visit during a December storm.
"My name is naught for the unperceptive ears of dull humans to hear." He seemed haughty and arrogant. The man paced a couple of steps, before making his way over to my sofa. With a flick of his fingers the fire in the hearth sprang to life again, hungry tongues greedily trying to finish off the left over wood and coal.
No fear froze my heart, no shame clouded my mind at having this stranger, a magician or demon in my room. I shuffled over to the man and sat on the further end of the sofa. The fire quickly re-heated the room, and the change in temperature made me shiver.
We sat silently, watching the fire dance. I shifted slightly in my seat. The man did the same in response. "If you must, call me Demon." He broke the silence.
"I will…" I paused. I was doing what I had been trying to avoid. Social interaction. "So if you sir are done warming up, I must ask you to leave." I said blankly. I didn't want to feel alone, but the longer I stayed with another being, the lonelier I became when they finally left.
"I will not be leaving for quite a while." The demon stated, as if it were a fact, and leaned closer to the fire.
Slight anger seeped from my heart. "Leave when you are done warming up" I repeated "I no-longer wish for any social contact" I could feel my voice raising as the air seemed to grow hotter, and thicker.
"I will stay" the demon only repeated.
I was afraid. I didn't want to be hurt when the small social interaction I had now disappeared "Damned creature!" I hissed "you're trying to soften my resolve to live alone!" I was mad with accusations. I wanted the demon out before I started to cry. I felt like a child with a temper because they couldn't choose between two toys.
The demon only ignored me.
"Get out! Get out if you have just arrived on God's will to torment me. Leave my room and never come back! Have you come just to remind me of that fact that I am all alone in this world?!" I could feel my voice crack. It was a sickening sound in my ears.
"Maybe I have, and I shall not leave. Curse me, spite me, have me eat a box of nails, but I will not leave your side." He finally looked to me again. No smile, just a blank and serious expression. I stood up, angry at myself but chose to bring my anger out at the demon.
"Then I shall curse you, and spite you, and place your guts on the street for dogs to pick at! Leave my chamber, leave my flat, go back to where you came from, to your castle of wretchedness. Don't leave any sign that you've been here, no feather on my sill and no foot print on my rug. Leave me alone to drown in my own misery." I sobbed my last sentence.
"I invite you to do as you will, burn me, mill me, run me over with a carriage, but I will not leave your side." The demon stood up and stalked towards me. I backed away and tried to run, but he was much faster. I couldn't even struggle as his grip on my arm tightened painfully. I didn't want to listen to his words, and I didn't want to believe them.
"Take your tainted claws away from my heart, and your figure out of my sight. Please just leave, what do you want from me? I'm just a girl, I have no wealth nor land for you to take." This time I begged. If anger didn't work, then I had to beg.
"What I want is not the Queen's coins nor the sprawling lands of the crown. What I want is the pale and untainted soul within you, and your unblemished body. We'll form a contract, your wish for mine."
"Any wish?" I asked for clarification.
"Any." He confirmed.
"Leave me alone" it was immediate. The second I said it I regretted it. What if he truly did leave me? But he seemed to have understood me better than I did myself.
"Is that truly your one and only wish?" he asked. It seemed he wanted a different answer.
"…" I couldn't say it.
"Anything, wealth, power, servants, a kingdom. I can grant any and all of your most selfish desires." His cold fingers grasped my hand, red eyes boring into mine.
"I have but one wish, and that is all." I whispered.
"Then out with it." I could hear triumph in his voice.
"Stay, I can't stand being lonely anymore." It came out as a sob. I couldn't do it anymore. Three years was enough.
"Then a kiss to seal the deal." As expected, his lips were dry and cold, but it also lit a fire in my stomach.
"I will never leave your side, and you shall be mine forevermore." He kissed the palm of my hand, glowing reddish pink eyes piercing me.
Even now the demon, whose name was never revealed to my ears, sits on the sofa before the hearth. His demon eyes having the same look of a human who felt sadness and mirth. The eerie shadows cast by the flickering fire danced over my form and licked my feet. Just as promised, the demon never left my side, following me like a lost lamb. As he had kept his promise I soon will keep mine. I found it ironic that I would soon succumb to the same illness that killed my family. Especially since I had thought myself immune as I have survived every bought that had erupted in England.
"Sleep, I'll take care of you. Like I said, I will never leave your side, and you will be and are, forever mine."
The demon felt one foreign tear run down his face as his contractor's weak cough was followed by one last breath. He leaned down, his dry cold lips brushing over hers to collect her soul before it faded. He could feel the warmth quickly fade from the corpse.
He took her with him, leaving the worldly possessions behind in the now empty flat. He would cherish her, and make sure that her worldly body wouldn't rot, but stay in its current time of youth. After all, she was his, forevermore.