II. Ruby
Everyone was scared when night came, but this night was worse than most. It was the winter solstice which was the longest, darkest night of the year and normally reveled in by many. Not many people celebrated tonight. They weren't sure who would be alive when the sun rose again. The world was cursed with a Plague that had no cure, no treatment, and no way of preventing the sickness from spreading. The town that Ruby called home was infested with dead bodies in the morning. Those bodies were burnt leaving loved ones sick with grief and worry that they would be next. No one was safe on their own. The world was a dark, Plague inflicted place and no matter how many people prayed to God, nothing changed. But Ruby had found a powerful book hidden on bookshelf in the bookstore that promised to deliver Ruby and her family from this painful existence.
Ruby sat before her alter, feeling the powerful darkness wrap over her like a cold blanket. The Latin words flowed from her tongue easily not even faltering as the fear started to surface once again, summoning the power that had protected her from this Plague for five months. With these words her life was safe and long and her family was protected by a power they didn't know. When she was done with the summoning, Ruby opened her eyes to see the same woman standing there as before.
She was dressed in a black cloak over her wool dress. Her brown eye flowed down her shoulders, curling slightly in waves pretty little waves. This face – this body – it all used to below to Ruby's friend, Willow, but now the friend was gone. They had found this book together and decided they would do ianything/i to spare their families of the cursed Plague. But her friend was gone one day and this demon was in her body. Her brilliant green eyes that had held so many memories with Ruby since childhood had been replaced by this horrible monster with blank, black eyes.
"Ruby," the figure spoke – it wasn't a woman. It was a demon and Ruby knew it was evil to the core of her being but she always knew that it was the only way to protect herself. She was terrifying with her pure black eyes and the radiating power that made it impossible for Ruby to deny her. She had pledged her loyalty to this demon. "Ruby," she repeated in a sing song voice that made Ruby's flesh crawl. "What did you want?"
"You said you'd protect my family but my father—" Ruby started, her voice boarding on hysterical.
"I protected them for months," the woman said starting to walk toward her. Her attitude was casual but Ruby knew that the woman was anything but harmless. She could kill Ruby with a flit of her hand. Ruby had seen her. She had seen her kill in cold blood.
"He's dying!" Ruby said backing away from the closing in woman.
"Well, I couldn't hold the Plague off forever," the demon said, shaking her head. She almost looked amused. "All I said was that I would protect your family until the winter solstice. Tonight is the longest of the year. Actually," the woman said, smiling slightly. "It's time to pay."
"No." Ruby shook her head fervently. "No," she whispered again.
"Didn't you pray to me? Didn't you pledge your loyalty to me? Didn't you promise to pay the price when the night was the longest and darkest of the year?"
"I didn't mean— I didn't know—"
"Ruby! You knew. You knew exactly what you were doing." She clicked her tongue in disappointment. "You prayed to me! You used you little book of yours to call me to this… this hellhole of a place and now you want to feign ignorance?" She shouldn't her head. "I can't allow that, now can I?"
Ruby grabbed the hex bag in her pocket and thought of her options. Her family will die; her father first. No one was safe anymore. The protection she sought – well, she gave her loyalty to this evil demon and she wouldn't be able to back out. Words offered in prayer and belief was like bonds; they were chains binding Ruby to this demon.
The woman flung her hand up, the hex bag flying from Ruby's pocket and into the air. "A hex bag?" the demon laughed. "You're not that smart, are you? A hex bag won't do any good. You have to put it where someone lives to inflict your doings on the person. You don't know where I live. This won't do ianything/i." She paused, turning her solid black eyes to Ruby. "Except to show your defiance." She frowned. "I had such hope for you, child, but obviously I was wrong."
Ruby watched the hex bag - the useless hex bag – fly out the window. There was no sound as it inevitably hit the ground, hundreds of feet away from Ruby. Taking a deep breath, Ruby closed her eyes, feeling herself grow more hopeless by the second. "My family… My father… Willow…"
"Rest assured they aren't going where you are. They will be much better off," the demon told her. "They might die, but you – you're mine. You have no hope to rest. They may die painful, violent deaths, but you have the hounds to look forward to. And Hell."
Ruby shook her head. "I didn't know! Tell me who you are!"
"Liar! You knew what you were doing, and you certainly now who I am."
"I didn't know what I was asking for. You already took Willow…"
"No. No, she's still in there. Willow is disappointed in you, Ruby. She thinks that you really should have known better." The demon shook her head in mock disappointment.
"Shut up!" Ruby screamed.
"Ruby, I own you! I am your master! I am the only hope that you have to make it through Hell. It's not smart to tell me to shut up!"
"No one can make it through Hell," Ruby shot back; "I'm damned either way."
"Ruby, child…" The demon walked to her, placing her hand on Ruby's cheek in a way that would be comforting if she wasn't so terrifying. Though no heat came from the woman, Ruby felt as if her skin was burning merely by the woman's touch. "You'll forget your family where you are going. I promise you, it might take years or centuries, but you iwill/i forget them. You'll forget all of this," she promised, throwing her arms out in gesture. "If you think this Plague is hell, you won't believe how you'd wish that you could have this hell back. The real hell…"
"Stop! I won't go!" Ruby turned on her heel, running toward the door.
The door slammed shut, narrowly missing Ruby. She stumbled backward, suddenly bumping into the demon. "You have no choice. You promised…"
"No! Shut up! I'm not going anyway! My family!"
"Will never forget you. But you will forget them. Child, you'll forget everything. It will be okay."
Ruby was pushed up against the door, and for a moment fear shot through her that she would be harmed. Barking erupted in the distance as the town's clock tower rang to signal midnight had finally came. The barking grew louder as if the dogs were coming toward her, closer… closer…
"I'll make it painless," the woman said slowly.
The next moment, Ruby was there. She was tied down as a pain she had never experienced before shot through her body and consumed her every breath. The world smelled of burning skin, blood, and sulfur. It was like the Bible had said – fire and brimstone. Ruby couldn't believe that she had used the book with Willow to begin with just to end up here. Just to end up without anything to show for it. She stayed there, tied down and tortured for so long she lost track of time. The more she screamed, the more the fire consumed her. Not once did the demon come to see her, but her promises echoed in Ruby's head, making her wonder when it would come true.
She could still remember her family's faces, hear their laughter in the recesses of her mind, and any time she closed her eyes when the pain got too great, they were there. Her father with his kind smile and gentle way; her mother with her huge smile of pride every time she looked at Ruby; Willow with her giggle and mischievous nature. Ruby wondered if Willow was there again, living out the life that Ruby should have had. If Willow was there, Ruby hoped she had burnt the book they had used to call that demon to them. If Willow played with the book and summoned the demon, Ruby knew that Willow would be down there with her, being tortured like she was. It was heart wrenching. She called for them as the nightmare continued as if she thought they could actually hear her. Her screams and pleads were in vain as no one came for her but these nameless, soulless grey smoke creatures.
"Come on you bitch!" Ruby screamed, feeling that the torture had to have lasted decades by now. Her body couldn't possibly take anymore of this pain. She wondered how long it would be before her body gave out and her mind would surely follow.
The world that had stayed the same – a cesspool of fire and pain riddled with the screams of those being tortured – but suddenly, it changed. She wasn't tied down; she was free to wander. Perhaps the world thought she had forgotten herself by now but she couldn't let go of what she had had. She had a good life, a God fearing life of everyone else that feared the Plague, but now she wished she could shut out the images, to forget everything like the demon had promised she would. Demons lie, though, Ruby figured out. Remembering wasn't worth the pain that shook her body each time their faces appeared behind her eyes as she moved around the world that she was stuck in.
She tried to understand her new life. But she couldn't. It was all too incredible. Puffs of grew smoke roamed around her. They were the same beings that she had seen as she was tied down and tormented. The screams still echoed off the nonexistence walls and surfaces, sending chills down Ruby's spine. Something told her to travel upward. Hell was supposed to be below them, and if she traveled up she might just find a way out. It seemed like a ridiculous notion to Ruby, but she did it anyway. The higher she climbed the more hopeless she felt. There was no way out. It was a hell. She was stuck there for entirety. The grey smoke spoke to her, telling of that they were all once human but had forgotten. They had forgotten what it was like and each human she walked by being tortured would just be another one. No one was safe here; they all shared the same destiny. They were doomed – they had sold their soul to a demon just like Ruby had. Some didn't even realize what they had done – claiming dogs came after them and brought them here – and others seemed to know exactly what as happening and accepted their fate quickly, becoming another grey cloud before Ruby's eyes.
Ruby tried to talk to the others about what it was like to be human, but they seemed to have forgotten. They couldn't remember who they had been or even what year it was when they had died, but they all remembered one thing: they had given their soul for something.
Occasionally, a grey cloud would be hurdled downward. Feeling curious of her new… home… she asked what had happened. "I made it! I was on earth!" it exclaimed in a bittersweet tone. "But those bastards sent me back here!"
Humanity wasn't welcome down here. Anyone who was down here hadn't lost their humanity would loose it in time as their body was inflicted by pain and flames licked their skin.
Something burst open above her – something new that Ruby had never seen before in the world that seemed to never end. Shadows flew at it, escaping through the opening like it was paradise. iAnything is better than staying in here/i she thought, trying to recall what she had heard. She ran toward the opening, leaving hell behind only to realize that she was no better than the others.
She was just a grey cloud of smoke. Breaking through the door into a long since changed world, she realized that she was just another demon.
