Demonic Dreamers © A story by Animegamer2007

Chapter 11: Of Blood and Turmoil

The entire premises echoed in laughter as the Cobras watched Freddy's bleeding corpse ooze onto the cold hard ground, her new sanctuary and soon to be permanent resting place. My head began to ache and swim as a torrent of violent emotions entered my every thought.

I wanted to take my sword and impale this "Angel Eyes" in the heart as I looked upon her warm, red, wet carcass. Truth be told, I didn't know if demons had the same colored blood so I let my vivid imagination fill in the blank spots. I heard a scream and I looked in Lena's direction.

Angel Eyes now held her firmly in her grasp like a boa constricting its prey, one hand dug into the scalp of Lena's red hair and the other was kept in an arm lock to prevent escape.

She gave a cruel laugh as Lena screamed in pain, blood now beginning to cake on Lena's head.

"Hah! Not so tough now, are we?" She sneered with malice that no being of this realm could possibly comprehend. "What is your greatest fear, Hmm?"

"Bite me!" Lena spat.

"Let her go, Angel Eyes! Or so help me, I'll kill you without a second thought, you twisted, sick, bitch!" I twinge came once again to each of my eyes and everything started to turn different shades of red.

"The demon within you awakes! You can't suppress it now."

"My demons are my own to conquer! Not yours to control!" I moaned in agony as I felt like a white-hot knife was being driven into my skull.

"I beg to differ. My mother was an excellent manipulator, and I know the study well. I can control any beast, man or creature without the use of silly talismans or books. I don't even need an incantation; I just have to look at you. Your demonic soul shall be mine. My master and I have waited too long to let some disturbed punk and his little girlfriend get in the way of our plans."

I stared in awe at Lena, her figure transformed into a demon like that of Angel Eyes. Small horns protruded from her skull, fangs replaced her incisors, a tail moved behind her, but unlike Angel Eyes; she had wings. Angel Eyes loosened her grip and let Lena drop to the floor panting from the ordeal the transformation must have put her through.

"What? What happened to me?" Lena gasped looking at her hands in wonder.

"You have awakened!" Innocent shouted. "Join us and no more suffering shall become of you."

"Awakened? Yes, I am awake. I feel like I've been asleep for much too long and the slumber has left me drained."

"Power courses through your veins now, child. The nightmare will most definitely conclude. Demonstrate your new found power for your friend." He motioned with one hand at the earth muttering an incantation and one large demon crawled out of the earth like a zombie.

She stepped forward with confidence I'd never witnessed before. Her wings folded gently behind her shoulders like a cute, demonic angel.

She barely even gave a glancing look at the demon when she whipped out her steel fans and feinted a low swipe. The demon dipped low to block the blast, but she knew what she was doing. She quickly spun around and delivered a swift sidekick to the demon's stomach. The demon staggered in place for a moment and began to gag. The entire warehouse watched in horror as one of the most elite demons of Hell vomited his insides.

Angel Eyes smiled and licked her black lips in enjoyment. She stepped close to Lena and whispered something in her ear. Lena's eyes widened in terror and she looked at her own stomach. Angel Eyes had impaled her with her own blade, her own steel fans. She fell to the ground in defeat.

"You still refuse to let out your demon, Kyo." Angel Eyes mused with malice. "We have just killed the only two people that have ever cared about you since your mother died. You have nothing left to lose except your life, accept your fate."

"Nothing left to lose, eh?" I chuckled. "You're wrong. I've still got you!" I grabbed my sword and charged at Angel Eyes, blinded with fury. She was no amateur; she knew combat evasion techniques and used them well. Maybe too well. She teleported right, left, forward, and behind several times until I was exhausted beyond normal comprehension.

She gave a harsh, yet pleased, chuckle and stood before me. I could hear her breath and heart race fiercely. I had perhaps tired her out as well, but she was still able to take the parry. I leaned hard on my sword, panting hard and perspiring heavy droplets.

"…Kyo…" Steve-O whispered behind me.

"…What?"

He paused a moment, unable to find the right words to say. "You…uh, look different."

"What in the great fiery depths of hell are you talking about?"

"I can't describe it. Look at yer reflection in the sword,"

I looked and my eyes widened in disbelief.

I had transformed as well.

Large horns, each the width of my arm, extended from my cranium like that of a mountain goat, and my eyes had turned from the brown and white I had grown accustomed to; to a black and red. My senses appeared to be much more acute. Every little detail was noted, every sound and slight breath of wind was heard, every smell more stimulating and distinct from the last.

And I could smell blood.

I couldn't tell if it was from Lena's body or from Freddy's corpse, but it was there nonetheless. I wanted to see more. I heard a faint groan, and all too familiar.

Lena was still alive… if only for the time being.

"Angel Eyes!" I growled. "Your work is getting a bit sloppy."

"What are you talking about? I never leave a heart beating when it's my hand that has dealt the fatal blow."

"Oh really?"

"Enough of this foolishness! Angel Eyes! Stop toying with him and finish him off!" Innocent barked with disappointment.

"No, I will not."

"ANGEL EYES! You owe your allegiance to me! You will do as I order! Finish—"

"She is mine, Innocent. And not yours to command." A dark, tall figure clothed in a black cape and large horns stepped forward with an air of supremacy and an evil calm. Cold and heartless with only the seven sins occupying his being and controlling his moves.

The demons about the room knelt down in courtesy and fear. Angel Eyes wheeled around and did the same. He glided towards Innocent and halted, examining him like a hawk circling is prey. "You disappoint me. I expected better of you, Innocent."

"I have done nothing but what you've asked."

"Hah! You lie! You had no intention of giving me my kingdom, now did you? Speak!"

Innocent starred at the ground in rage, no doubt caught in his own lie.

"See. I know all, Innocent. Three enemies I see, but four I smell. Where is the other one?"

I looked oddly at Steve-O. I could see him, why couldn't the other demons see him? Was it because I was part human and forced into this metamorphosis by the apparent death of my friends? Or was it because of some other reason that I could not grasp?

'Why can't he see you?' I mouthed silently to Steve-O.

He shrugged. 'I don't know.' He stopped a moment and pulled a trinket from the inside of his shirt. It was a small silver crucifix on an iron chain. 'Maybe this?'

'How? I can still see you.'

'Yer pure, these guys are as evil as the earth is old.'

"Come out!" The demon overlord barked.

Steve-O stepped forward and removed the cross from his neck, holding it before him like a talisman. "In the name of the All Mighty God, I banish you from this realm!"

The devil chuckled. "God? I know no God! There is only the earth and Hell. Your… trinket holds no power here. Perhaps you'd like a glimpse of the horror and evil that stand before you?" He slowly lowered his hood to reveal the face behind the mask.

A hansom demon with knife-like red eyes, slick black hair, and black lips showing two fangs starred at us, the devil's mark on his forehead. He was feminine and yet masculine at the same time.

I continued to stare at the creature's eyes. They were red as blood and malevolent, as countless souls seemed to rotate around in a whirlpool of never-ending despair and turmoil, punished for their sins. Not all the good deeds in the world could save those poor souls and I took pity on them knowing they were probably his source of power.

I had heard stories of this "Satan". Ruler of Hell, Punisher of Sins, Prince of Darkness, Lord of the Underworld and Commander of all the evil in this world and the next.

His weapon of choice was supposedly a long, razor-sharp sword created from the blood of the deceased and the still-living flesh of the tortured, and it was said that no one was able to wield it… except him. His appearance gave me no shock. It was assumed that he was a combined being, a nothingness with the similarities of both men and women. Animals too were incorporated in his body, giving him the strength and instinct he needed to rule the most unstable realm of the three.

The ultimate evil.

The ultimate everything.

Suddenly a memory popped into my brain and the labyrinth I had been wandering around in for so long was finally solved and everything had become clear.

…Lena? I had heard that name before. Where? When? And how? Did I know her? This name unlocked something in the deepest labyrinth of my mind, but before I could grasp what it was… it slipped from my fingers like water…

We met in a park when we were young. My mother had just died and I had run away from my foster parents again and was hiding in a concrete tube kids used to climb through.

I saw a couple of small girls, playing in a sandbox, one wearing a pink and black striped tank top and a pair of shorts, her red hair up in a ponytail. The other wore a yellow tank top and recently torn jeans covered in mud, grass, and sand; her raven hair hung a little past her shoulders and tiny glasses hung off her nose. The young Lena and Freddy, laughing in glee and blissfully unaware of the fate that will befall them after meeting me in the non-to-distant future.

"Whatcha doin'?" I ask, a bit shy.

"Makin' sand castles, silly. Wanna help?"

"Sure!" I said, delighted I had found a friend. "What'ser name?"

"I'm Lena and this is my cousin, Fredrika."

I paused trying to pronounce the word and count the syllables with one hand. The black haired girl laid a sandy hand on my head.

"You can call me Freddy."

"Freddy? Okay, that's easy to say."

Then there was an explosion. I don't recall what from, but a couple of men came and picked up my newfound friends.

"Wait, daddy!" Lena jumped down from her father's arms and ran to me. "I don't know yer name."

"Kyo,"

The man came back to her again and picked her up hastily. "Come on, Lena, we must go."

"Bye-bye, Kyo!"

"Bye… er… Lena!"

Next thing I know, I'm knocked out cold, laying face first in the sand. But I remember the some words in my slumber…

"Lies and Deceit, though full of power,

Can still fall.

Reach for the symbol of truth in the darkest hour,

So the gates of heaven can still stand tall."

I looked at Satan and at Steve-O. "That's it. Oh my god, that's it! Steve-O! Throw me the crucifix!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!" He tossed the small cross and I caught it, and proceeded to place it on the hilt of the sword. "Satan! Your hour's up!"

"I think not," he sneered.

"Alright, your funeral." And I shouted the incantation. "LIES AND DECEIT, THOUGH FULL OF POWER, CAN STILL FALL. REACH FOR THE SYMBOL OF TRUTH IN THE DARKEST HOUR, SO THE GATES OF HEAVEN CAN STILL STAND TALL!"

Spontaneously, the sword absorbed the crucifix and a bright white light surrounded the room, blinding all except for Steve-O and myself. "I've heard the past'll give you wings, I hope mine will help me finish this." I whispered. A flash of silver and the sound colliding steel echoed across the walls. I now had long, steel wings. Futuristic or demonic, I couldn't tell but I was ready to rid this earth of the evil before me.

"You're meat, Satan!" and I charged.