Page 44 of Unbinding the Demon
A quiet growl rumbled in my chest as I scowled at her, snatched the hat up, and put it on. A burst of laughter immediately erupted out of her. I was miffed at myself for giving in so easily. But after seeing the way her face lit up as she laughed at me like a loon, it was almost worth it. Mrs. Chuong pulled up an extra chair for me as I helped Gwendolyn set up the rest of her stuff. The three of us then sat and waited, with our stupid pumpkin hats all in a row.
I watched as the paintbrush delicately glided over smooth skin in graceful black strokes. Gwendolyn was painting a young boy, no older than five, who had requested to look like a demon. He wore little red plastic horns on his head and a black vampire cape on his back. She was painting what I thought looked similar to corpse paint; only she used a red base color instead of white.
The warmth and affection she showed the children made me believe she would be a wonderful mother someday. However, watching her interact with the little horned boy tugged at my heart in a strange way. I wanted to have children of my own eventually. If I ever made it back to Hell alive, that is. I had even imagined wedding a voluptuous demoness to start a family with once I returned, but that fantasy suddenly didn’t delight me so much anymore.
I gazed over at Gwendolyn with a confused frown. Her smile was radiant, and her eyes sparkled with genuine love. To me, she had the outer beauty of a goddess, but the light in her soul far outshone what was on the surface. An image of her with our own little green-eyed hellion slipped into my mind, causing a soft smile to sneak onto my face... I quickly shook that traitorous smile off. I was becoming far too attached.
“Hey Gwendolyn, I’m here to tag you out!” a girl who I recognized as one of her classmates said as she set her own art supplies down.
“Oh, perfect timing! I’m just about to add one finishing touch to Parker here, and then I’ll be out of your way.” She added a few more details to the boy’s face paint, her face tense with concentration.
Once she finished, she held a little mirror up to the boy’s face with an effervescent smile. The boy was so thrilled with his appearance that he gave Gwendolyn a big, bouncy hug. She hugged him back, laughing as she did so. Even though he looked like a horribly inaccurate depiction of a demon, my chest still constricted with longing at the sight.
“So, what makes you think demons have red skin?” I asked as we walked around the festival grounds like a couple of lovebirds, still wearing our pumpkin hats. We munched on apple cider doughnut bites while browsing a booth full of homemade jewelry and New Age paraphernalia. The scents of sage and incense were strong, mingling with the drifting smells of fried food and barn animals. I ran my thumb up the edge of a book about herbal witchcraft, watching as the pages fluttered beneath my touch.
I was curious why so many humans assumed demons had bright red skin. Sure, some demons had red eyes; even my mother’s eyes looked like rubies. Other demons with darker complexions could have a reddish undertone, but that was about as close as it got. Never did we look like a walking tomato, though.
“I don’t know. They look like that in a lot of movies, I guess.” She shrugged and grabbed a doughnut bite.
I wondered who the movie-making jackasses were when a scowling face in the crowd caught my eye. Adelstein, that abhorrent priest, was watching us from his church’s bake sale stand. There was no doubt in my mind that he was well aware of my true identity. He always accompanied those pathetic mages whenever they tried to coax me out of the shadows. He even performed more blood offerings than they did. I hadn’t wanted them to find out about my interest in Gwendolyn, but unfortunately, the damage was done. I’d just have to keep her away from those sick fucks, that’s all.
I pulled Gwendolyn’s head against my chest in a loving hug while maintaining eye contact with the priest. She mumbled something, but her cheeks were stuffed with doughnuts, muffling her words. A sinister grin stretched across my face, revealing my fangs. I was confident that no one in the crowd would notice. Even if they did, they wouldn’t think much of it because it was almost Halloween. Adelstein’s eyes flashed with fury, and I laughed, showing off my fangs even more. I knew I must have looked ridiculous doing that while wearing the pumpkin hat, but I didn’t care.
Gwendolyn gasped for air after she finally finished chewing. “As I was trying to say, do you want to get away from the crowd and go to the corn maze?” She gazed up at me with a smile. My fangs retracted just in time.
“I was hoping you’d want to do that.” I smiled back down at her and then gave her a big, lingering smooch, well aware of the fuming eyes that were still upon us.
With her hand in mine, we entered the corn maze. The tall green stalks swayed in the breeze all around us as we walked deeper and deeper into the field. I tried to scope out a suitable spot to swoop her off the path and fuck her in the dense leaves. However, each time I tried, I noticed a presence watching us. After a short while, it became quite apparent that we were being followed.
“Hey, look! I think this is glass gem corn over here!” Gwendolyn enthusiastically picked a cob from one of the stalks, causing it to rustle and bounce from side to side. Her eyes were full of wonder as she pulled back the pale green husk, revealing multicolored kernels that glistened like jewels in the sunlight. “Whoa! Check out how pretty they are!” She held it up for me to see, and then quickly picked another.
“Yes, those are certainly beautiful,” my voice was aloof with distraction. I glanced around, spotting our stalker a small distance away, hidden among the stalks like a snake in the grass.
Taking advantage of Gwendolyn’s preoccupied state, I approached the sneaking stranger, my steps silent and swift. I feigned indifference as I walked past him. Then I abruptly turned and pounced like a panther into the thick leaves. A low, predatory growl rumbled in my chest as I tackled him to the ground. He squealed like a pig, then made an“oof”noise as his body slammed to the dirt. He was a neatly dressed, chubby, middle-aged man with a sapphire necklace around his flabby neck.
“Why are you following us?” I growled menacingly as I pinned him down.
“Because I know what you plan to do with the girl!” he spat back with malice.
“Yes, I know. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I’m trying to find a secluded spot to fuck her in. You’re not one of those nasty peeping Toms, are you?” I pushed him down with even more force because I knew he was actually just a lowly mage.
“The only reason you’re interested in her is because she’s related to Elowynn. You need her blood or you’ll die. Isn’t that right,Azathoth?”His voice dripped with hatred as he sneered my name.
“Well, aren’t you clever?” I sneered back. “However, I’m a bit hurt that you think that’s the only reason for my interest. There’s so much that I genuinely admire and enjoy about her.” I shuddered at how true my sarcastic words were.
“Go back to hell, you grotesque abomination!” Saliva sprayed from his mouth and fell onto his fat, angry red face as he spoke.
If only it were that simple...
I sighed and used a claw to cut off his necklace. Then I flicked the gem away. “Oops, clumsy me.” My claws dug into his shoulders, causing him to hiss out in pain as I pulled him into the shadow realm. The sky became an eerie slate color, and the corn stalks blew forcefully around us. Everything was pretty much the same, just shadowed and dark. “You didn’t really think that your lousy enchanted gem would protect you, did you?” I laughed as I transformed into my true form, with my horns shredding through the stupid pumpkin hat. I quickly reached up and tore the silly, tattered thing off my head, then threw it to the side.
“Please... I-I’m just following orders. I’ll do anything you want, just please don’t hurt me,” he sputtered as fear etched his blobby features. His face contorted in pain, and his heart raced. The sound was music to my ears.
Such a worthless coward...
“Yes, I believe you. I’ve paid enough attention to you buffoons to understand that you’re just the sad, idiotic Igor of the group, and thus utterly useless to me.” Little red droplets dripped to the ground as I trailed a claw down his cheek. I smiled in amusement as he whimpered in pain.
“Please, I-I made blood offerings to you! Don’t you remember!?” His breathing was heavy, and he was growing more panicked by the second.
