Heroes

Chapter 5: A Demon Boy Named Pascal

It was a rainy Monday at midnight. It was about 1:00 in the morning and a fierce storm was present. I slept through the raging thunder and pounding rain in Lou's arms. The thunder and rain were deafening, drowning out the sounds of the air conditioner, Lou's snoring, and cars passing by the house. I continued to sleep for a few fleeting seconds before I heard it. I heard a faint crying sound. I woke up and looked around. The crying continued. It sounded like a little boy's crying. I tried to focus on where I heard the crying and eventually, I noticed it was coming from the woods behind the house. That seemed peculiar as I couldn't even hear my own thoughts due to the storm. "What's that?" I asked myself.

I picked up a crutch that I was using after I broke my leg and put on my arm. I walked downstairs and opened the back door. I had a flashlight and I walked to open the gate at the back of the backyard. I heard the crying get louder and I shouted out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

The crying started to quiet like whoever was crying was trying to mask it. I heard a rustling to the right of me. I motioned the flashlight over to the rustling. Suddenly, I saw a young boy. He had orange hair, ivory skin, and red eyes. He wore a tattered, tan tunic with a brown belt of aging leather around his stomach, and brown pants. His feet were bare and blistered. I also noticed a pair of grey horns and a grey tail that looked like the tail Rue and Autumn have. It seemed to be a little demon boy. He looked about 3 years old at least to me. I made my way over to him. "Hello," I greeted with my voice soft, "are you ok?"

The demon boy quickly scooted back and was shivering. "Please, don't hurt me! Get away from me!" he screamed.

A red aura surrounded him and he stopped shivering. I created an aura of heat to warm him up. He looked at me. I knelt to his level and told him, "The last thing I want to do is hurt you. You don't deserve it. I know you don't. I can help you, but you got to tell me who you are and what happened."

"Pascal," he began to say with a meek voice, "I am Pascal. I woke up in the hole."

      Pascal pointed to an old well in a clearing ahead of us. "You woke up in the well?" I inquired, trying to clarify what he had told me.

     Pascal nodded. I looked at the crumbling, thorny, vine-covered well and then back at Pascal. I asked, "If you don't mind telling me, how old are you?"

"Three, madam," he answered, "I was born on the 13th of Octwober in 1330."

1330? That boy was around 719 years old. "Do you remember how you got in the well?" I questioned.

Pascal nodded and said, "I think. Mother and Father said my eyes were the eyes of the devil and then I remember going to sleep."

I went silent. That poor boy was thrown down a well and frozen in time for 716 years over his eye color? He looked scared and confused. I couldn't just leave a little boy alone in the woods. "Come on," I said, holding out my prosthetic arm, "come with me and I'll get you something to eat."

Pascal grabbed my hand. I limped back to the house. Pascal looked around with awe and curiosity in his eyes. It's obvious he's never seen anything like my house before. "Are you a princess or noble?" he asked me, being as serious as a 3-year-old can be.

I chuckled as I turned on the kitchen light and replied, "Not by any means, but things have gotten a lot cheaper while still being expensive."

Pascal looked at the lights hanging from the ceiling. "Those glass cages," he started to say, "is there fire in them?"

"Yep. That's why we don't touch them when they are lit."

I opened the fridge and took out some bacon and some eggs. I grabbed two pans from the drawer below the stove and placed them on the stovetop. I put the eggs and bacon in the separate pans. I guess the smell of bacon is an alarm clock for some people because as I started to cook the bacon and eggs, Pascal and I heard footsteps. They were coming from upstairs. The staircase is to the left of the kitchen and was carpeted, but that didn't stop the steps from creaking. Pascal quickly hid behind me. Rubbing his eyes while turning the corner came Lou. He yawned as he asked, "Kira? Why are you making breakfast at 1:15 in the morning?"

"It's not for me," I explained, "It's for him."

Lou looked confused until Pascal peeked his head out from behind me. Lou looked down. "A kid? Where'd you find him?" he asked me.

         I put a hand on Pascal's head as I answered with, "I found him in the woods. He fell down the well and got hurt."

         "He looks young," Lou remarked before turning to Pascal, "How old are you, kid?"

           "I am 3, sir," Pascal told him.

            I turned back to the stove and took the cooked bacon and eggs out of the pan and put them onto a plate before handing the plate to Pascal. I noticed Lou was looking at me like he wanted to talk, so I said to Pascal, "Stay here, ok? I have to talk to Lou."

          Pascal nodded with his mouth full of eggs as I walked out to the front porch with Lou. "So," Lou began, "is that kid a demon?"

          "Seems that way, but he doesn't seem like he got killed, it seems like he feel into a deep, 716-year sleep," I replied, forgetting that Lou didn't know he was from 7 centuries ago.

            Scratching his head, Lou questioned, "716 years?"

             "Yeah," I started to explain, "he told me his parents thought his red eyes meant he was the devil. Then, they supposedly threw him into a well. If he was really born in 1330 like he said, that would mean he got thrown into the well in 1333."

              Lou went silent for a moment. "So, what do we do with the kid?" he finally asked.

              I thought for a few moments. Pascal was a 3-year-old, so we couldn't just let him walk about in a big city by himself and even if he was older, he's from a completely different time. He'd get eaten alive if he was by himself. There was only one option.  I sighed and said, "We let him stay with us. It's too dangerous for him to be out and about on his own."

             Lou nodded, not really questioning me. We walked back in to Pascal who devoured the bacon and eggs I cooked. "Pascal," I started to ask, "do you want to stay with us?"

            Pascal's ruby-red eyes lit up instantly. He beamed as he quickly hugged me. "Yes, ma'am!" he squealed in glee.

           Lou and I chuckled. I walked Pascal to the small attic. There was a window seat where Pascal crawled into. I put a cushion and pillow on it and as Pascal lay down, I draped the multicolored, pastel, crocheted blanket that Mom had made over him. I also sat Mom's childhood Teddy Bear, Dylan, next to him as he fell asleep. I smiled and said, "Goodnight, Pascal."

          Lou and I went back to bed and for once, I sort of felt at peace. I helped someone and even though my mom didn't hate me for my physical features, I still lost her. I have my dad, who I love, but I still lost a parent. Pascal had lost his parents, though I doubt he misses them after what they did. I think, even though he is basically a demon, that Mom or maybe even someone like Lucille, whom I helped 2 years ago, sent him to me as a guardian angel. As I closed my eye, I uttered two simple words.

  
         "Thank you."

((Aw, wholesome moment))