Touched by the Devil

Touched by the Devil #29

Gabe had never feared anything as much as he feared the cave wall house. The rocky halls smelt off death and the rooms were too open, too spacious for the threat that hid in its shadows.  

Gaenor’s  so called ‘tutor’ had given him specific instructions not to leave the study. He didn’t know if he liked that or not, for all he knew this could be some kind of demon trap and Gaenor’s sudden fainting fits could be designed to lead him in to a false sense of security. Gabe made a sharp turn and carried on pacing the room, his boots sounded like thunder on the rocky floor.

The way he saw it he had two options: wait for that scaly lizard to find them, or wait for one of these spiked tooth freaks to eat him.

Neither he liked very much, hanging around in a place Gaenor had admitted she didn’t even like wasn’t helping him.

Outside of the study came a low groan, the sound snowballing into a chorus of wails and grating snarls. Gabe’s stomach clenched, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end as he faced the door.

Yeah, he really didn’t want to stay here anymore.

The longer the cries went on, the more Gabe realised they had morphed into a sort of otherworldly screeches. Like somebody was mercilessly sawing a rusty drainpipe with a rusty chainsaw.

He didn’t hear anybody approaching the door, he wouldn’t have been prepared to defend himself even if he had. Suddenly the heavy wooden door burst inwards, the hinges snapping from the wall and smashing to pieces on the other side of the room.

Gabe ducked, his hand instinctively reaching for his guns when he realised the door hadn’t fallen. Surprised, Gabe glanced up, his gun aimed steadily at the door, and froze. Standing in the doorway, one hand gripping the edge of the door with enough force to splinter the wood, was a demon.

There was no other way for him to describe it. Grey leathery skin, soulless black eyes, crooked black teeth and claws. Its ears had sharpened and its legs looked as if they had been bent backwards. But it was walking and it was looking straight at him and for the first time in a very long time Gabe was terrified.

“Human,” the demon screeched out its voice grating in its throat, its nostrils flaring in his direction.

Gabe had already pulled the trigger, a crack slicing through the demonic cries outside. The demon had vanished. Like some warped apparition, the only evidence of its existence being the splintered fallen door. Not believing his eyes, Gabe spun behind him and came face to face with the monster. It snarled at him, a sweet decaying smell bursting from its stretched lips. The demon twisted Gabe’s arm and the next thing he knew he was on his back, his gun clattering across the study floor.

“Amelia sent me,” the demon snarled its face far too close to Gabe’s neck for his liking.

“Should have known this was a trap,” Gabe growled not daring to move while that thing lingered so close to him. Already it was obvious he wasn’t as fast.

“Not a trap,” the demon spat, “attack, the Angel is here.”

A screech like grated metal echoed through the halls. The demon lifted its head and snarled. Gabe barely had time to move before the monster grabbed his shirt and hauled him to his feet before setting off down the twisting hallways.

Gabe didn’t have much of a choice but to run along with him, its claws twisted into his shirt prevented him from doing much. It was run or be dragged; simple.

Suddenly the demon stopped, and lunged into a different room, Gabe tripping up and flying into the doorframe after it. Pain blooded in his shoulder, his neck aching from the whiplash until the door was slammed shut and barricaded.