A Pawn of the Devil Part 4

Sarah sat on the cold, hard rock. Her ankles finally stopped bleeding. She didn’t understand what this man had meant by magic making her wounds from before healed so perfectly. If it truly happened, there should have been cuts or stitches. Her mind just couldn’t wrap itself around it. And there was no way she could have died and came back. That was just pure fiction.



Foot steps sounded from across the cave. Sarah stiffened at the sound. What could possibly be next? Scooting as far back as she could against the rock wall, she braced herself.



“How are you doing, my dear?” Xaphan seemed to materialize out of the darkness. He wore clothes this time. A fancy looking suit in grey tones and stood straight with no indication of the previous curving of his back. How he came by this outfit was anyone’s guess. The last time she saw him, he was completely naked.



“Stop calling me that. It means nothing to you.” Sarah spat out the words. Her rage was overtaking her fear.



“On the contrary, I do. I care deeply about your role to play. The process must be done precisely.” He strode forward with the usual food offering. This time he also had a cup of water made from the same stone. “Here, eat. You will need your strength.”



She took the items reluctantly. He was right about one thing. She would need her strength. If an opportunity ever presented itself to her, she would try to escape. Not that she could see how it could happen, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. Everything he planned to do to her, she would fight it the whole way.



Within minutes of eating the bread and drinking the water, sharp pains emanated from her stomach. Sarah doubled over in pain. When she could raise her head, Xaphan smiled broadly. “What have you done to me?”





Xaphan scrunched his face. “Me? Why, I have done nothing. You chose to eat the food and drink the water. You have done this to yourself.”



Sarah threw the plate at him. To her horror, it passed right through him. “What the hell are you?” She couldn’t straighten her body out. The pain continued to increase with each passing second.



“Hell…” He tilted his head sideways. “That is what you mortals have named where I am from, I believe. Then, yes, I am from there. I descended with the first.” Now his face changed to pure rage. “His precious little projects! So perfect to Him. We become nothing in His eyes. I will show Him how fragile you all are. How imperfect.”



“That’s not possible. You can’t be….” Tears ran down Sarah’s face again. This time, from the impossibility of what he said. It couldn’t be true. He couldn’t be a demon or devil or whatever. Those things are not real.



“Oh, it is more real than you can imagine. We are always there even when you can not see us.”



Sarah began to vomit now. Her body contorted as her stomach expelled the poisoned food. She couldn’t seem to stop either. It just kept coming, even more than the measly amount of bread. If there was any kind of object near her, she would have probably killed herself right there and then. There wasn’t, though. So, she had to endure the poison running through her system and causing her body to try and remove it. When she felt she couldn’t take it anymore, it finally stopped. Sarah collapsed on her side.



Xaphan approached even closer. “Now, we progress.” He pulled her by one leg towards the edge of the platform. She tried to fight but was far too weak. With a wave of his hand, short brackets rose from the stone. He quickly tied her to each one.



He produced a thin, long blade from behind his back. The metal was gold colored and etched with symbols Sarah did not recognize. It cured like a fish carving knife would. The handle glowed bright white. He held it just above her stomach but did not stab downward. Instead, Xaphan slowly lowered it to barely touching her skin. It wouldn’t cut, but she could feel it. It glided along her skin from her stomach to her legs and then her arms. She kept waiting for the plunge but it didn’t come. The whole time, he hummed that same tune. He traced her face next, this time cutting in just enough to make her scream.



Sarah wanted so badly to pass out again, but for some reason, it wouldn’t happen. Each cut brought her closer, but the demon, entity, would pause long enough for her to recover. This time, she could feel her wounds closing almost as soon as he made them. This had to be a bad dream. She needed to wake up. None of this could be real. Deep down, she knew it was…