Читать книгу A Friend to the Darkness - Katherine Rathbone - Страница 1

It was a cold, crisp night, the first time I met a demon. I was a restless teenager, who didn’t fit in at school at all. I did all of the normal rebellious teenager things. I snuck out to parties, I drank, I smoked. I still don’t really understand why, but despite my best efforts with the other kids, they hated me. So, I went looking for different- more rebellious- rebels, and I managed to track down a small group of self- proclaimed Satanists. They weren’t affiliated with the Church of Satan, and looking back, their ideology was very closely modelled on Christianity. But sixteen year old me thought that they were beyond edgy and super cool. I joined.

Well, I tried to join anyway. We met on a small hill on the outskirts of town. The others were dressed in long robes with deep hoods. Very mysterious. A pentagram was marked out on the grass with flour, and there were groups of candles at each of the five points. Tea lights. It was a small town with no shops that stocked a variety of candles, so they had to make do, I guess.

There was myself and one other supplicant. We were told the words of the oath we were to repeat:

“All Hail the Dark Lord.

My body shall be your sword.

All Hail Satan, who gives us a chance.

You have my allegiance.

All Hail He of the Night,

You have my soul.”

I snorted despite myself. I guess they couldn’t find a crappy rhyme for soul. Everyone glared at me, and I coughed weakly. “Sorry, I guess I’m coming down with something.” I muttered, trying hard not to smile.

The other supplicant took her place in the middle of the pentagram. Her voice shook as she repeated the oath, and she jumped with a squeak as the candle flames leapt as she finished. I tried so hard not to laugh at the conspicuousness of it all. The cultists at each point of the pentagram had dropped a powder into the flames, but the girl in the middle hadn’t noticed. I managed to control myself.

She exited the pentagram, a look of pure excitement and wonder on her face. I took my place, trying not to let my amusement and, I’ll admit, condescension show. I cleared my throat, and spoke loudly and clearly.

“All Hail the Dark Lord.

My body shall be your sword.

All Hail Lucifer, who gives us a chance.

You have my allegiance.

All Hail He of the Night.”

I looked around at the group. They stared back. Someone ventured, “And the rest?”

“Nah, I’m good thanks.” I replied.

“But you haven’t finished the oath!”

“Lord Lucifer!” I called out theatrically. “You have my allegiance, my Lord. But if you want my soul, you’re going to have to earn it.”

Pandemonium broke out. “Blasphemy!”“How dare you!” And various other disbelieving noises.

“SILENCE!” I guess that person must be the leader. The others grew quiet, but shuffled their feet and glared at me.

“Tell me, child, Are you too proud to give yourself to our Dark Lord? Do you think you’re that special?” They had drawn close to me, and stood threateningly over me.

I took a step closer so I was toe to toe with the taller figure. I had to crane my neck to look up to them. Fuck being short. I put my hands on my hips, and replied, “Damn straight I’m special. I’m fucking remarkable, and if He wants my soul, He can work for it.”

If I thought pandemonium broke out before, it was nothing compared to what happened now. They couldn’t form sentences, and their faces were masks of shock, disbelief and mounting anger. They started to crowd around me. Their leader brought them under control again, and sent them back to their assigned pentagram points. I smirked at them. The leader addressed me coldly.

“You will complete the oath, child.”

“I’ve said as much of that oath as I am going to.” I stood my ground.

“You will finish it.”

“I will not.” I may have had a slightly mocking tone.

“If you refuse to finish the oath, then you refuse our brotherhood.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it was lovely to meet you all, but I guess that means I’m out.” I shrugged, turned on my heel, and walked away. I heard voices dwindling as I left.

“Is she seriously leaving?”“What the hell?”“Who the fuck does she think she is?!”

I smiled to myself, a little bitterly, shoved my hands into my pockets and kept walking. I wandered for a while, stewing about how much of a disappointment that had turned out to be. Eventually, I headed for home, cutting through a park. I was caught up in my own thoughts, when a woman’s voice from in front of me asked, “Hey kid, got a light?”

Automatically, I replied, “Fuck off, weirdo.” And didn’t break stride. She stepped out from behind the tree, into a pool of light from a streetlight. “Very dramatic.” I was sarcastic, and still didn’t slow down. I was watching her warily though, ready to bolt if she tried to move any closer to me. She was between me and home. As I got closer, though, I realised something was off about her. Her skin was red, and she had sky blue horns on her head that curved gently back from her scalp.

“What the fuck? You get lost going to a costume party?” I studied her more closely. She had done an amazing job on the costume. Her horns matched the blue of her eyes. Her long, dirty blonde hair was wound into a practical braid. I couldn’t see how she had attached the horns to her head; they seemed to spring from her skull. Her clothes were leather, and her boots were heavy and practical. She had done an incredible job of painting her skin red. It was dark, and it darkened further to a bruised purple in the folds of her skin, around her eyes and knuckles. She was so beautiful. Then, I noticed her nails.

Or more correctly, talons. They were definitely not fake nails. They looked more as if they belonged on a bird of prey than a human, and they were the same sky blue as her horns and eyes. On one hand, she wore a leather glove. She smiled, a lazy, predatory smile, and said, “I’ll ask again. Got a light, Katie?”

I was shocked that she knew my name, and a bizarre idea took root in my mind. I said to her, kind of shakily, “I’m guessing you’re a demon? And it wouldn’t end well for me if I said no again?”

She smiled widely at me and said, “You swore allegiance to my Master. If you refuse me, I might tear your earthly body to tiny pieces, and carry your soul back with me to Hell. I would present it on a silver platter to Lucifer himself.” The streetlight darkened. I couldn’t hear cars passing anymore, or any of the small animals scurrying around- none of the noises that fill the night without you realising. The… woman… in front of me seemed to grow taller. Or the space between us shrank.

I swallowed hard, and said to her, “I doubt it. I mean if I fight you, and I don’t think I’d let something tear me into tiny pieces without fighting, then I am resisting evil and obviously repenting my wicked ways, so I’ll go the other way. After all, I never pledged my soul.”

She snapped back to her original size and gaped at me. I took her cigarette from her hand, lit it for her, and handed it back. She looked at the smoke, looked at me, then laughed and laughed.

"I see why you interest Him. You interest me, and that’s saying something.” She paused then, and stared off into nothingness for a bit, before shaking her head briskly and offering me a smoke. “My brother is on his way. I think he’d like to meet you. Wanna hang for a bit?” And she wandered over to a park bench and took a seat.

I blinked, and then a second demon was there, a guy this time, his back to me, facing her. “You called, sister dear?” His voice was musical, and he seemed on the verge of laughter. I jumped, and flushed a little. His voice was beautiful, and I felt like I could listen to him talk all night.

The woman looked at me slyly. “I thought you might like to meet our latest…devotee. Sebastian, meet Katie. Katie, my brother, Sebastian.”

He turned to look at me, and I was entranced. He was just as beautiful as his voice. He was tall, head and shoulders taller than me. His hair was short and nondescript brown, slightly longer on top than on the sides. Like his sister, his horns, eyes and talons were all the same colour. Unlike his sister, they were a brilliant emerald green. He had a generous mouth, slightly turned up at the corners as if he were suppressing a grin. His eyes sparkled with amusement.

I swallowed hard, took a step closer, and held out my hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you.” My voice only shook a little bit. He glanced at his sister, then back to me, a calculating look on his face. He took my hand, and pulled me closer to him. I stumbled into him, briefly noting that he was as muscular as his sister looked, and was strong. Very strong.

“Hello there.” He looked down at me, eyes narrowed, waiting for my reaction.

I yanked my hand away from his, and tried to shove him away. I was happy to note he was slightly unbalanced and took a step back. I did the same, widening the gap between us. “Gross. You’ve got to be, like, at least 23.” I snapped at him. He rubbed his chest absentmindedly.

“Give or take a few thousand years, yeah.” He turned to his sister. “She’s feisty, Sera.”

“Isn’t she.” Her reply was a more of a statement than a question. They both watched me, and I couldn’t read their expressions. I glared back at them.

Sebastian broke the silence with a laugh. “Well, what can you do for us, devotee?”

I laughed back at him. “I’m not your devotee, buddy. I pledged my allegiance to Lucifer, not you.”

He threw his head back and laughed and laughed.

“Oh, she is going to be so much fun!” He exclaimed. Sera smiled briefly in agreement. I put my hands on my hips, and glared at them. He snorted at me, and said with an amused tone, “Well, we’ll see you around, devotee. Let’s go, Sera.” They both smirked and wiggled their fingers at me, before they disappeared.

“Holy. Fuck.” I said the words out loud, and sat at the picnic table to collect my thoughts. So demons were real. And so, I assumed, was Lucifer. What had I gotten my stupid arse into?! I wandered home, pondering the expansion of my reality.