The Devil's Hand

The Traitor and the Crow

Screams filled the musty air. People said the Demon Apocalypse ended a year ago, but I knew it would never end. Diseases lived in the very air we breathed; plants withered as building crumbled to dust. The sea levels rose dramatically, yet all the fish were dead. Radioactive bugs owned the air and there were man-eating plants at our feet. We shave our heads to keep the parasites and fleas away. The sky turned brown with blood and deadly chemicals that are released into the air. Cemeteries overflowed, corpses were buried everywhere. The earth was just an enormous gravestone.
        I shall always remember those who died, even though their deaths were in vain. For the demons are unstoppable.
        I sat alone on the roof of an abandoned building, gazing up at the dirty sky. My jeans were shredded and my jacket barely kept me warm. The sun burned down on me skin, the heat so intense that it would have made me scream a year ago. A year ago I was the perfect daughter. I clenched my fists as my mind flew back to the past…

        I was thirteen years old when the war started. I was called Chloe, a sweet and cheerful girl. Often praised for my looks, I put flowers in my hair and wore pretty dresses. As the daughter of billionaires people treated me with great respect. I was feeble, weak, useless! My parents were the first to die
I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the screams of my parents. I ran through our mansion as it burst into flames and hid in the safe house for days. I would still be there today if it weren’t for Evalïne Sparrow. She broke her way in and held me in her arms as I cried. Then she handed me a gun and told me to fight.
        
I patted the gun in my pocket. It was small and light, and I hated it. Our weapons were meant for killing, but this gun was unsatisfactory. The demons deserve to feel pain, with guns, one shot and they’re down. Whereas with daggers where you feel their life fade away as they gasp for the next breath they will never receive. I never wash the blade, I let it rust with blood. It never was a clean cut.
There weren’t many of us left. Around a thousand I guessed.That little girl my parents knew is gone as well. When I shot my first demon, any remainder of Chloe broke. As I stepped on the bones of the demon with a grin on my face, the sweet little girl died. She died and a survivor replaced her, a survivor called Klō.

* * *

I was woken from my daze as I felt a hand on my ankle. The hand was grimy and covered in blood. I immediately knew it was a demon. It’s fingernails dug holes into my leg as I looked down at it coldly. I reached down and yanked the arm off the foul beast. As blood lined the floor I grabbed it’s deformed head and pulled it up. I put one hand around it’s throat and grabbed a dagger in the other. I stabbed the dagger in it’s stomach and twisted it. I kept twisting and turning the dagger, destroying all of its inner organs. The demon spat blood in my face, red seared my vision. I held the demon still as I ripped out it’s throat. Flesh flew everywhere as I threw the wretched body on the ground. I stomped down on its chest, the sound of breaking bones was music to my ears. I wiped the blood off my shaved head and went back to dreaming, dreaming of a world without demons.
As my dream slowly ended, I woke to the setting of the sun. The muddy sky turned blood red.
“It’s nice isn’t it?” A voice asked from behind me. I jumped up and turned around, ready to fight. When I saw who it is my face softened.
“Sanlief, it’s dangerous for a little girl like you to be out here.” I said, worrying about the height. Seconds later there was a knife at my throat.
“Don’t you dare call me that, peasant!” She snarled as the knife cut farther into my skin. “Sanlief is dead. My name is Rogue.”
I sighed and stepped back, my hands up in submission. But I had forgotten about the demon. I stumbled over the corpse, my arms flailing as I tripped off the edge of the roof.
Then I stopped falling, my right arm felt it was being ripped off. I was pulled up by my someone new. As soon as I got my balance back I turned around to face my saviour, Evalïne Sparrow, codename “Shadow”.
I glanced at her long, masculine face and determined red eyes. Like all of us she was wearing leather. The only material we can find in this forsaken place.
I looked around and asked, “Um, where are the boys?”
“You better see for yourself” Shadow replied as she grabbed for my arm again, this time for guidance. I tried to reach out and take Rogue’s but she flinched away with a menacing glare. She lowered herself off the roof, down to the monstrous plants below.
Shadow followed her down, pulling me along. On our long climb down, we grabbed onto a long rope that hung all the way down the side of the of the building, ending at a small window ledge that led to where we lived. As I reached the window we sung in.
Shadow took my hand as I glanced around the room. Concrete walls crumbled, the doorway in the far corner of the room was covered in blood from past victories.
I slowly stepped into the next room, careful and waiting. Demon bodies carpeted the floor, heads hung like trophies. And in the middle the boys were packing their bags.
Aaron carefully chose valuable items to take while Relyt’s bag was overflowing with junk.
I stormed over to them and sternly asked, “Where’d the Crow go?”
I glared into the eyes of the cowards, their bald heads were soaked from nervous sweat.
Relyt finally spoke, “He left, we’re leaving! We’re leaving this forsaken place!” Relyt yells, “No one can survive here! No one!”
I slowly stepped forward, my eyes glaring daggers. I reached out and grabbed his face with my hand. “So you want to die then?” I mocked, my long fingernails scratching his face. “You want to die!” I screamed. “Then die already.”
Relyt backed slowly away, shaking his head, panic clear in his eyes. He turned around and ran, only to meet the angry faces of Shadow and Rogue. The only way to run was a window, whipping his head to face me he pressed his back against the wall. Shivering in fear. I fingered the dagger in my hand, wondering just how well he would look with a mustache of blood. I slowly stepped forward and held the dagger up high. I threw the dagger, its path headed straight for Relyt’s throat.
When I heard it hit, I turned around, a satisfied grin on my face and turned to face Aaron. As I stepped forward I heard Relyt fall down, out the window, to the plants below. I grabbed Aaron by the collar and spat into his face. Unlike Relyt, he faced my gaze with pure determination. He could always put up a good fight, but no one beat me. No one but the Crow.
“I shall give you one more chance.” I snapped. “Where’s the Crow?” Aaron shook as he slowly pointed to the doorway. I turned around to see a mocking figure in the shadows. He was the only one who hadn’t shaved his head. Short black hair covered his head. He raised his eyebrows and grinned, a grin that showed he won. I had found my Crow.