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Description

Here it is. My baby! I've been working on this story for so long now, and I'm always tweaking and improving it. Please keep in mind it's in the rough draft stage. I lay my creation down to the mercy of your judgement! Enjoy! (I'm not happy with the color of his clothes >.> )

Chapter 2 here > asmodeus623.deviantart.com/art…

Chapter 1 - A Strange new world

The Divide. That is the place the demons call home. Ruled by the council, a group of demons that posess superior power over all it's denizens. Their word is law. No one knows the council's true numbers, powers or ways of doing things. All is known is that they are greatly feared.

It is because the council allows it that there is a family of highbloods ruling as royalty. The king and queen are allowed to rule their kingdom however they see fit, but at a cost. If and when the council decides it is time for the crown to be passed down, any children born of the king and queen must take part in a seemingly timeless tradition call the trial. The trial is a deadly competition between siblings where the goal is to kill the others and collect their life force with special stones made from their blood called soul stones.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gesh felt drunk with anticipation knowing he finally had him. Bragg was tired, wounded and weak. He would not best him. They flew at top speed through shimmering divide clouds, Gesh gaining on Bragg inch by inch.

"Just give up, Bragg! You know who is going to win this fight!" Gesh yelled.

Bragg glanced over his shoulder at his brother with a determined smirk, then shot straight downward. He tucked his wings and limbs in tight to gain as much speed as he possibly could. Surprised by the manuever, Gesh cursed and adjusted.

"Come now Bragg, you are only delaying the inevitable! Stop fleeing and let me get this over with so I can go home, relax and enjoy my victory!"

Gesh's cocky words had no effect on Bragg's focus. He had a plan. Bragg wispered a spell and seconds later the wispy surroundings of the Divide thinned and faded away. In their place was now a large building sitting in front of an even larger parking lot. About half the parking spots had cars and there were large trees dotting the lot here and there.

Bragg quickly flared his wings and braced for impact with the ground. As his clawed feet touched the asphalt, he swiftly pulled out a dagger and took a second to scope out his new surroundings. He knew it was a dangerous risk going to the human world, but he was too desperate to care. Luckily, he materialized in a spot where no one had seen him. He wispered another spell that would make the humans blind to his existence and then looked around to see if Gesh had sensed where he had disappeared to. He knew it would be only a matter of minutes before his brother found him.

He made his way toward the store and all the humans coming and going about their lives. He came to a tall tree with lots of leaves and branches to hide in, climbed up and waited.

Moments later, Gesh appeared right where Bragg himself had emerged. He landed and froze like a deer in headlights. He had never been to the human world before and was feeling quite unnerved and out of his element. The human world had been declared off limits for all of demon kind long ago. So long ago that the average demon didn't even know why, nor did they care. Demon children were taught to think of humans as unintelligent, disgusting and unsavory creatures that are beneath them. And that is exactly how Gesh felt now.

"Bragg, you troublesome bastard!" he growled to himself.

As he looked around for his brother he saw a pair of humans walking in his direction. He had only ever seen humans as drawings in books. These two, a man and a woman, looked aged and frail as they pushed a metal basket filled with various items that Gesh didn't recognize. Suddenly realizing he forgot his cloaking spell, he ducked down behind a large vehicle before the old couple noticed him. He thought hard trying to recall the correst spell, the tip of his tail twitching nervously.

He heard the rattling of the cart right on the other side and suddenly he envisioned the words. He quickly chanted his spell and vanished from sight just as the old woman turned the corner. He stood and backed away as she stared at the spot he had just been hiding. The woman seemed confused for a moment, but then just shrugged and got in her vehicle. As Gesh watched these humans he struggled to hold back and irritated snarl in their direction. His spell casting wasn't as polished as it should be, which resulted in him only being able to turn invisible. He could still be heard and felt by everyone.

Now that he was cloaked he relaxed and looked around, taking in this new world. It was startlingly different from the Divide. The inhabitants, structures, colors and smells, all like nothing he'd experienced before. If he hadn't had an overwhelming sense of urgency to find and kill Bragg and leave, he very much would've liked to explore the human realm. Particularly a certain intoxicating smell he couldn't place that caught his attention. But the council had made contact with humans punishable by death, which he very much wanted to avoid.

So with that in mind, he turned his focus back to finding Bragg as soon as possible. He followed his brother's faint trail through the parking lot, his eyes cautiously darting all around.

Great. Just great! You belong here with all the dim-witted dirt dwellers, Bragg!

Suddenly he was attacked from above. He had no time to react and defend. Bragg had tackled him to the ground. They were wrestling, each trying to get the upper hand and visciously clawing at one another. Eventually, Bragg got on top. But when he tried to strike with his dagger, Gesh saw a small window and successfully kicked him off. Instead of coming back at Gesh, he took to the air and hovered mockingly above him. Gesh collected himself and followed. He quickly realized he had to work harder to fly in the human world. He flared his massive wings wide and beat the air relentlessly. He also noticed that Bragg didn't seem to be having as much trouble as he was adjusting to the place, which perturbed him.

"All your sight-seeing gave me plenty of time to recooperate. Thanks for that," Bragg said, with an enormous shit eating grin on his face. Gesh's anger increased.

"Why did you lead us here Bragg? Do you want us both to get sentenced to death? That is hardly the way for me to win the crown, now is it?"

Bragg laughed hard.

" Oh little brother. You still take that big bad rule so seriously? And to think, YOU almost had ME beat. Shameful," he teased, as he shook his head.

Gesh's blood boiled with anger at his brother's description of him. He was often called "little" by his brothers, not because he was younger, they were all the same age. But because he was the smallest in size. It was a sore spot for him. Turning serious, Bragg continued.

"As for why I led us here. Unlike the shivering little child that you are, I have been here many times before. I just figured I could gain the upper hand by trapping you in unfamiliar territory."

Gesh ground his teeth together, determined not to let Bragg see how badly he was getting to him. Then he forced out a joking laugh.

"Trap me? Your idea of a trap is a little....off. Don't you agree?"

Bragg said nothing. Only uncurled his fingers, revealing a dark blue stone in his palm. Gesh's eyes widened and he frantically searched himself. The black strip of leather that held his soul stone was broken. He realized Bragg must have siezed it amidst the scuffle on the ground.

"I am only going to say this once. Give back my soul, now, and I will make your death painless."

Bragg's eyes flicked to the lot below them and Gesh's gaze followed. They both saw a human girl walking to her car beneath, her dark brown hair glistening in the sunlight. Bragg smiled as he slowly tilted his hand, letting the stone slide off to the ground. Gesh could only watch as the only important thing he owned landed in the girl's path.

"Too bad little brother," Bragg said, as he turned to fly away. Gesh lunged at him, furious and much less confident now. He felt so sluggish as he flapped his wings as hard as he could. But because Bragg had conditioned his body to be able to traverse the human world easily, Gesh was no match for him in the air. So he gave up and watched him disappear into the blue of the sky. He then whipped around, frantically searching for his soul stone. He watched in horror seeing that the human girl noticed it.

* * * * *

She heard a "clink". Thinking she dropped something she looked down at her feet. There, sparkling in the sunlight, was a beautiful gemstone. Instantly mesmerized by the jewel's luscious deep blue color, she bent to pick it up.

Where did this come from?

As she plucked it off the ground she felt a sudden wind. It was so strong it almost knocked her over. But it only lasted for a second and it was gone. She looked around in confusion. The trees in the parking lot were still as statues. There wasn't even a slight breeze. She decided to ignore it and looked back at the jewel in her hand. The stone itself fit in the palm of her hand and was an imperfect diamond shape. It was entwined in black metal with two rings of the same material attached on the sides. She stood up and took a quick look around to see if maybe she could spot the person who might have lost it. Not seeing anyone else around she dropped the jewel in her purse, got in her car and headed for home.

* * * * *

Gesh wasn't sure what to do. He had no idea what humans were capable of. And he hated to admit it, but he was afraid of this whole situation. Bragg had indeed trapped him here in entirely unfamiliar territory. Gesh now wished he had paid more attention to the spell master and history master. He figured he didn't need to learn about creatures he was never going to encounter. Feeling angry and defeated, he decided he should keep the girl and his soul stone in sight. He couldn't go home without it. And who knew what foul things this human girl planned to do with it?

He did know, at least, that Bragg wouldn't tell anyone he was in the human's realm. That wasn't his style. He would take this time to plan how he could beat Gesh himself, one on one. Gesh was oddly comforted by that. He followed the girl's car, tailing her from the air. The cool wind felt refreshing on his skin. A pleasant change from the muggy Divide air. Just as his muscles were becoming unbearably sore from flying, the car reached it's destination.

"Thank Eternity!" Gesh groaned, as he thudded heavily to the ground and rubbed his back and wings.

The girl got out of her car, collected some stuff from the back and entered her house.

This must be where this human lives.

Once she was inside, he found a window and watched. She walked through a room that contained a couch and t.v., and into another with a table. She set her purse down and disappeared around the corner. Gesh could hear various "clanks" and "bangs" and running water. He was curious to see what she was doing in there. Against his better judgement he went to the front door and opened it as quietly as he could. He could barely fit through the door frame as he entered. After shutting it just as quietly, he heard a sudden squeal from the girl.

"EEEEE! HOLY COW YOU'RE HUGE!"

Gesh nearly jumped through the roof thinking she could see him somewhow. He whipped around, ready to attack, and saw that she wasn't even focused in his direction. She was hopping around on her tip toes and flapping her hands up and down as she rushed back to the other room. She shortly returned with a cup and pencil.

What in Eternity is she doing?

The girl crept slowly to the center of her living room where there sat a little brown spider. He could sense her apprehension grow the closer she got to the tiny creature. After crouching over and staring at it (for far too long in Gesh's opinion) she set the cup near the spider and flicked it in with the pencil. Gesh had to quickly get out of the way as she ran to the door like her ass was on fire and threw the spider out.

"There you go. Now go find a new home," she said, in a soft and gentle tone, and shut the door.

Gesh could hardly believe what he'd just witnessed. Any demon would have went right up to that spider and stomped on it. Harder than necessary. And humans were believed to be even more unnecessarily murderous and cruel. But this one was afraid of it AND she set it free? He suddenly felt very ridiculous for being fearful of this weak and harmless human. With his confidence renewed he continued to watch her as she went about her business.

He saw that she was preparing to cook a meal for herself and the sudden thought of food made his stomach grumble.

Uuuugh, I need to get my soul and get home. I'm STARVING.

As he was heading to the table where her purse was she walked over and grabbed it first, taking it out of the kitchen. Impatient and annoyed he growled as she was going past him. She stopped dead in her tracks and listened. Upon seeing how spooked she was he decided to have a little fun. He let his growl grow louder, longer and deeper. The girl looked all over, her minty green eyes wide with fear, desperately trying to understand what she was hearing.

WHAT THE HELL.....?!

She was gripping her purse as if she was getting ready to hit something with it.

"HUMAN!" Gesh roared.

The girl jumped and screamed.

"You have something that belongs to me!"

Her face went wild with panic and confusion.

"Whoever's doing this, it's not fucking funny! I'm calling the police!" she screamed at her living room, as she fumbled around trying to use her phone with shaky hands.

Gesh swiped at her, knocking the phone from her grasp. She yelped, pulled her hand back and began to tremble when she saw the scratches his claws left across her palm. Then he let his cloak fade away slowly. He came into view starting with his huge beastly clawed feet. The girl gasped sharply at the grey skinned monster appearing before her.

"OH...."

Then his long smooth tail and muscular torso.

"....MY...."

Finally, his magnificent leathery wings and horns that curved backward out of his head of shoulder length messy black hair. He had a black goatee to match and long fangs adding to his intimidating appearance.

"....GOD!"

He towered over her. He had to be about 7 feet tall, while she was only five five. Gesh took a step towards her and she scrambled backwards until the wall stopped her.

"W....WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" she managed to force out.

"Give me my soul stone back," he snarled menacingly, through his sharp teeth.

Soul stone?! Is he... talking about that thing I found in the parking lot?!

"NOW!" Gesh bellowed, impatiently.

His outburst startled her making her jump. In a fearful panic she quickly dumped out the contents of her purse. Swatting aside various items she found the blue stone. Placing it in her bloody hand it began to glow softly. Once again entrance by it's beauty, she nearly forgot there was a strange and frightening creature in her house. Then she held it out to him.

"Th...this?" she asked, in a pathetic shaky voice.

During the scuffle with his brother, Gesh had managed to get himself roughed up pretty good. His own hand was bloody. When he reached for his soul stone their blood mingled and coated it. Suddenly, an impossible and violent gust of wind swirled around him, ceasing as quickly as it began. He felt a strange magic in the wind that he'd never felt before. He wondered if the human had unleashed some hidden powers on him.

"What was that? What did you do?!" he yelled at her as he unsheathed his dagger and flared his wings.

She was far more confused about what was happening than he was.

"What was what?! I don't understand!"

She gazed in terror at his dagger. Not that he needed a weapon to tear her to pieces.

"I gave you your stone back. I didn't know it was yours, I swear! P...please. Please don't....."

Tears began to stream down her pale cheeks. She had never felt so scared and helpless in her life. As Gesh glared at her he suddenly imagined Bragg in her place, beaten and making a last plea for his life. The image made him smile and he instantly switched his focus. Quickly sheathing his dagger and securing his soul stone in a pouch, he turned and muttered a spell to open they way back to the Divide. With teary eyes, the girl watched in amazement as a hole opened in mid air and became larger. Through it, the scenery was that of a dusty and dark desert. A warm gust of wind blew a small cloud of dust through.

When it was large enough for Gesh to fit through he looked back at the girl, scowled and disappeared into it. As soon as he was gone the portal faded away, leaving her alone in the quiet of her home. She sat still for several minutes, her mind buzzing with thoughts and emotions.

What was he? What just happened? Will he come back? Am I going crazy?

By the time her tears dried she was frantically searching for her phone. Spotting it on the other side of the room she ran to pick it up and began to dial 911. But she stopped, her finger hovering over the send button. She was picturing herself talking to whoever answered her call.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Yes, hi. A giant man with horns, wings and a tail just magically appeared in my house, took this pretty glowing stone I found, almost attacked me with a knife and left through a magical doorway!"

Her heart sank when she realized there's no way in hell anyone would believe her. She tried dialing Blaire, her best friend, but wasn't confident enough she would believe her either. That only left her grandma. And she was pretty sure she would rush over with a gallon of holy water and force her into some kind of religious school or something. She clutched her head in both hands and anxiously paced around her living room wondering what to do.
'Come on Devyn, think! What should I do?!'
Then all of a sudden she started feeling weak. She stopped pacing to lean on the back of her couch. Struggling to breathe, she tried calling 911 again. Her vision began to blur in and out, preventing her from making the call. Heart pounding and mind racing, she collapsed to the floor, unable to move. Nearly out of it, she felt as if her very soul was trying to rip itself free of her. A mindless final gasp escaped her lips.

"Gesh......"

Then she lost consciousness.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, please tell me what you think!

Next chapter > asmodeus623.deviantart.com/art…

Description

Here it is. My baby! I've been working on this story for so long now, and I'm always tweaking and improving it. Please keep in mind it's in the rough draft stage. I lay my creation down to the mercy of your judgement! Enjoy! (I'm not happy with the color of his clothes >.> )

Chapter 2 here > asmodeus623.deviantart.com/art…

Chapter 1 - A Strange new world

The Divide. That is the place the demons call home. Ruled by the council, a group of demons that posess superior power over all it's denizens. Their word is law. No one knows the council's true numbers, powers or ways of doing things. All is known is that they are greatly feared.

It is because the council allows it that there is a family of highbloods ruling as royalty. The king and queen are allowed to rule their kingdom however they see fit, but at a cost. If and when the council decides it is time for the crown to be passed down, any children born of the king and queen must take part in a seemingly timeless tradition call the trial. The trial is a deadly competition between siblings where the goal is to kill the others and collect their life force with special stones made from their blood called soul stones.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gesh felt drunk with anticipation knowing he finally had him. Bragg was tired, wounded and weak. He would not best him. They flew at top speed through shimmering divide clouds, Gesh gaining on Bragg inch by inch.

"Just give up, Bragg! You know who is going to win this fight!" Gesh yelled.

Bragg glanced over his shoulder at his brother with a determined smirk, then shot straight downward. He tucked his wings and limbs in tight to gain as much speed as he possibly could. Surprised by the manuever, Gesh cursed and adjusted.

"Come now Bragg, you are only delaying the inevitable! Stop fleeing and let me get this over with so I can go home, relax and enjoy my victory!"

Gesh's cocky words had no effect on Bragg's focus. He had a plan. Bragg wispered a spell and seconds later the wispy surroundings of the Divide thinned and faded away. In their place was now a large building sitting in front of an even larger parking lot. About half the parking spots had cars and there were large trees dotting the lot here and there.

Bragg quickly flared his wings and braced for impact with the ground. As his clawed feet touched the asphalt, he swiftly pulled out a dagger and took a second to scope out his new surroundings. He knew it was a dangerous risk going to the human world, but he was too desperate to care. Luckily, he materialized in a spot where no one had seen him. He wispered another spell that would make the humans blind to his existence and then looked around to see if Gesh had sensed where he had disappeared to. He knew it would be only a matter of minutes before his brother found him.

He made his way toward the store and all the humans coming and going about their lives. He came to a tall tree with lots of leaves and branches to hide in, climbed up and waited.

Moments later, Gesh appeared right where Bragg himself had emerged. He landed and froze like a deer in headlights. He had never been to the human world before and was feeling quite unnerved and out of his element. The human world had been declared off limits for all of demon kind long ago. So long ago that the average demon didn't even know why, nor did they care. Demon children were taught to think of humans as unintelligent, disgusting and unsavory creatures that are beneath them. And that is exactly how Gesh felt now.

"Bragg, you troublesome bastard!" he growled to himself.

As he looked around for his brother he saw a pair of humans walking in his direction. He had only ever seen humans as drawings in books. These two, a man and a woman, looked aged and frail as they pushed a metal basket filled with various items that Gesh didn't recognize. Suddenly realizing he forgot his cloaking spell, he ducked down behind a large vehicle before the old couple noticed him. He thought hard trying to recall the correst spell, the tip of his tail twitching nervously.

He heard the rattling of the cart right on the other side and suddenly he envisioned the words. He quickly chanted his spell and vanished from sight just as the old woman turned the corner. He stood and backed away as she stared at the spot he had just been hiding. The woman seemed confused for a moment, but then just shrugged and got in her vehicle. As Gesh watched these humans he struggled to hold back and irritated snarl in their direction. His spell casting wasn't as polished as it should be, which resulted in him only being able to turn invisible. He could still be heard and felt by everyone.

Now that he was cloaked he relaxed and looked around, taking in this new world. It was startlingly different from the Divide. The inhabitants, structures, colors and smells, all like nothing he'd experienced before. If he hadn't had an overwhelming sense of urgency to find and kill Bragg and leave, he very much would've liked to explore the human realm. Particularly a certain intoxicating smell he couldn't place that caught his attention. But the council had made contact with humans punishable by death, which he very much wanted to avoid.

So with that in mind, he turned his focus back to finding Bragg as soon as possible. He followed his brother's faint trail through the parking lot, his eyes cautiously darting all around.

Great. Just great! You belong here with all the dim-witted dirt dwellers, Bragg!

Suddenly he was attacked from above. He had no time to react and defend. Bragg had tackled him to the ground. They were wrestling, each trying to get the upper hand and visciously clawing at one another. Eventually, Bragg got on top. But when he tried to strike with his dagger, Gesh saw a small window and successfully kicked him off. Instead of coming back at Gesh, he took to the air and hovered mockingly above him. Gesh collected himself and followed. He quickly realized he had to work harder to fly in the human world. He flared his massive wings wide and beat the air relentlessly. He also noticed that Bragg didn't seem to be having as much trouble as he was adjusting to the place, which perturbed him.

"All your sight-seeing gave me plenty of time to recooperate. Thanks for that," Bragg said, with an enormous shit eating grin on his face. Gesh's anger increased.

"Why did you lead us here Bragg? Do you want us both to get sentenced to death? That is hardly the way for me to win the crown, now is it?"

Bragg laughed hard.

" Oh little brother. You still take that big bad rule so seriously? And to think, YOU almost had ME beat. Shameful," he teased, as he shook his head.

Gesh's blood boiled with anger at his brother's description of him. He was often called "little" by his brothers, not because he was younger, they were all the same age. But because he was the smallest in size. It was a sore spot for him. Turning serious, Bragg continued.

"As for why I led us here. Unlike the shivering little child that you are, I have been here many times before. I just figured I could gain the upper hand by trapping you in unfamiliar territory."

Gesh ground his teeth together, determined not to let Bragg see how badly he was getting to him. Then he forced out a joking laugh.

"Trap me? Your idea of a trap is a little....off. Don't you agree?"

Bragg said nothing. Only uncurled his fingers, revealing a dark blue stone in his palm. Gesh's eyes widened and he frantically searched himself. The black strip of leather that held his soul stone was broken. He realized Bragg must have siezed it amidst the scuffle on the ground.

"I am only going to say this once. Give back my soul, now, and I will make your death painless."

Bragg's eyes flicked to the lot below them and Gesh's gaze followed. They both saw a human girl walking to her car beneath, her dark brown hair glistening in the sunlight. Bragg smiled as he slowly tilted his hand, letting the stone slide off to the ground. Gesh could only watch as the only important thing he owned landed in the girl's path.

"Too bad little brother," Bragg said, as he turned to fly away. Gesh lunged at him, furious and much less confident now. He felt so sluggish as he flapped his wings as hard as he could. But because Bragg had conditioned his body to be able to traverse the human world easily, Gesh was no match for him in the air. So he gave up and watched him disappear into the blue of the sky. He then whipped around, frantically searching for his soul stone. He watched in horror seeing that the human girl noticed it.

* * * * *

She heard a "clink". Thinking she dropped something she looked down at her feet. There, sparkling in the sunlight, was a beautiful gemstone. Instantly mesmerized by the jewel's luscious deep blue color, she bent to pick it up.

Where did this come from?

As she plucked it off the ground she felt a sudden wind. It was so strong it almost knocked her over. But it only lasted for a second and it was gone. She looked around in confusion. The trees in the parking lot were still as statues. There wasn't even a slight breeze. She decided to ignore it and looked back at the jewel in her hand. The stone itself fit in the palm of her hand and was an imperfect diamond shape. It was entwined in black metal with two rings of the same material attached on the sides. She stood up and took a quick look around to see if maybe she could spot the person who might have lost it. Not seeing anyone else around she dropped the jewel in her purse, got in her car and headed for home.

* * * * *

Gesh wasn't sure what to do. He had no idea what humans were capable of. And he hated to admit it, but he was afraid of this whole situation. Bragg had indeed trapped him here in entirely unfamiliar territory. Gesh now wished he had paid more attention to the spell master and history master. He figured he didn't need to learn about creatures he was never going to encounter. Feeling angry and defeated, he decided he should keep the girl and his soul stone in sight. He couldn't go home without it. And who knew what foul things this human girl planned to do with it?

He did know, at least, that Bragg wouldn't tell anyone he was in the human's realm. That wasn't his style. He would take this time to plan how he could beat Gesh himself, one on one. Gesh was oddly comforted by that. He followed the girl's car, tailing her from the air. The cool wind felt refreshing on his skin. A pleasant change from the muggy Divide air. Just as his muscles were becoming unbearably sore from flying, the car reached it's destination.

"Thank Eternity!" Gesh groaned, as he thudded heavily to the ground and rubbed his back and wings.

The girl got out of her car, collected some stuff from the back and entered her house.

This must be where this human lives.

Once she was inside, he found a window and watched. She walked through a room that contained a couch and t.v., and into another with a table. She set her purse down and disappeared around the corner. Gesh could hear various "clanks" and "bangs" and running water. He was curious to see what she was doing in there. Against his better judgement he went to the front door and opened it as quietly as he could. He could barely fit through the door frame as he entered. After shutting it just as quietly, he heard a sudden squeal from the girl.

"EEEEE! HOLY COW YOU'RE HUGE!"

Gesh nearly jumped through the roof thinking she could see him somewhow. He whipped around, ready to attack, and saw that she wasn't even focused in his direction. She was hopping around on her tip toes and flapping her hands up and down as she rushed back to the other room. She shortly returned with a cup and pencil.

What in Eternity is she doing?

The girl crept slowly to the center of her living room where there sat a little brown spider. He could sense her apprehension grow the closer she got to the tiny creature. After crouching over and staring at it (for far too long in Gesh's opinion) she set the cup near the spider and flicked it in with the pencil. Gesh had to quickly get out of the way as she ran to the door like her ass was on fire and threw the spider out.

"There you go. Now go find a new home," she said, in a soft and gentle tone, and shut the door.

Gesh could hardly believe what he'd just witnessed. Any demon would have went right up to that spider and stomped on it. Harder than necessary. And humans were believed to be even more unnecessarily murderous and cruel. But this one was afraid of it AND she set it free? He suddenly felt very ridiculous for being fearful of this weak and harmless human. With his confidence renewed he continued to watch her as she went about her business.

He saw that she was preparing to cook a meal for herself and the sudden thought of food made his stomach grumble.

Uuuugh, I need to get my soul and get home. I'm STARVING.

As he was heading to the table where her purse was she walked over and grabbed it first, taking it out of the kitchen. Impatient and annoyed he growled as she was going past him. She stopped dead in her tracks and listened. Upon seeing how spooked she was he decided to have a little fun. He let his growl grow louder, longer and deeper. The girl looked all over, her minty green eyes wide with fear, desperately trying to understand what she was hearing.

WHAT THE HELL.....?!

She was gripping her purse as if she was getting ready to hit something with it.

"HUMAN!" Gesh roared.

The girl jumped and screamed.

"You have something that belongs to me!"

Her face went wild with panic and confusion.

"Whoever's doing this, it's not fucking funny! I'm calling the police!" she screamed at her living room, as she fumbled around trying to use her phone with shaky hands.

Gesh swiped at her, knocking the phone from her grasp. She yelped, pulled her hand back and began to tremble when she saw the scratches his claws left across her palm. Then he let his cloak fade away slowly. He came into view starting with his huge beastly clawed feet. The girl gasped sharply at the grey skinned monster appearing before her.

"OH...."

Then his long smooth tail and muscular torso.

"....MY...."

Finally, his magnificent leathery wings and horns that curved backward out of his head of shoulder length messy black hair. He had a black goatee to match and long fangs adding to his intimidating appearance.

"....GOD!"

He towered over her. He had to be about 7 feet tall, while she was only five five. Gesh took a step towards her and she scrambled backwards until the wall stopped her.

"W....WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" she managed to force out.

"Give me my soul stone back," he snarled menacingly, through his sharp teeth.

Soul stone?! Is he... talking about that thing I found in the parking lot?!

"NOW!" Gesh bellowed, impatiently.

His outburst startled her making her jump. In a fearful panic she quickly dumped out the contents of her purse. Swatting aside various items she found the blue stone. Placing it in her bloody hand it began to glow softly. Once again entrance by it's beauty, she nearly forgot there was a strange and frightening creature in her house. Then she held it out to him.

"Th...this?" she asked, in a pathetic shaky voice.

During the scuffle with his brother, Gesh had managed to get himself roughed up pretty good. His own hand was bloody. When he reached for his soul stone their blood mingled and coated it. Suddenly, an impossible and violent gust of wind swirled around him, ceasing as quickly as it began. He felt a strange magic in the wind that he'd never felt before. He wondered if the human had unleashed some hidden powers on him.

"What was that? What did you do?!" he yelled at her as he unsheathed his dagger and flared his wings.

She was far more confused about what was happening than he was.

"What was what?! I don't understand!"

She gazed in terror at his dagger. Not that he needed a weapon to tear her to pieces.

"I gave you your stone back. I didn't know it was yours, I swear! P...please. Please don't....."

Tears began to stream down her pale cheeks. She had never felt so scared and helpless in her life. As Gesh glared at her he suddenly imagined Bragg in her place, beaten and making a last plea for his life. The image made him smile and he instantly switched his focus. Quickly sheathing his dagger and securing his soul stone in a pouch, he turned and muttered a spell to open they way back to the Divide. With teary eyes, the girl watched in amazement as a hole opened in mid air and became larger. Through it, the scenery was that of a dusty and dark desert. A warm gust of wind blew a small cloud of dust through.

When it was large enough for Gesh to fit through he looked back at the girl, scowled and disappeared into it. As soon as he was gone the portal faded away, leaving her alone in the quiet of her home. She sat still for several minutes, her mind buzzing with thoughts and emotions.

What was he? What just happened? Will he come back? Am I going crazy?

By the time her tears dried she was frantically searching for her phone. Spotting it on the other side of the room she ran to pick it up and began to dial 911. But she stopped, her finger hovering over the send button. She was picturing herself talking to whoever answered her call.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Yes, hi. A giant man with horns, wings and a tail just magically appeared in my house, took this pretty glowing stone I found, almost attacked me with a knife and left through a magical doorway!"

Her heart sank when she realized there's no way in hell anyone would believe her. She tried dialing Blaire, her best friend, but wasn't confident enough she would believe her either. That only left her grandma. And she was pretty sure she would rush over with a gallon of holy water and force her into some kind of religious school or something. She clutched her head in both hands and anxiously paced around her living room wondering what to do.
'Come on Devyn, think! What should I do?!'
Then all of a sudden she started feeling weak. She stopped pacing to lean on the back of her couch. Struggling to breathe, she tried calling 911 again. Her vision began to blur in and out, preventing her from making the call. Heart pounding and mind racing, she collapsed to the floor, unable to move. Nearly out of it, she felt as if her very soul was trying to rip itself free of her. A mindless final gasp escaped her lips.

"Gesh......"

Then she lost consciousness.

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So, please tell me what you think!

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