Chapter 2

Damon’s POV

I am woken by the sounds of shrill screaming. Groaning I roll over to face the wall and try to block out the screams. This was nothing new, I just wish they would knock them out before pulling them under.

“Get up,” I herd the guard at my cell growl out.

I sit up slowly and growl out curses at the demon that always stands at the entrance of the cell. I guess he wasn’t going to allow me to sleep today.

I stand up and run my fingers through my hair, it is going to need to be cut soon. I slowly walk over to the bars of my cell and look out to see who was being brought in this time. As I lean over too look out I see a young girl being dragged by her feet. She is screaming as loud as her raw throat would allow her. Her dark brown hair is full of twigs and tangled in a mess around her head. I can just barley make out her tear streaked face through her hair. She is young, maybe 15 or 16 years old.

“I wanna go home,” she sobbed out through raspy breaths. I shake my head and walk back to the back of my cell. She was not going to survive here long, why was she chosen?

I sit down and watch the other demons drag the girl into the cell across from me. As they close the cell door she crawls to the bars and reaches out towards one of the demons.

“I wouldn’t do that,” I mutter softly. She cries out as the demon she was reaching for smack her hand away. “Told you.”

She looks up and makes eye contact with me for a split second before fear fills her eyes. She backs away from the bars as fast as she can.

Stupid humans, never knowing what they are getting into when they decide to call on the Woman in White. I trail my hand across one of my horns that protrude from my head above my ears, slightly wincing as I reach the jagged edge of where it was broken off. I need to try and start smothing out the jagged edges soon. As I pull my hand away my finger gets caught on one of the sharp edges, causing a curse to slip past my lips.

I pull my hand down to inspect the offending wound. Black blood slowly seeps from the small cut on my finger, I watch as my skin slowly knits itself back together. Leaving nothing but a small trail of black blood down the side of my finger as evidence that the wound was once there.

I look up quickly as the door to my cell is yanked open and one of the guards walks into the cell.

“Time to work Damon, the Woman in White has another human for the trials,” he grumbled as he walked towards me. I stood up and held out my hands as he approaches me. He put a set of iron shackles on my wrist and around my ankles, tendrils of steam float up from where the shackles made contact with my skin. The iron no longer hurts, just stings as it settles on the scars. I watch the steam for a second before I start walking towards the door to my cell, the claws on my feet clicking against the rock floor.

Time to have some fun.

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Cassie’s POV

I curl closer to the back of the cell that the creatures threw me in. What did I do that brought me here? The image of the creature in the cell across the hall flashes through my mind.

What is he? He looks human for the most part, dark black hair dawns his head and two horns curve out above his pointed ears. One of the horns was broken so it was maybe three or four inches shorter than the other one. He has golden eyes that seem to glow, his hands have long talons, his feet and legs resemble wolves legs and a long thin tail with a turf of black fur at its end. His skin is porcelain white that fades to black on his hands, tail and legs.

I shake my head to clear away the memory of him and run my hand through my tangled hair. The fear that once flooded my system is now exhaustion. I just want to sleep, maybe this is all a dream. A twisted nightmare that my mind created after my father knocked me out, or at least I hope that is what happened.

I lay on my side and close my eyes, I ache all over from being dragged. I know I’m covered in bruises, and that the skin on my back is probably raw. I try to relax as best as I can on a rock floor. I can hear wailing in the distance from some tortured creature.

“Just go to sleep, this will all be over if you just go to sleep,” I mutter to myself as tears trail down my face.

I am jarred awake by the slamming of iron bars. Sitting up I quickly look around to gather my bearings. Where am I? Then the memories slam into me like bricks. I can feel my eyes pricking and burning with tears that won’t come.

I hear panting and grunting from across the hall. On my hands and knees I crawl towards the bars of my cell to see who or what the noise is coming from. As i peer at the darkness I can see the form of the man from before. He is laying on his side his breathing is labored and he seems to be in pain, lacerations cover his chest and arms. I watch him silently for a moment.

He groan in pain as he pushes himself up into a seated position.

“Are you fascinated by my pain,” he says. His voice is smooth and deep but laced with pain.

I quickly look away for a moment before looking back up at him. I instantly lock eyes with him, his golden eyes seem to glow in the dark, making the angles in his face stand out.

“What are you?” I ask as I peer at him.

A deep chuckle rolls from his chest before it is cut short by a gasp of pain.

“I’m a demon,” he pauses for a second, “well half demon.”

I shake my head in response, not believing what I’m seeing or hearing. How can this be possible? Demons only exist in horror stories and the Bible.

“This is real, trust me. You are not having a nightmare,” the guy says. His voice almost seems normal now. Looking back up at him I see that the cuts that once covered his chest are now small pink lines. I stare in awe as the pinks lines slowly fade to smooth porcelain white. I shake my head slightly and back away slowly. There is no way that this is real. A soft grin crosses the demon’s face revealing a pair of elongated canines. I am defiantly in a nightmare.