Devil's Sympathy

A short story featuring James the freakishly beautiful demon, his human Iris and poor Inspector Matthews who has no idea what exactly is happening but he is a part of it all..somehow.

He was like a silent silhouette ethereally surrounded by a silently screaming mass of contorted faces dripping with the bitter juices of pain and reeking of despair. He was extraordinarily tall, and pale with long-ish dark hair framing a delicately androgynous face; a wide forehead, eyebrows not too thick or thin, large blazing lavender eyes fringed by lace-like eyelashes, sharp, high but delicate and fragile looking cheekbones, a long, slender nose and wide lips, though of course not too wide and a barely noticeable little cleft in his chin. He was clothed in black skin-tight material like gently shimmering leather that covered every expanse of his long, lithe and elegantly lean, muscular form from his graceful neck to his feet that ended in pointy black hobnailed boots that seemed to be a part of his 'suit'. His freakishly long fingered hands were encased in black gloves and bat-like feathery wings grew out of his back. He was turning heads but evidently unaware of this as he strode under the spotlight cast on him by the moon that made his porcelain skin look bejeweled by countless crystals and diamonds beneath the surface. It accentuated the dark bruises under his slightly lidded eyes and the wind whipped his hair into flames.

Inspector Matthews dropped his crackling walkie-talkie as jagged shards of lightening cut through the thick black velvet sky and a shrill wind started wailing through the warped and twisted branches of ancient trees with gnarled faces.

His blazing eyes caught on mine, softened and the ghost of a smile flickered on his lips. 
"I think you're meant to go to him." Inspector Matthews managed to choke somehow.

I lifted legs as heavy as lead and started clumsily crashing through frozen shards and slivers of hissing grass over to where he towered over everything until I was right in front of him. He smelt like dead flowers and sweet earth as well as nuts and smoke; chaos and misery tainted by earthy scents that had clung to his human form.

"James." I managed. My voice a funny little croak. 
He nodded slowly. "Iris." 
"So...what happens now?" I asked the world at large. "There's a thunder storm coming through and-"

A sudden deafening boom of thunder threatened to tear apart the sky and rattled the ground furiously. Looking up, I felt shock settle over my skin like a frozen glove when I saw her.

She was tall and scarily beautiful. Clothed in the purest white with large, almond shaped eyes the colour of grass, a dainty little pointy nose and a sun-kissed heart-shaped face ending in a dainty chin. Her hair was braided atop her head and her graceful neck was bare but covered in a dark mark like the one of the back of James's hand and on my wrist. A mark that suddenly hurt so much, I wanted to tear open my flesh and start screaming. My face flushed with the effort of holding back a scream as I focused instead on her white lace-like wings and the way her lacey bodysuit smoothed over her gracefully striking figure that had Inspector Matthews literally salivating.

"Amelia." James's voice was a foreboding silken purr; a soft but deep rumble that made my hair stand on end. 
Amelia was smiling; her garish red mouth caught in a smile that filled me with a sickening dread and sadness. "James. You brought a human with you." 
I realised she meant me and was suddenly biting back an angry retort. 
"You look well." James sounded like he was teasing her. 
I watched her eyes darken. "As do you fool."
He raised a hand to reach for a glove. 
"No! No DON'T!" She was screaming at him. 
He ignored her. 
I looked at his hand and realised the mark was burning scarlet. 
She hissed and angrily raked an unsteady, shaking hand through frozen air charged with anger that crackled and fizzed around us all.

James strode past me soundlessly, the wind blowing his hair out in flames behind him.

He raised his hand, fingers spread and freakishly long and slender ending in black nails. 
Amelia threw back her head and shot him a look full of flaming passion. 
He drew close to her; on the verge of a lover's embrace.

And

        his hand

rose

pressing softly over her mark;

            they overlapped.

She screamed and struggled. 
He stood strong and tall, seemingly unperturbed. 
Her legs gave way; rickety sticks sinking into frozen grass and dragging her down. 
He grabbed her dress, forcing her upright roughly even as she struggled and scrabbled at him with painfully long nails that had no impact on him. 
Inspector Matthew looked like someone had just started flying in front of him.

Amelia collapsed and faded to powdery white dust. Her wings crumbling like limestone after too much acid rain.

"James?" 
He slowly turned to me and I was shocked by the fiery vibrance in his eyes; flames of mirth and mischief scorching everything they settled on.

And then it faded; a light turning off.

He was suddenly the scarily beautiful man he had once been. The only difference was that he was slouched over like he was in pain, head down and eyes closed as the wind roughly tugged his hair. His veins were blackened and bloated, surging with pain and pressing close under his flawless skin.

"James?" 
He lifted his head and I found two blue eyes pleadingly watching me. "Please do it now." 
"I-" the silver weighed heavily in my pocket. "l-" 
His eyes started drawing me closer, my legs were little more than rubber. "You need to do it now." 
I shakily yanked the silver shard out of my pocket. 
He grimaced at it. 
"I don't think I can-" my eyes were aflame and I was turning blind; everything around me melting into a huge shimmery mess that made me feel like I had swallowed tiny pieces of glass that had stuck on my lungs and heart. 
"You have to." He was struggling to speak; his words no more that raspy whispers of agony disguised as strength. 
"James-" 
"Look at me." 
I forced myself to meet his sweet blue gaze. 
He gave me a broken smile. "Do you want me to be free?" 
"Yes." 
"Then do it." 
I held my breath and jerked myself forwards, jabbing in one swift downwards moment that ripped apart my soul and scorched my heart and senses.

Black dust rose around me. Dust that smelt like dead flowers, earth, nutty minty freshness and something else; something sweet and soothing that filled me with a funny sense of calmness. I was drenched in an unbearable icy coldness.

                                            Later

"Hi. I was wondering if someone could help me?" 

He was tall, dressed in black; a coat and a wide brimmed black felt hat with long boots. His hair was longish, dark and framing a delicately androgynous face that was the perfect mix of  Mick Jagger, Patti Smith and David Bowie. He had sharp, high but somehow delicate looking cheekbones, and vibrant blue eyes fringed by lace-like lashes. He was devastatingly beautiful yet somehow completely unaware of this and seeing him was enough to make me feel like I had been hole punched and drowned. 

His eyes caught on mine; blazing blue, almost ultraviolet.

I felt like someone had emptied a  bucket of ice over me and felt my mouth stretch into a crazy grin. "Where on EARTH were you for the last three weeks? Do you have ANY idea how scary it has been not knowing what exactly was happening and thinking that-" my eyes were aflame again, this time painful shards of glass were not able to settle on my lungs.

"I'm always here Iris. I never leave." His voice was a soothing silken purr that drew me back to the dust of the day everything had changed. "You freed me so I'm here for a very long time."

Author's Note

This is a short story, just an experimentation. I need to know if anyone wants to read more so I can write it as this is just a random side project I have started alongside my actual novel.

Reviews

[Ladyinblck]

Had me with the first sentence!