I Failed You

Artie and I sat in Uncle Benny's SUV as we waited for the ones we were meeting. It's only been three days since Skyler's disappearance, but it feels as if it's been an eternity. I haven't slept one bit, I've been driving myself to the brink of insanity, and will only eat when Artie forces me to. And it's all because Skyler has been gone. Multiple scenarios of my father torturing her and beating her crossed my mind almost every ten seconds. What was he doing to her?

The grass in front of the SUV began to burn and die away. The burn created a circle, and an outer area of the circle was red as it burned the dirt and the grass away. Two demons, of the same height, with their hands on Skyler's arms and a bag on her head appeared in the middle of the burn circle. The demons eyes were pure black, no white. They were the just henchmen. They weren't the big demons, not yet anyway.

Artie and I jumped out of the car and ran over to where the demons and Skyler were standing. We stood outside of the circle. We knew better. You cannot enter a demonic circle until they have left the circle. If you put one toe into the circle, you will burn into oblivion.

The two demons, with hair that matched their eyes, smiled at us, creepily. I cocked an eyebrow at them. They both threw Skyler into my arms, and she yelped from inside the bag, which made me think she was hurt.

"Thank you for letting us borrow her." The demon twins said simultaneously.

I looked at them again before pulling the bag off Skyler's head. Skyler blinked at the blinding light, then looked up at me. Her eyes were no longer hazel, they were red. A dark, piercing red.

She smiled at me, but I couldn't smile back. I slowly lifted my head as the demon twins disappeared into the earth, flashing their jagged teeth at me. I looked back down to her and her smile was gone. "What did they do to you?" My voice cracked as I asked her.

Artie leaned down to us and looked at Skyler's eyes. He pulled his head back so quickly that I thought for sure he would get whiplash. "What's wrong?" Skyler asked.

She obviously hasn't seen what happened to her. She doesn't know.

"Skyler, I'm so sorry." I began to start breaking down.

I lifted her up and held her as we got back into the SUV.



"She has a demonic disease." Artie's father finished with his inspection over Skyler.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked, feeling Skyler's fearful look on me.

He sighed. "There's obviously no guarantee she's going to make it, Dimitri. This is your father's doing. Nothing good can come out of this."

I felt defeated. "Thank you again, sir."

He nodded then disappeared into a blinding light.

I looked back to Artie and Skyler. Skyler looked terrified. She needed me, but I knew I wouldn't be able to help her. So, I ran. Straight out the door and to the place closest to home. I knew I shouldn't have run, but what else was I supposed to do?