Eclipse of the Moon Ch. 10

Hi again, so this chapter doesn't feature any sex but I had to set the stage for a few things. As you can probably guess, this story is a departure from the original. Well, in the next chapter, we should arrive somewhere. :) As always, let me know what you think!

-WL

"Can you pass me the hydrangeas, love?" Mary called her husband. She smiled at him and wiped a bead of sweat off of her brow. Joe smiled back and brought the flowering plant to her. The front lawn was a smattering of garden tools, loose dirt, and various plastic potted plants. But the afternoon sun felt nice, so no one seemed to mind the mess.

"A flower for my flower!" He called in a sing-song voice. They both broke out into laughter.

"Hey! Settle down over there!" Angel called from the base of the tree nearby but even she couldn't contain her smile. She held her book in her lap observing the scene in front of her from the shade of the tree; her parents decided the yard needed work and so here they were. It had been most of the morning and almost all afternoon but she had to admit it did look quite nice. It was nearing the end of summer and she didn't have the heart to tell them all their hard work would be for naught in a few weeks. She returned her attention back to The Divine Comedy in her lap. That would certainly still be there by the time autumn came around. She looked at her parents laughing about a shovel and smiled to herself. It had felt like an age had passed since the last time they had all spent time together like this.

It had been a month without Daemon. The first few days Angel had been constantly on edge, looking over her shoulder at every turn. But the fear vanished when every day she woke up and nothing happened. Each night, when she slept still nothing happened. Eventually, the feeling changed to an occasional nagging feeling -- a reminder of their times. After a few weeks that became less and less as well. Something strange had also happened. There was a part of her that missed him. She didn't like the pain, but through it all (even though he was the cause) he was also the only one who understood what was happening. Aaron was the closest of her family to understanding and he had left her. Intellectually, she knew Daemon being gone was a good thing. Why she felt conflicted, she wasn't sure.

After a few weeks, she began to come out of her room more, ate dinner with her family more, and now laughed freely with them. Her parents didn't understand the change but readily welcomed it. The blonde tresses of her hair flowed freely in the breeze and her skin was now imbued with a soft tan. She had forgotten all about the favor she owed -- but he hadn't.

***

Daemon watched her through the small window in the attic while he waited. He had watched her transform over the course of a single month. Her laugh was extraordinary. He realized he had never heard it before and was immediately entranced. For a moment a feeling resembling guilt passed through him but it quickly dissipated and his features hardened. This had also been one of the hardest months of his existence. Unable to touch her, feel her, hurt her. The pact he had made with her worked both ways, every time he got close to her a force would pull him back.

"It'll be worth it in the end." He reminded himself as he massaged his temples.

With nothing but time, he thought back to his mortal life. When things really began to change.

Anita was the one to originally introduce Daemon to Demonic pacts and magic. The two of them learned fast and quickly started experimenting. Anita had always been the driving force when it came to the darker arts and her ambition knew no bounds. So, perhaps the townspeople had been right about them after all. After some time, they began looking into immortality. Anita had figured out a way to do it, Daemon, unfortunately, had to learn the hard way. It involved fusing a human with a demon. It could work under two conditions: One, the soul was severely corrupted and two, the mortal form must die during the transition. They both learned that day, for as clever and conniving as Anita was, she had misread the dark texts. In her aim to live forever, she sacrificed Daemon, not realizing she was actually successfully performing the spell on Daemon.

He learned Anita was willing to kill Daemon to test her theory that day but by the time Daemon knew what was happening she had already pulled the trigger.

In the beginning, he felt nothing, floating in a dark void.

After a moment he recognized the sensation of falling. His body fell into a black sea. The fluid was thick like honey. Anywhere the fluid made contact with his skin, a searing pain would course through his body. It felt as if every cell in his body, every fiber had been lit on fire. He screamed in pain just as his head sank below the surface. Now the fluid seeped into his mouth and lungs. It was all-consuming. The pain eventually slowed and became bearable. Completely surrounded by thick black liquid, he could not see anything. He felt something. A presence. The presence had no form but he was able to sense it. It felt curious. The presence seemed to size him up, deem his corrupted soul worthy enough. He felt it change to one of determination.

The sludge began to move around him quickly as if he was traveling very fast. Before he had a chance to feel disorientated, a bright light appeared and he hurtled towards it. He passed through it and landed back on Earth next to his lifeless body. The liquid oozed off of him as he stood and looked on.

Anita was screaming. Not only out of frustration but also in pain. Her hands were thrown up as she paced the room, they looked burnt down to her elbows. She had realized what she had done, and more importantly what she had not done. In her rage and through her pain she cursed him.

"Maledico tibi! Obsecro te, ne anima tenebrosa in omne tempus libere moveatur!"

"I curse you! I beseech thee, let not the dark soul move freely for all time!"

She screamed at his lifeless body. Daemon would come to find out that this would inevitably be the curse that would bind him to the house.

He looked on in shock and astonishment.

"Well fuck." Was all he could think to say.

***

After some time he noticed his body go through changes; he was stronger, had been given sight and his senses were sharpened. His eyes had turned crimson and no one could see or hear him. It didn't end up mattering that much since no one would live in the house for another 70 years. That was until Angel arrived. Her soul was stronger, younger, and purer than his ever was. Ideally, it would work to free him from the curse.

Pearlie was his ticket home. He was also never a huge fan of dealing with Demons but would on rare occasions help out Daemon, including bringing him a specific incantation. Pearlie was executed a few months after Daemon died as part of the town's cleanup by the sheriffs. He stopped by the house here and there throughout the years to check on Daemon, though he could never stay for long.

Pearlie's parents had been slaves and while he wasn't born one, that didn't stop him from finding the family that used to own his parents and slitting their throats. He burned the house down for good measure. He was on the run for years, pickpocketing to get by. The first time he met Daemon, they threatened to do more than kill each other. But, after spending a night together hiding in a ditch from the sheriff, they had become brothers. They would go on to rob banks together for half a decade before moving on to other, more gruesome, endeavors. He was a fantastic companion, but his heart was as black as Daemons.

As if on cue, smoke swirled up from the floorboards until it created the shape of a man. Pearlie stood before him, his curly hair fell over his eyes, his toothy grin curled up in a smile, but most importantly; a large and ancient-looking book in his arms.

"Perfect. Was it hard to get a hold of?" Daemon inquired, genuinely curious.

"Not as bad as you'd think," Pearlie replied nonchalantly. He began walking towards Daemon and set the book on the ground, "I said I would return it, so don't go rippin' out any pages."

Pearlie flipped through the pages, he stopped on one with a drawing of a phoenix. "I think this is it."

Daemon only nodded, skimming over the pages. His crimson eyes shone, if everything went according to plan this would be a nice way to kill two birds with one stone. Oh, sweet sweet Angel. If only she could know. Lost in his own thoughts, the front door made a banging noise and it broke his attention. All three had gone inside, now that the sun was beginning to set.

"Time to get started."

***

Angel walked into the house with her parents. Her sundress swung around her hips as she walked. The three were laughing back and forth.

"I'm gonna start dinner, I've got lasagna tonight," Mary announced as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Angel was already bounding up the stairs, "Sounds good. I wanna get into something comfortable and then I'll be down to set the table."

She opened the door to her room and rummaged through the pile of clothes on the floor for a pair of sweatpants. Daemon stood in a dark corner, watching her. He had half a mind to interrupt her while she was getting dressed, but the blue and white sundress appealed to him for some reason. He took a step forward.

"It's been a while Lior." He said smoothly.

Angel jumped in the hair and backed away from him. Her mouth hung open.

"You can't be here. We had a deal." She stammered.

"Not really the greeting I was looking for," he tilted his head, "Maybe we'll just have to work on that."

His smile was pure, unfiltered evil. She said nothing as her eyes began to water. He strode through the room languidly, touching various objects throughout the room with the tips of his fingernails. He slowly circled her. She followed his movements with her eyes, not believing what was happening. Everything had been perfect.

"You owe me a favor." He hissed.

"What do you want?" She spat back this time. Angry that he was returning to her life. Fear was being replaced by a rage she had held on to since they first met the longer he looked at her.

Her fire stoked something within him and he grinned at her.

"Perfect." He thought.

Wasting no time he told her, "I need you to read something for me."

Daemon snapped his fingers and a large and dusty book fell from the ceiling onto the floor. It landed directly in front of Angel with the page opened to a picture of a bird on fire. Before she could ask a question, before she could move a wave of energy passed through her and forced her eyes on the page. She couldn't look away if she tried. Daemon laughed psychotically as she struggled to remove herself from her position.

In a voice that barely sounded like her, she said, "Dabo me tibi. Corpus et anima. Sermo tuus lex est. Ad te obligo."

"I will give myself to thee. Body and soul. Your word is law. I bind myself to thee."

She gasped when she finished and threw her head back. Wave after wave of dark energy passed through her. It felt different than the first time. This felt like it had a personality, it had feelings. It felt hurt, alone, and possessive but it also felt like desire. It launched into her mouth and wrapped tightly around her limbs. The tendrils of energy constricted painfully until they suddenly just stopped. She fell onto her side and shook violently. Her vision swam as pain coursed through her body. She faintly recognized Daemon standing over her saying something.

"...over soon enough. And then, there will be nothing else to ever worry about." He whispered darkly.

He had assumed the bonding would be unpleasant for her but he had also never seen it in person before. She was currently experiencing the pain of having a dark and corrupted soul implanted into her own.

For Daemon he felt a twinge of guilt as a portion of her soul collided with his own. A drop of pureness in a sea of wickedness. A tiny, faint tendril of light grew out of each of them and connected to bind their souls. He guessed the only reason he was able to see it was because he was part demon. He felt the curse lift as their bond was complete. His soul was no longer as black as night.

Angel felt the world spin around her before she blacked out.