Oni - Part 6

Tess stared outward at the night sky from her small house, silently pulling the covers over the young orphan she had taken in. He reminder her so much of herself, and yet he was so helpeless. It did not take long for the young one to earn her affection, and so she took him into her home, almost as if he were her own son. As she softly sang a lullaby to the already sleeping child, her thoughts wandered. Her village for which she cared so much for was in potential danger. An emissary from a large clan was to visit the very next day, set to arrive as the sun rose over the mountain tops. If the clan succeeded in their proposal, the village would be overrun by thugs working for the powerful clan. The offer, as they had put it, would be beneficial to both the clan and the village, which would receive protection from the outside world. The outside world, as Tess saw it, was a far lesser threat than that of the ever greedy clansmen, who only wanted control of the village to open a trade route through the two gates that sealed the village in between the two large rock formations that prevented passage. The village was placed in that area to keep the area secluded, away from the cruelties and lies that flooded the world around them.

The clan outside was not the only threat, she knew. The young, skilled assassin that wandered the paths of her beloved village was a dangerous man. From the moment their eyes met, she saw something there, a seething hatred. His eyes were scarred with vengeance, as was his heart. That pure hatred was second, she also knew, to something more. She had seen something there, an evil that wanted nothing more than to kill everyone it came in contact with. That evil wasn't that of the man, but of something else. Something that seemed to haunt him. During the brief time the assassin had spent under her care, she had heard him cry out in his sleep. She had heard his screams, and he had revealed so much in the agonizing sounds. He was possessed by a demon, she had discovered.

She made her way to her own bedroom; she let a terrible sigh, as she continued her contemplations. Tess was not unfamiliar to the idea of a human and evil inhabiting the same form. As she thought about this, memories she would rather forget flooded back to her. As she slept, her dreams formed into memories of her father, of her best friend Erika, long since gone, and memories of her mother. Mother, she thought, I know the dangers this man brings, but how can I turn him away completely, knowing he suffers a fate similar to my own. As if it were more than just a mere dream, a voice she recognized, but had not expected broke the silence that had plagued her dreams for so long.

"That man has fallen in love with you, although he knows not yet that he has." The voice of her mother softly called, although Tess could not see more than the darkness that most often composed her dreams.

In response, Tess walked through the dark fog, for she had heard more than just her mother's voice. There sat Kronik, although he seemed far away, lost in his own contemplation. Never before had she broken the fog, much less found another in her dreams. He was distant, as if he were somewhere else.

"He is just like the other men, called by this curse you left me with." Her eyes flooded with tears. " He cares not for me. He is merely a puppet, his strings pulled by the hand of you spell."

"Of my spell? My blood runs through you, and thus your power is your own. Call it a curse if you will, but you would appreciate it more if you were to use it as it was intended, rather than cover it up."

"Im not like you!" she shouted into the fog, which had once more surrounded her. "I want to find true love… not something drawn in because of beauty that is nothing more than a trick!" She waited for an answer but none came. She broke into sobs, as the fog thickened and the darkness grew more opaque. After what felt like eternity, an answer finally broke the dreams grip.

"You are the daughter of a succubus. And in the past the love you inspired was indeed false, a trick of my kind. Of our kind. But you have seen something different in this boy, have you not? Remember the limitations of our race."

The voice trailed off, as the fog lifted, and Rachel opened her eyes, which were streaked with tears. She sat again in her bed, the most confusing of dreams at its end. "I am not like you." She repeated, to a voice she knew could not hear her.