The genesis of a demon.

-You must consume, my child. There is no other choice. –

Sieglinde stared at her bloody hands as they trembled. She battled against herself and she could feel it. She wished to eat and she knew it. The stench of fresh blood flooded the poorly lit room and her mouth watered as the only coherent thought running through her head was to eat. As a famished mongrel, she turned around and saw the body of her father lying dead behind a broken table.

She stood up sauntering towards the corpse, and even though she tried her best to resist the urge and battle herself, the desire was beginning to be uncontrollable.

-You must understand, this is not a curse, my dear. This is a gift. Embrace it. –

Said a mysterious voice that echoed within her mind. She quickly looked down, as an alert wild animal and saw at her feet a vision. In a pool of her father’s blood, a mirage of dark nature spawned. A lone red eye. She stared at it, as hypnotized by it. The eye seemed to ponder at her. Staring beyond flesh and peering deeper into her soul. She gawked at it for a moment and she heard it speak again.

-Eat, mine child. Do not hesitate. You must consume…or you will share his fate soon enough. –

Eloise managed to snap out of her trance and saw her hands again. Fresh blood dripping from them. She saw the eye and looked up to see the dead corpse of her own father. His chest and face were destroyed by claws. Deep yet not too big. She caressed the wound on his father’s chest and her hand fit perfectly. She stumbled back and grabbed her face with her bloody hands, leaving marks all over her pale face and she began to sob, then cry, and finally scream in desperate agony. Her soul-screeching screams flooded the small house as the night grew darker and somber. She screamed and screamed until she passed out. As her eyes closed, the voice echoed:

-Rest, mine child. This is only the beginning of your new life. –

Eloise woke confused and blood dripped from her eyes. She touched her face to wipe her tears, only to find more blood. She grabbed her white gown, now bloodstained, and cleaned her face as well as she could. She turned around looking everywhere inside her tiny shack. Sun was up and light shone inside her house, revealing the mayhem that had taken place. Candles had consumed themselves. Blood stains were all over the walls, and all of the furniture was broken. She turned to see her father. His corpse still lying dead behind the broken table.

-Papa? –

She asked softly as she drew closer to him.

-Papa? Are you alright? Papa? –

She finally stood at the feet of the corpse and saw his father again. Her expression went blank for a moment. Eloise knelt and began crawling until she reached her father’s hand. She lifted it with ease and as she placed it onto her shoulder as if he was hugging her, laid next to him. Eloise began crying again, sobbing uncontrollably, till she fell asleep once again.

-Eat. –

She suddenly heard the mysterious voice utter in her dreams.

-Eat…-

Eloise her it again, now followed by a vision of the red eye staring at her in her dreams. She could feel his presence and could feel his sight locked in her. She suddenly crossed eyes with the malevolent eye and an order echoed through her mind:

-EAT! –

She woke up panting, sweating, and screaming. She turned all over looking at everything again. Sun was gone again and night had conquered the lands. Her house, her gown…her father. She began to cry normal tears again when suddenly, the mysterious voice echoed through her house.

-Why do you weep, my child? –

Eloise turned all over, scared and confused, looking for the source of the voice, however, it seemed to come from everywhere in the room.

-Why do you resist the urge, mine dear? This is what you wished for, remember? This is what you prayed for. –

Eloise felt a shiver down her spine and turned around to see her window.

-Was this not? –

Suddenly, the mirage of the red eye appeared in the window staring at her. Eloise gawked at it with amused eyes full of fear and confusion. The eye pondered at her for a moment and said:

-Do not fear me, mine dearest. You have prayed for mine help, and I have answered your prayers. –

Eloise kept looking at the eye with fear and a blank expression. She didn’t know what to say or do.

The eye looked at her for a moment. Long blonde hair. Freckled face and chubby cheeks. Her face was tainted with blood, as were her hands and gown as well. She looked afraid, confused, and fearful. The mirage locked eyes with her and said:

-Please, do not fear me, young one. I am here to help you. I have come…to save you. Tell me, mine child. Do you want to be saved? –

Eloise thought for a moment without ever taking her eyes off the mirage and simply nodded in silence.

-Then salvation shall be spared. –

Both couldn’t stop staring at the other. It was as if both were hypnotized by the eyes of the one in front of them. The mirage thought for a moment and asked:

-Do you know who am I, little one? –

Eloise shook her dead in denial.

-I am that who’s favor your father and you prayed so devotedly for. I am salvation. –

-What is your name? –

Said Eloise with a delicate yet sharp tone to it. The mirage widened his eye as the little girl finally uttered a word.

-I have had many names throughout millennia. Some, I have forgotten. Some, I have grown fond of. But I have no name your kin knows of. Call me as you please, mine dear. Names bear little to no use for me. –

The little girl began to relax a bit and she could finally think a bit clearer and as such, she asked:

-What are you? –

The eye stared at her for a moment. Gazing past her body and peering into her soul. Curiosity caught his attention for a moment and said:

-I am an angel, I am a daemon, I am life, I am death, I am a friend and foe alike. It all depends on who asks. –

-You are my savior then? –

The mirage thought for a moment and said:

-You have prayed and I have answered, mine child.

You prayed for health, and you have been rid of all illness. You have prayed for food, and I have procured it for you. You have prayed for power, and I have gifted it to you. Your prayers have been answered, Eloise. Unlike the others, I heed your calls and answer all your prayers. –

-But…I didn’t pray for this. Did I? –

Said the little girl as she turned around to see her little shack again.

-Didn’t you pray to run once again? Didn’t you pray to never get sick again? Didn’t you pray to never feel hungry again? I have answered your prayers, and have gifted you everything you asked from me.

This is what you both wanted. –

Eloise turned to see the corpse of his father next to the table and thinking for a moment, she began to cry again.

-But what happened to my father then? Why is he…?

The mirage took a moment to see the young girl sob and said:

-Your father knew the risks of the ritual. Yet he chose to ignore them for your well-being. He sacrificed his life for yours, mine dearest. –

-But why?! Why?! Just…why… –

The mirage saw the little girl drop to the floor crying uncontrollably. The eye looked at her with a bit of confusion and turned itself into a vision on the window.

-Your father loved you more than anything in this world. He valued you over his own life, Eloise. –

The little girl turned to see the window and now a vision stood where the eye was. Eloise saw her father and as she stopped crying, the eye continued:

-Your father loved you since the day he held you in his arms. But your illness drove him mad. A doctor who can save everyone but his own kin bears a curse some would refer to as: poetic.

Your father spent days and nights looking for a cure, little one. He sent letters far and wide looking for an answer. He acquired books and read through them as a madman trying to find a cure…but nothing worked.

A man of science whom cannot find a logical solution, in the end, will undoubtedly resort to faith and as such, your father began to pray. You both prayed.

You prayed day and night alike but your prayers were ignored. The gods above do not answer to mortal your prayers. They hear them but choose to ignore them. They gawk but do not act. They are useless, selfish Gods. –

-But…are you not a god? –

Eloise asked. The vision stopped and disappeared as the eye reappeared looking at her with fury and hate.

-Do not compare me to those above…for I am here and they are not. –

Uttered the eye with rage in his tone.

-Your father knew the Gods above were ignoring your prayers. He saw your health decline more and more as days went by and once his hope dwindled…he chose to seek for mine help. –

The little girl turned to see her little house destroyed, the blood stains on the walls and the corpse of her father lying lifeless on the floor and asked:

-But…if the Gods can hear us…why didn’t they help us? –

The eye kept silent for a second, thinking, and said:

-Because they are powerless. Their power is solely kept for themselves. They do not care for your kin. They do not weep for your wars and they do not act when malice is done.

The Gods above see you struggle. They see your desperation. –

The eye suddenly turned back into a vision as it showed the Gods pondering at Eloise and his father, praying in bed before sleeping. Eloise looked confused as she turned to see her bed and her nightstand noticing it was her in the vision. Her voice and her father’s echoed through the vision as they prayed together.

-They heard your prayers. They saw your devotion and they acknowledged your faith…but they chose to ignore it all. –

Eloise suddenly saw as the Gods turned around and left. She felt a fury she had never experienced before. Her body trembled with hate and, as her hands became fists, her eyes turned red with pure disdain.

-They heard your prayers many times. They saw you struggle to run, to walk, and then to eat. They saw your father go mad trying to find a cure for thee.

They could have helped every. Single. Time. But, in the end, they didn’t.

They are selfish. They do not care for thine kind, mine dear. They demand love, yet they neglect any affection. They demand your obedience, yet they offer no reward. Their love is conditional and will always be. You can pray to them and they will hear you…but they will never answer. –

The vision turned back into the eye and Eloise could see her bright burning red eyes shine against the window.

-I am no God from above, mine child. I was cast from their ranks because I wished to help your kind. I was banished because I chose to come to your aid when it was needed. The Gods above fear your kind and now…they will fear you as well, little one. –

The eye banished from the window and Eloise stared directly into her red eyes. Her fists still clenched with anger and her heart racing with fury. Suddenly, she heard the voice echo again.

-Do you still think I am a god from above, my dear? I am not one of them. I am mine self. I will help you procure your vengeance if you allow me to help you, mine child. –

Eloise turned around and saw the eye looking at her from a glass bottle all the way across her shack.

-Why? Why didn’t they help us? Why didn’t they fix me?! They saw us pray over and over and over again and they did nothing! Nothing! I…-

The little girl suddenly collapsed to the floor. Dizzy and confused. The mirage disappeared from the bottle and appeared inside a broken glass closer to Eloise.

-I can sense your hate towards them. I can feel your anger, and I can see your pain, my dear. But you need to eat to fuel that anger. Do not resist. Eat, mine child. –

Eloise nodded and tried to stand up. She stumbled a bit but managed to walk to the counter and grab an apple her father had brought for her. As she bit it, Eloise coughed and gagged as the apple tasted sour. Eloise tried to eat it again but she coughed once more. She dropped the apple and grabbed another one from a basket but the result was the same. She gagged and spit the apples as they all tasted sour. The mirage started to appear in every glass and window in the house, looking at Eloise as she tried desperately to eat something but spitting everything.

-There is only one thing you can eat now. –

Eloise dropped to the floor and puked. She grabbed a glass of water and she tried her best to get rid of the taste in her mouth when she dropped the glass, spilling the water and making the eye appear all over the floor, looking at her.

-Eat, Eloise. You must eat. You must consume…-

Eloise turned around to see the corpse of her father and she began to crawl to it. Her eyes burned red with fury as the mirage gawked at her from everywhere inside her shack. The eye was on the ceiling, on the walls, and on the floor.

-Eat. Eat and you will be able to run faster than you have ever dreamed of. Eat and you will be more powerful than any human. Eat and you will know no illness, no pain, and you will never feel hunger again for the world is riddled with your food. –

Eloise reached his father’s corpse and her hands shook with desperation. She could smell the blood and she began to salivate.

-Eat. –

Ordered the eye.

-Eat. –

His voice grew louder and louder as Eloise grabbed his father’s arm. It was as big as her and she brought it closer to his mouth. Saliva drops fell from her mouth as her eyes shone bright in carmine red.

-Eat. Eat. Eat. –

The mirage began to repeat over and over and over again. His sinister voice echoed through the little shack and inside Eloise’s mind. Eloise opened he mouth and as the first drop of blood touched her long tongue, the eye yelled one last time:

-EAT! –