Fifty seven

40 YEARS AGO

The circles of salt spread across the manor of the Blossom household made little David terrified as he clutched his elder sister's hand tighter. Candice on the other hand, held onto a jagged dagger whilst protecting her little brother from the recent horror her father just unleashed on the world. One that had promised his father he would devour every soul in the house if it wasn't set free to wreak havoc on the world. As they tiptoed room to room trying to get to the demon before it crept up on them, David felt the room grow progressively cold. It was their late mother's room. The windows were open and the gentle night breeze blew at the curtains with the grace of a dandelion in the wind. Candice pushed her brother behind her instinctively. Their mother's room had been strictly off-limits and considering only herself, her brother and her father who was currently marauding the house under a cloaking spell lived there. It was smart to assume that the demon was hiding somewhere in the room. Muttering a spell that made the jagged dagger in her hand burn bright blue, Candice called out to the demon. "Genie, I know you are here."

"It's Djinn." The creature retorted in a voice of fire and brimstone. The room's temperature tilted and progressively got hot. Behind the laid bed where their mother took her last breath, Candice and David watched as the monster crept out of his hiding spot. Its eyes were magma hot and its jagged head seem to come alive as red flames licked out of its skull of foreign bones. The ugly ribbon of fire that engulfed the body of the demon spread to the bed. Candice cringed in anger as one of the things she could remember her mother by dissolved right in front of her eyes.

"You bastard!" Candice shrieked as the rage within her intensified. What she did next was madness. Without so much as a thought going into how she was going to end a malevolent spirit such as a Djinn, Candice just jumped at the demon in hopes that the metal in her hand would plunge the monster's heart and kill it. It went as one would expect. The enraged Djinn was faster and inhumanly strong. Before Candice's charge could so so much as hurt him, the Djinn bitch slapped her causing her to fly to the end of the room where the open window was. The metal in her hands flew the opposite way and as her body crashed to the ground, the salt at that edge scattered. A laugh erupted from the Djinn's lips. Candice could tell why. As the monster stormed her way, she muttered a spell and the scattered salt barricade came back in place. This enraged the Djinn and it went for Candice's throat. Its talons sunk into her throat as it lifted her from the floor and watched her choke for life.

"Foolish girl!" It hissed tightening his hold on Candice's neck. Candice struggled. She tried to speak. She tried to fight but it was all futility. As she slowly succumbed to the darkness, she looked at her brother. Her stinging red eyes made a silent plea for her brother to pick up the knife on the floor and fight. David wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to protect his sister but what could a twelve-year-old warlock with no experience in magic do. Against every nerve in his body telling him to run, David picked up the dagger and this amused the Djinn who refused to let go of Candice's throat no matter how much she kicked and scratched. It pulled closer, its ominous red eyes growing wide and glittering with power."Little boy," It said. "You should run. You know you are nothing like your family. If you want to live a long and happy life. You should run."

Perhaps it was supposed to belittle the little boy into giving up his fight or maybe the Djinn saw into the grim future of the boy if he continued to play a character he was not but it worked. David had been crippled with that thought even before the demon had said it.

"You know, nobody has to die." The demon continued, releasing his hold over Candice's throat but still holding on to her nonetheless. "Get rid of the salt by the window side and I will let your sister live."

As early as David could remember, his father had instilled the knowledge in them that it was reckless to bargain with demons when they had the upper hand but David was not about to watch his sister die in another of her efforts to prove herself to their father. He dropped the dagger and ran for the salt line.

"Scatter it." The Djinn urged.

David looked back at the white dust. Djinns were the worst to bargain with but David was sure that the demon would take freedom over taking his sister's life. It knew their father was still around the house searching. Taking a deep breath, David wiped the salt creating an opening for the Djinn and as David had hypothesized, the demon threw his sister to his left and jumped towards its opportunity at freedom. David closed his eyes as this happened. He expected a whoosh of hot wind to pass above him or at least a maniacal laughter. What did follow was a shriek. David opened his eyes to see the dagger he had abandoned plunged into the heart of the Djinn. The invisible figure holding the dagger slowly formed and David saw his father glare back at him with a look he had become accustomed to. One of pure untainted disappointment.

***

David's family scared him. For as long as he could remember, he had never wanted to be anything like them but Satake's earlier outburst had proven that even if David had chosen not to associate himself with the dark things that came with his family's legacy, the dark things would forever latch into him because of his bloodline. It was night but David could still make out the route where the family manor stood. From a distance, he could sight the house he grew up in. The timeless Victorian manor looked like it had barely aged a day. David stopped at the gates, heaved a much need sigh before pushing the heavy black gates that encircled the manor. It creaked heavily causing some birds nestled on the many Cherry Blossom tree to scatter into the sky. The front door creaked open as David approached it and a cream blonde blue-eyed woman the size of a twelve-year-old peeped outside. Her eyes went wide as she realized who was coming and she proceeded to open the door wide beaming with a polite smile.

David sent one back. "It's nice to see to see you again Arielle."He said, entering his family manor as Arielle led the way.

"Likewise, Master David."