The_Demons_Wife_ARC (34 page)

About halfway
up the stairs, with every nerve in her body prickling, she felt a subtle
electrical charge running from the stairs up her legs to her chest and throat.
Off to one side, there was a wide, double window. She glanced at it, not
knowing what—if anything—she expected to see.

All she saw
was the dark slab of night. The lights on the stairway reflected off the glass
with a harsh glare that made it impossible for her to see the falling snow
outside. She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, but then
the thought occurred to her that the darkness outside the window appeared to be
too dark.

How is that
so?

It was like
something…outside…was pressed against the glass, blocking out any view outside
because whatever was at the window was watching her.

It’s nothing,
she told herself, but the feeling that there was something out there wouldn’t
go away.

Gripping the
handrail with one hand, she glanced up and down the stairs as if expecting to
see…

What?

A hellish,
drooling creature, waiting to pounce on her and rend her limb from limb?

A smiling,
blue-faced demon, ready to seduce her soul?

Or
something—she couldn’t image what, but something she wasn’t expecting?

 She returned
her gaze to the window. It was now plain that there was something out there.
Her first thought was that the blue face—the Hell Mouth she had seen outside
the living room window had gotten up there and was still watching her…gathering
strength as it waited to strike again. She didn’t know the layout of the house,
inside and out, well enough to know how or if anything could get up there.
Maybe it had wings and was hovering in the night…or claws that let it cling to
the side of the house.

Of course they
can go anywhere, she told herself. They’re demons. They can do anything they
want, can’t they?

 Well, maybe
not anything. As far as she knew, Samael couldn’t fly. And after all, Michael
had done something to the house to make it so nothing could get inside or out.

As she was
staring at the shape in the window, it hit her.

It wasn’t just
one shape.

It was many shapes…many
small, black things.

She realized
with a jolt that a swarm of bats was fluttering against the window. Their wings
and claws were scratching and skittering across the glass as they tried to pry
the window open and get inside.

“Bats?…In a
snowstorm?” she said to herself.

But the longer
she stared, the clearer she could make out the hundreds of tiny fanged faces
staring at her. Their small, yellow eyes glowed like flying cinders in the
snow-swept darkness, and then it hit her.

They all had
miniature versions of Samael’s face.

Claire was so
startled she wasn’t able to call out to Samael, and finally she decided not to
because—she told herself—
This is just another illusion that’s supposed to
frighten me.
She didn’t want to look like a frightened little girl who
freaked out about everything. If Samael said the house was safe, the house was
safe.

 “Fuck you,”
she whispered as she raised her middle fingers and thrust it toward the bats.
The motion—or something—set them off, and they started scrambling and squeaking
all the more.

And then she
turned her head and continued up the stairs, confident that neither the
bats—not anything else—could get inside.

~ * ~

Before she
went to the master bedroom, she decided to check in on Sally.

Hopefully, she
was sleeping peacefully and recovering her wits, but Claire knew that, whatever
had happened, Sally would never again be the same.

Tears welled
in her eyes as she approached the guest room door. Her fingers grasped the
doorknob lightly and, after taking a breath, she turned the doorknob as softly
as she could. She didn’t want to disturb Sally if she was asleep. Still holding
her breath, she pushed the door open quietly, its bottom edge whispering across
the plush carpet.

The room was
dimly lit—just as she and Samael had left it—and Sally was lying on her back on
the bed, the sheets and blankets covering her body to her chin. Her head was
propped up on several pillows, so she looked almost like she was sitting up.

Claire stopped
short.

Sally’s eyes
were wide open, and she was staring at her.

Claire also
noticed that Sally’s face and hands were completely healed—no swelling, no
bruising, no puffiness. 

Uh-oh
, was Claire’s
first thought.
There’s some major shit going down here.

The glassy,
blank expression on Sally’s face chilled Claire. The look in her eyes was far
from human. Her eyeballs glistened wetly in the dim light. They seemed to glow
with some strange, internal fire. The cold, steady gaze was reptilian. It fixed
Claire where she stood.

Claire
returned Sally’s stare, not wanting to back down. She had no doubt who was the
more powerful one here. She knew—without doubt—this wasn’t the real Sally as
her former roommate stared at her without blinking.

“Are you okay,
Sal?”

Even before
Claire finished her question, Sally slipped her tongue out between her lips. It
extended much further than was possible, flickering back and forth like a
snake’s tongue, sniffing and testing the air.

Claire was
mesmerized, and only gradually she realized she was moving again—without
willing it—slowly toward the bed where her friend lay. She looked down at her
feet as if they belonged to someone else, watching in amazement as they slid
forward, gliding over the carpet like she was sliding on ice.

When Claire
looked up at Sally, she was shocked to see her sitting straight up in the bed.
She pushed the bed covers aside with a casual sweep of the hand.  They floated,
moving in slow motion and fell aside, exposing Sally’s body.

Only it wasn’t
Sally.

Her body was
seriously altered. It had thickened into two…no, three thick coils. It looked
as if the bones in her body had turned into pulp, and she was slowly extending
and unflexing until her body was a long, thick, winding tube.

Even as Claire
watched, her terror rising, the monster that was no longer Sally began to move.
It shifted with a heavy slithering motion, its body growing larger with each
passing second until the coils of the body no longer fit onto the bed. A thick
looping coil dropped to the floor with a heavy thud that sounded like a distant
gunshot.

All the while,
Sally’s face was changing, too. Her nose and chin extended outward, elongating
into a V-shaped snout that pushed her eyes—now wide, yellow slits—back to the
sides of her face. The huge slit-like irises—as black as night—expanded to take
in more light as a strange, golden glow shifted across her face. Instead of
skin, Sally was now covered with small hexagonal scales that glimmered like
tiny rainbows in the dim light.

All the while,
the creature…the beast that was or had been Sally…was staring directly into
Claire’s eyes.

Unblinking.

Cold.

Cruel.

Reptilian.

She’s trying
to hypnotize me
.

That thought
was oddly distant to Claire…like someone else had spoken the words to her. Her
curiosity temporarily overcame her fear, and she tilted her head, listening.

“How do you
want it to end, Claire?” the reptile said, speaking with freakishly precise
human enunciation. 

End what?
Claire
thought but didn’t say.

She opened her
mouth to speak, but it wasn’t necessary. The steady glow in the snake’s eyes
indicated that it understood as clearly as if she had spoken.

“I mean,” the
snake replied, “that you have a choice to make.”

Oh, I do?

“Indeed, you
do…a very important choice.”

And that is…?

Instead of
answering, the snake raised its head and began swaying back and forth like a
cobra reacting by the motion and music of a snake charmer. Its body continued
to enlarge until the thick coils flopped heavily onto the floor on both sides
of the bed.

And then, its
sides rippling like a stream of water, it rose until its head touched the guest
room ceiling. In a subtle, sinuous motion, it shifted slowly from the bed onto
the floor.

“Will you
willingly give me your soul in order to save him?”

What do you
mean?

“Exactly what
I said. I want you to give me your soul.”

The snake’s
eyes flashed with cold light that pulsated in time with Claire’s rapid
heartbeat.

“It’s quite
simple,” the snake said. “Your beloved Samael—” When it hissed the “S” in his
name, it sounded like cold water splashing on hot coals—“wants to regain his
angelic nature, correct?”

Claire felt
oddly calm, facing the snake. Far from hypnotized, she found she was able to
collect and focus her thoughts.

“He didn’t
tell you, but he can’t do it without a sacrifice. Otherwise, it would be
entirely too easy,” the snake continued.

If he asks
forgiveness, he’ll get it…That’s how it works
, she thought.

The snake made
a loud hissing sound that, Claire realized, was intended to be laughter.

You don’t have
any power over him or me…You’re not the one who decides.

“That’s what
you think.”

If it’s
possible for a snake to smile, the thing that had once been Claire’s roommate
suddenly thrust its head forward and, hissing, smiled at Claire.

“Didn’t he
tell you?”

Tell me what?

“He should
have been completely honest with you from the start…especially now that you’re
married.”

The tone of
utter scorn in the snake’s voice chilled Claire.

“He should
have told you that he was grooming you.”

Grooming me?

“Yes. To be
his replacement…the sacrifice he will have to make in order to make the
transition.”

Bullshit!

Complete and
total bullshit!

Claire opened
her mouth to shout for Samael, but she stopped when she realized that’s exactly
what this thing wanted.

It’s using
me…as bait…to lure Samael here…playing on my fears…and my doubts.

I have to face
it down on my own…

This is my
temptation.

Iron resolve
filled her.

If I can
defeat this demon on my own…if I can expose it for what it is...maybe then I’ll
be able to end this insanity…

“You actually
think you can defeat me? Your beloved Samael has already come to an agreement
with us. You give your soul to me, and he’ll be free to do whatever he
pleases.” Again, the long, drawn out hiss on the “S” in pleases.

Claire
suddenly thought of Eve in the Garden of Eden.

She was
framed, she thought…but not this time
. She laughed softly to herself.

“You have no
idea of the forces coming down on you,” the snake said.

As it spoke,
the scaly body kept rippling…coiling and uncoiling in a smooth, flowing motion
as it started to move forward…closer to Claire. Its triangular head was raised
and sweeping from side to side, slowly…sinuously.

Neither do
you…I know you’re lying…and you won’t win
.

 Without
warning, the snake darted forward at blinding speed and looped its body around
Claire once…twice…three times. She was soon engulfed by the dry, scaly folds
that immediately began to squeeze her, pinning her arms to her sides.

“Then die,
bitch!”

The snake’s
body contracted, squeezing Claire so hard her breath burst out of her. Hot,
salty pressure started pounding inside her head. Her eyes bulged until they
felt like they would pop out of her head.

I don’t care
what you do to me…You’re not going to get me to give up Samael, and you’ll
never get my soul, asshole!

The snake made
more hissing and chuffing sounds that might have been laughter.

Tiny pinpoints
of white light zigzagged across Claire’s vision. The pounding in her head was
so strong it hurt.

This is
it…This is how I’m going to die.

“Yes, you are
going to die…and your soul will be mine unless you do what I command.”

Fuck you!

“Have it your
way, then.”

The coils
tightened even more. Tiny crackling sounds that she knew were her bones
breaking echoed inside her head. Her vision swelled as dense blackness deeper
than any black she had ever experienced spread out from the edges and reduced
what she could see until it was no more than a single pinpoint. And in that
pinpoint was the face of the snake staring at her as it opened its mouth wide.