Then came the noise. It was a strange hissing sound coming from somewhere inside the building. Following the hiss came a scarping sound like something metallic being dragged along the floor, and this time she recognized it as the sound of chains, just like the ones her father used to keep her safe.
‘Remember this Maria,’ said Halon, waiting for her to look up at him with expectant eyes. ‘No matter what happens next, I will not let anything hurt you.’
Maria locked her gaze with his flame filled eyes. She thought about what he had said as she could feel her heart beat increase in speed. The hissing and scraping noises coming from the building nearby where growing louder.
‘Maria!’ Screamed a choked voice, and she snapped her gaze back to the entrance of the apartment building. Her heart began to pound in her little chest as she watched the grotesque figure slowly drag itself out and into the street.
It was horrible, like someone had dropped it in black paint which had permanently marked its skin. It’s head was bald and it had a huge belly. She noticed the heavy chains wrapped around its neck and ankles, which explained the scraping noises.
‘Maria, you little bitch!’ It screamed at her again. ‘You let me die!’
Fresh tears welling in her eyes, Maria looked up a Halon as she held tightly on to his nail. Hoping that he would be able to do something to get rid of the thing in-front of them.
‘Remember what I showed you in the cauldron, Maria. Remember the first thing you saw.’ Said Halon, looking down at her.
Maria thought back to the castle and the cauldron and the strange image of her father standing over his own body. At first she couldn’t understand what she was supposed to take from that, but as she glanced back at the creature shambling towards them, its skin as black as tar, she suddenly realised what she was looking at.
Or who she was looking at, was more to the point.
The horrible twisted creature in-front of them was actually her father. Halon had told that he too was now in this world but she never thought she would see him again, and that brought a whole new set of emotions on that she wasn’t expecting.
One part of her wanted to run towards him and wrap her arms around him, while the other half felt frightened and disgusted by how he now looked.
‘In this place Maria, you have the strength to be able to push away anything and anyone who is truly bad. All you need to do is trust your heart and it will do the rest for you,’ said Halon, keeping his eyes on Maria’s father.
He wondered if Maria would understand if he explained to her that what she was actually seeing was her father’s soul; as black as the night sky and twice as cold. He doubted it and decided now was not the time for such a conversation.
‘Maria. You left me to die. I’m going to lock you away in that cupboard for the rest of your life. I’ll let my friends tear you apart for their pleasure,’ the creature that was Maria’s father dropped its voice to a raging hiss as it continued towards them.
Despite her age, even Maria could tell that her father was not planning to give her a kiss on the cheek or a warm cuddle. He wanted to do bad things to her, and let his friends do bad things to her.
It was as she tried to fight the fear of what those bad things could be, that Maria noticed a strange sensation around the area where her heart was. At first it was just a slight tingle before it gradually grew into what could only be described as a thunderstorm erupting in her heart.
The tingling sensation crawled down her arms and onto her hands where she could feel them grow incredibly warm, yet she felt no pain, and better yet, her fear was quickly being pushed away by anger.
‘Come to daddy you little bitch,’ hissed her father’s soul.
Tears dripping from her chin, Maria raised her hands, palms forward, in an act of defiance. It was the only motion she could think of to tell him to stay from her, but as she did it massive burst of flames erupted from her hands and without warning huge fireballs where sent racing towards the monster of a man.
Screams filled the air as her father was engulfed in flames. They were so loud they couldn’t even hear the sound of the chains he wore rattling on the ground as they melted to his skin.
Frightened that she had done something terribly wrong Maria looked up at Halon, who she was surprised to see had a small, thin, smile on his leathery face.
‘Well done. You really are your mothers daughter,’ he said, turning away so he could continue to walk. He knew fine well what he had just said would ignite more questions than he wanted to answer right now, so the best thing to do was to carry on the journey.
Maria glanced back at the smouldering being that had once been her father. She couldn’t believe she was able to shoot flames from her hands, and she felt certain that at any point now she was going to get into a lot of trouble for what she had just done.
Strangely enough though she wasn’t too concerned about getting into trouble. Almost every day of her life for the last five years had involved being punished for something. What did get her imagination going though, was what Halon had said:
She was her mother’s daughter?
What did that mean? Was he saying that she was just like her mother, and if that was the case did he know where her mother was?
Maria would have gave anything in the world to be able to speak, and she tried to open her mouth and verbally say what she had in her head but all that came out was a soft wisp of air. No words or anything that another person, or creature in the case of Halon, could understand.
She felt frustrated as she continued to hold on to his nail as they walked. She waved a finger up at him and was almost instantly amazed to see that as she did so a bright trail of sparkles followed it and lingered in the air much longer than it should have.
Halon stopped and once again looked down at his little companion with the pink hair and oddly coloured eyes. He was surprised as Maria was to see the trail of sparkles following her wagging finger.
Maria had only a few times in her life where she had been allowed to draw in the comfort of her room without anyone wanting to touch her or take pictures of her. She wasn’t very good at it, or at least that was what her father would tell her anyway, as he drunkenly inspected the small stick figure that were supposed to be him and his daughter.
It was the thought of those stick figures that gave Maria an idea. She began to draw one in the air using her finger and was amazed to see it hang there like some sort of magic projection.
Halon understood who the crude stick figure was supposed to represent. It had long hair and a huge smile that only a child would draw on any adult no matter how bad or abusive they had been towards them.
‘Let me guess,’ he said, holding back a smile. ‘That’s your mummy.’
Maria nodded rapidly and smiled at him. The stick figure of her mother was still hanging in the air as she began to draw another image, this time it was some kind of warped creature with huge wings.
Again, Halon understood what she was trying to convey, ‘Yes, I do know where your mummy is.’
Maria began to jump with joy. Halon could feel his heart melt as he watched her face light up. He watched as she pointed firstly at herself, then him, and then finally at the road in front of them.
The huge Demon nodded his head at her, knowing what she was asking him to do: Take her to her mother. It had been his plan all along, although he had not wanted to say anything just in case her mother rejected her, which in his heart he believed would never happen, but there was always that possibility.
If she did reject her daughter, Maria’s mother would force him to become the child’s carer, and as he looked around at the twisted, decaying buildings and the smouldering pile of flesh that had once been the girl’s father, he thought this would be the last place she should live even if he could protect her for the rest of eternity it wasn’t fair on such a loving soul.
Eventually he nodded his head at Maria. Hell was no place for such an innocent soul and Halon figured that on the slim chance her mother did reject her, there would be someone on the other side of this plane who would be willing to give the little one all the love and happiness she deserved.
Maria bounced with joy as they started walking again, but it was short lived as another sound came from behind them. It was a strange cackle, like that of a man laughing under a mask.
Both Demon and child turned to face the direction the sound was coming from. Maria instantly felt fear stab at her heart as her eyes fell on the shambling black soul of a tall thin man. It’s hair long and dripping with grease. She recognized who it was supposed to be. Her father’s friend, the one who liked to take pictures of her even when she was naked.
‘Leave this one to me, Maria,’ said Halon, as he gently shook his nail free and stepped in front of her. The shambling wreck of a man continued forward, still laughing, its horrible beady eyes unwavering from the small child.
‘I thought I could smell you here,’ it said, a long, lizard like tongue licking at its drawn lips. ‘How about a smile just for me?’
‘Go back to your place of rest or you will be punished,’ said Halon with amazing calm in his voice. ‘This is the only warning I’m going to give you.’
This time the wretched man did break his gaze but his smile never faded as he looked up at the huge winged demon. Even now, in the worst possible places a human soul could be, he was still defiant.
‘You can’t do a thing to me. I know the rules of this place. You’re not allowed to lay a finger on me,’ he said, defiance in his voice as his gaze shifted again back to Maria who stood as close as she possibly could to Halon.
‘You know nothing, you wretched soul,’ said Halon taking another step closer to protect his young charge. ‘Any good soul who mistakenly enters this place must be protected until it returns home,’ without warning the huge Demon reached out and wrapped the wretched man in his massive claw. The man kicked and screamed, taken completely by surprise, as the demon lifted him upwards until he was staring straight into the flames of his eyes.
The thin man with greasy hair, now stained with the same black ink that Maria’s father had been covered in, let out a sharp scream. Halon clenched his fist as tight as he could and the air filled with the sound of breaking bones.
Maria watched in awe at the sheer strength of the Demon; her protector. Every sinew and muscle was visible in its arm as it channelled all its strength into crushing the thin man who liked to take pictures of little girls.
Eventually the air fell silent and Hanlon let his claw open. Maria watched as the broken remains of her father’s friend fell from the demons palm and hit the ground with a loud thud.
Hanlon looked down at the young girl, expecting to see her shivering and crying. Instead he was surprised to see that she was staring intently at the soul he had just crushed. He could tell there was more questions forming in her young mind and although time was of the essence he was able to answer one of them.
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