The Demon’s Bride

Inside the house looked worse than how the cottage looked from outside. Elise saw the spider webs in all corners of the ceiling and the woods that had broke from age, everything inside the house was clouded with dusts making Elise who was sensitive sneezed.

Elise pulled a handkerchief to cover her nose when Ian took the handkerchief from her and wiped her nose, "It's a ruin, though the house is quite impressive for a house abandoned for sixty more years."

"Could this be Sullivan's magic?" asked Elise when Ian retracted his hand.

"I don't think that is his magic," Beelzebub replied, he entered deeper to the hallways when he stopped at the room trying to open it. "Each Demons have their own magic power while Sullivan's magic was something that I don't know myself but it's not this."

Elise nodded, she wondered where she should begin to search for Sullivan's ghost. Was he really here in the house? Elise heard some ghosts couldn't go too far from where they died, "Where did Sullivan died?" she asked, her voice echoing enough for Beelzebub to hear even as they walked to different rooms. 

"In this very house, the second floor," replied Beelzebub and Elise could feel chill running on her arms at the news. 

Ian pulled her arm as if knowing that she felt cold, "Don't worry, ghosts can't lay a hand on you," unless the ghost was corrupted like the time in the village.

Elise hoped so and she nodded. Passing by the living room, Elise stopped at the cupboard to take the oval picture frame settled above the fireplace. Taking it, Elise blew the dust over, she use her handkerchief to wipe the rest of the dusts to see the portrait better. It was a small painting of a couple. The man stood beside the woman, his eyes were golden and hair silver. 

"This must be Sullivan," whispered Elise once she went back to his side. The woman beside Sullivan was beautiful, her brown hair scattered down on the chair she sat on and a bright blue eyes that almost looked similar to her eyes. 

"And the one beside is... Edith," said Ian with his eyes reading the end of the frame where names were written in it. "He clearly don't look like a Demon, I understand now."

Elise also looked at the man and found him closer to an angel than a demon partly due to his beautiful silver hair and his kind smile which was the opposite of Ian's and Beelzebub's red eyes along with their smile which hid the darkness that lurks. "Does in Hell appearance matter?" she questioned as from what she took from Beelzebub's words, Sullivan the sixth didn't seem to be accepted well in Hell.

"Similar to that," Ian confirmed her, "Like any other humans, they find people who look different than them as odd and weird. But unlike humans who bullied or shun them, Demons would rather keep distance with people like them as attacking is considered as a great offense which is very punishable in Hell."

"They sound strict there," whispered Elise.

"We could go there soon if you would like to," offered Ian his smile didn't seem to be harmful but Elise can't help to pull back on the offer to visit Hell. Hell had always been painted as a very horrible place for humans to stay at and she wondered if going there would be alright.

Walking away from the living room, they sauntered around, "I didn't know humans could visit there alive." All this time she thought only the dead who had made sins would be sent to Hell. She had never heard a living person walking to Hell much less visiting around.

"There's an exception," Ian smiled looking at her with his jolliness, "And I can make that exception to be you. You've always been my exception after all."

At times, Beelzebub walked out from the hallways his shoes creaking, making sounds, "Um, sorry to intrude you two love birds, but I don't see Sullivan here, let's go upstairs."

Ian walked before Elise to the stair while Beelzebub strolled the last. Elise saw that in the second stair there was only one room to enter. Pushing the door, Ian entered first, he looked around finding nothing. But that wasn't the case for Elise. 

When she entered, she saw the silver haired man standing before the window. He didn't look alive. His complexion was pale and most of his body seemed as if he was made from fogs that colored more to blue. 

Elise felt her skin forming bumps when seeing Sullivan whose appearance didn't change like the picture they saw earlier. The ghost was here! 

Ian noticed how her eyes had stared at one specific place, "Is he here?"

Elise turned and nodded, her lips purse and she felt her body react to hide behind Ian before she knew it herself. "He is there," she squeaked. "He looks the same like the portrait. There are no wounds on him," she noted what she saw, and she wondered why Sullivan's body wasn't bleeding, most Ghost she saw had a horrible figure of blood and images that could send one to nightmare, but if not for the fact Elise could see the bed and cupboard through Sullivan, she would have thought he was a spirit.

Before Elise could mentally prepare himself, Ian cleared his throat, "Sullivan show yourself I know you are there you weepy brat." He spoke loud enough for the ghost Elise saw to have stop motioning frown and shifted his sharp gaze on Ian.

Elise reminded to the time Ian told her to stare back at the ghost without feeling far which was what she did. "Who is this man?" scoffed Sullivan his eyes still gold despite being transparent and he scoffed with an irritated expression. "I didn't know thief could be brazen to call the dead house owner shamelessly."

Ian unlike Elise couldn't see anything and he sighed, "Is he speaking?" 

"How did you know?" Elise looked slightly surprised, although at this point she shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore, she can't help to feel astonished by how Ian could tell something he was t able to see or hear.

"Instinct," he deadpanned which was correct and half of it because of Elise's reaction though he doubt she knew it herself, "What did he say?" Ian saw Elise hesitate.

She turned her eyes at him slowly, "He calls you a brazen thief, and ask who you are."

"Brazen thief," Ian repeated, his eyes narrowed while his lips pulled a smile which made Elise to wonder whether he had taken the words as offense or not as it was hard to make Ian's current expression. He seemed to mock but his lips twitched for a single second Elise didn't miss as she stared at him longer than staring at the ghost. "It's been long since I got a pleasing nickname, from a weepy brat no less. Dying once doesn't seem to be enough for him, I see."