The Demon’s Bride

Night clouded the sky outside the house. It was dead at night, no one should have been awake but two people had lighted the candle again not soon after an hour it had been extinguish. They two had a grim expression. Both of them are scared with what they had to do but they had no guilt as they had been assured no harm should come to their eldest son. Her husband picked up the dagger. The dimmed light created a monstrous shadow on the wall when they raised the dagger.

Mr. Lone nodded at his wife before the wife reached out to the door knob to open the door. The room was no where near warm as the temperature has dropped at the night yet the two had broke into a cold sweat. Mrs. Lone take a gulp and quickly turned the round golden knob when all of a sudden her entire body was stunned. 

She looked at her confused husband, asking, "Did you locked the door?"

"I didn't. There's no key there isn't it?" Mr. Lone questioned and a suspected the door to be locked when he tried turning the knob, he confirmed his suspicions. "What happened? Where's the key?" 

"No," Mrs. Lone gasped, "We are locked from outside."

"No you are locked from inside," Ernest spoke behind them. The couple, stunned didn't believe whose voice she had heard and turned around only in surprise when she found her adopted son, standing right behind them. They didn't know how tall he had gotten since the entire time Ernest would stay in the corner of the room, crouching with his back bend. "The dagger... are you planning to kill someone?"

Like a thief caught red handed, Mr. Lone pushed the dagger behind his back to hide what he hold but even the dumb know it was too late.

"How did you get in here?!" Mr. Lone put a stance as if he wasn't surprised by Ernest's sudden arrival. "No answer, you ungrateful bastard?! Answer me or I will teach you a lesson you will never forget!" The man raised his hand as if to beat Ernest but someone had stopped him. 

Anger flared on Mr. Lone's eyes for being interrupted and he looked on his side, at the person who had stopped him only to looked surprised. "Sir Andrick... how are you still—"

"—still alive? Perhaps it's because I have never died before." Apollyon gave the man a wry smile that widened slowly.

"It is true what they said! You are possessed!" Mrs. Lone yelled, raising her voice to alert the servants or anyone near the room without knowing how all the servants had collapsed on the floor with blood pooling beneath them. 

"Possessed? I think you are mistaken the person who is possessed isn't me but our former leader… yes the man you two secretly met yesterday." Apollyon raised his hand for three more people to walk forward, bowing toward him. "I said former because now I am the leader of the dark sorcerers."

"No… no way… what do you two want from us. If it's an apologies you want I can do that but please… don't kill us!" Mrs. Lone bite her lips as she could only think the cause for Ernest's anger was her abuse she had done for years to the younger man. 

"I don't care about things like anger. I could have left this house without doing anything to you simply because I don't feel any attachment to you two but there are lines which you should not cross but you two did. I asked you again. Who are you about to kill with that dagger on your hand?" Ernest's eyes narrowed at the silence that Mr. and Mrs. Lone showed. "If you wished so much to meet your younger son again. So much that you can sacrifice your older son's life. Why don't you sacrifice your own? There's an easier way rather than to bring him alive." 

Apollyon's smirk could be seen growing wider at the words Ernest said. His happiness came from successfully corrupting the younger man's thinking process. 

Elise and Ian watched the brutal murderer of Mr. and Mrs. Lone. Not many minutes after their death, the door to the room was opened. On Ernest's hand was a dagger and blood covering his entire figure. He was still staring down at the dead bodies until he became startled by the sudden sound of creak coming from the door of the bedroom.

He turned only to see his nightmare coming to live where Dalton staggered as he saw his parents died on the floor, murdered by no one other than Ernest.

"Ernest…" he called, tears falling from his eyes as he came to a realization that this wasn't a dream. 

Ernest took a step forward after hiding his bloodied hands like a child who had caught stealing a cake. "No, Dalton."

"Don't come near me!" Dalton yelled. He was shocked, stricken by grief, and also in fear as he saw the people around Ernest who stood still eerily while gazing at his parent's body. "Why? Why Ernest? Is it because what they have done to you? Was it them who had turned you into a monster?"

"Monster?" Ernest stayed silent before suddenly a smile came on his lips. "You have never knew about me Dalton, I have always been a monster! Born as a monster and that will never change," Ernest couldn't stop his words as to his eyes, he saw Dalton's figure changing into Edgar's. "Do you really believe that one day they would let me leave the house? Do you really think they won't kill me sooner in exchange for the life of Jeremy? And what could you do? Watch me until my name is engraved on the tombstone? You cannot do anything to help me and you have no right to call me a monster. The one who drives me this far is indeed them."

Apollyon raised his hand toward Ernest and whispered in a not-so-hushed voice, "Should I kill him?"

Dalton, taken aback took one step backward in fear. 

"No," answered Ernest, who had found another idea. "I need your help, on doing something else Apollyon."