Rose was walking through the woods to get to the store. This was her favorite short cut. No one ever came here because of some story they heard about murders here. She loved the quiet as she walked. Today was no different from any other day. Go to the market, get the necessities and go back home. But she did not know there were others in the woods, watching her, and following her. She walked slowly, enjoying the quiet and thinking.
She heard a branch crack, and her heart jumped. She spun around and no one was there. Nervously, she continued her walk. No sense in turning around since she was almost in the center of the woods. She quickened her pace, listening for any noises or foot falls behind her. She thought she heard something a couple of times but could not pinpoint where it came from.
As she got just past the halfway point, she saw something she could not explain. There was a puff of smoke and then a man was standing in front of her, about three yards away. Rose stopped in her tracks. Stood very still and tried to rationalize what she saw. Nothing made sense. Then the foot falls behind her stopped a few seconds later and now she was sure she had heard them.
She turned her head to see who was behind her. It was a few members of the local gang that was always causing trouble for people. She recognized two of them and not the rest. She was horrified to see the five of them behind her. Somewhat glad for the mysterious man in front of her, but still frightened of him as well. Where did he come from?
As Rose stood there between the gang members and the mystery man, she could not move. There was a flash, some screams and a bit of blood in the air. Afterwards, the gang members were dead, and the man stood there smiling at her. "Don't be afraid, Rose," the strange man said. His voice deep, and almost musical. Rose could hardly breathe; she saw the bodies in quick flashes and then nothing was there except some blood on the leaves. She could not find her voice to ask the stranger what happened. Just stared at him with a questioning look.
Understanding, he explained that those men had horrible intentions toward her. He said he could not let them do that to her. Rose just stood there with her mouth agape. Staring and not understanding how any of this was possible. He stepped toward her, and it was too much, she fainted. Damon caught her before she hit the ground.
A short while later, Rose opened her eyes slowly. The light was too bright, and she winced at it. After a few moments, it did not seem as bright. Like someone turned down the lights. She slowly sat up, thinking it was all a dream. She started looking around and realized she was not at home. This was not a house. The walls were what looked like solid rock.
She was on a bed; it was soft and comfortable. She sat up and started really looking around to see where she was. She confirmed she was underground somewhere.
Echoing from afar were the sounds of voices. Most were angry. She heard one voice she recognized. The mysterious man. She quietly looked down the corridor to see if the sound was there. She found an empty room with a fire pit, a few cells for prisoners, and a circular sofa around a table. She was unsure what this room was for.
She crept back to the room she woke in and sat on the bed. She wanted to find out what was happening and what the fuss was about, but there were many turns and tunnels, and she did not want to get lost.
The meeting broke up and she heard voices wandering the corridors. Unsure if any would come here, she hid behind the bed. She saw feet come in the door, but they were clawed, like tiger paws, furry, big, with long sharp claws. The fur was black as night, the ankles went up long calves of a horse type of creature.
She could not see any more due to the angle she was using to see. His voice called out "I know you are here, I can smell your fear, come out, I promise not to hurt you." She was frozen to the spot. He repeated his words, more gently. Somehow Rose was standing and looking at him.
It was him, but not him. He had horns, huge teeth, black fur, except his chest was not furry, it was smooth and rippled with muscles. His hands were kind of like his feet, except they were closer to human, furry, black as night, with long claws. His face was scary to her. He had long, sharp teeth, his eyes were glowing red, the horns looked dangerous and deadly.
As she walked closer to him, her curiosity greater than her fear, he started to change back to his human form. In human form, he was good looking. Dark hair, tanned skin, muscles on top of muscles. Everything was masculine but had a softness about it. She trusted he would not hurt her, even though she was scared.
Damon started by introducing himself. He knew it must be an odd situation to find yourself in, meeting a demon for the first time. As she stared at him and listened to his explanations, she was in disbelief. He could not be a demon, and she could not be in one of the areas of Hell. She was a good person and should go to Heaven. But here she was, talking to a demon, in Hell.
When Damon stopped talking, he asked if she had questions. She just looked at him like he was crazy. "Of course, I have questions! You are a demon; this is Hell, and you saved my life from the gang bangers. That is what you are telling me?" She stared him down trying to see if he was delusional, crazy, lying, anything but what she saw with her own eyes. That cannot be real. Was a trick or something.
