Authors: David Estes
H
is story began a mere 150 years earlier in 1846. That’s when the first demon evolved. A young man in his mid-twenties, Clifford Dempsey, was hiking deep in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. He was hoping to identify and catalogue at least one new species of insect. As a budding insectologist this was his dream, his passion. Still today, the Amazon is a dangerous place for even the most experienced guides. Deadly snakes, spiders, and poisonous plants patrol the rainforest while lethal piranhas and crocodiles swim hidden beneath the surface of the many rivers and streams. It was Clifford’s first trip to the Amazon.
While scouting for food one day, Clifford was bitten on the back of his hand by a long, ink-black snake. Clifford tried to rip the snake from his hand, but its jaws were locked like a vice on his skin, its fangs imbedded in a large, blue vein. Eventually he was forced to chop the serpent’s head off with a knife he carried in his belt. Black blood poured from the serpent’s writhing body as his hand was finally released.
A sudden bolt of pain surged through him, from his feet to his head. Then, abruptly, it stopped. Clifford waited a minute, and feeling like himself again, inspected the snake. He was hopeful that it was not of the poisonous variety.
He opened his snake book and scanned through the pictures of black snakes. None of them resembled what lay before him. Its body was pitch black and as smooth as silk. Not an etch or a marking marred the surface of its skin. The decapitated head looked identical to the body, except for a spot of color on either side of its nostrils—blood-red eyes stared out from the dark skin. Its mouth hung open and Clifford saw that the fangs and gums were as dark as black onyx.
He bagged both pieces of the snake and brought them back to his camp for further inspection. Upon arrival at his fire pit, he opened the bag to find that the snake had been reduced to black ash. Sifting through the ash, his fingers took on a dirty look, like he had just been reading a newspaper.
Confused and tired, Clifford drank two swallows of water and lay down to sleep.
Later, he awoke screaming as he watched fire spread up his legs to his torso. The flames licked the sides of his makeshift pup-tent, setting them ablaze as well.
He managed to roll outside of the inferno and into the dead of night where he writhed on the rainforest floor. His eyes closed and Clifford saw images of burning flesh,
his
burning flesh, but at the same time felt that something was missing. He lay burning for what seemed like hours, but was really only a minute, before he figured it out.
He felt no pain
.
Death by burning had always been sold as an excruciatingly painful way to die, but Clifford felt nothing at all, as if he was numb with shock. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he remained engulfed in flames, which had now covered the whole of his body. But still, no pain. He waved his arm in front of his face, and through the flames he could see the pink of his arm, rather than the charred flesh he had expected.
As his breathing slowed and his heart rate returned to normal, the fire seemed to diminish until the last flame had expired. His clothes were gone, having been reduced to ash by the heat of the fire. His tent had created a small fire nearby, but its heat was waning as well. He inspected his naked body, but found no evidence of what had transpired.
He remembered the snake and wondered if the venom had entered his brain, causing hallucinations. He checked his hand, looking for the telltale holes from the bite. The skin on his hand was smooth and unmarked.
The next few months were exciting for Clifford as he quickly learned that he was not hallucinating and that he was not only
not
dead, not even injured, but had been
improved
. He gradually gained mastery of his new abilities: he could now cause his entire body to be engulfed in fire one moment and then appear to be a normal human the next. Advancing in his skills, he learned to direct the firepower away from his body, setting trees and bushes on fire.
He could also heal exceptionally fast, which he enjoyed testing by using his knife on his own body and watching his blood evaporate into thin air as the wound sealed itself. The previously crimson blood that had once pumped from his heart had been replaced with the black blood of the snake. His movements were exceptionally fast and he became a deadly predator in the forest, killing animals to survive while he trained his new body.
Gazing at his reflection in a quiet freshwater pool one day, he noticed that his appearance had changed drastically as well. The color of his hair had darkened from nearly blond to deep black. The effect was not limited to his head; the hair on his arms, chest, and even eyebrows had all adopted the dark hue. His eyes had also changed from their previous brown to an inky black.
The changes were positive. Clifford was never considered to be a good looking man and rarely received any interest from women, but now when he saw himself in the pool, he was in awe of his rugged handsomeness and muscular physique.
The final major change that Clifford became aware of continued to intrigue and baffle him. Even on a cloudless sunny day, a smothering darkness seemed to surround him. He wasn’t sure, but his new instincts told him that somewhere within this darkness lay an even greater power than what he had discovered so far.
Months, or maybe even years later, Clifford emerged from the Amazon, bored of the monotonous days in the forest. He was ready to repatriate into society, in spite of his changed being.
His first human contact was with a tan-skinned woman who was drawing water from a well. She didn’t hear him approach and when he spoke he startled her.
The woman jumped back, her eyes wide with terror as she gawked at the man in front of her. The darkness that surrounded him seemed to confound her vision and, while much of his face was hidden, her fear increased as she focused on the two black eyes that pierced through the shadows.
Trying to calm her, Clifford raised his arms above his head to show he meant her no harm, but she viewed it as a threat and ran towards her village. He could only make out one word that escaped her lips. “Daemon, Daemon!” she yelled.
Clifford stood shell-shocked, wondering what to do next, the word
daemon
ringing in his ears. From the nearby village he heard yells, and saw a group of men carrying sharp sticks and bows sprinting down the path in his direction.
Angry at their response to his presence, he considered fighting them, but knew he would easily kill them. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, so he used his newfound speed to rush back to the safety of the forest and easily outran them, their cries fading away as day turned into night.
Through the sleepless night he considered the woman’s description of him.
Daemon
. Maybe that’s what he was, an evil demon from the depths of Hell. Surely his condition was not natural and therefore, maybe he didn’t belong in this world. But why not? He was entitled to life just like any other creature on the planet.
A darkness grew within him and he began to embrace the title of demon. It’s what he was. He made the decision to further develop his abilities and then put them to use against any who would not accept him back into human society. He was not ready for a major battle yet, but he would be soon.
Training began immediately, as he focused on those abilities that he did not fully understand. Meditation helped him harness the power of his mind and sync it with his enhanced body. A breakthrough occurred when he was able to reduce the darkness that surrounded him to a gray shadow by intently thinking about it. It took some concentration, but with time he was able to maintain this reduction of his darkness. He could never remove the shadow completely—it had become a part of him—but he could lessen it to such a degree that he could escape detection.
Just as he was able to minimize the darkness around him, Clifford found that he could expand it. On a sunny day, he could cover the forest in a shroud of darkness and cause the wind to whip through the trees, ripping off branches along the way. Once he even caused a dark cloud to appear and lightning to strike amidst heavy rain. He was ready.
N
ow fully in control of his powers, Clifford made his way through South America and back into the United States. He used his speed to avoid all human contact until he had crossed the border into southern Texas, eventually stopping in Dallas.
His first contacts with humans were wonderful. Most people assumed he was an outlaw, his dark, mysterious look fitting in with many of the rough-edged villains that roamed the desert. Liking the way people regarded him with fear and respect, he adopted the outlaw lifestyle.
He joined a small gang of bandits and quickly took over leadership, as his abilities served him well in his new life. He gained their respect by drinking hard, winning fistfights, knocking off banks, and eventually by single-handedly winning shootouts with cowboys and lawmen.
With the territory came the adoration of women, and his good looks made him the center of attention in this respect. Clifford had a different girl every night, many of whom became pregnant and bore his many children. He witnessed the birth of his first child, a boy. The first thing he noticed about the child: his deep, dark eyes.
When he used a small knife to cut the boy, to his astonishment his skin healed within seconds. Clifford was joyous. He could pass on his powers to his offspring! From that day forward he kept the births of his children a secret and took them away to be raised in a hidden camp in the mountains.
Once his children were of age, he killed the other men in his gang and taught his children the story of the snake and their responsibilities as demons. He counseled them to keep their powers secret and expand their numbers.
Clifford’s family’s criminal activities allowed them to continue to prosper, but they remained on the move and did not flaunt their power. Most of their activities resulted in unsolved crimes and murders.
Eventually Clifford died at an average age, but his children followed his teachings and continued to build up their numbers and secretly infiltrate all aspects of human society.
Four generations and about 100 years later, two of Clifford’s great, great grandchildren from opposite branches of the family tree began a torrid love affair that resulted in the birth of a child. It was the first time that two demons had produced offspring together.
The result was a creature with a deformed face and batlike wings that sprouted from its upper back. While the creature was hideous in appearance, it was relatively intelligent in mind. Although it lacked the power of speech, its demon parents were able to teach it their history and ways. The creature grew to full-size in mere months.
Full-size was a behemoth twelve feet tall with massive hind legs, short arms, and razor sharp claws. While not as powerful as its parents, it used fire as its primary weapon, breathing flames from its mouth in explosions of force. Once the demon clan had seen what the “child” could do, they
produced
dozens of similar creatures, although each looked as different from each other as a cat from a dog.
G
abriel had been talking for a long time, with Taylor captivated by every word. She had many questions, but had held them in, assuming that they would be answered over the course of the story. Eventually she could no longer contain her biggest question.
“Why do I see the red-eyed black snakes in my dreams?” she interrupted.
Gabriel stopped his monologue, a look of surprise crossing his face. He shook his head, like he had almost forgotten that he had an audience for his story.
“What do you mean?” Gabriel said.
Taylor realized that there was no way that Gabriel could know about the snakes. She opened up to him. “Since I was a little girl, I’ve had nightmares about the snakes from your story. I used to fear them, but have learned to live with their constant presence. I no longer fear them, but I still hate them.” Taylor didn’t mention that her most recent snake dreams had included Gabriel in them, it was too embarrassing.
Gabriel said, “I’ve wanted to ask you about your tattoo.”
“It’s just my way of coping with the nightmares,” Taylor said.
Gabriel nodded. “It suits you.”
“Thanks,” Taylor said, smiling slightly.
“To be honest, I have no idea why you see the snakes in your dreams. It might have just been fate’s sadistic sense of humor preparing you for what I am telling you.”
Taylor nodded; she was unsatisfied by the response, but it was as good a guess as any.
“Shall I continue?” Gabriel asked.
“Yeah, but first I have one more question. You’ve talked a lot about demons, but you’re an angel. What does all of this have to do with you?”
“A fair question, I was actually just getting to that,” he said. He continued carefully, pausing to think before almost every word, as if he was afraid of misrepresenting some key fact or anecdote. He said, “While most of the demons were of similar mind and wanted to realize the ultimate goal of destroying humankind and inheriting the earth as the superior race, there was one who disagreed. His name was Dionysus.”
“That’s a strange name for the 1950s,” Taylor said.
“Nevertheless, that was the name he had been given when he was born into demonhood,” Gabriel replied. “You see, Dionysus thought that demons and humans could co-exist on the earth and actually help each other. He constantly argued with the leaders of the demon clan and tried to convince them to change their evil ways.
“Dionysus was appalled at the appearance of the strange demon lovechildren. He referred to the creatures as
gargoyles
and believed them to be an abomination.
“One day an argument erupted into violence. Dionysus fought fiercely against three other demons, but was eventually backed into a corner and subdued. He was brought before the clan leaders and banished from his home. They told him never to come back.
“Dionysus was full of rage at his family’s evil plans. As he passed from the shadow of the mountain, he emerged into the sunlight. Despite being under the sun, he saw that the area immediately around his body remained cloaked in shadow.
“He dropped to his knees, tortured by his inability to fully experience the warmth and light of the sun. He summoned all of his strength as he focused on driving the darkness from his body. To his surprise, some of the darkness receded and a single beam of light touched his chest. This small token of relief from the darkness strengthened Dionysus further and he attempted to thrust the remaining darkness away. He roared in agony as the darkness was ripped from his frame. His bones splintered and tore through his skin, leaving countless gashes on his arms and legs.
“Black blood poured from each wound and evaporated into the air. A mere human would have surely perished from the injuries, but Dionysus’s body quickly repaired itself.
“Dionysus looked at his arms, his legs. He saw that the shadow had been lifted. Bathed in its life-giving rays, Dionysus closed his eyes and absorbed the power of the sun into his being. He lay there for hours until he was aware that the sun had set beneath the horizon.
“When he opened his eyes it was dark, but he perceived a source of light nearby. Afraid that someone might discover him, he looked around anxiously, but saw only darkness. It was then that he looked closely at his new body. It glowed softly despite the dark that had fallen on the earth.”
“He was the first angel,” Taylor whispered.
“Yes, he was. And Dionysus soon realized that he was changed in many ways. His body could still heal itself, but he now drew his power from light rather than darkness. He was inherently good rather than evil. It was the beginning of the angel evolution.”
“So his powers were stronger than the demons’ and he kicked their asses?” Taylor asked.
“Not exactly. The demons’ powers were still a major force to be reckoned with. For the last 60 years Dionysus has built an army that has protected humans against constant attacks by the demons. The fight is referred to as the Great War by both sides. Given each side’s equal and opposite powers, no advantage has really been gained at any point.”
“Come on, that would mean the demons are still out there. It sounds a little farfetched to me.”
“Unfortunately, they are. Many of the unsolved crimes you hear about on the news are the handiwork of the demons. But the angels are out there every day keeping the demons at bay and protecting the humans. We feel that the tide in the War is finally turning in our favor.”
“Do you fight too?” Taylor asked.
“We all do, Taylor. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility.”
“Are you screwin’ with me, man?” Taylor asked bluntly.
Gabriel looked amused. “I wish I was, but it’s all true.”
Taylor’s head was spinning. Her thoughts once more turned to the snake, and to Gabriel’s courageous victory over it. “I think there is something else I should tell you about my dreams,” she said.