Demons
Chapter 1
"Tell me your name."
"Ar-"
"Not your demon name! I already know that. Tell me your human name."
"M-my human name?"
"Yes, you've had all month to think about it, you knew this day was coming. Now tell me, what is it?"
"Oh, right. Phoenix."
"Is that all?"
"What do you mean?"
"Most humans have a last name, too."
"Oh, right, the last name. I'm sorry, I've just-"
"Tell me your full name."
"Phoenix Heffernan."
"Well, now that we finally have your forms sorted, I believe it's time for you to head up to the human world." I smiled; I had been waiting to escape Afterlife for as long as I could remember.
It wasn't exactly what one would call nice, but it was still better than the impressions I'd heard the humans had about it. According to them, there was two places, Heaven and Hell. This was the part that they had right. The clouds and flames were just a myth, though, something a troublesome demon had probably made up.
Heaven, the home of the angels, was the nicer place of the two for sure, with big houses, smiling faces and everybody there being friends. Hell was something of the exact opposite, with small apartments and every man having to look out for himself. Although things did seem bad, there were some people that didn't mean any harm there; good eggs in a bad situation. It was more a matter of chance then anything else.
"Remember, you have one hour between getting from here to the human world. This is the only time you have to morph into your human form, so make sure you get it right." I nodded as I took the red stone and walked over to the transportation device.
Unfortunately, transportation was something that was yet to be perfected, so it took a while to get between worlds. Fortunately, this gave us time to take our human forms.
I had been practising ever since the day I learnt I could go to the human world and the procedure, though it was still somewhat painful, only took me a maximum of half an hour, whereas most demons took almost an hour. Unfortunately, this cancelled a lot of trips to the human world and required some big cover ups by the demons already there.
I grimaced in pain as I transformed. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but the pain only took a day or two to go away.
While I was halfway through transforming, I remembered the stone. There was something I had to do with the stone, but I had forgotten. My excitement had gotten the better of me, until I remembered; I needed to incorporate the stone into my appearance somehow.
The colour stone that a demon received was completely random to everybody, and it was only recorded at the time of receiving the stone. Normally one would receive a colour that went with a human's usual appearance; blue, brown, things of that nature. I had been unlucky enough to get a red; too red for a human's hair colour or to be anything other than a horrible sunburn.
And I decided there was only one thing for me to do. It was quite risky, but I had to.
***
"Sir," I heard a lady say calmly, "excuse me, sir, but are you alright?" I slowly opened my eyes as though I had awoken from a long slumber. She gasped a small bit, "sir, are you okay? Your eyes, they're... Red!"
"I know," I replied with a scowl on my face, "it's nothing to worry about, just how I am naturally."
The accents. English. At least I wouldn't have to create a story as to why I had left England for another country. My accent had always been English for as long as I had been a demon. Before that, I didn't know, but to my demon self I had always been English.
"Oh, well, then, could you perhaps tell me where you had come from? You weren't here when I came past last." I looked at my clothes, noting the formality. I was just hoping I had the year right now.
"I was on my way to tea with an important person, when I began to feel somewhat uneasy and unwell," I lied, "I must have wondered in here in my daze." I stood up off the bed, "I am very sorry, please forgive me." She moved out of my way as I walked past and out of the building. Out the front was a child selling newspapers. Hoping I hadn't left the money I had received behind, I reached into my pocket to find a single coin. Smiling, I knew I had hit luck.
"Excuse me," I said to the boy, "may I have one of those papers?" I handed him the coin and, in turn, he gave me a paper. I walked off, pretending to be interested in it when, in reality, I only wanted the date.
1816. I was unsure if this was a good time but, either way, I knew there were certain ways I had to act. But first thing was first; I needed to get myself a place to live.
I had been told there was a place to trade one important thing from your demon life for a good start to the human life in London, but I was unsure of where this was exactly, and I couldn't take my chances asking people. Either I would have to wait for them to come to me, or I would have TI find it myself.
"Excuse me," a man said to me without even five minutes having passed, "you seem a tad lost. Do you need some help."
"Well, yes please, but I can't just ask-"
"If you're looking for a good home," he whispered to me, "keep heading this way until you hit a dead end. The building you find will hold the answers."
"But how did you know I-"
"No human could have eyes that red, trust me. Well," he said coming out of his whisper, "good day to you, sir!" and he walked away.
Taking his advice, I continued to head north until I found what I had wanted. Once inside, I headed to a counter and took the stone I had been given out of my pocket.
"Name?"
"Phoenix Heffernan." The lady behind the desk looked down at the stone and scowled.
"You do realise you need this, yes?" I laughed a little.
"I don't need it," I told her.
"So you're willing to give a Demon Stone to me, an item essential for life up here, for your own home?" I nodded.
"Well then," she took the stone from me and went to a filing cabinet, coming back with a picture and a key, "I get to keep the stone, and these are now yours. If you need help finding the place, I'm sure you can find a demon around to help you."
"Thank you," I said politely as I turned away, smiling.
I had a chance on the human world, something a lot of demons didn't get. It was the best day of my life.
A new day.
A new home.
A new life.
"Ar-"
"Not your demon name! I already know that. Tell me your human name."
"M-my human name?"
"Yes, you've had all month to think about it, you knew this day was coming. Now tell me, what is it?"
"Oh, right. Phoenix."
"Is that all?"
"What do you mean?"
"Most humans have a last name, too."
"Oh, right, the last name. I'm sorry, I've just-"
"Tell me your full name."
"Phoenix Heffernan."
"Well, now that we finally have your forms sorted, I believe it's time for you to head up to the human world." I smiled; I had been waiting to escape Afterlife for as long as I could remember.
It wasn't exactly what one would call nice, but it was still better than the impressions I'd heard the humans had about it. According to them, there was two places, Heaven and Hell. This was the part that they had right. The clouds and flames were just a myth, though, something a troublesome demon had probably made up.
Heaven, the home of the angels, was the nicer place of the two for sure, with big houses, smiling faces and everybody there being friends. Hell was something of the exact opposite, with small apartments and every man having to look out for himself. Although things did seem bad, there were some people that didn't mean any harm there; good eggs in a bad situation. It was more a matter of chance then anything else.
"Remember, you have one hour between getting from here to the human world. This is the only time you have to morph into your human form, so make sure you get it right." I nodded as I took the red stone and walked over to the transportation device.
Unfortunately, transportation was something that was yet to be perfected, so it took a while to get between worlds. Fortunately, this gave us time to take our human forms.
I had been practising ever since the day I learnt I could go to the human world and the procedure, though it was still somewhat painful, only took me a maximum of half an hour, whereas most demons took almost an hour. Unfortunately, this cancelled a lot of trips to the human world and required some big cover ups by the demons already there.
I grimaced in pain as I transformed. It wasn't a nice thing to do, but the pain only took a day or two to go away.
While I was halfway through transforming, I remembered the stone. There was something I had to do with the stone, but I had forgotten. My excitement had gotten the better of me, until I remembered; I needed to incorporate the stone into my appearance somehow.
The colour stone that a demon received was completely random to everybody, and it was only recorded at the time of receiving the stone. Normally one would receive a colour that went with a human's usual appearance; blue, brown, things of that nature. I had been unlucky enough to get a red; too red for a human's hair colour or to be anything other than a horrible sunburn.
And I decided there was only one thing for me to do. It was quite risky, but I had to.
***
"Sir," I heard a lady say calmly, "excuse me, sir, but are you alright?" I slowly opened my eyes as though I had awoken from a long slumber. She gasped a small bit, "sir, are you okay? Your eyes, they're... Red!"
"I know," I replied with a scowl on my face, "it's nothing to worry about, just how I am naturally."
The accents. English. At least I wouldn't have to create a story as to why I had left England for another country. My accent had always been English for as long as I had been a demon. Before that, I didn't know, but to my demon self I had always been English.
"Oh, well, then, could you perhaps tell me where you had come from? You weren't here when I came past last." I looked at my clothes, noting the formality. I was just hoping I had the year right now.
"I was on my way to tea with an important person, when I began to feel somewhat uneasy and unwell," I lied, "I must have wondered in here in my daze." I stood up off the bed, "I am very sorry, please forgive me." She moved out of my way as I walked past and out of the building. Out the front was a child selling newspapers. Hoping I hadn't left the money I had received behind, I reached into my pocket to find a single coin. Smiling, I knew I had hit luck.
"Excuse me," I said to the boy, "may I have one of those papers?" I handed him the coin and, in turn, he gave me a paper. I walked off, pretending to be interested in it when, in reality, I only wanted the date.
1816. I was unsure if this was a good time but, either way, I knew there were certain ways I had to act. But first thing was first; I needed to get myself a place to live.
I had been told there was a place to trade one important thing from your demon life for a good start to the human life in London, but I was unsure of where this was exactly, and I couldn't take my chances asking people. Either I would have to wait for them to come to me, or I would have TI find it myself.
"Excuse me," a man said to me without even five minutes having passed, "you seem a tad lost. Do you need some help."
"Well, yes please, but I can't just ask-"
"If you're looking for a good home," he whispered to me, "keep heading this way until you hit a dead end. The building you find will hold the answers."
"But how did you know I-"
"No human could have eyes that red, trust me. Well," he said coming out of his whisper, "good day to you, sir!" and he walked away.
Taking his advice, I continued to head north until I found what I had wanted. Once inside, I headed to a counter and took the stone I had been given out of my pocket.
"Name?"
"Phoenix Heffernan." The lady behind the desk looked down at the stone and scowled.
"You do realise you need this, yes?" I laughed a little.
"I don't need it," I told her.
"So you're willing to give a Demon Stone to me, an item essential for life up here, for your own home?" I nodded.
"Well then," she took the stone from me and went to a filing cabinet, coming back with a picture and a key, "I get to keep the stone, and these are now yours. If you need help finding the place, I'm sure you can find a demon around to help you."
"Thank you," I said politely as I turned away, smiling.
I had a chance on the human world, something a lot of demons didn't get. It was the best day of my life.
A new day.
A new home.
A new life.