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.
He said nothing else. Stood there with two glasses, handing one to her. She took it and eyed it suspiciously, not sure what was in there. She took a small sip, and it was plain water.
After a while, she believed Damon's story of what happened and where she was. She came to know a bit about him and thought he was not so bad. It had been centuries since he had caused murder and mayhem. He seemed so good now. She started to trust him. As he sat there with her talking about everything that had transpired, he felt he had picked the perfect woman to bear his child.
The next ruler in Hell. Damon was not allowed to rule, his father would not hear of it. But Lucifer had said that if Damon spawned a male child with a human female, that child would be the next ruler of Hell.
He saw fire in Rose, fire he was going to stoke until she burned bright. She was perfect. Rose was talking about something, but Damon did not hear. He was picturing her beneath him as he plunged deep in her to deposit his seed. He pictured her big with child, swollen to almost splitting her skin with the demon spawn. Saw her die as she birthed this child who would rule all of Hell.
Rose was tired. She had a lot happen this day and asked Damon to take her home. He had expected this. He asked her if she would mind staying, saying he had a lot to do before going back to Earth. She reluctantly agreed but asked him to promise to take her back tomorrow. He promised, with no intention of doing so.
The next morning, as Rose was awakening, the memory of the previous day's events started trickling into her mind. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and realized it was no dream. She was indeed in Hell, and everything happened as she recalled.
A small boy brought her coffee and biscuits. The coffee was just how she loved it, creamy and sweet. The biscuits, perfectly crisp and sweet. How did Damon know what she liked? She was told by the boy to stay in her room and not leave without an escort. It would be dangerous because not all the demons were pleased that a human woman was here. It was against the rules of Hell to have any humans, alive humans, come to Hell. This was not how it was supposed to be, and many were angry at Damon for his bold move.
Rose was not going to be deterred so easily. She waited until the area was quiet and the corridor empty. She crept out of the room and started looking around. She heard a few voices speaking in another room, but the room had the door closed. She could only make out that they were speaking, but not the words being said. She turned down a corridor that was dark and quiet. At the end was a room with the door opened a crack.
Damon was speaking to someone else. He was saying things about a son being born, and how "she" was important. Rose crept back to her room.