Chapter 3: Amelia

Amelia woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare. She grasped the bedsheets and felt the tears falling down her cheeks. She quickly came to her senses and realized that she felt much better than she had the night before. She was also now on a bed instead of the floor, the man must have moved her. Amelia looked out the window in her room, realizing it was twilight, and the sun was about to rise. There was still a snowstorm happening outside and she could hear the wind blowing roughly against the wooden cabin. Amelia slipped out of bed and found a small candle next to a nightstand. She was surprised to find herself in warm nightclothes, instead of the rags she normally wore. She lit the candle and slowly creaked open her room's door, trying her best to be as silent as possible. The girl didn't know exactly what that demon was but knew it wasn't anything good. She paused at the entrance of her room, wait, he did save me though, didn't he? Is he really all that bad? Amelia thought to herself. She shook her head in frustration, of course he's bad, I mean, he looks like a demon from a nightmare. Amelia didn't know what to think, she was confused by the seeming kindness of the demon, but couldn't believe it was real, why would anyone help me anyways, she thought.

She crept out of her room and found herself in a small hallway, with stairs leading down to the first floor on the other side. She quietly walked over to the stairs, being careful to not wake up the monster. She reached the stairs and with each step, the wood beneath her would creak and crack. Amelia continued on and finally reached the ground floor, she looked behind her to make sure she didn't wake up the demon and saw nothing, so she continued. She found herself in a room dimly lit by the fireplace that she was sleeping next to earlier. She walked up next to the curtain that the man had first entered from and began to pull the curtain to the side.

The moment she began to pull the curtain back she felt two boney hands placed on her shoulders from behind. Amelia gasped and dropped her candle. She felt the man whisper into her ear, "Oh, my sweet Amelia, you truly do not want to see what is behind that curtain." The man slowly turned Amelia around to face him, she felt too frightened to protest or fight back. She saw the man with a sly smile, his red-tinted grey face flickering in the candlelight and his willowy fingers caressed her cheek. He ran his long white fingernails past her soft white skin. Amelia stood there and looked into the demon's pitch black eyes, she only could see pure darkness and not a single point of light. The man had no pupil and only two black orbs for eyes which seemed to peer into Amelia's soul.

She collapsed and the creature gracefully caught her in his arm, holding her lower back and delicately lowered her to the floor. Amelia's eyes slowly opened, seeing the man looking down on her with those two dark eyes. She didn't feel as afraid now though as she had before, she didn't know why, but he was not hurting her for some reason. The man stood and reached out his hand to Amelia, "Come with me little one, I must show you something." Amelia was unsure at first, but the demon gave her what she could only tell was an attempt at a kind smile, and so she took his hand and he raised her to her feet.

The man led Amelia to the door of the wooden cabin. He opened the door and the wind and snow flew into the warm cabin, causing Amelia to shiver in cold. It was still twilight and the forest was barely lit from the moon, the storm clouds periodically covering the only light. The man walked Amelia outside into the snowstorm gesturing for her to follow behind him. As the man walked through the snow, it melted away and Amelia was able to walk on the warm ground with her bare feet. She gazed at the sight and was astonished and wondering who or what this man was. Amelia followed the strange man further into the forest, being surrounded by dead trees and watching as the snow surrounded her and the man, but never touched them, almost like an invisible sphere was protecting them from the storm.

Amelia was so preoccupied with looking at this magic before her that she mistakenly ran into the back of the man as he stopped walking. The man turned around and looked at Amelia closely and longer than she expected. He reached out his hand and she took it once again. He brought Amelia next to him and she could see that they were standing in front of a tombstone. "Do you know who this is," the man asked Amelia.

Amelia looked at the tombstone but there was no name anywhere to be seen and only the date of death. "No sir, it doesn't say a name."

The man looked at her and let go of her hand. "Do you want to be like this person. Do you want to die alone, forgotten, and worthless?" The man's words hit Amelia hard and he spoke with a calm voice. "This is what happens to most who pass on into the next world. They die and are forgotten, some of them last longer than others, but all eventually will be forgotten, just as this one was forgotten as well."

Amelia looked up at the tall man and could see his obsidian eyes glaring into her own with purpose and meaning, his face was still and focused on Amelia. She felt almost a sense of kindness from the man and was calm. "I - I don't want to end up like this mister. I know I will though," Amelia said somberly, "I'm just a slave and no one cares about us," she rubbed her still bruised wrists.

The man knelt down on one knee and faced Amelia. His empty eyes looked up into her bright golden eyes, "I can give you the power to never be forgotten and to never be in chains again. Let me help you achieve whatever it is you desire. All you must do is take my offer and I will give you greatness." The man reached his hand up and bowed his head to Amelia, "My name is Abaddon and I want to see you shape the world how you see fit."

Amelia was taken aback at first but began to think of all the hardships she had gone through in her life. The whippings, the beatings, the lack of anyone who was there to protect her or love her. She looked down at the bowing kneeling demon before her as her silver hair blew in the white snowstorm. She slowly placed her hand onto his open hand and his boney skeletal fingers caressed her small hand. "Give me power Abaddon, teach me, and never leave my side."

Abaddon smiled as he raised his head to look up at Amelia's now determined face. Abaddon stood and looked down at the young girl while still holding her hand in his inhuman one. He bent over and bowed one last time towards Amelia while kissing the back of her hand, "As you wish, I am yours." The two looked one last time into each other's eyes as the sun rose in the distance and the golden light surrounded the two.