Prologue

It was the middle of the night before I even found her. Father hadn't seen her since she went out that morning to feed our only animal, a small cow called Prue. Sure my little sister, second oldest to me who was twenty five which made her twenty three, liked to play practical jokes on us all by disappearing once in a while but they didn't last this long.

At first no one was suspicious of her disappearance...but when it started getting late we began to worry. The small village that we live in, somewhere in northern Prussia according to Father, wasn't the quietest of places all the time. Around here, legend was prominent and struck fear in the hearts of many peasants, nobles, and villagers alike. Unlike legends, which always seemed to be a fluke, this was a very real threat to us and everyone knew it.

No one really knew what to call them because no one knew what they actually were. None, that was known, survived an encounter but most priest described them as great horned beasts, filled with evil and ready to feast on the innocent blood of humans. You could always tell when someone had been bitten, because the bite marks would be present on their neck where the pulse seemed the heaviest. That's how I knew my sister had been bitten by one of them.

The devils spawn...written in the Great Book to be called demons, servants of the great fallen angel Lucifer himself. Created by him to do his will and wreck havoc on earth. It was almost if that night had been a message from the devil himself from the way the wind was howling, the rain falling in blinding down pour sheets, the thunder cracking through out the valley, and the lighting zigzagging across the sky dangerously like a striking snake.

I called her name as I walked through the narrow alleys between stone houses. The wind was drowning out most of my cries but I didn't give up hope. This was the last ally and my cloak was soaked clear through the bone it seemed. One of the oil lanterns was flickering at the end of the ally and I pulled my hood over my head shielding myself from the blowing rain, trying desperately to make out the small shape I saw half slumped against the wall. Fear struck me deep in my gut and my instinct just knew that it was her.

Screaming her name, I ran to the end of the hallway and dropped to my knees beside her. I attentively touched her arm but no response came from the cold flesh. Flipping her over onto my lap, I cradled her in my arms and was horrified as to what I saw.

Her eyes seemed to be rolled back in their sockets and a steady stream of blood was running through the part in her lips. Her face looked extremely pale and her brown dress was torn to shreds around the neckline... I gasped when the side of her neck became visible in the dim oil lamp. It looked like someone had taken a carving knife to the side of my poor sister's neck and just started carving. The wound was deep, and had obviously cut some blood vessels.

Still warm blood soaked the whole right side of her body and a steady stream still continued to ooze from the wound. My stomach lurched and it took all I had not to vomit all over the dirty, cobblestone ally. It had to be the work of a demon. Nothing else could cause lacerations this deep and grotesque.

"Peter..." A barely audible voice whispered.

My eyes cleared of their tears and I looked straight into her unblinking, deep green gaze.

"Sister? Is that you?" I choke out, holding her close to me.

"Peter..." She whispers again, "He...help. P-p-please."

My mind is swimming. What am I just sitting here for? I have to get her to help...soon. But where do I go? We have no doctor in town and rely on simple home remedies. This needed more than some herbs to cure. If I didn't act fast, my sister was going to die.

"I...I-it's t-taking over..." She choked out, coughing some blood into her frail hand.

"Don't worry! I will get you to help. It will be all right. It will be all right. I'm so sorry..." I stuttered, lifting her gently and covering her with my cloak the best I could.

After that everything seemed to be a blur as I ran as fast as I could through the streets of our small village and toward the one place that could even have a chance with helping her. The church. Her life was hanging on the brink and only God could save her now. I had to trust that because it was the only hope I had left.

Almost tripping over the rocky cobblestones of the street, I reached the hill that the church stood on. Lighting flashed, illuminating the small church like a light bulb. Breathing heavy and completely soaked, I climbed the hill with my sister dangling limply in my arms. I wasn't sure if she had even made it through the run. How I prayed she did.

I finally reached the top of the little hill and burst through the church doors that were never locked. I blinked my eyes, focusing on the dimness (accept for the few oil lamps that hung along the walls) in the room. Focusing my gaze by the pedestal, I noticed that a man was standing there with his balding head bowed in prayer. He was adorned with the usual robes of a priest and seemed to have a calm sense about him.

"Father Laiken!" I bellowed between the rows of simple pews.

The old man turned around slowly and met my gaze with a surprised look.

"Peter...? What are you doing here so late-" He said, but instantly stopping when he saw what lay limp in my arms.

"My sister, Father. I, I think she's been attacked!" I gushed, walking towards him with her in my arms.

Father Laiken's eyes widened as I came closer and he got a better view at the extent of the injuries. He crossed bowed his head and said a quick prayer as I set her down easily on the front pew. Her head turned sideways easily, exposing the horrible lacerations that seemed to now be oozing not only blood, but also some type of black puss. I sent my own prayer up to God, hoping that he was watching over my beloved sister this eve.

"My God...this can only be the work of a demon, Peter. She is oozing the demon's saliva from her wound...which means it has inhabited her body and has began to change her," Father Laiken whispered, sounding to grim for my liking.

I ran my hand through my light brown hair, what could I do? Damn, I hated feeling so helpless to do anything while my sister lay there bleeding her life out. Why couldn't it have been me? Why did that demon pick her? My sweet sister who had never hurt anything in her life was about to turn into a monster and I was helpless to do nothing but watch. I slammed my fist down on the pew and exhaled a breath as the welcoming sensation of pain throbbed through my arm.

"What can we do Father? Please! We have to do something! She can't be gone yet, no, not yet. Please, anything!" I pleaded with old priest almost on my hands and knees.

The priest inhaled a deep breath and gazed down at my sister who was twitching now. I almost got hopeful until she started to shudder violently, wracking her thin body.

"Father..." I whispered, trying to steady her by grabbing her arms.

Father Laiken looked some what afraid but hurried over to his pedestal where he grabbed a large cross and a leather bound book that looked like it weighed about a ton. He fixed his gaze on my sister, who was now writhing like an animal against my hands that were holding her to the bench.

"There is only on thing we can do from here. It is my last resort because she was brought here to late. She is in God's hands now and I cannot promise that this will work. I cannot promise you your sister's life. Do you want to go through with and exorcism to clear the demon from her body?" Father Laiken asked me with authority in his voice that I have never heard before.

I gave a glance at my sister who seemed to be getting inhumanly stronger against my arms by the moment, noticing she was almost snapping at my hands like an animal. Her neck gash was oozing more dark liquid and her green eyes were changing between yellow and red. The eyes of an animal. My sister was slipping away along with all her humanity faster than I could even comprehend it.

I had to try.

Spitting and snarling, she was pushing so hard against me that my muscles were struggling against her.

"Anything Father. Get this thing out of her," I yelled, gritting my teeth against the physical pain her newly gotten strength was exerting on me.

I had never been the biggest muscle man to begin with so this was really pushing it. Father Laiken sent up another prayer before gesturing to a small chair in the corner.

"We have to get her over there Peter. She's going to need to be restrained...this is going to be a tough one. This demon is strong and growing stronger by the minute," Father Laiken instructed, looking strained.

I nodded, gritting my teeth as I got a grip on her and half dragged my snarling sister to the chair. Sitting her back in it, I chained her to it with the arm restraints and front restraints that were attached to it. This chair had a specific purpose. It was meant to exorcise demons from the bodies of people.

"You must leave the room Peter. I have to do the rest on my own-"

I shook my head furiously, "No Father. I'm staying, she needs me."

"Peter you don't understand. She isn't your sister anymore and doing this could get you killed. Just heed my advice-"

"I'm staying," I snapped firmly.

Father Laiken gave me a stern look, knowing how stubborn I was, but stiffly nodded and preceded to open the huge book that had to be an ancient bible. He held out his cross in the direction of my sister, who was spitting, snarling, and gurgling in some inhuman manors. Propping the bible in one hand and holding the cross in the other he began to read from the bible in some language I couldn't recognize.

Almost instantly my sister began to react. Her head rolled back and forth between her agonizing screams, as if someone was dripping hot oil on her. She screamed unimaginable things that I couldn't fathom coming out of her mouth at Father Laiken. Eyes now glowing a bright red, she howled as Father finished one paragraph and moved onto the other. Her body seemed to be physically changing now.

Once scrawny, pale arms began to physically grow larger. Horns began to jut out in random from the mane of black hair that covered her scalp.

"Die!" She screamed in a deep, guttural voice that couldn't even begin to be human.

I was almost terrified of her but stayed rooted to the spot, tears coming down my face.

"Be gone demon. Leave the body of this child," Father Laiken commanded, now speaking in our normal language.

He pushed the cross closer to her until it was about five feet from her. Snarling and spitting, she tried the best she could to move back but the chair was tacked down firmly to the floor. Father continued to throw prayers at my sister but that seemed to only anger her...and make her grow stronger. The demon inside her didn't seem to be weakening at all which was worrying me.

Father was going at full blast still, sweat rolling down his brow as he commanded the creature to release my sister from it's malicious clutches. I began to worry as I saw the chains binding her legs start to give...they were going to break. No human, let alone my sister, could break those iron chains. She was writhing and howling in pain again, inhumanly and in a deeper voice. The snap echoed through out the church as the chain binding her left leg snapped.

My breath caught in my throat, was she really going to escape? What would happen once she's freed?

Thunder crashed through the night and lighting followed, making the night even more eerie. The right chain snapped and Father Laiken honestly looked scared.

"Father! It isn't working!" I yelled, over her screams and the fresh boom of thunder.

The chain binding her right arm broke free and she let out a hiss of triumph. I met Father's eyes as she ripped off the other one easily. There was a moment of silence as we both stared at each other, I into her cold, red eyes.

One of the most lamentable sounds I've heard echoed through the building as she screamed, body twisting in angles it wasn't meant to. As this was happening she began to sprout huge wings that looked like they belonged to a black dragon. Points were at the end of them, which looked to be made of a deadly type of ivory.

Her body jerked again and the black skin began to spread to her torso and down her legs, which were now tone muscled, jet black with fur if that's what you could call it, and completed with six inch claws on her toes. Her arms did the same, with claws that looked as if they were going to slice your throat with a move of the finger. Letting out another scream, her face was the last to go...the last of her before she fully became a monster.

That didn't last long before she was transformed into an animal out of a horror story.

The eyes stayed the same red, but black fur covered the rest of her along with pointed ears, many horns jutting at awkward angles from the back of her head and jagged teeth that were jutting out. Father Laiken had dropped his cross and was feverishly muttering prayer, staring up at the huge creature that once was my sister. This huge monster replaced her, filling up almost the whole church with her enormous size.

A black liquid dripped from her mouth and animal craze danced dangerously in her eyes. My sister was gone. I grabbed Father Laiken's fallen cross and held it out in front of the beast. It fixed its hateful gaze on me and hissed.

"Be gone! You are in a house of God," I screamed at it, anger filling me.

"Get out now! Get out!" I yelled, letting all my frustration pour into my words.

The demon seemed angry now and screeched...but I was to late to move before it was upon me. It flew forward so fast I didn't have time to do nothing but put my hands over my face protectively. As if that did much good. It sunk its talons on me, ripping my flesh like cotton and shredded my torso. I didn't feel anything as it held me, pinned to the church floor.

After what seemed like an eternity, it released me. I lay there, oozing blood from my injuries and everything seemed in a haze. I heard someone calling my name, but the only thing I saw was the demon. It gave me one lasting, glare of a look and barely flapped its massive wings, sending it busting through the church's skylight and off into the stormy night.

I could feel nothing, as it seemed like I was being dispatched from my body. Everything felt so far away and a dreamy haze began to take over me, making me feel weightless and warm.

"Peter! Oh...oh Peter!"

I could here someone saying, though it was like annoying background music that I wanted to switch off.

This dreamy haze was what I wanted. What I wanted more than anything else I could ever want...I wanted to surrender to it and stay floating forever. I could feel everything slipping out of me as I began to go. My mind, body, and soul had surrendered, told me it was time.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered before everything went slowly dark.

Maybe my sister would here my one last apology. With that, my soul was released, thinking about how I wished it would have been my life and not hers taken by the ways of a demon.