The Devil's Hand

The Trade and the Clover

I stared at her outstretched hand in horror. Then I took her hand and shook it. She pulled me up by the same arm that Shadow had grabbed when she caught me as I fell off the building. Although my arm still hurt, there were more urgent matters on hand.
As I got my balance back I looked into the eyes of Chloe and dared to ask, “What happened?”
Chloe looked at me in confusion, “I’m not sure what you mean.”
I sighed and replied, “Why are you here? Chloe Flight is dead.”
She stared at me in horror, still not understanding what I meant. She studied me. She didn’t know who I was. I thought I knew who she was. I had the upper hand. She saw the determination in my eyes and started to speak…
“My name is Chloe Rose Flight I was born on Decemb-”
“Stop, I already know that.” I interrupted sharply then sighed and motioned for her to go on. “Just tell me what happened the first time you were attacked by a demon?”
She looked at me in wonder and annoyance then started to speak again.
“I was with a girl called Evalïne Sparrow when I was attacked.” She glanced at me, wondering if she was making sense.
I nodded, and she kept talking.
“We were walking down an alley that was filled with blood, the sky was full of clouds and mist covered our eyes. Then I felt something grab my ankle. I didn’t know it was a demon, I thought it was a human asking for help. I bent down to help it up when it touched my face. Evalïne stomped down on it and then I conscious. I woke up here, in this box. Every night food appears along with a clean pair of clothes. On my first day here a booklet on demons appeared, it lists all those in creation. You are the first person I’ve seen here.”
I knew it. I knew who she was. I just had to be absolutely sure...
“Give me the booklet!” I said sharply. She held up a finger, and ran off to the other side of the room. I watched as she climbed up the wall to a big crack and pulled out a thick, decaying book. She hopped down and handed it to me. I took it in my hands and flipped through it.
“What are you looking for?” Chloe asked me.
“That demon. Do you remember what it looks like?” I replied, my face still turned towards the book.
“No, all I saw was a grimy hand. I have been trying to find it too. Unfortunately more than half of the millions of demon types have long grimy hands.”
I nodded. Unlike Chloe, I remembered the demon. As I flipped through the book I spotted what I was looking for. I quickly skimmed the description but pretended not to take much interest in it.
“Yeah, I can’t find it either,” I said as I sighed and placed the booklet on the ground beside me. Chloe sat down beside me and sighed as well, she turned her head to look at me and stated the obvious.
“You know, we look quite alike, but, you’re bald and have all of these scars along your face. I know this is rude but, I have told you all about me, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
I groaned and kept things short as I told her about the demon apocalypse and how I became the leader of probably the last surviving human pack. I told her about how I attacked my brother and why I am here now. I never went into details and only used our code names.
When I finished she looked at me in wonder and asked if I ever saw a boy called Sebastian. She said he was her brother, I shook my head and apologized, I remember everyone I meet. I never saw a Sebastian, I said I kinda knew one before the demon raid but never saw him again.
“Well, he never seemed like a fighter,” Chloe admitted sadly.
We sat there just staring in silence at the wall for hours. I couldn’t tell what Chloe was thinking about but whatever it was, it made her cry. I never comforted her, I was too busy thinking about this game. I knew the King loved to play exciting games, he never liked long waits. Something was bound to happen soon.
After three hours, the tension of waiting made something inside me snap. I clutched my head and screamed in confusion. Suddenly Chloe bolted around the room and climbed up the walls. She hung from the ceiling, above my head, destroying the laws of gravity. She was hold on to the ceiling with only her fingertips and did cartwheel-like things, never tripping or falling.
On her fifth lap around the roof a deep rumbling sound came from the wall across the room from my spot of confusion and rage. I stopped shaking in anger and paused to glance at the opposite wall. The whole room started to shake, Chloe dropped down from the ceiling, a confused and disappointed look on her face.
The rumbling and shaking came to a stop after a minute but now I was ready. The wall in front of me started sliding silently up, into the ceiling. I stared in amazement but that feeling passed quickly. I looked about and found Chloe lying on the ground. I ran over to her and shook her shoulders, trying to get her to wake up from her daze. It took awhile but I managed to bring her back to this world.
Chloe slowly opened her eyes and looked up at me. I pointed at the empty space where the wall once was. Chloe shot up abruptly and stared at the hole in what used to be her cage.
Outside, it led into a dark hall, lined with musty, half working lanterns. Rats scurried over the ground.
I pulled Chloe up, she took my hand but I shook it away.
“Now what?” she asked, shaking in fear.
“Now we enter the game.”