The eyes would reveal themselves every now and then making it impossible for sleep to come to me. I couldn’t keep my eyes from staring at that alleyway. I was afraid that if I did fall asleep then whatever that beast was would surely make its way over to me.

The city of Taberah was known for its pestilences and I was getting the very worst of it. Mosquitoes made their way to the open flesh of my arms, legs, neck and any open spot they could find to nurse the blood from me. After a while, I got tired of swatting at them and let them come. It wasn’t long before I had a pile of tiny black dead corpses encircling my body. Something in my blood didn’t sit right with them.

All of these things, these horrible occurrences that were happening to me could have been so much worse but my mind… it had seen too many extreme scenes this day and it had become numb to anything else. That was most likely the reason why I stood and made my way towards the red eyes in the alleyway. I wasn’t thinking straight any longer.

I crossed the bridge, the cold wind whipping up the ends of my robe. My teeth did not chatter and my mind was clear of thought. What my goal was I had no idea. Not until I turned the corner and into the darkness of the alley did fear yet again set its teeth in me.

The red eyes stared at me from low off the ground. They grew as the beast came closer and closer. Soon it had made its way into the light of the moon and there I was forced to muffle a cry from my mouth. It took everything in me not to run away. Not because I wanted to hold my ground but I was afraid patrolling guards would see me.

The sight before me was the definition of horror. A spawn of Satan. Poor Jonni’s head was bloated to two times its normal size and was situated upside down. As it looked up at me drool poured from his mouth and oozed downward to his forehead. Two massive arms protruded from either side of his jaw and held the head up a few inches from the ground. The only reason I had recognized this as being Jonni’s head was that one of his elvish ears had been chewed off partly by a street rat when he was a baby.

“I… imagine your day hasn’t been going well?” said Jonni’s head in a guttural speech. “Has it?”

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came.

“You must have so many questions. Yes, I can feel them! You are very lucky then, for I! Yes I! Hold the answers.”

“What… are you?” I asked it.

“The same as you, I suppose. Just not nearly as powerful.” One of the eyes in the upside down head grew tired and drifted to the side. “No, such power is reserved only for his offspring.”

“Offspring?” I asked, my eyes shifting left and right looking around the alley for any sort of weapon to strike this fiendish beast with. “Make sense you demon!”

The head rolled left and right on the top of Jonni’s head. Its grin widened revealing brown gums with only a few rotten teeth. “Call me what you want but that will not change what and who you are. Your life has been a lie!” It lifted itself with one arm and pointed at me with the other. “You’ve been led far, far from your destiny. It is now that your father has come to reclaim you and place you back on track!”

At the corner of my eye, I found exactly what I was looking for. A wooden beam had come loose from where it had been nailed shut to a window. I ran towards it and plucked it easily from the wall.

I pointed my weapon at the demon, and draining the last bit of courage, I said, “I cannot allow you to live, demon! You can’t fool me with your lies!”

“Your eyes,” it said, dropping its pointing hand and placing it back on the ground. “You are your father’s son. Take your rightful place by his right side in the heated kingdom of hell.”

I tried to bring down the wooden beam but only made it halfway before changing the trajectory and smacking the ground. I couldn’t do it. It was still Jonni’s head for God’s sake!

“Hmm,” it said, “we will have to work on that atrocious conscious of yours. How else will you serve your father, the King of Darkness?”

This time the words were adhesive in my mind and I finally understood what this evil thing was getting at.

I dropped the beam and backed away, no longer afraid of a guard seeing me. “No,” I said, “You’re wrong.” I pointed at it. “You’re wrong!”

Jonni’s eyes widened to an inhuman range now, both pupils going lazy in opposite directions. It started to laugh and bounce higher and higher until there were cracking sounds of Jonni’s skull being smashed bit by bit.

“Stop that!” I yelled, backing away more now. “Stop!”

There was power in this demon’s gaze and I felt drunk off of it. Suddenly, I felt good. Very good. I’d only felt like this once when I was younger and had found myself stealing from the chapel and drinking the wine we used for offerings. However, this time it felt much better, much sweeter.

I wanted to listen to it. I wanted to go with it. I desired more of this feeling.

I barely noticed the shadow fall from atop the building and half a second later the sorcery that had blinded me disappeared. A gleaming sword protruded from the top Jonni’s head, and the bearer shifted it left and right making sure the brain had been skewered. The person, with awesome agility and strength, pulled the sword out and swatted it, slinging blood over to the nearest wall.

Jonni’s head shrunk back to normal size, his eyes straightening themselves and the lids falling halfway shut. The demon slayer stepped out from the shadows and took the shape of a young girl very close to my own age. She looked neither excited by this kill nor did she look thrilled.

“Come with me,” she said. She turned back towards the alley and ran back into the darkness.

Not knowing what else to do or where to go, I gently picked up Jonni’s head, wrapped it in my cloak, and followed the stranger.