A long time ago, about nine years ago, I was peeking through a door—watching a woman I called Mum talking to herself, as if she were chatting to the breeze in front of her. Mum looked very happy, but just as I was lost in my daydreams—her blue eyes caught sight of me.
My heart nearly stopped beating; I immediately ran as fast as I could, but my wrist was instantly gripped tightly by a thin, rough hand. "Hm?!" It wasn't Mum's hand; I knew that for certain. Slowly, I turned round and my eyes widened as I saw the creature clutching my wrist.
A thin, black creature with sharp, jet-black horns; my hands immediately broke out in a cold sweat with fear and, on reflex, I almost screamed—but my mouth was instantly covered by one of its hands; the demon's face drew closer and a broad smile could be seen. "Hey, keep quiet… Oh? You seem to have a soul that's quite delicious to eat."
"Uh… Um…" I was lost for words, and the creature's fingers lifted my chin; it seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the look of terror on my face.
"Demon! Get away from her!" shouted a woman from behind that hideous creature; I instinctively ran straight over and hugged my mum—my body was trembling and my eyes were already watering; it was a creature that my younger self couldn't even begin to describe. "You may hurt anyone except this child."
"Heh, I'm not promising anything," the devil vanished into ash before the ash was swept away by the wind; I raised my head and our identical blue eyes met—I cannot recall what expression my mother had on her face at that moment; all I remember is that she tried to pretend the incident had never happened.
She let go of my arm before turning and walking away—from that moment on, I saw my mother in a different light. For years I lived in a house where I knew the devil dwelt under the same roof and that anyone who tried to work would be turned into food—yet I couldn't tell a soul.
The last I knew of her was that her body had been consumed by flames because she couldn't honour the pact the devil had made. My father was the final victim, and I learnt this as burning roof beams rained down on me as I tried to flee the house.
I was lying on the ground and, before I could get to my feet, my body was crushed by a burning beam—I screamed for help until my voice gave out. "Please... Anyone, please help me!" My tears instantly evaporated because of the flames surrounding me on all sides, and no matter how loudly I screamed, no one came to grab my hand and help me.
Any glimmer of hope had faded because I could no longer feel my arms or legs—all I could feel was something enormous suddenly entering my body; I screamed as my heart pounded and my chest felt terribly tight. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strange, unknown world that sent shivers down my spine.
"Huh…? Where am I?" I looked around and felt something strange about that black-and-white place; I could smell a rancid stench that stung my nose. "Wherever I am… I've got to get out of here straight away!" As I turned round, I was taken aback by what I saw—a girl who looked exactly like me.
The only things that set it apart were its jet-black hair and glowing red eyes; a pair of sharp black horns were staring straight at me. "Welcome to… Hmm, I haven't thought of a name for it yet—any ideas?" the creature asked, looking round as if this situation were perfectly normal.
"Who are you—?!" I reflexively took a step backwards, but that only caused me to trip and tumble backwards. "And why do you look so much like me?!" I shouted, but it didn't faze the girl in the slightest; instead, she walked closer and stopped right in front of me.
"I am the demon who once made a contract with your mother—but now that she is dead, I've decided to possess your body," she said, holding out her pale hand. I looked at the palm of her hand for a moment, and I knew that if she took that hand, she'd end up on a path she didn't want to take.
I brushed her hand aside and stood on my own two feet. "I won't accept help from someone I know," I said coldly, and the devil showed no sign of giving up—in fact, that eerie smile grew even wider. "And why did you take my form? It makes me sick!" I tried to look brave, even though deep down I desperately wanted to cry out for help.
"Come on, who wouldn't want to be beautiful?" she asked before taking a step back, spinning round and beginning to circle me like the moon orbits the Earth. "Besides, I've added a touch of distinction so you don't feel as though you're talking to yourself in the mirror."
My blue eyes kept following her as she continued to circle round me ceaselessly. "I don't want to keep being called 'the Devil', so how about I introduce myself?" Her feet came to a halt right in front of me, and she turned fully towards me. "My name is… Echila." The name echoed through the air; I fell silent for a moment, feeling that, for some reason, the name sounded strange.
"Wait! Did you just say my name, but read it backwards?"
"No, because there's no 'H' in your name."
"…You must be joking."
"I'm absolutely serious."
For a moment, nobody said a word, leaving only silence around us. "You know the situation you're in out there, don't you? If you hand over control of your body to me—I'm certain I can save us both." The offer was very tempting, especially as I had no intention of dying today. "Don't worry, I can offer you something in return—just think of it as a contract."
But I'd only just witnessed the consequences of making a pact with a demon; he might think I'm as foolish as my mum—but I've inherited my intelligence from my dad. "You think I'm going to accept that?! I'll survive by taking control of my own body, and I'll say it one more time—"
"—I'LL STAY ALIVE!"
From behind the overcast clouds, a white light emerged and shone upon the two of us—I was both startled and bewildered by what was happening, and, surprisingly, I could see that the demon who called herself Echila was wearing the exact same expression as me. "Is that one of your strange tricks?" I asked, trying to get to the bottom of it.
"Oh, surely not, my lady," she said, and as she turned round—she saw me swelling and soaring up towards the sky. "Huh?" She froze in shock, for she could sense an invisible protective field that was holding her back, preventing her from pulling me back down.
"Ha. I don't know what's going on, but I'm glad I won't be seeing you again," I taunted with an amused smile, my body flying further and further from the ground until Echila was barely visible. "I don't want to bump into you in… Nowhere, or whatever this place is."
"Nowhere, eh? That's a good name! That's the name of this place we're in right now!" Echila shouted from below, and I didn't want to hear another word from her. "Because I'm sure we'll meet again here." She flashed that terrifying smile again; if she'd looked at me directly, I'm sure I would've immediately felt a shiver of horror run down my spine.
My eyes opened again and I immediately let out a long sigh, as though I'd just been holding my breath underwater. "Huff... Huh?" Before I could fully take in what was happening, a blue light formed, creating a rectangle that nearly blinded me.
The blue light faded to reveal a card with the initial 'A' in the very centre. I glanced down and saw my name elegantly written in the top and bottom corners of the card. I summoned all my energy into my hand and reaching for the card; the moment my fingers gripped it firmly—I could feel a powerful surge of energy coursing through my veins.
"I'll definitely survive..."
"Because I'm... not yet someone I can call a friend!"
I shouted before placing the card beside my body; I closed my eyes and began to imagine a hand made of stone that could help me lift the massive pillar crushing down on me. "Mngh!" I growled, and the initial 'A' on the card instantly transformed into an illustration of a stone hand, just as I'd imagined.
From within the card, what I had imagined actually emerged and lifted the pillar that was pinning me down. I crawled out before trying to stand up with all my might; my legs were trembling but I forced myself to keep them steady. "I have to get out of here straight away." At that very moment, another blue light appeared, revealing another card behind it.
I picked up the card and tilted my head slightly in confusion. "What's this for?" I muttered, and the heat of the flames immediately touched my skin; I looked around again and suddenly remembered that my house was engulfed in flames. "Right, now I know what it's for—but I still don't know what to create!" I shouted in frustration and tried to force my brain to keep thinking harder.
After quite some time there, the house had begun to collapse, consumed by the fire that continued to rage fiercely. And, from behind the rubble—a ball of water rolled out with someone inside it; the ball of water rolled quite a distance away from the flames and after it burst—a girl fell face-first to the ground, her face and clothes instantly covered in mud. It was the first time the girl had felt mud on her face, and it was also the last time she would see her house standing before it was completely destroyed.
The girl, named Alice Lindsey, stood up and gazed at her home—so much had happened in such a short space of time that I wasn't sure I could process it all in a week; my hands clenched tightly as I realised that a single mistake made by my mother would end up like this.
"I... will never make the same mistake as her."