The deal with the devil - Fear the devils series book 1

Chapter 48

50 years later
France

Over these passing years, Celine found herself in a closed community near a castle to find shelter. But as time passed and she believed that most people had forgotten about her, which could make her stay, there was always someone who could remember her and that she shouldn't belong.

In the midst of the night, Celine decided it was time to depart and live a life in isolation since these accusations were getting out of hand. Especially now that drawings were made of her, people could easily identify her at one point or another.

Celine hated the woods—not because of the trees and beautiful creatures that lived there, but because of these demons that would lurk in the shadows.

The first few nights after successfully building a little house of her own—only then did she leave behind her community for good—she heard several whispers outside of her home.

She knew them to be demons who wanted to scare her. And her being all alone made her more vulnerable and an easier prey.

This kept going for years until the situation worsened and the demons began to scratch her walls and doors. The only thing she wondered was why they wouldn't directly attack yet. But waiting for this to happen would be foolish.

This was the time when she headed back to her old community. All the people she had last seen by then were either already dead or on the verge of dying. But what had changed was a market in the last corner of the community that dealt with black magic.

"Come inside," the lady inquired before Celine even knocked. "Hello," Celine said nervously. "I was wondering if you have something against demonic attacks to protect my home."

The young lady just looked at her, and without words, she left the room to fetch a full bag of salt. "Spread this salt around your house, and they won't bother you anymore."

"How do you know?" Celine inquired to know.
"My family also came from the woods, and that had been how we used to deal with it and more."
"What's the price? Since salt is very expensive."
"Your firstborn." The woman replied with a straight face.

Celine only looked at the woman without saying a word. "You seriously can't take a joke." The woman rolled her eyes. "Well, you grow crops, as I believe. So for the next few years, give us some supply every month, and we're good."

Accepting the deal, she did as she was told. Since doing this ritual, which she often read in books about witchcraft, she has never once had a demon bothered her again for the rest of the few decades.

Living completely isolated and alone in the woods was exhausting and scary. Scary of getting potentially robbed or worse. Because of that, she joined classes on self-defense in the village nearby from time to time.

She was on her own crop farm, free and alone, yet she had had plenty of time to think. Particularly when she stepped outside to take in the sunset. The worst part was how she could not help but think of Rylus and Alicia when she was looking at the sunset. However, it was on that day in specifically, centuries later, that she discovered she was unable to recall the color of his wooden eyes or the precise depth of his laugh.

She missed him and their daughter, but her pain was numbed, and the only thing that was left were the empty stares and occasional tears that streamed down her face.

The next day was just as usual, with the same routine as usual. Waking up, sponge washing herself, and taking care of the growing crops.

But there was a feeling of uneasiness, as if chills ran down her spine during her work on the field. Seconds later, the symbol that was burned into her skin when she made the other deal with Death reappeared and started to burn. Without thinking, she dropped her shovel to run to her house. But she didn't come far. Just as she turned, she bumped into something hard.