The Devil

Its huge branches cast a dark shadow over the area. The tree was so tall it looked almost unreal, and its bark was smooth and strange. The roots stuck out of the ground like they were guarding something. I knew right away that this was the famous tree that could kill vampires, with its powerful reputation. But its size and the smoothness of the bark made it hard to climb, so getting its strong branches seemed nearly impossible.

Deep in the heart of the forest, there stood a massive tree like nothing I'd ever seen. Its branches reached out so far that they covered the sky, making the sunlight scarce. The tree's bark was super smooth—kind of creepy. Its roots stuck out from the ground like they were protecting something.

I got a weird feeling from it, like it was dangerous. Then it hit me—this had to be the legendary tree with wood that could kill vampires. I always thought it would be smaller, but this thing was like a giant. Trying to grab a branch seemed impossible, and the bark was so smooth that climbing was out of the question. The tree that could defeat vampires was right there, but getting to its powerful branches was starting to feel like a nearly impossible task.

But how come I hadn't seen this tree before? I was almost sure we had searched through the entire forest, yet we didn't find it. Now it was right in front of me, but I had to fall into a mysterious hole to find it. My day was just getting weirder with each passing moment. I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the root I was sitting on. There was no way I would be able to get my hands on what I needed. The roots were too thick to cut through, and the branches were too high up to reach. I thought of Deric and Silas, who would still be waiting for me at this moment. With them here, it would be easy to get what I needed. But then again, I remembered that they were both vampires, and even a single cut from the wood of the Forbidden Tree could prove fatal. I still had to ensure they were safe, and I didn’t want them to get worried over my sudden disappearance.

"Silas?!! Deric?!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Of course, I didn’t expect to receive a response. I had fallen through a fucking hole! This wasn’t even Alice in Wonderland. "What now?" I looked back at the giant tree and pondered over what I was going to do next. A cold breeze left me shivering. I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Do you need help?"

A deep voice startled me. I looked around in fright to find where the unfamiliar voice was coming from, but I couldn’t locate it. I was sure that even if I could see properly, I wouldn’t be able to see the person; the voice seemed to come from above me. "Who's there?"

"Why don’t you take a guess?"

"I don’t want to play games. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. My day was already shitty as it was."

"How tempting," the voice sounded amused. I wanted to roll my eyes at whoever it was. A sudden brightness had me shutting my eyes. When I pried my eyes open, I was surprised that I could make out my surroundings clearly. It was like the sun was up in the sky again. I felt a presence behind me. I wanted to look behind, but a pale hand came to sit firmly on my shoulder, preventing me from moving. "It’s good to see that you followed my instructions."

"Who are you?"

"You don’t know who I am? I feel quite offended." His voice held a hint of mock hurt. I was really curious to see who it was right now. But I didn’t need to turn around. The man holding me moved to stand in front of me.

A captivating figure, his silky dark hair framed his face with piercing red eyes that added an intriguing intensity. His pale skin, almost ethereal, seemed to gleam in the sunlight, accentuating a sharp grin that unveiled a set of vampiric fangs. Cloaked in attire reminiscent of vampire lords from eras gone by, he exuded an undeniable and mysterious charm. It was clear that this person was not someone I could have easily forgotten if we had really met.

I blinked at him, wanting to make sure that he was really standing in front of me. After all I had been through in the past month, I wasn’t surprised to see this strange, handsome man. "Let me guess, you’re supposed to be the powerful vampire lord who protects this tree from humans?"

"Yes."

"So, you’re going to kill me?"

"Does it scare you?"

"Death? No, I just feel bad for the people I would leave behind." I had no idea how worried Deric and Silas would be when they found out I had disappeared. I felt bad for not informing them of my whereabouts, but there was nothing to do about it right now.

"Relax. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead."

"Very assuring."

"You wanted a branch, don’t you? You can have it." He presented a stick as thick as my forearm to me. I had no idea where it had come from; it seemed he had magicked it out of thin air. Perks of being an ancient vampire, I guess. He smiled at me when he saw my hesitation. "Take it."

"There’s no way you’re just going to hand it to me like that. I don’t trust you."

"I’m not just handing it over to you. Of course, I want something in return."

"And what will that be?"

"You don’t need to bother yourself with that. It’s not much. In fact, it barely has anything to do with you."

"Do you know how deceitful that sounds? I’m not stupid enough to fall for that." He was willing to give me what I wanted in return for something else, but he wasn’t even willing to tell me what he was going to take. I would be crazy to agree to something like that. It almost sounds like I’m selling my soul to the Devil. I wanted to fix things, I wanted to help humanity, but I was going to do it only when I knew it wouldn’t cost me something important. "What do you want?"

"Something you’ll possess in a couple of years. No harm will be done. You can trust me on it."

"Trust you? Trust you?!!!"

"Fine." He sighed, seeming disappointed at my lack of trust in him. "You can trust me like this." He made some strange movements with his hand. It was so fast I could hardly keep up with it. The man in front of me suddenly changed appearance. His hair turned a dark shade of brown, his red eyes changed to a light blue color, and his figure became misty and see-through. He was no longer the dangerous vampire lord from before, but the ghost who had haunted my neighbor’s house for as long as I could remember.

"Terry?"