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A disgusting nest, built from broken sticks and bones, towered up from the dead grass like some sort of hollowed sigil.
Just beyond the layers of filth that had blackened the vertical, halo nest, was a cracked, dry well.
It had been here before the town was carved into the fields to turn the sweeping grass into cracked concrete and mud.
The well had its own patch of land nestled outside of town before the valleys beyond reclaimed the sweeping fields with thickets of trees. There was even a segment of broken fencing behind the well that was overgrown with branching lichen peeling upwards.
The little area of seclusion was deceptively quiet. If not for the foreboding halo looming before it, it would be quite easy to overlook the danger that lived unseen from all.
Everyone avoided the area. Some children used the nest as a test of bravery, or stupidity, in their own social circles.
To yank a blackened stick from the halo was to be taking a trophy. To touch the well, and even lean over into the cold mouth of it, was the ultimate sign of an unwavering spirit that deserved respect.
The demon liked the brave ones. Why spend precious energy hunting when prey laid its slender neck straight across waiting jaws so willingly?
Raw meat was thrown into the well to keep the demon sated and away from those very tempting offerings. Whispers warned not to tempt the creature up into the light, but one soul saw it more as a prevention than provocation.
If the demon was fed, it wouldn't need to hunt so close to the nervous town. The little wooden home lingering so close in the woods that belonged to the one soul would remain untouched, and everyone could sleep peacefully; even with the black halo visible from every window.
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Raw meat slapped against the dirt at the bottom of the well, signalling yet another time to feed.
The demon, however, was not curled up within the den it had gouged through one side of the brick barrier. It was curled around the trees of the forest; lifeless black eyes set on the empty home of the distracted food-bringer.
The sharp scent of firewood flitted through the crisp air. Amongst it, cooking meat and vegetables danced upwards from the chimney spilling grey plumes around the overhanging branches dipped low.
The window was open; checkered curtains choked around the middles with matching lengths of fabric.
The glass rippled from the soft light of the fire licking it. Inside, a soft rug resembling spongy moss slathered the floor between the stone fireplace and wooden lounge facing it.
The demon eyed the softness longingly. The hard earth of the well was neither warm or comforting. Even the cold, damp depths beyond it didn't offer a homely atmosphere like this soul's little home.
There was nowhere else for the demon to go. Townsfolk traversed the trees for firewood to warm their bones. They cut paths through the forest with heavy boots and scared away smaller animals; easier prey possessing flowing blood that slithered much nicer into its gut than pulverized meat. The demon couldn't reside in the dark peacefulness of the forest it yearned for.
The partial nest would forever stand tall above an abandoned well. The demon would obediently be a pet to this one soul who peeled mashed meat tendrils from copious amounts of foam trays and plastic skins it could smell festering inside the bin laid out of sight from the home.
It deserved the comfort of the moss carpet and touch of fire on its flickering body of shade, even just once.
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It's long snout twitched when it peeled from the trees, branding scales down the wood, as it approached the shimmering glass to pant out hot breath across it.
The warm glass fogged instantly, seeping back with a draw of the demon's lungs. Shrouded, the contents of the home blurred as if they had been plunged beneath sheets of refreshing rainfall.
It knew it was unable to give in to the draw of temptation. Heavy boots crushed through the forestry; the soul trudging back for the comfort of fire and food.
The demon couldn't be seen lingering this close. Even if it had pressed cold shade to warm glass many times out of fascination, the risk of being driven from its little patch of land in retaliation, or fear, was too great.
Withdrawing to the trees once more, the demon listened to the soul drag its heavy feet over the fallen branches and dead leaves. Watching it pass, the demon's head lifted at finally seeing the form of the one who had been dumping food down for it.
It knew the hairy arm well as it was the one that tipped the meat down the mouth of the well and into the beast. Black spiderwebs laced across the top of darkened skin, fading at the backs of the large hands now finding warmth inside pockets.
It only had two of them. The demon looked at its four in interest at where the human was concealing it's others.
The strange face was rugged from years of hard work and strain. Across the jaw was more black hair forming the shadow of a beard not yet grown through.
More black hair swept back on the dropped face focused on picking through the wilderness. Greased locks fell forth across the wrinkled forehead resembling the disturbed dirt of the well. Brown eyes flicked to the branches overhead briefly.
Red and white rippled on the human soul's back like a weathered picnic blanket. Dark denim was torn down to white thread in sections, smudged with dirt.
Thick, black boots cracked sticks easily for the demon. Laces looped like decaying innards along the tongue of the heavy boot. Also like the demon, this soul only possessed two sturdy legs.
The demon leant out, soul drumming like lightning, as the human passed obliviously. Keeping eyes glued to the retreating checkers, the demon plucked up a few of the broken sticks for its own home.
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Flitting around the towering nest in a mixture of shade and scale as the sky slowly drowned in colour, the demon bled tar from its hands to smother the new sticks being wedged inside.
Two clawed hands planted on the nest to stabilize the demon's body, while another two protruded from the sides to help grow the threshold of its home.
Bent back legs planted on either side of a long tail curled around like the body of a snake. The end fanned outwards on either side to sweep across the dirt as it moved like liquid.
It bounded across the dead grass, effortless as it floated like weightless night. Spiralling through the hollow middle of the nest, the last stick was laid across the others interlocked at the top.
Up at the top, the demon could see the lights of the town below starting to flicker to life. Below a sea of colour, the homes spiralled smoke up to the darkening clouds to become one with them.
As the sky glowed, so did the windows of the homes. Shapes reflected the glitter spiled across the sky slowly dying to give the incomplete moon life.
Families shared their own nests. Even those alone had the company of an animal to give purpose to filling the home with light.
The human was the only kind one that lingered just out of reach. The demon wanted to share its grand nest with the gracious soul and feel the warmth of its skin against cold shadows.
The demon saw light filtering around the trees to its left. The human was settled comfortably within its own home; dancing scents of cooked food peppering the black saliva splattering from the demon's mouth onto its nest.
Ignoring the meat dumped into the well, the demon clawed it's way down the bulging halo and began it's prowl for the delicious light in the forest.
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Black eyes set once more on the open curtains of the home.
The human soul was bent over on the couch, drinking from a bowl it's large hands cradled.
With movement catching it's eye, the human turned towards the window to see the smokey silhouette of the demon staring straight into its soul from its place wrapped around a tree.
The soup seared the human's hands when it froze. In realisation at the fire now burning its palms, it set down the bowl and carefully approached the window to press the tender skin to the coldness.
The demon's head lifted. It leaned out from the tree it clutched so tightly, deciding to leave the safety to feed its curiosity.
There, separated by a thin pane of cold, misting glass, were a human and a demon.
Eyes swept over each other. Mouths remained silent, unable to form sound or word. Hearts hammered; horrifyingly fascinated by what studied them.
The demon was the first to move, turning its body that disappeared into the night that now swallowed it. Unable to see the full extent of what lurked outside its home, the human wasn't sure if that was a comforting fact.
Still, it approached the door, spilling light across the ground to where the demon stood.
The human had peered into the well many times to glimpse the creature it fed. Disappointed each day, it pondered the form of the one so forbidden. Now it was here, and on the human's doorstep nevertheless.
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The demon felt the temperature change instantly at the sweep of the door. Warmth pushed back the cold burrowing into the demon's body. The bright light was as if the human harnessed the power of the sun itself within its home.
With the light washing over the surroundings, the demon couldn't retreat into the safety of the night that still shrouded it's torso. Exposed, it saw the human contemplate its own actions before it decided to leave the doorframe and return to the window to watch the demon.
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The demon carefully picked it's way towards the warmth. With its long snout sniffling at the scents the earth had trapped over the day, it concluded that none of them were foreign enough to be of concern.
The human's scent was known to the demon from days of dumped food into the dirt. Even the meat it handled carried the human's distinctive musty scent which fouled that of the pasted slabs.
It was different now. In a home that swirled with all of its tangled scents, the demon was trespassing into the life of the one it had only watched longingly from afar.
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The human circled to the back of its lounge as the demon slowly pressed one hand, then another, over the notch of the doorframe. The other two slid across it when it crept further inwards, taking in all the wonderful sights of the strange home.
Clawed fingers plucked at the wooden floorboards gingerly. Curled ones of the human gripped the fabric of the lounge in return.
Feeling the soft fibres of the carpet tangle it's claws before smothering it's flattened hand, the demon paused beside the bed of moss.
It had never felt anything so soft. It rippled like the grass itself; swaying and adjusting as it was disturbed by the hands that glided across it.
It smelled like the human too. Warm like the sun, salty from sweat; musty skin pressed into clean clothes, and lingering like the pine trees themselves.
The demon lowered its body onto the soft moss and felt it's aching bones sink into comfort instantly. Laying down its head that burrowed into the fibres to press the scent into the scales, the demon let out a weary sigh as the flames of the fire flickered across its own soulless eyes rolling backwards.
The human was perplexed.
It had heard tales of the demon and it's bloodlust for the warm flesh that crossed into its territory beyond the dirty halo of dead things. The demon was always lingering just out of sight, waiting for the optimal opportunity to strike in distracted peripherals. Demons, like this shadowy monstrosity, were to be spoken about in shushed tones. It was too attuned to the sound of human speech to not want to hunt it down.
The demon was a horrible thing that needed to be placated for the town's protection, yet, here it was, curling up on the human's soft carpet like an old housecat living out its days in lazy luxury.
The human could learn to love the demon for more than what it was portrayed as. Already, something tugged inside it that endless days of pondering and nurturing were finally rewarded.
The demon could open its heart to trusting the human and embrace the life it wanted to desperately merge together. A nest big enough for two, or five.
Perhaps this forbidden interaction was the start of something better for the two unlikely souls?
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As brown eyes met black once more, the human returned to the lounge to lean forth on it, watching the shadow demon with increasing fascination.
The human was one of the brave ones, and the demon was far too comfortable in its pocket of peace to blacken more bones for its nest.
For now, both creatures were at peace with the world and each other, souls thundering like lightning once more.
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