Wicked Games

"Please, brother. Take me with you."

"I can't, Sarah. You won't survive out there on your own. I can find a holy man and bring him back...besides, who will tend to Mother? That child will eat her soul alive..."

"Father? He is a man of faith. Surely he can-"

"You know as well as I that Father is weaker than he seems...you've smelled the stench of sin on his breath...the way he wobbles as he stumbles in from the wood..."

"You don't surely think Carissa is-"

"Taken? Yes. Have you not seen the happenings when she is around? The way her eyes darken? The shift in Mother's mood.."

"What's all this?" The mother of the babbling adolescents crossed the threshold of wooden doorframe, a dark inquisitiveness in her eye. The youngest of the Boden children, Carissa, peeked curiously around the corner.

"N-nothing, Mot-"

"I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Why on Earth would you leave the farm, Jeremiah?"

"There are evil things afoot. You know just as well as I."

"Don't be foolish, son. This is a family of spirit. No evil walks here."

"Evil walks every day, and in deceptive form." Jeremiah eyes flickered toward the toddler playing amongst their feet.

"Carissa? By god, son! What on earth has possessed you?! She is a child!"

"Was...a child."

"This is nonsense. Jeb, come here into the kitchen. The children are panicked. They believe Carissa has been claimed by evil. "

"Claimed by evil, you say?" The head of the home rolled over on his mat, rose to his feet and descended a ladder into the main room of the cabin.

"Well, Lucifer is known to play tricks. Surely a quick prayer wouldn't hurt."

"You can't be serious, Jebedi-"

"Now, now Abigail. Better safe than sorry. Let's all sit and join hands. Children? Sarah, grab Carissa. Right. In the name of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit-"

"ENOUGH!" Abigail roared. Her husband and children ceased their prayers, bewildered.

"I'm sorry. This all makes me anxious. I'm going to make some tea. We can continue the prayer once we're all less hysterical. I have water heating on the fire, anyhow." The family sat in silence as Abigail made her way toward the fire burning in the center of the isolated cabin. A few moments later, the matriarch returned with four cups. An intoxicating aroma travelled along the steam rising from their tops. The family drank deeply as Abigail removed Carissa from Sarah's arms and placed her gently beside her onto the bench. Suddenly, a guttural gasp broke from Jeremiah's lips.

"Sarah! Your eyes!"

Jeremiah recoiled at the visage of his younger sister. The pupils of her eyes were large and black, her emerald irises near non-existent. He whipped around at his father to find his eyes equally darkened. Jeremiah peered into the reflection of his cup to find that his eyes looked the same. The three looked over to Carissa and Abigail. Carissa's eyes were unchanged. Abigail's eyes were going completely dark. Her irises and the whites that once housed them slowly relinquished to a sea of black.

"What's the meaning of this Abigail? What have you done to us?!" Jeb demanded.

"Just a simple herbal blend. From the olden days. You were right about one thing, Jeb. We fiends do like tricks." A serpentine smile slid across Abigail's mouth. A resounding look of horror washed across the family's face.

"M-mother? I don't-"

"Your mother is gone. In a sense. You may get her back. If you play your cards right."

Abigail wove a bony hand across the table. As her palm hovered across the jagged wood, a stack of cards appeared atop the splintered planks. The ominous deck was marked with strange symbols that glowed brighter as the lamp began to die. The roaring fire soon followed suit. The cabin took on a chill, but the family dare not move to seek warmth. The dimming light cast unnatural shadows across Abigail's angular face. Carissa ceased her wailing, wriggled free from Abigail's arms, and ducked under the table clinging desperately to the legs of her older siblings.

"We won't play any games with you, wicked crea-"

"Oh. Dear husband. Dear foolish imbecile of a husband. You don't have a choice." Abigail gestured underneath the table with a single skeletal finger.

"This little one is highly coveted. And I was told not to return without her. But I can't leave without a bit of fun. No, you Bodens have far too many secrets...I'd like to watch you flail. Even just for a moment...this is a game we like to play in The Seven Circles. It has fairly...deadly stakes for us demons. But for humans...well, it doesn't take much to break you down. So I may just take it easy on you. It's all in good fun, right?"

Abigail reached her arm across the table, sliding the ornate deck of cards toward the middle of the fraying wood. She slid a card off the top of the deck and placed it face down in front of her.

"The rules are simple. Each card represents a part of human nature. You then have the opportunity to confess a sin related to this matter, or you must carry out an action of my choosing. The child, of course, is exempt. I am required to keep her intact. She's the least interesting of the lot of you, anyhow. And keep in mind, I will know if you're lying. "

"And if we win?"

Abigail chuckled deviously. "There's no winning in this game. You die or I get bored. Whichever happens first. That said...you may get your mother back before I decide to leave."

"How do we know you won't cheat?"

"You don't."

"And Carissa?"

"Don't push your luck. Let's play, shall we?" Abigail flipped the card in front over her over to reveal a grotesque caricature of the Boden mother. The portrait's eyes were fully blacked out and her naked, emaciated body was twisted to meet the ground in unnatural ways. Small horns jutted from her forehead and her slender feet met to form cloven hooves. The golden lettering at the base of the card read THE DEVIL. The captured Abigail looked at the card with deviant glee and showed it off to the nerve wracked Boden family.

"These cards never cease to amaze. Well, I've already made my confession. Who should go next...?" Abigail's eyes scanned the family.

"Ah, Jeremiah. The dutiful eldest son. Go on, pick a card. You wouldn't dare disobey your dear mother, would you?"