The Devil's Dance At High Point, Holly Hixson [rosie project .TXT] 📗

the nape of her neck as he pulled her from beneath the table. She was paralyzed from fear. He pulled her up to him, their faces inches apart. Kaliah couldn’t see his eyes through the dark glasses, but she could feel his intense stare. This is it, she thought.
“I could give you a choice,” he told her. “You could be of use to me. Bring others into my fold, bring other souls to me, and you can keep yours, for now. How about it Kaliah? Shall you die? Or will you let others die for you?”
Before Kaliah could answer him, a sound from outside brought new terror to her heart. Annie’s voice drifted in the air. She was in the parking lot, calling out to Evelyn or Kaliah. The devil shrieked with glee and dropped his hold on her. He tore out of the cabin toward Annie.
“NO!!!!!” screamed Kaliah as she raced after him. She reached the gravel lot in time to see Annie and the man disappear up the path toward the High Point lookout. Kaliah raced after them. At the top, Annie faced her, the dark man’s arms locked around her waist. He was laughing hysterically.
“Please, not her. She’s done nothing to you. She’s good. You’ll never get her soul,” Kaliah pleaded with the man she now thought of as the devil.
“Ah, yes. But this is your choice, Kaliah. It’s you I want. She is just a means of me getting what I want. Now choose. Either I kill her or you do. That’s your price for defying me.”
“Kaliah, what’s he talking about?” Annie said to her. “What does he want with you? Why does he want to kill me?” She stopped struggling in the devil’s arms as she faced her friend.
Hot tears ran down Kaliah’s face. “I will not kill her or allow you to. She’s not part of the deal. You want me? Let her go. I’ll keep my part of the bargain, but release her first.”
Annie and the demon were standing very close to the edge. “You want to save your friend?” the devil asked. “Come get her.” The demon released his grip on Annie, moving with lightning speed. Kaliah saw her friend glance backward at the cliff’s edge. Oh, God, no, Kaliah thought. She ran up to her friend. Annie’s hands reached out to her. As their fingers touched, she felt the demon rush against her, pushing her forward. She was propelled toward her friend pushing Annie over the edge. Kaliah looked into her friend’s eyes as she dropped off the edge of the cliff. First she saw terror, and then love replaced the fear. Kaliah screamed after her friend.
The demon’s laughter rippled across the mountainside. Desolate, Kaliah stepped toward the cliffs edge. She wanted nothing more than to join her friend. Tears streamed down her face, emptiness filled her soul. She placed her foot on the edge, prepared to step off when she heard Annie’s voice.
“Fight him Kaliah. Don’t let him win.” Annie’s words filled her head, yet seemed to come through the wind whistling through the treetops as well. Kaliah stepped back from the edge, feeling her friends love for her course through her, a silent river running deep.
“Yes, Annie,” she whispered as she turned from the edge. She headed back down the path. When she hit the gravel lot, she looked around briefly, and then sprinted across to the winding mountain road she’d walked up. Grief flowed through her at the loss of all her friends. As she retraced her steps down the mountain, Kaliah breathed deeply of the mountain air, swearing to avenge her friends. Somehow, she would make the devil dance again, only she would be triumphant in the end.


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Publication Date: 07-01-2009

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