It was only a dream.

It had to be.

Calli stood in the field. The cruel heat of the summer sun beat down on her. Below, the forest waited. Quiet, still and evergreen. No sign of a single bird or beast. She sighed in relief.

"Not your favorite trial so far?"

Calli startled, gasping audibly. He's back! Elated, she attempted to turn and finally look at the man who claimed to love her. She was willing to risk a vanishing dream for even one quick peek, but he was faster.

The man quickly wrapped his arms around her, holding her in place. "Not yet, Calliope, my love," he whispered, holding her tight against him.

"Why?" She begged. "Who are you? Why do you keep coming back to this dream? Or is this a memory? And why is it a part of the Wishing Games? What's going on?"

"As curious as ever," he crooned, sliding one hand up her arm to pull the curling hair away from her neck. He slowly drew a finger there, making idle loops that made her heart race. "Sadly, this is only a dream," he lamented. His hot breath tickled her skin, raising goosebumps all over her body. "And I've already told you who I am. I am only a shadow who wishes to be a man, but I am without that which makes me whole."

She shivered as he continued lazily stroking a finger. The slow looping had her struggling to keep her voice steady, "But who are you to me?"

He huffed a laugh that swept a curl forward. "Hmm, what a wonderful question," he mused, brushing his nose against her ear as he answered in a low rumbling voice, "I am but your infernal slave. Your devoted devil. Your personal demon."

She stiffened at the word. From the train? And the gameshow? But the feeling of wrongness she'd felt at those times never came. "No, demons aren't real," she argued, squeezing her eyes shut. It's only a dream.

He laughed again and dragged a long thick tongue up her neck, causing her to cry out. "Oh, I am very real," his darkened voice growled. "I am every sin," he hissed, "the very embodiment of hate in a human soul." His voice grew louder, more violent, "I am a sickness that spreads from within, soaked in doubts and desires. I am all that you are capable of. I am yours." His hold on her waist tightened.

"I don't believe you," her voice was a barely audible whisper. "Demons aren't real," she repeated more firmly.

He drew his fingernails across her skin to trace the contours of her jaw. They lightly scraped against her. It was all she could do to bite her lip as her body instinctively peaked at the touch. "Do not make me prove to you otherwise, my love," his voice begged.

"Do it then," she demanded, her voice still wavering unsteadily. "Prove it," she dared, still fearfully keeping her eyes shut.

In one quick movement, he turned her to face him. "Look upon me then," he beckoned, cupping her chin and tilting her face to his, "and know what it is you do to me. This shadow that haunts you reverently." His breath caressed her closed eyelids as he dropped his hand from her face and waited.

Please don't wake up, she pleaded to herself. Tentatively easing open her eyes, they widened at the visage before her. It's just a dream.

Towering over her stood a beast of shadow. A demon. Curling ram horns parted the black hair atop his head and came to a point near his equally sharp ears. From his angular face glowed red eyes like embers cast against a pool of blackness. She dared to glance at his dark full lips, catching a glimpse of the predatory teeth behind them. Where he still gripped her waist, a clawed hand spanned wide across. The gentle touch neither stabbing nor cutting into her side. Darkness wisped from his form, revealing the bare red sinew of his body. Her eyes travelled over where the muscles led to a deep curve in at the waist. What lay further beyond that was covered by a lengthy brown pelt. The modest cloth made Calli blush and bite her lip. So easily undone. She shook her head. Why would I think such a thing? She resolved to look the beast in his red eyes.

Calm and hardened, they hid any discernable emotion as they watched her.

"What are you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I have already told you. I am a demon. The plague of souls," he answered airily.

"No," she stood tall, "demons aren't real." The sickening thing from the train echoed in her mind. It was nothing like what stood before her now. She had felt a sense of wrongness then. How it tried to slither into her mind to play on her desires, for a price. When she had glimpsed its shadowy departure, it hadn't appeared nearly as imposing as he did now. Although she had experienced fear then, looking back it was laughably meek in comparison to him. "You don't feel like a demon," she added.

He laughed, curling his mouth into a sidelong grin. "Is that a challenge?" His face fell serious as his heated gaze travelled down to her lips. Pulling her close to press her body to his, he cupped her cheek in a clawed hand that encompassed the length of her face. The long nail of his thumb dragged against her lower lip. "What do I feel like?" He breathed.

She hesitated to answer. Every point his body contacted her was on fire. It burned and melted whatever resolve she foolishly thought held her above such wild desire. Nothing in the last two years had ever come close to igniting her in such a way. Why this dream? Why this creature?

"Yes," his eyes grew distant, "I can see the consequences have been too steep." His chest heaved against quickened breath.

Beautiful. Calli placed a hand over his heart and gasped.

"My apologies," his eyes flicked back to hers. "Like I said, I'm missing what makes me whole. There's nothing there. I lack the heart of a man."

Calli swallowed, losing thought of any reasonable thing to say. "And," she stammered, "and you want me to believe you love me without a heart?" She cooled her shaky breath and haughtily teased, "A demon, in love? Doesn't sound much like a demon at all."

Amused, he returned a broad smile full of sharp teeth, "You wouldn't be the first to say such things." His eyes searched hers hungrily.

Calli blushed and pushed away from the heat of his body, putting three feet between them. "You mentioned consequences," she swallowed hard as she tried to distract herself from his exploring gaze. "What consequences? For what?" She crossed her arms, hoping it would hide the thunderous beating of her heart.

"I wish I could say," he muttered.

She scoffed. "How am I to believe any of this? None of this is even real," she gestured to the scenery around them. "Dreams are no more than unresolved desires. I only desire for someone to love me," she bitterly confessed. "For someone to long for me." Tears lined the crescents in her eyes as her voice tightened. She straightened her posture and blinked, attempting to harden her features.

He cocked his head to the side, "And you would choose a demon to love you? In your wildest dreams?" A gentle smile crossed his lips, "My love, I had no idea you possessed such a kink."

The tears still clear in her voice, she demanded, "Then tell me what I'm to make of a demon loving me. To even consider reciprocating such a thing is insane. Have I gone mad?"

"Truly mad," he teased.

She rolled her eyes, "At least my dream agrees with my own assessment. Though I'm sure it's increasingly more evident. Won't be long before the madness consumes me."

He shrugged, "All love is madness. It would be remiss not to let it consume you. Otherwise, was it ever truly love?"

She shook her head, "No, it is madness to continue whatever this is. I will wake from this dream, and you will be gone. With any luck the Wishing Games won't be real either and I'll be in my own bed at home." Calli turned away from the demon and looked up to the sky. "I will request more medication. And if I am lucky, I'll live a relatively normal life."

"Tsk," the demon approached her from behind, pressing himself close against her as he smoothed a clawed hand up her arm. "Normal is overrated."

The touch reignited the fire within her, and she shivered despite the heat. "And I will find someone to love me," she continued.

"You already found me," the demon hugged her close from behind, resting his chin on her head.

"Not a demon, but a man," for some inexplicable reason, the words broke her heart.

He sucked in a sharp breath, "There is no one to love you more than I."

"Then I will find them," it was a hollow threat, but she begged herself to believe it. Tears spilled down her face.

"And I will kill them," he whispered back. "For I am yours and you are mine."

Whatever the future held for her, she feared what it would not. Sobs interrupted each word as she spoke, "But. You're. Not. Real," she cried out. For it wasn't the fear of his declaration that shook her so deeply. Only the harsh reality of it all could haunt her so profoundly.

"Calliope, my love, do I not feel real?" He asked, burying his face in her neck.

Her legs trembled and yet she managed the strength to shamelessly press her backside into him, feeling the sculpted hardness of his physique.

She felt his lips as they parted over her skin with a hiss. A low growl rumbled through him before he clamped his teeth down hard.

The loud moan that followed sat her up with a jolt. Darkness surrounded her as she came to realize her surroundings. Upright in her cot, Calli sat. She heatedly blushed. Her own dreaming voice had woken her.

Just a dream. The thought disappointed her for reasons she couldn't quite explain.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Calli searched the other cots for signs she'd woken anyone. Their bodies lay motionless in deep slumber. She brought her hand to her face, feeling the hot slick of tears that wetted her cheeks.

A demon. He's a demon.

She looked to where Ada slept, as still as a statue.

Do I tell her about the dream now? After everything that's happened. Would she believe me? Or institutionalize me? Calli wasn't sure which she would hope for from her carer. So real, she touched her lip where his long nail had seductively dragged. The way he'd looked at her had been enough to throw every care to the wind and hope for madness. Let the madness bring me back to him, she recalled thinking. Her eyes rolled back as she sank into her cot, letting the still fresh memory of the dream wash over her with a sigh. Do I go back to sleep and hope the dream continues? She bit into her lip. No, I can't. She blushed more deeply. The heat reminded her of his touch. I would not be able to control myself, she thought shamefully. I'd wake the whole neighborhood. A smile teased at her lips, and she frustratedly cursed under her breath.

In two years, she had never felt passion. The desire for it or otherwise. No man or woman had ever been particularly attractive to Calli. She wondered what would possess her to dream of passion with a demon of all things now. Or, as the demon had suggested, if she harbored some hidden kink for it. Possibly from before her accident. Something residual from the coma? She huffed a quiet laugh at herself, covering her face with her hands and dragging them roughly down. This is ridiculous, she internally screamed. The lingering feel of his clawed touch still had her skin on edge.

Demons aren't real, she hoped in vain that reminding herself would cool the burning within her.

The night edged on,and the heat never ceased. The unbearable itch of those last moments with him playedover and over in her mind, unable to be scratched.