Dakota Roberts could smell his own sweat and blood. His body felt cold and numb, which was probably a good thing, he thought as he looked down.

He was on his back, lying on the remnants of the coffee table. It had shattered with the force in which he had been thrown into it. A leg had broken off and was now jutting up through his back and abdomen, glistening with his blood and bits of other things.

Dakota should have been in horrible pain, should have been filled with terror, but he wasn't. It didn't matter that his parents were in little pieces in the kitchen. It didn't matter his little sister Lexie was screaming shrilly, huddled in a corner of the room behind the arm of the couch. All that matter was the alabaster skinned demon staring down at him, its red eyes glowing, saliva dripping from its fang filled mouth, wearing only a red silk loincloth.

It didn't say anything. It just stared at him, licking its lips as if in anticipation. That same mouth had rendered huge chunks of flesh off his parents as they fought it, trying to protect him and his sister. It had torn more flesh from their bodies as they died, even more after they were dead. Dakota knew it wanted to do the same to him and then to Lexie.

He had told Lexie to run, standing between her and the monstrosity. She had gone for the front door, her Disney Princess nightgown hugging her short, skinny legs, but the door wouldn't open. She turned the doorknob and pulled, but nothing happened. She had turned the bolt lock to open, but it didn't open. She tugged and tugged, but could not get out.

When the demon had grabbed him and thrown him at the coffee table, Lexie had turned from the door and run to hide. As the loud crack of the wood had signified his connecting with coffee table, she had begun to scream.

Dakota looked past the demon at the door. Surely the neighbors had heard his parents' yells and now could hear Lexie's screams. They had to have called the police. All he had to do was wait for the police, but now it was getting hard to breath. There was something wet and warm against his right arm. He turned his head enough to see the growing puddle of blood forming under him.

"Do you know what happens to little children who don't listen to their parents?"

Dakota returned his attention to the demon as Lexie's screams dissolved into sobs. Its voice was deep and seemed to come up from a dark abyss. It was the first time it had spoken since coming into the house.

"They get eaten." The demon cackled and Dakota finally felt a stab of fear.

"No," he mumbled, feeling tears burning his eyes. He didn't want to be eaten. He didn't want Lexie to be eaten.

"Children are filled with living and are tender." The demon licked his lips again and stepped towards him. Dakota's mouth went dry as tears began to run down the sides of his face into his brown hair.

"Which one, which one?" The demon looked towards Lexie, who cowered further and sobbed louder. "Little girls are sugar and spice and everything nice. Let's see."

The demon snarled at Lexie and jumped over Dakota's leg towards her. Lexie screamed anew and tried to crawl behind the couch as the demon laughed, slowly pursuing her.

"No. Leave her alone!" Dakota yelled as his fear turned to anger. His body was growing warm, no longer dead and cold. The heat seemed to race through him to settle in his right hand. The demon stopped and slowly turned, half crouched. It looked at his hand and cackled.

Dakota looked at his hand and felt fear anew. His hand was glowing, fluctuating between red, yellow and orange. He flexed his fingers. It didn't hurt, but the colors brightened and then became white. The demon cackled again and jumped up and down gleefully.

"Arcane will be happy. Arcane will have glee. Arcane will come and take you. He will be, he will be." The demon continued to jump up and down and dance, his mouth twisted into a sharp toothed smile.

"I don't think so."

Dakota tore his eyes from his still glowing hand to look towards the front door, where the voice had come from. Standing in front of the now open door was a mountain of a man. Tall, muscular, imposing. Dakota had never seen a man so tall or broad shouldered before. His hair was black and shoulder length, his skin tanned and his eyes as dark as the night. Red stripes lined his face, three on each cheek. A black stripe dissected his chin. His clothing was beige leather and a necklace of turquoise circled his neck. A crossbow was in his hands and it was pointed at the demon.

"These children are not for you or Arcane," he stated in a deep bass voice. "Be gone."

He raised the crossbow and the pointed end erupted in flame, even though he hadn't done anything to light it. The demon stopped laughing and hissed, its tail whipping back and forth. Dakota hadn't even noticed it had a tail.

The bolt flew and hit the demon square in the chest. It howled in obvious pain, its arms flapping as the fire began to race up and down its body. It was soon lit from head to toes and its howls rose in pitch, so loud it hurt Dakota's ears, but he was too weak to raise his arms to cover his ears with his hands. The smell of burning flesh crept into his nose. Rather than being sickened by it, Dakota relished it. He watched the demon burn, wanting it to burn for what it had done to his parents, to him. The next thing he knew, it disappeared with a loud pop that sounded like thunder.

Dakota felt intensely tired. He looked at his hand, but it was now just a normal hand. It was taking everything he had to keep breathing.

"It's all right." He glanced over to see the man kneeling down beside him, examining the table leg jutting out of him. "You're going to be all right."

"I was asleep," Dakota whispered. He remembered that now. He had gone to bed and fallen asleep, only to awakened by his parents' cries of terror. "I want to go back to sleep."

"No you don't." The man leaned over him, his hands roving over his abdomen around the table leg. Dakota could see his hands moving, but not feel them. "Stay with me."

"This is a dream." It suddenly hit Dakota like a slap in the face. "A nightmare. Mom and Dad are in their room sleeping. Lexie's in her room sleeping. I'm in my room sleeping."

"Yes, it is a nightmare, but it's also very real, so I need you to stay with me and keep talking to me." The man pressed a finger to his neck and it felt warm to Dakota. He closed his eyes.

"Don't go to sleep, Dakota," the man ordered, pressing his hand down on Dakota's shoulder hard. "You need to stay awake and talk to me."

"Dak?" Dakota opened his eyes to see Lexie kneeling beside the man. Her blue eyes were swollen and red from her crying and as she breathed, her whole body hitched. "Don't die." Fresh tears rolled down her face and her lips trembled. Her long dark blonde hair was in total disarray around her face.

"I'm tired," he told her and she grabbed his hand. He blinked slowly, fighting the urge to just keep his eyes shut. She looked so frail and scared. Mom and Dad were dead. Who was going to take care of her?

"Dakota, your sister needs you, so you have to stay," the man said as if reading his thoughts. His dark eyes softened. "We all need you."

Suddenly more people, all clad in dark blue uniforms, came through the still open door. Lexie squealed in fear and started to get up to run, but the man touched her arm and smiled at her. "These are my friends and they're going to take care of you and your brother. Go with them and don't be afraid."

"I want to stay with Dak." Lexie's tears continued to flow and Dakota could feel what little strength he had left waning. The other people who had come in swarmed around them and he was glad the police had finally come. He knew they would take care of his little sister. As he closed his eyes, giving into the fatigue, he heard the man say one last thing.