[A/N: Yet again, props to the Offspring, this time for "Daemons (a Mexican fiesta)" of their self-titled album that inspired me.]

DAEMONS

He woke up sweaty and was just able to hold back the scream.

The dreams were back.

They just wouldn't leave him alone. He'd had one two years ago. Then two other a couple of months ago. Now they came every night.

The beautiful girl, he loved her. He would have been lying if he'd said anything else. Soul mate. That was the only words that he could think of that would describe her. Or not quite. Drop dead gorgeous was good too.

She was there every night, as beautiful as beautiful could be, talking to him in a language he didn't understand. There was no use in trying to tell her that he didn't understand; he couldn't affect these dreams at all. Whatever came out of his mouth in the dreams didn't make any sense either. Not to him. The girl understood what he was saying. At first it had been an increadible feeling. Just being around her made his heart beat faster. It was only a dream. That was what he'd kept telling himself. But god, if he hadn't fallen in love with her the very second she appeared.

Everything had been wonderful, but gradually she'd become more and more worried. For some reason so had he.

Just a couple of nights ago he'd dreamt that they'd been sitting in his home. What appared to be his home in the dream. They'd been talking in candlelight. He wished he'd just understood it when he woke up too. She'd been so beautiful, even more than in the other dreams. But it had been something serious that they'd been talking about.

Her amazing brown eyes. He couldn't forget how said they'd been. How sad she'd been. He could sense that it was something that had very much with him to do, but still something that he couldn't affect.

He slowly sat up. "Why do I keep dreaming these things? What's wrong with me?" He shook his head and looked around in the room. Just another hotel room. No big deal. He'd stop having these dreams as soon as he got home. Hopefully. But then she'd go away too...

He wished he could talk with the others about this, but he knew that this was way too weird. He couldn't tell anyone, not a single soul.

Soul.

The word kept repeating itself in his head.

Soul. Soul mate. Souls. Spirits.

"I'm going crazy" he mumbled and looked at his watch. 3 a.m. He'd only been asleep for two hours. The thought itself made him tired. He needed his sleep, even if it meant dreams about slaughtering a goat and...

"I shouldn't think about it" he sighed and slowly laid down again.

He saw it so clearly now. The beautiful girl. The crowd. The fire. The altar. She was indoors with him. In a linen robe and with sparkling eyes. He felt that he should talk to her, but instead he stood there and watched the crowd and listened to the song they were singing. Or more like chanting. It felt like it had been going on forever but still he knew this was just the beginning.

The scream woke him up. He tried to figure out where it came from, and then he realized that it was he who was screaming.

"What's wrong with me?" he covered his face in his hands "Something is seriously wrong with me."

He looked around again. The silence made him feel uncomfortable even though he was the only one there. Maybe that was why.

"I would never hurt her" he mumbled to himself "never in a billion years. Never."

Still he could feel how that wasn't true. True, but still not.

"I wouldn't" he told himself again, partly to convince himself, partly to convince someone else that wasn't there. Of course it didn't work. He still felt that what he was saying was only partly true.

"Why do I even fight it" he sighed "There's no reason to keep waking up just because of something like this. It's just a dream. It can't hurt anyone in real life..."

A pleased feeling. Not from him, but from someone in the room. He could sense that there was somebody else there.

"Guys?" He sat up straight and looked around. No answer. He could still feel that he wasn't alone there though.

He looked at his watch. 5 a.m. He'd been asleep for maybe an hour, an hour and a half.

"Whatever" he mumbled and laid down again. "Go back to bed, we're free today."

He closed hit eyes. "And leave me alone" he sighed.

The crowd was watching him. People around him were chanting that song, they just wouldn't stop. She walked up to him. Her eyes were sparkling and she was smiling. Still he knew that he wouldn't see her after this. But there was something...

As she laid down on the stone altar he couldn't help but to smile. This was his ultimate gift to her.

When he started talking she lay there calmly, knowing what was coming. He picked up the knife. He could see his reflection in the blade. His blond hair had turned red by the blood of the goat.

He removed her robe and placed his hand above her stomach. When he stabbed he couldn't help but to think that it went so much easier to cut her open than what he'd expected. No feelings of guilt, more of relief to do it, as is this was what he'd been waiting for all his life.

The crowd watched, in some kind of fiendish delight.

The daemons would be very pleased.

He ripped out her heart that was still beating and raised it up in the air as the sun started to show itself.

The sudden lights and yelling made him turn around. The police. He looked around. Where was he? He lowered his hands slowly, feeling that he was holding something warm. A heart. A human heart. It had stopped beating, but the blood still dripped from his hands.

He looked down and saw her. She was real. The beautiful girl was actually real. Dead surley but...

He'd killed her.

He'd cut her open and ripped out her heart, for what? He couldn't remember. All he could see was the crowd, now silent and confused. Like if they too were waking up from some kind of spell. Like if they were wondering what they were doing there. So did he. Hadn't it just been a dream? A nightmare of sorts. It had been real, but not this real. This was real life.

He looked at her. His offering. His soul mate. A ring. She was married. He turned around just to look into a gun.

As he walked towards the car handcuffed he saw him. He knew that was her husband. He was just standing there, smoking and didn't even seem bothered by the fact that his wife was dead.

He couldn't help getting mad, and disgusted. How could this man not be even upset that his wife hd just been murdered?

"In another life" he heard himself say as he sat in the car looking out. In another life? Was there another life after this? He found it hart to believe, although... He had felt that he'd known her from another life, and he knew he'd loved her before.

"A what seems to be a cult have been discovered. They were found in the middle of a human sacrificing. The people involved have been counted to around 80, but no one has anything to say about what had been going on. Some believe that it got something to do with daemons of a long forgotten cult, but the police have yet to find someone who can read the signs that are written all around the altar."

"What kind of sick people does things like that" Brian muttered but didn't turn away from the TV.

"Oh my god" Kevin stared at the TV screen "Isn't that Nick?"