Pulling into the driveway of his Mansion I could hardly believe my eyes, how the hell could someone this rich be this damn stupid I thought. I stepped out of the car into the freezing rain and dashed around to the trunk to retrieve my bag. I leapt up the staircase and shook the water off under the overhang before ringing the doorbell several times. A little jingle ran throughout the interior. Shortly after I heard shuffling to the double doors. I tipped my hat to the peephole. They swung open revealing my latest client.
“Please,” he said, “come in.”
Mr Whitman was a tall slender man with serious baggage under his bloodshot eyes, and a wild unruly animal clinging to his face. It must’ve been a beard. Not at all what I was expecting. Over the phone he sounded so much more put together. But in person…he looked like shit. I stepped in, hung my hat and coat then left my shoes on the mat before following down the corridor. Several paintings hung from its brown walls; a child curled up inside a snow-globe, a brain blooming from a flower’s stem, a shattered vase hemorrhaging sand.
“My daughter painted them.” He said with a weary yet prideful smile. “What do you think?”
“She’s very talented.” I mused.
He sat me down on one of his white leather sofas, and took a seat directly across from me on the other side of the glass table. He offered some tea. I politely declined, “I’m more of a coffee guy. Anyways, let’s just get to the reason I came. Can you fill me in a little on the situation, what’s the timeline?”
Mr Whitman let off a sigh that seemed to age him a decade.
“My daughter’s been acting terribly ever since November of last year. She started off slaughtering wild animals. One of our maids, Edith, had brought it to my attention when she spotted Maria coming in from the back yard with bloodied hands. When I sat her down and discussed it she denied ever doing a thing. Come thanksgiving she attacked several of her cousins, biting, kicking and scratching them till she was yanked off by her uncle. I asked why she’d done it, and again she claimed innocence. Between her mother and I, I’ve always been the more distant. And when she passed, I didn’t step up like I should’ve, like Maria needed me to. I thought maybe she was just acting out for attention. So I took some time off work to be around more. Try and reconnect. That’s when-” he coughed, “she killed Lucy.”
My brows jumped reflexively, but I hastily downed them.
“Her mother and I got her this pet dog for her 13th birthday. One night she lifted it up and tossed it out her bedroom window. It crashed head first onto my windshield while I parked in the driveway.” He shuddered. “Died on impact. I gazed up where it fell from, and Maria was just staring down at me, smiling like some crazed…” he shook his head. “By the time I made my way up to her room, she was sleeping. And when I woke her it seemed like she was ‘back to normal,’ clueless as a doe. The next morning, I watched her mourn that dog like-”
He put his hand to his temples. “Like she didn’t just kill it!”
I cleared my throat.
“Pardon my interruption but, have you tried taking her to a psychologist before-”
“It’s not a mental illness!” he screamed.
I flinched back.
“It’s a demon! I KNOW. A week ago…”
He stopped himself, massaging his eyes.
“I just know.”
I nodded, my heart racing. This guy is insane.
“Is that all?” I asked, hoping against hope he’d nod.
He laughed. Shaking his head.
“Days later, she tried to kill Edith. Attacked her while she carried the laundry bin downstairs. She could’ve died. My girl almost murdered somebody.” He said choking up. “It was a miracle charges weren’t pressed!”
I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’ve ‘exorcized’ some ‘possessed’ kids before, but stories usually didn’t go much farther than; He bit his mom. She punched his brother. He spat on the neighbor’s cat. But this right here! Attempted murder, are you joking?
Mr Whitman ran his hand over his shaved head.
“When she came for me with a knife in the middle of the night, that was it. I knew I had to contact you. I’m not a religious man Mr Reed, but your services were recommended to me by a close friend who said you had helped with a similar problem.”
What! I thought. My ‘success’ rate was a coin toss. I was, I still am, absolutely stunned I got any calls at all. Who the hell mentioned me?
“I see,’’ I said, stroking my chin. “Episodes of uncharacteristically malevolent behavior marked by retrograde amnesia. I haven’t felt her aura yet, but I reckon we’re dealing with an archetypical case of possession. Category five from the sound of it. The worst variant.”
“What does that mean for my girl?” Asked Mr Whitman, voice dripping with anxiety.
“You seem like a sensible guy.” I said. “So I’ll give it to you straight. This will not be resolved overnight. Maybe not even in a couple days. This could take weeks of sessions.”
His head fell.
“But don’t worry now. I swear to utilize every tool in my arsenal to successfully exorcize this demonic entity from Maria.”
He nodded.
“Thank you. That’s all I could ask for.”
“Now,” I stood up and snatched my bag off the ground. “Show me to her.”
He escorted me up the spiral staircase and down the hallway to the last door. There were several locks attached holding it shut. My palms grew sweaty.
3 locks for a teenage girl?
The father went to undo them all. When he got to the last one he turned my way.
“Maria tried to attack me a few minutes before you arrived. I don’t know if she’s still…”
I nodded.
He unlocked the last one and stepped away.
I walked up to the door and put my hand over the knob. I faked a shiver.
“This dark aura…It’s powerful.” I said. “Very powerful.”
“How long will this take?” He asked.
“Very hard to say, Mr Whitman. I’ll try to keep it within 2 hours.”
He nodded.
I turned back around, twisted the knob and gently pushed open the creaky door. There on a wooden chair sat Maria Whitman painting away on some canvas, back turned to the door.
“Forgot to mention, I work best without an audience.”
He nodded.
I shut the door behind me and heard the clicking of locks right after on the other side.
Wait, don’t lock me in! I turned around to protest.
“Who are you?”
My head snapped back to see Maria was now staring at me inquisitively. Her gray eyes sized me up.
“Mr Reed. Thomas Reed.”
“What are you, some doctor who treats crazy people?”
I laughed. Almost.
“Me, a doctor? Not at all, I wasn’t smart enough to get a degree.”
I started walking around the room.
“You know this is a really nice place.” I said. “Waaaaay better than my apartment.”
“What do you want?”
Money, I thought, picking up a purple lava lamp.
“How about some courtesy? I’m tired, and it’s been nothing but questions since I walked in here.”
She squinted.
“I’m just trying to make small talk.”
“Well I don’t want to talk, I’m busy, now if you’ll please leave me alone.”
I sighed and placed it back down. “Fine. You don’t want to talk. I can sit here all night.” I unzipped the top of my bag, pulled out a ham sandwich and plopped down at the foot of her bed.
“Hey! Get off my bed.”
I took a bite.
“But it’s so comfy!” I mumbled.
She hopped on and started pushing me. I spun around and she nearly fell off. It took everything in me not to laugh. This is the great terror? She’s just a teen.
I made my way over to the painting.
“What’s this?”
It looked like a net sprawled across the canvas, coils of rope from left to right. But closer inspection revealed the many scales lining it. It was the seemingly endless body of a snake.
“Stop looking at that! It’s not even finished.”
“Didn’t have to tell me.”
I took another bite.
She groaned.
“You’re so annoying!”
“You know, I prefer the vase of sand downstairs, it’s-“
“I don’t care what you prefer! Get out of my room.”
I almost choked on my sandwich. “Why are you so hostile? You’re acting like I stepped on your dog or something?”
She went quiet and backed up. Her eyes welled with tears.
“Ooooooooh right! I forgot. You threw your dog out a god damn window.”
“No I didn’t,” she said, voice trembling. “How many times do I have to say it, I didn’t do that!”
“Then who did? Tell me so I can go home!”
“I don’t know.”
I sighed. “Maria, I talked to your dad downstairs. Not sure if you know this but he’s worried about you. Worried enough to call me. And when you call me, you’re screwed good.”
She rolled her eyes.
A scowl slowly took over my face.
“You know the problem with people like you?” I snapped. “You think all this crap is normal. My father would never do anything like this for me. I flunk school and he kicked me out. You tried to kill someone and yours locked you in. I’m in this house because your dad wanted me to help you. But personally, I wonder if you even deserve that, cause right now you look like a spoiled gremlin gaslighting the only person who cares. And It makes me a little angry.”
She inched back.
“Where was I going with this…Right, I heard the situation from your dad, but I haven’t heard your side.”
She shook her head.
“These episodes, when…somebody, attacked your cousins, the dog, Edith, what was going on. You say it’s not you, do you remember doing something else, or what?”
There was a moment of silence.
“I-, I just don’t remember. I think it’s like…falling asleep and waking up to the aftermath.”
“You have absolutely no memory of these things at all?”
“I don’t remember any of it. How many times-“
“Okay okay.” I waltzed over to my bag and took out a taper candle.
I pulled a lighter from my pocket and lit it.
“Take a seat.”
Maria stared at me for a moment before she plopped down on her stool. I went to turn off the light, then sat before her on her computer desk’s chair.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m gonna try to exorcize the demon from your body.”
“What?” She laughed nervously, “A demon? Are you crazy?”
I shrugged. “That’s what I’m paid to do, might as well try.”
“My dad seriously hired an exorcist to fix me?” She shook her head. “He doesn’t even believe, this is ridiculous.”
“Oh quit whining. I can’t make things worse.”
She scoffed.
“Listen. Focus on the flame.”
Maria’s eyes rolled before fixing on it.
I cleared my throat.
“This’ll take some time so bear with me. I want you to clear your mind…”
It took 30 minutes of visualization just to calm her and get her in the proper head space. Faster than most. She sunk back in her chair, her breathing became slow and rhythmic. Her facial muscles relaxed, and her limbs grew still as a tree trunk. No more jittering legs. But then her head started to drop and her eyelids began to close.
Ok, maybe she’s a little too relaxed, I thought.
“Maria” I said, masking my frustration, “stay with me.”
Suddenly they shot wide open. Rolled back in her head, her eyes looked like pools of white before snapping back down and fixing on me. Her pupils dilated like a balloon.
“Maria?”
A wicked grin crept over her face and for the first time in my life, I actually felt a palpable, malicious energy wash over me. My hair stood on end. What is this? I thought. Before I could react she grabbed my ears, reared back, and launched her head into my nose. The blow rocked me into my chair. It toppled over and I rolled off onto the ground.
“What the fuck!” I screamed, cradling my nose. “What’s wrong with you!”
I looked up but Maria wasn’t there. Our chairs, The four walls, it was all gone. In its stead stood the edge of a forest, dark and foreboding. The candle was all that remained, its small flame swayed and flickered in the grass. I snatched it up, and right as I did, I heard it, a hoarse voice off in the distance calling my name.
“Reed? Reed?” Maria screamed, her distress obvious.
“Maria?”
“Reed I can’t move, I’m stuck! Get me out of here! Please!”
I pinched myself hard as I could. This was real, or at the very least not a dream.
“Uh, coming, I’m on my way, just keep talking!”
I made my trek through the woods, my anxiety growing the more time passed. It wasn’t so much the darkness that unsettled me. But the stillness. The emptiness. The abject silence beyond Maria’s cries. I could hear a pin drop in there.
“Where are we?” She asked. “You sound a million miles away! What did you do!”
“What did I do? That’s my line, you little terrorist you head butted me for no reason!”
“Huh? No I didn’t! I was looking at your stupid candle, then you blew it out or something, everything went dark! I still can’t see a thing!”
“Woah.” I nearly stumbled over a log but caught myself. Well, I thought it was a log.
“Are those…scales?”
It started to slide across the ground.
“Woah!”
I bolted in her direction.
“What? What is it?” She asked.
The closer I drew the more the scaled tube obstructed my path. I ducked under and leapt over the shifting mass, struggling to shield the candle while lighting the way.
Maria screamed.
“Oh my god something just…it’s squeezing me!” She cried.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” I yelled.
“I think I see you,” she said, “I’m up here!”
I stepped into the clearing. And lifted my candle. There she was, wrapped like a cocoon, strung up 10 feet in the air. Her arms, legs and head were the only things poking out. The look of fear on her face, magnified as she realized what suspended her.
“Wait, oh god, oh my god help me!” she begged.
I scratched my head, what do you want me to do? I wasn’t that athletic. Even jumping I could hardly reach her foot. I backed up to see if there was some route I could climb up to her.
“Behind you!”
I spun around.
Just briefly I caught a glimpse of a giant human head big as my torso with that same wicked smile. It blew out the candle and with it, my composure.
“AAAAAHHH!” I almost tripped over myself scrambling away. I heard a hiss as the beast slithered across the ground by my leg. It cut me off and started to wrap around my torso.
“No!” I pushed it up and slipped under.
“Reed? Where are you going? Don’t leave me!”
I ran back into the tree line huffing and puffing.
It’s me or you, what do you want from me?
“You too abandon Maria?” it hissed with a gravely stratified voice. “Run like Mr Whitman.”
I slowed down.
“Save yourself, she belongs to me.” It jeered, turning back for the clearing.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
To be completely honest, I’ve been going nowhere fast for years. No steady income. No safety net. No friends. I’d look back at the past few years, searching for the moment everything went wrong. But there’s never a moment. It’s a goddamn compilation. All the dumb little mistakes, the opportunities I’ve let slip me by. I’d think, if only I could do it all over again, I’d change this, this, that. Pure bullshit, the whole idea. It’s just a fantasy, a pipe dream. Truth is I’m never getting a do over. But this kid, she had a clean slate, she had a good home, a wealthy parent that could get her everything she needed, talent, confidence. Everything I never did, everything I always wanted, and at half my age. I run, I save myself and ditch her here, then what? Go back to scamming people? See her on the news 5 months later for killing a family of five?
I wondered, who deserved what.
“Ow! Let me go!” she screamed.
I cursed myself and ran back for the clearing.
“Hey! What are you doing!” I yelled.
“Reed returns?” it whispered, oozing pleasant shock.
“What do you want you ugly fuck?”
“A proper vessel. A strong vessel.” It whispered, in my ear.
I spun around and plunged my fist into the darkness.
It laughed.
“Let her go!” I cried.
“Ah! It’s crushing me, I can’t breathe!”
“And in return?” It hissed.
“I..”
Maria cried out in agony.
“Speak boy!”
“I’ll take her place!” I blurted out, almost regretting it immediately after.
It breathed in deep, and exhaled hard.
“I accept your terms.”
It wrapped around me from my feet to my chest and lifted me up effortlessly. Its eyes glowed like a blaze of fire illuminating its gaunt face. The pupils locked onto me, and dilated rapidly. What did I do? Its mouth opened, flashing sharp dagger long fangs amidst human teeth that sunk into the base of my neck. I howled at the top of my lungs, wiggling and squirming. The bite burned like a branding iron. My eyes rolled back into my head. Then suddenly I sprung up from the ground in a cold sweat.
“Are you alright?” Maria asked, watching over me.
“Yeah I just..”
I shook my head.
“I’m fine.” I picked my bag off the floor, and the candle, still burning. I stumbled over to her bedroom door.
“You saved me,” she said.
No…I didn’t…it wasn’t real.
Bang! Bang! “Open the door.” I cried.
I heard several clicks on the other side, before it swung open. Mr Whitman’s eyes widened with shock.
“W-what happened to your no-”
I stormed past him. I needed to get out of there. It was too stuffy. Too cramped.
“It’s a miracle,” I said, “Maria won’t be having any more problems.”
“Are you sure? You said it’d take longer.” He uttered.
I slipped down the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. I strode through the corridor and past the paintings, almost breaking into a jog.
“Wait!” Mr Whitman grabbed my arm.
I spun around and pinned him up against the wall.
“What! It’s gone! The demon’s gone!” I snapped.
He looked at me stunned. “I-, uh, your payment.” he said sheepishly.
“Oh. Oh right..”
I relaxed my grip on his shirt then grabbed my jacket from the hanger and flung it over me,
“I’ll send you the bill.”
I hopped in my shoes, grabbed my hat and walked out the door.
It took a while for me to calm my breathing leaning against my car, my sweat mixed with the rain gently pouring down. I felt my neck, it was hot to the touch. Not just that spot. My whole body was on fire. A fever, I thought. I made a mental note to stop by the pharmacist on my way home, before dropping behind the wheel. I tossed my bag onto the passenger seat and proceeded to pull out of the driveway. I glanced up at the windows of the third floor, a single light was on, Maria’s room. She stood behind the frame waving at me smiling. Not that of a twisted malicious psychopath, but a pure genuine smile of relief. It almost made me feel better.
I hit the road and watched their manor disappear from my rear view, then proceeded to drive around town for a bit to clear my head. To forget. By the time I entered my shoebox apartment I was starving but too exhausted to go prepare something. I plopped into bed like a sack of bricks and shut my eyes till sleep took me.
That’s when it all started.
I woke up 12 hours later in the middle of noon. I rolled out of bed, or, tried to before jolting from the pain of moving. I sat up and tentatively stripped my shirt off. As I examined myself I started to hyperventilate. There were bruises, bite marks and scratches peppering my body. I ran into the washroom and flicked the light on. I spun my back to the mirror, but I-, my reflection still stood facing me. I turned to meet it, leaning in over the sink with unbelieving eyes. My reflection just stood there, arms at its sides, unmoving. A smile…a wicked smile crept over its-, my face. It breathed into the mirror and began writing something. T, then an E, then an S, then an O, followed by L, and finally C. I squinted, reversing it in my mind. “No. No!”
I burst out of the bathroom and swung around my bed. I whipped the closet door open and jumped back at the horror. There were several dead animals. A cat, squirrels, rats, pigeons, raccoons. A dog. It still had a leash on. “Fuck!” Their blood and organs were smeared everywhere. Are those..bite marks on them? I felt my stomach churn as I realized that I wasn’t as hungry as last night. I wanted to throw up. But by far…by far the worst part about what I saw, were the two words smeared in blood on the inside of the closet door.
My throat tightened as I read;
“Humans next?”