Category: Horror

Mistake

---

I remained still, and listened very, very carefully. Many voices were speaking to me, and I had to carefully attune myself to them in order to hear all of them. I didn’t want a single voice to be left out as I communed with them.

“Furious.” “Cold. Scared.” “I just want to rest.” “Disappointed.” “But ultimately unsurprised.” “Upset.” “Sad.” “Angry.” “All of me craves revenge.” “I want vengeance.” “I want to teach a lesson.”

At that point, their emotional energies were starting to align together closer. They began to chant ‘revenge.’ as if it was the only thing that mattered to them. Of course, some voices refrained from chanting. More voices than I might have expected. Some of these poor souls didn’t want anger, or revenge. They craved peace, but I’m not sure of what kind of peace they craved. Or, at least, I wasn’t sure of how I was going to give them the peace they sought.

“Moniker!” I heard my chosen name called out. I attuned myself back to my plane and opened my eyes.

“What is it?” I cried in return. The voices swiftly retreated back to the places that they were, as if suddenly remembering I was in the room with them. I was something of an unwelcome visitor to most of the voices, and the few that didn’t care didn’t have the will to speak up. Or the strength. Some human concept of energy that doesn’t translate into my realm very well. Hm. Energy doesn’t quite translate either. I suppose the language I’m currently attuned to doesn’t have the words to describe this. A shame.

My apprentice, Torn, or Broken depending on how you interpret ven essence, resonated to me. “Moniker, an event is underway.”

“Hmph,” I sounded, “Rather unfortunate timing. I was convening with my souls. An interesting development had occurred, an infrequent one.”

“Terrible, Moniker. I hope this event gives you some insight for those souls.” Torn curtsied at me, and then led me to a portal to witness the event.

Once there, I witnessed two humans light a multitude of candles surrounding a rune.

“That’s the word they’ve chosen?” I scoffed.

“What’s wrong with that particular word?” Torn asked.

“It’s very poorly attuned to demonic energies. Some ancient humans believed that creating runes that forced us to exert ourselves in some way would give them an advantage over us. Honestly, though, it won’t give me any form in that realm. I doubt this event will be worth attending.” Despite saying that, I still stayed and watched. Sometimes humans surprised me.

“In human words, that rune means “gate,” correct?” Torn asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

“I’m not sure what a “gate” is,” Torn said.

“A gate is a type of portal humans use to pass between areas that are meant to only keep certain things out,” I explained. “Essentially, their rune would give me a tiny passage of entry. I would much prefer a larger one.”

“I have been attuning with the angry one closely. She seems to think it means portal.” Torn attuned confusion to me.

“Some humans use the word gate in place of portal. In this language, words are very interchangeable. There are a lot of words that are very similar in meaning and can be swapped between each other. They do not understand the permanence demons have. So while we need a portal to pass through safely, they believe a gate is the same thing.”

Torn’s confusion dissipated. “Human scholars are strange,” vi said.

Once all of the candles had been lit, the two conversed for a moment. Then, the angry one distributed tulip petals into the ring.

Torn spoke up before any of the petals had fallen. “I feel a resonance with these petals. May I answer their plea?”

I resonated an affirmation to Torn, and vi gave the petals a form befitting their request. They became small hard lumps of human teeth. They changed from one immutable form to another.

“Very good, Torn,” I resonated a stronger affirmation to vin. Vi took the resonance and attuned gratitude back to me.

The human threw another set of petals into the circle. This time they took the form of rust. Their form was much more mutable in this state, and it interested me that these petals would have such a different request.

“Those petals were very strange,” Torn said. “Their request was not what I expected.”

“I will attune with the next amount,” I told vin. Vi attuned acceptance to me. Perhaps satisfaction is more proper way to describe vel attunement.

I aligned my thoughts with the thoughts of the petals. Their request was very peculiar indeed. It was as if they wanted to scare the two humans in the room, but were disappointed at the lack of reaction to previous alignments. This time, they sought to truly unsettle the angry one. The other human was too aloof for them to truly scare away, but the angry one was unstable. I resonated the petals some raw emotion, and they took it to a level I didn’t imagine. They became a physical manifestation of the angry one’s memories. I witnessed entire moments and emotions appear and disappear within a flash, to instead take the form of only stagnant images. I thought little of those images, until the angry one’s attunements spiked. That one was very upset at seeing these images, and unable to attune a single emotion to express what was felt. The angry one instead attuned many conflicting emotions at once.

“The emotions that the angry one attuned are incredible,” Torn noticed

“That one has seen many things. We had better not underestimate,” I agreed.

Torn attuned concern to me. “You had better not underestimate.” They changed their attunement to resonance. I returned their resonance.

“I appreciate the gesture, but you will need that emotion much more than I will.” I stared at the two humans, keeping my attunements and resonances subdued.

The aloof one resonated concern to the angry one, but the angry one did not accept the resonance. Humans cannot return a resonance without accepting it first, so that resonance simply disappeared.

“Humans do not understand their emotional powers,” Torn said. “They are so willing to waste their gifts on each other, even if no one gains everything and the emotion simply fades from existence.”

“Humans are different from us. The way they produce emotion is alien to us. We will never be able to understand their existences.”

“I know, Moniker, but I still find myself very frustrated at the idea.” Torn attuned this frustration to me.

“That’s not unreasonable,” I assured him. I attuned myself closer with the angry one. “This one’s attunements definitely fall under my jurisdiction. Good. It’s much easier to deal with the humans myself than to alert a different demon.”

“The angry one does seem to be the one who wishes to attune with you. The other appears to only be there for the first,” Torn accurately noted.

“Why does the angry one have a knife?” I asked.

“They used the knife to etch the rune and the binding circle,” vi replied.

That made sense, but it wasn’t going to be enough for me to waste my energy and take passage to that realm.

Then the angry one pierced the other with the knife. The aloof one fell into the circle, and the angry one pushed the rest of that one into the circle.

Suddenly, passage felt more possible than it had only a moment ago. The angry one resonated even more emotions than before.

“Do you feel that resonance, Torn?” I asked.

“I do. What is its significance?”

“That one’s desires align with the desires of many of my souls. If that one tells me the desires truly do align with the other souls, I might grant the souls to that one. That one could make better use of their desires than I could. Prepare them for me, Torn. I will resonate to you very strongly if I have need of them,” I instructed vin.

“Understood.” Vi left to prepare what I had asked of vin.

I prepared myself to enter the human plane as well. I dimmed the lighting in the room in order to not overstimulate myself while I took the human’s form. Then, I moved the human’s body so that it would be standing when I took it. I focused my consciousness, and temporarily moved myself into the form that was currently unoccupied.

I opened my borrowed eyes, and stepped toward the angry one on borrowed feet. “So it’s you. I had heard about you.” I wasn’t sure how to relate attuning to this human, so I instead chose to express knowledge through the one sense humans and demons shared.

I discussed with the human for an amount of “time” before she finally chose to tell me her desire. “I want to make the world a better place for me. And for others like me. I don’t want us to have to live in fear anymore.”

“Interesting. And who are you, Portia? Who would you categorise as ‘like you?’” I asked in response. I could feel my face attune joy to the human. It seemed as if she would be the correct candidate to take the souls I had.

“I’m- I’m a lesbian. And the people who I’d say are like me are other queer people.” She attuned to me both anger and sadness. “We deserve better.”

She was exactly what I needed. I used my original essence to resonate back to torn. Vi would supply me the souls in only a few moments.

I stalled for “time,” since the human realm worked differently than mine, and took a payment of emotional objects from Portia. Her memories were very potent, and they came to me, leaving behind the empty photos behind. They were merely shells for these memories anyway.

We stood in silence for a few moments before I spoke up again. “Well, I need you to do one more thing for me to enact my end of the bargain.”

“What is it?” Portia asked.

“Give me your hands,” I responded. The dealing circle prevented me from transferring the souls to her without physical contact.

“Are you sure this is the best decision?” Torn asked me. “The amount of angry souls here may just override her. She’ll become a monster.

I attuned calm to Torn. “There are more than angry souls, Torn. They will keep her in balance.”

Torn attuned acceptance to me, and began to channel the souls to my borrowed form.

“Oh no, you aren’t fooling me,” Portia began. “I know how this works. I break the circle, you kill me, and then you kill everyone else in a mile radius. Not happening.”

“I have no intentions of killing you, Portia.” I needed her to agree to do this. I wasn’t sure how the souls would react if I returned them to where they were. “I will change the fiber of your being, yes, but I will not kill you. You will do that much more effectively than I could. Your form will be suited to the job.”

Portia didn’t trust me. I could understand why. Demons kept their existences largely hidden from humans for a reason, and she didn’t know very much about us.

“Portia, time is running thin. The candles won’t burn forever. Shall we start?” I reached a hand out to her. All of the souls were ready to be moved to her, and I was prepared to resonate energy to her to create a form more suited to carrying hundreds of souls.

Portia sighed. “I trust you.” While she said that, her attunement was that of resignment. She didn’t trust me; she just didn’t have any other choice. That was fine. I didn’t need her to trust me.

I took her hands and gave her all of the souls, as well as double the energy that those souls had, so that Portia would remain in charge of all of them. The death of the aloof one provided much of that energy, and her memories provided more than enough.

I let her go. Welcome to your new purpose. Welcome to your new life.”

“Nothing is happening,” Portia replied. She resonated desperation to me. “Not yet,” I said. I began to collect my payment, the photos. I had no need for their form, but Portia didn’t need to know that. “They’ll happen soon. Farewell, Portia. I look forward to our next meeting.” I transferred the photos back to my realm, in a form that would fit them better. Their previous forms burnt up and fell to the ground.

I returned my essence to my plane.

“I’ve lost contact with the angry one. How did it go?” Torn asked me.

“It went better than I ever expected. Portia is going to do wonderful things in her plane.” I resonated gratitude to Torn.

“That’s only a fraction of the emotion that Portia gave to me. One day, you will be ready to engage with humans and accept emotion yourself.”

“I will be patient, Moniker. There is no rush.”

As I stepped toward the apartment, I felt a very particular sense of sadness. It was a dilapidated and weary building, one that had seen the sorrows of a dozen years and never spoken of a single one of them. The rain gutters were falling off, a few of the windows were boarded up, and there was evidence of re-plastering in some places. There were 6 mailboxes out by the door, hanging on the wall. Apparently, anyway. Numbers 1 and 4 had fallen off, and it was clear no one was going to put them back on.

To make matters worse for this already wretched building, it was essentially isolated. Any other buildings that used to be nearby seemed to have been leveled, for something to be built in their places. Nothing was ever erected, and odds have it nothing ever will be. The closest building to this apartment is at least a block away. Why Roderick chose to keep living here despite how terrible the place is made no sense to me.

The porch of this particular building had two doors. One of those doors led into a small hallway, visible from a small window in the door, and the other led to a stairway that went up, also visible from a small window in the door. The hallway contained apartments 2, 4, and 6, leading me to believe apartments 1, 3, and 5 were upstairs. A cold breeze blew through my jacket, making it clear that I should head inside.

The small hallway was still chilly, but it at least protected me from the breeze, which was a gift. However, the air was musty and filled with dust, which couldn’t have been good for my lungs. Thus I elected to get into Rod’s home as quickly as possible.

I walked down the end of the hall to the door labelled 6. I knocked on the door and waited for Rod to answer. I held my jacket up to my face while I waited, to keep the dust out. However, after a couple minutes and two more knocks, there was no answer.

I went to the other doors and knocked on them, too, but they threw up dust as if protesting my hand rapping against them. Obviously no one had used those doors in a long while, and the rooms were unoccupied. I sighed behind my jacket, and returned to Rod’s door. I knocked on it once more, louder than before, and waited.

Moments later, Rod opened the door up.

“Ah, you’re here!” he exclaimed.

“I am,” I replied.

“Come in, come in,” he said. “God, it’s been too long since I’ve seen you. High school sure has been a long time ago, huh? Even college, as a matter of fact.”

Rod led me into his house. His front room was poorly adorned, filled only with a blue love seat and a small desk with an old computer and some other device I was unfamiliar with. It must have been providing him with internet. The desk had a wooden chair seated at it.

He walked into the kitchen, which was cleaner and better furnished than the rest of the home. For one thing, there was a dining table there with 3 chairs, matching that of the one by the desk, as well as a proper refrigerator, stove, oven, and various cupboards.

“Rod, what’s up with this apartment? It’s empty and abandoned except for you. I’m honestly surprised the place hasn’t been torn down yet,” I said.

“Take a seat,” Rod said, pulling a chair out for me. “And yeah, that’s true. I’m basically squatting here. The landlord died, and the city is still looking for his most recent relatives. Or were, anyway. It’s been 4 years and they haven’t found anyone, or they gave up and haven’t bothered the place. Either way, home sweet home. This place provides for all we need, free of charge. Electricity, water, and heat. The only thing I have to get myself is food and a stable internet connection. Food is fine, I just walk up the street with a shopping cart I keep hidden behind the apartment and head to the local superstore. There’s also a prescription place in there so that I can keep Maddy medicated.” Roderick paused and looked wistful. “Or, well, so I could keep Maddy medicated.”

Madeline was Roderick’s twin sister. They were only fraternal twins, so they didn’t look too similar, but they had always been by each other’s sides. Their family was very wealthy, and the two of them lived through all of high school without either parent after they died. Rather simply, they’ve been independent for basically all of their lives.

“What happened to Maddy?” I asked.

“She got sick,” Rod began. “She has some sort of heart condition. I can’t leave her alone for too long or she might do something drastic. You know what I mean.”

I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of a heart condition that would make someone,” I put up my hands to make air quotes, “‘do something drastic.’” I cocked my head at Rod. “Are you sure she isn’t just depressed? Or anxious? There are plenty of therapists she could talk to about this. Keeping her isolated in a place like this can’t be good for her.”

Rod shook his head, looking somber again. “No, she had a heart condition. She’s dead.”

“Oh,” I responded. We both sat in silence for a few moments, heads hung low. Eventually I spoke up again. “What should we do with her?”

Rod looked back up. “Well, I tried talking to her about a last will and testament, but all she ever told me was that she never wanted to go anywhere. Now that she’s dead, I have to interpret what that means myself, and I think she wants to be buried in this house. I prepared a place a little bit in the basement, but I’ll need your help actually putting her to rest.”

I stood up in indignation. “You want to bury your sister in this abandoned old apartment? No, she deserves a proper burial, or at least to be cremated. Maddy shouldn’t just be thrown into a basement and forgotten. She was a good girl, you know this.”

Rod sighed. “She told me what she wanted.”

“She’s mentally unwell, Roderick. You can’t just take her word like that.”

“You know the ill still have will. We’re obligated to fulfill her request, even if it doesn’t make sense.”

I stepped backward, once. “I’m not following through with this.”

Rod sighed. “You can either help me with this and stay the night, catch up with me a bit, or you can just go. I don’t care which you do. To be honest, I can bury her myself. I called you here because I’ve been feeling lonely.”

I clenched my fists and stared Rod down. He made no motion to move. I sighed and let go of my hands. “Fine, Rod. I’ll help you. It’s… unfortunate that this happened. I feel awful.”

Rod stood up and put his hand on my shoulder. “Me too. Hopefully things will get better once this is all said and down. I’ll probably leave after tonight, anyway. Too many painful memories in these halls.”

I nodded.

Rod walked further into the apartment, and I followed him. He led me into a bedroom, where his sister laid on her bed, over the blankets. She was utterly still, and her cheeks were still flush with blood.

“My. She died recently, hasn’t she?”

“Yes,” Rod answered. “I called you just after I heard her last breath. I cried for a good while too. My tears are dry now, though. I just want to see this through to the end.”

I nodded. We walked over to her, and I picked her up, cradling her in my arms. She was still warm, too.

“It’s unfortunate that death plays these tricks, isn’t it? She still feels so lively.”

Rod nodded vigorously. “If I hadn’t heard her stop breathing, I would have thought she was still alive. Death isn’t kind to us.”

Rod led me out of the bedroom and into a hallway. There were two other doors and a stairway leading down. Rod went down the stairs, and I followed him. Downstairs, I saw a washing and drying machine, but not before I noticed a huge section of the wall had been pulled aside, revealing a hole behind it.

“You built Madeline a tomb,” I stated, aghast.

“Well, digging into the floor wasn’t going to work. At least this way I can seal the wall back up.” Rod pointed to a bucket of plaster he had next to the wall. “Just lean her into there, and then help me push the wall back.

I gently laid Maddy into the tomb. It felt as if she had sighed as I put her down. I shuddered at the thought. It must have been her body settling and releasing gasses from when she was alive.

I helped Roderick shove the wall back into the slot where it was meant to be. There were thin cracks on either side, and Rod took to filling them in with the plaster rather quickly.

“Plaster doesn’t seem like the right solution for this stony basement wall,” I said.

“Likely not,” Rod replied, “But it’s the best I’ve got. This place is abandoned anyway. I doubt anyone will notice or care.” Rod sniffled. “It’s what she wanted,” he finished.

He finished sealing up the wall, and kneeled in front of it for a while, silently. “I’m sorry, but could you give me a few moments alone?” He asked.

“Yes,” I replied. I walked back upstairs, and returned to sitting at the kitchen table. He returned after a few minutes as well.

“It’s going to be a night before I’ll be able to sleep again,” Rod said.

“Maybe we could pass the time watching a movie?” I suggested.

“I don’t know. I just feel awful. I don’t know if anything can really help me.”

“Let’s give it a shot anyway,” I said. I pulled out my phone and started looking through a couple apps for a suitable movie.

I found something. “Have you seen this movie?” I asked.

Rod shook his head. “I haven’t been watching many films.”

“Perfect,” I said. I turned the movie on and set my phone up so that we could watch it together.

Not even after the opening credits had finished did I hear a loud sound coming from downstairs. “Did you hear that?”

Rod chuckled to himself. “We made a mistake, friend.” He said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’ve heard those pounds many times before.” Another pound. “She’s been pounding at the door of this place for months now, desperate to escape. She’s wanted out more than you or I could ever understand, but I was scared.” The pounds continued in earnest. “I didn’t want Her to leave me alone in this wretched place. You see, it wasn’t Her who held me here, but the other way around.” Every time he referred to her, I could feel some sort of intensity behind the words. “I gave Her pills to reduce Her will to fight me and to break out of here. I had been drugging Her to keep Her in a nearly infantile state so that She may never leave me, and now I’ve done something much worse. I’ve buried Her alive in that basement. If I couldn’t have Her, no one could. Now here we are, and She rattles in Her grave to escape.”

I heard one final, deafening pound from below. I stood up in shock. “You mean to tell me that you knew she wasn’t dead, and you had me bury her anyway?”

“She’ll be here any moment now,” he replied.

I picked up my phone and stepped away from him, and toward the exit. “You mean she’s-” I didn’t finish my thought, as she was standing in the doorway. Her clothing was bloodied and covered in stone and dust, as were her arms similarly bruised and bloodied. Stone jutted out of various wounds in her body, but she simply stared at us with an intensity I never knew nor could ever know. There were bags under her eyes and bruises on her nose and forehead that made me shiver in their utter grotesqueness.

I stumbled backward as Roderick laughed, his mind broken, and Madeline jumped atop of him and began to strangle him with her beaten and broken arms. His cackling was replaced by death rattles as she crushed his windpipe with her bare hands.

I turned heel and fled that building, plowing through doors and rushing back to my car.

I jammed my keys into the ignition and turned them. The car failed to start twice, during which I heard a scream so inhuman that I could never attempt to describe it again. On the third attempt, my car started and I sped away from there faster than I had ever driven before.

Purpose

---

“It’s been seven weeks since I’ve heard from Portia, Father Thomas,” I said.

Father Thomas shook his head at me. “It doesn’t matter where she is now, Tanner. You know we don’t support her kind of lifestyle. It’s better that she’s gone.”

I shook my head. The priest in front of me knew Portia for as long as I had, ever since she was an infant. He had baptised her himself, but here he stood in front of me, denying her life as a whole.

“It doesn’t matter how she lives. She didn’t tell anyone where she went, where she’d be, or even what she might have been doing. Father, you knew her as a child. Just like I did. You have to be at least somewhat concerned, right?” I held out my hand for him to grab it. Even if he said he didn’t care, he could show me cared by at least grabbing my hand.

He crossed his arms in reply. “Tanner, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll abandon this search. Just let her go. She’ll face god one day on her own, and she’ll return to you once she does.” He nodded. “Have a good Sunday, Tanner. I hope you enjoy the sermon.” he turned from me, and returned to his path to the podium. I sighed, and sat down at the closest pew, in the far back corner.

A few minutes passed with me wringing my hands and playing with the songbooks in front of me before Father Thomas began his sermon.

“Good morning everyone. I hope that God has graced your week so far, and will do so next week.” There were some murmurs and nods from the audience.

“A time to search and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away. Ecclesiastes 3:6. We all have things that we seek. Some of us desire wealth. Some desire to reconnect with an averted past.” It felt as if Father Thomas’s gaze lingered on me as he said this. “Some wish to be popular online. We all have our reasons for seeking these things, and they are not sinful on their own.

“However, just like with all vices, they can consume you if you do not hold them in moderation. No matter what it is you seek, you must know when your effort is being wasted. Otherwise, you will perform evils to achieve what you want.

“And is it really worth it,” Father Thomas said, “to turn away from God and eternal enlightenment to pursue temporary human pleasures?”

Father Thomas looked directly at me. My eyes saw his, and they burned. “No. It is not. Nothing is more valuable than God’s love.”

He turned away from me and gave the rest of his sermon. I remembered none of it. None of it mattered. None of it was meant to address me.

I drove to my parents’ house immediately after the service. We normally got together for an early dinner and to watch football, when it was in season. It was in season currently. Mom was in the kitchen cooking, while Dad was in the front room waiting for the game to start. I sat in the kitchen with mom, drinking a glass of lemonade.

I held the glass with both hands, rubbing it nervously. No one had talked about Portia since she left. I was the only one who made sure to text her occasionally, to which she typically replied with “still alive” or something to that effect. I had texted her numerous times in the months that she had left. She stopped replying seven weeks ago. Nearly 2 months had passed since she had affirmed to me that she was alive.

“Mom, has Portia called you or anything lately?” I asked. I knew I was taking a risk by asking her, but I knew she might care more than Dad.

“No, she hasn’t. She hasn’t since said anything to us since she left,” Mom replied, still cooking.

“She hasn’t replied to me in a while. I’ve been texting her, but she doesn’t reply.”

Mom shrugged. “It’s probably better this way. She never really appreciated family.”

I sighed. “Mom, I’m worried about her. She’s out in New Orleans. You know what kind of city that is.”

“Well. Then it’s a perfect fit for her, isn’t it?” Mom replied.

I barely gasped. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. “Mom, she’s a good girl. Even if she makes some alternative choices. We shouldn’t just spurn her away like this. She’s still family.”

“Tell that to her!” Dad shouted from the living room. He stepped into the kitchen. “I’m not going to have a damned faggot in my family. She can either straighten out herself or never come back. I’m not holding my breath.” Dad crossed his arms. This conversation was over.

***

That night, I found myself scrolling down her facebook profile. I never really interacted with the kind of things she posted, they were too liberal for my taste, but I had made it a point to check on the page every night. Just in case she posted something.

She never did. At least, not for 6 weeks. She had shared some image about gun control. It was a weird note to leave off on. At least, I thought so.

Every night I checked her profile to see if she had posted something. Every night I found nothing. Yet I still found myself scrolling down the page, looking for some clue I knew wasn’t there.

There was always one post that I found myself reading all the way through, every time I passed it. It was dated June 22nd, 2017. It was from two years ago, but it still felt important.

Hey everyone. I’ve got a lot on my chest right now. It’s 2 am. My parents found out I was a lesbian yesterday. They didn’t respond well. My dad told me to kill myself and to never talk to them again. My mother told me it wasn’t god’s way. Tanner didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say. I think that hurt more than anything.

I’m typing this on my phone in the parking lot of the Donaldsonville McDonald’s right now. I don’t have anywhere to go. I’m going back to New Orleans, but I don’t know what I’m going to do there. Semester isn’t in session, so I can’t go to my dorm room. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll be able to even afford to continue going to college anymore after this.

I just feel so alone right now. I’m so scared. I don’t want to do this. I just want things to be simple again. I just want to live. Why can’t I just do that?”

I never read the comments. They were all awful. I tried to convince Portia to just delete them, but she refused to. She said it would remind her that she could never come back.

At first I didn’t agree with Portia being a lesbian. It was against God’s will, I had been told. But I doubted that more and more as time went on. It didn’t feel right after a while. She didn’t choose the lifestyle, right? She never had a boyfriend, and she never seemed happy until after she left the house.

I closed facebook and dropped my phone on my bedside table. I sighed and picked it back up. I opened the app again, and found the post one more time.

Why can’t I just do that?

I hit the share button, and chose to type something on top of it.

Why can’t she just do that?

I hit the enter button, then got out of bed. I needed to look for her.

I threw on my shoes and a jacket, grabbed my keys, and drove out of Plaquemine and to New Orleans.

***

I woke up on a motel bed. I had almost forgotten where I was and why I was there.

I got up and stretched. It was 10:47 in the morning. I had gotten here at about 2 A.M. last night. I got dressed, grabbed the couple of things I brought with me, and went to check out.

The man at the desk was the same one who was there last night.

“I’d like to check out,” I told him.

“What’s your name and what room were you in?” He asked.

“Tanner Hide, room seven,” I told him.

He typed a few things into his computer. “Alright, give me your key and then you’re good to go.”

I handed him the small key card and thanked him. He waved goodbye as I left and got into my car.

I took out my phone and looked up the directions of Tulane university. This was where Portia had been going to university. Most of her money came from scholarships, but some of it was from our parents. I didn’t know if she had gotten the money she needed to keep going, but hopefully since it was the summer and the next semester hadn’t started yet, the college might still have some information on her.

I drove to the college. The streets were much busier than I had had any experience with. This was a disgusting city rife with crime, and I never had a reason to come here. I honestly still didn’t want to be here.

Eventually, though, I did make it there. It took me a while longer to find a parking lot, and then more time to find somewhere I could find information on her. By the time I had finally been pointed in the right direction, it was already 1:23.

Sitting at the desk was a young black woman. She greeted me as I approached. “Hi, what can I do for you?”

I leaned on the desk. “Hey. My name is Tanner Hide. My sister, Portia Hide, goes to school here. I haven’t heard from her in almost two months. I was hoping you might be able to help me find her.”

She cocked her head. “I’m afraid I’m really not in any position to give that information out.”

I sighed. “I know. But I’m so damned worried about her. She was kicked out of the house and disowned by our parents around this time last year. I know she was able to come this last semester, but I’m scared something happened to her. If you could just point me to a friend of hers, a professor, her dorm keeper or whatever they’re called, anything. I just need something.”

She sighed. “If you can give me some piece of information that proves your her brother, something I can verify, I’ll let you in.”

“Her birthday is the 17th of August, 1997,” I replied.

“You could’ve found that on her facebook,” She replied. “Which, by the way, I have pulled up as well. Just so you know.”

“Oh, good. Her middle name is Eileen. Portia Eileen Hide. She hates her middle name, so that’s not public.”

The woman clicked around for a little bit. “Alright, that seems to be true. Here’s what I’ll tell you: her current mailing address. But only if you give me your living address. If I find out you pulled some bullshit to the people at this house, I’ll know exactly where to point the police to.”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

We exchanged addresses, and I went on my way.

Again, the drive to this little house took much longer than I expected. It was on the edge of town, and looked totally abandoned. The windows were boarded up, the door was basically plastered over, and the mailbox attached to the wall looked as if it was going to fall off at any moment.

“I really hope Portia wasn’t actually staying here.”

I parked in front of the house, got out of the car, and looked for a way in. I checked out the doors and windows, hoping that maybe one of them was open in some way. Of course, one was. Unfortunately, it was a tight window leading into the basement. It was difficult to get myself in there, but I did manage it eventually.

Once inside, I found the place eerily empty and clean. I expected to find graffiti, needles, and ashes all over the place. But there was really nothing. Everything was covered in layers of dust, though. It was as if the place had been cleaned up a couple of months ago, but then abandoned to time.

The basement was just one large room, with some exposed piping. The only way out were some stairs that lead up, so I took them up.

The small home was just as clean and dusty as the basement. Every room, from the kitchen to the bathroom, was in the same condition as the basement.

There were only two rooms in the small hallway that lead out of the kitchen and living room. One was the bathroom, and the other, I presumed, was a bedroom. Probably an empty, dusty bedroom. Something about that idea unnerved me more than anything else.

It was also the only closed door in the house. Approaching it felt wrong. As if it was never meant to be opened again. As if whatever secrets this door held hadn’t been seen by anyone for 7 weeks, 3 days, 14 hours, 6 minutes, 47 seconds and counting.

Still, I put my hand on the doorknob. My shaking, cold hand. I twisted the metal ball. I could feel it struggle against me, trying hold itself closed, trying to keep anything from disturbing what’s inside. I put my second hand on the door knob, and twisted harder. Still, it struggled and creaked against me, begging me not to open it, screaming at me to stop. But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. Not at this point.

I twisted and pulled, as hard as I could. Then, the door knob let go. It turned with ease, and the door fell open without any struggle.

There was ink everywhere. It was unmistakable how drenched in raw ink the room really was. The ceilings, the walls, the floors, the…

The floor. There was a body in the middle of the room. In the middle of a rune.

“What the fuck satanic shit did I just walk into?”

The body was laying on its side, with a knife sticking out of its back. There was blood pooled around it, and yet the rune still managed to stick out through it all.

The body was rotting. It looked as if it had been there for 7 weeks, 3 days, 14 hours, 6 minutes, 59 seconds and counting. 7 minutes and counting. Despite the fact that bits of flesh were falling off and decaying, there was no trace of any worms or flies. Not even a mold or mushroom. The body was fading through some means that weren’t natural. This body wasn’t meant to be here. This body wasn’t meant to be used how it had been.

I ran out of the room. I ran and never looked back. I climbed out of the basement, ran to my car, drove home as fast as I possibly could, and convinced myself that it was just a dream. That I had been making it up. That Portia was fine and that she’d call me tomorrow and say sorry for worrying me. Everything would be okay. Everything will be okay. Everything is okay.

Hours passed, and I knew it wasn’t. I had seen a body. I had stumbled onto an untouched murder scene, where a demon had been summoned, and then ran away. I never called the police. I didn’t even send an anonymous tip at a payphone or something. I did nothing.

I sinned. I’m a sinner. My fellow man was lying dead at my feet, a perversion of god, and I did nothing about it.

I needed to tell someone. I needed to be absolved of my sin. I wanted to be clean. I wanted to free. I needed to be forgiven.

It was 6:35 at this point. It was late, but I wanted to see if my church was open. I needed Father Thomas. I needed help. I needed intervention from God, and I needed it now more than ever before.

I got back into my car, and drove to my church. If Father Thomas was there, he’d know what to do. He could save me. He could absolve me of my sin and save my immortal soul. He could quell the demon that has been loosed upon this earth, and he could prevent more sin from spreading.

I parked in front of the church. I felt safe just looking at it. “I hope the doors aren’t locked.”

I stepped up to the doors and pulled them open. They did so, with ease. I sighed with relief. Everything would be okay.

I walked into the building, and turned to enter the main steeple.

“Father Thomas, are you-”

Father Thomas was being held 2 feet off of the ground by his throat, held by a woman with bare, grey skin. She wore no clothing, allowing her visage to be completely absorbed by anyone who looked. Her long legs had a dark skin tone attached to them, appearing as some sort of decoration on her. She stood on the balls of her feet, with her heels in the air.

She grinned devilishly as she held Father Thomas. He gasped and struggled against her. She only smiled at him in response.

Then, she spoke. Her voice sounded like the voice of dozens, maybe hundreds of people speaking together in one cacophonous moment.

“I thought you would be glad to see me, Father Thomas. What happened to our history? Does my baptism mean nothing in the eyes of God anymore?” Her grin widened to an unnatural length. She lifted her other arm up, reached into Father Thomas’ mouth, and pulled his tongue out of his mouth.

“What’s the problem, Thomas? Are the words having trouble finding their way to your tongue? Perhaps I can help with that,” she growled. A third arm came out of her chest and made its way to his tongue. She curled back all of her fingers beside the index, and looked to be writing something on his tongue.

“Perhaps you’ll want to call me a faggot again? Or claim that my existence is a spit in the eye of God? What will it be, Father Thomas? What are the last words you choose to say to me?”

No words came out of Father Thomas’ mouth. No sound came from his throat. It was clear he wasn’t dead from his struggles, but he made no noise.

The demon frowned. “Of course you have nothing to say. I’m holding your tongue. A skill you seem to have never learned.” She furrowed her brow.

“Disappointing!” She shouted. She jammed her index finger through his tongue. With only this finger, she ripped it out of his mouth completely. Blood spilled out of his mouth, down his chin, and onto the demon’s arm.

“I wrote the word sinner on your tongue. I hope whoever finds your body understands the irony.”

She moved her third arm aside, still holding the tongue on her finger.

Without a sound, a fourth arm burst forth from her stomach and pierced Father Thomas’ own abdomen. He shrieked in pain. A fifth arm did the same. Then a sixth. Then a seventh.

She pulled one arm back through his body, and licked her hand with an extended tongue. She dragged the tongue back into her mouth and licked her lips. “Delicious. Now, let’s ensure your blood can only tell others what your final thought was before you died. Let’s see what that might be.”

She reached one hand back into his stomach, this time pointing it upward. It moved through him and up into his rib cage. He coughed, and blood came out. He coughed again, and the blood began to turn black. It fell onto the ground, and began to writhe It moved for a while, but then stopped.

“You will die in seven minutes, Father Thomas. The number of your God. Your blood will write down your sins for all to read. You shall receive no absolution, and you will die in here alone. Good luck, Father Thomas, because these seven minutes will will be of nothing but your failings and the harm that you’ve done to others.”

Her face was neutral as she stabbed her finger with the tongue attached into his chest. Her face made no change as she pulled the arm back into her body, missing a single finger. She looked beyond Father Thomas as she dropped him to the ground.

I saw all of this transpire while standing in the entrance of the steeple. I stared in terror as the demon did this to Father Thomas. I stood just as still when she spoke to me. “I heard you come in. I apologise for failing to greet you, but as you can imagine, I was handling more important topics.”

She tilted her head to look at me. Her expression was still blank. “Do you hate me too? Are you scared that I’m going to ruin the sanctity of marriage? Or displease God with my alternate lifestyle? What is it that you think of me?” Her extra arms slinked back into her.

This was when I finally heard it. The loudest voice of them all. It was Portia.

I fell to my knees. “I was looking for you.”

She frowned and cocked her head. “You were?”

I nodded.

Her face was suddenly right in front of mine. Her neck was stretched across the room, and right in front of me.

“Tanner. I see,” she said. The rest of her body followed her neck, and was in front of me again. I couldn’t find the courage to say anything else.

“Give me your tongue, Tanner.” She brought a single arm in front of our faces. One hand, outstretched. I saw her adjust her body in front of me, in order to be in a more comfortable crouch.

“Tanner. You can either stretch your tongue out willingly or I can take it from you myself.” Portia’s eyes were unfeeling. At least, that’s how they felt.

I opened my mouth, and pushed out my tongue. My hands were shaking. So this is where I die.

Portia pinched my tongue between two fingers. “What have you to say, Tanner?”

I felt my existence slip away from my body. I was suddenly watching myself from outside of myself.

I looked at my hands. They were transparent. I was in my soul.

I looked back to Portia. I saw small, glowing feet above her physical body’s back. My eyes slowly moved up to look at her.

She looked unamused. Maybe even disappointed.

“Tanner,” she began, “We have all the time in the world here. Nothing will happen in the waking world while we sit in this plane. Tell me all that you want to tell me.” Her voice this time was hers alone.

I sighed. “I’m sorry, Portia. I really am. I have so many thoughts right now, and so many questions. I’m just so confused and scared, and I just want you to forgive me.” I laughed. “It doesn’t matter what I want, does it? I wasn’t kicked out of my home for just being me. I never lived through what you did. I probably never will.

“I’m wrong about a lot of things, aren’t I? And to think, it took you murdering the worst influence in my life for me to finally realise. I have a lot of learning to do.”

Portia crossed her arms and waited for me to say more. “Is that all? You know we have literally eternity in here. There’s nothing stopping you from saying anything else. Anything you want to get off your chest or whatever you can do right now. This is all you.”

I shook my head. “I have nothing else to say. I’m wrong, and I’m sorry. You deserved a better life.”

Portia sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. “Alright Tanner. You’ve learned something.”

My body was mine again. Portia let go of my tongue. “You may leave, Tanner. I have others who need retribution.” She stood up to her full height and walked away, still standing on the balls of her feet. I watched her as she left. I wasn’t sure if I was scared still or just sad.

She turned her head back to look at me, and put a hand on her hip.

“I haven’t seen Heather or Paul in a while. Do you think they’ll be pleased to see their daughter all grown up?”

---

Coincidence