Page 8 of I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend

“Never mind.” I brushed it off. “Let’s just talk about something else.”

“You know damn well that’s not gonna fly with me.” Keri touched my shoulder. Her voice took on that familiar quality of a caretaker concerned for her patient. “Ray, you can tell me anything, no matter how insane it may sound.”

“Remember what you just said.” I pointed at her, and she nodded. “I think, I mean he was a demon, and he went back to, I guess, hell.”

“Rayna,” she said. And there it was: pity. Pity for the sad single friend dreaming up demons to fill her time. Keri’s shoulders dropped, her lips pouted, and her eyes said, my sad single friend has lost her mind.

“Don’t look at me like that!” I fussed and moved further from her on the couch.

“Look, I’m sorry we ditched you, but girl. You can’t possibly believe what you just told me.” Keri shook her head.

“I swear, Keri. It sounds insane. I know it does. Just think about how it felt for me.” I took a deep breath to calm my stomach. There should have been nothing left to expel, but the way she looked at me made me feel sick again. “Anyway, I told him I wanted nothing to do with him. He disappeared. I puked and passed out.”

“Puked and passed out?” Keri sighed. “Sounds to me like a terrible hangover and your insanely active imagination. Look, I’m sorry for bailing on you last night and I will make it up to you. I really think you should call your therapist. You’re still seeing the same one, right?”

I didn’t know what I expected to happen. Keri wasn’t the type to jump on a crazy story without proof. It made her a good lawyer. The problem was, I’d dropped this in her lap, and I had no way to validate what I told her. Looking my friend in the eye, I gave up. I’d have to deal with this on my own. Keri was my best friend. If she didn’t believe me, no one would.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” My shoulders slumped with defeat. “It felt so damn real, though.”

“I’m sure it did.” Keri shook her head. “How much wine did you drink?”

“Maybe a bottle?” I tried to recount the night again but couldn’t see past the images of me grabbing onto horns with one hand and twirling my towel over my head with the other. “Maybe more?”

“Let’s not do that again.” Keri patted my knee then stood. “Now, I’m dragging you with me. If I don’t get another coffee maker, I’m going to scream. He wanted that damn thing with all the bells and whistles. I asked for a simple machine with a timer. That’s not too hard. No, he had to get the coffee machine from hell, and after it spit hot milk all over the kitchen, it stopped working!”

I should have known better than to think Keri would stop after picking out a new coffeemaker. The woman went from department to department, each new aisle sparking a memory of some other random thing she needed for her home. When the first store crapped out, she forced me back into her car so she could cart me to the next. I should have driven my car, but I just wanted to get away from my thoughts, and I figured Keri’s eventual chatter would keep my mind occupied. Even her constant conversation wasn’t enough to keep images of those dark eyes and purplish black flesh from invading my mind, though.

Four hours later, we were back at her house. After promising Keri I would get some rest and check in with my therapist, I was allowed to leave. Back in my own car and starving because Keri was on a strict diet and surviving on smoothies and celery sticks, I headed for my favorite taco spot. I smacked the steering wheel when I pulled up to see the line of people standing outside. It was my favorite spot for a reason, and Saturday afternoon was always a busy time.

I parked, but instead of jumping in line, decided it was best to take a walk. The restaurant wasn’t far from a cute little park with paths that led to a nice-sized pond. It was a spot I often went to whenever I wanted to eat my tacos and clear my mind in peace. It was the perfect place to wait for the crowd to die down.

It felt strange walking the path without three steak tacos in hand, but I was sure the effect would be the same. The sounds of nature, of animals rustling, and birds swimming in the pond, would clear my mind. No more thoughts of demons. As I reached the end of the path that opened to the hidden gem, I sighed.

“Get it together, girl. Clearly, it was a dream,” I muttered as I tried convincing myself that tall, dark, and horny was a figment of my imagination. He had to be.

My preferred bench was open. It was the only one that wasn’t under trees, so it wasn’t covered in bird poop like the others. Sitting down, I dropped my head back, stared at the cloudy sky, and filled my lungs with slow breaths as the cool breeze moved across my skin. I had to slow my breathing if I was going to gain any control of the rising anxiety. The strangling sensation had been building ever since I left Keri. It was a dream. It had to be. There was no other logical explanation for what I experienced.

“Maybe the wine was expired,” I mused aloud, and a snorty laugh that quickly made me self-conscious trumpeted from my mouth.

I scanned the area to see if anyone heard the embarrassing sound. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I was alone. It wasn’t uncommon to find the secluded area empty, but the complete lack of activity suddenly felt nauseating. There were no geese or ducks to watch from the corner of my eye, because I didn’t trust the damn things. No squirrels battling over fallen nuts, no sounds of children playing at the park just on the other side of the hidden area. It was totally silent. I looked at the water, and even that was still, undisturbed by the breeze that brushed my skin moments before.

“What the hell?” I muttered, and as the words crossed my lips, a chill moved across my spine. “Alright, time to get the hell out of here!”

One thing I’d learned in my thirty-something years was to listen to my damn instincts. That gut punch that followed the chill told me to get out of dodge. I stood from the bench, casting one last worried glance at the water, and then turned to leave. I made it exactly one and a half steps before my eyes found the source of the sudden concern. Standing at the edge of the path was an unmistakable beast, a demon.

The thing locked eyes with me, lowered its head, and laughed!

3

Soulmate

My inner voice screamed for my body to move. As panic swelled, my legs froze, and my eyes widened. Because what the hell else was I supposed to do? The thing that stood in front of me was nothing like the man I’d almost convinced myself was just an elaborate figment of my imagination. There was nothing human-like about it.

This thing looked like the backside of a bull and smelled like the bird shit I avoided sitting on. It had at least six horns that grew so long, they wrapped around its head in spirals. They reminded me of the wire at the top of a barbed fence and circled his head like a makeshift crown. Instead of flesh, it looked like its skin was the same as the bark that wrapped the trees nearby. Oddly deceptive flowering decorated its arms and chest, as if welcoming its victims. I imagined the thing hiding in the park, waiting for someone to get too close.

The thing was massive. My eyes slowly scanned from the enormous clawed feet, up the branch-like legs, past the bloated torso and heaving chest. And then I focused on its face: the lifeless, soul-crushing face. Its jaw slacked and revealed yellowed pointed teeth as it labored to breathe like an asthmatic being forced on a nature hike. Its eyes glowed red. If I imagined what a demon looked like, this was it. Hellish, murderous, ready to take a life. My life.

This wasn’t the human-like man hunk that fucked me senseless the night before. This thing was ugly, and the longer I looked at it, the more I felt my self-control slip. Terror became my captor. Logic told me to run, but the fear of what this thing could do to me made that impossible.

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