Page 19 of Unbinding the Demon
“What!?I don’t think that’s a good idea at all! Besides, I doubt we’ll be allowed near all the commotion.” I looked at her as if she were crazy.
“Come on, it will be quick. The worst they can do is ask us to leave.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me across the street before I could object further.
We stepped up onto the sidewalk in time to see paramedics carrying someone out of the main hall’s large stained-glass double doors. The person was strapped down to a straight board, writhing and snarling more like a wild animal than a human. It looked like something straight out of some deranged horror film. I stood on my tiptoes and tried to get a better look at who it might be.
“Oh my god! Is that Cassandra!?”
Her face was distorted with malice and half-covered by her tangled, colorful hair. Black inky veins webbed down beneath her now pitch-black eyes. Something that looked like disgusting gooey tar was oozing out of her mouth and dripping down her chin. Blood-curdling, otherworldly noises were coming out of her. It sounded almost like something you’d expect to hear in a cheesy zombie movie, only far more evil and unsettling.
I was filled with perturbation from the harrowing sight and frozen in shock. Never in had I seen anything so sinister as this before. It was as though she were possessed by some otherworldly dark force and had lost all sense of humanity. I didn’t like Cassandra, but yikes, what the hell happened to her!?
The paramedics and officers looked as freaked out as I was.“The victim seems to have died from bite wounds to the throat,”one of them said.“Yeah, but they’ll have to confirm that at the coroner’s,”another replied.
The victim? Bite wounds to the throat? What the fuck is happening right now!?
A few other people were being treated for what looked like large gashes in an ambulance near us. Blood was soaking through bandages and dripping onto the ground from various victims. People were crying and clearly traumatized. My heart sank to my stomach, and I felt beyond sick. “Excuse me, ladies, you need to leave,” a tall police officer said to Amelia and me while trying to shoo us out of there.
“Come on, let’s go,” I said softly, sounding as distressed as I felt.
The entire gang of Amelia, Lacey, William, Oliver, and I were seated in a circle in the living room, discussing the bizarre horror scene that we had just witnessed. Our story disturbed Lacey and William. Oliver, however, was rather skeptical. I couldn’t blame him, though. It was hard to explain such an abnormal occurrence while still sounding sane.
“Nope, nope, nope! That is some freaky-ass Night of the Living Dead shit right there!” William shook his head in horrified denial.
“I wonder what could have caused that. Do you think she was poisoned by something, or possibly rabid?” Lacey asked with unease. She snuggled Esquire’s plump orange body against her chest while sitting on the couch.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense at all. I could hardly believe it myself. But I swear she seemed just like a zombie!” I shook my head and held my hands up, feeling overwhelmed by all of it.
“Well, I don’t mean to divert you guys from your insanity-filled zombie rigmarole, but did you hear that they found another body with the heart missing?” Oliver piped in. The look on his face made it obvious that he was sick of our nonsensical conversation.
Lacey gasped and leaned forward, squishing the purring puddle of pudding. He seemed to like it and purred even louder. “Really?”
“So does that confirm it’s a serial killer?” Amelia inquired. She seemed both exhausted and shaken up.
“Yeah, it does. So everyone should be extra careful with strangers.” Oliver sounded like a father talking to his unruly children, but I knew it was because he cared about us. “In fact, I think we should all practice some self-defense techniques in the meantime until the guy is caught.”
“Agreed,” William nodded.
It was getting late. Amelia was frightened about going home alone, so she set up camp on the couch. Oliver stayed over as well and joined William in his bedroom. I ate some mixed nuts as a quick snack and then got ready for bed. I was comforted knowing there were extra people in the house while I flopped onto my bed. As usual, I helped Esquire up, then I petted him and Pepper Paws as we all got comfy. While lying there, I stared numbly as though in a trance at my dark ceiling. It was good to be in the comfort of my bed again, especially since the past twenty-four hours had been so crazy.
I peered out from behind my blanket and over at the shadowed corner of the room. That sinister feeling crept over me yet again. Logically, I knew it was all in my head. I was probably just freaked out and letting my imagination get the better of me. And yet, I couldn’t help but feel as if I were staring into invisible eyes hiding within the darkness. I tried to ignore the stupid feeling and turned to face the wall. As soon as I did, a shiver ran up my spine. It felt like something was standing next to the bed, looming over me with maleficent intent. I peeked just once but saw nothing, causing me to inwardly grumble to myself about how ridiculous it was. I then allowed sleep to take over my senses.
9. Shackled and Seduced
“This is just a dream. This is just a dream,”I whispered to myself while squeezing my eyes shut. I played my night back in my head to reassure myself of the mantra I was chanting. I recalled going to bed and falling asleep with that unsettling feeling of being watched. Now I found my arms shackled above my head to the goddamn wall in the same creepy old dungeon from my previous nightmares.
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”
Rationally, I knew that this was all some ridiculous imaginary place, built by my sick and twisted subconscious. If anything, it was probably created thanks to all the stress I put on myself because of school. Or it could have been the fact that I had eaten mixed nuts right before bed again. But regardless of the cause, it was still disturbingly real and vivid. I could smell the scent of musty stone mixed with fire and smoke. I could hear the flicking of the flames and the heavy footsteps approaching me...
“Oh, Buttercup,” his deep voice silkily cooed. I stiffened at the sound of it.
Of all the fucked-up things that my subconscious has the ability to fabricate, it chooses this? Really?
“Open your eyes. Look at me,” he commanded while lifting my chin with his clawed hand.
“No flippin’ way,Mephistophilis!I don’t have to listen to you because you’re just some seductive dream apparition. You probably only exist because of the mixed nuts I keep eating right before bed!” I thrashed my head but kept my eyes closed.
“Oh no. Did you just say that you ate mixed nuts? There weren’t any almonds in the mix, were there?” he drawled with sarcasm as he tapped his claws against the stone wall next to my head.
