The Demon's Awakening

The Demon’s Awakening Chapter 1: Miseburgh, North Carolina - 1984 There was a small town located in North Carolina, the town no one spoke about, the town every hitchhiker ditches and every passenger ignores. It was a wicked town, bustling with evil, black magic and the devil himself. Some people called it the ghost town and some people simply accepted that the land belonged to the devil and it was their territory. The population of the town decreased every year, families vanished away, people were murdered and the demon was out. The nearest cathedral was at least a few miles, it was the only source of protection that people had. By the mid of 1984, Miseburgh, the once gloomy town was getting its wealth and lavishes back. Many old houses were being bought, and landlords were getting a good return. Did the demon decide to rest? By the mid of December, a small family moved inside a house located by the decayed woods. It was marvelously peaceful for them. The Erickson’s The bright, loud family consisted of six members; two amazingly honest parents; Bella Simon and Jonathan Erickson, their two beautiful daughters; Sandy and Lacy and their two lovely sons; Milton and Terry. The children were aged between 6-14, and they were more than excited to move into a brand new house. “I think we are done with getting everything from the movers,” Bella Simon, the mother, rested her hand underneath her chin and said. Her gray eyes dashed across the entire room, and she studied everything that the movers had gotten inside the house. Jonathan nodded his head and glanced at the brown packaged boxes, he counted them in his brain and then said, “12 boxes, it’s done, Bella, we have finally moved in!” “Calm down, we still have so much to set up, where are the kids?” Bella asked her husband as she walked out of her house. All four children were playing in the garden. The oldest, Milton was playing with Terry and the two girls were just wandering around, grazing their fingers down the dead, rotten roses. “Mommy, they all are dead!” Sandy exclaimed as she accidentally plucked one of the roses out. Bella noticed the worry on her kids' faces, so she immediately ran by their side and threw the dead rose down. “Don’t worry, baby, we will grow new roses out. For now, Sandy and Lacy, go set up your room and unpack everything.” Bella ordered her children. They nodded their head like good little girls and ran inside the house. The house was constructed out with a tough, fine-grained wood, it was an attractive three-story house with a basement, the house was slightly dirty but it was treacherous and something that the Erickson’s always wanted. The deal given to them by the landlord was amazing, and they just couldn’t deny it regardless of all the stories they had heard about the town. The basement was yet to be seen. The evening passed by normally for them, when the night came, all the children rushed back to their rooms. Sandy and Lacy slept together, Milton slept alone and Terry slept with his parents because he was just 6 years old. “Do you like this house?” Sandy asked her bigger sister who was sleeping beside her. They shared an enormous Victorian bed that was beside the window. Lacy was staring out of the window and she kept on wondering that what happened to these woods by her window. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Sandy questioned her. “Yes, I like it but something seems odd about this town.” Lacy sighed. Sandy shrugged and closed her eyes, “I love this house, it’s really big and it has a garden.” “Yes, with dead flowers.” After the small conversation, both of the girls fell asleep, it was a long tiring day for all the family members and the house was soon dead silent like it slept too. But it didn’t. The house was awake once everyone slept. The walls were shaking because the demon had granted a visit to the Erickson’s. The town was holy after the unusual deaths and paranormal activities the citizens had suffered from. Going to the church, performing holy rituals and wearing a cross was a necessity for all the people living inside the town regardless of whether they believed in Christianity or not. After all, God could only protect them. The Erickson’s weren’t believers of God, they preferred being called Atheists and they stayed far away from religions and their practices. The demon loved feeding on those humans who didn’t have a God, they were his favorite, and the easiest to possess and ruin. He walked around the hallways of the house, he had a shocking look on his face because he couldn’t believe that after so long, he was getting a family to feed on. “A family full of kids, how delicious!” He whispered before entering inside the room where the two girls slept. He craved for human screams, they were a lullaby to his ears and their cries were even more warming to him. The demon studied two of girls who were sleeping, they seemed unafraid and lost in their own wonderlands. He carefully chooses which one’s dream he’d enter, it was a tough decision for him because both of the girls were innocent and they were dreaming about chocolates and unicorns. It was confusing for him because he hadn’t ruined someone’s life in so long. A few moments later, Sandy, the younger sibling, jolted up from her terrific dream. A wailing scream erupted from her throat as she saw the red-eyed man from her nightmares right in front of her. She continued to scream even once he vanished away into the darkness. “Sandy, what’s wrong?” Lucy asked as she switched on the tall, gold-crystal lamp. She rushed by Sandy’s side and tried to calm her down. But Sandy didn’t stop, she continued to cry out for as long as she could. Jonathan and Bella, their parents, knocked down their doors and came inside. They went towards Sandy and hugged her tightly, only then, her wailing stopped. “What happened, my baby?” Bella asked her daughter as she took her pale face into her hands. Sandy was crying, and trembling out of fear. She had never done that before. Bella was confused of her state, she couldn’t understand what happened to her. A nightmare wouldn’t scare her that much, Bella thought to herself. She knew that Sandy has seen nightmares and dreadful dreams before but a shaking reaction like this wasn’t ever expected. “There was someone, there is a man in this house, he is ugly! He looks like a monster, mommy.” Sandy cried as she fell down to her mother chest. Bella pulled her daughter into her embrace while Jonathan patted her back. “There is no one, Sandy, don’t worry. It was just a nightmare,” Bella assured. She didn’t even worry about what Sandy had said, not even for a minute. Without researching, she accepted that it was a mere nightmare and nothing else to be worried about. “No! Mommy, he was there, I saw him. First I saw a nightmare where he was killing all of you and then when I woke up, I saw him in front of me.” Sandy explained, her stutters were understandable to her parents but not to Lucy. Lucy stood by the window, confused and surprised. The little hair on her skin was rising up from the fear, and she was getting terrified. What if this all is real? She thought to herself. Lucy was a very light-hearted person, it was very easy to scare her off and what Sandy was saying, send shivers down her spine. “Maybe you woke up from another dream,” Lucy trailed off. Both of the parents looked up at her. “What did you see, Lucy?” Jonathan asked. “Nothing, papa. Sandy just woke up screaming and I immediately got up to, I didn’t see anyone,” Lucy shrugged. If Sandy had seen someone then Lucy must’ve too. “Don’t worry, no one was here, Sandy,” Bella whispered to her daughter who was slowly falling asleep after the trauma she had experienced. Her cheeks were red and the tears made her look like a glazed donut. The night went along, Sandy fell asleep and so did Lucy. Both of the parents stayed by their girls and waited for the night to pass by. — The next morning was delightful for the Erikson’s as a nearby neighbor invited them for dinner later that same evening. Bella was happy because she assumed that her neighborhood was friendly. A few people from the neighbors came by and wished Bella and Jonathan for getting a new house. Meanwhile, Sandy was still in a state of shock, the evil face of that man wasn’t getting off from her head. The naive child wandered around the rusty, ancient house. Sandy loved exploring and even though the fear captured her, she couldn’t stop being who she was. “Lunch is ready, Sandy, come downstairs and get Terry too!” Lucy yelled from downstairs. They had a huge opening in the middle of the house and Sandy was standing by the edges, looking at the rooftop. She looked down and nodded her head. Lucy rushed back to the dining table where the parents and Milton were setting up the glass plates. She joined them too. On the other hand, Sandy silently shuffled and knocked at Terry’s bedroom door. It was a wooden door, coming off but still glued to the wall somehow. Why isn’t he opening? Sandy wondered. It was always respectful to knock before coming into someone’s room but Sandy was impatient and Terry wasn’t opening the door. “Terry?” She asked in a low voice. No response. Her hand went to the door handle and she opened it. The door creaked before opening entirely by itself. Sandy’s lips parted, and confusion lingered inside her gray orbs. Terry was sitting by the edge of the bed, and talking to someone. Except for there was no one inside the room and he was talking to a blank wall. “Yes, we used to play tennis in my old house and I loved it the most!” Terry exclaimed to the wall but it wasn’t a wall, it was the demon. “Terry?” Sandy screamed which forced Terry to look back at her sister. “Oh, Sandy, meet my new friend,” Terry said as he pointed towards a blank wall. “I don’t see anyone,” Sandy said. She wasn’t able to see anyone but Terry was. Her hand was still frozen on the door handle and now it was shaking out of fear. She didn’t know what assume, was she gone crazy or was her brother? “He’s right here,” Terry said as he looked but the demon had already left. The sudden disappearance of the man confused Terry. “Oh, no, he went away. He doesn’t like you!” Terry exclaimed. Sandy sighed. Just his wild imagination. She thought to herself. “Come down, Lunch is ready,” Sandy said before running downstairs because she didn’t want to be shocked or terrified anymore. Terry followed his sister down and they both came together. They took their seats and everyone started eating their lunch. “What took you so long? Look, the food is cold now.” Lucy rolled her eyes, and said. It seemed like she suppressed her groan. “Lucy,” Bella scolded her daughter. “And what took you long?” She asked Terry and Sandy. “Well, Terry was talking to his imaginary friend so I had to pull him out of that,” Sandy explained as she played with her food. She wasn’t hungry, instead, she wanted to go back and furthermore explore the house. “Terry?” Bella asked his son. “Yes, mommy, I made a new friend. His name Lucian, he’s 34 years old and he lives nearby. He’s really sweet and he loves kids like me,” Terry explained before digging into his lunch. Everyone stared at him with shock and confusion. “Okay Terry, don’t talk to him again,” Bella ordered. “Why?” He asked. “Because old men aren’t nice and you shouldn’t talk to them,” she replied. Terry was really small and this was the only way to handle this situation. Others wanted to comment on Terry but Bella didn’t allow them. Terry nodded his head but he wasn’t going to listen to his mother. When did she ever do good to him? “Continue,” Bella whispered as she saw everyone had paused eating. —