The Demon's Awakening

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The partly withered roses were placed above the mud where Bella’s grave was. Terry circled around the grave, his eyes turned red and his hands were fisted together. He stopped walking and sat down beside the gravestone. His fingers brushed down on the remarkable stone where his mother’s name was carved into.

“Hello, mommy,” Terry said after a moment. “I know you can hear me, and I know that I killed you. I loved it! I’m sorry though, I didn’t mean too. But I was in rage from all the noises daddy and you were making so I decided to step in. I am going to go kill Lacy now because she had ruined my life enough.” He continued, his eyes were narrowed down to his gray, dirty pants.

A moment passed by, and the demon inside Terry took off. Lucian loved enjoying tormenting people after they died and that’s was his goal again. He knew that Bella would feel immense pain after hearing all of this and he wanted to make sure that she would be in pain even after death.

Terry’s eyes turned back to brown and he felt a cold wave run down his spine. Coming into his sense, he looked around with wide eyes.

“Where am I?” He whispered to himself. And then his eyes landed on the rock he was sitting beside.

“Mommy,” He gasped as he placed his hand on his lips. The name on the gravestone confused him. Was she really gone? Terry thought to himself.

“I miss you mommy and I wish you come back,” He continued as he placed his head beside the gravestone wondering what happened to his mother and how he reached her as he had no memory of that ever happening.

All Terry knew that he was sleeping and then suddenly, someone got him and it was all black and void after it. Terry tried hard to remember how he had reached here but no luck.

Getting up from the ground, he walked away into the silence. There were graves around him and it terrified the little boy. Running here and there, he lost his way back home. This was a new town and he had no idea where to go.

As it got darker, Terry panicked more. He found himself standing around dark, empty alleys with no human around him.

“Help me! Someone please help me!” Terry shouted as he grasped his shoulders. It was getting cold and evil began to linger around the streets. “I am lost, someone please help me,” He cried out again.

He needed to find his house before anything could happen. The darkness bought a lot of troubles in the town.

It began to drizzle soon; droplets of water fell from the sky and on the empty streets. Terry kept running and he found a house. A wide smile crept on his face as he noticed his sister, Sandy, sitting by the window and reading a novel.

Back at the Erickson’s, Jonathan was walking back and forth, patiently waiting for Terry to come so he could yell at him. Jonathan was drunk, immense amount of alcohol was inside him and he couldn’t think about anything except for the return of Terry.

The main door behind Jonathan swung open and Terry walked inside slightly wet and cold. Rage stormed inside Jonathan and he took one large step before grabbing Terry’s hand.

“Where were you?” He questioned. “I was worried, I told you to return before the sunset and look now, its darn 8 PM. It’s dangerous to be out there,” Jonathan continued. He avoided hitting or yelling too much at his son because they both were bearing a loss of a loved one.

“I am sorry, daddy, I just got lost. New streets and a new town, I am sorry,” Terry pouted. He didn’t want to spill the truth of where he went and what all happened because he was afraid of his father’s reaction.

“Okay, go inside! Lacy was waiting for you too,” Jonathan said as he slightly pushed him towards the bedroom door.

Terry shivered and stepped inside the room. Since he no longer had a mother, he needed to be instructed and cleaned by his siblings or father.

“Lacy,” Terry called out as she was busy looking outside the window. Lacy was glaring at the dark streets, hoping Terry would come home soon but when she heard his voice, she turned around.

“Where the hell have you been?!” She exclaimed loudly as she stepped closer to him.

“I am sorry, I was just around the park and I lost my way,” Terry repeated with a scared and frightened tone. Lacy was always the one who’d yell the most and slap him sometimes too. She had the anger like a devil and love like an angel.

Before Terry could even process, Lacy gave him a tight slap that caused his body to shudder with fear. Only if mother was here.

“Well, maybe next time you can be a bit more careful by taking me or one of your siblings. Mother is dead, Terry and you have to start taking care of yourself. I can’t worry about you and neither father can. Next time this all happens, there will be worse consequences,” Lacy yelled without even caring about the fact that she and Terry lost their mother.

She was in misery too and this was the only way out for her. Terry stood in front of her frozen and terrified, he placed his hand on his warm cheeks and a few tears dribbled down. Lacy rolled her eyes and walked away from the scene without any remorse.

“That is one mean sister,” Lucian appeared behind Terry and whispered. Terry quickly gasped and turned around to see his friend.

“She’s mean, I told you, I don’t like her,” Terry sniffed and sat down on the bed. “My father was like Lacy but he changed – but they say like father, like daughter. I don’t think so Lacy would ever change.” He added as he undid his shoes.

“Well, you don’t have to change anyone.” Lucian smirked as he kneeled down beside him. He had an amazing plan for Lacy.

“What do you mean?” Terry asked as he continued to clean himself. The dirt and mud from the graveyard was lingering all around his pants and shoes. It would take days for him to clean all of this.

“Humans don’t change, their personality never do. You just have to find another way to stop them from hurting you,” Lucian folded his hands across his chest and said. He loved entering human minds and playing with their feelings. The amount of energy and power he received from their screams and cries was endless. He made sure to devour every bit of it.

“I don’t understand…” Terry trailed off as he looked confused.

“I will teach you, no worries. Bring Lacy at the basement tonight, I have an amazing game for her and you will enjoy it,” Lucian winked, patted at Terry’s shoulders and then vanished into the thin air.

––

During dinner, the Erickson’s were gathered together to eat but the purpose of dinner wasn’t served as no one was uttering a single word.

“Okay, enough with the silence. We have things to discuss about.” Jonathan broke the silence and said. He dropped his fork as everyone looked up to him.

“Milton and Lacy, go to the school tomorrow and collect the books and forms. I will drop you both and as for Sandy, could you clean up the house? I will get a maid soon but until then I need all of you to corporate with me.” Jonathan explained. He didn’t sound aggressive or rude, it was more of a plead then an order. His wife had passed away and now all he had was his children. He needed to make sure they wouldn’t be affected with what all had happened. They all needed to return to their normal routines.

“Sure, I will go tomorrow,” Milton smiled at his father and then looked back at his food.

“Thank you, Milton.” Jonathan said. He turned around at Sandy and raised his eyebrow so he would get a response from her too.

“I will clean up but I will need Terry to help me,” Sandy said.

“Sure, he will help you. Right, Terry?” Jonathan questioned Terry – the lost little boy sitting on the corner of the table and wondering what went wrong.

“Yes, father, I will.” Terry replied after a moment of no response.

“That would be great. I know you must all feel sad for your mother being gone but we have to continue from where we had left off. A death of a loved one cannot hold us back from our lives,” Jonathan lectured.

Finally, after so long, the children ate their dinner but they still maintained the silence in the house.

When the moon was on its highest peak, Terry went to Lacy’s room to fulfill the order that he had been given earlier. The lights off the house were switched off and everyone was sleeping except for Terry and the devil.

“Lacy,” Terry pressed his palms on her shoulders and tried to wake her up. After a moment of shaking her, she finally got up.

Squinting, she rubbed her eyes and looked at Terry who was wide away in the middle of the night.

“What do you want?” Lacy asked as she sat up on the bed. Her eyes wondered off to the clock and it struck 2 AM. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” She further questioned.

“I have a problem Lacy. There is this amazing thing I found in the basement, but it is really big, could you come with me and help me down there?” Terry asked.

Lacy raised an eyebrow in confusion; she pulled the sheets over her body as she felt a bit paranoid from Terry’s request.

“What is down there?” Lacy asked. The basement was off limits and everyone in this house knew it. Lacy couldn’t understand why Terry would request such thing knowing the consequences.

“Please, just come with me. You will love it!” Terry exclaimed. The bright smile that peeked on his lips wasn’t as bright as it seemed.

“Don’t tell me this is another one of your shitty pranks because I will not take it!” Lacy made herself clear before getting up from the bed. She followed Terry to the basement. A chill ran down her spine as she shuddered out of the unknown fear drilling her heart from the inside.

Her mouth opened a few times to protest and return back to the room but the excitement on Terry’s face stopped her. Whatever is down there better be good! She thought to herself.

A bolt of thunder lightened the hallways and Lacy took a step back. The weather was horrible outside — wet and stormy.

“I think we should go to sleep, it’s already too late.” Lacy said after a moment. She turned her vision away from the windows and onto to Terry. For a moment she saw his eyes glisten with something red but then they returned back to normal.

“No, it’s just here,” Terry said as he pointed at the old rotten wooden door by the corner of the hallway.

Lacy sighed, “Okay, but no tricks otherwise it won’t be good.”

“I won’t ever do anything to harm you, sister,” Terry smiled. He pulled out a torchlight from the back of his jeans and then switched it on while Lacy continued to look at him with surprise.

“Where did you get that?” She questioned immediately. She didn’t remember bringing a torchlight from her old house. Neither of the siblings or her parents had a torch light like that.

“I found it in the basement earlier,” Terry replied. Lacy nodded her head and they continued to walk towards the door that led them downstairs.

The doorknob was made out of wood and there was a metal lock right above it. When the Erickson’s arrived here at first, they were clearly instructed to stay away from the basement until proper cleaning wasn’t arranged.

“Let’s go,” Terry said as he gave the door a slight push and then it creaked open by itself, inviting Terry in. Lacy couldn’t make out anything as it was completely dark from the inside regardless of the white scorching light from the torch.

“What’s in there?” Lacy asked as she stopped outside the door. Terry was already in and he was ready to move forward but the fear in Lacy stopped him.

“There is nothing inside, just a small place will tables and a few things here and there.” Terry said.

Lacy gulped and moved her foot inside the basement. There was a small staircase made out of cobblestone. Terry waited for Lacy to come inside completely and then he closed the door behind her.

Gasping, Lacy raised her eyebrow at his sudden, unknown movement.

“I just don’t want father or Milton to find out that we were here. It’s just a secret I want to share with you,” Terry smiled. He moved his hand out, allowing Lacy to go down.

Once they reached down, it got cold. The ecstatic voice of water dropping down from the sky echoed in the basement. The torch light was switched off and a bright golden light was switched on.

Terry stood behind Lacy as she studied her surroundings and what she got herself into. This wasn’t any normal basement that anyone would be fine coming too. Shackles, metal swords, chains, ropes and all sorts of weapons were scattered all around the ground.

It didn’t take much time for Lacy to realize what she had gotten herself into.

“Okay, cut the crap Terry. What is this all?!” She asked as she turned around to him. The voice of her heart beating rapidly increased as she saw Terry. Bright red eyes flared back at Lacy and they didn’t belong to any stranger — it was Terry.

“What the hell?!” She loudly screamed. She wanted to run away, far away from this place, especially after seeing Terry’s condition. There was something terribly wrong with him and Lacy couldn’t understand what it was.

Taking a step back, she tripped on something but didn’t fall down. Terry continued to shot glaring stares at her for the next few moments. He enjoyed hearing the sound of her fear and the smell of her anxiety.

“I don’t like you, Lacy. You have caused a lot of trouble for me and you are one mean girl that deserves to die!” Terry blurted out after a moment of complete silence.

“Terry, what’s wrong with you?! I’m your sister and move away from way so I can go up.” Lacy said. She stood in front of her brother and raised a finger. “I told you about the consequences of praying with me, I swear to god, move away or I’ll tell father what you have been up too.” She added, with a bit of courage in her tone. The fear was replaced but it wasn’t for long.

Terry took a step forward, and without wasting another second he plunged a sharp edge knife deep inside Lacy’s guts.

Groaning out of pain, she grasped onto the knife and fell down on the ground. Her eyes were wide open and she continued to struggle with the knife inside her. It didn’t kill her and Terry was well aware of it.

“Now, scream all you want and cry all you want because I enjoy hearing that from you. It gives me power,” Terry said as he circled around Lacy. He wasn’t in his senses, Lucian had taken over him and he was ready to finish Lacy for good.

“Terry?! Please, stop. Don’t do anything. What’s wrong with you?!” Lacy cried out with pain. Her head stumbled back to the cold ground. The basement was empty — apart from the weapons. There was no window or any other door out. The only door that Lacy could exit from was behind Terry and she didn’t have enough energy to get up and ran so she did what she was best at, screaming.

“Someone help me!” Her fingers were coated with a thick substance that came out from the wound. She knew it was her blood but she wasn’t ready to process all of it. Lacy hoped she never woke up and decided to come with Terry down here.

Terry moves in a quick speed and he grabbed the shackles from the ground.

“Terry, don’t!” She screamed as he grabbed her hand and shackled her to the wall. She struggled but it was useless. Lucian was strong, stronger than anyone could ever imagine. The melodic screams that made its way to his ears were satisfying. He didn’t want to stop ever. There was no remorse in his eyes, nothing at all.

“Terry!” She screamed loudly. “What has gotten into you?!”

Terry leaned down and grabbed the knife out of her stomach. She yelped out of pain and arched her back as blood flowed down from her stomach. For a moment, she thought this all was over. The knife was out of her stomach and she believed she would wake up back in her bed but she was wrong.

Terry shoved the knife back inside Lacy, close to her heart, in the middle of her breasts.

“Terry!” She screamed out of pain again. The metal of the knife grazed her heart. She couldn’t help but scream and grasp for air just like how her mother struggled a few days earlier.

She continued to beg Terry to stop but the demon inside him was all over, Lucian controlled his actions, movement and himself entirely. As she took her last breath, Lacy looked into her brothers eyes. They were pitch black, not red anymore. The demon had received the power from her death. Lucian felt stronger and satisfied as she dropped her head on the ground.

Lacy was gone and Terry had killed her.

—

The next morning was quiet, the sun was shining after the storm last night and no one in the Erickson’s house were aware of what all happened — not even Terry. He had no hint of the sin he had committed yesterday.

He woke up by the sound of his father, who seemed to be much sober and in his senses now.

“Wake up, you have to go help Sandy with her chores.” Jonathan said as he gently shook Terry. The little boy rubbed his eyes and got up. The whole night was a blur for him, he didn’t remember anything at all.

“That’s like my boy! Now go freshen up and come for breakfast,” Jonathan added as he pushed Terry inside the washroom.

Terry took a warm shower. As the water drizzled down from the faucet he noticed the blood drops on his stomach and chest. There was blood smeared on it but he couldn’t understand — whose was it?

He tried his best to clean the blood off from his body. Terry walked out of the washroom after a few minutes and changed into something clean. He noticed that there wasn’t any blood on his clothes but somehow there was on his chest.

Terry continued to wonder about it as he sat down on the food table.

“Have you seen Lacy? I’m trying to find her, she isn’t at home, I guess.” Milton ran inside the dining room and said.

Jonathan who was about to eat his breakfast raised an eyebrow at Milton’s sudden appearance. He instructed Lacy and Milton to go to the school earlier.

“What do you mean? Where is she?” Jonathan questioned.

“I don’t know father,” Milton shrugged.

“Oh, I saw Lacy leaving for school in the morning. She said she wanted some time alone so after going to school, she’s going for a run and then she’s gonna spend some time outside and then come back home.” Terry explained.

Three eyes landed on him. Terry was instructed to give this explanation. Lucian was the one who compelled him to say whatever he wanted him to say and it worked out perfectly.

“Oh, that’s fine then. Milton you can stay and clean up. Lacy will get the papers from school then,” Jonathan said.

Milton was more than happy to stay at home. He sat down beside his father and the small little family ate breakfast together.

Back at the town square, Arthur walked around with the town's mayor, Dean West who was a young man with the belief to change this town for good. They walked around the popular fountain in Miseburgh. Hundreds of chirping sparrows and birds came down to drink water from the fountain. The scenery of it was beautiful.

“What was the emergency?” Dean asked Arthur who was not only his right hand man but also a friend.

Arthur fiddled his fingers around and narrowed his eyes down on anxiety. “There is something wrong,” he trailed off, sounding completely suspicious.

“What? Don’t fear, tell me,” Dean questioned as he leaned closer to him. The mayor tried everything in his will to remove demons and unholy souls from this town. He worked hard for it and put all his faith in God. It worked out — but not for long.

“The demon has found a new family,” Arthur gulped and then continued. “It’s the Erickson’s. And I’m confirmed about it. The little boy, Terry, is extremely creepy. I watched him walk around the house in the middle of the night and talk to someone. He has returned. The demon has returned to Miseburgh,”

—