The Demon's Awakening

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Are you sure about it?” The mayor questioned Arthur’s theories. He wanted to make sure that whatever he was saying was the truth. If it was, he needed to take serious action.

“I can assure you, that boy isn’t normal, something has gotten into him,” Arthur replied quickly. He didn’t need to think to give an answer.

Dean took a deep breath, “Well, what can we do?” He asked. There hadn’t been any reports lately about demonic possessions so he wasn’t sure how he could stop it.

“We have to wait. Jonathan’s wife Bella died and we all it wasn’t an accident. Something killed her and if it’s a demon, all we can do it wait. The house needs to be burned for the demon to be released,” Arthur explained. He had seen a lot of people die in front of him because of this demon.

“Okay, we wait then, tell me if something else happens. I’ll have to report it to the authorities,” Dean said and Arthur nodded his head before returning back to his house.

Back at the Erickson’s, the children were cleaning up the house generally. Getting rid of the dust that had been buried in the house was a difficult task for the children. Jonathan was occupied in his own business chores; he was going in and out and meeting a few people who could help him start his business.

While Terry was dusting the bookshelf, he noticed the number of books that hadn’t been touched in years which made him wonder whether anyone lived here before his family. He had no idea about what was happening in the basement and whose body was rotting down there, no one really did. Sandy and Milton believed that Lacy was gone to the school and she would return back soon but they didn’t know she was dead, rotting inside the basement.

Lacy’s body was giving out a disgusting odor, her body was turning cold and her nails had begun to turn gray.

“What are you thinking?” Lucian asked Terry who was staring at the books. His voice pulled Terry out of his thoughts.

He turned around and a small gasp slipped of his lips. “Oh, you!” he gulped out of fear.

“Are you okay?” Lucian asked as he placed his hand on Terry’s shoulder. When his cold hand grazed his shoulder, he shivered. An unknown wave of uncertainty ran through his body.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just can’t sleep properly. I got these weird dreams last night and I kept waking up,” Terry explained to his friend.

Lucian raised an eyebrow and smirked. “What dreams?” He asked knowing what he exactly meant by.

“About Lacy, like she was in trouble,” Terry stuttered.

“Oh, don’t worry, she is fine. Perfectly fine!” Lucian assured.

“Did you know when she left for school?” Terry asked.

“Yes, I saw her leaving with my own eyes,” Lucian replied, hoping he would listen to him and not question further. He never feared about being caught or exposed as that had been done a thousand times already.

Lucian was waiting for the right moment to ruin this entire family for good. Every lasting scream and cry would energize him and give him the power he had been craving for since the last few years.

“Oh, that’s good. She’s fine,” Terry sighed as he looked down at the books and grabbed one out of the shelf.

Sandy was doing the dishes and Milton was taking care of the garden, after all, it was his mother's last wish to grow flowers in that dead garden.

Terry spent some time alone with Lucian. They read a book together and then he fell asleep for a bit. When he woke up, he found himself tucked in his bed, under the sheets.

Who got me here? Terry thought to himself as he got up. He looked outside the window to see the sun setting down. The orange outline of the sun began to appear quicker — the night was arriving soon and the terror was ready to take over.

Terry walked to the kitchen where he found his siblings and his father. They were cooking up something for dinner. It smelled great but Terry was craving something else than food.

“Lacy hasn’t returned yet,” Jonathan said to Milton. He called on her phone a couple of times but never got an answer back.

“She will come late,” Terry stepped inside the kitchen and drew all the attention to himself.

“How do you know?” Milton questioned Terry.

Terry shrugged, “She told me in the morning before leaving,”

“Oh, that’s fine then,” Jonathan said and then returned back to cooking. Milton was suspicious of Terry and Lacy. He was the oldest among them and he knew when someone lied to him.

Milton’s glaring gaze landed on Terry and it didn’t leave him.

“I am going to go clean the basement,” Milton said out of blue. Sudden panic rose in Terry’s eyes and he shook his head.

“No, no, um, you can’t. It is off limits right, father?” Terry asked.

Jonathan nodded his head, “Yes, it is off limits for now. I don’t want any of you going down there – not until some cleaning is arranged.”

“But father, I can clean it up,” Milton argued. Why did they need cleaners when they had him? Milton thought to himself.

“I know son but it’s just not right. I will call up the cleaners tomorrow and you can help them clean the basement. I don’t want you to go down there alone,” Jonathan said with a caring tone.

Milton grunted but then nodded; there was nothing he could do to go down there. Although, Terry’s reaction to the basement made him more suspicious of what he had been up to.

“I am going to take a shower,” Milton said before leaving the kitchen. Sandy and her father resumed to cooking and Terry just looked at them. He waited for Milton to leave and then he walked behind him.

“Where are you going?” Jonathan asked him.

“Nothing, just cleaning up and checking on things,” Terry replied immediately.

“Okay,”

Terry walked towards Milton’s room. He heard the water dribble down from the showers and that is when he knew that Milton was occupied. Stepping inside his room, he noticed the book he was writing, it was his journal. Terry decided to give it a read.

‘December 12, 1984

Something is wrong, not with me but with someone else. After mother’s death, I have been seeing wicked visions and getting horrible hallucinations. I don’t know how to control them and I am not sure whether any of my other siblings have been affected like this too. Maybe it is me – or maybe not. I saw someone lingering around the hallways early in the morning, it wasn’t Lacy, it was a man.

He had been wearing a long black coat and he wasn’t walking alone. There was Terry with him and they were chatting about something I couldn’t really understand. Since when did Terry begin talking to strangers? Who was that man? What was he doing inside the house? I can’t keep my thoughts straight and I don’t believe that mother died out of a mere accident. There is a story behind her death, a story no one is willing to tell.

Lacy left for school today morning but I do remember her telling me to go with her the night earlier, I don’t understand why she didn’t go with me? There is something wrong and I can feel it. Sandy is normal and so is father but there is something up with Lacy and Terry.

I also learned that Terry came home last night late; father was angry at him and so was lacy. I couldn’t ask him where he went as I was dead asleep by then. On the dinner table, Terry seemed quite suspicious. I don’t know what is happening but I hope it isn’t what I am thinking. Maybe I need to go out and enjoy, make friends and join school. Maybe I need to stop thinking too much.

Maybe…

After reading Terry closed the journal and placed it back on the table. He went closer to the washroom and opened the door just so slightly. Milton was listening to music and enjoying his warm bath until Terry stepped inside.

“Woah, what are you doing here?” Milton asked. The steam covered the entire glass but Milton was able to see his brother.

“Do you think there is something wrong with me?” Terry asked after a moment of silence.

“Why? What happened?”

“I don’t know but you must know since you keep an eye on me so much,” Terry grabbed the water facet and turned the water to extremely hot. Milton screamed as his naked body touched the hot water. He tried fighting back by putting his hands out in defense but his body still burned.

“Terry stop!” Milton screamed.

“Sorry, brother…” Terry whispered before breaking the facet and letting the hot water directly touch him from the pipe. He grabbed the broken piece of the shower and slammed it on Milton’s head. The sudden impact of both things caused Milton to pass out in the bath tub. His blood splurged out of his head and into the water. His lungs begin to fill up with the hot water and he begin to drown completely.

Terry dropped the hose over his body and stepped out. He didn’t have to do anything anymore as the water would do the job to kill him. Terry walked towards the mirror and he looked at him, his reflection. He was the same young boy but he had red eyes that weren’t ready to turn black just so yet.

His eyes trailed down to the door and he noticed another pair of familiar eyes peeking from the little crack. Terry raged with anger and he opened the door to find out Sandy running away.

“Father!” She shouted on her way out of Milton’s bedroom.

Terry followed her behind, he didn’t want to be exposed just yet but he wouldn’t mind either.

“Father!” Sandy grasped onto Jonathan's shoulders and took large, deep breaths. She was in shock, she couldn’t believe what she saw inside the washroom, she couldn’t process it.

“What happened, Sandy?” Jonathan questioned as he leaned down at her.

“Terry…he killed Milton. I saw it with my own eyes. There is someone inside Terry, he killed Milton,” Sandy cried and hugged him tightly.

Jonathan licked his lip and took a step back. Whatever he thought about Terry was right, he was being possessed. Everything he had been ignoring since the past few days was the bitter truth he couldn’t swallow. Terry was the reason his wife, Bella died that night and now Milton.

“Sandy, listen to me, you have to go run as far as you can and forget everything. Call the authorities but don’t come back here,” Jonathan said to his daughter when he realized that Lacy must have been dead too.

“But father…” Before Sandy could say anything or argue, Jonathan pushed her out of the back door of the kitchen.

“Don’t come back and run!” he exclaimed and out of fear, she began to run away.

Terry ran inside the kitchen and noticed that Sandy was gone. He fisted his hand together as he watched his father stare right back at him.

“Whatever is inside you has to die!” Jonathan exclaimed as he grabbed the knife from the set of utensils. He raised the knife at Terry’s body but before he could kill him, Terry disappeared.

Jonathan began to look everywhere for his son but he couldn’t find it. After moments and moments, Terry appeared inside Jonathan’s room.

“You are going to kill me, father?” Terry asked as he pouted his lips to gain sympathy. Terry was long gone, all that was inside him was a demon, a demon that would do anything to gain his strength.

“Yes, it isn’t you Terry, I know,” Jonathan said as he shook his head. His heart ached at the sight of his son being possessed. He wanted to finish all of this. He wished he had heard what the people in this town said about disbelievers and demonic possessions. He wished he never moved out and came here.

The knife plunged into Terry’s chest, a loud scream erupted from his throat, his head c****d up to the roof and another chilling pain ran across his body. Terry felt the demon inside him leave finally. As he took his last breath, he saw his father waving him a goodbye and murmuring a sorry.

––

Hours passed by and everything in the Erickson’s was silent. Jonathan lied on the floor and cried for all the mistakes he committed. He had lost his entire family, his wife and his children. All he had left was himself.

Sirens grew closer to his house and soon the news spread all across the town about the horrific murder of the Erickson’s.

Lacy’s dead body was found and Milton’s burned body was found too. Jonathan was held a murderer regardless of doing nothing.

“This is wrong; we shouldn’t blame it on him.” Arthur ran towards the town mayor and the chief officer. He knew the truth and so did Dean. Arthur couldn’t understand the reason behind hiding this all.

Dean quietly moved Arthur back, away from the other authorities that were capturing Jonathan and shoving him inside a truck. Jonathan didn’t argue, he kept silent and moved on with them – he may have not killed his family but he was the reason why they were dead.

“It is better for the town,” Dean whispered.

Arthur was in rage, “No, how is falsely blaming someone for murdering his family better for the town?” He asked.

“It has been years since demons haven’t possessed into anyone. God has been helping us and our economy is rising. If people get to know about this – that this all happened because of a creature then they will be terrified. We will lose people, they will return back to being afraid and most of them will move out. We can’t afford that Arthur, finally everything has gotten together, I don’t want to ruin it.” Dean explained to him.

Arthur understood what all Dean meant but he still couldn’t let an innocent man be hanged to death because of someone else.

“But Jonathan cannot be hanged to death,” Arthur argued.

“Okay, I will take care of that. He will be just imprisoned,” Dean replied.

“What happens if he tells everyone about what happened?” Arthur asked. They were many sides to a story and anyone could ask Jonathan about it.

“He isn’t in his state right now, he won’t speak to anyone and I know that. I will take care of it, you don’t have to worry about,” Dean replied with a smile before walking back into the crime scene.

A few weeks later, the courts order for Jonathan’s punishment was released. Jonathan claimed killing his three children and he agreed to whatever the judge said. He was sent away to a mental asylum, far away from the town, where he couldn’t hurt anyone and where no one could harm him.

The house was locked up and abandoned after that. The property was still under Jonathan’s name and it would be under him for as long as he was alive. The town accepted that the event that happened in December, 1984 was all because of one reason – Jonathan. There were no demons involved or any another supernatural creatures.

Meanwhile, the town council planned something to take care of the demons for good and Sandy came back to say her house a goodbye before leaving Miseburgh for good. She attended her family’s funeral but avoided being noticed by anyone.