The King of Demons

"The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window." Jason glanced around the surrounding trees to ensure we wouldn't be interrupted. He seemed nervous as he spoke. I nodded towards him to continue with his story to comfort him when in reality, there was nothing else he could be afraid of.

"My parents knew it was odd, considering the cabin used to be home to my dad's great grandparents, and then once they died, it fell into dad's ownership and-" *crack*. A branch cracked loudly against the sodden earth. Our heads whipped to the sound expecting the murky black entity again to interfere with our realm. My heart began to beat as fast as a drum as I searched the dark for the piercing red eyes. To no avail, I relaxed a little and figured out it was just a deer. Jason started trembling at the sudden interruption. "Hey, it's okay. I am right here. You won't be alone any longer." I rubbed his back and tried to ground him enough to stay focused on recounting the events of the last three days. Jason wasn't the type of guy to express any emotion. He was the basketball team's captain and the most laid-back person I'd ever met. We were instantly attracted to one another because we both grew up as Christians and had a background of religious influences. You hear ghost stories and learn about "unexplainable events" or spirits getting involved in the physical realm, but never had either of us entertained the idea of it actually being true. It was never our concern to run into evil or that it even existed as believers.

We never knew we would be affected by it if it did exist. That is until Jason's parents had their souls sucked out of them and became possessed. They were no longer living; instead, they were an anchor for Satan's demon to torment and sent on the hunt to kill my boyfriend, Jason Maxcella.

"Ina, I need you to listen to me. We are not safe here. I have seen what this demon can do. I can't lose you too." Jason elevated his voice enough that it made me cringe against the tone. "You need to tell me what you saw. I can't know what we're up against unless you finish this story!" I lower my hands onto my lap and take a deep breath to calm myself down. "Okay, Okay. I will. So The cabin had a candle lit, and my dad walked across the street to take a look. I was cutting wood in our yard, so I didn't go with him, but my mom got curious and decided to run after him to tag along. Once the door opened, inky black mist poured out and surrounded them. I put down the ax and walked toward the cabin. Long, razor-sharp claws pierced my dad's arm and yanked him into the cabin, and the door closed suddenly behind him. My mom screamed at the door and tried to force it open, but it wouldn't budge. I ran to the door and tried to help her pull as the bellow of my dad drowned out the sound of everything else. He was in pure agony. The guttural growl and roar from inside the cabin was neither man nor beast. It was the spawn of hell. It was as if hell spit this entity out because even death could not hold it."

Jason reached for my hand and searched my eyes. "Are you okay if I finish the story?" I squeezed his hand and assured him I needed to know.

"My father was no weak man. But the power and the force this demon carried were unmatchable. The squelching of blood and snaps of bone made us freeze. I remember hearing the clawing marks against the door when dad's screaming subsided. Whatever this thing was, nothing quenched its hunger. My mom fell to her knees when the door slowly creaked wide. My dad's body was unrecognizable. There were three distinct claw marks across his battered flesh. The only thing left of him was his chest. Then, it looked like the shadows kind of…Parted?” Jason seemed exasperated.

“The shadows moved and then pushed each other tightly to form a figure. I knew it was the demon because the faint breathy whisper circled me. It started by my left ear and went over to my right. The sound grew louder and louder as the circling became quicker, and then a jarring screech rang out from all directions. My mom screamed as the entity grew larger. He didn’t seem to like it because he dug his claw deeply into her knee. I didn’t know bone could be pierced like that. The next thing I knew, she was torn apart right before me. The demon grabbed each of her arms and tore them off. Blood sprayed against my face, and I could do nothing. I felt paralyzed. Mom fell down and started to get moe weak from the blood loss, which I think is why she stopped screaming. The demon flaunted before me, flashing his razor-sharp and murky gray fangs. He stood over her and bent down so his head aligned with hers. There was this inky black substance that dripped from his mouth. It looked like it was the deepest shade of black I’d ever seen. I can’t even compare it. It was like a black hole because it sucked up all the light and color from anything around it. My mom’s face drained of color until it looked like she had been buried for months now.”

“Jason, why didn’t you run to her?” I can’t fathom the possibility of my boyfriend ever backing down from such a threat.

“Because the evil was heavy! It felt like I had chains around my ankles that locked me to the earth!” Jason trilled. I lowered my head and listened for him to finish the story. Jason sighed and grabbed my hand once again.

“Then the demon moved its head so close to her that his head touched her. It almost looked like he smiled. Then he opened his mouth wider than my head and bit her face off. I could tell it was tormenting me because with how wide he opened his mouth, he could’ve eaten her head clean off but instead, he split it in half by her ears. That way, her face was gone, but the back of her head was still there.” Jason leaned over and puked. His hands were shaking wildly as he held mine. I rubbed his back until he stopped retching.

“I can’t do this, babe. I know it’s coming after me; I can feel it.” I leaned against his chest as I brought him in for a hug. His heart was beating like rapid fire. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. This was the only thing that ever comforted me.

“Ina,” Jason whispered my name extremely slow and cautionary. I slowly lifted my head. Before I even looked up, I knew what was standing in the tree line. The red eyes were so bright that the shadow of the moonlight cast a shadow onto the ground in front of me. Time seemed to slow, and the wind went completely stagnant.

The ground rumbled as the demon took steps toward us. I know now that Jason’s sudden paralyzation was not because of fear but because of the demon's dark power to hold us in place. I watched helplessly as Jason was drug into the fire. He couldn’t scream, and I couldn’t help him. A single tear rolled down his face as the demon howled in laughter as Jason’s skin was boiling and burning to a crisp. Just before the light completely left Jason’s eyes, the demon drug him out and ran towards the trees. Once he was out of sight, the hold on me was released. I slowly got my grounding, and panic filled my lungs. I can’t lose him. This demon won’t win. I make a b-line toward the trees and search the area. There was no sign of them. I hear a ticking noise from a small bush behind the sycamore tree. I round the corner and don’t find anything.

“INA!” Jason shrieked.

“Jason!! Tell me where you are!”

Jason seemed to answer from the left, but then he answered from the right. The sound came from every direction. I was so overwhelmed that I fell to my knees and held my hands over my ears. His wail became louder until it was at such a high frequency that when I screamed, I couldn’t hear my own voice. Then, it stopped. I slowly got off the ground and took a small step forward. Leaves crunched to the right where the darkest part of the forest was. I took careful steps toward the sound. I reached a hand into the dark to make sure I didn’t run into anything. As I took another step forward, my hand ended up against a sticky and warm substance. I pressed harder, and my hand went against what felt like meat. My eyes widened as I pulled my hand back into the moonlight. Red crimson blood covered it. I reached out and touched the figure and realized it was Jason. He was tied upside down from a tree as all his blood drained from his headless body. I yelled and cried out loudly.

The ground vibrated and hummed as the dark soaked up the moonlight. I turned to run, but I wasn’t fast enough. The demon grabbed my arm and yanked me to the ground. I yelled for anyone to hear, but no one answered. I held onto tree roots, but nothing could stop the force I was being dragged with. I reached up towards the demon and clawed at his dark and cold body. He shrieked and grabbed my hand and broke off each finger, one by one. The pain was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Blood dripped onto my head. Then, his head came face to face with my own. His breath smelled revolting. It was only now that I noticed that his skin was that of a snake’s. I closed my eyes as his teeth grew wider and wider until all that was left to see was emptiness.

THE END