Halloween Stories 7

DEMON

By Selinda

 

It was late autumn and the trees that dotted our old neighborhood had started to change into their red and gold coats.   My children were looking forward to dressing up in their Spiderman and princess costumes for Halloween.  But it wasn't for another week.  As for me, I was busy trying to do repairs around the house.  The lights were always going out.  I thought it was just electrical wiring and the house was very old.  I lived alone with my two small children and I didn't want to frighten them, or maybe I didn't want to scare myself. They were so young and innocent.  Thank goodness they were oblivious to the creepy sounds and strange happenings of the house.  

 

My children were very creative when they played.  They often made up games to entertain themselves.   But recently I noticed they had started to set a third place at the kitchen table.   "Who is sitting here?" I'd ask.  They would just giggle. When they played they would divide their toys into three equal parts.  "Who is coming over?" I'd ask.  "No one" they looked at me puzzled.  I thought they were just acting like normal kids.  I didn't think too much about it. The yellow brick house with its cracked foundation and creepy sounds was home.   Besides I didn't want to move again.  I had invested all my money into this house and I liked the fact that it was close to my workplace.

 

One night, it was unusually windy outside.  My children had gone to bed and I walked in their room to kiss them goodnight.  Karen slept soundly on the top bunk bed and my youngest, Jimmy was already asleep in the bottom bunk bed.  I covered them in their blankets anticipating a chilly night.  I could already feel the chill in the room.  "This house," I whispered and shook my head.  "It's always cold in here."

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I retired to my room.   It wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep.  I dreamed of a huge rock wall.  Like an aerial camera zooming out, the pillory in the center of town was revealed.  A woman's head stuck out encumbered by the long bolt or wooden bar that also held her arms.  The time period looked like Colonial America.  Or was I in Salem at the time of the infamous witch trials of 1692?  I felt the shame and the discomfort of being held for public viewing.  Then I realized, the woman in the pillory was me!  

 

The next thing I remembered was a little girl with reddish brown hair dressed in a long dark dress with a top white collar at the end of a long hallway.  She wore a little white cap tied under her neck.  I tried walking to her.  Her face looked sad and abandoned.  I recognized her immediately as my daughter.  But she wasn't my daughter Karen from this lifetime.  I just knew she was mine. She extended her arms to me.  The harder I tried to reach her, the longer the hall got.  I was desperately running down this long never ending hallway.  She was standing at the end with open arms.  I couldn't reach her.  

 

Then from out of nowhere, a sinister low menacing evil voice whispered in my ear,   "She's mine."  My heart started to pound hard. Paralyzed with fear I couldn't move.   I knew instantly that this was demonic.  

By now, I knew I was in my room and conscious.  But I couldn't open my eyes and I was completely immobile.  It laughed in my ear.  Then the voice started to say obscenities.   I started to pray the "Our Father."  I said it over and over and louder and louder until the voice started to fade.  But before it left, it threatened me again.  

 

"She's mine.........They're mine."     

 

Oh my God, my children!   I woke myself up reciting the Lord's Prayer aloud.  Trickles of sweat lined my forehead and hair.  I sat up and raced to my children's room.   They looked like little angels asleep.  They were so still.  I stared at my daughter.  I stared at my son.  Thank God they were breathing.  I have never felt so threatened in all my life.  I realized my children were at risk with this thing that seemed to be living in my house.  Who had my children been playing with?

 

There is no scarier story than one that is centered on or around the children.  I may not have the power required to take on evil forces directly, but I wouldn’t hesitate to fight with my feet.  In other words move to another house.  The best is yet to come….