What she didn�t know was why.
Two years later Linda Wainwright sat in her living room watching a movie during one of the hottest summers she could remember. She left all of her windows open, with only a thin curtain covering them, in an attempt to keep a breeze flowing. It was a fairly successful technic so she put it to use often. But it meant she had gotten very used to seeing white flowing things out of the corners of her eyes. When her dog Marley started to bark at these flowing things she thought he was going crazy from the heat. When he started barking viciously at the kitchen, Linda got worried. Five minuets of lunging at the kitchen door and retreating had some how managed to pull her attention from the movie that was keeping her fairly entertained. Cautiously she got up to take a look not sure what to expect or if she should expect anything at all. Before Linda could see what was upsetting him the telephone rang. A mild heart attack shook up her body to match her already shook up mind.
�Hey what�s up?� The overly cheery sound of her ex-boyfriend Gary�s voice ground down her nerves even more. They only dated for about four months before Linda decided that they were not meant for each other and broke it up two weeks ago. Unfortunately Gary didn�t feel the same. He was becoming a borderline stalker.
�Nothing just watching TV.�
�You sound upset.�
�That�s because I�ve told you thousand times to stop calling me. I�m beginning to think you need help!� He didn�t say anything and Linda felt like a jerk. She knew she needed to be firm, but hurting some ones feelings never felt right. �I�m sorry. The dog�s been barking all night getting on my nerves.�
�What�s he barking at?�
�The kitchen mostly.�
�Maybe I could stop by check on things?�
�No Gary! There�s been a lot of strays around lately. I�ve seen six today. That�s probably what he�s barking at.� Linda knew he wasn�t barking at strays. She couldn�t explain it but she felt something wrong was in there. The feeling of wrongness had been growing steadily since she moved in six months ago. She wrote it all off as an illusion of eeriness created by the way the house, a renovated garage, was situated at the back of the lot. Tall Lilacs and Elm trees shading it almost all day added the right atmosphere. The constant nightmares and headaches were caused by pollen being blown in the open windows.
�Linda I really need to talk to you. There�s something you should know.� He sounded serious and desperate.
�Oh come on, you know we don�t have anything else to say to each other.� Not even the eerie wrongness of her house was going to make her invite an overly obsessed ex-lover over. �I think it�s time you realize it�s over and move on.� Linda had been saying that so often it just came out of her mouth naturally. Like breathing. �Besides my mother is coming tonight. I won�t be alone.�
�I know. It�s what I need to talk to you about.�
�Forget it Gary I don�t want to talk to you. Go out and find somebody else.�
�You don�t understand.�
�No I don�t Gary!� Linda cut him off. �I don�t understand why won�t you just go out and find somebody else and leave me alone! Stop calling me and if you come over I�ll call the police! Understand!� She hung up before he could say anything else.
Linda decided to go to bed instead of waiting up for Gail her mother. The whole night seemed to be draining all of her energy. It was better for her to just fall asleep and forget it. Her mother would be arriving late and would just let herself in. Linda left both the living room and kitchen lights on. She told herself it was for her mother but deep down she knew better. Just because she didn�t believe in ghosts, didn�t mean they didn�t scare her. This wasn�t the first weird thing that sent shivers down her spine, but it was the first time something sent them down Marley�s. He spent the next few hours pacing back and forth from the bedroom to the kitchen barking occasionally but mostly whining and growling. Linda was about ready to pack it up and leave when a car pulled into the driveway. A wave of relief passed over her as she saw her mother step out.
�Hey!� Linda had never been this happy to see her mother.
�What�s the matter honey? You look terrible.�
�Thanks!�
�I didn�t mean it that way. Are you sick?� Gail came in and sat down next to her daughter on the sofa. Linda told her the whole story.
�You know I�ve never liked this house. How many times have I told you to move to a safer one?� She pushed the hair out of Linda�s eyes. �I�m getting some very bad feelings about you in this house.� Her mother had been telling her there was very bad air here. Linda might have agreed with her if bad hadn�t meant evil.
�Linda I�m serious. I don�t like this at all.� Gail sounded determined to save her daughter. She had been the head of a local paranormal club for years and could see the signs. �It�s just not a good idea for you to continue to stay there. I know you can feel it too. You don�t have to be psychic to know better than to move into a place like this. She murdered her whole family while they slept. Then killed herself by burning the house down. I can feel the evil pouring out of it�s seems.�
�Mom the lady was just nutty. They said she was suffering from some sort of long lasting postpartum depression.� Linda, trying to think more rationally than her mother had convinced herself that all the cold spots, white mists, broken dishes, and the way her puppy ran through the kitchen every time he needed to go out were all in her head. �There are no such things as ghosts mom!� Linda didn�t want this conversation right now. After all she still had to sleep. �Oh, I�m tired can�t we forget about it and go to bed?�
�You�re right, you look like you need some sleep.� She gently kissed Linda on the forehead before getting up to get ready for bed.
Gail settled down and fell asleep right away. It took a little longer for Linda. Eventually she had no choice but to give in and lay her head down on the pillow and close her eyes. It wasn�t more than a second afterward someone said. �Hello� It was just a whisper. So soft Linda wasn�t sure if she really heard it or imagined it. A quick look around the room did nothing to settle her nerves. There were shadows everywhere. Tiny sparks of light were darting in between them. Marley sat at the foot of the bed looking intently into the living room.
The sound of heavy breathing prompted her to try and wake her mother, who was now in deep sleep. �Something is out there.� Linda shook her arm. The long drive must have worn Gail out because she wasn�t responding as fast as Linda would have liked her too. Finally after some pretty heavy shaking she showed some life. �What?� She didn�t sound very coherent. Linda shook her one more time �What is it?� This time she was better.
�Shhh, Do you hear that?� Of course she didn�t. There wasn�t anything to hear. Or see really. �I heard something say hello and then it was breathing on me!�
�No I don�t hear anything.� Gail rolled over and fell back to sleep. Linda thought that was strange but decided to try and not let her imagination run wild on her.
Terror seized Linda�s heart preventing it from beating. It was the coldest sensation she�d ever felt, a kind of cold that seeped deep into her soul burning her skin and leaving her feeling nauseous. The sensation of a blade slid slowly from her left ear, gliding smoothly under her chin until it reached her right ear. Whatever it was finished its point by breathing an almost inaudible icy �Linda� into her ear. Suddenly a huge weight lifted from her chest allowing her to sit up. The air in the room was filled with sparks now coming from a very dark shadow hovering next to the bedroom window.
More frightened than she could ever remember being Linda reached over to wake her mother one more time. A blinding pain stopped her hand halfway as a demonic grip nearly broke both bones in her arm. �NO!� This time the voice was in her head. Afraid and not sure what to do she frantically looked for little Marley. He was gone.
Confused and in pain Linda shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. She knew calming down wasn�t going to happen. She�d been afraid her entire life of the monsters her mother had tried to convince her existed. Now there was one sitting in her own bedroom staring her right in the face. She shook her head this time to change her focus from self-pity to self-preservation. Managing to get the useless thoughts out she obeyed her most basic instinct, flight, and ran out of the bedroom. A few steps later her conscious stopped her. How could she run leaving her mother alone with a monster? Two steps away from the kitchen and the only way out Linda turned to try and save her.
The demon must have anticipated this and moved toward the door. Linda ran face first into what felt like a brick wall. Blood from her nose poured into her mouth as she crashed to the floor. A black oily darkness filled the living room clogging her lungs.
�Oh my God!� Someone screamed sounding like her mother. Linda couldn�t be sure whose voice it was, the blackness filled her head, seeping inside any way it could. She tried getting up, only to be slammed back down to the floor. A sharp pain in her stomach stopped her from rolling toward her left. �Oh dear God please get me out of this!� Linda crab walked backward. Not sure what good it would do and not even knowing why she turned and tried to push herself up onto the sofa just to be forced face down into the cushions sending lightning bolts of pain through her entire body. She ignored it and continued to climb off the floor. The demon grabbed her leg pulling her back. Screaming Linda managed to twist and pull free.
Everything went an eerie quiet. All the normal sounds that a house makes were gone, the sound of the refrigerator, the humming of the floor fan. She tried to tell herself not to panic. She wasn�t deaf the sound of her heartbeat trying to cover the sound of her breathing was still there.
Pulling her legs underneath her Linda quietly waited for all hell to break loose. The silence pressed in on her, covering her skin with an electric tingle. Hopelessness replaced her fear. A milky white fog clouded her vision. She stood up, the fight was over she had lost. Perhaps it had control over her the entire time, teasing her, making her feel like she had some chance to save herself. Her possessed body began to walk slowly into the kitchen. In her mind she knew what she was going to do. She knew was going to get a knife.
Thoughts that weren�t hers filled her head. They were memories of a cruel and vicious man whose soul had been touched by the fires of Hell. A vision of a lost and lonely widow blinded by fear and grief, trying to get back the only life she knew by using powers she didn�t understand. A tormented soul turned into pure evil trapped in the ashes that used to be it�s earthly body. Then a young mother inadvertently spreading the ashes across the attic floor breathing them in. Memories of small children lying in pools of their own blood. In the end a fire reaching out to her promising her relief from her torment. Linda knew what she was dealing with. A demon that had been created by a foolish old woman afraid of being alone. The spirit of a man who had spent his entire life hating and hurting others. Released from his torment to spread his hate and pain. This spirit had taken control of her. Walking her back into the bedroom with a knife chosen for her mother.
Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. �Please God! Please get me out of this. Please make me stop!� Her prayers were not enough to stop the monster that was going to kill mother.
Linda made her way around the edge of the bed. Taking one step closer, she raised the knife above her head. Thunder cracked her skull open slamming her into the bedroom wall. The knife fell to the floor beside her. Someone else was in the room. There was too much noise in her head for her to make out what the person was saying. Her hands reached out and wrapped around the throat of the intruder. Chanting the person did nothing to stop Linda other than spraying her face with water. �No, no, no!� It was Linda�s voice but it wasn�t Linda screaming. Inside she was too busy praying to God.
�By this holy water and by your precious blood cast out this demon from your child!� One more splash of water and Linda collapsed to the floor free of the demon. Scanning the room around them the man responsible for driving out the demon gently lifted her up.
Dazed, dizzy and a little groggy Linda tried to grasp what was going on. �Who are you? Where did you�Gary?� Yes her vision cleared and it was really his face she was seeing.
�Listen carefully,� Gary pulled her close enough for him to whisper into her ear. �This isn�t over yet. You need to get Gail out of here.� His voice was dead serious. Reading Linda�s mind he added. �No, she�s alright. She�s just been knocked out.� A very large black cloud raced around the pair and then settled on the ceiling. �I think you should go now.� Calmly Gary pushed her toward Gail never taking his eyes off the cloud that swirled around them.
Gail was totally out of it. Moving her was like moving a dead body. With pure determination and nothing else Linda was able to roll her off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. Marley darted out from his hiding place. �Oh what a great watch dog you turned out to be!� She was just happy the demon hadn�t eaten him for dinner. It was easier than she thought to pull her mother free of the house. The loud growling noises, the ground shaking, and Gary�s screams helped.
Once outside Linda felt completely safe, but not right. Her head told her that he obviously knew what he was doing and her going back in there would only make his job harder. Her heart told her he was in trouble and needed help. When the entire house began shaking Linda left her unconscious mother on the ground and ran back inside. Slipping in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor confirmed her suspicion that this was the dumbest thing she�d ever done.
He was still alive in the living room but it didn�t look like he was going to stay that way for long. The demon wasn�t anywhere in sight, but the sticky heavy feeling in the air assured Linda it was still lurking around. The bag Gary brought with him lay halfway into the living room. Her common sense told her to grab it first then check on him. Linda�s uncontrollable shaking caused her to dump the contents on the floor. There were several candles, a dagger, more holy water, and a large bag of salt. From years of living with spirit and haunting support groups Linda knew evil couldn�t cross a line of salt, so it was an easy choice. Grabbing the salt Linda leaped over to where Gary lay motionless on the floor. He had sprinkled himself with holy water temporarily keeping the demon at bay.
�I told you to get out of here!� He wasn�t as dead as he looked, but that wasn�t saying much.
�You sounded like you needed help, in here.� Shocked at how calm she was Linda poured the salt out in a circle around them. He was bleeding from a long cut above his right eye and his shirt was torn where the demon left a deep gouge in his side. With all that he managed to sit up. After a few deep breaths he was fully aware again. �Why are you here? How did you know?�
�It�s what I do. I track down and kill demons. I�ve been stalking this one for two years.�
�Two years?� It took only a second for what he said to sink in. �You knew there was a demon in my house before you started going out with me.� He only nodded his head, concentrating the cloud of evil. Just when she stopped thinking of him as an egotistical jerk. �You didn�t think I should know this? Why didn�t you say something?�
�I tried to tell you? The entire universe tried to tell you. You didn�t want to know.� Linda hated to admit it but he was right she wasn�t listening. �This isn�t a real good time for this!� He dug through the bag of salt. �You should have grabbed the candles too!�
She couldn�t tell if he said it that way because he was hurt or if she had made a very big mistake in grabbing the wrong thing. No matter what she thought of him he was her only way out of this house and she had a whole new kind of respect for him. Trying to make it up she dove out of the circle of salt to where the candles lay spread out over the floor. Judging by his reaction that was an even bigger mistake. It didn�t take long before Linda found out just how big of a mistake it really was. The tips of her fingers only brushed the candles as the monster grabbed her arm lifting her high into the air. Vainly Linda started kicking at the nothing. That must have been another mistake because the demon threw her like a rag doll out the living room and into the kitchen. Gary sent the bag of salt sailing in to hit her on the chin as she landed. Linda was able to complete the circle before the rush of energy that threatened to crush her hit. She sat hunched down as far as she could just incase it could grab her from above.
Thank you God for sending her back in. Gary thought as he lit the blessed candles that would help him trap the demon in the house. The thing had somehow knocked him off his feet and got in a couple of good blows in before he could get hold of the almost empty bottle of holy water. Linda busting in and mixing things up gave him the diversion he needed to get his kit back together and bind this thing. Gary was concerned about Linda, but knew that she had more inside her than she knew. She was not only holding her own, but this one hesitated when it saw her. It took a lot to make a being such as this do something like that. He was going to definitely think about taking on a partner. Besides he never lost his feelings for her and really missed her. Having her around would counter all the evil he lived with in his life.
Knives came flying out of the drawer at Linda. Luckily it threw plates first and she had some protection. The sweet smell of burning flesh turned her stomach. Linda hoped it wasn�t coming from Gary. She could barely see his outline lighting candles in the middle of the living room floor. She wanted to scream and tell him to hurry up with whatever he was doing. Too bad the all books her mother made her read about how to deal with an evil spirit didn�t mention what to do if they started throwing things.
�Oh blessed father glorious in thy strength, I beg you please give me the power to bind this abomination!� He paused to wait to see if his prayer worked. When what was left in the kitchen cupboards and the entire contents of the bookshelves came flying at him and Linda, he knew it didn�t. Not waiting for the furniture he repeated the prayer until the house was nearly torn off its foundation. That was the sign he�d been waiting for. Grabbing his bag he ran. Linda didn�t need to be told what to do and jumped up in front of him and they both headed for the door. The house shook violently sending them falling into each other and knocking over the refrigerator blocking their way. It wasn�t enough to detour Linda�s panic and she sailed over the roadblock and out of the house without any problems.
Gail sat in the front garden with half the neighborhood behind her staring in disbelief. The loud growling explosion woke up people for several blocks. The onlookers were further shocked to see the house rocking back and forth with fire now shooting out the huge cracks forming in the roof.
Linda turned to ask Gary �what now� but he wasn�t there. He wasn�t anywhere. Panicking Linda ran back toward the house. Black smoke and flames poured out at her and it was shacking so hard it threatened to fly apart. She ran helplessly around the house trying to find a way back in. Then she saw him kneeling in the ally, concentrating on the prayer he was reciting over and over.
�Oh glorious God please hold me close to you and never permit me to separate from you. Oh merciful father I ask the following that thy standest ever ready to protect thine children who have been set in such peril. I beg of you to destroy this evil and cast this demon into the deepest hell. I pray with your assistance all life be protected from this evil. I cast this holy water that represents the blood of our lord Jesus Christ upon this beast and banish it from our world!� He repeated this prayer until the house fell to the ground in a burning mass. Then added �Amen.�
�It�s over now? Right?� Linda was crying, shaking with shock, and relived to see him alive.
�This is.� He said as if he�d just changed her tire. �Help me up and get me to a hospital.� The comforting sound of the emergency sirens dampened the urgency of his request.
�What was this, exactly?�
�This was a demon. It's called a killer. It posses it�s victims and gets it�s kick�s making them kill people. It wasn�t the biggest or badest but it was pretty nasty.� He motioned toward the completely destroyed house.
�It makes you kill the people you love the most. That�s why it waited for my mother to come and spend the night before possessing me.� The night was beginning to make too much sense to her. �Tell me the truth did you set this up? Did you use my mother and me as bait?�
�No. What happened here would have happened anyway all I had to do was wait.�
Her head throbbed too much to care about it right now. Besides the thing got killed, that was the most important part. It wouldn�t be killing any more children. Linda looked at what used to be her small one bedroom home. How was she going to explain this to her landlord? How was she going to explain this to her mother? She couldn�t even explain it to herself. �Can this thing come back? I mean is it going to haunt me?� Linda couldn�t imagine a life where she would be sitting waiting for this to happen again. �It was inside me, in my head at least. Will it have some psychic link to me now?�
Gary was already shaking his head before she could finish. �No, what God damns to hell stays there.�
�Are you sure? How do you know?�
�I do this for a living. Remember? I�m sure.� He laughed then straightened up �That doesn�t mean a different one won�t come looking for you.�
�Can you teach me to do that? What you did tonight.�
�Yes, I�d like that. We should work together. You know you�re very sensitive. Just what this business needs.�
�Oh great! So I�m some kind of witch. And this is going to be the rest of my life. Running from demons!� It didn�t sound like much of a life to Linda. She didn�t really trust Gary, but she didn�t think she had any choice. Better to be unprepared at fighting off a shady, obsessive and annoying ex-boyfriend then a demon.
He put his arm around her shoulder to steady himself. �It isn�t as bad as it sounds. You�ll get used to it. The worst part is trying to explain it to the local police.� Who were standing next to their car looking like they didn�t know if they should be running or not.