Burning You Down

I stepped back, too shocked to be scared.

“W-Walt, if this is some stupid joke of yours, I swear…”, I stuttered.

“I already told you. Your dear boyfriend is not here anymore. Didn’t you listeeeen?”, still grinning, Walter, or whatever he was now, scratched his face and stretched his neck. “Ah, yes. It was about time. Darling, would you hand me that mirror over there?”

I blinked. Did a demon just politely ask me to hand him a mirror?

“W-which one?”, I asked dumbly.

“Oh, let me think…” He snapped his fingers and one of the mirrors just… exploded. Just like that. It shattered into pieces. I whimpered and jumped away. “Well, I think you don’t have much of a choice right now. So give me the fucking mirror. Now.”

…Okay, scratch ‘politely’.

Afraid that I might anger him, I quickly took the mirror and gave it to him, keeping myself at a safe distance. He sighed theatrically, seeing that I’m so afraid, but he didn’t comment.

“Let’s see…”, he threw himself a critical look in the mirror and his grin reappeared. “Oh, yes, baby! Nice face I’ve got here. Mm. I think your friend has a shit taste when it comes to clothing, though.”

“It- i-i-it’s a costume.”, I quickly said. “This is not how h-he usually dresses.”

“Oh?”, he gave a ‘couldn’t care less’ look and I realized that I’m not supposed to talk, he never expected me to reply. He obviously liked listening to the sound of his own voice. Speaking of his voice, now it was much different than Walter’s. Yeah, it really reminded me of his, but the tone was… changed. Now he talked somehow lazily, as if he didn’t really want to, but he just couldn’t help it, because he liked listening to himself. He pronounced the words slowly, tasting them in his mouth before saying them, and even when he wasn’t smiling, I could just feel the smirk in his voice.

I knew that he wanted me to shut up, but in a sudden fit of courage, I continued.

“What do you want?”, I asked as confidently as I could.

“What do I want?”, he repeated and laughed shortly. “You summoned me, kid, so question is, what do you want? Usually when people summon demons they want something from them. So spit it out. What is it? Is it chicks? Boys at your age usually want chicks. I never understood that, I personally find boys much more… attractive.”, he slipped his hand through his own body, or, technically, through my best friend’s body, looking at himself in the mirror again. “So? Is that it?”

I hesitated. What was I supposed to tell him?

“N-no.”, I shook head. “It… It was… a joke. It was a joke.”

I think this finally got his attention, because he stopped contemplating himself and moved his look to be.

“What was a joke?”, he frowned.

“Umm… The spell. We didn’t really mean to summon you.”, I wanted to look away, but I found myself mesmerized, staring at the demon’s eyes, unable to blink. I wasn’t sure if he was doing this to me or I was just too horrified.

“But you did.”, he tilted his head, looking a bit confused.

“Well, we, umm, w-we didn’t expect it to work, w-we thought the book i-is fake and… Um… Can you leave us alone now? I’m sorry for bothering you. It won’t happen again.”, I took a shaky breath, hoping I didn’t go too far. My anxiousness seemed to only amuse the creature more. He, or it, laughed.

“Leave you alone? Do you really think I would do that?”, he raised eyebrows.

“I, uh… I hoped so.”, I muttered.

“Well, you were wrong.”, the demon left the mirror on the nearest chair and started slowly walking towards me. “So, let me get this straight. You summoned me… by accident… and you don’t want anything from me? Is that it?”

“Um. Basically.”, I gulped.

“Absolutely anything?”, he took another step closer to me and I forced myself not to run away.

“Yeah… Yeah, I don’t want anything from you.”

“Well isn’t that good news.”, he grinned widely and stopped only a few feet away from me. “Hell, this is the best day ever! You have no idea for how long I have been waiting to be back up here.”

He paused and I figured out he wants me to ask.

“For how long…?”

“Seven hundred years. Seven hundred fucking years I have been dying from boredom… you know, down there. Downstairs.”, he glanced down and then winked at me mischievously. “Thanks to you I’m finally going to have some fun now.”

Thanks to me? Wow, well done, Kellin, you just made a demon happy, congrats.

“So.”, he clapped his hands. “Listen. Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m keeping this body, at least for now, and you’re gonna keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you to.”

“I won’t do what you tell me to!”, I protested before I could stop myself. “I’m not your slave or something!”

“Of course you’re not, don’t be ridiculous.”, he rolled his eyes. “But don’t forget that I keep your little boyfriend here…”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”, I frowned.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”, he waved his hand, annoyed. “And if you interrupt me again, I’m going to fucking rip your tongue out, is that clear?”, he shot me a glare, only for a second his eyes turning grey again. I nodded quickly before he turns his words into actions. Nope, nope, I wanted my tongue to remain in my mouth, thank you very much. “So where was I? Oh, yeah. Don’t forget, I keep your little boyfriend here. Even though I control his body now, he’s still somewhere in there, unable to do anything, but still alive. However, this may not continue for too long if you decide to do something… how can I put it… something reckless. Don’t forget that I can always make him kill himself accidentally. If you try to tell anyone about this, or disobey me, Waltie goes bye-bye.”

“No, please don’t do this, just leave him alone… please…”, I begged, feeling that I was about to cry. No, no, no, I couldn’t cry, I shouldn’t…

“Aww, poor baby is upset, because I own his boyfriend, how sweet.”, the demon gave me a mocking sympathetic look. “Sorry, kiddo, but you can’t do anything.” He approached me with a small smirk until he was standing right in front of me. “From now on, you will be my bitch. Isn’t that gonna be fun?”

I tried not to look him in the eyes, afraid that he might see the tears that were struggling to roll down my cheeks, but he grabbed my chin and turned my face towards him.

“Mhm, you’re completely helpless. This is just adorable.”, he chuckled, watching as a tear ran down my face.

Completely helpless… I couldn’t do anything… but was that true, really? My look fell on the pages of the book, which were now scattered on the floor. If I could reach them, I could find a spell that could make that demon go back to Hell or wherever it came form, and Walt would be free. Yeah. That was my goal, I had to do it. If I managed to push the creature away, get him inside the pentagram, and then quickly fix the line where the water washed the paint away, fast enough, I could keep him trapped long enough for me to find the right thing and read it out loud. I could do this. I had to. I owed it to Walter.

I never had the chance to do it, though, because the demon traced my look to the torn book on the floor and smirked, as if he figured my plan out right away. Without looking away from me, he waved his hand, and in the next moment the paper was on fire.

“Oops.”, he blinked against me innocently. “Sorry, I think I just burned your last chance to kick me out of here, uh-oh. Seems I’m staying here forever.”

I stared at him for a few seconds, my fear quickly turning into anger. Who was he to just come here, possess my best friend and tell me what to do?! I didn’t want him here! What the fuck did he think he was doing?! My anger burned me from the inside. ‘You’re my bitch’, oh is that so?! I’m no one’s bitch! And I won’t take anyone’s shit!

“You fucking…”, I hissed and before he could do anything I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Bring Walter back! Bring him back, you sick demon bastard!”

He just watched me, unimpressed.

“Sick demon bastard? Can’t deny that. My name is Victor, though, and you could call me Vic, I personally prefer that.”

Damn, how I wanted to get rid of this fucking smug expression on his face! Pushed by my anger, I didn’t even take a minute to think and my fist collided with his jaw. He gasped softly and his lip cracked, blood running down his chin.

“You’re gonna pay for this later.”, he frowned, finally irritated. “But now go ahead, punch. Hit me as much as you want. Take your anger out on me, I don’t care, you’re only hurting your friend’s body. While I’m inside him, you can’t hit me without hitting him too. You can’t kill me without killing him as well. So if you want to hurt me, go ahead, but know that Waltie-boy will pay for it later instead.”

I felt the urge to hit him again, but I stopped myself. He was right. I was just hurting Walt, I wasn’t even sure if that demon dude could feel pain. After a short moment of hesitation I let him go.

“That’s a good boy.”, he approved. “Seems you finally understood what I’m talking about. Sweet.” He pushed my other hand off of his shoulder and crossed the room again. “Do you want to discuss the rules now?”

“What rules?”, I tilted head, the adrenalin quickly wearing off, leaving the fear take over again.

“You’ll find out.”, Victor sat on the spare chair and stretched his arms lazily. “Rule number one…”, he started slowly, taking his time, “…no outbursts like the one I just witnessed. You’re going to be a good, obedient boy and everything will be fine. Rule number two. You’re going to amuse me when I tell you to. That means, if I pop into your room in the middle of the night and ask you to dance for me, you dance, no matter how much you want to sleep. Three. From now on you’re my sweet little maid, and it’s your duty to serve me 24/7. You buy things for me, you clean my place, shit like that. Four. You call me Walter and act like I’m still your dear boyfriend when there are people around. If you try to tell anyone who I actually am, I’m going to set your fucking face on fire. Or maybe I’ll just sit back and watch while they’re dragging you to the doctor. It would be fun either way.”, he chuckled. “Shortly said, you always obey, you never argue, you fulfill all my wishes and keep your mouth shut. It’s not too much to ask for, is it?”

“And what if I say no?”, I asked hesitantly.

“I already told you.”, he let out a deep sigh. “Your Waltie jumps off a bridge and dies. Or something. You could say, your best friend is my hostage.”, Victor winked at me. “Now. You never told me. What’s your name?”

“…Kellin.”, I replied.

“Cute name.”, Vic smirked. “Okay, Kellin, after we made things clear, I think it’s time for me to leave you now. I’ll go take a walk. Or maybe drop by Waltie’s home. In the meantime you can clean this up.”, he motioned at the pentagram on the floor. “See ya tomorrow at school, sweetheart.”

“Wait, but I have questions…”, I started, but he had already disappeared. He just vanished. Teleported, I guess… or whatever demons do. I didn’t care. I was just glad he was gone.

For a moment I felt tempted to call the police, but I gave up. I mean, what could I tell them? ‘Hey, I summoned a demon and he possessed my best friend, please arrest him.’ They’d just lock me up instead. Besides, if that Victor guy really meant what he said, he’d do something horrible to me when he finds out I tried to blow his cover. I needed time. And some sleep. I decided I’d figure out what to do tomorrow on my way to school. This was just… too weird for me to handle. I had been living with the thought that there is no magic, and demons and angels and stuff, and suddenly one is possessing my friend (and potential boyfriend). Suddenly I felt angry again. What had I done to deserve something like this?! This was so unfair! I never wanted to summon a fucking demon, I was just messing around, so he had no right to stay and make me his ‘bitch’, as he said himself. He couldn’t simply do this! I should’ve told him that! But then again, I was too afraid of him to do so. I mean, I saw him break a mirror and set a book on fire with one single wave of his hand, I had no idea what he could do to me… He could kill me so easily. And, what was more important, it would be even easier for him to kill Walt. I definitely didn’t want him to die…

The angry thoughts were slowly replaced by heavy, suffocating sadness. It was all my fault. I should’ve protected Walter. I should’ve done something while I still had time. I shouldn’t have pushed that glass of water, basically it was me who broke the trap and set the demon free. If I didn’t do it, then maybe Walt and I would find a way out of this and now we’d be both okay and safe.

It was my fault…

I dropped to my knees, the tears that I had been holding back finally finding their way out of my eyes and streaming down my cheeks. Why was I so fucking stupid?! Why… Why did I… Why…

“I’m sorry…”, I whispered to no one particular. “I’m so, so, so sorry…”

I remained there, crying on the floor for a few more minutes, I didn’t know how long exactly. After awhile, when I had no tears left and no strength to keep feeling sorry for myself, I decided to do something rational and actually clean the garage as Vic had ordered me. I knew that by doing this I would destroy the last evidences left, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to do something to keep myself occupied with, so I wouldn’t break down again.

And tomorrow, tomorrow I had to talk to this stupid demon again…

END OF CHAPTER 2.