May These Noises Startle You in Your Sleep Tonight

"What - what did you do to him?" Kellin asked barely above a whisper. Shit. I started to walk towards him, but he took a step back, eyes wide and breathing ragged.

"Look, I know that you're scared, and it's understandable, but you don't have to be scared of me," I spoke gently. Kellin frowned and shook his head, taking another step back.

"I don't have to be scared of you?" he scoffed. "You just ripped some guy's head off! With your bare hands!" I sighed and looked around, trying to figure out how to explain this without freaking him out.

"What are you even doing here?" I finally asked when I came up with nothing.

"When you left so quickly I got worried and I was just following you to make sure you were okay. Now I really wish I hadn't," he answered. I sighed as guilt started settling in my gut. It made sense that he wanted to insure that I was safe. Both of his friends just died and he didn't want to lose another.

"Just - let me explain," I begged, putting my hands up in the air.

"Yes, please do," Kellin said, crossing his arms over his chest as if to seem tougher, but I knew that every inch of him was dying to run away from here. Well, I guess here it comes. I had to tell him.

"That man I just killed, he wasn't really a man. He was a demon," I started, anxiously awaiting his reaction. Kellin raised his eyebrows as if to say 'Are you stupid?'.

"A demon? Seriously?" he asked in a less than impressed tone. "You're fucking crazy."

"No, I'm not. You have to believe me," I said, walking towards him quickly. Kellin put his hands on my chest to stop me from moving further.

"Stay away from me! You are insane!" he yelled. He backed away and finally turned and started running.

"No, Kellin, you're not safe! You have to stay with me!" I called after him. He didn't listen of course. He just kept sprinting. I took off after him, trying to keep up, but that little fucker was pretty quick on his feet. I chased after him for about ten minutes as he ran back to his house, but I tried my best to stay out of sight. If he didn't want to talk to me, fine, but there was no way in hell I was leaving him alone. Not when he could be in imminent danger.

When he got to his house he darted inside. Poor kid was scared shitless, but not as scared as I was of something finding him. Minutes passed before I decided that it was a good time to go up to the house. I easily slipped inside. Kellin was in such a panic he forgot to even lock the door. The house was eerily quiet as I entered. I crept silently into the living room, looking for a sign as to where he was, when a strong force lept onto my back. Two familiar pale hands grasped my throat and squeezed tightly. I struggled and tried to pry them away, but his hold on me was firm. That was when I realized that something was really off. Kellin shouldn't be stronger than me.

I spun around and backed into a wall, knocking the air from Kellin's lungs. I used his moment of weakness to slip from his hold and gain the upper hand. I grabbed his hands and pinned them to the wall above his head. He didn't look frightened or even angry like I'd expected. Oh no, he looked absolutely lethal. I knew that if I let him go that he would stop at nothing to kill me. But that wasn't in Kellin's nature. Behind his sass, he wasn't a mean-spirited person, and definitely not dangerous. I saw the boy every day in gym class. Poor kid could barely lift one weight over his head. How was he suddenly so strong?

Kellin glared venomously at me, his eyes dark and following my every move. He bared his teeth, letting an inhuman hiss pass between his lips. His neck craned towards me and his teeth snapped hungrily at my neck. I suddenly understood what was going on. Just as I'd suspected, this wasn't Kellin. At least not mentally.

I closed my eyes and recited a chant that was used so rarely I had nearly forgotten it. If I did it correctly, it would cast whatever demon was inside Kellin's body back to whatever carcass it arrived in. Before I even finished the chant, Kellin gasped. His eyes regained their usual vibrant color and his face dropped in confusion.

"Vic?" he asked with a breathy voice. I nodded.

"You're okay. I'm here," I whispered. Kellin frowned and pushed me away, eyes frantically searching the room.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked.

"You were possessed by a demon, and more of them are coming. They know where we are now. We need to leave. It's not safe for either of us here," I called as I walked into the kitchen. I looked through several drawers until I found what I was looking for: a long, sharp kitchen knife. Just in case something else were to pop up.

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you! What about my family?" Kellin protested. I walked back over to him and shook my head.

"Your family will be fine. But you won't be if you stay here. Please Kellin, I'm trying to help you," I argued.

"What, like you helped that one guy in the alley? No, I'm staying here!" he said, then bolted up the stairs. I groaned and put my hands over my face. Kellin was such a stubborn brat sometimes, but there was no way I was leaving him here alone.

I followed him up the stairs, expecting him to have locked himself in one of the rooms by now, but instead I found him still standing in the doorway of his bedroom. I walked closer and peered over his shoulder out of curiousity, and my stomach instantly dropped at what I saw. Staring at us from the opposite corner of the room was a demon, presumably the very one that had invaded Kellin's body.

It was a lower-level creature, one so vile it didn't even have a proper name. Its body was slender and pale, a long tongue peeking out behind rows of dagger-sharp teeth. It crawled slowly towards us on all fours, claws digging into the carpeted floor as it went. Two bulging eyes with blood red irises pierced through us, anticipating our every move. Although their intelligence wasn't all that great, they were quick and nearly impossible to take down in a fight. Nearly.

"Whatever you do, stay away from it. It can kill you in an instant," I whispered.

"Yeah I think I gathered that much," he replied in a breathy tone.

The creature kept edging towards us. It was almost halfway across the room now. It cocked its head, seemingly out of curiosity, before straightening it again and letting out an ear-splitting shriek, saliva spewing from its lips. It lunged forward, but I was expecting the attack. I swiftly pushed Kellin back against the wall and dove straight at the creature with the knife in hand. I toppled it to the floor, wrestling for a moment, then managing to pin its bony limbs down with my own. It craned its long neck up, teeth gnashing inches away from my face. I brought the knife up into the air and plunged it into the creatures chest, resulting in a burst of black liquid from the spot. It let out another high-pitched cry, and I fell back and scrambled away. The creature rolled onto its stomach and tried to limp to safety, but it was too late. It crumpled to the floor in a disgusting, fleshy heap.

I sat there without saying a word for almost a minute, the only sound in the room being my heavy breathing. Kellin didn't let out a peep as he crossed the room slowly and peered down at the deceased creature. I looked up at him as he inspected its pale and ghastly frame. His face was almost unreadable, but I could still see the fear in his eyes. It was understandable. Until today he had no idea that all of this even existed, and now he's being sought after by countless demons. All because of me. Great.

I sighed and crawled over to the body, pulling the knife out from its chest and cleaning it on the carpet. I stood and finally dared to meet Kellin's gaze as his questioning and frightful eyes stared back at me.

"How did you get into my house?" he finally asked.

"Is that really the question you're going to ask right now?!" I exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! I just - " His sentence was cut short by another spine chilling cry coming from down the hall. There were more, and who knows how many.

"Dammit. Run," I said, taking Kellin's hand and pulling him along into the hall. I knew that he probably didn't want anything to do with me right now, but he had no choice as I gripped his hand tighter as we started to descend down the stairs. Behind us I could hear the light thud of the creatures bounding down the hall, and I increased my speed, all but dragging Kellin along behind me. We had nearly reached the front door when one of them jumped out from the living room and stood in our path. Both of us started backing away, but five more that had just come from upstairs appeared behind us. We spun around hopelessly and looked at them, trying to figure out some sort of plan. Our eyes met, only for a second, but a message passed clearly between us. How the hell were we going to get out of this?