by Rev. Dale Wolfe
I
was sleeping when it all began. Dreaming of something
wonderful, lost in my own private universe without a care in the world.
I really don’t recall waking up, so perhaps these past six months has only
been a twisted dream.
There was a shriek. Not a scream or a cry, but a blood curdling
shriek. It came from the blackness just above my bed, right out of
thin air. I’m quite sure that it was this chilling cacophony that
brought me out of my slumber. I opened my eyes, afraid of what might
have been waiting in the air above my bed.
Of course there was nothing there. Merely a pool of blackness.
My mind slowly began it’s descent back into slumber. It must have
been something in my dream… I thought.
Then it came again. Louder this time, twice as frightening.
There was a slight flash of movement in the air. I did not see
it clearly,
for it only lasted a moment, but it was there all the same. The
very moment I took note of the movement, there were voices all around me.
Thousands of whispering, shouting, crying and laughing voices. I
was terrified.
There was something so terribly evil about the voices, that I could
not bring about the courage to move. I was completely frozen in terror.
The voices faded after a few dreadful minutes. I had only just begun
to breath again, when I saw them.
I do not know what they are. Or where they come from.
I can only offer logical guesses. Though even my deepest logic
seems to
border insanity…
They were everywhere; clinging to the walls, hanging from the ceiling,
sprawled out across the floor and even the on the bed. There weren’t
two of the things in the entire room that even came close to resembling
each other. They came in more shapes and sizes than the very clouds
in the sky. To describe them would be futile, for they were breeds,
nay, species apart.
But I can sum it up in one evil word. The one and only word that
even comes
close to categorizing the creatures…
Demons.
I lay still for several minutes, watching them with fear and loathing.
They were filthy and vile beasts, for a bucket brimming with maggots
would have been appetizing compared to these. They seemed oblivious
to my presence for the most part. The smaller ones mindlessly clung
to papers and posters like parasites. The larger ones lay scattered
lazily about the room, some sleeping and some resting. That was when
I first noticed my own body.
Dozens of insect like demons lay imbedded in my skin. Each pulsating
little creature had somehow fused it’s putrid body with my own. One
of them clung to my left wrist, it’s three slimy tentacles were snaked
up my forearm, each gangly extension vanishing beneath the skin just below
my elbow. Another, slightly larger demon lay imbedded in my chest.
Six spider-like arms were all that was visible, the rest of the creature
lay deep within my torso. I took note of at least five more before
the revulsion overcame me, “Oh God!” I gasped.
At the sound of my voice, all of the demons in the room were suddenly
looking at me. I noticed that one of the smaller insectisoids was
scuttling away from me. I briefly wondered whether they knew that
I could see them. There was fear in their demonic eyes… Did
they fear me? The air in the room had grown lighter, my own fear
was beginning to dissipate the very moment I spoke.
I gathered all my courage and shouted at them, “LEAVE ME ALONE!!”
This did not have the intended effect.
All at once they began to resume their previous state. Several
of them
even seemed relieved by my outburst. Seconds later, they were
all back to normal. And once again, I was terrified.
Two incredibly hideous demons leapt up onto the bed and locked eyes with
me. All at once I felt helpless and even more terrified than I had
been.
Somehow I pulled all my strength together and ran from the room.
I darted full speed down the hallway, the walls and floors were covered
with them here too… I skidded to a stop at the kitchen table and
snatched up my keys. A tiny wretched demon was wrapped around the
house key. I shivered and forced myself to ignore it.
I burst out of the house and into my car.
There was one dangling from the rear view mirror, at least three in
the
back seat and nearly eight smaller ones hanging onto the steering wheel.
I started up the car and gripped the wheel, my hand passed through the
writhing demons as though they were made of thin air.
“God help me.” I muttered mindlessly.
The fear began to fade again. The demons sprang from the wheel
and
skittered across the dashboard in terror. I paused thoughtfully
and repeated the one word that suddenly seemed to alleviate the fear,
“God.”
The demons in the back seat vanished.
My mind reeled.
“God.”
I was suddenly alone in the car again. I looked down at my chest
and saw
that the spider-like demon had vanished as well.
I lifted my eyes to the heavens, I had never done anything like this
before. Not since I was a kid in Sunday school… “God, help
me.” The words sincere.
Most of the demons that had been attached to me were gone. Only
a few tiny ones remained.
I turned the car off and strode back into the house. I prayed.
For the first time in years, I prayed aloud, I prayed with conviction and
with strength. Demons scattered at my feet, vanishing into the walls,
terror in their eyes.
When morning came, everything was as it should have been. There
was no sign of anything beyond what I normally saw. I went to work
that day wondering if it had all been another crazy nightmare. For
some strange reason, I did not care. My life was going to change
either way.
The End
