by M. K. ROZE
she stepped back slowly.
Anthony’s lifeless body fell to the ground.
“Help me,” Jenny screamed and ran up the hill.
Adelyn gulped down Anthony’s salty flesh and ran after
Jenny, charging her, where they rolled back down the hill.
When they came to a stop, Adelyn straddled Jenny and held
her fragile arms above her head.
“What are you?” Jenny screamed and turned away from
Adelyn’s yellow eyes illuminating her face.
“I’m the devil’s spawn,” Adelyn taunted and cackled
demonically in a Southern voice. She stared blankly at Jenny,
then tore her throat out while moaning.
As Jenny gurgled up blood and took her last breath,
Adelyn sat up and grinned as she slowly chewed on her flesh.
“No!” Adelyn screamed and bolted up in her bed. She
remembered using her voice at her job and when she was in
class.
Mom opened Adelyn’s door with a towel wrapped
around her head. “What’s wrong?” She sat next to her,
rubbing her back.
Adelyn glanced around the dim room, trying to forget
the nightmare. “I had a horrible dream.” She fell into Mom
and hugged her.
“It’s okay, honey. You’re alright now,” she said in a calm
voice.
Adelyn sniffled and wiped away her tears. She looked at
Mom’s neck and backed away. “I tore out people’s throats
with my teeth and ate them.”
Mom’s face puckered. “That’s a horrible dream. It’s
probably from the meds. Some medicine will give people
nightmares.”
Adelyn slowed her breathing and calmed down. “It felt
more like a memory than a dream. And I told the victim that
I was the devil’s spawn. It was horrible.”
Mom stood and unwrapped the towel off her head.
“That’s a creepy nightmare,” she said while combing her
tangled hair with her fingers.
Adelyn looked to the side of her. “Where is Marissa?”
“You just missed her.”
Adelyn remembered Muma taking over her body the
night before, and how she was forced to stare into the mirror
for hours. She cringed when she thought about the black
veins in her eyes. “I’m going to school. I don’t want to sit
here alone all day. I can’t be alone.”
“No, you can’t. Mr. Jacobs said that we need to have a
meeting before you can go back.”
“Why?”
“Honey, do you remember those horrible things you
said to Mr. Clark about his deceased wife, and about the
principal wanting to be intimate with you? That’s some
serious accusations. And the other teacher and students were
scared. That is why Mr. Jacobs wants a meeting before you
can go back.”
“Yes, I remember, but it wasn’t my fault. It was—”
“I know your violent behavior was from the infection. I
told Mr. Jacob, but he still wants a meeting.”
Adelyn sighed, knowing it was pointless trying to
convince her that Muma was real.
Mom got up, turned the light on, and grimaced at her
with a confused look.
Adelyn’s eyes widened. “What?”
Mom walked over to her and tilted Adelyn’s head back.
“The spider bite is bigger.”
Adelyn jumped up and ran over to the mirror. Her
mouth fell open as she inspected the bump beneath her skin.
“Mom, I look so freaking ugly now. Why is it getting bigger?”
Mom approached her. “It depends on what spider bit
you. I’ve seen some infections get worse before it gets
better.” She took a closer look at it. “I just don’t understand
why the bump isn’t red anymore. It looks like it already
heeled.”
Adelyn felt it again. “It doesn’t even hurt.”
Mom touched the bump. “It feels like a cyst. I will call
your doctor and have them look at it.”
Adelyn frowned in the mirror. “I’m not going back to
school with this crap on my face.”
“I’m going to call out of work today so I can take you.”
Adelyn sighed. “I’m more than capable of going to the
doctor myself. Treat me like I’m eighteen and not like I’m
fucking twelve.”
Mom gasped. “Adelyn Lauren Mae, watch your mouth!
You never swear.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t control my anger lately. It’s the
infection, remember?” Adelyn stormed out of the room and
ran downstairs—certain it wasn’t the infection—she knew it
was Muma doing that to her.
Mom followed her down to the living room and out to
the back deck, where Adelyn plopped on the patio seat,
looking at the mountain across the river.
“Well, being you don’t want my help, I’ll go to work and
call your doctor when he opens at nine. I will call you with
the appointment. Just make sure you take your medicine until
he can get you something else.”
Adelyn turned to her and forced a smile. “Thanks. I’m
sorry for swearing.”
“Apology accepted.” She went back inside.
When Adelyn stared at the mountain, wondering why
she was changing, something crawled on her shoulder. She
swatted it off and looked at a black spider running away—
sure pest control didn’t spray the back porch.
“Ew,” she said as she felt her face, wondering if it was a
spider that came from beneath her skin like she saw in scary
movies. But as she felt it, the lump was still intact, so she
figured she’d see what the doctor said.
After Adelyn got ready, she took the mirror off the end
table, slipped it into a duffle bag, and drove to the doctor’s
office. She pulled into a parking spot and stared at the white
building, debating if she should take off to Florida to return
the mirror instead of wasting more time.
After a while of thinking, Adelyn decided to keep her
appointment with the doctor to see if it was an infection or
a disease, she wasn’t aware of that was causing her odd
behavior. Adelyn didn’t want to believe she was possessed.
Adelyn walked inside, checked in, and sat in a black
chair, waiting to be called back. She looked across from her
at an older man picking at his teeth with his finger. She
grimaced and shifted her glance to a child sitting on her
mother’s lap. Her stomach rumbled and she couldn’t stop
staring at the child. She caught herself licking her lips as the
mother bounced the child on her knee while tickling her. She
snapped out of it. What the fuck is wrong with my thinking?
Adelyn walked over to the mural on the wall. She
inspected every inch of the forest, with a fairytale waterfall
off to the side and wildlife scattered around the cozy little
cabin. She smiled at its familiar beauty, questioning why it
was so comforting for her. And why she desperately wanted
to climb inside the mural and live there forever.
“Miss Mae,” a woman called out, snapping Adelyn out
of her trance. She turned to the medical assistant and walked
over to he
r.
After the assistant took Adelyn’s vital signs and weighed
her, the medical assistant looked her up and down.
“What’s wrong?” Adelyn asked.
“The scale says you’re one-hundred and fifty-five
pounds, but I doubt you’ve gained thirty-five pounds
since—” She looked on the computer and continued. “Since
we saw you last month for your chin and head pain.”
Adelyn felt heavier but she knew she didn’t look that
hefty. She wondered if Muma was inside of her at that
moment, sure a mental illness wouldn’t weigh her down. She
has to be real. “I think your scale is way off.”
“I agree. We’ll have someone look at it.” The assistant
placed Adelyn in a room, where she waited over an hour to
be seen.
Someone knocked on the door, waking Adelyn up.
“Come in.” She quickly sat up on the examination table and
rubbed her eyes.
“Sorry about the long wait,” Dr. Perry said as he walked
in and left the door open a crack.
“It’s fine.”
The doctor sat in the chair across from her, where he
typed something on the computer. “Mrs. Mae called from
her office and asked me to take a look at the spider bite. Is
this why you’re here?”
“Yeah, it’s a lot bigger now.”
He glanced below her eye and looked back at the
computer. “When did you get bit?”
She thought about it. “A few days ago, but I noticed a
bump like a week before that. I thought it was a zit.”
He looked on the calendar to the right of him. “Are you
still having headaches from the accident?”
“No.”
Dr. Perry stood and put latex gloves on. He stepped to
the side of Adelyn, unlatched the ophthalmoscope, and
examined the bite mark. He set the tool back on the rack and
touched the bump.
Adelyn grunted and stared into his green eyes without
blinking. “Don’t you dare touch me again,” she scolded in
Muma’s voice.
Dr. Perry backed away. “Miss Mae, I’m simply doing my
job. I’m sorry if I offended you.” He walked over to the door
and peeked his head out. “I need an escort in here, right
away, please.”
Adelyn felt Muma exit her body. She hated Muma taking
over her body at will. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
A female assistant, Adelyn didn’t know walked in and
stood behind the doctor with a look of concern.
Dr. Perry nodded. “It’s alright. I’m aware that you
haven’t been feeling well.”
“No, I haven’t.” Adelyn smiled at the assistant, trying to
act somewhat normal, hoping Muma wouldn’t show herself.
Dr. Perry stepped forward. “Do you always speak with
a raspy voice in a foreign accent when you get upset?”
Adelyn looked at him watching her like he was about to
admit her into the mental ward. “I was just messing with you.
Sorry.”
“I read it in the notes that you did this while in the
hospital too. Are you aware that you speak with different
accents?”
Adelyn hated the doctor thinking she was a nut. She
wanted to yell out it wasn’t her, but she was sure she’d end
up right back in the hospital, so she stayed calm. “I was
kidding.”
“Well, the voice was quite chilling if I’m being honest.
Please don’t do that again in my presence.”
That’s not going to happen. “I won’t.”
“Thank you.” Dr. Perry typed something into the
computer.
Adelyn hated the silence that filled the room, and the
medical assistant looking at her like she was crazy. “So,
what’s wrong with my face?”
“Miss Mae, I don’t believe it is a spider bite. It felt more
like a cyst, and it doesn’t show any sign of infection.”
“Then why did the ER doctor give me steroids and
antibiotics?”
“From what Dr. Diaz wrote in his notes, he said there
was a red bite mark at the time when he saw you, which
indicated an infection.”
“Great, so I’m taking all this medicine for nothing.”
Dr. Perry walked to the hazardous waste bin and tossed
his gloves into it. “We’re not God, Miss Mae. Sometimes we
make the wrong diagnoses. Dr. Diaz believed it was a spider
bite at the time because of your high fever, and he tried to
fix the problem.”
Adelyn sighed. “Will the cyst go away?”
He got back on the computer and began typing, while
the assistant stepped behind him and watched him. “It may
or may not. For now, I would like you to put warm
compresses on it to see if the swelling goes down. If it
doesn’t, come back in.”
“Can’t you drain it so it’s not so big and ugly looking?”
A sharp stabbing pain shot through Adelyn’s chest, and
she gasped and placed her shaky hand over her heart.
“Are you alright?” Dr. Perry asked.
Adelyn took a deep breath—certain it was Muma
hurting her. “Yes. I got a cramp in my chest.”
He shot her a worried look and stood. “Before I can
drain the cyst, I would like to take further tests. I have to rule
out it being a cancerous tumor, which I doubt it is.”
“Cancer?” Adelyn questioned and fiddled with the ring
on her finger.
“I doubt it’s cancer, Miss Mae. I was only speculating.”
“What about the fever I had? Can a cyst bring that on?”
“No. You traveled to a well-known place where millions
of tourists go all year-round. You could’ve caught a weekend
flu. It’s nothing to worry about.”
Adelyn thought of more questions to ask, trying to rule
out her being possessed by an evil witch or the devil himself.
She was certain she knew the answer because she already
looked it up, but she wanted to double-check.
“Um. Can someone develop multiple personalities
overnight?”
“No, dissociative identity disorder takes time. Why do
you ask?”
“Because my friend has been acting like a different
person lately. She’s never done that before. And she changes
her voice like she’s someone else.”
“Like you did a few minutes ago?”
Adelyn looked away from his curious eyes, thinking of
a way out. “Yeah, but I was messing around. I don’t think
she was.”
“I see. The disease isn’t something you get instantly. It
takes years unless she had major trauma, you’re unaware of,
I would say she was playing games. But I could be wrong. If
you think it’s serious, you may want to ask her to seek help
right away. The disease can be dangerous for her, as well as
others.”
Adelyn needed to know more. “Oh. She was in a car
accident like I was. Could that cause the disorder and make
her want to harm herself, or maybe become a little psychic?”
“Psychic?”
Adelyn wished she’d never mentioned that part, but she
was desperate for answers. “I gue
ss my friend was joking
about being psychic too.”
Dr. Perry sighed. “Are there any more questions I can
answer for you?”
“No, that was it. Now I can relay this information to my
friend.”
He smiled. “Okay. I’ll see you in a few days to look at
the cyst. Take care of yourself.”
Adelyn forced a smile, knowing for a fact she was
possessed.
On the way home, Adelyn pulled off on the side of a
dirt road and sobbed. She felt abandoned. Punished.
Isolated. Furious. Disgraceful. Horrid. All those emotions
ran wildly through her head, and she wanted it all to go away.
She looked at the bag on the passenger seat with the mirror
in it.
“Fuck it, I’m going to Florida to take your damn mirror
back. I can’t take this torment anymore.”
As she shifted the gear, Adelyn’s body jerked, and an
unseen force made her stomp the gas pedal down, flooring
it down the road, where she was made to take a right onto a
desolate road. She continued up the mountain with tears in
her eyes, unable to gain control of the truck.
Turn around! Muma’s voice demanded.
“No!” Adelyn shouted in a Southern voice and kept
driving like a madwoman.
I said … go back, Muma ordered but in a higher pitch.
Adelyn cringed from her voice. “Go away, before I
make you.” She slammed on the breaks—the truck sliding
sideways—a tree stopping the truck from going off the cliff.
Adelyn put the truck in park and placed her trembling hand
over her racing heart as she looked down at the valley below.
She knew it wasn’t her who was trying to kill herself. She
thought it was Muma messing with her.
“Help me!” Adelyn screamed and shifted the truck in
reverse, accelerating it back down the hill. “Stop, please
stop!” Adelyn begged. She used both feet, slamming on the
breaks—her head whiplashing against the steering wheel.
Kill yourself after I get my mirror back, Muma said.
Adelyn used all her might to pull her leg up. She lifted
her foot off the gas pedal—the engine’s roar slowing down
then backfiring. “Why are you doing this to me?” Adelyn
