Personal Demons

by Rachel A. Collett

  “Shhh,” they warned as someone gently, but anxiously brushed the bangs from my eyes. “Sarah, it’s me.”

  I finally opened my eyes. Laith hovered over me, Elisa next to him. Both were up and out of their sleeping bags. Shaking, I realized what was confining my movement, and I removed my arms from the bag. I reached up and shoved Laith’s hand from my mouth.

  “Get out of the truck, Sarah,” he said firmly, unfazed by my harsh reaction.

  I pushed into a sitting position, thankful that I did indeed have all my clothes on.

  “What?” My voice came out half-strangled, and I realized with surprise that I had been crying.

  “Get out of the truck.” Laith stood half crouching, grabbing me by the hand. “Now.”

  I looked over. Elisa had already jumped over the side. Laith yanked my arm up and quickly jerked me out of my sleeping bag, and together we tumbled out of the bed. Elisa grabbed my hand and pulled me into the cab at the same time that Laith pushed from behind. My shoulder slammed into the steering wheel as I maneuvered into my seat, but I felt no pain from the impact, only fear and the adrenaline it produced.

  Laith was next to me in a second, and the truck roared to life. My head flew back when he slammed on the gas and the truck jumped forward. Righting myself, I braced my hands on the dash as we raced away from some unseen danger.

  In a panic, I tried to follow the path we were on, but at the speed we were moving, every bump and imperfection in the road caused the truck to jump and sway, making it almost impossible for me to get my bearings. I couldn’t see anything except for what was lit up by the truck’s headlights. How had it become so dark?

  As I wondered at the thick night, a ghostly body caught my attention from just ahead, and I realized in alarm that it was running straight at us. Laith swore under his breath as Elisa grabbed my shoulders and forced my head down. Her body covered mine as a shield.

  Didn’t they know I didn’t need their protection?

  I strained to sit up, but Laith yanked the steering wheel hard and to the right to avoid impact. My body pushed into his side. Elisa pressed her small frame even harder against me, her arms covering mine like a harness.

  “It knows us!” she yelled.

  A thunderous crunch and an even harder jerk caused the whole back of the truck to spin out of control. Laith cursed again as he fought to get his vehicle back on track.

  “It’s not after us,” Laith growled as he accelerated again. My face burned when I realized what he was saying.

  It was after me. I knew it, and now so did they. But how?

  Questions and thoughts that made no sense blew through my mind, and my body tensed for the next attack. I could feel the darkness surging toward me.

  “It’s coming from behind! Hang on!” Laith shouted as something hit the back of the truck, causing it to lurch forward.

  “It’s trying to push us off the cliff!” Elisa cried.

  The truck groaned against the pressure of the force ramming it. Laith swerved—I could almost feel the edge of the cliff. I squeezed my eyes shut, struggling against the nausea.

  Then something changed.

  The inside of the truck became suddenly quiet, and I wondered if it was all over. From above me Elisa’s whisperings began. Her lips came close to my ear, and for a moment I listened, mesmerized by her quiet chanting, but as her invocation got louder, my eyes flew open. I jerked away as I realized it was a prayer, but she didn’t release my shoulders. Shocked by her physical strength, I struggled as she held me even more tightly than before, continuing her plea in a tongue I didn’t recognize.

  Something roared from behind, then all was quiet.

  After a few moments of violent swerving and the sound of brakes screeching, Laith recovered from the attack. Once he had the truck under control, he accelerated again even faster than before. I shrieked as the truck unexpectedly took another leap, the metal frame groaning loudly in protest. There was the sound of rubber on road, a loud screech as the rear wheels spun out, and then the tires grabbed hold of the blacktop. The vehicle stopped swerving and the ride smoothed out.

  I sighed in relief but still didn’t move from my position. Elisa’s arms around me now felt comforting, and I allowed her strength to settle my strained nerves.

  “How is she?” Laith asked as if I weren’t sitting right next to him.

  There was a click, and a dim light came on from overhead. “I’m not sure. Sarah, are you okay?”

  She took me by the hand and massaged my ice-cold fingers. Where had my gloves gone? I sat up halfway but leaned over weakly into Elisa for support.

  “What happened?” I whispered.

  “You tell us.” Laith asked me, his tone accusing.

  I narrowed my gaze at him, feeling my anger rise to my face. He looked back toward the road. The muscles in his jaw flexed.

  “Sarah?” Elisa questioned Laith, her voice an eerie calm. “What makes you think it was after Sarah?”

  “When have I ever been wrong?” he growled.

  “Never. Not about that. But why?”

  Laith hesitated. “I don’t know.”

  “Sarah, can you please tell us what happened? Do you have any idea?” she tried again, her tone pleading.

  “Why don’t you tell me?” I asked. “You both seem to know a lot more about this than I do.” I crossed my arms over my chest. It was childish, but I was done answering questions I had no answer to—at least none that made any sense.

  Laith reached over and opened the glove compartment. He grabbed his cell and turned it on. When I buzzed to life, he handed it to Elisa. “Call home.”

  Elisa took the phone from him, then paused.

  “What?” Laith asked.

  “We—we missed about twenty phone calls from Darius.” She gazed at Laith, confusion pulled at her expression.

  “Call home,” Laith repeated.

  Elisa dialed, hit the speaker button, and handed the phone to Laith. Ray picked up on the second ring.

  “Laith? Laith?”

  “Dad.”

  “What’s wrong?” Ray sounded worried.

  “We’re driving home. Someone… something was out there with us, and we were attacked.”

  Ray asked a series of questions in rapid fire succession. “Attacked? In front of Sarah? Did you see anything? Is Sarah okay? Is Elisa okay?”

  “We’re all fine.” Laith tried to soothe his dad. “The truck is another matter entirely, but we’ll assess the damage when we get home.” He shot me a sideways glance, hesitating. “I’m not sure what I saw. I saw something, but it was dark outside. I think we are going to have to talk. All of us. But I’m not stopping until I get Elisa and Sarah safely to our house.”

  “How long?”

  “An hour.”

  “I’ll be ready,” Ray said.

  “Is Darius there?” Laith asked.

  Ray hesitated before responding. “Yes. At least he was. I told him you had gone camping with a friend. He demanded to know where and I gave him some general directions. He left maybe an hour ago.”

  “We probably just missed him and now he’ll be out of range. Maybe it’s for the best. Somethings up with him. Be prepared.”

  Laith hung up and handed the phone to Elisa. “You two should rest. It’s going to be a long night.”

  “I think Darius left several messages. Should we listen to them?” Elisa asked.

  “No. Whatever it is, I have a feeling we will find out about it soon enough. Let’s deal with one situation at a time.”

  Elisa wrapped her arm around me, tucking me into her side. I allowed it, but didn’t rest as Laith had suggested. My mind was too full of questions of my own. Had a demon attacked me tonight? What was Elisa’s chanting about, and had that been the reason why the… the thing had stopped? And could Elisa have been right? Was I one of these humans that demons sought out?

  My head swirled in anticipation. I had been looking for an opportunity to ask Ray some questions about his angels.
It looked as if now I would get my chance.

  20

  Unusual Confessions

  Ray stood outside the back door, waiting with his arms crossed as we pulled into the driveway. Laith drove into the garage and threw the truck into park as his father shut the garage door behind us. Ray circled around the vehicle.

  Laith helped Elisa and I out of the truck on the driver side, as the passenger door was too damaged to open. Ray walked over and tucked the two of us into his chest.

  “I’m glad you’re safe.” Ray sighed in relief.

  “We’re okay.” I patted Ray’s shoulder, and he released me.

  “Son, have you seen it yet?”

  Laith shook his head and moved to assess the damage.

  “It’s bad—” Ray looked at me and stopped short. “Grab what you need and meet me in my office. We have a lot to discuss,” he said, then left the garage.

  I surveyed the truck. Both the side and back were severely dented, and the tailgate was almost completely pushed in. One of the tail lights had been broken as well, but what puzzled me was a large nail-like scrape down the side of the truck. My mind flashed back to my dream and the figure in the field. I shook my head. How could that be possible?

  Chills ran up my spine as Elisa traced her finger down the length of the scratch.

  “Girls, let’s get inside,” Laith called from the doorway.

  Elisa moved to follow, but I hesitated. I still hadn’t decided what I was going to tell them. This was all my fault. The attack on my friends and the damage to Laith’s truck. How could it not be? But I had tried to tell them, to warn them that I was a magnet for trouble. I was bad luck—a jinx.

  “We need to hurry,” Laith said as we passed through a rather large kitchen. “Ray’s already waiting in his office.”

  Elisa stopped him by the arm. “He’ll have to wait a little longer.”

  “Excuse me?” Laith looked hard at Elisa, obviously not having expected her objection. “Elisa, we need to talk now.”

  “No. We don’t.” Even though she stood an entire six inches shorter, she stared him down with her unmovable resolve.

  Laith blinked. “But…”

  “I’m not saying we won’t talk tonight, I’m saying not right now. It’s one-thirty in the morning. I’m confident that I can speak for the both of us when I say, we are tired, and we smell like campfire smoke and dirt. This conversation will wait until we’ve had a quick shower and a clean set of clothes. Then we will meet you both in Ray’s office.”

  “Ask Ray if he wouldn’t mind making a pot of hot chocolate. In the meantime…” Elisa scrunched up her nose, leaned over, and took a sniff of Laith. “You may want to bathe as well. You smell worse than both of us combined.”

  She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me away from an uncommonly quiet Laith. Calling over her shoulder she added, “Please bring Sarah’s bag into my room. Now.”

  She was only delaying the inevitable, but the gratitude that swept over me was palpable.

  I followed Elisa down two hallways and into a suite the size of Cheryl’s bedroom. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, above a gorgeous queen-size bed with a tufted headboard, white lace comforter, and complementing neutral-colored pillows. A lounge chair nestled near the window next to a table with a lovely vase filled with a dozen white roses.

  “Is… is this your room? Do you live here?” I turned on the spot, taking in as much detail as possible.

  “I do.”

  “But…”

  There was a knock on the door. Elisa answered it and came back carrying my duffle bag.

  “I didn’t ask you in front of Laith because I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, but would you be willing to stay the night here? I figured it would be a better option than driving you home and waking up Cheryl.”

  I sighed. “I didn’t even think about that. Yes, that would be nice.”

  “Wonderful. Here, take your bag, and I’ll lend you my most comfortable pajamas.”

  She waved off my gratitude and led me into the attached bathroom, which was even more impressive than the bedroom. White walls and tiled floors, an ivory and gray marble vanity, a walk-in granite shower big enough for two, and a gigantic stand-alone tub were just a few of the features.

  “This is beautiful. All of it,” I murmured.

  Elisa nodded in agreement. “Ray had it built for me. He spoils me way too much. But we’ll talk later. Right now, you shower.” She pressed a couple of soft white towels and a wash cloth into my hands. “You’ll find pajamas on the bed waiting for you. I’ll use the bathroom in the guest bedroom.”

  “The guest room has its own bathroom?” I asked. I had never been in a house as grand as Dr. Raymond Stevens’s.

  Elisa smiled at my appreciation. “All five bedrooms in this house have their own bathrooms, including Laith’s.” She turned to leave but poked her head back in. “But none of them are as nice as mine.” She winked and closed the door behind her.

  Steam covered the mirrors and window as I exited the shower. I wiped the mirror clean with my towel and looked at my reflection. My cheeks glowed pink from the warmth of the water. I tried to ignore the uncontrollable way my hands shook as I made an effort to comb through my wet hair, but it became painful to even hold the brush. It fell from my fingers and clattered to the sink. I leaned against the countertop for support, taking deep breaths and striving to regain control.

  “You’ve got this, Sarah,” I reminded myself, forbidding my body to go into shock.

  I reached up to grasp my chain, but it wasn’t there. I had left it back at Cheryl’s.

  “You’ve got this,” I growled. Grabbing the towel, I dried my hair the best I could, then braided it down my back. I walked back to the bed and found the pajamas Elisa laid out for me. There was a note attached.

  We’ll be waiting for you in the computer room. Fourth room on the right.

  Taking deep breaths, I dressed, trying to focus on the soft fabric of the wide-leg drawstring bottoms that flowed down to my toes instead of my thinly-stretched nerves. The matching cream top was a loose, long sleeved, V-neck that came easily past my hips. It was the most comfortable pair of clothes I had ever worn.

  Following the simple directions to the office I entered the cavernous space and quickly observed that the office was fundamentally a very large library.

  Both sides of the bright room were lined with white bookshelves that reached high to the vaulted ceiling, each filled to the max with books and magazines. Straight ahead, behind the thick black writing desk, was an oversize window with a built-in reading nook upholstered in creamy fabric and accentuated with soft pillows for lounging. In the center of the room sat a comfortable-looking gray couch and two paisley accent chairs.

  Elisa was waiting for me just inside, her damp hair pulled high into a loose bun on her head. “Feel any better?” she asked with a smile.

  “Yes,” I lied. “But you may never get these pajamas back.”

  As Laith came to bring us Elisa’s requested drink, he stopped just a few feet in front of me. Worry flitted across his face as he glanced over my fresh appearance and clean hair. I took the mug out of his hand before he could offer it to me and took a sip of the dark liquid, thankful for the warm chocolate that now coated my stomach in sweet goodness and calmed my nerves.

  Laith nodded for Ray to start.

  “I feel as if the best way to approach the subject is to go at it head on. You were attacked tonight by something out it the forest while you were camping. We need to figure out what it was and what to do about it. Sarah, Laith took the opportunity in your absence to fill me in where he could, but I feel that the rest must come from you.

  The nerves that had calmed with a nice warm shower and cup of hot chocolate suddenly came back full force as all attention turned to me. What could I say?

  “It started with a dream…” but then I stopped. My stomach twisted painfully.

  Could I trust them with my dreams, or wo
uld it be too much for them? Would they distance themselves from me like my father had?

  My dad’s face flashed in my mind. He used to care about helping me overcome the fear my dreams produced, but as I got older, he stopped listening. As time went by, the nightmares lessened but didn’t completely go away. Now they were back, and if tonight was any indication, were stronger than ever.

  But my dad had also taught me to trust my instincts, and they were telling me that I wasn’t alone anymore. Whatever this was, I had friends now—friends who wanted to listen, who wanted to understand.

  Ray took my silence as indecision. “Sarah, dreams are an essential part of life and nothing to be ashamed of. There is much to be learned from them. Throughout history people have seen dreams as gifts from the Gods—a way to know their will for us.”

  “But for some” Elisa said, “they can be a curse as much as a gift.”

  I nodded in agreement. “It was more like a nightmare, but I’ve had them all my life. This one was different from the rest, though.”

  Despite the awkwardness of the moment, I related the entire dream, not leaving out a single detail. As the particulars unfolded, their eyes grew large with astonishment, but while Laith and Elisa’s expressions were more alarmed, Ray’s face was filled with wonder—excitement even—as he took in every fact with a barely-suppressed enthusiasm.

  Silence filled the space between us as my dream came to a close.

  “Dang it,” Ray said. He took a few steps away from the group, then turned back around. “Would you mind retelling that dream so I can record it?”

  “Not the time, Dad,” Laith said.

  Ray grimaced. “I didn’t think so. Blast it.” He ran his hand down his face then looked toward Laith. “So, it did come for her?”

  Laith only nodded.

  “What form did it take on when it attacked?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t see it well enough.” Laith’s brows pinched together in frustration.