I asked him if he was the reason I did bad things, like the cartoons of the angel and the demon on the character’s shoulders trying to win his soul to their team. You gonna make me do bad in my life?, I asked him.
Eh, I don’t know., he said like he was a real person, I’m bored, I want to be your friend.
I think that was all I needed to hear. He had me at ‘eh.’
4.
I want to be your friend. Not like Chris though. I want to be your friend., he said like he really meant it.
How do you know Chris?
I have my ways. So new best friend, what are we getting into tonight?
I was really ready to sleep and if I had found the right position under my sheets I would have fallen asleep. But this was my new best friend. How could I say no?
No plans.
I’m sure there’s something we could get into., I could tell that he was smiling when he said it, it sounded like the kind of thing that made him happy.
This was one of those times, those foreboding, ominous times when you know you should pull out before things go horribly wrong. You’re enjoying the sound of your own thoughts, or just watching the backs of your eyelids, when you get what some call an epiphany only this wasn’t an inspirational awakening. It felt wrong, like I thought I was weird for the first time and I could understand why I made my roommate uncomfortable. I couldn’t see anyone, there was no one there and I was having a real, two sided conversation. I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t say no. Most people my age experience something similar to this when when they decide to text and drive or smoke for the first time, and my situation was worse because I was talking to my demon. And it turns out, he was just there to put me on the path to my own destruction faster than I was meant to find.
So I was in and I asked him what he had in mind for the night. And I was sure that whatever his suggestion was, I would go along with it. I would follow him to his apartment in hell if he asked cause who wants to be asleep when they could be having an adventure, doing shots in apartment 3b of the hell apartment complex Bond no doubt lived in. He could call all his demon friends and we could party like we were in heaven. All that sounded so much better than fantasizing about having Candace and her being proud to have me.
What do you think Candace would be up to tonight?
I knew she was in bed already, sound asleep, she works early Saturday mornings at the law school library.
I don’t know., I said, and I didn’t bother to ask how he knew Candace. I assumed it was the same way he knew Chris. Maybe since he was my demon he had a file folder of all my personal information. My height, weight, hometown, parents, brothers and sisters, obsessions. I could imagine the folder, probably red cause I have no reason to believe that the Hell Department of Demon Assignments would have any other color, with my name, Fletcher Stark, printed on a label that the head receptionist in the demon office placed carefully on the tab.
I’m not really obsessed though, just like my hobbies aren’t burning things or making people feel sorry for me. Those hell files are all wrong, but I figure that’s what they probably say. There’s not much else to say.
Then my demon suggests that I go check on Candace.The way a person, or a demon, gets ideas in his head to do things is beyond me. Maybe after a long time of inaction, contemplating the repercussions a particular action could cause, he finally snaps and his body moves him to a place where there’s no turning back and he has no choice but to do what he has been building up the courage to do. I figured that’s how I would encounter Candace for the first time. I would get tired of waking up earlier than I needed to just to see her walk by and finally my body would make my mouth work to talk to her. I could never imagine what it would be like, what I would say or how she would react, but I always figured it would just happen and I would be able to sleep thirty minutes later cause either she would blow me off completely or I could see her some other time that wasn’t thirty minutes before my first class. But when you have a demon, one that is bored with his life, maybe he was fired from his day job bartending in some sleazy hell bar, cause they all have to be sleazy right, and he comes to you late one night introducing himself in his sly James Bond voice, you are bound to take leaps even your body isn’t comfortable with.
I could do that, but I knew that normally I couldn’t and this was just a special case. Maybe I was trying to impress him or maybe I really just wanted to go. Whatever the reason I flung off my covers and threw on the pants I wore that day. I was out the door and at the elevator in no time, the up button already pushed, and next thing I know I’m taking the slow ride to the sixteenth floor, I live on the fourth, to check on Candace, maybe even smell her perfume.
(in Hell)
“What did you do then, Fletch?” The man with the horns is almost growling with delight, like his pleasure at hearing the naked and burned Fletcher recount his story is affecting his mouth.
Fletcher seems to smile, Silas leans in close to see if he can tell, and he hears Fletcher chuckle.
“You got me into this. You were there then?” Fletcher is almost laughing but it is a grotesque sound coming from the horror of his burned body with ashes where skin should be and falling off when Fletcher moves an inch to expose his flesh underneath; Silas winces away from it. “I’m not crazy,” Fletcher continues.
The man with the horns nods, “You are, I wasn’t actually there with you, I was only in your mind because you are particularly susceptible to possession and you have a link to my friend here,” he gestures toward Silas who is confused. “I need him to understand that this is very real and he should appreciate it more.”
Silas is suddenly afraid and the man with the horns stands behind Fletcher. “Finish your story, my friend, Halloween will be truly frightening for Silas this year.”
(Crazed and Confused Part 2)
The whole ride up, all I could see was fire, it was in my head. It wasn’t bad either, it was a good fire, the kind you get warm next to with someone you really care about. I could see me and Candace snuggling up close to each other and just enjoying the night. I didn’t want to hurt her, but as soon as she saw me, she was scared of me. I couldn’t see myself though, maybe I looked crazy. I just wanted to have a moment with her. Even though she was scared, she was still so pretty, nobody has eyes like hers. And I wanted to make her feel better.
Her dorm is pretty big, but the floor was empty because it was pretty late, and I didn’t want her to wake people up, I just wanted to talk to her. But I saw she was about to scream so I pushed in the door and I guess I hit her with it, and I grabbed her and covered her mouth before she could scream. She smelled really nice.
What did you do next Fletch?
I had to make sure she wouldn’t make too much noise because I had plans for us, I just needed time to show her what I had in my head. I tied her to the bed, covered her mouth and I started that fire that we needed to fall in love with each other.
How big was the fire Fletch?
It was huge, I used her hairspray because its impressive to control that big whoosh of flame, like you’ve got superpowers, and then everything is covered in it, everything is orange. I sat down next to Candace and I covered us both in her blankets and pillows, and we snuggled up close, and we ignored the people pounding on the door.
(in Hell)
“You made him do that?” Silas is disgusted, but he is somewhat amused at the delight the man with the horns seems to have at the prospect of presenting him with a scary story for Halloween.
“I did, and all of this serves a purpose. Fletcher, tell Silas who you are.” The man with the horns says. “What is your father’s name and where does he live?”
“Carl Stark,” Fletcher says and tells the man with the horns his address. Silas knows the address, it is in his neighborhood. Silas stands with a start but before he can say anything, the man with the horns holds up a hand to silence him.
“You have to wake up to find the end to this horror story.”
Silas wakes up in a hospital, a familiar scene, and his wife is there with his neighbor, Tyler, and a few of the other guests from his his party who were concerned when they saw he was hit by the rock. It hit him hard enough that he needed stitches, but his doctor said he would be fine and was probably only out so long because he was exhausted and probably drunk. After his wife kisses him and his daughters ask if he is OK, Tyler stands next to his bed.
“I’m so sorry man, I’m going to take care of all the bills,” he says.
Silas laughs, “Yeah you are, and keep that crazy kid away from me.”
They laugh and then Tyler turns suddenly, remembering that he’d forgotten something. “Hey Carl, get over here.” Tyler turns back to Silas, “this guy kept you from bleeding out while the ambulance came. He was on it before anybody else noticed you got hit. This is Carl Stark.”
Silas recognized him from before, he was the man with the crazy son in college, and Silas had just been with the boy in hell.
PRL Serials 