It will not end until we stand up and say
“NO MORE.”
Check out this article by Charles French.
Tag: evil
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TO DIE AND NOT TO DIE
“Ever since the day I walked into that specialty shop, a dark fury has twisted in my gut, weaving threads of poison through my body. I’ve been gnawed to a papery shell. Stomach, lungs, liver, kidneys, heart; all have fallen to this festering termite. Now I’m a puzzle with missing pieces.”
I pause and glare as a nurse checks the machines I’m wired to. Her patronizing smile waves over me, but there’s no eye contact. They’re all like that, waiting for me to die already. It’s been months since I fell ill. My gaze returns to my ghostly guest as soon as she departs.
“See what I’ve become? A rag doll with no substance. Death rings, but runs when I answer its call like an auto-dialer. I’m tired of waiting, tired of all the well-wishers who hover with painted grins. Their pity is more torment than the evil inside me.
The ghostly figure tilts its head. “What are you saying, Barry?”
“I want to live.”
“You could give in to it.”
“And become a shade? Never.”
“There’s a price for what you ask.”
“There always is. I’ll pay it.”
Laughter rings out as a glowing hand touches my forehead. Heat rushes through my body. When my eyes clear I’m back in the shop. A young man reaches for a package. I move without hesitation and smack his hand away.
“That’s concentrated Carolina Reaper juice, you idiot! It’s stronger than a habanera pepper. It’ll destroy you.”
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S’SERPYC
Shredded wood bobbles in the water near my oasis of dry land. Cousin Jack’s name blazes across what’s left of his johnboat. My heart sinks. He was supposed to meet me here, rescue me from that demented prison.
“You didn’t really think this little prison break would work, did you, Bobby?” says Warden Carson. “We’ve had this place staked out all week.”
I spin around. The warden drags Jack’s mangled body from behind the ancient cypress and dumps it on the ground. One of the warden’s hounds sits next to him, Jack’s severed arm clenched in its mouth. I’ve had first-hand experience with that hell hound and its friends. Scabs and old burns still decorate my body.
Tears sting my eyes, but there’s no time to grieve. Turning a blind eye before got me sent away on trumped up charges. Carson had to be stopped. My bare feet press into the island’s soft mud. I was raised in this swamp, know things the warden doesn’t. I reach for the swamp’s pulse, the life that most people don’t notice. Energy surges. The hairs stand up on my arms.
“Help,” I whisper. “I beseech you.”
Carson laughs. “Ain’t no one here to help you now, Bobby.”
But there is. The cypress groans, bends as if struck by a sharp wind. Two moss covered branches swoop down on the warden and his pet. A scream—then nothing. I fall to my knees. A mossy hand touches my bowed head, fills me with its power.
“Thank you, mighty S’serpyc, spirit of the trees.”
My new path lies back at the prison. This time there is no hesitation.
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Till Dark
All was quiet in the dimming light. Amber reflections on the still waters belayed the terror that hid there, waiting, lurking, ready to feed on the unsuspecting foolish enough to venture near. More than a dozen had already vanished, but few bodies had been found, mutilated, torn almost beyond recognition. Deputy Aldridge gripped the talisman around his neck, praying for guidance and protection. A faint circle of salt and sand surrounded him, symbols delineating protective spirits and corners. Gary had been the first taken, dabbling in things beyond his understanding and ability. Now it was up to Aldridge to make it right, to banish the ancient evil Gary awoke.
Darkness descended and with it the roar of boiling water. Shadowy tendrils whipped out of the lake, seeking a new victim to quench its thirst. Aldridge began chanting, calling to the great spirits to send the demon back to the land of shadows. His hands shook with fatigue as he fought off the terror the creature exuded. Water demon, ancient and evil, exiled by his ancestors. Aldridge’s will began to crumble against the demon’s power. Just as he thought all was lost, energy poured into him, drawing him away from the abyss. Aldridge sensed his father, grandfather, and other ancestors standing beside him. Light flashed, surrounding the demon. It roared in pain and fury as it was dragged back into the void, sealed away where it could do no more harm.
… Until another fool called it back to this world.