Demoni

24

I was trembling with fear, balling. Mr. Forester was in the corner, talking to the priest about the incident. I heard the church doors creak open, and in ran Tommy.

"Lee, I came as soon as I heard." I turned around to face him. He sighed and put his arm around me. He vigorously tried to comfort me. I looked at the tiny pieces of glass statue, shattered on the ground. I thought it was over. I thought I could start over in this town, and I was dead wrong.

I dreaded going back to the house, and I was sure I'd never have to fear my home again. I did, I had to fear it a lot.

When I walked in, Papa ran up to me and hugged me tightly. "Where have you been?!" He asked, wiping my puffy eyes. "We were so worried." Tommy rubbed my back, like he did when I was panicked. "I went to the church." I stuttered. I was to shaken up to finish the story. I rushed up the stairs, and into my parents room. Mama was on her knees sweeping up the glass from the holy shelf.

She dropped the dust pan, and sprinted over to me, and held my face in her hands. Mama was to worried to even ask where I was. She began to deny that it was happening again. She didn't want to go what we had gone through again, so she avoided it.

When Tommy was with me he made me feel safe. Walking side by side with him made me feel a little bit better than I would've been without him. We walked out on to the driveway, where his car was waiting.

"Aleece, I want you to call me tonight. If you're scared, call me at any time." He pleaded."I promise."

He hopped into the front seat of the car, and pulled away.

I came inside and sat at the dinner table. Mama had cooked pasta with sauce, and now that we started having a "normal" life again, we had to talk at the supper time.

"Did you make any new friends today?" Mama asked, sitting down. Amelia nodded. "I made friends with this girl named Sarah." Ralphie chimed in. "I made friends with Nico in my class." Mama smiled and nodded like she was actually interested. Papa glanced over at me. "How about you Aleece?" I was in a trans, thinking about how my heart had dropped when I saw that big statue tipping over.

Papa asked again, and I finally looked up. "Yeah, I met a girl named Heather." We all smiled, but remained in dead silence for the rest of supper.

I walked up the stairs and into my room. I climbed onto my bed, and stayed there staring at the ceiling. I remember waking up to boiling hands on my throat. I remembered falling out of a window, and being dragged under the surface of the lake. I remember being dragged down the stairs, and taunted and possessed. All of it came back to me at once, and have me a migraine.

I shut off my lamp and climbed into bed, I only slept for about two hours. I was awoken by a deep, raspy giggle.

I climbed out of bed and walked into the guest room. I looked at the clock, the clock read 2:22. Ralphie was in the room, crying. He was staring at a man in a black sweat jacket, who's face was shadowed. I ran to Ralphie and picked him up, and tried to run out of the room. The door slammed right in my face. I cried silently, because this wasn't a dream. I knew how this story ended.

I got on my knees and watched the clock turn to 2:23. I held Ralph's hands, and kissed his forehead. "I love you." I whispered. The man called out to me. "Y'know, you got my wife and daughter. You just forgot about me." He pulled out a match and lit it on the ground. He burned the floor boards.

That night, was the last night I ever saw my family. I was the only survivor of the fire, and this time it wasn't a dream. My family was dead. Mama, Papa, Ralph, and Amelia. All of them were dead.

Ralph Dominic Dimatteo wouldn't live to meet his wife, kiss a girl, and be a father. Amelia Giana Dimatteo wouldn't kiss a boy, and she wouldn't get married or have children either. My parents wouldn't live to see me graduate high school or college. They wouldn't live to become mother in laws or father in laws. Or even become grandparents.

I had the only right for my legacy to live on. After all, I was the only one alive to tell the story.