Demon Breathing Down My Neck

Chapter Three: Come Inside and Play With Me

My fingers grip the branch so tightly that the rough edges of the bark bite into my skin. Abruptly, I let go of the branch and drop to the soft grass. "Hell! Literally, hell!"

Kayla stares up at the dolls' feet hanging over the edge of the crevice. "What?!"

"I guess you're letting me know that you know I'm here," I mutter.

"What do you mean?!"

"I wasn't talking to you, Mrs. Smith."

Kayla gets quiet. After a little bit, she whispers, "Then, who were you talking to?"

"I think you know very well." I grab the jagged, hard bark of the branch again and pull myself up to Demonella's level. I grip her by her dusty little foot and hold her out for Kayla to take behind my back.

As soon as I don't feel the doll's weight in my hand anymore, I hear Kayla gasp. "Oh my! Was this in the treehouse?!"

I quickly collect the other doll parts and drop back down to the weeds. "And also, these. Any clue as to who put them there?"

I closely study Kayla's face. Her lower lip is trembling. Wetness balls up in the corners of her rainy eyes. "These-these things was here this whole time. And we didn't know it. This house must have a history." She wipes at her eyes. "No wonder we got it so cheap."

Hmm. She said things. Not thing. "You got this place cheap?"

She nods slowly. "It was a dream deal for Jayden and me. We had to jump on it." She smacks herself gently on the forehead as she stares at the headless black-eyed baby in my arms. "Now, I'm starting to wish we hadn't."

"Who were the former owners?"

"We never met them. Just their realtor."

I rub my chin. "What was their realtor like?"

Kayla shrugs. "Just a regular realtor."

"Describe him or her, please."

"He was a short, gray-haired white man. He was really nice to us."

"I guess I should've been more specific. Did he have any symbols on him? Tattoos? Strange jewelry? Pentagrams? Snakes? Dragons? Anything along those lines? Or anything obviously from a religion other than Christianity, especially the ancient gods?"

Kayla shrugs again. "I don't think so. I don't really remember."

"Are you sure? What was his name? There's a reason I'm asking."

"I don't really remember his name either." Kayla looks down at the grass. "I'm not really helping, am I?"

"The Starfall Institute has been watching demon realtors and trying to imprison them for a while now. There seems to be an influx of- "

"Are you saying our realtor was a demon?!"

"Very well could have been."

Kayla hugs herself. "I hope he wasn't."

"What company was he with? Do you remember the name of his realty business?"

Kayla shakes her head. The warm breeze blows wavy strands of black hair across her blank face.

"Interesting. The fact that you can't tell me these things makes me think... you may have been influenced to forget them. If your husband can't answer the same questions, my suspicions will be confirmed. What other memories could they have wiped from your mind?"

Kayla shakes her head again. "You're freaking me out!" She holds Demonella out at me. "This is freaking me out!" She throws the doll on the softly stirring grass.