Charlotte Gaspel: Demons and Ghosts

XII: Mercy

A great and noisy storm was being admired in the streets. The clouds were sending out lightning and thunder not so usual for a summer night. Charlie had spent almost four hours straight crying on his stretcher. It was not unusual to hear screaming and crying in a hospital, especially in the children's ward, so he received no comfort during those three long hours and fifty-five minutes.

Finally, the crying stopped and so did the rain. It was two o'clock in the morning (Happy Birthday!). Charlie's eyes were closed as were his nostrils; his stuffed monkey was covered in snot as was his embarrassing dressing gown. The minutes passed and the night grew quieter and quieter and darker, much darker.

Charlie's head was spinning so much that his thoughts were dizzy. "Are they really dead? Why did he tell me? What would happen to me now? Oh, no. What would happen to me now...?"

During that state of drowsiness, it is common not to perceive reality normally, but, something strange happened next, and it would hardly be identified as something created by the mind. Without warning, Charlie felt the gravity getting stronger or the stretcher trying to swallow him; his limbs were unresponsive and a faint ringing sound could be heard in his ears. Experiencing such a phenomenon, he quickly opened his eyes and saw the dark colours of the room slowly begin to fade. Everything was black and white and shaking at the same time. It wasn't an earthquake, nor was it a meteorological phenomenon, that would have been more comforting. What Charlie was actually experiencing was the manifestation of an entity from the depths of the underworld.

It was no exaggeration. Out of the darkness materialized what could be classified as a biblical demon. The main difference between the regular demon and the biblical demon is that the regular demon is usually used metaphorically to point to a mental disorder, such as insecurity or trauma. In contrast, the biblical demon is a bit more real; to be more specific, physically real, like the one Charlie was seeing at the time.

In Catholicism, demons are usually described as beasts of the underworld who live off human souls, and who serve Satan, the representative of evil and deception. At least one of those two things is false, and don't give it too much thought, demons serve no one. They are demons, why would they follow anyone else's orders? That's what angels are for.

The mysterious beast approached the stretcher. It had four large horns, four glowing eyes and four winged arms, two covering it from the waist down and two behind its back. Charlie looked at it with much, much confusion. He didn't believe that anyone had ever seen such a thing, even if the stories in his book had any truth in their ambiguous wordings.

Charlie's ears listened carefully as the big mouth of the mysterious monster said in a warm voice:

"I see you're in a rather awkward situation, aren't you?"

Charlie was awkwardly silent.

"I thought so," said the creature. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am a demon from another dimension, or as some call it, Hell, and I have a proposition to make."

"A proposition?"

"Well, you can call it a deal."

"Yes, I've read about that."

Despite their malevolent exterior, there is one thing that all the beings of the underworld follow, a single law that they do not break, and that is, no one breaks a deal. They couldn't, mainly because they would die if they did, and there is no afterlife in hell, so it suits them to be honest when they promise something.

"What are you proposing?" asked Charlie very calmly.

"I'm not going to lie to you; I'm looking for souls, and yours seems very accessible."