Him

The Great Depression was in full swing, and everyone was dirt poor. My large family was no exception. We lived on a Dusty old farm on the outskirts of a small Arkansas town in the middle of nowhere. I was the fifth second oldest of the children, at 7 years.

My oldest brother was 17. Every day, he'd take me to a little miscellaneous shop in town, run by a kindly old red faced man with a thick brown beard. He'd give us a free bag of candy in return for sweeping the small shop, then tell us a story, often of the wars he fought in. We'd watch, wide eyes and excited to hear of his heroism.

After the story ended, we'd run off and split the candy, often unfairly, and tell our wide eyed siblings the tale of the shopkeeper.

One day, however, we ran to the store, excited for the candy and stories this day had in store, but we were met with a red 'closed' sign on the door. We looked at eachother in dismay, then trudged home, disappointed.

The next day was the same, as was the next and the day after that.

Finally after a month of this, the shop was reopened, but the red faced hero was gone, and in his place was a blue eyed man with an untrusting gaze and a voice that made you squirm. We didn't visit the shop too often after the red faced man left, but finally we summed up the courage to walk in and ask where the red faced man went.

My brother walked in and I followed closely behind, gripping the tail of his shirt and watching the hollow blue eyes of the new man.

"Hello," my brother said. The blue eyes darted to us and I jumped.

"Hello." His words were quick and sharp, as though he couldn't be bothered with conversation.

"We were wondering what happened to.the old shopkeeper," my brother said. His voice was strong and unwavering, even as he looked into the cold, dead eyes of the man.

"He's passed."

"Passed?"

"Died. Deceased. Murdered."

"Murdered?"

"By... Him. "

"Him?" I gasped, startled.

He leaned close to us. I could smell his Minty breathe. He reached a long pale finger out and tilted my chin up. His cold eyes met mine and I shuddered. "Him." His voice wavered and he broke out in laughter. Evil, sadistic laughter.

"Who's that?" My brother asked. His voice was meek and scared.

"Him is a guardian of sorts."

"Huh? What's that mean?"

The man glanced up at the clock. "It's 6:30. Closing time. Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you. But, as a warning, the story of Him is not for children like you two."

My brother stood straight. "We aren't children. We can handle it!"

I ground my teeth in worry, and the man smirked. His eyes met mine. "Okay. Be back here tomorrow then. I look forward to it."

We left the store and I looked up at my brother.

"Danny I'm scared," I whispered. We walked down the dusty trail to our farm.

"Andrew, it's just a story. Don't worry about it. We'll listen to the story, and at the end of the day, we'll have a nice creepy story to tell the others. And, I'll stack Mister Buckle's gay for a quarter so we can get some candy. Yeah?"

I smiled. I was terrified, but Danny seemed to be so excited to hear the tale of Him, so I went with it. "Yeah," I said.

"Atta boy, Andy. Let's go."

~~~~

Danny was at Mister B's house until supper time. The next day rolled around, and I was terrified. Danny seemed so excited, but I walked around all day with a knot growing in my stomach. It got bigger and bigger.

The bell rang on schedule, and Danny came and got me, and we walked to town. I gnawed on my lip as we got ever closer to the little brown store on the street corner.

We walked in and I heard the little brass bell ring above us. The blue eyed man smirked, then pushed his long black hair out of his face and leaned forward.

"You've come to hear the story, yes?"

Danny nodded bravely. I grabbed his shirt tail and viewers.behind him.

"Good. First, though, I must reveal.the secret life of your beloved shopkeeper. You worked for him, right. Do you know his name, even?"

"N-no. How does this relate to Him?"

"Well you have to know why Him took the fellow. His name was Frank Murray. His family ran a bustling plantation way back before the civil war. When all the slaves were emancipated, they couldn't afford to keep the place running, so they had to sell half their land. Downsize. They eventually went out of buisness. Frank's grandfather created this shop to fund the family. He have it to his son, who gave it to Frank. Frank, however, had a secret passion. For years he befriended the young children of the town and gave them random jobs, then.rewarded them with sweets. Then, he'd tell them to sweep downstairs. They'd oblige, happily, and trek the several steps into the basement. Frank would listen, and when he heard the creaking of the last step, he'd slam the door and lock the deadbolt. Their screams wouldn't quite make it past the heavy wooden door."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Danny suddenly shot. I felt hot tears down my face. The man watched Danny and I, calm and collected.

"I don't lie. Would you like to see the basement. They cleaned the blood, but there's still scratches on the door and table. Stains on the bed."

I threw up. The man handed me a napkin and I wiped my mouth and cried. He cleaned up the sick and Danny cursed more at him.

He opened the door and I saw them. The deep gouges caused by the thin nails of children. Danny quieted and a tear fell from his eyes.

"It... It can't be true. He was..."

"A pedophile. A rapist. A murderer. He was an awful human.being. So He killed him."

"Who is He?"

"He is a demon, who feasts on the souls of the evil. Your death shop keeper was evil. His soul was black as night. So Him killed him."

"A... Demon?" I whispered. Fear shook my body. Too much occupied my mind at the moment, my head was absolutely whirring with thoughts.

"Yes."

"You're lying," my brother said. His jaw was clenched. "Demon's aren't real."

"Demons are real. They're created by man, though. The crueler the man, the eviller the demon."

"Huh?" I said.

"Yes. If you live life full of hatred and son, then when you die, your soul turns into a bloodthirsty demon who kills other like him.

"So... Who was Him before He died?" I asked.

A smirk graced the can't face and he leaned closer. His blue eyes met mine and his lips pulled over his teeth, bright white. They came to a deadly point at the end. My breathes caught in my chest and I fell back.

"Me."