Dead!

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

It was a demon. Well, maybe it was an extremely realistic gargoyle, but I couldn't tell. Whatever it was, it had gray, scaly skin covering its skeletal frame, curved horns protruding from its head, folded bat-like wings, and glowing red eyes, and it had just landed in Jack and Henri's backyard.

The photographer in me wanted to run back home, grab my camera, and take a picture, but I knew that wasn't safe. This thing looked dangerous. The demon began to look around, taking in the scenery. It doesn't seem too harmful, I thought.

All of a sudden, the demon lunged towards the fence that surrounded the backyard and tore it down, roaring and screaming as it did so. When it had created a hole large enough for it to crawl through, it jumped through the hole and ran across the street towards our neighbor's house.

Two more demons appeared in the sky above us and dropped down into the backyard. One looked a little bit more humanoid, still retaining patches of pale skin and his brown eyes, but the other was even more alien than the first. Both of them immediately ran towards the house and began to scratch at the door with their claws.

That was when Jodi ran into the room. "What are you doing up here?!" she exclaimed. "Get down into the basement!" Jodi, Jack, Henri, Raj, and I all rushed into the basement and Jodi locked the door.

All of us huddled together in one corner of the basement as we heard screams coming from upstairs. "What...what's going on?" Henri finally asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. What if the demons try to attack Grandma and Maya? I thought. I can't be there to help them. I immediately pulled out my phone and texted Grandma.

MochaKitty5: Grndma, all of these scary demon things are running around!! Im a little scared, but Im still at Jack and Henri's house, so Im safe for now. Txt me back 2 let me know that u r ok.

I didn't get a response back at first. I was a little bit worried, but I figured that Grandma just hadn't checked her texts yet. I put my phone back in my pocket. "Mom, has this sort of thing ever happened before?" Jack asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"It's happened a few times since I've arrived," Jodi replied. "Sometimes, demons from Hell band together to attack Heaven. They've been doing this for as long as anyone can remember. This will pass, I promise."

"How will we know when they're gone?" Raj asked.

"Once all of the noise stops, we'll probably be okay," Jodi said.

"Why do they look so scary?" Henri asked.

"I don't know," Jodi said. "I do know that they used to appear human - some of the younger ones still do - but Hell changes you."

"So these demons just come from Hell and attack Heaven just for fun?" Jack said. "That's just scary."

"We'll get through this," Raj said. "We just have to wait this out. They can't kill us, since we're already dead, so this can't be that bad, right?"

"Sometimes they take people back to Hell with them," Jodi said. "I don't know what they do to those people, but it can't be good."

"But we're safe," Raj said. "The demons can't get to us here."

I listened and heard all sorts of noise from upstairs. The demons were almost certainly wreaking havoc around our peaceful town. I was just terrified that they would find a way to break through the door and get to us in the basement. Maybe it was a little bit selfish of me to only worry about myself, but I was afraid, and fear brings out the worst in all of us.

Finally, my phone buzzed. I took it out and saw that Grandma had messaged me back.

Anne_Livingston: Thanks for messaging me. Maya and I are fine too. Please come back home after all of this is over.

I put my phone back and leaned against the wall. I could hear footsteps as the demons ran around over us, and various thuds and crashes as they destroyed everything in sight. You were almost one of them, I reminded myself. You're lucky to be here instead of there. I tried to shake those thoughts out of my head, but it wasn't working.

I looked at the clock. We had been down here for nearly an hour, and the demons were still here. Would they ever go back to Hell? I began to wonder if waiting it out was really the best option. I was safe here, but what if the demons didn't leave? What would we do then?

By this point, Raj was playing a game on his phone, and Jack, Henri, and Jodi were talking to each other. Henri was mostly worrying about his oboe Calypso, while Jack was just spouting out random facts as usual.

That was when the noise finally stopped. "I think they're gone," Henri said.

"Is it safe to go back up?" I asked Jodi.

"Someone needs to go check," she said.

"I'll go," Raj and I said at the same time.

"You can go," Raj said.

"No, you can go," I responded.

"Ivy, just go check," Raj said. "I'll stay here."

"Okay," I said. I climbed upstairs and unlocked the door. As I opened the door, I saw that the demons had indeed gotten into the house. Several of the cabinets in the kitchen had been opened, and their contents had been smashed on the ground. The TV in the living room had been completely destroyed as well, and the walls were covered in scratch marks.

I looked out the window, and saw that we were the lucky ones. One of the houses on our street had been burned down. The good news was that the demons seemed to be gone.

I continued to look around at all of the destruction, and as I did, I finally noticed something that I probably should have noticed earlier.

There was an unfamiliar boy standing in the kitchen.