Crystal

Chapter 4: Pale

           After three movies Rob and I went outside for a cigarette. I wouldn't smoke in the house.

"So, all these missing people I keep hearing about in this town, is that normal here? Because it’s a little weird." I figured I asked since he's been here for a while.

"It's kind of weird I guess. It's been this way for as long as I can remember."

“No one has ever been arrested? Any suspects?”

"No. Not really anyways."

"Not really? What the fuck does that even mean?"

"I mean, I guess if you believe that sort of thing but they say it's something out of the supernatural. Like it’s a demon that’s responsible for it. No one knows how long it has been here, or where it came from. But all the stories say he stalks  people, and then he tears them to shreds, literally."

I laughed. I mean I don’t really believe in the supernatural but that's a little over the edge. "Do the people here believe that? The families believe that?"

"Yeah they do actually. They won't bring their kids to the park. They're home before it gets dark. It's insane."

"Do you believe it?"

He tilted his head as to think before he answered. Then he shrugged. "I haven't seen any demon here." We both chuckled and went back inside to watch another movie.

Rob got a phone call during the movie. He was invited to a party and asked if I wanted to go. I said yeah since I had no reason to be up early tomorrow. He went into his house and gave me a spare black helmet and we drove on Rob’s motorcycle and got there in sixteen minutes. We arrived at one of the apartment buildings I had passed by when I was moving in. It was a little surprising to see one light on in the building and I was assuming that was the location of the party.

We got upstairs and entered the small apartment. It wasn’t too crowded but there were about 15 maybe 20 people in there. Some 90’s rock music was playing low on the radio. There was a small group of people in the kitchen playing what looked like a drinking game that involved a lot of shot glasses and multiple whiskey bottles. Another group was sitting in the living room that was directly in front of the door having a discussion on people they knew in high school.

Rob introduces me to Greg and Anthony, the hosts of tonight’s shindig and we sat down with them and two others and were passed a joint. Obviously because of that, I felt relaxed and found myself enjoying a conversation about some of my favorite bands. Of course it got a little bit heated when someone had said they hated Motley Crue but after a few points that I made a some jokes thrown around, it calmed down and we were all back to laughing.  After an hour the topic came up.

"The pale demon.”  Anthony said. "That's what they’ve been fucking calling it."

"Why pale?" Rob asked with a laugh.

"Because he's very fucking pale. He’s also very tall, and he can stretch his limbs out, he blends in with the trees."

"So he's what every middle school girl wants to look like! Except for the pale part." Someone states laughing at Greg's comment. The room erupted in laughter as well after that.

"How do you know what he looks like anyways?" I asked.

Anthony stopped laughing and he dropped his, looking down on the floor. "Because Craig had told me about it when he saw him."

Slowly everyone had stopped laughing. The drinking game in the kitchen even quieted down to look at Anthony.

"What?" Greg asked.

“I’m serious.”

“That’s not funny Ant.” Greg said.

“After he was gone, I started to see it too.”

“Bro, that’s really not cool.” Rob spoke up. I looked over and noticed he looked very irritated. This whole Craig thing was definitely a sensitive subject.

"He followed me home after work last week. He always stood a few feet behind me. Every time I would turn around he would be next to tree, behind a fence, in a corner of a building. He would just stand there and stare at me. His face is… he just is fucking… I don’t know but it scares the shit out of me. He just was everywhere I looked. I've been seeing him for days."

I wanted to chuckle. But something about the way he was trying to describe the demon was odd. He seemed disturbed every time he had tried to describe it as if the appearance was coming back to his mind and bringing back an awful memory.  

"Dude, you're not serious.” One of the party members said.

“Stop fucking around." Greg said.

"No I'm not. I'm serious."

            “You’re trying to be funny. You would have said something if you saw this thing.” Greg said.

            “Would you believed me if I did? I didn’t believe Craig either.” Anthony said.

            He looked Greg in the eye and Greg’s expression changed. He looked like he was starting to believe Anthony’s story. I almost believed it too. Maybe I did, but I just didn’t want to. I was never a supernatural kind of person. When Leza died, I blocked out any thoughts of ghosts and heaven and hell.

            But after having that nightmare, and thinking of all the deaths that go on, people going missing, Anthony’s story, it was starting to open up my mind a little bit to the possibility of some kind of phenomenon. But I shook that away by thinking there could have been an explanation to it all. Like whoever is behind these deaths wears a costume and stalks its victims or scares the town people here.

            Just then there was a sound outside the door and we all turned to look to see a shadow underneath of someone standing outside the door. All of a sudden everyone had shifted uncomfortable in their seats.  Anthony’s face dropped.

            “Shit.” Anthony said.