Black Wings

Chapter 3: The Demon Inside (Part 1)

"Would you like fries with that?"

I quickly stopped looking around nervously and tried to smile at the McDonald's cashier, Mitch. "Uhmm, sure. Large fries, please." I deserved a cheat day after the mania I just went through.

A few minutes later, Mitch handed me my order from across the counter with a suspicious look. I snatched up my order of fries and a burger before he deemed me too criminal-ish to receive food. Not that I really blamed him for assuming the worst. I was covered in bruises, and the repeated slamming of my poor head into doors left dried up flecks of blood on my forehead. My band T-shirt and leather jacket completed the "emo chick is taking a lunch break from robbing a bank" ensemble. I knew he would never call the cops, though. This particular McDonalds was frequented by stoners and drug dealers galore. The manager would throw a hissy fit if his precious customers all got arrested. Especially since all the shady people didn't even stop the normal joes from stopping by. If you wanted a McDouble, you were getting a McDouble, even if you had to witness the occasional police standoff. It was certainly the truth for me, at least. This was the only McDonald's within walking distance of Randon High, and the medium speed chases in the parking lot were actually pretty entertaining.

I selected the table that was farthest away from the windows and entrances and sat facing them. I had to see if the crazy winged guy came swooping down to find me after I ran like crazy from that abandoned church. I had no idea how he'd gotten me from a room with no exits to a church just down the road. I also had no idea why he hadn't chased me when I took one look at his wings and ran away screaming. Maybe it was all just a messed up dream. Or maybe I was the crazy one. I already heard a voice in my head. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that I hallucinated the whole psychedelic encounter I'd just had.

"I was kidnapped by a winged guy that likes pink ducks," I whispered to my fries, still baffled.

"Cease speaking to your food. Arthur let you go now, but he will be back. That fool couldn't go more than a day without Lilith, and you are the only thing stopping him from what he wants."

"Shut up! You're not even real," I whispered back.

The lady sitting at the table across from me with her kids gave me a strange look. I didn't mind her. She couldn't possibly have heard me. She could probably see that I was talking to my fries, though. I did a little dance in my seat, and pretended I was mouthing the lyrics to the song playing quietly in the background as I turned my mild freak out inward. I was kidnapped. By a guy with wings. And he had so many pink ducks. I'm going insane. Insane with a capital I. It's finally happening, I've totally lost it this time. It's not just a stupid, bloodthirsty voice-

"Stupid?!" she hissed. "I was not the one who let that idiot take our body to his lair. I am not the one who is regrouping in a fast food restaurant!"

I don't criticize your life choices, Voice!

"Life choices?! I have none, because of you. Why will your puny human brain not die? Your idiocy is going to cost me my body."

Your body?! I wasn't sure if inner dialogue was capable of being screeched, but I was definitely screeching at my unwanted inner neighbor. "This is my body, and I want you to GET OUT!"

I ended that proclamation by angrily stuffing my mouth with a fistful of fries. She wasn't even real. Just a figment of my schizophrenic brain. I heard a choking noise and looked up to see the mom staring at me with a frightened expression. While her kids gaped at me open-mouthed, she frantically gathered all their things and ushered them out the door. That was fine. The kids shouldn't have been here anyways.

I shrank down into my seat and hid behind the McDonald's bag, hoping that I didn't accidentally draw any more unwanted attention to myself. I was usually much better at hiding my crazy, but this freakish day had all my defenses down. It was actually worse than the other freakish day I had, when I had to stab that cult guy who was trying to kill me. At least I could pretend that day existed only in my colorful imagination, but there was something about today that rang true. What if I wasn't hallucinating? What if I wasn't even crazy at all, and there was some supernatural explanation for everything that was happening to me? A horribly dark thought seeped into my mind. What if I actually murdered that man? No.No. It was just a hallucination. Everything was just a hallucination. None of it happened, and I just had to go on pretending that I was a normal girl with a normal brain.

God, I hated that I couldn't trust myself. The visions felt so real. I couldn't tell the difference from what was true and was fake. It was getting harder and harder to act like nothing was wrong, but something was so wrong in my head. Voice kept getting louder and more present. The minor glitches in my life morphed into major ones as things vanished into thin air, or just shattered into a million pieces for no reason. And the hallucinations... I'd never actually killed someone in one of them before. I didn't want to go back to that psychiatric ward. Everything was so blurry and surreal there. My time in there didn't feel substantial, like I was just an empty body going through the motions for years and years. I don't think I even remembered my name with all the meds being pumped into me. I couldn't go back. I wouldn't.

"Hey, pretty girl." I snapped out of my brooding thoughts to see a fit middle aged man in a checkered shirt and a long trench coat slip into the seat across from me. Please don't be another cult member, please don't be another cult member...

He jerked his head toward me in a nod. "Seems like some pretty good stuff you're on, huh? What is it? LSD? Meth?"

Oh no. He caught me screaming at my fries. I gave him a nervous chuckle. "Ah, no. I just had a really, really bad day."

He nodded knowingly. "Don't we all. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be feeling down. Want something to make it better? I only sell the good stuff."

"I don't have any money. I'm still in high school," I said, hoping that would deter him. Instead, his eyes lit up like christmas trees. Oh no.

He jerked his head at my food that I just bought. Double oh no. "No money, huh?"

I gave him a sheepish smile. "Unless two dollars and forty-three cents are going to get me anything?" Go away, go away, go away.

"Oh," he leaned in closer, giving me a suggestive look. "It can get you plenty, pretty girl."

Hell. No. "What exactly are you suggesting." I made sure to inject ice in my tone, so he'd get the hint and leave.

He reached over and stole two fries before I could swat his hand away. "A good time. I'd make it very worth your while." Gross.

"Look, my brother's waiting for me in the car. I'd better go." Pervy McPervert. I'd told him I was in high school, and his response was to proposition me for god knows what. There were some really sick people in the world.

I gathered all my food into my bag, refraining from stuffing a few more fries in my mouth before I left. I could indulge on the walk back to school. Before I could take two steps, Pervy grabbed my wrist and flung me towards my chair. "I didn't say you could leave, pretty girl."

Triple oh no.