Demons Lie

Chapter 1

  The thing about hospitals is that you never really know what’s going on behind the scenes. Unless you work there, that is. The patients and guests though, they really have no clue. Especially when someone you love is given three weeks to live. You never know what the doctors and nurses are thinking up back there. You never know if they are going to decide if all hope for the patient is lost and ask to pull the plug, or if they’ll wait it out.

  The question, whether or not to pull the plug, is never easy. For the doctors, they’re asking if they can end someone’s life. For the patient’s loved ones, they have to make the decision. It hurts the most when you know the question is coming any day now, and the only person at liberty to give an answer is a drunken man, who doesn’t give a damn about his wife and son.

  I sat in the waiting room, biting my fingernails to the bone, and staring at the white and green checkered tile floor. The constant beeping of heart monitors and various other medical instruments reminded me of what was happening. My mother was in surgery. I had a feeling that she wasn’t going to make it through the next couple of days. Not with her stage four brain cancer.

  They first discovered the tumor in August. She went to the doctor because she was having these god awful headaches. The examined her for a few hours and finally came across it. Big, gray, and life-eating, it sat deep in her brain where it was difficult to operate. They told us that it was cancer.

  I never imagined sitting in a room full of other people, awaiting my mother’s fate. I always thought she’d live until I was married and had children. She always told me that she wanted to see grandkids. I told her that she would, but that was before. Before this cluster of spreading, diseased cells ruined everything.

  People rushed back and forth between rooms. I didn’t know anyone here except Dr. Green. She was my mom’s doctor, and she promised me that she would do everything in her power to prevent me from going motherless.

  The minutes turned into hours, and before I knew what was happening, Dr. Green was standing in the doorway of my mother’s room, a sad smile on her face. My heart stopped. The surgery must have gone wrong.

  “I have some bad news. Mr. Iero, your mother is resting as of now. The surgery didn’t go exactly according to plan. You can stay the night here, or you can go home, it’s your choice. Your mom, her tumor couldn’t be completely removed. I’m truly sorry, Frank, but the surgery couldn’t stop the tumor from attacking her brain stem. We’re looking at three weeks at most. I’m sorry.” Dr. Green put her hand on my shoulder. I stared into her deep brown eyes in horror. I didn’t need to know all of this tonight.

  I turned away and slowly walked back to the couch. I sat there, just watching the commotion around the hospital. People entered, people exited. The doctors paced around hallways with clipboards. I don’t know how long I sat there, but I do remember why I left.

  “Hey, kid,” an unknown voice asked from behind me. “just turn around. I have an offer. And offer involving your mom.”

  My ears perked up. I gingerly turned around to face a tall, brown haired man. He wore a tee shirt and a red plaid flannel with jeans. His face was covered in scruff. He leaned against the wall of the building, sipping a beer.

  “What do you want?” I muttered. The man smiled.

  “I think I have a solution to your unyielding peril.” He smirked and walked towards me. “You have to promise that you’ll at least hear me out, even if it sounds crazy.”

  I nodded.

  “Okay, about three miles east, there is this dirt road. It leads to the next town in Jersey. Technically there’re two roads. They create cross-roads. Now here’s where it gets crazy, but listen to what I have to say. At every cross-road, there is a demon. They make deals with humans that need something. The thing is granted in exchange for the person’s soul, which is takes in x amount of years depending on the demon.”