My Husband: The Devil

Shadow Man

It's the end of the weekend and I'm sitting in my bed on Sunday night, trying to sleep. But as usual, I can't. I think I might be a werewolf. I groan and sit up. It's one in the morning. I get out of bed and turn on the light and dim it low. I look around my room. It's cold and empty. And, everything is black. Of course. I have a few whites and grey clothes and if I'm in a good mood, dark green and blue and blood red. I get up and out of my room, turning off the light. I get in the kitchen and grab a whole bottle of sleeping pills. Then my mom comes into the kitchen. "Ree-Ha, what are you doing up? It's very late!" She is in her robe, her hair in curlers. I have to do my best to not snicker at the sight of her. "Relax mom, I'm getting pills to sleep", I say. My mom yawns and leans on the counter. "Well, you woke me up with all the noise you're making", she says. "I don't know if I can go back to sleep." "Sleeping pill?", I offer it to her. She looks at me and sighs. "Thanks", she says and takes it. She looks at me for a while. "What?", I say. My mom shakes her head. "You know, just once I wish you'd try pastels. Or some color that's not all dark and dreary", she says. I smile. "I like looking dark and dreary. And the day I try pastels is the day Dad comes back to life." I turn away from my mother and start washing a green apple. They were always Dad's favorites, so naturally, they were mine too. I remember when me and my dad would cut up green apples and watch the sun set together while eating our apples. 

My mom comes up to me. "Listen Ree-Ha, I know how hard it's been since your father died", she said. "It's affected me, but it's affected you even more. I almost lost you after you got....." Her voice trails off. I look at her, and I can see tears forming in her eyes. "Just say arrested", I tell her. "There's no point in trying to chalk up the truth. I'm nothing but a thieving dirtbag." My mom slams her hand down the counter. "Don't you talk that way!", she says. "That is not who you are!" I put down the apple and knife. "Oh really?", I tell her. "Then tell me, who am I?" She steps forward. "You're my daughter", she says. "And I swear, from now until I die, I will take care of you and help you, because that's my job, whether you like it or not." She walks to her room and closes the door. I watch her go. Then I go back to cutting my apple. I don't care what she says. I know what I am. And she can't change me, no matter how hard she tries. I'll always be that rebellious drug dealer and stealer. I stare at the half-cut apple in my hands. "I wish you were here Dad", I say quietly. "Things would be different if you were."

The next day.....

I got up and got ready for school. I passed by my mom's room. She was fast asleep. It was her day off, so I decided not to wake her up. I left the house and I went to school. It was dull and boring and happy as usual. I actually fell fast asleep in math class. Out cold. I was dreaming and I thought I heard someone calling my name in the distance. But in reality, it was my math teacher yelling my name to wake me up. "JOO REE-HA!!!!!", my teacher screeched, and it woke me up so fast I fell out of my chair. Everyone in class laughed until my teacher gave them the signal to be quiet. Then she turned her attention to me. "I suppose you think your sleep is more important than my class, don't you?" "No ma'am", I mumbled. "Well, it looks like it! Ree-Ha, this is a school. And you come to this school to learn. Not to catch up on your beauty rest, is that clear? Ree-Ha? Ree-Ha, answer me! Ree-Ha!" I had fallen asleep while she was talking. She takes a ruler and she slams it on my desk. I snapped awake. She's glaring down at me. "Uh, yes ma'am I promise", I say dumbly, and some of the students titter, until she gives the students a death look and they go back to writing notes. Then she turns back to me. "Since you have trouble staying awake in my class, you can practice. In detention, after school. Understood?" I sigh and nod. She goes back to teaching class. 

Great. I'm only halfway through school and I already managed to get detention. 

Later on.....

In detention.....

The day went by faster than I thought. I was sitting in the back of math class, in my seat, alone. My teacher was sitting down in her seat, typing down something on her computer. The clock on the wall ticked loudly. It had just finished raining outside, and it was only drizzling. The sky and clouds were gray, and I just wanted to get the hell home before it started raining again. I looked at my math teacher again. She was still typing. And I was still waiting. Then for what seemed like an eternity later, my math teacher looked up at me. "You may go now Ree-Ha", she says. I grabbed my backpack and got out of my seat. "Thank you ma'am. Goodbye", I say in a monotone voice. I get up to leave without meeting her eye. She looked as if she were about to say something to me, but she doesn't. Good. I didn't need some fakeass speech about how she's always there if I need to talk, or that if I need help, just contact her. I've heard all that crap before, and I didn't need to hear it again.

I walked out of school, and I could see it was starting to get foggy. Luckily, I had a flashlight with me and I used it to guide myself home. I decided to take a shortcut through an alley near my home since it was getting late, and I didn't want to be outside for long. The fog was getting thicker, and even with the flashlight, it was getting harder to see. But I could distinctly make out the sound of crunching in the distance. I went closer and I could see a dumpster. I turned off my flashlight and looked. 

There was a tall dark figure sitting down at the edge of the dumpster. He was eating.....something. He had something gripped tightly in his hands. I squinted. It was a squirrel. Then he shoved the squirrel in his mouth and started chewing it. I watched, horrified, as he pulled the squirrel's tail out of his teeth and tossed it behind him as if it were trash. He licked his lips and wiped his mouth. I wanted to run away, but my feet were stuck to the ground. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. Then a rat came scurrying by. He cornered it and snatched it up. He took it by the tail and held it above him. The rat squeaked and frantically tried to escape the figure's clutches. But the figure lowered it into his mouth and started chewing. He slurped the rat's tail as if it were a noodle. I thought I was going to be sick. Who would do something like that? Only a complete sicko, that's who. The figure dug around his throat and picked out a bone from the rat. He broke it in two and started picking out rat and squirrel bits from his teeth with the bone pieces. I swallowed, ready to be sick. And I knew I had to get out of there. It was only a matter of time before he would notice me and probably eat me too.

I started stepping backward slowly, trying not to make noise. I was almost out of there until I heard something snap. I had accidentally stepped on a branch. The figure stopped chewing and slowly turned his head. He saw me.

I froze when he met my gaze. His expression was blank, and then his eyes glowed bright red. He stood slowly. His mouth was all bloody, and his mouth was dripping with the animal blood. He didn't move another inch. Then I knew he was going to hurt me, or worse if I didn't get out. For a few seconds longer, I stayed frozen. Then I turned and bolted out of that alley. I ran and ran as fast as my feet could take me. My heart was pounding in my throat and all I could think of was getting away to the safety of my own house. The fog was getting lower to the ground and it was getting harder to see. But I didn't stop running. I kept going, until-

SMACK!

I was running so fast, I didn't see the door in front of me. I had rammed into it and hit my head. I got up, my vision blurry. I blinked a few times and tries to maintain consciousness. I turned in the direction I had ran. It was dark and empty. The wind whistled through the trees and I could see shadows coming, coming for me.

I was breathing heavily, and I fumbled with the doorknob. I got the door open and went inside and slammed it behind me and locked it. My head was pounding painfully where I had hit it. And my ears were ringing and I felt like the breath had been knocked out of me. I opened my eyes and I could see my mom standing over me, concerned.

"Ree-Ha? Ree-Ha, are you okay?", she tells me. "What? I said aloud. "Where am I?" "You're home",  my mom says and helps me up. I felt dizzy and I almost fell over. My mom catches me and sits me on the couch. "But, how did I get here?", I say. "This doesn't make any sense!" My mom looks at me quizzically. "Should I call the doctor?", my mom asks. "I don't need a doctor!", I yelled. "I'm fine! Mom, you would not believe what I just saw in the alley! There was a man there and he was eating rats and squirrels while they were still alive! His mouth was covered in rodent blood and his eyes were red and glowing! Mom, there was some kind of demon guy in the alley!"

My mom didn't say anything. She just blinked. "I'm definitely calling the doctor", she says and reaches for her phone. I grab her wrist to stop her. She looks at me, her eyes wide. "Do. Not. Call. The. Doctor. I am not crazy", I tell her. "I'm telling the truth. There was a demon in the alley." My mom throws her hands up. "Okay, okay. There was a demon in the alley. I believe you", she says. I look up at her, surprised. "You believe me?", I ask. She nods. "I have an ice pack in my room. I'll get it for you", she says, and goes. 

I sit back in my seat, thinking how easy that was. Then I remembered. She has a landline in her room. I get up and darted to her room, but she locked the door. "Mom, do not call the doctor!", I say and kick the door. "I'm doing this for your own good honey!", my mom says. "Mom, no!", I say, and bang on the door some more. I hear my mom talking. "Yes doctor, she hit her head on our door a little while ago and now she's talking craziness about a demon living in the alley we live close to. Yes. Thank you." And I hear her hang up. I groaned. Why won't she believe me? There WAS a demon of some sort in that alley. I know what I saw. And I'm going to prove it.