Unrelenting Terror

by P. S. Power

  Toni smiled and gave a big nod.

  “Good. About the cats I mean. You can come to my house and watch a movie then. I need to get back and make sure they have food anyway. I’ll grab the check and…” She started to wave for the waitress to bring the thing, which got immediate response. The service was decent and had been the whole time.

  “Nope. I got this one. You can pick the movie though. That way I won’t have to actually think or anything. I didn’t sleep last night.” I got my card out and a few bills for the tip, suddenly glad that Toni was the one driving. My eyes were so blurry I wasn’t really sure what I left on the table, just hoping it wasn’t insulting. I’d never worked in a restaurant, but I had to imagine that too small a tip would be kind of a slap in the face. I didn’t want to make anyone feel bad. Forcing myself to focus I realized that I’d left twenty dollars on the table. That would do, I thought. I wasn’t up to working out the percentage, but the bill wasn’t that big.

  Toni shook her head.

  “OK, I’ll pick the movie, but I think I’m in the mood for comedy. I like really bad ones too. You know, the ones with washed up comedy actors from television sketch programs reprising roles from ten years ago as if they might still be relevant in some fashion, when that’s actually impossible? The humor comes in with the fact that you can tell that most of them get it. They’re selling their dignity to make us laugh and get those last few paychecks before the world forgets them. I feel bad for them, but I laugh anyway.”

  We got outside, the world having faded into darkness as we ate and chattered. Standing next to the car was a giant form. The German man from the shopping center. Toni looked at me and rolled her eyes.

  “Imagine meeting you here. What a surprise. Are you coming to the eclipse party at Daniel’s? I know you two don’t always get along… He did invite you, didn’t he?” Toni sounded suddenly worried, as if she might have spoken out of turn, telling the man about a get together he might be excluded from.

  I stared at the guy myself, surprised that Toni, and apparently Daniel, knew the man at all. He wasn’t anyone I recognized except for that one time and that hadn’t seemed overly friendly. He sounded different this time. Older and a little sour, with no trace of an accent at all.

  “Oh, yeah, the kid invited me. Not a bad guy, just a little too skeptical for his own good. That family of his is messed up from before time itself practically, but he still keeps thinking it’s all just a game or maybe bad genes. We’ve all tried to explain it to him, but he’s lived with his preconceptions for too long. He’s just aware enough that he can be taken over I think. Probably by his great uncle. If he was a little more open we could help him, as it is I think that we’ll probably have to let him go and count it as a loss in a few months after he kills himself. A year at the outside.” The man looked at me as he spoke, but didn’t seem nearly as intense this time.

  “Good to see you both. I just noticed Toni’s car and saw you coming out, not trying to ruin your outing. Will I be seeing you both at the party then?” He locked eyes with Toni who smiled and nodded.

  “Yeah. See you there Jerald.”

  With that the giant man who didn’t sound German now got into his own car, which had been running the whole time and drove off.

  “Jerald?” I must have sounded odd, or scared, because I got a strange look after I said the word.

  “Yeah… You remember, don’t you? From last Saturday? Nice enough fellow for an older guy. Does keep trying to get me into bed while indicating he has a prescription for Viagra. Not really a turn on, but he’s been pretty good about the whole thing since last week.” She didn’t explain further, just driving us to her place, an apartment complex. She lived on the second floor of a four floor building. It was nice enough, vinyl siding that looked new, if drab, a tan color that looked like someone had thought about making it gray first, then changed their minds halfway through. Unobjectionable, but not visually interesting. It was cool that the place let her have cats though. A lot of places wouldn’t. Not three of them at least.

  Without saying anything she opened the door and tugged on my arm a little, to get me to follow her. It was done playfully, with a happy look on her face. I shut the door behind us, resisting the urge to lock it, hoping that it would do that automatically if it was needed. I didn’t know the neighborhood well and had always kind of distrusted large apartment complexes. There were too many people for all of them to be good after all. Not that worrying about that kind of thing helped.

  The place didn’t smell of cats, which meant Toni took good care of them. A lot of cat owners got a little lazy and let the air smell like a three day old letterbox most of the time. This place just smelled like mint and some kind of incense. It wasn’t unpleasant.

  “Meet my cats.” She waved as they all walked over, rubbing at her ankles.

  “The orange one is Pumpkin. The black is Licorice and this last one is Simon. I know, stereotypical names, but what can I do about it? That’s what they said to call them.”

  I nodded and knelt down to pet Licorice who had walked over to inspect the stranger, watching me carefully.

  “You know Toni… and I mean this with respect… but you might just be a little weird.” Not that I was one to talk.

  “I know. Do you want popcorn? I have some for the microwave. Butter flavor or Kettle corn?” She called this out from the kitchen, a small space that didn’t invite having two people in it at once. The rest of the place was small, but well kept. Decorated with strange figures and masks on the walls, tribal looking things from at least three continents. I didn’t know the names of the various cultures, but he feel of them told me they were real.

  “Kettle corn. Obviously.” I said as if it made sense. It got a chuckle from her though.

  “Good, since that’s what I’m making. So, anyway, what I was saying earlier, before we went into the restaurant. Um…” She popped into the doorway, wiping her hands down her front a little nervously.

  “I guess, if we’re going to be friends I should tell you my story. The short version at least. I don’t tell anyone the whole thing, it isn’t because of you or anything, I just can't. So… it started with a friend. One from college. I know, receptionist, so who’d have thought I had a degree? I do, but Cultural Anthropology is less interesting than what I do now and only pays about the same. Tom is good that way. So anyway, I was bored one day and my friend Dave suggested I read this book. It was a horror story, fiction, but nothing special. Except that it got me thinking about ghosts, demons and the rest…” She saw the expression on my face and nodded.

  “Exactly. Once I started to dwell on the idea, things started happening and like a moron, I noticed it instead of trying to deny it, and once started you can't un-notice things. This went on, at a low level, for years, until after I graduated. Then one day something happened. I saw a black form standing across the room from me. It was wearing a hat. I know it sound funny, the idea of a three dimensional shadow being with a golf hat on, but it’s what I saw. It wasn’t just a fleeting thing, I actually saw it. Clear as day. It waved to me like it was saying hi. Then… Everything changed.” The microwave bell went off and she left without saying anything more, coming back about two minutes later with a single large bowl, a red plastic one that was filled with popcorn.

  “After that, things got scary. At first it was just little stuff. Feeling watched, things tickling me, a sense of things crawling on my skin even though nothing was there. Objects moving around when no one was there to do it, that kind of thing. Then one night, while I was sleeping, something… Forced itself on me.” She sighed and shook her head hard enough to make her black hair fly.

  “I was raped. At first, I was so scared I didn’t know what to think. After that... every night I’d wake up, being used, violated. I couldn’t breathe, and it started to drive me crazy. No one believed me and my family wanted to have me committed, like I was insane or something. Finally I tried to kill myself to get away from it all. I couldn’t ta
ke it anymore. The pain, the sense of worthlessness, not being believed, it was all just too much. I took all the pills I could find and drank a full bottle of vodka. I got sick though, even though I didn’t remember it. I kind of think the being that was plaguing me made it happen, so that I couldn’t get away just by dying. After that I found Dr. Milford. The next day actually. He helped me. It wasn’t easy at first, or instant, but I learned to notice things, like you are now, and then he helped me integrate a friend, so that I could stop what was happening to me. Ever since then I’ve been free. Nothing has attacked me and now I get to help people too.”

  She passed the bowl to me and gestured to the sofa.

  “That’s my story. The short version with all the really bad stuff taken out. A lot of it is so bad that just telling people could cause them to lose it. I guess the moral there is that you have to be careful about what you read? Or watch on television I guess. People just do these things thinking that it's entertainment, not realizing that at any moment they could be opening themselves to things they really don’t want to deal with. Once the door is open, it can’t be easily closed. Well, you know. Same boat and all that, right?”

  We sat as she flipped through the channels, finally finding something suitably humorous for her tastes. She had warned me that she liked really bad comedy and it wasn’t just her talking, she laughed, chuckled and even cried at one point at a film that barely did more than make me smile. I envied her that ability to enjoy anything so much. She leaned into me companionably after a while, resting her head against my shoulder. It was nice, but also a bit off-putting at the same time. I got the idea that she was available and dated pretty mush whoever she liked at the moment, gender be damned, from the fact that she mentioned having both an ex-boyfriend and girlfriend that didn’t like cats. I hadn’t come for that though. I didn’t know if I should say something or not.

  If she was just naturally friendly, then saying something would be rude and make things awkward. Honestly, if she wanted to sleep with me, saying something would still be rude. Until she made that clear I decided to keep my mouth shut. I was too tired to handle the situation correctly anyway. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open and attention on the movie. It didn’t help that the actors in the film were clearly trying to stretch a premise that would have made an interesting fifteen minute short into a feature length event. Still, some of it was funny, like when Toni laughed so hard she nearly shot popcorn through her nose. I had to cover my mouth then.

  “Hey, do you want something to drink? I have wine, beer, some rum in the freezer and…” She hopped up as the movie ended, the credits still scrolling down the screen. A few seconds later there was a sound from the kitchen, slightly muffled like her head was in the refrigerator.

  “And two types of Snapple. Diet peach ice-tea and Mango-melon. I can also make coffee or… Water? It’s important to stay hydrated.” There was silence then, and I realized I was actually supposed to answer.

  “Um, how about the diet ice-tea?” It sounded good enough and I had work in the morning. It was already closing in on midnight, which meant going home soon. How I was supposed to get there I didn’t know. I didn’t want to go. The idea filled me with fear. Not just dread anymore, but the kind thing that had my stomach doing flips at the very thought of it. I wanted to just hide somewhere safe, but I knew that was impossible for me now. Nowhere was protected and worse, I was learning that it never had been.

  Poor Alex. I had to help, but I also had to wait. Still Toni had to work too, so making her life too difficult wouldn’t help, would it? Not her at least.

  She bounced back into the room, two bottles in her hand. The smaller one it turned out was for me, though she didn’t bring a glass. That was fine, but she didn’t have one either, just a bottle of red-wine. She took a deep pull on it and handed me the smaller one.

  “So…” She sounded sly suddenly and looked around.

  “Another movie? I know that you can’t want to be alone right now. I’ll get you to work on time and everything, don’t worry. You can spend the night here.” She took another drink.

  “I won’t even try to get you to have sex with me. Not tonight. Later though, so don’t shuffle that all the way off the table. I know you probably aren’t… ready for something like that, but it's good to keep your options open.” She flipped through the channels without waiting for an answer. This time she stopped on a news channel for a moment, a recap of the Eleven O’clock news. We watched for a bit, talking about the stories, most of which were pretty normal. A rash of break-ins, the graffiti problem on the bridges in the area, and the potential for rain the next few days.

  Toni shrugged.

  “It’s good for the flowers.”

  I nodded, sleepily, sipping at the drink in my hand. Finally I asked the question that had been on my mind all evening, since we left dinner.

  “Hey… Jerald, at the restaurant… What did he look like to you?” I had to know. The German seeming man’s warning had been right, hadn’t it? There really were things like demons involved and Dr. Milford did want me to be possessed. To help me it seemed, and Alex, but that didn't mean the big German guy didn't have a point in what he was thinking either. The whole thing confused me and left me feeling uncertain. So really, I was hoping there was a simple explanation, like someone just playing a simple trick on me for some reason.

  Toni took a sip from her bottle and tucked her feet up on the sofa, curling her legs under her, trapping her dress, feet bare.

  “Like Jerald? Old, about my size, except a little heavier. Gray hair, white beard and all that. Am I missing something? What did he look like to you?” She sounded interested, instead of like I might have lost my mind. That would probably change when I explained, but I had to be honest. It was one of the rules about all this, wasn’t it? At least an implied one.

  “A six-foot nine or ten German man. Probably about four hundred pounds. Huge. Way younger looking. I’d seen him before, at the grocery store. He told me that Dr. Milford wanted to steal my body and have it inhabited by a demon and that it might already be too late. I… was that Jerald the whole time? I don’t understand what’s going on here.” I looked down at the Snapple, and realized it was empty. Glancing over at Toni I noticed that she looked pleased.

  “You can see that? Amazing. Yes, that’s the form of his new protector. Interesting that he'd try to warn you like that. Probably trying to jockey for position in the group or something silly like that. New companions can do that sometime, not getting all the rules. Don't worry, it's harmless. He really just looks like himself to me. You must be really attuned to that sort of thing to physically see him that way. Can you see mine? What do I look like to you?” She leaned forward, the scent of alcohol strong on her breath and her words a little loose and sloppy.

  “Do I look like a half dragon creature, with wings and talons on my fingers?” She sounded very pleased with the idea and waved her hands, wiggling her fingers, with a mischievous grin on her face.

  “No… You look like you.”

  She just sighed, shook her head and laughed. Then she pointed at the television.

  “Hey, it looks like we’re in for good weather on Saturday for the eclipse.”

  Suddenly all I saw was a page filed with words, my interest and focus going to them totally, the last of them just being the one I’d come to expect.

  Eclipse.

  Chapter nine

  I didn’t really wake up so much as come to the realization that I was moving and interacting with the world around me easily and smoothly, in a place I didn't expect to be at all. My office. After a while I saw Jill come in holding a cup of something that she handed me, telling me to drink it firmly. She might just be the secretary, but she also tended to treat the rest of us like we were here personal wards if she thought we were getting sick. That or were too hung over to really work. I was neither of those things, not as far as I could tell, but still had a cup of black coffee in my hands. Just a regular roast with no
thing too fancy about it, the way I liked it when I needed a jolt. I drank it all without stopping, feeling the bitter liquid sear its way down my throat.

  Then I handed the cup back and kept working. It was like I was driven to it. I looked at the work I’d done already, a new project it seemed, and it looked good, but I didn’t remember having done it at all. I tried to remember it, even just to remember reading about it, but there was nothing. Most of it was on paper, but it had to be a full day’s worth. For all I knew it was. I checked the time and calendar on my computer desktop to find it was only about three in the afternoon. Friday afternoon, instead of Wednesday. Somewhere in there I’d lost two whole days. How that worked I didn’t know. I looked down at myself and found I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, which was way more relaxed than what I normally wore into the office. We didn’t have a “casual Friday” policy or anything. I’d probably be hearing about that from HR in short order.

  Until then I just decided to keep working. It felt like the only important thing for some reason. I had to keep doing it. Show up to work each day and do a good job. No matter what. I remembered Milford saying something like that. It was pressing me to do a lot more than I normally would.

  My stomach growled, but I didn’t feel any hunger, which was odd. I tried to figure out why that was happening, but finally just went back to my current task.

  At about five-thirty someone walked into the office with me. I looked up from the report I almost had finished, blinking rapidly. I didn’t recognize the contract I was writing about, but I knew what to say anyway. It just flowed out of me like someone else was dictating it.