The Boy Who Killed Demons: A Novel

by Dave Zeltserman

  When I returned home last night, I was able to sneak into my bedroom without my parents being any the wiser. No demon blood had splattered on me, or any other signs that I had killed Hanley. When I left Hanley’s body, I carried my bike out of the woods and kicked at the leaves I had ridden over earlier, so hopefully the police won’t find any evidence of a bike being ridden to the scene, and that’s assuming that they find Hanley quickly—soon enough, those foot and bike tire marks will disappear entirely. I don’t think anyone saw me entering or leaving the woods—at least I didn’t pass any cars—and I tried to stay in the shadows and away from the streetlights as I rode home. I didn’t see Hanley’s car parked anywhere when I left the woods. I’m sure he was lying about following me by car, just as he had been lying about everything else.

  My biggest problem, like I said, is going to be with the demons. They might already know about Hanley—maybe he called one of the other demons when he saw me leave my house, and they were expecting a report back. My bedroom door opens into the room, so before going to bed I shoved my chair under the door handle. Since I had my knife with me, if a demon broke through the door to get in, I’d hear him and have enough time to be ready for him.

  As I wrote earlier, everything has to happen faster now with Hanley’s death. I don’t have ten days anymore to kill these demons, but only a few days now at the most, so when I got back to my room I took out all the addresses and notes that I had about these demons and made my plans.

  It was past two o’clock before I’d finished organizing my demon-elimination plans and was finally ready for bed. I was amazed at how calm and serene I felt. In a way it was a big relief to have Hanley dead and to know that things would soon be coming to an end with these demons. It had been wearing on me knowing Hanley was living right down the street, knowing that he suspected me, and was spying on me whenever he had the chance. It was liberating, in a way, to know that all this was going to be over soon, one way or another. I fell asleep almost the moment I closed my eyes, and slept soundly until my alarm woke me up a half hour ago. I don’t even feel groggy after only four and a half hours of sleep. Instead I feel energized, as if I’d been waiting my whole life for what’s going to be happening later this evening.

  Before starting this morning’s journal entry, I checked online to see if there was anything about Hanley’s body being found. There wasn’t. Nothing about Robohoe’s yet either. When I tracked him down a year ago, he worked as a bouncer at a bar. Two shifts, afternoon and late at night, which is why I knew he’d be coming back to his house when he did. Kind of ironic in a way. As a bouncer, he probably had the second most appropriate job that any of these demons had—after lawyers, of course. Maybe that’s the reason the police don’t know yet about Robohoe. In that line of work it’s probably not unusual for someone to skip a night, or even a week, without calling in. At least I have to think that was the case. His absence from work so far isn’t about to make his employer worried that something had happened to him, and he wouldn’t be calling the police yet.

  I thought about skipping school today so I could start killing demons right away, but most of these demons that I’ve tracked have day jobs, and it would be far too dangerous if I tried killing them at their work. If I didn’t get caught, I’d at least be seen. Even if there was a way for me to safely kill some of them outside of their homes, I’d probably stick to my plan and go to school today. For one thing, Sally will need me at school. She won’t be able to face Devin if I’m not there, and I don’t want her freaking out. I want to provide her whatever comfort I can. And I want to make sure she’s safe and that Devin stays the fuck away from her.

  The night will come soon enough, and I’ll be able to start killing demons then. If things go right, by this time tomorrow there’ll be a few less demons fouling the Boston area. It won’t be enough, but at least it will make a small dent. And with a little bit of luck, Connor Devin will be one of them.

  I have to wrap this up. I guess I’ve been dragging it out knowing that this might be my last journal entry. I expect to be successful tonight, but you just never know. Things could go wrong, and if they do I’m dead. I’ll probably be dead soon even if everything goes right.

  I have to make sure someone reads this journal in case I don’t survive my night of demon killing. I thought about leaving it on my pillow. I know my parents well enough to know that they wouldn’t bother snooping in my room tonight, but there’s a remote chance that the police detective could show up with his warrant, and if that happens I’m fucked. I guess we’d all be fucked. But even if that doesn’t happen, it wouldn’t do any good leaving this journal for my parents. They’re so wrapped up in their own worlds that they probably wouldn’t read it, or at least not soon enough to do any good. And even if they did, they’d be too concerned about their own reputations and what their neighbors and coworkers might think about them having a lunatic son to show it to anyone. So I decided to take a chance and give it to Curt to hold for me with the promise that he won’t look at it unless something happens to me. So Curt, if you’re reading this now, for God’s sake, take this seriously and try to get the right people to look at it. If those demons aren’t stopped, all of you will be fucked. Finding those stolen children will be the key. If that’s done, it will disrupt their plans for opening up hell, at least for the time being. And Curt, this isn’t some riff on Lovecraft or Cthulhu. This isn’t a hoax or a fictional piece of writing on my part. To prove I’m serious, search the woods above the fourth green at Brandenberg golf course and you’ll find Hanley’s corpse and his severed head buried under leaves.

  I thought about riding my bike to school, but I decided to take the bus instead. I don’t want to be encumbered by my bike. And it will be too easy for someone to remember it if I leave it outside the houses of any of the demons I’ll be killing. So tonight I’ll have to rely on public transportation, though I said I wouldn’t. But at least I have everything mapped out—bus schedules, subway lines, commuter rail. I should have no problem going from one demon’s house to the next.

  I’m taking the dagger to school with me. It will be hidden in my backpack, and there shouldn’t be any problem with that. From this point on, the dagger will be with me at all times.

  That’s it for now. I’ve got to run to catch the school bus.

  Tuesday, October 18th 1:30 PM

  I CAN’T BELIEVE HENRY’S DEAD. EVEN MORE SO, I CAN’T believe what he’s left me to read. But it all makes sense. His journal, his translation of that ancient book on demons, L’Occulto Illuminato, and even the book itself, with the creepy red material used for its binding. It’s exactly the kind of thing H.P. Lovecraft wrote about. He must’ve been one of those, like Henry, who was able to see into that world.

  I don’t know why Henry didn’t have them do DNA testing on that binding. If it really comes from a demon, then that would prove everything he’s written is true, and maybe I can use that to stop them . . .

  I’m kidding, I’m kidding. The reason my handwriting looks so different is because I’m writing all this left-handed. There’s a simple reason why I’m using my left hand, and I’ll get to it later. Interestingly, though, it turns out I’ve discovered that I’m more ambidextrous than I would’ve imagined, and not just with my handwriting.

  That was maybe a little mean of me trying to fake you out and make you think that came from Curt. Sorry. Blame it on me being doped up to the gills on painkillers. But hell, forget about the painkillers. Anyone who has gone through what I have over the last sixteen hours would be more than a little punch drunk even without popping Vicodin. Or maybe even a little insane by this point. Or a lot insane. But forget about that for now. Let me start from earlier on. Maybe when I showed up at school yesterday. Yeah, that would be as good a starting point as any. Then I’ll write about what happened later.

  Actually, a better place to start would be when I was waiting for the school bus yesterday. With everything that happened later it’s understandable that I momen
tarily forgot about beating up Ralph Malphi again, but I guess it shows my state of mind that I’d forgotten about something like that. Or maybe it just shows how insignificant it was compared to everything else that happened afterwards. But I should explain about what happened. People might bring it up later as a way to dismiss me as a crazy person. Besides, more than ever I feel like having an accurate and complete record of what I’ve been going through.

  First, before Ralph Malphi, there was Wesley glaring at me as if he were some kind of hardass who was going to get in my face. He didn’t, but that’s the way he acted. Curt was standing by me, and he kept looking back and forth at Wesley and me, finally telling me how Wesley wanted a piece of me. “Dude, take a look at him and tell me that’s not true.”

  I was trying hard not to look at Wesley, but allowed myself a glance, and yeah, that’s what it looked like, though I mostly ignored it. I told Curt I didn’t know what he was talking about.

  Ralph Malphi, unlike Wesley, I couldn’t ignore. When he arrived at the bus stop, he started leering at me right away, all full of himself as if he now owned me because he was able to smack me in the head Monday and get away with it. After a half minute or so of his leering, he built up enough courage to walk over to me, a big ugly grin in place. His leer had turned more into a sneer, and he demanded all my money for allowing me to keep my teeth. “Yo, prick face, you don’t hand over your wallet and I’ll have to knock out every tooth in your mouth for payment instead.”

  I didn’t bother to respond. What would’ve been the point? I guess he had convinced himself that what happened in the bathroom was a fluke since he massively outweighed me and resembled a gorilla while at best I could’ve been a gibbon. He flashed an ugly grin to the rest of the kids watching, and announced how he’d take my backpack from me instead as payment because he was in such a magnanimous mood (the fact that he knew that word showed he’d been studying for his SATs). The dumb ape moved towards me then as if he were going to put me in a headlock, and I went at him fast, first ducking and elbowing him in the groin, then springing up and striking him hard under his chin with my palm. He tumbled backwards hitting the ground, his mouth a bloody mess—my palm strike must’ve made him bite either his tongue or his lip, I wasn’t sure which, but it sure as hell bled a lot. It was just too easy, and he had no chance after that.

  I didn’t want to get his blood on me. If I did I would have to go home and change, which would cause too many problems with my parents, so instead of falling on him and punching his face in like I wanted, I just started screaming at him as I kicked him in the ribs, calling him a motherfucker with each kick. I was too mad at him for making me do this to him for me not to. He curled up into a fetal position after my second kick, and even though I had sneakers on, I still managed to hurt him pretty badly. I got at least five kicks in before a couple of the other kids pulled me away.

  Malphi lay on the ground moaning for a solid minute. When he finally pushed himself up into a sitting position, his eyes showed that he was both scared and dazed. He couldn’t understand why I didn’t just stand still and let him do what he wanted. There were a few tense moments before he got to his feet. If he went to school all bloody like that, there’d be questions—the principal would get involved, which meant I wouldn’t be able to go to school as I’d planned because of the risk of them searching my backpack. But even if I didn’t go to school, they’d still call my parents, which could also mess up my plans for later. Fortunately, Malphi was too humiliated by the beating I gave him in front of the other kids to hang around because he skulked away, his face screwed up as if he were struggling to keep from bawling. He was also too ashamed to make any more threats against me, or even to look back at the rest of us as he broke into a run and disappeared around the corner.

  What I did to Malphi shocked the rest of the kids waiting at the bus stop—including Curt, who had suspected that I had beaten up Malphi earlier. Even Wesley had stopped his glaring and only stared in stunned amazement. The quiet that descended over the two dozen or so kids there was really quite something. Nobody spoke a word while we waited for the bus to show up.

  Once the bus came, I sat up front with Curt, and the bus was filled with that same stunned silence. Even the students who had gotten on at earlier stops fell into it. It lasted maybe a minute before the whispering started. Curt just sat shaking his head before asking how I learned to do what I did.

  “Don’t know,” I told him, not wanting to get into it.

  “Dude, you were like a tornado the way you hit him. Malphi didn’t know what happened. That was outstanding!”

  “Whatever. I need a favor. How about I come over to your house after school and I tell you about it?”

  “Sure, Henry, won’t be a problem.”

  Word of what happened with Malphi spread quickly once we got to school, because when I got to my homeroom, Devin, who was already there, looked at me with bitter disappointment, his demon face locked in a dour frown. I took a seat as far away from him as I could. As soon as Sally came into the room, she hurried to sit down next to me and asked about what happened with Malphi, all breathless and excited. I kept it simple and told her how Malphi tried bullying me and I didn’t let it happen.

  “Wow. I heard other kids talking about it. You’re becoming legendary here, Henry.” She placed a hand on my arm as she smiled at me. Even with everything that happened afterwards, the warmth of her hand resting on my arm will be burned forever into my memory. As well as the way she smiled at me. The meaning was clear. As far as she was concerned it wasn’t over after all. I felt my resolve weaken for a moment. She was offering me everything I desired, everything I could possibly want, but it wouldn’t do either of us much good if the gates of hell were allowed to open. Somehow I knew that would be the last time I’d feel her touch, and I concentrated to commit every aspect of it to memory. Then I hardened myself to her. I had to, and soon her closeness barely even stirred anything in me, not even when she moved closer so she could whisper in my ear, her breath hot against my skin, her faint jasmine scent lingering in the air.

  “I decided not to let Connor bother me. Whatever he is, too fucking bad.”

  God, I wished she hadn’t said that. She whispered it so low that she probably didn’t think he’d be able to hear her, but with his ultra-sensitive demon hearing he heard every word. I scribbled on a piece of paper that we should talk about Devin later. She smiled bravely as she shrugged, trying to show me how unconcerned she was, but I could see a hint of fear in her eyes. No matter what she said, Devin still had her freaked out.

  Sally was the only reason I went to school yesterday. She needed me there so she could face Devin, and I needed to be there to make sure he’d stay away from her. I needed to make sure she’d be safe. Maybe I also needed to see her this one last day, especially since I didn’t expect to survive last night.

  I didn’t risk looking at Devin. I knew he’d heard what Sally said, which meant he knew for certain that I was the one they were looking for. I didn’t want to see that knowledge in his demon eyes.

  After homeroom ended I caught a glimpse of Devin and the angry storm brewing over his demon face. It was little more than pure animalistic rage. I wondered how others saw him at that moment—did he still look like Justin Bieber? I felt a tenseness in my chest as I walked with Sally until we separated for our individual classes. Devin was only twenty feet or so behind us, and I didn’t know what he was planning. One swipe of his demon claw would probably decapitate both of us. I held my breath until I knew he was following me instead of Sally. At least I knew she’d be safe for the time being.

  An idea came to me. I slipped into the bathroom, and had my backpack unzipped and my hand clutching the dagger handle by the time Devin followed me in. There was only malicious intent as he came at me. I guess he’d decided to kill me then and there and take his chances of being discovered for my murder. Maybe he’d make sure there was no body left for anyone to discover. Could a demon devour a whole hum
an body? Probably. Whatever he had in mind, he spread the nails on his right claw and moved towards me so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to pull the dagger out from my backpack. As it turned out, I didn’t need to. Even though the dagger was hidden from sight, the symbols etched on the blade did their job and Devin staggered and fell to one knee before he got within five feet of me. He had no idea what had happened to him. I could see the confusion in his eyes as he looked up at me. Then he lowered his face into one of his claws and let out a whimpering moan.

  I could’ve killed him then. It would’ve been easy. But I’d have no way of getting rid of his corpse. And I’d be fucked once he was found.

  I moved closer to Devin, and with the dagger’s closer proximity to him he lost even the strength to stay on one knee, instead collapsing to the floor. His yellow eyes glazed as he stared at me, utterly baffled by what was happening to him. He had an almost beseeching look, as if he wanted to ask me how I managed to do this to him. I stepped over him and got out of there while I could still keep myself from cutting off his head.