Fiction Fragment Friday
This story was very loosely inspired by a dream. When I started writing it and realized it was going to be a Benjamin Eversole story I knew that most of the dream inspiration went out the window. The dream itself was a very complicated one where I had a daughter that did not know that I was her father. There were also mice and rats all through the house that she lived in and I was trying to deal with them. When I told her in the dream that I was her father she was upset at me for keeping it from her all that time.
I know this story doesn’t seem inspired by that dream at all, but it is strange how the most minor of things from an inspiration source can develop into something so different.
It was the most horrible sight I had ever been proud to see. My cat; Captain Meowregard Octavious McClaws, Captain for short; trotted towards me with something the size of a dead rat in his mouth. At first, I thought it was some weird mutated red rat, but as he got closer, I could make out more details. The thing had little horns sticking out of its head, a forked tail, and a very flat face. It was much dead though if the missing throat was any indication. The scent of burnt sulfur hit my face and almost overwhelmed me.
“That’s a good kitty Captain. “Now why don’t you drop the horrible abomination and go get a drink to wash out your mouth?” I pitched my tone high and praising hoping that just for once he would actually do what I asked him. He being a cat completely ignored me and started shaking the creature in his mouth back and forth. When I reached out to take it, Captain hissed and swiped a claw at my hand. Then he hopped up on my bead and dropped the bleeding corpse right on my pillow. After circling three times he lay in a ball on my blanket and meowed.
As any well-trained human knows this was my signal to pet his head exactly three times telling him he is a good boy before stepping back. If I pat him four times, he will flip over presenting his tummy and latch onto my hand with his claws and teeth. I grabbed a bag of cat treats from my bookshelf and dropped a handful of them on the bed far away from the present he had presented me with.
A thorough examination of the thing laying on the pillowcase I would soon be pitching in the trash told me that it was some sort of demon. An imp to be more precise. There are twelve varieties of demons, but I had only personally encountered demons of nightmare and desire. I knew that imps were fairly week pyromaniacs who enjoyed torturing the young, old, and infirmed. Basically, anyone they thought would be weaker than themselves. Outside of the basics though I really didn’t know much about demons. It was far from my area of study.
“I suppose I really shout expand my areas of study if I’m going to call myself the Mystical Guardian of St. Louis,” I mused to myself.
“You could just stop calling yourself that. You already spend too much time reading. We should watch more movies instead.” Lily my pixie roommate zipped around the room. She didn’t seem capable of staying in one place very long. I suppose when you are only a couple inches tall and prey for most wild animals you learn to keep moving. She finally caught sight of the dead imp on my pillow. “Eww, I hope you plan on burning that pillowcase.”
“That’s probably a good idea, but what do I do with the body? These things are fireproof even when dead.”
“It’s not dead,” she said with complete confidence. “It’s just playing dead.”
I turned back towards the demon just in time to see it leap through the air at my face. The wound on its neck had healed completely and very sharp looking claws had grown from its fingers. No matter what Lily might tell you I did not scream like a startled child. It was a very manly battle cry I let out as I stumbled backwards with a ten-pound imp riding me to the ground. Blood soaked my shirt from the claws digging into my chest. I was not wearing any of my gear so I would be limited to my stored reserves of energy.
Thankfully I wouldn’t need to use any of my magic on the thing. As I started to gather my energy Captain leapt from the bed pouncing on the imp. My chest was shredded as it tried to hold on, but my cat was far too tough. Captain Meowregard’s claws smacked the imp faster than my eyes could follow. It backed towards the door right into Maximillion the Magnificent, my dog who I call Max for short. Max grabbed him by the neck and shook him before tossing him to the ground and wondering why he wasn’t playing anymore. Lily was firmly perched on the top of my bookshelf. She was not a fan of my pets.
“See vicious creatures. I don’t know why you let them stay inside where us civilized folks live.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and I had to fight back a smile. She was adorable but would be extremely annoyed with me if I acknowledged that.
“Because they are good boys. Aren’t you two?” I again raised my tone up high and praised my pets. “Big strong demon hunters. Who’s gonna get special food for dinner tonight? You two are.” I vigorously rubbed Max’s head and gently patted Captain just three times. Then I stood and faced the Imp. I couldn’t be sure if it was dead or playing possum again. “Hey Lily, how could you tell that it was still alive?”
“Duh, pixies can see life energy. You can never fool a pixie.” She said it with pride and her chin held high. “It’s still alive now but hurt pretty bad.”
I reached up to the shelf next to her and felt a twang of disappointment when she flinched. I met her by saving her life from a wild cat. I knew she trusted me as much as she could, but it had hurt her bad enough she couldn’t fly for over a month. I tried not to take her reaction personally, but you can’t always control how you feel. It also made me hurt for her, but I just didn’t know how to help her get through the fear when she wouldn’t admit it was there. I saw her relax as I grabbed the vial of holy water from the shelf and kept my hand far away from her.
The creature’s eyes opened as I poured the holy water on it. I whispered a silencing spell so my neighbors wouldn’t hear the thing scream as it dissolved. The burnt sulfur smell turned to one of decay as the creature turned to a black goo that was going to stain my carpet. Do steam cleaners get out demon? I guess I would have to find out the hard way.
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