My Demon (28 page)

“Help me,” she called out. Please, let a normal person find me, she thought. Her voice was too weak, the pitiful cry she made soon swallowed up in the rustling of dry autumn leaves. A spasm of pain swept through her. Alex clutched at her stomach and fell against a tree trunk. The horrible man lay unmoving in a heap on the ground, a pool of blood on the leaves next to him.

Tears escaped her. Her own blood poured out from between her legs. Instinctively, she reached down and clasped a hand over her crotch, covering it with her palm and praying pressure would stop the flow. She needed to get to a hospital or at least somewhere safe, she couldn’t trust the Podis not to try again. Her breath hitched. Clive had been right. He told her to have faith in him, and she laughed at him. Made a joke of it. And now she was curled up against the rough bark of a tree trying not to succumb to the pain, trying not to think of the things the man had done, of what he might still have been doing to her. Silver stars rained down again, and she fought the darkness that wanted to take her over.

The man lay sprawled in the space between the trees. Alex watched him, scared to take her eyes off him, but needing to focus her attention everywhere else. Were others creeping up on her right now? She needed to leave, get home. Wash her skin until the memory of his touch was erased. The urge to slice the skin from her sounded horribly reasonable. She could grow more skin later, a skin not touched by that foul creature.

Realizing she still clutched the torch in one hand, Alex stared at it. Had she used this on the monster? Had she hit him? Suddenly not able to remember hitting him, she felt panic rise. She must have, and hard enough to knock him out. The proof lay unmoving, a mere few feet in front of her.

Alex couldn’t think. Important concepts tried to form, a vague need to hurry away. But all she seemed to see was that man, that thing, ripping her jeans down. She frowned. There was something she had to do, but when she blinked, she had visions of him tearing her underwear off in one quick movement. She had more things to think about other than that incredible jolting pain she’d suffered when he shoved his hairy fist up inside her. Still hurting. She grabbed at her belly and rocked back and forth.

Alex searched between the trees restlessly. She’d go when the pain subsided. But until then, she kept a look out for signs of any more Podis. Shadows seemed to turn solid. The breeze appeared to thicken with tell-tale blue smoke. Were they closing in on her now, not yet aware she’d murdered another of their kind? She curled up tighter and pushed her body between the roots, afraid to move out of the copse of trees and go for help.

Something rustled—to her left. Alex gasped and turned that way. She tensed, the torch raised again and ready for action. Then a snapping branch sounded to her right as the torch began to fall into her lap. She threw her arm back up, the weapon clenched in her hand. Something was wrong. She knew it in her bones. Where were they? Hiding behind that big tree over there? She squinted, but her eyes rolled back in their sockets as another wave of pain filled her belly.

A movement made her turn forwards. Across from her, only a few feet away, the man-monster who’d attacked her sat up. With widening eyes, Alex stared as the creature before her clambered stiffly to his feet.

His face was stretched into a terrible sight. Earlier he wore a lecherous smile. Now all Alex recognized was the thought of death on his mind.

“Stupid girl, we don’t die so easily. Need more than being hit by a stupid girl. Now you, stupid girl, will find out what we want…” He grunted out a laugh and took a limping step towards her.

“No, you’re not going to! I
will not
allow you…!” Alex screamed as she jumped to her feet. She ignored the sensation of trickling down her legs, gripped the torch two handed in palms made sticky with her own blood and let out a terrifying scream. Alex ran at the man.

“Fuck me, she’s got life. What’s the little girly going to do…” he blocked her with a single thick limbed arm and used her own momentum to send her hurtling into the side of a tree. Rough bark scraped her bare legs and bottom. Alex fell to her knees. Her mind worked overtime. Do what you need to do. Stay alive, she thought and collapsed against the wood. She focused on the sound of his heavy steps across the leaf littered ground, slow steps, the sounds of someone sure of the act about to be committed.

Still Alex waited, unmoving, staring at a patch of dirt. She shook her head as if stunned, waiting until the last possible moment. One of the monster’s feet came into view. He planted it firmly in amongst the lichens and mosses, settling in as he gained his footing. He was preparing to strike, probably a fatal blow, but she was ready first.

Nimble and lithe, Alex shot up from her crouch and jumped at him. She dodged the fist that came at her and swinging the torch like a baseball bat, connected with the side of his head. The monster stared at her. For a moment, he didn’t move. Simply stood there, his trousers still pulled down to his knees, his limp penis shriveled and tiny. A look of confusion flashed in his eyes, and he reached up to where she’d hit him. As the blood started to pour from the new wound, Alex realized to her horror she’d dented his skull. Then a flood of blood erupted. He gently touched his hair. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he pulled his hand away and examined the fresh blood on his fingertips.

Without warning, the man-monster toppled to the floor. He landed heavily on his backside, the expression of disbelief still there. The man reached out grab her.

Alex didn’t require any more encouragement. “No, you’re not doing…” she raised her right arm and brought her weapon down on his head once more, “… anything else…” he toppled in a lazy sideways manner, so he lay in the shape of a letter ‘L’. Alex landed another blow, this one across his face, “…to me you sick…” Alex smashed into his face again and crushed his nose into pulp, “…fuck, nobody does this to me…” she hit him and dented his temple in a thumping blow, “…nobody…”

Alex caught herself. Panting, she backed a step away. The attacker’s eyes glazed over.

“Oh…what… oh my God…” Alex lurched off to the side and dropped the torch as she leaned against the nearest tree and vomited.

A hand touched her back, and gave a gentle rub. Alex sprung around, her mouth still wet, ready to hit out. Her torch was too far away to grab, not here where she was, where she needed it to protect her… Someone caught her swinging arm as she tried to punch them, blindly as she’d closed her eyes.

“Alex, it’s me. I’m here, I’m back.”

“Clive!” Alex took another swing, but her energy was spent. She staggered against him, her nerve collapsing. “How could you let him do that, he…” she shuddered as gasping sobs escaped, “…he stripped me bare, Clive, he took my clothes off and…” she remembered the hand, “…and he put… something inside me, he was going to kill me. How could you let him?”

Alex collapsed into Clive’s embrace. The demon wrapped his arms around her, patting and rubbing her back as she trembled and shook with emotion.

“We need to leave,” Alex whispered. “We have to go home, I’m injured. I might need a doctor.” She spoke slowly. The ache grew in her belly again. “Please Clive, I’m bleeding. Please protect me now, I believe you…” She pulled away and looked up at his face. “Please…” She grasped at her stomach and doubled over as pain racked her body.

Clive stepped back from her, Alex shrinking down into a crouch on the forest floor as he retrieved her jeans. A thick pool of blood surrounded the dead man’s head.

Without realizing fully what she was doing, Alex grabbed a handful of leaves. She stared at the clump for a moment then started wiping the blood off her legs. A flash of the man and his hand—his
fist
—up inside her made her stomach heave. She steadied herself and grabbed another handful of leaves. She rubbed them between her legs. It wasn’t enough. Tears fell down her cheeks. She slapped at her legs, as if his arm was still between them, pumping in and out of her.

The demon returned, her jeans in one hand.

“I can feel him inside me,” she said without looking up, instead she grabbed more leaves. Her eyes crept across the clearing to the man. Was he actually dead? She stared intensely, searching for any sign of movement. His brown eyes seemed to peer her way, glazed like Jeremy’s had after … after she ran him over. Her breath hitched.

The sun popped out from behind a cloud, shining through the canopy and dappling the monster-man’s skin. He was dead, she thought. Properly dead.

Alex returned to her scrubbing.

“Let me fix you,” Clive said.

The demon kneeled down beside Alex and gently removed her hands from between her legs and while she stared at him, an empty sensation formed in the pit of her stomach.

“You can’t fix this one, Clive.” She pushed his hands away and reached for another pile of leaves. He made another grab for her, but she slapped at him.

“My ability to heal is capacious, and Alex, you need this.”

He held onto her hands as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp. She averted her eyes from his, but they fell on the body of the man. The demon gave a little tug to bring her attention back to him. He concentrated on her, his touch so warm and comforting. After a moment, her body started to heal. He released his grip and let her hands slip away.

“I still hurt.” Her voice quivered as Clive cleared a patch of ground and helped her lie on her back. Gently, he pushed her legs apart and cleaned the last trickling flow with a soft lump of moss. Alex stared at the greens, yellow and reds of the leaves far up above as Clive pulled her jeans onto her legs, and tied her shoes.

“Come on Alex, let’s get you home.” Clive pulled her up off the ground and handed Alex her backpack. With his hands firmly around her waist, he forced her out from amongst the trees.

 
“I can’t live like this Clive.” Alex sagged against his arms. He’d stopped the bleeding and fixed the bruises and scrapes, but her legs still had no strength. The Monday evening rush hour had begun, and the pathways were filling. A woman moved out the way and waited, staring as Alex and the demon struggled by. Did she wonder how—why—Alex walked that way, like she was hung by invisible strings? Or maybe the blood splatters caught her attention.

The woman watched as Alex limped up the street, even opened her mouth a couple of times as if to say something, one arm twitching—maybe to signal to Alex. As they rounded a corner Alex glanced back to find the woman still stood there, her expression a mixture of surprise and concern. But still, her blood-covered appearance still wasn’t enough to convince the woman to help out. The world had turned unfeeling and uncaring. Alex shivered and tripped over her feet.

“Come on babydoll, not far now.”

Clive heaved her up a bit and put her arm around his neck. Her muscles seemed even weaker than before. Home was still so far away. Alex raised her head and found silver sparkles filling her vision. She shook her head in an attempt to stay conscious.

“Alex, I can’t do it all, you need to put one foot in front of another. Come on sweet cakes.”

Alex’s head lolled to the side, barely awake. She heard the demon’s words, and struggled to slide her feet forwards.

“I’m sorry Alex. I had to show you the truth. I had to make you understand that all of this, the Podis, is real. If I could have done it any other way...”

His voice receded as the world Alex lived in turned to grey. What was to become of her life? Murder? Suicide?

“The key,” Clive asked.

Alex looked around. They’d stopped in front of her house. Clive waited for her to respond. She dug in her pocket, thankful the key was still there, and opened the door.

“Upstairs, now.”

The demon got her through to the hallway and heaved her over one shoulder. He carried her up the stairs and placed her gently on the bed. Before locking the door, he put the covers over her and tucked her in tight. She stared up at the ceiling, her eyes unfocused as Clive reached under the duvet and fiddled with her feet. After a little effort, she heard her shoes land on the other side of the room. He tugged again, and her socks came off. The demon moved up to her waist. Another struggle as he undid the button, then he pulled her jeans off and tossed them where he’d thrown her socks and shoes.

Alex curled up on the bed and squeezed her eyes shut, but as soon as she did all the terrible moments of the last few days appeared to haunt her. Visions of blood, pain and the demon’s faces flashed back and forth like a demented slide show. In a half-dream state, she glanced down to find blood pooled round her feet, thick and dark. She felt for her head. But she clutched the torch in that hand, so she reached with the other to find Jeremy’s minibus keys. All the while, sobbing echoed in her ears. She spun around to the sound of bones crunching. Behind her came the revving of an engine.