My Demon (31 page)

Alex snapped out of her trance. She leapt off the floor and rushed to the hallway. Two paramedics, thankfully not the same two that had attended Jeremy, stood at the door laden with equipment.

“Where’s the patient?” The older one said and Alex pointed numbly into the living room. They bustled past leaving Alex clinging to the front door, listening to the rattle and clink of medical intervention. Slowly the sounds receded and the world around her faded. What had she done? How could she have done such a horrible thing to her mother? She deserved to be hung.

Mumbled words floated into her mind, and a tugging on her arm made her blink back into the house. The paramedics had her mother on a trolley. A blanket covered her body. One of the paramedics spoke to her. He waited for an answer. Alex stared vacantly at him and nodded. He started speaking again, and together with his colleague, they took Lily out to the ambulance. One of them returned. Alex caught the word ‘okay’ and she nodded again. He went back to the ambulance and with the lights off, they drove away.

Alex slammed the door. Not much later, a noise soon echoed around her mind. She thought someone might be outside, knocking. But by then the world had turned black. Alex slid down the wall and crumpled on the floor. She curled up tight as she could manage, twitching and whimpering in the hell where she found herself.

 
“A
lex.” There was a pause. “Alex, wake up.”

She forced her eyes open. Immediately, she shivered. Her entire body ached, because somehow, she’d slept the night on the floor. Clive crouched over her, shaking her back to consciousness. Light filtered in the glass panel in the front door, sunrays flooded the hall, dazzling her. Alex lay shivering, staring into the living room, not remembering why she’d opened the hall curtain. Memories of the night before seemed missing, her mind blank. As she tried to remember, she stared at the dust motes as they sparkled and danced together, her cheek pressed against the carpet.

“Something happened last night…,” she said finally.

Clive sat on the stairs and watched her.

“Something bad happened.” She pushed some hair off her face, trying to find the missing memories deep inside her brain. “I think I’m angry with you, but I don’t know why,” she said, stretching in an attempt to loosen her stiff limbs. She should get up soon. “Why would I be angry with you?” Alex got up slowly, her joints aching, and turned to face Clive.

The demon shrugged. He sat with his chin resting on his hands, his expression serious. No quiz show host smile today. Alex peered back into the living room, the curtains still drawing her attention. Why? She stepped into the room. Why were the curtains so important? Clive followed her through, and arms crossed across his chest, he leaned against the arm of the sofa, waiting. Something was wrong. Alex turned examining the room in increments, and when she found the single wine glass on the coffee table, she stopped.

Events from the night before returned. Alex grabbed onto the back of the armchair. A cry escaped her, and she clapped a hand to her mouth. Everything flashed in front of her then ended with one last heart-stopping image; that of her mother covered by a hospital blanket.

“Clive,” she whispered. Her cheeks pinked and her heart beat hard as her blood pressure soared. “This is all down to you.” She spoke in a low and controlled voice.

The demon flashed one of his magnificent smiles. Alex glared at him through narrowed eyes. She drew back her fist and threw a punch at him.

“Jesus, babydoll, what the hell was that for?” He put a hand to his cheek.

“That was for my mother,” she said, barely controlling her fury. Clenching her fists she stepped right up to him. “So is this,” she cried and slammed her fist into Clive’s face again. She let out a high-pitched shrieking sound and punched, hitting him with all her strength. Clive ducked and backed away.

“Hey, Alex, sweet cakes, enough. You’ve made your point already!”

He blocked her then shoved her to the floor. Before she had a chance to scramble to her feet, he put a foot on her chest and pushed her down. He towered above her, the earlier smile gone and replaced by a look of disappointment.

“This was your deal Alex. I had nothing to do with it. I puff back into your life to find the drunk dead and you crashed out on the carpet, shivering and moaning. If you have a problem with your actions, fix it, but don’t come attacking me. I didn’t do a thing.”

“Fuck you, asshole! You made me do all this. Everything that’s happened has been your fault, right down to the pigeon in the park. I wouldn’t have done any of this had you not shown up in my life. You’ve ruined everything!” She slapped at his foot, but only the once, to make a point. He’d made it clear he was far stronger.

The demon took his foot off her and stepped to the side. “You were already walking the road before I turned up. How do you explain the money?”

She ignored him, and said, “You know what I’m going to do today?” She waited for a moment. “I’m going to St Patrick’s, and I’m going to admit myself. I am a danger to society, that’s what they call people like me. How many more am I going to kill before I get caught?” She paled for a second. “Jesus, I’m a serial killer!”

“You are not going to go to St Patrick’s!” Clive shouted, his skin flickering.

“I’ll do whatever I want Clive, whatcha going to do? Scare me to death?” She crawled backwards, away from his towering hulk and jumped back onto her feet. “You told me you couldn’t kill in this dimension.”

“I lied.”

Alex stared fixedly as his skin shimmered again, waves cresting and undulating, the color shifting and unsure. “Lied?” she asked weakly and backed away further.

“I just wanted to find out what you were capable of. Boy did you perform, babydoll.”

“No, no, can’t be…” She looked around for an escape route. The demon matched her step for step. Her back pressed up into the corner of the room.

“Oh yes, it most certainly can be. The best thing for you is to keep quiet.” He continued to advance on her. With each step, he grew in height, suddenly tall enough for his head to touch the ceiling.

“Don’t, don’t kill me!” she shrieked and covered her face with her arm. “Please, don’t change!” She squeezed her eyes closed.

“Alex,” Clive said, his voice deeper and seemingly multi-toned. Like five deep-voiced men all talking at once.

“I don’t want to look. I don’t want to see you!” she said and slid down the wall and into a crouch. Daring to open her eyes, she peered under the edge of her arm to find cloven feet in front of her. The hoofs stamped and clacked on the floor impatiently.

Something red-hot clamped around her forearm and pulled it away from her face. She closed her eyes tight not wanting to see the demon side of Clive. He couldn’t force them open, could he? The burning sensation continued. Her arm hurt so much, but he’d let go. She frowned, confused. If he wasn’t squeezing her, then what? Above her a coarse laugh echoed.

“Might want to put ice on that, babydoll.” The demon continued to laugh. “If you try to get yourself committed, I will burn the rest of your body. Do you understand me, Alex?”

She barely heard him. Flashes of pain shot up her arm.

“Do you understand me?” he shouted.

His voice reverberated around her skull. Alex nodded. The pain was incredible, pulsing down her arm and up to her shoulder.

“Oh my God!” Her eyes shot open. The skin on her arm was bright red, already blistered and peeling. Thick fluid seeped from the wound. But the shape, she almost didn’t believe. A giant clawed handprint clearly marked her skin. “What have you done to me?”

Alex suppressed a cry. She realized Clive had gone. The living room now empty, and her way clear, Alex ran to the kitchen and threw her forearm under a stream of cold water. It knocked the edge off the pain, but only a little. With her other hand, she opened the cabinet where her mother kept household medicines, and grabbed a packet of paracetamol. After a struggle she freed a couple of tablets and swallowed them.

She put her hand under the water again, eyeing the cabinet for bandages. A burn this size needed a big bit of padding. While she searched for dressings, she decided she must find Harry, he was the only one who could save her from Clive, she was sure of this.

 
“U
m, hello. I was wondering if I could talk to someone about one of your patients.” Alex peered in through a small hatch labeled above as:
Reception
. Inside an overweight woman with her grey-streaked hair scraped back into a pony tail sat behind the desk. She ignored Alex and kept typing.

“Hello, do you work here?” Alex asked, not sure as the woman wasn’t wearing a nurse’s uniform, her clothes casual.

“Just hold on a minute. I’m writing up someone’s notes,” the woman mumbled, eyes not even shifting from the screen to look up at Alex.

“Oh, okay.” Alex stood in a small lobby. There were no seats, only the hatch in one wall and a locked door on another and the words
No Access
written in red. Did they not get visitors? She checked around behind her, worried about when Clive might show up. Her arm throbbed and ached right up to her shoulder. What would he do to her if he actually found her at St Patrick’s?

Another woman walked in to the office beyond the hatch, younger than the first and dressed in a t-shirt that said,
Hands off, they’re mine
across her breasts. Her ginger hair was tied into short pigtails that bounced as she crossed the room. Alex said a silent thank you that neither of them leaked blue smoke from their eyes.

“Hello.” She didn’t wait for an answer and asked, “Can I help you?” She leaned on the counter and smiled.

“I hope so. I’m looking for my father. He used to be… Um, he was … or is a patient here.” Alex felt her color rising as she stumbled over her words. Unexpected nerves took flight in her stomach. What if her mother lied, and he never came to St Patrick’s?

“Was this recently?” She spoke with a faint Scottish accent, the syllables rising and falling in the soft singing way of the north.

“Um, 1994 or 5. I’m not exactly sure, I was young at the time… when he left.” The blush deepened as Alex realized how little she knew. Expecting to be sent away, she picked up her backpack from the floor and slung it over her shoulder.

“Why don’t you come into the office, and we’ll see what we can find out. Just hold on a tic, I’ll let you in.” The woman disappeared and a couple of seconds later, the
No Access
door opened. “Come on in,” she said, leading Alex inside.

They walked up a short hall and into an informal room with comfy sofas and a television in the corner. Several people were lounging about drinking coffee and tea, eating and watching the snooker on the box.

“Be back in a minute, okay?” she said, a couple of heads nodded, a few others stared at Alex as the woman led her away. “Staff room,” she explained and ducked into the next room. Alex felt a chill as she spied a wisp of blue smoke coming from one of the men. Before he could clap eyes on her, she hurried after the woman.

This had more of a hospital feel. A large plain desk filled one end with an old screen taking up most of the worktop. The woman sat down and indicated Alex take a seat.

“I’m Juliet,” she said with a smile, and pulled a keyboard out from under the screen. “What was your father’s name?”

“Harry Walker.” Alex was amazed, she didn’t think finding him would be this easy.

“And you have some identification?”

Alex nodded and unzipped her bag. “I hadn’t a clue what I’d need, so I’ve brought my provisional driver’s license—as my ID.” She dipped into her bag a second time. “I’ve got my birth certificate because my dad’s name is recorded there, and my parent’s marriage certificate. I’ve also got a bill with my mum’s name—a gas bill, our address is at the top. That’s the same address he would have given when he came here. I’ve also got my last bank statement and my mobile phone bill—it has my name on it. I know they don’t count for much, but I’m only nineteen. I don’t have much else.” With that, she shoved the pile of documents over. She sat nervously on the edge of her seat, and waited as Juliet sorted through everything.