The Demon Rolmar (7 page)

“Will I be frightened if I see your real form?”

“It’s possible.” He smiled inwardly, thinking back to his first encounter with Adam. “There’s no need to worry. I think it’s best if you don’t see my true form. And besides, I don’t know if any of these emotions will remain after I’ve reverted back to that form. I hope you can understand that.”

She nodded, but the saddened expression on her face made it clear that she did not.

“I will be leaving you soon, but before I go, I must warn you that this planet may not survive long. I’ve been sent here to determine its fate.”

“The earth—destroyed? But why?” she asked.

“That is the way of my kind. We seek out and destroy peoples that do not meet a certain level of advancement.”

Linda was pale and horrified by the words. “Destroy the earth— just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“Your people will destroy it?”

“No. The task is my sole responsibility.”

“I don’t believe it. You wouldn’t do that,” she said, shaking her head.

“You don’t know the real me. But do not despair, you will be spared.”

Linda was shocked again by the boy’s words.

“I want you to have this,” he said, and handed her a silver pendant with a single quartz stone in it. “If the earth is destroyed, you will be transported to the world Fernatha.”

Linda appeared to be in a state of shock. “I…I don’t know what to say,” she stammered.

“When the time comes, remember to put the necklace on.”

“How will I know when it’s time?”

“The stone will begin to glow and emit a small tone.”

“What about Grant?”

“Him? He’s the source of your unhappiness, is he not?”

“Well, I guess. But I love him…or I used to.”

Ian leaned forward and his excitement began to build. “Don’t you wish that he were out of the picture for good?” he asked.

“No, I wouldn’t dream of something like that,” she said. But Ian caught a touch of uncertainty in her voice.

“I could erase him from your memory.”

“I don’t know what my life would be like if I had no memory of Grant.”

“It could be richer. I have very little knowledge of the human psyche, but it seems to me that you cannot miss what you have not known.”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry about that now. Just remember to save yourself.”

“OK.”

“I must go now,” he said, and stood up. “Good-bye.”

“Bye,” she said, trying to hold back tears.

Before Linda could utter another word, Ian rose before her very eyes and vanished. Linda was left sitting at the table, her fantasy now truly at an end.

.

C
HAPTER
10

A
dam began to doze off as the endless highway stretched out before them. He could still remember how his friends had looked when they all met at freshman orientation. It seemed like such a long time ago, but it had transpired only two years earlier. Things were much simpler back then—before the whole incident with Rolmar had occurred. He could remember John’s punk hairstyle and Zelia’s long, curly hair. The two had since changed their image; John had chosen a more sensible haircut, and Zelia had cut her long waves and decided on a shoulder-length hairstyle. John was constantly sarcastic, even in those days. Zelia was always so studious. Adam had admired those qualities in his friends. He shuddered to think how he would have felt if his two closest friends hadn’t survived the amusement park tragedy.

“We’re getting off at the next exit,” Zelia said sleepily.

John was wide-awake; apparently the trauma of the past few hours had caused him to be a little jittery. Zelia noticed that his hands were shaking a little. “Why don’t you pull over, and I’ll take us the rest of the way,” she offered. John steered the car to the shoulder and put it in park. Zelia unbuckled her seatbelt and looked over at John, who was still gripping the wheel. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be all right,” she said. John nodded, but the fear in his eyes indicated otherwise. John and Zelia switched seats while Adam started to stir in the back.

“Have we reached our destination?” Adam asked. The first four words were clear enough, but a midway yawn made the last word completely unintelligible.

John turned around and said, “We’re almost there.”

“How long have you known this guy?” Adam inquired.

“I’ve known Scott since freshman year. We were good friends up until this year.”

“What happened?” Zelia asked.

“I guess we both got busy, and he changed his major, so we weren’t in as many classes together.”

“You said he lived on Lakeway Drive, right?” Zelia asked.

“Yeah, we’re going to be making a right at the next traffic light,” John replied.

Zelia turned onto the street and was surprised at the affluence of the neighborhood. The block was lined with mansions that had impeccable lawns. The homes boasted sculpted hedges and colonnades, and some were even enclosed in wrought iron gates. “Which one is it?” Zelia asked.

“The one with the giraffe-shaped hedges,” John said. He was starting to feel apprehensive about the whole situation and wasn’t looking forward to speaking to Scott’s family.

The stone-paved driveway opened into a beautiful courtyard with a triple-tier fountain at the center. “Well, here we go,” John said. He jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut in one fluid motion. The others followed behind John as he made his way up the stone steps and knocked on a large, oak door flanked by columns. John’s foot tapped in anticipation. After a moment, a dark-haired man with horn-rimmed glasses opened the door.

“Yes?” he said.

“Hi, Mr. Sellers. Umm, it’s about Scott…I don’t know how to say this, but something’s happened,” John said.

“Scott?” the man said. He looked confused. For a moment he disappeared inside the house where they heard him yell, “Honey, do we know anyone named Scott?” When he came back he said, “We don’t know any Scott.” He started to close the door.

John placed his palm on the door and raised his voice. “You don’t understand. Scott’s gone.”

“I hope this isn’t a prank.”

“This isn’t a prank. He’s really gone. Don’t you remember me, Mr. Sellers?

“I’m sorry, I don’t know you and I don’t want to have to get the authorities involved.”

Zelia whispered to John, “Are you sure that this is the right house?”

“Yes. I know it’s the right one,” John replied.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve never had any children,” Mr. Sellers explained.

Adam put his hand on John’s shoulder. “Let’s go,” he said.

“All right,” John said quietly.

Adam looked at Mr. Sellers and said, “Sorry for disturbing you.”

They headed back to the car, and Zelia started up the engine. After they pulled out of the driveway, John shook his head. “I don’t understand. Mr. Sellers knows me. I’ve been to this house several times to work on projects with Scott when we still had the same major. Mr. Sellers didn’t even remember me. Something was different about him—he had a blank look in his eyes.”

Zelia switched on the radio. “Adam, have any theories? You’re the most logical of all of us.”

“Not really. I don’t know what’s going on.” Then at the bottom of his stomach he felt a churning that sickened him. “But I know it’s him.”

“Who?” John said, still confused.

“The demon…he did it. Why didn’t I think of this before? That night when I first encountered him, he read my mind.”

“Whoa, I didn’t hear that part of the story,” John said, and perked up with interest. “You said you encountered some creature on the street, and it came into our home.”

“Well, you weren’t exactly very willing to listen that night. You just brushed me off and went into your room. You didn’t give me a chance to finish.”

“Of course not. I thought you were joking or something.”

“Obviously, I wasn’t,” Adam said. “When I came home that night, he imitated your voice. I thought you were home but when I came in, he was in the foyer instead. He told me that he read my memories and that’s how he was able to imitate your voice.”

“That’s pretty scary,” John said.

“I should have realized that if he had the power to take a memory, then he could also erase one.”

Adam had thought about going to the police earlier, but after encountering Scott’s father he decided that it would be a fruitless effort. There had been no news on the radio about the incident.
Everyone must be oblivious to Rolmar’s deeds
.
I think that’s exactly what he wants. He told me that this was just a game to him. All this secrecy and memory erasing must somehow be part of that. We’re the only ones who know.

Zelia pulled into Adam and John’s apartment complex and parked. She turned around and looked at Adam. “Do you know why he’s doing this?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that this is all just a game to him. The fact of the matter is that humanity is now just a Tinkertoy.”

Adam and John got out of the car. John scratched the back of his neck and said, “This is all like a bad dream.”

Adam gave a sigh. “I wish it were a dream.”

“What can we do?” Zelia asked. She was still clenching the wheel.

Before walking to his apartment, Adam turned back around to face Zelia. In a deadpan voice he said, “You know how to pray, don’t you?”

.

C
HAPTER
11

T
he air was crisp outside, and gave the promise of winter. The demon referenced Adam’s thoughts and found Adam’s school in no time. Rolmar ruminated on what sort of form he would take and finally decided to take the form of a fifty-year-old man. He pictured in his mind what appropriate attire for a day like this would be.
Hmm, perhaps a suit and an overcoat would do. This should help me to fit in nicely with the earthlings.

The demon wasn’t entirely disappointed by the appearance of the campus; it had some sprawling acreage and in general had an interesting layout from above. Many of the buildings were contemporary in design and had obviously been built after the dorms, which had a more gothic feel to them.

A large oak tree provided ample coverage for the demon who alighted gently in an invisible state. He peered invisibly from behind the tree at the many students who went about their way, hustling and bustling through the main quad. After a few moments, he transformed into his new guise.

At first he walked the campus aimlessly and took in all the sights. The way everyone moved about fascinated him. They seem to be in such a hurry.
This is so much different from the way Pentarians behave. Our lives are much slower in pace.
He likened the movement of the people to scurrying ants.

The demon walked toward the math and science building and paused when he saw a young man near the entrance. The youth was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and was obviously regretting his choice of clothing on that morning. He rubbed his hands together briskly and then pulled a cigarette from his pocket.

The student addressed Rolmar, “Hey, do you have a light?”

Rolmar was slightly puzzled by the question at first. Then he referenced Adam’s thoughts again and was able to understand. “Sure,” the demon replied. He conjured a lighter inside his pocket, removed the object, and handed it to the young man.

“Thanks,” the young man said. “Sure is cold outside. Wish I had worn a coat today.” He handed the lighter back to Rolmar and then took a long drag of his cigarette.

What a strange habit. How disgusting.

“Are you new here?” the youth asked.

“You could say that I’m new to this place.”

“Just hired, huh? What do you teach?”

“Advanced Math,” he replied.

“Wow, I guess I won’t be in any of your classes this semester. I’m only a freshman.”

“How fresh are you?” the demon inquired, not understanding what the term meant.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” Rolmar replied.

“Well, I gotta go. See ya.”

The demon could only utter, “Hmm.”

As the student walked away he thought,
What a strange, old man. I’m glad I don’t have any classes with him.
Rolmar read his mind and became infuriated.

You’ll probably die from cancer in fifty years. Why not get it over with now? Hmm, maybe I should just kill them all
.
Why should I spare any of them? They all have such short life spans anyway.
The student went to douse his cigarette in a public ashtray, but the demon made it fly into the air.

The guy was surprised. “What? Whoa.”

The cigarette landed on some papers that someone had carelessly left on the grass. The paper went up in flames immediately.

“Oh no!” the youth shouted and ran to try to put it out. The fire grew very large in a matter of seconds. He backed away quickly, and turned to run. Rolmar watched and smiled slightly. The demon turned invisible and made the fire spread to the math and science building. The flames moved at an unnatural pace and engulfed the entire building.

People began to evacuate and were running to safety outside the building. The demon thought that the people looked like ants more than ever. Rolmar smiled again and went inside the structure to further torment the students. Inside, the hallways blazed, and the stairs were blocked by fire as well. A woman stood at the bottom of the stairs and tried to reach for her small daughter who was standing halfway up the stairs. They must have been visiting the campus today. Rolmar watched for a time and felt pity for the creatures.
Why should I feel anything for them? Just destroy them
. But something made him pause. The woman reminded him of Linda in some way, and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

She called out to her daughter, “You’ll have to jump!”

The child began to cry and yelled, “I can’t!”

Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she yelled, “It’s the only way!”

Rolmar looked on for a moment longer and then made the fire die down on the steps so the child could walk down them.

The mother ran to her daughter, grabbed her hand, and ran from the building. Rolmar felt strange inside.
Why did I do that?
He grew angry with himself.
This is not right.
He held his hands to his head, which ached for some unknown reason. Blaring sirens could be heard in the distance. The fire department arrived and assessed the scene. They were able to help all of the people escape the building, so no one was hurt. After seeing that his plot had been thwarted, Rolmar decided to leave—but not before erasing the memories of those who witnessed.