Page 26 of Unbinding the Demon

I tossed an old running shoe over my shoulder as I rummaged around in my cluttered, cobweb-infested closet. The small box I had was full of all the silly little cat hats I had accumulated over the years for Pepper Paws. I’d been hustling and bustling, packing up anything that I deemed worthy of needing the most, which turned out to be a lot of stuff. Ashton was collecting my art supplies, books, and other random things for me... or so I thought .

“Who in the almighty name of Beelzebub is Fabian!?” I froze as Ashton’s angry voice roared throughout the room, practically shaking the walls. My wide eyes peeked out from the closet doorway, where I saw him sitting on the floor, propped up against the side of my bed. He was holding a little black book that was decorated with a few artsy red roses, with a livid expression on his face.

No! Not my diary!

“Hey! I told you not to read that!” I began to swim through the sea of band tees, dresses, and shoes that filled my closet floor. My face contorted in disgust as it tore through a dusty, old cobweb while I stumbled out into the bedroom. I rushed across the room while wiping the webbing off my face to snatch my diary away from him. As I reached for the book, he lassoed my waist with his snake-like arm and pulled me down to his side in one swoop. “Give that back!” I yelled as I struggled against him.

“Not until you tell me who the Hell Fabian is, and what he did!... And where he lives, for that matter .” He seethed as he looked through the pages using the hand that wasn’t restraining me, keeping the book just out of my reach.

“He’s just my stupid jerk of an ex-boyfriend. Now give it back!”

I tried to lunge for my diary, but Ashton’s unyielding arm held me tight.

“Well now, let’s see here...” He brought the book up to his face for close inspection. “You very poetically wrote about how heartbroken he made you, but you didn’t give a single detail about what exactly happened. So tell me what he did! ... And where I can find him. “ His voice held a maniacal, bloodthirsty tone.

“Yeah, that’s because what he did really fucking sucked, and I didn’t want to write it down on paper! Plus, it happened six years ago, so it doesn’t even matter anymore!” I glared up at him.

Nancy fucking Drew over here had better be satisfied with that answer and not press any further about this ...

“I’m not satisfied with that answer, and I will keep pressing this matter further until you tell me what exactly he did!” His arm tightened around my waist, and his face held an intense expression that said spill-the-fucking-beans.

“Okay, okay, jeez.” I held my hand up in defeat. “I’m only going to tell you this because you’re my current boyfriend, and I should be open with you about my past sexual partners.” My eyes then narrowed at him, as I thought of a clever way to avoid his question. “But first, what’s your sexual history like?” I smirked tauntingly.

“I’ve fucked hundreds—no, probably thousands of both men and women, but you’re my favorite. Now stop avoiding my question and answer me!” he said in a serious tone while glaring at me with an impatient scowl.

I scoffed at his absurdity. “Alright, fine, you egotistical liar!” I took a deep breath and gazed over at the wall, readying myself to spew the painful story as quickly as possible. “I dated Fabian when I was 17. He told me he loved me and that because we were dating, I had to sleep with him, so I did. I gave him my virginity. He insisted on taking pictures too, and then he cheated on me a week later. After that, he told everyone I was a slutty whore who cheated on him and showed all his buddies the photos and they circulated around the school. Then he left me for the other girl. But it’s in the past, and I don’t give a fuck anymore! And please stop reading my diary before you get to what Lance did!”

I peeked up at Ashton, who looked so intensely infuriated that I wouldn’t have been shocked if literal tempestuous black clouds began swirling above him. He shoved my face against his side and threw his long hair over my head, so I couldn’t see anything other than a curtain of silky midnight black. My arms flailed helplessly around, but he held me firm.

“What the!?”

“I swear by the all-mighty powers of Hell that this Fabian boy, and whoever the fuck Lance is, will meet heinously agonizing deaths by my hand. I will mercilessly torture and slaughter them both, all while smiling with great pleasure.” His voice was insanely deep and dark, chilling my blood and sounding like it came straight from the gnathic pits of Hell.

“Keep your booming, diabolical voice down, you psychotic maniac! There are cops right downstairs, for crying out loud!” My furious voice was muffled, with my face still held hostage against his side.

He laughed maniacally. “Do you really think I care if those donut-munching ninnies hear me when Fabian and Lance are still out there, freely roaming the earth and wasting our precious oxygen!?” He growled their names with disgust.

“Yeah, and speaking of oxygen... I need to fucking breathe!” I kicked and squirmed until his grip ever so slowly loosened around me. My head lifted, and I gasped for air. “Are you fucking insane!? You have literally murdered three people, and you have the balls to be yelling about that right now!? You don’t need those cops and detectives hearing you!” I whispered to him in a sharp tone.

“And soon it will be five people that I’ve killed.” He glared at me as if he were accepting a challenge. “Hear me now, all you worthless cops and detectives!” Oh my gosh, is he fucking serious? “I will make the blood of Fabian and Lance flow in rivers from their putrid, rotting flesh! I will remove their eyes from their sockets and their tongues from their mouths! I will slice—”

As I tried to shush him and slap my hands over his loud, bellowing mouth, my eyes landed on the dairy. I pounced over his lap and tried to snatch it out of his hand. “Ah-ha!” I exclaimed in victory! Ashton stopped yelling like a hellish fiend, but to my disappointment, he didn’t release the book. My hands latched onto the book, and we began a pitiful game of tug-of-war. I was using all of my self-proclaimed mighty strength, while he casually held on to it with one hand.

“You didn’t really think you’d get this back before I could read about what Lance did, did you, Buttercup?” he taunted as he effortlessly pulled on the book, causing me to stumble forward.

“Just give it back, for Pete’s sake!” I gritted out as I struggled to get my very personal diary back.

A small photograph came fluttering out from its pages and landed on Ashton’s thick tree trunk of a leg. The picture was one that my aunt had taken of Lacey and me when we were only seven years old. We were sitting in a patch of yellow tulips with big, bright smiles, wearing cute matching light blue dresses and white bows in our hair. He picked it up and examined it with a slight smile. “You and Lacey have been good friends for quite a long time. No wonder she cares so much about you.”

“Yeah, since kindergarten, actually. She invited me to sit next to her on the first day, and we shared my special crayons that Aunt Elowynn had gotten me.” I smiled at both the memory, and the fact that he now seemed to be distracted from his outrageous I will slaughter all of your ex-boyfriends rampage... Thank goodness that picture fell out!

He handed me the photograph, then stuffed my diary into his jacket. “I’m keeping this for later,” he said with narrowed eyes.

God fucking dammit ...

I scowled at him with annoyance, but then I frowned to myself as I looked at the picture in my hand. I realized he knew most of my friends, but I knew nothing about his. He had never spoken about them. In fact, he was vague about his family, too. I knew he had two siblings, but I didn’t know their names or genders or anything about them at all.

I watched him with curious eyes as he finished packing the last box up. “ Ehem ...” I pretended to clear my throat. “So, um, do you... you know, have any friends?” I squished my lips together and gazed over at him with an inquisitive, yet innocent, look. I hoped he wouldn’t feel put on the spot by me, well, putting him on the spot.

He tensed up a bit and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. “I do. I just haven’t seen many of them in a very, very long time,” he replied with a coy smile and a flicker of sadness in his eyes.

“Well, do you, um, think that I might meet them someday?” I twiddled with the hem of my skirt and picked some pesky lint off my leggings.

He smiled wider with a slight laugh, then walked over and caressed my bruised upper arm. “Yes, in fact, I would very much love to bring you back to my homeland and introduce you to all of them someday.” He placed a soft kiss on my smiling lips. I imagined us romantically walking hand in hand down the beautiful streets of Helsinki. I couldn’t help but wonder during what season we would go visit. Spring would likely be best. I wasn’t sure if I could handle a Finnish winter, considering I thought New England’s winters were bad enough. “Well, let’s bring these boxes to the car,” he said as he stacked a few and picked them up, pulling me out of my brief fantasy.

A few crows were still cawing away, sitting in the burgundy-adorned oak above. It seemed as though the loud little fuckers were taunting me as I struggled to fit the last box into Ashton’s back seat. My hair blew all around in the chilling wind while I grumbled and shoved at the flimsy, idiotic cardboard. Strong, warm arms caged me in, as Ashton effortlessly pushed the box where it needed to be. I turned around to face him and gave him a thankful smile.

“Everyone’s in the side yard. We should go talk to them and let them know about your new living situation,” he suggested, as he affectionately smoothed out my disheveled hair. I peeked over the car to where Lacey, Darrell, William, and Oliver were all chatting by the overgrown, shriveled garden. Apprehension filled my gut. I suddenly wanted to jump in the car and speed away to Timbuktu instead of facing them. “Don’t worry. They’re your friends. I’m sure they’ll understand.” Ashton gently caressed my cheek.

I gulped as he grabbed my hand and began leading me toward them. The sound of crunching gravel turned to the crunching of dead leaves as Ashton and I made our way over. You’d never be able to guess that something so sinister had just happened by the way everyone was chatting away so lightheartedly. William held a container filled with his leftover chimichangas and was sharing them with the group.

“Hey, there you guys are!” Lacey waved with a smile. “I was beginning to wonder if you ever made it out of bed!” She was tucked under Darrell’s arm and nibbling on a small chimichanga.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad of a guess. I would have much rather stayed in bed,” Ashton said with a laugh.

“Yeah, me too... but Happy Halloween, bitches!” William said sarcastically, while laughing and gesturing toward the broken, bloody window with his container. Shards of glass were still scattered on the surrounding ground, and the caution tape was wrestling against the wind to stay on. “I still can’t believe this shit.”

“I know, me neither. It feels like it was all a crazy fucked-up nightmare.” I shook my head and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Hey Ashton, I just want to say thank you for letting Lacey stay at your place last night. I really appreciate you watching out for her,” Darrell said as he smiled at us. His class ring glinted on his finger as he caressed Lacey’s arm.

“Of course. It was no problem at all. I would never turn any of you away during a time of need.” Ashton kindly smiled back at him. Lacey and I both shared sneaky smiles of our own, with unspoken happiness about how our boyfriends were developing a friendship.

“How are you doing, Gwendolyn? I heard that whatever that girl or thing was, she had gone after you specifically.” Oliver looked at me with concern in his electric-blue eyes.

“I don’t know. I’m just really shocked and freaked out by it all.” Ashton gently put an arm around me as I spoke. “There’s also something that I need to tell you guys.” I took a deep breath through my nose. “I’ve decided to move in with Ashton. I just don’t think I can stay here after what happened.” I glanced up at Ashton, who gave me an encouraging smile.

“Literally, same. We were actually just talking about our new living situations,” Lacey said while pointing around the group. “I’ll be moving in with Darrell. It’s about time we lived together anyway,” she added and leaned into Darrell’s side. He smiled down at her like she was the most beloved thing in his life.

“And William is moving in with me,” Oliver chimed in.

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m not ditching this gruesome horror scene, too.” William pointed at the house as though it were some terrible anathema. “Like how would we ever sit in that living room again and not think about the way her head literally fucking exploded? Like, remember all that disgusting blood and brain goop!? Ugh , seriously, fuck this place! Also, do you guys want any chimichangas?”

“I’ll take one,” Ashton accepted his offer and grabbed one with excitement. He took a bite, and his eyes widened at the delicious flavor. “Good gods of Hell, this is divine! I’m especially impressed with how the outside has maintained its crispiness even after being refrigerated. Well done, William. Truly, well done.”

“Have as many as you’d like,” William laughed and held them out toward me. “Did you want any, Gwenny-love?”

“No, thank you. I’ll pass. I don’t have much of an appetite right now.” My stomach churned at the memory of the brutal scene. Plus, the stench of rot still lingered in the air.

“Ugh... I still can’t believe what happened last night was even real,” Lacey said while gripping her head. Her expression was both frazzled and frustrated.

“Yeah, ya know, I’m not sure what to make of the story, but I’m just really glad that everyone’s all right,” Darrell kindly stated while his eyes scanned the broken window. “It sounds super outlandish, but the evidence is there.”

“You know, what’s also creepy is that the detectives didn’t even seem that shocked about it. I think they might have seen something like this before,” William added in a somewhat spooked tone with widened eyes. He and Ashton continued to gobble down the chimichangas.

“I think they have too,” I softly said, earning everyone’s full attention. “She looked like Cassandra from my art class. Remember that day back in September when that accident happened at the school? And when Amelia and I described to you guys what she looked like? Her eyes and mouth were all black and oozy like that, too. Even the noises she made were the same.” I felt sick to my stomach as I spoke.

The wind rustled a few dead leaves around us, while a moment of eerie silence laced with uncertainty and dread hung heavily in the air. The crows cawed in the background as everyone’s eyes shifted around to one another. Well, everyone except Ashton, who was staring at the ground.

“I’m sure the detectives will figure it out,” Darrell said with an undertone of trepidation, breaking the awkward tension in the air. “I was actually going to ask them a few questions myself. I’ve been thinking about getting into the field, you know what I mean?”

“Well, um, if you guys don’t mind, I’d like to speak with Gwendolyn alone for a minute. You know, just girl talk,” Lacey said while grabbing my hand.

“That’s fine,” Ashton said as he lightly grabbed my upper arm and looked into my eyes. “Just don’t go too far.” He hesitantly released his grip.

“Don’t worry, we’ll stay in sight,” she said as she led me away. We strolled through the dying grass and fallen leaves until we stood beneath one of the large maple trees. We were still within sight of the guys, but far enough so that they couldn’t hear us. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know I think it’s great you’re moving in with Ashton and all. However, you guys have only been together for a month and a half now. So, if you change your mind, or if anything ever comes up and you need a new place to stay, you’re always welcome to come live with Darrell and me. We were actually going to offer for you to come live with us, anyway.” She lovingly gazed into my eyes while holding my hands.

I glanced over at Ashton, who was chatting with the guys as they ravenously devoured William’s chimichangas. But I could still tell that he was keeping a close eye on me. He seemed to get more and more possessive and protective by the day, especially after that night at the club. I could only imagine what he’d be like after this whole creepy zombie incident. Yet I still felt like I was making the right decision.

I looked back at Lacey, my smile full of genuine love and warmth. “Thank you. I really appreciate the offer, but I have a feeling that living with Ashton is going to work out just fine. I’m actually quite excited about it. It’s comforting to know I have a backup place with you, though.”

“No problem. I just don’t want you to feel trapped if things don’t work out.” She gave me a big, loving hug. “You know I love you and that you mean the world to me. And God, I was terrified that freaky girl was going to kill you last night.” She squeezed her eyes shut as though she couldn’t bear the thought of losing me.

“I love you too,” I said as I hugged her back. “You know, I can’t believe how brave you were! Like throwing a lamp at her? Really?” I laughed as we pulled away from the hug.

“Yeah, well, she should’ve known better than to mess with my best friend,” she courageously stated with a laugh. “Come on, let’s head back before they eat the last of those chimichangas.”

We giggled as we walked back over to the chipmunk-cheeked guys. The group speculated about what the detectives might come up with for a little while longer until the sun was directly overhead. Ashton and I decided it was time to leave, said our goodbyes, and then headed back to the car.

The wind blew through my hair as I took a long, wistful look back at the little blue house and sighed. The sky was clear, with just a few fluffy clouds drifting by, while the shedding tree branches merrily danced all around the property line. I did like the place, but it was time to part ways with it. I got in the car and smiled over at Ashton. He grabbed my hand and smiled back.

“Let’s go home, Buttercup.” He gave my hand a loving kiss and began to drive.