Demon Visitor

A community lies in hiding. Every year, a village is terrorized by a visit from a red skinned, black footed demon. The time is now. The demon visits tonight.

It's getting foggy earlier each day, or at least that's what my watch tells me. The cloud cover is so thick that only the vaguest semblance of light seeps through, and I can't be sure whether it is sunlight or moonlight. By my count, it's been twelve days since I last saw the sky. Like the previous eleven nights, tonight I sit at my window and watch for HIS return.

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We know that He is coming, and we know that it will be soon. We have not forgotten His last visit. He always comes when we are at our weakest, when our food supply is running low and we have rationed ourselves back to one meal a day. He's smart that way. We're too weak to fight Him, so we hide.

.

My daughter Ana asks me about Him. I try to reassure her that as long as we stay hidden, we will be safe. She tries to hold back her tears, to be strong, but she is terrified. She starts to cry softly and says that one of the older boys has told her that He is a demon with red skin that carries around a bag full of bones that he has collected.

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I want to console her and tell her that it is all a myth, but I know that I must be honest with her in case He finds her. She must know to run and hide to protect her life. So I tell her the truth, "We are not sure what He is. We have only seen fleeting glimpses of him. From what we have seen, I can tell you that he is most certainly almost completely red."

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I place her on my knees and tell her the story as my father told it to me. "For as long as our time is recorded, He has been coming to our village. After the winds turn cold and the sky has been darkened for days, He comes."

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Ana whimpers, "Can't we just block the roads?"

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"Back in your great grandfather's time, they tried that," I say as I wipe back the hairs out of her eyes. "They even tried building a barricade around the houses. That's how we learned that He doesn't travel by the ground. He travels by the sky. There is no barricade that can be built high enough to stop Him. You can hear Him when He comes. He drops down to the roof with a horrendous sound."

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As if He had been waiting for that moment in the story to be uttered, a loud crashing noise comes from above. HE'S HERE!!

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We hear Him walk across the roof. His steps are hard, and I hear the occasional scraping of His foot on the wood shingles. The sound brings to mind the sound a goat makes as it scrambles across the rocks down by the river. Immediately I picture a red demon with hoofed feet.

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Ana cowers in my lap, but she is a good girl and keeps quiet. I wrap my arms around her and pray that it gives her the slightest feeling of being protected. She doesn't seem comforted by the simple fact that our only protection is this cellar beneath the house with the hidden entrance.

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Moments later, we hear steps above our head. He has moved into the floor above us and is in the main room. In the morning, should we live that long, he will be gone and there will be no evidence of how he got in. The windows and doors will still be barred from the inside and the fire is still burning strong in the fireplace.

.

We can see His shape through the thin slits between the boards. He is as large as a bear, but He moves swiftly and with ease. He peeks into every room and pauses after finding no one. My heart jumps when He stops and I see His head tilt downward. I can't see His face, but I can feel him looking directly at me. Thankfully, Ana has buried her face into my chest, and she doesn't sense his gaze.

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He stands looking at the floor for several seconds. I sit motionless, head cast in His direction staring back. I can feel him looking into my eyes and I can feel him probing my brain for answers. I force myself to think of nothing. After about a minute, He tears His gaze away. He sets down his evil religious artifacts next to the fireplace, lets out a loud guttural sound, and is gone.

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We stay hidden until the following morning. The clouds have cleared and the sun is shining. Next to the fireplace are the three icons that He left. They are different colors and shine as if made of some sort of metal. We throw His shiny icons into the fireplace and add wood to get the fire burning extra hot.

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Ana asks me if we are safe now. I tell her that we made it through the night and are safe for another year until His next return. She asks about the noise that He made, so I repeat it for her. Her eyes light up and I think I have scared her, but instead she giggles. So I make the sound again, and this time I try to imitate Him when I do it. I let out a resounding, "Ho ho ho."

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Ana really starts to laugh, and to my astonishment, so do I. I laugh so hard that my stomach shakes like a bowlful of jelly.

Reviews

[Rebecca Rogers]

I love the fact that they look at Santa like a red fleshed demon. And I especially liked the ending.

Nice work and thanks for submitting this in the MIDNIGHT HOUR contest!! :)

[Mysteral - Night Prowle..]

Nice twist to the traditional Santa story, I like it. Very well written, thanks for the opportunity to read.

[Here No More]

HA! What a great twist on Good Old Saint Nick! You totally had me. Great job!