Four hours later, Maggie, Sammy, and I were in my basement, developing better agility and communication under Mariah’s instructions. Apparently, catching was very difficult. The demons did not want to get caught and would run away at whatever chance they had. Mariah’s book was called: Catching Demons Without Them Catching You, written by Cierra Roswood. Cierra had been the person who Mr. Franklin told us about; the one whose friend got killed by one of the last few demons. Her book was very thorough, with step-by-step instructions on how to be more prepared for a demon encounter. When we decided to take a break, I walked outside to get some fresh air. On Boulevard, people were running every which way, bursting into stores only to leave seconds later with armfuls of items. It was so chaotic, it looked like people were preparing for the apocalypse. And, well, to them it must feel like it. I watched someone break the window of a closed store, and steal dozens of bags full of bottled water, prepackaged meals, and batteries. Lots of batteries.
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I turned away from the scene on Boulevard and walked back inside. Logan was standing right in front of me. His eyes burned holes into my skull. Squinting, I saw his eyes were a fiery red. That can’t be good. The moment in the video when Logan was in his demon form played behind my eyes. “Um, hey,” I said, trying to sound calm. He didn’t acknowledge me, but his gaze was full of pure hatred and rage. I walked past him, opening the door to the basement. He whispered something so quietly, I barely heard him. He said, “I know what you did. I know that you know. I will never forgive you, Elias. Or should I say-” I cut him off by slamming the basement door behind me and running down the stairs. I didn’t want to be reminded of the terrible things I’d done. I didn’t even know the reason. Why would I do that to my brother? Some questions still needed to be answered, I suppose.
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In the basement, Sammy and Maggie were messing around with some plastic cones. I’m not sure where we got them, but we had them, and Mariah was putting them to good use. Mariah was sitting in a corner on a cardboard box, flipping through the book. She slammed it closed, and stood up. “Okay, I know what we should do now. We should learn some defensive stuff. Elias, I thought I heard you go outside. Did you see anything strange happening?” I nodded. “People were running all over Boulevard, buying tons of stuff. Some people were breaking into stores and stealing. It was crazy.” Mariah drew her lips into a thin line. “Imagine how it's going to be in a few days when the majority of supplies are already taken. There are a few pages in this book about hand-to-hand combat and… wait, I don’t think I’m reading this right. I thought it said knife throwing.”
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I leaned over to see what Mariah had read. My eyes widened. “Nope. You read it right. Knife throwing. Apparently, it's very effective against attackers when used right,” I said, reading directly from the book. Maggie shot me a look. “Yeah, no kidding. I thought a knife being hurled at me wouldn’t be effective at all. No, I thought it would heal all my wounds instead of killing me.” I shrugged. “Really? I guess we need to have a lesson on how knives and blades work.” Maggie rolled her eyes. “I was being sarcastic, Elias. Why do you always have to do that?” Maggie jumped up and started up the stairs. “What did I do?” I called after her. She opened the door to the basement and left. Then I remembered. “Maggie! Come back, now!” I ran up the stairs after her. Logan was up there. I reached the door in seconds and tried to turn the handle. It was locked. “No, no, no! Maggie, if you can hear me, unlock the door!” I pounded on the door, and then heard a loud bang. A second later, there was an ear-piercing scream. At first, I thought it was Maggie. I thought Logan had done something to her. But no, it wasn’t Maggie. I knew that scream. It was Logan. What did Maggie do? 176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3WbPz5GxW
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After a few minutes of trying to open the door, I heard the lock turn. I threw open the door to see Maggie standing in front of me. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and her gaze was cast down to the floor. I grabbed her by the shoulders. “What happened? Where is Logan?” Maggie simply pointed to the living room. I carefully walked away from her, on high alert. I entered the living room to see Logan laying in a crumpled heap on the floor.
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A second later, Logan was gone, replaced by Jay. The carpeted floors of my home disappeared, only to be filled in by the muddy forest path. Jay turned to face me, a large wound in the middle of his chest. “You could have saved me, Elias. But you didn’t. I’m dead because of you. That demon should have gone for you next. It’s all your fault. I’m dead, Logan is a demon, and you’re still… well, you’re still you.” I shook my head. “This isn’t real, it’s not real,” I repeated, hoping that if I said it one more time I would believe it. Jay laughed. “But it feels real, doesn’t it? Walk towards me, Elias. Please. Don’t abandon me again.” My entire body started to shake. Jay continued to laugh, a wicked, horrible laugh. I fell to my knees, my eyes closed. My palm touched the ground, and I didn’t feel the wet dirt of the woods. Instead, I felt something soft. I opened my eyes and saw my living room. I let out a shaky breath as I cast a glance towards Logan. He was still laying on the floor, in the same place he’d been when I first saw him. I approached him warily and placed a hand on his shoulder.
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“Logan, are you okay? What happened?” I didn’t get a response. “Can you hear me?” He was still breathing, so I turned back to Maggie. “What did you do to him?” I asked quietly. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned away from me. “Maggie, you need to tell me. What. Did. You. Do.” I heard a laugh. The same laugh that Jay had given me. It felt like a thousand knives were being forced down my ears. I felt a hand wrap around my head, placing a small cloth over my mouth. I tried to scream, tried to run. I felt a growing shadow inside my head. I heard the laugh again, then a metallic whisper. I couldn’t make out what the voice was saying before I passed out. 176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlRoyHv0RZ
