(C) 2021 CHRIS TONEY – All Rights Reserved

Written By Chris Toney

RATED R – For Language

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   There was a young man at the door holding some paper bags, he was delivering the Chinese food that Hailey had ordered two days ago before she found out her friend couldn’t be there. Hailey took the bags and said “thank you” to the young man, whose name was Aric. He had naturally curly blond hair and blue eyes, and stood about 5.5 feet tall. Hailey shut the door and Aric walked back to his car. He got in and tried to start the car but the engine wouldn’t even turn over. “What the…” he said, and then tried again. Nothing. “Come on!” Suddenly a blue 2016 Camaro SS came down the road in front of the house and pulled into the driveway. A young man got out of the Camaro and popped open the hood. Aric got out of his car and the other young man turned to look, taking notice, and said,

   “Sorry to be in your way, were you leaving?”

   “I was going to but my car won’t start for some reason,” said Aric.

   “I’m going that way myself,” the other young man replied. “My gauges keep going haywire. I just realized, I think my battery might be bad. My generator keeps burning the pigtail off. I’ve replaced this stupid thing twice now. What’s wrong with yours?”

   “I don’t know,” Aric replied, “the engine won’t even turn over. It was totally fine and then suddenly nothing.”

   “Are you friends with Willie and Liza?”

   “No, I’m the delivery guy. For Wong’s Garden.”

   “Oh shoot,” said the other young man, “you work for Schlong’s Garden?” Aric laughed.

   “That’s an urban legend. I swear I’ve never seen anyone filming porn in the back room. Or the attic. I’ve never been in the basement though, they don’t use it for anything.”

   “That you know of,” said the other young man with a smile. Inside the house, Willie, Liza, and Hailey were looking out the window watching the two boys outside.

   “Are they both having car trouble?” asked Liza. “I thought you said your invite wasn’t coming.”

   “He said he wasn’t,” said Hailey. “I don’t know WHAT’S going on.”

   “What’s his name?” asked Liza.

   “Simba,” said Hailey. “He graduated last year, he’s a freshman in college.” Liza went to a different school from Willie and Hailey so she had never met Simba.

   “When he went to our school,” said Willie, “we called him Double Dude.”

   “Double Dude?” said Liza.

   “Yeah, he’s got some weird OCD thing where he has to do everything in twos, or he sees things in twos or something.”

   “Yeah,” said Hailey, “he’s actually kind of misunderstood. The number two is, like, ALL OVER his life. He was born on Feb 2nd, he’s bi-racial, identifies as bi-sexual, and considers himself a Christian Witch, so he’s, like, bi-spiritual. There’s a bunch of other stuff too.”

   “He could be a Batman villain except he’s wicked nice,” said Willie.

   “Huh,” said Liza. Simba and Aric walked up to the door and Hailey let them in. Simba explained the situation and Willie invited them to stay and watch the movie with them.

——-

   Later on, everyone was gathering in the attic around the little tube television. Simba and Liza were the first to make it upstairs so Liza took the opportunity to get to know Simba a little better. They made conversation for around 15 minutes when Willie and Hailey emerged at the top of the stairs. Liza asked, “So how do you be a Christian Witch? Isn’t that impossible? You’re probably, like, the only person in the world who would put the two together…”

   “Actually,” Simba explained, “it’s not that uncommon. The key is understanding ‘belief’. Everything starts with a belief. Paganism and the Abrahamic religions are actually very closely related in some ways. The idea of monotheism began with ancient Paganism and the idea of the Silent Force, which eventually  morphed into the idea of the one true God. Now, Christians, especially Catholics, will say that God slowly reveals himself over time, which I would agree with, but I don’t think our understanding is complete. Having said that, I don’t just believe in anything occult. Like for instance, tarrot is bullshit.” Hailey perked up.

   “Fuck you,” she said defensively, “then astrology’s bullshit.”

   “Dude, seriously?” replied Simba with a defensive tone. “Astrology is literally the observation of the mechanics of the Universe. Tarrot is a ridiculous game of chance.”

   “Life is literally made up of chances,” Hailey shot back. “Every moment is a chance for something new. There are threads of chance stretching across the Universe that we pluck to stir up Chaos and renew the rhythm of life.”

   “That’s a bunch of hogwash,” Simba said, laughing. “The Universe is PLANNED. The circular rotation of the stars and the recurring ages throughout the 12 houses show us that there is a distinct plan.”

   “But how you get from point A to point B depends on your choices and your openness to new ideas,” said Hailey, getting a bit excited. “The journey changes with the landscape even if the destination is the same!”

   “I agree,” replied Simba, getting more aggressive, “but that stupid card game is just a distraction. Looking at the natural elements around you and then examining your feelings, heart, and mind, can help you make REAL decisions about life, and not some stupid card game that makes you think you have to do whatever it says.” Hailey laughed and waved Simba off with her hand.  Simba turned back to Liza and continued. “Magik, if you want to call it that, is the original manifestation of human belief. Magik is everywhere. You’re plucking on the strings of reality to get what you want out of life. This is no different than any other science. If you want to build a house, you first have to see it in your mind and believe that building it is possible, and then through a series of movements, it becomes a reality. All things work this way, belief is the foundation of EVERYTHING. Magik is just a deeper knowledge of how to wield that power.”

   “Wow,” said Liza, smiling and looking lost, “I never looked at it that way. I just do the God thing, like on Easter and Christmas and whatnot.”

   “It’s a responsibility, ” said Simba, “you shouldn’t dabble in Magik carelessly.”

Everyone had begun opening their Chinese food. Hailey said, “You’re supposed to open your fortune cookie first, and if it’s not a good fortune you’re not supposed to eat the cookie. What’s your fortune say?” Everyone read their fortunes.

   “A chance taken is it’s own reward,” said Willie.

   “Someone is speaking well of you at this very moment,” said Liza.

   “Aw dude!” said Simba. “I’ve got two!” He gave one to Aric, the delivery guy, and opened the other. “You are very significant,” he read. “Huh.”

   “Mine says ‘We Apologize’,” said Aric. “What the hell does THAT mean?” Everyone laughed. He ate it anyway. Then Hailey read hers.

   “This is weird, ‘THEY WILL MAKE CEMETERIES YOUR CATHEDRAL, AND TOMBS YOUR CITY’. Talk about vague and obscure,” she laughed. “World War II reference maybe?” She didn’t understand it but she ate it anyway. She glanced at Simba and said, “My cards were good today so I’m not worried.” Simba rolled his eyes. Willie turned the little tube TV on and put the tape in and the movie started. He went to pick up his egg roll and as he turned his head his eyes caught a glimpse of Hailey. For a second she looked really pretty, but then he saw something in her eyes that seemed like the very essence of evil itself. He blew it off and looked back to the TV screen. Willie could feel Hailey turn to stare at him for a few seconds, as if some evil presence in her was saying ‘I know you saw me’. Willie focused on the TV screen and tried to ignore her. The movie started out with some people on a subway but then the screen went all fuzzy and a different movie came on.

   “Somebody must have taped over it,” said Simba. The movie was about some people who were spending the weekend in their friends’ uncle’s house, and a pizza delivery guy gets stranded and has to stay out there with them. Liza commented on how eerily similar the storyline was to their situation, and how creepy it was. One of the characters turned into a monster and chased everyone around the house. Hailey got up abruptly, shaking herself off like she was freaked out a little, and said she had to use the rest room. Willie stopped the movie and they all went downstairs. Simba kept watching Hailey until she disappeared into the bathroom. He had a feeling something wasn’t right with her. Her aura had changed. Five minutes went by then they heard Hailey speak through the door.

   “Is Aric still out there?” she asked.

   “Um, yeah,” said Aric.

   “I need your help right quick,” she said.

   “Are you sure you don’t want a girl’s help?” Liza asked, looking confused.

   “No,” said Hailey, “it has to be Aric.” Her voice began to change into something dark and evil sounding. “He’s the one who ate the bad cookie.” Just then a creepy low lying fog began to pour out from under the bathroom door. Everyone stood still trying to understand what was going on. The door slowly opened, creaking in the most unnerving manner, as it revealed Hailey’s new silhouette. It was Hailey, and yet it wasn’t. She stepped forward out of the fog revealing that she was a Demon. They all stood in awe of her as she laughed with an evil laugh. Suddenly she screamed and flew out of the bathroom onto Aric, biting him on the neck. Simba and Liza ran out of the house. Without thinking, Willie ran into the bathroom because it was closer to him and shut the door. Aric got up screaming at first, then laughing as he became a monster himself. Outside, Simba poured out some kind of powder around the perimeter of the house. After uttering some strange words he said,

   “This is a protective boundary, they can’t cross it. In 7 hours the bodies will dissolve and the Demons will go back to Hell.”

   “What about Willie?!” asked Liza.

   “He’s going to have to make a run for it. If he’s in there in 7 hours, he’ll dissolve along with them. That’s the way it works.” Liza felt sick.

   Inside, Willie was trying to figure out his situation. The two Demons taunted him from the other side of the door. Hailey banged on the door a few times and insulted Willie, making reference to things no one could possibly know about. Willie was starting to panic, but then he remembered what Simba said about belief. He then remembered his fortune cookie. Belief, chances, taking chances… what a shit situation. Willie felt his mind opening up to things he had heard all of his life but hadn’t paid any real mind to. Consistent messages from church, martial arts, school, even Saturday morning cartoons… messages about hope and possibilities. “Why does everything have to be so fucking uncertain?!” he thought to himself. “Why can’t things just be solid? Either be or don’t be!” But that’s not how life works, and he knew it. If he gave up, the possibility of him getting taken by the Demons was a sure thing. If he allowed himself to believe that getting away was possible then his odds of survival went up. “God dammit!” he screamed. “Fuck!” He wished he were back in kindergarten where everything was safe. But then he thought of all the times he cried in kindergarten, like when he had to deal with the kid who kept hitting him and taking his juice box. Willie came to the realization that there was no way around having to face problems in life, a lesson he was overdue in learning. He sat down on the lid of the toilet and tried to slow his breathing and calm his mind. He visualized the area outside the bathroom and tried to figure out what path he might take to get out of there, past the Demons, and through the front door. He sat there visualizing for about two minutes then stood up. Aric banged on the door and laughed,

   “Don’t try it little man, I’ll take your juice box the minute you step out here! Ha ha ha ha ha!” Willie began to relive the intimidation of his youth, but then he remembered how he faced that big kid in kindergarten. This was just an amped up version of the same thing. He thought maybe he should pray or say something positive but he couldn’t remember any prayers. All he could muster was,

  “The Lord is a shepherd who shall not want. Let me do this.” He felt so scared, but this was the situation he was in and there was only one way out. He mustered all of his strength, took a few practice lunges, and then with all of his might, he darted out the door knocking the two Demons over. He made it into the kitchen and fell onto the floor when Hailey jumped up screaming and landed right next to Willie. She grabbed his shirt but somehow didn’t pierce his skin. The shirt ripped and came off. Aric was standing back up and getting ready to pounce. Willie kicked Hailey in the face sending her back right as Aric landed nearby. Willie rolled to get out of the way but Aric caught Willie’s leg. Willie pulled his leg back and Aric got ahold of his shoe, pulling it off. Willie jumped up screaming, Hailey jumped and landed in front of the door, Willie threw Uncle Jethro’s collectible baseball at Aric’s chest and launched his bowling ball at Hailey knocking her back. Willie ran and jumped over Hailey, she reached up and scratched Willie. No, she scratched his pocket causing his keys to scratch him. He was safe! Willie sailed out the door, down the front steps, and over the boundary Simba had laid, landing in the grass and rolling a few feet. Liza, Simba, and Willie all hugged. The demons began to scream and knock stuff over in the house.

   “How am I gonna explain this to my uncle?” said Willie. Simba put his hand on Willie’s shoulder. Willie asked, “What happens to them?”

   “They’ll dissolve in 7 hours. They can’t come out here, but we can go in, they’ll devour us though. If they lure someone new into the house they gain another hour. We better go home and come back tomorrow.”

    They all got into Willies Black ’98 Sunfire GT and took off out the driveway and down the road.

   About an hour later a tow truck showed up at the house. Aric had called for one on his phone hours ago and it was just now getting here. The tow truck driver got out and looked around. He didn’t see anyone so he walked toward the house, looking curiously at the white powdery line going around it. Something told him that the line was there for a reason, but he couldn’t think what that reason might be. Perhaps the house was condemned, or maybe some kids were just playing a game. He didn’t know if he should cross it or not. The front door of the house opened and a really pretty girl stood there. The tow truck driver couldn’t decide if she looked right or not. The girl smiled and spoke.

   “Hey, you must be the tow truck my brother Aric called for. He said he needs to show you something real quick and then you can tow the car away. Come on inside.” She walked away, and the tow truck driver couldn’t decide if he should go in or not. “We’ve got beers in the fridge if you want one,” she called out. He could certainly use a beer…

THE END?