From The Other Side

Chapter Five

I didn't want to fall asleep again. I knew that if I did, she would be there. R, she called herself. The news report blared on the tv.

Breaking News!

Teen disappearances reach 24.

"Today I bring you the somber news that the epidemic of missing teens has reached 24. Last night, six teens in Midway County, Illinois, were reported to have not been in their homes. James Andrew, age sixteen, R.J. Rickson, age seventeen, Amara Higgs, age sixteen, Catherine Jamison, age fifteen, Christian Rodriguez, and Carlie Davis, age sixteen."

My heart raced. I knew them.

"All six missing without a trace. The same happened in Lancaster county, six teens missing, along with two other counties." The woman continued. "There is no other known data about these disappearances besides that the local and state police are looking day and night to find them."

I shut the TV off. They were the six missing kids from school. She had to have had something to do with this.

I took out my book, its old leather and all. 

I decided to search. Were there any legends about missing kids and substitutes with black eyes? Probably not, but when fear-related insomnia is your issue, staving off sleep is alright, even to search for something that probably doesn't exist.

The chapters told about all kinds of myths, as well as the story of the siblings, who I now presumed to be R and Sierra. I flipped to the table of contents.

Druids, Fairies, Faeries, and other woodland creatures.

Yep, that's not even close.

Vampires, Werewolves, and other creatures of the night.

I'm looking for something with black eyes that kidnaps teenagers, not Edward Cullen and Stefan Salvatore.

Witches, Warlocks, Mystics, and other empowered humans.

Is this book useful for anything? I nearly threw it, sighing. The pages flipped to a middle page, titled Demons, Ghosts, Spirits, and other vengeful creatures.

Here we are! I chuckled to myself, maybe this thing is good for something!

Demons, typically known for angry behavior, extreme hatred, and being minions. They typically reside in Hell but can take over human bodies, thus killing the human. They can also shift into the look of a human form. 

Demons can be told apart from others by flashes of a fully black eye, avoiding churches, Holy or Blessed water, crosses, or mention of a god or the Christian god.

They indulge in causing terror among humans for entertainment.

Well, it seems we found our culprit! Indeed, he was a demon. Which gave me the question, what the hell was R if the man who graded and sent me her message was a demon?

A knock was heard at my door. My heart fluttered, sending chills.

I yelled, "Come in?" cautiously.

I took a sigh of relief.

"Honey, are you alright? You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

Just my mom. That's good.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare," I told her.

"Well, try and get some rest, you have school tomorrow, and its a Friday!" She smiled cheerfully, "She says hi..."

I saw her eyes flash black. I huddled my head in my knees, as mom-demon waltzed out of my room like she hadn't been possessed five seconds ago.

Self note, memorize an exorcism, and buy a cross necklace because I was screwed.

Fuck me in the ass with a chainsaw, this is going to be a wild ride.

I drifted to sleep anyways, having more than a few words for Madame R.

"So you've come back" She cackled.

"Yes, I have, as I require sleep to function." I sassed.

I could almost see her now. We were back in the throne room, the moon shining through the throne/window combo she had previously. A bit dark and tacky for my taste. I could make out purples, reds, and blacks in her color scheme, as well as being irishley pale. I could not see her face. She was too covered in shadow.

"Will you answer my question now?"

"Sure, R. Quite frankly I don't like what you've done with the place, and I have a very strong dislike for what you've done with my mother if that's what you wanted from my answer..."

I trailed off.

"Ah, I see you got my letter."

"Fuck off, demon bitch," I muttered to myself.

She glared. "What did you say?"

"You're an amazing person." I lied through a chuckle.

"Yes, Yes I am, Violet."

How did she know my name? And why did she?

"Now that we're on better terms, what do you know about that idiotic redhead?"

She meant Sierra, I could tell, but playing dumb seemed like the best option to not get me and my acquaintance impaled or choked to death by the force or whatever.

"Mari doesn't have red hair. She dyes it" I chirped.

I got another glare before feeling the familiar sensation of my throat closing in on itself.

"Oh, you're talking about Sienna, or whatever her name was," I remarked, this was going to get me killed eventually.

"It seems you've caught on, tell me more..." 

My throat loosened a small bit.

"I dunno. She's creepy, really like gummy worms. Not much I know of her." I told her. The gummy worms part was accurate. We all really liked gummy worms.

And with that my throat did the thing again, and I started coughing.

"The choking is kinda unnecessary, ya know! If you were nicer, I might tell ya!" I managed to cough out.

"I'll stop choking you when you answer my damned question, mortal!"

Demon Bitch was angry, like really angry. 

"And I'll answer you when you go to eat a snickers bar, alright?" I murmured through coughs.

Once again, the sun was my saving grace, barely coming up on the horizon.

My throat got worse. I could see splotches of black, along with seven faces instead of one.

Then it all came crashing down. 

I could breathe again. 

"To end our night, I figured I'd show you my latest project, maybe have a girl to girl," She spoke, I could tell this was bad.

The six new faces came out of the dark. My suspicions were confirmed. She had killed the six kids. And there they were, grey-faced and black-eyed, right in front of me.