Chapter Five: Mother:

Danielle’s eyes welled up with tears.

“He’s a demon that’s in my body,” she said.

“Okay…”

The patient trembled as a tear rolled down her cheek. Looking at Dr. Carta’s face told her that she didn’t seem to believe her.

“What does this demon look like?” the psychiatrist asked. Danielle shook her head.

“He has no body,” she said.

“So it’s invisible?” Dr. Carta asked. The patient nodded.

“Why did he kill Paul?”

“He was so mean to me.” Danielle could see Paul bleeding from his face again. That demon acted before he could reply.

“Did this demon kill your mother too?” Dr. Carta asked.

“Yes,” the patient said, quietly.

“Tell me what happened to her.”

Danielle drew her knees to her chest. Her mother had a darker side to her. She seemed to take her stress out on the child after work. It was mostly screaming until her ears went sore. Danielle found herself too scared to go home at times. She still hoped that her mother would change one day.

“What was your mother like?” Dr. Carta asked. The patient turned away, frowning. Her mother’s voice rang in her head.

“Useless, little bitch!”

“I am so mad!”

“Come back here!”

“Shut up!”

“You’re a little freak!”

“Bitch!”

“Stupid!”

“Useless!”

Danielle tightly shut her eyes. Her mother never hit her, but her words just as hurtful as and punch. Sometimes, the patient wished that one of them would just disappear. She didn’t expect to really come true. Her played back that day the demon claimed his second victim.

“Tell me what happened the day your mother day,” Dr. Carta said. Danielle stomach turned.

“I came home from school,” she began.

“When was this?”

“After Paul’s death.”

“How long after?”

“Three weeks.”

“You got home and then what happened.”

“I did my homework, had a snack, and watched TV. I fell asleep at one point. I don’t remember when.”

“When did your mother get home?”

“Late, I suppose.”

“You don’t remember.”

Danielle shook her head. Her mind got lost in her mother grabbing her by the arm from the couch, yelling at her. She had never seen her so angry before in her life. The little girl broke down in tears and trembling. She wished the whole time that her mother would go away.

“What happened next?” Dr. Carta asked. Danielle began shaking.

“She grabbed me awake and started screaming at me.”

“Didn’t your mother scare you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you wish that she would leave you alone?”

“Yes.”

“How did she die?”

“He killed her.”

“The demon?”

“Yes.” Danielle remembered seeing the blood coming out of her mother’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. She too gasped in pain before collapsing to the ground. Startled, the little girl ran away, covered in her mother’s blood. She ended up wandering her neighborhood and the town for three whole days.

While she was out, Ms. Takahashi’s coworkers came by her house because they hadn’t heard from their top worker in days. She never missed a day of work. She even arrived when she was sick. The minute that she didn’t arrive, her coworkers knew that something wasn’t right. They managed to track down Ms. Takahashi’s home address and went over by the morning after her death. Her coworkers couldn’t get in the house after knocking and ringing the bell. Finally, one of them looked through the window. He screamed when he found the body lying face down on the floor. Another coworker called the police. Danielle wasn’t found until three days later covered in her dried blood, hungry, and dirty. The police tried to find next of kin.

They didn’t find anybody until weeks later. From there, the demon’s power grew worse.