“You don’t believe me do you?” Jimmy took a drag off his cigarette and ran a nervous hand through his hair. His once jet black hair was now streaked with white. “On the contrary. You’re story is exactly what I’m looking for; it complements my research quite nicely.”

He stared at her while he exhaled jets of tobacco smoke. “You’re like the rest, just looking for a story from the crazy man.”

She gave an annoyed sigh, “Look, Jimmy, my research is a bit unique. I’m not here to listen to stories from a crazy man. I’m here because I think you’ve seen what I’m looking for.”

“You’re not going to find it. He killed it.”

“You misunderstand me.”

The corner of his mouth curled up in a grin, or maybe it was sneer. “You’re looking for him.”

She just nodded. The connotation wasn’t worth following, after all he did know something and she had to find out what.

“Okay, I’ll tell the story again. But you listen up good, cause this is the last time I repeat this. I’ve spent the last year trying to forget it.”

She put a miniature tape recorder on the table, “Well if you don’t mind I’ll get it all the first time.”

---

It started out as a camping trip. Just a few of the guys and our girlfriends spending a weekend in the mountains. It wasn’t the first time we’d done it. Everyone loved to get away, and a couple of nights around a campfire were always good fun. None of us suspected anything. It was just another camping trip, except Robert had other plans.

That fucking bastard. He knew what he was doing. “Let’s go camping,” he said. Sure, great idea. We all liked camping. Robert has also taken an interest in the occult over the summer, but we didn’t think anything of it. When you’re young you do all kinds of stupid things, so when he mentioned that we should try a little demon raising ritual we weren’t surprised. Yeah, just a little demon raising ritual. Sure it’d be a laugh or two and we’d get to see Trina naked. Every ritual needs a virgin after all. None of us thought she really qualified on that count but hey, she was a hottie either way.

We waited till midnight naturally. Everyone knows you can’t raise a demon in the middle of the day. Duh.

Trina wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea at first, seems Robert hadn’t told her about that part of the plan, but we had brought a sizable stash of liquor with us and before long she was agreeable enough. Of course none of us realized that Robert wasn’t drinking. That asshole had actually prepared for this. There was no way he picked the campsite at random. The fact that it was out in the middle of nowhere was convenient, but he led us all to a spot that had been prepared quite nicely. We were all too drunk to realize it though.

A pentagram was scribed neatly into the forest floor with a tree at each of the five points. Rusted iron chains were held to each of the trees with thick iron spikes, the kind we used to collect down by the railroad tracks. The weird part was the bright copper wire attached to the spikes in the trees. It spiraled it’s way up the trees as far as any of us could see in the darkness.

We teased Trina as she was peeled off her sweatshirt and jeans. Even in her drunken state she was still a bit self conscious about the whole thing, so she refused to go any farther with the little “demon striptease.” Robert was a bit distressed about that. Apparently the ritual he had in mind was very specific but no amount of pleading would get Trina to go all the way for him. In hindsight it was actually funny to see him so stressed out about it.

The rest of us were a bit disappointed too, well at least the guys. I think some of the girls were a little more freaked out at the whole thing by then.

Trina laid down on the ground and Robert shackled her to the trees. He started to chant something really strange. I personally started to feel a little uneasy about the whole thing, but then Mark started to imitate Robert in the worst way a drunk could. It was hysterical and even Trina burst out laughing.

Robert was annoyed, but he kept up his chant. the rest of us didn’t even notice the breeze had picked up. As the chanting grew louder so did the cat calls and the taunting that we harassed him with. In hind sight I think all we succeeded in doing was distracting ourselves from what was really happening.

Robert was practically screaming to keep himself heard over the rest of us when a blinding flash of light shot down from the tree tops. We were all thrown to the ground, stunned by the brilliant light and the deafening thunderclap that followed.

I came to with my ears ringing like a son of a bitch. I couldn’t hear anything but the smell, it was overwhelming. the stench of burnt hair and flesh mingling with the scent of charge wood. My stomach sank as I thought of Trina. She had been connected to that huge lightening rod Robert had made. That asshole hadn’t thought that he might actually attract a strike. I was so pissed at Robert. I was going to put him a world of pain if Trina didn’t make it out of this.

I raised myself up and had to shield my eyes. There was a bright light floating above Trina. Across the circle of trees I could see Robert, he was already on his feet, still shouting something. He looked like he had just won the lottery or something.

There was smoke rising up from Trina’s ankles and wrists. She was scarred from the strike, but I could see her chest was still moving. At least she was still breathing. The light that hovered above her was something else. I’d never seen anything like it, although i’d heard about ball lightening and this looked pretty much like it. It was a sphere about the size of a basketball, just hovering in the air as lightning cackled around it’s surface.

Robert was gesturing wildly to the ball and to Trina, and that’s when it hit me. Robert wasn’t playing. He was doing all of it for real. Mark must of had the same conclusion because as I opened my mouth to yell something I saw him jump into the circle of light . He had picked up a stick and was wielding it like a club. He swung down with all his might at the ball lightening. I expected his swing to just pass through, but it didn’t. When it hit I actually saw the thing shudder. Arcs of electricity shot out at Mark. They played over his body like a blind man caressing a statue, frighteningly gentle in the way they caressed him. Then a single large bolt shot out and burnt a hole straight through his chest. Mark crumpled to the ground, smoke twirling up from his body and another sickening wave of burnt flesh and hair washed over me.

Robert continued his gesturing. My hearing was beginning to return and I stood using one of the trees to balance myself. I could see George, his face was ashen. He had just seen the same thing I had. Annie was crumpled up on the ground a few feet from him. She was hiding her face behind her hands, it looked like she was crying.

Robert continued his wild gesturing. What ever that thing was, he wanted to give Trina to it. This was far from the simple little joke we all thought it was. Mark was dead, Trina was hurt pretty bad, and Robert had succeeded in calling up a demon.

Arcs of lightning began to caress Trina’s body. I could see her muscles spasm against her will, and my hearing had returned enough that I could hear her shriek. I’ll never forget that sound. It’s the sound of someone who cannot run away from the face of death. It’s the sound of shear terror.

Eventually she stopped screaming. Her body still jerked from the electric arcs that coursed over it, but with no will left to fight she was nothing more than a rag doll. Only the chains binding her arms and legs held her in place. The demon Robert had called into existence, it seemed to lose interest too. The intensity of it’s attack diminished to nothing, and it floated there above her body as tendrils of smoke and steam curled towards heaven.

In my heart I hoped that she was alright, but she wasn’t moving at all. Her eyes were opened wide, unfocused and empty.

It was at this point that I noticed something wasn’t quite right, I think Robert had expected something else to happen. That floating ball of evil drifted closer to him and I actually saw him take a step back, he was afraid.

I looked back and George and Annie. She was hysterical and George was doing his best to get her to calm down and get her to stand up. That’s when Robert ran over to them. He actually grabbed Annie by the arm and started dragging her towards that thing. I guess one wasn’t enough.

He didn’t get very far with George there. George shoved him back and put himself between Robert and Annie. Robert started gesturing wildly again, waving that thing over to Annie. That’s when George hit him.

George was a big guy, over six feet tall and built like a house of bricks. He had won the state championships in Grecco Roman wrestling twice in high school. He swung a fist so hard I actually saw a couple of Robert’s teeth go flying as twisted with the force of the blow. Before Robert could get his wits together again, George picked him up bodily, and hurled him at that thing.

What happened next I would call poetic justice. It’s what Robert deserved. Tentacles of lightning lashed out and caught him in mid air. They held him in the air and rippled up and down as spasms racked his body. His hair stood on end and smoke began to curl around him. When the screaming stopped, it dropped his lifeless body, just another empty wrapper.

That thing was still there and it started to move towards George and Annie again. I could tell George was preparing to fight that thing. I don’t know how he thought he would do it, but that’s George for you. Fortunately, he didn’t have to fight.

That’s when he appeared. That’s not really accurate. He didn’t really appear out of thin air like a magician, but when he attacked it for a split second I could see him. Every time he traded blows with the thing I could see them both, just for an instant.

That monster Robert had summoned really was a demon. I never expected to see one in my life, and nothing I had seen in the movies compared. It was huge, far bigger than the little ball of lightening, built like the biggest, meanest line backer you’ve ever seen. It’s skin was pale and the claws on the end of it’s hands shown in the light like polished steel. I had been scared before, frightened with something I knew was bad but this wasn’t just bad, it was evil. Just looking at it froze my soul, even with the brief glimpses I saw as he fought it.

Whoever that guy was, he was utterly fearless. Again and again I’d see a flash of a man wielding a short thin blade of gold fire. His face was consumed with rage and deadly purpose each time I saw him. The demon wasn’t unarmed, it carried a great curving sword whose dark blade held a crimson edge. Nor was it unprepared. Every time I saw them their blades were locked together.

Their fight ranged across the clearing. With every flash of light I’d see that man trying desperately to land a blow and the demon deftly blocking it. They’d both disappear when they separated, although we were left with that ball of lightning.

In between blows arcs of electricity shot wildly through the clearing, occasionally I could make out the shape of a man as they curled around his form. Again and again he struck and I’d see them momentarily struggle before the demon hurled him back. When they weren’t visible, I could still guess what was happening from the way the ball of lightning would dodge and weave, and the bolts of electricity which struck out.

I was both awed and humbled at the same time. The ferociousness of this one man, and the frightening power of that beast. He was fighting as if we were worth saving.

As I watched, I feared for his life, and I guess for my own too. The moments when I could see them both became less frequent. I think he was hurt. His clothes were torn and scorched in places, and I could see blood streaming from a gash above his left eye. This man who had come out of nowhere to save us, was losing this battle.

I feared for my life at that point. I knew if he lost, the rest of us would die. I guess at that point I lost hope. After watching what that thing did to Trina, Mark and even Robert I knew there was no way out for us. Robert was the only one who knew how to bring it here, and probably the only one who knew how to send it back. When the last bolt flew out from that monster, I thought it was then end.

For the longest time that thing drifted around the clearing, as if it were looking for something; looking to see if he was still there. It swept back and forth through the trees and I guess when it decided that he was gone, it came back. I’m not sure what happened to George and Annie at that point. Maybe they were still there, or maybe it was just that my number was up. It came straight at me.

The first bolt that hit threw me back against one of the trees. It knocked the wind out of me, and I supposed made me a bit delirious. It’s the only reason I can think of for why I survived, although I wish I hadn’t.

My muscles convulsed with the arcs that pinned me to the tree, but that wasn’t the worst of it. I actually saw that thing face to face.

It had me pinned to the tree with an enormous, steel clawed hand. The weight of it kept me from drawing a breath. I could see it up close, it’s skin was scarred and pockmarked with some kind of sore oozing puss. It’s lips were curled back to reveal rows of flesh rendering teeth, and it’s eyes were like none I’ve ever seen. They were gold with twin pupils, set deep into the sockets. The top of it’s head was low and wide and in the center of it’s forehead there was a mark of some kind.

Man, those eyes scared me more than anything else. It was as if that thing could look at my very soul and I think that’s exactly what it was doing. It placed it’s other hand right up to the side of my head and I could see it’s lips moving. What it said I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.

What happened next is the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had. It was as if that thing was trying to rip my very soul from my body. Like it had dug those steel claws into my stomach and tried to rip my chest open from the bottom up.

I knew then that it was trying to force itself into my body. In order to do that it had to rip my soul out.

When I thought it was over, when I couldn’t take the pain any more, that’s when I saw that man one more time. He flew down from the trees with a sword. Not that little prick of light I had seen earlier, this was a honest to God sword that burned my eyes with a fiery light.

The demon loosed it’s grip on me just a bit, I think it was aware of the attack. It kept me pinned to the tree, but with its other hand it half turned to deflect the blow. When the sword touched those claws they shattered as if they had been glass. His sword continued down and that’s when it let go of me. I remember hitting the ground and looking up just in time to see the ball of lightning split in two and disappear with a flash.

I think I passed out after that. When I came too the police were all over the place.

---

His cigarette had long since gone out from inattention, and it looked like Jimmy was on the verge of tears, “I still think we deserved what happened for not paying attention to the evil that was around us, and thinking it was just a game.”

“Is that what really happened? The sheriffs report stated that the deaths were caused by a lightning strike in close proximity to a bunch of foolish kids.”

He scowled back at her,, “Look lady, you don’t have to believe me but it wasn’t lightning that killed my friends. I mean, it was, but it wasn’t.” He re-lit is cigarette and took a long drag.

“If you read the report then you also saw the other part. The part about the trail of blood drops that went back to the campground.”

“The sheriff said it was from injuries sustained by Robert, probably when he had climbed the trees the day before you went up there.”

Jimmy shook his head slowly, “I don’t believe that for a second. Somebody was there. He was there, and he’s real as you and me.”

“How did he know where to find you?”

“Lady, have you been paying attention to anything I’ve told you? That was a fucking demon! The fucking spawn of Satan! I didn’t think that was possible and I sure as hell can’t tell you how that guy knew where to find us. Somebody had to tell him where to find us.”

“So you don’t have a better description of him?”

“It wasn’t high on my list of priorities at the time. But whoever he is, I bet he’s got a nice scar above his left eye. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get back to work, but let me give you a piece of advice.”

She cocked her head just a bit without replying.

“Ever since then, there are times when I can feel things. Bad things. Things I don’t want to talk about.”

“Do you feel something now?”

“Lady, there is something bad all over you but I think that guy could help.”

Jimmy got up and left without another word, leaving her alone with the tape recorder.

You’re moving too slowly.

“I’m moving fast enough, you’re not exactly giving me his name and address you know,” she reached out, retrieved the tape recorder and turned it off. “And this one gave me more information than the other two.”

There are rules even we have to follow.

“Then be quiet and let me do my job. We’re close. He’s got to be in the area somewhere. They don’t usually travel around much, so let me know when the next one happens okay?”

We cannot tell…

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before. You can’t tell me exactly, but you can get me close if there’s time. Just do your part and I’ll do mine.”

She left enough change on the table to cover the tip, and walked out. A man with a scar over his left eye…it would take some doing, but she thought she could get access to the local hospital admittance records. Assuming he went to a hospital because of the wound. I’ll find you soon enough.

Beginnings
Sun February 23 2003

Suffer the Children
Sun June 29 2003

Shadow Champion
Wed January 28 2004