The Demon in Me

Eden got in the line. “No. Not yet. Just relax and let me handle this.”

“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She ignored the sensation of unease that flowed through her mostly from the demon. The line shuffled forward slowly. Selina sat behind a table draped in red fabric, piles of her books on either side of her. As readers reached her she spent a few moments talking to them, grasping their hands in hers and squeezing, a broad, friendly smile on her face. There wasn’t one moment when her friendly exterior slipped. Was it the real her? Or was she just a really good actress?

Finally Eden reached her. Selina looked up.

“Hi,” Eden squeaked. She hadn’t realized how nervous she was until she spoke.

“Hi there.” Selina reached forward and took her hand. She wore many rings on her fingers as well as a large gray-stoned pendant on a long gold chain that fell between her ample cleavage. “Thank you for coming to see me tonight.”

Eden searched for something casual to say in response. “I wish I’d known about you six months ago.”

Selina studied her. “When your fiance was unfaithful to you?”

Eden’s eyes widened. “Wow, you’re good. How did you know that?”

“I’m the Love Witch, of course. I can tell these things just by touching your hand.” Then she frowned slightly and cocked her head to the side. “That’s strange…”

“Eden—” Darrak said quietly. “I think it’s time to go. Right now.”

“Silentium!” Selina’s voice rose and her grip on Eden’s hand grew very painful. She rose to her feet. “You dare bring that thing anywhere near me?”

Eden could barely breathe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She looked around to see if somebody might help her but no one even looked in their direction. The lineup behind her continued to wait patiently. Browsers in other parts of the store kept browsing. People entered and left through the front doors by the cashier area.

She couldn’t feel Darrak’s presence anymore.

Selina stormed around to the other side of the table and grasped Eden’s upper arms before she could back away from the witch.

“Why can’t anyone see what’s going on?” Eden looked around again, panic welling in her chest. “Why can’t I feel…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want to say it out loud.

Darrak was right. She was dangerous. Evil. And Eden had gotten too close.

“Why can’t you feel the demon inside of you anymore?” Selina finished for her. “Because I just dampened his sorry ass.”

Eden opened her mouth to say something in reply, but nothing came out.

“I can’t believe this,” Selina said, starting to pace the small area in front of her signing table. “This is horrible. Absolutely horrible. All these years and he’s still existed? I should have known.” She turned to Eden and grabbed her shoulders to shake her. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Eden managed.

“Yes!” She shook her head. “You poor, poor thing. I’m sorry if I scared you. You’ve obviously been through so much. But I’ve been able to dampen him. We have some time. I can get rid of him right now.”

“Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”

Selina exhaled shakily. “You’re possessed by a demon.”

“I know that.”

“I tried to destroy him three hundred years ago.”

Eden backed away from her a few steps. “I know that, too. You destroyed the body he had back then but not the rest of him. It’s why I’m here to see you tonight. You need to break the curse you put on him so he doesn’t have to possess me anymore.”

Selina’s mouth gaped open. “Break the curse.”

“That’s right.”

She touched her gray-stoned pendant. “I’m not breaking any curses. Don’t you understand? You’re possessed by a demon. From Hell. Why aren’t you more upset about that?”

“I finished freaking out the other day.” Eden wrung her hands. “You need to help us.”

“Help… us?” Selina repeated with shock and took a step forward. “You don’t seriously think that demon is your friend, do you?”

Eden took a step back. “Yes. He’s my friend.”

The witch looked very confused but then a slow clarity came into her eyes. “I think I see what’s going on here. You’re yet another woman who has been seduced and manipulated by a man. And not just any man — a demon.”

“You don’t know Darrak.”

“Darrak?” Selina rolled her eyes. “This is worse than I thought it was. And this was supposed to be a nice, relaxing signing. Okay, listen to me and I’ll take it really slow so you understand me. Demons are not the friends of humans. Ever. I don’t care what he’s told you. What’s your name, honey?”

Eden shook her head. This had gone badly enough as it was, she didn’t need this crazy witch knowing her name.

Selina sighed with exasperation, then closed her eyes, reaching out to touch Eden’s arm for a moment, before opening her eyes again. “Okay, Eden, let’s chat.”

“How—?” Eden shut her mouth. She knew how the witch knew her name. Because she was a witch. She might have been able to reach right down into Eden’s brain and scoop out the information.

“That’s right,” Selina said with a slight smile. “I can retrieve the info I’m looking for telepathically with a little effort. One of the bonuses of being me. And I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve got some interesting skills, yourself. A little bit psychic, are you?”

“A little bit. A very little bit.”

Selina studied her cautiously. “You remind me of myself when I was fully human. I could sense changes in the weather and tell when there would be a storm even if the skies were still blue. It was an ability one kept to themselves in my time for fear of repercussions.”

Eden glanced around at the lineup who continued to wait patiently as if there was nothing more interesting to pay attention to at the moment than the easy-listening music piping through the store’s audio system.

“I can imagine.”

Selina shook her head. “I don’t think you can. You have no idea what it was like back then. Now a woman can walk into a bookstore and buy a book about witchcraft or demonology and no one raises an eyebrow. But back then, if you were sexually active before marriage you might be considered one of Lucifer’s concubines.”

“But you became a black witch. You must have accepted it.”

Her expression went from wary to frigid. “The demon tells you many things, doesn’t he?”

“He…” Eden’s mouth was dry. “Can we just try to calm down. I don’t want any trouble here.”

“Then you shouldn’t have brought him here. Did he tell you why I became a black witch?”

“The subject hadn’t come up.”

“My abilities to predict the weather caught the attentions of men in my village. They decided I was a witch. Before I could be tried, I ran away and fell in with new friends who recognized my abilities before I even said a word about them. They taught me how to develop them and how to gain more. They had books of magic that I poured through, eager to learn everything I could. However, after I left, my sister was captured in my place, tried as a witch, and executed after weeks of torture. She didn’t have any special abilities at all. Her only crime was trying to protect me after I’d run away from home.” Her voice caught. “Try having that on your conscience for three centuries.”

It sounded so horrible that Eden could barely believe it. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It made me realize that men are the source of all evil and the only way to fight evil is with more of the same. Using the books of magic I learned how to summon a demon to give me the strength and power I wanted.”

Eden’s mouth was dry. She touched her chest. “This demon?”