21-Jun-2019
How Good Are You at Distracting Your Friends?
I flinched as Jackie tightened the ropes around my wrists.
“I told you not to come,” she said.
“I was worried,” I said. “Can’t one friend worry about another these days?”
She let out a tsking noise. “You can, but you should have checked the house before you knocked.”
She was right, and I knew it. What with the demon possessions, the dead rising from the graves and the sudden appearance of unicorns, I should have at least tossed some holy water on the front door. Now I had been tied to a chair by my best friend from high school who was likely going to sacrifice me to who knows what deity.
When she came around the front of me I saw that three yellow, writhing tentacles had sprouted from each shoulder. Her eyes glowed green and she’d grown an extra row of sharp teeth.
“Aqua demon?” I asked.
“Something like that,” she said with a shrug. The tentacles wound themselves around her arm, then unwound, like a little girl twirling in a skirt.
I had to stall. Christian and Anna would be back any minute. They’d dropped me off on their way to an earth elemental destruction. One of those either went fast or everyone died. I was voting on fast, because Christian and Anna were the best. They’d be back.
“Hey,” I said, “do you remember when we all went to see that horrible movie about after the end of the world? Everything had flooded and humans were on floating cities and the main character had gills?”
Jackie snorted. “Two hours of our lives that we never got back.”
“Right? But was it worse than that one based on an old television show? The one with those guys sitting in a conference room in giant teddy bear costumes? What was the name of that one?”
“We swore never to speak its name, because then it would have power.” Some of Jackie’s usual amusement came back into her voice.
“Oh yeah. Still, a dumb show.”
She nodded, then moved to counter.
“This new kitchen looks great,” I said.
“They finished it just before I turned. The workers were my first sacrifice.” Jackie went to a drawer and withdrew a knife and a whisk. Then she retrieved a little plastic bowl from a cupboard.
“Well, they did a great job.”
“I thought so. I gave them the greatest honor one could receive from an Aqua demon, as you call it.”
“Very thoughtful of you,” I said.
She nodded.
I glanced around, desperate for anything to keep the conversation going. Even after a demon had taken you, it didn’t have full control over your mind. If I could keep Jackie talking, it would take the demon longer to do whatever it was going to do. She set the bowl on the table, and I had an idea.
“They don’t make cartoons like they used to.”
“Huh?”
I jerked my head to the likeness of a character on the bowl.
“Oh, no, they don’t.”
“Do you kids like that show?”
“They did.”
I managed not to wince. “Ours too. I can’t stand it. When we were kids cartoons taught us morals, now days they teach kids to be disrespectful.”
“One of the reasons we have been overrun.”
“You’re probably right.” I tried to shift my weight, but she’d tied my hands behind my back and my legs to the chair. “Still, every time someone says ‘Now you know’ I have to finish it with…” I waited.
Jackie stopped and looked at me. Her head cocked to the side, and the tentacles danced madly around her. “And knowing is half the battle.”
“See!” I said in triumph.
“I suppose that means our childhood cartoons brainwashed us,” Jackie said.
Stupid demon. I nudged the subject. “Remember when we all went to see that movie about the dinosaurs? You scared the guy sitting next to you so bad he jumped out of his seat screaming?”
A ghost of a smile stretched Jackie’s lips. “I tell my kids about that all the time.”
“Because it was hilarious. And what about the time we walked to the theater to see that one about the baseball field?” I knew that had been one of her favorites.
“That is a good one.”
Jackie straightened, and her eyes sort of misted over.
Uh-oh, I was almost out of time. “What’s your favorite movie?”
Jackie sighed. “If you’re stalling in the hope that Christian and Anna are coming back, you’re stalling in vain. The earth elemental killed them ten minutes ago.”
A ball formed in my stomach.
Jackie picked up the knife. “I’m going to give you a choice. This is just a blood sacrifice, not a life sacrifice. However, I can always kill you.” Her eyes flickered to the window and back to me. “The world isn’t what it was. I can end it for you.”
I stared at her. I tried to swallow, but all of the moisture had been sucked from my lips and mouth. My eyes darted to the knife, then back to her. Christian and Anna were dead? The last in a long line of people that I had loved that were now gone.
The knife flashed before my eyes. “Well?”
My limbs went cold. My brain went numb. I shook my head.
“Very well.”
