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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Horror
- Subject: Relationships
- Published: 02/04/2024
The Demon
Born 1996, F, from Florida, United StatesThe morning sunlight streamed through the dusty basement window, illuminating the cobwebs and forgotten memories that hung in the air. Sarah stood amidst boxes and suitcases, carefully packing her things.
She was leaving Mark, her husband of ten years. It was a selfish decision. She had never loved Mark, and had married him for his money. But Mark wasn't in a good financial situation anymore, and she no longer saw any reason to be with him, despite they had two children together. Sarah had consulted with a lawyer who had ensured her that she can take away the little Mark had left, and she didn't even hesitate to finalize her decision.
As she was searching for her things in the basement, she stumbled upon a hidden place behind bricks of a wall. She didn't even know such a place existed. Inside, she found an old hand-written book. The cover was corroded, and the title was not readable. The pages were not in a much better shape either, but a few were still readable. Sarah realized the contents were about occult practices. The book must have been left there by some previous owner, long before she moved in with Mark.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she began reading, hoping to find something interesting. As she flipped through the yellowed pages, she came across a ritual which was easy to perform. It included drawing a shape and reading a few phrases. The part about its purpose was not readable. Intrigued, she decided to perform the ritual.
Sarah went to the leaving room, and drew the shape, as instructed in the book, on a piece of paper. As she finished, she read the phrases aloud, and then waited for something to happen. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. She felt silly for actually expecting something to happen. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. "Okay, this was a break," she thought, "I have a lot to do before Mark gets home, so I should get back to work."
Sarah opened her eyes and stood up, but something had changed. She felt weightless, and couldn't feel her feet on the floor. Anything around her looked blurry, except the shape she had drew as a part of the ritual, which seemed to be glowing, and pulling her towards itself. Finally, when she looked back at the place she was sitting, the sight scared her like never before in her life. She saw a person, looking exactly like her, sitting there and watching her with a sinister smile.
Sarah tried to scream, but no sound came out. She was being pulled toward the shape with something like a gravity. Despite her efforts to cling on something, her hands passed through every object, like they didn't physically exist anymore. She was pulled into the portal she had drawn on the paper, and disappeared from the world.
A demonic presence from another world was now in position of Sarah's body. The presence had been to this world centuries ago. Whenever someone summoned it, it came to torture and kill anyone around. That was the purpose it had, but spending several centuries away, had affected it. It was no longer interested in causing pain and death, since it sought other purposes for existence, and now that it had a new form on a new world, saw it as a chance to begin a new life.
It tried to stand up, but immediately fell on the floor. It still wasn't familiar with the body it possessed, and couldn't direct it the way it wanted. It looked around, and realized the humans' way of life had changed a lot since the last time it was in their world. Most objects were unfamiliar.
It had access to Sarah's memories, but couldn't put them together in order. The memories were like thorn and scattered pages of a book to the presence. Someone was coming - that was what it knew from the last thoughts of Sarah in this world. But aside from that, the memories didn't make much sense.
The presence managed to crawl to a sofa and sit on it, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, and tried to draw a line between Sarah's memories, in order to take over her life.
Hours later, Mark arrived in his car, with the children in the back seat. He was depressed and desperate. He had seen the message Sarah sent him in the morning, informing him that she was leaving, and any communication with her had to go through her lawyer. His heart was broken. The family life he had worked so hard to build was being ruined in front of his eyes. The woman he though he knew had shown her true face and was attempting to take away the little he had left.
Sarah's lawyer was heartless, like a predator hunting for desperate people. Despite Mark had tried his best to keep his children out of the whole affair, they knew everything now, and they were sad like him.
The children, Jennifer and Jack, 9 and 7 years old, couldn't believe what was happening. They had thought their parents loved each other. The concept of their mother leaving them was terrifying, and the fact that it happened so suddenly made it even worse.
Mark, Jennifer and Jack got off the car and went inside. It was dark now. The lights were off, and the whole house, which seemed like a place of comfort and fun before, seemed lifeless and sad.
As soon as Mark turned on living room's light, Jennifer and Jack screamed in terror. They saw Sarah sitting on a sofa with an indifferent face.
"Sarah!" Mark shouted, "What the hell?! What are you doing here?! Why were you sitting in the dark?!"
The possessed Sarah looked at him with an unreadable expression, and said, "This is my house, I should be here. Why shouldn't I sit in the dark?"
Mark was confused and angry. He thought Sarah would be ashamed to face him and the children. He continued, "You said you were leaving, remember?! When your lawyer said any communication has to go through him, I thought you are at least decent enough to not face us anymore. But here you are, looking at us in the eye like nothing has happened."
The possessed Sarah stayed silent for a few seconds, her face showing no sign of any emotion, until she continued, "What is the point of all this talking? It's just voice."
Mark was shocked by her answer. "Oh! Thanks for reminding me," he said sarcastically, "talking to you is really pointless. But why are you still here?"
"This is my house, where my family lives, isn't it?"
"Oh! So, you finally remembered that you have a family? Don't you think it's a little late for that?!"
"No. Why should it be. You must be my husband, and these must be our children ... and I think I see the point in talking now. We can exchange ideas and information."
Mark became even more upset. He raised his voice and said, "Sarah! What is wrong with you? If you were so open about exchanging ideas, you could have talked to me before asking that monster you hired as a lawyer to tell me about the divorce."
"I hired a monster?" she asked in confusion. "I didn't realize you have monsters in this world. And I don't think I want to divorce you. I'm just getting to know you."
Mark was taken back by her answer. He looked at Sarah carefully, and asked "You are acting weird. Are you drunk?"
Sarah looked indifferent, and softly answered, "No. I haven't drunk anything. But since I have been here for some time now, can you give me something to drink?"
"Oh! Just what I needed!" Mark said with a desperate voice, "Despite everything that happened today, I thought there would be at least one positive thing: Not seeing you when I come back. But now, not only I have to see you again, but I should also babysit a drunken woman who shouldn't even be here ... perfect! Just perfect!"
Mark assumed Sarah is drunk and saw no point in talking to her anymore. He left for the kitchen to prepare something for the dinner. Jennifer and Jack remained there, with many questions in their mind, but afraid to ask.
Jennifer finally broke the silence, "Mom, is it true? Do you want a divorce?"
Sarah looked at her, with an expression which terrified Jennifer, unlike the words that came out of her mouth: "No. It's not true. I don't want a divorce."
"But we heard that man on the phone!"
Sarah stared at Jennifer with the same terrifying face, and answered, "I don't care about what some man said. Even if I wanted a divorce before, I don't want it now."
The children remained speechless. They had no explanation for Sarah's odd behavior.
"You are my children," Sarah said, "you grew inside me. And that's your father. This is our house. We are a family. I think I want to keep everything as it is, at least for now."
"But why are you looking at us like that mom?" asked Jack, "Are you angry with us?"
"No, why should I be? Maybe I'm not good with face expressions. Let me try to fix that."
Sarah managed to bring a big smile on her face, and continued "Here. Is it better now?"
The children nodded in unison, feeling a little relieved. "But why did you scared dad with that divorce request if you didn't want it?" asked Jennifer.
"I scared him?" Sarah asked with the same big smile, "Oh! I wanted to scare him. He must fear me."
"So, are you saying this whole thing was just a prank?" Jack asked in confusion.
"Yes ... a prank!" Sarah answered, as she burst into laughter.
The children began laughing too. Seeing their mother laughing, they actually believed her. They expressed their relief and went to change their clothes.
A few minutes later, Mark called the children for dinner. He wasn't a good cook, and there was hardly anything to cook in the house. He had merely prepared some scrambled eggs.
The children sat to eat with their father. The possessed Sarah could smell the eggs from the living room, and it stimulated a need to eat in her body. She got off and started walking towards the kitchen. She was still unaccustomed to walking, and walked like a drunken person. Mark saw her like that, and it only helped to strengthen his assumption about Sarah being drunk. He sat down, with his back towards Sarah, unable to see her anymore, while the children were still seeing their mother.
The smell drew Sarah to the food. "This smells good!" she said with an excited voice.
"You are welcome!" Mark said sarcastically, "If you had decided to stay for whatever reason, the least you could do was preparing something to eat for the children. I can't believe you want to take everything away, yet you are still here, eating our food!"
Sarah ignored her. She picked some of the food with her bare hand and put it into her mouth. She liked the taste, and how it made her hunger go away. She grabbed more and started eating from the frying pan with her hands.
The children could see their mother, and her behavior terrified them. Sarah had smudged food all over her face and hands. When she was about to leave, Jennifer chased her. Offering her a paper towel, she said "Mom, please clean yourself."
The possessed Sarah cleaned her face and hands, and started exploring the house. She hadn't moved around much since coming to this world. Many objects were unfamiliar, but she could tell that human society had advanced much since the last time she was in their world. Some of the Sarah's memories began to make sense, but there was a lot she still couldn't understand.
The others went to do their things, and Mark, assuming Sarah is drunk, didn't bothered to question her behavior at all. She just wandered around the house, discovering things.
When it was bedtime. Mark told her, "You can take the couch tonight. Tomorrow, I want you out of here." as he went to bed.
He laid in his bed, remembering how good he felt when Sarah slept beside him, and it made him feel stupid. He had put all his love and trust in a woman who had stabbed him in the back. Just as he was about to drift into sleep, the door opened, and the possessed Sarah entered. Mark was angry to see her.
"What do you want?!" he shouted, "Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"
"I want to sleep with my husband." Sarah answered calmly,"Husbands and wives sleep with each other. That's why we have a double bed, isn't it?"
"So, now you want to be my wife?!" Mark asked with anger, "We were never actually a couple. You were just abusing me, like a parasite! You never cared about me or the children!"
"Is that so?" the possessed Sarah asked in confusion, "Maybe it was like that, but things can change. I can stop abusing you, and be good to you and the children."
"Sarah! This is not you, this is the bottle speaking!"
"It's not the bottle." Sarah answered softly, "I don't want a divorce. You seem like a good person. I want to live with you."
Mark was taken aback by her words. He didn't know what to say or do. He felt a mix of emotions - anger, suspicion, hope, and confusion. Finally, he asked her, "Why? Why now, after everything?"
"Why not?" she said calmly, "This is the best time. You realized how bad it would be if we don't love each other ... if I divorce you. So, now you will fight even harder to keep your family together."
"But it doesn't make sense!" Mark shouted, "Are you crazy?"
"Does everything have to make sense?" she answered with a soft voice, which seemed indifferent. "Your life doesn't make sense either, but that's no reason for you to die. You just feel good by living your life. I want to feel good too, that's why I came to sleep with you." She dropped her clothes as she finished her sentence, and stood completely naked in front of Mark.
Mark was frozen in his place, and before he could react, Sarah said, "Humans like this, right? I want to experience it. Humans live to feel good, so make me feel good."
Mark had gone pale. He hardly managed to speak, and said, "Are you sure? Maybe we should ..." Sarah shut his mouth with her lips, with a force which seemed unearthly. Mark was afraid at first, but after a while began to like it. Sarah had never been like that to him. She was mostly cold before, but now, she was acting like a wild beast in bed. It was like she had unlimited amount of energy and a fiery lust. Mark hardly kept up with her. This went on until it was nearly morning,when she almost fainted to sleep.
Mark was still awake. He was tired. That had been the strangest day of his life. His life and relationship with Sarah had been like riding a roller-coaster that day, and he had no explanation for it. He blamed it on alcohol at first, but that couldn't explain what had happened. Finally, curiosity got the better of him. He went to the kitchen to see if Sarah had drunk anything, but to his surprise, all the beverages were intact. He even checked the trash bin, but there wasn't anything unordinary there.
Finally, he found the strange drawing the original Sarah had drawn for the ritual. In another room, which he hadn't checked last night, there was a baggage, half-filled with Sarah's things. None of them made any sense, but raised more questions.
He went back to the bedroom. Sarah was just awaking from the sleep. The presence possessing Sarah's body was more familiar with its host now. The night had given it some time to put Sarah's memories together.
The possessed Sarah looked at Mark with sleepy eyes, and said "Good morning husband. That was a good night. I had my doubts about keeping you around, but you may prove to be worthy."
Mark, filled with questions, asked, "Sarah, what is going on?"
Sarah smiled and said, "Many things are going on, which one do you mean specifically?"
"Stop playing games. What happened last night? Why did you change? You were like a completely different person. I found a half-filled baggage. This drawing ... what is it?"
"It took you this long to figure out your wife is changed, huh?" she asked with a mocking tone, and continued, "I don't blame you. The original Sarah played with you for so long that you didn't even see her true personality before she left your world."
Mark was confused and scared. "What are you talking about? Why are you referring to yourself as if Sarah is someone else?"
"Because I'm not Sarah," the presence answered him, "I possess her body, I even have her memories, but I'm not her." Pointing at the drawing Mark was holding, she continued, "You see that? That's a part of the ritual she performed to summon me to your world."
"No ... you must be joking!" Mark shouted, while a part of him actually believed what she said.
"I can show you." the presence said calmly. "Stare at the drawing. That's a portal to my original world, at least for a few days after the ritual. You can't pass through it, but you can communicate."
Mark stared at the drawing, after a few seconds, it began glowing. A few seconds later, he heard Sarah's faint voice: "Mark! Help me! Take me back! I beg you!"
He dropped the drawing out of fear, and the voice stopped. His heart was beating fast, and his face had gone pale.
The possessed Sarah smiled, and said "You can't help her. No one can. So, don't bother."
Mark couldn't believe what was happening. He was afraid to ask more questions, afraid of what else he might hear. He tried to calm himself down, to think clearly.
"What the hell are you?" he screamed.
"Humans usually call my kind demons, or devils." she answered softly, "We are known for causing death and pain in your world, although we can't visit on our own will. Someone has to summon us, like how Sarah summoned me. So, you can't really blame the death and pain on us."
Mark was still in shock. "Why did she summon you? Why would she do that?"
"She didn't mean to. She just performed a ritual out of curiosity, as a game, without understanding the consequences. We switched places. Now, she is trapped in my original world and can't return. I don't think she is happy there. But that's not our problem."
"What do you want from us?" Mark asked in fear and desperation,"If you wanted to kill me, you had done it by now."
The possessed Sarah smiled and said, "That's right. Maybe if it was like the last time I visited your world, you were already dead by now. But things have changed a lot since then. I remember the screams of my victims, and how they begged for mercy. When I finally got back to my world, I kept thinking. Why did they wanted to survive? Why did all those mothers beg me for the lives of their children? I didn't care if someone ended my existence, or killed another demon. It was indifferent for me. But humans valued their lives, as well as their relationships with the others. When I came back to your world, I also noticed how much your society has changed in centuries. My world has always been monotonous, and stays that way forever. But your current society is not comparable to what it was. Aside from all the technology, your morality and worldview has changed."
Mark was frozen in place, taking in the unbelievable situation, as the presence continued, "That gets us to where we are right now. I believe being a human is a higher form of existence, and want to remain in your world. I want to know how caring about myself and the others feels like. I want to experience the things you take pleasure from."
"So, what do you want from me?" Mark asked again, his voice trembling.
"That depends on how much you wish to cooperate." the possessed Sarah answered with a sinister voice, "From what I see, you have three options: option one, you can start screaming, run to the children, admit that you just slept with a demon, devil or whatever you call me, or even try to kill me. In that case, I doubt anyone would believe you. They will simply think you have gone crazy, and if you hurt me, they will punish you for it. How do you feel about this option?"
Mark swallowed hard, his eyes wide with fear. "I... I don't want that," he stammered.
"Neither do I." the possessed Sarah answered smiling, "Option two,you can pretend that I'm the old Sarah and simply divorce your wife to get rid of me. In that case, I have to treat you as Sarah did, and take away what you have. Sarah has already arranged things for that purpose, so it will be easy for me. You can't really blame me if I do so, since I need to survive in your world. Besides, that only returns things to how they were before I possessed Sarah's body. We can go our separate ways, with me taking away almost everything you have. Does this option seem good to you?"
Mark hesitated. "I... I don't know. What's the final option?"
"Okay, the final option! The one I really like!" the possessed Sarah continued with a happy voice, "We live as a happy couple! As simple as that!"
"Do you expect me to live with you?!" Mark asked with anger.
"Why not?" the possessed Sarah answered, "I have Sarah's memories. I know you. You are a decent person. You really loved Sarah, although she never loved anything but herself. You love the children. You know they will get hurt by the divorce, and you can't give them the life they deserve, especially if I take away almost everything you have. Tell me, am I worse than the woman you lived with?"
Mark couldn't answer. He just stood there, lost in thought, as the possessed Sarah continued, "Think about it. I can't force you to do anything. It's your choice. But if you choose to stay with me, we can become happy together. I know what you expect from a wife, and I'm willing and able to meet your expectations. In return, I only expect you to act like a husband. Nothing more than what you offered Sarah."
Mark felt a pang in his heart. The idea of staying with this thing that possessed Sarah's body was unbearable. But the alternative was even worse.
"No ... this can't be real!" he whispered.
"Is it more unreal than Sarah's love?" the presence asked.
Sounds came from the other rooms. The children were awake. The possessed Sarah looked at Mark, and said, "You don't have an unlimited amount of time to decide, nor do you need any more time. You have to decide right now. It's a simple question. There aren't many things to consider. Unless you decide by the time Jennifer and Jack find us, we automatically have to go with the first option, which you already said you don't like."
Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His heart was pounding against his chest, and his hands were shaking. He knew he had no choice. He had to decide.
He opened his eyes and looked at the possessed Sarah. "All right," he said, his voice barely audible. "I'll stay with you."
A wide smile appeared on the possessed Sarah's face. She got dressed, kissed Mark and said, "A fine decision. Now, let's go see our children, husband!"
The possessed Sarah went to the leaving room, and found Jennifer and Jack there. Mark followed her, with a terrified pale face.
As soon as Jennifer saw them, she asked, "Mom, dad, we are so confused. You keep telling us different things. Can you give us a straight answer? Do you want a divorce?"
The possessed Sarah smiled, and answered, "Of course not sweetie. We love each other." as she hugged Jennifer and Jack, and continued, "And we love you too."
The children, relieved of the situation, hugged her. Mark was watching them in disbelief. A presence from another world, with a dark history, who had possessed his wife, his children's mother, was now holding the children in her arms, and they seemed happy together.
"Isn't that right dear?" she asked Mark with a voice and a face expression which terrified him.
Mark hesitated for a second, before bringing himself to answer, "Yes."
The Demon(Clara)
The morning sunlight streamed through the dusty basement window, illuminating the cobwebs and forgotten memories that hung in the air. Sarah stood amidst boxes and suitcases, carefully packing her things.
She was leaving Mark, her husband of ten years. It was a selfish decision. She had never loved Mark, and had married him for his money. But Mark wasn't in a good financial situation anymore, and she no longer saw any reason to be with him, despite they had two children together. Sarah had consulted with a lawyer who had ensured her that she can take away the little Mark had left, and she didn't even hesitate to finalize her decision.
As she was searching for her things in the basement, she stumbled upon a hidden place behind bricks of a wall. She didn't even know such a place existed. Inside, she found an old hand-written book. The cover was corroded, and the title was not readable. The pages were not in a much better shape either, but a few were still readable. Sarah realized the contents were about occult practices. The book must have been left there by some previous owner, long before she moved in with Mark.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she began reading, hoping to find something interesting. As she flipped through the yellowed pages, she came across a ritual which was easy to perform. It included drawing a shape and reading a few phrases. The part about its purpose was not readable. Intrigued, she decided to perform the ritual.
Sarah went to the leaving room, and drew the shape, as instructed in the book, on a piece of paper. As she finished, she read the phrases aloud, and then waited for something to happen. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. She felt silly for actually expecting something to happen. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. "Okay, this was a break," she thought, "I have a lot to do before Mark gets home, so I should get back to work."
Sarah opened her eyes and stood up, but something had changed. She felt weightless, and couldn't feel her feet on the floor. Anything around her looked blurry, except the shape she had drew as a part of the ritual, which seemed to be glowing, and pulling her towards itself. Finally, when she looked back at the place she was sitting, the sight scared her like never before in her life. She saw a person, looking exactly like her, sitting there and watching her with a sinister smile.
Sarah tried to scream, but no sound came out. She was being pulled toward the shape with something like a gravity. Despite her efforts to cling on something, her hands passed through every object, like they didn't physically exist anymore. She was pulled into the portal she had drawn on the paper, and disappeared from the world.
A demonic presence from another world was now in position of Sarah's body. The presence had been to this world centuries ago. Whenever someone summoned it, it came to torture and kill anyone around. That was the purpose it had, but spending several centuries away, had affected it. It was no longer interested in causing pain and death, since it sought other purposes for existence, and now that it had a new form on a new world, saw it as a chance to begin a new life.
It tried to stand up, but immediately fell on the floor. It still wasn't familiar with the body it possessed, and couldn't direct it the way it wanted. It looked around, and realized the humans' way of life had changed a lot since the last time it was in their world. Most objects were unfamiliar.
It had access to Sarah's memories, but couldn't put them together in order. The memories were like thorn and scattered pages of a book to the presence. Someone was coming - that was what it knew from the last thoughts of Sarah in this world. But aside from that, the memories didn't make much sense.
The presence managed to crawl to a sofa and sit on it, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, and tried to draw a line between Sarah's memories, in order to take over her life.
Hours later, Mark arrived in his car, with the children in the back seat. He was depressed and desperate. He had seen the message Sarah sent him in the morning, informing him that she was leaving, and any communication with her had to go through her lawyer. His heart was broken. The family life he had worked so hard to build was being ruined in front of his eyes. The woman he though he knew had shown her true face and was attempting to take away the little he had left.
Sarah's lawyer was heartless, like a predator hunting for desperate people. Despite Mark had tried his best to keep his children out of the whole affair, they knew everything now, and they were sad like him.
The children, Jennifer and Jack, 9 and 7 years old, couldn't believe what was happening. They had thought their parents loved each other. The concept of their mother leaving them was terrifying, and the fact that it happened so suddenly made it even worse.
Mark, Jennifer and Jack got off the car and went inside. It was dark now. The lights were off, and the whole house, which seemed like a place of comfort and fun before, seemed lifeless and sad.
As soon as Mark turned on living room's light, Jennifer and Jack screamed in terror. They saw Sarah sitting on a sofa with an indifferent face.
"Sarah!" Mark shouted, "What the hell?! What are you doing here?! Why were you sitting in the dark?!"
The possessed Sarah looked at him with an unreadable expression, and said, "This is my house, I should be here. Why shouldn't I sit in the dark?"
Mark was confused and angry. He thought Sarah would be ashamed to face him and the children. He continued, "You said you were leaving, remember?! When your lawyer said any communication has to go through him, I thought you are at least decent enough to not face us anymore. But here you are, looking at us in the eye like nothing has happened."
The possessed Sarah stayed silent for a few seconds, her face showing no sign of any emotion, until she continued, "What is the point of all this talking? It's just voice."
Mark was shocked by her answer. "Oh! Thanks for reminding me," he said sarcastically, "talking to you is really pointless. But why are you still here?"
"This is my house, where my family lives, isn't it?"
"Oh! So, you finally remembered that you have a family? Don't you think it's a little late for that?!"
"No. Why should it be. You must be my husband, and these must be our children ... and I think I see the point in talking now. We can exchange ideas and information."
Mark became even more upset. He raised his voice and said, "Sarah! What is wrong with you? If you were so open about exchanging ideas, you could have talked to me before asking that monster you hired as a lawyer to tell me about the divorce."
"I hired a monster?" she asked in confusion. "I didn't realize you have monsters in this world. And I don't think I want to divorce you. I'm just getting to know you."
Mark was taken back by her answer. He looked at Sarah carefully, and asked "You are acting weird. Are you drunk?"
Sarah looked indifferent, and softly answered, "No. I haven't drunk anything. But since I have been here for some time now, can you give me something to drink?"
"Oh! Just what I needed!" Mark said with a desperate voice, "Despite everything that happened today, I thought there would be at least one positive thing: Not seeing you when I come back. But now, not only I have to see you again, but I should also babysit a drunken woman who shouldn't even be here ... perfect! Just perfect!"
Mark assumed Sarah is drunk and saw no point in talking to her anymore. He left for the kitchen to prepare something for the dinner. Jennifer and Jack remained there, with many questions in their mind, but afraid to ask.
Jennifer finally broke the silence, "Mom, is it true? Do you want a divorce?"
Sarah looked at her, with an expression which terrified Jennifer, unlike the words that came out of her mouth: "No. It's not true. I don't want a divorce."
"But we heard that man on the phone!"
Sarah stared at Jennifer with the same terrifying face, and answered, "I don't care about what some man said. Even if I wanted a divorce before, I don't want it now."
The children remained speechless. They had no explanation for Sarah's odd behavior.
"You are my children," Sarah said, "you grew inside me. And that's your father. This is our house. We are a family. I think I want to keep everything as it is, at least for now."
"But why are you looking at us like that mom?" asked Jack, "Are you angry with us?"
"No, why should I be? Maybe I'm not good with face expressions. Let me try to fix that."
Sarah managed to bring a big smile on her face, and continued "Here. Is it better now?"
The children nodded in unison, feeling a little relieved. "But why did you scared dad with that divorce request if you didn't want it?" asked Jennifer.
"I scared him?" Sarah asked with the same big smile, "Oh! I wanted to scare him. He must fear me."
"So, are you saying this whole thing was just a prank?" Jack asked in confusion.
"Yes ... a prank!" Sarah answered, as she burst into laughter.
The children began laughing too. Seeing their mother laughing, they actually believed her. They expressed their relief and went to change their clothes.
A few minutes later, Mark called the children for dinner. He wasn't a good cook, and there was hardly anything to cook in the house. He had merely prepared some scrambled eggs.
The children sat to eat with their father. The possessed Sarah could smell the eggs from the living room, and it stimulated a need to eat in her body. She got off and started walking towards the kitchen. She was still unaccustomed to walking, and walked like a drunken person. Mark saw her like that, and it only helped to strengthen his assumption about Sarah being drunk. He sat down, with his back towards Sarah, unable to see her anymore, while the children were still seeing their mother.
The smell drew Sarah to the food. "This smells good!" she said with an excited voice.
"You are welcome!" Mark said sarcastically, "If you had decided to stay for whatever reason, the least you could do was preparing something to eat for the children. I can't believe you want to take everything away, yet you are still here, eating our food!"
Sarah ignored her. She picked some of the food with her bare hand and put it into her mouth. She liked the taste, and how it made her hunger go away. She grabbed more and started eating from the frying pan with her hands.
The children could see their mother, and her behavior terrified them. Sarah had smudged food all over her face and hands. When she was about to leave, Jennifer chased her. Offering her a paper towel, she said "Mom, please clean yourself."
The possessed Sarah cleaned her face and hands, and started exploring the house. She hadn't moved around much since coming to this world. Many objects were unfamiliar, but she could tell that human society had advanced much since the last time she was in their world. Some of the Sarah's memories began to make sense, but there was a lot she still couldn't understand.
The others went to do their things, and Mark, assuming Sarah is drunk, didn't bothered to question her behavior at all. She just wandered around the house, discovering things.
When it was bedtime. Mark told her, "You can take the couch tonight. Tomorrow, I want you out of here." as he went to bed.
He laid in his bed, remembering how good he felt when Sarah slept beside him, and it made him feel stupid. He had put all his love and trust in a woman who had stabbed him in the back. Just as he was about to drift into sleep, the door opened, and the possessed Sarah entered. Mark was angry to see her.
"What do you want?!" he shouted, "Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"
"I want to sleep with my husband." Sarah answered calmly,"Husbands and wives sleep with each other. That's why we have a double bed, isn't it?"
"So, now you want to be my wife?!" Mark asked with anger, "We were never actually a couple. You were just abusing me, like a parasite! You never cared about me or the children!"
"Is that so?" the possessed Sarah asked in confusion, "Maybe it was like that, but things can change. I can stop abusing you, and be good to you and the children."
"Sarah! This is not you, this is the bottle speaking!"
"It's not the bottle." Sarah answered softly, "I don't want a divorce. You seem like a good person. I want to live with you."
Mark was taken aback by her words. He didn't know what to say or do. He felt a mix of emotions - anger, suspicion, hope, and confusion. Finally, he asked her, "Why? Why now, after everything?"
"Why not?" she said calmly, "This is the best time. You realized how bad it would be if we don't love each other ... if I divorce you. So, now you will fight even harder to keep your family together."
"But it doesn't make sense!" Mark shouted, "Are you crazy?"
"Does everything have to make sense?" she answered with a soft voice, which seemed indifferent. "Your life doesn't make sense either, but that's no reason for you to die. You just feel good by living your life. I want to feel good too, that's why I came to sleep with you." She dropped her clothes as she finished her sentence, and stood completely naked in front of Mark.
Mark was frozen in his place, and before he could react, Sarah said, "Humans like this, right? I want to experience it. Humans live to feel good, so make me feel good."
Mark had gone pale. He hardly managed to speak, and said, "Are you sure? Maybe we should ..." Sarah shut his mouth with her lips, with a force which seemed unearthly. Mark was afraid at first, but after a while began to like it. Sarah had never been like that to him. She was mostly cold before, but now, she was acting like a wild beast in bed. It was like she had unlimited amount of energy and a fiery lust. Mark hardly kept up with her. This went on until it was nearly morning,when she almost fainted to sleep.
Mark was still awake. He was tired. That had been the strangest day of his life. His life and relationship with Sarah had been like riding a roller-coaster that day, and he had no explanation for it. He blamed it on alcohol at first, but that couldn't explain what had happened. Finally, curiosity got the better of him. He went to the kitchen to see if Sarah had drunk anything, but to his surprise, all the beverages were intact. He even checked the trash bin, but there wasn't anything unordinary there.
Finally, he found the strange drawing the original Sarah had drawn for the ritual. In another room, which he hadn't checked last night, there was a baggage, half-filled with Sarah's things. None of them made any sense, but raised more questions.
He went back to the bedroom. Sarah was just awaking from the sleep. The presence possessing Sarah's body was more familiar with its host now. The night had given it some time to put Sarah's memories together.
The possessed Sarah looked at Mark with sleepy eyes, and said "Good morning husband. That was a good night. I had my doubts about keeping you around, but you may prove to be worthy."
Mark, filled with questions, asked, "Sarah, what is going on?"
Sarah smiled and said, "Many things are going on, which one do you mean specifically?"
"Stop playing games. What happened last night? Why did you change? You were like a completely different person. I found a half-filled baggage. This drawing ... what is it?"
"It took you this long to figure out your wife is changed, huh?" she asked with a mocking tone, and continued, "I don't blame you. The original Sarah played with you for so long that you didn't even see her true personality before she left your world."
Mark was confused and scared. "What are you talking about? Why are you referring to yourself as if Sarah is someone else?"
"Because I'm not Sarah," the presence answered him, "I possess her body, I even have her memories, but I'm not her." Pointing at the drawing Mark was holding, she continued, "You see that? That's a part of the ritual she performed to summon me to your world."
"No ... you must be joking!" Mark shouted, while a part of him actually believed what she said.
"I can show you." the presence said calmly. "Stare at the drawing. That's a portal to my original world, at least for a few days after the ritual. You can't pass through it, but you can communicate."
Mark stared at the drawing, after a few seconds, it began glowing. A few seconds later, he heard Sarah's faint voice: "Mark! Help me! Take me back! I beg you!"
He dropped the drawing out of fear, and the voice stopped. His heart was beating fast, and his face had gone pale.
The possessed Sarah smiled, and said "You can't help her. No one can. So, don't bother."
Mark couldn't believe what was happening. He was afraid to ask more questions, afraid of what else he might hear. He tried to calm himself down, to think clearly.
"What the hell are you?" he screamed.
"Humans usually call my kind demons, or devils." she answered softly, "We are known for causing death and pain in your world, although we can't visit on our own will. Someone has to summon us, like how Sarah summoned me. So, you can't really blame the death and pain on us."
Mark was still in shock. "Why did she summon you? Why would she do that?"
"She didn't mean to. She just performed a ritual out of curiosity, as a game, without understanding the consequences. We switched places. Now, she is trapped in my original world and can't return. I don't think she is happy there. But that's not our problem."
"What do you want from us?" Mark asked in fear and desperation,"If you wanted to kill me, you had done it by now."
The possessed Sarah smiled and said, "That's right. Maybe if it was like the last time I visited your world, you were already dead by now. But things have changed a lot since then. I remember the screams of my victims, and how they begged for mercy. When I finally got back to my world, I kept thinking. Why did they wanted to survive? Why did all those mothers beg me for the lives of their children? I didn't care if someone ended my existence, or killed another demon. It was indifferent for me. But humans valued their lives, as well as their relationships with the others. When I came back to your world, I also noticed how much your society has changed in centuries. My world has always been monotonous, and stays that way forever. But your current society is not comparable to what it was. Aside from all the technology, your morality and worldview has changed."
Mark was frozen in place, taking in the unbelievable situation, as the presence continued, "That gets us to where we are right now. I believe being a human is a higher form of existence, and want to remain in your world. I want to know how caring about myself and the others feels like. I want to experience the things you take pleasure from."
"So, what do you want from me?" Mark asked again, his voice trembling.
"That depends on how much you wish to cooperate." the possessed Sarah answered with a sinister voice, "From what I see, you have three options: option one, you can start screaming, run to the children, admit that you just slept with a demon, devil or whatever you call me, or even try to kill me. In that case, I doubt anyone would believe you. They will simply think you have gone crazy, and if you hurt me, they will punish you for it. How do you feel about this option?"
Mark swallowed hard, his eyes wide with fear. "I... I don't want that," he stammered.
"Neither do I." the possessed Sarah answered smiling, "Option two,you can pretend that I'm the old Sarah and simply divorce your wife to get rid of me. In that case, I have to treat you as Sarah did, and take away what you have. Sarah has already arranged things for that purpose, so it will be easy for me. You can't really blame me if I do so, since I need to survive in your world. Besides, that only returns things to how they were before I possessed Sarah's body. We can go our separate ways, with me taking away almost everything you have. Does this option seem good to you?"
Mark hesitated. "I... I don't know. What's the final option?"
"Okay, the final option! The one I really like!" the possessed Sarah continued with a happy voice, "We live as a happy couple! As simple as that!"
"Do you expect me to live with you?!" Mark asked with anger.
"Why not?" the possessed Sarah answered, "I have Sarah's memories. I know you. You are a decent person. You really loved Sarah, although she never loved anything but herself. You love the children. You know they will get hurt by the divorce, and you can't give them the life they deserve, especially if I take away almost everything you have. Tell me, am I worse than the woman you lived with?"
Mark couldn't answer. He just stood there, lost in thought, as the possessed Sarah continued, "Think about it. I can't force you to do anything. It's your choice. But if you choose to stay with me, we can become happy together. I know what you expect from a wife, and I'm willing and able to meet your expectations. In return, I only expect you to act like a husband. Nothing more than what you offered Sarah."
Mark felt a pang in his heart. The idea of staying with this thing that possessed Sarah's body was unbearable. But the alternative was even worse.
"No ... this can't be real!" he whispered.
"Is it more unreal than Sarah's love?" the presence asked.
Sounds came from the other rooms. The children were awake. The possessed Sarah looked at Mark, and said, "You don't have an unlimited amount of time to decide, nor do you need any more time. You have to decide right now. It's a simple question. There aren't many things to consider. Unless you decide by the time Jennifer and Jack find us, we automatically have to go with the first option, which you already said you don't like."
Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His heart was pounding against his chest, and his hands were shaking. He knew he had no choice. He had to decide.
He opened his eyes and looked at the possessed Sarah. "All right," he said, his voice barely audible. "I'll stay with you."
A wide smile appeared on the possessed Sarah's face. She got dressed, kissed Mark and said, "A fine decision. Now, let's go see our children, husband!"
The possessed Sarah went to the leaving room, and found Jennifer and Jack there. Mark followed her, with a terrified pale face.
As soon as Jennifer saw them, she asked, "Mom, dad, we are so confused. You keep telling us different things. Can you give us a straight answer? Do you want a divorce?"
The possessed Sarah smiled, and answered, "Of course not sweetie. We love each other." as she hugged Jennifer and Jack, and continued, "And we love you too."
The children, relieved of the situation, hugged her. Mark was watching them in disbelief. A presence from another world, with a dark history, who had possessed his wife, his children's mother, was now holding the children in her arms, and they seemed happy together.
"Isn't that right dear?" she asked Mark with a voice and a face expression which terrified him.
Mark hesitated for a second, before bringing himself to answer, "Yes."
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Clara
02/04/2024This work was inspired by the movie "Evil Dead Rise". The picture is from that movie too. I wondered what would have happened if the presence in that movie actually tried to live in this world after possessing someone, instead of blindly trying to murder everyone.
The point is: We are not as special as we think we are!
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