“I know what you’re trying to do,” Reid whispered to the room. “And it’s not going to work.”
The fire spit back in response, but there was no other sound. Alex was still out in the corner.
Reid hadn’t meant to knock him out, but he’d been so hysterical and wouldn’t listen to a thing Reid said. So goddamned afraid. And Reid couldn’t have that.
He paced back and forth. “You’re trying to separate us.”
Something tickled the top of his head and across his face. Cobwebs. He peeled them off.
“And you’re trying to scare me.” He blew at the remaining piece of web dangling in front of him and watched it sway.
A voice crept out of nowhere. “But it’s all your fault.”
Reid didn’t flinch. It seemed so natural. Just another day in his life. His father had constantly said things like that for the past few years, and it had become part of him.
“You brought them here,” the voice said. “You meant to kill them, didn’t you? Just like your mother.”
Reid stopped pacing and turned to face the voice, the fire.
He wasn’t surprised to see his father there, his face lit up with an eerie glow. At first, he seemed a disembodied thing, just a head floating amidst the fire. But then his father began to grow a body, arms, legs, feet. When the fireplace could no longer contain his father’s size, he stepped out—planting one foot on solid ground. Then he stepped with the other, and as he moved forward the flames seemed reluctant to release him, clinging to his torso and arms. The fire finally fell away from him and all that was left was the silhouette of flames behind him.
“You’re not him. You’re not my father.” Reid shook his head and stood his ground.
“If only that were true,” Reid’s father hissed. “I wished it every single day since you killed her.”
Reid tapped himself on the chest. “I know the truth. I’m no murderer.” He crossed his arms.
“You make me sick.” The thing that looked like his dad seethed. His mouth curled in disgust. “Rotten, no-good—”
“Yeah, I know, I know. I don’t know how I ever let you scare me. Let you hit me. You’re not scary. You’re a wimp. A loser. A coward. That’s why mom asked me for help. You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re the disgrace.”
Reid’s dad trudged forward, his footsteps reverberating, leaving a trail of flames behind each one.
“I let you make me what I am.” Reid shook his head again. “I believed you. But you’re nothing. You don’t scare me.”
His father moved with blinding speed, and Reid never had a chance to stop the blow as his father’s fist came down upon him.
Reid’s face seared with pain and he crumbled to his knees.
The sound of his dad’s laughter seemed too big for such a small room. It reached bounced off the walls, filling the room with a mad echo. The cobwebs shook and the dusty furniture rattled against the floor.
A tangy metallic taste filled Reid’s mouth. He turned his head and spat.
So this thing could make him bleed. All this time, Reid was convinced that the house reached into the depths of him, of them all, and pulled out their darkest fears and memories. But he thought that was all they were—a shadow of their inner turmoil. But this ghostly figure of his father could physically harm him, not just rip away at his mind.
His dad raised his hand again and struck Reid in the face. His head whipped to the side, but he held his balance. Stars danced around his vision, but he breathed through it. He’d suffered worse before.
“I’m done with you,” Reid said. “You’re a waste of my time.”
Laughter once again filled the room, but this time it wasn’t from his father. It was those little flying pains in the ass, squealing. Reid imagined that if pigs could laugh, that’s what they’d sound like. Fucking pigs.
Out of the fire they flew, darting this way and that, filling the room with their dreadfulness.
They swept across the floor, up over the wall, and spun about the ceiling like a tornado brewing.
“You’re going to die. Both of you. And it’s all your fault.” Reid’s dad pointed to the corner, where Alex was just coming to.
Reid gasped. “All a distraction!”
A shadow crept out of the fire and drifted up the wall, to the ceiling. As it passed the little flying bastards, they parted to let it through and descended to the ground.
The shadow drifted further away from Reid and closer to Alex.
Reid charged toward his friend. He had to make it there first. The little demons jumped and snapped at his ankles as he pushed past. Like little fire ants, their bites stung.
He could still hear his father’s laughter booming off the walls and floor like thunder. The winged demons mimicked and echoed his laughter in a shrill tone.
Reid was awestruck as the little creatures swarmed and flooded the room. They were everywhere, thousands of them.
They settled into a circle around Reid and his dad, like whirling dervishes, their dance graceful and synchronized.
The shadow spread across the room, everywhere all at once.
The little demons began to swirl faster, creating a dizzying effect. No longer in sync with each other, they spun wildly, ricocheting off each other and bouncing off the floor. Reid’s eyes couldn’t keep up, but his mind finally caught on. His father’s laughter lashed at him as he slid across the floor, to Alex. After grabbing Alex, he flung him over his shoulder and spun around and around. If their goal was to disorient him, they were successful. He couldn’t tell which way was which. Their wings blotted out the walls until it appeared as if the room was made of the little devils.
“You can’t have him!” Reid shouted at the shadow creature.
It disappeared.
Where was it? Reid swirled around and around, hoping to spot the creature before it attacked.
He hauled his friend across the room, back toward the fire.
Now the little demons were back on the ceiling, clapping and looking down on them.
Best seats in the house. There they waited, like carrion crows.