11 Hit Me Hard

“Riley!” I screamed and fired my weapon as I entered the shop.

“It’s good to finally see you again, Amber,” he replied.

Without warning, I threw a fist at Riley’s face but the idiot was too fast to dodge it. Flashing his signature smile with a Fedora hat that seemed to stick on his head, he bumped his forehead against mine which caused me to stumble backwards and trip over. As soon as my back hit the floor, he threw a kick, hitting my stomach. I groaned in pain, pressing my belly while Gideon was hiding behind a shelf, saying his prayers as usual.

Riley stepped on my chest, pressing it hard and making my breath accelerate. I held on to his foot, forcefully trying to push it away but he was pressing it harder even more.

“Do you really think you can hide from me, you skunk?” Riley said. “You should have known your limits. I must admit when the worthless Micca possessed your body, I actually did not see this coming.”

I reached for his leg and pushed it away from my chest as he spoke, but my efforts were useless.

“Do you still remember the first time we met? You were a homeless and useless 16-year-old girl trapped in a mental facility. You were begging for mercy to take this unbearable pain away from your heart. When was that again? Ah, when your parents died in a car accident.” He grinned.

“You bastard!” I uttered, clenching my teeth.

“Is this how you repay the man who saved you from misery?”

"You cheated on me, you idiot! You're a liar!"

“Oh, did I? I am so sorry, my dear,” he said with a fake apologetic face and took his foot away from me. “You begged me to erase your painful memories, and I granted your wish. Shouldn’t you be more thankful than vengeful?”

“I’ll kill you!” I stood up and aimed my pistol at him.

“What do you know about my parents?”

He smirked.

“Tell me! What do you know about my life? Why do you want to destroy my life? Who are you?”

I cocked the hammer, but I retracted when Greg showed up.

“Greg?”

Surprised to see my friend standing and possessed by a demon, my heart was breaking and screaming in anger.

“Let the show begin,” Riley said smiling.

Greg punched me in the stomach, throwing me against the wall.

“Oh my! S-Should I save you now?” Gideon asked.

“No! Stay right there, Gideon!” I answered.

“Greg, I know you’re in there. Your soul is trapped and you can't get out. Listen to me—”

Greg threw a chair at me but his attempt to hit me failed as I body-swerved.

“Stop this, Greg. Listen to me. I know you can hear me. Resist the demon inside you, and set your spirit free. Greg, please . . . don’t . . . let me do this . . .” My voice was broken. ‘I would rather let you free yourself, Greg. I beg you, do not . . . let me kill you . . .”

Greg seemed to hear me and moved backwards. I could feel his spirit fighting against the demon inside him to free his soul and finally lay to rest.

“That’s it, Greg. You’re doing great.”

Seeing his spirit smile in peace, I smiled and nodded my head as a sign of saying “goodbye” but Riley shot him, catching me off guard.

“No!” I cried, shooting countless bullets at Riley who was an MVP at escaping death.

I screamed in rage as I continued to shoot him repeatedly, but he was just as slippery as an eel. He rushed out of the shop as fast as the wind and stood across the street, facing us through the glass window.

He smiled and gestured by curling his index finger.

“Come,” he said, though I didn’t hear his words.

“Hey! Don’t be fooled, Amber. Do not fall into his trap. You’ll be exposing us,” Gideon stopped me.

I clenched my fist in utter frustration and kicked the broken chair that was blocking my way. I ran my hand through my hair and slammed my palm against the wall. Nonetheless, I hurriedly stepped out of the shop.

“Amber, no! Stop! Don’t!” Gideon screamed. “Oh no!”

Riley's smile grew wider seeing me standing outside the shop. Holding my weapon and hiding it at my back, I looked straight into his eyes despite countless people and vehicles passing by. I knew he was anticipating me to attack, and I was more than ready to give him what we wanted. Slowly, I raised my hand and prepared to expose the most dangerous fight in public.

“F— you!” I flashed my middle finger.

***

Scanning the files, I uttered a frustrated sigh as I read the papers.

“How could I die at the mental facility at 16 when I am already 18, alive and kicking those demons’ butts? How could I not have any memories about my parents' death?” I said.

“Well, what do you want to know?” Gideon asked.

“What do I want to know?” I faced the annoying cat and shouted at its face. “I . . . just happened . . . to wake up confused . . . and hearing voices in my head! And I . . . just happened . . . wanting to find the missing pieces of my life! Do you comprehend?!”

Gideon wiped his face with his paws.

“Shower, man. I just took a shower, and you're giving me a shower of human mucus,” he said. "Yuck!"

"Well, you're a cat. Go ahead and lick yourself. There's no difference anyway in the way you 'bathe'." I sat back on my chair as he munched on his meal of the night. Agitated, I slid the papers away from the table.

“I supposed you’re Amber, correct?”

I shot daggers at Gideon.

“Amber is stubborn, angry, and out of control. Micca . . . well, he’s stubborn too and you both are united at that point, but Micca is more gentle and he calls me Giddy or crazy while Amber calls me an idiot. Wait, Micca calls me an idiot sometimes but . . .” He facepalmed. “Ah . . . I don’t know.”

“Shut up. Stop analyzing who between us is talking to you. This ghost inside me, or whatever abrakadabra happened that made me wake up with DID, and made my life turn upside down and—”

“DID . . . what? DID . . . Did I Die? Oh I remember. Yes, you did die on the street. Remember that incident when you were lying in the garbage after talking to Barachiel in heaven, and you were taken by an ambulance weeow weeow weeow, and you kicked the paramedics’ asses bang bang bang . . .”

Irritated by his stupid dramatization, I stood and grabbed Gideon by the scruff of his neck, making his body and tail curl.

“Oh . . .” Gideon uttered.

“Stop talking—” I turned around and dropped Gideon as I heard someone clearing his throat.

“Gabriel?” Gideon said.

‘You.” The stranger pointed his finger at me and a force knocked me on the floor unconscious.

“What did you just do?” Gideon uttered anxiously.

“We need to kill the girl.”