Demon Rises

"Knock Knock"

"Graham !"

"Open the door !"

Graham just stared in horror at his father's shout. The feels of unrelenting emotions intersected without even a hint of stoped.

He hadd known this since he had arrived, over and over his only wish was to go home and sleep and then come back the next day, but still.

He slowly turned the key to the door of the room he had closed earlier. His palms did not stop shaking, and neither did his heart which kept beating fast.

Before the doorknob could be turned, his father had already kicked it in, sended Graham flies.

"Son of a bitch, what the fuck do you think you're doing."

His father pulled the collar from Graham's shirt and carried him forcefully to the basement of this house. The four-headed man opened the door to the dark basement.

He cruelly placed Graham on a pole and banged his body repeatedly on the room's support.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," said the poor boy.

"You ignorant child, you think I raised you to spend my money ? you savage."

"I'm sorry, please. I'll replace it."

"You ignorant, stupid, troublesome."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Repeated punches landed all over Graham's body. He didn't fight back and just begged for his father's forgiveness.

It wasn't the first time, in fact it was probably something he got used to every month.

When he was at university, Graham was not a bad kid, his grades were always above average. And that wasn't his problem, but the university was just doing what it was supposed to do anyway. If only he had graduated before his mother died, perhaps a better life would have come before his father's wrathness.

After he was satisfied with beated him, his father went to look for the rope hidden in that basement. His eyes couldn't stop looking around until he saw a pile of wooden planks tied together with a worn brown rope. He then took the rope without cared that the pile of wooden planks fell apart.

"Come here you bastard." Roughly, the man tied his own son's two hands to an iron pole. "Listen to me stupid boy."

Graham, who could not contain his father's anger, only looked down in fear.

"Hey look your father."

Graham still didn't look at him and just looked down. That made his father even angrier, and he forcefully lifted Graham's forehead to look at him.

"Do you know how much I have to pay ?"

"..."

"Answer fool !"

"I... I don't know."

"Two hundred and fifty dollars. Do you know what that money is supposed to be for?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry."

"Answer me damn it !"

"That... I... I don't know."

"Aargh !"

The man hit Graham, again.

Brakk !

Crack !

The man rampaged in front of Graham, he began to smash the objects around him. Used cabinets, unused boards, and a bunch of broken electronics.

An old wooden stick was used to beat the items. His anger was peaking, perhaps higher. This was the umpteenth time he had spent money on the person he hated the most.

After feel satisfied with everything. The man then went upstairs to leave Graham alone. But Graham stopped him in his tracks.

"Dad, please... you can punish me, but not in this place. Please."

"What did you say ?"

"Not this place, please."

"Aaggh!"

The man hit Graham once more. He already knew that Graham had a terrible fear of the dark, so he deliberately put him there.

Graham himself never realized how long he had been afraid of the dark. If he tried to remember, all that came to mind was an empty villa where his mother had picked him up after heard Graham's cried. After that, he always carried a flashlight wherever he went.

"Dad, dad, please."

"Dad..."

His father didn't budge despite Graham's repeated calls. He slammed the door to this room hard.

After bowed his head, Graham picked it back up, only for saw his father reopen the room. Expected the worst, he only came to turn off the lights in the room.

With a glare full of anger, he glanced at Graham while closing the door hard.

Graham sat up, terrified. His body was shivered, but sweat was coming out quickly. He looked at his around which were all dark black. There was no light at all.

Sometimes the cold air coming in made him comfortable, but on the other hand he shivered. He was always excited when the rats ran around him, it made he feel like he wasn't alone.

Lasting more than twenty hours, Graham still sat tied to the pole with a face full of fear. He closed his eyes the whole time. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

His father returned, but not for anything except to throw a bucket of water on Graham's head. The doused Graham instantly woke up from his sleep. His eyes were wide open.

"Don't look at me like that."

That was all his father said, as he left and locked the basement. A pair of cynical eyes accompanied by an evil face glanced at him while walked out.

In that soul-piercing darkness, an odd thing happened.

Two red lights appeared right in front of Graham, making him completely startled. "Huh?"

A bat ? Makes sense, but what did it come for ?

A cat might be more match, but what cat has eyeballs the size of a handheld, even those eyeballs are too high up.

"Hihihi."

The voice was out of nowhere, but he felt that the source was right in front of him.

"Wh... who are you ?"

"Hahahaha..."

"Answer me, who are you ?"

"I... am... you."

Graham gave his a frightened glance. He even closed his eyes occasionally.

"Please leave this place."

"Why ?"

Graham didn't dare to look in front of him, he kept his head down while talking to the mysterious figure.

"I... I have to look at." Graham muttered in his heart.

"Don't be afraid, I am you."

"You... Who the really are you ?"

"You're really funny." The mysterious voice was getting bigger by the moment. "Hahahaha"

"Please, go away. I'm... scared."

"That's how it should be. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

"What ?"

He widened his eyes, closed them again. Then widened them again and closed them tightly.

"Hahahaha."

The two red lights then circled around Graham's body while continuing to laugh. Graham wanted to cover his ears but he couldn't move his hands.

"Hahahaha."

The pair of red lights that kept spinning also crashed into what he passed by. All the items he passed by were scattered everywhere. Making a noise that disturbed Graham's father.

"Grahaaaam!"

The sound of angry footsteps sounded so clear. Yet somehow Graham was no more afraid for his father's arrival. Naturally for someone, demons were still scarier than humans.

The father went back into the underground room, he turned on the light but found nothing but scattered items and his bounded son.

"Don't think you can escape from here." He turned off the lights again and went out, feeling that there was nothing to be concerned about. However, just after closing the door.

Clackk

"Aaaaa" The screams voice of Graham's father sounded very loud.

"Aaaaa... Help... me"

Crackkk

Really fast, just a few seconds of the small chaos. But the sound continued with the drippex of water from between the doors.

"Dad ?"

"Dad, what happened ?"

His father didn't answer. Graham didn't know what was dripped because the room was so dark. But he suspected something terrible had happened, and he wasn't wrong.

"Dad, what happened to you ?" Tremble, he kept called out to his father, but there was no answer.

The pair of red eyes he had seen earlier now appeared right in front of him. Just like that, the pair of red eyes seemed to grow bigger, as if someone was laughing.

"You... what are you doing ?"

"Aahahaha"

"Don't laugh! What did you do ?"

"I did my job."

Graham was getting scared, his mind was in turmoil. He seemed to miss his father's voice. But all he could hear was the dripping water from the basement entrance.

"Did you... kill my father ?"

"Your father ? Aahahaha. Why do you think of him as your father ?"

"You, why did you do this ?" Graham with a face full of fear was still tried to question him.

"Hahahaha, you're really funny."

The black figure's voice continued to echo louder and louder.

"Stop bragging, why did you do it ? Why did you kill him ?"

"Why... didn't you... ask yourself ?"

"Myself ?"

"Of course, why? Because... I... am... you."

Graham's breath was getting faster and faster. He felt like he had been placed in a room that had been deprived of oxygen. Almost his entire body was shaked

"It's a lie, it's a lie, it's a lie."

"Ahahahah. You really made me laugh."

The pair of red eyes then returned to rotated around Graham. Its irregular rotation made it cut the rope bounded Graham's hands. Graham immediately sat down and grasped his legs. He did not dare to move.

Time passed, hour after hour passed. The pair of red eyes were still near Graham, and kept on said many things.

"Please stop, please."

***

Meanwhile outside the house, an old woman carrying a food box was seen talking to two policemen. The food box was empty, what was she carried it for ?

The two policemen were both wearing silver suits, it seemed that they were detectives.

"I don't know, he came home from nowhere. His face seemed very angry when he entered the house, when I tried to find out he was gone," explained the old woman.

"And why did you enter the house ?" The detective asked again.

"I used to give them food. But I don't know what happened this time... He suddenly..."

After heard enough clarity from the old woman, the two detectives entered.

"Wait Steve, why did you come in?"

"Of course I'm coming in, I'm also on duty here," said the other detective.

"Keep watch over there, don't let anyone in."

"Eh ? But ?"

"Stay there, you're still an amateur."

The blonde detective known as Steve resignedly followed his senior's orders.

Steve waited for his partner to return, but almost thirty minutes he waited, his partner did not come out. In an investigation that long is certainly suspicious. Steve looked around and saw a tall man walking on the other side.

"Hey you, come here."

The tall man who heard then approached him. He looked confused that a policeman had called him, but he soon figured out what he meant.

Steve took out something from his pocket, a few bills and gave them to the tall man, without even counts the bills.

"Please guard this place. Don't let anyone in. I'll give you the rest when I get back."

"I know, I will." The tall man smiled widely.

"I'm counting on you." Steve moved into the house.

His feet stepped into the place without hesitation. Steve didn't even have his revolver ready. "Mr. Jeffrey."

"Mr. Jeffrey where are you?"

"Mr. Jeffrey ?"

He called out to his partner repeatedly but found nothing. His footsteps couldn't stop going deeper.

Deeper and deeper.

How shocked he was to see his fellow detective killed so horribly. "Mr. Jeffrey ? This ?"

Steve spontaneously suppressed his nausea by covering his mouth. His eyes were bulged and he was breaths heavily, but he tried to be professional by not panick.

"Calm down Steve, calm down. I can handle this."

There were many scratches on the body of the policeman he called Mr. Jeffrey. But they weren't like attacks from sharp objects like knives or the like. More like wounds from the sharp nails of a lion.

Not only the body of his colleague was lying there. Graham's father also looked horribly dead with his head has twisted.

Steve then took his revolver from his pants pocket and set up a ready position for any threat. He looked at the door near the two bodies. He cautiously opened it, but since the lighting was still dark, he couldn't see anything. He tried to find a switch to turn on the light, and luckily his hand that was feeling the wall found the switch. Without lingering, he pressed the switch lightly. The light flickered twice before stabilizing.

Again Steve was shocked. In front of him lay an eighteen-year-old boy. The boy was Graham, whose body looked very bad, soaking wet, and covered in bruises and enlarged eye bags.

Steve who saw him went straight to him. "Who are you ?" he asked.

Graham didn't answer anything.

"Are you okay ? Can you tell me what happened ?"

Unable to keep silent, Graham spoke. "Go away."

"What did you say ?"

"Please, just go."

"I won't go. Just tell me what happened, I'll help you."

"Please, I beg you... don't make me a killer."

Steve widened his eyelids. His breathing was getting heavier. "Tell me, did you do it ?"

"Please, hurry up and leave. Please... not again, that's enough."

As if hypnotized by Graham's words, Steve backed away little by little, but still pointed his revolver at Graham. "I can't leave. I have to at least make sure you stay here."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Stop talking !"

"I'd do it if I could."

Steve was looked at Graham with slightly different eyes now. It felt like what he had just said made perfect sense. "With a wound like that it's possible he's blurred, but those bags under his eyes... how long has he been here ?" Steve muttered under his breath.

Steve's mind drifted to what he should do. An eighteen-year-old boy with so many wounds and a body in such disarray that it couldn't even support his weight.

How could he kill two people in such close time ?

After a few minutes of deciding what to do, Steve chose to slowly exit the basement. He did not lock the door, and immediately used his cell phone.

"It's me, officer Steve."