Don't Let The Devil Out

The Start of Something Horrific

Ash Sheridan stood in his driveway staring out onto the cul-de-sac his family had just moved to. It looked like every cul-de-sac in every American town; it was rounded at the end and had houses that had families. Despite the painfully suburban feel of Tilden Lane, it had its charms. The neighborhood was from the '70s, so the architectural aesthetic was one Mr. Brady could have appreciated. Still, Ash was surprised by how much he actually liked the design of his house, not to mention how much bigger it was than their city apartment. He didn't have to share a bedroom with his younger brother anymore. In fact, he had the entire basement (which was finished, even if it was with wood paneling) to himself. There wasn't even a laundry room for people to use as an excuse to see what weird teenage things he was getting up to. It was just one big wood-paneled room with his computer, his PS2, and his floor mattress. A floor mattress he wished he could be on.

Unfortunately, he was acutely aware that he stood in the driveway of his home in his boxers and the old Misfits t-shirt his father gave him. It was slightly too big on him, as he was smaller than his dad was at 16. He didn't mind, though. He really liked the shirt and he liked the Misfits. What he didn't like and what he couldn't quite figure out exactly as to exactly what he was doing standing in his driveway and not still happily in bed. He couldn't remember getting up this morning. It was as if he simply appeared there. The likely candidate here, however, was simply that he did some early morning sleepwalking. Never mind the fact he has never done anything like that before. He brought a hand to his face, letting it linger on his cheek as he sighed. He supposed he'd bring the paper in for his dad. He moved forward to where the plastic-wrapped newspaper lay at the end of his driveway and reached down to pick it up. As he straightened out, newspaper in hand, his breath caught as he came face to face with.. something. Someone?

It was tall, that he could tell since it was bent down to look him in the eyes with its own that were an almost beautiful violet, but had an eerie glowing quality to them that conveyed a very otherworldly origin. They (it didn't feel right) were vaguely human in appearance, except they were completely hairless with porcelain white skin and small, black spikey horns that started between their eyes, trailing up the middle of their skull and down their neck. The rest of their spikes were hidden beneath billowing violet robes that oddly matched their eyes.

A long-fingered hand came out from the folds of the robe and they placed one icy cold and bony finger on the middle of his forehead and smiled. Their mouth widened much more than Ash would have ever liked to have seen. A quiet, yet purposeful voice that conveyed the intensity of swirling infernal winds spoke to him. He could do nothing but listen.

"Awaken and know."

It all went to Hell. Literally. The heat hit him first with a nearly unbearable, stifling intensity. It took his breath away, but not as much as what he was physically witnessing play out in front of him. His cul-de-sac was ablaze, with the houses in across from his burning with flames puffing acrid black smoke. Then he heard the screams all around him. Piercing and terrible.

Ash could do nothing but watch in horror as the old woman that already had a baked apple pie ready to go for them as a welcoming gift was screaming. She had a sickle-like blade that was embedded in her back dragging her towards a fissure that had opened in the street. The blade was connected to a skeletal limb that belonged to a creature he could only describe as a horrific fusion between a praying mantis and a skinless man. It had a terrible visage that clacked with glistening mandibles in anticipation of what Ash could only assume was its next meal.

He fell to his knees with a jolt of pain, tears flowing freely from his face.

"What the fuck is this? Why is this happening?"

Ash's cries rang out to the carnage before him.

"Fucking answer me!"

That quiet, infernal voice rose above the cacophony of the hellscape before him.

"It is a terrible gift, Ashley Sheridan. A knowing of truths and secrets. It is what could pass if it were allowed. It cannot be allowed. A future such as this would unravel all things. You have been chosen for this burden by cosmic events beyond even my understanding. I will return soon to begin the lessons. We must prepare."

Ash began to speak, to beg for more answers and for whatever this terrible burden that now rests on his shoulders was to be lifted. No words came, only darkness. He fell into it.