A Different Turn

Chapter 4

A demon is a supernatural, often malevolent being prevalent in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. There are indications that demons in popular mythology were believed to come from the nether world. Even various diseases and ailments were ascribed to them, particularly those that caused great pain or death. From Christianity to Hinduism, every religion and culture recognizes the demon as a being of supernatural origin, with abilities that far surpass those of humans, and are bent upon wreaking havoc and destruction upon our world. In other words, demons are effectively distinct from humans, and act against humans in order to become more powerful.

However, I tend to disagree; back when I was little, I was afraid of the dark and always ensured that the bathroom light was switched on, and the door creaked open to let in the light before I slept. Horror movies terrified me and thoughts of supernatural beings such as ghosts and demons were very scary, often making me prone to nightmares when I heard stories about them. But all that stopped sometime ago, when I came to realize that humans were way scarier than any creatures ancient mythology could throw at me, the living were far more horrific than the dead. The true demons in this world did not have horns, differently colored skin, extra arms or any such physical abnormalities, they stayed among us, as one of us, and played us for their evil motives while they smiled at our misery; humans, hence were far more scarier than demons could have ever been.

I had come to that conclusion a long time ago, what else could justify the smiling demon that stood before me holding a can of MAX at my face. I stood frozen there for what seemed like eternity. Fear enveloped me, what a funny emotion indeed.

Fear, it is a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat, it causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a specific stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to body or life. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat, which in extreme cases of fear can be a freeze response or paralysis. The reason fear is funny is because in event of anything occurs that may harm you, fear encourages you to escape danger by fueling your instinct of self-preservation, however, paradoxically, this emotion puts even greater limits on a person's ability to cope with the situation, which means that in event of inescapable situations, this only serves like a handicap, limiting the person, making him more vulnerable to danger.

That was exactly what I was experiencing now as I continued to stand in the same position, should I flee, maybe run back to the clubroom, or go straight home and hide in my room, or better, leave this country and go somewhere, anywhere, away from this, away from her....

No, escape was not an option now.

I glanced over at the smiling demon in front of me, she stood there, unmoving, baiting me with the can in hand, prompting me to act somehow. Escape was not an option, I could not tackle this problem as I did in my childhood, closing my eyes would not make this monster go away, it would only give it a better chance to enrapture me while I dreamed of an automatic solution in my self-imposed blindness; an attempt to do that was what had resulted in the present scenario, not something which I wished to repeat.

I closed my eyes and composed myself, letting her smell my fear was the worst possible thing I could do right now, evidently, she had gained the upper hand right now but I would not let that position remain for long, if the two of us were to play this game, it would be on equal terms, as it remained, I had to wrest control from her.

As my thoughts became clearer, my pain began to fade away and my fear began to dissipate, and was replaced by the more sinister feeling of loathe, and anger. Anger towards the smiling demon in front of me, who still audaciously held the can on my face. I clenched my fists in order to control my surging emotion, uncontrolled anger is useless, lashing out would be pointless here and only give her higher ground, staying calm and channeling my emotions was currently the best course of action.