Participate in a possession live. Not a joke. Only serious inquiries. Must be available in the Portland area between May 12th and May 15th. Email REDACTED for more information.
Below the ad, which I’d found on a slip of paper tucked between the napkin holder and the ketchup at the sandwich shop I ate at sometimes, someone had doodled in pencil. Or maybe it was better than just a doodle—I could see clearly what it was, after all.
A dragonfly.
Three days later I was walking to my car when I heard a woman scream at me from across the parking lot.
“Bastard! You fucking bastard!”
I turned and looked at her bewildered, my eyes going in every direction as I searched for some other explanation than a stranger yelling at me for no reason. But it was early on a Sunday and the lot was empty except for us. Besides, she was walking toward me fast, her eyes red-rimmed and teeth bared…and strange as it was to think it, I knew she wanted to kill me. I could see it like a dark cloud behind her eyes, thunderbolts of ill intent and violence darting this way and that in the black of her mind. I didn’t want to hurt her, so instead I tried to decide if I could make it into the grocery story before she intercepted me or if I was better off just getting back in my car.
Looking her way again made the decision easy—she was running at me now. I slammed my car door shut just a second before she banged against it, her fingers splayed on either side of a face that might usually be friendly and pleasant, but now seemed hard and burning with a kind of hatred I’d never seen before. There were black lines on the palms of her hands, possibly writing, but she was moving too quickly for me to tell for sure. Eyes locking with mine, she curled her hands into fists as she snarled.
“Come out of there you little thief! Come out so I can rip it the fuck out of you!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady! You’re crazy!”
I was already backing out of the parking spot, careful to not turn so fast that I hit her as I got the front of the car out enough to go forward and drive away. She chased me to the street, but when I peeled out of the lot she seemed to give up, standing at the edge of the street flipping me off as I stared in my rearview, heart pounding and hands shaking.
I tried to tell myself it was just because of the strangeness of getting attacked, but that wasn’t all of it. It had also been the last thing she’d screamed after me when I began driving away. I’d been distracted and hadn’t heard the whole thing, but one word had been clear enough.
Dragonfly.
“But you’re telling me you didn’t even take the ad with you, right? Or email the people?”
I rolled my eyes at Debbie, and when I replied, my voice was harsh and loud. “Of course not. I ate my sandwich and left. Why the hell would I want to email some weirdos or get involved in some scam?”
She raised her hands defensively. “Okay, okay. Just asking, Jesus.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. I’m just still freaked out.”
Patting my leg, she nodded. “I get it. But I mean, it’s just a weird coincidence, right? Has to be.”
I shrugged. “I guess, but it didn’t feel like that. You didn’t see her. When I say I think she wanted to kill me, I’m not being melodramatic. She seemed full-on crazy.” Frowning, I forced myself to say the thing I’d been thinking about since that morning when the woman jumped me. “Maybe…and I know this sounds far-fetched…but maybe she’s the one that left the ad at the sandwich place? She could have planted it, waited for someone to read it, and then followed me.”
I could see the skepticism in her eyes, but she thought it over a minute before answering. “I mean, it’s not impossible. I just don’t see why. That’s a lot of trouble to track you for days just to stage some kind of freak out.”
I nodded as I heard Debbie’s phone buzz. “Yeah, you’re right. Of course, if she’s crazy, it doesn’t have to make sense, does it?”
“I…I just love you so much, you know?”
I blinked and looked up at her in confusion. “Um, yeah I know. I love you too. But what…”
She blushed and glanced back down at her phone. “Ah, wait, I…No, it doesn’t have to make sense. And there’s a lot of crazies out there these days.”
I stared at her. What was wrong with her? Was she just more freaked out than she was letting on? Leaning over, I gave her hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry about it. It’s over now and I’m okay.”
She gripped my hand and nodded, visible relief spreading across her face.
“I…I just love you so much, you know?”
That afternoon I went to a movie by myself. I didn’t care what it was. I just didn’t want to be home with Debbie or around anyone. I felt raw and exposed, and the odd way she was acting wasn’t helping. She seemed hurt that I didn’t invite her along, but I reminded her she was supposed to be babysitting her little brother later in the afternoon anyway. This seemed to mollify her somewhat, and I promised to be home and cooking dinner by the time she got back from her mom’s.
Sitting in the cool darkness of the theater was soothing. Far as I could tell, I was the only one even there, and it made me feel safe, hidden, in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Everything just felt off to me, like I was moving through a funhouse where the walls and floors, the ceilings and doors, were all skewed just enough to be disorienting. It was probably just left over trauma from dealing with the crazy woman, but…
“You think you deserve it, you rotten little fuck?”
I jumped in my seat at the harsh whisper on my right. I turned to look for the source, but the screen went dark as I did so, killing my sight even as I heard the rough male voice again somewhere behind my seat.
“We spend our lives preparing for this, earning this, and you think you can just come in and take it from us?”
Heart pounding, I stood up, my legs bumping against the backs of the seats behind me as I started blindly scooting out toward the aisle. I had to get out of here, and I definitely didn’t need to get trapped in one of the r…
“Fuck this. Enough talk. Just get him.”
This voice was farther away and toward the front of the theater—it sounded older and softer, but with a strength and resonance that cut through the black. Fumbling, I felt my next step take me clear of the last seat and I started trying to make my way to the dimly-lit exit sign at the top of the aisle.
“I…just leave me alone. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
There was a rough laugh from right behind me and then arms were wrapping around my waist, tugging me down as I tried to catch myself from falling and push away the hands clasping my stomach and clawing at my chest. Above me, I heard a loud, plasticky squeal as…oh, fuck, is that duct tape?
They were going to take me. Take me somewhere and what? Kill me? Worse? I didn’t know, but I knew if they got me it would all be over. I had to get away, stop them, and I had to do it now.
I felt strength flood through me at these fresh fears, and pushing hard against the carpet of the theater aisle, I managed to roll sideways and then over on top of the person holding onto me from behind. Immediately someone was trying to grab my feet even as a third reached for my shoulders. No, I had to get off the ground now or they’d have me.
Shooting out my feet, shock went up my legs as I slammed into someone. They let out a whooshing grunt and were gone, but now the one at my shoulders was reaching for my arms, trying to pin me down. Twisting away, I reached up into the dark for where I thought their head would be. I found an ear with one hand and hair with the other even as they cursed and tried to move away. But I was faster, digging my fingers into their cheeks and stabbing my thumbs into their eyes.
A bloodcurdling squeal split the black above me, and the hands seeking to trap my arms disappeared. The one behind me was already starting to loosen his grip when I sent an elbow into what I guessed was his ribs and slid free of his grasp. I crawled and then ran toward the exit now, torn between planning to yell for the girl behind the concession counter to call the cops and just running out and getting away. When I reached the lobby, I saw neither was an option.
No one was out there and the doors leading out had been chained.
“There’s no getting away, boy.”
Spinning around, I saw a large man with brown stringy hair stalking toward me, a nasty smile on his face. Behind him, a woman was helping another man with blood streaming down his face out of the theater. When she looked up, I recognized her from the parking lot. I edged toward a lone standing brass post that would be used to hold line-dividing rope during busy nights at the theater. It’s surface was cold but reassuring as I gripped the top of it in one hand. If there was another way out, it was probably through all of them.
The man in front took out what at first I thought was a pistol. “You’re coming with us one way or another.” I saw a blue arc of electricity jump between prongs as he held up the stun gun. “Only question is how much you want it to…”
His words were cut off as I swung the brass rope post at him base-first, slamming into the side of his head. My arms shook with the blow, but it didn’t slow me down. Nothing could slow me down now, least of all them. Taking a step forward with the swing’s momentum, I swung it back the other way, catching the bleeding-eyes man in his right knee and crumpling it. He collapsed with a scream, his face a red mask of pain and anger as he rolled over onto his belly.
The woman had seen that second swing coming and avoided it, pitching herself forward even as I straightened back up to meet her. I staggered back as she slammed into me, hands digging into my neck even as she tried to wrap her legs around me. Ignoring the pain, I struggled to keep my feet as I slid the brass post between us. She tightened her grip, thinking I was going to try and pry her off, but she was wrong. I just wanted something hard and unyielding at her front as I ran us against the metal counter of the concession stand.
The first time I hit it, all the air went out of her. I’d tried to keep the post at her chest, but it slipped and crushed her diaphragm as her back slammed against the counter. Her grip began to loosen immediately, but she still was holding on. Good.
Sliding the post back up to her chest, I braced it as best I could as I rammed her lower back into the counter a second time. I felt more than heard the crack as her lower spine gave way, and when I stepped back, she slid bonelessly to the floor. Looking over, I saw the blinded man was trying to crawl away. No. There were going to be no exceptions. No escape.
Walking over to him, I took my foot and rolled him over like an injured turtle. He held up his hands, fluttering them aimlessly as he began to cry, the tears mixing with the blood to send pink lines down into his ears and hair.
“No…don’t…I’m sorry…I see now…I see…”
I brought the base of the post down onto his face, into his face, until he stopped moving. It was only then, as his arms gave their final twitch, that I noticed something white peeking out from inside his denim jacket. I was coming back to myself now, fear and panic and shock bleeding in past the shell of…what had I just done? How had I…it didn’t matter. I needed to get away. Get away and call the cops. Make sure they knew I was just defending myself and…
But what was that paper?
Bending down, I gingerly picked a spot of the jacket that wasn’t bloody and lifted it up so I could see inside. There was a page of white paper taped inside there with duct tape, and on it, there were lines of words.
You think you deserve it, you rotten little fuck?
We spend our lives preparing for this, earning this, and you think you can just come in and take it from us?
No…don’t…I’m sorry…I see now…I see…
Stumbling back, I tried to breathe as I turned back to the broken dead woman at my feet. I crouched and patted her down for anything like what had been in the other man’s jacket, but there wasn’t anything I could feel. Grimacing, I was about to start going through her pockets when I remembered her hands. Turning over her palms, I found a sea of black smudged ink, but amid the illegible sprawl I could still pick out a few things.
fucking bastard
little…come…rip it out
King Dragonfly
“You’ve changed, Timmy.”
I stared at her. It had been weeks since the night at the theater. I’d had to kill people twice since then, and I’d slowly figured out that most of the interactions I had were…not real. Scripted somehow. It made no sense, and I knew I should have just thought I’d gone crazy, but it never even seriously occurred to me. I was stronger and sharper than ever, and if I had to use that new strength to fight back the constantly creeping tide of fear surrounding me, so be it. It wouldn’t drown me. They wouldn’t get me. No matter who they were and what they meant to me.
I just stared at her, expressionless. “How so?”
She widened her eyes at me. “What do you mean, ‘how so’? You tell me you’ve killed people. That people are constantly after you. But no cops ever come. Nothing is ever in the news about it. You tell me you’re not cleaning up, right?”
Glancing out the window at the darkened street below, I shrugged. “Right. I don’t know what’s happening to them. I guess the others are cleaning up after me to keep their secrets.”
I saw her scowl out of the corner of her eye. “Right, because the whole world is out to get you. You understand that’s paranoid, right? You need mental help. You need…” She reached out and grabbed my arm lightly. “Something isn’t right with you. Your head, your heart…you’re different. It’s not just the crazy stuff you’ve been saying. It’s you. You’re not right anymore.”
When I turned back to look at her, I couldn’t entirely hide the hatred on my face. “Let me see your phone.”
Debbie blinked in surprise. “What? Why?”
I held out my hand. “Just let me see it for a second.”
She pulled her hand back. “Um…no. I…look, I don’t have time for this. Mom’s got chemo again in the morning and I have to go get Jenkins and…Tim, I’m pretty much his mother already, and when she dies, I really will be. I…” Debbie wiped her eye and went on. “I need your help with this. I need you. I love you more than…just let me help you. Talk to me.”
Clenching my jaw, I gave her a cold smile. “Give me your phone and then we’ll talk.”
Debbie stood up, shaking her head even as she pulled her phone out and started looking at it. “No. I’m not going to feed into your sickness.” Her eyes flicked up to me and back down to the screen. “But it’s okay. I found out about someone that I think can help. I didn’t want to go to them if there was another way, but maybe there’s not.” She used her thumb to scroll on the screen. “Maybe they’re the only way to get you back.”
I snorted and looked back out of the window. What a fucking joke this all was. It wasn’t me that was wrong. It was the world.
“I’m going out, Timmy. I’ll be awhile I think. I’m going to carry Jenkins by the park.”
I heard a soft sob when I didn’t answer, and then she was gone.
“How do you feel?”
The room I was in was strangely familiar, though I wasn’t sure why. It was large and paneled with dark woods on each of its eight sides, and the contrast with the light brown marble floor and sky blue vaulted ceiling gave the space the impression of being in a tall silo or down a deep well. Eyes still bleary, I struggled to focus on the man standing above me. He had bright green eyes framed in a gaunt, pale face surrounded by wisps of grey hair. As he knelt down beside me, his long, red overcoat pooled around him, giving off the faint twin smells of smoke and copper. When he extended his hand, I took it.
“I…feel okay I guess. Where am I?”
His eyes roved up to the walls around us. “They call it a temple. But they don’t understand its purpose, so their names are meaningless.” He looked back down to me. “It is more of a birthing chamber, or perhaps a womb.”
I went to say I didn’t understand, but I found that wasn’t entirely true. “They tried to summon something here, didn’t they?”
The man nodded. “They did. Something old and powerful. They sought to gain audience with it. Seek its favor and offer it an anchor in this world.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Did it work?”
A cold, thin smile broke across the harsh landscape of the man’s face. “In a way. They didn’t truly understand what they were doing or what they were asking for. Using words and rituals that had power, but not in the way they thought.” His mouth twisted as though tasting something sour. “They understood nothing. Thought to bring you in as a Witness, never understanding they were just meat to be used. That it was never going to choose them.”
I swallowed. “Because…because it chose me?”
The man’s smile was warmer now. “Oh yes. It was always going to choose you.”
An idea came to me then. “How long have I been here?”
Gripping my hand tighter, he pulled me to my feet. “Part of you has just come back moments ago. Part of you has been here for a full moon cycle.” He chuckled. “I know how that sounds, but it’s true. Not that it matters now that you’re whole again.”
I nodded, mouth dry. “I…I answered that ad, didn’t I?” He nodded absently as he checked his watch. “And now I’m possessed?”
He cut his eyes back to me with a twisting smirk. “Not in the way you mean. During this last month, you were divided…a you out in the world and a you in this…shabby hatchery.” He gestured around at the opulent room. The part of you out there…its strangeness and hostility…is a natural part of things being reordered. Of the old world having to accept something new. Of having to prepare for your arrival.”
I frowned. “But everyone…I kept having people that…they were reading lines. Like they were playing parts or something.”
The man spread his hands out between us. “Oh yes. The Dragonfly is very clever. It subverted the world’s resistance against it. Twisted the greed and ignorance of these pretenders that use this place, moving and shifting them out in the greater world as part of the true, grand ritual to make you and it one. Without their blood and your fear, it would have been a much longer process.”
I heard anger in my voice. “What about Debbie? Are you saying she was part of them too? Because I’m pretty fucking sure she’s been reading lines too.”
He chuckled. “No, her part was special. She had to make the final sacrifice tonight.” His eyes closed and fluttered briefly as though he was savoring a bite of something delicious. “And she did it well.”
“Sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?”
The man shrugged as he turned away. “First the boy. And then an hour later, herself.”
Tears stung my eyes as I followed him. “No. You’re lying. She wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t mixed up in any of this. She was a good person.”
He snorted. “You’re still waking up. You’ll understand soon enough.”
I grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Understand what?”
When he turned, I expected to see anger, but instead there was a species of fear in his eyes. “That this is all how it was always going to be. These ritualists bound themselves. Your friend Debbie? She received a copy of a very special play a few weeks ago. Even I, detached from invisible strings more than most, am playing a part. The role of midwife, ushering in a king from the shadowed sea, its time come round at last.”
My hand trembled as I gripped his arm tighter. “And what about me? Don’t I have a say in any of this? Don’t I have a choice?”
I felt my fingers close on thin air. I was outside now, just down the street from my house. Something landed on my shoulder, and when I looked over, I wasn’t surprised to see it was a large blue dragonfly. Its words were cool as it whispered into my head.
You are the only one that does have a choice. We chose each other long ago and now and in the future. We have always been and will always be, in this world and others, and I am so happy to have you forever and again.
Smiling, I nodded to him. “I…I’m happy too I think. I just…is this wrong? Are we wrong?” I wasn’t sure if I was speaking aloud or not, but I also wasn’t sure it mattered.
I heard laughter like music when it spoke next.
We aren’t wrong. It’s this place. This world. It is weak and rotting and it is so very wrong. You can just see its corruption more clearly now. And as you remember more, you’ll understand what we must do.
“What’s that?”
We will eat this world alive. And in its place, we will give birth to something new. Something strong and enduring and right.
I didn’t need to ask more. It…I was right. I could see more of what lay behind now. What lay ahead.
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