Chapter 4

Gabriel covered his eyes. The light flooded in regardless. After spending the last few hours in the damp underground, the sunlight had a kind of stinging sensation.

Gabe glanced down at his feet.

Gabe: “Do we really have to walk the whole way?”

Michael: “You’ll be fine.”

Gabe: “What if we get lost?”

Michael: “That’s why I have this map.”

Gabe: “Wait, really? Let me see that thing.”

Gabe rips it from Michael’s hands.

Julie: “Hey!”

Julie pushes Gabriel. He stumbles a few steps.

Julie: “We need to set a few ground rules. Julius may like you, but I don’t trust a damn word that comes out of your mouth. I mean seriously. How did you even find the baby-eating demon?”

Gabe stares down at his tied up hands.

Gabe: “I don’t know. I guess I just got lucky.”

Julie: “Lucky? Are you kidding me?”

Julie looks at Michael. He swallows.

Michael: “Look, we’ve gotta learn how to get along somehow. How do you think demons form in the first place?”

Gabe: “What are you talking about?”

Michael: “Have you been living under a rock your whole life? How do you not know anything?”

Gabe shrugs.

Michael exhales.

Michael: “Look, demons are formed from the sins of people. When people repeatedly commit evil, a demon of the sin that they committed appears somewhere in the world. The more evil the sin, the stronger the demon. For instance, the ‘disobeying your parents’ demon is not going to be as strong as the ‘murder’ demon, et cetera, et cetera.”

Gabe thinks for a moment.

Gabe: “Wait, so is Barth actually worth something then?”

Julie: “Barth?”

Gabe: “My demon.”

Julie: “You gave it a name?”

Gabe: “Well, yeah. It’s kind of weird talking to someone with no name.”

Michael pauses.

Michael: “You talk to your demon?”

Gabe blinks.

Gabe: “Is that weird?”

Michael: “It’s just…”

Julie: “Demons don’t usually talk. They’re more like animals. Instinctive.”

Gabe made a popping sound with his mouth.

Then he realized something.

Gabe: “Julius’s demon talked to me.”

Michael: “Julius is a special case. There’s another way to make demons stronger.”

Gabe: “Yeah? What?”

Michael: “Once a demon forms a contract with a human, the demon enters the human and gives them the urge of that specific demon’s sin. In return, the demon allows the human to call on the demon’s form whenever they please. However, if a human is able to resist the demon’s temptation, then the demon slowly grows stronger.”

Gabe: “That’s kinda sick.”

Julie: “And in Julius’s case, he’s had his demon for so long that it’s stronger than most others even though their sins might be heavier. Which explains why his demon might be able to talk.”

Gabe: “That makes sense I guess.”

Michael’s expression turns grim.

Michael: “Don’t get the wrong idea. Your demon might be stronger than ours, but we’ve had ours for way longer. Either one of us could still kill you in an instant.”

Gabe freezes. He looks between the two.

Gabe: “I get it, okay. Why does everyone here want to kill me?”

Michael’s shoulders relax.

Michael: “Whether we want to or not is entirely dependent on you. Besides, I have to side with Julie on this one. Anyone who deliberately gets the desire to eat babies can’t be right in the head.”

Gabe snorts.

Julie frowns.

Gabe looks down at the map. He places his hand on it.

Gabe: “Looks like Sharpsville is like one pinky to the right.”

Julie grabs the map from him.

Julie: “It’s going to take us at least a day to get there, so we better get moving.”

The three began walking with Michael in the lead.

-

The path was marked by long dirt roads that seemed to go on forever. To the left and right of the trio were plantations of corn, beans, rice, and whatever else people deemed worthy to grow at this time of year. Every once in a while, a horse-and-buggy would pass by. If there happened to be a baby inside, Michael and Julie would grab Gabe and hold him still as he squirmed to get to it.

Because of Gabe, they tried their best to avoid towns, but Gabe could still see them off in the distance. There were houses of all shapes and sizes. There were houses of wood, houses of clay, and even houses made out of what seemed to be giant mushrooms.

Gabe’s eyes widened every time he saw the distant towns.

Michael and Julie just exchanged glances.

Before long, the sun was beginning to set.

Gabe: “My feet hurt.”

Julie: “Stop complaining. All of our feet hurt.”

Gabe: “I’m hungry.”

Julie scoffed.

Julie: “Michael, do something about this.”

Michael shook his head.

Michael: “You know, I hate to say it, but he might be right.”
Michael glances at the map.

Michael: “I’m not sure we’re going to make it today even if we walk for the whole day.”

Julie stops. Gabe notices and stops as well.

Michael: “There’s a place to set up camp ahead.”

Gabe: “Finally!”

Gabe inspects the two of them.

Gabe: “Did anyone bring food? That wasn’t my job, was it?”

Michael: “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”

Gabe looked him up and down.

Gabe: “How? You’re not carrying anything.”

Michael smiles slightly.

Michael: “You’ll see.”

Before long, the group arrived at their destination. A little off the road, there was a small grove complemented with a single tree.

Michael rubs his hands together. A shadow exudes from his body and takes the shape of a bag. He sets it on the ground.

Gabe: “Woah, how’d you do that?”

Michael: “Once you learn to control your demon better, you can have them take basically any shape you want. In this case-”

Michael reaches down into the bag and pulls out an entire camping set. Gabe’s eyes widen.

Gabe: “How did that fit in there?”

Michael: “Space works a little differently with demons. It makes carrying stuff pretty convenient.”

Gabe turns to Julie.

Gabe: “Can you do that too?”

Julie goes red. She turns away.

Michael: “Julie’s better at combat stuff.”

Gabe: “Oh. I guess you can’t.”

Julie: “Shut up! Out of the three of us, you’re the most useless!”

Michael: “Okay, let’s all calm down now. We good? Now help me put up this tent.”

The three begrudgingly used the materials from the bag to set up the tent. Gabe missed the hammer on the stake a few times and hit Julie’s hand. To which she grabbed her own hammer and swung it at him as hard as she could only for Michael to stop her and the last second.

A few moments later, the tent was finished.

Gabe: “Not too bad if I do say so myself.”

Julie: “You didn’t do any of the work. It was all me and Michael.”

Gabe lifted his hands.

Gabe: “Sorry if I can’t do my best work with my hands tied together.”

Michael walked out of the tent.

Michael: “Who’s hungry?”

-

On the inside of the tent, three sleeping bags were laid across the ground. A single lantern was in the middle of everything.

The three ate their cup noodles in silence.

Except of course for Gabe’s loud slurping.

Michael cleared his throat.

Michael: “So Gabe, how did you even end up here, anyways?”

Gabe swallowed.

Gabe: “I think I fell off a bridge.”

Michael: “Oh.”

The silence returned.

Julie: “How did that get you here?”

Gabe thought for a second.

Gabe: “I don’t know.”

Julie frowned.

Julie: “How old are you? 16? 17?”

Gabe stops eating for a second.

Gabe: “You know I never really thought about it.”

Michael: “You mean you don’t know how old you are?”

Gabe: “Nah.”

Gabe went back to eating. Julie and Michael exchanged glances.

Julie: “What was your home life like?”

Gabe bit his lip.

He opened his mouth.

Then he yawned.

Gabe: “Sorry, I’m really tired. I’m going to bed.”

Julie hesitated.

Julie: “Yeah, sure.”

Julie looked at Michael again. He shook his head.

Michael reaches over and puts out the lantern.