The Boy and the Demon Part 1

Bobby was a good child, he always did his chores and he always did what his momma told him. Bobby liked baseball, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of the greats, he wanted to make his parents proud, he wanted to be something in life. Unfortunatly, Bobby had no freinds, as he lived on an isolated farm and his next door neighbors were at least a mile away. Bobby was fine though, he made his own freinds. The dog, Baxter, was one of these. Bobby and Baxter used to go out into the field and play for hours on end, until they were both exhausted. Baxter loved Bobby and alwasy slept beside his bed at night to keep the boy company. Bobby's parents earned a modest living working their trade. They devoted themselves entirely to the farm and the earning of what they could. They lived off of what they made, and they worked hard all year round as they had 5 children to support. While the children enjoyed doing things together, such as playing hide and seek and tag, Bobby preferred to play with Baxter. Occaisonally Bobby would join in on the fun with the others, but such things were seldom as he never really felt any connection to his siblings and often felt that they were different from him. When winter came around, the family had to work hard to keep things moving. The parents went into town and sold what they could and then came home with the winter supplies. It was during this winter of 1886, the worst in many years, that Bobby lost Baxter. The boy had been playing with his dog on a frozen river when the ice had cracked. The poor animal lost its footing and was unable to get out in time and drowned, Bobby was lucky to escape. The dog's death created a profound change over the boy. He became incredibly depressed and withdrawn. His family tried to console him, but he prefered to lock himself away in his room for hours at a time. Bobby had lost his only true freind, the only one he had shared his childhood dreams with and his thoughts with, now he had no one...or so he thought. It was during one his many trips to the frozen lake where Baxter died that Bobby met Beelzebub. He was looking into the ice when he swore that he could see a pair of dark eyes looking back at him. Every time he went back to the lake he would see these eyes, constantly staring, unblinking. Bobby beleived that he was just seeing things, that somehow his imagination had taken a hold of him. But the sight of these eyes never left him. He would wake up in the night screaming and sweaty. His parents beleived that he was deeply affected by the poor dog's death, and at least they hoped that his nightmares would only be temporary. They werent. Night after night he continued to wake the whole house up with his screaming. Night after night his parents had to console him. One night however, the nightmares stopped. His parents lay awake in bed just waiting for the screaming to start up, and felt a deep releif when all was silent. At last they could sleep peacefully. What they didnt know was that Bobby wasnt even in the house. He had gone to lake. Something had called to him in his dreams, something had brought him back here. Whatever it was, it knew Bobby well, and Bobby was getting to know it. When Bobby and Beelzebub met for the first time, it was a most unusual experience. Bobby stood looking at the hole in the ice (which had never covered up) and watched as Beelzebub crawled out, like a snake coming out of hiding. The little demon was a light blue, with tiny horns protruding from its head. Bobby never once questioned his sanity when he saw little Beelzebub, who was only a few inches tall. Beelzebub introduced himself and told Bobby that he had been living under the ice with Bobby's dog, Baxter. Bobby was amazed to hear this and the demon assured him that Baxter was perfectly alright. Beelzebub asked if Bobby might like to go visit Baxter under the ice, to this question, Bobby showed hesitancy. Despite the small size of the demon and the seemingly innocuous demeanor which it adopted, Bobby could never stop feeling a deep seated sense of dread. The demon's eyes had never lost their sinister look, a look which spoke of malice and abominable lust that the young boy couldnt even begin to fathom. And yet, for all this, the demon seemed so pleasant, so charming, and the thought of seeing Baxter again warmed Bobby's heart and took away his fear. Seeing Bobby's unease, the demon once again reassured him. It was then that Bobby heard a barking come from the hole in the ice, a barking that was unmistakeably Baxter's. This settled it. Bobby reached out and took the demon's little hands, which closed around his in an icy grip. The demon let Bobby down, down, down, into the ice, into the pits of hell. He couldnt breathe down there, he couldnt see, he could only feel the little demon's hands and hear his laugh. He wanted to get out, he wanted to get back to the surface, back to safety. It was in this moment of blind panic that a light finally shone through the darkness and Bobby eyes were opened. When he woke up, it was in his own bed in the early hours of the morning. At first he felt confused but then a flood of relief flowed through him and he realized that it had all been a dream after all. Surely none of it was real, surely the demon now standing on his bed wasnt real either and he would wake up from this second dream he was having. The demon seemed to read his thoughts and slapped him across the face, causing him to yelp. The creature looked at him with those eyes and wouldnt go away. He felt the side of his mouth and saw the blood on his fingers. The demon only smiled at him. Bobby pushed the little beast out of his way and ran downstairs to get his father. He told his father everything that happened in a frenzy of mixed words and hysteria. The father only frowned and looked down at this son of his who had cost him many a nights sleep with his rampant imagination. The boy was turned away, but he didnt want to go back to his room, back where the demon was. How could this happen? What had happened? His thoughts were interrupted by a shrill voice on the stairs, he spun around and there stood the demon. He looked to his father, but the old man hadnt budged, it was as if he hadnt heard the noise in the first place. The demon just stared with eyes that looked almost sad, but still sinister "Bobby, Bobbyyyy....I thouughhttt weee were going to bee freeindssss... You promisseed Bobby." Bobby now realized that he had some kind of connection to this creature. Slowly, but steadily, he began to lighten up. He became taken in by the sad look in the little demon's eyes. Then, for some reason, he apologised the the creature. "Whats that?" his father said, looking up from his paper. Bobby realized that speaking to the creature was tantamount to speaking to himself. "Nothing" he said. The father turned back to his paper, slightly annoyed. Bobby once again took the demon's hands and went back into the room. He asked the demon what had happened to Baxter. The demon merely shook his head "Not nooow Not nooow, coome, I will ssshow you sssomething." The demon took his hands and dropped a small amulet into them. The thing glowed with a kind of unholy taint. "Weaarrr thiisss and Baxter you will seee, But only when you weaaar thisss." Bobby put the amulet around his neck and did as the demon instructed. He closed his eyes and said Baxter's name three times. On the third he opened his eyes and the demon was gone. Outside he heard a barking sound. Where his ears deceiving him? The sound came again, then he heard a voice outside, filled with joy "Bobby! Bobby! Come and see! Baxter! He's come home!" Bobby ran downstairs, almost tripping head over heels. He slammed the door open and was greeted by the matted fur of his dog. He was overwhelmed. He laughed, he cried, he felt a happiness he thought he'd never feel again. Baxter had come back, the demon had brought him back. "Bobby I thought you said Baxter drowned." Said his mother. Bobby only looked at her with confusion. How could he explain to her that a small demon had brought Baxter back from the dead. "Guess I was wrong momma...I only thought he drowned, he musta sruvived somehow." The mother accepted this explanation as enough and went back inside to finsh cooking lunch. While the family members one by one went back inside after they were satisfied that Bobby was happy, Bobby was left with Baxter. He couldnt believe what had happened, before his very eyes he had watched the dog go under the ice. Before his very eyes. And now here was Baxter alive and healthy. After his euphoria died down, Bobby began to realize that something was very wrong. The demon was gone and Baxter was here, but still he was once again consumed by dread. He didnt know what kind of infernal pact he'd made with Beelzebub. He looked down at the amulet and frowned. Had Baxter's death been natural? Hadnt the demon been living under the very ice through which Baxter fell? While these questions gnawed at his mind, they were drowned out by the feeling that he would be seeing that little creature again...very soon. Part 2 will come