The Boy and the Demon Part 2

Three days later Bobby took Baxter into town and visited his favorite shop: Hart's Cheese. Bobby was a huge fan of cheese and Mr. Hart adored the boy so much that he always spoiled him with some free samples of the latest produce. Bobby walked into the store and was determined to enjoy his day, he had Baxter back, nothing else mattered. The demon hadnt appeared for three days and Bobby was beginning to lighten up. While the feelings of unease remained, they were lessening by the hour. Mr. Hart smiled his characteristically large smile when Bobby came in and made his usual inquiries about the boy's family and how things were at home. But as Mr. Hart and Bobby talked, something strange happened. Bobby heard a voice in his head. "Is everything alright son?" asked Mr. Hart with a look of concern on his face "You just looked as though you were troubled by something." Bobby immediatly returned to the situation and explained that he was just overwhelmed at having his dog back, whome he thought he had lost forever. Mr Hart smiled and decided to let the lad have a tour of the cheese samples, as he knew that Bobby was very fond of this. He took him into the back of the store and told him to select whatever he wanted free of charge. "Just come to the front when you have what you need son." he said with a smile. Bobby was enthusiastic. He took Baxter into the back and started to select the various cheeses. While he enjoyed the taste of chedder, he preferred mazorella cheeses to most others, and acquired a large handful of them. It was during this time that the boy heard the voice again. The cold, unforgettable voice of the demon. "Booobbbyyy" He was so startled by this that he dropped all the parcels of cheese and immediatly looked around, only to find that he was alone with Baxter. "Boobbbyyy....It issss time." Bobby was perplexed and afraid. He didnt know what kind of influence the demon had over him but he wanted to get out of the shop as quickly as possible. He moved quickly around the counter and headed for the door, ushering Baxter along. "BOOOBBBYYYY!!!!" He collapsed on the floor, grasping his ears, the sound of the voice pearcing what seemed to be the very fabric of reality. Baxter was barking frantically. The amulet on his chest burned and seethed. Mr. Hart immediatly rushed over to the boy's aid. He held him, comforted him, trying and at the same time not knowing how to help. "Bobby, Bobby are you okay son? Common Bobby answer me please!" Bobby could only clasp his head. "Lisssten Bobbyy Lisssten...Do whaaat I sssaaayyy you mussst." Bobby let go of his head and stared on blankly at Mr. Hart. "I gaave youu Baxxxter Boobyy, Noww youuu giive me Haaaarrtt, giivee him tooo meee, GIIVEEE HIMM TOO MEEE!!!" Bobby moaned and coughed, tears streaming down his face. He wanted to get up and run and yet his legs seemed to have failed him. Mr. Hart was on the verge of panic and Baxter was making an aweful ruckus. "Doo itt Bobbyy, kill hiiim, kiill hiimm, KIIILL HIIIM!!!" Bobby couldnt beleive what he was hearing, he couldnt beleive what was being asked of him. He reached up his hands to cover his ears again but what he found grasped in them was a jagged, razor sharp knife. The weapon had simply appeared out of nowhere and now he held it in his hands. Mr. Hart was on the phone calling someone, speaking quickly and frantically, Bobby couldnt hear what he was saying, all he could hear was the voice of the demon. "Dooo ittt Boobby, Dooo iittt!" He tried to say something, anything but he couldnt. Mr. Hart came off the phone and comforted Bobby, trying to calm him down. "It's alright Bobby, your parents are coming, just try and relax." Did he not see the instrument of butchery Bobby held? Was the knife, like the demon, visible only to Bobby? The voice was so overhwelming, so loud, so horrible, it engulfed the world. Bobby stared helplessly at Mr. Hart's face and saw that face change into a leering grin, hideous and discoloured, the demon's face. It laughed at him and laughed until Bobby couldnt take it anymore, and in an act of desperation, plunged the knife into the demon's horrible face, impaling it right throught the skull. The demon collapsed on the ground and convulsed. The voice finally stopped and the momentary relief Bobby felt instantly turned to terror. Before him lay the body of Mr. Hart, cold and lifeless, and perhaps strangest of all, there wasnt a mark on him. The knife had vanished. The demon had deceived him, and now he had killed a man he had loved almost as a father. Bobby was siezed by panic, his parents would be here shortly and how would he explain this them? He looked down at the infernal amulet. The sight of it filled him with loathing and he ripped it from his neck. He sat down in the corner and sobbed. He cried until he felt that he would die crying. He felt as though life had lost its meaning and all was hopelessly and irretrievably lost. He suddenly noticed that Baxter was gone. He felt surge of panic until he realized that he had taken the amulet off. The demon had told him that only the amulet would allow him to see his beloved dog, but somehow he instinctively felt that this very amulet was the demon's tool for control over him. This feeling however, didnt take precedence over seeing Baxter, so he immediatly replaced the amulet. And suddenly, before his eyes, there was Baxter again as plainly visible as anything else. Bobby wasnt going to stay around to find out what was going to happen. He ran out of the store with Baxter close behind. He ran and ran. He ran until his knees felt as though they would give in under him. He ran until he saw where his feet had taken him. He had run right to the hole in the ice. He glared down at it, tears dry on his face. Hatred filled him, hatred he had never felt. That hatred was short lived though, as he glared into the dark hole and saw the eyes glaring back at him. The sinister glow of the demon's eyes made him feel queezy. He heard a soft laugh echo out of the hole, and with that laugh came the little demon. Baxter merely lay down on the snow and stared at the creature, but wouldnt go near it. "Boobbyy...Myyy Bobbyy" chuckled the spawn of Satan. Bobby tried to work up the courage to speak, his words were marked by fumbling hesitancy "You...You k-killed Mr. Hart." The demon cocked its head slightly and smiled "Noooo...YOU killed Mrrr. Haaart....youuu pieeercced his feeeble heeaddd." The demon laughed again, Bobby was speechless. "Nooww they will cooome forr you Boobbyy, Theyy willl commme and take you awaayyyy." Bobby tried to sound brave "No they wont! No..." But he felt his conviction fading, his strength was leaving him. The demon saw his weakness and took advantage of it "Buttt...It doesssnt have to eendd like thisss...You willl be safffe, youu and Baxxter...underr the iiicee." The demon licked it's lips. Bobby felt weak, he felt unsure. Once again, the demon seemed to working an unnatural charm on him. He felt taken in by the deep eyes. He shook himself out of it. "No! I'm not going under the ice...You killed Mr. Hart...just like...just like you killed Baxter!" The demon put on a perplexed look "Youuu are misstaken..." Bobby saw that the creature was hiding something. He knew in his heart that he was right. He knew in his heart that what he had thought was Baxter wasnt Baxter at all, simply another illusion. The amulet. Bobby grasped it in his hands and ripped it from his neck. Baxter disappeared. The demon stared fixedly at him. Bobby tossed the amulet into the hole in the ice and watched sink into blackness. The demon only smiled. "Sooo be iitt...They willl coome foorrr youu jusst the ssssame, youurr a killerr Bobbbyy." Bobby could only stare at the ice. He had thrown away the amulet, but he hadnt won. The demon's words were affecting him deeply. What if he was wrong, what if the demon hadnt killed Baxter? What if he really was a murderer and an insane one at that? What if his only salvation lay in the hole in the ice, in the demon. "Yesss Bobbbyy, Yessss." The demon purred. Bobby walked closer and closer to the hole and prepared to go inside, when something caught his eyes. A black shape under the ice. He quickly ran towards it despite the rebuke of the demon, he bent down to look at it. The shape looked almost like an animal, almost like a dog...Baxter. It was Baxter's corpse under the ice. Bobby looked back at the demon only to see a hideous smile on its face. It was then that he heard a cracking sound. The ice broke and he went in. He was pulled down into the blackness. In this moment of blind terror he lost sight of the light as it disapeared and the blackness consumed him. He struggled to breathe, struggled to get back to the surface but little hands were pulling him down, little voices were whispering to him "Nowww Bobby, Nowww you shalll seeee, nooww you shalll knowww, noww you shalll screaaammm..screaam liike Baaxxter diidd, scream like the oothherrss diidd, scream Bobbbyy SCREAAAMM!!" Bobby screamed. He screamed and screamed and screamed but no one could hear him. Part 3 coming