My Personal Demon Ch. 04

"Toxic magical poisoning doesn't always have to be fatal. I'll do what I can," Isabella said as I passed out.

I was confused and scared as the darkness rushed in on me and kept on rushing. I could feel myself moving, but my sense of what was up and down wasn't working. I felt like I was being pulled in all directions. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a pinpoint of light appeared. The light was my only point of reference and it swung around me in a dizzying way that suggested I was tumbling.

The light began to grow larger until it dominated most of my vision regardless of where I turned. The white light began getting streaks of color until a whole rainbow stretched past me. I jolted to a stop and realized I was sitting in a waiting room.

I looked around for a clue as to where I was, but it was like any other waiting room I'd ever been in pastel colors and old magazines. The decorative art was a bit strange, but since I wasn't really sure where I was, I just shrugged it off. The digital clock over the receptionist window was the weirdest item in the entire room. It was in military time and read, '24:00'. There was no 24 in military hours, but I figured it was a mistake and it mean midnight. It didn't seem important so I shrugged that off too.

I wasn't sure why I was anywhere at midnight, but the number in my hand said 255, and on the wall near the clock another digital readout said, 'Now serving 254'. I was next and that made me feel good. Better than the DMV, I thought.

Across the room from me, a TV hung on the wall. An old rerun of The Price is Right was on and Bob Barker was hosting. Personally, I always thought he was the best host.

People came in and some must have left, even though the room never got crowded. I watched at least three episodes before I got bored and looked back at the ticket board. It still read, 'Now serving 254,'. Damn, I thought, this was going to take forever. And while the ticket number didn't change, the clock had. The new time read 23:15, which confused me for several reasons.

First, three episodes with commercials accounted for three hours, and yet, either I blacked out for close to twenty-four hours or the clock was going backward. And if it was going backward it should have been more than 45 minutes. I started to get up and go to the window, but I heard the theme song for Night Court. I loved Night Court and turned back to watch. Episode after episode of my favorite old shows played as I happily forgot all about speaking to anyone. I felt someone sit beside me and smiled when I saw it was Isabella who entered.

"Sorry, it's taking so long, but damn they have some amazing shows on."

"Alex? You're in great danger." She looked around for a moment. "Where do you think we are?"

"In a waiting room. Don't worry, I'm next."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Uh..." I tried to think but nothing came to mind. It didn't seem important so I said, "I'm not sure, but it shouldn't be much longer."

"How long have you been here?"

I looked at the clock and it said, '22:45'. "About an hour fifteen. I think I'm at the DMV."

"Time must be moving at a different speed here. You're not in a waiting room, you're dying. You haven't been here for an hour and fifteen minutes, you've been in a coma for three days. It's taken Brenda and me this long to break through the walls you have up. I don't know how much time so you have to listen to me.

According to Brenda, only you can get through this. She says your mind has created this fantasy world for you, but it'll also give you a way out. Look at me," she said as I stared at the TV. "You can't stay in this room or anywhere else, they're traps that'll keep you stuck. You have to keep moving forward, find a way out. Do you understand?"

"Sure, but have you seen what's on," I asked pointing toward the television.

A look of concern crossed her face before it turned to one of resolve. Her fist drove hard into my nose. Pain exploded throughout my face as my nose shattered. The walls of the waiting room changed and decayed until they looked diseased. The people in the room aged by decades as the blood gushed from me.

Disfigured orderlies rushed from the inner offices and grabbed Isabella. I tried to stop them, but they ignored me as they pushed me to the side. Isabella had become more radiant against the background of the grotesque office. She was no match for the monsters that pulled her from the room, but she made them pay for every inch they drug her.

As she disappeared through one of the doors, I heard her scream, "Don't give up, don't stop, watch the clock, it's counting down. Get out before zero!"

The door slammed before she could say more. I ran to but the door was locked. I kicked at it and beat it but it refused to move. I screamed in frustration and gingerly rubbed my nose. I thought if I sat for a moment it would feel better. Even as the thought crossed my mind the walls began to heal themselves and I began to feel better.

A loud thump slammed into the door as Isabella's voice rang through my head one last time. "Dammit, Alex, come home to me!"

Without thinking, I reached up and twisted my nose. The pain returned and so did the decayed walls. I tried all the doors, all locked. I went to the receptionist's desk and knocked on the window. Nothing, it wouldn't move. I was trapped and the urge to sit was getting stronger. Any time the thought crossed my mind I tweaked my nose and refocused.

The clock drew my attention and I noticed it was moving faster than before. Before it took hours for it to move forty-five minutes, but as I watched it seemed to be moving at normal speed. Maybe my knowing I had to leave was speeding the process. In my fear and frustration, I grabbed a chair and threw it at the receptionist's window. It shattered. I was expecting a desk, phones, and other office items, but I saw was none of that. I stepped closer and looked through only to see a deep blackness.

I looked around for something to help me through when the room began to crumble and shrink. I grabbed the sides of the window grimacing as the shards of broken glass cut into my hands. With strength born of desperation, I pulled myself through and dove into the unknown.

The fall was expected, but as it continued, I began to worry about how far above the ground I had been. After what seemed like very long minutes, I slammed into something wet and forgiving. It was a pool. The darkness disappeared allowing me to discover I was at a party, and all the guests were nude. The men and women were breathtakingly beautiful with perfect bodies. As I watched, it became apparent they had no qualms about who they fucked or who fucked them.

As I made my way to the shallow end of the pool I could see a man stop next to a woman. She had grinding against another woman, but at his touch, she dropped to her knees. Without protest, she opened her mouth and began pleasuring the man. When another man stepped behind her and she raised her ass so he could enter her too.

The other woman didn't blink an eye she just turned and found a man of her own. She lied back onto a lounge chair and pulled the man's face into her pussy. Others joined in until they were a writhing mass of body parts. None of them spoke, just pulled and pushed other people into a position before enjoying themselves.

The more I watched, the more I could see that all the men were hard and all the women seemed to be wet. There were no unwilling partners. I felt a hand slide around me and grip my own stiffness. I looked down to discover what I already knew, I was naked and in the same readiness as the others. My skin tingled as the small perfectly pedicured hand lightly stroked me. The eroticism of watching people couple and release over and over as she brought me closer and closer to my own orgasm was almost more than I could take.

With a force of will I didn't know I had, I pushed the hand away and stepped out of the pool. I made it a few feet before another woman stopped in front of me. She was as gorgeous as the one I'd left in the water. The urge to take her was great, but I knew I had to keep moving. I turned away from her to find a man blocking my path. Like the woman, he was gorgeous. He was small-boned and effeminate. He licked his lips and pressed against me. His nose began to nuzzle my neck as his leg rose to wrap around me. A hand grabbed his knee holding him up as he brought his other leg up. Without trying I was hold the feminine man in my arms as he slid up and down. Women from all four directions came to us. Their hands caressed the two of us and my body screamed for release.

I couldn't think anymore, the sensations of their touches were driving me to heights I'd never been before. I'd never had the urge to be with a man before, but at that moment all I wanted to do was to bend him over and drive in and out of him until we both died from exhaustion. His hot lithe body felt like it was merging with mine as the women provided a protective skin around us. I was in a cocoon of sizzling flesh and I wanted to burn.

The look on his face begged me to dominate him and without much effort, I eased him to the floor and spun him around. He moaned and I swallowed hard as I pushed him onto a lounge chair. He was on all fours and looking over his shoulder at me ready to be my sex slave.

A woman's hand gripped me, it was soft and firm at the same time and she aimed me toward his opening. My hands slipped around his tiny waist. I clutched at him feeling powerful as I roughly pulled him to me. As I felt the tip of my cock press against his puckered crevice, I heard a large splash in the pool. I paused long enough to look around.

The clock sat on the diving board, it read, '21:13'. The man tried to push himself onto me as the woman tried to push me forward, but I held firm. I touched my nose but there was no pain. I looked at my hands, they were smooth and uncut. I had no injuries to help me focus, I only had myself. I don't know if it was instinctual or if it was my subconscious but I knew if I entered the man, my journey would end.

He spun quickly at my hesitation and fell to his knees. His mouth opened wide to take me in, I pushed him away before he could devour me. Unlike the last place I'd been in, I immediately knew where I had to go.

In any other time and place, my situation would have been hilarious. Me, running naked for salvation as beautiful men and women threw themselves at my dick. At one point two people crashed into each other as they tried to take my cock into their mouths. I had never been a sports person, never had the body or mental fortitude for such ventures, but at that moment I was sure every football team in America would have signed me.

I moved with grace, but I wasn't gentle. I drove fists, elbows, knees, and even my head into the people as I rushed for the pool. I jumped high into the air as I dove over a group trying to block me from entering the deep end of the pool. A quick breath was all I had time for before hitting the water. I knew if I didn't make it to the window on the first try, the people above me wouldn't give me a second chance.

At the very bottom of the deepest end, I spotted the black opening. The air I had was quickly running out as I fought bodies to reach my goal. Before I could do more than get a grip on the lip of the window someone grabbed my foot. I looked toward them and my friend had returned. His mouth had transformed slightly. It was no longer a beautiful wanting smile, but a sucking vortex ringed with teeth.

His eyes were locked onto my erection and his fingernails were digging into my leg. As he climbed me, I used the heel of my free foot to kick him in the eye. He flinched back and that was all I needed. I gave a great pull and was once again into the blackness. Unlike the falling from the last time, I slid through a tube.

The tube emptied onto a greasy floor and slid for ten feet. As I rolled to a stop in the sticky mess I was glad I was wearing clothes again. I stood up hoping for something to clean myself when I found I was in my apartment. For a moment, I was excited that I'd made it home, but then when another person came out of the bathroom I knew I was still in trouble.

The person who walked past me to sit onto the couch was me, but an older and much fatter version of me. I stared at older Alex and marveled at how much of a slob he'd become. The only free space on the couch was where he was sitting, the rest of the surface area was covered with food in various states of decay.

I was disgusted and started looking for the clock. I found it over the door, it read, '14:30.'

"Jesus, it took me almost seven hours to get away from the beautiful people?"

Time was no longer my friend, I thought as I rushed toward the door.

I stopped when Alex spoke. "Are you leaving? You can stay if you want." I glanced at him but turned away quickly. He noticed my reaction and nodded, "I understand, I never wanted to be like this, but I didn't have anyone to save me. Not like you did." My heart broke as I heard the truth of his words. I watched for a moment as his hand mechanically raised and lowered to the food around him. "I can't help it, no matter how much I eat, I can't get full."

I looked at the clock and it seemed to have slowed again. I knew that was a bad sign, but I couldn't help but have the same conversation I'd had with myself a thousand times before.

"Then change."

"I know, I tell myself that all the time, but how? I'm too old to start over and no one would find this attractive."

"Take classes, exercise, you've got tons of time at night to do whatever you want."

"I know, but you know how it is. When I get home I'm so exhausted, I just want to sit and relax."

"I don't have time for this," I said glancing at the clock again.

"Please don't leave me. I'm so alone."

His words stabbed me deep and I knew if it hadn't been for Isabella, I would've eventually become him. I pushed the food to the ground and sat on the sofa next to him.

"Look, you have to make a choice. Either stay here and die alone or get out there and be something else."

He laughed a humorous laugh. "It's easy for you to say. I mean, look at you. You're slim, in shape, young, and probably have a woman who loves you. Hell, you probably have a dozen. Yeah, if I were you I'd say the same thing. You know what I wish?"

"That you could start over?"

"Nope. I just wish I had a friend. Someone who'd come over, or invite me over, to watch TV. Just one person in all the world who I could call and say, 'Hey, buddy, what's up,' and they'd say, 'Just waiting for you to call.'" He looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Is that too much to ask? One person who'd want to be my friend?"

I shook my head the sorrow beginning to weigh heavy on me. "No, that's not too much to ask, everyone deserves at least one friend."

"I bet you have a bunch. Out every night searching for the next party."

Like him, I gave a mirthless laugh. "I'm just like you. I sit on the couch every night and watch the same old reruns." The food slowly returned to the couch gathering around us. "I get up in the mornings and go to a job I hate so I can afford an apartment barely worth living in."

He nodded and casually handed me the remote. I took it and flipped to an old show I'd seen a hundred times, but it felt like I was coming home. I leaned back and kicked my shoes off not realizing my body was returning to its pre-Isabella form. My button-up shirt unbuttoned itself and my pants changed to my work pants. I looked around to say something to my new companion only to discover I was alone. It was just me with my thoughts like it had always been.

I wasn't hungry, but I began craving something to snack on. I didn't even have to look to know there was a bag of open chips sitting next to me. Like a homing pigeon, my hand grabbed the bag and tipped it up toward my open mouth. As I tilted my head back the clock came into view and Isabella's name floated into my mind. The chips started sliding toward the opening and at the last second, I turned my head letting the fall to the side.

"Shit," I said as the meaning of the clock hit me.

It read, '11:00'. I pushed the food away from me and struggled to get off the couch. The floor was as slippery as it had been when I'd arrived and the couch offered no purchase. I finally was able to roll to the arm and I used it to prop myself up. After a dozen attempts, I got to the door and stepped through into a dark hallway. Alex was waiting for me.

"It's hilarious you think you can leave," my doppelgänger said. "This is your life, this is where you're staying."

"No, I have someone waiting for me. I have a reason to leave."

"You think that little slut out there wants you?"

"Yes."

He laughed again, "You're so stupid. You could've been anyone as far as she was concerned. She just doesn't want to be here. "

"Here?"

"Yeah, smart boy, where do you think you are? You made a deal with a demon and you're dying. Dead people who sell their souls to the devil go to Hell."

"But she needs me."

He laughed uproariously. "Needs you?! Are they still telling that old lie? All she needed was some of your spunk and now that she's got it she put you here."

"No, she said it was--"

"Magical poisoning," he asked laughing again. "Yeah, and I bet she said all demons are just energy floating around unable to interact with you deadies, huh?" My face answered for me and he rewarded me with another cruel laugh. "Well, guess you people will believe anything if you get a little gash in your face, won't you?"

"Shut the fuck up, you're stalling me so I won't leave."

"Bitch-boy, I ain't saying nothing you don't already know is true."

I stormed past him searching for the clock and another exit, but all I could find was the one back to my apartment. After three times to the end of the hall and back, I finally found something. At the opposite end of the hall from my door, there were stacks and stacks of gold sitting in front of a set of mirrors. As I stood and stared, Alex stepped next to me, we were both our hideous selves when he waved a hand. His body changed until he looked the way I had before we met. His shirt was open exposing his chiseled abs and he had two women of the women from the pool hanging off him.

"You don't get it, Jr. Down here, it's either all torture or all honey. Normally, you don't get to choose, but since you've been so much fun, and since you made it this far, I'll make you a deal. All of this," he said gesturing to the gold, the women, and his new look, "can be yours. All you have to do is say yes."

I looked at myself and at him. The previous room came rushing back and for a moment he shimmered to the old fat me before returning to the stud I craved to be. He smiled and winked.

"What happens if I say yes?"

"Then you become one of us."

"A demon?" He nodded. "Would I have to torture people?"

"Uh, yeah, that's most of the fun. Plus you can choose any of the rooms and play. Like the one with all the fucking. We really thought you were going to choose that one. I mean, you stayed there long enough."

The end of the hallway began enlarging until we were standing in a massive treasure room. All kinds of jewels, priceless art, and encrusted weapons were stacked everywhere. All of it was there for the taking and I knew it could all be mine, all I had to do was say yes.

As my eyes drank in more wealth than I could have ever imagined, I caught sight of the clock in one of the mirrors. It was hanging over a small black window. I turned to follow the reflection but while the wall was there, the clock and window were not. I looked back and the clock was again reflecting in the mirror. Not reflecting, I thought, but actually in the mirror. I think if the clock had been on the wall somewhere, my mind would have accepted that and I would have said yes, but inside the mirror made me think, to try to figure out how it was possible.