We got inside Dr. Jimmy’s bonanza of futurism and took our seats on the limousine-like couches. The scientist was in the cockpit, fidgeting with his holographic screen. I anxiously peered through one of four rectangular windows that were bent in the middle. The conflagration had now totally consumed the tenth floor and was now encroaching on the eleventh. From what I could see, the fire had not yet reached 1107. Hopefully, the firefighters had already come. On a more pressing issue, I scanned around for Jordan and Andy (Ethan was already a lost cause). I could not see her bright pink figure and Andy’s slightly larger silhouette. I then crawled to Dr. Jimmy’s seat.

  “Jimmy!” I shouted.

  “C’est Docteur Jimmy,” the mad scientist snapped irritably.

  “Dr. Jimmy! You have to rescue my friends!”

  “Non!” shouted Dr. Jimmy. “C’est très dangereux!”

  “But they could still be alive!”

  “Tais-toi!!” I slunk back to the sleek black sofa in defeat. He had confirmed the stereotype-mad scientists were stubborn as hell.

  “Guys,” said Sheila in an awkward voice. “I think we’re all screwed right now.”

  I turned back to the window. And saw a terrifying sight: possessed Ethan Kowalcyzk was rapidly crawling towards us like a four-legged spider. Not even the explosion and the resulting fire could stop his hellish-juiced body. Since the helicopter was now several feet off the ledge, I thought he couldn’t reach us. How wrong I was! He leapt off the balcony and flew towards us. By now, I was praying for a slight angle change so that he would fall. He didn't. He latched onto the landing bar. Dr. Jimmy spun the helicopter around in a complete circle. Possessed Ethan was unshakable. Then the real horror began-he ripped open the door and lunged at me. Officer Caleb drew his weapon but it was quickly disassembled. He then grabbed Ethan, intending to throw him out, but was punched in the mouth, knocking out all of his incisors and one wisdom. The demon-possessed nerd then began throttling me with one hand while he prepared to claw out my eyes with the other. His grip was that of iron and instantly, the oxygen seemed to leave like a flood. My vision was getting blurrier and blurrier. I fought with my hands but punching his neck hurt like hell. If intervention did not come quickly enough, it would be the end of me.

  Suddenly, the iron-tight grip vanished. I was free! As my vision returned and my oxygen levels rebounded to normal, I saw what had dislodged Ethan. L’Archange Alie had come to my rescue, grabbing and punching Ethan with its metal fists. But even the indestructible robot was no match for a demon-possessed body-with one swipe of his hand, Ethan had ripped off L’Archange Alie’s head, tossing it into the depths below. Then he made sure that its headless body joined its companion.

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  As this was happening, I could hear Dr. Jimmy screaming “Connard!! NONNNN!!!!” And my time of freedom was swiftly over as my possessed friend returned to murdering me.

  “Quick!” I shouted as my voice quickly disappeared down the drain. “The phone! Pat Cochrane!” I ceased to speak as the blurriness returned.

  “Yes I do!” Sheila turned to me. “What’s his number?”

  “843-212-777!” shouted Officer Caleb as he reached out to pull Possessed Ethan away from me. Sheila quickly dialed those numbers. But before she finished, I blacked out.

  …………

  Pat Cochrane stood there, admiring the grey mothman statue that stood in the “Hall of Horrors.” He had just finished emptying his kidneys in the restroom and just before that, had concluded answering questions from a hipster who was wearing an Ewok t-shirt and had leather suspenders as complements. The Weird World conference was powering through the second day and he felt very happy that he was the most in-demand speaker. He knew the exact reason-he was the only person there with the right answers to a lot of things. His recent bestseller Shadow Dimensions had attracted both the negative and the positive-widespread mockery and derision from the scientific community and effusive praise and attentiveness from the paranormal community. Even though his fellow speakers were pagans, he felt he was more at home with them. The church had long seen him as a menace and were continually trying silent tactics to push him out. He did not mind as his loyalty lay with one maxim- “as for the Lord and not for men.”

  As he touched the soft plush of the faux Mothman, he knew that the real “Mothman” was much more terrifying than this replica. The real one was a towering giant with glowing, blood-red eyes and a smoky body that certainly was not corporeal. As he pondered on the variety of supernatural dangers that the materialistic virus had bestowed upon the world, his phone rang.

  “Hello?” An elementary schoolgirl’s voice spoke from the other end. She was crying.

  “Ethan, he’s choking Calvin! To death!!” Pat leaned closer to the phone. There were indeed muffled gaspings in the background. And the sound of fighting too. Demonic things were going on and he had to step in.

  “Aah command ye inne Name of Jesus Christ to come out of ‘im!”

  …………

  I slowly awoke out of the blackness to see Ethan retract his hands from me. He was violently convulsing. His massive, jagged-lined mouth was open. A black jet of smoke shot out of it. It flew right into the rain where Flash! A bolt of lightning shocked it out of existence. I looked back at my best friend. His teeth had returned to a human normal. His eyes were brown again. His face was Caucasian again. He was crying.

  “W-w-what d-d-d-did I-I-I-I d-d-do?” I hugged him tightly, thankful that God had rescued my best friend from the brink of destruction.

  “You’re safe now brother.” I then looked over at Sheila as gratitude washed over my body. “Thank you Sheila.” This was the first time I said something like that to her.

  “You’re welcome,” was her simple and rather shy response.