Latest / Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories / Unmasking the Mystery of Bumbo: A Chilling Exploration into a Demonic Cartoon's Haunting Presence

Transcript

Unmasking the Mystery of Bumbo: A Chilling Exploration into a Demonic Cartoon's Haunting Presence · Shallow Nights: Scary Bedtime Stories

0:00
After researching where exactly Bumble came from, I wanted to
0:03
track down who brought those tapes to the thrift store.
0:06
I could not just go up and demand surveillance footage,
0:09
obviously, so I used the truth and hummed it up a bit using my
0:13
high school drama experience. I went in completely distraught
0:17
saying my little brother had gotten sick after something on
0:20
the cassette of the tape pricked his finger and I was trying to
0:23
track down who brought it in so we could help him.
0:26
I told the owner that he was just a little boy and he was in
0:29
the hospital deathly ill. Not far off from the truth if
0:32
you think about it. Luckily the owner bought my act
0:36
and brought me back to a store security room.
0:38
Basically it was a closet with a television on a closed circuit
0:42
with the camera outside at the donation bin.
0:44
Here he videotaped every donation made to a store in case
0:47
something stolen showed up and cops wanted help.
0:51
Or at least that is what he told me to justify this.
0:54
The owner was one of those uppity nosy types and while I
0:57
normally could not stand them, this man's lack of respect for
1:00
people's privacy helped me. Therefore, I just kept my mouth
1:04
shut this time, talking with him a bit seemed that he actually
1:08
remembered the Bumbo tapes I bought and had a vague idea of
1:11
where they were dropped off. After about an hour or two of
1:15
watching people dropping their discarded belongings at the
1:18
place's drop off bins, we finally came to the part I
1:21
needed. A tall, gaunt old looking man
1:25
walked up to the bin. He looked haggard and quite
1:27
possibly homeless. His hair was long and obviously
1:31
unwashed, even from the poor resolution on the grainy black
1:34
and white surveillance video. He nervously looked side to side
1:38
like he was being watched, then pulled out three cassette
1:40
looking objects and dropped them into the bin.
1:43
That's him, the owner said. I remember it being odd as hell.
1:47
Most homeless men don't have anything to donate.
1:50
Most people also don't look so paranoid or scared doing so
1:54
either, unless they have something to hide.
1:56
I made myself a mental note in case something came of it.
1:59
He said this was a sort of crooked, perverse smile, as if
2:03
he was proud of himself for this.
2:05
I scratched my head for a second, then pressed him on the
2:08
issue. You were concerned enough to
2:09
remember the guy but didn't worry about selling what he
2:12
dropped off. I guess some anger was showing
2:15
in my words or on my face despite me trying to hide it
2:18
because he looked a bit scared when he responded.
2:20
Look man, I don't judge too much on what is donated or who does
2:23
it. I just make sure whatever it is,
2:25
it is reasonably clean, doesn't smell like piss or crap.
2:29
That's it. If I wanted to get picky I
2:32
wouldn't be able to sell anything.
2:34
I was feeling light headed. Suddenly something seemed to be
2:37
sapping my energy. I leaned back against the wall
2:40
of the little room he kept his equipment in and tried to stop
2:42
the world from spinning around me at a dizzying speed.
2:46
I must have looked pretty pathetic there since his voice
2:49
went from scared to concerned. Look, I am sorry about your kid
2:52
brother, I really am. Tell you what, I will make you a
2:56
copy of the tape and you can try to find the guy.
2:59
I simply nodded since the world was still spinning and that was
3:01
about all I could do without losing my breakfast there in
3:04
that tiny room. This had been happening more and
3:07
more frequently since I started my mission to find out what
3:10
happened to my little brother, along with the visions of that
3:14
damned mouse. It took some time to make the
3:17
copy, but luckily in the time it took, the world finally seemed
3:20
to come to a still in my head. I thanked him once he handed me
3:24
the tape and started to walk into the store, passing through
3:27
an aisle of mirrors and large frames along the way.
3:30
Therein, one of the larger mirrors stood.
3:32
Bumbo. He was staring straight at me,
3:35
his cartoonish eyes faintly glowing red.
3:39
He stood there, arms crossed, looking freakishly intimidating
3:42
for a black and white 50s cartoon character.
3:45
I stopped mid stride, too scared to move.
3:48
He reached out his hand to the glass, then stopped suddenly,
3:51
changing his mind, then looked up towards the ceiling.
3:55
He looked back down at me and LED out a devilishly large grin,
3:59
the same grin Justin showed me before he ripped off my finger.
4:02
Suddenly the fluorescent bulbs above me shattered, raining
4:07
glass shards and dust all over me.
4:09
This snapped me out of my stupor and I walked quickly to the
4:12
exit. The owner tried to stop and ask
4:14
if I was OK. I nodded to him quickly, said I
4:17
was fine, and left the store, pulling glass out of my hair
4:21
along the way. After driving like a man chased
4:24
by the devil, I arrived back home.
4:26
I sat the tape down and decided to take a shower to wash the
4:29
fluorescent bulb dust away and calmed down my nerves a bit.
4:33
While showering. Everything from the past few
4:36
days came rushing back to my mind.
4:38
I ended up sitting down on the floor curling up into a ball
4:41
crying. I cried for what was happening
4:44
to my family, cried for my brother, and cried for me.
4:48
Somehow I had blindly brought this all on my family and that
4:51
guilt was eating at me along with the light headedness and
4:55
Bumbo hauntings. I still kept hearing Justin's
4:57
voice calling at me, asking for help.
5:00
Sometimes he was scared, screaming for me.
5:03
Sometimes I heard him laughing, asking me to find him, like when
5:06
we played hide and seek. But it was always his voice
5:10
there, echoing in my head. I was not sure if it's linked to
5:14
the other two recurring symptoms, or if my conscience
5:17
was trying to make damn sure I knew I screwed up big time by
5:20
torturing me every second it got.
5:23
Believe me though, I knew. After my shower and emotional
5:27
outburst I toweled off and dressed in some ripped blue
5:30
jeans and a plain white T-shirt then got to work.
5:33
I played the video to the point the homeless man walked up to
5:36
the bin. I managed after some trial and
5:39
error to posit at the best possible angle I could to get a
5:42
picture of his face. I then took a picture using my
5:45
phone's camera and uploaded it to my computer.
5:48
It was grainy black and white when was a picture of a bad
5:52
picture, but it still gave me some identifying features to the
5:56
man. I needed to find out who this
5:58
man was. It was my first and maybe my
6:01
last source of info that could save my family.
6:04
Problem was, a picture is all I had to go with.
6:07
It was obvious he had to be homeless based on how dirty and
6:10
haggard he looked, but that was all I could go on besides long
6:13
Gray or blonde hair and that he was gone and wrinkled like a
6:17
very old man. Luckily the town the thrift
6:20
store was located did not have a large population, only 7 or
6:24
8000. I at least had this small bit of
6:27
luck in my favor. First though, I wanted to see if
6:30
I could find any information online, at least get a name or
6:34
something to go on. Maybe an old newspaper article
6:37
or something from when he was younger.
6:39
I uploaded his picture to an image search engine, and since
6:42
it was a low quality picture, I got a lot of hits. 500 plus
6:45
pages to be exact. I started going through the
6:48
result pages, one picture after another.
6:51
It was hours later before I was even a third the way done, and
6:54
already every image seemed to blur together.
6:57
I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes to give them a
6:59
break from the computer's glow, and then stood up.
7:03
I saw a flitter of movement out of the corner of my eye.
7:06
Odd. The only thing there was the
7:08
television. I had left the tape paused.
7:11
There should not have been movement on the screen.
7:13
It was hard to tell at first, but yeah, the screen would flash
7:16
completely white for a second and then go back to the image of
7:19
the homeless man. It was just like the Bumbo tape.
7:23
I shook my head and moved closer to the TV and it was then I saw
7:27
a small black figure on the screen behind the homeless man.
7:31
It kept growing bit by bit and was bobbing up and down a bit in
7:35
some rhythm. After a few moments I could make
7:37
out what the black shape was and my heart seemed to sink into my
7:40
stomach. It was Bumbo.
7:43
He was walking towards the screen, walking in his bizarre
7:46
dance walk he did on his tape. He was whistling along to a song
7:50
only he heard without sound coming from his lips.
7:54
At first I thought my mind was just playing a trick on me.
7:57
He had always appeared on mirrors, not in the television.
8:00
I was completely wrong in that assumption though.
8:03
After a little bit, he walked right up to the frozen image of
8:06
the homeless man. He jumped up and sat on the
8:08
man's shoulders, then leaned back against the man's head and
8:11
crossed his arms. One leg dangled down, swinging
8:15
slightly over his shoulder. He just sat there, watching me.
8:20
I moved a bit to my right and his eyes followed me.
8:23
I moved a bit to the left, and again he followed me.
8:26
I stole a glance to my left, where the chair was that I left
8:29
the remote on. I looked back at Bumbo, who
8:32
looked at me and shook his head, silently telling me not to do
8:35
what I was thinking of doing. Screw it, I decided and rushed
8:39
towards the chair. With a roar that seemed to shake
8:42
the entire house, Bumbo's face emerged from the TV.
8:45
Only was not the friendly animated face from the TV.
8:48
He was grotesquely deformed. His skin was stretched and
8:51
looked like the old leather pulled tight over an object far
8:54
too big for it. There were rips in the leathery
8:56
mask of his face, exposing decaying green flesh with white
9:00
maggots and worms crawling on and through the skin.
9:03
His eyes were bloodshot and yellow with jaundice as he
9:07
roared. The smell of death and decay
9:08
filled the house like a corpse wrapped in sewage waste and left
9:12
to bake in the sun for days. He was missing teeth in his
9:15
cavernous maw, and what teeth he didn't have were yellowed or
9:18
black with decay. They were also cracked and
9:21
broken, like a man who has not brushed his teeth in a decade.
9:25
He looked over to my direction and grew larger by the second.
9:29
He wasted no time lunging at me, aiming to bite my head off into
9:32
its Gangra's maw. I threw myself forward towards
9:35
the chair, but misjudged the distance and crashed right into
9:38
the chair. The remote fell off to the floor
9:41
from the impact and bounced further away from me on the
9:43
carpet. I scrambled to get to my feet as
9:46
Bumbo's arms demerged out from the television, reaching towards
9:49
me. It was in the same state as his
9:52
face, leathery skin holes torn into the skin, and it was oozing
9:56
a green viscous fluid from open rips in the skin along the
10:00
ground. Where his putrescent fluid hit
10:02
my carpet, it plopped down leaving maggots and viscera
10:04
pooled there. I managed to get some of my
10:07
footing back and jumped towards the remote.
10:09
I desperately lashed to grab the remote and did at the same time
10:12
rolled with the movement to come out facing the television.
10:16
Bumbo stopped moving, his arm sliding back to the television.
10:20
And whatever hell you came from. You think finding me will save
10:24
your brother? He spoke, craning his head to
10:27
look at me. His voice was like two different
10:29
people speaking at once. A deep, bone chilling demonic
10:33
voice. The same one I heard Justin
10:35
utter when he wanted me to not touch the VCR before liberating
10:39
my finger from its brethren. And Justin's voice.
10:42
He laughed at my reaction to my brother's voice mixed with his
10:46
demonic one. You don't have to keep suffering
10:48
like this. Your brother, he misses you
10:51
dearly. He calls out for you constantly.
10:55
He wishes you were with him. He does not understand why you
10:58
left him alone. But we can fix that though.
11:02
All you have to do is watch the tape again and you can be with
11:05
all of your family again. One happy family together again.
11:11
As he spoke, I took it here in the back of my mind, Justin
11:14
calling out for me again. Bubba, where are you?
11:18
Come get me Bubba, I am scared. Oh God, it was not just me
11:22
losing my mind from grief. Justin was still alive somewhere
11:26
within whatever hell Bumbo came from, and worse, I put him
11:29
there. Images of him playing, reaching
11:32
up at me to be picked up, him playing, and several other of
11:36
his childish activities all swarmed through my head and the
11:40
room started spinning. I heard his voice calling out to
11:43
me, the deeper demonic voice of Bumbo laughing the entire time.
11:47
In the background, it felt like the world was collapsing in on
11:51
me. Darkness and misery came slowly
11:54
sinking into reality to swallow me.
11:57
I was definitely losing my mind. Somehow.
12:00
He was making me lose what was left of my sanity.
12:03
I could feel it creeping away as the shadows around crept closer.
12:08
Part of me somewhere was calling out to me to listen.
12:10
Like a faint whisper. It cried out for me to hit the
12:13
power button on the remote. It told me that is all I had to
12:16
do and I would be safe from him. All I had to do was just hit the
12:21
button. I brought my hands up to my
12:24
head, trying to hold in the feeling of my brain exploding
12:26
out from all that was happening now.
12:29
The voices, the cries, the shadows, it was all converging
12:33
in and it felt like as it was encroaching in, my brain was
12:37
pushing out. I just wanted to hold it
12:40
together, hold it in place for a bit longer.
12:42
And I must have pushed the button.
12:43
When I clenched my head in pain, the power of the television shut
12:47
off, and almost instantly the image of Bumbo shattered into a
12:51
million shards of glass, falling to the ground like dust from
12:54
that fluorescent bulb in the thrift store.
12:56
With that, the madness that was encroaching in me vanished.
13:00
The world was back again, and I could not hear Justin's voice or
13:03
Bumbo's, just my heart beating inside my head.
13:08
I sat there in silence, in shock.
13:10
Honestly, I could not tell you how much time passed, or even if
13:13
I thought it all in that time. I just remember having a hard
13:17
time thinking, hard time pushing all my thoughts together into
13:20
some sort of comprehensible picture.
13:23
An uncontrollable number of minutes later I rose to my feet,
13:26
grabbed my shoes and put them on.
13:28
I then grabbed my phone, my wallet, my keys, and tossed a
13:32
black hoodie over the T-shirt I was wearing and started to leave
13:35
the house then stop myself. With a shake of my head, I
13:39
walked over to where I put the pistol I bought in my depression
13:42
and slid it in between my pants and my T-shirt.
13:45
It hid well enough under my hoodie.
13:46
Luckily, I also grabbed my pocket knife and shoved it into
13:50
my pocket. All of this I did in a sort of
13:53
thoughtless stupor, not really knowing what I was doing.
13:57
Somehow, in that mindless span of time, my subconscious came to
14:00
the decision before I actually did.
14:03
I was going to find that homeless man now.
14:06
I was going to get answers I needed, and I was going to save
14:09
Justin. That or I was making that mouse
14:12
bastard pay. I was on a mission.
14:18
After everything that has happened, I was out for blood.
14:21
I did not have a lot to go on. A cryptic history of nightmarish
14:24
proportions and a homeless man. That was it.
14:27
I felt like I was flying blind here, but at least I was still
14:30
flying after leaving my house. Bumbo never left me as I drove
14:34
here. He was in the back seat,
14:36
grinning his creepy large grin, sitting in the back seat as if
14:39
it was perfectly normal. He would then be in other
14:42
people's cars, waving at me or mock killing the driver or
14:45
riders. He would not leave me alone.
14:48
He didn't attack me, though I don't know why.
14:51
He had every chance in the world, and based on what I saw
14:53
in my living room, he had the ability to.
14:56
It was an agonizingly long drive to the town where I got the
14:59
tapes, Bumble enjoying his mental torture the entire time.
15:02
By the time I pulled up to the first place I was going to
15:04
check, he was in the back seat laughing at me.
15:07
I could not hear him. Thank God for small miracles,
15:10
but you could tell he was having the time of his life.
15:13
Let him laugh for now. I was coming for him.
15:16
My first destination was the Public Library.
15:19
The town's library was a common gathering place for the town's
15:22
homeless. It was warm in the winter, cool
15:25
in the summer, and had a large gazebo on the property that made
15:28
a dry place to sleep during a storm.
15:30
It had just started to sprinkle the sky a darkening Gray from
15:33
the clouds and the approaching night.
15:36
There was already two people in the gazebo, they had curled up
15:39
next to a large barrel on fire for warmth. 1 was very dirty and
15:43
shaggy looking old man. He had a long white beard and it
15:47
was caked with the dirt and grime from his hard life.
15:50
The other was actually kind of attractive redhead young woman.
15:53
It looked like she hadn't been homeless very long, but she gave
15:56
deference to the old man. So I got the impression, without
15:59
any words needing spoken, he was looking out for her.
16:02
The streets could not be the safest place for a young woman,
16:05
I guessed. Excuse me?
16:07
I walked up to them, hands out in a gesture showing I was
16:10
unarmed. Yeah, what do you need, son?
16:14
The man responded to me, his voice was deep, expressed his
16:17
age with it but had kindness in it.
16:19
It had a weird way of putting me at ease as he spoke a little.
16:23
I am looking for someone, have you seen this man?
16:26
I held out my phone with the picture of the homeless man I
16:28
was searching for opened and on the screen.
16:31
He examined the picture, then spit off into the distance,
16:34
making it off the gazebo into the bushes nearby.
16:36
Yeah, I might. Why are you looking for him?
16:40
He stared at me with an intense glare over the fire barrel.
16:43
The light from the fire in the surrounding shadows gave him a
16:46
sinister appearance. Part of me wanted to just run
16:49
away. I was worried either Bumbo would
16:51
find a way to attack them because of me or was already
16:54
affecting him. I did not know how far his reach
16:57
had gone, but since it was a homeless man that dropped off
16:59
the tapes originally, it was still possible others weren't in
17:02
league with them. Fighting that instinct with
17:05
memories of Justin and the Bumbo that came out of my television,
17:08
I pushed past the fear to go on with the conversation.
17:11
He dropped off some tapes to a thrift store a while ago and I
17:15
was trying to find out where they came from.
17:17
It's really important to my kid brother I find out more about
17:20
them. He is a huge Bumbo fan now.
17:23
I said the last with some obvious regret in my voice.
17:26
Something in the old man softened when I told him that he
17:30
had a knowing look then, as if he knew exactly what I was
17:32
actually meaning. Those tapes, huh?
17:35
Yeah. I told Abe he need to destroy
17:38
those damn things. He was always carting them
17:41
around. He never let us watch them
17:43
though. Even when we were able to borrow
17:46
ATV and VCR at the library, he would always freak out and hide
17:51
them saying it was too dangerous.
17:54
Never did know why he was so scared of us watching them.
17:59
We wouldn't steal from one of our own.
18:02
He said, giving a sad glance to his younger ward.
18:05
Tell you what, son, have a seat. He pounded the wooden bench of
18:09
the gazebo. Let's have a chat.
18:12
Abe will likely be coming by at some point with this coming
18:17
storm. He will be here soon enough.
18:21
Not many other places around for us to go during times like this.
18:25
I took a seat at the bench with him, and after a bit of
18:28
surprisingly comfortable silence, he started again.
18:31
Never did catch your name son. I'm thesis though.
18:36
Everyone around here just calls me Santa.
18:40
He reached out his hand to shake.
18:42
Nice to meet you, Fest. Uh, Santa, my name's Edward.
18:46
We grasped hands and shook a few times and then parted.
18:49
He reached over and placed his hand on the girl's shoulder.
18:52
This is Emmy. She's like my grandkid.
18:56
I knew her parents before I left the civilized world for this
19:00
paradise. He said with her sarcastic tone.
19:04
After her parents died, she didn't have anywhere else to go.
19:08
The streets are not the safest place, but with old Santo
19:12
watching out for her, no one messes with her.
19:15
You'd be surprised, Eddie. We don't have much out here, but
19:18
we have family and that's all we need.
19:23
I nodded in silence, not exactly sure what to say or why he was
19:27
so free with such personal information.
19:29
He was in the reflection of the library's windows.
19:32
Oddly, he looked strangely calm in that window.
19:34
He didn't make the threatening gestures or actions like he did
19:37
on the ride here, and he just stood staring at me, no smile on
19:40
his face, just a cold indifference.
19:43
If I did not know better, I would have said he looked more
19:46
like one of those window cutouts places used for decoration more
19:50
than a demonic mouse spirit that possessed my brother and tried
19:52
to kill me. I did know better though, and I
19:55
was not sure what he was planning, but his calmness
19:58
scared me more than anything else has.
20:00
It still does. I did not know why then and now
20:03
I really wish I didn't know. Emmy sent silent, still staring
20:08
at the fire with a detached look on her face, as if she was not
20:10
here with us. She had to be over 18 since she
20:13
was here on the streets instead of with estate as a minor would
20:17
be. I didn't know how much older
20:19
than 18 she was, but I will not lie, she was seriously cute.
20:23
Even despite the crusted dirty clothes, matted hair and soil
20:27
splotched face, I could tell I felt completely sorry for that
20:30
girl. It was obvious the loss of her
20:32
parents still affected her. I could empathize.
20:36
Her parents haven't been gone long.
20:39
Santa interrupted the silence, looking over at Amy with a
20:42
pained look. It's only been a few months,
20:46
they didn't leave anything for her and the bank didn't much
20:51
care about kicking a barely 18 young lady on the street to fend
20:55
for herself. It's disgusting, is what it is.
21:00
I knew her dad from our old military days.
21:04
Even despite my glamorous lifestyle, I would still always
21:09
have a warm meal and couch at their place when I needed it.
21:14
They offered me a room there, but I would not hear of it.
21:18
I ain't no charity case, so when I found out about their accident
21:25
and found Emmy out on the street with nothing but the clothes on
21:29
her back, I took her in then, making sure she's fed and safe.
21:36
I owe Dad not much. I was honestly surprised.
21:41
Despite having so little, he still gave freely to this girl
21:44
he had no obligation to. It was honestly touching.
21:47
I honestly doubted I knew anyone else that would do this sort of
21:50
thing. I didn't even know if I would
21:52
have for anyone but Justin. The image of him chasing down
21:55
his favorite ball and tossing it back to me came to mind.
21:59
He was so. Important to me and this is what
22:01
he got for me caring about him. I had to make this right.
22:04
Your kid brother watched his tapes, didn't he?
22:08
Santa interrupted the silence again.
22:10
I nodded, unable to speak at that moment.
22:12
I knew someday someone else would suffer because of those
22:16
damn tapes Abe used to tell us about them, about Bumbo, about
22:22
where he came from. Fucking disgusting what they did
22:26
to those kids down there. Hope that Nazi son of bitch rots
22:30
in hell for it. He spat again, more in disgust
22:34
than necessity that time. He always spoke about that mouse
22:37
with fear and paranoia. He never was right in the head,
22:43
at least since I knew him, but he was worse.
22:47
When he mentioned those tapes or that damn mouse, he would often
22:52
hide them or repeatedly pat his bag to make sure they were still
22:55
there. It was like he was scared of
22:59
losing him but was also scared of having him.
23:03
Never could make much sense of it.
23:06
He spit again off into the bushes.
23:08
Told me he saw Bumbo everywhere in the windows.
23:11
They was always watching him, stalking him.
23:15
I thought it was all in his head.
23:17
We all have our demons and skeletons in our closets.
23:21
Until he woke up one day, cuts all around his face and broken
23:26
glass all around him, that is. It was then I started trying to
23:30
convince him to get rid of them. You mean Bumble attacked him
23:34
too? I asked.
23:36
Yep, apparently one night that mouse attacked.
23:40
Didn't kill him but cut his face up.
23:42
Pretty mean. Had hope getting rid of those
23:44
tapes might help. You know there's always stories
23:47
of ghosts and demons haunting objects.
23:49
Thought this was one of those things.
23:52
He couldn't burn him though. He was in complete fear when it
23:55
was brought up. I finally convinced him to throw
23:58
them out at least. He said, holding his hands out
24:01
to the fire for warmth. It was starting to rain harder
24:04
now, and the clack of Thunder rolled off over in the distance.
24:07
The setting was getting darker and darker every minute.
24:10
It was like the darkness was creeping in on us, and only the
24:12
light of this fire kept its inky tendrils from grabbing us and
24:15
swallowing us into that inky abyss.
24:18
I shuddered a bit to myself, fear again settling in.
24:21
I could not see Bumbo anymore. It was too dark to see the
24:24
windows clearly now. I knew he was there, though.
24:28
Somehow I knew. A flash of lightning lit the
24:30
area for a second, and there, where the window was, was a
24:34
figure. It was moving towards us slowly.
24:37
That'll be Abe. About time, Abe.
24:40
He shouted out the last part. There was no response though,
24:43
just the sound of heavy rain and an approaching raspy breathing.
24:46
Abe, you OK, brother? Santa called out again, concern
24:50
rising in his tone. My God, what happened?
24:54
He called out as he stood up and started to move over to him.
24:57
He made it a few steps before the figure came into the light.
25:00
It was the same man I saw in the surveillance video, but
25:03
something was different. He had a distinct look in his
25:06
eyes and they were Milky white. He just stared forward like he
25:09
didn't see us. He was bleeding heavily, his
25:12
face cut up and blood dripped down from his hands.
25:15
The cause of the cuts was there in one of his hands, It was a
25:18
large Shard of broken mirror, easily bigger than your average
25:21
pocket knife, and he just clenched it, apparently ignorant
25:24
of the pain or the blood flowing freely from his hand.
25:27
He cocked his head to the side in a bone chilling familiar way
25:31
before he lunged with the Shard of glass and slit Santa's throat
25:34
in a quick movement. Santa didn't even have time to
25:36
recognize what was happening before he was on the ground
25:39
sputtering blood. Emmy screamed, apparently the
25:42
attack had shook her from her grief caused fugue.
25:44
She started to run towards Santa, but I reached out and
25:47
kept her back, pushing her behind me defensively.
25:50
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pocket knife.
25:53
I should have pulled out my gun, but I didn't know if I could
25:55
save him somehow. This would have been a good test
25:58
to see if I could save Justin and the rest of my family from
26:00
Bumbo's influence. He stared straight at me with
26:03
Milky white eyes. He kept his head cocked to the
26:06
side with an all too familiar grin on his face.
26:09
For what seemed like an eternity, he just stared at.
26:11
Me didn't move. Aside from a spastic twitch in
26:15
an arm or his free hand, or a tick in his face here or there,
26:19
he looked as if he was studying me or taking in the tear from
26:22
the scene and feeding off it. He cocked his head to the other
26:25
side and then spoke. What's the matter, Eddie?
26:28
You didn't think I could hurt you since I didn't through the
26:31
glass. He.
26:32
Chuckled a little. I have always been able to hurt
26:35
you, always been able to get you, and it's just been more fun
26:39
to play with you. Your brother's still waiting for
26:41
you, Ed, waiting for you to come help him.
26:43
He's here with me, crying, scared.
26:46
He smiled wider, the lips of the homeless man splitting at the
26:50
corners from strain. He spoke out again, but with a
26:52
more familiar voice. Bubba, please come, I'm scared.
26:57
Justin's voice. He was speaking in Justin's
27:00
voice, no hint of his or the homeless man's voice, Purely
27:03
Justin's. My innocent little brother's
27:06
voice with his WS instead of Rs. It was unquestionably my little
27:10
brother's voice. It's dark, it's scowy.
27:13
Everything hurts. Baba, please make it stop,
27:16
Please. He cried out louder.
27:18
His fear and pain echoed through his words.
27:21
Tears formed in my eyes. My heart felt like it was
27:23
breaking inside my chest. My God, Justin did not deserve
27:27
this. He didn't deserve anything like
27:29
this. Let him go.
27:31
I screamed out at him, more pain than anger at the moment.
27:34
He's just a child. If you want someone so bad, come
27:37
take me, I'll trade you me for my family.
27:40
He looked genuinely surprised for a moment, then a smile grew
27:43
even wider, growing the stress tears in the homeless man's
27:47
cheeks. He made a tisk tisk sound while
27:51
shaking his head side to side. Ed, don't you know cartoons are
27:55
for kids? Take Abe here, or Abel, as he
27:57
was called before. I've been with him for years,
28:00
decades. Ever since he was a child.
28:03
He has always belonged to me, as Justin does now.
28:07
Your other family members, they're dead.
28:10
I can just make them look alive, act like it for everyone else.
28:14
Can make them my puppets, my toys.
28:17
They were useless to me, so I threw their souls out of their
28:20
bodies and into hell. I am sure they are enjoying
28:22
their damnation down there. What is the best part of all
28:26
this is? It's because you put them there.
28:29
He let out a laugh in his demonic voice.
28:31
It sent chills up my spine and I felt my heartbeat in my head,
28:34
heard it in my ears. I was terrified, something about
28:38
his voice and fear coursing through me.
28:41
It was all I could do to stand there looking at him.
28:43
They are waiting for you to Eddie boy, so let's not keep
28:46
them waiting any longer, huh? His movements were stiff,
28:50
reminding me of a marionette puppet on strings.
28:53
He walked slowly towards me in jittery, spastic movements.
28:56
I walked out to meet him, giving space between Emmy and myself,
29:00
along with a possessed former friend of hers.
29:02
He lashed out with a Shard of glass aimed at my throat.
29:05
I barely had time to get my arm up to protect it, and the glass
29:08
sliced through my left forearm, sprang a bit of blood after it
29:12
in the stream. Emmy screamed and took off away
29:14
from the gazebo into the storm. Good.
29:16
I could not keep watching her anymore.
29:18
With this right now, I didn't honestly know if I was going to
29:21
make it through this. I could not worry about that
29:23
though. He lashed out again and this
29:25
time I was able to jump back before the razor Shard glass
29:28
sliced through me. As soon as I landed on my feet I
29:31
jumped forward, tackling the man to the ground.
29:34
As we landed, he sank the Shard under my shoulder.
29:36
It hurt like all hell, but now I started to get adrenaline
29:39
flowing in me. And with that, and the anger
29:41
that had been festering in me since all this started, I was
29:44
able to push the pain out of my mind.
29:47
He stabbed the Shard into me again, this time a little higher
29:49
on my shoulder. I honestly didn't even feel it
29:52
that time. As he moved his hand again to
29:54
stab down, I reached out and pinned it to the ground.
29:56
I pinned his head down to the ground with my other arm.
29:59
I still had my knife in the hand of the arm I was using to pin
30:02
his neck to the ground, and I was fighting the urge to slit
30:05
his neck and end this. And hopefully Bumbo too.
30:08
Give me my brother back. I yelled and slammed my forehead
30:11
into the man's face, breaking his nose.
30:14
He looked up at me, still grinning, the far too big of
30:16
grin for his face, and blood trailed down from his broken
30:19
nose. He is mine, he is always mine.
30:23
Now. I will need a new shell after
30:25
this one passes and he will do just fine.
30:29
He laughed while we struggled there.
30:31
I slammed my head back down into his face to silence his laugh
30:34
and it just altered the laugh. My head butt had broken a few
30:37
teeth in his mouth since he was still grinning with all his
30:40
brown rotten teeth out to the world.
30:42
It was then I knew I could not see him.
30:44
I could not get Bumble's claws out of this man's mind.
30:47
He was too long gone if he could ignore everything that was
30:50
happening now. He looked up at me with his
30:52
Milky white eyes and smiled one last time before he stuck out
30:56
his tongue and. Bit it off.
30:57
As he did, the Milky white eyes regained their brown color.
31:01
He. Looked panic and pure fear
31:02
radiated from his eyes before he passed away from either blood
31:06
loss or suffocation on his own blood, that look of fear still
31:09
etched on his face. There wasn't anything I could do
31:12
for him, nothing I could have done to save him.
31:15
And that realization hit me like a punch to the gut.
31:18
What about Justin, Was there still time for him?
31:21
I could see Bumbo in that Shard of mirror that now fell to the
31:23
ground. He was laughing at me, at the
31:26
man he killed so carelessly. I stood up, staring at Bumbo the
31:30
entire time in that blood covered Shard, with a scream,
31:33
mourn, frustration and anger at myself than at the demon inside,
31:37
and smashed my foot into it. It shattered beneath my heel,
31:40
and as it did, the windows of the library shattered sprang
31:43
chunks of thick safety glass out into the courtyard of the
31:45
library. A loud demonic roar erupted from
31:48
shattering glass as it flew through the air.
31:51
I covered my face with my hands and ducked down to the ground as
31:54
thick chunks of glass rained down on me.
31:57
After what seemed like forever, the rain of glass stopped and
32:00
the roar stopped. I rose up to my feet, shaking
32:03
off the chunks of glass best I could.
32:06
Somehow I escaped all that with a few small cuts to my arms.
32:10
I was in a bit of shock, looking around confused, but snapped out
32:14
of it quickly as Emmy ran over to me.
32:16
What the hell was that? She asked, speaking out for the
32:19
first time. That, that was Bumbo.
32:22
I responded with a heavy sigh, still brushing glass shards off
32:26
my shirt. He killed Festus, he killed Abe,
32:29
my God, why? Why did all my family have to be
32:32
taken from me? She broke out in tears and sat
32:35
on the ground, pulling her legs to her chest and wrapping her
32:38
legs around them. She sobbed for some time and I
32:41
didn't interrupt her. I honestly didn't know what to
32:44
say to her. She had lost her parents and now
32:46
had lost her second family. This time because of me, because
32:51
of Bumbo. Look, we can't stay here.
32:54
Someone had to hear all that glass shattering, if not the
32:56
roar. They will call the cops if
32:58
someone hasn't already. I can't offer much, but you're
33:01
welcome to sleep on my bed. I'll take the couch, I have warm
33:04
food and you're welcome to shower too, and I know I have
33:07
spare clothes from an ex somewhere.
33:09
She looked up at me and despite the tears and pain on her face,
33:12
her eyes had to determine to look to them.
33:14
Are you going after him? She said, then rubbed her nose
33:17
against her sleeve. Yeah, I have to.
33:19
My brother is still being possessed by him and I still
33:22
have to figure out how to save him and kill that cartoon.
33:25
She nodded then said. I'm going with you.
33:28
I must have still been in some state of shock from the fight
33:30
because all I could say is. What?
33:33
She stood up and stared at me, wiping the tears from her eyes.
33:36
He killed the only family I have left.
33:39
I have nothing left. I have no one.
33:41
I want to make that mouse pay, she said defiantly, stamping her
33:45
foot to the ground to emphasize her point.
33:48
I started to object, but had a feeling no matter what I said, I
33:51
was going to lose this argument. Instead of saying no like I
33:54
wanted to, like I should have, like my mind was screaming out
33:58
in my head, I said OK, but first we get a shower, some food and
34:03
rest. I'm really beat.
34:05
We walked over to my car, glass crunching beneath our shoes as
34:09
we did. I pulled out from the library
34:11
parking lot and drove back to my apartment.
34:14
Surprisingly, the entire trip I did not see Bumbo.
34:17
Not once. I was in an empty hallway.
34:24
Doors dotted the walls with numbers faded and
34:27
unrecognizable. I couldn't see much in front of
34:30
me. It looked like a pulsating
34:32
darkness that only moved back as I stepped forward.
34:35
All around me, Justin's laughter or screams would echo.
34:38
I could tell from where, though it seemed like it was everywhere
34:42
and nowhere all at once. I scrambled about, opening door
34:46
after door. Behind every door was some
34:48
horrible scene. One had a man hanging from a
34:50
noose, crows pecking at his Milky white eyes.
34:53
He would moan slightly in pain but never moved.
34:56
The next had a man in a tattered lab coat tied to a table, and
35:00
little demons the size of children were slowly carving off
35:03
pieces and eating. After a few moments, the wound
35:06
would mend and the demons would cut again.
35:09
Each room progressively got worse.
35:11
It was if I was looking into the private hell of every person
35:14
that died. Scene after scene of torture,
35:17
pain, violence. It was overwhelming.
35:20
Pleas for help or to end it echoed out with Justin's own
35:23
calls. I shook my head and continued.
35:26
I couldn't let these people's misery distract me.
35:29
I made it through countless visions of hell until I opened
35:31
the door and froze. My father was there, not my
35:36
stepdad. My real 1.
35:38
He was in a car sealed tight with the exhaust funneling into
35:41
it. He would beat at the doors and
35:43
windows, eventually breaking on. He attempted to climb out only
35:46
to have the glass grow back around him and force him back
35:49
into the car, bloodied but whole.
35:51
As he fell back into the car, it repeated this cycle countlessly.
35:55
No no, I didn't mean for this. I didn't want this.
35:58
Help someone help is all he said.
36:01
I don't know if he could see me, and I didn't know if I wanted
36:03
him to. The cemented my idea about this
36:06
being hell it was. He had killed himself five years
36:10
ago in a similar fashion to the hell he lived now.
36:13
I shut the door hesitantly and sat back against it once in the
36:16
hall again. What the hell was this?
36:18
I raised my hands to my head, covering my face in my growing
36:21
tears. It was then Justin's cry echoed
36:24
out again in the unnoticed silence before.
36:26
Bubba help. I don't want to be here anymore.
36:29
Putting my sadness aside, I stood to my feet and rushed
36:32
forward. I don't know how I knew, but I
36:34
knew he was ahead. I ran straight into the shadows.
36:36
They seemed to snake out in tendrils wrapping around my arms
36:39
and legs, but I would tear at them and RIP them away to have
36:42
them evaporate into wisps of smoke in the air.
36:45
This struggle continued for what seemed like forever.
36:48
The tendrils seemed to dig and tear into my arms and legs each
36:51
time I felt them cut into me, but couldn't stop.
36:54
I continued forward through the blackness.
36:56
I would heal. I didn't care how tore up I got,
36:59
I was going to get Justin out of this.
37:01
Well, it seemed like hours later I tore through the wall of
37:03
shadows, collapsing for a second in exhaustion.
37:07
I was bloody, hurting, and out of breath.
37:09
My arms were tore up bad, looking like a layer of bleeding
37:13
hamburger meat than the flesh they were before I dove into
37:15
that mess. My legs were about the same with
37:18
the exception of a few scrapes of gene denim, blood caked and
37:22
glued to the wounds. I struggled to stand and failed
37:25
the first couple of times, but another of Justin's screams
37:28
motivated me past the pain I was feeling and got me right up
37:30
again. I took off again, forward down a
37:32
strange corridor. I couldn't tell you too much of
37:35
what it looked like. I didn't have time to examine
37:37
closer. I can't tell you.
37:39
It was a dark Gray, and every so often glowing runs interrupted
37:43
the otherwise dull Gray surroundings.
37:45
I ran and ran and ran. My lungs were on fire, every
37:51
inch of me hurt, and I was losing blood fast.
37:54
I didn't know exactly how much I had lost, but I was starting to
37:57
get slightly light headed and I knew that wasn't good.
38:00
Just when it felt like my lungs were going to collapse if I
38:03
pushed them further, the corridor ended.
38:06
I tried to stop myself sliding on the smooth floor, barely
38:09
managing to grab the wall to slow down my momentum.
38:12
I stopped right at the edge of the hall and a huge pit.
38:15
It was dark, too dark even for the shadows.
38:19
The only light came from the center of the pit where there
38:21
lit by torches, was Justin. He was in a cage of bone.
38:25
He didn't look hurt from what I could tell, he was just curled
38:28
up in a ball crying. I had to go get him.
38:32
I looked around and realized growing from the shadows were
38:34
dull grey stairs. They led right to him.
38:38
Ignoring the crying out in my head that this was a trap, I ran
38:40
down the stairs. I ran faster than I should have,
38:44
honestly, the momentum almost took me a few times but managed
38:48
to stay on my feet somehow. Justin saw me coming and stood
38:51
up, reaching out to me. Bubba.
38:53
Bubba cried out, his face was tear streaked and his eyes were
38:57
bloodshot. As I made it to his platform,
39:00
inky dark tendrils wrapped my arms and lifted me up into the
39:03
air. No, you aren't stopping me.
39:05
I called out to the dark abyss and pulled my arm close enough
39:08
to where I could bite at the tendrils.
39:10
Where I bit just evaporated, but the rest of it remained locked
39:13
and placed. It tasted like ash in my mouth
39:15
and I gagged a bit but continued to bite at the tendrils until
39:18
another came and wrapped around my head, holding it in place and
39:21
choking me slightly. Two more came from nowhere and
39:25
wrapped around my legs. I was stuck in place fast.
39:28
I couldn't pull or move to get any movement from any limb.
39:31
Laughter echoed around me from everywhere.
39:34
I watched as the form of my little brother shifted and
39:37
blurred in shadow to bumbos. He laughed at me and simply
39:40
stepped through the bones of the cage that held Justin.
39:43
He walked towards me slowly, not stopping his laughter until he
39:46
was close enough to me that I could see his patched old
39:49
leathery face. He still had the maggot filled
39:52
holes from when he attacked me through the TV and they had
39:55
seemed to grow wider, or at least looked that way to me.
39:59
I have told you before, Edward is mine.
40:02
You should give up on this stupid suicide mission you were
40:04
on. I have never lost a child and I
40:06
won't now. Your brother is as good as dead,
40:09
you simpleton. Now leave.
40:11
He waved his hand as submissively and turned his back
40:13
to me. I won't, you monster.
40:15
I yelled as I lunged at him, though completely futile.
40:18
I'm going to get Justin out of your demonic fingers and you are
40:21
going back to hell where you belong.
40:23
He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at me.
40:25
His eyes weren't the cartoonish style they were a second ago,
40:28
they were black with red pupils and they glowed a Crimson light
40:32
from them. And no, Edward, you won't.
40:35
His voice had gone deeper and behind it was a menacing anger
40:38
that sent chills down my spine. You are just a foolish human
40:41
that fell into my trap like the rest and ignorantly consigned
40:44
his brother to be my newest shell.
40:47
Your brother is as good as dead and he will stay here.
40:51
He pointed back to the cage where the shadows moved and
40:54
swirled to show my little brother sleeping on the cage
40:56
floor. You will die and I will continue
40:59
to use him until his body is broken and useless and then I'll
41:02
find another. The tendril wrapped around my
41:05
throat harder, I couldn't breathe in its vice like cold
41:08
grip. Bumbo turned to face me and
41:11
closed his hands as if clapping for a second.
41:13
The tendrils gripped tighter on to me.
41:16
I could feel my arms snapping like twigs and pain rushed over
41:18
me. I screamed out and he laughed.
41:21
He separated his hands and the tendrils pulled at me slowly.
41:24
I could feel my arms and legs dislocated from their joints, it
41:28
was agonizing. I screamed out in pain, but
41:30
despite the screams I continued to hear Bumble's laughter.
41:33
I felt my arms and legs RIP away from me and I hung there choking
41:36
in the tendrils grasp. It clenched around my neck and I
41:39
felt a pop and everything went black.
41:41
I woke up in a cold sweat screaming.
41:43
I looked around and realized I was in my room.
41:46
My sheets were soaked in sweat as well as my entire body.
41:49
I looked like I had just gotten out of the shower or something.
41:52
It was freezing cold in my room, so cold I could see my breath.
41:56
I checked my arms and legs and they were fine, no cuts still
41:59
attached, only the finger Justin had ripped away missing.
42:02
I looked up from my hands to see Bumbo in the mirror.
42:05
He was back in his full cartoon form, laughing at me in a
42:08
silent, mocking way. I reached over to my night stand
42:12
and grabbed the first thing I could find, a book I was
42:14
reading, trying to find information on demons in voodoo.
42:17
I threw it at the mirror and it shattered.
42:19
Bumbo faded into countless silver pieces and I just sat
42:22
there, shivering and terrified. Emmy rushed in from the living
42:27
room, having slept on the couch. She was dressed in one of my
42:30
T-shirts, which barely covered past the top of her legs.
42:33
I couldn't enjoy the view, though.
42:35
I continued to try to catch my breath and slow my quickly
42:38
beating heart. What the hell happened?
42:40
She asked, and concerned and scared.
42:42
I shook my head at her and tried to gather my thoughts.
42:45
When I had managed to grasp onto a few of my mental facilities, I
42:48
uttered the word Bumbo. She sighed deeply, sat back
42:52
against the wall and slid to the floor.
42:54
What the hell are we going to do Ed?
42:55
I shrugged and stood up. Honestly I don't know.
42:59
I looked over to my alarm clock it was 4.
43:01
AMI think though my first step is going to ask at some
43:05
churches, synagogues, and every other place I can think of see
43:08
how I can get that mouse out of my brother and send them back to
43:11
hell. I grabbed some clean jeans,
43:14
hoodie and boxers for my dresser and started to head out the door
43:16
to the bathroom. Emmy stopped me by standing in
43:19
the way. She leaned in and kissed me on
43:21
the lips. After it was over I pulled back
43:23
and look at her. What was that for?
43:25
She smiled slightly and said. Because I wanted to and because
43:29
I'm coming with you into the shower.
43:31
Oh. Is all I managed to stammer out
43:33
in response. The 4th one, seriously the 4th
43:39
pastor I've spoke to about this. The first three just looked at
43:42
me like I was crazy, telling me I had to be imagining things and
43:46
to get help from a counsellor. One offered to baptize me,
43:49
saying it would help drive the demons away from my mind.
43:52
To be honest, I thought about that one.
43:54
Maybe Bumbo is in my head, not in Justin.
43:58
No, it wouldn't make sense then given all that's happened.
44:00
Sadly, this situation is all too real and all too serious.
44:04
That brings me to right now. I am sitting in the office of a
44:07
Baptist pastor. I asked him about demonic
44:09
possession and he is going on in a similar sermon that the other
44:12
three have gone into. There's no such thing of it
44:15
anymore. That this has to be some sort of
44:17
phase with Justin or that I'm reading far too into it.
44:20
That things always look bad if I let my imagination run.
44:23
It is honestly all I can do not to roll my eyes and walk out.
44:26
An hour later I'm thanking him for his time and walking out.
44:29
Man 4 down, 8 to go. Not sure why I have 12 churches
44:33
in this town, but I guess I wouldn't get it, not being a
44:36
religious person. Maybe given I have come face to
44:39
face with a demon a handful of times lately, I should convert.
44:43
Yeah, but not on my list of priorities right now.
44:46
If some higher power wants to help me through this and help me
44:49
save my little brother, I will gladly convert.
44:51
Walking out of the church, I see Emmy leaning against a street
44:54
light, dressed in the jeans and a hoodie I bought for her before
44:57
we started this waste of time. She had just finished smoking a
45:00
cigarette and flicked it to the ground, stepping on it to snuff
45:03
the embers out. Any luck Ed?
45:05
She calls out, seeing me. No, another hour long sermon on
45:09
how our minds can play tricks on us and advice to seek a mental
45:12
health professional. I replied, pulling my keys out
45:14
of my pocket. She walked over and kissed me on
45:16
the cheek before climbing into the car door I held open for
45:19
her. I walked over to the driver's
45:21
side and opened the door, then entered the car myself.
45:24
Inside I took a second to lay my head back against the headrests
45:28
and take a deep breath. What did I get myself into?
45:32
I asked aloud, not really expecting an answer, more just
45:36
voicing A rhetorical question. You didn't do anything.
45:39
Look, I've been biting my tongue on this since you offered me a
45:41
place to stay and more, but I can't anymore.
45:45
You've been blaming yourself for all of this, but you can't.
45:48
You didn't know this would happen.
45:49
You didn't even know that Bumble existed.
45:51
The only people to blame are the people who created those tapes
45:54
and those prick scientists. Like experiment on kids until
45:57
they got it right. Seriously, stop blaming
45:59
yourself, Ed, the world doesn't belong on your shoulders any
46:03
more than it belongs in anyone else's.
46:05
I sighed. She was right, I knew she was
46:08
right, I understood that, but I couldn't accept it.
46:11
Regardless of how many times I told myself I didn't know that I
46:14
couldn't know. I think of Justin and how things
46:17
were before and that guilt kicks in again.
46:19
I know you are completely right. MI gave my best fake smile I
46:23
could muster and started the car.
46:25
Let's go grab some lunch before we visit the next place.
46:28
What? Sounds good?
46:29
She raised her eyebrow for a second, then shrugged.
46:31
We can eat wherever. I have spent months eating out
46:34
of the dumpster and living off of people's scraps.
46:36
Compared to that, McDonald's feels like a feast.
46:39
I internally cringed, hating what she had been put through.
46:42
No person deserves to go through what she has.
46:43
And because of my intervention, she lost the only other people
46:47
she called family that she had left.
46:49
I was starting to feel like I was the cursed 1 and I was the
46:52
one that caused misfortune to anyone unlucky enough to cross
46:55
my path. You have that look again, Ed.
46:58
She reached over and flicked my forehead.
47:00
Knock it off and let's go, OK? I nodded my head and put the car
47:03
into drive. After eating, we made our way to
47:06
two more of the churches in town.
47:08
More of the same responses that are all we got.
47:11
Apparently, despite talking about them every Sunday, not a
47:14
single pastor I met would admit demons existed or knew how to
47:17
get rid of 1. We had called it quits for the
47:20
day and decided to burn off some steam at the gym.
47:23
We went our separate ways there for a while and wanting to go
47:26
onto the treadmill and I made my way to the punching bags they
47:29
had in a room reserved for boxing.
47:31
My first bit of luck today. The room was empty.
47:34
I strapped on my gloves and walked up to the bag.
47:37
I struck out with my left fist first.
47:39
It was still tender, having had a finger ripped out of it, but
47:42
in a way it felt good. Sort of like wiggling a bad
47:45
tooth. It hurts in a good way.
47:47
As I rhythmically hit the bag, my mind went blank for a while.
47:50
Cross, jab, hook, jab, cross. The repetition felt good in a
47:54
way. I had control here.
47:56
My muscles warmed up quickly and I started to strike faster than
47:59
harder. Before I realized it, I was in a
48:01
sort of a trance. All I knew was punching the bag
48:04
and that was all that mattered right now.
48:06
I don't know how long I was there, punching and practicing
48:09
my movements, dodging imaginary strikes, then countering with my
48:13
own strikes, Hit after hit, dodge after dodge.
48:16
I lost myself in the movements, in the piece of the routine.
48:20
Then out of nowhere, Bumbo's face emerged out of the bag.
48:23
I jumped back startled, and he stretched further out from it.
48:26
His face was the color of the bag, like he was using it to
48:29
make his form hollow again. Edward.
48:31
He said in his deep malice soaked voice.
48:34
What are you doing here? I responded with raising my
48:38
fists up to defend myself. He laughed with a sound that
48:41
seemed to echo off the walls of the room I was in, creating a
48:44
chorus of deep, horrific laughter.
48:46
You think you could stand against me in combat?
48:49
Have you seen every time that you try that you cannot win?
48:52
Did your death in my realm not teach you?
48:54
I raised my eyebrow a bit at that last line.
48:57
Oh. He tilted his head slightly.
49:00
You think that was just a dream? The depths of human ignorance
49:03
never seems to end. No, you died.
49:05
At least part of you did. I can't keep a human soul in my
49:08
realm if I don't possess them or control them, So you were able
49:11
to escape my realm with most of your soul intact.
49:13
It was enough for you to keep going on, though you probably
49:16
lost a few years on your life from that.
49:18
Not that it really matters, given what you have gotten
49:20
yourself into. Old age is hardly your concern
49:22
now, is it? He chuckled a bit at this, a
49:25
deep, guttural, unholy sound. This aside, make no mistake
49:29
Edward, you have died before, and you have somehow got another
49:32
chance. I don't know why, but it won't
49:35
happen again. The next time I kill you, I'll
49:38
be feasting on your soul forever, like how your brother
49:41
is now. He smiled A wolfish smile again.
49:44
The normal flat cartoonish teeth he had now had sharp points,
49:48
reminding me he was a demon through and through.
49:51
Before I realized what I was doing, I struck out and caught
49:53
him under his chin with an uppercut.
49:55
He roared in pain so loud I thought the room was shaking.
49:58
An arm extended from the bag to rub his chin where I struck.
50:01
That actually hurt. That's it, I'm done playing
50:05
around with you. He reached out that extended
50:07
hand to grab me, but I rolled out of the way, then used the
50:09
momentum to get back to my feet and I was running towards the
50:12
door. Within a second of rolling he
50:14
lashed his hand out of me, but I jumped forward, hitting the push
50:17
bar for the door and air and through the door all in one
50:19
movement. Emmy must have heard the
50:21
commotion and the moment I burst through the door she started to
50:24
push it closed. Bumble was pushing against the
50:26
door and she was struggling to close it.
50:29
After landing and getting to my feet, I ran over and slammed my
50:32
shoulder into the door. We finally overpowered him and
50:35
got the door shut. He roared in frustration, the
50:37
walls of the entire building shaking violently.
50:40
Then it stopped as suddenly as it started.
50:43
I cracked the door open and looked to see he was gone.
50:46
Just the punching bag had remained swaying slightly on the
50:50
chain it hung from on the ceiling.
50:52
I shut the door again, put my back against it and slid down to
50:55
sit on the floor. I furiously tore off the boxing
50:58
gloves and threw them across the room in a roar of frustration.
51:02
What the hell do you want? Haven't you taken enough from
51:04
me? I roared the last part out like
51:06
I was calling it out to him wherever he was.
51:09
Emmy sat down next to me and grabbed my hand in hers.
51:12
Ed, think about it. He doesn't leave you alone, he
51:15
doesn't stop trying to kill you. Why would he do that?
51:17
Why waste the effort? I sank my head down in
51:20
surrender. I honestly don't know em.
51:23
I have nothing more he can take from me.
51:25
I am nothing. She squeezed my hand hard enough
51:28
for me to wince. How can someone that has
51:30
survived so many encounters with a supposed demon from hell be so
51:33
absolutely clueless? I looked up at her, clearly
51:36
confused. He is scared of you, you big
51:38
idiot. I was in shock hearing that.
51:40
You have to be kidding me, Em. He is scared of me.
51:43
She nodded almost sagely. Think about it.
51:47
You haven't given up trying to find a way to get Justin from
51:49
him. You have haunted down his past.
51:52
You haunted down Abe. You have gone to pastors,
51:54
libraries, everywhere to find out how to stop him.
51:57
I bet no one has done that before.
51:59
He doesn't know what to do. Something tells me he knows he
52:02
is vulnerable and he doesn't want you to know.
52:04
It's like the insecure bully in school.
52:07
Dang, she was right. She was completely right.
52:10
It made sense. For the first time, I always
52:12
struggled with why he was torturing me, following me,
52:15
trying to kill me. It was because he knew I could
52:17
take him down somehow. I was either on the right path
52:21
or already possessed the ability to get him.
52:24
While thinking those thoughts, something hit me like a
52:26
freightliner. I was able to hurt him in there.
52:29
When he showed himself, I instinctively hit him and it
52:32
worked. He even said it hurt.
52:34
Her eyes went big for a second, then she smiled.
52:36
That's it, Ed, for whatever reason, you are what he is
52:39
afraid of. Every book an old religious tale
52:42
tells us demons are some immortal creatures only
52:45
vulnerable to angels and God, that they are the opposite end
52:48
of the coin for those divine things.
52:50
She took a second to let that sink in, then continued.
52:53
But you can hurt him. You have been able to follow
52:56
him, to learn about him, to hunt him.
52:58
He is in prey, but neither are you at this point.
53:01
You haven't given up, despite the crap that you have been
53:03
through because of him. You're his predator the same as
53:07
he is yours. You 2 are like 2 tigers circling
53:10
each other, both waiting for one of you to strike.
53:13
We need to make sure you strike and you win.
53:15
She made perfect sense. I honestly couldn't believe I
53:18
didn't see this sooner. I had more of an idea what to do
53:21
now. I stood up and kissed Emmy
53:23
deeply. When we were done I pulled away
53:26
from her a bit and told her. You are a certifiable genius.
53:29
She shook her head and smiled beneath the curls of red hair
53:32
that had covered her face as she blushed.
53:35
No Edward, you are just slow. Anyone could have seen this for
53:38
such a kind person. You got some serious
53:40
deficiencies in the brain department.
53:42
I can't believe I fell for an idiot.
53:45
She stomped herself and covered her face in her hands.
53:47
At that I kind of stood shocked for a second and scratched my
53:50
head. Well, let's leave that for when
53:52
this is all over, huh? We have a few more pastors to
53:55
see tomorrow and with luck a cartoon to kill.
53:58
Let's get home, I could use a shower and some rest.
54:01
She reached out and grabbed my hand.
54:02
You can have the shower, but tonight you aren't going to get
54:05
a lot of rest. She winked at me and we both
54:08
left the gym hand in hand.