Possession
Adam buys an antique box from a shop in town and strange things start happening. Bugs appear in his juice, water turns black in the shower, and he hears whispers. When he seeks help, he meets Archer. She knows a bit about it and agrees to help him get rid of it, but it might be too late.
"Thanks," said Adam, handing the cashier the cash.
"Have a nice day," replied the man behind the counter.
"Uh, yeah. You too." Adam picked up the black box and made his way to the front of the antique store, passing a short red head that smiled and held the door open for him, "Thanks."
"Sure thing Ads," she winked and walked out of the store behind him.
Adam looked after her confused and wondered how she knew his name. Maybe they'd met before. But she knew his nickname, and only his closest friends called him Ads. He shrugged and walked to his car, placing the box in the passenger seat.
When Adam got home, he took out the box and set it on the desk, "Alright, let's take a look inside."
He turned the box this way and that to look for a seem, but found none. He frowned and shook the box gently, allowing some of the contents to rattle. Adam sighed and pushed the box to the edge of the desk, getting up to leave, deciding to open it another day.
He grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and poured himself a glass before sitting down in the living room with a book.
The next morning, Adam woke to find a large moth fluttering above his face, tickling his nose. He swatted at it and it landed on the pillow beside him. Adam frowned, he had barely touched it. He picked it up gently and walked to the back door to lay its fluttering body in a plant pot, "Sorry," he mumbled.
He made his way to the kitchen and grabbed a clean glass from the cupboard. He poured himself another glass or OJ and sat on the couch to watch the news. He took a sip of his drink, and spat it back out immediately.
He looked down into his glass to find a floating moth there. He quickly lept to the sink and poured the juice down the drain.
He opened the fridge again and pulled out the jug of OJ. Before pouring another he peeked into the bottle, "The hell?"
He jumped back and spilled juice all over himself. A moth flew out the small opening of the bottle and fluttered to the kitchen light.
Adam dumped the jug in the sink and headed to the bathroom grumbling. He'd never had a moth problem before.
He climbed into the shower to wash the sticky juice off with nice hot water. He turned on the water and turned to grab his body wash. When he finished scrubbing away the sticky juice, he closed his eyes to submerge his head in the water then scrub his hair clean. When he was done, he rubbed the water from his eyes and blinked.
He turned to shut off the water and jumped back, then quickly reached forward to shut it off. The water was black. He rubbed his eyes again and looked down at himself to make sure he wasn't covered in black.
He climbed out and dried off quickly before grabbing something to change into. He checked the sink in the kitchen but the dead moth was still there. He ran the tap, and the water was again black. He ran his fingers through his hair before finally dialing for someone to check his water.
As he waited for the plumber, he grabbed the milk from the fridge to pour cereal, but just when he was about to pour the milk, the stench of sour milk came from the jug, "You have got to be kidding me."
Adam gave up, dumping the milk in the sink with the orange juice. He was taking out the trash when the plumber showed up. When he was finished, he found Adam in the office trying to open the box again.
"You're sure the water was black?" asked the plumber.
"What? Yeah, it was black. I'm sure," replied Adam jumping up to follow him.
"Well I don't know what to tell you man, your water is fine. Perfectly normal." The plumber shrugged and turned to head out the door, "Look, I'm not even gonna charge you? I've been getting a lot of calls like this today around your place. In fact I've gotta check out the place across the road for the same problem."
"Really? So I'm not crazy?" asked Adam relieved.
The plumber chuckled, "Nah. If you're crazy, then everyone else in this cul-de-sac is crazy too."
Adam laughed back weakly, "Yeah, thanks."
Later that night, Adam was in his office working on papers from work. He was just finishing up when he heard something almost like a whisper in front of him. He looked up quickly and frowned then continued with the papers when he didn't see anything.
After a few moments he heard the whisper again and looked up quickly. He felt a tingle down his spine and stood slowly listening for the whisper.
Adam
Adam froze.
"H-hello?" asked Adam stepping forward.
Adam…..Aaadaam
Adam swallowed, "Who's there? This isn't funny."
Aaaadam
The voice sounded raspy, just barely a whisper, and it was coming from the box on the edge of his desk. Adam took a step closer confused. He lent forward a bit more and reached a hand forward to touch the wood-
ADAM!
Adam jumped back, nearly knocking over his chair. He could feel his heart in his throat as he swallowed. When the box yelled, something popped open at the front. He hesitated shortly before reaching forward quickly to shut the lid. He didn't even bother looking inside. He didn't want to know. Instead he picked up the box and set it outside on top of the trashcan to be taken with the trash in the morning.
Adam gave up on the paper work and head to bed, suddenly very tired.
The sound of the garbage truck taking off woke Adam the next morning. He groaned into the pillow then glanced at the clock. Seeing that it was in fact eight in the morning, he rolled off the bed and began his morning routine of getting ready for work.
When he was pulling out of the drive, he glanced at where the trash can sat empty and smiled. The box was nowhere to be seen. He drove off to work with the thought that he would never see that box again.
He finished work and got back in the car and was about to pull away from the building when he noticed something in his rearview mirror.
If you asked him to describe it, he wouldn't have been able to tell you, other than that she was pure evil. He might have mentioned that she had dark gray skin and no clothes. That her skin had a creepy shine to it and that her face was disfigured in a painful looking way.
Adam turned around quickly and saw, not the creepy lady, but the box in her place. Adam's heart was in his throat again and the hairs on the back of his neck stood. He swallowed and put the car in drive and headed back to the store he bought it from the other day.
When he got there, the short red head from that day was just locking the shop door.
"Wait!" cried Adam taking the box from the back seat.
She glanced at him over her shoulder and dropped her hand from the door, "Oh hey. You're back. Sorry, but we're closed. You'll have to come back tomorrow."
"No, I can't. I need you to take this back, now. I can't deal with it anymore," replied Adam a little hastily.
The girl frowned and glanced at the box, "Excuse me?"
"I don't want it anymore. It yelled at me and turned my water black. Here, take it."
"Whoa, okay, calm down. Did you say it yelled at you and turned your water black?" she asked raising a brow.
Adam sighed and lowered his head, "I know. It sounds crazy, but please? Just take it back."
"I'm sorry Adam, I can't. My boss isn't here to give you a refund," she shrugged starting to walk away.
"Please! Wait, I don't even want my money back. Just, please?" he pleaded.
She stopped and turned around to look him over. After a moment's pause, she sighed and nodded, "Okay, just…don't tell my boss."
She walked back to the shop door and unlocked it. She opened the door and waved him through, "Come on. Put it in the back."
Adam sighed in relief and walked into the shop, "Thank you for this. And I won't say anything, I promise."
She led him to the back and pointed to a shelf, "Set it there, and Ads? Don't worry about it. You're not the first customer to bring this damn box back." She was about to head back to the front of the shop when Adam called out to her.
"Wait, uh…how do you know my name?" he asked a little shyly.
She froze in place and turned quickly, "What?"
"You keep calling me Ads…only my closest friends call me that," he shifted on his feet and turned around to place the box on the shelf.
When he turned back around, he jumped, "Whoa, you scared me," he laughed weakly.
She was right in front of him now with a blank expression on her face. She reached out quickly to grab his arm and pull him toward her.
"Uh…" he looked at her confused. When she pulled him behind her and he became even more confused, "What are you do-"
He'd turned around to see what she was doing and stopped when he saw her running her fingers over the wood of the box, "This is a divot box," she exclaimed almost silently.
"A what?" asked Adam taking a step closer. She was pulling it off the shelf now and setting it on the ground.
She knelt down in front of it with a frown, "A divot box. They…they are meant to keep evil spirits locked away."
Adam frowned and took a step back half chuckling, "I'm sorry, I thought you said evil spirits."
The girl looked up at him suddenly making him jump, "I did." She stood to face him, "Adam I'm not joking. This box is pure evil. You didn't open it did you? Please tell me you didn't open it." At Adam's look of horror she groaned and turned around to look down at the box.
"Why? What happens if it's opened?" he asked warily.
She turned around with her hands on her hips, "Then the evil thing that was in it gets out, duh. When did you open it?"
"I didn't…I mean…well, it kind of opened itself. After it yelled at me."
She narrowed her eyes and dropped her hands from her hips. She walked up to him reaching up to grab his face with both hands and pull him down to her level.
Adam squirmed under her hold and reached up to pull her hands away, "Whoa wait a minute."
She ignored him and looked at his face, "Hold still. Look at me, Adam." She pulled harder, "Look at me."
He did, and felt extremely awkward while doing it too. She stared into his eyes with one hand on either side of his face. "Um…can you please tell me what is going on?" he mumbled.
"Shut up." She continued to look into his eyes, "Shit. It's too late, she's marked you."
Adam froze under her hold and swallowed, "What? Marked me? Too late? Who?"
She bit her lip and looked at him, "I'm sorry Adam. The soul that was trapped in that box has decided to make you hers. But it's not too late if we work now. We can get her out of you, but won't be easy."
Adam was staring at her now with wide eyes. He pulled out of her hold and took a step back, "W-what are you saying? That thing that I saw today…is inside of me?" he asked, voice getting higher.
She frowned deeper, "You saw her?"
Adam ran his hand back through his hair, "Yeah, in my car, just before I came here. Why?"
"That means she's stronger than I thought. We need to get her out of you now. Come on," she picked the box off the floor and grabbed his arm to drag him to the front of the shop and out the door, "Hold this."
She shoved it at him but he took a step back, "No thanks."
"Adam take the damn box, I need to lock the door," she said shoving it back at him. This time he took it, "Thank you."
Adam bit his lip while he waited and looked down at the box. The letters on the side, that he couldn't make out before seemed to jump out at him now.
Fear the demon that doesn't fear God
He cleared his throat and looked away, "So uh…you never told me how you knew my name."
The girl glanced at him before pocketing the keys and gesturing to the car, "Get it, I'll drive."
"Where are we going?"
"Your house. There's no way I'm doing this here with all those fragile antiques. Get in. I'll explain on the way," she said getting in the driver's seat.
Adam had no choice to follow orders and get in the car. With the box sat on his lap, Adam glanced at her.
"I'm not like anyone else you've ever met Adam. As for knowing things like your name and where you live, that's nothing compared to what else I know about you. Now I know that sounds…well creepy. But right now, I'm the only one who can help you so you're just going to have to ignore that and trust me. Can you do that Ads?"
Adam thought about it a moment then nodded, "Sure."
"Great, now buckle up."
When they got back to Adam's, she made him take the box inside and clear a space on the floor for them.
"Why?" he asked curiously.
She tilted her head, "You don't want me to break anything do you?"
"Uh…no?" Adam set the box on the floor and started clearing a space.
He was helping her move the coffee table when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest. He cried out and dropped his end of the table to reach up to hold his chest. His vision blurred in and out as he fell to his knees clutching his chest.
The girl dropped her end of the coffee table and called out to him, but he could barely hear her. When he opened his eyes, she was kneeling in front of him and calling out to him with her hands on either side of his face.
"Adam? Adam look…me, you have to…her back. I'll get…ritual started, but you…to hold her back."
He could barely keep his eyes open and every time he closed his eyes, he saw the creepy gray lady and felt a sharp pain in his chest, but he nodded anyway, "I…I'll try."
The girl disappeared and he saw her pulling back the rug in the living room then kneeling down to draw on his wooden floor.
Adam bit his lip and tried to keep his eyes open, but now he was hearing whispers. He looked up and saw that it was the red headed girl whispering in a language he didn't understand while she drew a large red circle around him with strange symbols inside, "Almost finished."
Adam moaned and caught himself from falling forward with a hand, but his hand slipped on something warm and wet and he almost fell forward anyway. When he gained his balance again, he looked down at his hand which was covered in the warm wet stuff, "Is this blood?" he asked glancing at the girl.
She had a deep gash across her palm and was drawing the symbols with her blood, "Yep."
Adam felt his stomach churn and had to look away.
She finished doodling and stood before him just outside the circle, "Alright Adam, I need you to stay with me. This is where it gets tough." She started chanting in that strange language again, this time staring at him all the while.
He watched her with awe as a bright light began to show through her eyes and the walls began to shake.
He would have liked to keep watching had it not been for the massive pain coming from his chest. He fell onto his back in the circle and felt as his body arched up in pain. He yelled out and his arms scrambled for something to grab ahold of.
The girl began to yell in her strange language and with each word, Adam felt like someone was forcing a fire poker into his chest. He writhed in pain and opened his eyes suddenly when he felt like his back would break.
All of a sudden the pain stopped and Adam felt himself sitting up to glare at the girl, "Stop it!" he yelled at her in the same language.
The girl stopped chanting and swore while Adam felt himself stand across from her. He continued to speak in the foreign tongue without knowing how or why, "You bitch. You think you can get rid of me so easily? You want the boy, you can have him. But for now, I'm going to have my fun with him."
Adam watched as he drug a knife, which he had no clue where it came from, across his wrist. He watched as his blood began to bubble out of his veins and onto the already blood stained floor.
The red head swore again and continued to chant.
Adam's head shot up suddenly and he felt as his lips pulled up in a crooked grin. He pointed at the coffee table beside him and motioned in her direction. He saw the thick wooden table fly toward the girl.
He felt a sudden pang in his chest as he feared she would be hurt, but then another as he watched her wave a hand in front of her and the whole table disappeared.
He heard himself chuckle then fell to his knees again as she continued her chant.
Adam growled a curse toward the girl and threw the knife at her.
The girl made the same motion but Adam knew she would make this move so instead threw another knife right after it.
The knife caught in her arm and she cried out and was knocked back. Adam was chuckling again and decided to take this chance to whirl the TV stand at her.
The girl was too busy trying to pull the knife out of her shoulder to notice it flying toward her. The stand knocked into her, knocking her to the ground roughly.
She lay on her stomach against the wall and groaned. She started to climb to her knees when Adam lifted his hand in her direction.
The girl flew up into the air and was pinned to the wall with an invisible force. She gasped out in pain and struggled against the invisible restraints.
Adam stood once more and smiled at her, "What are you going to do now angel? There's nothing you can do to save your precious little Ads now. He's mine."
Adam thought that he would kill her if he wanted, but he didn't want to. He wanted all this to be over. He was only a school teacher for God's sake. This all felt like a very bad nightmare and he wanted to wake up right now.
The girl surprised him by laughing and whispering just quiet enough that he couldn't hear her, "What?"
She continued whispering and he realized that she had started chanting again. Suddenly he was thrown back to the floor with his own invisible restraints holding him down, "No!" he cried out.
The girl slid down the wall and to the floor when her captor released her to focus on releasing himself. She crawled to the edge of the circle and continued to chant.
The pain suddenly came back two times worse than before and Adam screamed as his body arched up like something was lifting him.
The girl's voice rose with the pain and Adam began convulsing in the circle. She closed her eyes so not to watch and finished the chant.
The pain stopped all of a sudden along with her chant and Adam gasped as if he had been holding his breath. He felt like himself again and could control his own body once more. He sat up and clutched his chest in remembrance of the pain and looked at her sitting outside the circle with her eyes still shut, "Did it work? Is she gone?"
The girl opened her eyes suddenly and looked behind him. Adam felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise when he heard the sound of a raspy breath behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and jumped out of the circle and to the wall behind the girl.
The creepy grey lady was standing in the circle staring at them with her disfigured face. She was breathing deeply and noisily as she stared.
The red head stood and the grey thing made as if to jump at her, but was stopped by some invisible wall. The girl chuckled and pointed at the bloody floor before shaking her head, "Don't think so."
The creature growled and started yelling in her strange language that Adam couldn't understand anymore. Adam kept his back to the wall, "What now?"
The red head glanced over her shoulder and smirked, "Now I take this bitch to the hell she belongs."
Adam frowned, "How?"
The girl rolled her eyes and turned to face him. She placed her hands on her hips and smirked again. The lights in the room began to flicker then they grew brighter and brighter just before going out completely. In the brief second just before the lights went out, Adam could see the silhouette of what looked like large wings behind her.
Adam stared at her in awe and swallowed.
"Like I said earlier, I'm not like anyone else you've ever met before Ads," she said before taking a step toward him and grabbing his face between her hands. She pulled him down to her level once more, only this time Adam welcomed it. Their lips met for a brief moment before she took a step back and turned toward the creature, "Alright you, time to go."
Adam shook himself just in time to grab her arm before she could leave, "Wait, I never got your name."
The angel glanced at him and smiled, "Name's Archer."
She looked back at the angry creature and then they were both gone.
Adam was left with his arm extended out to the air. The lights came back on suddenly revealing the mess he decided to clean up tomorrow. He checked his wound, but it was already healed.
Adam went to bed that night sort of hoping that this had all just been a bad dream and that he would wake up in the morning and go back to his life. Who knows, maybe he'll make a trip to the antique shop just to visit his feathered friend…that is if she was even real. Adam shut his eyes, welcoming the darkness this once.
The next morning Adam woke with a slight headache. It took him a minute to remember what had happened and when he walked into the living room he groaned. It hadn't been a dream at all and he had a huge mess to clean up.
He called in sick to work and spent the day cleaning up his living room. Once he finished, he got in his car and head to town.
When he got to the shop, it was open as usual. He walked in and made his way to the checkout, but frowned when he only saw the man from before, "Um…excuse me? Is uh…Archer here?"
The man looked up from his book and raised a brow. He pointed to the back of the shop, "She's back there. Why, what'd she do?"
Adam smirked, "Oh…nothing. Thanks." He made his way to the back and paused in the doorway when he saw her stacking shelves.
When she turned around she put her hands on her hips, "Oh hey. Your back," she smirked.