Chapter 1

'Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you'….. I can hear my mother and sister singing downstairs to coax me out of my room, but I'm just not in the mood. I sink further into my bean bag chair and hide behind my bookshelf. I absent-mindedly play with my rosary beads which hang from my shelf while I think, maybe if I hide out long enough they'll forget. But of course they won't. Today is my eighteenth birthday. You know, the day when all of your friends throw you a huge party to celebrate being an adult. Well, an adult who is still stuck in high school and can't even drink, but an adult nevertheless. I don't even really have friends to throw me any big parties. Sure, I hang around the popular kids at school and they laugh at my jokes, but those kids aren't my friends. I plan out my every move strategically so that I can just barely survive high school and blend in with the popular crowd, even though I don't have the makings of a cool kid. At the end of the day I just scrape by: I come home unscathed, but the only people at my eighteenth birthday party are my family members.

My name is Benjamin and, well, I don't really know what kind of person I am. It's kind of funny, how people introduce themselves and say random shit about their lives and personalities so you can get to know them. You know, "Hi! My name is Megan and I love dogs, my favorite color is purple, and I love anything that shows off my ass." Something along those lines. I can't really say a lot about who I am. I can only tell you what I try to be. I try to be a kid who gets through high school with as little battle wounds as possible. Especially when I'm an overweight brown boy living in the land of skinny ass white people. Don't get me wrong, I love California, but Jesus Christ I'm like that one mysterious, confusing brown egg that accidentally got placed in a carton ivory eggs. Anyways, I'm fat, brown, and I use what little I have to get by in the social world. Thankfully, I have a kickass sense of humor and wealthy parents who get me obnoxious designer clothes and rich kid accessories. Wearing that shit is like an insta-bully-shield, I swear by it. Normally the white, skinny kids would tear my brown ass a new one if they saw me shuffling along in the hallways, but when they see me step out of my midnight black Lexus they just don't fuck with me. Basically, my money and sense of humor help camouflage me so I fit in with the populars. They let me hang around them because I occasionally make a good joke and they can poke fun at me, so why not? I really am fine with them making fun of me. I'm used to it. I have thick skin and I'm the only fat kid at my school that doesn't get the shit kicked out of them, so joke away. The only real problem is that I use the jokes and clothes to fit in, but underneath I don't know anything about myself. I spend all of my time and energy on being "likeable Benjamin". "Funny Benjamin". Nothing else.

As I listen to my family sing happy birthday loudly and off pitch, I look around my room. It's really not much to look at; very little personality. Plain beige walls and few wall decorations look back at me as I scan the place where I spend the majority of my time. Shouldn't my room reflect me? The only personality I see is my bookshelf. Not that I get to read very many books, but I have pictures and various things that I have collected over the years. A shell I picked up from the beach with my sister, a picture of my sister and me at Disney World with Peter Pan, a model plane that I made with dad, and the list goes on. I never really thought about it, but I don't have any pictures of friends on my bookshelf. Now it's really hitting me hard that I'm eighteen years old and I don't really have any friends who actually care about me. If I died, who would miss me aside from my family? I guess family is all I have, and I'm content because my family is a good one.

My mom, my dad, and my little sister are the only people who told me happy birthday today and meant it. My family may have their problems, but they are sincere and loving when they need to be, and that's what counts right? My mom is probably the most caring out of the bunch. Even though she spends all of her time working at the hospital, she always comes home with a smile on her face. That really says a lot about my mom. Hell, she doesn't even need to have a job at all with my dad's income, but she really loves helping people and making a difference in the world. My dad, on the other hand, never seems to be here. He's a producer for this big record label and has to travel all the time on short notice. I wouldn't really mind if he made the most of the time he has with us, but he doesn't. Don't get me wrong, he definitely loves my sister and I, but I just feel like he tries to buy our love instead of actually being a dad. He's gone so much that he can't help but miss out on the important milestones. Like the time he missed my 16th birthday. He didn't even bother to call; he just sent a 9,000 dollar Rolex watch. Even though I would've liked him to be there and the watch is just dad compensating, I know he has good intentions. He never married for a trophy wife. He's the only rich white man that I know who settled down with a Hispanic ER nurse. Well, he is gone a lot of the time and has probably shacked up with a girl or two on one of his many business trips, but no family is perfect. I know that in the end he loves us, he just expresses his love with late birthday cards and expensive Rolex watches.

I hear a gentle knock on my door. "Benjamin, come down stairs. I know you're bummed that none of your friends came, but mom and I got you a really nice cake. Just forget about those losers and come celebrate with us!" I open my door to see my little sister. I look into her brown eyes and my expression immediately softens. She beams and takes my hand. "That's the spirit!" Madelyn is an awesome sister, and frankly, my only friend. My sister is the only person in the world who really knows me. Sure, we get in our little sibling fights every once in a while, but in the end we're blood and we know it. Ever since I was little I have always been protective of her.

When Madelyn was six years old and I was nine, we went to Disney world and somehow she got separated from the rest of us. My parents were worried out of their minds and looking for a security person and asking around for almost an hour, but it was I who found her. Throughout all of the yelling and commotion, all I really wanted to do was go see the cool Disney characters. That's when I realized that she probably did the same thing. If you were a little kid lost in Disney World, wouldn't you want your favorite prince or princess to help you find mom and dad? Even when I was little I knew her well enough to think like her and look around for her favorite fictional character. I found her crying and holding Peter Pan's hand, and from that day we just had a connection. We actually still laugh about the irony of Madelyn seeking help from a character famous for stealing kids from their parents. She's the only person I don't have to pretend around, and the only one who I don't have to try to fit in with. She's just Madelyn. She accepts me for who I am so I guess that's why I give in to whatever she asks me and I'm willing to do anything for her.

Although I'm not particularly excited about what awaits me, I soft heartedly smile at Madelyn and let her lead me downstairs to the dining room where I am pleasantly surprised with an extravagant birthday set up. Madelyn wasn't exaggerating when she said the cake was nice. In front of me is a three layer cheesecake with carnival animals on top. "Isn't it beautiful," mom whispered into my ear as she gently steered me towards the table. I kiss her on the cheek and peek around the room, taking everything in. The dining room is filled with red and blue balloons, each one with a big '18' printed on either side. Directly above me is a carnival-style banner with an elephant border that says 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN!'. And even though there is a beautifully wrapped present on the table, my real gift is my family standing beside me. Even my dad is here. He's been distant lately and hasn't said anything to me yet, but I don't care. I'm just elated that in this moment, here and now, I belong. I have a family who supports and loves me, and that more than makes up for the handful of assholes who didn't come to my birthday party. At some point when I was taking everything in, Madelyn had pushed me into a chair and my mom started singing the birthday song one last time.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthd-"

The song stopped. I open my eyes as I hear the gruesome sound of bones snapping, followed by my sister's scream. I slowly turn around to find my mother on the floor with her neck broken and her eyes wide open, but lifeless. I fall on top of her, choking back sobs, and I'm drifting into darkness. This can't be real. This can't be real. What the fuck just happened. I snap my head up when I remember. Madelyn. I have to find Madelyn. I look around for my sister, and then I hear her bedroom door slam. What is chasing her? And where the fuck is Dad? I run, without knowing what's ahead, to her room. Once I get there I slowly, cautiously turn the knob, and quietly push the door forward. This has to be a dream. In front of me is my dad, tearing the flesh off of Madelyn's face. At first I couldn't even tell if she was still alive, but then she moved. It was only the slightest movement, her fingers reached toward me from her already outstretched hand. My dad took notice of the movement and smashed what remained of her head against the floor. Along with the sound of Madelyn's skull being shattered, I can hear a raw, terrifying scream. Oh wait, that's my scream. When did I start screaming? The man that was my father turns his head around, showing pitch black eyes, and smiles, revealing blood-stained teeth. I only saw this horrifying image for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to be burned into my brain forever by pure fear. I turn and make a run for my room across the hall. The creature lifts itself onto all fours and hurls itself toward me. I manage to get half way into my room before I can feel the pure force of something much stronger than a forty-four year old man on top of my legs. As much as I struggle, what point is there? This is how I die. I was ready to let go of my door frame and let the monster kill me when I heard the voice of a girl.

"You get the kid! I can handle this." At the brink of my legs snapping, I hear a splash and a hiss from above me and then an enormous relief of pressure for a second before I'm being full-body tackled into my room. I turn around, and if it weren't for the fact that my father turned into a fucking monster, I would've been extremely surprised to see that my savior is an average-looking teenage girl.

"Sorry if I hurt you. Whatever you see or hear, don't leave this room and don't break this line. If you're in here and this salt line is intact, he won't hurt you." As she spoke she quickly poured salt across my doorway. Did she steal that from my kitchen? When she finished the line she ran out and slammed the door behind her. What the everliving fuck just happened?

I peek through my door and see two girls, they couldn't be much older than I am, and they're actually fighting the creature. One of the girls, the one who shoved me into my room, slapped down a mat with scribbles on it as the other swiftly kicked the beast in the chest and sent it flying onto the mat. Then they just stopped. How the hell could they stop without as much as tying the monster up?

"What the hell are you doing," I hear myself cry out, "it's still free! It's going to kill us all!" But somehow it wasn't free. As much as it thrashed and struggled, it wasn't getting anywhere. That weird looking star with the scribbles that have been painted onto the mat must somehow be trapping it. It was in that moment of precarious safety that I remembered my mission. Madelyn. Against my orders to stay in my room, I immediately run to where she's sprawled out on the ground, dead. No. I cradle her lifeless body and start sobbing over the gaping wound that was her face. No. There's no way this is a dream. Not in a million years could my subconscious come up with anything this painful. NO. NO. NO. I was yelling now in front of these two complete strangers and the monster that brought this hell upon me. For the second time tonight, I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, but you need to come with me. This isn't safe yet. You don't need to see any more of this." I look up at the girl speaking to me. This girl is just a teenager. She has kind brown eyes. Compared to the last eyes I looked into, they are redeeming. "Please, Benjamin. That's your name, isn't it?" I nod.

"Jesus, Beth. Just get him the hell out of here so I can exorcise this fucker!" The other girl isn't kind looking, she actually looks like a scary bitch, but she is very striking with her curly black mane. I push the hand off of my shoulder. Who is this girl to yell orders at me when I am feet away from something that was my father, and the person who was my sister? That moment of defiance from me was enough for the thing in my father to take its chance. It only had to look at the two girls and they were flung out of the room and the door locked behind them. It's just us now. My father's head jaggedly rises, but it wasn't him raising it. Whatever it is, this thing isn't my father anymore.

"Let's talk man-to-man, Benjamin." The monster's eyes were black and the creature just stared me down with those dark pits. It smiled. The grin sends shivers down my spine, but I try to stand firm. The girls are beating on the door and yelling desperately at me, but my full attention is on the beast.

"Don't listen to it, Benjamin! That isn't your dad! Don't acknowledge it! Just open the door and let us in! We can help you! Benjamin!" I know there's logic behind what the girls are saying, but I have to know. This… thing… just killed my entire family. Why? Why us? Where is my dad? I walk toward it, my hatred growing with each fearful step.

"Poor, poor Benjamin. You know, I always was disappointed in you. I mean, just look at you. Not attractive. Not particularly talented. No friends. You practically drive me away just with that stupid look on your ignorant little face. I'll let you in on a little secret: I never liked you. I never liked any of you. I could only stand any of you because I had that blonde in Seattle to take the edge off. And that bartender in New York. And how could I ever forget the redhead in Chicago? Even when I wasn't fucking her, that slut had a little bit of the devil in her." The monster started to make these deep, gravelly, rasping noises that felt like nails on a chalkboard. It was laughing. I feel like I'm about to throw up. "This is fun, watching you finally grow a pear and approaching me now. It's almost as delicious as your sister's sweet skin," it chuckled. That's where I draw the line.

"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP." I can't help it anymore. I am inches away from it now. Tears may be streaming down my face, but my entire body is now shaking with rage. "DON'T SAY ANOTHER FUCKING WORD ABOUT MADELYN. YOU KILLED THEM ALL, YOU MONSTER. NOW WHERE THE HELL IS MY DAD?" The creature just looked at me with those soulless black marbles and smiled.

"Oh he's here. He's just not center stage at the moment. I let him watch, though, as I slashed apart those whores, killed your mom, and then your little baby sister. " I'm choking on my sobs, but I don't look away. How long has this thing been inside of my father? "Ah. There he is, the pudgy little baby who can't do anything but mope and cry. You're in over your head, kid." I let the thought sink in. My dad knew. My dad had to watch as he murdered his own family with his bare hands and he couldn't do anything about it. I fall to my knees.

At that moment the girls finally beat the door down, but it's too late. I realize now what the creature had done. It had used me to buy time. The floor started cracking. The roof started shaking. The mat that had magically constricted the monster was now torn in two and burning. I crawl start to crawl over to Madelyn as the girls exchange the universal 'oh shit' look. Beth tries to drag me out, but I'm not going without her. I can't let her go.

Beth took a second to weigh out her options before yelling, "Sophie! Get his sister!" Without hesitating, the other girl hoists Madelyn's body over her shoulders and ushers us out through the smoke and collapsing ceiling. We run into the room and my sister is carelessly tossed into the corner. This bitch is looking to get slapped. Beth shuts the door behind us and locks it.

"You need to hide until we can contain him and perform the exorcism, okay?" Exorcism. I've seen enough scary movies to put two and two together.

"Is he possessed?" I say, standing up. The girl with the black hair looked slightly taken aback, but nodded yes. "Then he's still alive, right? You just need to get the devil out of him, right?" I feel some sort of hope beginning to grow inside my chest. The kind girl, I think her name is Beth, just lowered her head. Sophie was more straight forward.

"He's not alive. But the demon still is and we're wasting time. I need to perform the exorcism and send it back to hell. Do you understand?" She stares at me; her green eyes looked so much older than she did. Something tells me that she's seen this countless of times. I can't muddle a reply; instead all I can think is, FUCK NO I DON'T UNDERSTAND. MY FUCKING FATHER HAS SATAN OR SOME SHIT INSIDE OF HIM AND MY SISTER IS FACELESS AND DEAD IN THE CORNER. SORRY THAT I'M A LITTLE SLOW ON THE FUCKING UPTAKE. So I just absently nod my head yes. Sophie pushes me behind the bookcase. She lingers for a second longer, brushing her hand up the side of the shelf I was hiding behind earlier today. Jesus, was it just hours ago that I hid behind this shelf with those childish problems? I barely manage to crawl all the way behind my bookcase before my entire wall is blasted in and the demon casually throws the girls against the wall with a flick of its wrist. It only wants me.

"You know, I can smell your fear." It was laughing again. Lord, please, just end this nightmare. I have no more options. I'm about to be murdered in the fetal position behind my bookshelf. I was cornered and I could feel my looming death when Sophie pounced. This small girl is on a demon's back strangling it with the rosary beads that she must have swiped from my shelf ... and I was about to die in the fetal position. I'm not exactly feeling helpful right now. Of course, the rosary beads. The demon's neck is burning and it's screaming and flailing about.

"BETH ANYTIME NOW," Sophie yelled. It was really incredible that she was still hanging from the back of the demon and strangling it while it twisted and jumped like a satanic bucking bronco. I hear Beth screaming an incantation at the top of her lungs as she lies against the wall she was smashed against moments before.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica…" The creature is shrieking again. Sophie releases her grip and jumps, rolling out of its direct path. I don't understand what Beth is saying, but it's working. I can't help but be reminded of that movie The Exorcist as I hear the spell. The screeching is louder and the image before me is revolting. This creature is writhing and snapping its own bones with its quick, unnatural movements. The demon may have possessed my dad, but this hideous thing in front of me looks nothing like him. It doesn't even look human. "...te rogamus, audi nos." With those final words, the monster's jaw unhinged and black smoke rushed out of my father's broken body. And with that smoke, the demon was gone. The man before me is unrecognizable, but he is my dad, and he is drawing his last breaths. Beth gives me a gentle push and with that I rush forward and sit next to my father, and I'm too afraid to even touch him because his body is so broken and shattered. I lean in just in time for him to breathe into my ear, "Benjamin… I'm so s-," he stopped talking. His chest stopped moving and his eyes are now as empty as my mother's.

In this night I have gone from your average whiny, fat teenager to an orphan who has witnessed the gruesome unbelievable murder of his entire family. And all on my eighteenth birthday. After my father died, the bitchy girl with the pretty hair and green eyes (I feel like the name Sophie isn't at all fitting with her appearance) had some kind of fight with Beth. Well, I don't know if it was a fight, but there was a lot of yelling. I couldn't really pay attention to anything but I know they were probably talking about me. I was just too numb to listen or care. Beth approached me. "Do you have any relatives or friends we can take you to?"

I stare at her for a minute before responding. "No. I don't have anyone." I stare into space and then look Beth in the eyes. "What am I supposed to do now?" If anyone understood having nobody and nowhere to go, it would be Beth and Sophie. Beth squeezed my hand, assured me that they would figure something out, and then went outside to talk to Sophie.

About thirty minutes later Beth returned with two jugs of kerosine, turned on the gas to the stove, and told me to quickly grab anything that mattered to me. The only thing that really mattered to me was the lifeless body of a sixteen year old girl, but I can't exactly take that with me now, can I? I find myself in my room grabbing clothes, but I don't remember actually going to my room. Shock, probably. As I rummage through my closet, I see out of the corner of my eye the picture of Madelyn and I with Peter Pan at Disney World. As I hold the picture in my hands, I feel a fresh new batch of tears forming in my eyes. I carefully fold the picture and put it in my back pocket. I take my parent's emergency cash and then walk to the front door where Beth and Sophie are waiting. The whole house smells like gas. I can see where this is going. So I stand corrected. I am now a homeless orphan who has witnessed the gruesome unbelievable murder of his entire family on his eighteenth birthday. Sophie walks me outside while Beth wraps me in an ancient afghan that smells faintly of weed.

"I'm so sorry Benjamin. You know what we have to do, right? There can't be evidence of this. Or of you." Beth gives me a calming look. She couldn't be any older than Madelyn. She's so young, with her big brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair. Throughout this entire ordeal she was so calm. What the hell has she seen that would make this day just another day? Well whatever her life is, it's my life as well. I only have one final request before everything I had once loved turns to ash.

"Let me light it." Beth looks shocked, but Sophie nods. She understood. This morning I had eaten pancakes for breakfast and laughed at a stupid video my sister had shown me. In the course of one night I have lost my family and my childhood. It's my job to be the one to put my family to rest, not these two strangers. This is my life, and I'm seizing what little control I have over it. I strike the match and watch the small flame burn for a second before tossing it into the window above my stove. There is a huge explosion and I watch as my old life burns to the ground. Once again, I felt a hand on my shoulder. But I could tell from the firm grip that this hand wasn't the comforting touch of Beth. I turn around to see Sophie.

"You coming, bitch?" I think, 'No. I'm going to stay here with my burning home and wait for the fucking police to come question me about my dead and mutilated family. Maybe they'll use the shiny new handcuffs on me as a fucking birthday present.' Obviously I'm going with them. I follow Sophie and Beth to an old Volkswagen van with religious carvings on the side and step into the cramped space. I'm immediately bombarded with a pungent smell that matches the scent of the afghan hanging off of my shoulders. So tonight I was saved by two stoners who are both smaller than me. Awesome. As Sophie starts the van, I look behind one last time at what was my life, and then turn to my new one: these two unexpected girls who saved my life and understand my pain and loss. With the looks on their faces, their families probably had similar fates as mine. Is this what my life will be? Exorcising demons like them? Sophie saw my tears in the reflection of the rearview mirror.

"By the way, happy birthday, Benji."

"I go by Benjamin," I asserted, but I have a feeling my opinion isn't valid. Beth smiles and scratches my back. At that moment I realize how exhausted and emotionally drained I am, but when I close my eyes all I see is the image of that demon inside my father grinning at me. I definitely won't be sleeping for a while. What's really terrifying to me, though, is that the only thing worse than my dreams is my reality. I have lost everything; not only my family, house, and childhood, but my identity. I don't know who I am anymore, because Benjamin died in that house the moment he held his sister's lifeless body in his shaking hands. I don't know who I am or what I'm supposed to do now, but I'm with two girls who do. They fight the monsters that aren't supposed to be real. And now I fight with them for the people I couldn't save. I unzip my backpack and pull out the one book that mattered enough to take, and I carefully unfold the picture from Disney and stick it between the pages.

"So where to, Benji?" asked Sophie after she took a hit from a joint that was stashed in the glove box. After what I've been through, it makes sense that these girls drive around in an old beat-up hippie van and smoke weed. To be so calm when they saved my life and exorcised a demon, I can only imagine the things that these girls have seen and what they try to forget. Sophie passed me the joint. "It'll help you sleep." There's an offer I can't pass up.

I take a hit, open the book, and stare at the photo. I half-heartedly smile and tell them exactly where we're going: "Second star to the right, and straight on till morning."