Dial "C" for "Cults"

Chapter Eight

December 5th

2:54 AM

            The phone rang.  It startled Faith because she had been worried ever since that suspicios phone call.  She even made the girls lock their door.  But the phone that rang was her cell phone.  "Hello," said Faith as she answered the phone.  It was her mom.  "Faith, I've got bad news. There are more sleep victims."  "Who are they," asked Faith. although she already knew who it was:  Salem.  (Okay, so River and Salem are already in the hospital, and Faith’s mom is just now calling her?  Way to responsible…not.  Also, how does Faith know Salem is one of the victims?  I think it was supposed to be because Faith thinks the demon is cutting through her friends, but it’s foolish to assume that it wouldn’t target other people connected to her.) 

"There are four."  Faith wasn't ready for this.  (Not surprising.)  "They are Salem Michaels, Lauren Anderson, Colby James, and, and,"  (I don’t know why Faith’s mom feels the need to say their last names.  These are all people Faith knows.) her mom couldn't finish because she started to cry.  "River, isn't it," said Faith.  "Yes," said her mom through tears.

Alright Mrs. Faith’s Mom, I have a bone to pick with you.  Your son has been attacked, as have several of your daughters friends, and you thinks it’s okay to leave your teenage daughter at a strangers house with only two small, annoying children as company?  What kind of mother are you?  Clearly not a very good one.

Faith felt a pit in her stomach.  (I think I used the wrong expression here.  I’m not sure what I meant.)  She felt that again when the phone went dead.  "Mom? Mom! Mom are you there?!," she said.  She put the cell phone down.  The regular phone rang.  "Hello, mom?," she said.  "You wish it was your mom, don't you?," said an evil voice.  (Yeah, I was definitely, umm, let’s just say “inspired” by the Scream movies.  Does this remind anyone else of the scene where Casey a.k.a. Drew Barrymore gets those threatening phones calls and is subsequently murdered?  Yeah, there’s a reason for that.) 

Faithwas terrified.  "Who is this?," said Faith.  (Do you really have to ask?  Ugh.)  "Guess." "This is a demon, a domon on a mission who is putting my friends in everlasting sleep!" 

"You got one right.  You soul is strong and smart!," said the demon  (Are you sure we're talking about Faith's soul?  Did you perchance dial the wrong number, demon?).  "What do you mean?," asked Faith.  "I knew your soul would be too strong to controll so I pocessed Colby to kill you," he said.  (Then why did you, after Colby failed to kill Faith, just stop trying?  More importantly, why did you target the friends of one of the few souls that were useless to you?  Even more importantly, seriously, we're talking about Faith's soul here?)

"But that didn't work," said Faith.  "So," said the demon,"I decided to take your friends souls for the ritual."  "what ritual?," asked Faith.  "I'll will make my sacrifices, then release the souls in the place of evil.  If I release the souls anywhere else, they will be free to go back to their bodies."  (This demon is being pretty damn specific about what’s going on.  Why doesn’t he just give her the address of where this ritual is happening?  It seems the inanity epidemic in the town does not exclude demonic creatures.)

"What does the ritual do," asked Faith.  "Well," said the demon,"It summons the prince of darkness himself.  By the way, I'm surprised that you haven't asked who the sacrifices are yet. They're so cute, sitting here in their room, sleeping so soundly. They ahve no idea that they are living their last hours on this earth."  (You. Effing. Idiot.  Why would you tell her that?  Why are you even calling her?  Hang up the freaking phone!) 

Oh my gosh, thought Faith.  (A completely appropriate thought considering the severity of the circumstances.) The girls.  "You better leave them alone!," said Faith.  No answer.  Faith ran upstairs.  The girls door was locked.  Faith remembered that this was her doing.  Stupid!, she thought.  "Let me in!," she said.  (So the door is locked from the inside?  What babysitter would do that?  But this is Faith we’re talking about, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.)

First Faith heard the girls scream, then she saw the door break into pieces as the demon shattered through it.  Faith was knocked to the ground.  She quickly pushed the rubble of the door off and chased the demon.  It smashed through a window and flew away with the girls.  I have to save them, thought Faith. 

This scene is ripped-off from a scene from Hocus Pocus, the movie about the three witches played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy.  I’m referring to the scene where the witches kidnap Dani, a precociously young Thora Birch, from the attic bedroom of her home and bust through the ceiling.  I didn’t want to completely rip off the writers of this movie, so I had the demon smashing through a window instead of the roof.  Still, I’m pretty sure I’d be sued if this was ever published.  Then again, I'd also be living in a bizarro world where painfully awful stories find publishers, so who knows what the laws would be there?

***

December 5th

3:07 AM

            Faith took the keys to the Andrews' car after she left them a note.  (What note could possibly convey what just happened?  I don’t think, “Sorry, your children have been kidnapped by a demon who wants to murder them, but don’t worry.  I’m dealing with it.  Also, the demon can fly, but no worries; I have a car, and so I think I’ll be fine.  My car can’t fly, but whatever.  See you soon!  Love, Faith” is going to cut it.)  She saw some rubble that had fallen off the demon heading north, but Faith wasn't headed that way.  She was going to a cult.  (Since not only is every cult easy to find and infiltrate, but all of them worship and/or are associated with child-murdering, soul-stealing demons.)

            She got to the cult's hideout at about  3:30 AM.  She went to the door and, seeing that there was no guard, she walked in.  About hÜ¥e_#À  And this is where the story gets really, really messed up for three and a half pages, and a lot happens.  Well, not really.  Basically, Faith, clearly a seasoned detective, finds the cult, gets them to tell her where this demon is headed (since remember, every cult in the history of cults is connected to this demon), and arrives at the murder site, which is an old cabin the woods where several murders have taken place in the past.  Then, the story goes on repeat itself, literally; nearly everything before the second chapter appears.  I won’t bore you a second time.

The action picks up in the cabin after Faith has killed the demon, released her friends’ souls, and rescued the children.  When she released the souls, her friends appeared magically, wound-free.  Also, the cabin has inexplicably started to collapse.  If I gave a reason for this, which I doubt, it’s been lost.

"What are we waiting for! Let's go!," said River.  They ran out of the cabin.  As they made their way out, the cabin started to crumble.  Lauren and Salem were almost hit with a large piece of wood.  But everyone made it out safely.  (That sucks.  I was really hoping they would all die.  Except maybe for Lily, who needs to find some new, non-stupid friends, though I’m guessing that would be pretty hard in this town.)  When they made it out of the cabin, it was swallowed into the earth.  (This seems to indicate that something supernatural was happening.  But, it’s likely that there is no logical explanation for the cabin being “swallowed by the earth.”) 

After they stood there for a while (marveling at the fact that there’s hope for the imbeciles of the world after all), they started to tell each other their stories.  (Because the remains of a cabin in the woods where Satan was almost summoned is the perfect place for that.)  After they were done Faith said this: "I better be getting a hefty bonus from you parents, Maryn and Drew. (since, you know, I let you get kidnapped after locking myself out of your room.”)

Epilouge

January 10th

6:35 PM

            Faith put on her jacket.  She was going to see a movie with the whole group:Lily, Kris, Salem, Colby, and even Lauren, who she was beginning to like.  She was even taking River with her.  She was babysitting Maryn and Drew tomorrow and was planning to take them to putt putt golf.  (Either Faith didn’t tell the Andrews the whole story, or they’re taking up the mantle of worst parents ever from Faith’s mom.) 

Ever since the incident last month, she was being kinder to everyone. (Because nothing makes you appreciate your loved ones like being stalked by a vicious demon.)  Her and Colby's relationship was doing much better (and, unsurprisingly, we’ll never learn why River thought Faith didn’t really like Colby), she was being nicer to her brother, making friends with new people(Lauren) (I guess Faith forgot that not only has she known Lauren for years, negating any sort of “new” status, but also the fact that they used to be friends) and even enjoying babysitting Maryn and Drew.  Of course that wasn't hard anymore, since they now worshiped the ground she walked on.  (Way to take advantage of your incompetence, Faith.  I’m not sure if I’m outraged or impressed.)  Faith was also seeing a lot more horror movies now, but she couldn't figure out why.  (This is supposed to by my joking, light-hearted way of ending the story, which is completely realistic.  Only, instead of watching horror movies more frequently, one would likely need a lifetime of therapy to recover from such a traumatic experience.  Close enough, though.)

            So, there you have it:  “The Babysitter”.  I really have no words.  Before reading this again to write my comments, I had forgotten how stupid everyone in it is, including the demon.  None of the characters are actually based on real people (at least I really, really hope not) except for River, who was supposed to be an older version of myself (I must have really thought poorly of myself back then).  Even if they were, I would never, ever tell anyone.

This is all we get for “The Babysitter.”  I know, it’s pretty disappointing.  Why kind of ending is that?  I wish my original ending hadn’t gotten ruined because it was much more entertaining.  That doesn’t mean it was good, but the fight scene between Faith and the demon was classic.  The whole cabin in the woods/near sacrifice/demon slayage/earthquake sequence was amazingly appalling and full of impossibilities, but we’ll never be able to read it.  Sigh…

Next time:  a shortish entry about my thoughts and experiences writing “The Babysitter,” which will hopefully be published later today or tomorrow.  Then, we’ll dive into our next story, the compelling drama “Salem.”  People are tortured, drowned, and burned alive in this one, and believe me, they deserve it.  Some of them would even give Faith and Kris a run for their money in the idiot department.

The Babysitter Pt. I (a.k.a. Stupid People Being Stalked by an Equally Stupid Demon)

The Babysitter

by Cory Byers

First, some background information. I’ve been writing stories for years, ever since I could read. I always wanted to write stories like the ones I was reading, and I was reading a lot of “horror” (really, they were just books like the Goosebumps series, which usually weren’t scary except for the occasional story). So, naturally I went in that direction when I began writing. And, except for the occasional story about being stranded in the mountains or crashing on an island owned by a nefarious company, I stayed there. Often my stories involved the supernatural, but sometimes they were just about serial killers massacring people…I should mention my three favorite movies back then were Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Urban Legend. Additionally, I wrote a lot of sequels (I wrote two I Know… sequels and one Urban Legend sequel, among others). Nearly all of my stories were atrocious, even if the ideas were somewhat decent. Regardless, I thought they were good and, like many aspiring child authors, wanted to make writing my full-time profession one day. However, unlike many aspiring child authors, I had more realistic expectations. I knew that I would probably need some sort of formal education, and that my dream was going to be hard to achieve. I knew I would probably need some other job to be my main source of income. Eventually, writing became simply a hobby of mine.

Anyways, “The Babysitter” was one of the earliest things I wrote when I first got a computer, since it was much easier to type than to write freehand. It originally was supposed to be about the old Babysitter Urban Legend, the one about the man calling repeatedly and asking, “Have you checked the children?” (In case you didn’t figure it out already, urban legends scared the crap out of me back in the day, and they still do to a certain extent). My version of “The Babysitter” quickly evolved (or is it devolved?) into a story about a demon collecting souls in order to summon Satan to the world and cause mass destruction. I actually like the idea and even tried to re-write the story (though I never finished, what I did write is considerably less horrendous than this story), but the execution is horrible. And thus, I present you with “The Babysitter.” Enjoy!

Characters

· Faith:16yrs old The Babysitter. She is very concerned about her friends.

· Lily:15yrs old Faith's best friend. She is like Sheep: she does everything Faith does.

· Kris: 15yrs old Faith and Lily's friend. She is very lazy when it comes to school work

· River:14yrs old Faith's brother. He and Faith fight a lot.

· Colby:17yrs old Faith's boyfriend. They are having trouble with their relationship.

· Lauren:15yrs old Faith's arch nemesis. She and Faith used to be friends.

· Salem:16yrs old Faith's friend. He often gives advice to Faith and Lily and Kris

· Drew:5yrs old Faith is babysitting her. She is very spunky.

· Maryn:8yrs old. Faith is also babysitting her. She thinks that she is too old for a babysitter.

I’m a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so you could often find at least one character named after someone on that show. In this story, it was Faith. As for the other names, some are based on real people (Colby, Lauren, Drew) while others are just names I liked (and still do, actually). I know, some of these names are strange, but this is a story about a demon stalking teenagers for their souls…so just go with it.

Prolouge

Everything has been kept the same…see “Prolouge” above as evidence.

"Why does it matter where I was?!!," screamed Faith.

"Bvecause you didn't meet me like you said you would!!!," screamed Colby. "You know what?," said Faith. "I'm sick of this! I forgot, okay!?! But it's too late. I am dumping you!"

I doubt people actually say “I am dumping you” when they’re actually dumping people. I had no experience with relationships back when I wrote this, and it shows. I think my cynicism about relationships was reflected in my stories, since they usually either ended badly or were conducted in secret.

"What?," asked Colby. At first his tone was full of sorrow. But than it turned to anger. Faith could also detect some hate in his voice. "You can't leave me. I'll kill you first."

This is the first sign something is wrong. Either Colby is a psychopath, or something else is horribly awry. What could it be?! Why is Coldy acting insane?! That was the reaction I was going for when I wrote this.

Faith backed away in fear. (Smart, Faith. Personally, I’d be running for the kitchen to find some sort of weapon, preferably a cleaver.) He ran toward her. Faith ducked under him. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. (Now she gets a weapon. It’s not a cleaver, but it’ll get the job done.) Colby lunged at her as though he was pocessed. She held her knife out but Colby didn't stop. (See what I mean?) Faith gagged at the sound of ripping flesh. (This is sort of gross. I was apparently a very macabre child. Also, this is supposed to be the second sign that something is wrong, and thus ruling out the whole “Colby is a psychopath” theory. However, I’m fairly certain that some psychopaths, if not all, would run themselves into a knife…after all, most psychos aren’t playing with a full deck if you know what I mean.)

Colby stepped away from her, the knife still sticking out of him. To her surprise, Colby laughed. (Finally, I present you with the third sign something is wrong. At least this time I’m beginning to suspect that Colby may, in fact, not be a psychopath, but I also was expecting something supernatural to happen. I guess this is still something an insane murder might do.) "I'm not what you think," he said. His face was immediatly transformed. It was demon like. (At last, we can rule out that Colby is not, in fact a psychopath…unless he’s a psychotic demon. And, since this is a Cory original, that’s possible). "You can't win," the demon said.

Colby fell to the floor. A sort of spirit left Colby's body. (I didn’t actually know what I wanted the aforementioned spirit to look like, so I deliberately left it vague…which will happen repeatedly throughout this story.) "What happened?," he said. Faith knew at once she had made a terrible mustake. "It's okay," she said. But it wasn't okay. Faith knew it would never be okay.

So, we’ve ruled out that Colby is a psycho, but something is clearly amiss. Unfortunately, the characters in my story are one-dimensional and sort of annoying, so I’m not sure I care to find out what’s going on.

Chapter One

December 1st

10:34 PM

I loved marking the time in my stories, and I almost always set them during the fall or winter. I liked when the weather worked against my protagonists, which will happen several times during this story. However, you’d think that I’d have set some of my stories during the spring or summer. Just think of the weather potential! Tornadoes! Floods! Severe storms! Hurricanes! Actually, now that I’m typing this, I just remembered that at least two of my stories have featured floods and/or severe storms and/or a hurricane. I guess I never got around to using a tornado as a plot device. Alright, back to the story:

Faith unlocked the door to her house. "Mom, Dad, I'm home," she called out. "Why are you home so late young lady?" asked her dad angerly. (If Faith’s parents were in the room, why did she have to unlock the door? Are we supposed to assume that Faith’s parents had just entered the room as she entered? We’ll never know.) "Colby is in the hospital," she replied, holding back the tears that were welling in her eyes. (Way to garner some sympathy points, Faith.) "What happened!," asked her mother, who was clearly shocked. "Well, he was, um, drunk, I think, and he attacked me. I got a knife and he...he...." (Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned he was drunk. After all, he’s only 17 and you’re only 16.) She could hold back the tears no longer. Her mother held her. "There, there," said her mother soothingly. (Wow, comforting. Her daughter impaled her boyfriend with a knife after he attacked her, and all she can say is “There, there.” Faith’s mom, you fail at mothering.)

December 2nd

1:23 PM

***

"That's terrible!," said Lily. (Way to state the obvious, Lily.) "I know,"replied Faith. "I can't believe it either." said their friend Kris. "Can't believe what?" asked Lauren.

"I can't believe that this school is so big yet I keep seeing you," said Lily. (Oh, man, this is about to be embarrassing.)

"Well I can't believe that you were allowed out of your cage this morning," said Lauren, smiling. (Worst. Comeback. Ever. I do like that she was smiling, though. I imagine her having one of those malicious, Regina-George-of-Mean-Girls grins on her face…though I’m not sure if that’s what I meant, since Mean Girls wouldn’t be a movie until years after I wrote this)

"Do you wanna start something?," asked Lily. (Umm, Lily, she just implied that you were an animal who lived in a cage. I think the answer to your question is “Yes, Lily, I called you an animal because I want to fight you.”)

"Bring it on!," exclaimed Lauren. (Or I guess that would work.) The girls lunged at each other. (I can’t believe I included a girl fight in this story. They’re probably going to start pulling each other’s hair and biting.)

This reminded Faith how Colby had lunged at her. She held her head saying "It's not your fault," silently. (Dramatic much, Faith? She’s starting to annoy me.) Kris seemed to notice that Faith was troubled. "Are you okay Faith?," she asked. Faith sat up. "Yeah," she said,"I'm fine."

"Whoa, stop!," said Salem as he pushed between Lily and Lauren. They ran around him and fell to the ground, Lauren biting Lily's arm. (I was right about the biting. Also, this scene with Salem was supposed to be foreshadowing a future event in the story…it’s not very effective.) Salem ignored them this time. "I came over here for a reason, not to mess with these two," he said. "Um Faith, Kris, do you two want to come out to the Pizza Shack tonight?'' (Yes, I made the “Pizza Shack” up. I wish I hadn’t, but I did.) ".....Sure," said Faith. "It might get my mind off of well, you know." (I love how Faith was about to have a nervous breakdown, and now she’s acting like her situation with Colby was just some irritating event that she doesn’t want to think about.)

"Why don't we ask Lily?," asked Kris. "I have a felling that she and Lauren are going to be in detention today." (Then why bother asking, Kris? You just contradicted yourself.) Sure enough, two seconds later a teacher came and gave them detention slips for afternoon detention. (No, Kris doesn’t have precognitive abilities. I didn’t go that far…in this story, at least.)

Chapter Two

December 3rd

12:10 AM

Kris woke up. She looked at the clock on her computer. 12:10 AM! I need to get some sleep tonight, so I better get done with my report. (I know my abrupt shift here to the 1^st person perspective might be confusing, but it wasn’t meant to be. Kris is supposed to be thinking these things.)

Kris looked at the computer. Written in large, bold type were the words OUTSIDE. Kris looked around. No one was there. She decided to go outside. (I have no words. Well, I have several, but they all essentially mean “dumbass.” Seriously Kris, why the eff would you go outside after finding a mysterious message on your computer screen asking you to go there? I just…it’s really infuriating that I wrote a character who is so obviously a complete and total idiot. Unfortunately, she’s not the only idiot in this story.)

She got there and called out. "Hello? Anyone out here?" No answer. (Oh for the love of God, Kris, you’re in a horror story! You never ask, “Who’s there?” (or something to that effect) in a horror story! At least you didn’t say, “I’ll be right back.” Well, not yet anyways. I wouldn’t put it past you.)

She walked out, away from the door. It closed behind her. "Oh, crud!" she said. (I hate that word, and I always have. I have absolutely no idea why I included it in this story.) She was locked out. There was an extra key behind her house in the garden. (This is all a very convenient way of getting Kris into the backyard, which is close to the woods. I loved including forests in my horror stories.) She was going to get it. "If I had just not gone out this afternoon, none of this would've happened," she grumbled. Pizza hadn't gone well. Faith was really upset about Colby. He wasn't allowed to have any visitors besides family yet. Faith said she wanted to talk to him. Kris had this feeling that Faith wasn't telling them the whole story about what happened that night. (I’m not really sure why going out earlier was causing Kris’s present circumstances…or why she’s talking to herself. And of course Faith is going to be upset about Colby…she stabbed him. Way to be sensitive to other people’s feelings, Kris.)

Kris got to the side of the house. When she got to the garden she almost threw up. There lay someone, dead. He was covered in scratches and bruises. He also had some strange markings on his face, and he had many tattoos. (The presence of tattoos was supposed to show that this dead guy was bad news. Now, I have nothing against people with tattoos. I actually have six, my father has nine, and my sister has sixteen. I think I meant for the tattoos to be creepy, stereotypical-gang-member tattoos…not that this guy’s in a gang or anything.)

Despite the awful smell and the terror that was building inside of her, Kris bent closer to the body. (Okay, I’m starting to question Kris’s mental health. She seems somewhat suicidal to me. Someone is dead in your backyard Kris! Get the eff out of there before it’s too late!) She saw that the markings on his face looked ritualistic. Suddenly Kris remembered a serious thing. She didn't know why she had forgot it so quickly. Her computer had said "Outside". Someone was lureing her out here!!!!!! (Seriously, it took her this long to figure out that something was amiss. Kris is making me so effing angry right now. I hope someone comes and slaughters her, putting her out of her misery and putting us out of ours.) She turned to run. She made it to the back door. Thats when she remebered that both doors were locked! Kris ran to the flower pot that hid the key. She went to grab it when something grabbed her. She turned and saw someone with the face of a demon. Kris ran to the neighbors yard. Her bare feet were freezing in the new snow that must have fallen when she was sleeping. (See what I mean about the weather working against my characters. The presence of snow was supposed to make it harder for Kris to escape. I hope there’s a freakin’ blizzard.)

When Kris got to the door, she banged on it heavily. She pounded it (this sounds vaguely dirty) as long as she could before the demon ran to her. "Help me! Somebody please!" The demon started to grab her,but she was prepared this time. (I’m confused about what, exactly, Kris was prepared for. There’s no mention of her fighting off the demon or anything. So, this is confusing.)

She ran to the woods behind the neighbor's house. (See what I mean. Everyone, not just Kris, conveniently lives near a forest. I imagine they live in a rustic area.) The police station was just on the other side. (Again, very convenient that she has to run through the forest to get to the police station.)

Snow as falling again. Lightly at first, but it was very heavy by the time Kris made it to the half way point of the woods. The demon caught up with her than. (Again with the weather. You know, for a demon who assumedly has supernatural powers, you’d think that it would have caught up to Kris much sooner.) He grabbed her. It's grip was supernatural. (Well, at least its grip is supernatural…whatever that means.) He opend a box. Kris felt as if her soul was being absorbed. (It’s unclear what Kris means, so let me clarify. Her soul is being absorbed by the box, a.k.a. it's stealing her soul.) Kris fell to the ground, unmoving. (I guess the lack of a soul equals unconsciousness. Who knew?)

Okay, so we've reached the end of the first part of "The Babysitter," and we've lost our first victim. The important thing to remember, however, is that, if the demon had his/her/its way, there would be two victims already (remember, Faith would be dead via a possessed Colby). This won't be the last time the demon does itself in. Believe me, not even close.

Next time:  someone actually shows some intelligence, meaning their days are numbered, naturally.  Also, there will be some actual babysitting, and one of our protagonists will face something truly evil:  triplets.