“She was okay, when I left, but she’s got a really bad cold,” Sam said, following Austin down the street, through the rain to Amanda’s house. They decided to leave the cars where they were and settle the formalities later.

“Did she say anything before you left?”

“No,” Sam wasn’t about to tell Austin or anybody about his feelings for Amanda.

“Shit. Maybe you should go,” Austin said, stopping at the door to Amanda’s house.

“No,” Sam said.

Austin opened his mouth to argue, but just then, something flew out of the broken second-story window that belonged to Amanda.

“You filthy bastard! How dare you? Quit it!” Amanda screamed. At least she was still alive. A hideously mangled stuffed animal landed on the lawn.

“Oh… she’s going to be pissed…” Austin shouldered the door open.

“You son of a bitch, you’re going to pay for that, you prick!” Amanda screamed.

The demon hissed, clearly pleased that he’d found a way of torture that didn’t involve actually endangering Amanda’s life.

Amanda would have been pleased, too, but damn it those were her stuffed animals! She was still reeling from the wounds, oxygen deprivation, and Nyquil. Her mind wouldn’t slow down and wouldn’t register. The monster’s words still echoed in her mind: The Crystal Sword of the Damned…The Sword of the Dark One… What was it in those words that made her struggle to remember something that seemed so important?

The demon seemed to note her lack of interest, dropped her favorite stuffed bunny, and pounced on her like a giant cat.

“Give me the Sword, now!” it screamed. When Amanda made no answer, the creature locked its clawed hands around her throat and began to tighten its grip, “Then I will remove it from your corpse!”

Amanda felt her skin burn. The fire alarm in the house went off, sending a high-pitched squeal through her thoughts. Damn, I should’ve taken the kettle off…

…No, wait, that was the clone squealing. Fire began to eat away at its pseudo-human flesh. Through the smoke, Amanda made out the form of Austin grappling with the demon, prying it away from her, and burning it in the process. And Sam was right beside her, wrenching the claws away from her neck. Austin threw the demon toward the shattered window, trying to get it out of Amanda’s room.

“Careful,” Amanda rasped through a tortured throat and split lips.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“What is that thing?” Sam whispered in her ear.

“A demon,” Austin answered, not taking his eyes off of the twisted form that was beginning to swell and shed its charred human flesh by the windowsill.

“Huh? Like…From Hell or something?” Sam asked.

“Uhh, close,” Amanda said, trying to gauge the depth of Sam's belief in Christianity.

“But not really,” Austin added.

“Yeah, it’s got to do with this princess, and a Crest, and…”

“Oh, Amanda, don’t try to explain it to him, now.”

“What? I was trying to give the poor boy a clue,” Amanda said.

“He doesn’t need a clue,” Austin said.

“Gee, someone sounds a little cranky,” Amanda said.

“Me? I’m not the one who almost got choked to death by a demon!”

“Or side-swiped by a Four-runner,” Sam said, darkly.

“Don’t get smart, Geek boy,” Austin growled.

“Now, boys, don’t fight…” Amanda said.

“ENOUGH!! VILE HUMANS! I SHALL SILENCE YOU WITH MY WRATH!” the demon screamed.

“Uh oh, someone else needs a nap, too,” Amanda said.

“That’s a cocky attitude for someone who was as sick as a dog an hour ago,” Austin snapped.

“It’s the Nyquil, okay? And get off Sam’s back, he’s only trying to help,” Amanda said.

“Why are you taking up for him, all of a sudden? You have a crush on him?” Austin said, deliberately trying to embarrass her in front of Sam.

“I do NOT!” she shouted.

“Amanda and Sam sitting in a tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”

“Shut-up!”

“Uhh...Guys?” Sam said.

“First comes love….”

“I’m going to beat the holy hell out of you if you don’t shut-up!” Amanda threatened.

“Guys?” Sam said.

“Then comes marriage….”

“That tears it!” Amanda said, pushing up her sleeves.

“GUYS, WATCH OUT!” Too late.

The demon came barreling at them with enough speed to crack bones. Sam jumped to one side, while Austin was run straight into a wall and Amanda found herself sailing through the open door of the adjacent bathroom. Austin was too stunned to fight back against the creature that latched to his chest and began draining the life out of him. Sam grabbed the first heavy object he could find to throw at it: Amanda’s TV.

CRASH!

“You’re messing up my room, damn it! Cut it out!” Amanda shouted, running in from the bathroom. She carried an odd looking bottle, opened it and poured it all over the creature. “Die, you malignant bastard! Feel the wrath of beauty products!” There was no reaction. The scent of cucumbers and chemicals filled Sam’s nostrils. The creature released its vampire grip on Austin and rolled itself into a ball, which somersaulted backward onto Amanda’s couch below the window.

The creature expanded into its full length and stood, head bashing into Amanda’s ceiling. It’s ferocious eyes raked across his three opponents and finally settled on Amanda. It shrieked and began to lunge in her direction. Sam jumped in front of her, but the creature had been counting on that. As a matter of fact, Amanda realized that it had been baiting Sam to land there.

The demon, no longer bearing any resemblance to Amanda (At least Amanda hoped not!), extended one long arm to Amanda’s computer console as it continued to move forward. The giant hand closed around the monitor and, swiping it as though it were a stone, cracked the monitor on the side of Sam’s head. The blow was well aimed and very powerful. Sam flew straight into a chest of drawers that Amanda had placed at the foot of her bed. He landed in a heap on the floor, the cheap monitor resting on his head, with bits of the glass screen lying all around. Sam lay very still.

Somewhere in the back of her head Amanda acknowledged Sam as dead, but that didn’t really affect her. Not yet, anyway.

What mattered was making sure that this thing didn’t live to kill any more of her friends.