Tory and I moved in on Jasmine, who saw us approaching and started to run. We chased her all through the south side of the city, racing past a basketball court, a liquor store, a laundromat, and even a graveyard until she entered the library building while giggling with uncanny excitement.
We pursued her down the stairs leading to the bottom floor, where she swiftly avoided our attempts to corner and capture her by navigating through the different sections of bookcases and dashing past multiple tables with computers stationed on top of them. Many startled visitors and confused librarians looked on as security joined the chase in a strong effort to apprehend us. Thankfully, we followed Jasmine out of the building and into an outside parking lot across the street before we were caught.
“She’s too damn fast,” I acknowledged with heavy breaths. “Can’t you use that speed power to catch her?”
“I don’t know, bro. That was by complete luck when that happened yesterday. I still don’t know how all this stuff works.”
I grumbled until the game of cat-and-mouse resumed. Jasmine mocked us with laughter before running inside an apartment building for older folks. We entered and saw her sitting on the hallway staircase with a smile, waving her hand in a ‘hello’ motion.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Tory asked her.
Jasmine stood up and happily replied, “Catch me if you can.”
And just like that, she zipped up the stairs faster than I could blink. We climbed to the upper floors until we saw her standing in front of a window, her body swaying side to side with her hands behind her back.
“Jasmine, chill out and talk to us,” I pleaded. “Whatever is goin’ on is turnin’ you into somethin’ you’re not.”
She giggled before it happened: she leaped out of the window with no hesitation. Tory and I were so stunned, it took us a few seconds before we moved and looked out of the window.
She was gone. Completely gone. Only the shattered glass that had fallen to the ground below was evidence of her departure. There was nothing Tory nor I could do to find her now.
“Bro…what the hell just happened?” he questioned while leaning against an apartment door.
I looked at him to answer and saw waves of dark energy circulating underneath the door. “Bro, watch out.”
After he stepped aside, we both stared at the dark aura leaking through the cracks of the apartment door. Something evil was on the other side.
“Whoa, so this is what you were talkin’ ‘bout,” Tory murmured, taken aback by the darkness. “What’s goin’ on in there?”
“I don’t know. Someone might be possessed like the old guy at the supercenter. We gotta get in there and help.”
I knocked on the door a couple of times but didn’t get a response. Seeing the darkness pour out more, I wasn’t about to give up, and neither was Tory, who came up with a reckless but effective idea.
“Aight, now watch this. Ain’t nobody else in the world who could pull this off.”
He backed up and created a fireball in his hand before launching it toward the doorknob. The lock melted away, allowing him to open the door after a strong push.
“Bro, this is literally breakin’ and enterin’. You know that, right?”
“Don’t worry, I got us. All I gotta do is master the speed ability before the cops show up and we good. Cheat codes, baby.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, bro. C’mon, let’s go.”
Inside was a dark mist that would have turned the apartment pitch-black had the sun not been beaming through the curtains of the living room. Further in the floral decorated space was an elderly black woman in a wheelchair, who sat directly in front of an older model TV.
“I was not expecting visitors,” she said, her eyes glued to the black and white show being aired. “Welcome to my world.”
The purple aura swept over my feet and magically changed my Jordans into an old pair of brown leather shoes. The dark energy then shrouded more of my body, transforming the rest of my attire into a plaid vest and corduroys.
“What the hell?” Tory exclaimed at the sight of his own clothing now changed. His tracksuit was altered into overalls with his sneakers replaced with boots.
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The bizarre scenario formed a solid accusation in my head. “Tory, it’s her. She’s the one changin’ current media and trends into vintage stuff and older content.”
My claim led to her finally facing us. The Shadow came out of hiding and placed its claws on the rear handles of the wheelchair. The demon’s position was like symbolism of its control over the woman.
“You are correct, young man. The filth you consume today do nothing but force agendas down the audiences’ throats. Your media lacks an authentic moral compass, but your generation is too blinded and influenced to understand. I will replace your rubbish with quality gems—entertainment that is much more wholesome and honest.”
“Okay, boomer,” Tory took a shot. “You gotta move on and accept change. Like, for real. Your obsession with the past is toxic and creatin’ bad energy. Literally.”
She simpered. “Oh dear. I should have expected this response. The awful media of today raised disrespectful, heartless teenagers like yourself. Perhaps it is time to be disciplined the right way.”
The aura now covered the entire room, swapping all color in the area with a sepia palette. A gust of ominous wind from seemingly nowhere circulated before a pack of shadowy, werewolf-like creatures appeared out of the dark corners of the room.
“I will make our world great again,” she declared as I gulped from the presence of her ghastly beasts.
One of the demons viciously launched itself at us, but I stepped out of the way and avoided its tearing strike. Digging into the pockets of my attire, the dreadful apprehension overtaking my mind worsened after realizing something was missing.
“Damn. Tory, our phones don’t exist in her world. I’m useless.”
Tory, panicking while being circled by three other demons, stuttered his reply. “I-I got us, bro. I-I can do this.”
Forcing his fears aside, he activated his ability and started using karate moves from a character in a fighting video game. His moves were strong and agile, giving him the power to fight against the demons and prevent them from ripping me to shreds. He even incorporated another video game character in his arsenal by jumping in the air and stomping on a demon’s head after it lunged at him. The landing flattened the creature’s murky body before it reconstructed itself back to normal.
And that was the problem: these things were invincible. Tory could hold them back well enough, but he couldn’t do any real damage, and the elderly woman must’ve taken notice of our predicament because she started to spout her master plain in a demonic voice before the war was even won.
Typical villain crap.
“I will destroy this current era of media, starting with television. The needless reboots, the pointless remakes, all of it. There is no originality, no discovery. You whiny brats get everything handed to you and choose what you want. You will never experience the joy and wonder of flicking through channels and investing into a show after catching it in the middle of the episode.”
Okay, I would call this woman psycho if it weren’t for the Shadow amplifying her thoughts and emotions. Since we’re on the topic of TV, this level of demonic possession was far scarier than any horror movie I’d ever seen. Stuff like this should not be real.
“Why do you children even care, anyway?” she shouted over the howling winds now storming through the window. The whole apartment even began to shake with shelves falling and house items flying in the air. “Boys and girls your age don’t watch TV. You don’t even go outside and play real games because you’re all addicted to your computers and screaming services.”
“It’s streaming,” Tory hollered to correct her after pushing back a demon attacking us. “Streaming, you crazy old lady.”
“Look, you need to fight your demons and make peace with yourself on this matter,” I said to her. “Older people like you talk about our generation being influenced and addicted to technology, but maybe if reality wasn’t so hard and depressing, we wouldn’t have to be. We do it to escape the world that past generations created. Your generation. Blame yourself for how things are and accept the facts of life.”
My conviction seemed to have caused a disturbance to the Shadow’s manipulation, because it started to freak out with bizarre contortions of its body. The other demons vanished into thin air, and I couldn’t help but to think that their disappearance was due to the Shadow losing power over the woman.
“Tory, hit the Shadow. It’s weakened.”
“Bro, say less.”
With speed and strength, he delivered a straight punch to the Shadow’s gnarly face, knocking it off balance. The woman’s screech shifted from a demented tone to a humane voice as the television screen flashed between black and white to color.
After her piercing cry, the woman passed out in the wheelchair with both the room and our clothes returned to normal. The Shadow reformed the structure of its body but fled the scene in black smoke. Somehow, someway, we survived an encounter with literal demons.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said to Tory.
We walked out and took a breather in the hallway. Tory was drained, and so was I, even if I didn’t contribute to the actual fight.
“Man, that was insane,” he uttered with an exhausted smile. “I don’t get it, though. If these demons can make anyone’s wish come true, why didn’t the old lady want to be young again or somethin’? That would be a better and more logical desire to me.”
I leaned against the guardrail of the stairs and answered, “’Cause it wasn’t what she truly wanted. Think about it, bro. No one knows about these Shadows and what they can do, so people are not going to be wishing for an over-the-top desire they believe will never happen. That woman probably came to peace with her age a long time ago. All she needed in her last days was the comfort of familiarity, which is possible in a normal sense.”
“Right. I got’chu.” He took a deep breath and started walking down the stairs. “On the real, you were good with your words back there. You could probably stop demons with a long ass speech of positivity.”
I followed behind, saying, “Nah, but it would be crazy if someone was out there doin’ that. I can’t picture it, though.”
“Me neither. But whatever, let’s go get’cha girl and deal with Jasmine.”
I chuckled as we walked out of the apartment building, but what we were getting into was no laughing matter. This Jasmine situation was so intense and mysterious that at any moment it could become life or death.
We were not ready to make that choice.