The Demons for Me

The Demons for Me

By:

J.R. Hodgson

"Twelve more hours and I'm a free man." John Stewart thought to himself while sitting in his hot, dry, dark prison cell in Phoenix, Arizona.

John was a skinny man, but very cut. Standing at six foot, he never really had a lot of trouble with people. Until about four years ago when he raped a woman in the outskirts of Phoenix. Today as he sat in his prison cell, he counted down the hours, minutes, and seconds until his very long anticipated release from prison.

John was out on a appeal, just happened he had evidence that showed date rape, his lawyers presented a case that they were drunk, they had sex. The net morning she didn't like what happened, she felt raped.

He lay on a hard mattress of a stone bed. All he could see is a toilet, and a few pictures on his wall, a collage of photos of the ones he loved, well, mostly his girlfriend Sandy.

"Lights out!" A voice screamed from the bottom of the tier, all the cell doors clinch and latch themselves to the bind between incarceration and freedom.

"How can I sleep when I know I'm getting out tomorrow?" He thought to himself.
None the less, he pulled his wool blanket over his warn body and head, took a few deep breaths and fell asleep.

No longer it seemed that he got his eyes closed he heard the sound of guards below. "Get up, ...Morning angels, ...Get your butts out of the rack and let’s get chow." One guard commanded. "Prisoner 24246, Stewart, John. Hold fast."

John stood there with his sleeping gear in hand. "You gettin out today huh, sweetie?"
John didn’t speak a word out of fear of reprimand.
The guard said again "You'll be back."
Giving John a cocky smirk, then pushing him in an almost endless line for his breakfast.

After John ate he went into out processing, he was so excited about his parole. He could hardly contain himself; he just sat there with a small clue of a smile, "Everything they tell me" he thought to himself, "I wont have to listen anymore." This thought made him more content, he took a deep breathe, held it for a moment, "Very soon," he thought.

Outside of the Prison waited his mom and girlfriend. John took his first free step outside that prison, on the dirty pavement, his first step of freedom. He filled his lungs with as much air as he could, his first breath of freedom.

"Hey baby." His girlfriend Sandy said excited, she stood with him the entire time, was the driving force in trying to get an appeal. She believed he didn’t do anything. His mom still inside the car gives a crack of a smile, then back to serious.

"Hi, mama." He told her.

"Get in, it’s hot out there." She barked with an upset tone, she gave him a nasty gaze and motioned with her head to get in.

"Yes, mama." He said cowardly. He and Sandy got into the back. Sandy was so excited and was all over John, kissing and hugging the one she love, and the one she could only talk too, for the past 4 years.

"Let’s go home, mama."


***********************************


Later that night at about 2 in the morning, John woke up abruptly after a short dream. Stumbled to his feet and stepped into the kitchen for a drink of juice. He bared down slowly, as to not creek the wooden floor of his mother old run down home.
He opened the fridge deliberately, but the fridge let out a slight belt. He quickly grabbed some juice and shut the door.

"What are you doing, John?" A mans deep voice asked.

"Who are you?" John asked the man. He was talking in the direction, but, couldn’t yet see him.

"I am the key to your sanity." The voice said. "See within the next 24 hours, you will either rehabilitate or live a life of incarceration."

"Now you’re talkin my slang." John said
"I just did a stint in lock up, I’m already rehabilitated. That’s what the state says." He said jokingly.

"You don’t understand." The man came closer now. He was a sleek man in a pinstripe suit; he had black, slick back hair and a very pointy face. "Tomorrow, your girlfriend will be raped, and you will do nothing about it."

"Wait...Wait one G** damn minute, how did you get in here? Who are you?" John concerned, stepped to the man, puffing his chest out.

"I told you I am your key to sanity."

"I’m plenty sane, you better get out before I kill you, my man." John reached into the drawer and nabbed a knife.


"Who are you talking to?" Asked Sandy standing in the doorway in her pink panties.
John stood in his underwear himself, holding his knife, he said, "No one baby, just get into bed now, I'll be there in a bit."

She walked away. As her shadow faded into one of the rooms, John then again asked, "Who are you? Why are you here...Answer me now." He was now talking to nothing, to the darkness that he met a few minutes before. John drank his juice and retired back to the room.

"What’s wrong baby?" Sandy asked

"Nothin baby, just go to sleep." He replied



**************************************


The next day, John and Sandy went down to the park alone, they were going to have a special day together, the first in years. They had a picnic, with some wine, and they sat around just talking. There was still an unpleasant undertone for John. He kept repeating in the back of his head what the man had told him the night before.

"I need to go..." Sandy hesitated. "Tinkle"

"OK baby, I'll be here when you get back." He replied.

As she walked away, John kept on thinking about what the man said. He thought about it over and over.

And over.

And..."Wait its been a while" he thinks. "She should be back by now. Hang on where the hell is she?"

John, who's nervous now, bursted up to have a peek around. He looked in the direction of the toilets. No sign of her. He rushed to the bathrooms. "Fast, very fast" he thought. "It’s happening." He got to the bathroom door, stopped. Out of breath, sweat now tickled his nose and lips. Looked down to see his beloved girlfriend. Kneeling at the foot of a man in a pinstripe suit, and slick back, black hair. She was petting his dog.

"Isn’t he sooo pretty, honey?" She said, nodding her head at the dog, not taking her hand off the dogs’ thick fur. She gave the man a smile.

John grabbed her arm and gave the man a glance. The man in return thanked Johns' girlfriend and gave John a big condescending smile. "Let’s get out of here." John told Sandy.
"Why, I was just playin with that nice man's dog." She fired back.

"That man wanted to hurt you, let’s go." He said to her again.

"No he didn’t, that mans dog just wanted to play."

"We're going home." John walked her all the way to the car by her arm, escorted her inside and slammed the car door.

When they arrived at home, John saw that his mother was gone, but, more disturbing, the house had been broken into. John told Sandy to wait inside the car. But, she didn’t pay any attention, trotting right inside the house. A man wearing a ski mask threw a bag over her head, another grabs John and threw a bag over his head. They drug them both inside, and closed the door behind them. After a short struggle, they released the bags and tied down Sandy while the other held John.

Out from the kitchen walked a man in a pinstripe suit and black, slick back hair. Holding a knife to John’s throat, he said, "I want you to watch this, John Stewart."


The man then took Sandy by the hair, ripping her clothes off, he held the knife to her throat and began taking his pants down. Sandy gave out a loud shriek. The man hit her about the head knocking her out. The man then began to penatrate her.


As soon as it all started, John being outraged began to throw around his fists and feet, whaling around like a dying fish. In his furry John managed to hit the man in the face, releasing himself. John then ran over to Sandy. By this time the man in the pinstripe suit had slit Sandy's throat.

"You son of a bitch." John bellowed as he thrust himself on the man. Kneeing him in the back, John knocked the knife out of his hand, picked it up, and in one good swoop, slit the mans throat. He held the man's head for a moment, marveling in his conquest, and let it go.

John looked back to the man that apprehended him, he was gone, apparently scared, he ran off. John still enraged stabbed the man 14 more times. He dropped the knife and held his girlfriend in his arms, still bleeding. Now soaking his own cloths. John gave a cry like none other.


********************************************


"Lets go ladies, get up, lets get some chow." A guard’s voice rang out from a tier below

John Stewart woke up from another hard night, dreaming yet again about the crime that put him away for life.

The day he caught his girlfriend Sandy and her lover, a very wealthy banker, having sex in their house. He slit the both of their throats. And stabbed the man 14 times.

He was haunted by this dream night after night. Knowing he will never feel freedom, breath freedom.

John made his way down to the kitchen of the prison he was in, all the time thinking to himself.

"I guess, that man was the key to my incarceration."

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