Sins of a Father

It has been said that evil is all around us. And the still quiet is scarier than obnoxious loud sounds. And apparently 3 am is the bewitching hour. And the darkness; well, the darkness will consume you.

Darren Swan had fell asleep on a regular work night after pounding back 6 cans of root beer and a handful of sweets. True crime was on in the back round seeping into his subconscious. The windows were open and the wind was whipping so hard the curtains were about to blow away.

Suddenly the wind stopped leaving the curtains sticking up in the air completely still. The television shutoff and a bright white light over took the room. The silence woke Darren up, but the moment he jumped up the light disappeared and the wind picked back up again while the tv turned back on. Darren looked around confused with a bewildered look on his face. The gruesome details on a murder made him squeamish so, he shut off the tv before trying to go back to sleep.

In the morning Darren got ready for work heading in the same time as usual for his shift. He is a stock worker in a retail store and he dragged his feet while doing his task for the day because he didn’t get much sleep last night. Darren didn’t think much of his unusual experience last night until it happened again. His manager asked him to go to the back to search for an item for a customer. It had almost felt as if time had stopped itself.

The lights in the back room blinked before they bursted. Electric sparks flew at his face and he screamed trying to cover his face from getting burned. Than the room went completely dark for a second. Darren looked around before the bright white light over took the room damn near blinding him. It was blurry but he seen a dark figure walking toward him.

He screamed in fear while trying to get a better glimpse of what was coming after him. Unfortunately, it just looked like he was trying to see under water. In defense he backed himself in the corner swinging his arms out in front of him. Darren continued to scream before the room turned back to normal in an instant. His manager was shaking him yelling his name to get him to calm down.

When he opened his eyes his manager and a few co workers were staring at him like he was crazy. Once he was able to move he ran out of work leaving all of his belongings behind not caring about the consequences leaving mid shift. Darren made it home slamming his door shut locking it in a panic. His phone rang scaring him. When he checked who it was it read UNKNOWN.

He debated whether to answer but than he pushed the green button and put it on speaker phone. He didn’t even say hello before a sound gargled out of the phone. It sounded slightly staticky and got louder and louder. A faint voice said ‘join me’ right before Darren threw his phone against the wall. It broke but it did not stop the phone from ringing again. It lit up saying UNKNOWN again.

Darren was so freaked out he went running to the one person on the planet he thought he would have never needed again. He knocked on a door and a man answered “well, looky here. To what do I owe this pleasure” he slurred.
“Hi, dad” he responded.
“DAD. WOW. That’s a big word. What happened to Richard” he asked?
“Come on. Don’t be a dick. I need to talk” Darren admitted.
Richard stumbles back into the house.
“Well, come in then” he said.

Darren sat in the living room waiting for his dad to come back. He picked up a picture of his mom admiring it. Richard walks in losing his balance falling back onto his chair. He cracked open a beer. Richard says something crude and Darren put the picture down.
“Look, I know you still blame me for her death but I need your help. Something is happening to me. I think I might be going crazy”.

His father sips his beer.
“I don’t blame you son. I blame myself”.
There was an awkward silence.
“Have you ever witnessed something strange” Darren asked?
Richard finishes the rest of his beer and crushes the can. He walked over to the window. A huge rain cloud darkened outside and it began to pour. Richard took a second than reluctantly told him a story.

“When I was in high school. I was in a metal band. The lead singer was into some pretty dark shit and he was obsessed with becoming the next big thing in music”.
Richard turned around and faced Darren.
“And he would do anything to become famous. So, we conjured a demon one night and sold our souls”.

Darren couldn’t believe what his father was saying.
“I know your not serious.”
Richard looks ashamed “the night before your mother died I had a dream. The demon came to me and said that he was time to cash in his payment”.
Darren jumps up feeling like his father is making a mockery of his mothers death “this is bullshit” he shouted.
“Oh, yeah. What did the doctors say she died from huh? They couldn’t find a reason how”.
“Her heart stopped” Darren added.
“From fright” Richard yelled wanting his son to believe him.

Darren heard enough and was on his way out the door.
“Is it really that hard to believe son. You came here for a reason.”
Darrens hand was on the door knob when his fathers words had stopped him from leaving.
“Obviously, you saw something that scared you” he said.
Richard sits back down on his chair “tell me what happened”.
Thunder claps, lightning brightens up the room and Darren decides to explain what he experienced.

Richard seems afraid. Afraid because after hearing his son story he doesn’t believe that this demon is done with him. He thought his wife was the only price he had to pay. Darren still is not on board with this whole story.
“But I’m still confused. You didn’t even end up becoming a famous musician.”
Richard looks at his son regretfully “because that wasn’t what I asked for. I still became successful with SWAN ENTERPRISE”.
Darren turns away because it hurts too much to look at his father.
“How could you agree to sell your soul offering up your family’s blood” he asked outraged?
Richard can understand his anger but it offended him that he would ever purposely but his family in danger.

Richard gets up with rage and stands above him pointing his finger at him like he was a child.
“Now, listen. I have beat myself up enough since your mother died and I will not let you judge me like that in my house.”
Darrens body language falls into himself feeling embarrassed for raising his voice painting his father as some kind of villain. Even if he felt he was warranted to. Richard continued to rattle on.
“It’s not like conjuring up a fucking demon and selling your soul came with any instructions. There were no terms. I was young and dumb. I didn’t even really believe that what we did was even real.”
Darren wanted to apologize but then the lights went out.

Suddenly, the sound of rain just stopped instantly. The only light was from a lightening strike that drew Darrens attention to look out the window. It had appeared like something hit pause on the world. You can see the rain like it was still coming down in the middle of the air and the lightning in the sky looked like it was ripping the earth apart. Chilling snarls came from a dark corner startling them. A dark shadow of an entity moves gauntly from corner to corner toying with them.
Richard grabs a huge cross he had hanging on his wall thinking it would keep them safe. He reaches it out in front of him with conviction.
“STAY AWAY FROM MY SON” he demanded.
The demons conniving laugh unnerves Richard leaving him unconfident.
“WHAT DO YOU WANT” he shouts?
A blue scaly arm with long claws slowly appears out of the darkness. It does this slow motion turning its hand and at the same time the cross begins to move.

Richard yells in pain as his arm is twisting with the cross. Darren is stuck in fear still standing at the window watching his father scream in agony until his arm finally twists all the way around hearing his shoulder break. Richard finally drops the cross and he falls to the floor.
“DAD” he screams.
Darren wants to run over to him but he stopped when the demon pops his face out of the darkness scaring him. The demon is completely blue with scales all over. The demons eyes was dark with emptiness.
“Join me” it said.
Without even moving himself the darkness began closing in on Darren and the demon was getting closer to grabbing him. Then boom a bright white light burst through the room like an atomic bomb. Throwing the demon back and Darren hit the ground. This time the figure that was coming towards him in the light is completely visible now.
“Mom” he said.
She had wings. She was an angel. She turned around.
“Sweet heart, I don’t have much time. The demon will strike again. I can only keep you safe for so long. Your father has to…” her and the light was swept away before she could finish her sentence.

The thunder storm continued and the lights came back on. Darren was in shock after seeing his mother. Then Richard groaned and Darren came out of shock to check on him. He picked his dad up and took him to the hospital. Richard’s entire shoulder blade was ripped out of the socket.
Darren was sitting by his bedside while his father was knocked out on sedatives.
“I need you to open your eyes dad. I need to talk to you. It was mom. I saw her right in front of my eyes”.
He took a moment to contemplate.
“It was always mom” he realized.
The doctor walked in.
“Sorry, Mr. Swan. We have some follow up questions. Can you follow me”?
Darren agrees. He takes another look at his dad before he left with the doctor. Richard opened his eyes. He heard everything his son said. He struggled but managed to get up from his bed and walked to the chapel in the hospital.

Richard walked over to the alter and lit a prayer candle praying for answers. A priest walked in.
“You looking for some guidance, son” he asked?
He thought that was quick. Richard winces in pain and sits down on the pew.
“Father, I sinned” he admitted.
“Oh” he answered and sat down next to him.
“Do you believe in demons Father” Richard asked?
“In what sense are we talking”?
“The real sense”.
The priest took a moment before he spoke.
“I believe in all evil. What is torturing you”?
“I sold my soul and it already cost me my wife. Now it is after my son. How do I stop it” Richard asked?
“Wow, this is a lot. I would say that it can’t be stopped. A deal with a demon is usually binding”.

Richard looks defeated and the priest notices that he is desperate and would do anything to save his son.
“However, I would never suggest this because it goes against everything I believe in. But…there might be one way. If you sacrifice your life for his”.
Richard begins to say “by like…” he stops not wanting to say it out loud in the chapel.
They stare at each other both talking with their eyes.
“But that’s a sin” Richard says.
The priest nods “it is. It is up to you whether your sacrifice is worth it for your son” he says before he leaves him with his thoughts.

While he is sitting there contemplating the darkness over takes the hospital. All the candles are blown out.
Richard stands up “NO” he screams.
There was no doubt in his mind at this point. He was going to save Darren.
“You’re not taking my son too”.
He breaks the stained glass window grabbing a sharp piece of glass and slits down his right and left wrist deep. After loosing so much blood he passes out falling onto the alter with both arms stretched out like Jesus on the cross.

During the time Richard the darkness took over Darren was at the front desk in the hallway talking to the doctor when all the people faded away and the darkness just swallowed Darren up. This time he couldn’t even see. There was no light whatsoever. He hears a growl in his ear and begins to run. He can’t see where to go and he runs into something that makes him stumble back.
He is out of breath and you can just hear the fear. The demon laughs. It sounds like it was coming in front of him so he began to walk backwards away. Then Darren is grabbed. The demon begins throwing him around like he is a rag doll. The demon is having fun playing with him.
Darren tries to get up from the floor but the demon scratches him and he screams painfully tries crawling away. There’s really not much fighting he can do if he can’t see. The demon is standing over top of him drooling can’t wait to take his life. Just when the demon was about to make his move. Poof the darkness and the demon disappeared.

The hospital lights came back on and Darren is on the ground still crawling. Everyone in the room looked at him strangely. He was being attacked by the demon. He had claw marks on his back. The doctor saw the blood.
“Oh, my god. Mr. Swan. What happened”?
Darren realized that he was still alive and was stricken with a bad feeling.
He stood up “MY DAD” he screamed while running to his room.
He swung open the door and seen that his bed was empty. The priest came in and quietly said “you might want to look in the chapel”.
Without question Darren took off down the hall. While the priest watched him his eyes went pitch black like how the demons eyes were.
Darren bursted through the chapel doors and he seen Richard.
“Dad, no” he said running up to his body.
The doctor followed him in and seen the disturbing scene. He screamed “we need help in here”.
Darren was upset but in his heart he knew that he did this to save his life.

Richard found himself in a place with nothing but white clouds surrounding him. In the distance he sees a figure walking toward him. When it got closer he recognized it was his wife.
“Joyce” he said lovingly.
She smiled “Richard” she said back.
He stuttered “I-I-I’m so so sorry” he apologized.
“I know honey”.
“Is this heaven” he asked?
Joyce nodded her head.
“I don’t belong here do I” he said.
She shook her head no.
“I know it was a hard decision to take your life but you did it to save our son and for that I wanted to thank you. And to get the good bye we never had”.
A tear fell from his eye.
“I needed you to know that I’m not mad at you and I want you to stop blaming yourself because I forgive you”.
She leans over and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

I love you is the last thing he heard her say before he was ripped down to hell. It was steaming hot and all he could hear were screams of agony from all the tortured souls. In front of him was the demon. He put his arm out “join me” he said. Richard was so shell shocked from the dramatic emotional change it took him a minute to for his new reality to sink in. Once he realized were he was he let out the first of many screams he would yell for the rest of his damnation.