Chapter 4
CRISSA
“Is it…moving?” Lying on my bed, I stared up at the popcorn ceiling.
There was no other explanation for what I was seeing as I lay there, watching the textured ceiling swirl around like little individual pebbles jumbling over one another, mingling together across the ceiling.
“It must be.” I raised my hands and swayed them around, pretending to touch them.
“Or are you fucking with my mind again?”
You can’t tell what I'm doing to you or what’s of your own volition can you?
Zeth chuckled, his eerie laugh echoing in my mind.
Always so fun, dear Crissa.
I groaned. “Why do I feel like I’m going to have to ask myself that question all the time now?
” The demon laughed again and I sighed. “You need to get a grip, Crissa.” My spine stiffened as I sat up straight in bed.
I could still hear Zeth’s sadistic laugh rolling around in my skull.
“Ugh! What the fuck?” I whined, pulling at the hair on the sides of my head until I was sure my scalp would bleed.
But the laughing didn’t stop. I then reached for the pillow behind me, slammed my face into it, and screamed until my throat burned.
Behaving like a brat won’t silence me, human. Only bloodthirsty vengeance will.
My head raised. “It’s not my fault they haven’t returned to the pizzeria since that night,” I snapped. Zeth hissed. “You know, you’re perfectly capable of taking control and handling this all by yourself. You don’t even need me.”
Oh, but I do. I cannot physically do anything with your body as my vessel. And the only way I can seek them out, is if you give me full control…which you still refuse to do.
Clutching the pillow, I stood and walked over to my vanity.
In the reflection, staring back at me was a face, one almost identical to mine, only much more horrific with blacked-out eyes, sharp teeth, and an aura of evil seeping from it.
“You know, for an all-powerful demon,” I addressed Zeth, “you sure can’t seem to do much of anything on your own.
” His smile slowly fell. “And I’m not giving you full control. ”
He glared back at me. “I am more powerful than you can imagine, human. But there are rules attached to my services that keep me restrained.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Give me control, even just for a night, and I will ensure you taste every bit of their pain.”
My eyes fell as I settled on the reality of my situation. And for a split second, I almost regretted my deal with the demon who possessed me.
Zeth growled and my gaze returned to my altered reflection. “Cris-s-a,” he hissed. “There is no room for regret between us.” His smile stretched and raised to the point that the corners of his mouth were nearly ripping. “Let. Me. Out.”
Without thought, I threw the pillow I held at the demonic reflection in the mirror, knocking a bunch of random shit over. Zeth only laughed and the lights in my bedroom flickered.
“Oh how I love to see you struggle. It makes this whole arrangement so much more enjoyable for me.” The demon continued his taunts, the volume of his sadistic laughing and cackling growing as I clasped my ears.
His laughter pierced my eardrums and tortured me to the point that blood seeped from within them as tears rolled down my face.
“Stop it,” I cried. He didn’t listen. Instead, the room began to spin and shift. “Stop it!”
“Let me out to play, Cris-sa!”
My nails dug into my flesh as I clawed at my ears to block his voice out.
It felt endless, going on for what felt like an eternity until suddenly, the lights returned to normal and the room stopped doing backflips.
The sound of Zeth’s voice had waned, for now, and I felt an immense sense of relief.
“Finally,” I breathed, daring to look at my reflection.
The blood from my ears had left small streams down the side of my face and neck.
I frantically wiped it away, drying my eyes when they drifted to the clock.
“Oh shit!” Time had truly flown, and if I didn’t hurry, I was going to be late for my shift at Big Top.
“Fucking Zeth…I haven’t been late in the whole year I’ve been working at that pizzeria, and now, I’m going to be late for the third time this week,” I grumbled under my breath. I shuffled to gather my clown uniform, setting it on my bed before I returned to my vanity.
Zeth spoke to me while I dumped my work makeup across the surface. “Is there a reason you constantly perform this ritual of hiding your face?” he asked.
I smoothed the white grease paint over my face, smothering my pores. “It’s part of my job. You’ve seen the pizzeria. The servers dress up in costumes and paint our faces to look like clowns.”
“But why?”
I shrugged, dipping my makeup brush into the colored face paint before raising it to my cheek. “Tawny, my boss, says it's to enrich the Big Top customer experience.”
“And do we like this…Tawny?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. I just stared at my demonic reflection, realizing I’d just painted a blue swirl over my eye. Much like the one used the night I summoned Zeth. Seeing it made my stomach tighten. “You know, it’s kind of hard to do this with your face staring back at me.”
Zeth grimaced. “I’ll leave you for now, but I will remain in the shadows of your heart, watching for my opportunity to present itself.
” And just like that, I felt the absence of his dark heaviness.
I blinked and my reflection returned to normal.
It was my face, my mouth and teeth, and my eyes.
But, the more I looked, I noticed there was something else…
I leaned forward and noticed a sharpness to my gaze. One that had never been there before. “Is this from…Zeth? Or—” I shook my head and shrugged it off as nothing, focusing on my face paint before getting dressed for work.
Despite washing it countless times, my clean uniform bore a faint brownish-colored stain from the soft drinks I lost control of the other day at work.
According to Tawny, it wasn’t bad enough to warrant a replacement uniform.
Which sucked. Aside from the constant smell of greasy cheese, it now reeked of cherry cola.
I sighed, staring at myself in the mirror.
“I guess the ol’ cherry cola disaster of 1986 is here to stay. ”
I wonder if Sybil had this much trouble getting the soda out of her clothes too.
Since that disastrous day, the group hadn’t come back to the pizzeria.
And Lavender had apparently been intentionally working opposite shifts of me.
“Figures,” I scoffed. “Really makes getting even hard when the ones you’re trying to fuck with are avoiding you.
” But not for long. Payday was coming up, which meant Lavender and her little goon squad were bound to show up eventually. I just needed to be patient.
I stared at my reflection, hating everything about my uniform. “I look like a sad clown.”
Sad or not, there are many humans who find clowns absolutely terrifying.
I grimaced at Zeth’s voice in my head. “There’s nothing scary about clowns.”
Oh, I dare to disagree. And I would be more than happy to prove you wrong…if you’d give me control.
“Not today, demon.”
Weeknight shifts at Big Top Pizzeria were pretty status quo. Typically, we’d have little to no parties or large groups. There would be a small lunch, then a dinner rush, but overall, it was never that busy. Which meant I had more free time to spend with my little friends.
Plopping down on the curb outside the pizzeria, I reached out and picked a rat up.
“I got something for you,” I whispered while pulling a handful of crumbs from my pocket.
The rat squeaked and gobbled the crust pieces up.
“You wouldn’t believe the week I’ve had.
” The rat listened to my story, eating while I stroked its little head.
“Hey, Crissa!” Tawny’s voice shot from the back door. “I got to make a call real quick and need you back inside.”
My body flung from the curb, my hands clasped around the rat. “O-okay!” I kept my back to her.
“Now, kid!”
Fuck.
My body straightened and I slid the rat into my pocket. “Just hang on. I’ll let you go as soon as I can. I just can’t have her seeing you,” I whispered down to it.
If Tawny finds out we have rats, she’ll burn the whole damn mall down.
My palm gently pressed against the pocket, feeling the warmth of the rat’s body, and I turned around to face my boss.
“You good?” she asked. I raised my hand and gave her a thumbs up.
“Alright then, move it!” She waved me on and I quickly rushed past her.
“I need you to cover the section over there.” She pointed.
“Just greet the tables I sat, take their orders, and I’ll jump in as soon as I can.
Oh—and we’re out of rootbeer.” I nodded and put my work smile on.
The rat wriggled around in my pocket. “You’ve got to quit moving around in there!
” I gently tapped my costume pocket. “I know it stinks, but I’ll let you out as soon as I can!
” My focus jumped to the table before me, now giving me odd looks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Big Top Pizzeria, where everyone can run away from daily life and live out their wildest fantasies! What can I start you all off with?” The rat squeaked and a rush of fear hit my back.
“Stop it,” I whispered loudly through my smile while tapping my pocket.
The customers made concerned faces. I knew whisper-shouting towards my pocket would draw attention eventually, but I wasn’t able to let the rat out until they gave me their order.
Ugh, just hurry up.
The giant, fake smile plastered across my face strained while I waited for the family to order.