Chapter 5: Suspicion and Disappointment

“Your parents and my parents were close friends for most of their lives,” she said. “When I was a baby, my parents died in some kind of accident. As close friends, your parents took me in. But soon after, they died too, and you disappeared.”

“The people who raised me died too,” he said, “as far as I know, no one knows what happened or what they even died from.”

“That confirms my suspicions,” she said. “I’m sure these weren’t accidents.”

“You’re right. There’s no way that this could be an accident! But where does Bobby fit into this?”

“As I said, He’s your servant. He has served your family for thousands of years. And he took care of and protected me since your parents died.”

“You said he was a magic creature related to a goblin,” he said. “I’ve heard of goblins but not anything related to them.”

“Well, they’re more like demons,” she admitted. “Lesser demons anyway.”

“Demons!” he exclaimed hysterically. “You want me to trust a demon!?”

“It’s not what you think. Let me explain.”

“Okay, explain!”

“Just over five hundred years after the birth of Wessillious, there was a great war between the demons. Some demons wanted to eradicate the lesser demons, While others wanted to keep their servants. Because they were facing extinction, the lesser demons approached Wessillious to make a deal. Seeing an opportunity to eliminate the threat of demons, including lesser demons, Wessillious entered negotiations with them. After three days, they finally struck a deal. The Wessier and lesser demons would combine their powers and eradicate all of the full demons. In exchange, the lesser demons pledged their allegiance to the Wessier.”

“So, they were forced into servitude?” Wess asked.

“No,” she said, “It was their choice. It’s not even something for which Wessillious would have asked. The thing about lesser demons is, they are not evil. They were just the servants of demons. After more than ten thousand years of forced servitude, they didn’t know anything else.”

“So, why do we call them lesser demons?”

“Because,” she said, “only demons could pronounce their true name.”

“Why not just give them a new name?”

“They wouldn’t accept it,” she said,” the demons put a curse on the name. If you pronounce it wrong or try to change it, they all die along with the one who did it.”

“There has to be a way around that,” He said, “but what would be the point of trying? I mean, if everyone is happy with ‘lesser demon,’ I don’t see a point in changing it.”

“If it were as simple as that, then the demons wouldn’t have bothered cursing the name,” she said. “If you speak their name, you invoke their full power. In case you didn’t know, lesser demons are more powerful than the Wessier, even without their full power.”

“That sounds like another reason just to leave it alone,” Wess said.

“You’re probably right,” CJ said. “There’s no telling what someone might do with that kind of power.”

“So, why is Bobby going to teach us magic?” he asked.

“In our situation, he’s the only one we have to teach us,” she said, “but it’s also a tradition.”

“Does your family have a ‘lesser demon’?” he asked.

“We did,” she said, “but like I was saying, their only purpose is to serve their family. Without that, they see themselves as nothing. He had no way of knowing that I was still alive!”

“What do you mean?”

“Without a family, he didn’t feel like he had a reason to live.”

“So, you’re saying that...”

“Yes,” she interrupted, “that’s why your parents took me in. But we really should go to bed now. Good night.”

“Good night,” Wess said.

CJ walked to the door and closed it on the way out. Wess had to sit down. He went back to his study and sat on his chair. Of everything that he had learned these past few days, this was the most unbelievable and overwhelming. How could it be true? I don’t think she would lie to me, he thought. But this has to be some kind of prank. His brain was having trouble processing everything, and his mouth was getting dry. Then he felt a tug on his shirt sleeve. It was Art pushing a glass of water towards Wess. Thank you, Wess thought. You’re welcome, but you should get some sleep, Art thought back.

That reminded Wess of something he had found while looking for the doors. He walked back out to the storage part of the attic, picked up a box, and brought it back to the study. Wess opened the box and pulled out a small bed. It was the perfect size for art. He knew that art didn’t have to sleep, but he could complete with dreams if he wanted to. Art thanked him, and they said their goodnights. Wess was more tired than he thought. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. His dreams didn’t come right away, though. He knew that he was sleeping, but everything was just dark.

He was aware of the room around him, even though he couldn’t see it. He was aware of art still working in the next room. It was a little unsettling to be asleep without dreaming, but he suddenly realized this wasn’t the first time. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it happened when he felt overwhelmed. It was very relaxing and helped him to focus. If I could only feel this way while I’m awake, he thought as he started to slip into a dream.

He was the most powerful Wessier in the world. Everyone loved him and wanted to be around him. And no one tried to beat him up. They couldn’t; he was the most powerful Wessier in the world. Where’s CJ? he thought. I want to show her this new piece of magic that I just invented. Wess got up from his desk and walked out the door. Instead of being in the attic, however, he found himself in a public restroom. This restroom was extremely long. He could barely see the far wall, but he could tell that there was no door.

As he walked forward, he started pushing the stalls open. One at a time, he found them empty. Halfway down the row, he kicked the door, it swung open, but there was no toilet. There wasn’t even a back wall, and It was now a long dark hallway. He followed the hallway down to a large door. It looked like a cell door from an ancient dungeon. The door opened as he approached, then closed after he had entered. Despite the lit torches on the wall, it was dark in this room. Wess couldn’t see very far in any direction, but he seemed to know where he was going. When he got to the end, he finally found CJ.

She was sitting on the floor with her legs pulled up in front of her, leaning on the wall. For some reason, Wess knew that he should be surprised to find her here like this, but he wasn’t. Somehow, he found himself satisfied. He approached her to show her the magic that he had just invented. But the magic didn’t work. He decided to try again, but he forgot how or even what the spell was. He felt himself getting angry!

“What have you become?” CJ asked. “You’re not the Wess I know!”

Why would she say that? Wess looked at her again. He now saw that she was in chains fastened to the wall. What’s going on? He thought. He approached to try to free her, but instead of freeing her, he just stroked her hair like a pet. She jumped and moved away as far as the chains would let her. As soon as she moved, Wess noticed that all she had on was a t-shirt and panties. He jumped toward her, grabbed her by the throat, and started to pick her up. “Why am I doing this?” he said. Wess didn’t want to hurt CJ. He had to stop!

He tried with all his might, but he couldn’t stop himself. He just lifted CJ higher. Her feet were now off the ground. She was kicking and trying to fight, but he was too strong. Her attempts were getting weaker, and she was struggling less. He could tell that she was about to pass out. He let go and dropped her on the ground. As she lay there on the ground, he just stared for a minute. Then, he moved towards her again. Wess knew that he couldn’t let himself do that again. He fought with everything in his being. Just as he was about to grab her again, Wess felt his true self breaking through to the surface.

“Nooo! He screamed. There was a sudden flash of darkness, and Wess fell backward. As the darkness faded from his eyes, he could see CJ. The chains were gone, and she was standing over him. He thought she would attack him, but she held out her hand to help him up instead. As he reached for her hand, everything started to fade. Now he was falling! Everything was gone except for the sensation of falling. He knew that he couldn’t fall forever. Was this it?

Suddenly, he jumped awake as it felt like he had hit the ground. That seemed so realistic! What does it all mean? He thought for a minute. He decided that it was just a dream; it didn’t mean anything. He looked at his clock. It was five AM. I might as well get up, he thought. He didn’t realize how hard he was sweating in his sleep until he sat up. He was soaked, and so were his comforter and sheets. I’ll take care of those later, he thought. I need a shower. He got some clean clothes and a towel, went to the bathroom, and took a shower.