‡ Promise 19: Small Town Hell‡

-As told by Jody-

ily haven't been to school in almost a week. Her mother had told me that she had come down with the flu, a few days before. And now Lily's neighbor, Ms. Julia, was in the news. Murdered in New York, by some unknown serial killer. I know how Lily and Ms. Julia were becoming fast friends and I know this news must be horrible for her. She must feel awful, the death of her friend and having the flu, all at the same time.
"Come on," I say to very shell-shocked Tommy, at lunch, "We have to see Lily. She shouldn't be alone now." "Yeah." he says, shaking himself out his own stupor, "Lily did know Ms. Julia the most. This must be killing her." So, after school, we stop by a gift-shop and then head for Lily's place. Oddly enough, I no longer care that I'm just yards away from that other neighbor. The night in the woods seems too far away, with my friend needing my support now. Carrying six purple and white "get well soon" balloons, I rang the doorbell.
A very drained Mrs. Harris answered the door. "Oh, hello kids." she smiles weakly, "Lily's still not feeling well." "I know." I nod, "That's why we're here, to cheer her up a little." Tommy looks towards the neighboring house, where Ms. Julia once stood, a lonely look on his face. "That's nice of you." smiles Mrs. Harris, more strongly now, "Come on in. Lily's in her room." "Thanks." I say, stepping into the house.
Lily's room seems much darker than it usually was and somehow it seems cold, like walking into a freezer. It just didn't feel right at all. And then we saw her, Lily sitting in her bed, pale and frighten. "Lily?" asks Tommy, not sure if this small frighten girl was our friend. I felt a tug in my stomach and I quickly sat next to her, letting the balloons float along the slopping ceiling. "Lily?" I ask, concerned, "Are you okay? You look-" "Like hell?" she finish, "Yeah... well..."
"I'm sorry about Ms. Julia." says Tommy, looking towards the floor, "We were shocked when we heard the news. It seems like we were just talking to her." Lily said nothing, just starring at the wall, blankly. "Yeah," I said, "It seems weird that she's gone. She was nice. I hope they catch that monster that's running around New-" "It's all lies." says Lily, in a faraway voice. Both Tommy and I give each other odd looks. I hope Lily isn't going through some type of denial, thinking that Ms. Julia was still alive. Because, I wouldn't know how to deal with something like that.
"It's okay." said Tommy, sitting on the bed, "This whole thing has been a shock, like I said. But-" "It's all a lie," Lily repeats, "She wasn't killed in New York. He killed her." Ice seems to roll down my spine. "W-what?" I choke. Tommy's fists clenched. "In the woods." she said, her eyes tearing, "I was there. I saw it." There was a moment of utter shock between Tommy and I, as tears fell from Lily's eyes. "T-That can't be true." I whisper, not recognizing those words.
"I tried to stop her." says Lily, as silent tears fell hard, "I tried to stop him. She was a demon-hunter and he is a demon. And both were determine to fight. And he won and she died. And it's all my fault!" "This doesn't make any sense!" I yell, shaking my head, "Demon-hunter? And... he let us go, that night! Why didn't he let Ms. Julia go!?" "I'll kill him." says Tommy in a quiet tone, his face blank, and his fists still clenched.
"No!" shrieks Lily, which scared both Tommy and I. "Lily..." I gasp, trying to figure out her terror. "Don't you understand!?" she yells, grabbing onto Tommy's shirt, "Ms. Julia was a demon-hunter! She was trained to fight and kill demons! And now she's dead! She didn't win against him! So what chance do you have?" My heart was pounding and my head was spinning. None of this was making any sense to me!
"But what are we suppose to do?" snaps Tommy. "We have to tell someone." I said, trying to bring rationalization back into the situation, "Call the police and-" "And what?" frowns Tommy, "Tell them that we know of a murder, committed by a demon, who lives in a hell-world hidden under the town!? Do you really think they'd believe us?" "We don't have to say all of that." I wave, "Just tell part of the truth. That Lily saw Rolmir kill Ms. Julia in the woods."
"That won't work." growls Tommy, frustrated, "He's Keith Rolmir, a celebrity! What person is going to believe that a famous horror writer murdered someone in the woods and just dumped the body miles away, in some alley in New York?" "Stop." whimpers Lily, "Don't talk about her in that way!" Both Tommy and I calmed down instantly, realizing how insensitive we've been. "I..." swallows Tommy, "I didn't mean to..." "We're sorry, Lily." I say, placing my arm around her, "We just don't know what to do."
"There's nothing you can do." she sniffs, "You can't go against him, he's too strong. I had a chance to stop it, to talk Ms. Julia out of challenging him, but I just... I only talked her out of it once. And I thought that was enough. I let it go for five days and in those days she made up her mind to try again. I should have talked to her more. I could have saved her. But, I was so lazy and now-" "Lily," frowns Tommy, "That's enough. This isn't your fault, none of it. It's that monster's fault! He's the one who killed her, not you."
"But, I-" Lily began, but both Tommy and I wouldn't let her continue to blame herself. "No, honey." I said, shaking my head, "You did all that you could. You've got to know that." "She was determine to fight Rolmir," says Tommy, "Even you said that. You did what you could." I shudder, the fear of being so close to the demon's house hits me like a truck. "This is awful." I moan, bringing a hand over my eyes, "I don't believe this." "There must be someway to bring this guy down." grumbles Tommy. "Probably." says Lily, "But nothing that we can do. We're not strong enough. Ms. Julia was very strong... and fast. She outran me in the woods..."
Lily starts to cry again. I squeeze her shoulder a little, letting her know that I'm here and that's okay to cry. "This is so messed up." breathes Tommy, collapsing on the bed. "Yeah." I frown, but can no longer find anymore words. It's all too much to take in and my rational brain is having trouble processing all of this. Demon-hunters? Demons? Underground hell-worlds? This is Promise Falls, a sleepy little country town, home to nine-hundred people. Why is all of this other-worldly stuff happening here?
"I'm a little tired." says Lily, pulling away from my arm. I knew what she meant, I'm emotionally drained too. "Look," she says, "Thanks for checking in on me. But I kind of need my rest." "Yeah, sure." I said, feeling a little pushed away. "Get better soon," nods Tommy, standing to his feet, "And come back to school. We miss you there." "Yeah." Lily says, but doesn't look either of us in the eye. We say goodbye and leave her room. Downstairs, we run into Mr. Harris, who gives us an open invitation to come again. "Lily needs to be around friends." he says, "This is a difficult time for her." "We'll be back again." I assure, as Tommy nods.
We step out onto the front porch, the wind is a bit cold and hits us in short nips. "Where to next?" I say, pulling my coat closer to myself, "I guess we can stop by the bookstore. My mom's getting a new shipment of..." But Tommy isn't paying attention to me. Rolmir stands on his front porch and both are locked in stares. Tommy's expression screams murder, while Rolmir's expression is of sheer boredom. I grasp onto Tommy's stiff arm. "Tommy," I whimper, not looking directly into the demon's face, "Can we go? Can we go now? Tommy?"
"Bastard." growls Tommy, taking one step forward. Rolmir doesn't respond. "Tommy." I plead, clutching his arm in terror, "Let's go home, please. Please!" Tommy stops his staring battle with Rolmir, wraps an arm around me, and ushers me towards the car. "Let's not speak to him." I say, once we get into the car, "Ever. Okay?" I'm so afraid that I'm shaking and fumbling with the keys. "It's okay." says Tommy, calmly taking the keys from my hand and putting the right one in the ignition. I pull off quickly, desperate to be far from the demon as I could.