Chapter 1
Harvey`s nightmare began on a Monday night. The doorbell gave it`s shrill noise, interrupting the news about the disappearing of an actress. She had vanished in thin air it seemed, and her manager was troubled. The fall had settled in, meaning it was already dark outside. The bell rang again when he was walking over, making Harvey even more grumpy. He opened the door, annoyed with the disturbance. Who visited people without calling first nowadays?
Dead leaves whirled up from the ground, making a rattling noise before they fell down again. No one was outside the door. Harvey huffed, not in the mood for children`s pranks. The second he slammed the door shut, there was a knock. He froze, thinking he`d heard wrong. The knock came again. “Stop it, I`m not falling for your prank.” It was probably the neighbour kids, two rascals he`d yelled at the day before.
Three more knocks, Harvey tore the door open, prepared to yell. Nothing. Just the wind. He took a step outside, the street was empty, no one venturing outside in this weather. He waited a little longer, just in case, but not a sound other than the wind was heard. His slippers were silent against the floor, and he was already looking forward to sinking back into the couch as he closed the door. On the way back, he stopped by the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips while he was up. He should probably have left it, the sweatpants he wore at home was getting a bit tight. Harvey convinced himself that he`d had a bad day at work, he deserved it. Mondays were the worst.
Nestled in front of the TV again, he sighed with contentment. When was Colombo on? He reached for the TV-guide but dropped it when the knock came. “Bloody hell, little bastards.” Harvey picked up the magazine and remained in his seat. Not a chance that he was going to answer the door this time.
Knock
Knock
Knock
Knock
Knock
Harvey looked at the ceiling, as if he were seeking guidance.
Knock
Knock
Harvey tossed the guide on the table, unsatisfied with the small thump it made. He tried to stamp his feet on the way to the door, but that didn’t make much sound either. Full of pent-up anger, he yanked the door open.
“LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Nothing.
Harvey closed his eyes, mad. He would call the neighbours, tell them that they had to ground those little devils for the rest of the night. He wanted to slam the door shut, to relieve himself of some of the anger, but the door stopped halfway. Harvey pushed it, but it wouldn’t close. It was like it was something in the way, but there was only air. Harvey put his shoulder to it, making the door move slightly. He felt a small touch to the arm and then the door slammed shut, and Harvey fell forward with all his weight. He straightened and fixed his hair, “There.” He could hear the opening to Colombo from the living-room, Harvey locked the door, set on not opening it anymore.
Harvey loved his little house; it was just him and that was how he liked it. No one to nag, no one to complain. He hated disturbance, he hated noise and things that got in the way for the shows he wanted to watch. Especially on Mondays. Harvey shook his head, wondering what was going on with the world when a man wasn’t allowed to watch his shows in peace anymore.
Then:
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock
Harvey looked back, but the sound wasn’t coming from the door this time. It came from the kitchen. It wasn’t the same knocking sound either, more like banging. Had they gotten inside without him noticing? Very unlikely, his home was his fortress. Harvey crept up to the kitchen-entrance, happy now that his slippers were silent. Empty. But as he was looking, the cabinet-doors started opening and closing rapidly. One after another, making the same sound as he`d heard earlier. Harvey`s heart dropped, what in God almighty`s name was this? His mother had believed in demons, but he had just laughed at her. Was this his punishment for not believing his mother? Harvey`s hands shook, but he couldn’t look away, for the first time in his life he was what other people called “scared stiff”. What had he done, justifying a visit from the Devil? Harvey crossed himself and the banging stopped, proof that he was haunted? He thought frantically, where had he put the Bible he`d inherited from his mother? He closed his eyes for a second, envisioning the book in his office upstairs. He never used it, but he thought it sounded so debonair to have an upstairs office. Could he make it? How fast did a demon walk? Fly? He saw the demon from the movie “The Exorcist” for his inner eye and was thankful that his demon was invisible.
Harvey looked around but couldn’t see or hear anything. Right, time to move. He spun around and ran the fastest he could up the stairs and down the hall. Was there someone following him? Were those footsteps he heard? Panic crowding his thoughts, he turned to look behind him, there was no one.
Knock, knock
Knock, knock
Knock, knock
“Please leave me alone, I`ll do anything you want.” Harvey had tears in his eyes when the knocking came again, the sounds resonating from all the doors in the hall and closing in on him. There was something frantic about the knocking, it seemed the thing knocking was getting more and more eager. Eager for what? Harvey didn’t now much about demons and the Devil, but he would bet on the fact that they ate human flesh. The office door was open, thank God. Harvey dived in and ran to the book-shelfs. Where? Where was the Bible? He picked one, lost it because his hands were trembling. Not the Bible, it was John Le Carre. His breath came in short puffs, he had to gasp for air as he felt the panic-attack close his throat. It felt like someone was sitting on his chest, was it the Demon? “Damn it, where is the Bible?” Harvey felt tears roll down his cheeks, “I`m sorry, God, I didn’t mean to swear, please forgive me.” Now was not the time to get on God`s bad side.
There! The old Bible that had been passed down from his great-grandmother.
“Hah, got you now!” Harvey turned and faced the empty room. He didn’t exactly know what to do with the book, but he felt better now he had it in his hands.
Clickety clack, clickety clack, clickety clack
Harvey`s eyes scoured the room to see what this sound was, but the tears made his sight blurry. Harvey fell to his knees, clutching the big book. “Please, let me go. Please. Please…” His words died out; the funny sound continued.
PLING!
Was that the signal for the attack? Harvey tried to shelter himself, preparing for death without knowing how. Nothing. The room was silent once again. Harvey had never thought he would go out crying, begging with a Bible in his hands, searching for an invisible enemy. All he had done in life was to take care of his mother until she passed, going to work and watched his shows. He did NOT deserve to be taken away by the demons. He mustered what he had of courage, opened his eyes and raised the Bible in front of him. “DEMON, BE GONE!” He remembered that line from the movie.
Clickety clack clickety clack clickety clack
Clickety clack clickety clack clickety clack
Clickety clack clickety clack clickety clack
Clickety clack clickety clack clickety clack
Clickety clack clickety clack clickety clack
PLING!
A white paper fell to the floor from his father`s old typewriter and then the sound continued. Another sheet fell. The demon was communicating with him. Did the fact that it had to use the typewriter mean he`d managed to keep it from entering his body? Maybe he still had a chance. Harvey crept on his knees, holding the Bible with his one arm. He snapped the paper and tossed himself backwards, in case it was a ruse. The machine kept on typing, seemingly on its own.
“DIDN’T WORK, DO NOT KNOCK, DONOT KNOCKDONOTKNOCKDONOT KNOCK DO NOT KNOCKDONOTKNOCK DONTWORK DONTKNOCKDO NOT KNOCK”
All the words said the same, Harvey didn’t know what they meant. He hadn’t knocked, it was the demon that did that.
Paper after paper, all with the same nonsense. The sound of the typewriter kept on, and Harvey got an idea. He would make a run for it now the demon was busy. He got up slowly, the typing continued. He walked slowly backwards, the door getting closer and closer. When he was in the opening, Harvey tossed the Bible into the room and ran. He ran down the stairs, almost tripping in his slippers but managed to stay uprights. The door slammed open; he didn’t bother to close it behind him. The cold ground was slick, and he almost slipped down the driveway. No, he hadn`t escaped a demon just to fall in front of his own house. Harvey hadn’t run in years, now he felt he could compete in the Olympics with the speed he had. There were only two houses on his side, it was all dark over at Paul`s house. The Mueller`s was the ones with the obnoxious kids, but right now even they were angels. Harvey crossed the road and took the steps three and three. Reaching the door, he used both his fists to knock on the door.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
“Oh, please hurry.” He didn’t dare to look behind him, was the demon following him? He knocked again, on the other side of the door he heard George Mueller mutter under his breath; “I`m coming, hold your horses. Damn it, who comes over without calling first anyway?” Harvey knocked again to emphasize the hurry. The door disappeared, and a mad George stood in front of him. Harvey fell to his knees, thanking God. He was saved. “George, let me in, someone is after me.” He crawled to get over the doorstep, but George just swore and cursed. “Pranks on a night like this? I`LL CALL THE POLICE, YOU HEAR ME??” Then the door was slammed shut in Harvey`s face. He didn’t believe what was happening. He knocked frantically again, shouting for George to let him in. The door opened abruptly again, making him fall forwards into George`s legs. The neighbour jumped back and looked down, a confused look on his face. Harvey didn’t care, he was finally inside. As he got up, he tried to explain what had happened, but George didn’t seem to understand anything. He kept looking out the door, up and down the street. Then he closed the door and walked right past Harvey.
“George! Do you understand me?” George just wandered on to the kitchen without answering. Maybe he was scared as well? Harvey waved a hand in front of his face; George didn’t flinch. Had the Demon gotten to him? Harvey shouted, but George didn’t react. Why didn’t his wife or kids come to see what was happening? Harvey started banging the cabinet-doors to get his attention, and now he got a reaction. George was pale as a ghost, looking around him with big, scared eyes. “George!” Harvey stopped. “I`m right here.” No response.
Harvey cried and begged, but it was as if he was invisible. Realising the horror of the situation, he looked around. A computer stood in the corner of the kitchen, he ran up to it and started typing as George lifted down a crucifix that hang on the wall. “God, protect me. Virgin Mary, Protect my family from this evil.” His trembling voice made Harvey sick. He typed as fast as he could.
Didn’t work, do not knock, do not knock. Don’t leave didn’t work, don’t knockdontknock don’t leave. Didn’t work.
George yelled for his family, “We have to leave, come RIGHT NOW!”
Harvey could only watch as the family ran out the door and into the cold night, in search for another innocent soul to disappear.
