Chelle Writes

Welcome to Flash Fiction Fridays, where I write and post a new short story every week!

Without further ado:

Master of Disguise

On an average day, I approached a man on the sidewalk.
“You’re a demon.” I say.
“What makes you say that?” He chortles, in a way like my grandpa would.
“You have horns, pointed ears, and red eyes.” I reply.
The demon cocks an eyebrow. He was wearing a suit, of all things, looking polite and business like. He had pale skin, deep sunken red eyes, and dark hair that looked like it was ruffled by someone patting his head.
He smiled, displaying pointed teeth in full glory. Before I could also point that out, he spoke. “I’ll make you a deal, child.”
“I’m an adult, but okay.”
“Demons are masters of disguise. Find me, and I’ll give you all the riches you’d ever need.” I nodded, not saying a thing. The demon laughed, a deep sound, and then snapped his fingers and vanished in smoke.
The next day, I was passing by a dog park when I noticed something unusual.
“Is that your dog?” I say to a women as I walked up. She had a small dog in front of her, with pointy ears and equally pointy teeth.
“Yes,” she replies, looking skeptical.
“Thanks,” is all I say as I head further into the park.
I approach a couple, walking a larger breed dog with curly hair. I’m no dog person, I can’t tell you for the life of me what kind it was.
“Is this your dog?” I ask again.
“Yes, she’s ours.” The guy replies in the same amount of skeptism.
“Then who’s that?” I say, turning around and pointing to a dog who looked exactly the same as theirs, down to the exact spots, shade, and eye color.
The couple looked at each other and gave me a weird glance before speed walking away, talking in whispered tones.
I approached the dog.
“Gotcha.” I said outloud.
The dog disappeared in a whiff of smoke, making some nearby walkers utter screams and run away.
“How did you know it was me?” The demon asked.
“Dogs usually don’t sit and stare at the ground for minutes at a time, especially at a dog park when they’d usually be with owners.” I reply.
The demon sneered, his features twisting into something otherworldly. “Fine, I will try harder.”
“If you say so.” I say, starting to walk away, as he vanishes in yet another poof of smoke.
Later that day, I had left work and was walking home. I passed a woman with a stroller, carrying a child.
“Excuse me ma’am?” I say, stopping. She stops and looks at me.
“What doya want?” She asks, holding the child away from me.
“I see you have a kiddo in that there stroller, but you are also carrying one. Do you have two children?”
The lady pauses, her face going through a handful of emotions. First, pure confusion. Then she pulled the blanket off of the baby in the stroller, and screamed. An exact replica of her baby that she was holding was in the stroller, down to its little dimples and happy smile.
She let go of the stroller, running away with her child.
I reached out and gently stopped the stroller from running away with my foot.
“You gotta try harder, man.” I say, cocking an eyebrow.
The baby emits an awful noise, causing a few people to look our direction. With another grunt, and a bit of smoke, the demon appeared again, his face contorted in anger. “I’ll get you still!” He growled, before vanishing yet again. I looked at some of the freaked out passerbyers, shrugging and walking off.
Later that night, I arrived home, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV, takeout box in hand.
The lights were out, the house bathed in a wave of darkness, with the only light being the TV in front of me. Shadows danced across the picture window behind me as I opened the take out bin eagerly, chowing down on Chinese.
A small, frail voice echoed down the hall, saying my name.
I froze, fork midway to my mouth. “Mom?” I call out carefully.
“Sweetie, come here, I need some water.”
I carefully set my food on the side table, pulling my phone out from my pocket. I glanced at the time. 12:03 am.
“Mom, you should be asleep.” I call back, turning on my phone’s flashlight.
I carefully make my way down the hallway towards the far bedroom, using my flashlight as a beam of guideance in the purest shadows. It’s like the hall got darker and darker as I walked towards the back. I stop by the bathroom, grabbing a cup and pouring some water in it.
“Please, sweetie, I’m so thirsty.” She called out again, hoarsely.
I turned the corner towards her room, and reached my hand for the switch. Nothing happened. I held my phone steady, observing the room.
The bed was neatly made, no one in sight. “Over here.” Came the voice from deeper into the room.
My phone’s flashlighted flicked in that direction to see a grossly disfigured elderly figure, wearing one of those flower nightgowns. Her eye bags had bags, her skin was sagging, and the mouth stretched open, ready to devour me.
Calmly, I threw the water at him.
“What the heck, bro?!” The demon hissed, his form dissolving and returning to normal.
“Holy water.” I explain, dropping the glass which makes a thunk on the ground.
“Who.. who are you?” The demon stuttered, dropping the gusto act.
“Demons are masters of disguise.” I say, smiling and showing my own fangs.