Flickering overhead lights. The sound of static from the speaker in the corner. The repeated freezing-cold to sweating-hot temperature cycle that came around every twenty minutes due to a jacked up air conditioning unit. These were the three components of Meredith’s current life that she held onto. Last time around it was the squeaking of the old motel bed she’d crawl into every night and the steady drip of a shower faucet that never seemed to stop. Before that, it was her father, humming the same song every night until she forgot about the nightmares and could fall asleep. Now that he was gone, the nightmares never left her mind. Meredith stood leaning over the counter of the EZ-Mart she currently worked at. The EZ-Mart was settled in at some middle-of-nowhere highway in Oklahoma where the only regulars were the old hermit, Jimmy, who lived up the beaten trail in the forest behind the EZ-Mart and the homeless guy, Sal, who took up residence at gas pump 3. Meredith let out a sigh. It had been 3 hours since she had seen another soul, including her manager. That fact didn’t surprise her though, Ben spent half his day on a smoke break and the other half of the day in the back streaming movies onto his phone. She sat doodling on a piece of scrap receipt paper, waiting for someone to come in. She ran a hand back through her hair, pulling into a high bun out of her face. She was a natural redhead, although everyone thought otherwise. She had the porcelain skin and light spread of freckles across her cheeks to prove it though.

The bell on the door rang and Meredith looked up, thankful for a customer. The guy who walked in was one she hadn’t seen before. He seemed about Meredith’s age and she raised an eyebrow when she realized she didn’t find him bad looking either. Short dark brown hair, and a mustache and goatee. He topped off his good looks with broad shoulders and flannel shirt. As he started walking over to the counter she noticed that he seemed a little shifty and nervous. Her one raised eyebrow turned to two when he came straight to the counter with eyes on her, “Meredith? Are you Meredith McDonnel?” Meredith took a step back, studying the guys face and came to a conclusion. She had no idea who he was. “Wha- Who are you?” His voice dropped low, urgent, “Listen Meredith, my name is Owen Donoghue. I need your help. There’s no time to explain.” She looked at him incredulously, “Who are you and how do you know my name?” No sooner had the words left her mouth when the store started going crazy. The radio was tuning to different stations. The air conditioning started behaving erratically, turning on and off, and the lights started flickering crazily. The man looked at her again, “Meredith. We need to leave. Now.” She wasn’t going anywhere- not with the all the electronics in the store going crazy like this. He was the one who had to leave. But it was too late now. The building started shaking. She could feel the darkness surrounding the building. She reached to her boot and pulled out her gun and had it ready to shoot, aimed at the door. A look of shock registered on the guys face. Oh, you just wait.

A flurry of black smoke knocked down the door and crashed into the aisles. After the dust had settled a man stood among the wreckage. This man had platinum slicked back hair, and sharp features, accentuated with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. He was wearing a three piece suit, and even had his shoes shined, despite the crash landing he had just made. The only thing that would give him away in a crowd of people were his eyes. His eyes were bright red. No pupils, just red. Although all he had to do was blink and he had the illusion of ordinary eyes. Upon seeing the blood red color, Meredith steadied her hand on the trigger even though every instinct told her to drop the gun and use her real talents. She knew she couldn’t lose her focus though. Before she could pull the trigger, she felt something take hold of her. Some form of dark power. Her hands went rigid and she couldn’t move. The man shook his finger at her and when he spoke his voice rang out, demanding. He spoke with an English accent and a hint of condescension. “Meredith, is it? Oh you’ve grown up to be so lovely.” Meredith was taken aback. She had never met this particular demon before. She started “How do-”, before the demon interrupted her “Tell me, Meredith love, how is dear old Daddy doing?”