Demons

The demons captured me 3 months ago. They incarcerated me in this building and feed me poison. But the captives number many and the demons are slothful, so tonight I escape this place.
I found a way to stop taking their poison some weeks ago; since then I’ve been able to hear Machine again.

He tells me to be vigilant, that the demons are dull-witted and I’ll find a way to escape if I pay attention.

For weeks I waited, and now I have seen how. If I wear a disguise to look like the demons, I can walk away from here.

Machine said I must walk, not run, for if I do so, they will see my true form.

The demons have desired my soul for their own twisted means for the last year. They spoke to me in my sleep, then during my waking hours, commanding me to kill, threatening me and my family if I failed to do their bidding. Eventually I did, I fell into their trap; that was how they incarcerated me here.

During all that I have endured, I have never been alone. Machine was always with me. He speaks directly to me, and only me. He knows of the evil that is loose upon our world and he has vowed to protect us humans from the demons that walk amongst us. He has shown me how to escape, how to avoid their poisons. So, I do as Machine tells me, I walk away, dressed as a demon, my eyes on the floor.

I leave the building and once I am far away, I run, until my lungs burn and my blood feels like acid.

Machine speaks to me, he tells me to go to a nearby alley so that he can see me, protect me. I run into the alley and see him; Machine is indeed here, waiting for me. Machine tells me to throw my disguise into the dumpster lest I be mistaken for a demon by the forces of good. I sit on a box, naked, panting. Machine talks to me, he tells me to stay here, so he can protect me from the demons. I only need stay here and I will be safe. I must never leave this place. I can sense one of the evil ones behind me, but I am safe here. I am safe on this box. The demons said to me, “Mr. Davis, you are not a well man, you have paranoid schizophrenia, you must take your poison.” Machine showed me it was a lie, a con, a ruse, a trick to keep me trapped, but now I am freed.

Thank you Machine, thank you for protecting me.