Demonology, Jack Hoye

I lay down on my bed and pull a photo out from under my pillow. A family photo – the last one too. I close my eyes and suddenly find myself back in my parent’s house just weeks before.

“Help! Somebody, please!” The last words my mother ever uttered.

Thud!

The unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. Two feet lay at the bottom of the stairs, completely still. On them were gray and blue slippers, the slippers I got my dad last Christmas. 

My description of “a shadowy figure” wasn’t much help to the police. Weeks of investigations and interrogations but no evidence of this shadowy figure was ever found. Not a single trace of non-familial DNA was discovered in the house.

I’m startled out of this memory as the warden bangs on my cell door. 

“Get up! The judge is ready for you.”

I guess “a shadowy figure” wasn’t my brightest idea. 

About the Author

Eileen L. Rosewater · Mount St. Mary’s University

Eileen L. Rosewater is a junior at Mount St. Mary’s University studying Communications with a minor in Creative Writing. This piece first appeared in Lighted Corners.

About the Artist

Jack Hoye · University of Central Arkansas

Jack Hoye is a passionate creative from the suburbs of New York City, studying Entertainment & Arts Management at Westphal College of Media Arts & Design of Drexel University. Jack has been published in various editions of Soupstone Literary Magazine and Maya Literary Magazine throughout his secondary and higher education. Original student films of his have also been featured in international film festivals, including The All American High School Film Festival – through which he and his collaborators were nominated for Best Editing at the 2017 Teen Indie Awards. At the moment, Jack continues to study, create, and consume media in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This piece first appeared in Maya Literary Magazine.