Chapter Seven:

  The Boy and The Circle

  “The aliens explained that they had created us through genetic manipulation in a laboratory. They stated that they had manipulated the human race through religion, satanism, witchcraft, magic, and the occult."

  - William Cooper

  Smokey Robinson lifted his head and watched from the shadows as Daniel peeked through the barn doors. He then proceeded to carry the body of Jennifer Trumpet, renowned and lauded Mormon mom influencer with a hefty 3.4 million followers. Jennifer was about to be in a mixed company of peers while her body rotted and intestines spilled from open gashes in her stomach. But it didn’t matter They had what they needed, she and the boy were the final pieces. Daniel pulled Jennifer inside the barn just as the slow pattering of rain began to grow heavy outside.

  Inside the air was cold but electric, Daniel felt a renewed energy. The barn was mostly an empty space. There was a ladder and upper storage area near the back, one wall had an ugly wooden table covered in blood and bits of gore, next to it, on the ground, lay a chainsaw with small dried pools of crimson dotting the earth. The other wall held a heavy stickered “beer” fridge and a new GE Freezer chest hooked up to a generator. A little ways down from the freezer was a cheap Amazon desk with a gaming laptop, chair and monitors. Set up like a chainsaw massacre themed gaming stream, there were cords that came from it and snaked to three cameras on tripods, arched in a semicircle around the outside edges of an intricately carved, nine foot in diameter, salt circle. A snake coiled, drawn in salt around the inside of the circle where within it guarded five smaller interior circles edged with lightning, and thorns, and knifes, and stars, and death. An edge of the snake and the circle with the lightning were both distorted, and sprinkled with small animal prints.

  Daniel brought Jennifer to the cutting table and laid her slumped near the chainsaw. Then went back to his car, grabbed two army style duffel bags from the back seat, throwing them inside. Quickly he grabbed the large metal chain with a lock hooked to it, that sat outside the door, and dragged it inside.

  Now soaking he stood at the trunk, final trip, with a sick thrill of dread rising up through his spine into his burning skull. He smiled and pressed the fob twice, unlocking the back. He lifted the trunk revealing a small blond haired boy with chubby cheeks that were red and flush full of blood. The boy’s mouth was tied tight with twine, along with his hands to his ankles. The boy’s eyes were closed, but Daniel wondered if his drugged sleep would handle the shock of rain. Not that it mattered a whole lot.

  Daniel covered the boy as much he could with the blanket he had been taken with. He took the boy under his arms and lifting him from the trunk, quickly Daniel ran the boy into the “safety” of the barn. The boy moved his body a bit and moaned complaints that were mumbled and lost in the pattering. Daniel laid the boy down using the softer of the two large bags as a pillow. Flash.

  He saw his own boy. Gone.

  “Not now! No Distractions!” Shouted The Devil. “Get the others in place!”

  Daniel complied, felt the push his own strength failing him at every moment, dread living in his bones and his every sense of hope being sucked away, into a hollow life inside a devils hole. Daniel was never religious, he had gone to church as a boy, enjoyed the stories and the mysticism, the Ritual. He he would often doze during the sermons but as he got older and listened he learned to enjoy the philosophy. Even as a boy though, he felt the wrongness in the religion, the corruption was somehow instilled inside his mind like an intelligence, fact based Skepticism, but there was something there, something beautiful for a moment. Then his pastor came out as gay and was shunned from town. They never went to church again, except for funerals.

  The Devil, flexed, he now had full control and moved with sick gymnastics around the room all the while gnawing on the pin prick fibers in which Daniel held himself above a pit of insanity in his own mind. They noticed their sublime ritual circle had been desecrated.

  “ARRK! ARRRK! ARRK! AWHOOOOGRRRR!” The Devil barked loud into the air tearing at poor, lost Daniel’s vocal cords. Somewhere deep in hay, Smokey shrunk and lost her bladder, scared for the first time since they were a kitten. The Devil sniffed the air, tongue wagging. The boy stirred, and soon. The Devil was upon him, licking the outside of his ear, breathing in the warm youth from the boy.

  “Shhh now, now, don’t you fucking move or whine like a little bitch. Or I’ll slice out your dinner and dine you again before I’m inside you.” The Devil spoke through Daniel their voice distorted and bone vibrating. The boy shuttered and stayed quiet to which The Devil Laughed, “Good boy.”

  The Devil’s once idle hands went to work. He poured more salt out and redrew the sigils with a mix of symbology with a infection to it that only he could do. While drawing he imagined the worlds he saw in visions, the alien races so far beyond his comprehension and per view, as ancient and knowing as they were. They wondered the ways in which they could torture and dismember these strange creatures. How would they bleed? What would their screams sound like? What would their fear taste of and what powers might it grant. The Devil grew erect and came inside Daniel’s pants, then threw up bile into a corner away from the circle laughing hysterically all the while.

  Daniel felt his stomach turn as blood dripped from his aching hands, he threw up bile and covered the front of himself, it began to burn like acid he saw in horror as quickly his clothes disappeared, the edges black and green with pestilence that when on his skin quickly turned yellow then red as blisters began to form on his chest becoming fist sized in places and bursting with a sick pop! He Screamed Into The Void. While The Devil’s laugh echoed The Well Walls.

  Daniel dared to look down, the blisters were gone but his shirt was also, burns still at it’s edges. His chest full, hairy, only a bit red and irritated. Lower, into the void he saw nothing but heard the whispers of something that sounded, to him, far worse than The Devil, he briefly thought of a Russian nesting doll and wondered if a demon could be possessed. Then he heard an angel whisper his name from below.

  “Daniel, my sweet, sweet boy. Why don’t you jump, and I’ll catch you.”

  Daniel cried while air came in gasps. A crazed smile crossed his face and he bulged his eyes before fear gripped his expression once more. He gripped the rope tighter, blood tickling the outsides of his arm as more singing whispers came from below.

  “Daniel, I love for you with such intensity. My heart aches and I can scarcely survive without you. Don’t let him depress you my sweet baby. You are such a great teacher and creator, who guides people towards the truth.”

  “Fuck you. You bitch.” Daniel whispered hating the sarcastic trick. He’d wasted his life. He was the villain, like all the people he made fun of, a weak willed fool who fell for a scam and got a bunch of people killed, killed them himself. Evil, he thought.

  “Fall, and I will catch you” It sang. Daniel let go, and fell into the Void of The Well Walls.

  The Devil was opening the freezer as he felt Daniel let go. That made them howl with even more laughter.“Hahaha Weak ass, pussy beta. Bitch! Bro! Your Fear is so weak it’s makes me sad.” The Devil faked a crying noise that turned into sick laugh. He stopped. Cocked his head, and looked over to the boy who had turned, they locked eyes, The Devil’s bleeding black ichor. They smiled wide. “No matter, You’ll be plenty filling.” they licked their lips and drooled, “Winner, winner chicken dinner. My prophet.” And the boy let out a small squeak. The Devil forced eye contact as he opened and pulled a thawing severed arm from the freezer chest. The boy looked at The Devil a tear falling and then looked to his dead mother slumped near a chainsaw, staring back at him wide eyed and smiling.

  “Soon enough.” The Devil told him.

  They pulled two arms out and began to fill out the empty spaces of the circle, the overlap would be fine long as the salt stayed intact, even then a small smudge wouldn’t make a huge difference. It was the intention and the audience that gave it the real power.

  The Devil Ripped the generator. It hummed to life. They started up the computer. Snuck up on the boy and ripped the bag from under his head with a chuckle. He pulled from it a suit, black and sparkling with some minor wrinkling from the bag, a top hat, a simple drinking glass from within the fabric, and a bluetooth speaker. Turned on, it connected to the now active battle station’s laptop. He sat and spun on the cheap plastic gaming chair and started playing Little Dark Age by MGMT on Spotify.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Breathing in the dark, lying on its side” He sang pointing at the boy on the ground, beginning to dance. “The ruins of the day painted with a scar.” They ran a red bleeding line down Daniel’s face with an elongated nail.

  The Devil went to the fridge, opened it and stared at the four heads in jars that filled the inside. They all sang beautiful pain and horror at once in a cacophony that filled The Devil’s heart with hope. He smiled and grabbed a half-jug of whole milk and a jar of peppers from the side compartment. He poured himself a glass, drinking deeply, leaving a ‘stash. before taking a long thin red pepper from the jar and dangling it under his mouth before eating it. They sat with their snack and started getting the cameras and streams ready, logging into Twitch, Kick, YouTube Live, Rumble, Party.tv, MyFreeCams, and many others, using the dead’s accounts and an array of helpful sources spreading throughout the world.

  Regarding the four heads

  #1 Joshua Block: From his website in 2025: “Joshua Block, better known as “World of T-Shirts,” is a self-made global influencer, musician, comedian and trendsetting genius. Beginning in high school, Josh became a viral internet sensation and has been responsible for a long list of wildly popular online memes, including What Does Banned Mean, I'm Gonna Sue Your A$$, Coffee & Boba, Paycheck to Paycheck, 1700 Somewhere, Lincoln Bayou, Put the Fries in the Bag, and his satirical musical renditions of Empire State of Mind. Josh is grateful to have earned more than 4.0 million TikTok followers plus large fan bases across all major social platforms. He even enjoys his own subreddit, where a vibrant community of 68,000+ crazed super-fans spend countless hours being entertained by the "Captain of NY" and tracking his every move.”

  #2 James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson: Taken From Wikipedia: “Commonly known by his online alias MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, media personality, and businessman. Donaldson produces fast-paced YouTube videos built around elaborate challenges and grandiose philanthropic efforts, noted for their high production values. With more than 446 million YouTube subscribers, his main channel is the most subscribed on YouTube. He is also the third-most-followed creator on TikTok, with over 119.3 million followers.”

  #3 Samuel Whitcomb Hyde: Taken From Wikipedia: “An American comedian and a co-founder of the sketch comedy group Million Dollar Extreme (MDE), MDE gained notoriety on YouTube for their provocative, anti-sketch style and public pranks, including trolling staged performances at conventions and comedy clubs that pushed social boundaries and courted controversy. Widespread public attention followed one such satirical TEDx talk.”

  #4 Nicholas Joseph Fuentes: Taken From Wikipedia: “an American far-right political commentator, activist and live streamer. He identifies as a Christian nationalist and part of the incel subculture. His views have been described as racist, white supremacist, misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic, and Islamophobic. Furthermore, he has been described as a neo-Nazi and a Holocaust denier. His supporters are known as Groypers.”

  Chuck Lebrowski, after the interaction with Daniel, had realized in his fan boy dream state, he had forgotten that it was old card with a number that would get redirected straight to the station. Who knows what the guys would do if Daniel called asking for him, if he ever found out. He had to get Daniel his personal number, so he followed, while brainstorming a plan to make this work, to make this not weird. He needed a win.

  Daniel took off fast, the highway went straight for miles into farm land, his hands on the headlights, ready to kill them as soon as he came upon the car. His thoughts drifted towards plans. He knew some basic first-aid, maybe he could offer some help to his wife, or give a police escort home to make sure things are safe. Then why would he pull him over, stopping him from getting home faster. He could follow him until he stopped but he wasn’t sure how long that would be, didn’t know if he was headed home.

  Officer Chuck, saw the headlights of the Oldsmobile crest a hill a ways in front of him, Chuck killed his head lights and got closer to follow. He began to simultaneously type Daniel’s name into his system, trying to find his address. He got to Dan when he started hitting the warning bumps on the roads edge, the which he corrected the steering wheel leaving the console. Then he saw Daniel start to turn into a dirt roadway just as a sprinkling rain began.

  Chuck slowed down and waited a moment on the side of the highway before the road. He sat in silence watching the car drive into the trees that hid where the road left to. The wipers switched on and filled the car with a clock like continuous sound, breaking the silence. Lightning cracked and within the forest Chuck saw a large dark face sketched in branches thin as bones. He pulled up Daniel’s name and saw him appear with a warrant. He was recently put on FBI’s most wanted list.

  Smokey Robinson, watched from the shadows jaw clicking together in quick bursts, back arched and puffed like her tail. She watched as Daniel Locked a chair into place in the center of the circle. Daniel took heads in jars from the fridge and placed them each on the circles surrounding the central chair.

  The Devil, placed Joshua on the Lightning circle which was for Conjuration, James on the Star for Banishing, Samuel on The Knife for Evocation, and Nicholas on Thorn for Odal. Leaving Death.

  They went to boy, shivering on the ground, hogtied and gagged. Took a hunting knife and cut the rope in a quick single movement. The boy fell supine, his limbs burning with aches from being pulled taut for so long. The Devil lifted the boy by his shirt and threw him 8 feet through the air landing hard in the chair that caught him and tested the locks and anchor bolts that held it’s legs in place. The boy groaned and rubbed his side, then looked up at The Devil.

  The Devil crouched his arms looking extended and boney. He held the Knife and twisted the point at the edge of his smile as he stared at the boy head swiveling with curiosity. The Devil cracked the bones through Daniels back, sick snaps and music filled the barn. He pulled the knife across cutting through his cheek leaving half of a Chelsea grin. Groaning with pleasure and giggling in high pitch, bass reverberating distortion shaking the walls as the lights inside flickered.

  The Devil lifted his his hands towards the heavens. Starting at the roof of the barn but pushing out and feeling.

  Snap! In an instant their hands flew down in front of themselves with the loud sound of the chains from many handcuffs cracking into place from thin air. A row of police cuffs lined and held The Devils wrists and bone thin arms. The boy jumped at this as he watched, teary eyed and confused. Then The Devil Snapped! his fingers and the cuffs were gone. The boy felt cold metal suddenly as both his hand were now cuffed to each side of the chair. The surprise made him shift and he found his feet were also cuffed below him. When he looked up The Devil had vanished from where he stood. Thwip!

  GRRRRRRCHACHACHACHACHA-VR-VRRAAAOOONNNNN!

  The Chainsaw roared to life.

  Daniel was gone. Lost in dark void, nestled in a silk cocoon made of earth stuff. Maggots, Dirt, stone, atoms, proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, lipids, death and fleeting lost dreams. No memories. No hopes. No regrets. A peace that only exists without life, without burden, one that you lived in forever or if escaped you could barley remember.

  Daniel’s body was sick. It’s skin gray and rubbery. It had protruding bones. A skeleton trying to escape. His eyes were oozing black holes that cried with laughter at lament. His mouth a permanent actor’s duality with a half carved smile and cold bleak sadness to match.

  Without a soul to torment, The Devil felt the itch of human skin like a sickness. He was free to call forth his power but the body wouldn’t hold long, they couldn’t bear it. They wanted to rip free! Rip their own flesh nails digging into tendon and muscle till they could grab bone like a throttle and rip it free, feel the orgasmic pain and push this weak meat puppet past it’s limits.

  They heaved the roaring chainsaw in the air. The tail of the musty starlight sparkled suit coat flowed in a freezing wind that seemed to come from the ritual circle itself, in the center of the room.

  The Devil grabbed The Boy’s mom, Jennifer Trumpet by the hair and lifted her placing her in front of themselves, straight in The Boy’s eyeline. Jennifer smiled at her son with clouded, pained, dead eyes. Her mouth moved on a shockingly free hinged jaw as The Devil puppeteered her for The Boy.

  “Oh, my sweet sweet, bitch boy prophet! Orphaned before his balls dropped, so sweet and innocent and virginal! Do You Miss How I Squeezed’em!!” They laughed and it sounded like a crowd., “Do you miss your punishments boy?” Jennifer asked through her death rattle with The Devils voice whispering beside it. “Do Ya! Well I Got A New Daddy for You!”

  The Devil dipped Jennifer leaning over, lips inches from each other a sick black dripping tongue slithering too far out of their mouth. The Devil mimic gagging before kissing The Boy’s dead mother. Before bringing his eyes back to The Boy.

  The Boy stared, Unmoving. Tear stained rosy cheeks, blood dripping down the edges of the twine that gagged him, but a seemly blank face.

  “Huh. You’re right, it would never work…” They smacked their lips, “taste too much like Whore!”

  The chainsaw lifted and in a cacophony of noise and gore The Devil torn through the neck of Jennifer purposefully pointing it’s blood spray at The Boy and Circle till he had completely removed the head from the body. He waved around the head as if a sales pitch to demonstrate how much easier it was to carry around a head rather than a full body, they looked into it’s eyes and then The Boy’s

  “Showtime!” Jazz hands, shaking stings of flesh out swinging from Jessica’s stump neck.

  The Devil, went to the bag and pulled a silk white cape with a flourish and tucked it in their

  arm walking to the circle, stopping just before. Waiting a moment, taking in this glorious scene of chaos and depravity. This world has been good to them and it was time for bigger and better things, and so The Devil held this moment before big change in their heart.

  As he stepped over the salt lines the computers alit as did the camera’s and they were Live! Multiple platforms from many accounts including the famous dead that now sat in boiling jars screaming as the viewers quickly grew to the hundred’s of thousands and word spread, the missing were found and The Devil took his place standing behind The Boy.

  Smokey inched closer to the edge tail twitching furiously.