Mimi's Demons

Chapter 14: The Unicorn

The color that Mimi had seen in the back of the car had been a carefully arranged wall of stuffed animals. They sat in the rear window, the side windows, the floors, the seats; a menagerie of colorful, fuzzy friends.

She glanced back at him, or rather the demon on his shoulder. It still wouldn't look at her, but nor did it run from her gaze.

She'd never seen a slinky demon act like that before. As though pretending she didn't exist.

"See anyone you like?" asked the man. He had a funny-shaped freckle beneath his right eye.

She looked back at all the plushies of all shapes and sizes. Which one would Honrye like the most? He seemed to like her lion the most, since it was the one he could touch most of the time without his hands going through. His being able to touch her stuffed animals wasn't foolproof, but he could always touch her favorite lion. She wondered if it had to do with how much she liked the stuffed animal. In that case, she should choose something she liked the most.

She spotted a white unicorn in the corner with glittery, holographic hooves and horn. She pointed it out.

"Go on and get it, then," he said. "That's a wonderful choice."

She glanced at the slinky demon again. Its head was turned so far away from her it had nearly turned into an owl.

Well, it was better than the black demons that made her puke or the spiders that she could now see practically everywhere. She hated the spiders. Or the fleshy street demons with their staticky cackles. And it wasn't her problem if this guy slept with girls other than his wife.

The car was one of those two-door coups where you had to pull back the front seat in order to crawl into the back. The man had already pulled back the seat for her to crawl in, so Mimi did so, wondering at the weird incense and cleaner smell of the car as she got her knees onto the back seat and reached out for the unicorn.

The front seat clicked into place and the back door slammed shut behind her.

Mimi jumped into the air, her stomach dropping to her toes and her heart flying to her throat.

She'd just done something really, really bad.

She rushed to the door, scrambling around the seat to reach for the handle, but her short arms couldn't reach.

The man had already gone around and thrown himself into the driver's seat, flicking the electric locks.

"Let me out!" Mimi screamed reflexively. This couldn't be happening.

"Sorry, love, I'm a lonely guy and need some friends myself." The engine roared. Park grass flew up past the windows. "I'm sure you understand, right?"

"This is kidnapping!" Her head spun. "I have a mom! And a dad!"

He didn't answer, wholly focused on the road. He drove quick and recklessly. Mimi clawed at the parking brake, not caring if it caused an accident, only for her hands to be slapped so hard they went numb.

Stuffed animals toppled from their carefully tucked corners. The unicorn fell into her lap.

"Stop, or you'll kill us both!" snapped the man. "There's no need to be afraid, I'm going to treat you real good."

"I don't care! You're a freak! You're a kid snatching freak!"

"Now that's just mean. I already told you I'm just lonely."

For the first time, the slinky demon reacted by cackling into its own shoulder, it's corkscrew tail bundling into knots. It was practically choking on its laughter. It finally looked back at her to show a smile so wide and unnatural it nearly cut its head in half. She could see its tongue, its dark purple jaw muscles, its glittering obsidian eyes reflecting nothing but the white blotch of her face.

"Nobody loves you," it whispered.

Mimi went cold. So cold it burned from her toes to her scalp, but mostly right in the center of her chest.

Honrye said demons couldn't lie to her. That was part of the reason they avoided and hated her.

"No," she croaked, then rose to scream. "NO!"

The man hissed. "Shut up, kid, or I'll stop being nice!"

But Mimi's world was turning to ice. Her body drifted, floating, and she couldn't see through the tears.

She started screaming and chucking stuffed animals. They thunked against the windshield, flying into the man's face. Tires screeched as he barely missed a corner.

"Fuck, kid! I will pull over!"

"NO!"

The slinky demon was laughing so hard she could barely hear anything else.

With a squeal of rubber and a jerk so hard it flung her into the side of the car, the man pulled over. She scrambled towards the passenger side door, sweaty hands pawing for the lock—only to find the little stick to pull up and down for locking had been sawed off.

A big, hot hand clamped about her ankle. It tore her across the car and under the reach of the man.

His nose had really big pores. He had a red face, almost like a street demon. His dark eyes were too bright.

He pulled a rag from his pocket and stuffed it into her face.

She screeched, clawing at his arm. A rancid stench, strong as a winter day without any clothes, ran up her nose.

Mimi's eyes fell close without her consent.

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Huh. This chapter is short. I'll probably update another one later today. ^.^ Never fear.