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One night Erik dreamed of demonic, disembodied hands reaching around the doorframe of his condo, coming into his bedroom, creeping onto his mattress.
Erik screamed until his voice was hoarse, and then bleated in terror when he saw his own face in the little oval mirror hanging over the dresser. His blue eyes burned like small icy neon signs.
Feebly, he got up and stumbled into the bathroom, feeling his way. He stubbed his toe and tripped over the clawfoot bathtub, falling in a heap on the floor.
“Oh no. Oh my god, oh my god…” Erik tried to scream again, but the most he could manage was a raspy moan.
He closed his eyes. When he opened them, Lyle was there, his face pale, his brown eyes looking almost red in the glare of the dim fluorescent nightlight.
When he saw that Erik was awake, Lyle stifled a sob and softly pressed his lips to his forehead. “Oh, thank god!”
Erik smiled and laughed faintly. “Yeah, I called for him; God, I mean.” The air felt funny on his skin, and he had screamed so hard for so long that he had almost lost his voice.
He didn’t say anything else, feeling an encroaching darkness.“Erik,” Lyle murmured, “Erik, look at me. What happened?”
“D-Dad was here…and he tried to…he’s a demon now, and he tried to drag me down to Hell…” Erik’s voice trailed off on a low moan.
Lyle took a hold of Erik’s chin. His fingers were warm and dry. “Erik, it’s alright. That bastard can’t hurt you anymore, never again. I’m here.”
Lyle picked Erik up and carried him back to bed, breathing like he was going to be sick. He grasped around in the dark and turned on the light over the stove. He looked angry, and afraid. Erik could see Lyle’s terror, but also his love for him.
He filled a small plastic cup with water and brought it over, the mattress creaking as he sat on the other side of the bed. “Erik, I need you to sit up for a minute. I have a Valium here that I want you to take, okay?”
Erik groaned and pushed himself up, shaking, while Lyle put the little blue tablet on his tongue and held the cup to his lips. He swallowed the tablet and lay back down.
His pupils slowly dilated. Lyle lay down beside Erik and pressed their cheeks together. “Erik, don’t be scared. Do you have any idea how much I love you? I would die for you, Erik. I would tear the whole world down for you. I’d chase Dad and any other demons straight back to Hell.”
Lyle held onto Erik and murmured until he fell into a deep, drugged sleep.