Chapter Text
It was 3 am on a Thursday night. Alex was lying awake in their bed, staring up at the ceiling. They couldn’t sleep; they hadn’t been able to for a long while now. Ever since what happened at the Lankmann foundation, it was like that place had taken away their ability to sleep. All they could think about was the horrifying things they had seen in that… room. They turned to their side and tried to sleep, but when they closed their eyes, they could suddenly see those gruesome sights all over again. It couldn’t keep going on like this. They got up, put on their dressing gown and got out of their room to go make some coffee. It was too early to get dressed anyway. When they made their way down the hall however, they immediately noticed the sudden change in temperature. It was significantly colder. Had they forgotten to close a window? No, that couldn’t be the case. They always closed all their windows to avoid the caretakers finding their way in. Alex stopped. Someone was rummaging in the kitchen. Panic started to set in. They looked around, grabbing an umbrella they had left on the floor after rushing up the stairs one day. They slowly crept their way over to the doorway to the kitchen, peering into the room. They froze. It wasn’t just a burglar or even one of the caretakers. Standing in their kitchen, rummaging through their fridge, was the Eastridge demon.
They had only caught a glimpse of it once during the Halloween of 1986, and even then, it felt more like a fever dream that was all too real. Now, the thing that caused one of the biggest tragedies in the town’s history was standing in their house. It was much larger than they remembered. It must’ve been around 2 metres tall in its full height, but it was crouched down with its head in the fridge. Suddenly, it stopped rummaging through the fridge. Silence. Slowly it stood up and looked directly at Alex. Its face was horrifying. They wanted to run back into their room, lock the door, and pray that the thing couldn’t get in, but they couldn’t move. They were shaking, frozen in fear. All they could do was stare into its eyes, its horrifying, unnatural eyes. But it didn’t attack them. It just… stared. It reached into the fridge and pulled out a half-eaten sandwich, pointing at it with its other hand. Alex became confused. A sandwich? Really? They had feared the worst, but now this thing that had haunted the parents of the town was questioning a sandwich? The demon seemed to grow impatient, opening its mouth to speak but closing it again, seeming to think for a moment.
In a blink, it was suddenly right in front of Alex. They screamed, but the thing covered their mouth and held the sandwich up to their face. It was definitely trying to communicate something, but Alex was both too terrified and confused to understand. It put its face into its hand, looked Alex dead in the eyes, took a bite out of the sandwich and pointed at it again. “Are you- are you hungry?” they asked, confused. It gave them a kind of “something like that” look in response. “And you… like the sandwich?” It nodded, seeming a little more excited than before. It pointed at them, then the sandwich and then at the kitchen counter. “Do you want me to make you more sandwiches?” It grinned a terrifying grin, patted Alex on the head and walked over to the fridge again, seeming to try and put things back in order. Alex was still just standing there, trying to wrap their head around what just happened. The Eastridge demon had somehow gotten into their house, not killed them, but instead asked them to make them a sandwich. Speaking of the Eastridge demon, it closed the fridge that had been open for who knows how long, went over to the table and sat down. It looked back at Alex and waved as to signal that it wanted them to come over. “No thanks, I’m good,” Alex said, a bit unsure. It waved at them again, now a little more aggressive. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.”
They sat across from the creature, as far away as they could get without angering it. It finished the sandwich and looked at them with anticipation. “Do you want another one?” It nodded happily. “Before I can do that, I just… I just need to understand a few things first.” It seemed disappointed, rolling its eyes before resting its chin on its hand. “How the hell did you get in? I’m pretty sure I locked every possible entrance.” The demon just made jazz hands. “Are you saying you just magically appeared in my house?” It nodded. Alex looked around the kitchen, realising the window was open. “Let me guess, you broke the lock on the window?” It frowned. It seemed like Alex had ruined the fun in that. “Please don’t do that another time. Okay, uh… why haven’t you killed me yet?” The thing raised a brow. “Isn’t your whole thing causing people to die horribly?” It waved its hand as to signal it wasn’t important and instead pointed at the kitchen counter behind it. “Okay, fine, I’ll make you another sandwich.” It clapped in excitement as Alex went over to prepare a sandwich, making sure to close the window again the best they could.
The sandwich had been eaten almost as quickly as it had been served. The creature looked in anticipation at Alex again, but they shook their head. “I don’t have enough ingredients, sorry. Aren’t you supposed to get back to wherever you live before the sun comes up?” It tilted its head. “What do you mean?” It looked to the side, then back at Alex. It raised its hands in an “I don’t know” gesture. “You’re not seriously telling me you were planning on staying here?” No response. They buried their face in their hands. “I can’t do this right now,” they said, irritated. It tried patting them on the head reassuringly, but it didn’t seem to make them feel any better. “Fine, but don’t cause me too much trouble. I’m going back to bed.” They turned around to leave but stopped. “Uh, quick question. What do I call you?” It seemed to think for a moment, then shrugged. “You need a name, how about… Clyde?” It seemed to like that. “Okay, Clyde, I’m going to go back to bed. Please don’t enter my room. Thank you.” They left the room, and right when they were out of sight, they sprinted the remaining way to their room before slamming the door shut behind them, making sure to lock it. “What have I gotten myself into?” they thought.