“Do you recall what happened yesterday in the hallway, with Cyrus and Julian?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember me being there as well?”
“Yes.”
“Do you—”
“Doctor,” Thierry interrupted, “I recall all details of the incident. I am very sorry that I struck you with the chair. Please accept my apologies. I did not wish to hurt you.”
Ellen wondered how he could remember ‘all details’ without remembering what he had said. She sat back in her chair and chewed her pencil. He actually seemed genuinely chagrined, though.
“Apology accepted,” she said, removing the pencil. “I was not badly hurt, but Julian was. Are you also sorry that you struck him?”
“No.”
Ellen started at the categorical answer. “No? Can you tell me why you are sorry that you struck me but you are not sorry about Julian? He was quite severely injured, you know. His shoulder was broken.”
“It is very simple. You are good and kind, and were an innocent in the struggle yesterday. I attempted to strike you in error, because you surprised me from behind. Julian, however, is a demon. He should be destroyed.”
“A demon? Why would you think that, Thierry?”
“I don’t just think it, Doctor, I know it. I can see him for what he really is.”
“A demon, then?” Ellen shook her head as she wrote in her notebook. Loss of boundary delusion…
“More precisely, he is an Imp. A relatively minor demon, but still dangerous. The legions of Satan have excellent, if abominable, warriors. None of them should be underestimated.”
‘I see,” she said. “Does he always look like a demon to you, then, or just some of the time?’
“I can always tell that he is a demon, Doctor, but to the casual observer he looks human at all times, exactly the way you see him. There is a way to penetrate this disguise, however.”
Ellen stopped writing and looked at Thierry. “You mean I could learn to see him the way you see him?”
“Yes, exactly. You need to concentrate on what you see from the corners of your eyes. Have you ever noticed shadows flitting just at the edge of your vision, only to disappear when you try to look directly at them? These are not just tricks of the eye—they are demons and shades that haunt the edges of our sight. If you look there while not looking directly at him, you will eventually learn to see for yourself.”
Ellen resumed writing in her notebook. When she looked up again, she was surprised to see Thierry standing beside his chair, arms at his sides and eyes glazed, looking straight ahead. She had not heard him get up. The fluidity of his movements was uncanny, and unsettling.
--
"The Guardian" by Todd R. Snow (excerpt) from "Twisted Tails IV - Fantastic Flights of Fantasy", J. Richard Jacobs (ed.), Double Dragon Publishing 2009 www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-661-0
