The Monsters of the Mind

Part 20

'He must've been, for Jimmy to have the demon in his possession now,' my mind agreed, 'Maybe Hugo had started to enact on the demon's tendencies when Jimmy was born? Like if a human got too close to a mama bear and her cubs, Hugo was trying to keep Jimmy away from everyone else... to seclude him.'

"But what about the money, the inheritance, that Harvey mentioned?" I asked, "That couldn't have been just because Jimmy's father's father was the eldest and in his prime..."

'Maybe it was hush money?' my mind asked, 'If you had a centuries old demon living in your family, wouldn't you do everything in your power to pay off as many people as you could if something had happened?'

"Like security? In case things got out of hand?"

'There weren't any charges filed against Jimmy,' my mind reasoned, 'and we know that the police - for the time that we knew - wouldn't do anything about it. Maybe Rose knew about the demon after her husband died and had used the inheritance that had been passed to Hugo to help Jimmy get out of trouble.'

"I honestly feel like we're getting nowhere," I groaned, curling onto the floor and slumping my head against the end of the bed, "It feels like there's some pieces missing... Like, what happened to Hugo? How did he die? And what had happened before everything went down here?"

'And does Jimmy know what happened?' my mind supplied, 'Did Rose eventually tell him about his father? Or is he still in the dark about that?'

"I suppose we could ask if he knows anything else about his father," I sighed, standing up, "But we'll have to be careful - Hugo Punch might be waiting for us, and not Jimmy."

***

When I reached the ground floor, I was a little surprised to hear what sounded like an old record playing - the music drawing me to the office. The door was open, revealing something that reminded me of my own university's offices. 

Paper littered the desk and floor while old photos hung on the walls, making the office seem more like a personal space. Lamps and candles littered on the carved wooden desktop and cabinets - the light from the lamps creating a soft welcoming glow in the room. An old curio-cabinet sat in the far corner of the room - filled with more pictures and trophies. Coming closer, I could see that most of them had Jimmy in them - grinning at the photographer as a boy, some as a teen, others from when he was in his twenties. Other pictures had Harvey in them - teaching Jimmy how to hit a cricket ball, Harvey attempting to tame Jimmy's wild curls, and one with Jimmy sitting on Harvey's lap when he was still a toddler, one hand in his mouth and looking lost as Harvey smiled.

I snickered to myself - it was so weird that Jimmy still had these photos around, even after everything went downhill between the two of them.

'Maybe he tried to remember the good things,' my mind sighed, 'I mean, Harvey did say that he saw Jimmy as his son - practically raised him and all - and Jimmy was trying to hold onto the good times before his other side ripped them away from him.'

"I suppose," I answered quietly, turning back to look at the room.

The strangest item, in my point of view, was the tall mirror that hung on the wall near the back of the room, almost hidden completely by one of the wooden cabinets.
It was rectangle in shape - the reflective glass was framed by intricate designed metal, creating a vine-like structure around the glass. The glass felt cool to the touch and was dust free. My own reflection stared at me, watching me as I watched it. 

"Why is it that this mirror creeps me out?" I pondered out loud.

'The mirror shows us things we rather not see,' my mind was gentle in the reminder, 'It will show us the truth - as painful as it may be.'

"Perhaps Jimmy sees Hugo in the mirror - even though he wants nothing to do with him."

'I wouldn't doubt that,' my mind agreed.

Since Jimmy wasn't in the office, and I had heard nothing save for my own thoughts, movements, and music from the record player, I decided to move onto the kitchen - thinking he may have gotten up to get something to drink or eat. 

The kitchen was dark and quiet with no sounds of the proprietor nearby.

I made my way back to the dimmed hallway by the dining auditorium, checking into the arcade room with no luck. The auditorium was empty too, only me and tables with chairs in the wide open space. 

But, the area was clean - Jimmy must've been in here earlier.

I decided to head out to try and think of where he could be when the lights flickered off and the stage lights dimmed. I turned, shielding my eyes as the lights shone brightly in the darkened room and smoke filled the stage.

"Behold!" A hooded figure appeared from the smoke, holding their arms out in a welcoming embrace, "I am the Great Hugo!"

The great Hugo's voice became deeper as he continued - speaking almost hypnotically, "I stand alone above all others... I am the light which illuminates the darkness... I alone am Master..."

"NO!" I shouted, pulling myself from a trance, "You are no master! You are a monster!"

A hooded figure's eyes suddenly began to glow an eerie yellow - now turning toward me completely. His figure began to hunch and shift as the dark voice spoke again, "We're alike... you and I... more than you think, Miss Martin..."

"I'm nothing like you!" I growled, hands turning into fists and eyes narrowing, "You deceive people! Trick them into trusting you! You are no man - you're a creature that wears man's skin like clothing! Shedding it every so often in favor of a fresh new start. No man in their right mind would cause the same amount of harm that you've done."

As quickly as the spirit had appeared, it was by my side, a blacked gloved hand grasping my jaw and forcing me to look into his hooded face.

The eyes were the first thing I saw, as they seemingly glowed in the darkness of the hood. Yellow in color, but were slitted like a snake's and every inch as hungry like a reptile. The spirit's face was white like fresh powder snow on a cold winter day, his thin lips turned into a scowl was even colder than the air around me. Dark curls fell around his face, some disappearing into the hood of the black cloak he wore.

Then, the spirit snickered - using Jimmy's father's voice, "Do you not see what I can see, Miss Martin?"

A mirror appeared before us as the man forced my focus to the reflective surface, continuing, "In each of us is another whom we do not know. He speaks to each of us in dreams, and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves."

I stared at the glass, wanting to force my eyes closed, but somehow unable to do so.

"You can see them, Kylie," the spirit spoke, knowing that I was completely at his mercy now, "at dead of night..."

It felt as if the glass was getting closer and closer, nearly touching the tip of my nose and top of my forehead. A part of me was afraid of what would happen if I leaned too far into the mirror. Would I fall and shatter like glass? Would I, too, become entrapped in this place like the others?
 
Or would I become like Jimmy? Taking on a demon of my own?

I couldn't push back, even though I wanted to move my muscles and legs. I wanted to run, but I was trapped - trapped like a rat with a hungry owl overhead, waiting to swoop down.