The Demon of London Page 3

  The woman stood up on the train and smoothed down her denim skirt, with a swish of her ponytail she had her back to the man, who put his newspaper down to stare at her.

  'She's so lovely,' he thought to himself.

  ‘She'll never want a fat old man like you,’ said the demon.

  Crushing the last of his spirit. The man looked down at the floor, the demon was winning, she was his biggest enemy feeding him the most negative thoughts that the man had about himself.

  ‘You'll never get a girl like her, you shouldn't even be brave enough to think that you have a chance,’ whispered Jassassah realizing she was on a roll.

  She was making him believe his most negative thoughts about himself, the ones where he considered himself meaningless, and unworthy.

  ‘Look at you, you're covered in bits of chocolate,’ she said pointing out the flaked crumbs that had fallen on his tie and shirt. ‘Who could love you?’ she asked in her sincerest tone. The man was taking her whispers to heart, he was too easy to influence.

  He looked at the reflection of himself in the opposite window, Jassassah’s words struck him hard. As he looked at himself, he saw the doors of the train close, and the woman start to walk past. Although she didn't look ahead in the direction she was walking, she looked back into the carriage.

  She made eye contact with the large man, and for a few moments, she smiled at him. He mirrored her smile. Instantaneously the demons work was undone.

  The woman's smile was an invitation, and the large man knew it, so did the demon.

  'Humans can be so frustrating,’ Jassassah thought to herself, as she smacked herself with her right hand on her forehead.

  The large man smiled until his teeth showed. They held eye contact until the woman commuter walked away. After which the large man, fixed his tie, brushed off his shirt and sat a little taller. It didn't matter what the demon said now, the large man had at that moment fallen head over heels in love. The woman he'd watched for years on this day, had chosen to acknowledge him. He had what the demon despised most 'hope.'

  He was so excited that the demon next to him stamped her foot on the floor.

  ‘Okay, whatever,’ she screamed in his ear in defeat. ‘You're still fat and repulsive,’ said the demon, determined to bring him down.

  Hearing her the man took out his cell phone from his trouser pocket and looked up diet recipes and the timings for his local gym.

  ‘A smile from a woman and you're going to go to that much trouble,’ she whispered. ‘You must be desperate,’ she said disparagingly.

  The demon was frustrated, people with low self-esteem were usually such easy targets, this should have been a straightforward case of self-loathing and depression. Instead, it had become an unfolding love story.

  'Well no one said being a demon was easy,’ thought Jassassah as she considered cutting her losses.

  She cringed as she saw the man's aura changing, the color he emitted wavered toward confidence, romance, and love. All the things she hated. The demon was not interested in creating a budding romance, Jassassah was only interested in echoing the negative thoughts that the large man had about himself, to encourage the insidious circle of self-hate. She wanted him to sabotage himself, she wanted to stay with him, until he ate more, and he ruined his wavering sense of self-worth.

  Her demon's influence was toxic, it gave no value to the man's capacity to be a genuine and caring lover. He had the ability to let love overflow from him, and the woman on the train needed love in her life. They were atoms that attracted each other, which the demon could see, but she was only interested in spreading misery and hurt.

  Later those two atoms would develop, she was destined to be the large man's future girlfriend, later his wife, and even later still, the mother of his children.

  The demon was frustrated, she needed to find victims who would be easier than this. She hated doing work and seeing an unintended positive impact. The demon hated losing, especially when it was to love, that was the worst.

  Disgusted, Jassassah stood up, so did the large man. He walked toward the tube doors as the tube came to a halt in the station. She watched him walk away with a spring in his step, she wanted to vomit.

  Jassassah walked along the carriage, trying to distance herself from failure. Looking at the carriages that were filling up, a woman who was applying her lipstick caught her attention.

  Five

  The Pendulum

  She retouched her lipstick and raised her head to look at her reflection in the dirty window of the tube carriage. Then delving into her handbag, she took out her makeup mirror to examine her face. She was completely unconscious of the rest of the world and the people she shared her carriage with.

  She interested the demon because she was beautiful but also fragile and broken. Just by looking at her Jassassah the Demon could see the emotional baggage she carried. Jassassah looked at the woman and knew that she was a person with a great many stories to tell, and if she ever opened herself up to anyone, the emotional scars would unfold.

  The demon could see that the woman was selfish to her very core. And would undoubtedly always be the victim in her stories, and despite being middle-aged, she was the kind of fun person that would never take responsibility for her actions. If there was no one else to blame the woman would be the victim of her own stupidity, making her bad decisions external to herself, she was her own worst enemy. Her fragile and broken beauty bordered on a depth of ugliness. The demon could tell all of this from the way in which the woman applied her lipstick, and well, a lot from her aura.

  As the demon observed her, she saw a family photo in her makeup bag. The woman in this photo stood with three children and a man, posing together from a shared holiday, and the demon knew it represented happier times. The man and she both wore wedding rings and held onto their children. Gone now was the ring from her finger. That would be another story, the demon thought to herself as she sat down making herself comfortable. The woman in the photo looked completely different, she was dressed like a mom, whereas the woman fixing her makeup had nothing mom about her.

  It was as though the woman in the photo and the woman on the tube were two opposing sides to the same coin. The demon knew enough about people to know that some were like pendulums, they swung between hot and cold. Jassassah knew it was the likely case with this woman, and that she had left her family some time ago, walking away from the growing children because she didn't want to play mom anymore. Splitting up a family, well that scored major brownie points in hell. The demon wondered if she was witnessing the efforts of another demon, or whether the woman's own ego demolished her family. If it were another demon, Jassassah would be wildly jealous.

  In cases where women played the traditional role of being the cornerstone of a family, demons knew that by creating unhappy women created ripples for the entire family, which was definitely the case with this woman. Jassassah had split up her own fair share of loving couples, seeding doubts and questioned intentions, it was a slow game, but she knew it well. Leaving children with separation anxiety and adults with a frail sense of self-worth.

  Watching the woman, she tuned into her thoughts.

  'If I go to the pub on Friday night, will I score some powder, and if I do that, will I be in good shape to see the kids on Saturday morning?' the woman thought to herself.

  ‘Of course you will, you're no lightweight,’ whispered the demon.

  'Their grandma will be there, so it's not like I need to look after the kids on my own,' the woman thought to herself, justifying her intentions.

  The demon smiled to herself.

  ‘Besides you can always sleep after their Dad's collected them,’ whispered the demon.

  'Yes, yes that'll work,’ the woman decided.

  The demon laughed at her cleverness it was all too easy. When people were going through emotional changes, she knew they were the easiest to influence.

  ‘Besides, you deserve to have some fun,’ said the demon,

  'Yes, I do,' thought the woman, almost patting herself on the back, glad that she had resolved her dilemma.

  'Drugs were only for special occasions,' thought the woman, as finally her sense of guilt started to manifest.

  The demon heard this thought, she knew what was happening, the woman was getting to the point where she could change her mind and her plans. The pendulum was starting to swing back to her sense of responsibility.

  ‘Of course, only special occasions,’ said the demon, reaffirming her thoughts.

  The demon knew drugs don't work like that. Drugs weren't recreational for people with addictive personalities. They had their own addictive, insidious, lure and someone like this woman would only eventually be their victim. Someone who wanted to have fun all the time, to lose themselves from their life, she was the perfect candidate for a lifelong habit. Jassassah didn't doubt that if she influenced this woman to habituate her drug taking, she could possibly encourage her children to take drugs later too. The demon could be proud of herself for that.

  With the next report that she would submit in hell, she would speak about this woman and her family, talking about the evil she spread. The demon looked forward to tomorrow night sure the woman would go through with her plans.

  She was about to get up and leave when a look in the woman's eye had a devilish tinge to it. The demon was interested in her again. Maybe the thoughts she heard weren't the most sinful thing in this woman’s world.

  The woman rummaged in her handbag again and pulled out her phone. The demon looked at it with her knowing it would be a mine of information. It would give the demon lots of ammunition to play with this woman's mind.

  The woman's name was Sandra. Jassassah made a note of this, she would be able to refer to her by her fi
rst name during their next meeting in hell. Sandra had been having an intense affair with a man named Claude, while his pregnant girlfriend knew nothing about their secret liaison.

  Sly fox, the demon thought to herself, as she rubbed her hands with glee.

  ‘My…my…my Sandra, what a twisted web you weave,’ said the demon as Sandra scrolled through the messages they'd exchanged.

  Not only had Sandra split up her own family, but she was also intent on splitting up Claude's family before his child had even been born.

  Sandra typed a couple of letters into the messaging window, then she hesitated and started deleting her words.

  ‘Wait, wait what were you going to say?’ asked the demon, excitedly.

  Sandra had a knowing smile on her face.

  'I want to meet him at lunch time in the hotel,’ thought Sandra.

  ‘So, tell him that, he's not going to know unless you tell him,’ insisted the demon.

  Sandra started typing again, this time the message was sent.

  Sandra’s and Claude’s affair made Jassassah the Demon cackle with laughter. She laughed so hard at Sandra, knowing how easy she was to influence. She loved humans who were like this, it was like playing with children.

  ‘Claude should realize that you're way more exciting than his boring perfect girlfriend,’ whispered the demon into Sandra's ear.

  Sandra took a moment to consider the whisper which she believed were her own thoughts.

  Jassassah was delighted that Sandra was so suggestible in her deviances. She was a victim that the demon enjoyed playing with. Jassassah knew that she would not disappoint her, she knew that Sandra was chasing a dream of freedom, which the demon could tell would be a trap.

  The demon didn't know that Sandra was playing with her own sanity. Sandra had never been a woman with balance in her life, everything she did was in extremes. The only time she'd a peaceful life was when she was a mother to her children. Her marriage had been a source of peace which she'd tired off and in which she so perfectly created dramas that she'd left it. All her hard work she had thrown away to pursue a fleeting ideal of freedom, and this to Sandra meant sexual freedom, the ability to behave as she wanted regardless of consequences.

  Sandra would find out how little she meant to Claude when he would hold his own daughter in his hands, instantly falling in love with the innocent face and repenting of his philandering ways. That would be the lure of fatherhood for him, to protect his family and eliminate all threats including Sandra. When she would learn of this, it would be one of the lowest points in her life. Life would teach her that being a consumer of men, meant she too would also be consumed.

  The demon knew it was easy to hurt a damaged woman by encouraging her excesses. The makeup covered her face, but the demon could see her scars, those which manifested themselves in the aura of colors which the woman gave off.

  Sandra stood up as the pneumatic brakes started to work, as she was going to leave at the next station. For a moment, the demon considered staying with her, but she knew she didn't need to, Sandra would do all that she typed into her phone. Some people didn't need demons to discover their deviances, they were well along that path before a demon ever stumbled into them.

  Demons knew humans would later question themselves, wondering why they'd behaved as they had. Often feeling guilt or regret about rash decisions. Not recognizing their behaviors as of themselves. Demons were experts in deception, playing on human emotions. Their only purpose was to create evil in humans and in this they took great pleasure. London was a city with over eight million residents, and by its nature, it encouraged anonymity which is why it was a breeding ground for sin.

  Six

  The Gambler

  As the London tube rumbled over ground it surfaced into the suburban areas, the trees and open green spaces were a contrast to the gray buildings in the central areas. People started to thin out as the morning rush was coming to an end.

  The demon liked the tube, she liked that it was efficient for her to do her work. She didn't need to stalk her victims. The sound of people's thoughts was all around her, like a scent in the air that only she could smell. She could easily tune into their thoughts and learn their deepest and darkest secrets. All she needed to do was to walk up and down the carriages. Jassassah was on the dark blue line, and she knew that the closer she got to Cockfosters at the northern extreme of the line, the fewer people would be on the train.

  The demon studied the tube map and decided that at Finsbury Park she would change from the dark blue Piccadilly Line onto the lighter blue Victoria Line and head back south into the city. She wanted to be in the center of everything.

  She waited for the train to arrive at Finsbury Park and she exited with all the other travelers, she kept herself invisible as she followed the signs and she was delighted to find the station full. She was tempted to abandon her plan and follow the scent of deceit as the waft made itself known to her. No, no stick with the plan she told herself as she made her way to the platform for the southbound Victoria Line.

  Jassassah watched the ghosts of the human dead walking in circles at the end of the platform where the train entered at its greatest speed. It brought a smile to her face to see fifty ghosts run and jump in front of the 11.15 am southbound train. The energy in the air was a sense of such anguish and distress that she reveled in it.

  Why hadn't she ventured onto the London tube before now?

  The London Underground was the perfect hunting place, she could have racked up significant brownie points in hell if she had decided to make this her base long ago. Instead, she had believed that gambling dens, back streets, and on top of buildings which gave her a bird's eye view of the city had been a better fit. How wrong she was. Being underground was almost like taking the road back into hell, that's why it hadn't appealed to her. She was wrong to have misjudged it.

  She stood on the platform as a man walked past her, his scent hit her immediately. It wasn't his aftershave that she was tuned into. The smell of him made her eyes glint red. Ahhh, he was someone she should follow. Jassassah the Demon was right to follow her instincts, and she knew this man was her reward.

  She turned to look at him, the man who was able to make her eyes glint. Do you know what he smelled of? It was desperation.

  She stood close by him and boarded the train sitting next to him.

  The man was preoccupied with his thoughts. His eyes had a distant glaze to them, a common sight in London for the people who traveled on the tube, it was clear to the demon that he wished he was somewhere else. She wondered where he was in his thoughts.

  As the demon observed him, her curiosity grew.

  He put his hands in his pockets, there were papers inside, she could hear their crunch. She knew the sound of money, and it wasn't that sound, it was something else. She saw a piece of paper peeking out, she could tell there were more in his pockets. Maybe putting his hand in his pockets was a way in which he was trying to suppress them, keep them out of sight. She saw his body stiffen slightly, the air around him uncomfortable because the man was uncomfortable. The demon moved her head closer to his pocket. What was this?

  Ahhh, she knew immediately. She was good at her job, she didn't even need to read his mind.

  It was a betting slip, and there were multitudes of them. She leaned back with a grin on her face

  ‘So, you're a gambler?’ she whispered.

  ‘No, no, I'm just a little down on luck really, but it'll pass,’ he thought to himself.

  His thoughts entered him into a conversation with the invisible demon next to him.

  ‘Sure, it'll pass,’ said the demon, mirroring his words.

  Sitting back with a grin on her face, she wasn't going to let him go. He was a gift to her.

  He took out his cell phone, and the demon looked closer, on the screen was a wealth of information about this man. She wasn't surprised to see the betting apps.

  His thumb pressed hard on the screen, and a little cross appeared in the corner. He wanted to delete the apps.