User:Magica31226

I was always that kid who didn't have many friends. In fact, friendships were far and few between for me. So, I guess I made up one. A friend who was bigger than those mean boys who were always picking on me when the teachers weren't looking. They would protect me like a big brother would. And they would never ditch me for someone they thought were better.

He was a shadow at first. I thought that this was what all imaginary friends were supposed to look like at first as this was before I had the "don't try to make up a friend because they may actually be a demon or some shit" lesson from Paranormal Activity. But I was a lonely boy, so I would have done whatever it took. I wish I hadn't.

"What's your name," I asked him.

"My name is Al."

"That's a nice name. Like Aladdin?"

I couldn't tell at the time, but I'm sure he smiled.

"Yes, just like that. What's your name?"

I wouldn't be lying when I say that I was pleasantly surprised. No one was really interested in getting to know me. I thought I was as lame as they came, but my new friend didn't think so.

"I'm Emmet!"

Al held out a hand and I took it. We shook and let go. That was the beginning of our friendship.

When I went to sleep I felt Al kiss my forehead, much like a parent would. My mother wasn't home all that much, so I never got any affection from her. My dad was a dick, didn't bother to act like a father. I never missed him when he left to God knows where. The sweet kisses were welcome to a lonely child.

I woke up and Al was still there, but his features were more prominent, less covered in shadow. I grinned.

"You stayed!"

"Of course I did. We're best friends, aren't we?"

I nodded, excited. Downstairs, there were pancakes stacked on a plate on the set dining room table. I had to pinch myself. Was I dreaming? Where were my mom and dad?

I shrugged. This breakfast was clearly meant for me. Who was I to refuse it?

I spent a while enjoying my pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. I may have been in a dream, but it was better than the nightmares I occasionally had.

Al had appeared next to me, looking even more like a real person than he had the day before.

"Do you want some?"

"Nah, I made it for you. God knows you need some food."

I nodded, still a bit worried. Wouldn't he be hungry later?

"Emmet."

I turned and gave him a questioning look.

"If you could have anything you want, what would it be?"

That wasn't a strange question at the time, but later, I would realize how unsettling his intense gaze was as he looked into my eyes. He probably didn't even need to ask the question. He already knew.

"I want the mean boys to stop being mean to me," I said. Al nodded and grabbed my hand.

"We're going to the park."

It was a pleasant thing to start off a June Monday. A trip to the park. I would get to go on the swings and play catch with my new friend.

"Hold on, let me go get my ball from the basement-"

"No. There's a monster in the the basement, and I'm keeping him prisoner."

"Oh, okay."

That was the end of it. At least it was for a while.

As we walked through the park, Al caught the attention of male and female alike, though I couldn't understand. He just looked like an older version of me, just more like a football player. I hoped that I would look like him when I got older. (I realize as I write this that I didn't go through puberty like I thought I would.)

We continued our trek through the park until we stopped at the basketball courts. I nearly froze in fear. This was where my bullies came to play. I felt Al squeeze my hand and I felt safe. And we walked over to the gang of boys.

"Hey faggot," the leader, Jake King, sneered.

And at that moment, I lost all confidence when I realized that Al was gone. Did he leave me to face them alone? But I didn't have the chance to say anything when I saw Al's large hands around Jake's neck in a moment. In another one, those hands were twisting hard and the bully's neck snapped. The other boys were whimpering and very close to running away. I never understood why they didn't, why I didn't. I was just as terrified as they were.

Al was next to me as fast as he disappeared. He sent the remaining boys a stare that told them to back off or they would suffer the same fate. They never bothered me again.

That night, when I realized that my father hadn't come home yet, I was both glad and apprehensive. Glad because, well he wasn't there to insult me. But he was still my dad. What if he was laying in a ditch somewhere?

When I asked Al, he didn't give me the answer I wanted.

"You love me, don't you Emmet."

"Yeah."

"And we're friends, right?"

"Uh huh, though we only met each other. I think the right thing to say is that we're acquaintances. That's what my mom said."

At the mention of my mother, his jaw tightened, but as a kid, you aren't able to read body language as clearly. I didn't mention it.

"Wouldn't you like to be something more?"

"Like brothers? You could be the big one that buys me ice cream and reads me scary stories! Is that what you mean?"

Al chuckled.

"No, more than that. I meant that we could get married and be together forever. Wouldn't you like that?"

"I don't know. That's a big question. And I'm a boy, you know."

"Boys can get married too."

"Oh."

"You don't have to decide now. We have a long time."

And he kind of hugged me. That was when I came to the realization that imaginary friends weren't supposed to be able to touch you or be able to kill other kids. They were imaginary. Unless Al was real.

When I thought that he was asleep on my bed, I carefully unattached his arms from around me and snuck downstairs. I wanted to know what was in the basement.

I got down there with no problem.

I carefully opened the door, prepared for a monster, something, to jump at me and eat my face off. Whatever monsters did to children.

I prepared for the worst as I turned on the light, but nothing happened. So, I walked carefully down the stairs.

When I finally got down there, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

Chained to the wall was a just a skeleton, wearing my dad's Detroit Tigers ball cap. Screaming, I ran back up the stairs right into a solid wall of muscle.

"What did you do to him?"

"He was in the way. Getting rid of him was the only way for us to be together forever."

Before Al could reach, I was running out the door to the nearest church which was at least a mile away. I don't remember much of what happened after that. Only that when I came back with the priest, there was a message on the front door of the house in dark red letters.

I don't remember much of what it said. All I remember was the promise of my imaginary friend, what the priest described as a demon, that he would be back.

This still shocks me to this day, despite me being nineteen now. There are still things that I don't understand.

I don't understand how my father was already decayed after only a day. A theory I have is that the demon kept me in some kind of time loop that just played over and over and affected my memories. And then I don't understand why he would do this in the first place, why he couldn't mess with some other kid.

Last but not least: did he still intend to find me. That's one that I don't ever want to find out. But sometimes I see a shadow in my periphery, or strange gifts on the windowsill of my dorm room, and I wonder if he will keep his promise.

-Emmet