Demonic Dora Read online

  “I’m not a fucking demon!” Dora snapped, pulling against the ropes.

  “Such obscene language coming from my baby’s lips.” Her mother gasped and stood back, holding her hand to her mouth in shock. “No child of mine would use such words.”

  “Shit.” Dora knew she’d just blown her chances of getting out of this.

  Her father nodded at her mother and opened his book. Well, it wasn’t actually a book. It was a printout in a clear plastic binder.

  Dora slumped in her chair and pouted at him.

  He cleared his throat and began reading from the folder in a slow droning voice. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus—”

  “Aww, come on! This is going to take hours. Read faster.” Dora complained.

  Her father scowled at her before continuing in the same drone. “Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursion infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica—”

  “Do you actually know what any of that means?” Dora interrupted.

  Her mother splashed her face with holy water in reply. Dora blinked, feeling cold-water drip down her face and onto her chest. “Great! Now I’ll have to curl my hair again.”

  “Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te.” Her father chanted.

  Panic twisted in Dora’s stomach when she heard a hiss from behind her closet door. Kieron must have woken up. She struggled with the rope around her wrists. She would be in deep shit if they found Kieron. “Okay, I’m cured,” she cried. “Mommy, I can’t feel the demon anymore.” She attempted to look innocent and saved.

  “Deceitful demon, we know your lies,” her father said. “I will finish this ritual and send you back to Hell.”

  “Aww shit. Are you kidding me? That’s going to take ages.”

  “Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare.” Her father continued with renewed vigour.

  Dora heard a hiss coming from behind her closet door again. She coughed loudly to cover it up.

  “It’s working, Theodore!” her mother cried. “The demon is coming out. Keep going.”

  “Vade, Satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt.”

  Her eyes widened as she saw the handle on the closet door begin to turn. “Kieron, no!” she shouted. “I command you to stay out.”

  “Yes demon, stay out of my daughter,” her mother shouted, and she threw more holy water in Dora’s face.

  Dora blinked and sniffed. “You’re just going to keep doing that, aren’t you? Regardless of how wet I get.”

  Her mother splashed a cup full of holy water in Dora’s face as a reply. Her hair, face and chest were now drenched in icy water. Cold dribbles ran down her cheeks and splashed onto her collarbone. She exhaled a resigned sigh. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire te rogamus, audi nos.” Her father continued, his voice thankfully rising in volume and drowning out the sounds of a struggle inside her closet.

  Is this hurting Kieron? She worried.

  “Ut inimicos sanctae Ecclesiae humiliare digneris, te rogamus, audi nos. Terribilis Deus …” Her father paused. “Er, Josie dear, did you fill up the printer with new ink?”

  “Yes, last week. They had Cyan on offer at PC World, so I stocked up on it,” her mother replied.

  “Did you put the ink in the printer?”

  “Hmm? I think so.”

  “So, the Roman Catholic exorcism ritual ends with the words ‘God is frightening’?” Dora’s father did not appear convinced.

  While watching her mother ponder the question, Dora realised it was now or never. If she wanted to help Kieron, it would require an Oscar winning performance, right now.

  “ARRGHHHH!” She arched violently in her chair and made her legs and arms sporadically twitch. “IT BURNS!” she growled from the back of her throat. It was actually her ‘Oscar from Sesame Street’ impression, but it was convincing enough.

  “It must do, Theodore. Look! It’s working.” Josie sounded overjoyed.

  Dora shuddered and cried out a few random Latin words before limply slumping in her chair. She peeked out at them with one eye. Her mother was beaming, and her father was almost smiling. He’d put down the binder and was heading towards her. She realised the struggling sounds in her closet had ceased too.

  Her mother began untying her, but her father stopped her. “We must be certain this new ritual worked before we release her.” He told his wife.

  Dora snapped her eye shut when her father leaned over her. Her head tilted upwards as he lifted her chin with his fingers.

  “Dora,” he said in a soft voice.

  She slowly opened her eyes as if waking from a deep sleep. “Is it gone Father? Am I safe now?” She tried to imagine what a nice girl would say. It was the toughest acting she’d ever done.

  “Yes Dora, you’re safe now. How do you feel?” her father asked.

  “Strange Father, as if I’ve been gone for a very long time.” She fluttered her eyelashes for effect.

  “You have, my child, but it is okay. You’re safe.”

  Oh, I’m gonna barf if I need to keep up this crap for much longer.

  “I should pray to God and thank him.” She hoped they’d untie her soon, and those appeared to have been the magic words.

  “Yes Dora, that’s right.” Her father quickly untied her wrists and released her from the chair. “Come, let us do that now.” He tried to guide her out of the room with him.

  Like hell!

  “I feel the need to pray to God on my own, Father. To ask for forgiveness by myself. After all, I can’t ask others to take on my responsibilities and er stuff, can I?” She found it increasingly difficult to keep up the act now she was free of her chair.

  “I understand, and you are right child.” Her father hugged her, and for a brief second it was almost as if she had a normal father. “Come Josie. Let us leave Dora to her prayers. She has so much sin to repent for.”

  The parental moment vanished when she heard that. She watched her parents head towards the door while grinding her teeth to stop herself from saying what she really thought.

  “Honey, I’m so glad you’re okay. We can give you confession tomorrow and buy you nicer clothes,” her mother said when she paused in the doorway.

  Dora walked to the door and flashed a sweet smile before she shut the door in her mother’s face and locked it. “Yeah, that’ll fuckin’ happen.”

  She rushed to the closet and swung open the door to check on Kieron. He lay in a heap on the floor of his plush red room. Her eyes widened when she noticed he appeared to be tied up in a pair of her stockings and was gagged by one of her bras. “What the hell?” She pulled the bra out of his mouth and scowled at him. “Were you trying to eat my underwear?”

  “What? No! It attacked me,” Kieron said.

  “My bra attacked you?”

  “Yes, I was just listening at the door to the holy man hurting you. I was about to come to your rescue, but he spelled your underwear so it attacked me!”

  She reached down to untie him. “Is that all that happened? They used the exorcism ritual, and all it did was made you eat bra?”

  “I know, right? I’d have expected it to make me eat pants or something instead,” he said with an innocent expression on his face.

  Dora snorted laughing. “Yeah, that’s what I was worrying about,” she said as she finished untying him from her stockings and helped him up off the floor.

  Kieron rubbed his wrists, watching her with a concerned frown. “What did they do to you, Minx-witch?”

  “Ah, nothing. Just stupid parent crap.” She shrugged. But in all honesty, she felt attacked and unsafe in her own home, just like always.

  “I don’t like stupid parents.” He growled and pulled her int
o a hug. This hug was so different from the ones her father gave her. It was close, comforting and real.

  “No, neither do I.” She agreed, enjoying the warmth of his body against hers.

  He rubbed her back and held her close for quite some time. After a while, she realised it was the first time she’d ever enjoyed a hug.

  “Kieron?”

  “Yes, my minx?”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “You naked.” His breath blew against her hair.

  “Are you shitting me?” She angrily pushed him away. “Men!”

  “What?” he asked with confusion in his eyes. “It was the truth.”

  She shook her head and stormed back to her own room, slamming the closet door behind her. She threw herself face first onto her bed and hugged her pillow. A few tears might have escaped from her eyes, but she refused to acknowledge them.

  People suck!

  Kieron quietly opened the door and watched his minx-witch on her bed. There was something wrong with her. She was volatile and not at all sexy right now. She was making strange sniffling noises and confusing him with hiccups.

  “Minx-witch, I need to help you. They have cast some kind of spell on you, I think. You are not working properly.” He smiled. She should understand that.

  A pink fluffy pillow whapped him across the face, and he sighed.

  “Dora-minx, you cannot go on like this. It’s bad for your health and quite unattractive.” He ducked as an alarm clock flew at him from Dora’s bedside.

  “Stop throwing things at me!” he shouted.

  “Go away.” Dora’s muffled reply came from somewhere inside her pillow.

  “Where?” he asked, puzzled.

  “Anywhere!”

  He shook his head and perched on the side of the bed. “Silly Minx-witch, there is no place called anywhere. I know. I checked.”

  “Just leave me alone.” Her muffled voice replied.

  “Now is not a good time to be alone, Dora-minx. You have been spelled.” He reached across her and attempted to roll her over, so she would be facing him. “Come on. Let me see what they have done to you. There’s no need to hide. Even the most powerful witches suffer at the hands of imbeciles, sometimes.”

  Dora struggled with him for a little while before eventually rolling over and looking at him.

  He jumped back in shock. “By the Devil’s fucknuts, what have they done to you?”

  Black tears were rolling down her face in streaks. Her eyes were red, but not as red as her nose that was glowing so much it was shiny and appeared swollen. She repeatedly sniffed and hiccupped.

  “What is this awful spell? Your beautiful face, what destruction is this upon it?” He panicked. He had never seen this kind of ugliness before. Boils and warts sure, he’d seen those. But to make her eyes bleed black, what sorcery was this? “I don’t know what to do, Minx-witch. Do you know what this is?” he asked. “What spell cast did they use? Did you see the book?”

  “It’s okay, Kieron.” She smiled. Although she was still quite unattractive, he was pleased she wasn’t in pain. “I know how to fix this.”

  “What can I do to help?” he asked.

  “Pass me the box of tissues.” She told him.

  He leapt across the room and snatched the tissues from the top of her dresser. He knelt beside her, holding the tissues out to her. He was anxious for her face to be restored to its former beauty. This curse was causing him to feel something awful inside, and he didn’t like the feeling.

  He watched her wipe her eyes with the magic tissues before blowing her nose on another tissue. It was a miraculous thing to watch as her face transformed before him to become pretty again. Her eyes were still a little red, but her nose appeared less swollen now. Her face was almost back to normal.

  Kieron sighed with relief. “I must learn more about these new curses and cures, my Minx. How can I protect you if not?”

  “You don’t have to protect me, Kieron. I’m fine.” Dora-minx’s voice was still shaky. The curse must have taken a lot out of her. He summoned her heart’s desire; a large tub of cookies and cream Hagen Daz and a spoon. He offered her them.

  A smile lit up her face when she accepted his gift. “How did you do that?” The delight in her voice made him happy.

  “It is easy, Dora-minx. I find it in the world and bring it here.”

  Dora paused opening the ice cream. “You mean you took it from someone else?”

  “Of course, but he was a fat kid who had bullied it from another kid in the mall. He’ll do well in Hell that boy, mark my words.”

  “What about the first kid who had it stolen from him by the fat kid?”

  “Oh, I think he’s cursed. He has the same look on his face that you had a few minutes ago. Should I send him some tissues?”

  “No, send him this ice cream back,” she said. “It will help him.”

  “But, what about you, do you not need the ice cream?” He tilted his head to one side feeling puzzled.

  “No. Er, just trust me on this one.” She smiled again, and it made him happy again. He was supposed to go to the family barbeque in Hell tonight, but he really wanted to stay here with Dora instead.

  “As you command, Minx-witch,” he said. He snapped his fingers and sent the ice cream back to the cursed kid. He curiously watched the child in his mind. Dora-minx was right. The boy's curse lifted when the ice cream reappeared.

  What strange magic is this?

  “Dora-minx, I have decided to stay with you for the time being. I think you need my help, and I can learn more about your world while I am here.”

  “Can you leave when you want to?” She frowned at him.

  “Of course, I am all powerful.”

  “I thought once you’d been summoned, you’d be stuck here.”

  “No.” He pondered the question. Portals usually worked both ways. “I can just click my fingers and choose where I am. Look …” He clicked his fingers and nothing happened.

  Dora raised an eyebrow.

  He frowned and clicked his fingers. Nothing happened again. He laughed. “I must have done it wrong, one second.” He shook his hand and clicked his fingers again. “It was working a minute ago, I swear.”

  “I don’t think you can go back unless you’re sent back,” she said.

  “You mean I-I—I really am your bitch?” A bubble of panic swelled in his throat.

  “Er, I’m not sure, but I think you need a spell to go back.”

  “Fucknuts,” he muttered.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.” She reassured him.

  Kieron stood up and paced around the room feeling an anxious knot tightening in his stomach. “No, you don’t understand.”

  “What do you mean?” Dora-minx looked very pretty when she worried.

  He sighed and shook his head. “I cannot miss Judgement Day. I have to get back in time.”

  “When is it and what happens if you don’t?”

  “In thirteen days, and very bad things will happen,” he said in a dark tone.

  “What kind of things?”

  ”My father will come to get me.”

  Dora thought about Kieron’s father as she filled a bag with supplies from the kitchen cupboards. She and Kieron had talked all day in her room about it, and in all honesty, his father sounded like a bigger asshole than her own did. Being eviscerated for missing a barbeque was definitely child abuse.

  Hunger had eventually grumbled in both their bellies, so she had decided to sneak downstairs for supplies.

  She checked her bag.

  Twinkies-check, soda-check, jerky-check. What else do we need?

  She wondered while browsing the choice of cakes and sweets.

  Dora didn’t realise anyone was behind her until a pair of strong arms grabbed her. “DEMON!” Her father roared.

  “Aww shit, not again.” She struggled to get out of his reach.

  “Josie, come in here. Check what she’s stealing,” her father shout
ed into the living room.

  Her mother rushed into the room with her blond hair bouncing around in rollers. “Oh no, Theodore, didn’t it work?” her mother cried.

  “Alas no my dear, our daughter is truly lost,” her father replied. “Check her bag. See what the demon was taking from us.”

  Josie ripped the bag out of Dora’s hands and tipped it out onto the floor. Dora groaned. It was her school bag—it had all of her supplies in it.

  Twinkies, soda and jerky fell out first followed by bloodroot, her grimoire, sage and some black candles. “I can explain that,” Dora said.

  “Witchcraft!” her father bellowed.

  “Well, yes. I suppose you could call it that. I mean, it’s almost science in some ways. You know, mixing chemicals and things. Like homework,” she added with a hopeful smile.

  “Demon worship!” Her father shook her so hard her teeth rattled.

  “I’m not really into the worshipping—you might have noticed. It’s more experimenting.” She winced. This was not going to end well.

  “There is only one solution to this, Josie.” Her father sounded sad.

  “I know.” Her mother lowered her head. “I’ll call the council.” She walked out of the room crying.

  “The council?” Dora asked.

  Her father said nothing as he marched her out of the kitchen.

  Dora’s breath exploded out of her lungs when she landed in a heap on her bedroom floor. She scowled at her father, who was closing the door behind him after throwing her into the room. She inhaled sharply when she heard a loud clunk of her father locking the bolt on the other side of the door.

  What’s he going to do to me this time, keep me prisoner?

  She sat up on the floor and glanced around the room, looking for Kieron. She frowned when she couldn’t see him and called out his name.

  Kieron peeked out of the closet and widened his eyes at her. “What happened, Dora-minx?” he said, rushing over to help her up.

  “I got caught stealing Twinkies. I think they figured out I’m a witch.” She glanced at the door, frowning with worry.

  “Did they not already know you were a witch?”

  “No, I—I don’t think they did. I think they thought I was possessed by a demon all this time.”