Seed

by Ania Ahlborn

Charlie always said she wanted to be just like her dad.

“There’s something wrong with her, Jack. I can feel it.”

At what point do parents back away from something they love more than their own lives, put up their hands, and admit defeat?

Churches gave him the creeps. They made him itchy, like something was digging its teeth beneath his skin.

She knew there was only one way to get rid of the prickle that had burrowed into her heart: get up, stand over her sister again. Stand over her and wait until she stopped breathing.

Aimee hated herself for wishing it, but sometimes all she wanted was to start over again.

Even he knew that if demons could exist, it meant there was real evil in the world, and if you believed in the devil, somewhere in the deepest fibers of your being you had to believe in God. He knew, firsthand, that the devil was real; he’d seen it with his own two eyes. But he’d never seen God. He’d never felt God. He’d never been helped by God. For all he knew, wickedness was strong enough to exist in a world without good.

But that was how the devil worked, making his appearance when you least expected it.

“Don’t be scared, Mommy,” she said. “At least you still have Abigail.”