Vacant porcelain eyes, painted pale blue, stared at me. Despite the stillness of the doll, and the strong lighting of the store, there was a definite oppressive presence to the tiny toy.

"Are you who I'm looking for?" I wondered aloud, but not so loud as to alert the shopkeeper.

I picked the doll up, and a scream emanated from the air around me.

"Oh, you're a loud one are you. I can work with that."

The store attendant hurried over.

"Uh sir, I'm not so sure you want that doll. It's haunted."

I nodded. "I know."

I checked the price tag. $15 was a steal. I pulled out my wallet and walked to the counter as the attendant followed, trying to talk me out of buying the doll.

"It screams whenever you move it, and moves itself all around when you're not looking. It attacked Lucy just last week. I don't even know why the owner lets us display it, nobody wants it."

"I want it." I said, and put the $15 on the counter.

The teenager just stared at me for a minute, then shook his head and put my money into the cash register.

"You're crazy, man." He said as I left the store with my purchase.

As I walked I felt the weight of the creature settle itself onto me. This was promising, I whistled a tune as I settled the possessed toy into the passenger seat and started driving.

"Call Tamara." I told my phone. She picked up immediately.

"You found one?" She asked.

"Yup. And it definitely seems like a demon."

"Don't get my hopes up Nathan."

"C'mon Tammy, have a little faith. This could be the one."

A loud sigh followed by a long silence.

"Just bring it to the house. I'll prep Liz."

And she hung up.

Later I pulled up in the driveway of a shabby house in one of the older suburbs. I grabbed the doll and carried it to the front door. The presence howled again, and I felt my legs grow heavy.

"We're going in," I stated firmly to the doll, "best just get it over with. I'm very determined."

Of course I didn't think this was going to work, and the difficulties did not let up. I felt sickness rise in my throat and inexplicable fear fill my belly. But I pushed forward. This was nothing new. I'd done it before and I'd do it again and again and again until I found him.

I stepped over the carved symbols on the doorstep, careful not to scuff them. Likewise I was gentle with the door. After entering the house I put the doll down and ensured I hadn't accidentally broken the border. When I looked up, I found the doll had moved, and was sitting right in front of the window. I could feel its anger.

"Don't bother. You can't get out." I said.

Another scream, and my vision flashed. For the briefest instant I saw a huge shadow looming over me, its dark mouth opened impossibly wide.

A shiver ran down my spine and I took a deep breath. Tamara would berate me for talking to the creature. It didn't help, I knew this. If anything it angered them even more. But it helped me calm my nerves.

No matter how many times we did this, the experience never became as mundane as I tried to pretend.

"What are you doing? Get in here? The sun is about to set!" Tamara called from a room near the back of the house.

I picked up the doll again, once more feeling the same effects as before. It was not happy with me.

But I inexorably put one foot in front of the other until I'd made it into the small, mostly empty, bedroom.

Inside there were two people. My ex-wife, Tamara, wearing her protections and nothing else, and a small woman in casual clothes. We never quite figured out if clothes actually hindered the process in any way, but Tamara was not one to take chances. She kept her dark skin all but bare during the processes, displaying her mystical tattoos and wearing an amulet and bracelets. She had cut her hair short some time ago. I missed her long curls, but she no longer cared for my input on her appearance.

The other woman was young, but looking at her face you could be forgiven for thinking she was middle aged. Dark bags surrounded her eyes, and by her expression and manner, she was clearly exhausted. She was tied to a bed by her arms and legs and laying completely still, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Take your clothes off." Tamara instructed me. I shook my head and she huffed, but let it go.

I turned to the other woman. "You doing okay Liz?"

Her eyes refocused and turned towards me. She croaked out a response. "I'm okay. Ready to get this over with."

I gently clasped her hand in mine. "Thank you."

"Will you please stop fucking around Nathan." My ex-wife snapped at me.

"Forgive me for caring." I said back.

"The sooner this is over with, the sooner Liz can go back to her own bed. So spare me the virtue signalling."

The bed Liz was restrained on was squarely in the centre of a circle of lit candles, which itself was within a large intricate symbol carved into the floor. I stepped inside the circle and placed the doll at the foot of the bed.

Tamara and I both stepped out of the circle and went to sit on chairs against the wall. We waited.

The minutes stretched into a half an hour. Liz's eyes drooped and threatened to close. I saw something out the corner of my eye, through the door. I turned my head.

"It's a trick. It wants us out of the room." Tamara hissed at me.

"I wasn't born yesterday Tam." I responded.

A few more times the creature attempted to lure us out of the bedroom. Voices whispered and then spoke aloud out in the hall. Shadows flicked past and flashes of movement tried to draw my eyes.

After a while, the house grew silent, and the darkness surrounded the ring of candles. The doll began vibrating and a low growl emitted from somewhere within it.

Liz's drooped eyes came instantly open, and her mouth as well. The guttural growl seemed to transfer to Liz's throat and she began to speak with it.

"Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead dead."

"Get the notepad." Ordered Tamara. I reached down and picked up a pen and a small notebook to write in.

Tamara got up and stood at the edge of the circle. Liz had started slowly convulsing, writhing her body like she was uncomfortable. Liz spoke, "What are you called?"

Liz's head snapped towards her. "Questions questions questions. Don't you know curiosity KILLED THE CAT!"

Liz's eyes bulged and she howled at Tamara. We simply waited for it to pass. When it did, Tammy repeated her question.

"I am the wretched swarm, bitch! BEGONE!"

"What are you called?"

Liz groaned, louder and louder. Her pain morphed into words and she spoke while shouting.

"Ruuuuuuuaaaaaaarrr-Zamagorg! I am Zamagorg!"

The growls and groans continued and Liz began to rise off the bed into the air.

"Zamagorg. Heed me." Tamara called. The creature shouted at her.

"Shut up bitch"

Tamara threw some fine powder at Liz, it settled on her body and elicited more shouting.

"Dayed see Eekir eltil. Dayed see Eekir eltil. Dayed see Eekir eltil. Dayed see Eekir eltil. Dayed see Eekir eltil."

Tamara turned to me. "What's it saying?" There was excitement in her voice. I looked at my notepad and wrote out the sounds. It took me a minute but when I realised, I sighed.

"Well?"

"It's saying little Ricky is dead backwards."

Tamara stepped into the circle. I shouted after her. "What are you doing! Get out of there!" But she ignored me, and walked up to glare into Liz's bulging eyes.

"Shut your mouth you vile creature." She slapped Liz across the face when she finished.

The creature just laughed in its wheezing, croaking manner.

"Tamara get out of the circle!" I shouted.

"Zamagorg knows. Zamagorg knows. Oh ho ho ho ho Zamagorg knows."

Tamara touched her forehead, then her naval, then her left arm and her right.

"Deprecare Deum pacis, ut conterat Satanam sub pedibus nostris, ne ultra valeat captivos tenere homines, et Ecclesiae nocere.' She chanted. The demon howled again, repeating itself louder and louder.

"Zamagorg knows. ZAMAGORG KNOWS. ZAMAGORG KNOOOOOOOOOOOWS!"

"In nómine Pátris, et Fílii, et Spirítus Sancti. Exsúrgat Deus et dissipéntur inimíci ejus, et fúgiant qui odérunt eum a fácie ejus. Sicut déficit fumus defíciant; sicut fluit cera a fácie ígnis, sic péreant peccatóres a fácie Dei."

Tamara chanted over and over, and the demon howled and howled. Liz's body twisted itself in ways no human body should be able to. Her head span 180 degrees and the demon started smacking her head against the pillow, unable to reach the bedframe due to the restraints.

But then Liz settled and her body relaxed, returning to a state of what looked like sleep. Tamara chanted once more, but just as she reached the last voice, Liz spoke again.

"Mama?"

It was Ricky's voice. Tamara stopped mid sentence.

"Ricky? Ricky?!"

"Tam, it's the demon." But Tamara didn't hear me, or ignored me.

"It's okay baby, mama's here, mama's here." She leaned down and started stroking Liz's cheek.

"Let me go mama, it hurts my hands." Liz reached for the restraints without hesitation. I stepped into the circle and grabbed her arms.

"Tam! What are you doing!? It's the demon!" I yelled in her face, trying to startle her out of her delusion. She stopped and looked at me.

For once, her pain was showing through. She begged me with her eyes. Give me back my son.

I took her hands and pulled her out of the circle, ensuring she didn't accidentally break it. As we stepped foot over the candle ring, the demon screamed in anger again, and I sensed a shadow launch itself at our retreating backs. We stumbled as an invisible force hit us.

I ignored it and sat Tamara down in a chair. Tears had appeared in her eyes, and soon silent sobs shook her body.

I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I turned back towards Liz. The demon was smiling at me with yellow eyes and a drooling open mouth. As I stepped back into the circle it started barking at me, like an aggressive dog.

I let it bark and started the chant over again. It quickly switched back to shouting at me.

"NO! NONONONONONONONOOOOOOOO!"

"-Exsúrgat Deus et dissipéntur inimíci ejus, et fúgiant qui odérunt eum a fácie ejus-"

"HAVION! IT KEEPS YOUR SPAWN!"

"-Sicut déficit fumus defíciant; sicut fluit cera a fácie ígnis, sic péreant peccatóres a fácie Dei"

With a final howl, the demon departed Liz's body, and with a loud crack, the doll's head broke in half. I anointed Liz and prayed over her again, and there was no response. The demon was gone. I undid Liz's restraints and checked her breathing and pulse. She was unconscious but otherwise well. I turned to Tamara. She had her head in her hands. I walked to her and picked her up in a hug. She sobbed into my shoulder.

"Shhhh. Shhhh. It's over. It's over." I said gently.

We stayed like that for a while before she extracted herself, taking a deep breath and collecting herself again.

"I love you." I said. I don't know why I said it, I knew what the answer would be.

"Nathan..." Her expression was pained, "we've had this discussion."

I closed my eyes. "I know. I'm sorry. I just don't think I'll ever not love you."

Her hand cupped my cheek.

"I know. You're a good man. In another life, we would be happy and in love."

She quickly dressed again. Then Liz stirred and Tamara turned her attention to the woman. Meanwhile I blew out the candles and turned the house lights back on. Then I collected the audio recorder we'd had running and stopped the recording.

We both checked Liz, and other than a sore neck and utter exhaustion, she was as well as could be expected. We carried her between us out to Tamara's car, who took the woman home. They both waved to me as they left. It was a more positive reaction than usual. Most of the time I was lucky to get a "hello" out of my ex-wife.

I tossed the broken doll into the trashcan on the curb, then got in my car and drove.

About forty minutes later I exited the elevator in the city hospital. The ward was quiet and the lights dim. I waved to the on duty nurse and made my way to bed 11.

A small body occupied the bed, completely still and hooked up to all manner of life support apparatus. I leaned over and kissed the little boy on the forehead, brushing his soft curls with my finger. His hair was getting long.

I held his limp little hand and picked up one of his favourite books to read to him.

I stayed long into the night, right up until the sun was rising and my alarm went off. I kissed him goodbye and went to my car. I had to go home and get dressed for work.

As I sat in the driver's seat, getting ready to start the engine, I picked up the recorder. I fast forwarded to the final few minutes and found what I was looking for, then played it a few times.

"HAVION! IT KEEPS YOUR SPAWN!"

I smiled. There were a few pawn shops and back alley trinkets and antiques stores on the other side of town I still hadn't checked out.

"I'm coming for you son."