Simon scowled at the haze forming behind him, its blurry form reflected within the mirror he was using to brush his teeth. He watched as the creature began to take shape, a bulging mass oozing and overlapping, tendrils of flesh reaching out towards him. A grotesque, twisted face emerged from the body, a singular bludgeoned eye glaring back at him.
Simon gripped onto his toothbrush, flinging around to brandish it before the creature, bits of toothpaste splattering onto the cold tiled floor. It was gone.
“Get back here!” Simon yelled with a mouthful of foam.
He turned back to the mirror, groaning as his eyes met with a bloody statement stained on its smooth reflective surface. Simon read it out loud.
“Cheesecake.” He spun back to face the rest of the bathroom.
“Are you taunting me? I’ll get you, if thats the last thing I’ll do! I’ll never forget you!” He spat foam back at the toilet and bathtub with the fervour of an army general, shaking his fist vigorously. He muttered to himself angrily as he tore a piece of tissue paper from the tissue box, wiping away the message.
The paranormal occurrences had begun shortly after the full payment of the house had been deposited. At first, it was subtle. Barely perceptible. A cup would fall under no provocation. Doors would slam shut in the house when there was no wind. But slowly, the terroriser of the building began to emerge.
It was a regular afternoon. Simon was waiting patiently behind his mother after being picked up from school, fidgeting impatiently as she unlocked the front door. In the fridge lay a perfect, pristine cheesecake.
Simon loved cheesecake.
Ever since the dessert had been introduced to his lips at the ripe age of four, its presence had never left his tastebuds. Every full moon, his body would under go a physical change that could only be subdued by the slice of this delicate cake. Tantrums, crying fits and an atmosphere of despair saturated the house. His body would not be satiated by any other meal.
His mother was well aware of these requirements, so during the weeks the moon began to take its full form, she would begin the proper reparations. A ritual-like session would commence within the heart of the kitchen. Egg yolks would be separated carefully from the whites. Cream would be whisked into a smooth, rich batter. Granulated sugar would be blended into a fine powder.
This concoction of ingredients would result in a dessert so sublime, a single spoon of this delicacy would be enough to sustain and satisfy an army of soldiers for forty days and forty nights. And of course, when the cake was ready to be eaten, Simon would be the first to step up and bask in its glory.
So after an exhausting day of multiplication and monkey bars, Simon felt well deserving to indulge in this delight. But as he entered the house, hanging up his schoolbag, he noticed something strange. A black, misty form flickered from the corner of the room and slithered into the dark recesses of the gap between the wall and the fridge.
The kitchen’s shutters were rolled down. Thin streams of light permeated through the darkness of the room. Noticing Simon’s excitement, his mother had gone directly to the fridge, ignoring the light switch.
Now, Simon watched on with horror as his unsuspecting mother reached towards the door handle. The light from the fridge cast an eerie look over the kitchen, illuminating his mother’s face. He felt his body begin to tense as she reached in, taking the cheesecake out carefully, gazing lovingly at her creation. Then it appeared.
The shadow behind the fridge bloomed onto the kitchen walls, spreading rapidly like an uncontrollable virus. Then it stopped. Flesh-like masses began to bulge from the darkness. The twisted face appeared and screeched. Simon’s mother fainted.
And amidst the chaos, the cheesecake was dropped.
This day marked Simons relentless loathing against the house’s spiritual inhabitant. Countless prayers were muttered by Simon’s unsettled parents, priests were hired to cleanse the house, crosses decorated every room, holy water was splashed and latin was chanted, yet nothing seemed to work. The creature continued to slip past.
Then the moon began to wane. Beginning as a sliver of silver in the sky, it began to slowly fatten, growing ever so steadily, revealing its full form. Simon’s itch for the cake intensified. Eventually, his mother surrendered to Simon’s relentless begging and soon, the cake was sitting in the fridge. It needed a night to cool over in order for the batter to properly settle. It would be ready in the morning and this time, it would be served upon a plate, instead of being scraped off the floor.
He awoke at 3:14am to a low hum in the air. The usual low, barely perceptible sound of electronic ambience had suddenly intensified. Simon felt his arms tingle as vibrations passed through his bed frame.
That’s strange, Simon thought. Is there something wrong with the electricity in the house?
His mind ran through each room, assessing potential causes for this disturbance. Suddenly, like a string being pulled taut, his attention snapped towards the fridge in the kitchen.
The cheesecake.
If the the electricity suddenly stopped, the fridge would stop working. If the fridge stopped working, the cooling system wouldn’t work anymore. And if the cooling system didn’t work, the cheesecake wouldn’t settle properly.
It would be a disaster.
Simon shot out of bed like a rocket, pelting across his bedroom floor and flinging his door open. He slid down the banisters of the stairwell, crossing the living room with speed on par a young dachshund, and skidded across the smooth tiled floor to face the kitchen.
The scene that met his eyes made Simon’s blood run cold. In front of him, the creature threatening his family’s livelihood was reaching into the fridge, its fleshy fingers extending out towards the cheesecake. His cheesecake.
Pure, unbridled fury saturated Simon’s body as he watched the creature threaten his precious prize. Clenching his fists, he ran towards the creature yelling a battle cry. The ghost suddenly startled, recoiled from the cake and turned to face Simon. Noticing that Simon wasn’t here to play, it began to bulge, towering over the young boy as fleshy tendrils sprouted from its body like weeds. The disfigured face emerged from the mass, and a twisted mouth crowed an awful screech. Blood and other bodily fluid sprayed from its grotesque lips, coating itself with a slimy sheen.
“Ewwww!” Simon exclaimed.
Unfurling one of his fists, he thrust his hand into his pyjama pants pocket, feeling his fingers curl around the smooth body of a flask of holy water that his mother had made him carry. His fingers worked with an otherworldly precision as they fiddled with the lid atop the bottle, popping it off.
“Take this!”, He yelled as he simultaneously flung the bottle at the creature.
The fragile, cheaply made bottle sold to his mother at the peak of her despair immediately exploded on impact. As if time had slowed, Simon watched in awe as the glass broke, releasing the water from its clutch. He watched as a single drop of water came into contact with the creatures flesh, the rotund molecule compressing, flattening then splattering. The creature’s skin began to sizzle.
“Yes!” Simon exclaimed. He had discovered why the other attempts of exorcism had resulted in failure. Success came when the creature was targeted directly. Grabbing two more flasks off the kitchen mantle, he unscrewed the lids and hurled them at the creature. Sweat began to drip off his forehead as Simons arms continued to fling the holy liquid.
After the mantle supply had been exhausted, Simon stepped back, panting. The creature was now reduced to a sopping mess on the kitchen floor. The water was still working away at it - Simon could see that in a few seconds, it would disintegrated entirely.
Gazing proudly at his work, he stepped back and refocused his attention back to his initial goal. The cheesecake stood perfectly before him. He took it out carefully, setting it on the table.
“No…” the creature gurgled quietly. Simon barely noticed.
Taking a knife out of the kitchen drawer, he cut himself a slice. He had won. He had performed an exorcism, all on his own, ridding the house of the disease that plagued it, and freed his parents from the phenomena they could not comprehend.
He took a bite of the cake. It was sublime. Perhaps his mother would make him another one tomorrow.