Free Demonized by Naomi Clark

the Voice sniped. “ Poking around in the kind of dirty magic you do, you deserve to die. The incubus could have snapped your neck yesterday.”
    “Is that concern I hear?” I mused, checking my watch. I’d really been out for the count–it was mid-morning, edging toward noon, and I only had a couple more hours to kill before my appointment at the Overture Church. I decided to fill it with food. A tacky-looking café sat across the street from my bench, with a nasty, orange sign and faded paint around the door. The greasy scent of bacon and burgers wafted from the doorway, and Mutt licked his chops as we approached.
    “I’m not sure you’re allowed in,” I told him, eyeing the café interior doubtfully through the window. They certainly couldn’t ban Mutt on hygiene grounds, from the look of the place. I shoved the door open, keeping him close to my heels, and headed for the counter. The place was empty of customers, nobody to complain about Mutt.
    The acne-scarred youth behind the counter stared dully from me to Mutt and back again. “That your girlfriend, man?” he sneered.
    “Boyfriend,” I corrected, “and I’ll thank you not to stare. Bacon sandwich to go, lots of ketchup; and a coffee.” I glanced at Mutt, who looked up at me with big soulful eyes. “And a hot dog. Is that cannibalism?”
    “I think it’s probably okay,” the youth assured me as he began frying my bacon. “There’s not a whole lot of meat in the hot dogs.”
    He turned his back on me to attend to the fryer and I had a split-second image of shoving his face into the bubbling fat, holding him there while he burned, until his eyeballs melted and smoke rolled off his jug-eared head…
    “ Do it. Do it now, there’s nobody else here, do it…”
    I wished I could punch the Voice in the head. Instead, I turned away from the boy and stared at the hideous abstract artwork on the walls. The patterns were all done in oranges, yellows, and reds, and after a few seconds, I felt like I stared into a fire, which just lead me back to shoving the kid’s head in the grill.
    Itchy and impatient, I turned back to stare at him. “We done yet?” I needed to get out of here before the Voice started up again and forced me to drive a drinking straw into my eyes or something to shut it up.
    “ You could do that anyway. Nobody would care. Anna might even laugh.”
    “ Shut the fuck up,” I told the Voice.
    “Hey, you want the damn hot dog or not?” The youth glared at me with one hand extended to offer me my hot dog. Not sure whether to be embarrassed or apologetic, I settled for grouchy and snatched the hot dog from him. “You’re welcome,” he snapped.
    “ Hit him. Snot-nosed brat. It would be so satisfying.”
    Yeah, it really would. I kinda felt I’d earned the right to hit something, anyway. I clutched the hot dog reflexively, crushing the bread bun and sending the sausage shooting out to hit the kid in the chest. “Shit.”
    “Asshole!” He retaliated by flinging my bacon burger at me. It slopped down my shirt and onto the floor, where Mutt lapped it up with gusto. “You just come in here to abuse the staff, do you?” the youth growled at me.
    “I haven’t started yet.” I reached across the counter, grabbing his shirt collar and yanking him hard against the counter. “Customer is always right, pal, okay? That means if I want to rip your fucking tongue out and feed it to my dog, I’m right. Right?”
    At my feet, Mutt snarled. I had no idea who at. The boy quaked in my grip, eyes wide, and I wondered suddenly what I looked like. I released him so abruptly he stumbled back, bumping into the fryer and splashing hot grease over his legs. He cried out in pain and the Voice laughed joyfully.
    “ You’re a step away from full-on public meltdown, you know that?”
    “ Me? You’re the crazy guy here, man, not me!” the kid spat at me.
    I recoiled from him, realizing the Voice had used my vocal chords. Revulsion filled me, and