They came out of the darkness in the corners of his life. And with them they brought chaos and destruction.

They were dark amorphous creatures, who lurked in corners and could change, they could change anything. But their eyes, their eyes never changed. They were always dark and ringed with red.

Sam was a tall and awkward kid. He didn't befriend many people but everyone knew him, he kind of left a big impression. He was a weird sort of smart-*ss who wasn't afraid to make a fool out of himself. But he was also very smart. Sam had his life figured out, or at least he thought he did.



On the first night they sat, boy and monsters. There must have been 30 of them, staring, nothing yet had been said. But suddenly the crowd around Sam shifted and from them a new one emerged. This one seemed, different. More powerful. In a satiny smooth voice it spoke "Hello Sam, my name is Allen"

"Oh. Um. Okay then, Allen. What exactly are you... uh. Things?" Sam asked

Without speaking Allen answered. "We are your friends. We are here to keep you company. We have always been here, and always will be." And thus it began.

Allen was always there, He became Sam's "best friend" in a way. He influenced every fragment of Sam's once so average life. They would keep him up at night, telling him secrets and stories and pushing him to try new things. He thought it was fun.

"Sam, today I want to talk to you about something a little more serious than your breakfast." Sam was sitting at the table and although he could not currently see Allen he knew he was there.

The kid had been shoveling cocoa puffs into his mouth but at this comment he looks up, mouth still full "Whut?"

"I want you to do something for me, I want you to try something. It may seem a little wrong at first. But it is worth it" as he spoke Allen suddenly appeared at the corner of the table. Tall and dark his appearance was threatening.

Mildly concerned Sam once again looked up "Um. Can I finish eating first?"

"Yeah whatever! Just listen!" Allen was agitated "Life has been getting a little boring recently. Monotonous. Every day you eat your shitty breakfast, go to school, eat lunch in the same place with the same people, go home, eat your shitty dinner and then repeat. I am tired of this. We are tired of this" at that moment more monsters began to emerge from the walls and corners of the small dining room. "Get adventurous, spice things up. Live dangerous."

"And just how am I supposed to do that? I don't have any money and I can't borrow from my rents without raising suspicion. Monotony is key for now." He swirled the last puff around his bowl looking a little insulted.

Sensing that he had upset the balance Allen put his hand on Sam's shoulder and spoke "look boy, you aren't looking at the big picture. There are so many ways you could get a hold of some money, one is sitting right in front of you." he smiled

Confused, Sam looked up. In front of him sat his pill bottle "Wait. You want me to sell those? But they are mine, for my ADD, I need them."

"No you don't, they are just clouding your judgment. Take some, sell them. You would be surprised how much you can get, definitely enough for a good time."

"But that is illegal...”

"It’s okay, just trust me. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

Sam jumped up "No. But there is a huge different between breakfast choices and drug dealing! This is wrong!"

As soon as he had finished his sentence the monster before him rapidly grew larger and soon Allen took up half the room and he glared with his huge blood shot eyes. "Do what I say, just this once! Do it and you will see?"

The quivering boy before the monster had caved. "Fine. I know who to talk to" and that was it. He didn't hear from Allen for the rest of the day.

When Sam got home he went up to his room and sat in the silence. He felt guilty but good. When Allen appeared from the corner he stood up. "I did it. But I didn't ask for money, I asked for a trade."

"What? I asked you to do one thing and you couldn't follow through?" Allen's voice sounded so exhausted.

"Shut up and listen." Sam chucked a bag onto the floor between them. "I asked for some fun"

In the bag were some papers and swamp colored leafs. Allen smiled "you're a good kid, always pullin through for a friend. Shall we?"

That night Sam's world changed forever. He sat there wide eyed and laughing as he listened to Allen make suggestions and tell him plans. Allen got ideas in his head and convinced Sam to agree. Soon Sam had sold all of his meds. The morning he realized this was tumultuous.

"ALLEN! ALLEN!" He was screaming in his head "what do I do now!

Allen was calm and collected, his red ringed eyes looked into Sam "First you are going to sit down and relax. Remember what we talked about? You know how to do it, and it's in very high demand right now. Okay?"

"Okay"

That night with his parents out of town Sam concocted his own acid under the instruction of Allen and the Monsters. Upon finishing he sat down, fully expecting to be selling it tomorrow at school. But the monsters had their own plans

"Obviously" they said with a grin, "one must sample his product"
So he did. And around him the world changed. His room was spinning, the world was splitting and the demons were emerging in numbers not thought possible. They were stretching and screeching and laughing at what they had done.
He was scary on acid. But Allen and his friends found it amusing. And Sam liked it.

Sell a little at school, save some for himself, maybe toss in a little weed. Sam was having the time of his life. Allen was getting his kicks. The demons surrounded Sam every night and watched as he tore himself down. Their eyes ringed with red and cackling as if the drug induced highs they were forcing him into somehow made it into their system.

He stopped showing up for lunches with his friends and spent them with his associates. He would meet up with these people outside of school as well, they met up in some construction sites and would screw around in the new houses, getting high and smashing toilets. He even blew up a porta-potty. Allen was enjoying watching Sam slipping deeper and deeper. He began to make himself more prominent in Sam's life. He instilled in Sam a lust for violence.
One night Sam was out with some of his new found friends when he ran into someone who had previously pissed him off. Sam called him out but the kid didn't believe him, said Sam didn't have the balls. At that point Sam began wailing on the kid, absolutely beating him to hell. Would have killed him had he not been dragged off by a bystander. During the entire confrontation all he could hear in his head was Allen's deep laughter.
Still in a stupor from the night before Sam awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring. He got himself together and for once was alone on the drive to school. No one in his head or in the seat next to him. For the first time in months Sam felt alone. He did know what to make of this and spent the rest of his day in virtual silence, till the night came.
They bombarded him with questions and pictures and thoughts and ideas. Gruesome images of Sam and what he was capable of. Blood, gore, violence, abuse. They made him watch, made him see what he could make happen. The berated him till his awe turned to tears and till his tears turned to laughter.

"Sam, Sam. You could do this. You could change the world. You could get rid of those who do not deserve everything they have been handed. You could show them how to be." Allen's voice was ragged and sharp as he spoke these final words.
Soon Sam was asleep with these images in his head.
Over the next few weeks Sam stopped eating, he stopped sleeping, and he began breaking into fits of rage and lack of clarity. He was scrawny and unclean, with a look in his eyes that was unfocused. He followed Allen endlessly to a point from which he could not return. Constantly in his head was the incessant laughter of the monsters in his head. He was going insane, but maybe that's what they wanted, a solid body from which they could suck the life and sanity.