Hany Shaker closed the door behind him as he walked into his darkened living room. He didn’t bother turning on the lights, he never liked that incandescent glow of tungsten lightbulbs anyway. Instead, he went to the table to his right where five candles stood in a silver candelabrum in utter defiance of their almost melted state from overuse, with a matchbox placed neatly beneath them. He picked up the matchbox, lit a match and took the flame to the blackened wicks whose fiery glow brings warmth to his bleeding heart.
“He couldn’t believe it has been five years, on the eve of the birthday to his wound, since he has been approached by DERP, the Demon Extermination and Research Program”
Hany enjoyed the radiance the candles brought into the room, and he plopped down onto his chamois Louis XIV revival sofa with golden tufted upholstery and an elaborate gold-painted medallion. Today has been a rough day. He lay back letting out a sigh of relief that finally all these years of hard work have come to fruition.
He couldn’t believe it has been five years, on the eve of the birthday to his wound, since he has been approached by DERP, the Demon Extermination and Research Program, to take on the responsibility of tackling the menace that is the rising underworld. At first he didn’t understand why DERP would approach him, a sensitive and kind soul filled with pain over lost love, to take on this gruesome affair. Then they explained that Demons use music to reach our world and his songs were too painful for demons to use, making them the ideal weapon against their uprising. They also urged him to take control over the music industry in Egypt, because the gates to Hell are situated in downtown Cairo. So limiting the rise of demonic music should start from the heart of the uprising.
“They also urged him to take control over the music industry in Egypt, because the gates to Hell are situated in downtown Cairo. So limiting the rise of demonic music should start from the heart of the uprising”
Here he is now, five years later, head of the Guild of Musicians and finally fulfilling his promise to DERP in combating the demonic uprising that wished malice upon humanity. Today has been the roughest day because he has finally taken action against the young misguided youths that sought solace into the arms of the children of Shay-tan. These black clad weirdos who roam the music scene listening to their deafening cacophonies and banging their head rhythmically in what seemed to be a trance-like ritual dedicated to summoning the unclean ones onto our shores.
“Today has been the roughest day because he has finally taken action against the young misguided youths that sought solace into the arms of the children of Shay-tan”
These “Metalheads” as they like to be called, from the pieces of metal they insert into their faces, piercing their skin in worship of their dark lord, with their weird Rituals of “Bangara” and “Bartala”, were calling forth an unspeakable evil onto this world and he managed to stop them right in time and save the world from the horrors that would’ve been unleashed.
“The Winchester brothers have nothing on me”, He thought, as he closed his eyes letting all the fatigue of the day wash through him. The war against the underworld was far from over, but at least now humanity has won the first battle in the path to cleansing this world of all the followers of the Dark Lord and his cronies.
“These “Metalheads” as they like to be called, from the pieces of metal they insert into their faces, piercing their skin in worship of their dark lord, with their weird Rituals of “Bangara” and “Bartala””
“I’ll be hated for this for sure, most people just see it as music”, he said to himself with melancholy he was all too familiar with, “but this is for their own good, they don’t know how bad things would get if I let these devil worshippers run rampant”.
““The Winchester brothers have nothing on me”, He thought,”
“It’s better this way”, he reassured himself, and got up and went to the kitchen to fix himself a cup of tea. He smiled, he earned that tea today, but tomorrow is another battle, and soon he would be the hero he was asked to be five years ago, finally fulfilling his promise to DERP.
And though no one would ever know of the secret heroics of Hany Shaker, demon hunter, the world would sleep soundly knowing it is safe from the evils that lie below.
Marwan Imam, amateur time traveller and professional jack of all trades. When not making films, drawing comics, doing comedy or playing music he tends to procrastinate by watching all the TV and movies known to man, also video games.
