It is said that in the times of the Romans, there was a mighty general who was abandoned by his cowardly men in the midst of a great battle. In death, the general swore vengeance on those who had abandoned him. He was granted this when a dark goddess allowed him to return to the land of the living as a vengeful spirit. His sole purpose was to get revenge on those who had wronged him.

George ran quickly down the street, desperately trying to escape his pursuers. The two boys chasing him were no strangers to George. They were the two boys who constantly tortured George. Their names were Thomas and Jonathan. George ran as far as his legs would take him before he stopped from fatigue.

“You’re gonna get it now shrimp!” said Thomas.

“Please, just leave me alone!” pleaded George.

“Fat chance! Now you know the drill. Hand over all the money or…”

“Or what?” said the frightened George.

“Or I’ll slice ya open,” replied Thomas with a wicked grin on his face.

George hesitantly reached into his pocket for his wallet and pulled the $40, which he had received for his birthday and handed it over to Thomas.

“Thanks shrimp! You tell anyone ‘bout this and you die!”

George silently nodded and proceeded home. This had been happening for months and every day it seemed to get worse. He didn’t know what to do at this point. If he said anything, he died and if he stood up to them, he died. All he could do was comply with the boy’s wishes. He solemnly ambled into his home and was greeted by his mother’s smiling face.

“Hi sweety! How was your day?” she chirped.

“Fine. I’m gonna go take a nap.”

“Really? But it’s so early.”

“I’ve had a long day.”

His mother shrugged and went back to her cooking. George walked up the stairs and tiredly went to his room. He flopped himself on his bed and began to cry. All he wanted was for the torture to stop. Soon his sadness turned to anger as thoughts of revenge on the boys filled his mind. This soon turned to pure hatred and all he wanted was to have his vengeance on the boys for what they’d done to him. Sleep finally took him. He was jolted awake by a loud noise in his room. He called for his mother but heard no response. The entire house was deathly silent. He started to get frightened. What had woken him? Where was everybody? Where was HE?

“George,” came a quiet voice from the shadows.

“Huh? Who’s there?” he said frightened.

He could barely see a few inches in front of him through the inky blackness that now surrounded him. His eyes finally allowed him to see throughout the room and that’s when he spotted it. There, in the corner of the dark room, stood a dark, hooded figure. It approached him slowly. His footsteps resounded with each step he took as if the room was a large stadium. George became very frightened as the figure approached him.

“Who are you?” asked the little boy.

“A friend. Your friend,” said the figure in a calm soothing voice.

“My f-friend?” said George quizzically.

“Yes George, your friend.”

“What do you want from me?”

“Don’t be afraid George. I’m here to help you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know what they’ve done to you.”

“Who?”

“The boys. The two who have been torturing you.”

George was terrified thinking that because this thing knew what had been happening that the boys would know and soon be after his life.

“Who told you about that? Nobody can ever know about them! If they found out that you knew then they’d have my head!”

“Don’t worry George. I know because I’ve been watching over you for some time now. I am here because you made a wish. Would you like for me to grant your wish?”

“What wish?”

“Your wish for vengeance. You want to get revenge on those boys and that is why I am here. Would you like for me to grant your wish?” asked the creature once again.

“Yes. I want them to pay!”

“Then simply take my hand. All your troubles will soon disappear.”

George took the creature’s hand and a wide grin spread across the creature’s face.

“We are one now. When you wake up again, they will be a problem no more.”

“What do you mean when I wake up again?”

“I am going to use your body for a while but when I’m done, you’ll never have to worry about those horrible boys ever again.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What you wished for me to do. Now sleep. Your friend will take care of everything.”

“Why do you have to take my body?”

“Every wish has a cost. My services aren’t free. It’s a small price to pay for such an amazing improvement. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Well yeah, but…”

George was cut off in mid-sentence as the creature put him into a deep trance. As soon as the boy was fast asleep the creature went to work.

He took his hand and placed it upon the boy’s head. His grin spread wider and wider as the boy’s spirit drifted out of his body, leaving just his empty body behind. The creature took advantage of this and took over the empty shell that was the boy’s body. Now he was in control.

The next day “George” woke up to the sun shining through his window. He knew that soon the boy’s would come for the boy, but instead of greeting George they would meet the creature that inhabited the boy’s body. The creature decided that their punishment would be swift and brutal. First he would toy with them. He would break them mentally and then begin to torture them physically. Their punishment was long overdue.

Just as the creature thought, the two boys met his glance halfway down the road. This made him grin maliciously.
“Time for the fun to begin,” he said to himself.

His grin grew wider and wider with every step the boys took towards him. Soon they were upon him, smirks on their faces and knives in their hands.

“All right Georgey, hand over all your money or die!” demanded Thomas.

“I cordially invite you to try.”

The boy stumbled back at the sound of the boy’s voice. It sounded like the voice of a hundred demons. He came to the conclusion that he simply had a voice over machine to try and scare them off and he demanded his money once more. The creature slowly turned to face the two boys with a demonic grin across his face. Thomas was now deeply frightened when he saw the smile get wider and wider. His grin grew to impossible length to the point that he thought that his skull would rip in half. Thomas lunged at the creature with his knife but missed his target. The creature reacted by grabbing Thomas’ hand and twisting it upside down. Thomas screamed in pain as the creature twisted the broken hand rightside up again.

This brought the creature great pleasure and he laughed manically. The boys quickly realized that this THING was not George.

“What the fuck are you?”

“I am George, the George that you created. I am all the anger that has been building up for months. I was simply waiting to get out. But if you must know my real name then I’ll tell you. I AM DAMOCLES, THE SPIRIT OF VENGENCE!”

“What do you want from us?”

“It’s not what you want, it’s what George wanted. This is what you get for torturing another. George made a wish and I am simply granting that wish. You have had this coming for such a long time and I can’t wait to play with you!”

Thomas then passed out. When he woke up, he was in a small room tied to a table. He kicked and screamed violently in a feeble attempt at escape. After a few minutes of struggling at his restraints he finally gave up. He then saw his captor’s true face.

A grotesque, bloody, scar covered face stood there smiling at him.

“I love when they struggle. It brings a smile to my face!”

“Please just let me go? I’m sorry for what I did. I’ll never do it again, just please let me go?”

“Oh I know, I’m gonna make sure that you never hurt anybody ever again.”

Damocles then proceeded to rip the boy’s right eye out of it’s socket. He earned a loud screech of pain from Thomas. The creature did not waver from his deviant act. He then revealed his claw-like fingers to the blood-covered boy and dug them into Thomas’ stomach. The boy cried in agony as the creature would not allow him to die.

“Just kill me already!” he screamed

“As you wish!” he said.

Damocles took his hand and squeezed down hard on the boy’s neck and held it there until he’d squeezed all the life out of the poor boy.

“BREAKING NEWS!” came the newscaster’s voice over the TV, “A LOCAL BOY’S BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED IN AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE DOWNTOWN. THE BOY’S NAME IS THOMAS BROWN. HIS MURDERER WAS ONE OF HIS CLOSE CLASSMATES NAMED GEORGE WILSON. GEORGE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND BUT A NOTE WAS DISCOVERED AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. IT EXPLAINED THAT GEORGE WAS THE KILLER AND A CHILLING MESSAGE WAS FOUND ON THE BODY. IT SIMPLY READ “THANKS FOR PLAYING WITH ME”

THIS BOY IS CLEARLY INSANE AND HAS BEEN DUBBED AS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. IF SEEN IT IS ADVISED THAT YOU DO NOT APPROACH HIM BUT INSTEAD CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITES IMMEDIATELY. BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THIS BOY AND REMEMBER THAT HE IS MENTALLY UNSTABLE. THIS KILLER IS STILL AT LARGE.”

Jonathan turned off the television and walked into his bedroom. He was so tired that he didn’t see the window open or the boy who stood in the corner of his room. He stood there with a grin that got wider and wider. As he closed his eyes, he drifted off into sleep.

“I wanna play with you now!”

That was the last thing that Jonathan ever heard.