The Devil You Know

By the time Djorkah had left Boris Krovitch’s body, he had burned down 30 churches, killed 20 virgins, and committed various other acts of infidelity.

To say that Djorkah’s possession of Boris’s body had been a burden on Boris’s life would have been an understatement. But now that Djorkah had left Boris, he felt different somehow. Something was missing.

“You have done my bidding, my host. You are now free,” Djorkah had said, soon after exiting Boris’ body.

“Wait what? So suddenly?”

It was a weird feeling.

Djorkah had been residing in Boris’s body for about five years and Boris had gotten used to his presence. Like he was a part of him. For the first year of his possession, Boris was in a panic. He was not used to a lifestyle of possession and desperately wanted out. He felt uncomfortable having a demon from hell controlling his body, but after a while, he realized that this was life from here on out.

“What, do you want a goodbye or something?” Djorkah replied.

“No but…I don’t know. I just feel very odd about you leaving me like this,” Boris said, clearly hurt.

“What are you talking about? I literally made your life a living hell. You’ll do fine without me.”

That last bit was technically true, but Boris didn’t believe it. Boris got paid leave for being possessed by a demon. His boss had gotten possessed during his college years, he knew the struggle and gave Boris free counseling to work things out between him and his inner demon. At first, Boris didn’t like the sessions because his demon would open up to him about the ungodly horrors of hell; but as Djorkah became more sensitive, Boris realized that they both had a lot in common. They were both big fans of the second season of Northern Exposure, both believed in the separation of church and state, and both felt like nobody who they knew really understood them. As Boris got to know his demon, he understood where Djorkah was coming from when Djorkah decided he had to burn down a church.

“Hey, at least you’ll have control of your legs,” Djorkah said reassuringly.

“But I don’t want to control my legs.”

Now that Djorkah was leaving Boris, a part of his body felt like it had been lost. Djorkah had absolutely been a hindrance on Boris’s life. While Boris was talking to his friends or having dinner with his family, Djorkah would immediately take over, force Boris to run away and commit various acts of sacrilege. But Boris liked having Djorkah around. Before he had Djorkah, seasonal depression would settle on in during the winters. He would be all lonely, cooped up in his one bedroom apartment. With Djorkah by his side, his life was one giant, violent mess, such that the PTSD overrode the seasonal depression.

And what would he talk to his therapist about, now that Djorkah wasn’t present? Surely, Amy wouldn’t want to hear about the absence of Djorkah—that would be boring. She would pretend to be interested but think: “Damn, I really liked that Djorkah guy. Now Boris is just as boring as my other patients.”

“I’m sorry Boris, you’ve been a great host these past couple of years but I have work to do.”

“Wait, Djorkah—”

But it was too late. In a puff of smoke, Djorkah disappeared from Boris’s body, leaving Boris in full control once again. Boris tried wiggling his toes and—much to his dismay—they responded, wiggling with freedom.

What would Boris do? His therapy session was in two hours. He didn’t want to bore Amy with his lack of Djorkah. What could he do?

Boris looked around his apartment. Before Djorkah, his apartment had been well-decorated with posters—maybe paintings? He really couldn’t remember. He quite liked the new design of his room, though: the pentagram in the middle on the ceiling,the shelves and shelves of books written in enochian.

Alex Greenblatt is a student at the University of Southern California. He enjoys works of fiction and non-fiction—even though his reading list contains no non-fiction. He really wants to read Meet Me in the Bathroom but knows he doesn’t have the time for it, but he appreciates Lizzy Goodman’s effort to be the first to document such a recent movement. His favorite words include perhaps, stymied, and ghouls.