THE DEMON by Victory Witherkeigh, Excerpt

Face your inner demons with Victory Witherkeigh’s thrilling YA about a demon who possesses a teen girl and faces her toughest challenge yet: freshman year of college. The Demon (Oct 1, 2024) follows a girl possessed by a demon who is abandoned by her master and punished with a mortal life. Continuing the threads of Filipino history and mythology, Victory Witherkeigh’s standalone companion plays with the dark forces within us all and the awkward introduction into the world of higher education.

EXCERPT

She looked up, out into the crowd, to see, standing in their full military might, wearing her colors, Death’s colors, the various creatures and demons that served her once. At the front, standing beside the coffin, were her aswang, the shapeshifting women she’d trained, able to split themselves in half, with bat-like wings and long talons, who feasted on viscera and organs. The cannibal ghouls and giants carried the banners and began beating the war drums, who helped the demon flood thousands of warriors with adrenaline and bloodlust, and stood alongside the headless beings known as pugots, known to feast on the corpses after the battle. The most elegant ceremonial robes were woven in gold, adorned with beads and feathers of red, black, and white. Tears stained and smeared the last paragraph, making it impossible to read. Words whined and garbled in her throat as though the lies were choking her from within.

“At the end of the day”—the demon leaned into the microphone, gripping the wooden podium to steady herself—“he’ll be a part of me for the rest of my life. He taught me more than I can ever hope to explain, and I’ll never forget what he did.”

She glanced at the coffin, giving a small nod to the unseen guard, her honored undead, as the drums beat. The sounds of marching hooves and armored feet clamored in her ears, pulling at her heart.

Come back, my liege. Come home…you are missed…why did you leave us?

The demon buried her head in her hands as she sat in the pew. A hand fell on her shoulder, grazing the upper part of her back. A glance through the small gaps between her fingers made the demon pause—the brother was trying to comfort her.

“My father served in the Philippine Navy since I was a little girl,” her aunt’s voice now echoed through the church. “I was the firstborn, headstrong, just like him, begging that he take me to meet the Beatles when they were scheduled to arrive in 1966, and to my shock and surprise, he made it happen, taking me to the navy headquarters the day of their press conference.”

The demon could only stare at the floor as her father’s sister went on about the grandfather; he had been stoic and proud in his uniform when he escorted her on base, laughing at her ideas of marrying George Harrison. Images of him dutifully fighting on the battlefield and as a spy flooded her—his kills, his secrets, exposed with his death. He felt pain in leaving his home, the broken hopes, knowing the flag he’d fought for was being torn apart from igno- rance, colonization, and greed. Waves of indifference, callus dissociation, and grief followed, along with joy and laughter in his training of the girl, training to prepare a body for a demon.

I wonder what he’ll think when the silew-silew meets him to light his path… those cold unyielding beings of flames should prove an interesting guide.

The rest of the service passed in a blur, the demon only then realizing, as her fist gripped her grandmother’s hand while she knelt down to scrape up the first handful of dirt for her, that she and her aunt were the only ones asked to speak that day. The demon walked to the backyard of her grandmother’s house, staring at his old shed of torture and nightmares as she sat on the back steps. The lemon tree and banana flowers carried the sweet smell of spring to her nose as she stared at the old building.

“You’re welcome to go inside and take what you want,” her grandmother said, the creak of the metal gate squeaking as she opened it. “I’m sure whatever is in there is meant for you anyway…you were the only one he ever brought in there.”

“I may take a look before I go…but I doubt I need anything,” the demon said, still staring at the garage.

Her grandmother snorted into the back of her hand, unable to stop the laughter and tears from sprouting up now that they were alone.

“Did I ever tell you how we met?” she said with a laugh.

The demon only raised her eyebrow as she looked back at the old woman, standing with her black blouse unbuttoned to show the black slip underneath.

“He was already serving in the navy when he docked in my small town of Pampanga,” she said with a wistful smile. “I was walking through the market, headstrong, no-nonsense as I always was at your age. His buddies were eating lunch, swatting the flies with one hand while they scooped the dried fish and fresh rice with the other, trying to yell their trash about how good I looked.”

The demon scooted over on the stoop, making room for the woman to sit.

“He was the only one who just looked at me, judging me with his eyes. And I didn’t even hesitate—no blinking. I stared right back at him, daring him to see what would happen if he said something stupid. Luckily, he didn’t.”

She sighed, the cool afternoon spring air echoing the sounds of the emerging crickets.

“When I walked back the next day to the market again, he was there alone, so determined to sweep me off my feet. But he made a mistake…he told me he was engaged to another woman, someone he’d known since he was a child…they were going to be married just a few months from the time he docked.”

The demon’s head nodded. “Yes, I remember grandfather telling me once. I still can’t believe you did that…Miss I need to be at church every Sunday. Miss, don’t you dare let a man dictate your place!”

“Hey!” Her grandmother’s voice dropped an octave, the tone every island child knew meant they were right on the edge crossing the line.“You may be a demon, but my blood still runs through your veins.”

BUY HERE
—

Victory Witherkeigh was the bronze winner for YA Thriller in 2023 Spring The Bookfest Awards and longlisted for the CIBA Ozma Awards. Now, she continues to explore the intricate world of Filipino deities and the struggles of academic life as her “Girl” character turns into the “Demon” only to be thwarted from her original mission and confronted with adversity, new relationships, and vague memories of a mysterious past that haunts her. Following the events of The Girl, this standalone companion will push the boundaries on morally gray characters and have readers rooting for the villain.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing