A Special Friend

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask, what is that THING?" as she pointed to what looked like a makeshift doll. "Oh, that?" as he laughs, "that's Deacon, my friend." A bit shocked by the response, Mary laughs it off. "Oh, okay," as she nervously smiles.

They wrap up the interview, and Mary exits the office. Joey walks over to his assistant. "I take it you didn't prepare her for Deacon?" he asked. "I'm so sorry; it completely slipped my mind," replied his assistant. "Let's make sure we don't let that happen again," as he walks toward the elevators. The assistant sits back down at her desk with tears in her eyes.

Deacon is a paper mache doll that Joey carries with him everywhere he goes. As an adult, most individuals find his behavior odd and out of character. He is a successful businessman with many acquaintances, and he's built quite a reputation amongst his colleagues. But one thing he can't seem to shake and let go of is this paper mache doll that he insists travels with him wherever and whenever. Joey calls his doll Deacon, also known as his special friend.

Many have asked Joey about the doll's backstory and why the attachment to it. He would typically say it's a gift from a deceased relative. He would also claim that the doll gave him good energy and that it's been his good luck charm. Although hideous, Joey is fond of the doll. He once fired someone on the spot for calling him a man-child with an ugly voodoo doll obsession.

Although inseparable at times, today, a frustrated Joey decided to step away from the office. His assistant, Nancy, still upset at her mistake, writes an apology email to Joey. As she began composing the message, she heard faint laughter from Joey's office. A confused Nancy stops in her tracks and listens, but when she stops typing, all she can hear are her colleagues chatting in the cubicle nearby. She quickly dismisses it and begins typing again. But this time, the laughter is louder. Scared and confused at what it could be, she gets up and slowly walks toward Joey's office.

Nothing appears out of place, and she no longer hears the laughter. Nancy quickly shakes it off and heads back to her area, but before she exits the door, a low, muddle voice says, "dumb bitch." Nancy quickly turns around but sees no one there. She looks to the left and right, and then her eyes fall on Deacon. "Not possible," she thought as she walked towards the doll. She picks Deacon up and quietly says, "Did you speak?" As those words roll off her tongue, Joey stands at the door, "Should I be concerned that you're talking to my special friend?"

Nancy quickly puts the doll down and is shocked to see Joey. "I'm sorry, I was just admiring it," she says. "It?" asks Joey. Nancy lets out a big sigh and realizes her mistake, "I meant Deacon. I was admiring Deacon." "Maybe take the day off. Go clear your mind, but please extend the offer to Mary Higgins before you do," says Joey. Nancy leaves the office filled with embarrassment and shock. Joey looks over at Deacon and says, "She's a strange one, huh?" as he laughs.

A few weeks go by, and new hire Mary Higgins is about to start her new position at Smith's and Associates. New employee onboarding explains the backstory of Joey's doll, Deacon, and although strange to Mary, she goes with it. Upon exiting orientation, one of her colleagues leans in and tells Mary to ignore any rumors of Deacon. "What sort of rumors, if you don't mind me asking?" Her colleague replies, "Oh, you know, the typical ones, he's a killer doll. He's possessed by a demon, yada yada." Mary's eyes widen in shock, but she quickly dismisses it. She settles in well on her first day and ends the day with her good friend Stacy at a local bar. Mary tells Stacy about Deacon and her new boss. Stacy immediately finds the story fascinating and insists that Mary introduces her to Joey one day.

The company holiday party arrived, and everyone brought their plus ones. As Mary promised, she plans to introduce Stacy to Joey. The night kicks off with live music and overflowing drinks. The room is filled with laughter and cheers as folks let loose and enjoy themselves. Mary finds her way over to Joey, and before she can formally introduce Stacy, he leans in and introduces himself to her. "Pleasure to finally meet you," says Stacy. "I take it you've heard a little bit about me?" he asks, "Yes, my dear friend Mary likes to indulge me." They laugh and sip on their drinks.

After the holiday party, Stacy and Joey hit it off so well that they began dating. A few months pass, and newness is in the air. People at the office can see a vast difference in Joey's personality. Some would say it seemed like night and day. Joey's assistant, Nancy, also found it more tolerable to be around him. But one thing that hasn't changed is Joey's fondness for his paper mache doll, Deacon. This special friend continues to stay relevant in Joey's life.

Stacy is becoming accustomed to Deacon, and on rare occasions, she would remind Joey to bring the doll along with them. Things start to get serious between Stacy and Joey. "I want you to meet my mom," he tells her. "Of course, I would be more than happy to," she replies. Joey warns her about his mom's new boyfriend and how she'll most likely bring him along. Stacy ensures him that everything will be fine and that she looks forward to meeting his mom.

The day soon arrives as Joey prepares to have his mother and her boyfriend over for dinner at his place. Stacy nervously awaits their arrival as she sips a glass of wine. He comforts her and reassures her that things will be fine. She fixes her dress and double-checks her makeup as Joey grabs Deacon. "Shall we have him join us for dinner?" he asks. "Do you think your mother would be okay?" she questions. Joey pauses and puts Deacon back in the chair, "She's never been a huge fan of Deacon, so maybe I'll leave him here for now."

The doorbell rings, and it's Joey's Mom, Laurel, and her boyfriend, Sam. Joey and Stacy greet them at the door as they exchange pleasantries. Things are off to a good start. But as soon as Sam walks by Deacon, he stops and laughs at the doll.

"So that must be the infamous friend Laurel's been telling me about," he continues to laugh. "Geez, that thing looks way worse than you described," Laurel rushes over to Sam and nudges him to stop laughing. Laurel turns to Joey with a look of apology and asks, "You know what, Deacon looks a lot better than I remembered; Joey did you add more fabric or paper to his arms?" She then turns to Sam and says, "Deacon has been with Joey for many years. So he's a bit weathered." Sam moves in closer to inspect the doll and sarcastically says, "Weathered is one way to put it; that thing looks like it morphed into something demonic." Laurel shoves him harder this time and shakes her head at him. Sam sarcastically frowns and then apologizes to the doll. Stacy and Joey glance at each other with concern in their eyes.

They enter the dining area, and Stacy offers Laurel wine. As they get situated, Joey brings out the first course for the night. "This is amazing, Joey," says his mom. Sam takes photos of the food and asks Joey for his social media handle. Joey tells Sam that he isn't on social media. "Wow, for a millennial, I figure you would be all about social media," replies Sam. Joey smiles and brushes the comment off. Laurel then turns to Stacy and begins to ask her a few questions. But as they start to converse, Sam rudely interrupts, and with a mouth full of food, he turns to Stacy and says, "So you don't find that doll creepy?" An awkward silence fills the room. Finally, Joey breaks the silence and replies, "How about we don't bring up Deacon anymore." Sam senses the tension in the room and quickly says, "Yeah, okay, but I'll be honest, it's kind of hard not to talk about that thing when it's literally right there."

Stacy gets up, picks Deacon up, and moves him out of sight. "Will you please drop it, Sam?" says Laurel. Sam shrugs and shakes his head as if he hasn't done anything wrong. Halfway through dinner, Sam excuses himself to the bathroom. But just before he enters, he sees Deacon sitting on a bed in one of the bedrooms. Curious about the doll, he quietly makes his way to the bedroom. While at the dinner table, Laurel appears uneasy and mentions that she'll check on Sam to ensure he isn't lost. As she makes her way down the hall, she sees Sam holding Deacon. Laurel rushes over and yanks at Sam's hands to put the doll down. "Please! I told you not to touch him!" she quietly scolds him. Sam doesn't like being told what to do and immediately grabs Laurel's hands and says, "Don't you ever touch me like that again, you hear me?" He then puts his hands around her neck and aggressively tells her he can do whatever he wants.

At that moment, Joey had gotten up and wanted to check on his mom. As he turned the corner, he saw Sam aggressively choking his mother. Joey quickly rushes into the room and body slams Sam off his mom. There is a tussle between the two as Laurel screams for the both of them to stop. Stacy runs into the room and tries to help but accidentally gets knocked over and falls unconscious. Joey sees this and immediately goes to Stacy to check on her. Sam is still on the ground trying to get up when suddenly he claws at his neck. Laurel rushes to him to see what's wrong. "I can't breathe," he whispers as he continues to try to catch his breath.

Then, suddenly, the lights in the room start to flicker, and Sam is lifted off the ground and into the air. Laurel screams in fright as she watches Sam suspended in the air, gasping to breathe. "What's happening?! My god, please help him!" she screams.

Then suddenly, a low growling sound could be heard. Deacon begins to rise from the bed and turns towards Sam. He then raises his arms out and points upwards. Still suspended in the air, Sam's eyes are filled with a new fear. Suddenly, Deacon starts to twist his hand slowly, and Sam's neck starts to turn as he does. "No!" screams Laurel in horror as his neck does a complete one-eighty.

Joey makes his way to the kitchen and begs his mom to stop. "No!" She replies, "I should have done this years ago." A writhing scream can be heard coming from Deacon. "Mom! Please stop," he begs. Laurel continues moving the paper mache doll over the stove to ensure the flame covers all of the body. She turns to him and says, "No, Joey, your real friend died years ago; this thing is NOT Deacon. Do you understand?" Then suddenly, Stacy comes up behind Laurel and strikes her with a heavy pan. She crashes to the floor and falls unconscious. Stacy turns off the stove and tries to put out the flames on Deacon. He is mostly gone except for the bits and pieces of paper mache floating in the air.

Joey falls to the floor, looks at the bits of ash, and starts to cry. "I'm so sorry," says Stacy as she moves to the ground to comfort him. "I can't believe she did this?" he sobs. "He was only trying to protect me." "They don't understand; that bad man took us away and did horrible things to us! But Deacon always took most of the pain." Joey says with tears in his eyes. "Deacon fought so that I could escape, do you understand? He fought and fought, but he didn't make it." Joey then picked up a piece of the paper mache and handed it to Stacy. "When we were alone, tied up in that shed, we had all these scraps of paper. Deacon gathered all those scraps to create this doll. He said it was going to be our protector." Joey continues to sob uncontrollably.

A Special Friend

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