Demon of Darkness

by Andrea Pearson

  Abel and I left, dodging pedestrians and pulling up against buildings when new hailstorms started. We almost got struck by lightning several times. It was so intense. I spent the whole ride alternating between trying not to scream and failing at it.

  We finally caught up to the fire chief in front of an orange-bricked church.

  “I’m sorry it took so long to get here,” I said. “It’s a mess everywhere.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re here at all.”

  The fire chief pulled out a map, showing me all the places where the hail and rain weren’t heavy enough to stop fires that were currently burning. It was appalling. I couldn’t believe it. So many were affected, even just in this little city.

  “I don’t even have suggestions on where to start,” he said. “Almost all of them require immediate attention. Homes of young families and elderly people and churches and schools . . .”

  His exhaustion took over, and I was a little embarrassed for him when he started to cry. No wonder he’d called me. It made me want to hug him and give him privacy at the same time. I couldn’t help but wonder how the other cities were doing.

  “Let’s leave the churches and schools alone,” I said. “But families . . . they’ll be displaced, their lives ruined, if their homes burn down.”

  The man nodded, and we got to work, starting with the fires nearby and working our way outward. Any time one fire stopped, another would pop up due to more lightning. The storm was relentless.

  By midnight, I was completely exhausted. I’d reached my threshold over twenty times. Unlike the way it used to be, though, it took much less time to regenerate. Either I was getting stronger or the amulet was helping me. It was probably both.

  The moment I felt myself brushing up against my threshold, I stopped immediately. I knew there was no way I’d be able to fix everything, but the more I preserved my powers, the farther my help would spread. And spread it did. I got a lot done that day.

  After taking an hour break, I pushed onward, glad that Abel stayed at my side the whole time. We branched into American Fork and Lehi.

  By the time dawn rolled around, I was so dead on my feet, I was seeing double. My legs felt like lead, even with my sense of feeling mostly gone.

  I couldn’t believe I’d gone so long without a good night’s rest. When had I last slept through the night? Had it been the diseased livestock? That was it. And that was two or three days ago.

  The sky to the east began lightening with the coming sunrise, and the thunderstorms and hail were finally starting to ease up. So many places had been burned. I found myself wishing I came from an extremely wealthy family like Nicole’s so I could help in other ways. I shook my head. Even Nicole’s money would run out with the mess this plague had created.

  We hadn’t gotten to all the fires, obviously, but we’d done the best we could.

  Remembering my vow to visit Mindy in the hospital, I turned to Abel. He was just as exhausted as I was, if not more, since he hadn’t slept at all the night before last while I’d had at least an hour before the attack came.

  Either way, one look at him and I knew I couldn’t ask him to take me to the hospital.

  We would barely make it home as it was.

  23

  I was surprised to find my house and the Russells’ still standing. In fact, none of the homes on our street had been struck by lightning. My yard, though, would never be the same. I was grateful that was the extent of the damage. I’d take a torn-up yard over a burned-down house any day.

  When we got inside, I was glad we hadn’t gone to the hospital. Mindy had already been released. I suppose it didn’t surprise me—her injuries hadn’t been serious, and they’d discharged her after monitoring her for several hours. Unluckily for her, though, they told her to stay in bed for two or three days just to give her brain time to heal.

  “Are you okay?” I asked from her doorway.

  Mindy mumbled yes, not opening her eyes, a bandage wrapped around her head.

  I entered the room, taking a seat in the armchair by her bed. “I’m so sorry this happened.”

  “It’s been a great first internship,” she said.

  I froze, unable to tell if she was joking or not. “I’m really, really sorry, Mindy. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

  A smile crossed her face, and I froze, clamping my mouth over another apology. Okay, she’d been teasing.

  “Please don’t worry about it, Lizzie. I knew the circumstances would be different if I worked with you, and I still appreciate knowing I’m being trained in a way no one else ever has been. Besides, think of all the stories I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren.”

  I smiled, taking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Well, at least something good has come of this.” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to the hospital. I wanted to visit you, but I’ve been fighting fires all day.” I frowned. “How did you get back, anyway?”

  Mindy waved her hand toward the wall on the north side of her bedroom. “The Russells came and got me, and one of them has been checking in on me every five or so minutes.”

  I nodded. Thank goodness for reliable neighbors. “Well, I’m going to get some rest for a little while. Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Will do.”

  I stepped out of the room, saddened she hadn’t opened her eyes once. The poor girl was in bad shape. I walked into the living room to say goodnight to Abel, but found him already asleep on the couch. It was almost seven in the morning, and we wouldn’t get much rest before the next plague hit.

  Hopefully, when it did, it wouldn’t destroy everything like the last ones had.

  24

  I only allowed myself to sleep for five hours. Even if I’d wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to rest longer than that. The sound of creatures scratching at the tarp on my window woke me from my deep sleep, and I got paranoid thinking about what would happen if locusts broke in.

  One thing that surprised me, though, was that the attacks from the locusts weren’t as randomized as the flies, frogs, and lice had been. No, I was about to have a crash course on these creatures. I’d already learned that they were actually grasshoppers, but what I didn’t know was that instead of being loners, like grasshoppers tended to be, locusts were practically of a single mind. If one of them saw a tree full of green leaves that it wanted to eat, the entire group of them would change direction in the same instant and fly to that tree, devouring the leaves immediately.

  Because of this, many parts of the state got large breaks from locusts throughout the day. The swarms were massive, but there were only five or six of them, as far as the reporters could tell. And those swarms couldn’t be everywhere at once.

  Abel and I ate brunch while Mindy continued resting in her room. I checked on her frequently to make sure she wasn’t dead or something. Okay, yes, I was completely paranoid. I couldn’t help it, though, after everything that had been going on. And knowing the Russells had been doing it already made me feel justified.

  She was fine, just sore and tired. Very tired. I knew that was probably from the concussion. If she’d been a child, I would’ve insisted on her staying awake. But when I called the hospital to check and see if there was anything I needed to do, the doctor said she would be okay. Her concussion wasn’t bad enough where sleeping would cause problems for her.

  And so, Abel and I let her rest while we sat in the living room, eating a breakfast of warmed-up canned chili while watching the news.

  The reports were similar to what they’d been before. A plague causing heartache to people across the state, this time farmers.

  The locust segment of the news ended, and I got up to use the bathroom, but stopped when I heard them mention Governor Boggs’ name. The reporter was interviewing a member of his cabinet.

  “Has the governor asked the president to allow him to declare a state of emergency?”

  The man shook his head. “No, he has not. In f
act, President Smith has asked several times if Governor Boggs wanted him to, and the governor has turned him down every time.” The man looked directly at the camera, his expression serious. “The governor wants to make sure the people of Utah are absolutely aware that Miss Elizabeth Ashton is still bringing problems down on us. Until you resign and leave, Miss Ashton, the governor will not declare a state of emergency.”

  “Can he do that?” I asked Abel.

  Abel only shook his head.

  The reporter looked shocked at the cabinet member’s declaration. She seemed hesitant to respond. I couldn’t tell from her expression what she was thinking, but I knew something the man said put her off. Was it the fact that the governor refused to declare a state of emergency until I resigned? Or was she frustrated over the governor even needing to give an ultimatum, like I should have done it long ago?

  We turned off the TV. I hoped I’d get my questions answered later, but in the meantime, I had a flight to catch. I was heading to Seattle to get rid of that rogue hound.

  First, though, I had time for a visit with my favorite neighbors.

  ***

  “Do you know anything else about Lord Kenan?” I asked the Russells after telling them about my visit from Dr. Faust.

  “We’ve told you everything,” Mrs. Russell said.

  Her husband nodded. “But we do have access to more knowledge—that much is true.”

  Mrs. Russell put her hand on her husband’s leg. “We’d love to take you as soon as these plagues are over. I’m sure you can understand why we wouldn’t want them in our homeland.”

  I definitely understood that and told them so, then gave them both hugs before heading out to the car where Abel waited. By some miraculous miracle, only one of my windows had been smashed during the hailstorms, and it wasn’t the windshield. Thank goodness.

  We’d decided that Abel would accompany me to Seattle and that we would both wear disguises. Well, sort-of disguises. I had on big Paris Hilton sunglasses and wore my hair in two braids. Abel had drawn a beard and goatee on his face. I laughed when I saw him doing it, but the end result was very realistic. It kind of looked like a close shave on someone who had very healthy facial hair. He must’ve had experience doing it before.

  We got to the airport. Through all of security, check-in, and the terminals, I kept my face down, letting Abel lead me by the hand. It made me wonder if people would think I was blind or something. That was much preferred to them recognizing me and attacking.

  Luckily, getting through security and onto the plane was fairly easy. If anyone recognized my name, they didn’t say anything. Maybe it was because my ID showed my name as Dorothy Elizabeth Ashton, and most people called me Lizzie Ashton, Miss Ashton, or just Ashton. Regardless, I was grateful I hadn’t been spotted.

  The flight to Seattle was over quickly, and when we landed, I wasn’t surprised to see locusts swarming outside the window of the airplane. This city would probably be heaven for them—I couldn’t think of a greener place to lead them without having to travel farther.

  My phone connected to the network, and I got bombarded with texts. I ignored them except the one from Mindy. All of the locust swarms had left Utah. Apparently, they had followed me to Seattle, which totally made sense. I was grateful it would give Utah a break.

  With a sigh, I finally decided to read the rest of the texts while waiting to get off the plane. I’d probably be flaming angry when I finished, but I needed to get it over with.

  25

  They were from people who had been dragging me over the coals previously, but were now, surprisingly, expressing sympathy for my situation and anger at the governor for not declaring a state of emergency earlier.

  I stared at my phone, dumbfounded. Why had they changed their minds? Was it really because of Governor Boggs? Had he ruined the situation for himself with his stupid ultimatum?

  That had to be it. Combined, of course, with Nicole’s campaigns.

  I couldn’t believe it. The governor was a politician. He should’ve known better. People need and want someone who has compassion, not a constant vendetta. Someone who puts the well-being of the people he or she serves above all else instead of seeking revenge. Apparently, the people who were texting were intelligent enough to recognize that. Thank goodness. I shared the texts with Abel.

  “Finally, something good happening where he’s concerned.”

  As Abel and I walked through the airport, my thoughts kept returning to those messages. I struggled to hold back tears. The last few days had been so hard. I’d been so worried I’d lose not just my reputation, but my job over all of this. If I did, the consequences would be devastating. I’d never be able to procure another Fire Impeder position again.

  We got a rental car and headed to the ferry that crossed Puget Sound. The lone hound was in a little city called Bremerton on the other side of the sound from Seattle.

  I was surprised at how cold the wind was as we crossed the water. It was the middle of August, for crying out loud. This was the hottest time of the year for most places in the country, but in Seattle, it was cold and the air was wet. I couldn’t help but shiver.

  Abel kept his arm around me, protecting me from the wind and the stares we got occasionally. I’d nearly forgotten about the boils. Yes, they’d faded, but they’d left marks behind. Both of us looked awful. Like victims of some horrible disease, which we pretty much were.

  Once the ferry got to the other side, we returned to the car and followed the globe’s directions until we were close enough for the amulet to take over. We were led to a Quality Inn. Instead of going through the front doors, we tried one of the side doors, hoping we wouldn’t need a key to enter. Luck was on our side. The door opened for us.

  Straight.

  We reached a T in the little hallway from the exterior door. I nodded my head to the left when the amulet told us to go that way, and Abel and I turned that direction.

  The amulet guided us up a set of stairs. We took them two at a time, then continued following directions until the amulet cautioned us to slow down and distract our thoughts, which we did.

  The Shade Amulet then guided us to a room, and I glanced at Abel, not sure what to do. The door was locked. He might be able to break it down, but not without getting a lot of attention from other hotel guests.

  Abel shrugged before raising his hand and knocking.

  I raised an eyebrow. Unexpected. Good for him. “Think that’ll work?” I whispered.

  He shrugged again.

  The door opened, and a short man in his fifties peered up at us. He let out a long, somewhat exaggerated sigh, and said, “Come on in.”

  Abel looked at me, a question on his face. The amulet wasn’t warning me about the situation, so I nodded and we entered.

  I was amazed at how clean and tidy it was. Clothes were folded in perfect squares on the dresser, and a suitcase was open on the spare queen bed, showing pajamas—also folded—and socks. He sat on the other bed, motioning for us to sit next to the suitcase.

  “I know why you’re here,” he said after we’d settled ourselves. “Do it quickly. I don’t have the energy to resist anymore.”

  “Why didn’t you turn yourself in?” I asked.

  He looked at me, his eyes big and somewhat watery. “Most of the time, I’m neither good nor bad. I’m an anomaly that way—hounds normally have to be one or the other, but I’ve never really been able to choose. I guess you could call me wishy-washy, but at least I haven’t added to your stress. The traps you’ve placed haven’t called to me the way they have others. Regardless, I’m tired of running, and I want to be done with this.”

  “What if we told you we have a way to remove your guardianship status without killing you? You’d be mortal and free to choose whatever life you’d want to lead.”

  The man’s eyes brightened for a moment, but then he frowned. “While that sounds lovely, and I was wondering if something like that was happening, I really am just tired. I don’t want to e
xperience more of life, even as a mortal. Especially as a mortal.”

  He leaned forward on the bed, exposing his throat to me, close enough for the amulet to catch his flame.

  26

  Kill?

  I hesitated. I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about this, but I knew that getting rid of him would drop me down to seven hounds. I frowned as I contemplated my choices. But were they really mine to make? I didn’t want to coerce him to follow us to Utah—not when he could disappear through a corner any second, forcing me to have to hunt him down again.

  “Well?” the man asked, his voice quiet and his tone weary.

  Abel put his hand on my knee. “She has a hard time killing a person who hasn’t done anything to merit death.”

  A disappointed expression crossed the man’s face. “Oh. I’m sorry. I really don’t feel like doing something dangerous or risky right now. I really just don’t.” His gaze met mine, his watery brown eyes pleading. “Miss Ashton, please. Take care of my fire now.”

  I chewed on my lip, then decided to do as he asked.

  Kill.

  He slumped to his knees, falling sideways and hitting his head on the nightstand before coming to rest on the floor. Blood trickled from a fresh head wound. Maybe the hotel would think he’d died from that.

  Abel and I ensured we hadn’t left fingerprints—neither of us had touched anything—before heading back to the ferry and then the airport.

  ***

  I was surprised to find that the last rogue hound—the only one not under Lord Kenan’s thumb—had turned herself in to the Russells while we were gone. Apparently, like the man, she was tired and ready to move on. I was glad when she accepted the spell instead of asking me to kill her.