Personal Demons

by Phoebe Ravencraft

  “Thanks again. I’m so sorry.”

  Had she heard what Charlene said to me? Did she know she’d warned me to run?

  “Sure,” I said. “No problem.”

  Charlene and the woman left me standing there with my heart in my mouth and my brain whirring at a hundred miles per hour. Holy shit, what the fuck had just happened?

  I hightailed it the hell out of the truck stop and found Devlin. He smiled when he saw me but then frowned. I was wearing my emotions on my face.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I just had the weirdest experience inside.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This girl came up to me and begged me to help her. She said they were going to kill her.”

  “Who?” Devlin asked.

  “Demons. She said she’d dreamed demons would kill her.”

  “Why would she tell you that?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “That was one of the weird parts. She accosted me as soon as I came out of the bathroom.

  “And then this other woman shows up and tells her to leave me alone. And she apologizes to me saying the girl is schizophrenic and they just changed her meds.”

  “Do you believe that?” Devlin asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said again. It was a good question. I didn’t know what to believe. “I think this girl’s in trouble, Alistair. She was afraid of the woman she was with. She wanted me to help.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Nothing, I . . .”

  How did I explain all this to him? I wasn’t sure I wasn’t having another one of those fucked up dreams myself. Maybe I had gotten bored and fallen asleep in the truck after we left Des Moines, and I’d been dreaming everything that had happened since?

  But if that was the case, if I realized I was dreaming I should be able to wake up, shouldn’t I? As soon as you knew it was a dream, didn’t it end or shift or something?

  “Okay, listen,” I said. “This is going to sound really fucked up.”

  I told him what had gone down – how the girl had changed at the mention of Sissy’s name, whoever she was, how she’d told me to run, and how I’d seen the girl from my dream in Chicago.

  Devlin took it all in, nodding as though this sort of thing happened all the time. I couldn’t tell if I was comforted or pissed. Did that mean I was still dreaming?

  “It definitely seems as if something is wrong,” he said. “What do you suggest we do?”

  “I don’t know,” I said for about the eightieth time. “I feel like we should follow them, see if something really is wrong.”

  “But how? We don’t have an operational vehicle.”

  Shit. He was right about that. I was suddenly desperate to get the hell out of there, to escape this tiny, little town in the middle of farm country and go far away. But whether I wanted to make a run for it or whether I desired to help Charlene, I had no means to leave aside from walking. And that wouldn’t get it done.

  The woman in the red top, Charlene, and two other people left the truck stop and walked towards a silver minivan. Shit! They were leaving. We had to do something!

  “Damn it, Devlin, they’re about to go,” I said. “We’ve got to stop them somehow.”

  He watched them for several seconds. They all piled into the minivan.

  “Devlin!” I said.

  “Get in the truck,” he replied.

  “What?”

  “Get in the truck. I have an idea.”

  That was all I needed to hear. I didn’t know what good it did us to get into a dead vehicle, but the promise of a plan was enough.

  I jumped into the passenger seat and pulled the door closed. Devlin got in, turned the key in the ignition without powering up the engine, and then pulled on the gearshift.

  “I’ve put the vehicle in ‘Neutral’,” he said. “I’ll be able to steer and brake. You use your power to move the truck with telekinesis.”

  “What?”

  “Use your magic to push the truck. You can pull energy from around us and channel it into telekinetic power.”

  “Devlin, I’ve never done that,” I protested.

  “Sarah, it is the same as any other application you’ve ever made of your ability. Draw in magical energy and then convert it into a specific effect. And hurry, they’re leaving.”

  My gaze flew across the parking lot. He was right. The minivan backed out of its space, turned, and started towards the exit. Shit.

  “Okay,” I said aloud. “You can do this.”

  I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind. There was a surprising amount of magic swirling around here. Who knew? I sucked some in and then visualized pushing the truck. Jesus it was hard.

  “Ugh,” I said. “It’s so heavy.”

  “Don’t focus on the size of the object you need to push,” he said. “Concentrate on giving it power.”

  Size matters not, Yoda told Luke.

  God damn it. This whole fucking mission was feeling more and more like The Empire Strikes Back. Damn my father anyway for playing Ben Kenobi and sending me to Dagobah.

  For a second, I forgot what was happening around me and imagined Luke’s X-wing lifting out of the swamp as John Williams’s score soared to its crescendo. I was eight years old again, watching the movie for the first time on my couch as it aired on whichever cable network had it at the time. My jaw hung open as tiny, little Yoda made that big starfighter sail overhead and settle on dry land.

  I don’t believe it, Luke said. And I nodded as Yoda replied, That is why you fail.

  “Good!” Devlin said. “Yes, that’s it, Sarah.”

  I opened my eyes and saw we were rolling forward. Holy shit! I hadn’t even realized I was doing it!

  “Keep going,” Devlin said. “But don’t push too hard. We want to follow at a distance.”

  I nodded and pulled more magic from the air and channeled it into the telekinesis. Man, I was a real Jedi now!

  But, Jesus, it was a terrible strain. Unlike other powers I’d used to date, this one required constant focus and attention. I had to keep sucking in more magic. Pushing something as heavy as an F150 required continuous pressure. And that drained the power quickly. If I let up at all, we would get too far behind. And if I used too much power, we would get too close. I had to keep regulating how much energy I was using and pull more in to keep the flow consistent.

  I had never done anything like that before. In the past, using up the energy I’d stored left me feeling drained and tired. This? This made me feel like I was trying to drag an ocean liner across dry land by myself.

  We followed the minivan for nearly eight miles down some two-lane, country road. There was practically no shoulder, just a culvert on either side. It was a clear, sunny, early-May day, so Devlin had no trouble tailing them, but they could see us just as easily as we could them. And given the shape our truck was in, we were a lot more conspicuous.

  At last, they slowed down and turned into a driveway on the left. A farmhouse sat not far off the road, and there was a barn and silo beyond.

  “Keep going,” Devlin said. “We’ll make them think we weren’t following them.”

  I nodded and pushed on. A mile farther down the road, there was a little bit of shoulder we could make use of. Devlin pulled over and told me to stop. I was grateful to obey.

  When I finally quit pushing the truck, I felt dizzy. It was difficult to breathe, and my hands were shaking.

  “Hang on,” I said as Devlin got ready to get out. “I need to rest a moment.”

  I sat in the passenger seat breathing heavily. You’d have thought I had just run a marathon.

  Devlin waited patiently. I sucked in a few breaths to steady my heart rate. Then I grabbed my sword.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I said.

  I opened the door and stepped out. I practically collapsed from exhaustion. Holy shit. This had taken more out of me than I’d realized.

  Devlin hopped out and came racin
g around the truck and knelt before me.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I . . .” My voice drifted away. My head was still spinning. “Sorry. Pushing the truck was a bigger strain than I expected.”

  “Perhaps we should wait,” he said. “We know where they are now. We could come back tonight after you’ve had time to rest.”

  “Yeah, and Charlene could be dead by then,” I said.

  “Charlene?”

  “The girl!” I snapped.

  Damn. My weariness was turning me into a bitch. I took a deep breath.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to bite your head off. Listen, we don’t know what kind of danger the girl is in. We need to get over there right away.”

  “If you’re sure. You don’t look like you’re in shape to fight anyone if there are demons present.”

  “I’ll manage,” I said. “Help me up.”

  He stood and extended his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. I stood there for several seconds, gathering my strength. Then I nodded.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I said.

  Devlin watched me stagger towards the back of the truck. My legs were wobbly, but I had enough in me to make it to the road. He went to the cab, opened his door and pulled out his staff.

  “Make sure you lock it,” I said. “I’ve got a lot of money in there.”

  He nodded and complied. Then we started hiking back towards the farm where Charlene had sworn demons were planning to kill her. Or me. Maybe both of us.

  With the sun beating down, it got hot quickly. The temperature had to be working its way into the eighties, and the heat coming off the blacktop made things more unpleasant.

  Bugs buzzed everywhere. I’d never been out in the country like this before. It was like the whole place teemed with insects. We got flies and roaches in the city, but there must have been thousands of little flying things whizzing around the air. How the hell did countryfolk put up with this?

  The air was thick and humid, and I struggled to get a good, deep breath. I couldn’t tell how much of this was due to me being worn out from the telekinesis, and how much was just shitty, hot air.

  Regardless, I felt dizzy and sick. It was an effort to keep going forward. If I hadn’t been worried about Charlene, I might have given the whole project up. I wasn’t thinking clearly, or I’d have realized I was in no condition to fight. Hopefully, whatever we found would be benign.

  We made it to the farmhouse at last. As we got close, we jumped down into the culvert. With the sun up and the crops too young to conceal us, we were pretty easy to spot. Getting lower gave us some small measure of cover.

  The silver minivan was parked in front of the house. There were no signs of life anywhere out in the yard. I tried to see into the windows, but the light reflected off the glass, turning them into mirrors. Short of knocking or breaking in, there was no way to discover what was going on inside.

  “Perhaps we should try exploring the rest of the property first,” Devlin suggested.

  That seemed reasonable. If we wanted to be discreet, we needed to sneak around instead of just kicking in the front door. Especially since we didn’t exactly have probable cause. I’m not sure the police would think much of a couple of vigilantes acting on a tip from a schizophrenic that demons planned to eat her heart, you know?

  “Let’s try the barn,” Devlin said.

  Once again, that made sense. It was the next-most logical place to keep someone, and it might be easier to get into than the house.

  There was still the problem of the daylight, though. There was a lot distance between us and the barn, and nowhere to hide on the way there.

  I nodded at Devlin anyway. What else were we gonna do?

  We stayed in the culvert, creeping as best we could until we were parallel with the barn. Then we looked at each other.

  “We get up out of here, and then we sprint,” I said.

  “Are you sure you can?”

  “I don’t have any choice. Let’s go.”

  We climbed up onto the lawn. That alone made me want to lie down and sleep right then. But there was no time for that. I could sleep when I was dead. Which might be real soon if I didn’t get up off my ass and go.

  I sprang to my feet, wobbled for two steps, then took off at a dead run. Devlin was right behind me. We made it to the barn in six seconds. Hopefully, no one had seen us.

  I huffed and panted and tried to still my heart. Then we moved to the barn door and tried it. It was locked. Shit.

  “Try around back,” Devlin said. “There may be another way in.”

  “To a barn?”

  “Just go!”

  As illogical as it sounded, I did what he ordered. I raced along the side of the barn, hugging the faded-red wood tightly.

  When I turned the corner, Charlene stood before me. Six other people were behind her. Charlene’s face was a mask of wild malevolence.

  “You came!” she squealed. “I’m so glad.”

  Before I had time to panic, something hard hit me over the back of my head. Stars danced in my vision. I dropped to my hands and knees, then rolled over onto my back. Devlin stood over me, gripping his staff in both hands.

  “I’m sorry, Cecily,” he said.

  Cecily? He knew my name? Oh, shit.

  The world went black.

  Sixteen

  Flames guttered and spit all around Ephraim as he stood before the master, still shaking from the exertion of his trials. He was still covered in grime and gore from his trials. The master hadn’t given him fresh clothes or a shower yet. He didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was his revenge.

  Miriam stood beside him in her succubus form, now dressed in a chainmail bikini and beaming at him like he some sort of rock star. He didn’t care for this appearance. She looked too demonic, too manipulative, too … powerful. He preferred her meek, subservient, weak.

  Ah, well. There was time enough for that later. If she loved him as much as she professed, she would bend to his every whim, fulfill his every need. And he would punish her severely for deceiving him about her true nature.

  For now, though, the only woman who interested him was Sassy Kincaide.

  “You have done well, Ephraim Silverman,” the master intoned, his voice the screams of children. “We look forward to your service.”

  Heh. Service.

  “First things first,” he said. “I want my …” He paused and added as much as acid as he could to the word. “… ‘sister.’”

  “All in good time, darling,” Miriam purred.

  “No,” he growled. “Now. You can have whatever you want from me when I’m finished with her. Until then, she’s my only concern.”

  There was an uncomfortable pause. The fires around him flared and spit. Ephraim snorted. The master thought to frighten him with fire? He shouldn’t have tested him with it. It had neem the simplest of their insidious tortures to overcome.

  “As it happens, Ephraim Silverman,” the master said, his voice the sighs of the dying, “you have joined us at a propitious moment.”

  Ephraim cocked his head. He didn’t like the sound of that. The master clearly intended for it to sound like a good thing, but it wasn’t actually telling Ephraim he could have what he wanted.

  “How’s that?” Ephraim asked.

  “We made an arrangement involving the demon prince, Akashareth,” the master said. “He’s been a – What is your human expression? – a thorn in our side for centuries. This was an opportunity to remove him.”

  “What has that to do with me?” Ephraim said. He could feel some bomb about to drop in the middle of his desires. “I just want Sassy.”

  “Our partners in this venture need bait for their trap. They asked for Cecily Kincaide.”

  No. No, no, no! They had not given Sassy to someone else. They had not!

  “It seems your sister has a lot of enemies,” Miriam said.

  Ephraim turned a savage look on her. She didn’t fl
inch. That pissed him off more. The Miriam he knew before she revealed she was a succubus would have cowered at that look, fearing his wrath. But the true Miriam just gazed back placidly at him. He wanted to belt her.

  “Why would you agree to this after you promised her to me?” he demanded.

  “It is all a matter of timing, Ephraim Silverman,” the master replied, his voice the soft slish of a stiletto puncturing a lung. “We did not arrange to hand Cecily Kincaide to the demon hunter. But we agreed that, should he find her, we would not interfere. He located her before you. Thus, we must abide by the terms of our agreement.”

  Demon hunter? What the hell was he talking about?

  “What does a demon hunter have to do with our agreement?” he demanded.

  “Our agreement? You promised us fealty.”

  “In exchange for your delivering me Sassy! I earned her by passing your infernal tests!”

  “And this is why we tested you, Ephraim Silverman. The fires around him grew darker, more malevolent. “For you to prove your loyalty to us. This reaction is exactly what we feared.”

  Ephraim’s mouth fell open. He could not be serious. He could not actually be suggesting Ephraim was the one at fault here.

  “How can I give you my loyalty when you betray me at the first opportunity?” he cried. “Loyalty is to be rewarded. If I receive nothing for holding up my end of the bargain, I’m no loyalist; I’m a slave! And that is not what I agreed to. I promised to serve you if you gave me my revenge on Sassy. If you renege on your end, the deal is nullified!”

  “We have not reneged, Ephraim Silverman,” the master intoned like a death knell. “These circumstances preceded our arrangement. We have not failed our end.”

  “You made the deal in bad faith!” Ephraim shouted. “You did not tell me of this caveat! You simply promised me my revenge. You have not done what you said you would, since it was not fully within your power to give in the first place.”

  “Ephraim, darling,” Miriam soothed.

  She took his arm, stroked it. He shook her off.

  “Don’t touch me, Miriam. You’ve been just as faithless.”

  “Ephraim, my love, what matters is that Cecily Kincaide dies. This will ensure it. It is a gift to you.”