Demon Bound

by Chris Cannon

  “He doesn’t need me until tomorrow.” I trudged off to bed, trying to maintain a hopeful attitude. I’d spoken to my mother. She was in there, or out there, or somewhere, but she was reachable. I could talk to her, and one way or another I’d figure out how to bring her home.

  Bane sat behind his mahogany desk while I shifted around in a straight-backed, very uncomfortable wooden chair. “The next time you plan on taking a few days off, don’t.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You can’t miss collection dates,” he said. “It causes too many problems.”

  I couldn’t take the stupid chair and the ridiculous lecture at the same time. “This chair sucks. I’m moving to the couch.” Once I was seated on the far more comfortable piece of furniture, I said, “Feel free to continue griping at me.”

  I could’ve sworn I saw the start of a smile before he said, “Explain your actions.”

  “It felt like I was only gone for an hour. I didn’t know time moved so differently in that realm. And while we’re on the subject, what do you know about alternate dimensions?”

  He drummed his fingers on the desktop. “You’re supposed to be intimidated by me.”

  “I am, but I have too many questions about my mom to worry about that right now. I’m hoping you’ll choose to be helpful.”

  “For free?” he said. “Highly unlikely.” He tilted his head and tapped his fingers some more like he was waiting for something. And then it hit me.

  “The hair thing again. Seriously?”

  He joined me on the couch, reached over, and wrapped a strand of my hair around his finger.

  “I’d like all of my hair to stay attached to my head this time, if you don’t mind.”

  “For now, I’ll agree,” he said. “Ask your question.”

  “My mom claims she saw a flash of white light and then opened her eyes in another dimension. Does that sound like the work of a demon?”

  “Possibly.” He ran his fingernails along my scalp. “It could also be the work of another magical person, like a witch.”

  “A witch? Why would a witch want to send my mother to another dimension?”

  “You have a familiar.” He removed the bobby pins from my hair, taking the time to set each one on the coffee table. “Your grandmother and mother both rejected their magic, yes?”

  “Yes.” What did that have to do with anything?

  “If a witch rejects her magic, it doesn’t just disappear.” He ran his fingers through my hair like he was combing it. Power rippled over my scalp and down my neck. I stomped down on the urge to sigh. This was feeling strangely intimate.

  “What…” I was having trouble maintaining my line of thought. “What happens to the magic?”

  “It’s passed on to the next witch in the family line. So your grandmother passed her magic to your mother. Now your mother is trapped in another dimension with the inherited magic plus her own that she never used. If she were here, now that your magic has awakened, all of the potential would be passed on to you.”

  “But I must have inherited some of it already. Otherwise Sage wouldn’t be here.”

  He coiled a strand of my hair into a loop and then used a bobby pin to hold it in place. “Bane, what are you doing?”

  “Fixing your hair,” he said, like it was the most normal thing in the world for a demon to give me a new hairdo.

  For now I’d go with it. “What about the magic?”

  “You have some magic of your own, but the magic your grandmother and mother never tapped into could be passed on to you. If your mother had been here when you discovered your power then her untapped power would have been passed to you. That’s three generations’ worth of magic… With the proper training you could be a powerful witch.”

  Bane continued with his intricate hairstyle while I tried to process this strange new information. “Why didn’t my sisters come into any magical power?”

  “The shift in Carol and Zelda’s status was the catalyst for sparking your magical ability. Since your sisters are over eighteen, they missed the window for their powers to develop.”

  “So no one over eighteen can develop magical powers?”

  “By the time humans are eighteen they are considered adults both by human and magic law. Any untapped power remains dormant after that time because the human’s path is already set.”

  So the magic was kind of like the bank account my grandmother left for me and my sisters. Since they didn’t use the money for college it rolled over into an account for me to use. Weird.

  “Do you think someone might have banished my mom to keep me from coming into my magic and maybe becoming a powerful witch?”

  “It is a possibility. A demon could have sent her to another dimension so he could feed off her over time.”

  Fabulous. “I’m not sure which thought is more disturbing.”

  Bane magicked a mirror into existence and passed it to me. My hair was twisted into complicated ringlets that cascaded over my shoulders like some character from a historical movie. “Wow. I had no idea my hair could do that.”

  Bane caressed my cheek. “You have all sorts of potential, beyond being a mere human.”

  “What does that mean?” And why did my voice sound breathy?

  “You could make your own deals, collect your own souls, live by your own rules.”

  The only part of that deal which sounded good was the living-by-my-own rules part. “I’m not a demon.”

  “You could be,” Bane said. “I don’t make this offer lightly. Over my lifetime I’ve only made this offer to a few select individuals.”

  Crap. He was serious. I focused on not offending him and getting the hell out of there so I could figure out this whole witch thing. “I appreciate the offer, but I want to finish high school and go to college.”

  “For now, I’ll accept that answer.” He snapped his fingers and three blue envelopes appeared on the coffee table. Without another word, he stood and headed back to his desk. Apparently the warm fuzzy moment was over.

  I picked up the envelopes. “One more thing. I plan to visit my mom again and to try and bring her back. Zelda has volunteered to cover my collections while I’m gone.”

  “That is acceptable. I’ll be in meetings for the rest of the day. You can pass the envelopes off to the man behind the desk in the lobby when you’re done collecting.”

  …

  Jake

  I’d finished painting some guy’s shed and was on my way back to the hardware store when Meena called.

  “Hey, Meena. How are you feeling?”

  “Good,” she said. “Confused, but good. When do you get off work?”

  “I’m done after I drop my supplies off at Dale’s. Do you want me to come pick you up?” I noticed my paint-flecked hands on the steering wheel. “I might need to clean up before we go anywhere.”

  “I finished collections. I could meet you at Zelda’s.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Meena was seated at the kitchen table drinking a glass of iced tea with Aunt Zelda when I came in. Neither of them appeared happy.

  “What’s up?”

  “Bane thinks a witch could have banished my mother to another realm to keep me from inheriting her power,” Meena said.

  I poured myself a glass of tea and joined them. “Is that possible?”

  “It could be,” Aunt Zelda said. “The balance of magic in Crossroads has always been tenuous. Witches have formed covens and made grabs for power.”

  “Any suspects in particular?” I asked.

  “The mayor’s wife has made power grabs before, but she’s been fairly quiet since becoming a grandmother.”

  “I’d rather focus my attention on getting her back.” Meena ran her fingers through the condensation on her glass. “Finding out who did it can come later.”

&n
bsp; That made sense to me. “Did Bane give you crap about being out for a week?”

  “He wasn’t happy about it, but he understands I plan to do it again.”

  “Do you have to go back alone?” I asked. “Can someone go with you?”

  “Are you volunteering?” Aunt Zelda asked.

  “What?” Was she joking? “No. I was thinking someone who was experienced with astral projection, like you or Carol.”

  “Honestly, it would be better for someone who has a stronger tie with Meena to go.”

  Okay. What did I say to that? “I don’t have any magic, but I’ll try.”

  “I could teach you how to do astral projection,” Meena said. “Because it would be nice to have some backup. It’s kind of creepy.”

  I wanted to know more about this place before she, or we, went back in. “You said your mom was in a copy of your house. Were there other houses? Did she say if she ever saw anyone else?”

  “I didn’t see any other houses and I didn’t have time to ask.” She touched the white stripe on my forearm. “What did you paint?”

  “Dale said I was going to paint a shed. It turned out to be more of a garage. Took longer than I thought.”

  “You have paint in your hair, too.” Meena grinned. “You’re kind of a mess.”

  I ran my hand back through my hair and felt some stiff pieces. “I can take a hint.” I stood. “Be right back.”

  I headed off to shower. Fifteen minutes later, I came back downstairs to find Meena reading a book at the table. I could hear Aunt Zelda up front waiting on a customer.

  “Anything good?” I asked.

  She held up the book so I could see the title, Alternate Dimensions. “I hoped to find a chapter like How to track down magic in alternate dimensions, but so far no luck.”

  “That would be too easy.” I grabbed her hand. “Come with me.”

  She set the book on the table and let me pull her to her feet. “Where are we going?”

  “I had an idea about the astral projection thing.” I led her upstairs to the television room.

  We sat on the couch. “First things first,” I said. And then I leaned in until my forehead rested against hers. “Is there any way you’d let Carol or Zelda go in to get your mom?”

  “No. But I’d love it if you’d go with me.”

  I’d rather take up cliff diving, but for Meena I’d give it a try. “I guess you need to teach me how to astral project.”

  “I will teach you everything I know, but first I’d like to engage in some denial and distraction.” She shifted so her lips lined up with mine.

  I pressed my mouth against hers and pulled her close. Everything about her felt soft and warm and right. Like this is where I belonged…with Meena. She made Crossroads feel like home.

  When I heard someone coming up the stairs, I pulled away from her. “I think we’re about to have company.”

  Aunt Zelda poked her head around the doorway. “Good. I made enough noise coming up the stairs to give you fair warning.”

  My face heated.

  “I’m going to the store. At some point you two should practice astral projection. See you later.”

  “Bye,” Meena and I said at the same time.

  “I guess we should practice.” Meena scooted away from me.

  “Okay. Tell me what to do.”

  “Let’s hold hands.” She laced her fingers through mine. “Now sit back, relax, and close your eyes. I’ll play one of the videos I liked.”

  The sound of waves crashing against the shore and the hypnotic voice in the video worked. I relaxed. The lady in the video talked us through the steps of letting go of your body. I imagined that I was floating. Wait a minute. “Could I float away and get lost?”

  “If you tried to travel somewhere you might, but we’re going to stay right here.”

  “How do you know that?” I was more of a real-world person. I liked things I could touch and measure. This astral projection thing really creeped me out.

  “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I won’t let you drift away.”

  “Okay.” I closed my eyes and listened to the woman’s voice. Relax and drift. I could do this. Relax. Just relax… I opened my eyes and peeked to see if I’d done it. Nope. still sitting on the couch holding Meena’s hand. “It’s not working.”

  She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “You’ll get it. We just need to practice.”

  We practiced for the next hour and tried several different videos. No luck. “Maybe only people with magic can manage this,” I said.

  “Sage said you might have some magic,” Meena argued.

  “He could have been picking up on something Vi had left behind.”

  Her cell alarm went off. “Time for me to go home and cook dinner. We can practice more tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” I walked her out and kissed her goodbye. I didn’t want her to go back there by herself, so I pulled up a few more videos and did my best to float out of my body. Nothing worked. Apparently I wasn’t astral projection material.

  …

  Meena

  For two days, I tried to teach Jake astral projection. He couldn’t do it. At all. Which was frustrating for both him and me. I wasn’t sure if he was holding back because he was afraid of floating away or if he just wasn’t able to do it. Saturday morning I called him and Sage together in the kitchen with my dad. “I’m ready to try again.”

  “When?” Sage asked.

  “Now.” I couldn’t see any reason to wait.

  “Okay,” Sage said. “Let’s get set up in the living room.”

  “I wish I could go with you,” Jake said.

  “You’re astral projection impaired,” I teased. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”

  I lay on the couch and closed my eyes. I focused on relaxing and allowing my essence to slip from my body. Then I focused on my mom. I found the black sticky tar stuff again. There was less of it this time. Hopefully, that was a good thing. I swam through the strange substance until I spotted the house below. I landed on the driveway and walked across the cracked concrete to knock on the front door.

  Before I could reach it, my mom flung the door open and said, “I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “Me, too.” I gave her a quick hug. “Did you find your spark?”

  “You’ve only been gone an hour,” she complained.

  “Did you look for it?” Her attitude disappointed me.

  “I checked in all the closets but didn’t see anything. I looked under the beds, too.”

  Good. She’d tried. “Where would a spark hide?” I thought out loud. “If we had a fireplace I’d say we should start there.”

  “If we’re taking this literally it could be a light or a source of power,” she said. “There are batteries in the pantry.” We headed to the pantry and pulled out all the batteries we could find.

  I touched all of them. “They don’t seem magical.” I glanced around. “Flashlights? Lights? Let’s split up and check them.” Time was flying by in the real world and we needed to figure this out. I didn’t want to be gone for another week. I wanted to get my mother home and get my life back on track. I wanted to be a two-parent family again. My dad needed his wife back. This had to work.

  None of the lights proved helpful. We met back in the kitchen. My mouth felt dry. “Let’s take a drink break.” I opened the refrigerator to grab a can of soda and the light inside almost blinded me. “Mom?”

  She joined me, standing in the cool flow of refrigerated air. “I never noticed that before. What do we do?”

  “Grab it?” I had no idea.

  She reached in but her hand passed right through it. “That’s strange. You try.”

  I reached in and touched something warm. “It feels like warm Play-Doh.”

  “I didn’t feel i
t.” She tilted her head and studied my face. “I don’t feel much of anything anymore, Meena. Sometimes it feels like I could just close my eyes and drift away.”

  “No. Don’t do that.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “I’m taking you home. Dad needs to see you.”

  She reached out and caressed my cheek. “I think you should take the spark. If you do that then maybe I can finally rest.”

  No. No. No. We were so close. “Mom. Listen to me. You need to stay awake.” I did my best to sound rational. “You have to talk to Dad. If you don’t, he’ll be crushed.”

  “Baby, I’m not sure I have a choice. Tell your dad…tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t stay. Tell him I love him. I love you, too.”

  “We are not doing the goodbye speech.” I grabbed the spark from the refrigerator. “This could heal you.” I held it out to her. “Try, for me. Please.”

  “I can’t touch it, baby. What do you want me to do?”

  “I don’t know.” Her image was becoming fuzzy around the edges. This could not be happening. We were so close. I hugged her and held the spark against her shoulder.

  “Meena, I want you and your dad to be happy. I want you to move on.”

  “No. You’re coming back with me.” I held on tighter. Her body seemed less substantial, like she was fading away.

  “I’m so tired, Meena. This is a good thing. You’ll see.” She dissolved in my arms.

  “No.” The spark sank into my hand. Warmth traveled up my arm to my chest.

  “Meena,” Sage’s voice drifted to me. “I’m pulling you out.”

  I was slammed back into my body and I woke up sobbing. “Did I hurt you?” Sage hovered over me.

  “No.” I took a shaky breath. “She’s gone.”

  “What do you mean?” my dad asked.

  “She said she wanted to go to sleep,” I said between sobs. “I told her…I told her she had to see you first…but she couldn’t hold on anymore… I’m so sorry.” Jake sat down and pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me, like he was trying to protect me.

  “I’m so sorry, Meena.” He kissed the top of my head.

  The kitchen phone rang. My dad made no move to answer it, so Sage walked over and grabbed it. He came back holding the cordless phone. “It’s the nursing home.”