Evil is... (Once a Demon Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  A thing that Tyler G. didn’t have at all. As far as mobile dead people went, he was, to her knowledge, the most dead of all. Vampires weren’t alive, but they powered themselves using life energy, like everyone else did. Ty pushed himself into place using the opposite of that. The void left when life had fled the formerly living.

  “All right. It seems like they were using the same energy source you do, Tyler. Death. Except that whatever was inside of them was alive. They roughly looked and felt humanoid. Not strictly like a Human person though. That part… well, I’m going to need more information about the whole thing before coming up with a real theory. That doesn’t explain why they dropped bodies on the lawn, either.”

  Interestingly, Will shook his head a bit then. After a moment the words came out, if a bit slowly.

  “None of us seemed to be targeted, specifically. I mean, they didn’t try to hit anyone out here with a body. Otherwise they would have gotten closer and the bodies would be clustered on the location of their target. They were just being dropped. Really, they were nearly as far from any of us as possible, while still being on the grass itself. Four in the large space in the back, two on the far left side. The north west. If it was meant as an attack, then they aren’t very good. Plus, even dropping something like rocks would have worked better, as far as doing injury.”

  Scotty the Shifter Vampire shook his head in response to the words. He didn't deny them, however. In fact, he looked at the large Human man closely, then grinned a bit. It was clear he didn't really mean it. At least it was to her. Then, Vampires didn’t show emotions in the main. They had to fake every reaction and response they had, except for anger and in rare cases, fear. That the small, twitchy and pale man was trying to seem engaged with the Human was actually really polite of him. A sign that he was maturing, for one of his people.

  “Most of us wouldn’t have really been all that hurt by it, even if we were hit. That, being missed, could mean anything. Was it just about terror? A sign that a war has begun? Some groups have strict rules that way. Just because we don’t know what they are doesn’t mean it might not be something like that. Or…” There was a shrug then, and the man went quiet.

  Looking over at his band mates for a long time. Not speaking.

  It was Ravi who tilted his head.

  “Or? Don’t leave me hanging here, Scott. I have no clue at all what might be going on. Unless… This wasn’t me, was it? I made those shadows before and… Sometimes some other little things happen around me. Since that change, a few months back.” There was a hardness about him. A willingness to accept that he was the one responsible for harming the innocent people that had been dropped. If he were.

  People from Sparks that were, as far as she could tell, collected at random and totally innocent.

  Really, it wasn’t a bad thing for him to be considering. The man had a new power, and didn't know how to use it properly, lacking training, so it had to be considered as a possibility. The dark beings from earlier had been all black, which matched part of what he’d manifested before. It meant that it was possibly related to him, directly.

  One that she’d checked out almost first thing.

  Keeley got to smile then, walking over to her new friend, patting him on the arm, gently.

  “Not this time. It occurred to me to make sure of that while things were going on, since it would be easier to knock you out than to fly around not catching those things. Besides, at least so far, you haven’t actually created life. Those things weren’t just images or energy beings. Under the darkness, they were alive. Physical and solid.” At least they had the right kind of energy for that to be true.

  What they might not have been, was people.

  Waving his right hand, several times more than was needed, showing a certain amount of nerves in the motion, Scotty made a soft huffing sound.

  “Sorry there, Rav. It was just that… Well, a long time ago, when people wanted to get your attention, it wasn’t unheard of to bring them a gift. Even out of the blue like this. Notice that the people being dropped all lived? If you didn’t really know us, a delivery of six tasty people like that might actually seem like a great present. Right here we have people that drink blood, a man that could for all anyone else knows consume their flesh rather happily, a woman who might take them all as slaves…” Glancing at Will and then Ravi, the Bat Vampire took a deep breath. “Three of them were even decently attractive women. So, really, if it was that kind of thing, it might be aimed at anyone here. Only…”

  Before anyone else could speak, Ravi, of all people, nodded.

  “Except that they used that death power, that Tyler said he uses. Which would probably mean they were more interested in him than not. At least… Well, how common is that kind of thing? Death energy being used to do stuff like that? I’ve never heard of it, but frankly I’ve barely heard of most things. I mean, did you guys know that Scotty was a Vampire? That’s pretty different.” He deadpanned the words, which got a collective nod, instead of a real answer or laugh.

  Standing not too far away, Ty shrugged. A thing that meant a wave of blackness touched inside and out on his body, moving him into place like a puppet or a doll.

  “Not common at all. I’ve run into a few beings that could do a bit that way. Seven or eight. Mom can, and a few of the other Wise Ones. Some of the Reptilian peoples have Shaman that deal with that kind of thing, mainly in their magic. That’s about it. Which might make this more telling. Even if it was an attack, them coming here for it is strange. I mean, clearly my living minions mean that I can work with that sort of being well enough that dropping people on me wouldn’t make an effective attack.”

  Keeley could see that, so made a point of looking around before speaking again. Recording all the information she could about the scene, in case it was needed, later. Then she waved to Rebekah.

  “We need to be off to see to your friends now. Mara and Sam. If another attack, or gift giving session comes tonight, Tyler can call us back in. As it stands, we need to get by the hospital as soon as everyone is stable, so we can fix things for them. Probably in the morning, since they get all picky about people visiting at midnight for some reason.” She nearly added in something snarky, about how the Humans might just figure massive healing out for themselves.

  Which was a great idea, if she wanted to seem like a bitch. That or the kind of person who looked down on others for being what they were. Interestingly, most of the Greater Demons weren’t like that at all. They might claim to be better than everyone else, or at least they had, which was true, more or less. What they didn’t do was bother about thinking it was important at all. Human beings could heal, using magic. Most creatures that lived had at least a small touch of that kind of ability.

  If she had time and a cattle prod, she could have taught a fairly normal man or woman how to do it well enough to make a difference in other people’s lives.

  That didn't mean western people in their age would be able to do that kind of thing with a broken back by the next morning. Rather than act like a massive cunt on the issue, she waited, so that Rebekah could work out what might be needed that way. The Vampire was the one in charge as far as Human relations went, for the band. At least in regards to Sam and Mara.

  She just nodded, smiled with her new, pretty and Human looking face and pulled out her cell phone. The call didn’t take her long, either. She just tabbed a few buttons, since it was clearly a thing that she’d done before, more than once. It showed in the certainty of her movements and the speed of the action. Calling a new person took about ten percent longer, even if you had the number at hand.

  “Hey, Sue! This is Rebekah, from Living Proof? I ran that idea I had past my friend, Keeley. About the healing for the scars… She’s willing to come and do that, right now, for both of them.”

  There was no sound from the other side of the phone for a moment, then a soft voice came back, sounding more than a little tense. Keeley worked out what the words were anyway. Using a t
ouch of magic for the task, almost without meaning too.

  “How much will it cost you? I can’t really afford to pay you back. You said it would be around a million each, if the woman was even willing. That’s a lot.”

  Rebekah grinned then. Her perfectly white teeth, just uneven enough to look real, showed well in the lights from the mansion behind them.

  “She’s not charging for it at all. There’s just a time schedule for it, so we’d need to come over right now, if that works for you? I don’t know if the kids are in bed yet.”

  There was a snort from the black device in the cute Vampire woman’s hand.

  “You’ve never had teenagers, have you? They won’t be asleep until halfway through the night. Then they’ll be grumpy all morning tomorrow, as if the two things are related at all. Please… Thank your friend for me? Even if this doesn’t work, that she’s willing to try for us like this is amazing.”

  There was a nod then and a look at Keeley.

  “I’ll tell her. We should be there in… Call it five minutes?” The words were for Keels, clearly. As if it might take longer than that.

  It was about right, if she was carrying people in with her, one at a time. Bypassing the inroads was a lot faster though, so she nodded. Setting up the rift in space she’d be needing, rather carefully. So that they’d come in down the street from the York house, in Lincoln. Then, waving a bit, she got people to start walking toward her. They had to be picked up, or at least a few of them did.

  Steve went first, putting his arm out like he would have for Zack. Then the red headed Vampire, who reminded her of a male version of her ex a bit too much, being her younger brother like he was, hopped as she moved into the node. Perfectly, even if he couldn’t see the thing she’d opened.

  Except, as they blinked through reality, stepping out in a city about a thousand miles away, she understood from his thoughts that he actually could see that kind of thing now. Not perfectly, and not all the time. Still, it was impressive. No Vampire could do that without massive amounts of training and effort on their part.

  “You’ve been doing the new line walker training, with Troy?”

  Slowly, he nodded at her, looking away, down the street. First at his old childhood home, where his parents lived and his older sister was staying for the time being, then he turned, to look at the rift in the air. A lightly glowing circle of nothing, which was outlined with a hand.

  “I’ve mainly been working with Barb and Avery on it. It’s complicated. You have to learn magic and meditate in the void for a long time. At least for the new program. That part was hard for me at first. The meditation. I’m actually decent at the magic part, for some reason. Thinking in concepts, instead of words just makes sense to me.”

  That was one way of doing things and pretty close to how she managed it herself. Vampires would have to pull on their links to gain power, until they learned to take life energy from the universe around them. Eve had managed it, so Steve might be able to as well. Once that could be managed, the Vampire was essentially alive again. Even if their biology didn’t change at all.

  Patting his arm, she smiled at her old slave.

  “That’s so cool! You should see if you can get Will and Ravi hooked up for that. If you want, I mean. Ravi’s abilities could use that kind of discipline and Will is the head of Division Six. Having people in the new unit trained in almost anything might be useful over the next decades.” She could go and talk to Troy and Avery herself about it, naturally. For that matter, Will could probably set it up himself, even with a cold call.

  They weren’t making it hard for people who wanted to try the new program to get in. The truth was that most people, on learning that it would take five hundred to a thousand years of meditation in a totally dark place, weren’t really that willing to give it a shot. It sounded good on paper, until the reality of the whole thing hit them.

  Steve stuck his tongue out a bit, and crossed his eyes.

  “Well… If I have it right, the next training section will start in about six weeks. They can both put in applications and we can put a word in for them. Half the people trying it right now are from different worlds, since there’s a thing set up in a few places. In order to get others in on the new set up as for training. Anyway, I’ll hold here. In case anyone comes to ambush us.”

  Being a decent sort, for a Vampire, Steve didn’t mention that person would likely be his own sister. Not that there would be that kind of thing happening. If anything, Hally would probably hide from Keels, if she knew that she was there at the moment. She’d run off, instead of having a last blow out with her. Attempting to prevent being taken as a slave or killed, most likely. Not that it would have happened that way.

  Stepping back into the rift a moment later, she got Rebekah next, who knew to hop having been reminded by seeing Steve do it, then Tyler who did the same thing. Scotty sort of managed it, if more awkwardly and her people, Ravi and Will had to be her-handled across the distance, being picked up bodily. At least, she did it that way, instead of showing them the more efficient way of doing it.

  If she made the rift glow, then almost anyone would be able to hop at the right time. Zack did that, when traveling with people.

  As soon as they were all through, leaving the others on the far side, since they didn't have a real reason to go and watch the events of the evening, Rebekah moved them forward, walking slowly. It gave Keeley just enough time to carefully take the portal down, smoothing the edges on both sides, to prevent it from becoming messy. Not that there wasn’t a weak point in space there now, regardless. It would blur and blend over time, of course. This way no one would accidently stumble into Nevada from there, if they were walking down the sidewalk.

  The house they wanted was down the street, closer to the York family home. It wasn’t as nice as it could have been, seeming a bit careworn and run down, when they got there. The outside was painted white, and the trim was a grey color that was chipping and peeling in places. No one stared at that, just moving up the walkway. There was no lawn, since the area tended to promote dry landscaping, using a lot of rock and a bit of cement.

  Ravi stayed right next to her, with the band going first. Will was behind them all, clearly not getting why he was there at the moment. The confusion came off of him in waves. On the outside he seemed incredibly confident about the whole thing. Ready to fight, if needed. That was just how he lived, so it wasn’t going to be a problem for anyone. Not unless Sam and Mara got picky with them, over their new looks. Then her money would be on Will for the win, if it came to blows.

  The door opened on the first knock, a rather run-down woman coming to the door. Sue, of course. The children’s mother or caretaker. The voice matched the one from the phone anyway. From her looks, the mousy blonde woman, whose crows feet had lines coming off of them, was in her fifties. Except that her carriage was too robust for that. She was hunched, as if expecting something bad to happen, even as she smiled at the people in the band. The ones who had been visiting her kids, trying to make them feel better, knowing that nothing ever really would fix the damage the fire had done.

  If the woman was actually forty, it would have been a shock to Keeley. She was simply old beyond her years.

  The woman looked at the rest of them there, even while getting a hug from Tyler and a better one from Scotty. Both of them rubbed up on her enough that the woman had to know she could have gotten sex off of either of them, even if she wasn’t that great looking. Then, both men were, without even maligning them, massive horndogs. In a charming way, if that was possible.

  Tyler, looking handsome, about eighteen and lean, smiled at the lady.

  “These are Will Dern, Ravi Pendar and Keeley Thomson. Will and Keeley work at the Coalition with me. Ravi is…” The words froze, leaving a gap in the world, that was incredibly obvious. Worse than saying anything else would have been.

  If Tyler had simply proclaimed the man her boyfriend, no one would have noticed it. Saying he worked at a gr
ocery store would be fine as well, since it was the truth and an honorable profession. Saying nothing made it seem like they were hiding something.

  Steve covered for it, with a decent amount of smoothness to the whole thing.

  “Ravi is going to be learning to be a line walker. We told you about that new program, Sue. Anyway, Keels here is the cosmetics person we were telling you about. She did the work on Rebekah. She’s also from this area. You went to Raintree, didn’t you?” The man knew the answer, but was trying to change the topic from what he’d said about Ravi. It was a lie after all and the Human man might just ask about the new plan for his life.

  So she smiled, warmly and moved in to give the woman in front of her a small hug. That kind of touchy feeling crap was expected from new age healer types. It let the lady relax a bit, even as Keeley took and stored a copy of her life, pushing it into the library of information around her, rather than holding it in her head. At the same time she scanned the thing, so that she’d have the lay of the land.

  Inside the rather dingy and small front room, there were two kids sitting. Nervously, because the others had sort of talked her skills up a bit. A thing that they didn't really believe, even if they were hopeful. Both sat tensely on the ugly, mottle colored sofa.

  A boy and a girl, as promised. Sam was fourteen and had half a normal face. The other was a mass of silver and pink scars. There was no hair on his head at all, though the left half on the back was shaved, the rest not growing any more. The burns clearly ran down his back.

  Mara had a wig on, and managed to look like she was wearing a complete mask of scars. Her hands and arms were visibly marred the same way. From the way they were holding themselves, they both had other damage, under their clothing. Sam was slightly better off that way.

  The story there, that she pulled from them and their mother, was fairly interesting. Both had been in the same fire. Sam had managed to get outside, uninjured, when he’d heard his older sister screaming in pain. His wounds had been all due to his going back in, to save her. A thing that his mother knew about the whole thing, that Mara didn’t. They’d hidden the facts of the matter from the girl so she wouldn’t have to carry guilt over it. She thought that a random fireman had gotten her out. A thing that her brother had never corrected. That they didn’t tell her was his idea, too.