“Prayhap we could suade the incubus to leave thy corpus of its own volition,” Daraxandriel said hesitantly.
“How?” Amy sneered derisively. “Say pretty please?”
“The incubus dies with its host,” she retorted. “An it believes the body to be in peril, it would flee to another.”
“That just moves the problem to someone else,” I argued. “I don’t want to play musical chairs with this thing.”
“Yet it would perforce leave the ring and thy soulstone behind,” she countered. “An thy soul returns to thine own body, they would become thine.”
I sat up straighter in the chair. “That might work, except we’d need another guy there, someone who wouldn’t mind being possessed until we removed the incubus.”
“What about Susie’s boyfriend?” Amy grinned. “He’d do it if she asked.”
“No,” I said firmly. “He’s just a kid. Besides, she’d kill us all if anything happened to him.”
“That’s true.” Amy returned to the journal as I tried to think of anyone who could help. Ryan Prescott was the obvious choice but he wasn’t available.
Justin? No, it’s too dangerous. One of the HPD officers? How would I even explain it to them? Dad? That thought knotted my stomach. Are there any other warlocks in town? I wondered. Mrs. Kendricks never mentioned any. No, it has to be someone without any powers the incubus could use. We need a plain, ordinary human being for this.
Someone like you, Little Peter observed.
Yeah, I agreed glumly. Someone like me. “Okay, we’ll table that one for now. How are we going to convince the incubus that it’s about to die without actually killing it?”
“Such may not be possible, Peter Simon Collins,” Daraxandriel said, shaking her head. “The incubus needs must feel the pain of imminent death, if it is to believe in its demise.”
“But the Philosopher’s Stone will take care of that, right?” I asked. “It’ll fix whatever happens to my body, right?” I nodded encouragingly but she didn’t echo the motion.
“An thy soul returns timely to thy corpus,” she allowed hesitantly, “the soulstone should seek to heal thy wounds.”
“There’s a lot of ifs, ands, and buts in there,” I said uneasily.
“Thy circumstances are complex,” she pointed out. “My Dread Lord’s curse still cleaves to thy soul. It will not surrender thee lightly.”
“Great,” I muttered. “So all we have to do is capture the incubus, find some poor sap to stand there while we almost kill my body, let the incubus possess him while we pry my soul away from the curse, stuff it back into my body before the Philosopher’s Stone gives up on me, and then exorcize and banish the incubus before it causes any more problems. Is that about right?”
“Aye,” Daraxandriel admitted, “thou hast the right of it.”
“Piece of cake,” I sighed. “Okay, Susie should be able to track him down without any problem, since he’s me. We’re going to have to find a volunteer to be possessed for a few minutes. Who’s going to do the exorcism?”
“Dame Kendricks should have that skill,” Daraxandriel suggested.
“Except she’s controlled by the incubus,” I reminded her.
“What about Susie?” Olivia asked. “She got my soul out of Dara.”
“I don’t think that’s the same thing. Olivia,” I explained to the others. “Susie specializes in wards and things like that but I guess it won’t hurt to ask. She might know if one of the other girls in the coven has any experience with exorcisms.” I made to stand and then remembered Little Peter’s current condition. “Um, maybe one of you could go wake her up and ask.” Olivia and Daraxandriel looked at me in confusion, while Amy just smiled to herself.
“An thou dost wish it,” Daraxandriel said doubtfully, “yet the waif cannot perceive Olivia and she does not consider Amaryx nor myself to be friends.”
“Fine, I’ll do it.” Lie down! I ordered Little Peter. Go to sleep or something!
Make me, he retorted smugly. It’s not like they haven’t already seen me.
Not like this!
And who’s fault is that? You’ve had plenty of chances to show them how much you appreciate them.
This isn’t the time for this!
Says you.
I closed my eyes and let my breath out slowly. Just stand up and walk out casually, I told myself. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a perfectly normal reaction to the situation. They’ll understand. It’s no big deal. I placed my hands on the desk to push the chair back, just as a metallic bang echoed down the hall.
We all froze. “What was that?” Olivia whispered.
“Is it the waif?” Daraxandriel asked, reaching for her sword propped against the desk.
“I think that was the front door,” I told them. “Someone’s in the foyer.” And probably coming this way, I didn’t add. Mrs. Kendricks’ office door was open and I debated telling Daraxandriel to close it, just in case whoever it was wasn’t coming here, but I decided it would only draw attention to the room. “Get away from the door,” I ordered. “Get ready.” I grabbed the geode and hefted it, realizing belatedly that I couldn’t throw it effectively while sitting down.
Olivia moved behind me, even though she was pretty much safe from whoever or whatever came through the door, while Daraxandriel crouched beside the desk, ready to lunge with her sword. Amy stayed where she was, casually turning to a new page in the journal.
I held my breath and heard the faint scuff of shoes on the tile outside, approaching quickly. I raised the geode when a figure appeared in the doorway and then I blinked. “Mrs. Kendricks?” I asked incredulously.
She stopped just inside the room, staring at us blankly, as if we were the last people she expected to find camped out in her office. She looked much the same as the last time I saw her, still wearing the same blouse and skirt. Her hair was down and disheveled but her eyes were thankfully normal as they jumped from one face to the next.
“Dara? Amy? What in the Goddess’ name are you doing here?” Then her gaze fell on me. “Peter?” she gasped. She jumped back and raised her hands as her ornate multi-colored pentagram flashed into existence around her feet. “Stay back!”
“No, wait! That wasn’t me, it was the incubus!” I jumped up, waving my hands frantically to keep her from throwing a lightning bolt at me or whatever it was she was planning to do. She hesitated and then her eyes slowly traveled downwards as her lips formed a silent O. “I, uh, I can explain,” I said feebly as I dropped back into the chair, skootching it all the way forward.
“I can hardly wait to hear this,” Amy grinned delightedly.
Recapping the day’s events took quite a bit of time, in between Mrs. Kendricks’ questions and everyone else’s contributions. Susie showed up about halfway through, showing absolutely no surprise at our visitor as she shoved Dr. Bellowes’ belongings aside and perched on the end of the desk. She still looked a bit hollow-eyed and I hoped she was going to be able to handle her end of things when the time came.
“But what happened to you?” I asked Mrs. Kendricks. “What are you doing back here?”
“Well, it’s all a bit hazy,” she confessed. “I remember coming here to meet you and then –” She shook her head. “I woke up in my kitchen with a lump on the back of my head.” She gingerly touched the spot with a pained grimace.
“Was the incubus still there?”
“Yes, you – he was there. He was doing something on his phone – well, your phone, I suppose – and he had his back to me. I cast a glamour over myself and escaped through the back door.”
“Didst thou not seek to waylay him?” Daraxandriel asked. “Thou hadst the advantage of him.”
Mrs. Kendricks shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking too clearly right then. I knew he’d done something to me but I had no idea what his powers were. I thought it best to get away and get help.”
“So you came here?” I asked doubtfully.
“My purse is here,” she said,
pointing to the article in question near my elbow, “and it has my phone. I was going to call Ryan and the coven.”
“But not us?” I frowned.
“I thought he was you, Peter,” she said somberly. “I didn’t know who else was involved.”
“But how did she escape in the first place?” Olivia asked. “Why did the ring stop controlling her?”
I repeated the question for the others and then added, “I assume that was Dara’s doing. She was going to try to change Mrs. Kendricks so that the incubus couldn’t control her. I guess it worked.”
“It would seem so,” Mrs. Kendricks nodded. “Thank you, Dara.” Daraxandriel dipped her head in acknowledgement, but she looked uncertain. I felt the same way myself.
“So now what?” I asked. “Can you exorcize the incubus?”
“It wouldn’t be a true exorcism, but yes, I can remove him. It won’t be easy, though, as long as he still has Dr. Bellowes’ ring. I need to be near him and he could easily enthrall me again.” She shivered when she said that.
“But you’re free now,” I argued. “Dara took care of that.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, Peter,” she said, shaking her head. “The longer he holds that ring, the stronger his compulsion will be. I was lucky to get away this time. I doubt he’ll let it happen again.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“Your plan to force him into another body seems to be our best bet. I know Ryan would volunteer if he were here, but we can’t wait for him to get back.”
“Who else can do it, then?”
“Let me think about that. In the meantime, I’ll contact the coven and alert them to what’s happening. The more witchpower we have on hand, the greater our chances for success.”
“Can I be the one to kill Peter?” Susie asked. The jewels on her rings glittered as she flexed her fingers.
“We’re not killing him,” Mrs. Kendricks reminded her sternly, “we’re convincing the incubus that it’s better to leave, and for that we need someone who can cause a great deal of damage at a distance.”
“You mean Melissa,” I said. My stomach knotted at her somber nod. “She’s not going to like it.”
“None of this is ideal, Peter,” she sighed, “but we don’t have much of a choice. We have to stop him now, before he gets too strong.”
“I guess you’re right,” I sighed. “So what do we need to do?”
“First, let’s clear out of here. He might guess this is where I came. Pack all this up and bring it with you,” she added, nodding to the arcane objects strewn across her desk. “They’ve already caused enough trouble. We’ll figure out a way to dispose of everything later.”
Mrs. Kendricks retrieved her purse and her keys while Daraxandriel and I shoved everything back into Dr. Bellowes’ satchel. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“Back to my house.”
I stopped to blink at her. “Isn’t that where the incubus is?”
“He’d be a fool to stay there,” she said firmly. “Both Susie and I saw him there and there’s nothing there he can use against us. He’ll have to find another place to hide out while he recruits more help. He knows we’ll be coming after him as soon as we can.” She sounded positively grim.
“Like the apartment?” I asked doubtfully.
“I doubt it. That’s the first place we’d look for him.” She ushered us towards the door. I grabbed the satchel and held it strategically in front of me, although I couldn’t do anything about the view from the back.
“Are you going to be able to port all of us to Mrs. Kendricks’ house?” I asked Susie.
“Let’s not tire her out needlessly,” Mrs. Kendricks said before Susie could respond. “We’ll take my car. It’s just down the block.”
“I don’t think we’ll all fit.”
“There’s only five of us, we’ll be fine.” She strode down the hall towards the foyer and the rest of us trotted after her. I tried my very best to ignore the bobbling body parts all around me, with limited success.
“There’s six,” I reminded her. “Don’t forget Olivia.”
Mrs. Kendricks glanced back at us, surprised. It was clear she had forgotten about our resident ghost. “Oh, that’s right. Sorry, Olivia. Well, we’ll figure something out.”
“I’m not riding in the trunk,” Olivia grumbled.
“You don’t weigh anything,” I reminded her. “Maybe you can sit in someone’s lap.”
“Oh? Maybe that wouldn’t be too bad.” The way she licked her lips as she eyed Dr. Bellowes’ satchel made me very uneasy.
Mrs. Kendricks reached the front doors and pushed one open, letting in the sunlight. We all squinted and shaded our eyes like vampires but Mrs. Kendricks urged us forward. “Hurry up,” she insisted. “We don’t have much time.”
“But what about –?” I gestured around us. Mrs. Kendricks and Amy were the only ones who weren’t about to be arrested for public indecency.
“I’ve placed a glamour on all of you. No one will notice.”
Susie walked through the door without a moment’s hesitation and Daraxandriel followed close behind her. Tweener Amy trooped out next but Olivia just phased through another door, leaving me and Mrs. Kendricks alone in the foyer. She lifted an eyebrow at me, clearing waiting for me to go ahead of her, but I gestured for her to go through first. Her mouth twitched as if she was trying not to smile but she stepped outside and I edged out after her, keeping my back to the wall.
It was later than I thought and rush hour was already picking up. The streets weren’t jammed – this was Hellburn, after all – but there was enough traffic to make crossing difficult for any jaywalkers. There was no way anyone could miss seeing us standing there at the top of the steps but since nobody rear-ended anyone else, I was forced to conclude that Mrs. Kendricks’ glamour was actually working.
We hurried down the steps and along the sidewalk to Mrs. Kendricks’ BMW, still parked where she left it this morning. Susie jumped into the front seat as soon as Mrs. Kendricks unlocked it, forcing Amy to climb into the back. I waved Daraxandriel in after her, looking around nervously for someone to notice us, but no one made eye contact and no one screamed. I was starting to wonder if we were actually invisible, which would be something of a relief, actually.
My eyes fell on a nondescript brick building a couple of blocks further down Milton Street and then lifted up to the windows on the second floor. “Melissa’s still at work,” I said, pointing to the baby blue ’58 Ford Thunderbird convertible parked by the curb in front of the building.. “We should call her and get her to join us.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mrs. Kendricks nodded. “If nothing else, it solves our transportation issue. You and Dara head over there and I’ll go ahead with Susie and Amy.”
“Oh, um, okay,” I said doubtfully. I thought her suggestion was a bit odd since Daraxandriel was already seated but maybe she wanted to keep things evenly split. “Do you want to go with her?” I asked Olivia.
She crossed her arms defiantly. “I’m coming with you,” she declared, eyeing Daraxandriel suspiciously as she clambered out of the BMW.
“Fine,” I sighed. I hesitated and finally gritted my teeth and placed the satchel on the back seat, trying to ignore Amy’s wicked smile. “The, uh, glamour’s still going to work if you’re not here, right?”
“It’ll last a while,” Mrs. Kendricks promised, slipping behind the wheel, “but don’t wait too long. Good luck,” she smiled as she started the engine. I closed the rear door and she pulled out into traffic, leaving Daraxandriel, Olivia, and me standing on the sidewalk beside the busiest street in Hellburn, all of us stark naked.
“What a day this is turning out to be,” I grumbled to myself. “Come on, let’s give Melissa the biggest surprise of her life.”
10
It’s been estimated that 50% of all emails are spam of one sort or another. That means that every other message in your inbox is either an ad for male enhancement products, a
ruse to steal your bank password, or an incredible offer from a Nigerian prince. If your spam filters aren’t up to snuff and you inadvertently click one of those links, you’re doomed. Your email account will be flooded faster than you can click Delete, your computer will be riddled with every virus known to man, and your credit card numbers will be passed around the Internet like popcorn at an all-night movie marathon.
What’s truly alarming about all this isn’t the sheer greed and maliciousness behind these attacks. It’s the fact that enough people still click those links to make it worth someone’s while to come up with these schemes. Despite all of the warnings and public service announcements about the perils of phishing and ransomware and hacking, people still somehow believe that that official-looking message from the IRS is legit.
The only way to explain it is that human beings must be naturally wired to trust one another, no matter how many times they get screwed over by someone. Of course, civilization would collapse in fairly short order if we all succumbed to paranoia, but there has to be a happy medium in there somewhere. A little bit of skepticism will go a long way. Just remind yourself every morning that someone you meet today is probably going to try to lie to you, cheat you, or steal from you. You might not be able to prevent it, but at least you won’t be surprised when it happens.
The three of us stood on the street corner waiting for a break in traffic to cross, although most of my attention was taken up by worrying about how long Mrs. Kendricks’ glamour was actually going to last and wondering whether any onlookers would be more shocked about seeing a naked teenaged boy wandering around downtown Hellburn or a sword-wielding succubus. Fortunately, a gap opened up without anyone giving us more than a passing glance and we hurried across the street to Melissa’s office building.
I pulled open the glass door to let Daraxandriel and Olivia through and then followed them into the lobby, shivering a bit in the air conditioning. I headed straight across to the elevator and punched the button a few times to summon it faster, to no avail. The number 3 above the elevator stayed lit up for what seemed like forever and I eyed the door to the stairwell tucked away in the corner. Before I could suggest taking the stairs, though, 3 winked out and 2 came on for a few seconds before 1 finally lit up with a cheery ding.
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