Dark Hauntings: A Paranormal Times Novel

by C C Solomon

  “Let’s begin.” I took out my phone to open the spell that Carlos emailed me. Felt kind of weird reading a dark ancient spell from my smartphone. In the movies people always read it from some thick, dusty book. Modern times, I guess. “Okay, we say the spell, inserting Tim’s name, then Felix kills the mouse. In that order.”

  The group nodded in understanding. I called out the spell in my most commanding voice and Felix killed the mouse in a manner I won’t get into. I will say, he looked a little too excited about doing it. Seriously, his face lit in an evil smile like some Disney villain. It was unsettling.

  “Okay, all done.”

  We looked around us, waiting for Tim to appear out of the darkness.

  Nothing.

  Azrael raised their hand, their face fixed in its normal neutral look. “Can I ask the obvious question here?”

  I balled my fist up and gritted my teeth, readying myself for his next annoying comment. “Damn it, I know what you’re going to say.”

  “Is his name really Tim?” We both said at the same time.

  We quieted and waited another beat.

  Faith chuckled out into the darkness. “I’m going to take a guess and say it’s not.”

  I kicked my foot into the grass. “He lied.”

  “A demon lied? How could that be?” Faith questioned in a mocking tone.

  I cut my eyes at her, but I wasn’t sure she could see me in the darkness.

  Azrael let out a heavy sigh. “We all know that there is power in a name. Even for minor demons.”

  “But would he be that sneaky? I thought he was trapped. Oh, wait a minute, he probably lied about that too.” I wanted to slap my forehead. I was slipping. I really wasn’t this gullible, I swear.

  Felix put the box with the now dead mouse on the ground in front of him, tossing the knife he used in the box. I flinched slightly. Okay, it did feel a little disrespectful to just toss the murder weapon in the mouses now makeshift coffin. Murder weapon? Okay, Fran, you’re being ridiculous.

  Felix grumbled. “Why would he lie? Why even tell us about these skin demons then? What’s his motive?”

  I huffed. “Well, that’s the first question I’m going to ask when I see him again. Damn, demons. And yes, I know the irony.” I stormed off. If we didn’t find this demon, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get rid of the town’s skin demon problem any time soon.

  Chapter 13

  The next morning, I decided to treat myself to room service on Monica’s dime.

  As I waited for breakfast to arrive, I fumed over the lack of success from the previous night. Unsurprisingly, Tim had never shown up and I really expected him to since he liked to appear in the most disturbing of ways. What was his deal? This is why I shouldn’t be nice. Everyone was a jerk, including demon kids.

  I heard a knock at the door and got off the couch to answer it. Felix was currently in the shower. I’m not saying I wanted him to come out half-naked again, but I would not be upset if he did. I did a slow walk past the hallway to see if the bathroom door would open, when it didn’t, I shrugged and went to the door.

  “Who is it?”

  “Room service,” said a muffled voice behind the door.

  I looked through the peephole and saw a man standing there with a cart of what I hoped was covered food.

  I opened the door wide, and the man pushed the cart in. “Here you go ma’am, your breakfast. I’ll put it on your table if that works for you.”

  I nodded absentmindedly then paused as I peered at him. Something was off. His face was sagging. Just like the waitresses.

  I opened my mouth to say something. Did he know?

  Of course he had to. No one just walks around with a droopy face unknowingly. And anyway, wouldn’t it be rude to say something? What would me saying anything do but make him more self-conscious? Still two unique skin disorders in a small town where we also encountered skin melting demons? Nope, I didn’t believe in coincidences. This was suspect as hell.

  The man looked up, saw me staring and instantly touched his face. He quickly turned away when he felt the loose skin hanging from his jawline. He lowered his head, one hand to his chin as he maneuvered the now empty cart toward the door. “Sorry about that. I have a condition.”

  “No need to apologize,” I replied with a wave of the hand, then I paused, mid-wave. Wait a minute. Sagging skin was very close to melting skin. Well, sort of. It honestly didn’t matter, we didn’t have much to go on and I couldn’t ignore the oddities in this place. “I hope you can get some rest soon. That usually helps with my ailments,” I said lamely. No, it did not but I wanted to keep an eye on this guy, and I needed to know if he was leaving anytime soon. I peered at this name tag. Kyle.

  He shook his head as he exited. “Sadly, I just started my shift so I have a ways to go. Enjoy your breakfast.”

  I closed the door behind him. “Okay, Fran, think, think. Tim said the demons melt into a bag of skin if they don’t feed. Dude’s face was melting but does that mean he’s dying inside? Wouldn’t that be painful if all your organs and bones were melting? I would not be going to work, I know that.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Felix said behind me.

  I jumped slightly and turned to him. Sadly, he was fully dressed in a fitted blue T-shirt and dark jeans. His hair was pulled back in a low bun showcasing the masculine angles of his face. Darn it, he was distracting to look at.

  “I was talking to myself. The guy who brought the food up had the same skin condition as the waitress from the other day.”

  Felix walked over to the food and uncovered the dishes. I had ordered fluffy chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and cheesy scrambled eggs with a coffee and a mimosa. Felix got steak and eggs, a cinnamon roll, and a Bloody Mary. “Strange,” he mumbled before sitting down and cutting into his food. He was not focused on the task at hand.

  “Uh, yeah. I’m wondering if it’s connected to the skin melting demons. Maybe sagging skin is the first stage. Only I can’t figure out how anyone can go about their daily business if their insides are melting.”

  Felix chewed thoughtfully. “Unless they’re on a hell of a pain killer.”

  Nature called and I shook my head, still confused as I headed to the bathroom. I decided to do some quick thinking in solitude and kill two birds with one stone. Maybe the sagging faced people really didn’t feel what was happening to them. However, one would think that if they knew this could happen, they would stay on top of eating people. Kyle could have simply tried to attack me if he was really hungry. Why hadn’t anyone come for us? Did they know we were powerful? Maybe they were afraid of us.

  “Hi,” came a creaky voice.

  I hunched forward on the toilet, covering my private area and looked up to see Tim perched on the ledge of the tub across from me. “Are you serious! Get out of here, you little pervert!” I screamed.

  Tim chuckled and disappeared.

  I cleaned myself up and washed my hands. We’d spent all that time trying to get his attention and now he decides to pop up while I was in the bathroom. He really was an asshole.

  I swung open the bathroom door and found the shadow demon, leaning against the wall across from the bathroom, whistling.

  Felix stalked toward us with a frown. “What’s going on?”

  I pointed to Tim. “He popped up while I was on the toilet!”

  Felix looked at the demon and before I could blink, he’d grabbed it by the throat and raised him off the ground.

  The demon clawed at his hand around his throat and kicked his legs in the air.

  “Were you fucking spying on my wife? You must want to die.” His hand tightened around the demon’s throat.

  Whoa, angry Felix was very scary and hot. I wanted to correct him on the wife part but thought better of it. I put my hand on his shoulder. “We kind of need him alive to ask him some questions.”

  Felix gave an uncharacteristic growl and dropped the demon to the floor. He then crouched down and leaned forward, wh
ispering something to the demon I couldn’t hear. It must have been disturbing because Tim crab walked away from Felix, who was now standing with a satisfied smile.

  I pointed to the living room area. “In the living room, both of you.”

  They followed quietly, Felix sat at the table and picked up his fork to eat, eyes still angrily on Tim who was crouched on the farthest side of the couch. I sat on the opposite end closest to Felix.

  “And here I was feeling sorry for you,” Felix shouted, “but come to find out, you’re a little perve. Are you even ten?”

  Tim raised his shoulders. “Thirteen but who’s counting?”

  I leaned forward and thumped him on the forehead. “I am, you jerk. You’re taking advantage of what little kindness I have.”

  “Is a teen in danger no less sympathetic?”

  What teen talked like that? “Not when he spies on women in the bathroom. Is your name really Tim because you didn’t show up when I tried to conjure you. Who are you really?”

  Tim looked down at his feet and twisted his bony black fingers together.

  Felix put his fork down with a clang. “Answer her or I’ll exorcise you back to Hell.”

  Could he even do that? He was part angel so I wouldn’t be surprised.

  Tim jumped slightly at Felix’s bark. “I’m Yusan and I’m technically seven hundred years old but when I was human, I was 13 when I died.”

  I nodded. This sounded more like the truth. “How’d you become a demon?” Really what could a teen have done that would have sent him to the underworld?

  “What I said earlier was true. I was wrongly changed into a demon by a warlock. He was actually sent by my older sister so that she could take the throne in our kingdom. We were just humans, but magic was still potent in some areas. I’m not exactly a demon to be honest. I’m more like a spirit. I’ve been roaming the earth all this time. When I first became a spirit, I still looked like me. But slowly I began to change until I became what you see now. It sucks.”

  “I can imagine. Well, Yusan, if what you say is true, I’m sorry. Why’d you come to me?”

  “Like I said, I’m drawn to you. You have a power that is very appealing. The spirit world is drawn to angelic and demonic power and the stronger it is, the more drawn we are.”

  I tilted my head toward Felix. “Drawn to him, too?”

  Yusan squinted his eyes. “Not as much as you.”

  Huh. Why was that? I couldn’t be more powerful than Felix. He was part of the Six. That made him super-powered. Not to mention that his being half-angel trumped my half-faerie.

  “I’m hoping maybe you could help me.”

  I scratched my head in thought. I had no clue if I could but I wasn’t going to tell him that. I needed his assistance. “I can try after you tell me what you want. But first you have to help me. We need to stop these attacks in this town and you seem to know what’s going on. Think you can help us? Seeing as you can talk better now. Was that whispering all an act too?”

  Yusan lowered his head. “I might have over exaggerated a little for drama. But to be honest, I don’t talk much so it wasn’t too far off. But as to helping you, sure. Anything for you. You’ll still help me too, right?”

  I nodded. “Of course. Even though you are a lying jerk. So, how many of these things are here in this town?”

  “A lot from what I’ve seen.”

  “So, we’re outnumbered?”

  He slid down on the couch from his crouch and sat properly, kicking his legs out. “For certain.”

  Well, that was helpful. It meant we had to watch our backs. I’m sure we weren’t making any friends by calling attention to the problem.

  Felix twisted in his chair to face us. “Can you let us know who in this town is one of these monsters and what are they called?”

  “I don’t know what they’re called, and I can point you to some of them. They work all over town. There’s a lot in this hotel because they usually feed on the tourists.”

  I sucked my teeth. “How kind of them. Should we be worried?”

  Yusan tilted his head from side to side. “Not sure. You all are popular so maybe they are too scared to bother you. Of course, it probably makes you tastier.”

  Felix leaped to his feet, and Yusan shot up, scuttling to the farthest wall.

  I bit my lower lip, there he went being all alpha again. I wondered if this was a change in him that I just took for granted as being who he was. My knowledge of Felix was short compared to Azrael so it would make sense that I didn’t catch all his changes.

  Felix paused, and lifted a brow as he stared at the small demon. “I’m not gonna hurt you, little perv. I just think we should grab that waiter dude from earlier before he wanders off.”

  I threw on some shoes and took off after Felix who was already out the door.

  Of course, when we got to the restaurant, the guy was nowhere to be found. We waited for him to reappear but thirty minutes in, and he had not returned from wherever he had disappeared to. Even his coworkers claimed not to know where he was.

  We went back to our room where Yusan reappeared, this time sitting at the dining table eating the rest of Felix’s cinnamon bun. My food remained untouched. Yusan really had a lot of audacity.

  Felix clapped his hands together and they glowed a brilliant white. “You ate my food.”

  Maybe I should be more concerned because this was an overreaction. “Really, Felix. You’re going to try to exorcise him for eating your food. Hardly seems proportionate. You can have some of my food if you’re still hungry.”

  Yusan dropped the fork and teleported behind me in his usual crouch.

  Felix depowered his hands and scowled at Yusan. “It’s the principle of the matter.”

  I turned to the demon. “Do you think the waiter left because he was melting? Maybe he went to kill someone to rejuvenate or something?”

  Yusan threw his hands out to the side. “It is a proper guess.”

  “So where did he go?” Felix asked.

  “Why don’t you both know this? You are part demon. Can’t you sense other demons and spirits?”

  I rubbed my face, feeling mildly annoyed. “Clearly not as well as you. Find us a bad guy.”

  Yusan shrugged, obviously pleased with himself. “Well, there are so many but I can take you to one who is about to feed. I have a good sense of when the blood of an innocent is about to be spilled.”

  Felix slapped his forehead. “Seriously? You didn’t want to lead with that? Teleport us.”

  Yusan looked up at me.

  I shook my head, my lips twisted in annoyance. “Do it now before he kills you for real.”

  Felix stormed over, grabbed my hand, and I took Yusan’s. We soon disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

  I waved a hand in front of my face and coughed. “Is the smoke really necessary?” I asked before we reappeared outside of a small one-story house.

  Yusan gave a sharp toothed grin. “It comes with the territory.”

  Felix wasted no time and walked forward, kicking the door open.

  I leaned back in surprise. “You didn’t want to have a plan or anything? You’re just as bad as Faith,” I mumbled, following him in.

  We looked around the dark living room, which was decorated with dreary beige and brown furniture and worn carpet.

  “Where are they?” Felix whispered, looking back at us.

  “Oh, now you ask.”

  Yusan pointed to the back of the house.

  Since we were standing in the living room area, I assumed he was directing us to the kitchen.

  Felix took off in that direction.

  I pushed out my right hand and summoned my golden sword before following behind him. Once I got to the kitchen, I quickly jumped sideways, narrowly missing being hit by a person tossed in the air and landing right outside the entrance. Felix wrestled with another man on the ground and a small, terrified child huddled in the corner near the stove. Yusan stood in front of the small girl, arms out pr
otectively, although I didn’t think she could see him. She was looking through him at the fighting.

  I looked down beside me at the recently tossed person to find a woman squirming on the ground and looking very dazed.

  I pointed my sword at her. “Stay down.”

  Her eyes darkened to full black and she hissed at me. She backflipped too quickly for my eyes to register. I charged at her with my sword, but she leaped up at the last minute and kicked me in the face with her boot.

  I fell on my butt, still gripping my sword. Blood trickled down my lips from my nose and I cursed myself for being so careless before jumping back up. The woman paced slowly in front of me, sneering. Oh, she got one point on me but she wasn’t about to get another. She kicked off her boots and I could now see her toenails were long, sharp, black talons. How’d she fit that in her shoes? Did they retract?

  I waved her over to me. “Come on, bitch. You like to eat kids? Well, I’ll make it so you can’t eat a damn thing ever again.”

  She sniffed the air, leaning slightly in my direction and her smile grew. And by grew, I mean it was so wide, it practically split her face in half and all I could focus on were her massive teeth just like the man in the basement. She could bite a kid’s whole head off with one try if she was so inclined. What in the hell kind of creature was she?

  I had no time to think because she was racing towards me in a blur of light. Damn it, she was as fast as a vampire. I swung my sword out, missing her shoulder by an inch. She encircled me and I felt excruciating pain as her bear trap mouth landed in my shoulder. She ripped away flesh and muscle and then began to chew.

  I was torn between agonizing pain and nausea as she proceeded to literally eat me alive. With my sword arm still good, I jumped high in the air and came down behind her, slicing into her side on the way down. That was not what I was aiming for, but it was better than nothing. She moved so fast it was hard to get a good aim.

  The woman tsked. “Too slow. I’m going to enjoy eating you alive. You taste very strong.”

  Oh, if this bitch thought she would get another bite out of me, she was dead wrong. Time to use some fae magic.