“Will you let them go if I accept her?” I yell.
“You have my word,” he says.
“Yeah, I’ve got the word of a demon. Like I can trust that.”
“You don’t believe me? Hasn’t everything I told you proved true?”
“That doesn’t mean I can trust you.”
“Fine. I’ll release them right now.” He snaps his fingers.
I look over and everyone is moving. Not one of them is paralyzed now. And the twins move the tridents away from Lia and Shar. “Run!” I scream at them and my other friends. “Get out of here! There’s no point in all of us dying! If you love me, you’ll go! Now!”
They all look at each other.
“Go!” I yell at the top of my lungs.
“Gooooooo!” Aetheal screams
Lia says something to Shar, probably that they should jet. Or that Shar should run anyway. They look at me and both shout, “Sorry! We’ll find a way to help!” Then they run. Immediately followed by Pete, January and Juliana. They all look at me apologetically then they run. That’s exactly what I want. For them to be safe. Thank Goddess, they’re gone.
“I did what I said,” Aetheal says. “Submit or they die. I can still sever their heads from their bodies just by snapping my fingers.”
I can’t believe this is happening. Merde, merde, merde! Needless to say, I’m crying my eyes out. I even slam my fists into my head as hard as I can several times.
[Submit, Emma, darling. You’re destined to let me take over. Just say you accept me.]
Lord and Lady, what am I supposed to do?Please tell me!
“Accept her!” Aetheal screams even louder than he did before. I hear even more windows shattering and see the lights from police cars around the house. I notice it’s getting even darker out and look up. The sky is pitch black above him now – with what looks like dirty ashes falling from it. Whatever this is, there’s no going back from it.
Still, I have to try to keep my friends alive. At least give them a fighting chance. I have to. Which means I have to accept J. That’s the right thing to do, as fucked up as this is, right? I mean, how would I live with myself if I was responsible for all of my friends’ deaths? I’d just commit suicide and we’d all be dead. It’s that simple. “OK!” I scream.
“OK, what?” Aetheal demands.
“OK, fine, I accept Jenna!”
“Thank you,” Aetheal says and laughs.
[Yeah, thanks, Emma. Bye, bye, bitch.]
CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE
JANUARY
As Pete, Lia, Shar and Juliana run as fast as they can out of the yard with me in fairy mode flying right behind them, a couple of uniformed cops point their guns at us and yell, “Stop!” But we keep running since we’re a lot more likely to survive a gunshot wound than any of the many things those demons might do to us.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!” one of the officers yells.
Then we hear Detective Smartass say, “Don’t you think you should save your bullets for this beast?”
We’re too busy getting as far away from the yard as possible to hear if there’s more to that conversation. Once they’ve passed four houses, everyone stops running to catch their breath and I revert back to human form.
Lia coughs, trying to catch her breath. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Moi non plus!” Shar gasps.
That’s when I look back and see Aetheal watching us. Staring. Or at least it sure looks that way. Hard to tell, given his solid black eyes. “Look at Aetheal.” I point at the abomination.
“Shit,” Juliana says.
“You can say that again,” Pete says.
I shake my head, beyond frustrated. “We’re still close enough that he can see us.”
“If demons are popping up like this all over, we’re talking about Armageddon, aren’t we?” Shar asks.
I thought we already figured that much. “Yeah. In which case we’re completely fucked. So, running is probably futile. I say we go back and get Emma, whether she’s Emma right now or not. Are you with me?”
Pete glares at me. “Seriously?”
I nod. “She would risk her life for any of us. And you all know it.”
Pete thinks for a moment then he raises his chest, straightens his posture and thinks for a moment before he talks firmly, his eyes sweeping all of us. “She’s right. Jenna or no Jenna, we can’t just leave Emma behind.” Then he looks me in the eye. “Not that I’m in the mood to agree with you right now, cheater.”
I don’t say anything. I’m tempted to tell him it was just one kiss and that I ended it, but I suppose it’s best to let him keep his anger right now. And unleash it on the trio of demons.
“They’re right,” Shar says. Then she looks at Lia. “The three of us are sisters.”
“OK,” Lia says. “But what do we do?”
“I think I received Jim’s magick when he died,” Pete says.
“That’s unlikely,” Juliana says. “Magick is typically transferred to the person who kills you. If you’re not killed, then it’s supposed to go with you to the other side then you can give it to someone in your bloodline.”
“Like how Emma’s Great Grandmother Ruth gave Em some of her magick,” Shar says.
Pete shrugs, looking disappointed. “I just thought it might be different since he wasn’t a real witch, just a vampire or whatever. Or maybe it’s just the adrenaline making me feel stronger?”
Juliana exhales a deep breath. “It’s probably fight or flight that’s making you feel that way. So, I wouldn’t be overly confident. That’s the sort of thing that’ll get you killed for sure.”
“Will he be a vampire now?” I ask Juliana.
She shrugs. “I honestly have no idea. I’d never heard of magick vampires before either.”
I fold my arms in front of myself. “Focus people! We need to get our asses back there tout de suite!” Sorry, sometimes Emma’s French rubs off on me.
“So, what’s our plan?” Lia asks.
“Can we do a sleep spell to put Emma to sleep then teleport her out of there?” Shar asks.
I raise my voice, getting impatient. “Anyone know a sleep spell?”
“Not offhand, I’m afraid,” Juliana says as we all look to her.
“Jim put Robert and Marco to sleep by getting inside their heads that time,” Shar says.
“Normally, that’d be a great idea. But do you think any of us could handle delving into Jenna’s mind?” Lia asks. “Without going insane or opening yourself up to get possessed by her or some demon?”
“Good point.” I kick a rock across the street, frustrated as fuck. But then an idea hits me. “Maybe our best bet is for Lia, Jul and Shar to knock Emma out with electricity.”
Shar’s forehead crinkels. “What if we kill her?”
“Trying zapping Lia first,” I say to Shar.
“Oh, I get to be knocked out?” Lia’s eyes look like she wants to burn a hole through me now.
“Just zap her a little,” I say to Shar. Then I turn to Lia. “Electrify yourself first so we can see if it works when you’re lit up yourself in case Emma is.”
“Yes, boss, happy to oblige,” Lia says to me sarcastically before she whispers, “Goddess Electra, please be on our side,” and she turns into a human electric transformer.
“I’ll try not to hurt you.” Shar goes high voltage, too.
“I’m ready as I’m gonna be.” Lia takes a few steps back.
“I don’t like this,” Juliana says.
Shar extends her right hand and sends a small burst of electricity at Lia, who’s blown backwards several feet and lands on her back on the pavement, her head surely taking a hard blow. Hannashurie, please let her be OK. And let us get Emma back.
We all run over to Lia. Shar, Juliana and I drop to her knees beside her, Pete the only one to remain standing, though he looks just as concerned.
“Lia? Lia?” Juliana asks, nudging Lia’s shoulder.
“Let me try
something,” I say and place one hand on her forehead while gently sliding the other under her head, just tilting it slightly. Then I try to heal her, my hands quickly warming up, thank you Hannashurie. After about ten seconds, Lia suddenly opens her eyes and jolts up into a seated position, startling us.
“You OK?” Shar asks her.
“Yeah. I just need a minute.”
“You definitely felt it, though?” I ask. “It wasn’t just hitting your head that knocked you out?”
Lia nods. “Yeah, I felt it. Big time. Like I was a normal person without electric powers.”
Shar bites her lip as the corners of her mouth dip down. “And I zapped you with the smallest amount I could.”
“That’s good – if you two and Juliana all hit Emma with a good amount, it should knock her and Jenna out cold,” Pete says. “I could even spray her with water to make it more effective.”
Shar looks worried, lines forming on her forehead. “We don’t want to put her in a coma.”
“Why not?” I ask. “We’ll have a wicked easier time evicting Jenna if she’s out cold the whole time.”
“Maybe,” Juliana says. “But we should also be concerned with stopping her heart or causing permanent brain damage.”
“You’re probably right.” I shrug and kick another rock. “But I’m sure Jenna will be using all that black magick that went into Emma to shield herself from whatever we do. So, I wouldn’t hold back much.”
“So, how are we gonna do this?” Lia asks.
“We should approach the house on all fours and see what we can through the rose bushes,” Juliana says.
“But the mega demon could see us before we get anywhere near the bushes,” Pete says.
“What’s going on?” interrupts some random guy who just came out of his house in boxer shorts and an open bathrobe, revealing a hairy abdomen.
“The apocalypse,” I yell. Mostly joking. But then I think about what I said a few minutes ago. What this could mean, a demon of that size revealing itself, producing hellfire, turning the sky black, and causing earthquakes. Maybe this really is the end of the world. And I don’t feel fine! Especially not with that bitch controlling Emma. But at least now I know why Em moved so fast and punched me; it was fucking Jenna.
We start walking back in the direction of George’s at a casual pace, like we’re just random people out for a stroll, in hopes that Aetheal won’t notice. When we approach the neighbor’s yard we get down on our hands and knees and move as fast as we can until we’re behind the bushes that separate the neighbor’s property from George’s.
No idea if Aetheal saw us coming or not. It didn’t seem like he did, but it’s hard to tell what a demon is looking at when they have solid black eyes. He’s saying something to Jenemma in that demon language. She says something in response in the same tongue, Jenna’s hideous voice coming out of Em now.
A kid that looks no older than 11 comes up on my right, filming us on his phone. Several people are filming with their phones, in fact. They all look frightened but it’s not stopping them from streaming this shit live on Facebook, Snapchat, Youtube or Instagram or whatever.
If Aetheal didn’t see us on our way over, it won’t take him much effort to figure it out if he sees all of these phones pointed at us. Then again, I doubt the demon even knows that they’re phones, much less cameras and video cameras.
There’s no way to make them stop aiming their phones at us without causing a scene so we ignore them, instead peering through the bushes.
Aetheal is talking to the smaller demons, the Donatello twins and their posse, and Jenemma. Of course, it’s speaking that demon shit yet again so who knows what they’re plotting. Hopefully, their return to hell. But they’re not taking Emma along for the ride.
“What do we do?” Pete whispers.
Use telepathy to talk, I instruct him. He looks at me like he’s upset for a second.
OK, Pete says. But you might have to repeat yourselves because this is all new to me.
Juliana shakes her head as she thinks for a sec. Lia, Shar and I will electrocute Emma as soon as Pete’s doused her in water. So, you’re up first, Pete. Think you can soak her from here?
Pete nods. Shouldn’t be a problem.
Juliana nods, too. OK, you do that and then we’ll electrocute Emma.
What should I do? Hmm. I have to do something. Oh, I know! I’ll teleport behind the demons and set the smaller ones on fire.
Can’t you set the Donatello twins and their minions on fire instead? Lia asks me.
That’s a bad idea. Those ten foot demons are a hell of a lot more dangerous. If Aetheal has them attack us, we’re as good as dead.
OK, so torch them, Juliana says. But can you grab Emma and teleport her to the car after? You’re much better at teleporting than any of us.
I nod. Sure, once she’s down, I’ll do that. But while you’re juicing her, I’ll take care of the smaller demons.
OK, let’s do this on three, Pete says. One, two, three.
Everyone stands up. Pete whispers a spell then so much water gushes out of his palms that it knocks Jenemma, the twins and company on their asses. Even the ten foot demons take a couple of steps backwards before they sturdy themselves.
While Jenemma is getting up, Pete quits the waterworks and Lia, Shar and Juliana blast her with so much electricity that she goes flying backwards a good forty feet until she slams against the fence on the other side of the yard, which lights up from the electricity, sending a few birds that were perched on it up into the air until they fall to the ground, dead.
As soon as I appear behind the smaller demons, the bastards whip around and look right at me, but I’m 25 feet high in the air in fairy mode. They hurl their tridents at me, but I teleport up another 50 feet, allowing them to collide and fall to the ground. I stay up here as I whip fireballs at their heads, which catch fire, but it doesn’t seem to bother them. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since we blew chunks out of Aetheal’s eye and it healed quickly.
Let’s see what happens as I send flames soaring at their whole bodies. They start saying something demonic as I teleport away with the intention of appearing at Emma’s side, but instead I find myself standing in front the demons in human form. I try to shift into fairy mode, but it doesn’t work. They must have cursed me.
The demon to my right leans over, like he’s going to say something to me and I take a few steps back. I’m not sure which demon it is; I didn’t make it a point to remember their lame ass names. Not that you can tell them apart.
I’m trying hard to make fireballs in my hands, but nothing is happening. As Emma would say, rien du tout. I’m fucked!
I take a few more steps backwards, keeping an eye on the demons, and I continue trying to make fireballs, not that it’s working. I’m afraid to turn around and run and have them behind me, but it seems like it’s my best option, so that’s what I do. I haul ass as fast as I can.
Unfortunately, they chase after me. I hear their thunderous footsteps. One of them yells, “We’re going to rip you in two, fae bitch!”
As fast as my legs will move, I head for the deck, figuring if I can make it to the house then they’ll be in range for the girls to zap them. And I’ll jet through the house, and out the front door, and hopefully by then their stupid hex will wear off. Please Hannashurie, let me make it into the house. Let me escape them.
Hauling ass, I make it to the deck but one of them catches up to me and grabs my shoulder just as I start up the three steps and I trip and fall down face first, hitting my head hard. And blood immediately starts pouring out of the gash on my forehead, which burns like a motherfucker. I’m so dizzy, I barely manage to turn around. Not that it helps anything. The demon closest to me leans over me and runs its claws across my abdomen, ripping through my dress and flesh, making four large cuts that start gushing blood. A cold sensation washes over me as I realize I’m going to die if I don’t get stitches very soon.
“January!” Shar screa
ms in despair and the girls begin zapping the demon, but as soon as they hit him, shoving him off of me, the other demon moves forward and places its claws on my neck. I try as hard as I can to make fire. I know they’re immune to my flames, but I’m hoping I can push him off of me with the force of the flames. Unfortunately, nothing happens.
“Any last words bitch?” the demon asks.
“Hannashurie!” I shout at the top of my lungs. “Please help!” Then everything starts getting really bright. And I know I’m dying. I hope Hannashurie will send me back as a fairy again. I’m getting dizzy when there’s a bright flash of light, and a loud bang like fireworks exploding, and Hannashurie appears behind the demon! Yay for my fairy Godmother! She’s surrounded by a small army of flying fairies that glow, too!
The demon spins around and she grabs his arms before he can strike her. Then the fairies start flying in and out of him; their bright light burns right through him, creating wounds similar to bullet wounds. Whatever they’re doing, it’s not cauterizing them at all.
“Torch his head,” Hannashurie says as the fairies inflict more and more wounds and Mr. Demon fails to break his arms free from her grip.
I try to produce fire and it works! My magick is back. I’m not sure it’s going to do any good, but I blast flames at his head and he catches fire. This time it burns him. Hannshurie must be giving my magick a boost.
“Fashtidious agnasiums vascommy!” the burning demon yells. (Or that’s what it sounds like.) Then it turns to black sand, which falls to the ground and vanishes. Sweet!
I see Lia, Shar and Juliana blasting the other ten foot demon with electricity, but a few of the small, glowing fairies fly over and they must say something because the gals kill the electricity and the other shiny fairies start burrowing through the demon, producing one huge, bullet-like hole after another Less than twenty seconds later, the demon turns to black sand and vanishes like its twin.
Lia, Shar and Juliana shoot their electricity at Aetheal’s eyes now and he screams, shaking the neighborhood. Then the small fairies start penetrating him and Hannashurie flies over to him. He swings his right arm, trying to slash her with his claws, but still brighter, glowing white light appears around her and forms a protective shield. The claws hit it and shatter like glass. Then she grows larger, doubling in size, before she grabs him by the bull horns and twists his head all the way around, breaking his neck. He turns to black sand as he collapses to the ground then the sand disappears.
In Memoriam Page 42