"A bad one," Brittney said. "So keep your girl close, Aaron. Don't let her go outside and play alone in the rain, alright?"
"Roger that," Aaron said. "We're keeping her inside anyway. She's prone to illness and this rain and pollution from the smoke just makes her sick as hell."
Harper nodded. She was glad for that; it would keep the girl safe. She and Brittney left and went back out to the car.
"How many do you think there are?" Harper asked Brittney. "How many people are falsely convicted of arson, that is. I mean, not falsely, but people who were possessed when it happened? We need to find the demon that's doing it."
"I agree," Brittney said.
When they arrived back at Afterlife, they went up to the apartment. They told Alec what they'd found out.
"It's Bartholomew," Alec said.
"What?"
"Conner found out he's a fire demon," Alec said. "That's why Akain wants the rains until he's dead. The rains are keeping the fires under control. It all makes sense now."
"When did you talk to Conner?" Harper asked. She frowned; she hadn't heard from Conner since he'd gone to talk to the other demons with Janice. She was worried about him.
"He's fine," Alec said, as though reading her mind. "He's with Janice. He's going to stay with her and the kid until this is over. Janice can help him, and he wants to make sure that James is protected until the rains are over and the demons are gone."
"Oh," Harper said.
She tried not to let her resentment show in her voice. She was doing a very good job at biting back her emotions when it came to Conner and James... and Janice. She was happy that her boyfriend was able to spend time with his son -- it was Janice that she was worried about. Well, she wasn't worried so much as annoyed. She knew Conner wasn't going to leave her for his ex-girlfriend, but they were still spending an awful lot of time together.
"I guess that's a good idea," Harper said. "Though isn't he going to be helping us with Bartholomew?"
"Yes," Alec said, watching her face carefully. "He's going to help us take him down once we have a plan. We can't just go in there after him. We need to make sure that we're ready."
"We'll be ready," Brittney said. "How's Peter?"
"He's healing," Alec said. "Chloe helped a little with some pixie dust. She's getting stronger in the magic of the fey. It won't be long now until her powers are at their height. Speaking of which, Harper, have you had any premonitions lately?"
Harper shook her head. She saw the disappointment on Alec's face, but there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't just make them come because she wanted to. She would have to train harder. She had read somewhere that meditation helped.
"I'm working on it," she said. "I've learned a little more about how to see demons. Even if they're trying their best, most can't camouflage themselves from me now. Apparently if I train hard enough and learn to hone my Sight properly, I'll be able to tell what they can do, what their abilities are."
"Good," Alec said. "Keep up on that. Knowing what a demon can do will be really helpful when we go to confront Bartholomew. He won't be alone."
"I know," Harper said. "Now I need a shower. Then Brittney and I are going to do some more research on these people. See who else has been convicted and released."
Alec nodded.
Harper went to take a shower. She thought about Conner while she showered and wondered what he was up to. Was he thinking about her? Was he wondering if she was alright too? Harper had to believe he was. If not, well then, what were they doing?
FIFTEEN
Conner and Janice had gone to find demons and ask around about Bartholomew. They'd found out he was a fire demon that liked to possess people. That was good to know, Conner thought. Most of Afterlife would be immune to his powers, but Sarah and Brittney would be vulnerable to his attacks. They'd have to be careful.
Now that they were done for the day, they were back at Janice's place, and she was cooking them dinner again. Conner had offered, but Janice had insisted that he take a break and relax. He was grateful for this; he hated consorting with the lower class of demons. It made him feel dirty. He wasn't like them, but he knew how easily he could be.
He sat in the living room, playing on his phone. He'd called Alec with the information he'd gotten about Bartholomew, and then had crashed for a couple hours. Now he was awake and realized he hadn't called Harper to let her know he was alright.
So he sent her a text. "Harper, I MISS you!"
He knew it was sort of cheesy, but he didn't care. The truth was, he did miss her, and he wasn't going to see her tonight. He would be staying at Janice's again. He didn't want to risk any demons realizing that he and Janice weren't really bad guys and coming after them. That would put James at risk, and he wouldn't do that again.
Conner waited patiently for a text to come in. Eventually, one did. Harper said she missed him too and asked how he was. He quickly typed out all the details of his time with Janice, and then put a bunch of little emoji hearts. He'd yet to tell Harper that he loved her, so the hearts would have to do in the meantime.
"Conner?"
Conner turned and saw James approaching. "Hey buddy. What's up?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something," James said.
"Sure, what's up?" Conner asked. "Come pull up a seat."
James sat down next to him. He seemed kind of nervous. After a moment, he said, "You know that daycare that you and Mom put me in today while you were off doing whatever?"
"Yeah?"
"There was a girl there," James said. "She was really mean to me."
Conner frowned. "What do you mean?"
James tugged awkwardly at his sleeve. "She kept taking all the toys I wanted to play with, she called me names, and she shoved me a couple of times."
"Oh," Conner said. "I'm sorry that happened, buddy. You know, sometimes other kids can be mean. It doesn't have anything to do with you, some people are just wired that way. She probably learned that kind of behavior at home. What did you do?"
"I just ignored her," James said. "I didn't hit her back. Mom told me that if I was ever attacked, I could defend myself, but I didn't need to defend myself against her. She's just a girl."
Conner sighed. "Well, I'm glad you didn't hit her back, James, but it has nothing to do with her being a girl. Some of the strongest people I know are women. You treat them the same way you would treat a guy. If a boy pushed you, what would you have done?"
"I don't know," James said. "I probably would have just tried talking to him. But I tried talking to her, and she would just ignore me or stick her tongue out. She was a real brat."
Conner laughed. "Well, sometimes in life, we meet people who are brats."
"Yeah," James said. "But here's the thing. I don't have to put up with stuff like that."
"What do you mean?" Conner asked.
"I mean, if I wanted to, I could make her like me," James said. "I could make her do whatever I wanted. She would be nice to me, and we could play together, and she wouldn't have to be a brat."
Conner shook his head. "You mean, using your powers?"
James nodded.
"Except it wouldn't be real," Conner said. "If you did that, you'd know she didn't really like you, that she was just... well, sort of like pretending."
"That would be better than her being mean to me," James said. "She was mean to other kids too. Shouldn't I defend them? I know you use your powers to defend people. Why can't I?"
Conner considered carefully how to answer this. "I protect people from other demons," he finally said. "You know that's what we are, right?"
James nodded.
"Well, most demons aren't good," Conner explained. "Some of them are like the ones who took you. They just want to hurt or kill others. I protect people from demons like that. That girl at daycare, she didn't want to hurt or kill anyone, she was just mean. You can't use your powers on people who are just trying to be mean."
"I don't understand," James s
aid. "It would be better for everyone. She wouldn't be mean to anyone, and she would be happier too because she would have friends to play with. I'm sure that's what she'd really like, she just doesn't know it."
Conner nodded. "You could be right," he said. "She might just want friends and not know how to get them. That upsets her, so she acts out. Maybe she's afraid that people won't like her so she doesn't even try. But it doesn't matter because that's her choice. You can't take peoples' choices away from them, James. If she wants to be mean, that's her decision. The best thing you can do is continue to be nice, even if it means dealing with other peoples' rotten natures. Okay?"
"Alright," James said. "I won't use my powers on her."
"Good," Conner said. "You're too young to use them on anyone."
"But what if I like someone?" James asked.
"What?"
"Mom says I'm too young to worry about this yet," James said. "What if I get a crush on someone and they don't get a crush on me back?"
"Well, that's part of life," Conner said. "Not everyone that you like is going to like you back. That builds character. But you can't force them to like you. That's part of not taking choices away. Someone has to be able to decide if they want to have a crush on you. Alright?"
"Alright. Thanks Conner. I'm going to go play now."
"You do that," Conner said, ruffling his hair. He didn't know it was going to be so hard to parent an incubus child. No wonder his dad hadn't bothered! He was glad he could be there for James, though, and teach him to use his powers for good purposes and not selfish ones.
Soon dinner was done, and Conner happily ate the fettuccine that Janice had cooked. Halfway through dinner, the power flickered and went out. Both adults cursed, and James giggled wildly at their inappropriate language.
"Don't worry," Janice said. "I have some candles. Can you stay with James while I get them?"
"Of course," Conner said. He sat and played rock, paper, scissors with him until Janice had brought in enough candles to light the room. She brought a deck of playing cards with her as well, and they spent the rest of the night playing Go Fish with James.
Conner had to stop himself from letting his son win each game. His father had never let him win, and he thought that was a good thing. It taught him to play better and smarter. Besides, James understood the rules, and was actually quite good. By the time it was his bedtime, he'd won more games than Conner had.
"Can you tuck me in tonight, Conner?" James asked.
Conner glanced over at Janice, who nodded her approval. "Sure, buddy," he said. He took James into his room, where a candle was lit, and tucked him into bed. He read him a good night story and then kissed his forehead.
Afterward, he went and found Janice in the living room. "He really loves you," Janice said. "I'm glad we decided to do this, Conner."
"Me too," Conner said fervently. "Now, James is asleep... let's play a real game. You were always good at Gin. You up for a few hands?"
"Only because I know I'll beat the socks off you," Janice said.
She got out the cards again, and they passed the next few hours playing. Their scores were close enough that it didn't matter who won, though Janice did end up coming out on top.
Conner's cell phone, beeping with messages from Harper, laid forgotten on the coffee table until the next morning.
SIXTEEN
Brittney was watching the news on her phone when she heard about another fire. This one was set in town, and had caught several homes on fire. She winced as she listened to the description of how it had raged out of control for several hours before it was contained. Even the rain hadn't done much to dampen it. Bartholomew was out of control, if he was truly the one possessing people and causing them to set fires.
"Harper," she said, the moment she saw her friend get out of bed. She'd been sleeping on one of the couches. "There's another fire. We should go and find Heather. I think it was her."
"Why? It could be any number of these people," Harper said. "What makes you think this one was Heather?"
Brittney pointed at a map she had spread out on the coffee table. It was of Las Vegas and surrounding areas. There were markers on it, ink of many colors, and strings running from one location to another. "Look, each person has an area they focus on," she said. "This is Heather Baker's area. She's got to be the one who did it."
"Alright," Harper said, looking over the map. "I trust you."
"Let's go to her house and confront her."
Harper considered for a moment but then nodded. Brittney let out a relieved sigh. She didn't want to waste time trying to convince Harper. She had worked all night on her map to try and figure out which person was going to be setting fires where. She didn't want to have to give a presentation.
"Let's let the others know where we're going," Harper said. "Who's awake?"
"I don't know," Brittney said. She went to the kitchen and filled herself up a cup of coffee. "Go check on Peter. He should be awake by now."
She listened to Harper go into the bedroom where Peter was staying. His gasp of surprise made her curious; had Harper caught her brother naked? She was glad it was her that had gone in then, and not herself. She didn't want to see that.
"Everything okay in there?" she called out, as she added cream to her coffee. She would have preferred a mocha, but Alec didn't have any chocolate syrup or powder on hand.
"Everything's fine," Peter called out.
"Okay," Brittney said. She yawned and wished she'd gotten more sleep. But since that wasn't an option at the moment, she gulped down the coffee. Harper came out a few minutes later.
"What was that about?" Brittney asked. "Peter seemed rather surprised when you went in."
"I have no idea," Harper said. "But you're right, he did. He looked like the cat that just ate the canary, but whatever. It's Peter, who knows? Are you sure you're up for this? You look dead on your feet, Brittney. We don't want to get surprised. Besides, Alec said we should stay here after we worked the case."
"I'll be fine," Brittney said. She drank down the last few dregs and then put the cup over near the dishwasher. "We're not done with the case, though. So let's do this. You can drive."
"Fine, but we're taking your car," Harper said. "My convertible slides around in this rain."
"Sure," Brittney said. They went out and got into her SUV. Brittney pulled up the address and typed it into her GPS. They drove out that way, avoiding other cars as they did. It was a short drive, not too far at all, and soon enough they were parked in front of a junky looking apartment complex.
"Did you ever notice that whenever someone gets out of prison, they end up somewhere like this?" Brittney asked. "Doesn't society want to see them get better? Living like this is just setting someone up to fail. It's no wonder so many people go back to the booze and drugs and crime after they get out of prison. It's like they want to go back."
"Some of them do," Harper said. "At least that's what Ryan told me. He said that they get so used to being in prison that they'll commit some kind of crime just to be sent back there. He said it's a real problem for people who are in gangs and stuff especially. They get used to life on the inside and have no idea how to adjust to the outside world."
Brittney shook her head. "It's disgusting," she said. "I feel badly for them, honestly. Come on, let's go knock."
She led the way and knocked on the door to the apartment. A woman answered. She was short and pale with cropped hair and a number of tattoos. Brittney wondered how many of them she'd gotten in prison.
Brittney took out her badge. "Hannah Baker? We're Special Agents Conley and Hawthorne."
"It's not my fault!" the woman said immediately. "I swear, it's not my fault. I wake up and I have no idea what I've done till I see the news. I don't mean to set those fires, I swear it. I'm innocent. Please, you have to believe me. Don't send me back."
"We believe you," Harper said. "We're here to help. We're FBI agents, part of a supernatural task force that's meant to help pe
ople like you. We believe you were possessed almost three years ago, and we believe you're going through something similar now. Can we come in and talk to you?"
Hannah looked like she didn't believe Harper. She started to cry. "I don't want to go back to prison."
Brittney put a hand on Hannah's arm. "We're not here to take you back to prison. I promise. We're here to help you. If you want our help, that is."
"I do," Hannah said. "Come in then. Please."
Brittney and Harper followed her into the apartment. It was small but bright. She had done her best to fix the place up. There were curtains over the windows and small knitted afghans thrown over the couches. It looked like it had recently been painted as well.
"I'm trying," Hannah said, seeing Brittney looking around at everything. "I thought it would be hard when I got out of prison but I decided to do my best to try and get back to a normal life. So I'm trying. But it's hard when everyone thinks you're an arsonist. I mean, I can see why they'd think that. I am an arsonist. But it wasn't my fault."
"I want you to tell us everything that happened," Brittney said. "Then and now."
"Sure," Hannah said. "I was a florist back then. But I started losing time. I couldn't keep up with what was going on. I'd wake up and my hands would smell like gasoline. Then I'd see the news and see a fire was started. I got scared. I tried to run, but I'd end up back in my apartment with no idea how I got there. Eventually, I burned down my own flower shop. I was devastated. Then one day the police came for me. They said they had me on camera.
"I didn't believe them until they showed me the footage. I tried to tell them that it wasn't me, that I couldn't remember doing it, that it felt like a demon must have been involved. But nobody believed me."
"We believe you," Brittney said. "Why don't you come back to Afterlife -- that's our base -- with us, and we can try and keep you from doing anything... unsafe... until we figure out what's going on with the demon that's possessing you?"
"You really think you can help me?" Hannah said.
"Yes," Brittney said. "I'm sure of it."
Make it Rain (Afterlife Book 10) Page 8