Necessary Evil

by Donald Hanley

  I looked down at the polished marble markers on either side of the path and my breath caught in my throat. “How do you know where I am, Lilith?” I demanded. “Are you still here?”

  The call disconnected and I whirled around. On the far side of the cemetery, a woman turned away from me, but her spiky silver hair glittered in the sunlight. “Lilith!” I shouted, but she ignored me. Dark shadows surrounded her for a moment and then she was gone.

  “Oh my God,” Olivia gasped. “She was watching us the whole time?”

  “We have to get out of here before she sends someone else after us.” I gave up on my earlier plan to loop around to the parking lot and instead headed straight for the van, but Olivia stayed where she was. “Come on!” I insisted but she didn’t move. She didn’t even blink. “Oh, crap,” I muttered. “AMY!”

  “There’s no need to shout, Peter, I’m right here.” I spun around and found her seated on top of a rectangular epitaph not five feet away, still decked out in black from head to toe. She fit right in with the scenery, actually. “I’m truly impressed, that was masterful work. And when I say impressed, I mean surprised. Uxbranidorn had you dead to rights, emphasis on dead. I was just about to step in and save you.” Amy cocked her head sideways, eyeing me thoughtfully. “How did you kill him? That didn’t look like one of your usual sort of spells.”

  I caught myself before I glanced over at Olivia. Amy still didn’t know about her and apparently didn’t realize I’d removed her hold on me. “Does it really matter?” I countered. “He’s dead, that’s the important part.”

  “Mmm, true.” She slid off her perch and brushed the dust off her butt. “We’re right on schedule. Lilixandriel’s really pissed that you’re not dead yet so she’s going to bump things up a couple of notches now. The next fight should be really exciting.” Her gleeful grin gave me shivers.

  “Can’t we stop now?” I pleaded. “She’s already gotten three demon lords and a hellhound killed. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Oh, Peter, don’t be like that. Think of the rewards when all this is over.”

  “Rewards?”

  “Absolutely! When I’m restored to my rightful place, I’ll be ever so grateful.” She batted her eyes at me. “I’ll give you anything you want.”

  “Anything?” I asked doubtfully.

  “No, of course not, don’t be silly. But maybe I’ll grant you a wish. Nothing weird,” she warned. “I won’t be your sex slave.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, don’t pretend you weren’t thinking about it. I’ve seen how you look at me.” She primped her hair disdainfully.

  “I don’t look at you like that!” I sputtered.

  “Nonsense, you can’t resist me and you know it. But we’ll sort all that out later,” Amy said, waving a careless hand. “In the meantime, try not to die. Ta!” She snapped her fingers and vanished.

  Olivia ran by me, heading for the van, and then came to a halt with a quizzical expression when I didn’t follow her. “Why did you stop?”

  “Amy was just here.”

  “Amy?” She looked around uneasily. “What did she want?”

  She thinks I’m in love with her for some bizarre reason. I decided to keep that little tidbit to myself. “She said things are going to get even worse now,” I told her instead, gesturing to what remained of Uxbranidorn’s mortal remains, “but she’s not interested in stopping it. We have to find Lilith before she finds us again and put an end to this.”

  “How?”

  “I have absolutely no idea,” I sighed. “Lilith can just hide in the shadowed paths while she recruits more demons and we can’t follow her there. Well, maybe Dara could,” I mused. “Maybe she can find out what Lilith’s planning and warn us.”

  “Wouldn’t Lilith be expecting that, though?” Olivia asked doubtfully. “She has to know we’ll be looking for her.”

  “Probably, but it’s worth a shot. In the meantime,” I eyed the flashing lights of a police car pulling into the Whataburger, “let’s get out of here before someone blames us for vandalizing a cemetery.”

  14

  When you look at something but think you see something else, that’s an optical illusion. You’ve probably seen that infamous picture that’s either a vase or a pair of faces, depending on what part you focus on, or encountered patterns that seem to rotate even though they’re printed on a sheet of paper. Most of the time, everyone else sees exactly the same thing that you do, which is reassuring.

  Hallucinations, on the other hand, are when you see something that isn’t there at all. Sometimes it’s just a trick of the light or something moving out of the corner of your eye, sometimes it’s the result of a raging fever or the side-effects of some recreational drug, and sometimes it’s just your mind messing with you. If you ask someone whether they see the same thing and they say no, then you’re experiencing a hallucination. If you think they’re lying about it, well, now you’re straying into paranoia.

  The truly scary part is when your hallucination starts telling you to do things you wouldn’t normally do. No, I take that back. The scary part is when you decide to go along with the suggestions. No good can come from an imaginary person making your choices for you. Just say no.

  “Goddess give me strength,” Mrs. Kendricks murmured, using both hands to rub her temples. “That was extremely foolish of you, Peter. What in the world were you thinking, going after her on your own?”

  “That I could end this once and for all,” I told her, but I knew she was right. The only reason I was sitting at her kitchen table in one piece was sitting on the counter beside me.

  “I thought you were very brave,” Olivia said quietly, playing with the tissue paper ghost Mrs. Kendricks made her to keep track of her. The doll’s face, two felt pen dots for the eyes and a circle for the mouth, expressed a very different sentiment.

  “And you didn’t think to wonder why Lilith was wandering around a cemetery in broad daylight?” Mrs. Kendricks went on sternly.

  “I know,” I sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” she said, but she sat back and picked up her teacup with a shake of her head. “Ryan and the others will be back in a couple of hours. Until then, you need to stay out of sight.”

  “Amy’s not going to like that,” I pointed out. “She wants Lilith to find me.”

  “Amy,” she echoed softly, giving me an odd sort of look.

  “What?”

  “No, it’s nothing. Just an idle thought.”

  “Tell me,” I insisted.

  She hesitated and then shrugged. “Amy first appeared when Susie released Olivia from your Philosopher’s Stone, correct? May I see it?”

  I fished the chain out from under the t-shirt I’d borrowed from her to replace my bloodied one and held it up. Mrs. Kendricks leaned closer and cupped it in her hand, gazing at it intensely for the longest time before releasing it, letting it fall back against my chest.

  “That flash shouldn’t have happened,” she said. “An unbinding spell doesn’t have any visual effects. It’s possible Susie made a careless mistake. You know how she can get sometimes,” she added ruefully.

  “What sort of mistake?” I asked uneasily. “Olivia’s not still tied to the Stone, is she?”

  “No, that part seems to have worked properly, but it’s not inconceivable that Susie may have accidentally unbound something from you as well. Something from your subconscious.”

  “Huh?”

  Mrs. Kendricks cleared her throat. “Peter, is it possible that Amy is a figment of your imagination, one that only manifests under stressful situations?”

  “What?”

  “Does Amy resemble anyone you know,” she pressed, “or someone you knew in the past?”

  “I don’t know any tweener goth girls!” I told her heatedly.

  “A character in a movie you’ve seen or a story you’ve read?”

  “No!”

  “Peter,” Olivia said he
sitantly, “what about all those comic books in your room? A lot of them have girls wearing that sort of outfit, don’t they?”

  “No, of course n–” My voice trailed off in confused dismay. The truth was, a lot of them did. Precocious loli goth magical girls were a common theme in Japanese manga, although I couldn’t remember any characters named Amy or anyone who looked like her. Was she was an amalgamation of multiple characters, brought to life by whatever mayhem Susie had inflicted on me? “No,” I said firmly, shaking my head, “that doesn’t make any sense. What about my powers? Where did those come from?”

  “It’s possible that Dara was mistaken and your powers weren’t taken from you after Dr. Bellowes was killed. Maybe they’ve simply been lying dormant and Susie reactivated them.”

  “But they’re not the same powers as before!” I argued. “They change whenever I swap them out in Lorecraft!”

  “That may just mean that your subconscious mind is using your game as a visual guide for modifying them.”

  “Well, what about Melissa’s powers, then? How did she get those?”

  “Susie’s spell may have spilled over into her as well.”

  “But she’s not seeing manga characters!”

  “I don’t have any answers, Peter,” she admitted with a sigh. “The fact that none of us have seen Amy makes it difficult to make any judgments about her.”

  “You think I’m hallucinating her!”

  “I don’t know what to think, frankly. You have to admit that an invisible girl that only you can see or talk to is hard to accept at face value.” I silently pointed at Olivia, who made her doll swoop back and forth through the air. Mrs. Kendricks blinked and then snorted in laughter. “Touché,” she smiled, “but I’ve actually seen Olivia and spoken with her.”

  “Well, this is great,” I muttered. “So now I’m going insane on top of everything else.”

  “I believe you, Peter,” Olivia reassured me. “I mean, it’s not like Amy is some twisted secret fantasy of yours, right?”

  “No, absolutely not!” Mrs. Kendricks’ eyebrows lifted and I pointed at the ghost doll. “Olivia,” I explained.

  “Ah.” She sipped her tea thoughtfully, watching me over the rim of her cup. The silence stretched out and I started to fidget under her appraising gaze.

  “So,” I said finally, “I guess we should get going.” I pushed my chair back and Olivia slipped down off the counter.

  “You shouldn’t be wandering around by yourself, Peter,” Mrs. Kendricks warned me. “Look what happened last time. You’ll be safer here.”

  “He’s not alone,” Olivia told her irritably. “I’m with him.” Mrs. Kendricks didn’t hear her, of course.

  “We’re just going back to Melissa’s place,” I said. “We left Susie and Dara by themselves and that’s never a good idea. Besides, what if that Shadowmaster thing is still alive and tells Lilith where it found us? They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “An alarmingly good point,” Mrs. Kendricks agreed. “All right, but I’ll come with you. Give me a moment to change.” She wore a long, flowing silk kaftan and, I strongly suspected, nothing else. She rose and brought her cup to the sink to rinse it out.

  My phone rang then, startling all of us, and I stared at the displayed number with an anxious knot in my stomach.

  “Who is it, Peter?” Olivia whispered. “Is it Lilith?”

  “It’s my dad.” Bewilder had to have worn off by now. He was going to ask me about Olivia and Agent Prescott, I just knew it, but if I didn’t answer he’d think something bad happened to me. Just before the call rolled over to voice mail, I tapped the answer button. “Hey, Dad,” I said as cheerfully as I could manage. “What’s up?”

  “Peter.” Dad sounded abnormally serious. “Is everything okay there? I didn’t think you were going to answer.”

  “Yeah, sorry, my phone was in the other room,” I lied.

  “Can you talk now? In private?”

  I looked at Olivia and Mrs. Kendricks, both of whom were watching me with concerned expressions. “Sure, go ahead. What’s going on?”

  “Do you remember me telling you about Agent Prescott last night?”

  I seriously considered denying it but I wasn’t sure how well his memory had recovered. “Yes,” I said. “Do you really think he’s hiding something?” Prescott, I mouthed to the others. Mrs. Kendricks nodded her understanding.

  “I know he is,” Dad said grimly. “What I’m not sure is whether he’s telling me the truth about what he’s doing here. I called him this morning and asked him to come down to the station but he said he had some business to take care of first. He was obviously driving somewhere. You wouldn’t happen to know where he was going, would you?”

  “No, of course not,” I lied again.

  “All right. Olivia Benard is there with you, right? She was at the sleepover?”

  “Uh, yes.”

  “I need to speak with her.”

  “Um, well, I’m not sure if she’s awake yet,” I hedged. “We were up kind of late last night.” That part was true, at least.

  “Wake her up, then, Peter,” Dad ordered. “This is important.”

  “Well, okay. Give me a minute.” I muted my phone, double-checked it, and went into full panic mode. “Dad wants to talk to Olivia! What are we going to do?”

  “What?” Olivia squeaked.

  “He’s going to ask her about Ryan,” Mrs. Kendricks predicted.

  “But I don’t know anything!”

  “Olivia has to admit that she’s working with Ryan on his case,” Mrs. Kendricks went on urgently. “There’s no other non-magical explanation for her being here but Ryan’s going to have to come up with the full story when he gets back. Olivia, just tell Chief Collins that you’re sworn to secrecy and he has to talk to Agent Prescott if he wants to know more. Can you do that?” Olivia nodded jerkily but she looked like she was about to have a full-blown panic attack.

  “Peter?” I started at Dad’s voice. “What’s taking so long?”

  I hastily unmuted. “She’s just getting up. Hang on.” I muted again and thrust the phone at Olivia. “Here!”

  “I don’t have anything to wear!” she protested.

  “There’s no time! Hurry up and change!”

  “Peter! I’ll be naked!”

  “Oh, for crying out loud!” I ripped my t-shirt over my head and jammed it over hers “Put this on!”

  “But –”

  “Now!” She obeyed meekly, struggling to get her arms through the sleeves without letting the shirt fall through her insubstantial body. It hung like a tent on her and her nightgown poked through in several places but it covered all of the important bits. “Okay, now change.”

  She bit her lip and concentrated and her nightgown vanished as she solidified. She looked herself over hastily and heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Just don’t pop, okay?” I told her. I took a deep breath and unmuted my phone again. “Dad? Here she is.” I held it out to Olivia and she took it gingerly.

  “Hello?” she said, so quietly I wasn’t sure Dad could actually hear her. “Yes, this is she. Yes, sir, I remember.” She listened for a long time, staring at me with big, anxious eyes, and then cleared her throat. “I’m not supposed to talk to anyone about that. Yes. Yes, they know. No, sir, I haven’t told him. No, he’s just being nice to me.” She flashed me a shy smile before dropping her eyes to the floor. “You’ll have to talk to Agent Prescott about that, I’m not allowed to say anything. Okay. Okay. I understand. Goodbye, sir.” She let her breath out in a long sigh and held the phone out to me. “He wants to talk to you.”

  I took it back reluctantly. “Yes, Dad?”

  “Olivia said she hasn’t told you about what’s she and Prescott are doing in Hellburn.”

  “Yes, that’s right.” I actually learned most of it from Lilixandriel and Prescott. “Is she, um –?” I wasn’t sure how to phrase my question.

  “She admitted she’s involved with whatever Prescot
t’s up to but she won’t tell me what it’s all about. She said her parents are aware of what’s happening but I can’t believe they’d let their teenage daughter travel alone with an FBI agent pursuing a criminal. There’s something very strange going on here.” Dad sounded puzzled and frustrated.

  “So what do we do now?”

  “Keep Olivia with you and away from Prescott if you can. If he tries to contact her, let me know immediately. If he doesn’t show up at the station like he promised, I’ll need you to bring her down here. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” I gulped.

  “I know I’m asking a lot of you, Peter,” he said seriously, “but you’re doing great. You’ll make a fine cop some day.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” I said gloomily. The odds were better that I’d end up standing on the inside of a cell door, assuming I survived at all.

  “So how did your sleepover go?” he asked. “Did Susie behave?”

  “Susie was being Susie,” I told him honestly.

  “Oh, sorry to hear that. Well, I hope the others weren’t too shocked.”

  “They’re getting used to her,” I assured him.

  “That’s good, I suppose. Are you heading home soon?”

  “Ah, no, we’ll probably hang out at Melissa’s for a while. She has a pool,” I added as an excuse.

  “All right. Well, have fun but stay alert, okay?”

  “I’m not sure that’s possible, but I’ll try.”

  Dad chuckled. “Goodbye, Peter. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Goodbye, Dad.” I hung up and dropped into my chair. “Oh my God.”

  “I only heard half of that,” Mrs. Kendricks said, “but it sounds like you two pulled it off.”

  “I guess. Dad’s still suspicious but he’s not ready to arrest anyone just yet. He wants to talk to Agent Prescott.”

  “I’ll call him on the way to Melissa’s and let him know what’s happening. I’ll be right back.” She hurried off, leaving Olivia and me alone in the kitchen.

  “You did good,” I told her.

  “Thanks. Oh, here.” She ghosted again and caught the t-shirt as it fell, holding it out to me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t – you know.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear in embarrassment.