Sinners Never Sleep (Seven Deadly Demons Book 1)

by Sharon Stevenson

  Sinners Never Sleep

  A Seven Deadly Demons Novel

  SHARON STEVENSON

  Copyright

  Sharon Stevenson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Copyright © Sharon Stevenson 2018

  Published April 10th 2018 by Parasomniac Press

  All rights reserved. Thank you for buying an authorized edition and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning or distributing any part of it in any form without permission of the author.

  Cover art by Najla Qamber Designs

  http://www.najlaqamberdesigns.com

  Chapter One

  Coming home was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. It took a week for my best friend to forgive me for leaving, four days to bump into the guy who broke my heart, and about thirty seconds to come across my first demon. I’m just lucky that way.

  That first demon was an easy one. His host was a skater-boy. I assumed, going by the way his jeans were showing off the waistband of his underwear, and the chunky-looking trainers on his shuffling feet. He glowered at me as I walked past him on the street, and the faint orange glow of his eyes clued me in. Greed Demon. Not exactly uncommon in older kids and teenagers. Probably nothing to worry about. He would most likely grow out of it on his own. Or he wouldn’t, and I’d end up having to exorcise the demon once it became a problem.

  I went on my way, ignoring the muttering he was doing as I passed. Just out looking for trouble. Something Gran had always given me hell for. My stock response was to shrug. I didn’t need to go looking for trouble. It had a way of chasing me down.

  I stopped just before I got to the blocks of flats, my chosen destination from the moment I’d decided I was coming back to Falkirk, a knot of worry starting to form in my stomach.

  Lucy had been completely fucked off with me before I left town. Things had been bad for a few weeks, ever since we’d moved in together. Then I’d had to tip things over the edge, by getting into a fight with the sleazy creep she’d declared she was letting move in, after he tried to touch me up when she was in the other room. I’d wanted to knock his teeth out. I had settled for bruising my knuckles on his jaw. He’d started shouting, calling me a crazy bitch. When Lucy had come back into the room to find out what the shouting was about, he’d told her she wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. He left. She blamed me, naturally. Accusing me of never wanting her to be happy, of always trying to mess up her life. She told me she never wanted to see me again.

  I doubted she meant it literally, but that’s what she got. Life’s kind of funny that way.

  It’s been a year since that happened. I’d left that night, which was precisely a month after my gran died. She’d left me a house in the back of beyond, enough money to get me by for a while, and a car that had seen better days. I took off without really putting much thought into it.

  Now, I was down to my last few hundred pounds. There was a clause in her will to say the house couldn’t be sold on, and I had less than a tenner’s worth of petrol left in my shitty little motor. I needed to get a full-time job, and I needed to get it fast. Everything else was going to have to wait.

  I hadn’t been sure she’d still be here, but it seemed that Lucy was still living in the same flat she’d moved into she was seventeen. The same one I’d walked out of a year ago. I saw her jet-black hair bouncing around her shoulders as she rushed out of the building and got into a sleek looking estate. I didn’t catch a glimpse of the driver; I could only hope he wasn’t another arsehole.

  Daylight was dwindling so I didn’t hang around. I walked back to my car and found the teenager standing there at the driver’s side, looking in the window. He turned and smiled at me. It wasn’t a pleasant expression. He moved his hand. I didn’t need to look down to know there’s a knife there. The glint from the blade made my stomach churn. I should have known this kid was going to do something. I’d been overly optimistic that his demon wasn’t something to worry about, that it wasn’t likely to be permanent. It had made me too quick to shrug the encounter off. I’d seen his demon, and the demon had seen me. That always meant trouble. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied over my former best friend I would have seen this coming.

  “Give me your money,” he barked, sneering at me.

  I laughed, I had to. The irony was just too much. “What money?”

  Ugh. I was seriously going to have to do something about the demon in this teenager’s head. I couldn’t just let him walk around mugging people. I crossed my arms, and tried to think my way out of an escalation.

  He frowned at me, not moving. His eyes seemed to darken suddenly. Laughing in a guy’s face was pretty much never a good idea. With the knife in the mix, this could get dicey, fast.

  “Seriously,” I said quickly, standing my ground and praying I wasn’t about to get stabbed. “I’ve got spare change and chewing gum in my pocket. That’s it.”

  “Throw me your car keys.”

  He sounded less certain now. He was battling the demon’s needling to cave in to his deepest desires. The thought of following through, of making someone bleed, to get what he wanted, was causing him to reconsider. I’d seen it before. My initial instinct that the kid probably wasn’t so bad hadn’t been that far off.

  I called his bluff and tossed the keys at him. He dropped the knife as he stumbled to catch them. Perfect! I swooped down and picked it up. It was a pen-knife, which was quite a bit less scary than the alternatives that had rushed through my brain when I saw the glint of metal. Still, it probably would have hurt if he’d actually used it. I closed it and put it in my pocket.

  He opened the driver’s door to my ancient car, jumped in and fumbled to get the keys into the ignition. I leaned over the open door as he tried to gun the engine. The all too familiar grumbling non-start noises made me smile. The teenager did not have the knack, nor the patience, to start my old faithful.

  “Yeah, you’ve really got to rattle those keys to get this thing to start,” I told him. “It might get you down to the roundabout at Lock 16 if you do get it started, just F.Y.I. That’s about how much petrol’s left in the tank.” It wasn’t a total lie, just an exaggeration to prove it wasn’t worth attempting to get the car he’d tried to steal started.

  He sighed and slumped in the seat. “Fuck.”

  I looked him over. Designer clothes and a bad attitude. Most teenagers could claim at least one of the above. He was fairly typical, demon aside. Most fifteen-year-olds didn’t go around mugging people though. That tended to take some kind of triggering. Something that was already triggered, if the tell-tale orange glow in his eyes was anything to go by.

  Demons can’t possess a human until they consciously sinned, until they did something bad enough that all the good they’d done couldn’t balance it out. Usually that meant doing something to hurt another person. I bit my tongue as he got out of the car. I’d learnt the hard way not to get too involved with the demonically possessed. They attracted hell-spawn for a reason. He might not be so bad, deep down, but that didn’t mean I should be his best friend. Showing sympathy for the devil’s children was a fool’s move.

  “You should get a better fucking car,” he yelled back at me. “Bitch!”

  I got in and smiled at my old hunk of junk’s interior. “Thanks for being so hard to steal.”

  Locking the door, I started the engine. It purred for me after two false starts, which was probably a new record. Then I remembered I had nowhere to go. At least not specifically. I’d planned to start with Lucy, and she was out. What next? I supposed I would have to find a place to stay for the night. Preferably some
place inexpensive.

  I smiled at the thought of going to the old hotel on the hill, across from the park. Lucy had still been working there when I’d left. The bar was cheap, and the food, well the food was somewhat miserable but it wouldn’t put me in the poor house to eat a couple of meals there. The place had been pretty run down when I’d left, so I had my fingers crossed that the rooms wouldn’t cost much. As it turned out, money was going to be the least of my problems; I just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter Two

  Turned out, a lot could change in a year. For a start, the old rundown hotel I remembered had gotten a makeover. I hesitated to enter the car park. The Starlight looked so modern now, so clean. There was no way they’d done all this and stayed cheap as shit. Sighing, I turned in to the car park anyway and found a space near the front. It was getting late, and I was already there. How much extra could they really charge for a prettier exterior, anyway? I wasn’t sure of the answer until I walked in to the lobby and felt hard wood floor under my worn-out boots. There was no way I’d be able to afford a night in this new and improved version of the Starlight.

  Everything had been upgraded. The walls, the light fittings, the furniture. The front desk had been ripped out and new shiny marble-looking thing was in its place, only set slightly further back. They’d taken away the cloakroom that used to be behind the desk. I was just wondering if it was even worth checking the restaurant prices for dinner when my gaze drifted to the opening elevator. It made a bit of a racket, dinging a few times because the doors got stuck halfway before they opened. It was the only real echo back to the run-down place I remembered. The one thing that had never worked right is the one thing they hadn’t bothered to change?

  A black-haired woman in a pencil skirt and suit jacket stepped out behind a guy in overalls and motioned back to the doors as they did their weird stuck halfway jam again before they closed. The guy quickly moved to a panel beside the lift, obscuring my view of the woman, and took a screwdriver from his pocket.

  “See? It still does this every time,” she told him, sounding slightly exasperated. “This thing is a lawsuit waiting to happen. There has to be something you can do.”

  Her voice was my first clue, before I got a good look at her face. My mouth dropped open as she stepped back. Lucy’s quick smile as her head turned my way died before it properly arrived. So she was still working here then. Things must be serious if the ‘Deputy Manager’ tag on her jacket was anything to go by. I tried to find the right words as she took a step towards me. Then she stopped, pursing her lips.

  “You came back.” She raised an eyebrow. Still the same old Lucy. Her expressions have always been tight, hard to read. Her words tend to cut straight to the point. If I was ever uncertain of how she was feeling I could tell by the volume of her usually neutral tone. Right now, I was getting static. She’s in shock. I supposed I would be too. “How... Where have you been?”

  At least she was interested enough to ask. I just wished I didn’t feel so weird about telling her.

  “I was in The Highlands. Learned how to weave.” The second part was a lie. Why did I feel like I had to justify leaving anyway? I’d just spewed out some extra words to distract and avoid giving a real answer. I knew she was really wondering why I left. Guilt kicked in hard and I ignored the question. I shrugged. “Listen, I…”

  “I found out Marc had been sleeping with other girls the whole time we were together,” she blurted. The words came out in a rush. She’d obviously been keeping them for me. “He was a complete arsehole.”

  “Well, yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say. She’d sort of blindsided me by realising her ex for the sleaze he’d been. If there was one thing Lucy could be faulted for, it was her oblivious nature when it came to men. At least, it had been. Maybe a lot more had changed than I realised.

  “So, are you just… visiting?” She sounded a little confused. I didn’t blame her. Show up at a hotel, it kind of looks like you’re only here for a short stay.

  “No. I’m back,” I said, feeling as sure about it as I could be. If I’d learnt one thing in the last year, it was that there’s no point running from the past. It only finds a way to catch you back up.

  “Were you planning on staying here?” She still sounded puzzled.

  “I was.” I drew her a wry smile. “Not so sure now that I’m here. It might be out of my price range.”

  She laughed, and motioned around her as she came closer and lowered her voice. “You mean all this? It’s surface sparkle, Tina. The rest of the hotel is as old and ugly as it’s always been. The new owner just decided to vamp up the downstairs, so he could make money renting the place out for weddings. The room prices went up by like a tenner last year and that’s it. Drinks are still cheap. The food still comes out of a microwave.”

  “Then I guess some things really don’t change,” I said.

  She nodded to the marble desk. “Come on, I’ll give you my discount.”

  I walked with her to the reception desk, taking in the newly refurbished area. It was weird to think that the rest of the place could be the same old Starlight.

  “So, are you looking for a flat?” She went behind the desk and shooed the girl working behind there out of her way.

  “I will be.” I didn’t want to hint at moving back in with her. I’d considered it on the drive back, and I could see her slamming a door in my face every time the thought of asking her crossed my mind. Been there, done that. There was no way she’d ever say yes so I kept my mouth shut.

  It felt strange how little I had to say to her. Lucy had been my best friend ever since we were kids. A year out of town and it was almost like trying to strike up a conversation with a stranger. I had no idea what her life looked like now. Only one thing came to mind, seeing her in that suit. “Did you finish Uni?”

  She smiled. “I got my basic, didn’t stay on to get my honors. This job came up and it had to be full-time.” She bit down on her lip and hesitated for a few seconds before she opened her mouth again. “Do you have a job in town?”

  I shook my head. Talk about a loaded issue. I was curious as to where she could be going with this, curious, and a just a little bit suspicious. “Job and flat hunting starts tomorrow.”

  She took a breath before she spoke, which let me know just how hesitant she was to say, “Well, if you’re not fussy we’re still looking for some full-timers here. Minimum wage, but tips are your own in the bar and the restaurant.”

  She looked away from me to enter my details into the computer for the room. I considered the offer and hesitated to take it. Usually jumping on the easy option was a no-brainer for me. This time things were different. The thought of letting Lucy down made my insides churn up, but the truth was I needed a job, and I was unlikely to get something quickly with my broken work history. A few days here and there, never staying in one job long enough to get paid would not look good to prospective employers. Neither would a three-year gap with no job and no education in its place. I might as well hand in a blank sheet of paper as a C.V.

  “Is it seasonal? I’m not sure what kind of work I’m looking for yet. Wouldn’t want to leave after a few months if it’s going to make things hard for you retraining someone else or whatever.”

  She put a key and an application form on the desk and shrugged. “It’s up to you. There’s fairly high turnover anyway. There’s actually an ongoing pool amongst the long-timers on who’s going to be the next to leave. It’s kind of a running joke around here. Anyway, basically, you’ll get the job if you want it. Just fill out the form and hand it in here if you do.”

  Sounded just about perfect. It also sounded only slightly like a trap waiting to be sprung. I nodded, biting down on the temptation to ask if she wanted to talk after her shift. That would be desperate. I would see her again even if I didn’t take up her offer to work here. I shouldn’t be trying to rush it. I abandoned her when I ran away. We couldn’t just pick up where we left off. That’s not how things worked in
the real world. It made me anxious, but I tried to shake off the feeling. I smiled, but the flicker of apprehension didn’t fade entirely as I took the form and the brass key.

  “Thanks, Lucy.”

  She nodded. “Make sure you add your mobile number to the form. I’ll text you to see when you can start.”

  “Okay, cool.”

  I took the stairs up to my room on the second floor, bypassing the faulty elevator.

  The old style brass key was the first hint that nothing had changed beyond the front of the building and revamped lobby. Most hotels used those card swiping things now for their rooms, even I knew that. The furniture still looked old, all mahogany and retro-styled, and the carpet was worn, but they’d painted the walls white, changed the hideously floral bed-sheets to plain ivory, and there’s a painting of the Falkirk Wheel hanging above the bed. I left the application on the desk below the wall-mounted TV, and I didn’t even think about filling it out. I promised myself I’d try to get something else first, anything. I would only fill it out as a last resort.

  I switched the TV on and got fired into the complimentary tea and biscuits. The three-hour drive back to town caught up to me as The Wizard of Oz got close to the ending. I felt the familiar pull of the dreamscape and closed my eyes.

  Chapter Three

  The dreamscape claimed me the moment I closed my eyes. It doesn’t always happen this way. A lot of the time, I’m already asleep when the swirling portal pulls me in. Really messes with my head if I’m in a normal dream when it happens. This was less strange. I could still see the last image of the movie I was watching when I fell asleep as I looked around the orange-tinted room that was slowly taking shape around me.

  “There’s no place like home,” I murmured, wondering exactly where I’d been dragged to.