It’s blurry and dark, but there was a couch with a sleeping man lit by a table lamp nearby. The guy was passed out, an arm dangling to the floor, where empty bottles of premium beer littered the carpet. His features were blurred which seemed odd, but it didn’t matter. This guy wasn’t why I was brought here. He wasn’t the important part.
This kind of scene was usually the opener for a Wrath Demon. Unsuspecting victim, check. Human host? I glanced around. Check. The teenager was watching the guy from a doorway ahead of me, disgust in his eyes. He didn’t see me. He couldn’t. Not yet. This was a memory, of a very specific moment. The memory of the deed with enough evil intent behind it to invite the demon into the kid’s body. Something had happened the night this guy—the kid’s dad?—passed out drunk on his couch.
I stepped back and watched, waiting for my weapon to be made obvious. Once the kid acted out his evil deed, I’d be given a weapon and the opportunity to strike. I kill the kid, I exorcise the demon. Felt kind of messed up, given that this host was maybe fifteen-years-old, at most, but I won’t actually be killing him. That’s why I had to wait for the evil deed. It’s what would bring the demon to this dreamscape for me to deal with. This won’t hurt the kid, it would only exorcise his demon, forcing the damned monster out of his head. It would give the kid the chance he needed to clean up his act. I’d seen that it was a possibility, back outside Lucy’s flat, when I’d heard the uncertainty in his voice. He wasn’t all bad. He could stop this from happening again. If he wanted to, if he tried. I just needed to get the damned demon out of him to give him that chance.
He went to the fat wallet lying on the floor amidst the empty beer bottles and took out a wad of cash, pocketing it. I expected my weapon to come, the demon to light up his skin from the inside. It didn’t happen. Not yet. Stealing out of greed on its own wasn’t enough, there needed to be a stronger intent behind his actions to attract the demon. He poked around in the wallet before he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his other pocket and proceeded to write out a note.
He laughed as he put the pen down and slipped the note inside the wallet where the cash had been. It was too dark to see what he wrote, but the demon had arrived by the time he tossed the wallet onto the passed-out man’s stomach. The feeling of a weapon materialising in my hand made me glance down, just as the demon turned my way, sensing the dream walker standing behind him.
“Fuck my life,” I muttered, grasping the pen-knife tightly. How the hell was I supposed to kill a demon with a Boy Scout’s camping utensil?
His laughter was deep and booming as he advanced on me. “Is that all you got, dream walker?”
Apparently, it was. I quickly pulled the knife out and smiled. “Yeah, well, it’s not the size that matters, it’s what you do with it.”
He laughed, didn’t even start to attack. If there’s one thing I loved about Greed Demons, it’s their unrelenting desire for more. Nothing’s ever enough for these guys. It was how they screwed themselves over, time after time.
I lunged and the knife bumped into his chest. It didn’t even scratch the material of his T-shirt. This weapon was a piece of crap. Or, I wasn’t using it how the kid had originally intended. The thought made me grimace. Whatever the kid’s first thought had been, whatever evil shit he’d envisaged when he’d decided to mug me, that’s what I was going to have to do to him.
“You’re my first dream walker,” the demon told me, glancing me over as if he was unimpressed.
He grabbed my wrist and I cursed inwardly, wishing I’d moved back before he could touch me. It’s been a long time since I messed one of these exorcisms up badly enough to let a damned demon get his hands on me. It’s been a long time since I was given such a shitty, useless weapon, too. I couldn’t move as he stroked his other hand down my face, the orange light on his fingers bright enough to make my eyes hurt. The paralysis wasn’t permanent. I was going to kill this monster the second I broke free.
My thoughts went dark. It would only take a second for him to destroy me. If I died in the dreamscape, I wouldn’t wake up in the real world. I’d always been kind of fuzzy on what that means for my body exactly. I assumed it would rot, though technically, it could survive without my spirit. The very idea gave me the chills.
“I’m going to take my time with you,” the demon whispered in my ear.
No shit, I thought, glad it’s a Greed Demon I was dealing with here. One of the more impulsive types would have had me cut into tiny little pieces by now. I concentrated and used my thoughts to ask to be shown what the kid had wanted to do to me. I only needed to ask, and I’d see it. I was in his head. Rooting around in his memories was not only possible, it’s as easy as clicking on a file in a computer, and carries just as big a risk of finding something nasty when you’re talking about the property of a teenage boy. I braced myself for the worst.
I got a flash of me in my worn-out jumper and jeans outside the flats, wind whipping my long dark hair back from my face. He put a smirk on my lips that I didn’t remember wearing. I heard the whisper of the demon’s influence as made his demands. All kinds of nasty suggestions were flying through the kid’s head, but he knew what he wanted to do already. I did something to piss him off and it triggered his own idea, adding venom when he thought of it.
“I’m going to cut out her eyes, so the bitch can’t look at me like that,” he told the demon what he wanted, but in the same instant that he’s telling me to give him the keys to my car, it only takes a fraction of a second for the eruption that made him want to inflict pain to fade. It’s the demon’s influence, not entirely his own. The possessor putting thoughts into his head.
The memory faded and I’m back to being incapable of moving while the greedy shit of a demon drank me in with his gaze and considered what to do with me. He’s getting lots of ideas, I could see some of them in his eyes. I tried to smile and found the paralysis had broken enough to allow the facial twitch. He didn’t even realise what the movement meant, too caught up in a flurry of evil plans.
“Your worst fears will come true tonight,” he told me. “My wildest fantasies will awaken them.”
I was sure he thought that was true. All demons had delusions of grandeur. The truth was he couldn’t bring my worst fears to life if I handed them over to him on a plate, with fucking jumper cables on the side. I wasn’t afraid of what he could do to me. Dying didn’t instil terror in my heart, though I did my best to avoid it like most people. I was only really scared of never truly connecting with the people I loved most, the last friends I had left in this world.
How could someone ever really love you, if they didn’t even know who you really were?
“Do your worst.” I squeezed the knife in my hand. My paralysis was almost broken. My limbs were going to take a little longer to break free, but once they did I knew I was golden. He could only pull that trick once, and he’s going to wish he’d made better use of those precious minutes once I’m cutting out his eyeballs with this sorry excuse for a knife.
The room started to brighten, the glow of the demon coating the walls, highlighting every corner. A metallic smell hit me, making me imagine blood coated stacks of money lining the room. I could choke on the scent. It was thick and felt like it was beginning to rise like smoke through the air. I started to cough, and the demon started to laugh.
I pulled it together when I doubled-over and almost dropped the pen-knife. I flicked out the corkscrew attachment and fingered it before I straightened up and launched myself at the laughing demon. His body felt breakable as we fell to the floor. He was smaller than me, though not by much. I ignored the sound of a bone cracking. His wince as he tried to make me feel bad for the kid whose skin he’s wearing was pitiful. His sobs only made me hesitate for a second.
This was messed up. This dream was going to stick with me for hell only knows how long. I would never forget doing this. My stomach churned as I made my peace with those thoughts. I stabbed down with the corkscrew and his hand stopped me.
The smell in the room got worse. I felt like I might throw up if I had to take in another lungful of the damned poisonous air. Wrenching my wrist out of his hand, I moved and pinned his other hand down as I wrestled my way up his body without breathing. He struggled, and if he was just a little bit stronger it might be enough to give him the upper hand. He might have otherworldly powers, but he’s stuck with the physical limitations of his host. I managed to manoeuvre into a sitting position on his chest, and he growled at me as I got ready to do what I must.
“Fucking bitch,” he snapped, his hands grabbing at my waist.
All he’s really doing struggling like that was pushing me closer to his face. I stabbed down, taking the right eye first. Ugh, the sound. I was still holding my breath, so I wouldn’t puke, but that squishy popping sound came incredibly close to pushing me over the edge. The corkscrew went in easy, but pulling it back out was a mother-fucking bitch. Once it popped out, I had to shake the pen-knife like crazy to get rid of the mangled eye. When it dropped off I gave silent thanks that I didn’t have to touch it to push it off the weapon. I put my other hand over my mouth as I did the left, while the demon shook and cursed and foamed at the mouth under me. He was too hurt to do anything about this now. I’d already won.
The corkscrew came back up empty when I pulled it out. The eye didn’t come until I changed the attachment to scissors and speared it a second time. I dropped the weapon with its prize still embedded as the demon’s colour drained from the room. It’s done. I gasped in a breath. The smell was gone. My stomach still felt delicate at the thought of what I’d had to do, but it was done. I could leave. Searching the room, I located the door with the faint blue glow of the dream portal. It’s my exit.
One thing made me pause before I left the room. The couch was vacant now. The sleeping man with the blurred face gone. This had never happened before. The demon’s glow always left when he’d been destroyed, but the room never changed. It’s the setting of a memory. It wasn’t supposed to change. A chill settled over me as I opened the door. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew it meant something. There’s nothing more I could do here. The demon’s gone. I left the dreamscape.
Chapter Four
Waking up to light streaming through the curtains, I realised I’d slept curled up in an awkward position. My neck hurt, my back hurt and moving made me groan. I could thank being dragged into the dreamscape for this. Time passed differently in each one, which always threw me off whenever I woke up. It felt like minutes this time, but it’s apparently ten in the morning now. I must have fallen asleep around midnight. Sounded about right for an average teenager’s sleeping pattern, so I guessed it sort of made sense.
I groaned as my stomach grumbled. I was kind of glad I’d skipped dinner last night, given what I ended up having to do to exorcise this demon, but holy hell, even with that memory stuck in my head now, I could eat a horse.
I stretched, winced some more at how achy my muscles felt, and went through my bag to pull out a change of clothes. A long, hot shower was in order, to relax my aching body. Figured I might as well take my time getting ready. I’d already missed breakfast in the hotel restaurant, so I was going to have to head into town to find something to eat.
By the time I’m wearing my least crumpled jumper and my other jeans, I realised I didn’t actually look like I’d changed clothes since yesterday. Dark fitted tops and worn in jeans were my go-to items. At least they were about a year ago when I last bought a bunch of new stuff.
I sighed as I stepped into my boots. Much as I’d like to go shopping for a new wardrobe, it’s off the cards until I could hold down a job for longer than a month. Probably forty-eight weeks longer than a month, if I was being honest with myself. I did some internal groaning as I pulled on my bomber jacket and stuffed my purse into a pocket. I needed to stick to the essentials. I would buy black trousers and a white shirt while I was out, and a cheap pair of flat ballet pumps. Interview wear that could be used as work-wear. Essential to getting and keeping an actual real-person job. The thought of it made me groan out loud. Maybe I’d feel better about it after I’d eaten.
I walked out of the Starlight towards my car, but before I got the keys out of my pocket I paused. If I drove the thing into the town centre, I’d end up having to fill it. It’s only a ten, or maybe fifteen, minute walk. I eyed the dark clouds above warily and got moving. The rain only started when I was on the high street, choosing my café for a late breakfast. McDonalds would have been cheap, but I was tempted at the thought of a full Scottish in the new place across from the shopping centre’s entrance. The proper cooked breakfast won out in the end, when I was pushed into the decision by the wind picking up and making the rain pelt down hard enough to smart. An icy drop lashed down my collar and made me gasp as it ran down my back. I dashed inside and closed the door behind me.
I was just pulling wet strands of hair out of my face when I saw a familiar cropped blue hairstyle across the room from me. The girl was in a black T-shirt behind the counter, muttering as she stacked napkins into an awkward looking dispenser.
“Piper?” I couldn’t believe it. I’d barely been back a day and this was my second unexpected run-in with an old friend. I moved towards the counter, glad there wasn’t a queue. The few customers in the room were already seated. I caught a whiff of coffee and bacon and my stomach grumbled possessively.
She grinned as she glanced my way. “Tina, you came back! Where have you been?”
“Oh, you know, here and there. Playgirls don’t kiss and tell,” I teased, knowing she would never press me for hard answers. That’s the real difference between close friends and people I just did stuff with. The casual friends cut me some slack. They were so much easier to be around.
She shook her head, making her blue cropped hair bounce. It was a couple of centimetres long when I’d left, and a slightly darker shade of blue. It was still short now, but it hung almost to her chin and had turned more of a royal blue than midnight. “What are you like? Anyway, more important question, what are you doing tonight?”
I could tell by her smile that she had plans that would be amazing while also burning through the last of my cash. Temptation kicked in immediately and with full force. I bit down on my lip. I really couldn’t afford to tell her I didn’t have plans. I released my lip and smiled.
“I might be free. What were you thinking?” As usual, my instinct to be impulsive won out. I supposed I could always sleep in my car, worst comes to worst.
“New night club down the street. Feel like giving it a test run?” Her grin was infectious.
New nightclub? That could be fun.
No, Tina. You need to tell her you’re busy. A night out will only drain your bank account. The voice of my common sense had a point. She also represented the most boring person I’d ever met.
“Sounds fun.” Yeah, I didn’t know why I ever thought I might listen to common sense either. The thought of a night out put a smile on my face that didn’t immediately die, so I was going to assume that meant I’d made the right choice.
“Awesome. Do you have a new number or something? I texted you once a while back and I got one of those ‘who’s this’ replies.”
Oh, yeah. I nodded, and she pushed an order pad towards me, with one of those little pencils that are about the length of a finger.
“Lost my old phone,” I lied as I scratched out my new number, vividly remembering smashing my smart-phone to bits and throwing it into the canal before I left town. I’d bought a cheap pre-paid before I got too far from civilisation. It had been pointless in the hills. No reception. I had no-one to call anyway so it had stayed in my car’s glove box, and I’d just checked it every now and then when I drove into the closest town to buy supplies. It still had most of the original tenner I’d paid into it waiting to be used. What did a girl with no friends really need a phone for anyway?
I passed the order pad back to her and she seemed to suddenly remember where we were. Pointing to the menu on th
e wall behind her, she rolled her eyes. “I’m so rude. You came in for breakfast, right? It’s still on for the next hour. What can I get you?”
I made my choice and enjoyed my breakfast. The rest of the day moved slowly. Buying newspapers and checking around town for job vacancy signs, I wasted the morning finding out all the retail places that didn’t require qualifications or experience wanted part-time staff who were flexible and didn’t have another part-time job.
The afternoon was slightly better spent, which was to say, at least, it felt less depressing. Getting my make-up done and spritzing on perfume before buying the cheapest mascara I could get my hands on, then wandering around the shops to find a bargain interview/work outfit was kind of fun. I tried on some dresses and ended up buying a deep purple one. I wasn’t sure I’d wear it that night, but the colour was so amazing I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t make it mine. Being impulsive could be fun. Especially when I stopped worrying about the boring-ass consequences.
I got back to the hotel and realised I barely had time to eat the sandwich I bought on the way back before I had to get ready for the night out and haul my arse down to Piper’s flat for pre-nightclub drinks.
Sparing ten minutes to fill out the application form for the hotel job was something I had to force myself to do when I reminded myself this night out was going to leave me pretty skint. I tried not to think about how pissed Lucy would be if she knew what I was doing tonight. This was a one-off. I needed it.
I managed to make myself look night out ready in half an hour, mostly because of the make-over I’d gotten in town. Putting on a slinky top and my one pair of heels took minutes. It’s the effort I put into styling my hair that took all the time and practically made me look like a different person. It was the first time since I’d been back home that I started to feel like myself.
Funny how it’s the people who knew me the least who cheered me up the most. I picked up my room key and got moving. Maybe funny was the wrong word. I pushed those thoughts down, they were way too depressing. Tonight was for having a good time. What could possibly go wrong?
Sinners Never Sleep (Seven Deadly Demons Book 1) Page 2