Unbound Spirits

by Christine Pope

  “Fuck off,” she said distinctly, wishing there was something stronger than water in the glass she held.

  Daniela chuckled, then went silent as Colin directed an evil glare in her direction.

  A soft touch on Audrey’s arm, and Michael said quietly, “Edgar’s cleaned out the wounds, but I need to pour some holy water on them…just in case. You understand?”

  She nodded. “Is it going to hurt?”

  “Probably.”

  “Do it. Just get it over with.”

  He gave her arm a gentle squeeze, as if to offer what reassurance he could, then drew a glass vial from his jacket pocket. For a second, he hesitated, probably worried about the pain he was about to cause her. Then he tipped the contents of the vial onto the scratches the demon had carved into her right shoulder.

  Oh, God, it was like fire, like acid. The glass of water she was holding slipped out of her hands and fell to the floor, luckily landing on the area rug and not on the Saltillo tile. With both hands, she gripped the edge of the wooden tabletop and felt tears of pain sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto her ruined shirt.

  “Audrey.” Michael’s voice, urgent, next to her ear. “I know it hurts. You have to ride it out. The water is working. It’s cleaning out the demon’s poison. Just let it do its job, and you’ll be okay.”

  Easy for him to say — he wasn’t the one who had trails of glowing coals slashed across his upper back. But because it hurt too much to talk, she only continued to hang on to the table, her teeth gritted, sweat dripping down her brow and mingling with the tears on her cheeks.

  At last, the pain began to subside again. She pulled in a breath, then another, and one more after that, and now the searing agony in her shoulder was dulling down to a throb, and then not much more than a twinge. Voice a harsh whisper, she said, “I think it’s going to be okay.”

  Michael nodded at Edgar, and he stepped forward, then began to tape down an antiseptic pad to cover her wounds.

  Standing off to one side, Daniela said, her tone dubious, “Shouldn’t we take her to the emergency room or urgent care or something?”

  “No,” Michael replied at once. “They wouldn’t be able to do anything more for her than we did here. The wounds have been cleaned out now, so it’s only a matter of giving them time to heal.”

  Listening to this exchange, Audrey felt oddly disconnected, as though they were talking about someone other than herself. In a way, it helped, because she could more easily be detached about what had just happened. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d experienced pain like that, but Michael was right — a hospital couldn’t help her. The supernatural first aid he’d just applied to her wounds would do much more to assist in her healing than any emergency room visit might.

  She cleared her throat and said, “It’s okay — my tetanus booster is up to date.”

  A pause, and then Edgar and Colin both gave an uneasy chuckle, as though they weren’t quite sure what else they should do. Right then, Jackie reappeared with another glass of water and a bottle of generic ibuprofen in her hands. She glanced around, looking curious, but apparently decided it wasn’t worth asking what had just occurred. Instead, she handed the water to Audrey, then opened the bottle and tipped a couple of tablets into her palm.

  “Here you go,” she said, handing the ibuprofen over. “Is there anything else we can do for you?”

  “I think I’m going to be okay,” Audrey replied. And really, it wasn’t as though they had much of a choice. Obviously, the demons were already on the attack, and the only thing to do now was make sure they got banished to the pit of hell where they belonged. A glance over her shoulder told her that her shirt was now only fit to be used as rags. “I’ll need to change before we start filming anything, though.”

  “You should rest — ” Michael began, but she shook her head.

  “No. We need to get this over with.”

  He opened his mouth, clearly about to protest, and Colin overrode him, saying, “That’s the spirit! And she’s right — the sooner we get this infestation handled and on tape, the sooner we can all go home. Right?”

  For a moment, Michael didn’t say anything. He only stood there next to Audrey, gazing down at her, obviously trying his best to gauge her mood…and her determination. At last he gave one small nod, as if confirming for himself what she’d already told him. “Okay. Daniela, you help Audrey out of that shirt. Colin, you and I can walk the grounds and see if any more of those things are hiding anywhere.”

  This prospect didn’t seem very appealing to Edgar and Jackie, both of whom looked shaken and pale. When Edgar spoke, it was in the tones of a man who knew he was in way over his head. “What should Jackie and I do?”

  “You haven’t had any demonic activity in your part of the property, have you?” Michael asked.

  Jackie replied at once, “No. It’s always been quiet there. That’s part of the reason why we had such a hard time at first — we didn’t want to believe anything was wrong here because we’d never witnessed anything for ourselves. But after a month or so of complaints, I finally saw a vase of flowers from the garden rise up into the air and smash on the floor, and I realized people weren’t making these things up.” She waved a hand, as if trying to dismiss her early skepticism that something was terribly wrong at the Thunderbird B&B. “Anyway, our wing doesn’t seem to have been affected.”

  “Then go there and stay there until either I or Audrey lets you know that it’s safe to come out.”

  Edgar crossed his arms. “I don’t feel good about hiding while you do the work.”

  Michael’s expression, which had been downright stern, softened a little. “It’s not about ‘hiding,’ Edgar — it’s about letting the experts handle things. There really isn’t much you could do. You’ll have to trust me on this.”

  A few seconds passed, and then Edgar gave a reluctant nod. “All right. As you said, you’re the experts. But we’ll be here in case you need anything.”

  “And thanks for that.” Michael paused for a moment, surveying everyone else in the room. “All right, people — let’s send these demons back to hell.”

  He didn’t like to let Audrey out of his sight, but Michael told himself that she would be fine, that she’d be back at his side as soon as she’d changed her clothes. In the meantime, he and Colin had work to do.

  “Where the bloody hell is Susan, anyway?” Colin scowled as he and Michael began their sweep of the property, starting with the covered walkway where the demon had been perched. There was certainly no sign of it now, which didn’t necessarily mean anything. “She never showed up for breakfast, but I thought she was just sleeping in. Even if she was asleep, though, that commotion in the courtyard should have brought her running. That scream your girlfriend let out sounded like an air raid siren going off.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” Michael said absently. Most of his energy was being directed toward feeling the air around him, trying to see if he could get any sense of a demonic presence here. Even so, he’d retained enough presence of mind to try to deny there was anything going on between him and Audrey. Of course, there was, but Colin didn’t need to know that. Especially not now.

  “If you say so. But we should go check on Susan. I need her working, not getting her beauty sleep.”

  “I’d just keep filming with your cell phone camera,” Michael suggested. “It’ll make this part of the show seem less staged.”

  “It’s not staged,” Colin retorted.

  “Well, you know that and I know that, but you have to remember how all this will look to the audience at home.”

  This argument seemed to hit its mark, because although Colin made a grumbling sound, he didn’t offer any further protests. And because they had to check out the entire property anyway, Michael figured it couldn’t hurt to go to Susan’s room first.

  At least they didn’t have to worry about smudging the place after all, since it was fairly obvious that the demons were already here…and
on the attack.

  Acutely aware of Colin’s iPhone capturing everything — his producer had pulled it back out of his pocket and now held it up in front of his face — Michael headed for the room that Susan and Daniela were supposed to have been sharing and which Susan now occupied alone, thanks to Daniela quite openly shacking up with Colin. They seemed like an improbable pair, but maybe all either one of them was looking for was a good time…and possibly someone to share their bed so they wouldn’t be alone at night. Even someone as unabashedly enthusiastic about this project as Colin appeared to be might have experienced a few midnight heebie-jeebies after everything they’d seen so far.

  The blinds to Susan’s room were still shut, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Michael hadn’t opened his, either, mostly because he’d gotten distracted by the apparition of the young woman just outside his window.

  Reaching up with one hand, Michael rapped on the door. “Susan? You in there?”

  Dead silence. He glanced over his shoulder at Colin, who made a spinning gesture with the forefinger of his right hand, clearly urging Michael to provide some verbal context for their future television audience.

  “We’re checking on Susan now,” he said to Colin’s cell phone camera. “You all just saw the attack on Audrey — an attack noisy enough to bring us all running to her rescue. She’s fine and will be joining me in a moment, but we realized we hadn’t heard anything from Susan Loomis, our sound person. That’s why we’re here at her room…to make sure she’s okay.” Once again, he knocked on the door. “Susan?”

  Then her voice, so faint Michael could barely hear it through the thick pine door. “Don’t come in. There’s a…a thing standing by the door.”

  Cold rushed down his spine, but he made himself ask calmly, “A demon?”

  “I think so.”

  Michael glanced over at Colin, who gave him a thumbs up and mouthed, Brilliant!

  Of course, this would be brilliant to him. He wasn’t the one trapped in a room with a demon blocking the door.

  There was one vial of holy water left in Michael’s jacket pocket. He had a few more back in Audrey’s room, but he hadn’t realized he would run through them so quickly.

  Well, theoretically, one should be enough.

  “Stay away from the door, Susan,” he said, but left it at that. The last thing he wanted to do was telegraph his intentions to the unholy being guarding the threshold to her room.

  “No worries,” came the reply, and Michael felt his lips twitch a bit. Trust Susan to remain calm no matter what the situation.

  The door was sturdy enough that he didn’t know for sure whether or not he’d be able to break in. Besides, Jackie and Edgar Samuels had already dealt with enough — they didn’t need to add a ruined door to the tally of damage caused by the demons. No, Michael had something less messy in mind.

  He got out his lock picks and bent toward the key hole, Colin’s cell phone tracking his every movement. Luckily, the doors here still had old-fashioned locks and not the electronic kind found in most modern hotels. It only took a second or two for him to lift the tumblers out of the way and disengage the lock. He paused to look back at Colin and gave a slow nod, indicating that he was about to go in.

  His producer wore a shit-eating grin and gave another thumbs up gesture.

  All right. Time to do this.

  Michael put away the lock picks, trading them for his remaining vial of holy water. Then he pushed the door inward.

  At once, something screeched toward his head, the sharp, thin sound tearing at his ears. He ducked and caught a quick glimpse of Susan flattened against the far wall, while a dark form about the same size as the demon that had attacked Audrey paused in midair, wheeled, and came back toward him.

  He’d been waiting for a maneuver like that. Lightning fast, he splashed some of the holy water on the creature, catching it mid-flight. It howled in pain and anger, the light from the open doorway showing how the demon’s dark flesh smoked where the water had hit it. However, the blessed liquid didn’t seem to be enough to stop the creature, because it came at him again, red eyes blazing with fury, clawed hands outstretched.

  Another splash of holy water, and it screamed once more, screamed so loudly that across the room, Susan let out a startled gasp. Sensing he now had the upper hand, Michael intoned,

  “The light of God surrounds me;

  The love of God enfolds me;

  The presence of God watches over me;

  Wherever I am, God is!”

  And with one last screech, the demon flashed out of existence while still in flight. The silence that followed its departure was so intense, Michael’s ears rang at the contrast.

  Then he looked over at Susan. She was still flattened against the far wall of her room, face pale with shock.

  “Did it hurt you?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No. I was just about to come out and meet you all for breakfast when suddenly that thing popped into existence right there above the door. Since my cell phone was on the table” — she pointed to a small round table and set of two chairs by the window — “I couldn’t even call for help.”

  “Well, luckily, we were wondering where you were, so your room was our first stop on a sweep of the property,” Michael said. Even as he spoke, though, he wondered why the demon had singled out Susan of everyone in their little group. Because she had been on her own, and they were easier to attack when they were alone or even in small groups?

  The thought was enough to get his pulse speeding up from worry. Audrey could handle a lot of things, but if she had been attacked again —

  “We need to check on everyone else,” he said quickly, not giving Susan a chance to speak. “Let’s get out of here and make sure Daniela and Audrey are okay.”

  Since it was Susan, she didn’t argue or waste time with questions. A brief, brisk nod, and she was following Michael out of the room, Colin bringing up the rear, still with his cell phone camera recording everything. Hopefully, it had started out with a full charge this morning.

  But they didn’t even make it all the way to Audrey’s room before they saw her and Daniela approaching, Audrey with her hair brushed and her makeup repaired, and wearing a wine-colored leather jacket. Probably the jacket was too hot for the mild Tucson weather, but then again, the leather would offer some protection against demons that the cotton shirt she’d been wearing earlier wouldn’t.

  As soon as her eyes met Michael’s, Audrey’s brows creased with concern. “Is everything okay?”

  “It is now,” Susan said. “These two just rescued me from a demon that decided to take up residence in my room.”

  Audrey looked shocked, and Daniela muttered something in Spanish that probably would end up getting bleeped out. “What was it doing?” Audrey asked.

  “Blocking the door.” Susan ran a hand through her fair hair; for the first time, Michael realized it was falling down loose on her shoulders rather than pulled back into a ponytail the way she usually wore it. Maybe she’d been about to put it up when the demon appeared. “I don’t know why.”

  Often, what went on in a demon’s mind was inscrutable at best. Michael addressed the whole group then, saying, “I don’t know what its other intentions were, but I think it was trying to keep us split up if possible. Makes sense — there’s strength in numbers. So we all need to stay together as we go over the property. Audrey, I’ll need to get more holy water. It’s in the bag I left in your room.”

  He spoke matter-of-factly, but from the way Daniela’s mouth pursed and Susan sent a quick, speculative glance at the two of them, it was fairly obvious that the two women had immediately picked up the context behind the request. Luckily, he couldn’t see much of Colin’s expression, since his face was partially blocked by his phone.

  Although the bright morning sunlight picked up a flush of color on Audrey’s cheeks, she responded without missing a beat. “Sure. I think it’s still sitting on the floor by the dresser.”

&
nbsp; Without saying anything else, she turned back toward her room, with everyone else following. Michael wished he could go up and walk beside her, but he thought it prudent to stay where he was and allow Daniela to stay at Audrey’s side.

  And I’ll be glad when this damn show is over, he thought, and I don’t have to hide anything from anyone.

  Not that they’d been doing all that great a job of hiding anything, when you got right down to it.

  As they approached the door to Audrey’s room, however, several black figures blotted out the sun for a moment. As Michael looked heavenward, he realized those figures were anything but heavenly.

  “There are more of them!” he shouted. “Take cover!”

  Unfortunately, his words didn’t seem to have much effect. Daniela raised her hands over her head, as if thinking that would help to protect her in some way, and bolted for the dubious cover of the walkway. Susan didn’t move at all, while Colin continued to record the scene with his phone.

  And there was Audrey at his side, face taut with worry but showing no signs of panic. “Should I try for the water?” she asked.

  “No, there’s no time,” he replied. Even if there had been, he worried this might all have been a trap, that there might be more of the creatures waiting for them inside her room.

  And, just as he had said, there was no time. The demons dived for them, claws outstretched. Michael wasn’t quite sure how she did it, but suddenly, Audrey had wriggled out of her leather jacket and was using it like a flail, swinging it this way and that. One blow caught a demon across the midsection and sent it tumbling for a good ten seconds before it recovered itself. Another whip of the jacket, and it hit a second demon right between the eyes.

  Where she’d learned how to do that, he had no idea. But, resourceful as she was, he knew she wouldn’t be able to hold them off for much longer, not with more demons popping into existence to join their fellows. He could use the prayer to hold them back, but they needed a more permanent solution, one that would send the demons packing once and for all.