Demon hunting will bring the darkest, most vile creatures to your doorstep. It will endanger the ones you love, create tension and chaos in your world, and force you to make some of the hardest decisions of your life––most of which I would not wish on either of you.
The mantel falls upon the Silver who is not only chosen, but who picks up the weapons and the path they lead to. If I cannot dissuade you from choosing one of life’s harshest, rockiest roads, then you’ll need to arm yourself with much demonology and dark knowledge so you can protect yourselves as well as the innocents.
Because protecting the innocents is what a demon hunter does.
Look around you.
This is my lair.
You might want to start with my journals and then read the Black Book of Demons. That book is special. Do not try to remove it from the lair..
Remember that knowledge is what will save you. Knowledge and practice will keep you and those you love safer, but safer is not safe.
I implore you. Leave this house now. Today. Pack up, take each other’s hands, and run like the wind. Sterling will help you get where you need to go. Pack your bags right now and start a life free of the darkness I have lived with most of my adult life.
And never, ever forget how much I love you all. You mean the world to me and I’ve done everything I can to protect you from the evil walking this world.
Be strong.
Stay in the light.
Keep love and joy in your hearts.
I love you more than you could know––
Mom.
~~~
Denny set the letter down on the desk and lay her cheek on it. She didn’t know how long she lay like that, but when she woke up, Rush was back in the lair with her.
“Come on, lover, it’s time for bed. You can come back here in the morning, but right now, you need a pillow.”
“But––”
“No buts, baby. Right now, I’m the boss of you, per your mama’s orders. Get a move on. We’ll discuss this more in the morning.”
Denny did and was asleep in less than ten seconds.
***
“Can you give me a ride to school?” Pure asked as she bounded up the stairs. She wore barely-there jean shorts and a T-shirt that read. “There’s no Bull about the Bulldogs.”
Denny cut her eyes at the shorts. “After you change into something bigger than a band-aid. Where’s Kristine?”
“Dentist appointment. I could always wait and go later with her.”
Denny nodded before spitting her toothpaste out in the sink. “Uh-uh. Change and I’ll take you. Be ready to go in fifteen.”
Pure looked over Denny’s shoulder at their reflection in the mirror. Their emerald green eyes betrayed their genetic connection. “You okay? You don’t look so hot.”
“A lot on my mind is all.”
“You shoulda never let yourself get sucked into Quick’s head games. Is that what it is? Is he trying to convince you he’s innocent?”
“Nothing that big.” Denny started out of the bathroom.
“You need to go out, Den. It’s not healthy hanging around here all the time. Rush would understand. She’s cool that way.”
“Has she been confiding in you? Because, to be honest, there’s very little Rush is cool about.”
“Not really.”
Denny stopped so fast that Pure ran into her. “I know what not really means. What did she say to you?”
“Not much. She just told me to keep an eye out on you. That’s all. She worries.”
“Well, you both need to stop worrying about me. I’m fine.”
Pushing past Pure, Denny headed downstairs where she grabbed her keys and made for the car. “Goddamn it, Rush, stay out of this. I mean it. This is not your call to make.”
She jumped into the Prius and waited for Rush to appear. She didn’t. “Coward,” she muttered just before Pure got in.
“No need to get all huffy just because people care about you.”
“I’m not huffy. I just don’t need Rush butting in where she isn’t wanted.”
“Ouch.”
They drove the rest of the way to the high school in silence.
Pure yanked her backpack off the floor and quickly flung the door open. “I’ll be home late. I’ve got Forensics.”
Denny grabbed Pure’s wrist. “Whoa. One second here. When did you join the Debate Team?”
“Last week. I thought it would be fun. I told you, but you weren’t really listening. You never really listen anymore.”
“Fun?” Denny shook her head. “I’m twenty-one, Pure, not eighty-one. I’m not stupid. There’s nothing fun about debate. What’s his name?”
A pink blush crept up Pure’s neck.
“Don’t try to hide it, kiddo. It’s all over your face. His name.”
Pure set her backpack on her lap. “His name is Mike.”
“Mike––”
“Cockerton. He’s from California. The Bay Area to be exact.”
“Where did you meet this Mike Cockerton?”
Looking out the passenger window, Pure waved to her group of friends. “We have two classes together.”
“Do you like him, or––”
“There he is. That’s him over there.” Pure pointed.
“Which one?”
“The one wearing the Cal Bears letterman jacket.”
Denny squinted at the short, block-shaped kid who appeared too old to be in high school. He wore muttonchops, had a unibrow, and seemed more like Wolverine from the X-Men than a teenager.
“Why does he wear that? Doesn’t the idiot know we’re in Dog Country?”
Pure put her leg out the door. “Dunno. It’s cool, though. I think he’s super cute, and the rest of the girls are all vying for his attention.”
“Doesn’t it sort of piss people off?” Denny watched as Mike Cockerton slowly peeled from the group and joined Pure’s friends.
“That’s why he’s so cool. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He’s a senior and is going to go back to California as soon as he graduates.”
Denny hadn’t taken her eyes off Mike Cockerton.
“God, Den, why not glare at him a little harder? I really like him and––”
Denny stopped hearing Pure because Mike Cockerton had turned so that he was staring at the car. In the split second their eyes met, Denny felt a wave of nausea flow through her.
“...so you don’t need to worry.”
As Pure got out, Denny grabbed her wrist again so quickly, it surprised them both.
“You have to trust me on this, Pure. That boy is trouble.”
Pure pulled away, but Denny did not let go.
“Fucking A, Golden, let go of me.”
Denny held on. “I mean it. You need to stay away from him. There’s something...not good about him. You don’t know shit about him.”
“And you know this how?” Pure pried Denny’s fingers from her wrist. “Never mind. He’s a nice guy and you haven’t met him. Don’t pre-judge. Leave that role for Sterling. She is way better at it than you.”
“Introduce me, then.”
Pure backed away from the car, her hand on the door. “Uh-uh. Not while you’re being so goddamned judgmental. For once, you’re going to have to trust me, Den.”
Pure slammed the door shut and ran to her group of friends.
Denny’s eyes never left Mike Cockerton. The boy hugged Pure, his eyes once again connecting with Denny’s, as if gloating...as if he’d won.
Then, Denny did something she’d only seen in the movies. She made a V with her fingers, pointed to her eyes, then pointed the V at him.
He surprised her when he gave her the okay sign.
Okay?
Denny shook her head as she watched the kids meander to class.
There was nothing okay about that kid. Nothing at all.
***
Balic knew this act would change everything in regards to the way Americans felt about school security. This
one went way over the line of bad and crossed deeply into the area of pure, unadulterated evil.
But whose fault was that?
Humans simply did not protect those who needed it most: the elderly and children. They shunted the former off to retirement homes and the latter were raised by nannies and overworked schoolteachers. So, how important could they really be?
The elder demon had entered a young man frail in mind and weak in spirit, and convinced him to perform a deed so heinous it would make Charles Manson look like a novice.
Manson.
He had been possessed, and at one point had even admitted to it and yet, the humans did little to discover the veracity of that claim. The Christian-enshrouded Americans believed in holy angels, but not in true possession?
They were beyond stupid. Evil, it seemed, would be allowed to hide beyond their plebian reaches and settle in the shadows of their worst fears.
This young man had lived for so long in the shadows that even his cries for help went unheard until he finally and irrevocably acted. He just needed a gentle shove and Balic was more than willing to assist.
Balic presided over the dozen young demons who were watching his greatest glory from the recent past. They sat in awe of the panic and mayhem he spread that fateful day and how it radiated outward all across the country. They stood in silence as they observed the youth first shoot his mother in the face as simply and as easily as if he had planted a kiss on her cheek.
That, alone, would have been evil enough.
But evil, like taking an antibiotic for too long, is a force humans become immune to. No longer is a brutal murder even enough to get anyone’s attention. Dead soldiers are forgotten too quickly, and even when the demons capsized a boat, the news was not about the dead or those who risked their lives to save those who were drowning, but about the commander who had abandoned ship to escape. All those uplifting stories of heroism were drowned out in the human need of and desire for blame laying.
Humans were preoccupied with that hobby.
Of course, what could one expect from individuals who blamed a woman in a garden with a piece of fruit and a talking snake? Laying blame came second nature to humans..
And that made The Brotherhood’s job that much easier.
They were stupid, humans were.
Turning to watch the scene from the past unfold, Balic knew he deserved his place in the annals of evil. He had managed, with one broken young man, to shake an entire nation to its core and make it tremble in fear. That had not happened since the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
As the young demons watched, one little guy raised his hand. “Sir?”
“Yes, Zar?”
“All of this chaos and damage...from one human. It is amazing one human could affect three million. The humans will never be the same, will they?”
Balic shook his head. “Oh, they gnashed their teeth and pulled their hair, and there was a brief concern over the weapons’ laws, but that was it. They fixated on the weapons, as they always do when these types of crimes are committed, and not on how broken their spirits are. They are simple, stupid creatures who think guns kill people.”
“The weapons, sir?” Zar shook his head. “I don’t understand. The weapons were merely a tool...a tool that can do nothing alone.”
Balic nodded. “Yes, Zar, but the humans would rather examine the tool than their inability to evolve.”
“But sir, if they really wanted to fix it, wouldn’t they work on trying to figure out why so many of them are broken?”
Balic grinned. He liked Zar. He would be a very good addition to The Brotherhood.
“Very good question, Zar. Humans have yet to grasp that evil is hard to perpetrate in a healthy environment. India, the second most populated country, has the second lowest crime rate, even though they have so many poor. We are not there nearly as much as we are in the United States.”
“Who’s the first?”
Balic grinned. “Iceland. Apparently, those people are incredibly well-balanced. I believe only three of us are assigned to the whole of that country.”
“Have you ever been there, sir?”
“I have no desire to go. They are difficult to shove toward evil. There’s more than enough work for me in the United States and Europe.”
Zar pondered this a moment. “I hope I get stationed there...the United States, though even that isn’t a correct label is it, sir?”
“No, Zar, it is not, and you probably will get your wish. Every year they become more unbalanced, more broken. There is much for us to do there.”
Balic let the human tragedy play out for the students, all the while knowing this was just the beginning.
***
Denny made a beeline to the coffee shop after class and sat down at one of the tables. She couldn’t think anyone else to talk to about what was happening to her but Brianna.
Brianna walked from behind the counter with a cup in each hand. “Awake tea latte for you, vanilla latte for me.”
Denny looked up and smiled at her. “Are you always so chipper in the morning?”
“Actually, yes. I am chipper most of the time. Being alive is truly a gift too many take for granted, don’t you think?”
“I’m sure your roommates love that.”
Brianna shrugged. “I live in a...sorority of sorts.”
“Really? Do you like it?”
“I love it. Quiet neighborhood. I’m able to study and do my own thing without any hassles. I have a...like minded sister.”
“Do your own thing with sisters? What kinds of things? Witch things?”
Brianna grinned. “Wiccan and yes.”
“What’s you major?”
“Double major of History and Philosophy. You?”
“Mass Comm.”
Brianna sipped her coffee, her eyes unabashedly surveying Denny. “I know you live at the Holbrook House, but you’re not from the south, are you?”
Denny shook her head. “My family moved here from California when I was six. I fell in love with the ambiance, the trees––”
“The bugs in the summer?”
Denny laughed. “Yeah, that, too.”
A comfortable silence hung between them.
Brianna lowered her voice and asked, “I got the feeling when you called that this isn’t a social visit. What can I help you with?”
Denny set her tea down. She felt bad for giving off such strong antisocial vibes. “Forgive me for just jumping in here, but I don’t have a lot of time. What do you know about demons?”
Brianna didn’t flinch. “Ah. Demons. You think that because I’m a witch, I’d know about all things evil?”
Denny shook her head. “I need a starting place. I thought you might be a good point. I’m sorry if––”
Brianna smiled. “I’m just messin’ with you, Golden. Geez. Lighten up. Of course I know a thing or two about demons. I’m a Wiccan. I know far more about them than you’d want to. What would you like to know?”
“I need an introductory lesson into demons and demonology. The Cliff Notes version. Don’t get too bogged down in the details.”
Brianna glanced at her watch. “I’ll need more than twenty minutes. How about lunch at the river in two hours?”
Denny checked the time. “I need to––”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes. I’ll pick you up here in two.”
“Perfect. See you then.”
After leaving the coffee shop, Denny drove over to Victor’s house. He met her at the door and together, they sat on the porch swing.
“Girl, I knew you’d be comin’ here first. Mama told me it didn’t go so good.”
“Your mother was right. I think I bit off more than I could chew. How was your mama’s visit with Sarah?”
“Yeah, what the hell was that? I thought she was gonna interview Rush?”
“Change of plans. You know how Rush can be. Sarah stepped in to pinch hit for me.”
“Jesus, Denny, you the new poste
r girl for ghost stories?” Victor shook his head. “What you gone do if Sarah gets a spirited woody for you? Them ghosties get all sorta possessive over they live ones.”
“It’s not like that,” Denny said. She explained how everything had gone down, from the meeting with Quick to the conversation with her mother, omitting the discussion about being a demon hunter. She didn’t have enough answers to open that can of worms yet.
When she finished, Victor whistled. “Holy crap, Denny, this is a lot to take in at the moment. I knew Mama was good, but whew-ee.”
She nodded. “I was thinking about going back to Ophelia and––”
“Cross that off your list right now, Denny. Mama said that Sarah was enough to scare her away for good. She don’t want nothin’ to do with them ghosts.”
Denny half-turned. “Sarah wasn’t supposed to scare her.”
“She didn’t. It was what Sarah did...and what she said...about you.”
“Me?”
Victor nodded. “Mama came right over after and she was talkin’ a blue streak about you and all the things Sarah had said about you.” He shook his head. “Ain’t never seen Mama so rattled.”
“What was Sarah saying?”
Victor looked away.
“Victor?”
When he turned back to her, his eyes looked sad. “She a ghost, Denny. She got nothin’ else to do but tell tales and I ain’t buyin’ her bull.”
“What tales, Victor? Come on. What could possibly have scared your mother so much?”
“Accordin’ to Sarah, they’s more to you than meets the eyes. She said she seen it befo’ and that we all should be scairta you.”
“Afraid? Of me? Why?”
Victor shrugged and he struggled to find the right words. “She said somethin’ ‘bout you attractin’ evil and anyone connected with you will eventually find themselves in danger.”
Denny nodded. Now she understood why Ophelia hadn’t contacted her. “That sounds ominous.”
“Scared the crap outta Mama; she tried tellin’ me to ease out of your life, but I ain’t listenin’ to no ghost. Oh hell no.”
“Thank you.” Denny felt sick to her stomach. “I gotta go.”
“You just got here.”
“I know. It’s just...I’ve got a lot on my mind, and this information doesn’t make me feel any better.”
Darkness Descends (The Silver Legacy Book 1) Page 9