When Evil Comes to Play

by B. L. Brunnemer

  Her frown disappeared. “Where are you?”

  “Saint Joseph’s in Boulder, Colorado. It’s in the States,” I said.

  She nodded. “I’ll send the best to help you.”

  “There’s also another thing.” I explained to him what happened on the plane, how I jumped into Isaac’s center.

  She was rubbing the bridge of her nose when she was done. “That is not great.” Her hand dropped. “It’s interesting that you can do it, but that is extremely dangerous. Especially with a demon possessing your friend. If you do it again, that demon can get to you. It could shift to you.”

  I nodded.

  She tilted her head. “Then again, the energy in someone's center works like the Veil, and you can get to that demon too.” I raised an eyebrow. Interesting. She shook her head, her eyes focusing on me again. “Nevermind, forget about that. Just… don’t do it again unless your friend is… getting weaker. And be careful. Demons like this will eat your soul if they get a chance.”

  “Well, shit,” I grumbled.

  She met my eyes. “I’m sending help. Get your ass back there.”

  “Got it.” I closed my eyes and pulled myself back out.

  It took a moment for me to get my bearings and then I was out the door and heading back into the cafeteria. Francis was on the phone a few feet away.

  “What did I miss?” I asked.

  “He explained the options for Isaac in more detail,” Miles answered before changing the subject. “I talked to Rory. He’ll back up the twin’s cover story to their mom.”

  I nodded. “And Zeke? Asher?” I looked at them.

  “Already done,” Zeke announced. “Sylvie thinks I’m crashing at Miles’ for a while.”

  “My dad doesn’t give a damn,” Asher explained. Well, that covered everyone.

  Francis came back. “I couldn’t get through to them,” he announced. “We need that name.” Everyone got to their feet and followed Francis downstairs to Isaac’s room.

  We had just reached the door when Francis’s phone went off.

  “Hello?” the priest answered. His face grew pale as he straightened. “Yes, sir.”

  His eyes found me as he listened to whoever was on the line. “Understood. We look forward to their arrival.” Francis hung up and eyed me for a second before turning to the rest of the group. “Well, that was our… higher ups. They’re sending their best team to come help with Isaac. But they are going to be a couple of days.”

  “A couple of days?” Ethan snapped.

  “Yes, they have to move slowly for one of their member’s health,” he explained. “In the meantime, we’ll try to get the demon to talk. It’ll distract the demon from Isaac and buy him time.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Asher asked.

  Francis sighed. “Each of you will go into the room with the demon alone. It will either start talking to you or it won’t. Then you’ll come out and the next will go in.”

  “It’s rather straightforward,” Craig told us as he came out into the hall. “The demon wants to torment you, taunt you. It will help us decide who will sit with Isaac.”

  “Who will begin?” Francis asked. I was about to step forward when Ethan headed for the door.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Ethan bit out as he jerked the door open. Craig and Father Francis followed. The door closed behind them and tense silence fell.

  I crossed my arms and chewed the corner of my lower lip. Zeke began pacing. Asher began massaging the back of his neck as Miles began tapping his fingers against his thigh in a staccato rhythm. Zeke continued pacing the width of the hall. My eyes unfocused on the floor. Why did Francis look at me that way? Who was on the other end of that call? Did... Zahur have anything to do with it? It hit me. I really didn't know that much about Zahur. Shit.

  It was five minutes before Ethan came out cursing under his breath. “Next!” He walked further down the hallway, taking deep breaths. Asher was at the door before I could go. After the door closed, I went to Ethan and put my hands on his shoulders.

  “That is not my brother.” His voice cracked.

  I wrapped my arms around his waist, rested my cheek just above his shoulder blades and hugged him. “No, it’s not. But we’ll get him back.” Even if I had to die trying. We were not going to lose Isaac.

  He held my arms to him and squeezed me back. We stood that way for several long minutes while he got himself under control. When he patted my arms, I let go. We walked back to the others and waited in silence.

  It was a few more minutes of waiting before the door opened and Asher came out. This time I made it to the door before anyone else.

  Francis and Craig were at the two-way mirror. I stopped with my hand on the handle to Isaac’s room. “Anything it says does not get repeated or leave this room,” I told them. They turned to me, each wearing looks of surprise. “Right?”

  “Of course,” Francis said. I met Craig’s eyes.

  “Naturally,” Craig offered. He handed me a small mic and a battery pack. Right, they needed to listen. I took a deep breath and walked into the room with the demon.

  It smiled at me. I walked to the end of the bed, crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

  “Ah, Red… so much to talk about,” he said, his voice low. Fine, it was going to talk to me.

  “Oh, really?” I said with sarcasm.

  He giggled. “I see the way you feel for your friends,” he taunted, his smiling growing bigger. “Naughty, naughty, naughty.”

  I said nothing.

  “You’re a bad girl for feeling this way for all of them,” he continued.

  I tilted my head to the side and smiled my not so pleasant smile. “Well, then I’m a bad girl.” There was no way I was going to let this shit from hell try and make me feel bad for loving my guys. I knew who I was, and I sure as hell could own my shit.

  “You agree?” he asked, perplexed, his smile disappearing.

  “Yeah, sure.” I shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  His smile came back. “Oh, we’re going to have a good time.”

  I rolled my eyes and walked back out of the room. Craig and Francis looked at me with questions in their eyes.

  “So, I take it that’s what you’re looking for?” I asked without emotion as I handed back the microphone.

  “Yes, it is,” Craig admitted. his eyes running over me.

  “Good, I’ll send in the next one.” I turned and left the room and their judging eyes. The guys turned around. “Next.”

  I stepped out and moved to lean against the wall of the hallway next to Asher. “It talked.”

  "It didn't say a word to me," Asher muttered.

  "Lucky." I looked up from the floor to meet Ethan's gaze. We shared a look full of secrets.

  Zeke started for the door.

  “Wait, let’s go together,” Miles suggested as he moved to the door. Zeke didn’t say a word as they went in.

  “What did it say?” Asher asked softly.

  “Personal stuff,” I hedged. He didn’t ask again. We waited in silence.

  It was eight minutes later when Miles and Zeke came out. Zeke’s jaw was clenched, his eyes burning.

  “It didn’t talk to either of us,” Miles announced. Surprised, I pushed away from the wall as Craig and Francis came out the door.

  “It only spoke to two of you,” Francis announced. “I hate to say this, but we’re going to need one of you in that room at all times.”

  “We want it to talk, so you’re going to have to talk to it,” Craig explained. “The more it talks, the bigger chance it has of making a slip. Also, the more you distract him the less time he’s wearing down Isaac.” Francis came to stand next to me and Ethan.

  “It will want to keep the power in the conversation. It wants control so it can hurt everyone around Isaac,” Francis warned. “Be prepared for it to play games with you. You cannot react emotionally. Otherwise, you give the demon exactly what it wants, and it has no reason to talk.”
He looked at both of us. “Do you understand?” Ethan and I both nodded. A small flame sparked in my heart.

  “I’ll go in and set up the recording equipment,” Craig told us before going back into the room.

  I checked the time. It was almost midnight “I’ll take the first shift,” I announced.

  “Beautiful…” Ethan looked at me. “No.”

  I met Ethan’s eyes. “Ethan. I got this. You take a shift during the day, I’ll take at night.”

  “We’re going to have to split up,” Miles announced. “One of us with them at all times.” Miles turned to Asher and Zeke. “We need to make sure they eat, sleep, and take care of themselves. Right?”

  “Right. I’ll take Ethan,” Asher said.

  “I’ll take Lexie,” Miles agreed.

  “I’ll run between both and take care of Hades,” Zeke stated.

  “Tomorrow we’ll change it up so everyone gets enough rest,” Miles told them. They nodded.

  Ethan was still looking into my eyes. “Lexie…”

  “It’ll get tired by the time you come in. It probably won’t be great, but it should be better,” I explained.

  “He’s my brother,” Ethan reminded me.

  I stepped closer and put my hand on his chest. “That’s why I’m going first.” His hand came up and held mine against him. “This is what we’re doing.”

  Ethan took a shaky breath. “Okay.”

  I pulled away and looked up at Asher. “Take care of him.”

  Asher nodded, his face somber.

  “Be careful, Lexie,” Miles warned.

  “Promise,” I replied. I turned and headed for the door. As I started to walk past Zeke, his arm shot out, stopping me. I looked up and met struggling blue eyes. Poor Tough Guy. Ethan and I were going to walk in there to get torn apart and all he could do was wait. Zeke was going to be in his own hell.

  I gave him a smirk and winked. He let out the breath he was holding then dropped his arm. I gave his arm a squeeze as I walked by.

  I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. Okay. I’m going to go get a demon to talk. It liked games, it wanted to hurt me. A wicked idea slipped through my mind. I grinned. Oh, this should be interesting.

  “Lexie? Are you ready?” Craig asked as he sat at a laptop on a small desk.

  “Yeah.”

  He got to his feet and held up the small microphone again. “This is how I’ll hear you,” he explained as he pinned it to the inside of my neckline. “I’ll be the only one listening.”

  I nodded, my mind still running over my idea. Once he got the microphone clipped on he handed me the battery pack. I slipped that into my pocket.

  Craig eyed me. “It’s not going to be easy.”

  I snorted. “Nothing in life worth doing ever is.” I didn’t bother to wait around for him to answer. I opened the door and walked through.

  The head of Isaac’s bed was raised so he was almost sitting up. His red eyes were on me, his smile growing with every step I took toward him. Hades was still sitting directly in front of him, his face only inches from the demon. What was he doing? I strolled to the folding chair that sat to the left of the bed and sat down. Making a point, I stretched my legs out, crossed my ankles and then crossed my arms over my chest. Once I got comfy, I met those crimson eyes. Then I said nothing. Because what is the worst thing you can do to a demon who wants to tear into you and control the conversation? Ignore it and not say a word.

  I sat there, relaxed, as the minutes ticked by. Its smile went away. I still said nothing.

  It locked its jaw, its eyes becoming sharp. Still I said nothing. In fact, I was counting seconds in my head.

  At fourteen minutes, it broke.

  “So, tell me. How was kissing Isaac? And Asher? And Zeke?” Here we go.

  Chapter 14

  Early Friday Morning

  Zeke

  I sat on the floor outside in the hall and watched the door. Stupid fucking moron. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the stone wall. Miles and the priest had lied. They had lied for me. The demon had talked to me. Somehow it knew my worst memories and tried to taunt me with them. Francis, Craig and the other Templars had been amazed at how vehemently it went after me. Shit, they had yanked me out of the room after three sentences from the thing.

  “We can’t allow someone with this much trauma to spend so much time with a demon,” Francis had told us. “The damage it can cause… the records show thousands of people with traumatic pasts have killed themselves after putting themselves in this situation.”

  I opened my eyes and looked at the door again. Lexie was in there, right now, being torn apart. I gritted my teeth and slammed my head against the stone. And I’m sitting out here…

  This was beyond fucked up.

  I checked the time. Four thirty in the morning. She’d been in there for four hours. Trying to distract myself, I looked down the empty hallway. Asher had taken Ethan off to eat hours ago. Each of us had a room to sleep in, though Asher was crashing on the floor in Ethan’s tonight. One of the Templars had driven Miles to a store to buy everyone a few days worth of clothes. It wasn’t as if we came prepared.

  I checked the time again. Four thirty-five. Fuck. Needing to see that she was okay, I moved to my feet and walked into the small, dim observation room. Isaac’s mouth was talking, but I couldn’t hear anything. Hades was still, watching the demon intently.

  I turned to the Templars. Craig was at a desk with a laptop and had headphones on. He looked up in surprise.

  Walking over I asked, “How’s she holding up?”

  Craig sighed, took off one earbud and looked up at me. “So far? That girl is solid as a rock.”

  “What’s it saying?” I demanded.

  “Same thing it did to you. It’s bringing up her bad memories, taunting her with them.” Craig shook his head. “She’s damn good at this.”

  “What?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  He pointed at Lexie through the window. “That thing is fishing for a reaction and she’s giving him nothing. She’s not playing his game, she has all the control right now. She’s a natural.”

  “That’s my girl,” I muttered under my breath as I watched her. If anyone could annoy the fuck out of a demon, it was Lexie.

  “Though, we didn’t realize how much trauma she’s experienced,” Craig stated. “If she hadn’t had therapy then we’d be yanking her out.”

  “How the fuck do you know that?” I growled.

  Craig looked up at me and tapped his earbud. “Like I said, it’s fishing, casting a wide net trying to find what hurts.” He turned back to the laptop. “As it is, I’m going to have to station a Templar in her room when she goes to sleep.”

  My temper snapped. “The fuck you will.”

  Craig met my eyes. “I don’t have a choice,” he told me. “If I don’t and she hurts herself, I have to live with that.”

  I shook my head. Lexie would never be able to sleep with some asshole she didn’t know in her room. “One of us will stay with her.”

  “Is she going to go for that?” he asked, typing something into the computer.

  “She’ll be fine,” I stated simply before turning and walking out of the room. Craig was listening to every dark secret of hers, every traumatic memory. I didn’t know how she was dealing with that. I sat back down in the hallway and checked the time. Four forty. It was going to be a long night.

  Lexie

  The demon kept droning on, and on, and on. And he was zeroing in on my fears and what hurt. I was hoping it would take longer. I started to feel beaten and bruised. I’d live, but Isaac… I was worried about him. His face was even paler than before, his skin clammy and shining under the lights. An odd rattle started coming from his chest every time he breathed.

  “Do you want to hear about what you’ll become?” it asked. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. 7:32 a.m. Where was Ethan? I needed to hold out a little longer.

  “Do you know why
Necromancers are usually killed?” it asked cheerfully. When I didn’t answer it didn’t faze it. “It’s their connection to the dead. They have one foot in this world and one foot out.” It tilted its head to the side and grinned. “That foot that’s out is always pulling the rest of you into the dark. Necromancers love death. They enjoy being surrounded by it.” I took a breath and let it out as I tried not to let him get to me. “You’ll end up like everyone else has; killing to have more dead under your command.”

  Yeah, I was a real fan of the decaying and rotting crowd. Well, I was - as long as it was in a movie.

  “That darkness will build and grow inside you, that fascination with the dead,” he said, “until it touches everything about you, and everyone in your life.”

  The door to the room opened and I looked over my shoulder. Craig gave me the cut gesture.

  I turned back to the demon and smiled. “That will be all for our session. I’ll see you next week. Please pay your copay at the front desk,” I said in a cheerful voice. It growled at me as I got to my feet and walked out. Hades didn’t even budge from his spot.

  In the dim observation room, I groaned loudly and rubbed my hands down my face. “That thing can talk! We should call it the Jabberer.”

  Craig chuckled as he took the microphone off me. “You did amazing in there,” he announced. “You shattered the old record of three hours. You managed just over seven and a half hours with a demon.”

  “Think I can sell the movie rights?” I asked, my voice raspy.

  He chuckled again as I handed him the battery pack. “Not really. But go get some sleep. Ethan is outside and so is my replacement for the day. And, uh, there’s a situation out in the hallway for you.”

  Not wanting to ask, I opened the door and looked out. The souls of the dead filled the hallway almost wall to wall. I stumbled in the doorway as their energy hit me. My beads began to heat against my skin. The guys seemed to know something was wrong; the corridor was freezing, their breath steaming as they exhaled. The guys turned to me.

  Miles was the first to speak up. “Lexie, is there—”