Demon Frenzy (Demon Frenzy Series Book 1)

by Harvey Click

  Jake got up from his seat and said, “That’s true. It was coming straight at me, and Mary saved my life.”

  Neoma banged her gavel and said, “Sit down, Jake. You can speak when it’s your turn.”

  He sat down, and Neoma asked, “Mary, do you have anything more to say in your defense?”

  “I guess I don’t,” Amy said.

  “Very well, does anyone else have any evidence to give one way or the other?” Neoma asked.

  Jake got up again and said, “It’s like I said, the demon was coming at me, not Mary. She saved my life and I sure as hell ain’t gonna vote against her.”

  “Anyone else?” Neoma asked.

  Bloody Joe stood up and said, “This cheap shit from China is no better than horse piss. The demons just laugh at this watered-down crap. That’s why the demon attacked, it don’t have anything to do with Mary.”

  Nyx stood and said, “That don’t say nothing about what attracted it here. Crappy protection bags don’t attract demons—she attracts them and if we don’t do something about it we’re all gonna get killed.”

  Neoma banged her gavel and said, “Sit down. You’ve already had your say. Does anyone else have any evidence?”

  Manda stood and said, “I know why the demon found our camp, and it has nothing to do with Mary. The demons’ territory is expanding. When we first arrived here, their range was confined to a radius of no more than about ten miles from Sandoval’s house. This is because his power over them wanes as they get farther away, so he didn’t allow them to roam very far. But his power over them has been increasing, so he’s been letting them roam farther. Most likely his power increases after every sacrifice, and lately there’ve been reports of them more than twenty-five miles from his house. People living way out in the sticks come into Shane’s bar and talk about seeing some strange creature out in their barn or down in a holler. His last report had someone who lives more than twenty-five miles from the Phillips house saying a demon killed some of his hogs—and that was before the last sacrifice, which has probably increased Sandoval’s power even more. So this compound is located about thirty miles away from Sandoval’s house, as the crow flies, and I believe we’re now within the demons’ roaming range. That means the northwest end of the property is most vulnerable, since that’s the part closest to Sandoval, and that’s where the herky-jerky showed up last night.”

  Manda sat down, and Neoma said, “Does anyone else have evidence to offer?” No one did, so she said, “The jury will now decide if Mary is guilty of attracting demons. Nyx, you’re not part of the jury since you brought the charges, so you will remain seated. If any jury members wish to confer, they may step outside at this time.”

  No one got up, so Neoma said, “Very well. Members of the jury, please stand. If you believe Mary is innocent please move to my right. If you believe she’s guilty, move to my left.”

  John and Jake were in such a hurry to move that they both managed to knock over their folding chairs, but somehow Bloody Joe was already standing on Neoma’s right side with his arms solemnly folded by the time they got there. Manda, Brook, and Leo were the next to arrive, and then everyone except Siliang, who sat in his chair for a full minute with an inscrutable expression before standing up and joining them.

  “Mary, the jury finds you innocent of all charges,” Neoma said. “Court is not yet adjourned, so please return to your seats. Red will preside as judge for the next trial because I’m the one who’s bringing charges.”

  She stood up and handed her gavel to Red, who sat down at the card table. When everyone was seated he banged his gavel a couple times and said, “Nyx, approach the bench and face the jury.”

  Nyx got up and stood beside the card table. Her face was ordinarily pale, but now it looked ashen, and her lower lip trembled as she scowled at the jury.

  “Milady has brought charges against Nyx,” Red said. “Milady, please come forward, face the jury, and state your charges.”

  Neoma came up and said, “I charge that, without provocation, Nyx has physically attacked one of our members. Over the past several days I’ve been warned by several members that she has, for whatever reason, developed a special hatred for Mary. For what it’s worth, none of these warnings came from Mary herself, who hasn’t complained in any way to me about Nyx. Today I decided to investigate this matter, so shortly before two o’clock I concealed myself behind a tree near the knife-throwing area. When Mary arrived for her lesson, Nyx immediately accused her of a number of things, which I recorded on my phone. Do I have the court’s permission to play the recording?”

  “Go ahead,” Red said.

  Neoma pulled her cellphone from her shirt pocket, and for the next couple minutes the jury heard Nyx’s entire rant, including the bit about how the missus “likes the way you lick her pussy.” By the time the recording finished playing, Nyx was trembling all over and squirming like a child who needed to pee.

  “Do you have any more evidence to offer the court?” Red asked after Neoma described the knife attack.

  “Just Mary’s wounds,” Neoma said, “if the court will allow her to come forward and show them.”

  Red told Amy to come forward, and when she did he asked, “Does anyone in the jury want her to remove her bandages or lift her shirt to show her wounds better?” Nobody did, so he told her to sit down.

  “If you don’t have anything more to say, you may stand down,” he told Neoma. “Nyx, what do you have to say in your defense?”

  “This is a load of shit and everybody knows it,” Nyx said. “Neoma is the big boss here, so if she charges you with something, then there’s really no point in having a trial because your ass is already grass, know what I mean? Think about it—today it’s me but tomorrow it’s probably gonna be you. How many of you want to be standing up here tomorrow just because the boss decides she don’t like you? As for that shit on the recording, it don’t even sound like me, and all of you know that. And all of you know that if I wanted to hurt someone with my knives I could do it with one quick throw and there wouldn’t be anything left to do but the clean-up. You’ve seen me throw my knives and you know that. There wouldn’t be little nicks and scratches everywhere, there’d be one big fucking wound that you couldn’t cover up with all the Band-Aids in the world. Mary knew I was gonna blow the whistle on her for attracting demons and getting Scotty killed, so she scratched herself up a little bit and went whining for a trial.”

  “The court will remind you that Mary isn’t the one who brought the charges,” Red said. “Milady brought them.”

  “Well, we all know how that shit works, don’t we?” Nyx said. “You scratch my ass and I’ll scratch yours.”

  “Nyx, do you have anything more to say in your defense?” Red asked.

  “What good would it do?” she said.

  “Okay then, does anyone else have any evidence?” he asked.

  Bloody Joe stood up and said, “Let’s get this over with and get out of this goddamn barn before we all burn up.”

  Red banged his gavel so hard that he dented the top of the card table. “I asked for evidence, not complaints about the weather. Does anyone else have any evidence?” Nobody did, so he said, “Okay then, Milady and Mary, you’re not part of the jury. Everybody else, move to my left if you think she’s guilty, move to my right if you think she’s innocent.”

  Everybody got up and moved to his left except Siliang, who sat in his chair with a blank expression for at least a minute before joining them.

  “All right, there you have it,” Red said. “Nyx, you’re guilty as charged. As for your punishment, I’ll give everybody five minutes to talk it over. Mary, since you’re the injured party, you should get in on this too. You too, Milady, but as judge I’ll keep out of it.”

  “I got one thing to say to you people,” Nyx said. “This is a bullshit kangaroo court, and you all know it. What’s happening to me today is gonna happen to you tomorrow, so you think about that while you’re dreaming up punishments.” />
  Red banged his gavel and said, “Shut up and go sit down there in the back of the barn until your punishment is decided.”

  Nyx went to the back of the barn and sat fidgeting on a bale of straw while the others pulled their chairs into a circle.

  “Expulsion,” Leo said. “Expel the infidel from your midst.”

  “We can’t afford to lose her,” Neoma said. “She’s very good with knives and has some other valuable skills. She and I have fought side by side before, and I have no complaints. She’s a ferocious fighter, and she hates the Lost Society with all her heart because they killed everyone in her family. She’s always had a bad attitude, but right now we’re better off with her inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in.”

  “But she’s not pissing out,” Bloody Joe said. “She’s pissing all over the goddamn tent.”

  “How about a good flogging?” Lucky said. “Strip her naked and let Mary whip the piss ‘n’ sass out of her. That’ll teach her some table manners.”

  “I don’t want to whip her,” Amy said. “What good will that do? She already hates me, that’ll just make her hate me more.”

  “Let’s be merciful,” Brook said. “Mercy breeds kindness and understanding. I say we require her to apologize to both of you, and then she should sit down and talk with each of you one by one until she comes to grips with her hostility. I can act as a referee or counselor if you wish.”

  “Bullshit,” Bloody Joe said. “You ever try to talk to that woman?”

  “I agree with Brook,” Manda said. “She has a big chip on her shoulder, and it benefits all of us if we can help her get rid of it. She should talk first with the two of you and explain why she resents you, and then she should talk to every one of us individually. I think that all of us together can straighten her out.”

  Siliang cleared his throat and said, “There once was a king who was very fond of sword fighting. He invited more than three thousand of the best sword fighters in his kingdom to be his guests, and he watched them fight every day. More than a hundred of the swordsmen died or were badly wounded each year, and after three years of this the king’s son saw that the kingdom was falling to ruin because of this constant fighting, so he called on Zhuangzi to change the king’s mind and put an end to the carnage. Zhuangzi met with the king and offered to demonstrate his own skill with the sword against the best of the king’s men, and so the king tested his swordsmen to find the best among them, and over the course of one week more than sixty of them were killed or badly wounded. The king then selected six of his best swordsmen and brought them to his palace to fight Zhuangzi. He asked Zhuangzi what kind of sword he would use to fight these men, and—”

  Red banged his gavel and said, “Your five minutes are up. Have you guys decided on a punishment yet?”

  “We have, your honor,” Neoma said.

  “Okay then, approach the bench,” Red said. “You too, Nyx.”

  Neoma approached the card table and said, “We’ve decided that for the next three nights Nyx will assist Mary on her patrols. She must obey Mary in every respect, and Mary will decide whether or not she’s allowed to carry any weapons. This doesn’t relieve Nyx of her ordinary second-shift patrols, so we recommend that she wear comfortable shoes.”

  “Of all the fucking shit!” Nyx yelled. “You know she’s gonna kill me out there!”

  Red banged his gavel and said, “Shut up. This court is now adjourned.”

  Chapter 13

  Amy spent the rest of the afternoon practicing spirit-travel in Neoma’s bedroom, making protection bags in the barn, and helping Bloody Joe and some others hang them before dinner, putting up an especially large number in the northwest corner where Manda had said the demons were most likely to show up. During all of this time, except when she was spirit-traveling, her mind was churning over the problem of how to handle tonight’s patrol with Nyx.

  She believed she understood Neoma’s reasoning for this punishment: if she and Nyx were going to kill each other, it was better that they do it now instead of during the attack on Sandoval. Since she could deny Nyx any weapons, Amy should be safe and would even have the opportunity to kill Nyx if she desired, and surely this must be part of Neoma’s reasoning as well. Maybe Neoma figured that Amy knew better than anyone else at the camp whether Nyx was more of a threat than an asset and was allowing her to be judge, jury, and executioner.

  But of course Amy couldn’t execute anyone in cold blood, and probably Neoma knew that too, so how exactly would this punishment solve anything?

  As 8:00 p.m. approached she grew more anxious and had little appetite for dinner. When Neoma was finished eating she followed Amy to the bathroom to help her reapply ointment.

  “Tonight you’ll patrol sector four,” Neoma said. “It begins at the driveway and goes south and then west to the no-trespassing sign with red letters. Red will meet you at the driveway a few minutes before 8:00 to take Nyx’s weapons and frisk her.”

  “Why sector four?” Amy asked.

  “Because it’s the farthest from sector two, where Scotty got killed.”

  “So you still think I’m attracting demons?”

  “No, but this will test Manda’s theory. If a demon shows up at the far northwest corner again, like she predicts, and you’re way over on the southeast side, then there won’t be any doubt in anybody’s mind that she’s right.”

  “So who’s patrolling sector two?”

  “Leo and Siliang. They’ll have to work a longer shift since I’m doubling the guard over there, but they’re not complaining because they’re both itching to kill demons. So are Bloody Joe and Lucky, so they’ll take over halfway through the second shift. Brook will be patrolling sector one, where you were last night, and Jake will be doing sector three.”

  Amy met Red at the front of the driveway, but Nyx wasn’t there. Red looked at his watch and said, “She has two minutes.”

  In exactly two minutes Nyx could be seen moseying up the driveway toward them at probably the slowest pace she could move.

  “Get a move on,” Red said. “It’s already eight o’clock.”

  “Fuck you, judge,” Nyx said. “Court’s no longer in session.”

  As she moseyed closer, Amy saw that she had her twelve knives sheathed across her chest, a sword scabbarded at her right side, and a very large revolver holstered at her left side. For some reason which she herself didn’t understand, Amy said, “Just take her gun and frisk her to make sure she doesn’t have another one tucked away somewhere.”

  “You sure about that?” Red asked.

  Amy wasn’t, but she nodded yes.

  Nyx smirked as she unbuckled her holster. Red laid it on the ground and began to frisk her.

  “Keep your fucking hands away from my pussy, you cornpone cretin,” Nyx said.

  “She’s clean,” Red said. “Well no, I doubt she’s had a shower anytime recently, but at least she doesn’t have any more guns.”

  “Okay, let’s get moving,” Amy said. “You walk in front.”

  “Want to look at my ass, do you?” Nyx said, and she set off moseying south very slowly.

  “Speed it up,” Amy said.

  Nyx shook her ass like a pole dancer and slowed down. “You like that?” she said. “It’s not as fat as the missus’ ass, but I keep it cleaner.”

  “I said, snap it up.”

  “Screw you, I’m not running any races here. If I’m in front I set the pace, know what I mean? If you wanna make like Speedy Gonzalez you better get in front of me.”

  Amy drew her sword and poked Nyx in the butt with it.

  “Hey, you bitch!” Nyx yelled, but at least she quickened her pace. “You’re gonna die for that, you ass-wipe. I’ll kill you in your sleep.”

  By now they had turned the corner at the south and were headed west along a narrow path through brush and trees. Nyx drew her sword, probably just to see what Amy would do, and began to whack brush and weeds with it. Amy put her own sword back in its scabbard and d
rew her revolver.

  “You know, I can kill you any time I want to out here,” Nyx said. “All I haveta do is spin around real fast and land a knife right between your tiny little titties, and then I’ll cut off your ugly head with my sword for good measure.”

  “I’ve got my gun aimed right at the center of your back,” Amy said. “If you turn around, if you even begin to turn around, you’re going to be dancing with hot lead.”

  “You don’t scare me,” Nyx said, and she whacked some more weeds with her sword.

  Amy considered ordering her to put the sword away, but she knew Nyx wouldn’t do it, and then what? After Nyx gained that little victory, things would get worse.

  The narrow path led them through a thick patch of stinging nettle that was almost as high as Amy’s shoulders, and now her legs and arms were itching and burning. It was starting to get dark now, and it seemed they’d been walking a long while. Already they had passed two no-trespassing signs, but not the one with red letters.

  “You know why I hate you?” Nyx said. “It’s not just that you attract demons like shit attracts flies, and it’s not just that you killed Scotty and you’re the teacher’s little pussy-licking pet. That’s more than enough by itself, but those ain’t the main reasons. I hate you because you’re an ugly, uppity, know-it-all, dumb bitch with your head shoved so far up your ass that—”

  A whistle blew in the distance, and then another. The sound seemed to be coming from the northwest sector. Amy set off running through the brush and tangled vines. Soon she was in the main part of the camp, running past the archery range with her sword in one hand and her flashlight in the other. She heard Nyx running behind her and saw her flashlight beam dancing on the tree trunks in front of her. Then she was back in the brush again, whacking it with her sword and trying not to trip.

  The shriek of whistles was close now, and she could see the beam of a flashlight up ahead reflecting off a treetop, but she didn’t see Leo and Siliang until she reached the crest of a hill that marked the northwest corner of the property.