A tall, thin, narrow faced brunette strode through the line of desks with a briefcase in hand. “Hello. I’m Ms. Pauline Whittier. Let’s get started.”
Denny smiled at Joanie and faced front. The daydreams of tutoring adoring girl classmates began immediately.
* * *
“Hey Rawlins! Hold up there!”
Mike turned away from the parking lot as other students streamed by him. A tall, heavyset man with thinning brown hair and round flushed face waved at him. Mike recognized Coach Larkin, head coach for the Arroyo football team. Larkin tried recruiting him when Mike was a sophomore to try out. By then though, Mike had begun doing heavier mechanical work at his Dad’s shop, and learning the high tech scanner equipment. Mike remembered the goofy look Larkin had given him when Mike had explained he’d rather work at the auto and truck repair shop for Dan. It was soon after that Nate Denkins and a few of his friends tried to stuff him into the drainage pipe.
“Hello, coach,” Mike greeted Larkin politely as the man came up near him.
Larkin looked around at the milling students, glancing at them curiously. He reached out to grab Mike’s arm, only to have his own clamped in Mike’s vise like grip.
“I don’t like being handled, coach.” Mike released Larkin’s arm after making sure the coach knew that was the only way he would have gotten free. “What can I do for you?”
Larkin’s face flushed in anger, but having felt Mike’s grip, he poked his finger into Mike’s chest. “You can quit beating up on my football squad. If-”
Mike snatched Larkin’s hand on his third poke as students began slowing to watch around them. “Keep this hand at your side, coach, or I’m going to assume you want to dance.”
Larkin tried to pull his hand free without success. Then Mike began to squeeze. Larkin panicked, knowing he’d be on his knees in the next few seconds. “Okay… okay!”
Mike released Larkin’s hand. “I don’t pretend to know what you care about. No one talks crap about my sister or my family to my face, you included. If you have a problem with me adjusting Bradley’s attitude about belittling my sister, you best come prepared to dance too.”
Larkin stepped back, reality blanketing him in a moment of clarity. He was used to instant obedience, and even adults deferring to his every opinion, because his team won football games. He saw nothing in Mike’s glaring countenance to make him believe he could get away with anything resembling the verbal retribution he had planned to dish out. The silent moment following Mike’s warning was quickly accompanied by unsympathetic crowd noise.
“You could be kicked out of school, Rawlins!”
“Maybe… maybe not,” Mike replied. “One thing you should understand, coach – my sister is a subject off limits to the football team, whether I’m a student here or not. Any of your game-boys throwing her name around better be prepared for the consequences, and that includes coaches.”
Larkin heard the underlying approval and amusement tittering through the crowd at Mike’s blunt statement. “You’d be advised to watch your mouth, Rawlins. Your attack on my quarterback could have landed you in prison.”
“You’re beginning to bore me, coach. Is there anything else?”
Mike’s reply elicited outright laughter which did nothing to assuage Larkin’s attitude. His fists clenched at his sides, but after a moment’s silence he turned and walked away. A smattering of applause followed him. It was then Denny Stossle walked out of the small crowd to stand next to Mike, holding up his iPad.
“That was tight! I filmed the whole thing.”
Mike smiled as the crowd of students walked by, patting Mike’s shoulder or calling out encouragement. Mike took a second to recognize Denny, the underlying rage running through him at being accosted by Larkin fading slowly. “Oh… hi Denny. Coach Larkin and I had to sort a few things out. Unfortunately, he decided the parking lot was the best place to do it. It never hurts to have some record of what occurred in reality.”
“At least you had plenty of witnesses to it… and a video clip,” Denny rightly remarked.
“Yeah,” Mike glanced around at the now dispersing audience. “You have a point there. How’d you end up in the right spot at the right time again at yet another confrontation, Denny? You’re not stalking me are you?”
Denny chuckled. “No, but I did see you. The moment Larkin called out to you there was no way I was leaving without seeing what it was about.”
“Did you accept Joanie’s apology”
“Yeah… we… hey, did you make her apologize?”
Mike chuckled, gesturing for Denny to walk with him. “Nobody makes Joanie do anything. You want a ride home? Joanie should be coming along shortly. I’ll give you my e-mail address so you can send me that video clip.”
“Sure. I was telling Joanie I’d really like to meet Demon.”
“I have no objection. We might be able to use a guy with a genius IQ if you’re interested in an unknown project going God only knows where.”
“Are you kidding? I’ll work for free. I’ll-”
“Mike!” Joanie jogged up to the two as they turned toward her. “I heard Coach Larkin was screwing with you. What’s going on?”
“It’s over, Sis. Denny here has the video. I’m taking him to our house. He wants to meet Demon. You can check out what happened on his iPad. I’d like your opinion if I crossed the line.”
Joanie nodded as Denny handed her his iPad with the video cued up. After a few moments, Joanie was laughing and pumping her fist. “Oh yeah! Larkin was handling you, Mike. He can’t do that. I’m glad you videoed this, worm. Who knows what Larkin’s gig was in trying to front you right out in the parking lot. I say straight to YouTube with all the trimmings so the rest of the school knows where to find it.”
“I can do that, Mike,” Denny offered.
“Fine, but I’m not instigating a war here at school. Let’s go home and see how this all plays out before we go nuclear though. Hell of a first day, Sis. Let’s get out of here. Denny, you can eat with us tonight if you want.”
Denny looked at Joanie for permission. She smiled.
“You can come over, worm. Don’t let it go to your head.”
Denny inclined his head in a bow comically. “I won’t, ‘She Who Cannot Be Named’.”
Mike laughed. “Come on, you two. I’ve had enough verbal sparring for today.”
* * *
Denny looked into Demon’s eyes as he knelt in front of him. Demon pondered the new kid with interest. A second later, Demon raised his right paw and Denny grasped it, awe plain on his face. No one other than the three teens was home at the Rawlins’ house yet. Mike had introduced Demon to Denny while the dog paced around them on the way into the Rawlins’ living room from the front door where Demon had greeted them.
“You’ve been accepted into the fold, Denny,” Mike said. “If D likes you, you’re in. We think he can help us D. How about it?”
Demon nodded his head.
“Holy shit!” Denny exclaimed. “Sorry… sorry… it’s just that… wow.” Denny put shaking hands around Demon’s head. “I… I can tell. This is the real deal!”
“Arf!”
Denny stood up, shaking his head. He comically held his hands out at Demon in a defensive motion. “No offense, Demon, but… you know… does he really understand what we’re saying?”
Demon nodded, eliminating the need for a human answer, drawing an instant gasp of astonishment from Denny.
“We don’t advertise this, worm, so keep it to yourself,” Joanie warned. “Did you ever see that commercial where a guy finds a box with a singing, dancing frog in it?”
Denny grinned. “Yeah. Every time the guy takes the frog around to show off the miracle the frog drops down and croaks like a frog.”
“Exactly,” Mike said. “Pretend I’m a guy you’re showing off Demon’s talents to. What happens, D?”
Demon rolled over on his back, tongue lolling out, and all sign of intelligence vanishing in an in
stant from his eyes.
“Not happening… ever,” Denny stated emphatically. “I guess people get pretty suspicious though when he does all these amazing things.”
“D handles the real stuff without doing anything extraordinary in public. We don’t really know where this is headed, which is why we’re keeping this all on the down low. With my friends, we have enough front line adventurers. With all the movie, sound and technical crap, we could use another tech handler to help Gail’s Dad.”
“I’m in if you’ll have me. I thought today I’d wind up stuffed in a locker somewhere. Instead, I’m a member of the ghost-busters. Do we get uniforms and proton packs?”
Mike and Joanie laughed.
“We’re low tech in the weapons’ category,” Mike answered. “Holy water and blessed salt have been about it. D handles the ghosts.”
“I’ve seen the YouTube stuff. It’s amazing. I can actually build something that might disrupt a spirit. It would be like what an electromagnetic pulse would do to a computer. People think that ghosts can slime you like in the Ghostbusters movie with ectoplasmic residue, but there’s really no basis for it in fact. Have you given any thought to how Demon’s appearance and the ghost incidents like Alcatraz coincide?”
“A lot of time passed between D’s saving our butts at the aqueduct you’ve probably already heard about and the Alcatraz incident,” Mike answered, as an uneasy feeling he had indeed missed something important for quite a while streaked through his head.
Denny looked down at Demon thoughtfully. Demon appeared anxious for the first time since Denny had arrived. He shifted from one paw to another impatiently. “D, is there a connection between you arriving and the ghost encounters?”
Demon immediately began leaping around, his head bobbing, accompanied by a string of Arfs. Mike and Joanie looked at each other in shock.
Mike smacked his forehead in complete disgust. “How in hell could I have been this stupid?” He knelt down in front of Demon. “I’m sorry D. I never even thought about a possible connection or maybe asking you where you came from. Maybe I’ve been afraid you’d go back.”
Demon shook his head vigorously in the negative.
“Did you come through a dimensional rift?”
“Arf!”
Mike began to sweat. “Is… is the rift still open?”
Demon shook his head no.
“Did anything else besides these spirits get through?”
“Arf!”
“Did you come from the same place as the spirits?”
Demon indicated no.
“Are there other things besides spirits too?”
“Arf!”
“Demons?”
“Arf!”
“Did you come from the same place as the demons,” Denny asked.
“Arf!”
“No wonder he can take them on when they make an appearance,” Mike said. “The place he comes from must be like hell on earth.”
Demon leaped around, nodding his head in agreement.
Mike knelt down again. “D, is what happened at Alcatraz and the aqueduct have to do with those demons inhabiting and amplifying evil presences here?”
Demon again repeated his energetic affirmative.
“Damn! This changes everything. Can the demons inhabit people?” Mike asked with an anxiety that poured out from his features.
Demon shook his head in the negative. Mike heaved a sigh of relief.
“Are there any people left where you came from that still fight these things, D?” Denny asked.
“Arf!”
Joanie hugged Demon. “You can really sense bad here too, can’t you?”
Demon nodded and licked Joanie’s face. Joanie looked at her brother, still kneeling in front of Demon. “Holy crap, Mike. What the hell do we do with this?”
“We take things as they come. We soldier on, right D?”
Demon nodded again.
Mike stood up and stuck his hand out to Denny who shook hands with vigor. “You’re in, Denny. I wish I’d met up with you right after the aqueduct. I don’t know why it would take a rocket scientist to figure out we could ask D questions about his origin… but maybe it had to do with me not wanting to know. Anyway, we’ll work this out together if you can handle what we run up against.”
“I won’t bore you with how into this I am, Mike. Is it really dangerous?”
“You should have seen the Lake Del Valle encounter,” Joanie replied. “That thing in the lake nearly killed Mike and Gail. If Demon hadn’t dived into the lake in time, they’d be dead.”
“Amen to that,” Mike agreed. “In answer to your question, yeah, you could die fooling around with us. I have no question about it after what D confirmed tonight. Apparently these demon things that came through the rift are drawn to places where the other spirits have a presence. I can attest to them being violent and dangerous. My friends are over the age of consent. You’re not, but I sense D wants you in on this too if you want to be. He and I will look out for you but we’re not invulnerable. Del Valle proved that to me.”
“I’m in, Mike. No chance to be part of something like this will ever happen to me again. Can I ask for some discretion with my parents?”
“Sure, but at some point you won’t have any choice but to come clean with them. Part of what funds this operation is being in the news. The media can’t be avoided because the notoriety is what will be paying our way.”
Denny nodded. “I’ll break them into it. I’d rather it happen over time… and by necessity if that’s okay with you.”
“Keep it between us, and don’t let on to my folks that your parents don’t know the whole picture,” Mike replied. “It’s obvious we’re into something beyond a few weird phenomena. The rift happened near us so I’m hoping the demon part of this gig will be localized. Before I forget, did you have a chance to check Brad out for me, Denny?”
“He’s fine, Mike. I saw him at the end of the day. Brad was draped all over…” Denny shut up for a moment. “Anyway, he’s okay.”
Joanie punched Denny in the arm. “Out with it, worm. Who was it he was draped all over?”
“Ouch! Hey… don’t kill the messenger.”
“Who?” Joanie repeated.
“Brenda Watts.”
“What?” Joanie’s mouth dropped open. “She told me she hated Brad and that I was stupid for messing around with him. Now she’s his bitch? What kind of-”
“Hey, Sis, calm the hell down,” Mike ordered. “What do you care? Brenda’s a friend of yours. Be there for her if she needs you. Let’s drop the Brad Sanderson news. He’s not hurt so anything else is beyond our scope.”
The front door opened but when Demon paid no attention to the noise, the teens stayed where they were. Laura walked into the living room, carrying her laptop briefcase. She had tied her hair back in a ponytail, which lay over the back of her light blue smock at the middle of her back. With black, loose waist pregnancy pants and slip on tennis shoes, Laura still looked uncomfortable. She barely showed any notice of Denny as she plopped down heavily in the lounger with a sigh. Demon walked over to nudge her hand on the chair’s armrest with his nose. She smiled and patted his head.
“Hi, D. Hello everyone… you too whoever you are. I worked the whole day at Demon Inc, Mike. Gail’s Dad was there part of the day. He’s really happy with the progress I’ve made coordinating our iPads and accounts. Mahmoud knows where we’re gearing up for Demon Inc. He must have followed me or had one of his minions tail me. He tried to approach me when I left but I held up the pepper spray and set off an arc from the stun-gun you gave me. I was very effective in dissuading him from approaching. He came in a little Toyota, so he was alone.”
“I’m beginning to be real glad you aren’t staying at Demon Inc,” Mike replied, gesturing at Denny. “This is Denny Stossle. He’s a new member of Demon Inc. Denny, this is Laura Fahrenbach. She’s practically Mensa just like you are.” Mike went over all they had learned with Denny’s perceptive qu
estioning of Demon. By the time Mike finished, Laura was sitting up straight in the chair, her mouth gaping open.
“How stupid could we get?”
Mike chuckled. “Yeah, that’s how it struck Joanie and me too. I think D will be going to work on a daily basis from now on with you. There’s no use in taking chances with what that guy and his father are capable of. I’m glad you didn’t panic. You took control.”
“You did great, Laura!” Joanie added. “Maybe he’ll take the hint.”
Laura shook her head. “It won’t be that easy. If you’d seen his face today, you’d know he won’t let this go. His Father I’m sure is pressuring him because of the baby. What would you do, D?”
Laura meant it as a joke but Demon ran out of the room. He streaked back in moments later with a stuffed animal pig from Joanie’s room. He spit it out on the floor, looked around at his human audience, and with a vicious leap and wrench of the teeth, Demon tore the stuffed pig’s head off. He laid it at Laura’s feet. Denny was the first to speak.
“Okay… now that was impressive.”
Laura looked up at Mike expectantly, but he was looking into Demon’s steady gaze. “Say something, Dempsey!”
Mike glanced away from Demon as if realizing he wasn’t alone in the room for the first time. He bent down and stroked Demon’s head. “I think Moomoo better stay the hell away from you.”
“Ah… yeah, I think D is making it pretty clear he thinks Moomoo is a real threat,” Joanie added. She grabbed Denny’s hand. “C’mon, worm, let’s go up to my room and get our homework done before my folks get home.”
Mike nodded when Denny looked at him before allowing Joanie to lead him out of the room, smiling as Joanie rolled her eyes at Denny’s non-vocal request for permission. “Don’t be playin’ patty cake up there either. Mom will be home soon.”
Joanie turned on the stairs with a stricken look as Denny hurried ahead. “Mike!”
Chapter 15
A Real Monster
Laura was still staring at Mike expectantly. Mike met her look with a confused one of his own. “I don’t want anything happening to D, but it looks like he’ll be riding along to work with you. You have the pepper spray and stun-gun. Keep them accessible wherever you go. Trust D’s instincts. If he wants you to run, then run. I think making a police report would be a good idea about Moomoo’s approach today. We do have a stalking law in this state.”
Demon (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 1) Page 20