Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7)

by Glenn Bullion

  Alex took in the grieving teenager. She was Kylie's height, with a lighter shade of brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. Her clothes, which at one time she carefully picked out, and hugged her figure, were loose on her frame and haphazardly thrown together. Her skin was pale, with dark circles under her eyes.

  "This isn't Zoey," Kylie said. "She's never acted like this."

  There was a pile of dirty clothes on the end of the bed. Alex moved them aside, gingerly. He took a seat, but kept his distance, hoping to make her feel more comfortable.

  "What happened that night?" he asked, as gently as he could.

  "Kylie died. Next question."

  "Take her hand," Kylie said. "Let me talk to her."

  He met Kylie's eyes and shook his head. It wasn't his intention to reveal his powers to every person he came across. Kylie's mother was an exception; there was no way around it. But Zoey didn't need to know.

  Alex wasn't sure, in her mental state, if Zoey could even handle seeing a ghost.

  "Zoey, I know this is hard, but I'll need more than that. When was the last time you saw her alive?"

  Kylie took a deep breath. The question was hard on her as well. Nate stood close to her, and to his credit, was quiet.

  "We went to a club," she said, her eyes tearing up. "We studied together here for a while. My bedroom used to be upstairs. Then I talked her into going to a club with me. You should have seen her. I wore this mini-skirt, and she wore a pair of jeans and a purple kitten shirt. I told her she'd never get a guy looking like that. She didn't care. That was Kylie." She paused to catch her breath. "She didn't want to go, because she was afraid we'd get in trouble. But she…trusted me. Kylie never went wild, she never cut loose. I just wanted to show her a good time. We were going to dance and party. I was going to find her a guy. We were going to have fun." She leaned over and rested her head in her hands. "Instead…she was killed."

  Zoey cried. Alex said nothing, simply giving her time and space. Kylie knelt in front of her and cried as well, trying to hold her hands. She looked at Alex.

  "Please, let me talk to her."

  Alex shook his head again.

  "We got in a fight," Zoey continued. "I was dancing with this guy Kylie didn't like. I told her she was jealous. She told me she was going home." She hesitated. "I never saw her again."

  He glanced at Kylie, to study her expression. He looked for any sign that Zoey's story triggered a memory. Kylie was only angry and upset.

  "Did she leave with anyone?" Alex asked. "Did she walk home?"

  "I don't know." Zoey's hands trembled as she sat up. "I let Kylie go. I left my best friend alone, and now she's dead. It's my fault!"

  "Zoey, no, it isn't your fault."

  "It is!" She stood up and paced like a wild animal, walking through Kylie and Nate. The two ghosts backed up. She was almost invisible, bordering on the deep shadows in the basement. "It was my idea to go out! I was always trying to make her do things! And she just wanted to look out for me! It's my fault she's dead!"

  Alex thought Zoey's legs broke as she collapsed in a heap. He rushed to her, but stopped just short of touching her. Kylie and Nate stood to the side, both of them in shock. Zoey cried so hard she had difficulty breathing.

  "Leave her alone," Kylie said. "Let's just go. This is too much."

  He leaned close to Zoey.

  "It's not your fault," he said again. "And I'm going to get peace for Kylie."

  Light spilled in at the bottom of the stairs as David opened the basement door.

  "Zoey? Is everything okay?"

  She was already halfway to her feet when her father made it to the bottom of the stairs.

  "I'm fine, Dad," she called. "You can stay up there."

  David's eyes bordered on despair. He glanced at the bed and dresser, shaking his head. He didn't approve of Zoey's new lair.

  "Alex, if you don't mind," he said, gesturing to the stairs behind him. "I'd like to take my daughter out for some breakfast."

  "No!" Zoey said, backing away, almost panicking "I told you! I'm not hungry!"

  "Zoey, Goddamnit, you've got to eat something! I know you're upset! But you're killing yourself!"

  Alex slowly backed away, glancing at Kylie and Nate, and headed for the stairs. Zoey and her father continued to shout, their voices bordering on screaming. Alex left the house, remembering to pet Princess on the way out.

  The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, but it didn't last long. Kylie threw her hands in the air and let out a sigh of disgust as they neared the truck.

  "I just wanted to talk to her, that's all." She adjusted her glasses. "Was that too much to ask?"

  Alex opened the door and leaned on it while addressing Kylie across the hood.

  "Let her grieve the way a person should," he said. "She needs normal. Let her be normal. I'm not sure proving the existence of ghosts is the best thing for Zoey right now."

  "Oh, what do you know about grieving?" Kylie asked, with surprising venom. "With your beautiful wife, your sister, all your little friends?"

  Frowning, he nearly released a retort, before he managed to clamp down. Alex had his own moments of low over the years. He could have told Kylie all the times he looked away from a mirror, unhappy with what he saw. Sometimes, he saw a human with amazing powers. Other times, he saw something that wasn't human at all. He didn't belong with any group, even in the supernatural world. The world was full of vampire and werewolves. Despite their extreme rarity, there were other witches in the world as well. Whatever Alex was, which he didn't even have a name for, he was the only one.

  When he felt his lowest, he would spend time in the demon world, surrounded by evil creatures calling him Master. There were times being with demons made him feel the most comfortable, like he belonged.

  That thought terrified him.

  He still had nightmares of his biological parents. He would dream he was in the church with Mark and Sarah Fuller, watching his own birth, reliving the ceremony. People with dark robes surrounded them, chanting and singing. In the dream, however, no demons came to save him. His father thrust a blade deep into his chest, and he would awaken in a feverish sweat.

  Grieving, perhaps not. But Alex had bad times. Kylie didn't need to know that. He held his tongue.

  "Kylie," Nate said softly. "Alex is right."

  She shot daggers at him with her eyes. "What?"

  "Zoey is really hurting. And she's young. The last thing you want to do is throw a ghost in front of her. Who knows what that will do to her? But she'll be okay. She's strong."

  "Strong?" She pointed back to the house. "Did we see the same thing back there? She's like a walking skeleton! That's not the Zoey I know." She shook her head. "Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. What a waste of time."

  "I'm here to help you," Alex said, his own anger growing. "I'm going to find your murderer. After that, then maybe I can do business with Zoey. Unless you want to call the whole thing off."

  Kylie said nothing. Her lip twitched as she stared Alex down. Eventually, she lowered her head, mumbling to herself as she slid inside the truck.

  "Where to now?" Nate asked.

  "Well, since Kylie can't remember where she died, or anything else to help us, we go to where they hopefully have some answers. The police station."

  CHAPTER 10

  It was a quiet drive across town. Nate tried to ease the tension by cutting jokes and telling stories. One was particularly interesting, about how his great grandmother came to visit him not long after his parents moved on past the spirit realm. But Alex wasn't in the mood to give the tale his full attention. Kylie barely spoke. She kept her eyes low, guiding Alex with directions to the police station.

  It was late in the afternoon when they'd arrived. His stomach grumbled from hunger, but he wanted to get the stop to the station out of the way. If the trip went like he hoped he'd have plenty of information to digest. The police station was in the middle of the busiest street in town. There was only street-side
parking, and Alex had to circle the block three times before he found a spot large enough to parallel park. His parking skills weren't shabby, but he still held up traffic for a minute as he slid into a spot. Irritated drivers honked their horns and glared at him as they drove past.

  "You should have seen me trying to learn to drive," Nate said. "My father took me out every night after school, and Saturday mornings. He said he wanted to leave Sundays open to go to church and pray to God he'd survive."

  Nate waited for the laughter that never came. Alex almost laughed, but not quite.

  "Did you drive, Kylie?" Nate asked.

  "I have my license, but I didn't drive much."

  "I kept bugging my parents to let me drive. And of course, they'd never let me. I was bugging them all the way up until we were in that car accident that killed us all. We cried and moped for a while, but my first joke to them after that was 'See, I told you you should have let me drive.'"

  Alex smiled and shook his head. Kylie wanted to giggle, but looked out the window to keep her face hidden.

  "And," Nate continued. "Since the air is so thick I'm actually choking, I'm stepping out to breathe a little."

  Sitting in the middle, Nate simply walked forward through the truck. He found a nearby bench and sat down. His gaze drifted to the occasional attractive passerby only once, choosing instead to keep an eye on Kylie.

  Alex watched the police station for ten minutes. Civilians and police both entered and exited, going about their own business. Only once did a squad car pull up and stop in the middle of the road, long enough to let out a uniformed officer. He led a man in handcuffs up the stairs into the station.

  He scribbled notes on his phone from the visit with Zoey, just to kill a few minutes. She didn't tell Alex anything of importance, but Cindy would insist on being complete.

  The friends studied, then went to a club. They had a fight, and separated.

  "I'm sorry," Kylie said.

  He didn't ask any questions. Looking at her, she sat with her hands folded in her lap. She reached to adjust her glasses, and glanced up just enough to offer a small, apologetic smile.

  "Me, too."

  "I like your family and friends," she said, still refusing to hold eye contact.

  "They like you. Listen, Kylie, I'm not trying to keep you from talking—"

  "I know," she said, holding up her palm. "It was stupid of me. I know you can't go around introducing me to half the town. It's just…I'd never seen her like that before."

  He nodded. Zoey was retreating from the world, retreating from her own health.

  "When all this is over, you can talk to her as long as you want. As long as I don't run out of vacation time."

  She finally looked up and smiled. Nodding appreciatively, she took a deep breath, a huge weight off her chest.

  "Thank you, Alex."

  "No problem."

  The air clear between them, she looked out the window. Nate was still on the bench, keeping an eye on the both of them. He winked and held a double thumbs-up. Kylie laughed and returned the gesture.

  "Is it just me, or is Nate staring at me?"

  Alex laughed and grabbed his phone. He clipped it to his belt and pulled the keys from the ignition. It was time to get started.

  "I can't imagine why."

  "What do you mean?"

  He opened the door and climbed out, leaning into the truck to talk to her.

  "Well, you're attractive and smart. And Nate's not blind."

  "You think me and Nate…?"

  "Eh, maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. I didn't even know Cindy was checking me out." He glanced in Nate's direction. "Oh, what do you know? He's staring at you." He waved Nate over.

  "Alex!" Kylie said, averting her eyes and lowering her head. "Don't!"

  "Relax," he said, laughing. "It's just business. Do me a favor and stay out here."

  "What are you going to do?" She wrinkled her brow. "You're not just going to ask the police if they know who killed me, are you?"

  "Hmm, maybe I'll try that."

  Smiling, he closed the driver-side door. Nate approached, and the two had a quick conversation before Alex crossed the street for the police station alone.

  The lobby to the station was empty, with the exception of two young women sitting behind glass windows. An officer dressed in a shirt and tie flirted with one of them, and scowled when Alex approached.

  "Can I help you?" the less busy of the women asked.

  "Yeah. I actually have some information on a girl that was murdered not long ago, Kylie Sinclair. I was hoping I could speak to someone?"

  Kylie's name was familiar, judging from the woman's reaction. She glanced at her coworker next to her. They locked eyes for a moment before the one resumed flirting once again. The woman grabbed a phone and pointed to the bench seats near the door.

  "Have a seat over there," she said. "I'll see if I can get someone up here."

  Alex sat and waited. Patiently. Almost an hour passed. He was surprised at the delay. He thought the police would be more responsive with someone claiming to have information, hence the ruse of having any information at all.

  His stomach continued to scream at him, and he couldn't put food off any longer. There was a snack machine in the lobby, and he was in the middle of a candy bar when a woman finally emerged from the bowels of the station. She wore a skirt that stopped at the knees and a white blouse, with a pair of low heels.

  "I'm Detective Lisa Nash," she said, extending her hand. She glanced around the lobby to see Alex was alone. "Are you here for Kylie?"

  He nodded. "Yes. I'm Alex. Alex Teague."

  "Come with me," she said, leading the way.

  Detective Lisa Nash led Alex through the police station. He'd had his share of visits inside a station before, and although every department had their differences, there was a welcome sense of familiarity as he wound his way through the maze of desks and chairs. The police in Stewardtown seemed a little less busy, but the phones still rang, officers still typed madly away at their computers. Two men gossiped amongst themselves as a friend of theirs was being shouted at by a superior in a corner office.

  Lisa sat at a desk near the side of the room. Her area was clean, but still with a mountain of folders sitting in the corner. There were no pictures of family or friends, no personal touches. She was a no-nonsense, straightforward woman. Alex took a moment to study her, and she did the same with him.

  The detective was probably close to forty, but the stress of the job added a few extra years. Her light blond hair had a streak of gray near the front, along with a few extra lines around her eyes. She was in shape, moving through the station with confidence and grace. Alex noticed some of the other men, both older and younger, stealing a glance as she walked past.

  She pushed the keyboard aside, folded her arms across her desk, and gave Alex her undivided attention. She didn't reach for a notepad or pencil, preferring instead to focus on his words first.

  "I'm sorry for the wait," she said. "I had some trouble getting away."

  "Not a problem at all. Are you the detective working Kylie's case?"

  Lisa smiled, but she wasn't amused. Ice formed in her eyes at Alex's attempt to fish for information.

  "Do you have information for us about Kylie's murder, Alex?"

  He looked down at his knees to avoid her gaze.

  "Time to come clean, I guess. Uh, no, I don't. Actually, I hoping you could help me."

  Now, Lisa was amused, along with a barely-contained level of fury.

  "Help you?"

  "Yeah. I'm a private investigator, hired to investigate her murder. I was hoping to get some information from you."

  "Oh, were you, now?" Lisa said. The amusement was gone. Only anger remained. "I'm so glad you're here. Now I can just drop this case and wipe my hands from it."

  "That's…sarcasm, right? Wouldn't you be happy I'm here? I can lend a hand."

  Lisa rose from her seat.

  "You've waste
d enough of my time."

  "Actually, I was the one waiting for an hour. So it's my time that was—"

  "Let me show you the way out."

  He pleaded his case as she escorted him out of the station. Several officers snickered and laughed at Alex's expense. He gave up halfway through the walk, just content Lisa didn't decide to beat him with a nightstick.

  There were no handshakes or goodbyes. Lisa simply opened the door and gently pushed Alex outside by the shoulder. He nearly bumped into a couple holding hands, enjoying a leisurely walk, as he stumbled past. Turning to peer behind him, Lisa was already gone, having disappeared back inside the station.

  Kylie was quiet when he sat behind the wheel. Alex offered nothing, and she threw her hands in the air.

  "Well?" she said. "What did you do?"

  "Believe it or not, I kind of asked if they know who killed you."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Yeah. That didn't quite go over so well."

  "Oh my God, Alex. I could have told you that. You were in there that whole time for that?"

  "They made me wait an hour. Assholes."

  "Un-freaking-real," Kylie said, unable to hide her irritation. "Did you honestly think you would just walk into the police station, and they'd tell you? Oh, gee, Mr. Supernatural Detective, we'll tell you what's going on. I don't think it works like that."

  "I'll remember that next time."

  "No. Next time, tell me what the hell you're doing. And I can tell you how stupid it is."

  The silence stretched between them. He pulled out his phone to check for any messages from Cindy. He sent her a simple I love you. She responded in kind within a minute, bringing a smile to his face.

  "So," Kylie said. "What's the plan now? And actually, where the hell is Nate? He's been gone a long time—"

  Nate appeared. He came into being on the sidewalk in front of the truck, drawing a startled jump from Kylie. Laughing and waving, he quickly jogged over and stuck his head inside the door. Kylie scooted over for space.

  "Okay," Nate said.

  "We're good?"

  "Yeah. Get your little pen out, man. I can't remember this crap forever."