by JKMelby74
“Just trust me. It was a very reliable source.”
The next morning, I woke up at the crack of eleven. I had taken the sofa while Gwen had finished her rest in my bed. I rolled off onto the floor and got up. It always took me a moment to get my balance in the morning. I wasn’t sure if it was just me or the demon, but I had grown accustomed to it.
I padded over to the kitchen and got the coffee going. I took out two cups and stood across from the machine, doing everything I could to will the coffee to brew faster. I heard the door to my room open and Gwen trudged out, dressed.
“Do I smell coffee?”
“Not yet, but soon.” She turned to me and suddenly turned away quickly.
“Whoa!”
“What?”
“You’re naked!” I looked down and as soon as my eyes focused, I could see that she was right.
“Damn,” I said under my breath. “My pants are on the couch.” Gwen grabbed them and threw them to me over her shoulder. I yanked them on and as soon as the zipper came up, Gwen turned back around.
“You could have at least worn underwear.”
“Sorry! I’m not really used to having people sleep over. I forgot.”
“Whatever.” She grabbed a cup off the counter.
“You think I was coming on to you or something?”
“That was not a come on. That was indecent exposure.” I felt insulted on a number of levels.
“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not the only person in the world who got a gander of the Corba family secrets.”
“I’m sure.” The coffee was finally done. I snatched Gwen’s cup and quickly filled it and handed it back to her.
“Let’s see if that doesn’t improve the attitude.” I said as I began to fill my cup.
“When are we leaving?”
“We?”
“Yes. We have to be in Venice by noon, right?”
“Uh, no. I have to be in Venice by noon. You will be here.”
“No way! I’m not going to sit around here. This was part of my brother’s world and I want to know more.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I need to do this. I’m sure it won’t make sense to you, but finding out more about this part of Tyler’s life kind of helps me.” I felt a silent scream roar in my brain. She had to play the sentiment card. I could have put on my unfeeling act, but somehow I didn’t want to. I guess part of me wanted Gwen with me as much as I wanted to keep her safe.
“Fine. We leave in fifteen minutes and you don’t leave my sight. Understood?”
We drove into Venice a little before noon. We cruised into a quiet corner of the city with small, crooked streets. Gwen seemed to be growing anxious about our direction.
“Why is this place called Devil Town?” I slid into a small space and parked.
“Come with me and find out.”
“There aren’t even any stores around here! I think we’re in the wrong place.”
“No. Right here.” I indicated to the opening of a small alleyway. It was a narrow passage between two large buildings. The buildings on our sides blocked out the sun and it grew darker as we progressed. We began to see the other end of the alley and the light grew brighter as we approached.
We walked out onto a small street that was populated with run down, yet thriving, stores. The scent of incense was thick in the air. We walked along slowly. I could tell Gwen was as far out of her element as she had ever been. She kept very close to me, which I was fine with.
“What is all this?”
“Devil Town is kind of a pocket community,” Gwen’s eyes were glued to the traffic along the street. Most everyone looked normal enough but even I could spot a few exceptions. “This is a place where people like me, and your brother, could come and feel safe.”
“There are werewolves here?”
“I haven’t been here in a long time, but when I was here, there was just about every kind of freak you can think of.”
“Freak?”
“I can use the F-word. It’s all right. I’m one of them.”
We passed by the bookstore, which I had many fond memories of. When I was first coming to terms with the demon inside, it was the only place I could find books that actually made me feel as though the world wasn’t coming to an end. Books that helped me gain strength and attain control over the beast within. It wasn’t easy but the lessons I learned, I carried with me ever since those dark days. It was also the first time I realized I wasn’t really alone. There was a whole world beneath the surface that I could go to and not feel isolated or feared.
We continued on down the street when I saw Demonica’s shop. It wasn’t hard to find. It was modern compared to the other storefronts. Her name was spelled out in pink neon letters on the sign above her door.
We went on into the store. It was dark. The walls were black. The floor was black. The only light to be found was coming from small lights in the numerous display cases. We walked around taking in the inventory. The cases held many rare looking artifacts. Skulls, cups and ceremonial daggers. I could tell they were all fakes but they were impressive fakes.
“Interesting.” Gwen said.
“It’s just for show. People expect this kind of thing.” She walked off toward a case of costume jewelry.
I took a few more steps and noticed more light ahead. I saw a small doorway that led to another room. I stepped in and discovered it was something of a library. Large bookcases lined the walls and each shelf was loaded with all kinds of different books. I fingered through them and was quite impressed. Most of the books I saw were only rumored to exist. I was about to pull out a first edition of the Necronomicon when I heard Gwen’s voice along with a new voice.
I walked out and found Gwen talking to a small, funny looking woman behind the counter. It was Demonica and she looked even more ridiculous in person. The hair and glasses were enough to get you to chuckle, but she was so short. I walked over to them and peered over the counter. She was standing on a stool and she was still barely reaching as far as Gwen’s elbows.
“Hi.” Demonica looked over at me.
“Do you mind? I’m having a conversation here.”
“Jake, this is Demonica.”
“I can see that,” I turned back to Demonica. “I have an appointment.”
Demonica adjusted her lenses and looked me over. She then hopped down and ran over to a small desk behind her. There was a large book sitting on it.
“You’re the twelve o’clock?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Follow me.” She walked out from behind the counter. Her eyes came up to my belt, as best I could tell. She hobbled toward me and snagged my hand as she passed. I was surprised at her strength. She took me past the candles and past the book room to a large alcove in the far back of the store.
It was separated by a black curtain, which she closed as we walked in. There was a table in the middle of the room. Demonica pulled two chairs up and urged me to sit down. She then balanced two phone books on her chair and jumped up on top.
“Give me your hand, please.” I held my hand out to her. She closed her eyes and traced her finger up and down my palm while humming.
“Look, you can spare me the floor show. I appreciate the effort, but I’m not some tourist off the street. I just need some information.”
“You came for something.”
“Yeah. I need to talk to you about something. It’s important.” Suddenly, her humming stopped and she opened her eyes.
“You’re possessed.”
“Yes.”
“You have been for a long time.”
“Yes.”
“But you lived. How have you lived?”
“I don’t know. I have control over it. For the most part.”
“It’s very powerful. I sense great pain.”
“I don’t want to talk about this! I need information!”
“You will talk about what Demonica wants to talk about.”
“I’m paying for this!”
“Shhh!” She hissed as she pressed her hand to my lip. “I’m getting something,” She said and then suddenly her eyes bugged out and she looked at me as if she were seeing me for the first time. “Such power.”
“Fine,” I pulled out the dagger and dropped it on the table. Demonica looked down at it like it was a rat that had just dropped dead in front of her. She was frozen.
“Where did you get this?”
“A friend. I need your help.” She looked at me. I could see through the lenses of her glasses. She was staring at me with dead serious eyes.
“Get out.”
“What?”
“Get out! Get out of my shop! Do you think I want some plague to come down on me now? I just signed a new lease on this place!” She pushed the dagger back to me and gave me the bum’s rush out of the small room.
“I want to know how to destroy it!”
“Destroy? The Dagger of Sira?”
“Yes. I was told if anyone knew how, it would be you.”
“Of course,” She took the dagger back and looked it over with a careful eye. She looked back up at me. “This is no toy. This is serious damn magic. No one really knows how the dagger was made or where it came from. It was found in the small Norwegian village of Sira, hence the name, sometime in the thirteenth century. That’s when the power it holds was discovered. This dagger doesn’t just cut. It actually creates a conduit between souls. You can transfer any soul into another vessel with this thing. You see that jewel there? This is what is known as the Soulstone. It’s green. It means it’s open. It can absorb a soul now. Once it does, this jewel will turn red. It’ll go back to green when the soul within is released.”
“That’s great. I wasn’t asking for an instruction manual. I want to know how to destroy this thing.”
“Why do you want to destroy it?”
“Because The Reborn want to use it to bring Morgan Sanguine back to life and as I’m sure you know, that would be a very bad thing. The only way to keep her dead is to get rid of the dagger.”
“Valid logic.”
“Great. Now, how do we do this?” She tossed the dagger up into my arms and hobbled past me.
“You don’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“As it is now, you can’t destroy it. It’s imbued. Like you,” She said with a wink. “It carries strong magic. It can’t be destroyed now.”
“Now. When can it be destroyed?”
“Neutralize the power of the dagger, and then you can destroy it.” Gwen came walking up behind her.
“How do we do that?” Demonica turned to Gwen.
“That is a question I can only answer in time. Leave the dagger here and I will do what I can.”
“I don’t really like the sound of that. I need to know you can do this.” Demonica stopped and cocked her tiny head toward me.
“Leave the dagger.”
“Just leave it with her.” I looked at the small, shriveled woman as she struggled up onto her stool. My years in this world have afforded me a certain intuition about people. I got good feelings and bad feelings and I’m generally on the money most of the time. I set the dagger down in front of Demonica.
“I’ll be back in three days.”
As we left Devil Town and walked back to the car, I sensed Gwen was a bit distracted. Her gaze was fixed toward the nearby ocean and then I realized that while the beach scene was rather common to me, for her it was rather new.
“Nice day, huh?”
“It’s gorgeous!”
“You’ve never been here before?”
“It was a long time ago. I came out here to visit Tyler.”
“What’s our hurry?” I looked over to Gwen and her eyes grew larger. “I really have no work at the office right now, since crazy lady has the dagger. How about we take a little break? Get something to eat?” Gwen smiled brightly and we turned back toward the beach.
We were making our way along the walking path just by the beach. I had my shirt open in order to get some ventilation but Gwen seemed unaffected by the heat. We stopped along the way at a food stand next to a bike rental shop. The menu was hanging on the side and mostly all they offered were burgers and hot dogs, which was fine by me.
“I can’t believe you trusted her with the dagger.” Gwen said as she took a bite of her hamburger. I froze just as I was about to take a bite from my sandwich and my jaw dropped suddenly.
“Excuse me? You told me to leave it with her!”
“I know, but I’m new to all this. What do I know?”
“Well, I really didn’t have any choice and despite everything, she does know her stuff, or at least that’s what all the testimonials on her website said.”
“I just hope she’s for real.”
“Well, if she isn’t, I don’t know what we’re going to do. As far as all the research Ivar and I have done is concerned, there’s no way to destroy that dagger.”
“That isn’t very encouraging.”
“I’m trying to be realistic.”
“Okay. Then if we can’t destroy it, what are we going to do with it?” I hadn’t thought of that. The only feasible solution that my brain could contribute was shooting it out into space.
Chapter 26
And Then It Hit Her
Life with Gwen was a series of adjustments for me. I wasn’t used to having guests in my home but I did everything I could to make it easy for her. The first day I went out and got some new sheets for the bed. I found some for next to nothing at a thrift shop nearby. Mine weren’t dirty, but I figured she’d appreciate some new stuff. I cleaned house like never before. Scrubbing every surface in the bathroom and kitchen until they gleamed. Gwen kept saying it was okay, but I knew better. By the end of the day, I barely recognized my apartment.
I walked into my bedroom with a pile of newly purchased towels I found at the thrift shop and saw Gwen neatly fitting the new sheets onto my mattress.
“Comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you. You really didn’t have to go to all this trouble. It’s only going to be for a few days.”
“I know, but I realize this whole ordeal has been stressing you. I just want to...”
“Jake. Thank you, but I’m okay,” She took the towels from me. “What do we do until we hear from Demonica?”
“I don’t know. Not much we can do but wait.”
“What about The Reborn?”
“They won’t bother with us for now. They want the dagger and right now, we don’t have it.”
“How do they know that?”
“If The Reborn is like any other magic using cult, I’d say they’re watching the energy vibrations the dagger gives off. Like a scent, and right now, we don’t smell like the dagger.”
“But Demonica does.”
“Don’t worry about her. Devil Town’s sealed and blocked. Right now, their trail has gone cold and will remain so until we get the dagger back.”
“They’re still out there.” I smiled, but Gwen was right. They were out there and since they were working with Jackal, it was possible we could be targeted. Jackal never needed much reason to kill, but since we knew where the dagger was and they didn’t, I didn’t fear for our lives.
I was sitting on the couch and staring up at the ceiling. I let my eyes close and I just listened for whatever I could hear. I could only hear the demon. I had been hearing the voice for as long as I could remember. Most of the time I would ignore it, but in desperate times of contemplation, I’d listen.
“You let him die and for what? I don’t see Jackal helping you get rid of me.”
“I know.”
“I mean, what did you think would happen? You thought he’d just stop by here one day and wave his finger around and banish me away?”
“No.”
“Or, he’d give you some kind of potion that would drown me out? I mean, you’ve been in this game for a long time. You should have known better!”
“Yes! I
know! I should have.”
“But you didn’t. You let Jackal have his way and your friend died for that. An innocent man trusted you and the second you saw a way for you to profit you sold him out.”
“Stop it!”
“You’ve kept me locked away in here for years. You think I’m just going to sit around when there’s a chance for me to bite back a bit? You have trapped me away inside of you, Jake Corba, but I will never cease to torture you. To chisel away at you until I finally destroy you!” I forced my eyes open and I felt a heat surge up my neck. In the back of my ears, I could hear a low, rumbling laughter.
We ordered in a pizza for dinner. Gwen was still feeling paranoid about The Reborn and didn’t want to go out after dark. Having a bunch of undead monsters crash through your living room walls can really affect some people.
We ate the pizza and watched TV. A few mind numbing sitcoms, some local news. Before long Gwen bid me good night and retreated into the bedroom. I stayed up a bit longer but it wasn’t too long before I shut down the TV and settled into my own slumber.
Hours passed and I was awoken by the sound of the fridge door opening. I turned over and saw the light from the kitchen. I got up, made sure I was covered up, and peered in to see Gwen standing before the refrigerator and quickly pulling out the pizza leftovers.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“I had some trouble.”
“Well, then bring that bad boy over here.” I motioned toward the dining room table. Gwen joined me at the table and we sat down across from each other. Gwen took the first slice and bit in. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of ecstasy.
“Nothing like cold pizza.”
“Tell me about it. I usually save it for breakfast though.”
“Well, it sort of is breakfast. It is the morning.”
“Yeah, two hours into it.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just everything that’s been going on. I can’t stop thinking about Tyler.”
“Of course you can’t. He was your brother and it’s not like you really had a lot of time to mourn. I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s not your fault. Things just kept happening. I know I haven’t really been given a chance to deal with Tyler’s death, but it’s always in the back of my mind. I was dreaming a while ago. I was seeing the day we had Tyler’s tenth birthday party. That was the first year our parents did parties. We invited all the kids from Tyler’s class and only about half came. I remember they had me carry in the cake. It was big, at least, for me it was. I balanced that cake perfectly through the house, into the backyard and I was walking up to Tyler with it. The candles were lit. I heard someone tell Tyler to make a wish and he smiled at me, and then pushed the cake into my face. That’s when I woke up.”