Laura quickly linked into the video file and started it before handing the pad to Greg.
His smile froze as he watched the battle sequence. “Oh my God. This…this can’t be real… can it?”
“We suspect they can only do a takeover of an already present Casper,” Mike explained. “They lost a lot in last night’s throw-down, but it was close. We nearly lost Jan. If not for Denny’s new weapon’s rig you saw, they may have gotten us all when they dropped in between us. I doubt if your warehouse has that many Haunts, but we’ll be prepared just the same. We have a priest over at St. John’s in San Lorenzo that’s a fan. He blessed a bunch of salt and water for us. Otherwise, it’d take time to get geared up.”
“So the holy water and this blessed salt actually works?”
“The salt slows them down, and can be made into protection circles. The holy water fired from Denny’s weapons invention makes the Haunts into ghost goop,” Mike answered.
“I’ve already texted Denny,” Laura added. “He and Gail’s Dad, Steve Corbett, will have everything ready for us. Steve texted back that he’s already obtained enough Kevlar vests for all of you. He said when the Sci/Fi channel saw the first video takes of last night on the Hornet, they came unglued, and immediately wrote him another check.”
“Kev…Kevlar?”
Jan looked more than a little perturbed at the question. “You saw the vid, Greg. One of the damn things nearly shredded me last night. How many supposed Haunts are screwing up your storage business?”
“There are dozens of stories rumoring quite a few people died violently in the warehouse, some tortured and mutilated. Others were executed, shot in the back of the head. Not much was ever made of it by the police or media because they didn’t care if a bunch of drug pushers offed each other.”
“Lovely,” Jerry said. “Stan and I have to go say hi to the parents. We’ll meet all of you at Mikey’s house for Haunt patrol.”
Gail grabbed Mike’s arm as they walked toward the parking lot. “Those will be some already pissed off Haunts, Mike. I’m glad my Dad picked up Kevlar.”
“We won’t get taken by surprise with them dropping down on us again. That was a near disaster.”
“I knew we were in trouble when Connie’s Ninja shriek didn’t work.”
“Shut up, Gail,” Connie called out from behind as the others laughed.
“You bunch think this shit is funny, huh?” Greg looked around at his laughing companions in bewilderment.
“We’ve found it doesn’t matter whether we laugh or cry before a Haunt hunt. They’ll shred us either way if we screw up,” Stan pointed out. “Plus Connie will shriek no matter what we do.”
Connie smacked Stan in the back of the head. “You shut up too. It’s not a shriek. It’s a war-cry.”
* * *
Dan stood inside the Rawlins’ living room, staring at his son in disbelief after Mike explained the plan for Saturday evening. “I realize Greg and his Dad are in danger of losing their business, but hell, boy, you’re pushing it with going out again tonight? I thought the most we’d be doing tonight is celebrating the Davis win.”
Jenny Rawlins put an arm around her husband’s waist when Mike kept his silence. “My guess is Mike got rolled.”
The laughter her statement received from the surrounding Demon Inc crew confirmed her suspicions.
“In Mike’s defense it was a tough situation,” Laura said.
“Yeah, that Greg guy was pissed,” Janis added. “He looked ready to bitch slap me for cheering when Jerry scored. He recognized us all from YouTube and thought we were ghost frauds while his Dad had real problems. He threw a punch at Dempsey right there in the stadium aisle. After Mike gave him use of his arm again, they went up to the concession area to negotiate. That’s when Dempsey got rolled.”
“I thought about what it’d be like if you were in danger of losing your shop because of Haunts, Dad. I’m also thinking the quicker we wipe out the Haunts that came through the rift, the faster we can build up the lost and found idea we’ve talked about doing.”
“I get your reasoning on this, but you bunch heading out again after last night worries me, kid. Stan and Jerry played a football game for God’s sake. A missed step in that warehouse and we’ll need a séance to talk with you bunch again. It’s hard to believe your Dad’s thrilled with a second night, Gail.”
“My Dad’s really into this, Mr. Rawlins,” Gail replied. “He’s worried same as you, but he’s also worried these Haunts will find a way to take over people still alive. They’re what we think of as demons, right D?”
“Arf!” Demon nodded his head.
Gail knelt down to pet him. “We don’t want them around long enough to learn that trick. Anyway, my Dad’s swinging by to drop off Joanie. I guess they were all working on our gear after Laura texted them about agreeing to help Greg. He’s driving our new van so he’ll be able to bring all our gear, along with the new Kevlar vests he bought for us all.”
“The only way any people higher up start to believe is if we keep providing the evidence, Mr. Rawlins,” Stan added. “The reason we have this new lead is because Greg saw us on YouTube. It’s early. We’ll go over to the Grenville Warehouse, goop the ghosts, and then it’s Miller time.”
“Arf!”
“I better not find out you been hittin’ the sauce, D,” Janis warned. “Let me smell your breath, lightweight.”
Demon immediately crouched into attack position, pawing the floor with his right paw.
Janis chuckled. “What the hell you pawin’ the floor for, Gizmo?”
“That’s his new sign language for ‘bring it’,” Mike explained.
Demon sat up straight, growled, and smacked his right paw on the floor.
Mike smiled. “That one means you have five seconds to make it out the front door before D brings you down, Jan.”
Janis looked around. Everyone was shunning her, including Jerry. He shrugged without moving or lowering the hand he had in shunning position. “Run for it, babe.”
Connie giggled. “Quick! Try a shriek… I mean war-cry.”
Janis ran for the front door. She almost made it.
* * *
Mike looked uneasily around at the huge two story warehouse with storage units side by side throughout the interior on both floors. Greg had brought them into the building from the small door on the front right side. His Father had agreed to meet them there and open the large center rollup door, but called to tell his son he would be an hour late. The October wind rattled the closed metal rollup center door, causing it to shimmer where the overhead lighting hit it. Overcast clouds allowed only dusky late afternoon light through the windows. Because the converted warehouse lighting did not match the arrangement of added two story container rows, shadows formed zigzagging patterns everywhere Mike could see. The corrugated metal second floor partially blocked the overhead lighting in spots. Demon paced excitedly in front of Mike, roving back and forth, snorting and sniffing the air.
Mike halted his crew. “I don’t like this.”
“Your dog doesn’t seem to mind,” Greg replied. “What’s the problem?”
“D doesn’t mind anything,” Gail said. “Ghosts are like moving happy meals to him, but us humans can get sliced and diced if we’re not careful. If they drop down on us, we have to be more prepared than we were last night on the Hornet.”
“Where do you want the first protection circle, Mike?” Denny caught up with his newly put together holy water and salt laden wagon from outside. The motorized electrical wagon operated by remote control in Denny’s hand. It held extra packs, salt, video gear, portable generator, and lighting.
“Make way for the man!” Jerry stood back from the approaching wagon as did the others. “We fooled around all day while the weapons master took care of business… and business is good!”
Denny pointed at the shotguns also fitted into place on the wagon. “I loaded the shells with blessed salt and iron dust I got at Mike’s Dad
’s automotive repair shop. I’m hoping the Haunts are like the rumors and are susceptible to iron.”
“It’s a major plus for us Steve figured it was necessary to load our own shells, and bought that re-loader setup for us,” Stan said. “They’ll still burst when fired though, right?”
Denny nodded. “They’ll have a tight pattern too. It’ll be messy, but I’m hoping they’re lethal to the Haunts. I wish we’d had time to get you guys fitted for helmets though.”
Mike patted his Kevlar vest under his tank straps. “At least we have these on. We’ll get the helmets fitted ASAP after we do this gig. Let Demon and I scout ahead to the first row. We’ll make the first circle there. Stan, you and Jerry cover me with the shotguns just in case they drop on us from above. Everyone else stays here to protect our wagon until we get the first circle done. Then escort Steve and Denny to us.”
“What about Greg?” Gail asked.
“I’m coming,” Greg chimed in. “I’m not wearin’ one of those stupid vests either. You guys will need me to guide you along in here. Man, this seems sillier every second. I must have been out of my mind recruitin’ you bunch.”
“Best hold that thought until we see what happens, Greg,” Steve Corbett warned, getting his video camera into position. “Stay with me for now.”
Denny handed Mike the twenty pound container he had made up to combine a pasty line of holy water and salt so that the safety circles could be completed in seconds. Mike then turned to Jerry and Stan. “If something comes from above, they’re all yours. If it’s something from the front, let D and me handle it.”
Stan stroked Demon’s head. “You’re just worried we’ll blast D instead of the Casper.”
“Nope. I want you and Jerry concentrating on above. Hell, if D was going to get blasted it would have been last night.”
Janis and Connie took up positions on each side of their electric carryall with Gail in front. They each had their CO2 powered Haunt weapon in hand. Demon ranged ahead of Mike slightly. Stan and Jerry brought up the rear, their shotguns held at the ready, guarding against a repeat of the prior night’s surprise on the Hornet. When Demon reached the center aisle splitting the area to the building’s back, he waited for Mike. Once Mike had the first large circle down, he motioned for the wagon and the rest of his team.
As the wagon under Denny’s guidance rolled abreast of the scouting party the overhead lights began to dim in blinking fashion. Denny fired up their portable generator, making ready to turn on their rolling lights. Seeing the lights giving off a strobe effect caused Greg to move back a few steps so as to be closer to the wagon. Denny shouldered into his own pack and turned on his extended length wand stun-gun.
“Uh oh, Casper at 12 o’clock.” Gail pointed straight ahead as Mike straightened from putting the holy water/salt mixing tank on the wagon again.
Directly in front of them at the other end of the long aisle a wispy glowing apparition began forming into sentient form. The wavering lights dimmed substantially more, giving the now nearly corporeal form a pulsing yellowish tint. It began to move toward them, slowly at first, as if it were a train leaving the station, its rapidly forming arms and legs pumping to build up momentum. With each move forward it grew.
Greg cringed back against the wagon as Steve Corbett began filming with Denny taking up a guarding position next to him. “What the hell is that?!”
Janis chuckled. “Just one of those silly things you brought us here for.”
The apparition formed into the recognizable mass of a man over six feet tall, arms and legs slowing as he gained forward momentum. He halted at the center of the long aisle, his mouth opening in a ghastly grin of fangs. Holding each of his hands up, right then left, the fingertips on each hand grew into curved, razor sharp claws under his gaze. Flexing them first before waving each appendage across his body, the Haunt swiped them back and forth rhythmically. It tilted its head back and made a noise as if laughing, but the sound was closer to what a cat screeching in its death throes would be like. The Haunt turned to face Demon Inc’s crew and pointed at them before shuffling forward in a streetwise gait, confidently swinging its clawed hands in arching half circles in front of it. Demon slunk ahead of the group, low to the floor.
“Want us to take this one, D?” Mike asked.
Demon shook his head negatively, never taking his eyes off the Haunt.
“What… the dog gives you people orders?”
Janis whipped around and ran up in Greg’s face. “Shut your fracking mouth!”
The Haunt’s grotesque laughter echoed through the warehouse. It started forward again, gesturing at the growling Demon with waving arms, comically mocking the dog’s careful edging progress along the warehouse floor. Mike smiled, gesturing at Stan and Jerry to follow.
“It’s a trap,” Mike called out. “Denny, hang back with the wagon and Steve. Protect our retreat. Connie, Gail, and Jan… you’ll have to back us up here. It’s going down right now!”
Demon nodded, looking to his rear directly at Mike for a moment before turning his attention back to the Haunt. The eerie laugh sounded again and Demon charged. He didn’t waver as he moved from side to side. Demon went straight for the Haunt’s neck. The Haunt’s eyes, such as they were, got big for a moment before Demon hit, flailing ineffectually at the attacking canine. Demon tore its throat out, the Haunt disintegrating into nothingness beneath him. Demon retreated to Mike’s side.
The building began to vibrate. The galvanized steel pull-down door rattled as if within hurricane force winds. Greg dived to the floor, his hands over his ears. Denny hit the switch on his light array, cutting into the strobe effect the overhead lights caused. His specially colored lights built over a reflective surface cast the entire area ahead in reddish light. Three Haunts dove from the second floor railing on the right, they’re glowing forms highlighted in the portable red light array. Stan and Jerry fired simultaneously, the explosive charged iron dust and blessed salt blew the screeching apparitions apart, ectoplasmic residue blowing back over the second floor stanchions.
Stan pumped a fist. “Oh hell yeah!”
Three more shot down from the left before Stan and Jerry could turn. Gail and Janis fired into their midst, gooping the center Haunt. Demon leaped left, tearing into the Haunt only a few feet in front of Gail’s face. Mike fired into the remaining Haunt a split second after it launched a murderous swipe of its claws. One claw opened a thin red furrow from Mike’s forehead to his jaw, barely missing his eye. The other claws cut through the straps across his left chest, the Kevlar holding and preventing further damage to Mike. He went to his knees as his shot liquefied the Haunt with its final sound an ear piercing shriek of pain and rage. Its forward momentum rained ectoplasmic slop over Mike’s right side. Demon streaked back in front of him, crouched into a snarling, hackle raised sentry.
Gail moved nearer to Mike, switching hands on her Haunt weapon so she could tug upwards on Mike’s rear tank harness. Her eyes widened at the horde of Haunts rushing down the center aisle in a glowing thunderstruck cloud of menace. “Here they come! You okay, Mike? Oh shit… your face…I-”
Mike stumbled upwards, his features darkening into a mask of deadly intent. He brushed absently at the blood streaming down the side of his face, shrugging off Gail and raising his weapon. “C’mon! Fire, damn it, before they overrun us! Short bursts!”
The Demon Inc teens did as ordered with Stan and Jerry alternating their blasts so one could reload as the other fired. Their deadly hail of blessed salt and iron dust pulped the Haunt targets, with the steel and mortar building vibrating under the murderous surge. Overhead lights exploded, causing an intense fireworks display, arcing in crackling sparkles above them as they held their ground. Connie’s ‘war cry’ scream of pure terror did not stop her from diving over in front of the out of ammo Gail. Demon rushed to her side, rending Haunts with unrelenting fury.
Mike’s supply hose of holy water had been nicked by the Haunt that had raked him. His bur
sts ended with a pathetic squirt as the leading Haunt reached him. Mike ducked the thing’s flailing first strike while yanking a last minute weapon addition from his waistband with his bloody right hand: an iron pike with taped handle Mike had Father Ramirez bless at St. John’s. He plucked it free and drove it through the Haunt’s throat. Mike fell back as his strike gooped the Haunt, coating his right arm in its remains. Jerry blew the last Haunt apart only a few feet away from Mike.
The team formed a semi-circle near Mike, gasping for air with Demon scouting out in front of them, running from side to side, his uneasy snarling yips letting his human comrades know something was still wrong. They waited in nerve wracking silence. Mike had stripped off his useless tank and slipped into a replacement from the wagon in seconds during the lull in battle. The team spun as they heard the CO2 charged release of fire behind them. Denny, who had never wavered from his duty at their backs fired nonstop into a smaller attack party of Haunts trying to reach the group’s exposed rear. The final assailants lay in puddles at his feet as his friends reached his side. For the next few minutes Demon Inc simply gripped their weapons and waited, eyes blinking in the reddish haze, and the smell of ghost goop assaulting their olfactory senses. Demon returned to the huddled warriors, prancing amongst them in reassuring form.
Janis reached down to stroke Demon’s head with a shaky hand. “We done, D?”
Demon nodded, moving over to the curled up Greg and nudging him. Greg scrambled up fearfully against the wagon. Seeing he was surrounded by human beings and their canine force of nature, Greg used a trembling hand to grip the wagon for support to reach his feet. He stood unsteadily for a moment in the putrid smelling silence as sparks still cascaded downwards.
Chapter Four
The Quick and the Dead
“Oh my God! Is… is it really over?”
“D says yes,” Mike replied. “I think we’ve cured your infestation problem, Greg.”
As his friends laughed, a man opened up the smaller side door and walked in. He fell back against the closing door in stunned disbelief as he looked around. “Wha…what the hell happened here?! Greg! Greg… are you here?!”
Demon Inc (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 2) Page 4