Greg ran toward his Father, avoiding the slime spread where Denny had hosed down the rear attack. “I’m here, Dad. It’s okay now. They got them all!”
The man hugged his son in relief, his eyes still taking in the nightmarish looking aftermath of the battle. “Got what, boy? You don’t mean… spirits… I-”
Greg held his Father at arm’s length, meeting his worried gaze. “It’s all true… all of it… everything I told you I saw on the Internet about Demon Inc. They… they’re the real deal, Dad.”
“Yeah, they are,” Steve Corbett confirmed as he filmed the Father/Son reunion before returning to filming the aftermath. He took a last full video sweep of the scene, ending with a last shot of the Demon Inc teens checking each other for injury before shutting it down.
Janis moved to get a better look at Mike’s lacerated face, but cringed back in revulsion. “Damn, Dempsey… you smell worse than a dead Haunt.”
Mike smiled and stepped away from his friends. “Thanks, Jan.”
“Get your clothes off Mikey, and we’ll seal them up in a garbage bag before we bandage your face,” Jerry directed.
Denny slipped out of his Haunt weapon harness before retrieving a black plastic garbage bag from the wagon. He held it open for Mike, his eyes watering from the smell. He made gagging noises. “I love the smell of ghost goop in the evening. It smells like… victory!”
Denny’s quip drew instant laughter. The Grenvilles approached the group, carefully avoiding ectoplasm puddles while remaining behind Steve Corbett. Mike removed his replacement pack, giving it over to Stan who racked it back on the wagon. His Kevlar vest, furrowed with five deep slices, also reeked. After depositing his vest, outer shirt, pants, and socks in the garbage back, he accepted a towel wet with holy water to clean off his hands. When he held it up on his facial wound, steam vapor wisped up into the air.
“Holy shit,” Gail cried out, comically jumping further away from Mike while aiming her weapon. “He’s a Haunt! Get him!”
Laughter abounded for a moment more as Mike let Jerry soak the towel in holy water once more before reapplying it to his wound. This time, the reaction was much less, but when he pulled away the towel, Mike saw his audience get quiet.
“What’s wrong? Did I miss a spot?”
Gail walked back over with a trembling hand reaching out to touch Mike’s wound. “It…It’s gone. All that’s left is a white line. Where it touched your hair near your eye, the stubble is white. God, Mike, I don’t think that scar’s going away. Maybe… maybe a plastic surgeon can-”
Mike grinned while covering Gail’s hand with his own. “Forget it. Somebody get me a mirror. I want to see how pretty I look.”
Janis reluctantly dug around under her vest and came up with a small compact. She opened it and held it up for Mike. “This ain’t funny, Dempsey.”
Mike maneuvered to see his reflection better in the small compact mirror before turning to crouch near his dog. “It’s not so bad, right D?”
Demon immediately turned away while whipping a paw up to shield his face in a classic shun, turning the solemn moment into a laugh frenzy for the next few minutes. Mike looked over at the Grenvilles finally, giving them a little wave. “Greg agreed we don’t do cleanup. You have my card. Call me if anything else comes up.”
Greg’s Father walked over to the young man standing in nothing but his boxer shorts and a smile with his hand out. “I’m George Grenville, son. Thank you. Don’t worry about the cleanup. I have a maintenance crew that will finally have to earn their money. I’ll air out the building until they get here. That… dog of yours is amazing. He seems like he understands everything.”
“He’s our leader. We actually take orders from him.”
George Grenville chuckled. “C’mon. I think I have some coveralls around here that might fit you.”
Just then the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’s’ theme song from ‘Over The Rainbow’ began playing from Mike’s equipment bag loaded on the equipment wagon. When Mike didn’t move and the rest of Demon Inc began laughing, George smiled while gesturing toward the wagon.
“Is that for you?”
* * *
“I don’t think I like that souvenir the Casper gave Mike. He didn’t even blink when the towel started smoking.”
Jerry glanced over at Stan from the driver’s seat before returning his attention to the road ahead. “It wasn’t smoking. It steamed a little, partner. He’s marked. That’s for sure.”
“Mikey did that Haunt in hand to hand combat with a damn iron pike we didn’t even know he had. Where’d he come up with that?”
Jerry shrugged. “Must have been Denny’s mention of putting iron dust in our shotgun loads – awesome by the way. Did you see the way those Haunts vaporized when we hit ‘em with the new loads. That damn Denny is a genius.”
“And he covered our backs too,” Stan agreed. “Mikey’s a real talent scout. I wish we hadn’t had to get there on our own. I bet they’re havin’ a good time in the new Demon Inc van. You’d think our girlfriends would have at least wanted to ride along with us.”
“I’m fine with it. Let them get to the Rawlins’ house first and absorb the first parental barrage. Why’d you mention the wound, Stan? Something bothering you about it?”
Stan kept his eyes straight ahead. “I’d ride into hell with Mikey any time, same as you. He’s been worryin’ me lately. I know that steaming towel don’t mean dick, but-”
“If something’s wrong with him, D would be all over it. Relax, brother. We kicked Cal Poly ass, and then kicked a Casper army’s ass. We’re golden. The holy water worked on Mike’s Haunt wound so he didn’t need stitches, and he almost seemed happy with the scar. Maybe he is getting a little too into this. Next thing you know he’ll be getting a cross tattooed on his forehead like the guy in that vampire movie ‘Priest’. We’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll need a few hard shots to go along with a few beers. Mr. Rawlins understands what kind of shit we’re going through. My Mom… not so much.”
Stan tapped the dash nervously. “Mine either, but can you blame them? You’re lucky you only have your Mom. My Dad went nuts when he saw our video from the Hornet today, and my Mom nearly passed out. Only the fact we were playing in the game got me out of the house before a major throw down ensued. When they see tonight’s YouTube upload, we’ll be takin’ some high heat… big time. What if they were over there watching the live feed?”
Jerry had already made the last turn onto the Rawlins’ street. “Oh crap. Look at that.”
Before them was not a scene of celebration. The Rawlins, Laura, and the parents of everyone else stood at their doorstep in a group without movement. Their comrades with Mike and Demon in the lead hesitated after exiting the van. Even Steve Corbett hung back next to Denny. The two groups seemed in a state of suspended animation as Stan and Jerry stared at them upon approach.
“Let’s run for it! Keep going!”
Jerry chuckled. “I am so telling Connie you wanted me to do a drive by without stopping.”
“I’ll tell Janis you told me she was getting whiney.”
“Not unless you want the Coach to be lookin’ for a new wide receiver.” Jerry sighed and pulled over. “Let’s face the music, brother. Sometime tonight I see a beer with my name on it no matter what this standoff is all about.”
Stan waved a large flask he took out from the inside of his jacket. “I have the chaser right here… or it can fill in for the whole show if we are impeded on our journey into lighter consciousness.”
Jerry slapped the steering wheel with his right hand. “Hell yeah! I knew I could count on you, brother!”
* * *
“They don’t seem too excited to see us, Mike,” Denny whispered as the group exited the Demon Inc van. “Do you think something happened we don’t know about?”
Mike leaned toward Denny. “I think we need to cut off the live feed. I never anticipated a hunting party after each encounter when I asked you to set it up. We have a
permanent glitch in the live feed as of now, right?”
“Live feed? What’s that?”
Mike nodded with a smile as he led the group toward what looked like an antagonistic group on his front steps. Dan met him and shook his hand while his Mom launched into an immediate close up inspection of his facial wound. The other parents gathered silently near their offspring. Joanie and Laura stayed back with Stan’s Mom and Jerry’s parents. Denny’s parents had already swarmed him, a little more vocal than the rest. When Stan and Jerry exited their car reluctantly, they looked more like two inmates getting off the bus at Folsom prison than college freshmen who had played and won as UC Davis varsity members in a big game.
Mike tried humor. “Why the entourage greeting, Dad? It was just another night on the town for Demon Inc.” Fail!
Jenny pushed her husband aside so she could face Mike. “Listen you, it’s one thing to pull this death defying crapolla two nights running, but you better make sure you don’t run off at the mouth like we don’t know what happened.”
Mike held up his hands. “Okay… okay. Why don’t we go inside instead of hashing this all out on our front sidewalk?”
Jenny had her hands on her hips, face jutted forward as if ready to commence a screaming diatribe. Demon had already slunk off to the lawn on the other side of the walkway, a creeping monster capable of killing human predators as well as dead spirits, but instinctively knowing he could not win a battle here. Dan put an arm around his wife’s shoulders, gently trying to turn her toward the house.
“The kid’s right, Hon. C’mon inside with the others.”
Jenny leaned even closer to Mike, grabbing his chin. “You know you’re marked for life, don’t you, genius? You were very nearly blinded!”
Mike nodded. “I know, Mom. Please… let’s go inside.”
Jenny released his chin and turned toward the house without another word.
* * *
With everyone grouped around in the Rawlins’ living room, the large entertainment area seemed smaller. Dan began the discussion, having stayed quiet during the near parental riot while the live viewing had taken place. Most had not seen the Hornet video until it was up on YouTube earlier in the day. It had been apparent to Dan the kids were keeping their parents out of the loop concerning the dangerous nature of what they were doing. He had to get the truth back on track.
“First off, is there anyone who hasn’t seen the Hornet video in addition to the live feed we hosted tonight?”
A smattering of acknowledgements to seeing the Hornet video from the prior night made it obvious the parents had all caught up on the Hornet viewing, which answered why Dan and Jenny had been approached about this evening’s quest. Dan gritted his teeth remembering the scene in their living room over an hour ago when Laura hooked up the live feed to their TV from her computer. His own wife had collapsed in his arms when Mike had been raked by the Haunt, along with a spattering of screams from the others.
Dan gestured at his TV. “I can’t explain any of this better than what you all saw tonight. The kids know it’s not a game. I’m not sure if they ever made it clear to all of you though. That’s what we’re here to discuss. Let Mike explain the danger. Then Gail’s Dad Steve can fill you in on the specifics concerning the rewards.” Dan held a hand up as some parental type threats were made. “Please let me finish. Whatever path you parents want to take with your kids is completely up to you. That won’t be what we’re talking about here. Mike?”
“We’re doing the best we can to protect ourselves,” Mike started out, moving from where he’d been standing next to Stan and Jerry with Demon at his side. “We have Kevlar vests and we’ll soon have Kevlar helmets too. The Haunts changed tactics. We’re changing our precautions to offset as much danger as we can. We weren’t hiding anything from you. We simply didn’t know the extent of the danger. More spirits crossed over in the original rift than we figured. They’re adapting. I’m sorry if some of you adults thought this was hype and big money without any risk. Believe this – each of us knows the risks. For myself, the good we’ve done far outweighs the risks. I’m hoping to do more, especially as when we were able to rescue two kidnapped kids.”
“You and our Denny were almost killed getting that Manjetti kid back,” Denny’s Mom spoke out with attitude. “Why can’t you kids just go back to school and forget all this ghost Haunt business. Let the authorities handle it.”
Evelyn Stossle, a thin dark haired woman with a habitually worried look on her face, had come out against nearly everything Denny was doing with Demon Inc, and at the mixed martial arts workouts with Mike. Her husband Aldan, short, balding, and carrying a few extra pounds, always had an easy smile on his face, and interceded on Denny’s behalf at every instance. He had even come to a few mixed martial arts workouts after being warned Denny would be getting roughed up. Aldan stayed quiet, letting his wife speak, and Mike figured it was because he was getting more worried.
“The two most important items in what you say Mrs. Stossle are almost, and that Jimmy Manjetti was rescued. Denny played a big part in it. As to doing what we’re doing – we don’t know if anyone believes us, even with the videos. Our friends on the police forces in San Leandro and San Jose have to keep a low profile because none of their bosses want to deal with this. So far the Haunts are local, but we have no clue how many came through the rift or if they’ll spread across the country. In any case, I need everyone to know we are taking precautions. We’re doing this not because we have to, but because we want to.”
A chorus of agreement rang out from his comrades in Demon Inc. Derek Jefferson, Janis’s Father stood, motioning his daughter to silence, and in so doing, also silenced her friends. Stocky of build, with very close cropped dark hair, and just over six feet tall, Jefferson was the only one dressed in a suit. He worked as the area manager for a local supermarket chain and cut an imposing figure.
“Tonight was the second night in a row my Daughter nearly died, this time right in front of my eyes on a TV set. It was one thing when she was all high on this reality TV nonsense, and earning big money for her college tuition and future. What’s all that matter if she gets wasted by one of these things? Hell, Mike, you’re maimed. Look at your face. That thing even dyed the hair at your temple white along with marking you for good. You’re lucky to still have a left eye.”
Dan stood again making a calming motion. “That’s what we’re here for. If Mike’s finished, Steve Corbett would like to go over the more positive factors, not as a counter to the dangerous aspect, but merely to update us on the notoriety factor.”
Steve patted Mike’s shoulder as he moved aside. “Hi everyone. We…we hadn’t really expected to deal with all this tonight, but here goes. I know exactly what you mean, Derek, only I nearly watched my Daughter die in person. If not for Demon… I… anyway, I do know your feelings on the matter. Depending on the ratings for the Halloween Special when they’ll air the USS Hornet video from last night, we may garner anywhere from one to five million dollars.”
Steve let the gasps of disbelief and cheers from the teens subside before going on. “The Sci/Fi Channel wants everything we come up with. I sent the producer a snippet of tonight’s action and he called me while I was still riding with the kids in our van. They heard him on the van’s audio. He wants it so bad, he nearly began negotiating over the phone which is not done… believe me. They’re paying for everything we ask for. Denny will have an unlimited budget to come up with anything he can dream of for weaponry or protective gear. CBS News wants an exclusive using the Manjetti rescue to lead their news hour next week. I had to turn them down.”
Steve smiled at the murmur of displeasure. “That’s why we needed this talk. Demon Inc is a business. As its agent I have a duty to get the best deal possible for our endeavors. Sci/Fi gets first refusal on everything including the rescue. Besides, CBS thought they’d get the video of the rescue for peanuts. Sci/Fi wants to lead off a series documentary they’re doing on real life seria
l killers with our video. This is big. They’ll be interviewing Jimmy Manjetti’s parents and Jimmy. Officer Tom Huang agreed to be interviewed as well.”
“With Laura’s help, we are maintaining all expenditures, income, and inventory for tax purposes. For now, we are all drawing a steady paycheck. The kids have taken Laura’s advice and are leaving a goodly portion of their earnings in their bank accounts for the time being. With the amounts involved, we’ll have to come up with a long term plan, such as Roth IRA’s, 401K’s, etc. Demon Inc headquarters is coming along very well. It will soon be our main staging ground. That’s all I have for now. We’re working on a newsletter template to send out for keeping you parents updated with anything new we discover. Thank you.”
Shock and silence followed Steve’s presentation, except for the teens who were already boisterously celebrating the news. Dan stepped forward again.
“We’ll be hosting a proper celebration for Stan and Jerry, playing first string as freshmen at Davis, and winning a big one today against Cal Poly. I guess we can fit in surviving tonight’s warehouse battle. I think it might be good to just enjoy the moment and hash out the details on a private basis. I’m starving, and if any of the ghost warriors want a beer with their parents’ permission, start pleading your case. Then get out back and start barbecuing.”
* * *
The barbecuing teens with Mike doing the actual hands on endeavor of flipping hotdogs, and hamburgers, clustered around the warming propane barbecue set. An October breeze chilled the air into the low sixties. Mike accepted the flask from Stan, taking a gulp before passing it to Jerry. It had been a comfortable silence since they all toasted Stan and Jerry’s big game earlier. Demon lay at their feet lapping from his beer bowl contentedly.
Mike sipped his beer while flipping the hamburgers and turning the hotdogs. “You guys were incredible out there today. What’s chances of a bowl game this season?”
Demon Inc (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 2) Page 5