“Laura?” Mike rinsed out the bucket and sponge.
“I’m here. Joanie and I are watching a replay of the dumbest crap you have ever done. That thing nearly eviscerated Denny!”
“That was frightening, Mike!” Joanie’s voice shook, her emotional state sounding shrill to Mike as he finished putting away the cleaning equipment.
“Calm down, Joanie. In case you didn’t know, this Haunt business is an inexact science. We have a whole new paradigm to prepare for once we find out how this came about. Did you get the part with how awkward the Caspers were once they tried to clear the doorway?”
“We saw it. That part came out crystal clear off your camera and Denny’s from the side. I’m sure Gail’s Dad will be happy with this encounter, since his daughter survived it.”
“Had to slip that one in, huh Laura? Did either of you notice anything else out of the ordinary? Were there any strange auras or gateways inside the apartment while we were battling?”
“We’ll take another look at it, Mike,” Joanie said. “When will you be coming home?”
“I’ll bring everyone back as soon as I’m convinced Kincaid is okay. I’m going to try and talk her into staying with family and friends for a while.”
“Good plan. We’re going off air and study the film again. I’ll make notes of anything we find and go over them with you at your house.”
“Thanks Laura. Talk to you later.”
Mike walked out to the living room where Denny and Gail had Kincaid sitting on the couch sipping from a glass of amber liquid. Seeing the bottle of Jack Daniels on the coffee table in front of her, he figured what was in the glass. Demon sniffed around the apartment, pausing every few feet before going on in a calculated manner. Denny and Gail sat on either side of Kincaid, looking up in anticipation at Mike. He brought a chair out of the kitchen and sat down across from Kincaid. Gail retrieved a game box she had setting against the sofa, exhibiting it for Mike to see the title on the front. It was a Ouija Board box. Denny held a beat up old book Mike thought looked ancient for him to see also.
“I think we’ve figured out how the Caspers arrived,” Gail said. “Ms. Kincaid’s been playing the paranormal party game using some kind of spell book. She was trying out conjuring spells from a book she found at a garage sale.”
“It’s some kind of Grimoire of Spells,” Denny added.
“Just take it! I don’t ever want to see that book and game again! I was just fooling around on the weekend with my friend. We had a little to drink, followed the directions for a chalk circle with candles, and the next thing I knew I was in class trying to get Denny to come over.”
Gail tilted her head to the side, gazing at Mike while batting her eyelashes at him comically. “Guess who her BFF is.”
Mike’s head dropped. “Ms. Ansel?”
“Bingo,” Denny replied.
“I know you’ve had it rough, but my friends and I need to know what and how you used the book and Ouija Board to end up in this fix.” Mike took Kincaid’s hand in his. “We need to be able to purge the Haunt out of Ms. Ansel.”
“Oh my God! You think she’s got one of those monsters in her?”
Mike looked around at his friends. “We’re sure of it.”
Mike stood up and went over to Demon. He knelt down next to him. “What do you think, D? Any chance you know how many came through into the apartment?”
Demon nodded. He pawed four times. Mike stroked Demon’s head with relief. “Ansel only took one with her. This time we call in the crew.”
“Why do that, Dempsey? Let’s take our little hot dog express Haunt squad over there and wipe out the Casper right now?”
Mike laughed before taking his seat across from Kincaid and his friends. “I know I screwed up, Gail, but thanks for the replay. The problem I see is if the Casper can get Ansel to conjure a few of its friends. There must be a problem about how they travel around if they don’t have a body. That would explain the things having trouble crossing Ms. Kincaid’s threshold.”
“It could also mean they can draw reinforcements once one of them establishes a presence as the one did here,” Denny said. “We’ll need to recon Ansel’s place, so we know how to approach it. Does she live in an apartment too, Ms. Kincaid?”
“No. She has a house her folks left her near Arroyo High School. How… how did your dog kill those things? I saw him rip the thing out of my chest as if it were solid.”
“When Demon gets a hold of them they become solid, only not in this plane of existence,” Denny answered. “He came to us from somewhere else. The Haunts, as we call them, are vulnerable to anything Demon does to them. It’s different when we kill them, because we’re from here. Even we don’t have all the answers worked out.”
Kincaid stared at Denny with growing fear in her eyes. “I don’t believe this! I can’t believe it. How can anything like this happen?”
“There was a dimensional rift,” Mike answered. “Demon and a lot of those Haunts came through the rift before it closed. Listen, you don’t have to believe it all. If you can help us with directions to Ms. Ansel’s house and a general description of her place, we’ll help her.”
“I’ll help you. I can’t deny something was in me, and I believe you about Mary maybe being infected too. My name’s Loretta. Call me Lori when we’re out of school. You bunch saved my damn life. I think we can be on a first name basis. I need to tell you one other thing, Mike. My friend Mary has a crush on you. We…we’ve talked about it before. She’d never act on it, but would it affect what you need to do?”
Gail and Denny had already looked away so as not to show amusement at Mike’s facial expression upon hearing confirmation of what Laura had already told him. “I’ll keep it in mind, but I don’t think it will change anything. Do you have relatives or friends you can stay with?”
Kincaid blinked. “I… I could, but can’t I stay here? You got rid of those Haunt things.”
Mike turned immediately to Demon. He didn’t want to scare Kincaid, but he also didn’t want her place inhabited again by a bunch of Haunts. “Can the Haunts come back here if they’re not summoned, D?”
Demon shook his head.
“You consult with the dog?”
“If he says your place is okay to stay in, then I know you’ll be safe. Can we take the book and Ouija with us?”
“Take anything you want, Mike. My summoning days are over. I’m going back to church this Sunday. I’ll write down everything I can remember about Mary’s place for you. I don’t have to go with you, do I?”
Mike patted her hand. “We’d prefer you didn’t. I appreciate your help.”
Kincaid stood up and went into the kitchen. She returned with written directions and a reasonably good floor plan of Mary Ansel’s house. “Did one of those monsters do that to your face, Mike?”
Mike took the papers from her. “Yeah. One of them clipped me on Saturday. We’ll call you once we have Ms. Ansel cleared. I’m afraid it can’t happen tonight though, because we can’t get prepared in that little time. You saw how close we came to getting our heads handed to us tonight. We’ll be better prepared when we go over to your friend’s house. If you can stay out of contact with her I think that would be best, especially in school tomorrow.”
“I’m calling in sick tomorrow.” Kincaid walked them to the door. She shook hands with each of them, saving a hug for Demon before they left. “Thank you all so much. Did you film this?”
Denny looked at Mike, who nodded. “Yeah, we did. We’ll blur your features so no one will know it was you though… if that’s okay.”
Kincaid patted Denny’s shoulder. “I’ll sign a release for you. Use the video anyway you want. I’ll do an interview too if you need it. I want people to understand how dangerous these things are. Are you sure Demon Inc will be able to handle all of these Haunts?”
“We’re working that out, Ms. Kincaid,” Mike said. “Right now, we’re taking help from anywhere we can get it. Some people in authority already know it’s th
e real deal. They’re just not sure how to sell it to the general public. Look for our Halloween Special on the Syfy Channel. That may get us the backup we need from the authorities.”
Kincaid stroked Mike’s facial scar, letting her hand slide down over his shoulder and arm. “I will. Goodnight.”
On the way to the car, Gail spun in front of Mike, hands on hips, and chin jutted toward him. “What the hell was that?”
“What?”
“I think Gail’s referring to Lori’s stroking goodbye and warm parting gaze,” Denny answered, chuckling at the interchange.
“Something’s going on here,” Gail insisted. She looked down at Demon. “D, is Mike giving off some kind of pheromone?”
“Arf!”
Mike stared down at Demon incredulously. “Don’t play me, D, or I’m building you a real dog house in the back. You can sleep on top of it like Snoopy.”
Demon head butted him and sat down staring intently up at his friend.
“If I was giving off pheromones why hasn’t it affected you then, Gail,” Mike said, still trying to stare down Demon who held his gaze without making a move.
Gail moved away, sighing and looking up at the night sky. “They are working. I thought it was because I’ve been worried about the wound, but I keep getting the urge to touch you, hold your hand, or anything to make contact. Ever since I touched your hand after the warehouse fight it’s like a nagging hunger at the back of my mind. When Kincaid stroked you I felt like head butting her into the wall. We can test my theory.”
Gail turned toward Mike, rushed in close and wound her arms around his neck, kissing him with only a slight fearful hesitation. In moments, she moaned while grinding her body against his. Denny and Demon watched the escalating passionate exchange with amusement at first before a growing uneasiness caused both of them to look away. Gail’s innocent test turned into a no holds barred, fevered assault. She gave out a little yelp of sanity before whirling out of Mike’s arms, her breath coming in gasps, and her chest heaving.
“Jesus… I…I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
So intense had been their interlude, Mike could still feel Gail inside his head. “I touched her… she was fine before I patted her hand. Maybe you’re right, Gail. I…I’m sorry.”
Bent over at the waist, gripping her knees as she caught her breath, Gail glanced up at Mike and waved at him weakly. “It’s not your fault, but no more tests. The effect is only intense when I was stupid enough to kiss you. Maybe it will wear off, but that Haunt DNA has affected you. We already know your handshake tore that Casper right out of Kincaid. I think you’re right about the timeline afterwards. Kincaid didn’t really get clingy until after you patted her hand. You ride shotgun to the Rawlins’ house, Denny. I’ll ride in back with D. Maybe he can alter the effects of Mike the Mutant.”
“Arf!”
“Gee, thanks D.” Mike unlocked the car. As Gail settled in next to Demon, he licked her face. The glazed look of confusion she’d had receded. She hugged the dog to her.
“What the heck are you going to do if this new superpower doesn’t wear off, Mike?” Denny watched his friend’s features tighten momentarily as he gripped the wheel tighter. Then Mike grinned.
“Maybe I’ll just ride the wave and do some experimenting.”
Denny laughed, but Gail gave Mike a quick back of the head slap with her sleeve preventing skin contact.
“Ouch! Just for that, Gail, I may make you into my personal servant.”
Mike watched Gail’s features slacken in the rearview mirror as she pondered whether his threat could be carried out. “Heh, heh, heh… I guess maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to mess with Mike the Mutant, huh?”
“Not funny.” Gail smacked Denny in the back of his head. “What are you laughing at? I’ll pound you like bread dough, you little mime.”
This only served to make both Mike and Denny laugh harder with Gail joining them and Demon doing his snorting barks of amusement.
* * *
Nearly ten o’clock at night in the living room of the Rawlins’ house hosted an impromptu Demon Inc meeting. Dan and Jenny Rawlins went to bed, cautioning the teens about it being a weeknight, and school classes for all in the morning. Although not summoned to the house, everyone had greeted the new events Laura had passed on to them with curiosity that could not be satisfied with text messages.
“Let’s get one thing straight first,” Mike started out. “No way were we cutting our team out of anything. We had no idea this involved Haunts. Once the Kincaid thing was in motion, I decided to go ahead without backup. I screwed up. It almost got us killed. It’s a serious enough mistake that I’m out as leader. The latest weirdness with my touch, strength, and weirdo pheromone thing puts us all in jeopardy. We’re choosing another leader tonight… and it is not up for a vote. I’m out… period. This meeting is open for nominations for leader as of right now. We don’t have time to put this off so let’s do this.”
“You’re serious about this, Mikey?”
“Dead serious, Stan. Nominations please.”
“Denny,” Stan said immediately.
“Second that,” Jerry added.
“Denny,” Connie and Janis both stated at once.
Laura and Joanie looked at each other and then nodded while blurting out, “Denny.”
“Arf!” Demon added.
Denny looked around at his friends in disbelief. He saw the reality of their choice in grinning features that both stunned him and made him feel humble to even be associated with them. They watched him with varying degrees of amusement. “You didn’t say anything, Mike.”
“You were my first choice, Den. I didn’t want to color the vote with my preference.”
Denny stood up. “I accept on one condition. Mike runs the ops. I’ll take responsibility for final say on what he decides to do before we go into action, but once it’s on, he calls the shots. If that’s okay, then I’m in until I get told otherwise, or another vote is called for.”
“That sounds good to me, brother,” Stan said, holding out his hand which Denny shook gratefully. Everyone gathered around for congratulations and to lend their unquestioning support, especially with his demand for Mike’s continued leadership once an operation started.
“Are we now finally going to talk about the elephant in the room?”
“I know what’s next, Jan,” Mike said. “Everyone have a seat. First order of business is we make sure from now on that none of us get raked by a Haunt. If it happens, it happens. We do everything from now on to prevent that happening. I admit I have no idea the long term consequences with the wound. If we consider the positive part of this with my being able to force a Haunt out of its host, that’s a good thing. The pheromone attraction issue is a worry. I will have to be absolutely careful with every action involving touch. Don’t think that doesn’t bother the crap out of me. We can do this. That’s the bottom line. I’ll need help with my mutant status.”
“Secondly, we all know the added danger of any wound we receive from these things. The unknown part about how their DNA will interact with you guys is another factor in all this that has no answer. This will not become any clearer unless one of you get raked – not a situation we want under any circumstances. Now would be the time for anyone not sure they want to go any further to speak up.”
“We’re in, Mike, no matter what,” Connie stated with only a glance around the room at her friends. “Let’s get to how we handle the Ansel problem. We can’t all arrive at her doorstep in full gear, weapons at the ready. What do we do?”
“Mike and I will do a recon on Ansel’s house early tomorrow morning,” Denny said. “This will be the first time we may be facing Haunts in a closed space once Mike gets in so we’re not sure how that will play out. We’ll know more after we get a look at her house. We’re going to wait until Ansel leaves for the school and then do a close up on her house.”
“Something else peculiar I noticed is if I don’t initia
te the touch, there doesn’t seem to be any effect on the Haunts. Otherwise if Ansel is actually hosting a Casper, it would have come out of her in the school office when she touched me.”
“That’s right, Mike!” Denny stood up and paced the floor for a moment. “I forgot how close Ansel got to you. If she was possessed, why didn’t the Haunt get evicted right there?”
“I can vouch for how intense messing with Mike’s mojo can be,” Gail said.
Laura cast an angry glare in Gail’s direction. “What the hell does that mean? When were you conducting experiments?”
Gail blushed. “Look! We were trying to figure out what was going on. I remembered the weird feeling I had around Mike ever since he held my hand after the storage place fight when he was wounded. I kissed him to test if what we suspected was true. It… it was.”
“What are you getting all ‘mean girl’ for, Laura? Hell, Gail’s already admitted she wants to clean Mike’s pipes out for him.”
“You are so crass, Jan.” Laura crossed her arms, leaning back on the couch. “Sorry, Gail. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.”
“Forget it,” Gail replied. “I guess we wait for Mike and Denny to recon Ansel’s place tomorrow morning. Are you going to set Ansel up for a meeting tomorrow night?”
“I’m not sure,” Mike said. “I have to be careful doing anything around her. Launching a Casper in the middle of Arroyo High School is a definite no-no.”
“You have her number,” Stan pointed out. “Why don’t you call her up tonight and set the date for tomorrow night at seven. That way you don’t have to come anywhere near her until then.”
“Let’s sleep on it,” Jerry added. “C’mon, Denny, we’ll give you a ride home. You’re right on our way. You can tell us how close Mikey and Gail came to hooking up in the biblical sense right in public.”
Gail made a snapping gesture with her hands as if she were breaking something. “Yeah, you do that, Den. We’ll have to vote for a new leader tomorrow, but hey, go for it.”
“Uh… can I still get a ride without details?”
“Sure,” Jerry replied. “Jan will of course pry the info out of you before we get to your house.”
Demon Inc (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 2) Page 12