“Done deal,” Janis said, giving Gail a finger wave on her way toward the door.
“Don’t put a hand on Laura, Mike,” Connie cautioned, on her way out. “She’s too far along for any hanky-panky.”
“Connie!” Laura grimaced as she listened to the tittering laughter of her friends while they exited with Denny in tow.
Gail patted Laura’s shoulder on her way by to hug Demon. “I have to get out of here too. Although Demon’s touch drove out most of Mike’s mojo, it’s still not easy being around him yet. ‘Bye, Joanie, ‘bye Mike.”
“G’night, Gail. Denny and I will network calls and plans through Laura right after we check out Ansel’s house. Say hi to your Dad for me. We’ll do better tomorrow.”
Gail glanced back from where Joanie was walking her to the door. “We better. My Dad’s probably already broken down the video feeds Denny sent him from tonight and you can bet he ain’t happy. I’ll explain it was a judgment call that went wrong. I like your move to put Denny in charge for pre-op planning and final say on how to proceed. I think that will sway my Dad too.”
“I hope so.”
Chapter Ten
Groping in the Dark
Joanie closed the door and joined her brother and Laura in the living room. Mike went in the kitchen without another word, Demon at his heel. Laura and Joanie exchanged glances before following him. He had already pulled out the Jack Daniels bottle from the kitchen cupboard. Mike poured a double into a small glass of ice, fixed Demon a beer in his bowl, and sat down at the kitchen table. He sipped it while staring at the table.
“What’s wrong, Mike?”
Mike looked up in surprise. He had been oblivious to the fact his sister and Laura had entered the kitchen. He shrugged. “Just having a small celebration drink that I didn’t kill any of my friends tonight. Did you two notice anything we missed when you watched the videos again?”
Laura sat down opposite Mike with Joanie next to her. “You were right about the Haunts. They had a hell of a time trying to get at you after crossing the threshold. That means unless they’re possessing someone, they can’t function well when out of the abode they were summoned to. It may not be much help tomorrow though. You’ll have to be inside Ansel’s house to exorcise it from her won’t you?”
Mike took a big swallow from his drink before answering. “Not necessarily. I could expel it on her doorstep with the gang on either side of her entrance. It may be the Haunt couldn’t be expelled except at the place it was summoned, and that’s why touching me didn’t do anything to Ansel. I doubt that’s the case. I think my will has something to do with whether I eject a Haunt or not. That will really make things difficult in a way because I would be able to eject them anywhere. If we didn’t kill it immediately, we’d free it outside a body and dwelling. Up until they’re summoned or inhabit a spirit, the Haunts remain incorporeal. I’m praying when they take over a willing person’s body it doesn’t give them some new added conjuring power. What do you think, D?”
“Arf!” Demon agreed.
“Could Ansel have conjured others to her place? I remember the notes on that aspect you and Denny texted into the log.”
“I don’t know, Laura. D could sense how many Caspers had been summoned in Kincaid’s place once he was inside, but I think we’re flying blind on the Casper ejection sequence. We’ll prepare and gather more info on this one.”
Laura reached over and covered Mike’s hand. He jerked it back. “Are you nuts? I-”
“I already love you, Mike.” Laura reached across the table, clasping his hand again in hers. I doubt your mojo is going to do anything that’s not been done. I think you and that iron pike of yours is going to be featured on the YouTube trailers.”
“You should have seen the texts we were getting from Mr. Corbett tonight while you were experimenting with Gail,” Joanie added, giggling at Mike’s instant look of menace. “He sent some bits from tonight to Syfy. They loved them. I can’t wait to see the trailer he comes up with for the Demon Inc YouTube channel. The best shot is from Denny’s cam with the Haunt clawing air to get at them with you plunging your pike into its head. That was tight!”
Mike finished his drink, not moving his hand away from Laura’s. “I feel a lot better not being in charge anymore. I hated laying that on Denny, but I’m getting into this Haunt hunting too much. Nothing compares to it. With our contracts paying the way, the temptation to throw myself into Demon Inc Haunt killing is beginning to cloud my judgment. Popping that Haunt tonight with my pike was incredible. It was so good I forgot Denny, Gail, and Kincaid were on the receiving end of its claws and teeth. I’m going to bed. Goodnight, you two. I guess you’ll be riding over to Ansel’s house with us tomorrow morning, Sis. You can be the lookout.”
“Oh yeah!”
“I’ll monitor the police channel while it’s going on,” Laura said. “Joanie can watch for anything right there on the spot, while I keep an eye on police calls and activity. I have my super duper notebook computer now, so I can tap into the Demon Inc command center for a boost in power if I need it.”
Mike stood up, patting Laura’s hand. “That’ll work.”
* * *
Laura released Mike’s hand. She and Joanie watched him head for the stairs with Demon prancing along behind. Joanie grabbed Laura’s arm.
“Well?”
Laura pulled free of Joanie, went to the sink, and began splashing cold water in her face. Joanie grabbed a dish towel. When Laura finally stopped the cold water dousing, Joanie put the towel in her hands.
Joanie watched Laura with concern. “That bad, huh?”
“Oh my God! It’s worse! If he’d have stayed at the table another five minutes I’d have mounted him. What the hell are we going to do?”
Joanie stifled a giggle, covering it up by clearing her throat, while trying to achieve a serious compassionate look with willpower. “I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t be too concerned yet. The mojo still might recede. It could be worse. Think how it’d be if he attracted men too.”
“I don’t find that comforting. What the hell in that Haunt wound could do this? It doesn’t make any sense. I…I can’t get him out of my head. Now I know how Gail must have felt.”
“It’s probably just enhanced what was already there, Laura. He seems able to process changing dangers pretty well, but I’m hoping his superpowers go away. At least Mike’s taking all this seriously instead of blowing it off as some kind of fringe benefits.”
“I hope people can only get those things in them by summoning spells rather than the Haunts inhabiting anything they want,” Laura replied, trying to concentrate on anything besides the feel of Mike’s touch.
Joanie put an arm around Laura’s shoulders. “Your voice is shaking. We’ll get Demon to absorb Mike’s mojo before bed. Are you going to be okay?”
“Can I go get into bed with your brother?”
Joanie laughed. “No.”
“Then no, I’m not okay. Let’s go get D.”
* * *
At seven the next morning, Mike and Denny sat in the front seat with Joanie and Demon in the back. An overcast sky coupled with a stiff October breeze made the scene darker than usual in addition to the crackling noise of leaves scrapping against the sidewalk cement, blown along by the wind. The teens waited in silence for Ansel to leave for the high school. She emerged from her house ten minutes later dressed in a black mini-skirt, black high heels, and a red v-necked blouse with a coat and briefcase held under her arm. It took her only a minute to get situated in her car before backing out of her driveway for the drive to school.
“Did you see that dress? It looks like she was loaded for bear,” Joanie observed. “Do you think those things can communicate, and they already know their buddies from Kincaid’s house are toast?”
“After the way they’ve been showing up in numbers at places like they did on the weekend, I think we have to assume they’re communicating. It can’t be coincidence. They’re picking their
targets.”
“Arf!” Demon voiced his agreement with Denny.
“I guess we’ll find out the answers to a few questions tonight if Ansel wants to set the trap,” Mike replied. “C’mon, we have to get D over there to sniff out Ansel’s house while we recon. Can you hear us okay, Laura?”
“Yep,” Laura’s voice answered in all of their ear pieces. “All’s quiet on the police front too. When you say recon, what do you have in mind?”
“Take D for a walk up to the house, take a look around, and come back to the car. What’d you think we were going to do, break in?”
“Sorry… I didn’t mean it like that, Mike. I thought maybe you guys were going to look for a spare key somewhere on her front stoop and then go in if you find one. I know snooping around in her backyard will draw the neighbors’ attention and probably the cops.”
Mike shook his head with a rueful grin. “That’s really good, Laura. If we did find a key, we could clear the house of Haunts if she’s conjured up some reinforcements.”
“I didn’t mean for you to go rogue on us and crash into a Casper nest! I meant you could look for a spare key to surprise her without having to set up a date and face her today at school, risking a Haunt dump in the middle of Arroyo.”
“Laura’s right, Mike,” Denny said. “Let’s stick to the original plan and look for a spare key while we’re there at the front.”
Mike exchanged a glance with Denny and looked away. “Yep, I’m glad you’re in charge. Let’s go. We still have to drop D back at the house before school, so I figure we only have about fifteen minutes.”
“Me in charge is going to take some getting used to, huh?”
“Nope.” Mike opened his door and let Demon out the back. “Believe me, Den, it’s a relief if it doesn’t drive you nuts. Keep an eye out, Sis, we’re going in.”
“Okay, Mike, but be careful. I’ll warn you when you get to ten minutes.”
Demon stayed in between Mike and Denny as if he were on leash. They walked up the driveway past the attached garage on their right, and up a couple steps to the front entrance. Denny checked under the doormat while Demon sniffed around the door and porch. Ansel had a decorative chair with a planter in the middle of it. Mike lifted the potted plant placed in the chair’s hollowed out center. A key lay on the support under the pot. Mike put the pot back in place without touching the key. Demon sat near the front door without moving.
Mike knelt down and put an arm around Demon. He felt something too – something immediate, not absent as if it had gone with Ansel. “There’re other Haunts in there, huh D?”
Demon nodded.
“They know we’re out here too, don’t they?”
Demon nodded again. Mike patted his head and stood up. “So much for the element of surprise. Lesson learned. This is going to be an instructive operation, Den.”
“We’ll have to scratch recon off our list unless it’s from far away. D looks like he wants to go get some.”
Demon turned toward Denny. “Arf!”
“Don’t hold that against him,” Mike replied. “It’s what he does. The cloak and dagger playacting is for us to deal with. D doesn’t care about their feelings like we do.”
Denny chuckled. “Let’s take him back home and go to school. We’ll think of some way to do this. I wouldn’t rule out coming back with the team and using the spare key to invade, but the Haunts would probably have the police here to meet us. I think they’re testing us, Mike. They were looking to pick off you and I before anyone wised up to the possession thing. With our deaths, along with public outcry, Demon Inc would be dead. I don’t think they’re the brainless monsters we’ve come to love.”
“Denny’s right, Mike,” Laura said, with Joanie voicing an affirmation too. “It fits when looked at in his scenario. Otherwise, we’d have a number of separate events popping up randomly with supposedly random people being possessed for supposedly unknown reasons. With Denny’s theory, we have Haunts working together in a group awareness sticking it to us. They know Demon is their enemy but they have to take us out or end Demon Inc to really have their way with things on this side.”
“It does make a lot more sense,” Mike admitted, leading the way back to the car. “There are a hell of a lot more people fooling around with spells and magic now than ever before. If enough Haunts get the upper hand on this plane, they could find some way to open up the rift again, or even simply conjure more from the other dimension.”
“You’re scaring me,” Joanie said.
“You’re scaring me too, Mike,” Denny said. “Unfortunately, putting together what Laura surmised and your addition, it all blends together into a believable smoothie.”
Mike let Demon in the back of his car and closed the door. He leaned over the roof, gazing back at Ansel’s house for a moment before slipping into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. “If we allow Ansel back into her house we’re screwed. The thing inside her will know we visited this morning. What do you think about taking out the Casper sometime today when I can lure her away for a meeting? Then we’ll get the gang and wipe out the Haunt nest in her house with her permission.”
“Yeah, that sounds good, Mike, but wouldn’t we need Demon along?”
“We may have to handle this ourselves. I don’t know where it would be safe for D to hide out around Arroyo. It’d be just our luck someone would call animal control,” Mike replied.
Denny patted Demon’s head
“Think of the stink you guys talk about,” Joanie said. “You’ll have the ectoplasm mess and the smell to deal with.”
“Maybe it’s time for some witnesses to what’s going on. If what we suspect is really happening with the Haunts trying for a breakthrough into our world, I’d like to give people a chance to see this isn’t make believe.”
“We have the Halloween Special coming up on Syfy Channel, Mike,” Denny pointed out. “If no one pays attention or starts freaking out, we’ll need money to continue the battle. You have a good plan with taking out the Casper in Ansel before it rides her back home. What if we take her right in the parking lot when she leaves school? You set it up to meet her there. Text her instead of going to the office. Carry on a flirting type dialogue with her. In the parking lot, clasp her hand real friendly like and I’ll be hiding nearby with a vial of holy water. I’ll douse the thing when it emerges, and you pike it.”
Joanie put a hand on Denny’s shoulder. “Yeah, but what about the unknown part with whether the thing can be expelled anywhere but the place it was summoned?”
Denny shrugged. “No harm, no foul. If the Haunt doesn’t come out when Mike touches Ansel, he can fool around with her a little and then maybe follow her back to her house. We’ll get the rest of Demon Inc on alert to meet us there too.”
Laura’s tense voice came through their ear pieces. “What do you mean by fool around with her a little?”
“Calm down, Laura,” Joanie replied. “Remember, you’ve been infected by Mike’s mojo so hold on to your objectivity, girlfriend. Denny’s plan gives us a chance, and a way to retreat if things go bad.”
“I knew you were lying about not being affected when you clasped my hand.” Frustration clearly came through in the tenor of his voice. “I felt the jolt when your hand touched mine. The least you could do is tell the truth about things affecting us all, Laura.”
“You’re right… damn it! I’m sorry. I had to go give Demon a hug before I could keep from attacking you last night. Denny’s plan tests out your theories without any risk to innocent bystanders. If you can’t eject the Casper, you will have to fool around with her and garner an invite back to her place. It will be better though if you can get at those things infesting Ansel’s house with her permission.”
Mike drove in his home driveway and let Demon out, jogging with him to the house front door. His Mom beat him to it. She opened the door with a wave as Demon ran up on the step and turned around. Mike pointed at him.
“We’re goin’ to get so
me tonight, D. Get some rest.”
“Arf!”
“How did things go before school, Mike?”
“A little good and a little bad… as usual, Mom. I’ll see you after school.”
Jenny turned her attention to Demon. “How was it really, Mr. Roboto?”
Demon jumped up on his rear paws standing very stiff. He then began to do a very credible Robot dance move, which had Jenny bent over at the waist laughing as were the teens in the car. It took a few minutes for Mike to be able to drive again. Knowing Demon to never allow an ace like he just pulled off to go without follow up, Mike looked away, with Denny and Joanie screaming in laughter. Mike peeked back to see the last part before reversing his car out of the driveway. Demon did the Robot down off the front step, switching to a ‘Walk like an Egyptian’ in midstride with one paw angled in front and one at his back. His Mom rolled helplessly on the front stoop, tears flowing, and screams of mirth loud enough to bring neighbors not at work to their doors. Demon simply then dropped down and pranced past her into the house.
They were nearly back at Arroyo High School before Denny and Joanie could speak. Mike looked at his watch. They still had nearly twenty minutes before class and the parking lot was just filling. He pulled into a spot all the way at the furthest area away from the school.
“Oh my God! D must have been saving that one to spring on Mom ever since that first time she called him Mr. Roboto,” Joanie said, wiping tears from her face and eyes. “He is just scary cool!”
“D has an unfortunate style of ‘Klingon Justice’,” Mike agreed. “He serves up a frosty ace like that with the patience of a stalking cobra hunting a field mouse.”
* * *
“Mike,” Joanie pointed toward the school. “It’s Brad again walking toward us with another sidekick. He’s smiling, and his monster buddy looks even bigger than Sasquatch.”
“Crap! D had me in a great mood too. When we pass them, keep walking to school. I’ve got this.”
“No can do,” Denny said. “I have to film it, and Joanie needs to be a witness. That guy with Brad is not on the football team. He looks to be in his middle twenties.”
Demon Inc (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 2) Page 13