“You left out all the times he’s saved our lives.”
“Shut up, Jer! Don’t you ruin this moment for me!
Jerry sighed and shrugged. “Just sayin’.”
“Rats!” Janis plopped back against her seat, arms folded over her chest. Images flashed through her mind of Demon racing in to save not only the group like the first time they hooked up with him, but also the latest incidents, where he’d saved her life as on the USS Hornet. “Farfel gets it. He’s been doggin’ me in every sense of the word. It’s payback time. Where the hell are we goin’, by the way?”
“Brennan’s in Berkeley. I assumed you already received the text from Denny. Stan told me he was picking up Connie. It’s a meal and a deal type get-together. Mike’s updating us on his football tryout, and we’re all making plans for the weekend. Gail’s bringing her Father too, so we know how the videos from the Ansel house Haunt massacre came out. I’m curious about Denny too. That boy really held it together at Ansel’s. He earned our nomination for leader. That’s for damn sure.”
“I heard that!” Janis agreed excitedly. “He knew just when to interpose directions on us and he doesn’t panic at all. The kid’s a natural Haunt killer. Anyway, I didn’t check my iPad. I know… I know… it’s for my own safety and everyone else’s. I’ll do better. Getting used to the fact this isn’t just a reality show gig for TV has finally sunk in.”
Jerry did a quick relaxed glance upwards. “Ah, those were the days, when all we had to think about was wasting a few Haunts and doing video clips on it for a fortune. Now we have to consider everything we do as a possible world ending gambit.”
Janis gripped Jerry’s right hand in hers. “Don’t you think about that. We soldier on. That’s what makes all of this shit so exciting. Keeping the reality of it all from going South, we’ll leave to Denny.”
Jerry laughed appreciatively. “With great power comes great responsibility.”
“Exactly!”
* * *
Outside Brennan’s, in the huge parking lot nearby, Mike saw Stan waving at him with Connie, Jerry, and Janis grouped around him. Gail was just exiting one of the Demon Inc vans with her Father. They had parked far enough away all of them could park side by side. Mike drove up next to the Demon Inc van. Demon sat up front with him while Joanie and Denny sat together in the back.
“Explain to me again why we have to play ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’, other than to get me inside so I can watch everyone else chow down?”
Mike turned toward him. “I told you Stan said he had a surprise for you and you’d be glad you came along. Plus, your input at our meeting will be great.”
“D’s reaming you for bringing him along, huh?”
Demon swiveled to face Joanie around the front seat. “What was your first clue, Nancy Drew?”
Mike snorted and hopped out of the driver’s seat. Demon leaped out past him.
Joanie exited quickly to grab Mike’s arm. “Okay, he lanced me. Let me hear it.”
Mike told her, which elicited laughter from both Joanie and Denny. Mike went to the trunk. He retrieved his cane, sunglasses, and seeing-eye dog harness for Demon. His companion from another world endured the harness fitting stoically. By then, the rest of Demon Inc except for Laura gathered around. Janis ran over and gave Demon a big hug.
“Oh Farfel, I’m so glad you could come tonight.”
Demon hunkered down, fur standing up on end, emitting a snarling yap of annoyance. “You told Brandy? Of course you know, this means war!”
Janis had retreated, howling in laughter with the rest of her cohorts, leaving Mike with Demon. “Hey, you told me to warn everyone if they called you Farfel it would mean a trip to the emergency room. I warned them. They called your bluff, oh dog who can dish it out but not take it.”
Demon broke into his snorting, head shaking sign of amusement. After a few moments, he turned to stare at Janis. “Okay, Brandy, it is so on.”
Mike translated, which brought on another bout of laughter.
Janis did a bump and grind in front of Demon, finishing with a finger pointing gesture of defiance. “Bring it, Farfel!”
“With a butt that size, Brandy, bump and grind is definitely not a good look for you.”
It took a full twenty seconds before Mike could translate, leading to muffled amusement while Janis gasped out a stuttering group of syllables, finally just chuckling herself. “Nice one, Farfel. Let’s go get something to eat. I’m looking forward to hearing about Mike’s football tryout. How about we call a truce for tonight, Farfel?”
“Sure, Brandy. I hope you’re not too uncomfortable in there. I hear the seats are built for more regular butts though. You can sit with me on the floor, B, if it’s too uncomfortable.”
Mike walked away, hands waving off everyone. His translation chores did not bother Mike at all, but sometimes he had trouble remembering and reciting Demon’s caustic comments in the manner they were meant to be repeated. With everyone bumping and grabbing him for an interpretation, Mike stopped, gathered himself with a sigh, and repeated Demon’s quip to raucous reception as he shrugged at Janis.
“Let’s get inside,” Stan said. “I’m starving. Look, my surprise is I know the night manager here. As entertaining as this parlay between D and Janis is, why don’t we get inside and have a couple hours of Haunt free interaction.”
“Second that,” Mike added immediately, grasping Demon’s harness and walking toward Brennan’s. “C’mon, Farfel, let’s get in there and see what your surprise is.”
“You know this won’t go well for you, my friend,” Demon projected.
Mike grinned while meeting his otherworldly cohort’s glance upwards. Inside Brennan’s Stan faced off his comrades. Brennan’s operated with a serving line where you chose your meal, paid, and picked your seating. “Okay, the turkey sandwich is my favorite, but they have a great selection so choose your own. It’s just like a chow line in a way. It’s nothing fancy except for the multitude of TV monitors. Brennan’s is a great sports bar or for any other televised event. The adults of drinking age have that very nice bar with its own TV monitors, or you can adjourn out to the numerous tables near your own monitor. My Dad and I have been coming here during the football season to watch the 49er games while we eat. It’s a community thing when you hear people cheering the event you’re watching. The prices for everything are more than reasonable.”
Stan caught the eye of a young man around six feet tall, medium built, dressed in black with dark brown hair, roving from the bar area to the restaurant area, his eyes seemingly moving everywhere. “Hey Jim, c’mon over here and meet Demon Inc.”
Jim took a glance around the area, visibly making sure things were running smoothly with no catches before he joined them. “Stan… how are you? More importantly, how’s your Dad?”
Stan chuckled. “He’s good. Guys, this is Jim DeLeo. He’s the night manager here at Brennan’s or whenever they need him. Jim, this is Demon Inc: Jerry, Janis, Gail, Mike, Denny, Gail’s Dad Steve Corbett, and Mike’s sister Joanie. Our oracle as such, Laura, is missing in action.” Stan knelt next to Demon. “This is the star you’ve heard so much about - Demon.”
Jim looked over the group unbelievingly, especially at Demon in a harness held by the supposedly blind Mike. “It’s all true then - the missions with these Haunts and the portals like I saw just today on your YouTube channel?”
“It’s all true, Jim,” Mike replied.
Jim nodded and gestured at the food bar. “I talked to Stan earlier. Pick out your food and I’ll take you over to your table. Very cool with the seeing-eye dog thing. Only problem is Demon is famous around here. Like I told Stan, the number one request for viewing other than sports is Demon Inc’s YouTube channel with your latest adventure. C’mon, get your food. I have our game room closed off for you. It’s used for parties and is separate from the rest of the customers. Get Demon a plate too.”
“Finally, someone that appreciates me,” Demon told Mike.
Once t
he teens paid for their food, Jim led them back to a sectioned off room. Equipped with an air hockey table, darts, and TV monitors, with a view of the AMTRAK rails beyond.
“Get comfortable. I’ll be right back.” Jim left for a few minutes. When he returned, he had a bowl and a beer. “There’s already a shot in the bowl. Stan told me you like both, Demon.”
Jim set the bowl down in front of Demon and poured in the beer. Demon looked up at him with his team enjoying the shocked look he was staring at the manager with.
“I love you, man!” Demon projected, cracking up Mike who repeated it to the others.
It was the manager’s turn to express shock as Demon lapped at his beer and shot while the rest of Demon Inc shared a laugh at Demon’s quip.
“He… he can communicate with you?”
Mike nodded. “It’s not something we advertise, Jim. Right, D?”
Demon’s answer was his trademark lip quivering belch.
Jim laughed appreciatively as he turned away. “Enjoy your meal. Anytime you want to use Brennan’s for a meeting of Demon Inc, just give me a call.”
“Okay, spill it, Dempsey,” Janis ordered. “I saw Denny’s video clips, but there has to be more to the rumble on the gridiron.”
“It was tense at first, but you already saw we got by that after a couple plays. The rest is the same boring reality of football practice which is why I ain’t doing it. I don’t know how Stan and Jerry endure it. Although exciting for me to watch them in practice, doing it myself is not my idea of fun. I found out there’s some great guys on the team, and it might be possible after the game our feud will be over. That’s good enough for me.”
“So why’d you have Stan set this up, Mikey? Are we just trying out a new clubhouse away from your folks’ house?”
“No, Jer, I know you guys had practice this afternoon. I’d never call this meeting to update my friends on a stupid football practice. Denny and I have a plan to try and get ahead of the Haunts. I know we’re not the only ones wondering how many idiots are out there playing the conjuring game. Denny has something tech wise he’ll be doing some experiments with I’ll let him tell you about first.”
Denny put down his fork. “This is great food by the way, Stan. I got the idea from the fact the Haunts are really susceptible to laser charging our holy water streams. I’m studying laser bandwidth to detect their presence. Have any of you heard of interferometrics?”
The blank looks from everyone preceded Janis’s caustic interjection. “Get on with it, Brainiac. Even Farfel’s eyes rolled on that term.”
“Brandy, you’re so cute when you’re stuffing your face like a third world starveling,” Demon shot back into Mike’s head, causing him to nearly choke his drink up through his nose.
He quickly repeated Demon’s retort, causing another break in his meeting plan. “Okay, no more insults. This is important. Go on, Denny.”
“They’ve been using narrow bandwidth lasers to identify trace gas measurements, wind speed, and a multitude of other substances. If I can get Homeland Security to take this threat seriously, we may be able to coordinate something similar using internet frequency bursts to outline a Haunt nest activity or a portal opening up. It could be the turning point for us if we can ID new nests or activity.”
“That is incredible, Denny,” Steve Corbett said, the excitement in his voice perking up everyone’s attention. “An HS agent contacted me this afternoon directly. They’ve gone over our videos, and your suppositions on hauntings and third party conjurings. It turns out they’ve been monitoring our YouTube channel. The agent confessed they had tried to discredit the videos using everything they have without any success. They’re open to any suggestions you have. They also want us to continue with our Syfy Channel contracts. The more popular our exposure, the less shock or surprise if this Haunt invasion expands. I’ll set up a meeting between you and Homeland Security right away. We have some believers there though, according to their agent, Alisha Naverone.”
“I’ll patch together all my notes and research so I can sell her on it,” Denny promised.
“If we can hook up with HS technology to predict Haunt activity, I want to run something else by all of you, including D,” Mike said. “If we ID another Haunt portal, I’d like to try something with Demon, especially if we can get there before we have an army of Haunts waiting for us. I’d like to cross over with a full bore holy water/laser delivery system, funneled from this side. Look, I know we’ve all been avoiding the mystical/religious aspect of this. The holy water is Kryptonite for the Haunts. Ignoring the obvious aspects of all this is not my way. I believe. If we could pass a delivery system hose into the Haunt dimension without losing potency, think about the damage we could do. We might be able to cause so much damage, they’d cross us off their list of invasion opportunities.”
“I like it!” Demon’s jumping up with forepaws on the table spoke for itself, but Mike interpreted anyway with a grin.
“Demon likes it.”
“I can sure see why you wanted a meeting place away from your folks’ house,” Stan said. “We all know how your Mom feels about you crossing through the portal for any reason. I wouldn’t second guess you or Demon so I’m on board with your idea. It still depends on Denny’s prediction plan with HS though. We all know what’s at stake here.”
A resounding affirmation of Stan’s assessment echoed amongst the Demon Inc crew.
“Okay then, that’s a wrap as far as I’m concerned,” Mike replied. “We take it to the Haunts on the offensive from now on if Denny’s plan holds up. We’ll need more than Father Ramirez if we try out my inter-dimensional holy water attack. We have Halloween coming up. I don’t know how much that will affect our plans, but we have to be ready for anything this Halloween. The Haunts have proven they have a foothold here. Going on the offensive means a more positive result for all of us. We can’t keep arriving after they’ve spewed out hundreds of Haunts. Anything else?”
“Where’s Laura,” Connie asked. “She’s not answering any of my texts.”
“She’s a little under the weather with her pregnancy,” Joanie said. “The mission in Ansel’s house upset her. Coupled with entering her last trimester, it’s doing a number on her. My Mom ordered her into bed for rest, with soup and crackers for sustenance. It’s working, but I convinced her to stay home tonight. I’ll update her on everything. She’ll probably be back texting and offering her opinion tomorrow morning.”
“I need to ask you something, Joanie,” Connie stated, leaning forward with her hands splayed on the table. “Can Laura do this job right now? I understand loyalty. I understand friendship. Don’t think for a moment I wouldn’t out Brandy here if she seems inclined to do something that would put the rest of us at risk.”
“Oh thanks, girlfriend,” Janis said, with a hand twirl. “Right back at you, Ms. ‘I shriek at everything’.”
“She’s fine,” Joanie insisted. “Laura held up very well with the Ansel nest, and that was scary as hell. We’re not robots, but we try to be as robotic as we can when all of you are in danger. It helps with both of us being there. It’s nice that the only thing we have on the agenda is a couple of football games and an MMA match.”
“And a group date with Joanie’s girlfriends and me on Sunday,” Denny added, drawing chuckles from everyone but Joanie who gave him a tight lipped grimace. “I mean… Joanie and her girlfriends.”
“You dog you,” Connie shook her finger at him comically. “What did you do, borrow Mike’s ‘Haunt Touch’ and voodoo all her friends?”
Even Demon, who had lapped up all his beer and shot, snorted in amusement. He then dug into his turkey sandwich plate, being careful not to get sloppy.
“We’re coming to the football game to see Mike’s quarterback debut,” Stan said. “I wish Jerry and I could get over after our game to work your corner, Mikey, but it would be a bridge too far.”
“I’m coming to see you guys play on Saturday afternoon. I’ll leave at halftim
e to go home and get ready for the trip to San Jose for my match. I’m going to fit in as many normal things as I can between Haunt hunts.”
“Can I go with you, Mike?” Gail asked. “I want to go with you and Denny and your Dad down to watch the MMA match too.”
“Sure, Gail, I-”
“No touching the Mikester, girlfriend,” Janis warned.
“Don’t worry,” Gail replied. “I already got a jolt of that, thinking I was getting immune to it. No more poking the hornet’s nest. I got stung.”
“At least we have D in case it happens by accident. He counteracted my touch, but he has to be present to do it. It’d be nice if I could control it.”
That statement drew unintended laughter as Mike realized what he’d said.
“I meant it might be valuable when dealing with… oh hell… forget it. There’s no way I’ll be able to make that sound right.” Mike changed the subject as he was in danger of digging a deeper hole. “I like this place for meetings, Stan. It looks old, but the food’s good and it feels comfortable.”
“Jim told me it’s an old Union Pacific train station from back in the 1890’s. He said there have been strange noises and such,” Stan said. “I figured if there was anything dangerous, D would pick up on it. How about it, D? Any spirits?”
Demon nodded. “But no Haunts.”
“No Haunts,” Mike repeated.
“That’s still kind of freaky once again,” Connie said. “I wonder how many damn places in California are haunted.”
“A lot,” Denny said. “I’ve researched the numbers. There are whole websites dedicated to haunted places in California. This one wasn’t on any of them though.”
“You kids are pretty entertaining,” Steve said. “I’m happy you included me in this meeting, because I needed to hear what your plans are. I could have done without knowing about my Daughter experimenting with the Mikester though.”
“Sorry, Sir,” Mike said.
“Sorry, Dad.”
Steve sighed. “Liars.”
Chapter Seventeen
Big Game
Demon Inc (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 2) Page 22