“Okay, Mike.” Denny watched his friend’s face uneasily. “You’re screwing with my in school rest day, Cap.”
“That’s life in Demon Inc land, Frodo. Step up.”
“On it.” Denny left with a shrug of amused acceptance.
“Mike.”
Turning toward the greeting counter, Mike noted Ansel no longer was avoiding looking at him. He leaned on the counter with a smile. “I know these latest developments are tough to understand, Ms. Ansel. The FBI isn’t happy with me either.”
Ansel covered Mike’s hand. “I didn’t mean what I said to come out like it did before. You saved my life. I don’t care how many kidnappers you kill.”
Mike patted her hand with his free one. “Thank you. The important thing is we’re still holding off the Haunts.”
Ansel shivered while releasing Mike’s hand. “Good Lord, those things are horrible.”
“Yep. Bye, Ms. Ansel.”
“Do you think the FBI will help you guys?”
Mike glanced back at her from the doorway. “At some point, they won’t have a choice.”
* * *
Mike saw Denny walk in the cafeteria with Joanie. They joined him at his usual back table with solemn expressions. “What’s with the long faces? I haven’t even told you what’s happening yet.”
The two sat down facing Mike.
“The high school grapevine is in full swing,” Denny replied. “We’ve been out killing and maiming all weekend. Instead of happiness over Tina Kinsler’s safe return, the main subject in conversation is a debate over whether you twisted Santiago’s head completely around on his shoulders or not.”
Mike laughed, but cut it short when he noticed he was the only one. “Hey, what’s the big deal? You two didn’t think they’d consider running me for class president or something did you?”
“They think you’re a monster,” Joanie put in. “Even my friends, the Denny harem, were talking about it like you needed help.”
“We can’t worry about all that now. Let’s get down to business before Sandy Albertson gets here. She-”
“The head cheerleader?”
“Yeah, Sis, and she tried to blackmail her way into Demon Inc operations with knowledge of a Satanic cult planning on opening a portal into Haunt land somewhere we’d never find it. I juiced her. I filtered out any attraction vibes, and went with obedience full bore. I own her. She’s going to explain to us all about this stupid devil cult, and how we can stop it.”
Joanie stared at him like horns had sprung out of his forehead. “Can…can you release her Mike?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m not letting that twit open a damn Haunt floodgate somewhere they could come through in the thousands before we even knew we had a problem. Later, after we stop this crap and get the FBI to witness what we’re battling against, I’ll see if Demon and I can bring her back.”
“Bring her back from where?”
“You’ll see, Sis. Here she comes now.”
Attesting to her popularity, many of the students in the cafeteria stopped eating to watch Sandy walk through. She exchanged greetings with a few seniors eating lunch, but continued on when she spotted Mike. The lost appearance Sandy had exhibited when leaving Mike earlier had evolved into confused rage. She arrived at the back table and stared down malevolently at Denny and Joanie.
“Move!”
Denny grinned at Mike and tugged Joanie to her feet. “C’mon to the dark side, Joanie.”
Joanie stood, but didn’t move. “Maybe you should learn how to say please.”
Albertson scowled, extending a hand to push Joanie on her way, but Joanie snatched her hand. “Touch me and I have my brother make you strip and bark like a dog.”
Joanie saw the horrified acceptance of her threat in Sandy’s eyes. She smiled, released Albertson’s hand, and then walked around to take a seat next to an amused Denny. Joanie leaned around to get Mike’s attention. “Okay, Mike, I see what you mean. I vote no on the release.”
“Noted. Sit down, Sandy.”
Albertson immediately sat down, her face a shadowy reflection of a war going on inside her she had no control over. “What… the hell have you done to me?”
Mike peered into Sandy’s face with a half smile. “Hey there. I’m glad you’ve surfaced a little. I didn’t want you to go away entirely, because you’re going to help us end this threat you hinted at this morning.”
“How can you make me do this? I…I tried to keep from coming here, but every time I turned away from the cafeteria, I felt nauseous. I’ll help you. Just let me go from this… this leash you have me on.”
“Maybe after we fix this Haunt portal threat, I’ll think about it.”
Sandy’s face turned feral, her lips compressed into a thin slash. “Listen… you idiot. There is no Satanic rite or portal. I was putting you on to get a rise, and because I wanted in on your-”
“You’re lying!” Mike leaned over the table, his eyes darkening, and his scar glowing. “If I grab your hand again, you’ll be like my own little cheerleader zombie. All you’ll be good for is following me around, begging for scraps. I’ll still get what I need, but your mind will be bye-bye. Would you like that?”
Denny and Joanie both edged backwards away from the look of abject horror flowing over Albertson’s countenance in a wave of desperation. “No! No, Mike… please don’t. I’ll tell. I’ll help. I’ll do anything!”
Mike eased back in his chair. “That’s better. If you ever give me attitude again, I’ll make sure you don’t have a mind to process it in. Let’s get started. Denny’s going to record everything you say, baby. We need a concise beginning, middle, and end, with names, places, and times. You’re going to help us set a trap.”
Sweat beaded on Sandy’s forehead and upper lip. She had clasped her hands together in prayer like fashion on the table in front of her. She nodded in violent assent to Mike’s orders. “I will, Mike… I will.”
* * *
Joanie watched Mike carefully. The ease in which he accepted control of Sandy had freaked her out. She didn’t notice any bid to humiliate her during his questioning. He kept his questions short and to the point. Sandy named six other students from Arroyo besides her that participated in what they thought were Satanic rites. They didn’t have a spell book, but they had a book of Satanic magic. The cult met on Saturday nights at midnight when they played with candles and chants. Since hearing rumors about portals allowing demons to enter this dimension, the group had been hunting for anything that might help them pull it off, including Ouija Boards or old Spirit Boards.
Listening to Sandy explain how they found the staging area for their portal experiment, Joanie found it hard to believe anyone would be stupid enough to worship the devil or chance releasing monsters on earth. Sandy admitted they had watched all of Demon Inc’s video clips on YouTube. Instead of being frightened or at least cautious, the cult could hardly contain their excitement at the prospect of causing chaos. They had decided on a foreclosed property on Benedict Drive right in San Leandro, very close by. Joanie knew by Mike and Denny’s frustrated looks of anger, they realized a portal inside a house like that could generate untold numbers of Haunts before anything was noticed. The further threat of a Ouija Board or Spirit Board used in the spell with the chanting devil nuts would mean possessions and more portals. Joanie didn’t need much imagining to picture their whole area quickly becoming a Haunt haven. Demon Inc would never be able to fight that many threats even with local police affiliations. She could see the growing importance of enlisting the feds or they could be swarmed.
“Tell me something, genius,” Joanie said during a lull in the questioning. “What were you morons going to do once the Haunts flowed through the portal, play video games with them, or maybe spin the bottle?”
Albertson stared at Joanie. “The Lord Satan won’t allow anything to happen to his acolytes. The Haunts as you call them will be our army of darkness.”
Joanie jutted for
ward over the table, her hands clenched in fury. “You stupid cow! We should open your empty head for possession by one of them. Mike, are you sure this group of idiots could even open a portal?”
“I don’t know, Sis. We can’t take the chance. If we could get a look at the book they’re using, maybe we’d be able to tell whether they’re capable of pulling it off.”
“Our leader, Clarissa Adams never allows the book out of her sight,” Sandy said. “You won’t be able to stop this no matter what you do. We-”
“Oh shut up!” Joanie reached over and grabbed Sandy’s ear, eliciting a yelp of pain from Sandy. “I used to admire you. I wanted to be a cheerleader at one time because I thought you were so cool.” After a final shake, Joanie released her. “I’ve lost my appetite, Denny. I’ll see you in class.”
* * *
Mike exchanged glances with Denny, both noting they only had fifteen minutes left for lunch. Like Joanie, Mike seemed to have lost his appetite too. “Anything else you can think of, Den? I figure we’ll have to take Fluffy and go recon this Benedict Drive place. You’ll be going with us, Sandy.”
Denny nodded. “That’s what I figured too. Have you been to the house, Sandy?”
“We all have,” Sandy replied, rubbing the ear Joanie had shaken. “There’s ‘no trespassing’ signs of course, but we don’t have to break in. Clarissa’s Mom is a real estate agent with access to the foreclosures Wells Fargo Bank owns. We had three meetings there. They have a fireplace, and no one can bust in on us.”
“Why did you decide on Wednesday at midnight?”
Sandy rolled her eyes before remembering what Mike had warned about showing attitude. “Ah… because there’s no school Thursday. It’s another one of those teacher hooky days, where they pretend to have meetings. I should never have approached you.”
“Why did you?”
“Money, fame, popularity… the usual.”
“So selling out your little devil lovin’ friends doesn’t really bother you?” Mike asked.
“I made a mistake trying to have it all, but yeah, I’m not like a real true believer. I thought it was a kick chanting and dancin’ naked around in candlelight, summoning demons. Your YouTube Channel made us believe we could do it for real.”
“What makes you think you can do it with the book you have?” Denny asked.
“We tried it, using a summoning spell. A rift began to appear and we stopped. It was so awesome! It was as if the air became grainy and thick. Clarissa ended the summoning, but she was really excited. She told us to get ready for Wednesday night. We leave our cars over at the Walgreen’s Drugstore on Lewelling Blvd. Then we all ride over to the house in Katy Reynoso’s old Ford van. That way, we don’t attract attention from the neighbors near the house.”
Mike laced his hands behind his neck while looking at the cafeteria ceiling in disgust. “We almost bit the big one, Den, and we didn’t even know about it.”
“At some point, my warning system will detect Haunt incursions like this, brother. The bad part is a lot of Haunts can get through before my system alarms went off. We’d be fighting setups like at Ansel’s house. These dummies nearly opened a rift so it’s not going to be a false alarm. This will be a good one to introduce the FBI to the Haunt world if we can get them to accompany us. Later, if this contagion spreads, we’ll need federal transport to a Haunt outbreak.”
“I don’t want to even think about that. Let’s not bore Satanic Sandy with all these world saving problems. Can you get away on a studying excuse tonight between eight and nine? That way we’ll have enough time for you to show us how you dopes get into the house. Is there a lock box or something?”
“Yes, but I also have a hidden key that Clarissa doesn’t know about. I found it when we were over at the house. I tried it when no one was looking, and it fits the front door. I can get away, but what do you need me for? I’ll give you the key. I have it in my bag.”
“You’re going to show us all your group’s actions, especially what you remember about the night a rift seemed to open.” Mike stood up. He then leaned over face to face with Sandy. “Here’s what will happen if you try to warn anyone or you act out of character to arouse suspicion. You will become a lot sicker than you did today if you try it. Understand?”
Sandy nodded and looked down at the table. “We’ll have to be careful. If any of my friends see us fooling around, they’ll know something’s up.”
“We’ll be careful. Thanks for your concern. I’ll come by for you at a quarter till. Will I need to come in to spring you loose?”
“No, my folks are used to me taking off. They know I practice routines every chance I get with my squad. It would be nice if you came to the door though.”
“No problem. Remember, you have a part to play until this is over. See you later, Den. You can have dinner at my house and help Joanie with her homework before we check things out with Demon.”
“See you after school, Mike.” Denny ate the last bite of his sandwich and washed it down with some bottled water. He cleaned his area, aware Sandy was staring at him.
“How can Mike control me?”
“He got ripped a few times by the Haunts. The wounds healed with holy water, but they left him with some strange powers. We have a funny nickname for him, because he’s shown more than once he won’t hesitate to do anything he has to: Captain Darkness.”
“That’s not funny.”
Denny chuckled. “Maybe not to you. See you tonight, Sandy. Be good today… very good.”
“Screw you, Stossle!”
“That’s the spirit, you little devil, you.” Denny shook a warning finger at Sandy as he walked away. “Temper… temper.”
* * *
“Just out of curiosity, how do you plan on letting Laura know you’re controlling her hated rival’s mind like she was your own pleasure doll?”
Denny laughed at Joanie’s verbal swipe. Mike whipped around to stare at his sister. They had just gotten into Mike’s car for the trip home from school with a detour to pick up Demon. “Have you ever had that dream where you awaken in English class naked, Sis?”
Joanie gasped, and pushed Mike’s forehead with the palm of her hand. “I’m tellin’ Mom. Besides, it was just a simple, and to the point question you’ll have to face, Captain Darkness.”
Mike turned around again. He started the car, his hands pressing into the steering wheel to the point indentations began to form, and the steering wheel material began to protest. “No… I had not considered the question. Thank you for that.”
“Sorry, Mike, but she’s living in my room. She loves you. She hates Sandy. Who do you think pays the price for your indiscretions, Cap?”
Mike hit the brake. “I didn’t get her pregnant. I didn’t ask Mom and Dad to make her your roommate, and I try to think of her as an adult who can function in our new enterprise which is paying for all of our bills. On the downside, I get blamed for everything that upsets her, I’m her life coach, starting tomorrow, just before a Haunt conflagration - yet I’m still stuck with the cheerleading devil groupie who I have to stop from annihilating our world. Maybe Laura could cut me some slack.”
“Yep… that’ll happen.” Joanie gripped her bag, fists clenched around it, and mouth tightening in regret. “Sorry, Mike. Lately, I seem to only think of myself. Either I’m making crappy comments or I’m pissing everyone off.”
“No biggie, Sis. You were right to remind me. I’ll tell her straight out when we get home. Denny and I need her at Demon Inc watching for approaching company while we check out the place on Benedict. We have to get going and pick D up. I’m sure only a double shot and beer will keep him from raking my ass too.”
“We need to get Fluffy his own iPad so I can give him the ringtone he deserves,” Denny said. “How about ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’?”
Mike and Joanie laughed. Mike nodded his agreement in the rear view mirror. “Oh yeah! Put it on all our iPads so we can key it in every time he dogs us.”
; “Done.” Denny looked ahead as they drove toward Bonaire Park. “I figured he’d be out in front doing the ‘Robot’ or something.”
Mike shook his head. “He’s too smart to show himself. Man… if I ever had to bail him out of the pound, D would torture me for a month.”
Turning into the long driveway leading to the Bonaire parking lot, Mike steered all the way over on the right, where a fence separated the parking lot from a baseball field. The teens watched as a harried looking middle aged woman roamed around at the front of the park near the playground with a leash in her hand. She was calling out the name ‘Abby’. As Mike exited the car, the woman approached him.
“Hi, I’m looking for my Irish Setter, Abby. If you or your friends see her, could you…” the woman turned around as a dog barked. “Oh, there she is. Thank you anyway.”
“Sure, ma’am, I’m glad you found her.” Mike exchanged uneasy glances with Denny and Joanie who had exited the car when the woman walked over.
They watched the Irish setter run to her owner from over the hill on the left side of the park. A moment later while the woman hugged her missing dog and put on its leash, Demon padded over the hill and made a beeline across the park toward the teens. Abby the Irish Setter tried to run after him, but was restrained by the confused owner. Demon didn’t look back as the dog barked plaintively.
“Uh oh. Get in the car, you two. We may need to make a quick getaway.” Mike stepped aside as Demon dived across his seat to the passenger side. Denny and Joanie hurriedly reentered the Chevy. The woman was calling out for Mike to wait.
“Get this buggy rollin’, CD,” Demon streamed into Mike’s mind.
“In a moment, Farfel.” Mike walked toward the woman after closing his door. “Yes, ma’am?”
The woman pointed at Mike’s car where Demon had huddled down on the seat while the two teens in the back seat remained turned away from the scene with both hands over their mouths, shoulders shaking. “Is that your dog that hopped into the car?”
Demon at War (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 3) Page 10