Demonspawn

by Glenn Bullion

  “Gotcha!” I shouted, and grabbed her shoulder.

  She jumped and gave me a look. “Alex! You asshole!”

  I laughed like a little kid as I climbed behind the wheel.

  “My previous guardian was Elizabeth Fields,” I said.

  “Why would that woman lie?”

  “I don't know. But apparently I'm some kind of town legend or something.”

  “At least you're a legend somewhere. No one likes you back in Maryland.”

  “Aww. Everyone loves me.”

  “Not if you keep scaring people like that.”

  “What can I do to make it up to you?” I was just kidding. But I realized I sounded very flirty.

  “Don't ask me that. I'll have you giving me a full body massage.”

  Wow. What punishment. I tried to push the picture from my head. “Well, you ready to make one more stop?”

  “Sure.”

  I thought Elizabeth Fields would be hard to find, just because that's my luck. I was wrong. Her name was listed in the phone book, and a guy at a gas station gave me decent directions. Everything was close in Blossom, and it didn't take no more than an hour to pull up outside her house. It was close to two o'clock.

  I didn't get out of the car right away. I turned off the engine and sat there, staring at her house. It looked like it had seen better days. The yard was growing out of control. I could barely see the front of the house with all the bushes in the way. The fence looked like it was near collapsing.

  Cindy didn't say anything. She knew I was lost in my own little world, just reflecting on everything. I finally talked after a few minutes.

  “Three days ago I thought I had everything under control. I'm a freak, I know. But I was a freak that knew where I came from. Now I'm sitting here looking at what might be my real mother's house. I handled all the ghost crap, but this adoption thing is killing me.”

  “Look, I know it's easy for me to say. But you have to put all this behind you. This will help. You can't let all this get you down. Besides, I'm glad your real parents gave you up.”

  I gave her a look. Strange thing to say.

  “I don't know what I'd do without you,” she explained. “So yeah, I'm glad. Believe me, Alicia, your mom, my parents, and me, we'll never complain.”

  I smiled. I knew I'd told her, and I thought it many times, but I was glad Cindy came along with me.

  “Okay, let's go.”

  We crossed the street and I knocked on the front door. Cindy stood a step behind me. I felt my heart hammering as I heard the door open and a woman stood before me.

  Slightly graying hair, although it used to be brown. She looked maybe close to fifty. She was probably a little shorter than me, around Cindy's height. Her expression suggested she was having a bad morning. Or perhaps every morning was bad. She eyed me up and down, a look of irritation on her face.

  “What?” she said. Her tone said it all.

  Strangely, all the thinking I'd been doing, I didn't have sentences planned out in my head.

  “Uh, hi.”

  “Yeah, what do you want? You lost?”

  “No, I-”

  “Look, everyone in the neighborhood knows I don't like anyone knocking on my door. Now get going.”

  She tried to shut the door in my face. I had to wedge my foot in the doorway to stop her. Her face turned red from anger.

  “I'll call the police!” she nearly screamed.

  She was forceful, direct. I had no choice but to be the same.

  “I'm guessing you're Elizabeth Fields. If you are, you gave me up for adoption twenty-three years ago. I want to know why.”

  She eased her grip on the door. Her mouth slowly fell open. She looked me up and down, then a look of sadness crossed her face. Obviously I was bringing bad memories with me.

  “Come on inside.”

  We did so. She closed the door behind us. The inside of her house looked nothing like the outside. Very nice, homely. Antiques littered the place. No TV, I noticed. Where I thought a living room would be was a little library. I liked it.

  “Thirsty?” she asked. There was still an edge in her voice.

  I looked at Cindy. She shook her head. “Nah, we're good. Thank you.”

  We followed her into a tiny dining room. It looked like we interrupted a light lunch. She sat down in front of a glass of tea, a sandwich, and a book. We sat across from her.

  “So, what's your name?”

  The question surprised me. Didn't she know?

  “Alex. Alex Teague. This is my best friend. Cindy Marshall.”

  She nodded. “It's good to have friends. I used to have friends. But not anymore. Not since that day.”

  “That day?”

  She waved her hand. “In time. So, I'm guessing you're wondering who I am? Why I was listed as your guardian?”

  I nodded. “Miss Elizabeth, believe me, I'm wondering a whole bunch of things.”

  “Call me Beth. Well, for you, I guess you can call me Aunt Beth.”

  “Aunt?”

  “Yeah. I have some questions for you too.”

  “I probably don't have any answers.”

  “You might be surprised. I'm guessing there might be a part of you that you keep from everyone else, even Cindy here. Ghosts, maybe? Spirits? Demons?”

  I was excited. Beth knew something. Finally, I would get some answers.

  “Yeah,” I said. “But Cindy knows. She knows everything about me.”

  “Tell me. Tell me about yourself. Maybe we can tell each other things.”

  I told her everything. I told her about getting rid of the demon in Tammy's house in high school, and the encounter at Homecoming with Susan a week later. I told her about George McEllen and his family, and my discovering that I could turn invisible and walk through walls. That really caught her attention. I told her of how I could sense when Cindy was in danger, and how I dealt with the two men who tried to hurt her. That's when Beth started actually taking notes. Also, Cindy grabbed my arm when I told that story. I never really gave her the details. I wondered what she'd have to say later.

  I must have talked for a half hour. When I was finally done Beth looked over her notes, and started shaking her head.

  “This isn't possible,” she said.

  I laughed a little. “Yeah, which part?”

  She ignored me. “Seeing into the spirit realm is one thing. But moving into it? Not possible.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She looked up at me with a face full of doubt. “People can't move through walls, my little nephew.”

  I didn't like her condescending tone. I stood up and moved away from the table. “Now don't blink,” I said.

  I vanished. Beth gasped and jumped out of her chair. Cindy just laughed. Apparently she was getting used to me.

  “He does that whenever I try to take his clothes off. Annoying white man.”

  “I can see how that would be distracting. Alex? Are you there?”

  I backed up a few steps and reappeared, just so Beth could see that I could move when invisible as well. “Believe me now?”

  Beth's hands started shaking. “Fuck. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “I guess he pulled it off. Well, kind of. Just the wrong person.”

  “Who is he? Pulled off what?”

  Her face lit up. “You can help. I'm sure of it.”

  “Whoa, hey!” I raised my voice a little. Beth was almost out of it, not even looking at me. I waved a hand in front of her face. “You want to include us in your little talk here?”

  “I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I have to take you somewhere. To help someone. After that, I'll give you answers.”

  “Wait a minute. Help someone? What are you talking about?”

  “A family on the other side of town. One of the only ones left that will actually look at me if they see me on the street. Their house has spirits.”

  I raised my hands and sat n
ext to Cindy. “I think I've had enough haunted houses in one lifetime.”

  “Please. Alex, to put it simple, I won't tell you anything unless you come with me.”

  I dropped my gaze and shook my head out of frustration. I just wanted answers, then to go home. Looks like I had to jump through hoops to get them. I gave Cindy an amused look.

  “And this is supposed to be family here.”

  Beth started cleaning up her lunch. “You don't know the half of it.”

  “Are you okay with this?” I asked Cindy. “I can drop you off at the hotel and come back later.”

  She took a deep breath. I don't blame her for not being enthusiastic. She'd been with me in Tammy's house and George's house. It wasn't exactly fun.

  “You know I'm right behind you, fearless leader.”

  I nodded. I caught Beth giving us both a look, as if she'd never seen such closeness or loyalty before.

  We all went together in Beth's station-wagon. I probably should have gotten her to prepare us a little for the next haunted house in my life. But to be honest, I didn't exactly like Beth. I didn't want to talk to her. Besides, I already had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I'd walk inside the house, and get cold. Then I'd see some ghosts.

  Blossom must have been bigger than I thought. The “other side of town” was a twenty minute drive. The sun was starting to set when we pulled up next to a quaint little home. It looked about as haunted as my apartment. Neatly cut grass, white picket fence, a mailbox with the last name Baker written on it. It certainly didn't look ominous or haunted.

  But then again, Tammy's didn't either.

  Chapter 13

  We followed Beth up the sidewalk to the front door. After a few knocks a woman in her forties answered.

  She was attractive, but looked like she was in the middle of a bad day. Probably a bad year. Huge circles under her eyes. Her shoulders were slumped, like the happiness had been drained from her. She managed a smirk when she saw Beth, but it quickly fell into a frown.

  “Beth,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Hi, Nancy. I tried to call before we came over, but the phone was busy. Is it okay if we come in?”

  Nancy laughed sarcastically. “Not at all. We could always use more company.”

  Her statement was lost on me until we stepped into the living room. Then Cindy and I froze.

  “Whoa.”

  There were people everywhere. It looked like a crime scene on TV. There was a guy setting up a camera in the corner. Another was hanging a microphone near the TV. A woman sat on the couch writing in a book of some kind. There was a man wearing a red flannel watching everything from where the dining room started. I could tell just by looking at him he was Mister Baker. He didn't look happy, but he did look exhausted, just like his wife.

  Nancy and Beth retreated to near the stairs and started talking. I couldn't hear what was said, but I could see they were talking about me.

  And of course, like I expected, the cold chill hit, like the temperature dropped twenty degrees.

  “Wow,” Cindy said. “Think there's any hot guys here? It's almost like a club.”

  “Yeah. I'll go get us some alcohol.”

  “You don't drink.”

  She was ruining my joke. “You're supposed to say something about us getting drunk together.”

  “Nice thought.”

  A man holding some kind of gadget stopped in front of us. He wasn't much older than us, wearing dirty bluejeans and a backwards baseball cap.

  “Hi,” he said. “We're with the university. I'm just taking some EM readings. What do you guys do?”

  Cindy and I looked at each other.

  “Uh, I drive a forklift and load trucks.”

  “I'm an accountant.”

  He was silent for a moment. “No shit? Really?”

  “Yup.”

  “Well, okay. I'm Dan.”

  “Alex. This is Cindy.”

  He went on his way.

  “Let's go,” I told Cindy. I was getting claustrophobic with so many people in the tiny living room. But I knew we could probably move freely in the house without getting stopped. I just had to get away.

  We walked past Mister Baker, who barely looked at us, and went upstairs. There was one person at the end of the hall setting up a camera, but that was it.

  “Finally, a bathroom,” Cindy said. “Don't leave without me.”

  Cindy closed the door behind her. I laughed.

  “Come on, you have to eat your soup. You're sick.”

  It was a girl's voice, coming from an open bedroom down the hall. I poked my head in to see a yellow painted bedroom. So yellow it almost hurt my eyes. A little girl in a pink dress was playing next to her bed. She was probably seven or eight. She had a tiny table setup and a few stuffed animals all sitting in chairs. They all had plates in front of them, which I'm guessing had imaginary food.

  The girl looked up and saw me. “Hi,” she said politely.

  “Hello. What's going on in here?”

  “Teddy won't eat his soup,” she said. “But he has to or else he won't get better.”

  “Ah. I guess he's not feeling good.”

  “No. I had to keep him home from school.”

  I laughed and stepped inside. Cute kid. Looked a lot like Nancy.

  “I'm Alex.”

  “Hi. I'm Rachel. That's Teddy. That's Marvin. That's Bunny. And that's Jerry.”

  I looked at her little stuffed animal family. I had to laugh at Jerry the Lizard. Who names a lizard Jerry?

  “It's nice meeting you.”

  I turned to leave.

  “Are you gonna make it go away?”

  I stopped dead in my tracks. “What's that?”

  “The monster.”

  She had my complete attention. I sat across from her Indian-style.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “It comes out at night. It walks around the house. Sometimes it stands over my bed and screams at me. At first Mommy didn't believe me. But I think she does now.”

  Given the amount of people downstairs, I'd say Rachel was right.

  “The man from our church came over last weekend,” she continued. She hung her head. “But he couldn't help us.”

  “Rachel.” She looked up at me. “I'll get rid of the monster.”

  She smiled. She believed me. The scary part was that I believed myself as well. I'd done it once already.

  I left her room. I noticed two more bedrooms. One was at the end of the hall and looked pretty big. Obviously Mister and Mrs. Baker's. I poked my head in the other one to see a teenage girl laying on her bed. Probably a year or two younger than Alicia. She had a pair of headphones on and was reading a magazine. She looked more like Mister Baker. When she saw me she pulled her headphones off angrily.

  “I told you guys. No cameras in here! Damn perverts.”

  I held my hands up. “You see any cameras here?”

  “Who are you?”

  “Alex.”

  “What? You like a ghostbuster or something?”

  I leaned in the doorway. “Having a bad day?”

  “Are there still fifty people downstairs?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then yes, I'm having a bad day. They can't help anyway.”

  “What have you been seeing here?”

  She looked surprised. “You're asking me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow. No one's asked me anything yet.”

  “Your sister said she sees a monster.”

  She shook her head. “No, I haven't seen anything. A lot of noises, things banging around. Footsteps at night. And just...feelings, you know? Like I'm in the shower and it feels like someone's right outside watching.”

  I nodded. Then Cindy grabbed my arm, scaring the hell out of me. She laughed.

  “I knew I'd get you eventually. Finally.”

  “Funny.”

  She looked into the bedroom. “Hey, he's my man. Don't try to steal him.”


  “Good luck in ghostbusting, Alex.”

  “Nice meeting you, Danielle.”

  She smirked. “Didn't even tell you my name. I thought you might be the psychic that every group drags along with them.”

  “Nah. It's on your wall back there.”

  She turned red from embarrassment.

  Cindy and I went back downstairs. There were less people than before. I noticed some guys outside hovering near some vans. They must setup their equipment, then do their watching from the outside.

  Mister Baker was in the kitchen making dinner. Nancy was in the living room talking with Beth and the woman I saw earlier with the notebook. There seemed to be some tension there.

  When we stepped into the living room everyone got quiet. I could only hear Mister Baker working in the kitchen. The three women stared at me.

  “Hello, everyone,” I said. I tried to keep my voice polite.

  The lady with the notebook stepped forward and extended her hand. She looked to be somewhere in her forties, although nowhere near as attractive as Nancy.

  “Hi. I'm Judy Strictland. I'm the clairvoyant on the team.”

  “Alex Teague. My friend, Cindy Marshall.”

  “Pleased to meet you. Look, I'll get right to the point. I was talking with Nancy and Beth. I really don't think it's a good idea if we work together.”

  “Work together?”

  “Yeah. Our energies might clash. We might sense different things, influence each other. You understand?”

  I looked at Beth, who didn't say a word. She dragged me along, and wasn't going to defend me, I guess. I was tempted to agree, and leave the house. But then I wouldn't get my answers. I also remembered Rachel's face upstairs, talking about the monster.

  “I wouldn't worry too much. I really don't kick out a lot of energy. I don't think I'll get in the way.”

  “This is serious,” Nancy said.

  “You're right. It is. Rachel upstairs says a monster is here. Are all these cameras and microphones gonna get rid of it?”

  “We have to understand what's here. We need time and equipment to do that. Surely you've done this before?”

  “Not like this,” I admitted. “It's all new to me.”

  Beth finally spoke up. “Nancy, you've known me forever. We're not trying to compete with anyone here. We're just trying to help. We'll stay out of everyone's way.”