Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter: Preview
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter: Extras
Demon Book VII
(The Mike Rawlins and Demon Series)
Disciples of Darkness
by
Bernard Lee DeLeo
*****
PUBLISHED BY:
Bernard Lee DeLeo and RJ Parker Publishing Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1981612857
ISBN-10: 1981612858
Demon Book VII: The Mike Rawlins and Demon Series
Copyright © 2017 by Bernard Lee DeLeo
Cover Illustration by: Colin Matthew Dougherty
*****
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. Please respect the author’s work. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real life persons, events, or places is purely coincidental.
*****
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by fines and federal imprisonment.
As it will be with every novel I write from now until my own End of Days, I dedicate this novel to my deceased angel, wife, and best friend: Joyce Lynn Whitney DeLeo.
Chapter One
Coma
Demon led the way inside the child’s mind with Mongo as Baby Groot riding on his back. Black tendrils of the darkness encircled them, emanating from Mike Rawlins in a powerful soothing flow, as he enabled their quest to free the boy from his coma. Sandy Albertson, nicknamed Sad Sack, clung to Mike’s back in support. Mike included all paranormals in the attempt he accepted to help a coma victim. So far, they were one for one after helping a little girl. Natalie, their nurse friend in the local hospital’s coma ward, called Mike. She explained a ten-year-old boy had been transferred to the coma ward. His body, healed from the skateboarding accident he suffered months ago, showed no signs of emerging from his coma. Permission from both the hospital board and the boy’s parents opened the way for Mike’s attempt.
The inside of the boy’s mind, once Mike entered with his friends, resembled the little girl’s black vista of nothingness. The residual fear of something unseen permeated the air. The tendrils of darkness, forged in a Haunt dimension so horrific as to be unfathomable by the human mind, shuddered in ecstasy. Mike held the darkness in check by sheer willpower. He released the tendrils to devour what they lusted after. In moments, the residual fear pheromone disappeared in a sparkling shower of fiery red haze, obliterated by the darkness. Baby Groot leaped from Demon’s back, screaming with the angry face of the movie character, writhing limbs surging in a flowing morass, grasping at the unseen. Being one with Mongo/Groot’s Haunt DNA, the Darkness allowed Groot to ride their tendrils in a surfing ride ahead.
“I think Mongo lost control over this Baby Groot fetish. You need to address that, Ripper,” Demon projected into their joined network consciousness.
“The Darkness loves the Groot,” Mike countered. “What’s the harm in letting him act out, especially here with-”
They all heard the Baby Groot scream. He came tumbling and sliding out of control in stunned fear onto Demon’s back, clutching Demon’s fur. Mike shut them off from whatever pursued him. A woman’s face slammed into his shield with fist pounding fury, the face a mask of threatening doom.
“Oh gee, little Groot afraid,” Demon ragged his Haunt companion.
“I…I am Groot,” Mongo answered, still clutching Demon’s back.
“I don’t recognize this woman, but she seems to be the cause of the boy’s imprisonment here,” Mike said. “What the hell does she have to do with a skateboard accident?”
“Maybe it wasn’t a skateboard accident,” Sandy looked so frightened by the banging apparition that little Groot launched onto her back, hugging her from behind while stretching around with his little Groot face, brows furrowed questioningly.
“I am Groot.”
Sandy smiled. “Thanks, Groot.”
Mongo/Groot stroked her face. “Groot make a funny, Sandy. Watch!”
Little Groot changed to a Haunt beyond reckoning. He burst through Mike’s shield and tore the evil essence into shreds, ending with it disintegrated into screaming terrified shrieks.
Mike and Demon chuckled, “It’s about time you little knucklehead,” Demon said. “Stop cringing, Sad Sack. Groot plays the part all the time. Get used to the fact Groot can only be afraid if he’s acting. Nothing but Mike can stop him. You upset him, and he completely vaporized an unknown evil entity.”
“I…I forgot how powerful Mongo is,” Sandy admitted.
Baby Groot reappeared to do the dance steps and frozen faces from the movie ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ through Mike’s shield, making Sandy laugh. “I am Groot!”
“We need to find the boy, so we can show him everything’s okay,” Mike said. “Then, we’ll find out who the apparition represented and go shred her.”
“I’m glad we have Frodo and Infidel watching our corporeal selves while we’re in here,” Demon said. “It’s weird being without an actual presence in the mind reality.”
“It’s important, D,” Mike replied. “This is only our second time out doing this. Without all of your strengths added to mine, I could lose control and kill the boy we’re trying to save. Sure, I can allow the darkness to flow. It feeds without restraint. I draw power and reality from all of you to control it. I have control on the outside without question. In here, the darkness seems on the verge of controlling me. With my crew here, I can hold on to sanity.”
“Understood.” Demon head butted Mike. “We’re here for you. We love this stuff. Mongo and your darkness can handle anything in this form. The apparition found that out.”
Baby Groot jumped aboard Demon with a snarl. “I am Groot.”
“We get this done and I feel a night of Klondike Bars, shots, beers, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ treats await us.”
“I… am… Groooooooooooootttt,” Mongo agreed.
“Absolutely,” Mike agreed. “We will find this asshole apparition in real life first. We need to deposit her in another dimension.”
“Oh yeah,” Sandy stated. “When we get her, I’ll open the door to our personal hell dimension for that predator!”
Mike closed his eyes and smiled. “I feel our boy reaching out. He senses the absence of his torturer. Danny’s seeking us. Close your eyes. I have a location.”
Instantly, Mike transported them to a dark cell, housed within stone and iron. Danny ran to the bars with heartbreaking hope. “Hi! I’m… Danny!”
Mongo took the lead, leaping through the bars Mike vaporized in an instant. “I am Groot!”
The boy hugged Mongo/Groot with utter joy. Mike dispelled the darkness around them until a filtering dawn of multi-colored splendor covered the boy’s conscious thought processes. He introduced a landscape of soothing colors and images from what he had learned and seen in pictures from the boy’s parents. He caused the audio of a song from the end of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ to play in the background, complete with a dancing Baby Groot. Danny love
d every second. Mike knelt in front of him, taking the boy’s hands in his.
“Are you ready to go see your folks, Danny? They’re really worried about you. They want you to come home.”
Danny’s face darkened. “She’ll get me, Mike. She’s a witch.”
“You mean like a Halloween witch?” Sandy put her arm around Danny.
“No! She’s evil. Her name’s Drusilla Bentley. She lives alone in a house six houses down from mine on the same side. My Dad would always come out with me when I was little and rode a big wheel up the street. He let me ride almost to the end of the street before I had to come back. One time he adjusted the sprinkler while I rode toward the house. The witch appeared in front of me. She looked like that character in ‘The Ring’. I screamed and covered my eyes. I felt something on my shoulder, sharp and hot, but then my Dad was there holding me, asking me what happened. I didn’t know what to say, but I never rode by her house again unless someone walked with me.”
Little Groot’s face tightened into his angry raging face. “I am Groot!”
“Yeah… I think we can all agree we want a piece of that action,” Demon agreed. “We guarantee if you come back to reality with us, kid, no witch will ever get to you, especially Drusilla.”
“Wow… little Groot… and a talking dog. You guys are the best! I’d like to come back if I don’t need to ever face the witch again.”
“Hold onto my hand, Danny.” Mike held out his hand and Danny gripped it with both his. “Close your eyes and we’ll be back in seconds with your folks.”
A moment later the Demon Inc crew returned to their bodies and reality. Mike was already holding onto Danny’s hand as he awoke to cries of bewildered joy. They swarmed Danny, but he gripped Mike’s hand without letting go, a solemn look on his face, oblivious to the kisses and hugs.
“You promised, Mike.”
Mike grinned. “I never break a promise, Danny. Be with your folks. My paranormal gang will go fulfill my promise.”
Danny nodded, letting Mike go and abandoning himself to the jubilant reality around him. Mike turned to get a huge hug from their nurse friend, Natalie. “Thanks for taking this on, Mike! You and Demon Inc are incredible.”
“We’re glad to do it, Nat. Absence of provable brain damage is a must. Otherwise, I put my friends at risk. The world, existing in a damaged mind, could absorb us in chaos and we’d be lost. Be careful with what you ask of us and for whom… okay?”
“I will, Mike. I promise. Did I hear something about a promise you made to Danny?”
“That’s Demon Inc business, kid,” Demon projected to her. “Smooth this all out for Danny, the parents, and the hospital. Let us worry about promises to keep.”
“You scare me, D.”
Demon allowed his Muttley snicker to play out in Natalie’s mind. “Wait until our promise is kept. What you feel will be like sunshine and roses compared to that.”
“Bye, Nat,” Mongo said, waving as Sandy hugged Natalie.
“Thanks for doing this, Nat,” Sandy said. “This is the greatest.”
Nazer Rahal, nicknamed Infidel, and Denny Stossle, nicknamed Frodo, shook hands with Natalie before parting. They shared the bond of those left behind to deal with reality. They protected their paranormal friends from harm while they dealt with ethereal mind worlds.
Mike led the way out, waving at the bewildered doctors from the coma unit, hoping and praying for Mike to fail. What they didn’t understand, no matter how successful, was the enemy. A doctor stepped in front of Mike, shoving against him with his hand, which only halted Mike because of curiosity. The doctor, almost as tall as Mike, and obviously bulging muscle from dedicated workouts, tried to shove Mike backwards without success.
Demon growled. “Let me take a piece out of his calf, Ripper.”
“Easy, D. This is the fun part. Think of shots, K-bars, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ reboot. Let me handle Dr. Kildare.”
The Muttley snicker along with chuckles from the rest of Demon Inc enraged the doctor blocking them. “Who do you think you are? This is a hospital, not a circus sideshow.”
“Look… doctor… my friends and I help coma patients. We are certified through the hospital’s board of directors. They’ve vetted us. We were successful in bringing a little boy out of a coma tonight. Let us pass. My canine brother, Demon, hates being blocked from our mild celebrations for even a moment. In this case, we actually have promises to keep.”
Demon growled again. “I ain’t kiddin’ here, Ripper. Ditch this fool or I make a mess.”
“Okay, Doc, please step aside. My friends are not happy with you.”
The doctor folded his arms with a smile. “I want an accounting of your group of clowns.”
The doctor then moved horizontally out of the way. “Nice move, doc,” Mike called out over his shoulder. The doctor tried to speak and move, none of which was possible until Mike and Demon Inc were on their way to the parking lot, out of sight.
By then, Natalie angrily confronted him as he gasped for breath and worked the muscles in his arms. “Dr. Abbott. You idiot! Don’t ever face off with Mike again. He helps here. He has the hospital’s backing. You don’t!”
The doctor grabbed Natalie’s arm, the rage coursing through him in waves. Natalie smiled. “Let go of my arm or I call Mike with but a thought. Want a demo?”
“Listen, you little bitch…” Dr. Abbott felt the tendrils of darkness gripping the fiber of his inner soul. His arms fell to his sides.
Natalie grinned. “I see Mike has made contact. Walk away, asshole, or Mike will show you a new realm you don’t want to know about. Mike’s the real deal. He helps where he can. You, on the other hand, cringe at any possibility outside your drugs and cutlery. I feel Mike will let you go now. Walk away. If you don’t, you may never be the same asshole, pharmaceutical enabler you are now.”
Abbott regained control of his arms and with a look of horror, raced out of the room. Natalie giggled. “Thanks, Mike.”
“You’re with us now, kid,” Demon’s voice said. “Ripper will take care of any posers who get in your way on a real case we can help you with, like Danny’s.”
“D’s right, Nat. Don’t stop checking into anything we can help with in reality,” Mike added. “We’re agreed this is a real positive we all want a part of.”
“Thank you for doing this,” Natalie practiced her thought projecting without moving her lips. “I think I’m getting the hang of this telepathy. I know the hospital will be pleased.”
“We’ll be in touch soon.” Mike started his Buick. “Let’s not leave Danny hanging. I want to meet Drusilla Bentley.”
“I am Groot!” Mongo illustrated the feeling all of them shared.
Mike drove to Danny’s neighborhood. He found the address of Bentley, while Nazer, Denny, and Sandy put on their gear. Her house and grounds projected an aura of evil misery, Mike felt stirring the tendrils of darkness within him. The others hunched into better positions to see the house as Mike parked. “Something evil this way comes,” Mike quoted Ray Bradbury’s well-liked novel of the same name.
Sandy screamed as a woman’s apparition appeared hovering in front of her. “Hello, dearie.”
Mongo and Demon attacked immediately while Nazer hugged Sandy. The apparition faded with a screeching laugh, only to reappear in Mike’s face. “I know you and your merry band of wannabes. Stay away from what you cannot even imagine in your wildest nightmares!”
Demon streaked into the apparition, jaws chomping, only saved by Mike’s catch before he hit the windshield. The apparition faded once again with the echo of amusement. “Easy, D. The witch can project. We tipped her off when we freed Danny. Drusilla must have been inside his head, monitoring the damage she did. The right way is to send Mongo in full Haunt form to find Drusilla’s real body. She can’t hurt him.”
“I am Groot!” Mongo changed to Baby Groot, angry eyed and dancing with pumping fists.
“Let him do it, Ripper,” Demon advised. �
�He’ll get squirrelly if he doesn’t get this action.”
Mike looked around at the street. Seeing no one, he nodded. “Okay, Mongo… go for it. Don’t forget you have backup. This is the unknown. I know she can’t hurt you, but I don’t want to risk you being controlled.”
Baby Groot stomped around on the seat, flexing his limbs. “I…am…Groooooooot!”
Mike chuckled. “Okay… do it… I’ll open the door for you.”
Denny opened the Buick’s door and Baby Groot stormed to the house entrance, imitating the movie character’s raging chase in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ sequel. The front door sprung open at Mike’s single burst of thought. Mike sent the tendrils of darkness to the entrance, hovering in protection mode since the moment Drusilla appeared. “Go with Groot.”
Frantically happy, smoky black streamers shot into Drusilla’s house to back Baby Groot. Moments later, Baby Groot shot out of the house on the chastened tendrils of darkness. Groot streamed into the Buick to hug Mike.
“Easy there, Mongo.” Mike hugged the small character of Mongo’s choosing. “What has upset you?”
Baby Groot latched onto Mike’s windbreaker, rocking back and forth. “She…she has everything inside: haunts, alternate dimensional things from that Radalia hell dimension, and Bad Caspers! She stabbed into my mind, Mike. I was afraid she could control me like she did the other things in there.”
“Uh oh, Ripper,” Demon said, “check the door. I think you may have pissed off the ‘Ring’ sister.”
Mike chuckled at Demon’s reference to the slimy hag appearance created for the horror movie ‘The Ring’. The striking likeness to ‘The Ring’ horror creature Drusilla picked to hover at the doorway with, struck a funny note in Mike. Demon let out a Muttley snicker, but the rest of their retinue cringed to the far side of Mike’s Buick, including Baby Groot peering anxiously from behind Denny. Drusilla shrieked, streaking with clawed hands stretching out at the Buick. She hit the unamused tendrils of darkness, mutated from a Haunt Dimension of sheer evil, forged into a force of good by Mike’s steel will. Drusilla screamed in agony as the tendrils pierced her, seeking every crevice of her being.
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