Franny clapped her hands. “That’s a wonderful idea. I really do want to help him. He seems so incredibly sad. I may have been bound in this house for a couple hundred years, but at least I knew who I was, and how I died.” She sobered, and I realized this meant a lot to her.
“I’ll call her in a few minutes and make arrangements for you to go down to the police station.”
“Thank you. Just call for me when she’s ready. I’ll stick close by.” And with that, she vanished.
After listening to the messages, and putting three more people on the bed-and-breakfast waitlist, I was about to give Delia a call when my phone rang. Speak of the devil.
“Hey, I was about to call you,” I said. “Franny would like to look over your file of missing persons. She’s met a ghost and he can’t remember who he is. She’s taking it up on herself to help him figure it out. We thought that maybe he was someone who’d gone missing on the island, so if you’re up to having her come down there, I’ll send her right away.”
“That’s fine. Send her down. She’ll have to manifest to talk to one of my officers, but there’s no problem having her in the building.”
“Fine, I don’t think she’ll object. So, you were calling me?”
Delia let out a long sigh, and I knew something else had gone wrong. “I have a serious problem and I need you down here. You and Sandy, if you would bring her. There’s some sort of demon hanging out in the town square, and he’s being incredibly annoying.”
“Say what? A demon in the town square? What the hell is he doing, throwing people around?”
“No, he’s not throwing people around. It’s worse. He’s…peeing in the fountain. And making lewd gestures at passing women. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was drunk.”
I stared at my phone for a moment. “Maybe we should look at getting rid of the fountain. It’s attracting some weird-ass energy lately.”
“Very funny. So will you and Sandy come down?” Delia sounded put out.
“Yes,” I hastily said. “I’ll come down. Meanwhile, don’t antagonize him.”
“I have no idea what to do with him. I could try to throw him in jail, but he’s a demon. While our cells are magic-proof, I don’t know if they can hold a demon.”
“How do you know he’s a demon?”
“Well, he looks like one. I could be wrong, but usually, what you see is what you get.”
“All right, I’ll call Sandy, and then I’ll head out. It might take me half an hour, given the state of the roads, but I’ll be there. And I’ll send Franny down to the station and remind her to make herself visible. Will you tell someone she’s on her way? It will only take her a few seconds.”
“Tell her to give me five minutes. And I’ll meet you by the fountain as soon as you can make it.” Without another word, she hung up.
As I pocketed my phone, I called out, “Franny? Franny!”
“You rang?” She popped into the room.
“Give Delia five minutes, then show up at the police station. You’ll need to make yourself visible and tell them why you’re there, but she’ll have someone waiting for you. Good luck!”
“Thanks ever so much.” Once again, she clapped her hands, and then she vanished.
I locked the office, chugging the rest of my mocha as I headed back toward the kitchen. “Hey, Kelson, I need to go downtown. Delia needs me. Hold down the fort here, okay?”
“It’s a good thing Aegis put snow tires on the Lexus. I’d feel better if you were driving the CRV, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“I’d feel better if I were driving my SUV too, but as you said… All right, if you’d help me on with my boots, because bending over is still a pain in the side, I’d appreciate it.” As long as I had someone there to help, there was no sense in making myself ache any more than I had to. As soon as I had my boots on, I bundled into my coat and called Sandy. I filled her in on what was going on, and asked her to meet me downtown.
“I’ll be there. I’ll leave Jenna with Alex. She knows better than screw up again so soon. She’s been suspended from Neverfall for the rest of the semester. That’s not saying much, given the winter holidays are coming up, but it still made an impression on her. At least I hope it did.”
“I’ll see you down there, and drive safe. The roads are treacherous.”
And with that, I headed out the door, into the still-falling snow that had muffled the world into silence. I just hoped that the peaceful morning wouldn’t be too marred by the demon. And that, whoever he was, Sandy and I would be able to handle him without too much of a problem.
I was sitting in the car, waiting for it to warm up, when my phone rang. I glanced at it. I didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?” I said, wishing the snow on my windshield would melt faster.
“Maddy?” The voice sounded familiar.
“Yes, who—” But I was cut off as the voice continued.
“I love you, Maddy. I miss you and I can’t stop thinking about you. We’ll be together soon, and nothing will ever separate us again.” The phone went silent as the call ended.
I stared at the screen. “Crap.” I tried calling the number back, but nobody answered. Nervous, and starting to feel spooked, I decided to ask Delia to look up the number for me and see where it was coming from.
I put the car in gear and headed toward town, managing to navigate around several spinouts and accidents. As I eased into a parking spot near the fountain and cautiously stepped out onto the snow-covered sidewalks, the flurry of snow grew thicker. It was coming down hard in huge wet flakes. I pulled on a ski cap that Auntie Tautau had knitted for me. It was a beautiful purple, with silver threads running through it. That reminded me to call Auntie Tautau again and leave another message, for whatever good it would do.
It didn’t take me long to find Delia. All I had to do was follow the shouts. As I was headed over, I saw Sandy getting out of her car. She slammed the door, then dashed over toward me. How she managed to keep upright on the slick surface, I didn’t know, but Sandy was athletic and managed things like that better than I did.
“What’s going on?” Sandy asked.
“I’m not sure. Something about a demon.” I glanced at the car. “Did you leave Jenna at home?”
She nodded. “Yeah, and boy did we have words last night. I’ll tell you about it later. Neither one of us are happy campers at this point.”
We rounded the fountain to see Delia standing there, hands on her hips as she stared at a very large, very brutish-looking demon. He was a good eight feet high, and he was half goat, half something else. His upper torso was shaped like a man, only he was covered in fur. A yellowish white, the hair was streaked with gray and black and it trailed down like scarves.
His face was horrific, with two curving horns that arched back over his head. His eyes were stark white, with black irises, and his pupils were glowing red. His nose was bulbous, and when he opened his mouth, sharp fangs replaced the canids, much like a vampire’s, only thick and yellowed. His other teeth reminded me of normal human teeth, and his gums were red, as though covered with blood. His ears stood out to the side, reminding me of a bat’s wings.
The bottom of his torso, from his waist down, was also heavily furred, just like a satyr. His legs were thick and muscled, ending in cloven hooves, also like a satyr. It was obvious he was male, and frankly, the size of his cock terrified me. No satyr had ever been that well endowed.
“Oh my God, look at that—” Sandy started to say.
“I know, I can’t take my eyes off of it,” I sputtered.
Delia gave us an annoyed look. “Once you guys are finished assessing his attributes, can you do something? I don’t even know how to talk to him.”
“Why do you think we can talk to demons?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but you are the High Priestess of the Moonrise Coven, so it’s up to you to help me out in situations like this. It’s in the town covenant.” Technically, she was right. That didn’t mean I
could do anything.
I pulled my gaze away from his nether regions and stepped forward. Clearing my throat, I decided to start with the obvious. “Hi. Who are you?”
He had been sitting on the edge of the fountain, trying to break off pieces of the rock. At least, it looked like that was what he was doing. Now, at the sound of my voice, he looked up, his eyes narrowing.
“Thrakarat!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t speak whatever language that is. Do you know English?” At least I had his attention, which wasn’t exactly comforting.
He paused for a moment, staring at me with those chilling eyes. Finally, in a guttural voice, he said, “Who are you?”
I let out a sigh. So far, this wasn’t going very well. But at least he could speak English, unless he was just mimicking my words. “My name is Maddy. What’s your name?”
Another pause, and then, still in a voice that was so low it almost shook the street, he said, “Krampus. Where am I?”
Uh-oh. If he really was Krampus, we had trouble on our hands. Then, the second part of his answer hit me. I glanced back at Delia. “I wonder if he really doesn’t know where he’s at. If so, this reminds me of the gnomes.”
“Gnomes? I hate gnomes! If I see any gnomes I will squash them flat,” Krampus said.
I sighed. This was so not how I intended to spend the morning. I quickly searched for something to say. “Do you really not know where you are? How did you get here?”
“I don’t know where I am and I have no idea how I got here. I was at home, getting ready for the morning hunt, when all of a sudden, here I am. Apparently in the middle of hell.” He looked around, shaking his head. “Too much noise, too much light, and too much joy.”
I took a step back, motioning for Delia and Sandy to come closer.
“I really think he is Krampus. According to all reports I’ve read, Krampus has a real problem with joy, and he doesn’t live in the city. The question is, how the hell did he get here? Maybe the same way the gnomes did? Do you think there’s a rogue portal in our town that we don’t know about?”
“I doubt if the gnomes come from the same place Krampus does,” Sandy said.
“Maybe not, but I don’t have anything else to go on. What the hell do we do with him? How do we get rid of him? We can’t put him on a plane and send him back to wherever he came from.” I paused, then asked, “Where does he come from?”
“Europe. Somewhere in central Europe,” Delia said, horrified. “I can’t let him run around the island. Can we just ask him to leave?”
I turned back to Krampus, edging forward. “Excuse me, Krampus. Is it possible that you can just go home on your own?”
He spat, the trail of spittle landing at my feet. I jumped back a step.
“If I could go home, don’t you think I would have already gone? Now tell me, where am I?”
I really didn’t want to give them the name of the town, because I didn’t want him to remember it. “Have you heard of the United States of America?”
He gave me a look that bordered between disgusted and perplexed. “Yes. I have.”
“You’re there. You’re on an island in the United States of America. We would love nothing more than to send you home, but we have to figure out how. Will you excuse me a moment?”
He grunted, and I took that as a yes. I hightailed it back to Delia and Sandy, motioning for them to follow me a little ways to the side.
“He says he would go home if he could figure out how. I haven’t told him the name of the island or the town yet. Somehow, I don’t think that would be a good idea. I can just imagine him trying to get revenge. So, what do we do?”
At that moment, we heard someone coming toward us.
“Well, if it isn’t my two young friends.”
“Auntie Tautau?” I asked, swinging around. “Thank gods you’re here.”
She laughed and looked at Krampus. “I see you have an unwelcome visitor. I thought I might be of some use.”
Krampus jumped up. “One of the Aunties. I didn’t do it! I wasn’t the one who came here! Don’t punish me, please.”
Watching the demon begging the little old lady who was wearing a floral housedress under a bulky parka not to hurt him was more than I could take. I started to laugh, which only made me hurt, but I couldn’t stop.
Auntie Tautau glanced over at me. “It’s no laughing matter, girl. The web around the island is severely out of whack. And it’s only going to get worse unless we fix it.”
Chapter Ten
Auntie Tautau shook her head, pushing through us to address Krampus. “There, there,” she said. “We know you didn’t come here voluntarily. Can you tell me what happened right before you showed up here?”
Krampus gave her a hangdog look. “I was just checking my schedule for the day, and making preparations for the upcoming parade, when everything around me seemed to waver and I heard some sort of staticky sound. The next moment, I was here, sitting by the fountain.”
Auntie Tautau turned to Delia, Sandy, and me. “I told you that there’s something off with Bedlam’s aura. And I’ve figured out what it is. The Touchstone is out of alignment. That earthquake we had a few weeks ago—the one over on the mainland—shook it off-kilter.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Touchstone?” This was the first time I’d heard of Bedlam having a touchstone. I didn’t even know what a touchstone was.
Auntie Tautau smiled. “That’s right, I don’t believe I’ve told you and Sandy about it. I assumed you knew, but…Delia knows about it.” She glanced at Krampus. “Krampus, would you mind if we whisk you away from the town square? We’ll be able to send you home, but not at this very moment. It won’t take long, I promise, so if you would cooperate with us we’ll escort you to one of our guest quarters.”
Delia started to say something, but Auntie Tautau held up her hand.
Krampus let out a huge sigh. He looked deflated, and he gave us a little shrug. “I’m not an unreasonable man. All right. If you can get me home by tomorrow, I’ll cooperate.”
“You have my word,” Auntie Tautau said. I wasn’t sure if she was lying or not, but it worked. Auntie Tautau turned to Delia. “Why don’t you take Krampus back to the guest hotel, and make sure he’s settled in one of your rooms?”
Delia stared at her, uncomprehending, but I suddenly caught on to what she meant. I yanked Delia to the side.
“She’s talking about the jail,” I whispered into her ear.
Delia’s eyes widened. She turned back to Krampus. “Of course. I don’t mind at all. Please come with me? I’m afraid you’ll have to walk behind my car because I don’t think you’ll fit.”
Krampus shrugged. “I don’t like vehicles anyway. I won’t cause any more trouble. So, do you serve lunch in your…hotel?”
I had a feeling that Krampus was onto what we were talking about, but at least he was being reasonable and not making a scene. Delia led him away. He followed her squad car as she slowly began to drive toward City Hall.
Once they were out of earshot, I turned back to Auntie Tautau. “Just what is this Touchstone?”
“Can we go somewhere warm?” Auntie Tautau asked. “Perhaps the diner over there?” She nodded to one of the local diners.
Sandy and I followed her through the doors. We settled into the booth, and after we ordered hot chocolate and peach cobbler, Auntie Tautau began to explain.
“Every magical town has a Touchstone, a gem that embodies the energy of the town. The founders of Bedlam were no exception. The Touchstone is secreted in Enchanted Sands Park. It’s a large sapphire, and you’ll find it at the base of Arianrhod’s statue. I thought that Linda would have shown you, but then again, she didn’t have much time when you took her place as High Priestess. I never even thought about it until the aura got dislodged. The Touchstone keeps the magical energy surrounding Bedlam in order and keeps it from becoming too chaotic.”
“So what do I have to do?”
“Go to the park afte
r sunset and opened the secret panel. The stone has to be out of alignment. You will see where it’s supposed to be—there’s an indentation that holds it in place in the compartment under the statue. It probably got jolted to the side. Once you set it back into place, Bedlam’s aura will realign itself, and we won’t have random chaos like strangers showing up from storybooks or demons milling around town. At least not randomly. We’re lucky we didn’t attract somebody far worse than Krampus but we’re not in the clear yet, so you need to do this soon.”
“So all I have to do is go there tonight and take care of this? And that will stop all the random arguing and manifestations?” It sounded almost too easy.
“Well, once you reset it, it will take a few hours, but yes—the energy surrounding the island will return to normal. No one can do so but the High Priestess, by the way. If anybody else tries to touch the gem it will disintegrate them. The defense mechanism was built into the gem at the beginning. For a long time, the High Priestess of the island took care of things, but when the official coven was formed, the power transferred to the High Priestess of the coven.”
“I’m guessing that Sandy can’t do it for me?”
Sandy snorted. “Sandy doesn’t want to do it for you. Especially if the result is me turning into a crispy critter.”
“No, she can’t. And you should go alone. I know it’s asking a lot given your current condition, but you have to take care of this now before something far worse happens. If the aura of the island stays out of alignment for too long, it can destabilize the entire area, and in more than just a magical sense. It could cause major earthquakes, it could set off the volcanoes…things like that.” Auntie Tautau spoke as though she were discussing a recipe, or a TV show.
I coughed. “I supposed I’d better get a move on, then. I’ll go tonight. It has to be done at night, correct?”
“Yes, for several reasons. One, the hustle and bustle of the day can interfere with the energy as it resets. Also, you don’t want anybody there who might take it into his head to mess with the gem and disintegrate himself.”
Demon's Delight: A Bewitching Bedlam Novella Page 7