Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson)

by P. S. Power

  There was trouble coming however, if she didn't work it out...

  Or was there? What, really was her part in this? Tarsus might try to kill her if she didn't do what he wanted, as a show of force, but that wasn't likely. She might not be a real threat to him, but she was still a Greater Demon and she might just get lucky, if it came to a fight. She'd done all right with Xenses, hadn't she? Yes, that wasn't all her, but that was a real point too. She had friends. Keeley had worked out what was needed, and took him from a direction he wasn't prepared for. Then used the others to remove the being. No one was prepared for that kind of thing, she didn't think.

  So, for a small period of time, or possibly one not that tiny, she, Keeley Thomson, The Mistress of Souls, had an edge over all the other Greater Demons. She could, possibly, take them all and force them to be her slaves, doing what she wanted.

  The idea was thrilling, but ultimately a thing she didn't want to bother with. Oh, power was grand, and she'd get around to gathering that for herself, but holding onto hundreds of crazy Greater Demons was less than a thrilling idea. So that left her with what? A bit of a threat to leave her protected?

  That didn't mean much, if Tarsus was right, did it?

  Really, what she needed to do was talk to someone that actually knew what was supposed to happen. There just wasn't anyone around like that. Not unless God wanted to make an appearance and explain it all to her?

  On thinking that she carefully looked around her living room, being a bit playful about it, but not expecting anyone to actually show up and give her a sign. No one did, naturally, since God, as she knew, was make-believe. Being a bit at loose ends she went to make food, knowing that skipping out was a bad habit.

  When a knock came at the front door she ran to it, throwing it open, to find, not God, but The Vile, standing right there, his face made to look nice for her, and his scent a bit like roses. For a being that thought that corruption and the scent of death was somehow the correct way to be, it was ever so polite of him.

  "Mistress of Souls. I have come to visit."

  "Vile. Wonderful. I have some food going. You can pay me for it. Or trade some stories of equal value? If this is a date, I mean."

  "That would serve. I know that this is the wrong day, but I'd hoped that you'd see me anyway."

  She nodded, her mouth moving on its own again, which was wrong. It shouldn't do that at all, but after a moment, she got the idea. She was being guided into place, wasn't she? By... She looked around, but didn't see anything.

  "I wanted to talk to you anyway. What do you know about The Rage?"

  There was a hint of a pause and then a soft smile.

  "I know that he is violent in the extreme, and looking for you. It seems that he has taken offense at your careful handling of the situation you dealt with for us. The Lover... Well, she is in hiding. Nearly thrice dead at his hands, already. I too am hunted, as is the Cartographer. I do not know if we will live through this. Worse, The Chaotic has been notified, as had the Helmsman. We are, I would hazard, about to live in interesting times."

  "Oh? Well... Don't worry, I'll deal with this. That's my job, after all." She sounded really confident, and even felt that way, but didn't know where the words were coming from.

  Not unless it was the hand of God himself, messing with her. If so, she would have preferred another note. One not in her head this time, if it was all the same.

  Chapter fourteen

  The meal she shared with Vile was a bit strained and tense, but not much more than she might have suspected it would be. He was polite and even friendly the whole time, but worried about how he was going to survive. That, she realized was a thing that they all had in common. All the Greater Demons that existed really wanted to live.

  Humans, and a lot of other beings could just hang on and survive day to day, but you didn't live long as one of her kind unless it was a fundamental desire from deep within your heart. She felt it, and so did all the others. Sane or not.

  When he left, she promised to handle things and asked for a week or two to get the real work done. It was probably a poor plan, but she decided to handle this one alone. If she messed it up, no one else would need to die for it that way. If, as she suspected, it was actually God that was influencing her in this, then... Well, she was either gone off in the head, or kind of required to give it her best shot.

  She did go off into the national forest area for it however, since she didn't particularly want to trash her new house. It had taken a lot of work to get it the way she wanted, and keeping her things nice was important to her. She also ate more first and drew power the whole time. She wasn't at full capacity, if such a state existed, but she was flush with energy and power when she repeated with The Rage what she'd done with her brother.

  Grabbing his being at a distance and forcing him to not respond when she called him to his death.

  It... Didn't take long, once she decided on the course of action she had to take. It was incredibly dangerous, but he was removed before she knew it, his head on the ground beside her.

  It was a nice head, she decided. Large, since the body it had been on was about ten feet tall. Pretty too. Rage filled or not, the giant thing was a work of art. It had armor under the skin, and while it didn't look very human, being gray and a little warty on the outside, she was able to understand that this was a being that she couldn't have beaten in a real fight.

  Everything about him had been designed to help support the fire of rage within. The waiting she did, sitting beside the corpse as it cooled, was simply so that no one could come along and bring him back to life. There would be no tricks this time. No revenge or fancy ways to make him dead. Just a whole lot of sword blows and then silent waiting.

  She had to call and cancel with Kait, but did that while she sat outside her house, after heading back a day later. Anyone in the world that wanted to look could have seen what she was doing, but she didn't care. No one that mattered would notice and if the NSA wanted to spy on her, they were welcome to. They played in such different realities that even if they saw every illegal thing she did, they wouldn't bother to notice it.

  A lot of things took place then, all in a row. First she got on her cell phone and checked in with Felecia. The bottle redhead was up, and even had good news, since she'd been able to secure the building that the former drug den had been in, and had used those people to start their blood operation. Not exactly in the way that Keeley had intended, since she was using them as blood sources, which was a little hard on the system, as most of them were just kicking drug habits, too.

  It worked for the time being and they could get real, community sourced blood going in a few weeks time, if they worked at it. Poor people would sell theirs if the money was good enough. They didn't need as much as the Red Cross did either, and could afford to pay more for it, so people could donate weekly. It wasn't the same as a full time job, but if you needed food for your kids, an extra thirty dollars a week could add up. The woman seemed scared, when she realized that the actual plan had been different than she'd thought, but Keeley didn't truly mind. Minor miscommunications happened, didn't they?

  When night fell, Keeley traveled the inroads and picked up the massive corpse of The Rage, then walked into the forest with it. She had to run and get tools, not able to just call Zack to get them for her, since her cell reception had dropped off when she moved too far from the city. Where she'd been earlier had been a sweet spot that way.

  When morning came she thought about it for a while, and then worked out how to take Helmsman and The Chaotic as well. Those needed to be done well away from her, physically. It baffled her for a while as to how to get that done, until she realized that she could take Helmsman first, then The Chaotic and have them both kill each other, never exposing herself to their powers directly. She did have to do a physical check of the area they met in and then make the bodies vanish, but that worked well enough.

  The forest had new fertilizer that day, in a certain spot. Sh
e just hoped that it would be over then. That taking out those three threats really did something, and the whole thing wasn't simply doomed to restart. Not soon at least. Worse, Keeley had to pray that it wasn't really the opening salvo in a war against her kind by the Angels. Heaven, if that was a place, setting it up for her to do the hardest work just to start things off.

  She worked fast, and buried them deep, since having bodies found was never a great idea. Even if she couldn't be caught for it, that would cause trouble. So she didn't stint on the elbow grease and managed to have it all done by the time she absolutely had to go back home, to get some food.

  Then... She didn't really know what else to do. There had been that thing with the Vile however. Her mouth working, without her conscious input. That kind of thing was familiar to her, from when she was a girl, but now it just didn't happen. It meant that someone else, or something, had done that for her.

  Her guess wasn't going to be God, either.

  More like one of his lackeys. If they really existed. If not, Gregor had best have his affairs in order, since she was done now. Almost. No one got to control her like that. If it was God, and that was real, well, then she didn't have a choice, did she?

  If it was an Angel...

  Well, she might not have much of a choice there either. Except that there was something that Gregor had mentioned to her that suddenly made some sense. Greater Demons were better fighters than they were. On average. It meant that, personal skill aside, the things could be destroyed. Otherwise fighting did no good at all.

  Not knowing what would happen, she readied a new packet of information, building it for a specific purpose in her mind. This time steered toward an Angel. More to the point, one that pretended to be a Swiss Guard. She needed information, and the first part of that was knowing if that sort of being was susceptible to her that way. Telepathically it didn't work, so she went in person, to find that as hard as she tried to take him. It not only didn't do anything, he didn't seem to notice when she tried.

  He just stood there in his silly red and yellow clown costume, watching the world for changes. So, that one was answered. She wasn't going to simply grab Michael up and make him talk, was she? Not that she could find him. Keels knew that, having tried several times. It was simply like he didn't exist. Which was possible, she guessed. All of that kept her busy for longer than she'd figured it would, and she was just starting to feel silly when she returned to her own home to find a strange man, one that looked like a farmer, on her front porch. Waiting for her.

  He smiled pleasantly.

  "You won't remember me."

  "Archangel Michael." That got a proud look to cross his friendly features. It wasn't haughty or patronizing, either. He really seemed to think that her remembering him was special.

  "That's really good! I just wanted to come and tell you how pleased we all are. You handled those removals as well as could be expected, and better. There was no torture or aggression to it, which we didn't know would be the case. Thank you, for listening to me. It is hard to find one with both ears, and the will to hear."

  It should have seemed like he was being a dick, she decided, but it was really clear that he was actually just saying what he meant. Which, if he couldn't, or perhaps simply didn't lie, might be handy. Walking a few steps toward him, she left her hands empty. Chances were that she could slice him up with a blade, if she tried hard enough, especially if she imbued it with magic before it landed. That portion of their beings, magic, or celestial energy, was very clean and pure, but while that made it harder to disrupt, it also left them open to Demonic attacks on that level too, she bet. Her magic was a bit messy around the edges, she realized. Zack's line travel wasn't, but everything these beings did that way was pure. Ordered on a fundamental level.

  Not that Zack didn't make up for doing that in a lot of other chaotic ways.

  She cleared her throat a little.

  "Care to answer some questions? I only have a few."

  "Ah... I will answer, but you won't remember this. If, knowing that, you're willing to hear me anyway, I'll give you the information you wish, if it is in my possession." He moved in the wind, swaying with it, as if ephemeral. He didn't have wings, which would have been a nice touch, but probably wouldn't have gone with the blue button up farm shirt and jeans look. Or the boots. They were filth covered, and brown. It nearly seemed like this being actually grew things for a living. Which could be the case. What did she know about what he and his kind did?

  "Great. Well, first, I was taken over the other day, while talking to The Vile. Was that you?" She was ready to whip out her sword from its extra dimensional holding area, if he answered incorrectly.

  "Take over? No. I merely whispered in your ear. It didn't force you to action, you chose to say what I suggested. My kind cannot do that by force. I was watching and simply didn't wish that nice being to suffer too great a fear, given that you were there to protect him. I had already seen the outcome of that meeting. It worked to my benefit, and that of Himself, but the whole situation was one that was forced upon you, Keeley. By your Tarsus?" He waited for a while, looking up at the sky above them as he appeared to think. Or listen. "It is that he feared those he set you after, more than was needed. He might not be pleased by what you did, but I do not think he will seek to harm you, or even ridicule you for it."

  Keeley had to agree that it sounded likely to her, if nothing else.

  "What part did you play in setting it up?"

  "I? Nothing. I cannot act on one such as Tarsus The Librarian, and while Humans can at times hear me, they are most often as you are. If their minds are open they can be touched, but not impressed. I am a messenger, and simply sent a message to you, Keeley Thomson. That you should not trap the others of your kind. Kill them if you need to, but never trap them away from reality."

  She shook her head a bit, and then closed her eyes, wondering if the vision in front of her would fade when she did. He was still there when they opened however, looking serene and not like he was messing with her.

  "Why not? It seems the more sensible option, doesn't it? If we kill, or destroy them, they come back, or at least another Greater Demon does. If they aren't sane then we get another crazy, and normally the other way around. I've wondered for a while now if Zack, The Line Walker, wasn't driven insane just to try and upset that balance. But if someone kills him then we should get a sane Baby Demon from the deal. Or we should."

  That earned a look that seemed to let her know that she was five and oh, by the way, a moron.

  "Think of what you know, Keeley Thomson. Those of your kind that are less than sane have been working together for a long time now. Holding to skills that they normally cannot discipline themselves to, being careful when recklessness is the main operating methodology that they are forced to subscribe to. Why is that, do you think?"

  "Um... Well... Helmsman's power could have done that. There's no particular reason for it however. Unless..." Mikey looked expectant then.

  Enough so that she was nearly derailed by him being there. Again. It was a massive problem watching him there, knowing what he was. Good and pure, and totally counter to her own being. Just being around him, the frisson between their magics, was screwing with her ability to think. Annoyingly, it didn't seem to do anything to him that way. So he was clear and sharp, while she fought to remember complex things like her name.

  "Okay, so, Tarsus wanted her removed, feeling that she was unbalancing reality. That sounds like it was happening, and if he knew what was going on..."

  "Yes. Your leader was informed, by a brother of mine, that this was taking place. He is not clear about what is being said however, so we needed to ensure that the wrong path was not taken. Your kind is part of what is needed to keep reality in place and to the plan. As are mine own. You cannot have light without darkness, or up without down. In this case it is that there is evil in the world and by concentrating it in a few, the damage to the many is lowered greatly. Yes, some die, and bad
things happen to them, but it would be a million times worse, if those such as you weren't on hand to focus it and limit the scope of what can be done."

  She actually thought she could follow that one, after a fashion.

  "And you, your kind... Angels, you focus good, so that... Um, I don't get that part, wouldn't a lot of little goods being done help reality work more smoothly?"

  That got a grin that seemed more like it belonged on a small child than a grown farmer.

  "No, good taken too far always becomes evil, too. Always. You are correct however, we are the limit on one side. The line that cannot easily be crossed. We exist, both good and evil, to hold the rest of the beings inside reality. So that they do not destroy it all. In keeping those others trapped, like you and The Technician have been doing, you weaken that, and allow others to become more negative. So far it has had only minor effects, but they will grow, if that power is not freed. I would ask that you do that. Now, please."

  She looked away from her house, talking to the thing that might not be there and wouldn't have been, when it left. To that end she decided to write herself another mental note and this time a physical one too. Without asking what he wanted, she jogged to do that, and took notes for hours, writing it all down. Making certain that the explanation was right this time. No one would believe it, except maybe Zack, but she needed to know these things were possible, didn't she?

  "So, you want me to free those Greater Demons, even if they'll all try to destroy me if I do? They're going to be pretty pissed about being controlled, even if just for a while. No one wants to be imprisoned like that, and none of them are well balanced. I don't particularly wish to die, myself." She meant it, but that wasn't news to her, in particular.

  "I understand. That, as I mentioned is the weakness of pure good. This is a thing that needs to be done, and to me any sacrifice is worth it happening. The death of millions, to save even more. The death of one evil little girl hardly even weighs on me in this, until I stop to think of you as a person, at which point things flip to the other side and I would call it all off, to give you even a few more seconds of life, if need be. We are boundaries, Keeley. For others. Not rules. Not Guides to follow. We are the lines on the road, and the signs that indicate what is right and wrong. Nothing more. In the end, you must do what you will about those others. It will be put to balance. I still believe you should do it, but that's mainly because you're actually trying to listen to me." He made certain that she wrote that all down and put it securely in her head, locked in to trigger when she saw the note pad it was all being taken down on. There were pages of material, all in black ink. Like what she used for school.