The Dark Corner

by Christopher Pike

  Adam turned to Sally and Watch. “We have led pretty good lives, for the most part. We should be able to win this way.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Sally said. “Remember what Bryce said. You practically have to be a saint to avoid being condemned.”

  “Do we have a choice?” Watch asked. “I say we go this way.”

  “Me too,” Adam said.

  Sally shrugged. “I’ve been as good as you guys, maybe better. I’ll go for it, too.”

  Adam turned to Foulstew. “We want to enter a plea of Virtues versus Vices.”

  Foulstew looked disappointed. “I would advise against it.”

  “Why?” Watch said. “You just said the other ways we’re sure to be found guilty and be tortured for the remainder of our lives.”

  “Yes,” Foulstew said, glancing at the jury of twelve demons. “But you probably will be found guilty this way, too. Only this way you might get me in trouble. You wouldn’t want to do that, would you?”

  “We don’t care if you get in trouble,” Sally snapped.

  “What she means is we won’t say anything that implicates you in our crimes,” Adam said quickly, not wishing to lose the good will of their defense

  “What crimes are those?” Watch grumbled.

  “Your first crime is that of being human!” the judge interrupted. “Watch! Climb onto the side of the scale closest to you and sit down without moving. And keep your mouth shut.”

  Watch did as he was told. Naturally, since there was only one gold coin on the other side, the scale immediately sunk down on Watch’s side. That was good. If he could stay heavier than the other side, he would go free. But then the Scalekeeper raised his bag of gold coins and poured on so many that Watch bobbed up in the air. Adam and Sally were outraged.

  “You can’t do that!” Adam shouted. “You haven’t proven he has any vices!”

  “I just said he was human!” the judge shouted back. “That is an immediate vice, and the penalty is one’s weight in gold. Add to that the coin Watch received for insulting me, and you can see why the scale is tipped against him.”

  Adam turned to Foulstew. “You didn’t tell us that we would have our whole weight against us before we started.”

  Foulstew spread his hands. “You didn’t ask, Adam. Honestly, I am doing my best to defend you, and I am one of the best lawyers in all of the Dark Corner.”

  “How many humans have you successfully defended?” Sally asked.

  “None,” Foulstew admitted. “But I keep getting closer with each case.”

  The judge pounded his skull on his table. “Order in the court! It is time to weigh Watch’s virtues and vices. Bloodbutton, Foulstew—prepare to present your evidence! And may the powers of darkness guide your words!”

  Sally sighed and leaned over to whisper in Adam’s ear. “We’re never going to get out of here.”

  13

  At first, as the demons closed in on her, Cindy just froze. Her terror was that great. She could see no way out of her situation. She was locked in a dark freezer with three hungry monsters. She knew she was already dinner. And they would probably eat her alive.

  But then she remembered the reason they tricked the demons into the freezer. Bryce had said the cold would knock them out. Perhaps if she could stop them for a few minutes, she might give the cold a chance to do its job. They were so intent on getting her, she realized that they had not noticed that the door had been closed behind them. Cindy thrust her burning flare out in front of her.

  “Stop!” she ordered. “Or I will burn you!”

  The demons giggled. Already their faces were changing, becoming less human. Adam’s demon had sprouted horns and Watch’s had fangs. Worst of all was Sally’s demon, which had snakes writhing on top of its head instead of hair. For some reason, though, the snakes did not look totally out of place on Sally’s head. It was Sally’s demon that first responded to her threat.

  “We don’t care if you burn us,” she said. “We’re used to burning. Where we come from, we burn every night.”

  “Yeah,” Watch’s demon said. He held out his arm, and Cindy saw that it had begun to grow scales. “Go ahead, burn my arm. Burn me a fresh tattoo. Have it say that I love human meat.”

  “Raw human meat,” Adam’s demon added as he reached out with clawed hands. “Kicking and screaming as it goes down our throats.”

  “Wait!” Cindy shouted. She gestured to the sides of hanging beef. “What about all this hamburger here? You guys had hamburgers this afternoon. You liked those pretty well. Or why don’t you have some prime rib? I’ll even cut you a few slices, and maybe cook you up some potatoes and onions.”

  The demons looked disgusted. “We’ll eat hamburger during the day if we must,” Sally’s demon said. “But at night we like something a little more juicy.” She moved a step closer. “Like you, for example, you little troublemaker. I think I’ll eat your eyes first, and make you watch me.”

  Watch’s demon scowled at Sally’s demon. “If you eat her eyes first, how can she watch? She’ll be blind.”

  “Then I’ll eat her ears first!” Sally’s demon yelled.

  “I get the ears!” Adam’s demon shouted. “They’re my favorite bit, next to the tongue. I’ll eat that first and listen to her scream!”

  “If you eat her tongue,” Watch’s demon pointed out, “she won’t be able to scream. She won’t be able to talk at all, even to tell us how much she is suffering. We should eat her tongue last.”

  “I’m going to rip out her liver!” Sally’s demon said. “And chew it down with a bottle of beer.” She took another step closer. “Give me your liver!”

  “Wait!” Cindy cried. “You can’t eat my liver. It will make you sick. I had hepatitis as a little girl.”

  The three demons stopped in their tracks. “Where did you get hepatitis?” Adam’s demon asked quietly.

  “In Mexico,” Cindy said honestly. “When I was five years old my father took us to Cancun on vacation. You’re not supposed to drink the local water, but I did anyway and I got real sick. When I returned to the States, my mother took me to a doctor who said I had hepatitis. I was sick for several weeks, and as yellow as a banana.”

  Adam’s demon frowned. “What kind of hepatitis did you catch? Was it type A? Type B? Type C?”

  “I don’t know,” Cindy said. “It was one of those.”

  “What difference does it make?” Sally’s demon asked. “Let’s eat the rest of her and leave her liver alone.”

  “It makes a big difference,” Watch’s demon said. “If she caught type B or C she could still be a carrier of the virus. If we eat her, any part of her, we might get sick.”

  Sally’s demon snorted. “That’s ridiculous!”

  “It also happens to be accurate,” Adam’s demon said.

  Cindy smiled in relief. “Yeah, you don’t want to get sick. Now that I think about it, I had type B. Yeah, I’m definitely a carrier of the virus. But that’s OK. There’s plenty of food here. Just have one of these slabs of beef. Really, I don’t mind cooking you something to go with it. I’m a great cook. My mother always works long hours and I have to do most of the cooking. I’m flexible, too, when it comes to requests. Anyway you want your food is fine with me. You can have it spicy or bland.” She added quietly, “Just don’t eat me.”

  The demons looked at one another. “She could be lying about the hepatitis,” Sally’s demon said.

  “If we did a blood test we’d know for sure,” Watch’s demon said.

  “We can’t do a blood test,” Adam’s demon snapped. “We’re in a freezer, not a medical laboratory. Besides we’re demons. We don’t know how to do blood tests.” The demon suddenly stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Wait a second. We are in a freezer.”

  Watch’s demon put a hand out to steady himself. “And the door’s locked. That’s bad. The cold’s bad.”

  Sally’s demon swayed and pointed a claw at Cindy. “She tricked us to come in here! It’s
her fault! Let’s kill her!”

  The three demons nodded in agreement and turned on her.

  “No!” Cindy cried, backing into a wall. “If you eat me you’ll get sick! Remember?”

  “We can kill you without eating you,” Adam’s demon said, now only three feet away. Ignoring her burning flare, he reached out with his gross scaly hand and grabbed her by the hair. Yet he seemed to be moving in slow motion, and Cindy realized the cold was finally getting to him and the others. If she could just delay one minute more, she’d probably be all right. Adam’s demon added, “Do you have any final words?”

  “Yes,” Cindy said quickly, stalling for time. “Just before you kill me I want to say that it’s been a pleasure meeting demons like you. I understand you come from a poor neighborhood and that I can’t judge you by my standards—when I have had every advantage in life. It would be completely unfair. Really, considering where you guys started, you’ve come pretty far. I just wanted to congratulate you.”

  Watch’s demon seemed impressed, although he continued to sway as he spoke, almost as if he could no longer feel his legs. “That is awfully gracious of you. You’re one of the few humans we’ve met who understands how difficult it is to grow up a demon.”

  “Yes, it’s a hard life,” Adam’s demon said, yawning heavily. “But we try not to complain. Our motto is, If it hurts, it can always hurt more.”

  Sally’s demon staggered and bumped into a side of beef, setting the red meat swaying back and forth in the gruesome red light of the flare. “Enough compliments,” she said. “Open her throat and let her bleed to death. We have to find a way out of here.”

  Adam’s demon nodded and moved a claw up to her throat. He tried to grip her neck, but his fingers were having trouble working.

  “I’m sorry I have to do this, but we are the bad guys,” he said. “We’re supposed to do bad things. It’s our nature.”

  Cindy met his gaze and suddenly she didn’t feel afraid, even though she had begun to shiver violently from the cold. “You can’t hurt me,” she said simply.

  “We’re not going to hurt you,” Watch’s demon said, now hanging on to the wall for support. “We’re going to kill you. That’s an important difference.”

  “Yeah, when you’re dead, you rot,” Sally’s demon gasped, staggering about.

  “I’m not dying,” Cindy said. “Not today at least.” And with that she reached up and gave Adam’s demon a sharp shove, and the monster toppled backward and fell.

  He didn’t get up. He couldn’t.

  Watch’s and Sally’s demons stared in amazement.

  “Hey, guys,” Adam’s demon called from the floor. “Give me a hand. This icy floor is sticking to my head.”

  “Give yourself a hand,” Watch’s demon snapped as he fell and landed on one knee. “I’m too cold to help you.”

  “We have to get out of here,” Sally’s demon moaned. But those were her last words because right then she collapsed and lay unconscious. Cindy could see the other two were slipping under the spell of the cold. Taking a large step over Adam’s demon—who didn’t even try to grab her—she stepped to the freezer door and pounded on it.

  “Bryce!” she shouted. “You can open the door now!”

  A few seconds later Bryce cracked the door a couple of inches and peered inside. Seeing her alive and well, he broke into a wide grin.

  “Are they out cold?” he asked.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Watch was now lying facedown, and the three of them had stopped moving completely. “Yeah,” she said. “They’re down for the count.”

  Bryce opened the door all the way. “How did you stop them from eating you?”

  “I have a bad liver.”

  “What?”

  Cindy smiled and patted him on the back. “It’s a long story. Come on, we better get these monsters up to the cemetery and get the portal open for our friends.” She paused. “And they are your friends, too. It’s still your plan that’s going to save them.”

  Bryce shook his head as he stared at the frozen demons. “You get all the credit, Cindy. What you just did was the bravest act I ever saw in my life. I’ll have to tell Sally about it.”

  “She’ll never believe you,” Cindy said.

  14

  Watch was not doing well. Incredibly, Blood-button seemed to have detailed knowledge of everything Watch had ever done wrong. Every time the demon brought up another incident, Watch barely bothered to defend himself. Another gold coin would be put on the opposite side of the scale.

  Most of these “sins” were small. Watch had stolen a cookie from a cookie jar when he was five. Watch tracked mud on the carpet when he was eight. But the way Bloodbutton told about the incidents, one would have thought Watch had murdered children in their sleep.

  Foulstew would prompt Watch to remember his noble deeds, but Foulstew seemed to have no record of this good stuff Watch had done. Or if he did he kept it to himself. Watch had to supply that information himself.

  Finally they got up to the point in his life when Adam moved to Spooksville and met Watch. By then Watch was about twenty gold coins in the hole.

  “Now isn’t it true,” Bloodbutton said as he paced in front of Watch, “that you talked your friend, Adam—on the very day you met him—into accompanying you on a dangerous journey on the Secret Path?”

  Watch shrugged. “I thought he wanted to go.”

  “You thought?” Bloodbutton snapped. “You risked a young man’s life just because you thought he wanted to go on such a foolish journey? Did you explain to him that there was an excellent chance he could die on this journey?”

  “Bum told us all it was dangerous,” Watch said.

  “Bum told him!” Bloodbutton exclaimed. “What about you? We’re talking about you here. You’re the one who risked your friend’s life.”

  Watch shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

  Bloodbutton grinned and gestured to the judge. “Another three gold coins against the accused!”

  The judge pounded with his skull. “Scalekeeper, add three gold coins against Watch.”

  Foulstew stepped forward. He glanced anxiously at the jury and then at Watch. “Did you do anything noble on this first journey through the Secret Path.”

  Watch considered. “I can’t remember.”

  “Watch,” Adam called. “You saved my life by jumping on the back of the Black Knight in the cemetery.”

  “Objection!” Bloodbutton shouted. “That noble deed must be struck from the books! The defendant did not remember it himself.”

  The judge pounded his skull. “Sustained.”

  Watch frowned. “I saved Sally’s life as well by jumping on the Black Knight’s back.”

  “Did you risk your life to do so?” Foulstew asked.

  “I guess,” Watch said. “The Black Knight almost killed me.”

  “Objection!” Bloodbutton cried. “Same noble deed.”

  Foulstew addressed the judge. “It isn’t exactly the same deed, not technically. He was saving another person. Also, he remembered by himself that he saved Sally. No one had to tell him.” He glanced at the angry jury and added quietly, “I think he should get some credit for it.”

  The judge considered. Then he picked up his big black book and leafed through it. The judge muttered to himself as he slobbered on the pages.

  “Let’s see here, what is the boon when one human risks his life to save another human? We haven’t had one of these in a long time. Ah, yes, here it is.” The judge’s face fell. “Oh no.”

  “What is it?” Bloodbutton asked, worried.

  The judge looked miserable. “By the rules, the defendant must be granted a credit often gold coins for risking his life to save another human being.”

  “Ten?” Bloodbutton protested. “That’s absurd. A human’s life is hardly worth a single gold coin.”

  The judge glared at the prosecutor. “Are you questioning my interpretation of the law? This is what the book says.” He spo
ke to the Scalekeeper. “Remove ten coins from the balance.”

  Adam whispered to Foulstew, who stood nearby. “Who wrote that book of rules?” he asked.

  Foulstew shook his head. “It sure wasn’t a demon.”

  “If he gets so much credit for saving a life,” Sally said to Foulstew. “Tell him to list all the times he saved our lives.”

  “I don’t want to do that,” Foulstew said.

  “Is it against the rules?” Adam asked.

  “No,” Foulstew said. “I’m allowed to advise him. But if you guys all get away, the jury might eat me for dinner.”

  “Come on,” Sally said. “This is a chance to win the case of your life. Even if they eat you, you’ll be remembered as the greatest demon lawyer the Dark Corner ever saw. Think about that. They’ll toast your exploits with blood in every demon bar in town.”

  The idea seemed to appeal to Foulstew. He stepped forward, puffed on his cigar, and flicked the ash in the direction of the jury. Then he addressed Watch.

  “Young man,” he said, “jumping on the Black Knight’s back was a brave act. Have you ever performed any other such brave acts?”

  “You mean, have I ever saved my friends before?” Watch asked.

  “Careful what you say,” the judge said to Foulstew. But Foulstew didn’t seem to hear him.

  “Exactly,” Foulstew said, glancing at Bloodbutton and smiling. “Tell us about every time you risked your life for your friends.’ ”

  “Objection!” Bloodbutton shouted.

  “Shut up!” the judge shouted back, leaning his bulk forward as if to hear better. “It’s too late for that. The defendant may speak.”

  That was the end of that. Watch was able to list not less than a dozen times he saved his friends: with the aliens; the Cold People; the witch; the Howling Ghost; in the Haunted Cave. The list went on and on. The Scalekeeper was forced to keep removing the gold coins, and no matter how quickly Bloodbutton tried to add a few more small misdeeds, the scale kept tilting in Watch’s favor. Soon he was sitting all the way down on his side and Bloodbutton had thrown up his arms in despair.