Demon Hunter Page 13

  “Uh uh. I get to ask the questions.” Denny’s voice dropped an octave. “I’ve been running all over the place looking for answers like the headless chicken. Now I’m here for yours.”

  Sterling cocked her head to one side, her face a mask of regret and wariness. “Your voice became…strange there for a minute. Deeper.”

  “Yeah. Welcome to my world. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I have a good idea you can shed some light on some of it.” Denny cleared her throat and leaned back. “So start shedding.”

  Sterling unfolded her hands and moved closer. “There is so much history, Golden, I am unsure of where to begin. What do you want to know?”

  “How long have you known about this family legacy of ours?”

  “Eight years. Mom told me on my eighteenth birthday. It was the custom in the family that began in the fifteenth century, though we’d already been…doing the work for a hundred years. As the oldest, I was supposed to know…to be prepared.”

  Denny shot forward. “Eight years? You’ve known this shit for eight years? My god.”

  Her sister nodded. “I was never going to become the hunter. Ever. It’s not in my nature. Mom understood this, so I went to college and studied theology. Then, when mom and dad had the accident, I knew there was only one place for me to go to be safe from the legacy, and that was—” she opened her arms, “here.”

  “I don’t understand What does one have to do with the other?”

  To Denny’s surprise, Sterling shrugged. “I am not really sure. Once I started talking about it with mom shortly before she died, she told me this was always an option for me. She knew I wasn’t the one…that I’d never be the one.”

  “Because?”

  Sterling waved through the window to another nun. “Because I’ve been a Christian for so long and this is where I belong. It is where I can best help whichever of you has…received the calling.”

  “The calling? You chose the angelic calling and waited for one of us to pick the demonic one? That’s rich. And it never occurred to you to tell me about this?”

  “Of course it did. But how crazy would I have sounded coming to you out of the clear blue and talking about demons and legacies? Hearing something from one’s parent is one thing. To hear it from your sister the nun is another thing altogether. I guess I hoped they would leave us alone since mom is technically still alive. I thought that maybe they would be trapped inside her. I didn’t expect…”

  Denny leaned closer. “Wait. Trapped inside her? Are you suggesting that mom has some sort of demonic spirit inside her?”

  Inhaling deeply, Sterling sighed. “When so many years have gone by without incident, I thought my prayers had been answered and we were in the clear. I thought maybe mom still carried the legacy within.”

  Denny rubbed her face. “So mom is possessed?”

  Sterling shook her head. “It’s much more complicated than that. Suffice it to say, my intention was to wait and see if it had transferred to Quick before making any crazy pronouncements.”

  “Then Quick was arrested.”

  “Yes. That was when I had my suspicions, Golden, but how does one prove the innocence of a man and the guilt of a demon? Once the legacy locks onto you, you begin to...see glimpses of them. Maybe Quick did, maybe he didn’t, but I knew the world of darkness folded itself around him. He couldn’t see the danger because…well…because…”

  Denny pounded the table. “I knew it!”

  Sterling ran her hand through Denny’s hair, her eyes softening as she spoke. “You’ve seen something, haven’t you?”

  Denny blinked several times before answering, her thoughts going back to the night Pat Patterson had been shot. “I—I’m not sure what I saw. So much is happening, I don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground right now.”

  “Language,” Sterling admonished as she always did when Denny swore.

  “Well, it’s true. A moment ago, you heard my voice change. Where in the hell is that voice from? It’s not mine.”

  Sterling shrugged. “Stress, maybe? The truth is, I don’t know very much about all that demon hunting stuff. I just knew that I could escape it by coming here, so I did. I’ve not had to deal with anything like that here. I’ve never seen a demon, never heard the voice, never felt them nearby.”

  “So did it move on to Quick?”

  Sterling shook her head. “In all honesty, I don’t really know how it all works.” She reached out and took Denny’s hands. “I wish I could help you out more, Golden, but that’s about it. I am so sorry the family’s darkness has found its way onto your lap. If I could have prevented it, I would have.”

  “I don’t understand why you call it darkness when our job, as I understand it, is to stamp out this darkness.”

  “Because to stamp it out, you must enter it. You must shake hands with it. You must do business with it. To eradicate darkness, you must get close with your own light. Trust me on this, Golden, you don’t want any part of this, and I don’t want to see you subject Pure to it, either.”

  Denny pushed away from the table and paced the room. “Like I have a choice? You’re safely ensconced here. Quick is in prison for a crime he probably didn’t do and Pure could be in danger. Out of all of us, Sterling, I have the least amount of choices.”

  “Oh, Golden, don’t look at it like that. You can always—”

  “What? Bail on us like you did? Oh hell no, Sister. I am not leaving Pure in the hands of some demonic spirit or fucked up evil creature.” Denny held her hand up. “Don’t tell me language. I’m a grown woman and I swear. You can do a dozen Hail Mary’s or Our Fathers if you need to, but please stop busting my balls about—” Denny stopped talking and put her hand to her throat. Her last sentence sounded like it came from a six pack smoker.

  Sterling’s eyes were wide. “What...what was that?”

  Denny shook her head and cleared her throat. “That’s what I’m talking about. It comes and goes.”

  “It’s...”

  “Scary. I know.” Denny sat back down and laid her face in her hands. “I’m sorry for swearing and yelling, but you bailed on us, Sterling. You left me to finish raising Pure and now...now she could be in trouble. When Quick was being tried, you left him to rot. You bailed on us at every turn. Why? So you could save yourself?”

  Sterling slowly shook her head. “On the contrary, Golden. I know you resent my choice of the Church, but what you didn’t understand, what you couldn’t understand is that I didn’t make this choice to escape the legacy. I made it for a safety net for the rest of you.”

  Denny looked into Sterling’s eyes. It was the first time in her entire twenty-one years that she finally, irrevocably understood why her older sister had committed her life to the Church.

  To save them all.

  And the truth stunned her.

  Sterling smiled softly and rose. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my life here. I have friends. I have support. In the end, this path turned out to be the right one for me after all.”

  “Right one? Sterling, don’t you want to be loved? Don’t you want to have sex and experience all the joys of a physical relationship?”

  “Oh honey, I am loved. I don’t need the love of a man or woman. I have plenty of love here from my sisters, from my Lord, from everything around us. I’m happy. I love my job, my kids. I am fulfilled.”

  “Then it...the legacy...”

  She shook her head. “They won’t come here.”

  “But they will come for me and Pure.”

  Sterling nodded as she moved to the door. “With Quick in prison, you’re the next in line unless they decide he can do harm in prison. I have my doubts that would work for them. Those men have already crossed to the darkness.”

  Denny rose as well. “I’m not hunter material. I have no idea what it entails and I’m not at all certain I care to know. If it’s something mom was working hard to excise from our lives, then maybe it’s a really bad idea. I’m so not a killer.”
>
  With her hand poised on the doorknob, Sterling nodded. “I know you’re not. You used to carry bugs out of the house in a napkin. I can’t imagine you hunting and killing something. It’s completely out of your character.” She turned and lightly touched Denny’s cheek. “What’s not out of your character is your intense loyalty and love of family. We both know you’ll choose to become a demon hunter, if for no other reason than to protect Pure. You might as well embrace that fact. I have.”

  “Then I...I have your blessing if this is a path I have to take to protect Pure?”

  Sterling smiled softly. “Is that what you came here for? My blessing?”

  Denny found herself nodding. “You know, I guess it is.”

  Sterling hugged Denny as she whispered, “Then you have it. Make no mistake, Golden, Mom might not have wanted us to carry the legacy on, but if our sister, if our family is in trouble, she’d be the first to cheer you on.”

  Of that, Denny was certain.

  ****

  Denny left the convent and drove by the coffee shop, but when she saw Brianna having coffee with another woman, she kept driving until she found herself at home.

  She walked all through the house calling for Rush.

  No answer.

  Rush was seldom AWOL this long and Denny was beginning to worry.

  Sitting on the stoop, Denny soaked in the sun of the early afternoon as it streamed through the hairlike Spanish moss. She closed her eyes and remembered the look on her mother’s face when she saw her. So much to say and yet, this damned legacy had taken all their time together.

  All of it.

  Denny looked up as the loud engine of a muscle car approached. A red and black Camaro screeched to a stop in front of the house. Out jumped Pure like a puppy bounding into a pile of other puppies.

  “Why aren’t you—”

  “Forgot my project. Just came to pick it up,” she said, racing past Denny.

  Denny took the small window of opportunity and walked over and leaned into the car. Mike Cockerton grinned at her. “Just so we’re clear, you fucking little pencil dick. I know what you’re about. I know who and what you are, and if you even think about hurting my little sister–”

  “Chill out, tuna lover. She likes me, I like her, and you don’t have nothin’. You might think you do, but trust me…you don’t know shit.” He leaned forward. “Shit.”

  “No, but I can certainly make you eat some. If you knew what was good for you, you’d just go play in someone else’s sandbox and walk away while you can.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you, man?”

  “Mark my words, buttmunch. Walk away now before I relocate your kneecaps.” As Denny started to stand up, she saw a CD case on the console. “The Four Seasons? Seriously?”

  “Got it,” Pure said, running down the porch steps. “I’ll be home in time for dinner.”

  Denny grabbed her arm and whispered, “Have you seen Rush?”

  “No, not in a coupla days. See you later.”

  Denny watched the Camaro race down the street. No teenager today knew who the Four Seasons were, and the only way that asswipe knew was if he was older than what he appeared.

  Marching back inside, Denny headed up to the lair.

  That CD was all the evidence she needed that Pure might be in trouble.

  If she was going to protect her family, she needed to get started yesterday.

  ****

  Denny’s Journal

  If I had any doubts that Mike Cockerton wasn’t all he appeared to be, that CD cinched the deal. Kids his apparent age don’t know who they were. I only knew because Lauren’s parents always listened to them.

  Was he a demon?

  I didn’t know, but the fact that he came out of nowhere right after Quick warned me Pure could be in danger made him incredibly suspect…and I was suspicious.

  I went straight to Mom’s journal. It was time for me to pull up my big girl panties and see what in hell I was getting myself into, because whatever it was, was heading our way.

  The journal was written with the black fountain pen and not the blood Brianna had mentioned. I picked up the brown leather journal and held it to my chest before raising the book to my nose and inhaling its scent. It didn’t smell anything like her, but knowing she had touched it gave it a warmth I hadn’t expected.

  Adjusting the desk chair to better suit my height, I decided to read the journal from back to front. I wanted to see if there were any clues about who or what may have forced them off the road. It was hard because I heard Mom’s voice with every word I read. I missed her so much I ached. Talking to her only made it worse. As much as I didn’t want to, I understood why she didn’t think visiting her was such a hot idea. She had been doing things I never thought my sweet tempered mother capable of.

  Her last entry hurt my heart when I read it.

  He knows I’m closing in on him and it’s making him paranoid. A paranoid demon is a dangerous demon and I know I need to take him out sooner than later.

  There is something different at play here…something far more sinister than just a demon. Though I can’t say what it is, I know that it is something demonic…something I may not be prepared for.

  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I’ve sent the girls to stay with my sister, and Quick is staying with a friend, just in case.

  Just in case.

  That frightens me the most, but I am ready. I have Fouet and Epee, and that should be enough to bring him down.

  I pray it is enough.

  I pray I am in time.

  I stared at the journal entry. Who the hell were Fouet and Epee? Flipping through the pages, I saw their names several times. In one instance, Fouet bit into a demon’s neck. In another, Epee slashed a crazy ass demon to shreds.

  Were these her partners? Did she work in unison with them? How did my mother have partners in crime all these years and I never knew it? Had they visited? Were they nicknames?

  I closed the book and set it down on the desk. I would get nowhere if I didn’t find a shortcut to Demonology 101. There were far too many books in the lair and I didn’t know where to begin. I had no fucking clue.

  “Rush?”

  I waited.

  Minutes ticked by.

  Nothing.

  This was so unlike her. “Rush, I mean it. I need you. Where the hell are you?”

  Nothing.

  Now I was officially worried.

  How one fears for a ghost, I don’t know, but I did. She never stayed away long, even when she was mad. Had she finally gone to wherever it was ghosts go when they are done haunting people? I hoped not.

  I wasn’t sure I could handle losing someone else I loved without being able to say goodbye.

  “Rush? Come on. You’re beginning to scare me.”

  I waited.

  Nothing.

  Where did one go to find a missing ghost?

  ****

  Denny tossed and turned all night. Between dreams of Rush, nightmares of her mother, and witches circling on brooms, she’d had a helluva time staying asleep.

  “Rush?” Denny sat up and listened. “Rush, come on. This stopped being funny two days ago. Talk to me, please. I need you.”

  Denny waited for fifteen minutes. When it was clear Rush wasn’t coming, she leaned over and looked at the clock. Six a.m.

  Coffee.

  Denny threw on her clothes and, after jamming a ball cap on her head, drove to the coffee shop and to the only person she knew who might be able to tell her how to find a missing ghost.

  “Wow, someone got up early,” Brianna said, handing a mug of coffee to another customer.

  Denny felt a slow blush creep up her cheeks.

  Brianna smiled. “And if I didn’t know better, I’d say you weren’t here for tea.”

  “No, but I’ll take a double shot.”

  Brianna raised an eyebrow. “One double, coming up.”

  After Denny paid for the cup of espresso, she leaned over
the bar toward Brianna, who kept working the giant chrome machine. “What does it mean when a ghost disappears?”

  Brianna tilted her head. “Why? Have you lost one?”

  “Sort of.”

  “I see.” Brianna poured the steamed milk into a mug and delivered the order before turning to Denny and saying, “Could be she found peace.”

  Denny laughed. Rush didn’t want peace. She wanted to be alive. “I doubt that. This...um...particular ghost isn’t interested in an afterlife of rainbows and roses.”

  “Let me make sure I am clear about what you are asking. You originally told me you didn’t have a ghost. Now you do and she’s gone, and yet you want her back?” Brianna’s eyes sparkled as she spoke. “I swear to God, Golden Silver, you are quite an enigma. Most people would be thrilled to have a ghost gone.”

  “I’m not most people. Seriously. I don’t know what to do.”

  “It seems to me the supernatural world sure has its hooks in you. Someone is either playing games with you or your spirit has gone to wherever she was supposed to go. I can’t think of any other options.”

  Denny’s eyes locked on Brianna’s. She wanted to tell her...everything. She wanted to confide in her who Rush was and why the supernatural seemed to be conspiring against her. But she couldn’t. Not here, and not like this.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Brianna took her apron off and walked around the counter. She put her arms around Denny and gave her a hug. “Whatever has happened, just know you aren’t alone. I know it might feel that way, but you aren’t. Go see Ames Walker and see if he can shed some light on this.”

  Brianna held onto Denny, but Denny had never felt so alone.

  “Want me to come with you?”

  Denny pulled away. “No thanks. I got this, but thank you.”

  Brianna studied her a moment before lightly touching Denny’s eyebrows. “I wish that were true, but just know I’m here if you feel you need back up.”

  Denny nodded. “I appreciate that. I really do.”

  ****

  Denny walked up the cracked cobblestone path to a weathered and beaten Victorian. She almost turned around and went back to her car. Whoever Ames Walker was, his house didn’t look like it would belong to a successful someone. Was it an intentional cliché that his grey house looked haunted? With torn screens and a cracked upper window, the house didn’t look lived in. Weeds three feet high almost obscured the rusting wrought iron fence surrounding the front yard. It looked like something out of an M. Night Shaymalan movie.