A Girl's Guide to Demon Hunting (20 page)

Chapter 39
Tip 78:  Cherish the normal times in your life.

    Late the next morning I woke to the sound of Pancake’s snorting coming from somewhere in the apartment. I bumped my sore arm getting out of bed, causing it to begin throbbing. This day was starting out well. I found Pancake in the bathroom, standing in the walk-in shower where she was licking the grate over the drain.
    “Bad Pancake.” I scolded and shooed her out of the bathroom.
   Closing the door after her, I gave myself a once-over in the mirror. I looked like hell. Again. Hair sticking up, my road rash from last night red and inflamed; well, at least it wasn’t oozing.
    After taking care of my morning routine, I went out in the living room to find Pancake sulking in the corner next to a potted plant. Jenny was sitting on the couch in jeans and a T-shirt, a cup of coffee on the table in front of her, reading the weekly entertainment section of the newspaper.
    “What’s with Pancake?” She asked.
    “I caught her trying to lick Demon blood from the bathroom drain.”
    “First stop today I’m going to buy bleach.”
    “Good idea.”
    "You wanna talk about last night?"
    Giving her a tired look, I sat down next to her.
    "Okay, maybe later." She said, taking a sip of her coffee.
    Seeing Jenny’s keys and a red file folder marked Daddy on the coffee table, I realized that while my world felt like it’d been shattered last night, for everyone else life went on.
    “Are you going to visit your dad today?”
    Saturdays were family visitation at the prison; Jenny usually spent the day there.
    “Yup.” Jenny said, just as a little ding came from the kitchen.
     Putting the paper down, she got to her feet and went into the kitchen. She came back and handed me a cup of coffee. Taking a sip and immediately burning my tongue, I put it on the coffee table to let it cool off.
    “You want to take Pancake?” I asked.
    Hearing her name, Pancake got up, trotted over to me and sat at my feet, giving me her best ‘I’m sorry’ look. It’s an effective look.
    “Do you mind?” Jenny asked, leaning down and giving Pancake a scratch behind the ears.
    “Not at all.” I said.
    She usually took Ace or Shooter with her to the Prison, both if possible. It wasn’t a place for young girls, no matter how many guards there were. I couldn’t go, having issues with confinement and being surrounded by people with tasers. So whenever Ace or Shooter couldn’t go, I had her take Pancake.
    “Where is everyone?” I asked, trying another sip of coffee. It was better this time, less like drinking molten lava.
    “They left early this morning. Ace brought the Vespa back and then they went to clean up after your fight. You know those two, any chance to use a flame thrower.”
    I had to smile at that as I helped her get ready to visit her father.
    After Jenny and Pancake left, I went back upstairs and armed both sets of alarms. Jenny had officially closed the café until further notice, giving Amy a paid vacation to Portland. I didn’t like that my problems were affecting Jenny’s life this much. I needed to make a decision about my future and soon. To be honest, I wasn’t feeling terribly confident in the ‘lay-low and everything will be okay’ plan, not after seeing how angry Max was last night.
    Jail was the last thing I wanted for me and I was determined not to involve my friends in my current mess but I couldn’t just go running off, at least not right away. I had too many loose ends left to tie up here. Julie and Camilla being the most pressing. Peaches was going to be difficult, I was going to have to find a way out of our deal and frankly short of dying I didn't know how. All of this of course paled when I thought about mom's accident. I had to come to terms with the fact I wasn't going to find out who did it, at least not anytime soon. Julie, Camilla, those were problems I could deal with quickly, but mom? It'd been two years and not a single clue. Peaches I'd deal with when the time came. 
        Wanting to talk some of this out, I tried Father H's cell but it went straight to voice mail. I was considering driving by his house when I realized I could work on some of my problems right now. I figured I had about four hours to kill before anyone came home, which meant I had four hours before anyone would miss me.
    Sitting down at Jenny’s desk, I opened her laptop and did a quick search for Camilla. It took a few minutes but I finally found what I was looking for. At least it was something to chase. Grabbing my helmet and keys, I ran out of the apartment and out the back door.
    Thirty minutes later I walked into the Las Vegas City hospital. According to an online article in today’s paper, she, along with other members of the Art Council, would be meeting here to dedicate a new art therapy wing for the long term patients. I got turned around and had to backtrack twice but I finally found the right place. It was clear enough once I saw the group of people with cameras gathered in front of a line of six well dressed women who were all posing next to a really hideous abstract painting.
    Obscenely, Camilla and Peaches stood side by side in the middle of the line. They stood at the entrance to the wing, smiling for the cameras. I found a row of seats across the room from the little event and sat down, keeping my profile as low as possible. Picking up a magazine I found two seats away, I slumped down in the chair and pretended to read about monster trucks.
    Ugh; rich people were really boring. The stupid ceremony took forever. It seemed that each one of these women had some stupid contrived story about how art had changed their lives and how it could change the lives of others. I tried not to snicker out loud at Peaches’ little speech about how art brought her and her mother closer together. Yeah, in Hell maybe.
    I was daydreaming about a chocolate shake when the sound of applause brought me back to my senses and I saw the little event was finally breaking up.
    Not moving from my seat, I watched as everyone left. I tensed up when Peaches walked past me but she didn’t even glance in my direction. Camilla was one of the last to leave. I waited to get up until she turned left down another hallway. I gave her a few seconds then trotted down the hallway and turned the corner just to see her make another left down yet another hallway.
    Where was she going? The main exit was back the other way. I was starting to feel like I was following one of those mice through a maze when I saw her finally stop in front of the neonatal unit. I heard a buzz from the inside and she walked through the big metal double doors as they opened. I stared after her dumbfounded as I heard the doors lock shut behind her.
   
What in the hell kind of security do they have in this place? Seriously? A Demon in a room full of babies?
Considering the door was controlled from the inside, I couldn’t just walk in there and I was pretty sure there was no other exit which meant I was just going to have to wait. I turned around and walked back down the hallway, sitting in one of the chairs near the far end.
    The picture of Holly McGuire flashed over and over through my mind as I sat there and a sick feeling settled over me. 
    “Miss?”
    I looked up and found a nurse dressed in light pink scrubs standing in front of me.
    “Yes?” I asked.
    “Ms. Bartlett said that you were nervous about coming in.” She said kindly, “It’s okay, you won’t hurt the babies.”
    Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Did I already say shit? I seemed unable to move beyond that one word as the nurse threaded her arm through mine and pulled me towards the neonatal unit. Swiping her card at the doors, she pulled me into a room with three large metal sinks. While she showed me how to scrub my hands and arms, all I could think about was how I was going to confront the Demon I was contracted to kill in a room full of newborns.
    With a gentle push between my shoulder blades, the nurse sent me into a dimly lit room. Six clear plastic box-like cribs lined the walls. Giant pastel balloons were painted on the walls. They would have been cute and cheerful if a Demon wasn’t currently sitting in a rocking chair in the corner. In her arms was a little baby wrapped in a pale blue blanket.
    I can fight Demons. I can fight Guardians. I wasn’t ready for this.
    “Come in my dear.” Camilla said, her low raspy voice no more than a whisper.
   Not taking my eyes from that baby, I very slowly walked into the room, coming to a stop in the center. I felt like I was moving underwater. Camilla watched my every move, all the while gently rocking the baby.
    “I’m sorry we’ve never been introduced. Although since this is the second time I caught you watching me so I’m sure you know who I am. But I still don’t know you.”
    “Allie Montgomery.” I said in a barely audible whisper.
    “Well, Allie, I’d say it was a pleasure to meet you but since you’ve been paid to kill me, I think it’d be stretching the truth a bit, wouldn’t you?”
   At her words my eyes met hers and my heart skipped a beat; in that millisecond her eyes glowed gold, causing my power to stir. What in the Hell was she, some kind of super Demon? Whatever she was, it was new to me.
    “Pick one up.”
    Oh my God.
    Moving slowly to the nearest crib, I reached in and took the sleeping pink bundle and held it in my arms. It immediately began to squirm and I found all my attention was directed on not dropping the baby.
    “Good grief, have you never held a baby before? You have to support its body. Lay it against your chest like I am, so its head is resting on your shoulder.”
    The quiet kindness in her voice terrified me more than any shriek.
    I laid the baby against my shoulder, one hand supporting its diaper-clad bottom, the other against its tiny back. It was on my lips to thank her when I realized a Demon just told me how to hold a baby. This couldn’t get any stranger. Glancing at Camilla I saw a cocky smile on her beautiful face and I knew the irony wasn’t lost on her either.
    “Now that we’re both comfortable, let’s get to know each other. I find you interesting sweetie. I can feel both Guardian and Demon in you. Now how would that happen?”
    “Birth defect.” I said truthfully.
    “Strange. It’s unlike the Guardians to keep something as dangerous as you alive. I surely wouldn’t.”
    “Yeah, there’s a lot of strange things going on lately.” Like this whole whacked out conversation, I thought.
    “Now tell me; how ever did you get in league with Peaches?”
    “Ever hear of keeping your friends close but your enemies closer?”
    “Oh…I like that. So very Demonic.”
    Tired of her questions, I asked one of my own. “Why are you in Las Vegas?” 
    “Bored. Plus this place is great for hunting.” She said, looking down at the baby in her arms.
    I felt my power push against my control, wanting to protect the baby against her veiled threat.
   Her rocking came to a sudden stop and she stood up. I didn’t think it was possible but the chill in my veins got worse. Adjusting the baby until it was cradled in her arms, she walked towards me. I stood completely still. I saw a small smile play on her lips a split second before she tossed the baby high into the air.
   Without thought I reacted. Clutching the baby I was holding with one hand, I reached out to catch the other one.
    Time seemed to slow as I watched my fingers brush against the soft blue blanket and the baby slipped from the blanket, falling to the floor with a sickening thud. She threw it too high. The thud was too hard.
   It took a long time for my body to catch up with my eyes. The limbs were bent at strange angles and its sightless blue eyes stared up at me. Unable to support myself, I sank to my knees and wrapped my arms around the living baby in my arms. The real baby.
   A doll. She was holding a freaking doll the whole time. By the time I calmed down enough to go after her, she was long gone. She had to die now. What kind of psychopath did shit like that? I don’t care if she is a Demon, that’s a whole new level of evil. Where the hell did she even get it? I got my answer as I walked towards the exit of the neonatal unit, there stashed in a corner of a small make-shift waiting area was a toy chest.

Chapter 40

"I'm not afraid of Pancake. I'd just rather not stand next to the Demon eating Hell Hound."
                                                                                                                              
-Peter

    I had a few more stops before heading home. First I emptied my safety deposit box and burning with the need to rid the world of Camilla, I drove to Phillip’s. He was out of course, so I wrote him a note telling him where to leave the gun. I sealed it along with the cash from the deposit box in an envelope and left it with Connor.
    Just one last stop.
    Hank was the Demon Lord in charge of the Sloth Demons and it showed. He lived at Aerostar trailer park; not that there was anything wrong with living in a trailer but when a Sloth Demon lived in one it was a recipe for disaster. Hubcaps completely covered the front of his trailer and a broken down station wagon with an inch-thick layer of sand sat on blocks in the gravel driveway.
   The one good thing about the place was you couldn’t miss it. Parking the Vespa on the side of the dirt road, I walked to the end of Hank’s driveway and shouted for him. Not much point in social graces with the Sloths.
    A moment later the screen door flew open, causing the hubcaps to rattle. Hank, fat and sporting an epic and greasy comb over, came waddling out. Dressed in a stained white T-shirt, grey cotton shorts and house slippers, he made his way down the driveway to where I stood waiting.
    “What?!” he said by way of greeting. Not so much a question as a challenge.
    “Nice to see you too.” I said, taking a step back as the smell of stale beer and sweat hit me.
   Not wanting to stand there any longer than absolutely necessary, I dug the markers out of my pocket and tossed them at his feet.
    “I had four this week alone. One broke the law, the other three came after me for revenge.”
    His face scrunched up in displeasure and he crossed his arms over his massive gut.
    “So?” he grumbled.
    “Really, that’s all you have to say? Look, you know the deal: you control them or I will.    If that happens, you’ll soon find yourself a Lord with no Demons.” I said the last part while taking a step toward him and flaring my power.
    “Coward,” I mumbled at his retreating form. Feeling a little better, I got back on the Vespa and drove to Jenny’s.