Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (47 page)

Alex gave him a slap on the cheek, letting his demonic facial features creep to the surface.

"I'll be watching you," he said.
 
"Behave."

He'd vanished before the first fellow inmate arrived.
 
It didn't take long for the small crowd to gather.
 
They shouted for help, tried to help Charles to his feet.
 
Charles didn't see any of them.
 
He searched manically around him, pushing people away, looking for Alex.
 
He was afraid for his life, and the nightmares would be with him the rest of his life.

Alex smiled as he backed through the humans around him.
 
He'd done his job.

*****

Alex let out a sigh of relief as he slowly parked in the motel lot.
 
He could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
 
There were no more chores, except for the long drive ahead of him.
 
All he wanted was to get home and watch TV on the couch with Cindy.

His wife was leaving the motel room when he pulled up.
 
Kylie followed her, which was a strange sight.
 
Cindy wasn't aware the ghost was even there, but Kylie trailed her anyway, as if they were best friends.

"Don't tell Kylie about our trip today.
 
That's just between me, you, and Cindy."

Nate leaned forward to get a better look at Kylie.
 
He smiled warmly as the ghost of his dreams pushed hair out of her face and adjusted her glasses.

"Cindy knows?"

"Of course.
 
She knows everything."

Cindy already had their luggage gathered under a light, which was struggling to turn on under the dusk sky.
 
She stood waiting with her hand on her hip, looking like only she could.
 
Kylie broke away to meet Nate, who was walking through the truck to get to her.
 
Even though ghosts didn't feel physical contact the way the living did, the two hugged.
 
Apparently even a few hours apart was too much for young, blossoming love.

Nate leaned in for a kiss, but stopped short, embarrassed.
 
Kylie was having none of that, however, and finished the job.
 
Alex laughed at the show only he could see.

"Hey, stranger," Cindy said.
 
"Going my way?"

He smiled as he climbed out and helped load the luggage in the truck.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah.
 
Detective Nash won't have any problems."
 
She grabbed and squeezed his hand.
 
That one simple gesture reminded him that Cindy would always be with him, always support him, through everything.
 
"How about over here?"

"Everything is signed and done.
 
Meagan paid us for an entire week."

"Wow.
 
That's mighty nice of her."

"Well, there's a catch."

Alex wasn't surprised.
 
"There always is."

"She wants to see Kylie, every now and then.
 
She's willing to come to Baltimore."

He frowned at the idea.
 
It certainly wasn't impossible, rather the opposite.

"Is that smart?" he asked.
 
"Is that even healthy?"

"I don't know.
 
If Kylie is around, and they both want to talk, who are we to argue?
 
We hang out with a vampire and a witch.
 
We're probably not the best judges of healthy."

"Or normal," he added, nodding.
 
She had a point.

Kylie and Nate joined the both of them.
 
Cindy could tell from his wandering gaze they were nearby.
 
She took his hand to see them.
 
Alex smiled at both of them.

"So, what do you two have planned?"

They glanced at each other, puppy love in their eyes.

"I don't know," Nate said.
 
"Paris?"

"No freakin' way," Kylie said.
 
"I'm not falling through a plane."

"When we get back, wherever we're going, can we stop by?"

"Yeah, come by anytime."

Cindy held up a finger.
 
"Uh, just remember to knock first.
 
Okay?"

"You got it."

Kylie looked back and forth between Cindy and Nate.

"He saw you naked, didn't he?"

Cindy answered the question with a laugh.
 
Kylie smacked Nate on the arm.

"Hey!
 
It wasn't on purpose!"

Alex shook Nate's hand, and Kylie surprised him with a hug.

"Thank you.
 
You're amazing, and I'm going to tell everyone I come across how awesome Demons LLC is."

"If you ever need anything, just holler."

"Dude, if you're really lucky, I'll help you with your next case."

"I don't know about that."
 
Alex glanced away for a second, toward the road.
 
"I don't think I can hire—"

They were gone, off to whatever adventure they had planned.
 
He knew he would see them again.
 
Cindy squeezed his hand and swatted his butt as she climbed in the passenger's side.

"It's just me and you now," she said.

"Yeah.
 
Do you think you can handle a long-ass drive with me?"

"I think we'll do fine."

He circled around to the driver's side, but hesitated when a car pulled into the lot.
 
He was surprised to see Detective Nash driving, with Zoey next to her.
 
Question after question came to him.
 
What were they doing together?
 
Was Zoey in trouble with the law?
 
Did Lisa know Zoey was a vampire?

He winced at the sight of Lisa climbing out of the car.
 
She was healing, but could certainly use a cup of Kevin's Mishnar's witch-water.
 
Her face was bruised, her arm in a sling.
 
Zoey was at her side quickly, in case she needed help.

Zoey once again resembled something like a normal teenage girl.
 
Her figure was coming back; her bones were no longer visible.
 
Her cheeks were fuller, with a touch of red.

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Alex called as they approached.

"I should be in the morgue, or at the bottom of the lake.
 
I have you to thank that I'm not."

"I figure we're even.
 
I could easily be in a lab right now, being dissected."

"About all that," she said, giving a friendly nod to Cindy.
 
"I have
so
many questions.
 
Zoey filled me in a little.
 
But I probably wouldn't like the rest of the answers, would I?"

"Probably not.
 
But, before I forget, Charles Wallace won't be bothering you anymore."

Apprehension and curiosity flashed across her face.
 
She wanted to ask, get into more detail, but she simply shook her head.

Zoey stepped forward, and Lisa backed away to give her space.

"Are…we alone?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Shit.
 
I was hoping to see Kylie one more time."

"I'm sure she'll be around again."

"Hey, who knows?
 
Maybe we'll both get to go to prom after all."

It was good to hear Zoey with hope in her voice again.
 
He smiled and gestured to Lisa.

"What's going on?
 
Are you in trouble?"

"Oh, no.
 
She just wants to know what happened that night.
 
And I told her.
 
But she's not going to arrest me or anything."

"Yeah.
 
I'm not sure arresting a vampire is normal."

They laughed and said their goodbyes.
 
He gave Lisa a delicate hug, and even that made her wince.
 
She needed to get home and rest.
 
Without having to look over her shoulder, that was finally possible.

"Don't worry," he told Zoey as they hugged.
 
"If my friend Victoria is looking out for you, you'll be fine."

"I know."

Lisa and Zoey drove away, with Zoey waving out the window.
 
Alex returned the gesture before sliding behind the wheel and leaning his head back.
 
Cindy patted him on the knee.

"Finally," she said.
 
"When we get home, you know what I want to do?"

Alex noticed the look in her eye, and perked up.
 
He listened with everything he had.

"The first thing we're going to do," she said.
 
"Is take off—"

Her phone rang.
 
They both laughed, but Cindy was clearly irritated.
 
She didn't bother putting the phone to her ear, but instead answered through the speaker.

"Cindy," the familiar voice said, struggling to breathe.
 
"It's Kevin."

"I know.
 
What's up?
 
And why are you out of breath?"

"Leese and I just ran up the stairs to her apartment."

Alex and Cindy both frowned, wondering if that was code for something else.

"Kevin," Cindy said.
 
"You didn't just boink my sister-in-law, did you?"

"No!
 
Why would you even…Listen, we've got a problem.
 
Have you checked the website lately?"

"I've been busy.
 
What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing's wrong, just a lot of traffic.
 
Actually, too much traffic.
 
The site crashed three times.
 
I might have to move it to a new web host.
 
I just didn't want you guys freaking out.
 
Anyway, we'll lay out a plan when you get back."

Kevin hung up.
 
Cindy stared at the phone in disbelief and shrugged at Alex.

"I guess business is booming," he said.

Cindy tapped and swiped at her phone.
 
Alex scooted closer, wondering how someone could work that fast.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking email.
 
I haven't done it since I got here…whoa."

She had fifteen unread messages, all of them coming from the contact form on the Demons LLC website.
 
They were all requests for help.
 
A woman in Annapolis felt her house was being haunted by her dead son.
 
A couple in Fairfax thought demons were in the forest behind their home.
 
A man from Ocean City was dying from cancer, and wanted to set up a
death plan
before he passed on.
 
A lonely widow wanted to talk to her long-gone husband.

"Holy shit," Cindy said.

Alex took a deep breath.
 
This was what he wanted.
 
He wanted to help people for a living.

He hoped he was ready for it.

"We might need to hire more people."

"Demons and ghosts are real.
 
We hope that no one ever has to deal with either one in their lives.
 
But the truth is someone out there is tormented, terrified, sometimes even hurt by one or the other.
 
This happens every single day.
 
This can be a single person, or an entire family.
 
Sometimes the supernatural even follows generations in a family.
 
This is where we come in.
 
Our investigators have experience in dealing with a world many people don't even know exists.
 
We can help you.
 
Contact us through our website,
www.demonsllc.com
."

-
Cindy Teague

I live in Maryland with my wonderful wife and four cats. I love gaming, computer technology, movies, and of course, reading and writing. I love science fiction and especially horror. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, anything supernatural, all beautiful subjects.

I've been writing since I was twelve years old. There's just something about creating a story that I like. It's always fun to try to come up with something that hasn't been done, or is unique in some way. It's fun to build a character, give him a personality and background.

Visit my website at http://www.glennbullion.com

Total works by Glenn Bullion:

Demonspawn

Dead Living

Mind Slide

A Witch to Live

Jack Kursed

Soul Insurance

Demon's Doorway

Witch's Kurse

Broken Home

Demons LLC