Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) (19 page)

After consuming as much food as
she could for the time being, which didn't mean she was full, or even close,
but did mean that she wasn't going to get more without moving, she cleared her
throat again. That could work with Humans from North America, but Gregor just
looked at her as if she were being cute. She decided to not think of him as
anything other than that, and possibly not even that, since it was just
possible that someone else was playing her.

Going along with the gag, if it
was one, would serve her better than trying to act as if it wasn't real, only
to find out that it was, later. To that end she used a cloth napkin to wipe her
mouth, buying time to think.

When she spoke it was done gently
enough, she thought.

"So... I guess I need to
meet with God then, if he's going to claim to be real. I'm not going against my
new boss on
your
say so. Especially since this might not be what it
seems. For one thing, why ask
me
about it? Wouldn't it work better to
get Tarsus to handle it? Or even just do it yourself, if you're Gregor?"
She watched the nice seeming fellow closely, for clues or hints as to what
reality actually was. He just shook his head, slowly.

"I can't help you with part
of that. Tarsus is... insane, Keeley. You all are. When presented with the
reality of it all, Greater Demons lack the capacity to recall that which is
truly divine. I've held a conversation like this with Tarsus a thousand times,
or more, and as soon as I leave, he forgets that I was ever there. I could
perhaps mask myself and pretend to be one of you, but your kind is no more able
to see mine than a Human is to understand your own."

She could feel a bit of that,
couldn't she? That muzzy headed feeling to the moment, which was, she knew,
very close to being drugged, more than a little too. Just like she could fake
being a Human in public and no one would ever guess she wasn't, Gregor here was
claiming that her kind felt the same way about his. If this was him, which his
careful wording was placing in doubt.

"That... Isn't going to help
you a lot then, is it? I can stand down, perhaps,
if
I know what's going
on, but without that information there's almost no way for that to take place. I
need this information. Without it then you're out of luck. I don't suppose you
have a way to get me up on things? Like introducing a Human to the
supernatural, until their mind learns to comprehend it?"

There was no movement for a long
time, and finally the Greater Demon shrugged. Except that, she reminded
herself, he wasn't one of those. She was, but he was... A different thing? The
concept tried to leave her mind, even as she worked out what had to happen so
that it wouldn't.

"I'll... Need to be exposed
to you, or at least some of your people, for a long time, I think. Without a
break. That's been tried before, of course. I bet Tarsus asked to try on your
first meeting." He was intelligent and loved information after all. Being
unable to see something would warp him pretty well.

It was hard to think about,
because she'd really figured herself for being up on reality, but there it was,
running through her brain as she sat, staring. Her head really didn't want to
let her handle the situation at all. It lent credence to the idea, didn't it?
Yes, Gregor here, or
Mike
, could have been lying to her, in order to
string her along, but to what end? Some kind of game to get the insane Greater
Demons set free from the traps they were in?

"How many need to be let
loose?"

"Over thirty, Keeley. For
decades your kind has used this technique. I understand the rationale, but it
disturbs the balance too much. So, do you think you can do that for me? Get
them all free, so that the Universe won't implode on us all?"

She shook her head, slowly.

"I doubt it. For one thing,
if you can do this to me, then why would you need my help? Just go and set them
free, yourself. You can touch things when you want to." That
had
to
be the case. If not then it would have been impossible to hide as one of them
for any length of time. Just like he should be able to moderate whatever the
effect he was having on her did.

That thought, slow and clumsy
feeling, got her to snort.

"Which is what you're
already doing? This
is
your version of making it so I might remember
things? That doesn't prove that you are who you say. I've seen a lot of beings
pretend to be others over the months. You, or at least Gregor, even sort of
botched pretending to be Zack once, in order to try and kill me." It was
during the First Crucible, and he'd been sent in by Tarsus, but...

"Which wouldn't have worked.
Even with a Lesser Demon contracted for it. My kind, for all the fierce
reputation, does not kill easily. It's a bit of a trial, pretending to be one
of you. We have guilt, and shame, for example. We feel the pain of those we
harm, physically and emotionally. That isn't truly why I need your help,
however. Keeley, you need to understand, you're the only one young enough that
this might work on. Even Zack is too old for it and I fear that I found you too
late. Finias found you, but being what he is, sought to protect you from harm.
That means I didn't find out until you moved to Arizona, about what you were
and your true age. Forgive me for that. If I could have reached you sooner,
then this would be far more certain. What I need from you now, however, what I
must have from you, is for you to try and remember. When I leave here, when I
hide my true face, your very being will cry out to right the imbalance, by
forgetting who I am. You must cling to the idea. You must not let yourself
fail. Not again." There was a significant look then, and Keeley sighed,
looking away from the man in front of her.

"Really now? How many times
has it been, then? How often have you come here, asking for me to do this? Two?
Three?"

"I've been with you each
night since you left your old home. We've had this conversation before, many
times now. I was about to simply resign myself to the end of all that was
created, but He told me to give you one more chance. I know that there can be
no failure, if it is His will. That does not mean it will happen the way I think
however. Nor does that mean it will be a thing of comfort and ease for you.
There is a plan, and that, in the end, must rule us all. As you are, I and all
my kind are also imperfect. There can be only one perfect being... And Elvis
passed away, long ago." There was head hanging then, and a quick glance
upward at her, to see if she'd picked up the joke.

Rather than grin, being a bit
preoccupied, she held up her right hand.

"Wait, so you're saying that
Elvis
is really gone, too? What else are you going to tell me? I suppose
next on your list is that there is no Santa Claus?" She waited then, since
she'd seen the tulpa herself, and knew that one for sure. She'd even made the
nice
list. True that was for being a decently good Greater Demon, but it was
still
a vote of confidence. She wouldn't be on it again this year, because now she
was an adult.

Gregor the apparent Angel, or
some other guy that hadn't confirmed she was wrong about that, shook his head
slowly, a smile on his lips.

"I regret to inform you of
his passing. You knew that one, however. It doesn't take a lot for people to
imagine that one of their favorites still walks the world with them. Even my
kind has moments like that. We can... Normally, tell the difference. You don't
have that issue. Just ones with me and mine. So, do you think you can do it?
Can you... remember me? What I am?"

She shrugged, not knowing the
answer. If she'd really done this before and had no clue at all, then it
probably wasn't happening.

"So, wait, this is some kind
of timeless state thing then? Otherwise I would have noticed the missing time,
before."

"Correct. We
also
can't just have you write a note for yourself, since that will be suspected as
being false. Changes can be made in the here and now, but even a being such as
you might not notice them, if it's too well linked to me or mine. Perhaps you
would do better to speak about this with Gregor? If you approach him on the
subject, he will not lie to you about it."

She closed her eyes, blocking out
the concept of the man being there. Then, without opening them to see if he was
really there, she spoke, laying out ideas on an internal grid. It was a blue
field, behind her eyelids, that she mentally wrote on, building layers of
complexity into it. The triggering key was simple enough. When she saw an
opening door, it would be brought back into being. It took a while, and she
composed the thing carefully, making sure it was part of her, totally and
completely, explaining it all. Even her doubts about the matter, which she told
the man in front of her, who seemed hopeful about it anyway. Then... She added
in a lot of magic. Her own, signing the feel of the whole thing with her
personal power, and then adding another mental note that would remind her to
notice that.

It... Almost certainly wouldn't
be enough. After all,
Angels
? Even now, with what seemed to be one
directly across from her, she doubted that was something real.

Glancing over the crumb specked
table, she thought for a while, and then sighed.

"I don't know if that's
enough, but it will have to be, for now. If I can remember, then I'll try to
contact you again. Or Gregor, at least. How long have you been him,
anyway?" She'd heard what he'd said, but was testing him, to see if he'd
lie about it outright.

"Gregor? I'm not him, you
should seek him out however, as he is perhaps more able to communicate with
you, being what he is now. He's been around for about three thousand years, in
his current position... I used to be a much nicer being, do you know that,
Keeley? We all were, back then. I mean,
my
people. The demons that
walked the Earth then were
fierce
, compared to what we have now. It was
part of why He instructed the Forgetting. Not just for your kind, but all
creatures. So that the beings that were created by thought could be controlled
and contained. It was, back in those times, that the gods oft walked the same
lands as the mortals. The dark ones, your folk, did their share of damage, but
truly, the fears of those that worshiped were the greatest problem. There was
no hope, not even a glimmer, for the Humans and others of those days. Until He
spoke, and led me to create a format for those that needed to be shepherded
into correct living and thought."

"Oh. That didn't always work
out so well, did it?" Keeley wondered if the man was capable of getting
that, but there was no way to tell from his answer. It was a single wave, as he
stood up, to go.

"You should recall, if you
can, what the world once was. This is a paradise in many ways. A gift that no
one knows they've been given, compared to the Earth that was. I... Wish you
luck, in remembering this, Keeley. I truly do. Regardless, we shall meet again.
It is His will."

She cleared her throat, and held
him in place with a look.

"I bet. Still, even if I
can
remember all of this, I don't know if I can fix it for you. Tarsus will want
those four beings out of the way and... Well, three really, I guess. How do I
get around that? I clearly can't just share all of this with Tarsus, since
he'll just assume that it means
I'm
insane. That, or under the influence
of another being. Which... Well, that
could
still be the case. So,
unless you have some better suggestion for me than to throw my life away on a
whim, maybe you shouldn't get your hopes up too high?"

He moved to the door, his face
shifting as he did, the clothing as well. From a man that looked ready to work
on a farm to an older priest, with a bald pate, wire rimmed glasses and some
gray hair at the edges. It was nearly white, and the face was a bit more round,
nearly chubby, and complete with more laugh lines and crow's feet than had been
there even a half second before. It certainly wasn't the way she altered her
appearance, but it was, she realized, Gregor. The way she knew him. Even the
distortions in space were perfect. Except that the top of his head was
too
bald. She held up her right hand to get him to wait and then closed her eyes
again, adding that bit of information to the mental list that would come to
her, and added another touch of her own energy, hoping that it would work.

If only because otherwise she'd
be left with a blind spot, and not be able to even work on it later. That idea
sucked
.
When she opened her eyes, Gregor slid the door open and then nodded at her.

"You'll need to do battle
with them all, Keeley, and simply kill them. If you use Tarsus's method,
reality will fold in on itself and die. If you fail him, and do not try, then
the man, your own Grandfather, will almost certainly kill you. If however you
take each, acting alone as a sign of your strength, destroying them, one by
one, then you'll be marked as too powerful for anyone else to bother. Even with
your tender years. I have great faith in you, Keeley Thomson. So does He. Else
wise He wouldn't have sent me to you for this."

The door shut and she looked
away, noticing that the room was a mess. There were crumbs on her table, and
she sat there, for a whole moment, before not bothering to see that, and going
to get something to eat. It was time and dinner hadn't happened yet.

There was a slight sense that
something was going to happen, but nothing did, except for food prep. Then
eating, as she listened to the sounds of her home, the world outside not making
more than a hiss of a breeze.

"What I need to do, is make
plans, for my new slaves." That didn't take long, since she was going with
a very general idea for now. First, they were all going to kick their drug
habits and get clean. Just because they weren't allowed to do drugs now, that
didn't mean they didn't still have junk in their bodies from the last time
they'd done something. It could take weeks for them all to adjust. They would,
and fast, because they didn't get a say in the matter. In a way it would seem
easy to them, though valuable.