Demon Hunters (19 page)

Demonica

When I got back to the apartment, Gwen was
already asleep in my bed and Ivar was standing guard outside the
door.

“Take a rest, big guy.”

“What did you find out?”

“We need to find Selma Shallows. Also known
as Demonica.”

“Why?”

“I’m told she’ll know how to deal with the
dagger. The sooner the better too, because it’s only a matter of
time before Jackal comes crashing through that door.”

“I will..” Ivar began.

“No. I will. I’ll run some searches tonight
and we can get a start on this tomorrow.”

“I could easily do that.”

“And so could I. You need to get some rest.
It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting much myself.”

“If you are certain.”

“I am. Go and recharge yourself.” Ivar left
and I looked in on Gwen. She was curled up in my sheets. A shaft of
moonlight shot through the window and landed right on her face. She
looked so peaceful and rested. For someone to just look at her in
that instance, they would assume she was at peace when I knew that
was far from the truth. Her brother. Her home. Her life. Just more
sins to be heaped on my doorstep.

I closed the door quietly and got out my
laptop. I ran several searches for Selma Shallows, but there was
nothing to be had. I heard a noise from my room. Gwen soon emerged.
Her hair was tangled about her head. She was wearing one of my old
dress shirts and a pair of sweats. She stumbled slightly as she
walked into the room. I could have sworn I felt my heart pound
against my ribs.

“Hi.”

“I wake you?”

“No, I couldn’t really sleep. Where were
you?”

“Just out. Getting information.” I turned my
attention back to the computer screen. The search I was running
under the name Demonica yielded slightly better results. Just one
page of links and most of them seemed to lead to the same
person.

“What’s all that?” Gwen asked.

“Just checking something.”

“Demonica? Right.”

“I know. Stupid name, but I guess it’s what
the tourists expect.” I clicked one of the links. The screen went
black and suddenly a picture popped up. It was a headshot of some
crazy looking woman. Her face was thin and wrinkled and she was
wearing a pair of glasses with lenses twice as big as her eyes. Her
hair looked wiry and hard as it shot out in all directions, forming
some kind of old person’s afro with streaks of white, black and
gray.

“She looks insane.”

“Probably is, but she’s the one we have to
see.” I noticed we were on a web site for Demonica’s occult
bookstore. It was a poorly done site, but it had the basics. She
even had a section where you could make an appointment to see her
in person for a reading. I clicked on that link and I was taken to
a screen where I could select a time to come and below that was the
address. Luckily, she was headquartered near Venice Beach in a
little area known in the Occult realm as Devil Town. I then
selected a reservation for noon the next day.

“You’re not serious.”

“Why not?”

“How could she know anything about this? She
looks like a nut! Who told you she was the one to see about
this?”

“Just trust me. It was a very reliable
source.”

The next morning, I woke up at the crack of
eleven. I had taken the sofa while Gwen had finished her rest in my
bed. I rolled off onto the floor and got up. It always took me a
moment to get my balance in the morning. I wasn’t sure if it was
just me or the demon, but I had grown accustomed to it.

I padded over to the kitchen and got the
coffee going. I took out two cups and stood across from the
machine, doing everything I could to will the coffee to brew
faster. I heard the door to my room open and Gwen trudged out,
dressed.

“Do I smell coffee?”

“Not yet, but soon.” She turned to me and
suddenly turned away quickly.

“Whoa!”

“What?”

“You’re naked!” I looked down and as soon as
my eyes focused, I could see that she was right.

“Damn,” I said under my breath. “My pants
are on the couch.” Gwen grabbed them and threw them to me over her
shoulder. I yanked them on and as soon as the zipper came up, Gwen
turned back around.

“You could have at least worn
underwear.”

“Sorry! I’m not really used to having people
sleep over. I forgot.”

“Whatever.” She grabbed a cup off the
counter.

“You think I was coming on to you or
something?”

“That was not a come on. That was indecent
exposure.” I felt insulted on a number of levels.

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not the only
person in the world who got a gander of the Corba family
secrets.”

“I’m sure.” The coffee was finally done. I
snatched Gwen’s cup and quickly filled it and handed it back to
her.

“Let’s see if that doesn’t improve the
attitude.” I said as I began to fill my cup.

“When are we leaving?”

“We?”

“Yes. We have to be in Venice by noon,
right?”

“Uh, no. I have to be in Venice by noon. You
will be here.”

“No way! I’m not going to sit around here.
This was part of my brother’s world and I want to know more.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“I need to do this. I’m sure it won’t make
sense to you, but finding out more about this part of Tyler’s life
kind of helps me.” I felt a silent scream roar in my brain. She had
to play the sentiment card. I could have put on my unfeeling act,
but somehow I didn’t want to. I guess part of me wanted Gwen with
me as much as I wanted to keep her safe.

“Fine. We leave in fifteen minutes and you
don’t leave my sight. Understood?”

We drove into Venice a little before noon.
We cruised into a quiet corner of the city with small, crooked
streets. Gwen seemed to be growing anxious about our direction.

“Why is this place called Devil Town?” I
slid into a small space and parked.

“Come with me and find out.”

“There aren’t even any stores around here! I
think we’re in the wrong place.”

“No. Right here.” I indicated to the opening
of a small alleyway. It was a narrow passage between two large
buildings. The buildings on our sides blocked out the sun and it
grew darker as we progressed. We began to see the other end of the
alley and the light grew brighter as we approached.

We walked out onto a small street that was
populated with run down, yet thriving, stores. The scent of incense
was thick in the air. We walked along slowly. I could tell Gwen was
as far out of her element as she had ever been. She kept very close
to me, which I was fine with.

“What is all this?”

“Devil Town is kind of a pocket community,”
Gwen’s eyes were glued to the traffic along the street. Most
everyone looked normal enough but even I could spot a few
exceptions. “This is a place where people like me, and your
brother, could come and feel safe.”

“There are werewolves here?”

“I haven’t been here in a long time, but
when I was here, there was just about every kind of freak you can
think of.”

“Freak?”

“I can use the F-word. It’s all right. I’m
one of them.”

We passed by the bookstore, which I had many
fond memories of. When I was first coming to terms with the demon
inside, it was the only place I could find books that actually made
me feel as though the world wasn’t coming to an end. Books that
helped me gain strength and attain control over the beast within.
It wasn’t easy but the lessons I learned, I carried with me ever
since those dark days. It was also the first time I realized I
wasn’t really alone. There was a whole world beneath the surface
that I could go to and not feel isolated or feared.

We continued on down the street when I saw
Demonica’s shop. It wasn’t hard to find. It was modern compared to
the other storefronts. Her name was spelled out in pink neon
letters on the sign above her door.

We went on into the store. It was dark. The
walls were black. The floor was black. The only light to be found
was coming from small lights in the numerous display cases. We
walked around taking in the inventory. The cases held many rare
looking artifacts. Skulls, cups and ceremonial daggers. I could
tell they were all fakes but they were impressive fakes.

“
Interesting.” Gwen
said.

“It’s just for show. People expect this kind
of thing.” She walked off toward a case of costume jewelry.

I took a few more steps and noticed more
light ahead. I saw a small doorway that led to another room. I
stepped in and discovered it was something of a library. Large
bookcases lined the walls and each shelf was loaded with all kinds
of different books. I fingered through them and was quite
impressed. Most of the books I saw were only rumored to exist. I
was about to pull out a first edition of the Necronomicon when I
heard Gwen’s voice along with a new voice.

I walked out and found Gwen talking to a
small, funny looking woman behind the counter. It was Demonica and
she looked even more ridiculous in person. The hair and glasses
were enough to get you to chuckle, but she was so short. I walked
over to them and peered over the counter. She was standing on a
stool and she was still barely reaching as far as Gwen’s
elbows.

“Hi.” Demonica looked over at me.

“Do you mind? I’m having a conversation
here.”

“Jake, this is Demonica.”

“I can see that,” I turned back to Demonica.
“I have an appointment.”

Demonica adjusted her lenses and looked me
over. She then hopped down and ran over to a small desk behind her.
There was a large book sitting on it.

“You’re the twelve o’clock?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. Follow me.” She walked out from
behind the counter. Her eyes came up to my belt, as best I could
tell. She hobbled toward me and snagged my hand as she passed. I
was surprised at her strength. She took me past the candles and
past the book room to a large alcove in the far back of the
store.

It was separated by a black curtain, which
she closed as we walked in. There was a table in the middle of the
room. Demonica pulled two chairs up and urged me to sit down. She
then balanced two phone books on her chair and jumped up on
top.

“Give me your hand, please.” I held my hand
out to her. She closed her eyes and traced her finger up and down
my palm while humming.

“Look, you can spare me the floor show. I
appreciate the effort, but I’m not some tourist off the street. I
just need some information.”

“You came for something.”

“Yeah. I need to talk to you about
something. It’s important.” Suddenly, her humming stopped and she
opened her eyes.

“You’re possessed.”

“Yes.”

“You have been for a long time.”

“Yes.”

“But you lived. How have you lived?”

“I don’t know. I have control over it. For
the most part.”

“It’s very powerful. I sense great
pain.”

“I don’t want to talk about this! I need
information!”

“You will talk about what Demonica wants to
talk about.”

“I’m paying for this!”

“Shhh!” She hissed as she pressed her hand
to my lip. “I’m getting something,” She said and then suddenly her
eyes bugged out and she looked at me as if she were seeing me for
the first time. “Such power.”

“Fine,” I pulled out the dagger and dropped
it on the table. Demonica looked down at it like it was a rat that
had just dropped dead in front of her. She was frozen.

“Where did you get this?”

“A friend. I need your help.” She looked at
me. I could see through the lenses of her glasses. She was staring
at me with dead serious eyes.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“Get out! Get out of my shop! Do you think I
want some plague to come down on me now? I just signed a new lease
on this place!” She pushed the dagger back to me and gave me the
bum’s rush out of the small room.

“I want to know how to destroy it!”

“Destroy? The Dagger of Sira?”

“Yes. I was told if anyone knew how, it
would be you.”

“Of course,” She took the dagger back and
looked it over with a careful eye. She looked back up at me. “This
is no toy. This is serious damn magic. No one really knows how the
dagger was made or where it came from. It was found in the small
Norwegian village of Sira, hence the name, sometime in the
thirteenth century. That’s when the power it holds was discovered.
This dagger doesn’t just cut. It actually creates a conduit between
souls. You can transfer any soul into another vessel with this
thing. You see that jewel there? This is what is known as the
Soulstone. It’s green. It means it’s open. It can absorb a soul
now. Once it does, this jewel will turn red. It’ll go back to green
when the soul within is released.”

“That’s great. I wasn’t asking for an
instruction manual. I want to know how to destroy this thing.”

“Why do you want to destroy it?”

“Because The Reborn want to use it to bring
Morgan Sanguine back to life and as I’m sure you know, that would
be a very bad thing. The only way to keep her dead is to get rid of
the dagger.”

“Valid logic.”

“Great. Now, how do we do this?” She tossed
the dagger up into my arms and hobbled past me.

“You don’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“As it is now, you can’t destroy it. It’s
imbued. Like you,” She said with a wink. “It carries strong magic.
It can’t be destroyed now.”

“Now. When can it be destroyed?”

“Neutralize the power of the dagger, and
then you can destroy it.” Gwen came walking up behind her.

“How do we do that?” Demonica turned to
Gwen.

“That is a question I can only answer in
time. Leave the dagger here and I will do what I can.”

“I don’t really like the sound of that. I
need to know you can do this.” Demonica stopped and cocked her tiny
head toward me.