Jeremy Chikalto and the Demon Trace (Book III of The Hazy Souls) (10 page)

“Excuse me.” Jeremy continued up the
stairs.

It was nearing dusk and growing chilly. “It
should have been here by now,” said General Forero, pacing the lot
in front of the main gate to the compound. The days were getting
shorter and the nights were getting colder. They needed fuel and
supplies. A soldier approached the General with his head bowed.

“The tank's been overrun by outsiders. We
lost it, sir.”

The General cursed. “Well, then we'll just
have to send out another one. Our people need supplies.” He looked
around at his soldiers, but no one volunteered.

“General Forero, with all due respect, I
suggest we wait.”

“And what, let the red army find us and
starve us out? Cut off our supplies? We need to be ahead of the
game.”

“They don't have our location,” said the
shortest soldier.

One of the soldiers cleared his throat and
everyone turned in his direction. “They've taken some of our men as
prisoners. They'll beat the location out of them. I think they'll
be coming tonight.”

It was the middle of the night when Maren
awoke to the sound of Tina tapping on the bedroom door. Maren
rubbed her eyes and sat up, mindful not to disturb Frisky. She
tiptoed to the door and cracked it open.

“Hey,” whispered Tina. “Something's up.”

Maren slipped out the door and into the
hallway. “What's wrong?” She gently closed the door behind her.

“If you look out the window in the front,
you'll see.” Tina grabbed Maren's hand and led her to a large bay
window. She pulled back the curtains and sure enough, the soldiers
were lined up in neat rows.

“A drill,” said Maren.

Then the tanks' engines roared to life and
rolled into position.

“I don't think so.”

Across the large cement slab that separated
the Victorian house from the front of the camp, the bedroom lights
in the soldiers' barracks had turned on. Maren shrank back from the
windows. Jeremy appeared behind her and looked out the window. A
man was running towards the entrance of the base and the soldiers
opened the gate.

The runner was shouting. A large blast shook
the foundation of the house, and Jeremy, Maren, and Tina fell over.
They scrambled to their feet and looked outside again. A swarm of
soldiers from outside the base was pushing against the barbed wire
fence. Those on the front line screamed as the barbs tore into
their flesh, but the mass behind them just kept pushing. Grenades
were launched over the fence, and again the ground shook.

“I'm getting my parents,” said Jeremy.
Jeremy was at his parents door in a flash, while the others ran
after him. Jeremy pounded on the door.

A second later, Wantoro flung it open.
“What's going on?”

“Jeremy?” Raaychila was already seated in
her wheelchair and wheeled forward. “Is there nowhere else to
go?”

“I want everyone in the next house behind
us.” Jeremy steadied himself on his mom's wheelchair as the house
shook. “We're probably surrounded on all sides so the center of the
compound is best, for now. Maren, get Mateo. Tina, get your mom and
Frisky. Bring anyone you want to save here now and I'll move us
back through the Haze. Quick!”

Maren and Tina ran off down the hallway and
returned with their families. A bullet shattered the window just
beside Jeremy and he reached around part of the group. He pulled
everyone he could touch through the Haze and back out a hundred
yards back, in the communal room of the low level military housing
complex. Jeremy returned to the Victorian house and retrieved the
second half of the group. A few stray residents had lingered into
the room, and Jeremy felt compelled to make a third trip. Once
everyone had assembled in the now crowded communal room of the
housing complex, they bunkered down. All of the furniture was piled
high around them. Jeremy slid down onto the floor, his back resting
against a toppled black sofa.

“What the hell is going on out there?” asked
Jeremy.

“Who are we shooting at?” Maren reached out
towards Frisky.

“Starving civilians, our friends.” said
Frisky. “I knew this day would come. We're hoarding all the
supplies. Things have to change.”

Jeremy swatted at his skin. It was crawling.
“I should do something, right?”

“Yes.” Maren leaned forward. He could feel
her breath on his neck. “Jeremy, you have to get the armies to
disperse. Show them your demons.”

Jeremy's heart pounded in his chest. He
could end this, right now. He could step up and be whoever it was
he was supposed to be. But the last time he'd seen his demons was
still heavy on his mind. Had his demons betrayed him? Had they
brought him to Hell?

The blasts outside were getting louder.
Smoke was beginning to pour into the building.

Jeremy stood up. He had to
do something. “Demons.” It was all happening so fast.
I am not the Antichrist.
He held his hands up and the air vibrated. Slowly, an inky
blackness collected and began to take shape. Red eyes glowed in the
cloud.

Jeremy heard screaming
below him as he rose up in the air and disappeared from that place.
He was in the sky now, leading his demons like the first bird in a
flock. Jeremy flickered in and out of the Haze like the frames of
an old-time movie. Smoke from the battle filled the air. For a
second the fire ceased and there was a commotion of voices. Then
the artillery turned on Jeremy and his demons. The night sky lit up
with streaks of orange. A bullet ripped through Jeremy's chest and
he fell from the sky like a falcon diving towards the Earth. But
the Haze pulled him in and he quickly healed, emerging once more to
hover in Earth's atmosphere. He crackled with electricity and
formed a blue globe around himself. It hummed with power as he
hovered closer to the ground, deflecting the bullets as he pressed
onwards, weaving in and out of the Haze towards the civilian army.
They were running from him
—
his plan was working. But then
people started to fall in the fleeing crowd.

“No!” He hadn't meant to cause a stampede,
but people were already being trampled. A demon floated beside him
like a trusted steed egging him on to battle. Jeremy looked at it
and saw that it felt nothing. “Tell me demon, have I saved lives
just now? Have I?!” Jeremy pulled through the Haze and drifted
upwards to take in a bird's eye view of the aftermath of his demon
debut. What was left of the outsider soldiers had dispersed, and
only General Forero's own army fired intermittently at the sky.

Jeremy willed his demons to stay in the
Haze, and he rushed downwards, towards the trampled bodies. He
lifted one up, then another, and pulled them through the Haze and
into the common room. “Somebody help these people!” Jeremy's father
ran forward.

Jeremy felt sick over the carnage, but he
and his family were safe.

Chapter 19

New Task

"Is everyone okay in here? Don't go
outside!" A head popped into the common room, nodded, and then
disappeared again. General Forero's soldiers were visiting all of
the living quarters to calm the anxious citizens, but everyone
would hear of Jeremy's demons soon. He only hoped no one recognized
him as the angel leading the horde. His own group—aside from the
few unknowns who he'd saved—knew to keep quiet. Jeremy turned to a
woman and a man he'd saved. They were wedged in between a chair and
a table, staring back at him with wide eyes.

"Listen," said Jeremy.
"What you saw
—
"

The two stumbled to their feet and ran to
the door, toppling a chair and causing a small avalanche of
furniture. Jeremy didn't even bother to pursue them. "Everyone will
deny whatever they say."

Everyone nodded quietly. Seeing Jeremy's
demons was not easy, even for those who knew he was their
master.

Daylight soon filtered into the common room.
General Forero appeared in the doorway. "Jeremy Chikalto, can I
have a word?"

"Daddy, please!" Tina leapt to her feet.
"Get your goons out of here." She shooed away the men who shadowed
him, and General Forero relented.

The men filed out and General Forero
approached the group. He nodded at Wantoro, who had stood to his
full height and crossed his arms. General Forero approached the
Cajjez.

"I guess you've put it all together now,
after your daughter's told you everything. How clever of you."

The General ignored Jeremy's taunt. "You
scared the invaders off, and I'm grateful for that. But..." he
trailed off.

"Yes?" Jeremy leaned in and smiled.

"What are you?" His voice was flat.

"Daddy, I told you!" Tina stepped in front
of Jeremy and crossed her arms. "He's an angel."

"No angel leads a flock of monsters like
that." The General was shaking. "Tina, come with me."

"She's with me," said Jeremy. "And you're
with me too, or you're against me. Tell everyone that there's some
simple explanation for what they saw. A drone, I don't know."

The General stared for a time,
considering.

“You want mass hysteria on your hands? If
you don't smooth this over, we're going to have a problem.” Jeremy
felt Maren's hand on his shoulder. “Let me help you. I'll get you
supplies."

“Jeremy, just be honest with everyone,” said
Maren.

Jeremy glared at her.

The General opened his mouth to reply and
Jeremy disappeared into the Haze and reappeared in the corner of
the common room ten feet behind the General. "I can disappear and
reappear wherever I want. Let me use my powers to get you
supplies," he said.

General Forero jumped. "Okay," he said when
he recovered. "Okay," he repeated weakly.

The group made their way back to the
Victorian house and joined in the clean-up effort. Ren and Frisky
accompanied the explosives unit and combed the area for undetonated
grenades and shells. Maren cleared the glass and debris from
shattered windows and damaged buildings. Tina volunteered to
bandage up the wounded. But help was limited, as most of the
residents cowered indoors, whispering to one another about the
demons in the sky.

It was mid-day after the attack when the
General came to Jeremy's quarters. He knocked on the door and
Jeremy opened it.

"We need more medical supplies, mainly
antibiotics and bandages. I've brought Sergeant Webbers here to
give you a list of locations. I'm sorry there's no time for a...
pause." General Forero pushed the door wide open and beside him
stood Sergeant Webbers, who grunted.

Jeremy cleared his throat in response. He
walked out into the hallway.

"You're going to want to try Dr. Tomerson's
place first in Stony Brook, Connecticut. You should be able to do a
night run. Dr. Tomerson's got three thousand under his command. But
you'll have to go through Queens." Sergeant Webber's eye's darted
to General Forero.

Jeremy wouldn't be going through Queens, but
Sergeant Webbers didn't know about that.

"You sure you don't want
him to at least take a helicopter? We've lost a lot of
our
—
"

"I told you that he's very highly trained,”
snapped General Forero. “Best in his class at a special operations
youth academy. Just tell him where the supplies are."

“Youth.” Jeremy snorted.

Sergeant Webbers looked at the young man he
thought he was sending to certain death. "Ten Asclepius Drive, the
large blue hospital, on the basement floor. There's a back entrance
that takes you to the Emergency Room. The place is heavily guarded.
How many are going with you?"

General Forero held his hand up. "I'm sorry,
Sergeant Webbers, but that's confidential information. Jeremy will
take it from here. Hand over all of your intelligence reports and
consider yourself excused from your duties. Jeremy will be getting
your office."

Jeremy walked towards the Intelligence
Office and met Tina halfway.

“Hey sexy,” she said,
stifling a laugh. “
Going to the
super-secret, psuedo-FBI Office? Or whatever. Just behind here,”
she pointed. The office was behind the military barracks in a
single story brick structure.

“Thanks,” said Jeremy, and he hastened his
pace.

Tina jogged after him. “Do you want to talk
about what happened?”

Jeremy slowed his pace. “About the demons,
or about my stripping?”

“You looked amazing, trust me. There are
some pictures circulating, very easy on the eye.” She smiled.

“Of course that's what you wanted to talk
about.”

“Maren is pissed. Anyway, I think Ren's
interested in Frisky.”

They continued towards the office, at last
reaching the front door. Jeremy dug his hands into his pockets and
rolled on his feet. “You think I did the right thing, unleashing
the demons?”

“Yes,” said Tina. “You're in control. You'll
use them for good.” She opened the door.

Inside, the place smelled of building
materials and a cold draft filtered in through the cracks around
the door. Jeremy frowned at the hastily built structure, minimal
furnishings and the general lack of tasteful artwork, but then
again, a few trips to some art galleries and the place would be
habitable.

"I can make this work." Jeremy gestured
around him and patted the wall. "I'll put a hanging fern right
here."

“Okay,” said Tina softly. “Be safe.”

Chapter 20

Invasion

Jeremy wasn't familiar with Connecticut, but
Sergeant Webber's maps proved useful. He pulled out of the Haze
near the Donegall Estate in Manhattan to try to orient himself
north. The gates around the property had been scrapped and the
house itself had been gutted. He barely recognized his former home.
Car parts littered the streets. All the store fronts had been
broken into. Jeremy gave a cursory glance around, and then squinted
at the map.