Keeley Thomson (Book 3): Mistress of Souls (20 page)

Bente was pointing out to everyone else that she knew her, that they were friends. It was helpful considering how old the Demon was.

After that she met a half dozen other beings, none of them Demons, but all of them suggesting that they might have business that could be discussed, at a later time. It was interesting and she made a point of collecting what information she could, while handing them each a copy of goods for sale. It seemed a bit too commercial to her, but they all seemed very pleased to have it. Like it was a present in and of itself.

When she turned to find Darla, to collect her to leave as planned, she was still dancing. Others had joined in too now. Most of them literally naked, including her sister.

Finias waved at them and shrugged.

"As I said, the man will talk you out of your clothes if you aren't careful. Humans rarely escape at all. Be a dear and collect her for us? It should be interesting."

It was.

Dar'eg didn't want her sister to leave and tried to hide her dress down his pants, daring Keeley to go after it. He seemed like he might enjoy that just a little too much so she called his bluff and had Balthias do it. He wasn't rough with the tiny man, but apparently being frisked by a Lesser Demon could tickle, because the man squealed and chuckled the whole time. It put them slightly behind schedule, but not too much. Their party hadn't even started yet, not really beginning until seven.

Keeley laughed as she pulled Darla away, since it was clear she didn't really want to leave. It took an act of will and a lot more force than she thought it would, but with a bit of effort she dragged them both onto the Inroads, walking with Darla in her arms. The time device had been hard to push along, but it was a dozen times harder to do with a Demon apparently. By the time she had them in her room she felt like puking and that wasn't a normal state for her at all.

Darla had sobered though and looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't say anything, because Balthias came right behind them. He stared at the blonde's naked body though, which got her to wave her hands at the giant.

"Stop that. Go to the Haunted House and get set up. I think the plan is for low level fear? Try not to make anyone actually go into a full panic attack." Darla sounded back in control, but Balthias just stood waiting. He didn't take orders from her and she hadn't added please, had she?

Keeley smiled and nodded.

"That is the plan. Bal, actually... pull the fear back a few notches from that. Especially with the kids. Feel free to zap the teens though. Not enough to break anyone's mind, but have fun with it." She waved and the Lesser Demon left instantly.

It was nice to be in charge sometimes.

"Keeley... You just carried me on the inroads..."

"Is that some kind of Demon insult? If so I apologize, still you were being a pain. I shouldn't have had to do it. I get that Dar'eg seems like a fun guy, but you can't have made plans for lunch tomorrow instead?"

She nodded.

"He's good at helping me get lost in the moment. I miss that about him. We had a good run though, nearly forty years. He's all fun
all
the time though, and I love to build things. They clash too often, the two desires. What I meant though is that you must be starving, carrying me all that way. Probably half of all Greater Demons couldn't have managed it at all. I think I underestimated how strong you were when it came to magic. Don't let it go to your head though, you still need to build up physically. That way you're about as weak as any Demon I've ever heard of. I know you can fake it for a while, but burning magic for it takes time and more energy than you can always afford. Hopefully that part of things will kick in soon."

She started out of the room, but Keeley stopped her.

"Clothes? My mom's here and I don't really want to explain all this. Especially if you're going to be in her kitchen getting food."

"Right." She shimmied back into the dress she was carrying and padded barefoot into the other room. Keeley felt hungry, but it wasn't as bad as all that. In part due to all her recent practice she thought. There was no headache this time, just a sense of fatigue. She forced herself to rally and moved to the kitchen, snacking on whatever Darla gave her, not really paying attention to it. Food had gotten truly boring to her now. It was kind of sad.

Half an hour later, at about five-thirty, Darla went and got her costume, which was tucked away in Keeley's closet.

"There we go. Fancy schoolgirl clown." It wasn't a horrible outfit, having a short plaid skirt and frilly underwear, because they would be showing, and a white button up that had to be tied together at the bottom showing her abs, as well as a blue school blazer. The emblem on it looked about right for a school crest, but the motto said "paddle me" on it.

She also had white knee socks and buckled shoes.

In short she looked like a complete slut. When she mentioned it Darla just shrugged.

"We haven't even done the clown makeup yet. Don't judge. Besides, it's totally different than your normal character."

"I thought you said I'd get floppy shoes with it?"

"Quiet you, let me work..."

The face paint was actually pretty standard for a clown, exaggerated mouth, nose painted with a red triangle and a heart on her cheek. The eyes had circles around them in black, making them look huge. It was kind of funny with the outfit, Keeley had to admit. Then she got a big yellow bow for her hair.

"And done. What do you think?"

It was decent, she decided. A little naughtier than she'd wanted to go, but nothing she couldn't block out.

Darla didn't need help with her costume, but Sherry did, having decided to go as a nurse. Not even a sexy one in particular. More of a Florence Nightingale thing. The tiny white hat was a little tricky and had to be pinned into place though. When they finished getting ready, they met in the living room.

The only problem was that her sister, while dressed as a naughty witch, as promised, was heavily armed. Way more so than she'd been at the other party. It was a sign of something for sure. Given everything it probably wasn't Xenses either.

"So... Crud?"

Darla nodded.

"Indeed. I'm going after the Durgs that killed Rob. They aren't going to the party, according to my sources, so after I make an appearance I need to leave. It's a bit dangerous, but I should be able to handle it. If I don't make it back... Kill them for me. One by one is the best way." She let her eyes light though, as if it were exciting and not scary.

"I may have to kill Quince. I kind of assume I'll have to eventually. I don't know if that will be today or not, but once I kill his brothers he'll be honor bound to come for me. Unless you want a pet Durg? He is cute enough..." She looked wistful for a moment, but Keeley shook her head.

"I'll do it if you want, but honestly I'd rather not. I don't like him that much. Having him around forever would be a pain in the rump."

Nodding Darla sighed.

"True. On the good side you could always just order him to destroy himself when you got bored. If nothing else that would keep him busy for a few centuries. Plus, you know, good for lifting and toting things."

It was a point. One that she hadn't thought of before. It seemed mean to just order someone to kill themselves, but with a powerful enough being it might just be the easiest way to handle a situation.

"I'll think about it. The others die though, right?"

Sherry was standing by, trying not to act entirely shocked by the conversation and not really making it. She grabbed a large bowl and filled it with candy to set on the front porch. It would be gone after the first dishonest kid came by, but they hadn't seen any trick or treaters at all yet. It looked like a lot of people were going to the party.

More than had been expected it turned out.

The city had about a hundred and twenty thousand people. A quarter of them had actually decided to show up. That meant the VFW hall wasn't nearly big enough and the Haunted House in the lot next door had a line that was stretching around the block already. It was free, but they could hear people screaming from five blocks away. They had to walk most of the distance, Darla getting happier with each step.

"Coretechs rocks." At first it seemed a simple statement, but that turned out to be the name of a band that had set up outside. They were playing eighties cover tunes, but weren't horrible. Someone had started to assemble a bonfire, which meant a huge unplanned-for hazard. It wasn't a bad idea though, the night air was nippy already.

"I really need a cell phone." Keeley looked around but couldn't find anyplace that looked like they'd have something she could use.

Darla passed hers over without breaking stride. She dialed from memory, calling the fire house, which got her the woman she'd talked to before, Lt. Smart. The explanation took a bit, since there seemed to be more than one illegal fire building. They didn't want them stopped though, since that would just encourage people to build them in other, harder to reach places. It was better to control them in the open. Have a truck ready and maybe some paramedics. In a group this large someone would need them.

It was ridiculous that they'd come out on her say so, but they did and quickly, driving right into a prime location to see everything, lights and sirens blasting the whole time. It got people out of the way, but didn't get anyone to leave. It just seemed festive for some reason. Like they were just showing up in some awesome fireman costumes.

At least the women making cat calls seemed to be saying that.

There was a lonely looking church group in front of the Haunted House, trying to tell everyone about how Jesus loves them. It was stupid of course, since it made them look like killjoys. No one was paying much attention to them at all either. Keeley marched over and waved to get their attention.

"Who's in charge here?" She sounded bossy, but was planning on being that, so it worked. The man that came forward was dressed in regular but conservative clothing, even wearing a warm looking jacket. It was a dark brown. He'd cut himself shaving earlier, and still had paper stuck to his chin with a dot of red blood in the middle.

"I am. We have a right to assemble and..." She cut him off with another wave.

"Hit them coming out, over there by the exit, when they're scared. Offer to pray with them or hang out until they aren't as frightened. It will make you look good." She didn't add that it should have been obvious but the man looked ready to fight about it for a minute like she was saying he should give up the prime spot for something second class.

"Look, what you're doing isn't working and you can always switch back if I'm wrong. Try it." Then she walked off, Sherry following along, looking bemused. Darla was gone, but that was to be expected.

It wasn't loud, not in a concert, you had to scream to be heard kind of way, but she had to speak up for her mother to understand what she meant.

"I need to get with Clara and probably Bob Richards. We can't possibly have enough food for everyone. We planned for five thousand on the outside, figuring that we'd actually just get a few hundred. This is kind of exciting. We need more candy too..." It took about ten minutes to work her way into the main building, which had become the food and drinking area already. The Vets had a paid bar going and were selling beer for four dollars a plastic cup. That wasn't causing anyone to slow down much. Mixed drinks were ten dollars, according to the hand written sign on the bar. There were five men behind it, nearly shoulder to shoulder, working frantically not to lose any orders. It wasn't happening, but they were raking in the money, so at least there was that.

Behind the food table a mascot like raccoon was standing next to a cat in fishnet stockings and a Hsreth that was dressed like a caterer. Clara waved when she saw her, beaming.

"A wonderful turn out! I have the whole staff backing us up. The next truck of food will be around in about ten minutes. Which at this rate should be just about right. We just about bought out the local grocery. It's a marvelous thing..."

The stocky woman looked past her shoulder, a frown forming. It got Keeley to turn slowly, hoping it wasn't an emergency, but there was no such luck. There, standing in front of her mother, with Deborah Forbes and her crew trained right on them, was her father.

"I've come to turn myself in! I stole money from Coretechs and tried to flee the country. I did it. It was all my fault!"

He sounded drunk. No one seemed to pay any attention, so he said it all again, several times.

Loudly.

Keeley just nodded.

She should have known something like this would have happened.

Chapter eleven

Almost as if on cue Deborah saw her and started to work the cameras over, moving around the loud drunk man that was trying desperately to ruin not only his future, but her mother's as well. Even as sloppy as he was, wearing a Hawaiian shirt with stains on it and reeking of at least three kinds of booze, he managed a pretty detailed account of how he did it all. It would have worked, just moving around him, except that he noticed Keeley and pulled Sherry over to her with him, stumbling as he did.

"Why are you dressed like that? Out slutting around... not even gone a week. It's good I came back then. I'll give it all back and Coretechs will let it go. I didn't spend much. Have to get a new job, we can move. You don't have to be a clown prostitute." It was so slurred that most people probably couldn't understand him.

She was half tempted to just take her mom and leave and a small part of her wondered if violence was in order. Instead she sighed dramatically and spoke in a loud, clear voice. When in doubt, make things so ridiculous no one will ever believe it. Keeley needed to take this thing so over the top that even the drunken confession would be remembered as fake.