The Dark Corner (8 page)

Sally's demon snorted. “That's ridiculous!”

“It also happens to be accurate,” Adam's demon said.

Cindy smiled in relief. “Yeah, you don't want to get sick. Now that I think about it, I had type B. Yeah, I'm definitely a carrier of the virus. But that's
OK. There's plenty of food here. Just have one of these slabs of beef. Really, I don't mind cooking you something to go with it. I'm a great cook. My mother always works long hours and I have to do most of the cooking. I'm flexible, too, when it comes to requests. Anyway you want your food is fine with me. You can have it spicy or bland.” She added quietly, “Just don't eat me.”

The demons looked at one another. “She could be lying about the hepatitis,” Sally's demon said.

“If we did a blood test we'd know for sure,” Watch's demon said.

“We can't do a blood test,” Adam's demon snapped. “We're in a freezer, not a medical laboratory. Besides we're demons. We don't know how to do blood tests.” The demon suddenly stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Wait a second. We
are
in a freezer.”

Watch's demon put a hand out to steady himself. “And the door's locked. That's bad. The cold's bad.”

Sally's demon swayed and pointed a claw at Cindy. “She tricked us to come in here! It's her fault! Let's kill her!”

The three demons nodded in agreement and turned on her.

“No!” Cindy cried, backing into a wall. “If you eat me you'll get sick! Remember?”

“We can kill you without eating you,” Adam's demon said, now only three feet away. Ignoring her burning flare, he reached out with his gross scaly hand and grabbed her by the hair. Yet he seemed to be moving in slow motion, and Cindy realized the cold was finally getting to him and the others. If she could just delay one minute more, she'd probably be all right. Adam's demon added, “Do you have any final words?”

“Yes,” Cindy said quickly, stalling for time. “Just before you kill me I want to say that it's been a pleasure meeting demons like you. I understand you come from a poor neighborhood and that I can't judge you by my standards—when I have had every advantage in life. It would be completely unfair. Really, considering where you guys started, you've come pretty far. I just wanted to congratulate you.”

Watch's demon seemed impressed, although he continued to sway as he spoke, almost as if he could no longer feel his legs. “That is awfully gracious of you. You're one of the few humans we've met who understands how difficult it is to grow up a demon.”

“Yes, it's a hard life,” Adam's demon said, yawning
heavily. “But we try not to complain. Our motto is, If it hurts, it can always hurt more.”

Sally's demon staggered and bumped into a side of beef, setting the red meat swaying back and forth in the gruesome red light of the flare. “Enough compliments,” she said. “Open her throat and let her bleed to death. We have to find a way out of here.”

Adam's demon nodded and moved a claw up to her throat. He tried to grip her neck, but his fingers were having trouble working.

“I'm sorry I have to do this, but we are the bad guys,” he said. “We're supposed to do bad things. It's our nature.”

Cindy met his gaze and suddenly she didn't feel afraid, even though she had begun to shiver violently from the cold. “You can't hurt me,” she said simply.

“We're not going to hurt you,” Watch's demon said, now hanging on to the wall for support. “We're going to kill you. That's an important difference.”

“Yeah, when you're dead, you rot,” Sally's demon gasped, staggering about.

“I'm not dying,” Cindy said. “Not today at least.” And with that she reached up and gave
Adam's demon a sharp shove, and the monster toppled backward and fell.

He didn't get up. He couldn't.

Watch's and Sally's demons stared in amazement.

“Hey, guys,” Adam's demon called from the floor. “Give me a hand. This icy floor is sticking to my head.”

“Give yourself a hand,” Watch's demon snapped as he fell and landed on one knee. “I'm too cold to help you.”

“We have to get out of here,” Sally's demon moaned. But those were her last words because right then she collapsed and lay unconscious. Cindy could see the other two were slipping under the spell of the cold. Taking a large step over Adam's demon—who didn't even try to grab her—she stepped to the freezer door and pounded on it.

“Bryce!” she shouted. “You can open the door now!”

A few seconds later Bryce cracked the door a couple of inches and peered inside. Seeing her alive and well, he broke into a wide grin.

“Are they out cold?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder. Watch was now lying facedown, and the three of them had stopped
moving completely. “Yeah,” she said. “They're down for the count.”

Bryce opened the door all the way. “How did you stop them from eating you?”

“I have a bad liver.”

“What?”

Cindy smiled and patted him on the back. “It's a long story. Come on, we better get these monsters up to the cemetery and get the portal open for our friends.” She paused. “And they are
your
friends, too. It's still your plan that's going to save them.”

Bryce shook his head as he stared at the frozen demons. “You get all the credit, Cindy. What you just did was the bravest act I ever saw in my life. I'll have to tell Sally about it.”

“She'll never believe you,” Cindy said.

W
atch was not doing well. Incredibly, Blood-button seemed to have detailed knowledge of everything Watch had ever done wrong. Every time the demon brought up another incident, Watch barely bothered to defend himself. Another gold coin would be put on the opposite side of the scale.

Most of these “sins” were small. Watch had stolen a cookie from a cookie jar when he was five. Watch tracked mud on the carpet when he was eight. But the way Bloodbutton told about the incidents, one would have thought Watch had murdered children in their sleep.

Foulstew would prompt Watch to remember his noble deeds, but Foulstew seemed to have no record of this good stuff Watch had done. Or if he did he kept it to himself. Watch had to supply that information himself.

Finally they got up to the point in his life when Adam moved to Spooksville and met Watch. By then Watch was about twenty gold coins in the hole.

“Now isn't it true,” Bloodbutton said as he paced in front of Watch, “that you talked your friend, Adam—on the very day you met him—into accompanying you on a dangerous journey on the Secret Path?”

Watch shrugged. “I thought he wanted to go.”

“You
thought?”
Bloodbutton snapped. “You risked a young man's life just because you
thought
he wanted to go on such a foolish journey? Did you explain to him that there was an excellent chance he could die on this journey?”

“Bum told us all it was dangerous,” Watch said.

“Bum told him!” Bloodbutton exclaimed. “What about you? We're talking about you here. You're the one who risked your friend's life.”

Watch shook his head. “I don't remember.”

Bloodbutton grinned and gestured to the judge. “Another three gold coins against the accused!”

The judge pounded with his skull. “Scalekeeper, add three gold coins against Watch.”

Foulstew stepped forward. He glanced anxiously at the jury and then at Watch. “Did you do anything noble on this first journey through the Secret Path.”

Watch considered. “I can't remember.”

“Watch,” Adam called. “You saved my life by jumping on the back of the Black Knight in the cemetery.”

“Objection!” Bloodbutton shouted. “That noble deed must be struck from the books! The defendant did not remember it himself.”

The judge pounded his skull. “Sustained.”

Watch frowned. “I saved Sally's life as well by jumping on the Black Knight's back.”

“Did you risk your life to do so?” Foulstew asked.

“I guess,” Watch said. “The Black Knight almost killed me.”

“Objection!” Bloodbutton cried. “Same noble deed.”

Foulstew addressed the judge. “It isn't exactly the same deed, not technically. He was saving
another person. Also, he remembered by himself that he saved Sally. No one had to tell him.” He glanced at the angry jury and added quietly, “I think he should get some credit for it.”

The judge considered. Then he picked up his big black book and leafed through it. The judge muttered to himself as he slobbered on the pages.

“Let's see here, what is the boon when one human risks his life to save another human? We haven't had one of these in a long time. Ah, yes, here it is.” The judge's face fell. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” Bloodbutton asked, worried.

The judge looked miserable. “By the rules, the defendant must be granted a credit often gold coins for risking his life to save another human being.”

“Ten?” Bloodbutton protested. “That's absurd. A human's life is hardly worth a single gold coin.”

The judge glared at the prosecutor. “Are you questioning my interpretation of the law? This is what the book says.” He spoke to the Scalekeeper. “Remove ten coins from the balance.”

Adam whispered to Foulstew, who stood nearby. “Who wrote that book of rules?” he asked.

Foulstew shook his head. “It sure wasn't a demon.”

“If he gets so much credit for saving a life,” Sally said to Foulstew. “Tell him to list all the times he saved our lives.”

“I don't want to do that,” Foulstew said.

“Is it against the rules?” Adam asked.

“No,” Foulstew said. “I'm allowed to advise him. But if you guys all get away, the jury might eat me for dinner.”

“Come on,” Sally said. “This is a chance to win the case of your life. Even if they eat you, you'll be remembered as the greatest demon lawyer the Dark Corner ever saw. Think about that. They'll toast your exploits with blood in every demon bar in town.”

The idea seemed to appeal to Foulstew. He stepped forward, puffed on his cigar, and flicked the ash in the direction of the jury. Then he addressed Watch.

“Young man,” he said, “jumping on the Black Knight's back was a brave act. Have you ever performed any other such brave acts?”

“You mean, have I ever saved my friends before?” Watch asked.

“Careful what you say,” the judge said to Foulstew. But Foulstew didn't seem to hear him.

“Exactly,” Foulstew said, glancing at Bloodbutton
and smiling. “Tell us about every time you risked your life for your friends.' ”

“Objection!” Bloodbutton shouted.

“Shut up!” the judge shouted back, leaning his bulk forward as if to hear better. “It's too late for that. The defendant may speak.”

That was the end of that. Watch was able to list not less than a dozen times he saved his friends: with the aliens; the Cold People; the witch; the Howling Ghost; in the Haunted Cave. The list went on and on. The Scalekeeper was forced to keep removing the gold coins, and no matter how quickly Bloodbutton tried to add a few more small misdeeds, the scale kept tilting in Watch's favor. Soon he was sitting all the way down on his side and Bloodbutton had thrown up his arms in despair.

“Bring up the next defendant!” Bloodbutton said.

The judge simmered, mainly in Foulstew's direction. “You are free to go, Watch. But please remain in the court until your friends have been judged.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Watch said, climbing off the scale and flashing a rare smile.

“Adam Freeman will now sit on the scale!” the judge shouted, pounding his table with his skull.

Going through Adam's life while he still lived in
Kansas City, Bloodbutton was able to make a significant case against Adam. Of course Adam had never saved anyone's life in his old hometown because none of his friends had done things from which they needed to be saved. But once they got up to the time of Adam's moving to Spooksville, Adam was able to name ten times that he had saved his pals from death. He got so much credit so fast the judge was forced to let him go. Smiling, Adam returned to his friends. He spoke to Sally.

“Just mention all the times you rescued us,” Adam said. “We'll be out of here in no time.”

But Sally was nervous. “But I wasn't the hero as many times as you were.”

“Now she tells us,” Watch said.

“Sara Wilcox to the scale!” the judge ordered.

Sally started out all right, better than the others in fact. It seemed as a small kid she had seldom misbehaved. But when they passed her tenth birthday, Sally began to lose points dramatically. It seemed that bad-mouthing another person counted for one gold coin each, and Sally had done little else for the last two years.

“Isn't it true you insulted Cindy the day you met her?” Bloodbutton demanded.

Sally stood uneasily. “She deserved the insults.
She was trying to hit on Adam and she had just met him.”

“Two gold tokens against the defendant!” Blood-button shouted to the judge. “She not only committed the crime, she has no remorse about it!”

The judge pounded his skull. “Make it three tokens, Scalekeeper!”

Naturally, Sally gained ground when her heroic deeds were listed. Saving Cindy in the Haunted Cave from a goblin spear counted for a lot because Sally had almost taken the spear in the side. Yet as the trial began to wind down, Sally was still five tokens down and bobbing up toward the ceiling. Bloodbutton spoke about the incident with the Howling Ghost.

“So you stayed down below while your friends Adam and Cindy went up to fight with the Howling Ghost?” Bloodbutton asked.

“That's true,” Sally admitted. “But when Adam was thrown through the wall and over the railing of the lighthouse, I was there to save him. In fact, I risked my own life when I reached out to grab him. I could have been pulled over the edge and killed.”