Page 95 of Mack's Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town
“Likely. We really don’t know for sure, though, which was why we held off on reporting it. I’d like to get some kind of visual.”
Lachlan seemed game to go back in there just for a look-see, but he was also certifiable. I, on the other hand, felt like a call to my boss was likely prudent. Just to give her a heads-up that we might need a demon hunter.
“Circling back to the original question.” Seiji used his hands on the table to illustrate the area. “We need to mark the boundary no matter how this turns out. So mark it, and if this is something Lachlan, Davina, and I can defeat, we do. If we can’t, I will use the markers to form my own boundary. Lock the demon down so it can’t escape. It’ll buy time for the right professional to come back in.”
Booker paused in his writing to ask, “You said before how much you can do depends on how bad the disaster is. So, Seiji, how powerful are you right now?”
Seiji met his eyes and deadass said, “Been tempted to jump off the roof. Pretty sure I can fly like Superman right now.”
I chuckled. He had a dry sense of humor I could fully appreciate. I wasn’t the only one. A few others chuckled too.
Grimacing, he tacked on, “It’s why I’m pretty sure the thing down there is a demon. There’s just somuchchaotic energy, it’ll be stranger if it isn’t.”
Looking around the room, Booker asked, “Has anyone googled to see if there’s mythological creatures that might fit?”
Lachlan reminded him, “No scat or bones down there.”
“Fuck, right, so it can’t be any sort of living creature.”
“Aye.”
This kinda made sense but did beg the question—“What about the Slaugh? It didn’t eat like a living creature.”
“But it did need elements of a living creature,” Lachlan reminded me. “It needed to eat. Souls, grant you, but it did eat. It liked being near water. It had patterns, like being nocturnal. This thing, whatever it is, doesn’t do any of that.”
“Shit.” He made a sound argument and I couldn’t counter it. I just really, really didn’t want it to be a demon.
Brandon abruptly got up and headed for the back patio. “I’m making that call to Sylvia now. Lachlan, join me.”
Agreeable, he followed Brandon out.
Gwyn glanced from face to face and asked timidly, “Can no one in this group hunt demons?”
“No, ma petite chère,” I answered wearily. “No, demons are a different breed. Strong as Eli is, she can’t exorcise a demon.”
“Not if it’s fully developed,” Eli said. She did look a bit put out agreeing with me, as if this was a bone she wanted to pick with whoever handed out talents.
“Demon hunters actually have their own division in PAD,” Beau further explained. “They’re rare, and coveted, and about as run off their legs as poor Seiji.”
Seiji apparently thought this example funny but also grimaced in agreement. He was kept pretty busy. Except during winter, by his own choice.
I could see why these two were already planning to lock the area down if this wasn’t something we could handle. The odds of us being able to just call in a demon hunter were slim. Hell, we’d probably pushed all of our luck getting Seiji here. We mightnot have any luck left the rest of the year. Fuck me, I thought we’d finally deboarded from the demon train when we dealt with Joey. I didn’t want to reboard. Not one little bit.
Now, the question I had to ask myself was, did I want them to be able to kill this thing? I didn’t want precious friends going into those mines hunting something they couldn’t name. But I also didn’t want to leave a demon behind when there were so, so many innocents who lived near this area. People who wouldn’t stand a prayer if this thing got loose.
If there was an easy answer here, I didn’t see it.
26
We were going back to Miner’s Creek today to set the boundary line down. We’d all gotten up early in an effort to beat some of the heat, so it was barely six a.m., and I felt the early morning. I made sure to get coffee going first thing, and Mack helped me get breakfast ready, making his yummy biscuits and sausages. I cut up a ton of fruit for a fruit salad and made lots of scrambled eggs. People showed up one or two at a time, smelled hot breakfast, and quickly found plates and seats.
We were about halfway through the meal when there was a knock at the door. I rose to answer it, as I was more or less doneanyway. What I didn’t expect was to find our hostess, Melody, at the door. She was dressed to go, too, jeans and cowboy boots on.
“Morning,” she greeted me brightly. “I’ve come to help.”
“I’m sorry?” I had no idea what she was saying.
Mack appeared under my elbow. “Hi, Melody. Come on in. Need some coffee? We’re about ten minutes from being ready to leave.”
