Demon Inc (The Mike Rawlins Series Book 2) Read online

  * * *

  The parents, having made poignant greetings with their offspring, adjourned to the living room while the teens took over the back patio. Mike turned on the colored patio lights, and placed Demon’s beer bowl near the lounge chair he sat in. Jerry set the ice cooler down on the other side of Mike as the other teens took seats. Joanie waited until Denny sat down and then tried to sit on his lap, which nearly caused Denny to pitch backward onto the patio deck. Red-faced, Denny looked up at a smiling Mike, as the others had busted up laughing.

  “You’re embarrassing Denny, Sis.”

  “Fine!” Joanie pulled a chair closer to Denny’s.

  Denny clasped Joanie’s hand in his apologetically. “Sorry, a vision of Brad laid out in front of Arroyo like a dead man after abusing you in a conversation with Mike briefly flashed through my head.”

  Joanie smiled and patted his hand. “I so got you.”

  “She’s workin’ you, Denny,” Stan said. “Big Mike ain’t doin’ a Brad Sanderson on you. We’d all be dead without the Haunt-killer weapons you invented.”

  Janis pointed at Joanie. “You’re playin’ with fire, little sis. Mess with the weapons master, and we may suspend your mascot status.”

  Laura walked out of the house. Her light blue smock emphasized her growing baby bump. It highlighted her tied back red hair. She’d stayed in her shared room with Joanie until after the initial arrival and interactions. She raised her watered down wine up in a toast. “Hi. I’m really glad to see all of you in one piece. You guys were awesome.”

  “Where you been, girl?” Connie asked, getting up to give her a hug. “We’ve been kind of hard on you lately.”

  “I deserved it. You bunch nailing me takes my mind off this goofball self-indulgent crap I’ve been wallowing in. I’ll do better about sticking to business without the whining. After tonight, that Halloween Special on the Sci/Fi channel will be epic.”

  “Did your folks start being more tolerant since the Mahmouds attempted to kidnap you,” Gail asked. She was sitting close to Mike.

  “We had a falling out. I thought they were going to ask me to stay with them, since I’m going full time to college and I’m making good money at Demon Inc. They’re still mad that I didn’t get an abortion, and we had another fight over that.”

  “They need to let that go,” Stan spoke up. “Why keep dredging up a decision that’s already been made? I figured after almost losing you they’d be more amenable.”

  Laura sighed. “Yeah. Me too. What’s next after the near death experience today?”

  “We’re just now starting to kick that over tonight,” Mike replied. “Kevlar is a must from now on, so you can put that on your Demon Inc equipment list. Headgear that’s light, but would protect us can’t be considered an option anymore either. One swipe from a damn Haunt could blind or maim us.”

  “Arf!” Demon chirped in followed by his patented rolling beer burp.

  “Damn, D!” Janis made disgusted gestures while the others laughed. “One beer and you’re already three sheets into the wind. I say we cut him off, Dempsey.”

  Demon immediately leaped into attack mode near Janis, hackles raised and teeth bared. The low pitched growl he emitted next to the cringing Janis was usually reserved for Haunts.

  “I’m warning you, Deputy Dawg.” Janis retreated behind Jerry, but still made threatening gestures from behind his back. “You’re out of control. You need to find the nearest dog AA program.”

  “Grrumpf…” Demon trotted back to his bowl. He looked up at Mike expectantly.

  Mike pulled another beer out and filled his bowl without hesitation.

  “You are such an enabler, Dempsey!” Janis jumped back behind Jerry again when Demon feinted as if to attack again.

  Chapter Two

  Coming to Grips with Death

  “D gets three beers on life saving nights,” Mike said. “Let’s get back to business. We were set up tonight, and it sure wasn’t by anything human.”

  “I’ve already sketched an improvement, Mike,” Denny replied. “I’ll build wraparound packs with Kevlar shielding. It will double our holy water volume. The problem will be the added weight coupled with less mobility.”

  “Better to get sweaty than dead.” Jerry stood up, and passed out the second allowable beer to each of the older teens. “On a lighter note, anybody coming to the game tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be there. That was a great game last week,” Mike said. “Man, you guys almost beat San Jose State. You’ll tear Cal Poly out a new one.”

  “Oh snore… bored now,” Janis pantomimed falling asleep while sitting up.

  “Jan, Laura, and I will be there. I’m driving,” Connie promised. “Want to ride over and catch the game, Gail? I’m ordering the tickets tonight. It starts at one, so we’ll leave the house around noontime.”

  “Sure. I’ll come over to your house around 11:30. Who are you going with, Mike?”

  “I’m working for a few hours tomorrow morning. I’ll leave directly from there. If you and Denny want to go along, Sis, I’ll swing by the house and pick you two up.”

  “Denny’s working on the video editing tomorrow with Mr. Corbett. He said I could tag along and watch.”

  “Mr. Corbett thought we should check on any problems with the video as soon as possible,” Denny added. “Joanie said she’d like to see what we have to do.”

  “Cool,” Stan replied. “Back to Haunt business. I like the Kevlar and helmet idea. The blessed salt shots worked pretty well to set them up for the kill shot, but like at the aqueduct it only outlined them and slowed the suckers down. The salt’s a bust unless Denny can come up with something deadly to them mixed in with the salt.”

  “I’ll think of something,” Denny replied. He squeezed Joanie’s hand and then stood away from her, the determination on his face far beyond his years. “I want all of this. I will make anything we need to keep us safe. You all know though, if we keep fighting these things, we’re toast, right?”

  Stan stood up and walked over to put an arm around Denny’s shoulders. “We’ve been living on borrowed time since the aqueduct, Den. We thought you knew that. If not for Demon, that Haunt would have shredded us all a couple Halloweens ago.”

  Mike came over. “Sorry, Den, did you think we didn’t already know?”

  Joanie stared at her big brother, thinking it was another put on. When she glanced around at the others, her worst nightmare began creeping over her. Gooseflesh, chills, and a dawning recognition of truth elicited a small startled gasp of enlightenment. Denny heard it, and retreated to her side. He gripped her hand tightly.

  Denny shrugged. “I did know. I…I just-”

  “You just figured like the parentals, that this is all something that’ll pass,” Janis finished for him. She knelt down next to Demon with a hand lovingly on his head. “You may not believe us, but you’re the one who figured out Demon could communicate better than we ever thought he could. You’d believe him. We have about a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving all this crap, right D?”

  Demon straightened up into a standing position. He leaned his head into Janis’s chest for a moment before licking her cheek. The dog from a hell dimension calmly moved in front of Denny and put his paw up. Denny crouched and took Demon’s paw in both his. He looked up to the older teens gathered around. Connie moved over behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders comfortingly.

  “It’s all Mike’s fault anyway, Den. If he hadn’t gotten my car started for us back then, we’d never have made it to the aqueduct.” Connie laughed suddenly, a stark, haunting mimic of a laugh. “You know what? I kissed my folks goodbye tonight thinking I’d never see them again. Well… here I am! One day at a time.”

  Gail nodded her head and downed the rest of her beer. “When Mike pulled me away from that Haunt at Lake Del Valle, and I saw D chomp it, I figured life as I knew it was over. I…I only… hope my Dad doesn’t have to watch me get it, or me have to watch him die.”


  “Then why do it at all?” Joanie leaped to her feet, hands waving in a questioning manner. “This is all nuts if D can’t even say for sure if you have a chance.”

  Mike grinned at his friends. “Hey… who ya’ gonna’ call? No one will believe this dimensional threat, Sis. Even with everything the parents have seen, I think ours are the only ones who actually believe in the Haunts. Sure, we could have D reveal himself, but then they’d take him away. That ain’t happenin’ ever. We’re kidding around a little. It’s not like this is sure death. It’s just that we have to be honest with Denny. He’s the weapons master now. He can stay out of the part where we might get duped by a gang of these suckers like tonight. We don’t know how many of these things came through the rift. At least so far, they stick with places that already are haunted like the Hornet. You can bet they found some pliable spirits to take over there with all the suicides that happened on board. They were limited though by the number that let them.”

  “We’ve saved a few kids too,” Gail added. “Denny was along on the one where D had to chomp a serial killer. That guy wasn’t even a Haunt and the two of them almost died by shotgun blast. I personally think we’ve got a better chance against the Haunts. At least they don’t carry guns.”

  “But what if they’re gaining strength,” Laura asked. “If they can become corporeal enough to slice people apart, what’s to stop them from hurling loose objects at you dopes? Remember when that Haunt at the aqueduct made debris fly into the walls?”

  Laura’s comment caused an uneasy silence. Stan took out a flask and drank a gulp before handing it to Jerry while holding up one finger. “Only one, Jer. Mike can have more if he wants, but we have to play ball tomorrow.”

  Jerry nodded and took a gulp before passing it to Mike. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

  Mike took a long pull before offering it to the girls. Only Gail took a turn before returning it to Stan. She turned to Mike after chasing the liquor down with a sip of beer. “When’s your next MMA match?”

  “Next Saturday. It’s at seven down in San Jose.”

  “Hey! I’m not done talking about the death race,” Joanie cut in. “Those police guys you’re so chummy with know what’s going on. Officer Huang went with you to get Jimmy Manjetti back from that serial killer. Him and his partner… ah… Jason Travers both believe in the Demon. Couldn’t they help you convince people in authority of the Haunt danger?”

  “He nearly lost his job trying to, Sis. I tend to agree with Laura about the Haunts becoming more powerful. I wish we had more of a tipoff when someplace around here gets an infestation. We definitely need to be more careful if there’re already stories involving a large number of hauntings like on the Hornet. I guess we were lucky on Alcatraz.”

  “I’m betting we have to go back there,” Gail replied.

  “You’re not going,” Joanie told Denny. “I forbid it.”

  The fact Joanie decided Denny was the one to be saved rather than her brother caused a few minutes of merriment at Mike’s expense. Denny didn’t laugh.

  “You can’t order me not to go. They need me. What if something breaks down? Mr. Corbett needs me near him while he films. I handle the equipment, and making sure he doesn’t get sliced and diced.”

  “Tell him he can’t go, Mike!”

  “What’s with you, Sis? I can’t tell him he can’t go. He’s right on all counts. If he didn’t go, one of us would have to stay back with Gail’s Dad and haul equipment. You’d better chill out with the Mama Hen routine. Making sure he understands the risks is as far as I go.”

  Before Joanie could say anything else, Laura pulled her back by the hand. “Don’t go there, girl. They’ll be tagging a cute ringtone onto your calls, and making broomstick jokes like they do for me – only you don’t have the excuse of being almost six months pregnant.”

  Joanie took a deep breath, her quiet acceptance indicating she knew Laura was right.

  “Don’t think I’m forgetting about the ringtone, Denny,” Laura said while guiding Joanie to a seat near her.

  “Uh oh,” Denny mumbled, having forgotten Laura controlled all iPad networking.

  “Don’t you get all squishy there, Den,” Janis said. “Nobody messes with the weapons master. That goes double for you, Moby Preggo.”

  “Mo…Moby?” Laura’s sudden spring back to her feet, and vacant open mouthed grimace of shock commanded immediate silence. “You… you mean like Moby as in Moby Dick… and… and I’m the whale?”

  It was too much for her companions, and their laughter elicited stunned silence followed by a giggling escalation to full blown hilarity from Laura. “I…I guess you’re right… bitch! Did I ever tell you guys what happened during the girl-scout camp where Janis-”

  “No! No you did not even hint at outing me about-”

  “Excuse me! Did you just decorate me with the Moby monogram?”

  Connie was already laughing hysterically, having been there, she had also been sworn to silence by Janis during the hinted at occurrence. “Oh… oh my God… Laura… you-”

  “Oh man.” Jerry made back motioning gestures to the teens not part of the cover-up. “I don’t think we want to be around when this extortion hand grenade goes off! Run… run for it!”

  Gail, Joanie, and their male companions scrambled to move away from Janis and Laura, eyeball to eyeball in the middle of the patio chairs. Janis poked Laura’s stomach. “You do not want to go nuclear on me, girlfriend! I have stuff on you no one has even dreamed about!”

  Laura didn’t blink. She smiled. “I’m a Moby Preggo. Bring it, baby!”

  Janis stood toe to toe for twenty seconds with Laura before she realized Laura was going all in. “Don’t…don’t Laura. C’mon… I was just kidding around. I’m sorry, damn it! Don’t you do it. You hear me, girl!”

  “What’s in it for me? I’m already a Moby.”

  Janis stared into Laura’s eyes and found no mercy. She went straight to her knees, head bowed, and hands up in supplication. “Please! Please don’t do this!”

  Jerry exchanged glances with Stan. “You know of course no matter what they say or don’t say, I’m going to find out what the hell’s driving this threat.”

  Stan butted fists with Jerry. “Oh yeah!”

  Janis stayed on her knees, shifting hands and arms into praying form. “Anything… any thing, Laura. I was kidding around! I didn’t know calling you a Moby would… oh hell…” Janis began braying loudly, unable to help herself. She finally stopped waving ineffectually. “O…okay. What will this cost me?”

  “I don’t know, girlfriend. What’ll it take to get rid of my cool new nickname?”

  Janis immediately leaped to her feet and whipped around on the rest of the teens. “Anyone calls my girlfriend Laura a Moby, I’ll kick their asses into next week! You hear me peeps!”

  “I don’t pretend to know what the hell happened in that girl-scout camp, Jan, but I don’t like your chances of keeping it a secret,” Mike said, prompting more laughter. “That Moby nickname is mean and growing on me in leaps and bounds.”

  Laura gasped. “Mike!”

  “Just sayin’.”

  Jenny Rawlins came to the patio door. “Pizza’s here. Come and get it.”

  Mike grinned. “C’mon, Moby, let’s get you some pizza.”

  * * *

  “How the hell did we get in the Cal Poly section?” Janis asked in a whisper. Everyone around them was decked out in Cal Poly gear and banners.

  “It’s my fault,” Connie replied. “I misjudged the interest in this goofy game. It was a sell out and I managed to scarf five tickets on-line in time, but in the Cal Poly block. Sorry.”

  Gail giggled. “Wow, wait until Mike gets here and he’s sitting with the enemy. He’s going to have to throttle himself a little. You know how he gets.”

  Laura looked around them at all the very boisterous Cal Poly students uneasily. They hadn’t worn any Cal Davis gear, but this was the first game she’d been able t
o come to, and was unfamiliar with the rivalry which was fierce. “Does Mike really get into it?”

  Janis laughed. “He’s pathetic. He jumps around screamin’ like he’s in the play. When either Stan or Jerry make a good play, Mike nearly comes unglued. Hey, speak of the devil. Here he comes.”

  Mike threaded his way over to the four girls with a puzzled look on his face. He waved at his friends as he climbed the stairs to them. They had the five end seats with Laura sitting on the aisle row in case she had to make a quick pit stop. Mike’s seat was on the seat furthest in. Gail sat next to Laura, Connie next to her and Janis next to Mike.

  Mike grinned at his companions, seeing the looks of concern. “I see I’ll have to be a bit quieter today, huh?”

  “Small doubt about that, big mouth,” Janis said, giving him a shoulder shiver.

  “You’re still mad I take it? Why are you sitting next to me?”

  “To torture you, of course.”

  Mike sighed. “What’s the big deal? You left a gross present in a girl-scout camp counselor’s shoes. Big yawn. Hell, the way you girls were talkin’ it up I thought maybe you’d knifed someone or burned down a few tents.”

  Janis giggled as her friends tried to lean over far enough to hear the conversation. “Yeah, I guess I overreacted. Don’t embarrass us today, Rawlins.”

  “I’ll keep quiet. I’ve been to an Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers football game.”

  “Sorry, Mike,” Connie said. “I goofed up ordering so late.”

  “Forget it. Thanks for dropping the ticket off at the house. I think we can enjoy this game without me causing us any embarrassment. I can cheer internally.”

  “How are Denny and Joanie doing?” Laura asked.

  “After Joanie’s greeting of the weapons master last night, my Dad has moved all study and tutoring time to the kitchen table.”

  Gail clasped her hands together next to her chest with a dreamy look upwards. “That was hot! Young love… oh my.”

  “Denny’s a welcome addition to our team, girls. Remember, it was my sister who instigated my Dad’s reaction, not Denny. He’s toughed it out over at the gym. I figured he’d go with me to the MMA workouts two or three times and give it up. Instead, he’s got all the guys showing him moves and working as personal tutors in martial arts with him. He was all alone last night defending your Dad, Gail, and didn’t let a Haunt get close.”