by Terry Spear
“What?”
“I think it’s a distraction. While everyone’s concentrating on the colorful lights and projected images, making the viewer believe that the people are there, a crime is being committed.”
“Sure. I doubt anyone would look away from the strange lights while they were on. For several seconds afterward, while everyone waited for the lights to reappear, everyone’s attention would still be on the spot.”
A police truck drove up and parked and everyone greeted the driver. The policemen began to haul the equipment from the garage out to the truck. Although men were walking back and forth, gathering the stuff and depositing it in the vehicle, Samson easily slipped into the bed of the truck and located the device. Just as he headed for it, the device rose and started to float toward him. Samson smiled inwardly.
As Jared carried the device out of the truck, Samson cloaked it in heavy mist. Hopefully, no one could see the device floating in the air. Jared ducked around the front of the truck, obscuring the policemen’s view of what he was doing. Whenever Jared moved the device in a direction Samson hadn’t anticipated, the object was exposed, again looking as though it was floating in midair.
Still invisible, Jared headed across the street, continuing to use the truck as a way to block the policemen’s view of the device as the men continued to load equipment into the truck. Jared was going in the wrong direction though, if they were to take the device to the taxi where Hunter and Alana waited for them on the street behind the summoner’s house.
“Hey!” one of the policemen shouted. “Where’s that device I put in here?”
“What?”
“It’s gone! It was right there. Now it’s not there.”
“Search the area! Spread out! Whoever took it can’t have gotten far.”
No, Samson thought morosely. Definitely not far enough.
Chapter 9
The policemen began to gather, then quickly moved out, canvassing the area.
The device began to move much more quickly, and Samson assumed Jared was running. In the wrong direction! Samson was just trying to keep up as his misty form floated after Jared.
Then a gate to a backyard swung open and shut. Trees and shrubs filled the backyard, but the most outstanding feature was a green treehouse built onto one of the larger trees. That’s exactly where Jared headed. What the devil?
Jared was up the steps and into the low-ceiling room in a jiff. Furnished with a plastic covered pink kid-sized sofa, a treasure chest, a pint-sized wooden table and three chairs, one with a wobbly leg, the house was perfect for children, but Samson imagined Jared was crouched over as he moved the object into the house.
Then he slid the device under the couch. Jared reappeared in his visible form, yanked his cell phone out of his pocket, and punched in a number. “We’ve got the device, Hunter. We’re at 1306 Olive but the police are scouring the area for us.”
“All right, I’m consulting Mapquest. Hold on.” Hunter came back on and said, “A river is two miles northeast of your location. Dump it in the river.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yeah, we don’t want the police or anyone else to get hold of it. Then we’ll come for you, using the demon tracker.”
“All right,” Jared said. “One of them has followed us. Talk later.”
Jared repocketed his phone and disappeared.
Samson saw the beam from a flashlight headed in the direction of the treehouse. Samson slipped under the sofa and cloaked the device, hoping the police officer wouldn’t poke around under the couch and feel the device even if he couldn’t see it.
Footsteps headed up the wooden ladder, the steps creaking as the policeman climbed higher.
The man peered into the treehouse, flashing his light all around the small house. He stared at the sofa, then climbed the rest of the way into the treehouse, the wooden floor creaking with his weight.
“Hey, Joe, this isn’t the time to play in a treehouse,” a fellow officer joked from down below.
Ignoring his ribbing, Joe crouched to reach the sofa, then looked underneath, sweeping his flashlight to explore the area. The light in Samson’s vision blinded him, and he looked at the floor, maintaining his cloaking ability over the device.
“Nothing here,” Joe said, and hurried back down the steps.
The two police officers continued their search and after they moved out of the yard, the device floated out from under the couch, then down the steps as Samson tried to keep up with Jared’s running pace.
Once Jared slipped out of the backyard, he sprinted down one street and then another until he was headed in the direction of the river.
Samson figured Hunter would follow them to the river using the demon tracker device and pick them up. So, for a minute, when he saw the device being thrown out over the river, he just stared, unable to move to cloak it or believe what he was seeing. The device hit the water with a splash and sank into the dark water.
He knew Hunter would arrive soon, and sure enough, minutes later, a taxi pulled up at their location. The back door opened as if it had an automatic door opener, and Samson sifted into the back seat. The door shut the same way.
“Mission accomplished,” Jared said, appearing in the seat.
“Was that the only device you could find in the house?” Hunter asked.
Samson took his human form and said, “That was it. The other must have been at the zoo.”
“But no one found it, or I’m sure we’d have heard something about it on the news,” Alana said.
“So, we still have to locate it.” Jared glanced at Samson. “I never thought I’d say this, but we made a pretty good team. I thought for sure the policeman would have found the device under the kid’s sofa.”
“If he had reached under there, he would have felt it. Maybe he was afraid of sticking his hand in something else.”
“What was that?” Hunter asked.
“A gob of spider webs and a nest of spiders.”
“Eww,” Alana said. “I don’t blame him for leaving well enough alone.”
“So where to now?” Jared asked.
“The zoo,” Hunter said. “The two of you can search the zoo this time. You know more what you’re looking for and you can move about undetected.”
“The animals will sense us,” Samson said. “But yeah. It sounds like it might work.”
“Jared?” Hunter said.
“Let’s go.”
Alana gave the order to the taxi driver, who did as she told him. When they were within a mile of the zoo, she told him to park.
“Couldn’t you have gotten a little closer?” Jared asked, but before anyone could say anything, he was out of the taxi.
Samson joined him and both took on their clandestine forms, then headed in the direction of the zoo entrance.
“I bet you never expected to be doing stuff like this,” Jared said.
Samson reappeared in his human form to talk with his invisible companion. “No. I envisioned staying with Alana always and protecting her from both summoners who thought they had summoned her and from demons that might wish to do her harm. I never expected to be chasing down portal generating devices.”
“I have to admit I’d never figured on anyone designing a portal device that not only could be operated from a distance from the lights, but also that could produce several portals at the same time.”
“Could you create something like that?” Samson asked, in awe of the genius of such a device.
“I’d never considered building such a thing, but I probably could, given the time and equipment.”
“Do you think he had only the two?"
“I hope so. Most likely that’s the case. The old version only created one portal. The updated version created several. But you know,” Jared said, thoughtfully, “because the other device was close to where the portal showed up, it might not have been far from where the portals appeared at the zoo.”
“Old device, remember,” Samson said. “Thi
s one is much more powerful.”
“He might not have even been in the zoo,” Jared said. “Then again, Celeste found the fence was cut. The Matusa wouldn’t have done that.”
“Celeste,” Samson said. “We shouldn’t have left her alone at the hotel.”
“Don’t tell me you’re beginning to get premonitions.”
Samson said, “No, but I didn’t think this would take all that long. I just worried that if the Matusa returned to the hotel looking for Alana, he’d find Celeste.” Then in more of a hushed tone, Samson said, “We’re nearing the zoo.”
He shifted into mist and soon he was sifting in through the gates of the zoo as he heard them rattle and figured Jared had just climbed over them.
***
Celeste was watching the news when she heard the metal twisting in the hotel lock. She knew it wasn’t the key to the hotel room, which meant only one thing. Someone was trying to break in. She feared it wasn’t just a thief, but the Matusa named Thorst who was after Alana.
Celeste quickly hid her demon aura, hoping that would confuse the demon, grabbed the hotel phone, and called 911.
If the Matusa thought she was just a human, he might not mess with her, say his apologies, and leave. But if he had watched any of the news, he might recognize her as the one who had been identified as the girl connected with Alana.
The 911 operator came on the line and Celeste said in a rushed low voice, “A man’s breaking into my hotel room.” She gave the location and though the woman told her to stay on the phone, Celeste quickly hung it up, not wanting the demon, if it was a demon, to know the police were on their way.
The door flung open, hit the wall, and before her stood the Matusa. The demon’s nearly black eyes stared at her as she stared back at him. Long dark hair curled about his shoulders, and he was taller than she had imagined. Taller than Hunter even, and Hunter was six foot. His face was rugged and hard, but beautiful in an evil way.
The way his eyes grew larger and the way he studied her, she was certain Thorst was surprised to see her in the hotel room instead of Alana. But maybe, too, he was trying to figure out why she would be here. Maybe thinking that Alana had already checked out of the hotel and Celeste was someone new who had just checked in.
He stepped into the room, shut the door with a clunk, and gave her a demonically wicked smile.
She was in trouble. Why couldn’t she have some powerful abilities to destroy, rather than future visions that should have warned her of this and allowed her to hide somewhere else for a time until he moved on? But no, she had to learn he was here right as he was picking the lock to the room.
“You are the friend of the one named Alana Fainot, are you not? Though I thought you might be more demonic like her.”
That shot down the notion he thought Alana had vacated the room, turned in her key, and was off to parts unknown, and that she didn’t know Celeste from Adam.
“Me… demonic? I’m as sweet as they come,” she said, still hopeful he thought she was a human friend of Alana’s and didn’t have any demon abilities—which she didn’t if only combat type abilities counted. “We’re in classes together at the high school.” She spoke most congenially as if she believed he couldn’t be a threat to her. “She must have told you we were staying here because of some trouble she’s gotten into.”
“Ah, still I’m surprised you’re not more like her. Then again, maybe not. Finding friends in this world who are more like her would be difficult.”
“I’ve only just moved to the area and met her,” Celeste said, hoping the police would arrive before the demon took her somewhere else and forced Hunter and the others to come for her. Then again, maybe the Matusa would just wait for them here. Which gave her a sinking feeling. She didn’t have any way to secretly warn them of his arrival.
Car doors slammed outside, and Celeste feared she’d made an awful mistake. Chill bumps erupted on her skin. What if the Matusa killed the policemen? She hadn’t even considered that possibility. She had been thinking—break-in, call police, and they’d intervene. Then she realized if the police came, they’d take her in for questioning. If the Matusa didn’t kill them all first.
The Matusa parted the window curtain and peered out, then snorted. “My dear, you have been busy. So you didn’t think I was a friend of Alana’s after all. Did she tell you about me? Celeste, is it? Perhaps you do possess some demon abilities after all.” He glanced back at her. He didn’t appear angry, more wickedly amused. Then he glanced around the room as if looking for another way out, but seeing no other way to leave, he moved to the door and opened it, smiling at the police as two approached the door.
Two cars had arrived, but two of the men stayed near their cruiser to serve as backup. The Matusa raised his hands and showed he had no weapons, but Celeste knew he was about to do something deadly.
She hurried past him and slipped between him and the police to protect them. “It’s okay. Thorst is my friend. I thought someone was breaking into the room. But I was mistaken. He’s fine. Everything’s okay.”
One of the policemen was communicating to someone else on a phone. “We’ve got Celeste Sweetwater at the Sunflower Hotel. She’s the one who called in the 911. The man with her she called Thorst. He doesn’t look like either of the two men she and Alana Fainot had been seen with.”
The police officer closest to the Matusa said, “Keep your hands where I can see them. But carefully, bring out some ID. Both of you.”
Her purse was in the hotel room, but she wasn’t about to willingly confirm who she was. She doubted the Matusa had any human kind of ID. This wasn’t going to work. The Matusa wouldn’t allow himself to be taken into custody.
“Is that your police car?” Thorst asked. His words were said agreeably, but she heard the dark intent behind them.
The men didn’t say anything, but then the one said again in a commanding tone, “Let’s see some ID.”
The demon’s eyes shifted again to the car, his hands still raised and then as if the ball of fire had suddenly sprung from his fingertips, he directed the compact web of flames at the car. The fireball hurdled toward the vehicle. Before it hit, he grabbed Celeste’s arm, and she let out a startled shriek. He dragged her back into the room as the policemen dove for cover.
The fireball slammed into the car, hitting the gas tank, and the vehicle exploded. Heat and metal flew everywhere, the fender and part of the roof of the car shattering the hotel window.
Glass shards flew into the room, slicing through her arm, the second explosion knocking her off her feet and onto the floor as a thunderous boom reverberated, shaking the whole hotel.
But what had become of the Matusa? And what did he plan next?
***
Policemen and women were conversing and searching as they looked for the device that had transmitted Alana’s image at the zoo while Jared tried to systematically move from one exhibit to another, attempting to locate the portal device.
Because Samson couldn’t see Jared in his invisible form and Jared hadn’t seen any mist for sometime, he realized he’d lost him. Occasionally, he thought he saw a mist somewhere off in the distance, but then he wasn’t sure.
All of a sudden, policemen and women were on their cell phones, looking stunned, and then they headed for the zoo exit.
Something had to have happened. Something drastic enough that everyone was pulled off this job. Which had to be pretty high priority. So what had happened?
Police officers were running and clearing the place, and Jared got the sickening feeling the police had located Hunter and Alana who had to still be sitting in the taxi.
“Hell, what’s going on?” one policeman said to another as they headed for the exit.
“I don’t believe in extraterrestrials, but I’m beginning to rethink my position on the subject.”
Had to be Alana and Hunter. What was Jared supposed to do now? Part of him wanted to return to the taxi and come to their aid in any way that he could. Part of
him reminded himself that this was his job and he had to look for the portal device, then destroy it if he could. But that didn’t keep him from second guessing if he was doing the right or wrong thing.
He finally reached the reptile house, but found no evidence of a portal device anywhere around the building. Yet the summoner had been murdered here. He had to have had either the device with him or had a remote controller. The first one to have come in contact with him was the Matusa. Did Thorst have the remote controller?
Who had the brother been who had picked up Al Cesierone’s personal effects? Probably whoever it had been, he was somewhat knowledgeable of Al’s electronic devices. But they had no clue who he could have been.
Then Jared had it. If he could access the morgue’s security camera tape, they could at least learn what the man had looked like.
A portal appeared a hundred or so feet from him, and he stared at it in disbelief. If he could find the operator of the remote control, maybe whoever it was knew where the device was also.
To his further shock, Alana appeared near the portal in her astral body. Which meant if she and Hunter were in trouble with the police, had been picked up by them even, she was now in her zombie form.
Jared wanted her to know he was here. Wanted to ask her what was happening but he didn’t want anyone to see him if the man now serving as summoner was watching the portal, hidden from Jared’s view.
But Jared had to speak with her, so he ran toward her and appeared before her. “Alana.”
“Oh, Jared, what’s happening?” She looked frantically around at the zoo.
He grabbed her hand, surprised that she felt solid and real. “The police tore out of here like some major catastrophe had occurred. I was worried about you and Hunter.”
“No. It has nothing to do with us. Check your phone for the news.”
Jared checked the news and swore under his breath. “Explosion in the parking lot of our hotel. No other details as of yet.”
“Celeste.” Then Alana frowned. “Why is the portal here?”
“Unless Samson found the device and turned it on, I suspect ‘the brother’ is here operating the device. And he may have seen us.”
