Evil is... (Once a Demon Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  After that the most common thing to do would be to fight it. Probing and attacking, to see if the possible threat really was one. At least if it was something strange enough that it was hard to comprehend.

  In this case, the bodies stopped falling from the hands of the flying beings totally, instead being brought closer to her, as she was surrounded on all sides, except below. She could feel the death energy surrounding the people in the grasp of the ones that were about to kill them.

  For a long while, nothing much happened. Everyone, including her ignored the fact that the Secret Service were firing small projectiles at them. No rockets came yet, though it was clear to her that if she couldn’t change what was happening soon enough, the man with the launcher on the roof of the place below her was probably going to try taking a shot or two. Hopefully not at her, though that wasn’t guaranteed.

  The entire time she floated there, using death itself to deflect gravity and to control the subtle influence of pressures around her, she was dying, of course. The giant cloud of darkness, a thing visible even to the weakest of eyes, was sucking the life and energy out of her constantly. Instead of just hanging there, until she died, Keeley moved, gently descending before she dropped to the ground below her.

  That part was interesting, since those other beings simply followed along. Silently. The only noise coming from the people that were held in the talon like grasp of the new creatures. Being daylight, they were all far more visible, inside their black shrouds. They looked interesting, she had to admit.

  It wasn’t until she settled on the Earth itself, the grass of the well-manicured lawn below her feet, her veil of blackness dropped, that the other creatures did the same thing. The seventy beings that were left gently set down, dropped their human cargo and waddled toward her, as she stood watching them. Several screams were let out, since the talons had pierced soft Human flesh in more than one spot.

  Once the energy that had been keeping the beings in the air was dissipated, they were easier to see. Each of them was naked, not having anything that seemed to be clothing on at all. Their faces showed small skulls, long necks and prominent beaks. In various places, mainly over the waist, upper back and shoulders on the top were covered with feathers.

  Really, while the whole look was a bit strange, the two armed, two legged beings reminded her a lot of vultures. They were even, mainly, bald on the top of their heads. Some of the smaller ones had feathers there, meaning they had variety in their species.

  Both hands and feet ended in rough talons, which indicated, at least to Keeley, that they weren’t a tool using race. Not as a special skill, at any rate. They might be able to hit things with clubs and would, no doubt, be great at ripping holes in things. Using a pencil or a computer the way Humans understood it would be right out, of course.

  They moved a bit, in a way that seemed to indicate being nervous. Not upset though. As if they were going into a business meeting with a prospective employer. The feeling of that actually rang from many of them. One being shuffled forward, their Human package, a woman that seemed to be in her fifties, laying on the ground still. Trying to play dead, as if that would save her from being taken back up into the air and dropped like so many others already had been.

  When the dull green creature got about ten feet from her, it stopped. For her part, since the Secret Service was probably going to start shooting again, rather shortly, she moved forward, only to hear a voice behind her. Will.

  “Be careful…” The words were tense and seemed a bit worried for her safety. Which was both annoying to her in the moment and nice to hear. When she glanced back, she noticed that Ravi and Ruffo were both standing next to Will, about ten feet behind her.

  Backing her up, as best they could. Getting ready to fight the seventy beings in front of them, if it came up. Tyler was further back, though off to the side, the darkness that powered him being held close to his body, for some reason. Given the response of the bird-like beings, that was all about not distracting them from what she was doing at the moment.

  Killing off her emotions with a bit of magic, Keeley moved in, slowly, touching the bird being on the arm with one finger. The skin was cool, though not air temperature. Meaning it was at least partially warm blooded. As soon as she made contact, she pulled the story of this particular being’s life from it, making a copy. Sorting the information into the cloud of such things around her, while also taking a copy internally.

  It was different enough that sitting back and taking ten minutes to study it was going to be needed, she decided. Maybe longer than that. By incorporating the being into her very self, internally, that could be sped up. There was agitated movement for a while, until she relived its entire life and learned what she needed to know about the new people.

  Then she smiled. A thing that they wouldn’t understand at all.

  Rather than try to speak, since they used vocalizations that would require her to rework her entire body to be heard by them, Keeley simply moved her mind into the correct shape to communicate with them. It was different than attempting to do that sort of thing with a Human. Honestly, it was more like talking to a Vampire that way, than anything else. There were some similarities between the people in front of her, the Settlings, and the undead.

  Enough for her to have some basis of understanding.

  ~Greetings! I am Keeley Thomson, one of the leaders of this world. We thank you for the gifts you have delivered. They are most welcome.~

  Pulling her legs and arms in, she squatted down, making herself seem small. The move was held for a bit. Interestingly, the people behind her started to do the same thing, which wasn’t truly wrong. She was required to, though no one would think it unwelcome for the two-legged flesh creatures to do it as well. It was slightly troubling for the creatures to see that happening, of course. To them, they were food and nothing more in their experience.

  The producers of energy for the true people of the land they were in.

  That concept was interesting, since they basically meant Vampires, not themselves. The Settlings fed off of what was essentially death, themselves. They didn’t even kill, in the main, choosing to passively exist in places where they could harvest what they needed from the world around them. They also ate flesh, in the form of carrion.

  It took a bit for the being in front of her, which thought of itself as Nester, to formulate a reply. Actually it had turned and chatted with it’s fellows for about three minutes, trying to figure out what they wanted to say in return. No one on her side moved, until she stood up, which signaled that the green beings needed to get their act together and come up with something quick.

  Even if she didn't really care how long it took. The bodies weren’t being dropped and there was very little reason for her to hurry through the evening at that point. She had an appointment, later in the day, but if they could hammer things out there, it might be possible to learn enough to fix things directly.

  After all, on inspection of the being in front of her, its thoughts and memories, she was able to get most of what was needed. Things that wouldn’t even be hard. Just a treaty, of sorts. One which she, the self-proclaimed leader of the world they were in, or at least one of them, had a right to dictate, totally. She could even kick them out of her reality, if she chose. If she did that, they would simply leave.

  It was tempting, after a fashion.

  When Nester moved back in, the being hunched in on itself, standing almost instantly.

  Then it tried, mainly failing, to send thoughts at her. She got that part. The creatures weren’t telepathic or anything. That meant it was her part to provide the power for it. The signal needed to be smoothed, as well, since the creature made the common rookie error of trying to both shout and repeat itself mentally in order to be heard. Instead of just thinking normally, which was the real trick to the whole thing.

  ~Great one! We are newcomers to your world and beg to be allowed some space in which to live. There are, at this time, only a few hundr
ed of us here. We come to seek new lands and feeding places. Is this a thing you will allow? We will depart, rather than make war, if you do not wish us here. It is clear we are beings of difference. ~

  Then the thing hunched again, only going halfway down.

  To Keeley, if to no one else, it was pretty clear that the Settlings didn’t really mean any harm. To that end, she nodded, and then spoke out loud.

  “These are peaceful settlers, who are trying to ask for permission to live here. In our world. One second… I’m communicating with them telepathically.” A thing that her people seemed to understand. The ones that had come in with her that day. Some of the others watching as well, from their body language.

  The guards there had moved in, with weapons ready. Wisely, they’d stopped firing. Mainly because Will had shouted at them that they were from Division Six and in charge there, neglecting to inform anyone that they were Coalition of Nations in particular. The men in their cheap suits with uniformed backup standing not to far off, had listened anyway.

  Probably thinking that it was an alien invasion and that these were the people tasked with handling it by their own people.

  There were little green men, or at least creatures there, after all. They were even from a different world, so that kind of counted. It wasn’t an invasion though, just pioneers seeking new lands.

  Focusing a bit, she cast a thought back at the beings.

  ~That is acceptable to us. You may live near the large places of dwelling used by the two-legged creatures. Only those with four legs that are already dead may be used for food. There are some rules to that as well. If you see a two-legged creature near such a thing, assume it is their food. Also, while the gifts are appreciated in the spirit meant, you accidently hurt and killed sentient beings. Those that look like myself. Please don’t drop people or move them without being asked, in the future. ~

  Those words had a very different reaction for the seventy Settlings. All of them, each and every one, hunched into themselves then. Cowering, as if expecting a blow. The general feeling was that they’d thought they were just collecting wild animals, for those beings that were like them. She caught enough of it to translate for them, explaining it to the others.

  Eventually, that had someone, a staffer, coming out to speak with the new people.

  The man that did it was about sixty, seemed freaked out of his mind inside and cool as a cucumber externally. It took about three hours to work out a basic treaty, which basically handled what kinds of animals the Settlings were allowed to eat. Road kill, dead things found in nature and a few other delectable treats being all they really requested.

  Then they apologized, in a way that even the government people understood as being more or less humble and abject. After that, without saying anything like a goodbye, they surrounded themselves in cloaks of dark energy, and rose into the air, floating first, then flying off at several hundred miles per hour.

  Leaving her people there alone with the Secret Service. Standing on the White House lawn. A thing which was ignored, even if they hadn’t been given permission to be there.

  Will Dern moved in then, with Tyler Gartner next to him. That had the rest of them moving in behind them, as the wild staffer approached. With smiles on their faces, since being assholes wouldn’t play well on the news and there were cameras outside the black wrought iron fence, still broadcasting everything, live.

  Things like that, magic and power being shown so openly by strange new creatures would, of course, be the number one story. At least until some group or another worked out that it would be the perfect time for an attention grabbing terror event. If it was done correctly, a few people could get massive attention for their political group or cause about then.

  On the good side the staffer walking up meant no one tried to tackle them or even scream about them being there, doing their jobs.

  “Will Dern, Coalition of Nations, Division Six. This is Tyler Gartner, head of the Coalition. We were called in to handle this by the President. At least that’s what I think the panicked sounding man on the phone said. Sorry if we stepped on any toes here. Our primary goal was to stop the misunderstanding, before too many more people were injured.”

  His voice wasn’t bellowing, even if it was clear he was speaking to the cameras, not the people from inside the building. Then, almost as if giving a speech, he covered what had happened, several times. Just so no one would make any mistakes.

  “There will be no more issues. Not here anyway. Clearly, if anyone has any problems like this, anywhere in the world, they should get in touch with Mr. Gartner. We need to be going now. I think the President wants his garden back.” There was a dry, nearly mean, smile on his lips.

  Making it seem like he was giving everyone there an order.

  Keeley took that as her cue to make a portal out of there, which would take them back to Sparks, into Deep Six, directly. Before she could do that, Troy Lopez, who had cleverly moved well back, heading around the edge of the building, came back around with a blank expression. Then he walked over and set up a bridge, about fifty feet from them. It hung in the air, showing the outside of the Sparks embassy complex. It was covered in black glass, and looked a lot more interesting and a good bit sharper than the White House.

  Even if she did say so herself. It was her design, so Keeley was willing to admit she might be a little less than perfectly impartial. It was newer as well, which helped.

  Just as they all started to vanish through the disk in the air, people came out of the light-colored building. Calling to them. Asking for them to stop. One of them was the President, which was special enough. She was the last one to go through, pretending not to hear the man, except for Troy, who followed her almost instantly. No one else jumped with them, so as soon as the disk was closed, they were safe from any more annoying conversations.

  Not that they weren’t going to have to send video files and explanations of the whole thing off in the morning. On the good side, they had those. She hadn’t had a camera out the whole time, but the boys had. All of them.

  Ruffo had mainly covered the injured people being taken away by the Secret Service, to get medical aid and be debriefed. Ravi had focused on the Settlings and if she’d gotten the camera angles right, Will had actually taken down what she was saying and doing the whole time. At least once she landed.

  Standing there, in a cluster, meant that Tyler could be easily heard, as soon as his phone rang.

  “Mr. President. So nice to hear from you. Sorry about the abrupt exit there… Half our team was called away suddenly, so we all went.” It was a bald-faced lie. One delivered so smoothly that almost anyone hearing it would probably assume it was real.

  Everyone else was just standing there, feeling either tired or worn out mentally, depending on how they handled things like that. She started to do that, then used a bit of magic to push herself into having energy again. That reminded her of a need for food. A lot of it, given her latest expenditure.

  Snapping her fingers, playfully, she nodded.

  “Right, food run. I was heading out to get some burritos for people when we were called away. Who wants what?” She glanced around, at her clutch of people. All of them were capable of eating food, after all.

  Which meant that she had things called out to her, which from the sound of it, meant she was going to Taco Bell. That got her to laugh, if just a little. She could go literally anywhere in the world to get food. Possibly to almost anywhere in the continuum of space and time… And these guys asked for fast food that she could get from down the street. It was adorable of them.

  She still opened a rift, forming a portal to the Taco Bell in Lincoln, Arizona, instead of the one about three miles away. There was no real reason for her to do anything like that at all, except that it was the one that Becky Hoader had worked at one summer, back when they were all in high school. Before the woman had gone off to California and became a television and movie star.

  Changing her name to Krista
Hall.

  Going without a car meant that she had to walk all the way inside the busy place. It was close enough to the dinner rush that there were bodies inside, already eating their cheap, low quality food. Not that she was going to knock mass calories for a fair price.

  Still, if she’d only had a budget of a few thousand calories to eat during the day, she wouldn’t have wasted it on things like that. As it was, when she’d wound her way around the roped area, getting to the counter she knew what she wanted. It was a lot of food, being about enough for ten starving people, even if it was only for five. Wrinkling her nose cutely at the guy behind the counter, she added about fifty percent more, mainly in taco twelve packs. The trick to not having Humans mess up a food order was to not make it too complicated for them.

  Special orders meant special problems. She just got things off the menu.

  The guy didn’t even blink at her order, just reading it back to her. No corrections were needed at all, though she focused on him, to make certain it had at least been rung up correctly.

  The teen boy smiled at her, locking eyes for a moment, until he was distracted by a group coming through the door. Then he stammered. A thing that was so distracted she smiled at the sudden change to his demeanor.

  “Um…” It took long enough that Keeley turned to glance at who was coming in.

  Which turned out to be Sam, Mara and right there with them, holding her old black handbag that Keeley had gotten for her years before, and car keys in her right hand, was Hally. Which made sense, as soon as Keeley saw them all.

  After all, her kind drew strange coincidences to them. Mainly because of the way they absorbed energy from reality. So, if she went to Lincoln, running into people she knew from there was bound to happen. Just like, if she stayed there long enough, something supernatural would appear as well. That could take a day or two, which wasn’t her plan for the evening.

  Neither was flying off the handle and attacking her ex in public. To that end, she used magic to control her emotions again, even as the sting of betrayal turned to anger inside of her. That was replaced with… Nothing. Not even calm. Just a cool blankness that wasn’t there at all.