Paranormal After Dark

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “You give it to me or you’ll never see your fur ball or his mongrel sister again.” She glared at us with her yellow beady eyes and pointed at Keith with one long talon.

  “Take me to them” I said.

  “Selena, no!” I shrugged away from Keith.

  “The only way you’re getting my crystal is after Kelly and Sterling are released, Roberta. After they are safe, sound and here with Keith I will give it to you.”

  “Selena!”

  “Keith, shut up.”

  “Yes, Keith shut up.” Roberta’s sly grin turned her face into a mask of pure evil. “So, let me get this straight. Miss Bitchy-Witch is demanding to go to Hell and make a deal with the devil, huh? Offering yourself in trade for a few mutts and an ancient pussycat? Very noble and honorable, Selena. Stupid, but just what I’d expect from a coward like you. Why fight, when you can surrender, right? Myself, I find your willingness to sacrifice your own life for those creatures rather disgusting and I don’t know what Father sees in you.”

  I bit my tongue until it bled, knowing whatever I said would only escalate and fuel another argument with the demented whore. “Take me to them now, Roberta.”

  “I could take your crystal right now and go back and kill them, Selena. I don’t need your deal.”

  “Really? Try it.”

  She wrapped her hands around my neck and I stared right into her eyes. Her face changed from a puffy, red to green and scaly, still I showed no fear. No matter how she tried, she could not and did not scare me. Disgust me? Yes. Scare me? Never. I was past being frightened by her insane theatrics. And as soon as I got the chance, I would tear that female version of Chucky limb from limb.

  Roberta yanked on the crystal, but it wouldn’t budge. The chain held and she pulled her hand back, howling in pain. “You bitch! What did you do?”

  “Nothing. I don’t have any powers remember? I told you, you couldn’t take it. Take me to Samell and free my family. Then, I will hand it over.”

  Her plan to steal the crystal for herself thwarted, she relented, knowing she had no other choice but to accept my offer. “Fine, let’s go.”

  “Wait! Take us both!”

  “Aw, such a good dog. How sweet. Are all of you this sickening? Take me! Take us both!” she mocked. “No! You stay boy, you can wait for the rest of the nasty vermin whom you call family to return.” Roberta patted him on the head as Keith snarled at her. She wiggled her fingers at him, yanking them back just before Keith snatched ahold of her wrist.

  “If you touch one hair on any of their heads, if you hurt Sterling one more time, I will personally make it my mission to annihilate every last one of your kind. And when this is over, rest assured I will be coming for you and Richardson. We have unfinished business.” Keith’s changed to a silver rimmed shade of amber and his pupils shrank to slits as he growled, squeezing Roberta’s arm hard enough to draw blood.

  “Keith, please. We’ll be fine, I promise.” I pulled his hand from Roberta’s bloody arm and kissed him. “I love you. I always have. But you can’t help me. I have to do this alone.”

  “Now, witch! I need to get this fixed before I bleed to death.”

  “You’ve been warned, demon.” Keith never took his eyes off of Roberta, but they’d shifted back to normal.

  “Yeah, yeah Roberta. We wouldn’t want you to ‘bleed to death’. Bye, Keith.”

  “Kitten, be careful! I love you.”

  I followed the nasty troll out the door and had no idea if I’d ever be back again. “Time to meet Daddy” she hissed and then she threw me into a black mist that led straight to Hell.

  Chapter 27

  I LANDED WITH such force, that I broke the rock floor. “Thanks for the ride, demon-bitch.”

  “No prob, Sis. Now get up like a big girl. I’m not finished with you yet.”

  She reached for me and I kicked her. She flew ten feet away and slumped to the floor momentarily. Shit! ‘Where did that come from?’ I had no powers. How did I do that? Roberta looked terrified. She dusted herself off and stood a few feet away from me, just out of kicking distance I surmised and it made me giggle to see her freaked out.

  “Take me to them now.”

  We walked through a maze of hallways that looked a lot like the hallways in the council of elder’s castle in Summerland. Only here, I expected to hear the sounds of souls screaming in agony and the smell of burning flesh. But there were none. Instead, I could hear laughter, birds singing and a strange musical melody from somewhere above us.

  “I thought you were taking me to Hell? What kind of shit are you up to?”

  “This is Hell, you idiot. The Trillmor realm to be precise. It’s disgusting and depressing as always.”

  Everywhere I looked, there was beauty. Persian carpets, lamps that would rival those in the grandest of palaces, and hot spring pools in every other room that were surrounded by gorgeous flowers I had never seen before.

  “Yeah, you’ve got it rough.”

  “Shut up and walk, witch.”

  We climbed staircase after staircase. All were covered in bright colored carpets. Each landing had a painting on the wall and all of them looked expensive. I swore some of them were the ones considered missing ever since World War II, stolen by an infamous German leader. In fact, as we walked by one the rooms, my suspicions were proven right. There, inside a room with a bevy of gorgeous, raven haired women, was the man himself. The almost bald man with the worst mustache in history was waiting on the gorgeous women hand and foot. Though disgusting, the irony was not lost on me. The slave driver had become the slave. Poetic justice at its finest. I shivered as Roberta and I moved on.

  “Yuck.”

  When we reached the final floor in this part of the castle, Roberta threw open a door and yanked me inside.

  “Wait here.”

  “Where are they? So help me, Roberta, if you hurt them again, I will…”

  She said nothing, laughed and walked out. The door slammed shut behind her so hard I could feel the floor shake beneath my feet.

  My surroundings could only be described as wall-to-wall decadence. Plush white carpet lay under chocolate colored furniture. There were vases of white roses on every available flat topped table and not one speck of dust anywhere.

  “Hell has awesome housekeepers” I mused.

  My perusal of the room was interrupted when the door opened and a rather dignified looking man spoke to me. “Selena, you’ve finally come home.” He walked towards me with his arms wide and I jumped back.

  “Get away from me weirdo!”

  “Is that any way to speak to your father? You really should show some respect.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot lately, but you’re not my father. My father was killed by your demon spawn and her bitch boy. They blew up my parents’ house at your command.”

  “Yes, well sometimes these things happen. But there’s no reason we can’t get to know each other. Let’s not argue about semantics and frivolous details. We should be learning about each other, not fighting.”

  “What?” Was this guy on drugs? It would be a cold day in Hell, before I allowed myself to ‘get to know’ that silver tongued piece of shit.

  He stood before me wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Samell looked like any other normal fifty year old man back in Salem Ridge. Well built, dark hair and even darker eyes, I could see why my mother had fallen for him. But I knew this was only one of his many forms and I wasn’t about to be fooled by his Greek looks and ‘come to daddy’ attitude.

  “Walk with me?”

  “Where? Why should I? I’m not going anywhere with you until you agree to take me to Sterling and Kelly.”

  “You really don’t have a choice, do you? You’re in a strange land, a strange home. I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

  As if! But I conceded and we walked back down the many flights of stairs.

  “Why did that crazy bitch make me walk all the way up there if we were simply going to turn around, wal
k back down and head outside?”

  “Roberta is such a devious, little brat.” He laughed. “She loves to play with her food.”

  “Food?”

  “Sorry, wrong word. Forgive me. I meant to say she has a bit of a rambunctious side and loves to play practical jokes on others. Luckily you weren’t harmed from this one. Many creatures haven’t been so lucky. That girl is a handful!”

  Jokes? Rambunctious handful? This guy had to be the most whacked-the-frock-out person I’d ever met. Wow he had issues!

  “I’m sure” I mumbled. “Now what do you want? The only reason I agreed to come here was so I could get my friends and go back home. You know that, Samell. Cut the bullshit and take me to them.”

  “In time, Princess.”

  “I’m not your Princess.”

  “We’ll see. I must say, I do love your spirit, Selena. Very much like my own and it pleases me to see what a feisty young lady you’ve grown to be.”

  “I’m nothing like you and your words of fatherly love are meaningless. Get this straight, I am not afraid of you, I care nothing about you and I will never be what you want me to be.” I said as we crossed a lush spacious lawn. My harsh words seemed so out of place in that beautiful realm, but the scenery did not change who I was with. I needed to remember that if I had any hopes of getting my friends and me out of there alive.

  His dark eyes twinkled as he smiled at me. “So you know what I am, who I am and yet here you are showing not one ounce of fear.”

  “I’m not here for you. I want my familiar and my friend, Kelly. That’s all.”

  “What if I don’t want to give them to you? You could always stay here with me and rule this legion as you were meant to. The three of us could be very happy together. Look around, it’s paradise.”

  We stood on a white sand beach littered with seashells and a surreal horizon was our back drop. The pink, purple, blue and gold sky flecked with an almost too perfect amount of clouds seemed close enough to touch. There were gray and pink dolphins that jumped through the air and flipped before they dove back below the clear blue surface of the water. Not far from shore, I saw a sailboat heading west. It was such an odd feeling as I stood there. There was no way to not enjoy the view, yet I was next to one of the most feared demons in history and his presence tainted everything about that moment.

  “I will never stay here. If that’s your plan, forget it. If it’s so perfect here, why do you want to get out of here, Samell?”

  “Boredom, simple as that. A demon has to have some variety, you know.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and laughed as his eyes changed to flaming red orbs.

  “Why did you create me? I’ve heard their version. What’s yours? Am I some ‘end of days’ abomination? A tool for revenge against the people of Salem Ridge and Summerland?”

  “No. You’re my daughter, that’s all. Yes, I had hopes you would one day return to rule Trillmor with me. But after I was bound here, I created Roberta and I realized none of that mattered. I have a daughter who will stay by my side and rule the kingdom with me for eternity.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Maybe” he sighed.

  “Look, I don’t need some touchy-feely, movie of the week moment with the father I never met. I have a real life to get back to. Just set my friends free, I’ll give you my crystal and I’ll be on my way. You can do whatever you want after that. I want no part of it and I don’t want any trouble.”

  Samell eyed me coolly, without a hint of what he was thinking and relented again. “Fine.”

  He yelled for Roberta and Shawn with sound that was more of an ear piercing wail than a shout. When I saw them appear, Roberta had Kelly by the hair, dragging her down the beach and Shawn stomped through the sand with hand one hand wrapped around Sterling’s throat.

  “Stop it! Let them go, you assholes!”

  Samell put out a hand to stop me. “I give the orders here, Selena. With your pious speech and actions today, you gave up the right to command anything of anyone in this realm. This is my house and you will obey me!” The last was said with a roar that left my ears ringing and I covered them a moment too late. I knew that sound would echo through my mind for years.

  “Now,” he said more calmly, “Leave them be, Roberta. Fun time is over.” Samell shook his finger at her as Roberta took a jab and swipe at Kelly’s face.

  Kelly punched Roberta in the face as soon as Roberta had let go of her hair. Sterling swiped at Shawn’s legs with both paws before he leapt into my arms.

  “Mistress, you’re alive! I’m so happy to see you. I’ve missed you so much!”

  “Now, give us the crystal, Selena.” Samell commanded. Roberta hopped and danced beside him with glee.

  “After they are free, Samell. Send them home and then you get the necklace and powers.”

  “He said to hand it over, bitch!” Shawn roared.

  “You piece of demon filth!”

  “Oh, a mouth to match your attitude, daughter? I must say you’re looking more and more like me every minute.” He laughed.

  “Whatever. Send my friends home, now.”

  “Give me the crystal. How many times do I have to tell you, you cannot command a thing of anyone here, especially me? Are you that fucking dumb, Selena? Or are you just that fucking naïve? I will tear out your innards to get that stone away from you if I have to.”

  Well, now I knew where my obsession with the ‘f’ word came from. Just one more reason to stop using it. It sounded awful; even coming from a demon.

  “Take it from me if you can. Roberta tried and you can see she failed massively. In fact, I can still smell the aroma of her fried, ratty, red-orange hair. You created one miserable failure for a daughter and another who can’t stand the sight of you. Great job, Daddy.” I laughed in his face.

  “Witch!” Roberta launched herself at me and Sterling flew out of my arms as we toppled to the ground. I used my momentum to roll her over, punching her as I sat on top of her flabby stomach. When my hands were as bloody as her swollen, disjointed up face, I stood up, and heaved her around by her nasty, matted hair and threw Roberta’s lifeless body across the beach.

  Just then, I heard a cry of pain as Samell slapped Kelly across the face. Her nose gushed blood everywhere and that’s when it happened. An anger unmatched pulsed through me. No one would hurt my friends again! Not even these high and mighty demons.

  A guttural roar erupted from me and as I flew through the air, my fingers changed to claws. I tackled Samell and ripped his face into slivers before slicing his neck open from ear to ear. It brought me great pleasure to watch as he choked on his own blood. The scent however was not enjoyable, it was putrid. Rivulets of acidic, bile colored fluid flowed under his head across the white sand beach, tainting it with the smell of death and disease.

  I’d killed him! I really did it! Distracted with my victory, Shawn used it the opportunity to grab me by the collar and yanked me off of Samell, tossing me aside. I sprang back up with ease, a primal howl erupting from me as I speared Shawn’s middle. A look of pure, unadulterated fear raced over his demonic features right before I smiled and tore his throat out with my teeth. Once the life drained out of him, his ring slipped easily off of my finger and onto the blood soaked sand. I scooped it up and shoved it into the gaping hole that had once been his neck.

  “Fuck you, asshole.” I knew the words had come from my mown mouth, but they sounded strange and I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was different. Had I just growled? Not to mention, I owed Sterling a gift for letting the ‘f’ bomb slip. The truth was, sometimes a girl needed to let one fly and after the crap storm I’d been wrapped up in, I’d say I should get a pass.

  “Selena?” I heard Sterling call me, but he sounded so very far away. I cocked my head to the side, realizing I was hearing him in my head. “Your eyes, Mistress. They’re beautiful.”

  My eyes? Really? At a time like this, he noticed my freaking eyes? He picked that exact moment to tell me they were
beautiful? What the hell was wrong with him?

  Roberta popped up like a jack-in-a-box again and it threw me into a flat-out frenzy. I saw she was seated right where I’d thrown her. She pawed at her face to survey the damage I’d inflicted and wailed like a banshee in the distance. Why couldn’t that whore take a damn hint? How many times did I have to kill that crapsack before she stayed dead? Was there some rule or trick to it? Regardless, she had pissed me off beyond belief and I was so done with her stupid, troll ass!

  I ran across the beach at full speed, reaching her in moments. Roberta was covered in fluid coated sand and shock registered on her face a split second before I picked her up and plunged my fist through her chest. After I’d ripped out her rib cage, I held it up in front of her and smiled. She took her last breath as I pulled more of her insides out and showed them to her before I tossed her back across the beach. She fell to the ground in a crumpled heap beside her lover and their nasty demon blood mixed, eating away the sand like acid.

  “I told you not to touch my friends, bitch’ I snarled.

  Samell morphed into his demon form and loomed over me at more than eight feet tall and boy was he pissed! I should’ve known killing him wouldn’t be that easy!

  “Stop Selena!” He roared and mountains that lined the horizon crumbled to dust.

  Unfazed, I looked at Roberta and Shawn as they lay lifeless, in their morbid together forever pose and nothing brought me that much pleasure in a very long time. I knew it wasn’t over, but killing those two had made my day! When I turned around, I saw Samell had both Sterling and Kelly by their necks.

  “So, you’ve been marked by the wolf? That’s too bad. I had such high hopes for you.” Gone was his daddy-dearest voice, what replaced it was dark and menacing. “Now, give me the crystal or I will kill them both while you watch” he growled.

  “Selena, don’t!” Kelly gasped. Clearly she couldn’t breathe and the lack of oxygen had caused her to go nuts. There was no way I would stand by and watch as Samell killed my friends, my family!

  “Don’t give it to him, Mistress. He will still kill all of us. He won’t let us go. Save yourself!”