by Debra Dunbar
Nyalla was vaguely aware of Boomer shifting form and growing into something much larger than his normal hound form as she filled the ghoul full of bullets. The gun had a hideous recoil, but she held on with all her might, determined to make every shot count. The ghoul staggered backwards with each impact, finally collapsing on the ground. Just to make sure, she stood, continuing to shoot. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw two shapes racing past her toward the Suburban. Thank goodness Eric hadn’t stayed. She needed him safely in the SUV and not messing up her plan with some misguided heroic action.
The ghoul was motionless, but she knew it wouldn’t last.
“Boomer, let’s move!”
She took off, arms pumping, the Desert Eagle weighing heavily in one hand. Boomer obeyed, remaining behind her to guard her back. The lights flashed on in the SUV, and the engine roared to life. Nyalla threw herself into the back seat, holding the door open for Boomer. He nearly flattened her in his monstrous hellhound form, one of his massive heads drooling a line of spit across her face as he bounded onto the seat.
“Go! Go!” she screamed, even though she hadn’t closed the door yet.
“Go where?” Eric shouted back, spinning the tires as he slammed his foot on the accelerator.
The momentum of the SUV fishtailing to the right as Eric tore out of the cemetery, slammed the car door shut, narrowly missing one of Nyalla’s legs.
“Home. My home. Hurry, we don’t have much time.”
They sped down the street, skidding as they turned onto Route 26. Eric floored it, and Nyalla was thrown against the back of the seat with the momentum. Boomer balanced himself, still in his two–headed hellhound form, and as soon as he could, jumped into the rear of the SUV to look out the back window.
Nyalla had managed to get her seatbelt fastened for the hairpin turn into the gravel lane to her house. They roared past Wyatt’s little dilapidated Cape Cod, and the Corvette in the bushes. Nyalla caught her breath as she saw an odd mist in the distance, and a flash of yellow.
Eric skidded into the circular drive, half onto the grass of the lawn, and slammed to a stop right in front of the house. Nyalla stumbled as she hurried to exit the car and felt a hand at her elbow. She almost lashed out, but at the last moment realized it was Eric, half dragging her to the front door. Tamika was already there, yanking on the handle in an effort to get inside.
“Don’t know if this is going to work,” the ghost–hunter shouted at them. “This is a ghoul, not a vampire. For all I know, he doesn’t need an invitation to enter your house.”
“It’s not my house,” Nyalla gasped, fumbling at her keys as she struggled to open the door. “It’s Satan’s.”
They all practically fell in their rush to get past the threshold, and Nyalla slammed the door shut behind her, throwing all the deadbolts with shaking hands. She turned around, back against the door for support and saw Eric leaning over the dining room table, breathing heavy, and Tamika, wide eyed, beside him.
“Holy Guacamole, is that your dog?”
Boomer. Nyalla glanced over at the two–headed monstrosity who wagged his tail faintly before looking with great concern toward the huge bay window. “Well, actually, he belongs to Satan too. I’m just pet–sitting while she’s in Hel taking care of some personal business.”
Tamika pulled out a chair and collapsed onto it. “I thought you were kidding before. Or crazy. I get a lot of people with mental health issues requesting my services, and when you started talking about knowing Satan and an angel, I assumed… .”
“Did you think we were imagining the ghoul, too?” Nyalla asked, anger creeping into her voice.
“No. Marie knows her stuff. If she said there was a ghoul, I’m going to take it seriously. That’s why I took the time this afternoon to make the graves hot. Sorry, I didn’t mean … it’s just, Satan? I don’t mean to offend you or anything, but that’s usually someone off their rocker.”
Nyalla went to respond and jumped as the door vibrated against her back with a loud “bang”.
“He’s here.” Eric was at Nyalla’s side in two strides, yanking her clear of the door and pulling his pistol from its holster at his hip. “Let’s hope my gun keeps him down for longer than yours did.”
Nyalla bristled, jerking her arm from Eric’s grasp. “Let’s hope he stays on the other side of that door, because I don’t think your gun is going to do anything but make him angrier.”
The door vibrated again, and cold permeated the room. Boomer snarled, both heads snapping as he faced the entrance to the house. The sound of something impacting the outside reverberated along the wall, and then yellow eyes stared at them through the window.
“Little girl, I’m here for you and your friends. I might not be able to take your soul, but I can still kill you. I’ll save that for later, though. You’ll wish to die after you witness what I do to those you love.”
“Please tell me that Satan has a tanning bed?” Tamika pleaded, scrambling to put the huge dining room table between herself and the glowing eyes at the window. “A plant grow bulb? A light box for seasonal affective disorder? We need a UV light, like yesterday.”
Nyalla had no idea what the woman was talking about. “She always tans outside by the pool. I’ve never seen any plants here. I don’t think Sam has what you all call ‘the green thumb’.”
The yellow eyes disappeared, but before Nyalla could relax, a long screeching sound jump–started her heart. Long nails scratched along the window on the other side of the door. Tamika yelled, diving under the table, while Eric pivoted to face the window, his face white as he pointed the barrel of his gun at the claws leaving long marks on the glass.
Boomer raced around the room, standing at the ready as the ghoul moved along the outside of the house, taunting them and beating on the outer walls. Nyalla felt like she was about to snap with tension, but after the second circuit, she began to relax. The monster couldn’t get in. She’d gambled on the crazy idea that Sam had marked the house, and it had paid off. They were safe inside, and Nyalla’s new goal was to keep the ghoul here and occupied until daylight. She doubted she’d be able to occupy him long enough for the first rays of sunlight to harm him, but if she could keep the monster from killing, the nerve–wracking night would be worth it.
“Can’t get me, can you?” She called out in a sing–song voice. “Did a little girl best you? A former slaves to the elves? A girl without the slightest hint of magic? Did I outsmart the big bad ghoul?”
“What are you doing?” Tamika’s mouth hung open in horror. “If you shut–up, maybe he’ll go away.”
“I don’t want him to go away,” Nyalla whispered.
Eric nodded, the realization of what she was doing hitting him. “Come get us, you rotted, pus–filled weakling. Let’s see how you feel about the bullets in my gun.”
Tamika looked back and forth between the two as if she thought they were crazy and dove once more underneath the table. Boomer ran to one of the huge French doors that led from the back of the house to the pool patio and snarled in challenge.
Silence.
“Is he gone?” Nyalla whispered to Eric. Her emotions warred between relief that the ghoul had departed, and anxiety of where he might go and whom he might kill instead.
Eric shrugged, and Tamika crawled from under the table. “Do you think I might be able to stay here until daybreak,” the woman asked, nervously eyeing the windows. “I really, really don’t want to try that sprint to my van, and the drive home. He could easily grab me in the fifteen minutes it takes me to get out of his territory boundaries.
Nyalla nodded absently, keeping her eyes on Boomer. Both the hellhound’s sets of eyes were trained on the center French door, into the darkness beyond. A low rumble built in the hound’s throat, and they all jumped, screaming, as a man with gray skin and tattered shreds of clothing smashed against the glass door. The impact shook the frame, and Nyalla prayed it would hold.
They watched in frozen terror as the ghoul ba
shed himself repeatedly into the door. Cracks spider–webbed across the glass, and Boomer erupted into a chilling howl as it finally gave way, spraying shards inward. The ghoul leaned in, as if he were about to enter, but only the top part of his body came into the room. His legs and feet remained outside.
“Boomer, out of the way!” Eric commanded. The hellhound was baying at the ghoul, blocking it from view, but remaining wisely out of its grasp.
“Why is it not in here, ripping us apart?” Nyalla asked. Was Sam’s home protection beyond the walls of the structure? When she’d seen the ghoul smash the glass, she had assumed whatever magic held him outside was broken.
Tamika shook her head blankly, and Eric ignored her, moving forward toward Boomer. Half straddling the huge dog, he fired at the ghoul, sending it flying backwards in a spray of red. Dropping the gun to his side, he ran to Nyalla and grabbed her arm, hauling her toward the front door.
“Come on, let’s go. It’s not safe in the house anymore. We made it here before he caught up with us last time, if we hurry, we can be out of his territory before he regenerates.”
Nyalla yanked her arm, but couldn’t break loose from Eric’s grip. Tamika looked back and forth between the shattered glass of the French door and the front of the house. “I don’t know. I’m thinking we should probably stay.”
“Let go of my arm!” Nyalla jerked free and faced Eric, furious. “I’m not leaving. We’ve got to keep this thing occupied until sunup, so he doesn’t kill anyone else.”
“I’m not watching this thing torture you,” Eric shouted. “We’ve got to get out of here now!”
“I’m not having some other person’s blood on my hands.” She’d never been so angry in her whole life. There had always been a low simmer of resentment when she’d been a slave in Hel. Little acts of defiance had helped relieve the bitterness she’d felt at the life fate had dealt her, but anger had always burned beneath the surface, barely contained. Displays of temper in Hel would get her killed, so she’d worked hard to keep control. But now it all rose to the surface, bubbling over as she faced Eric.
“No one is leaving this house. He’ll kill you and dangle your heads outside the window for me to see. Don’t you get it? He wants us to leave. He might have broken the glass door, but he still can’t get in.”
“I wonder if it’s because he has to connect with the ground somehow,” Tamika’s fear left her, and her professional curiosity took its place. She waved her hands animatedly at the broken glass on the floor. “I mean, ghouls don’t really ever touch the ground, but maybe they need it there or they can’t enter?”
“But he’s been standing on the patio, not dirt,” Nyalla pointed out. “Plus, he got into the other house to kill the Findleys. I’m sure it’s because this is Sam’s house. She’s very possessive, even for a demon.”
“No, that’s the situation here. Ghouls must have dirt or stone under them in order to be somewhere. Hmm, maybe if we circled him with some wood floor planks, we could contain him permanently.”
Tamika was clearly not about to be swayed by logic when she had a good theory going on. Nyalla threw up her hands, deciding it would be futile to argue, when Eric grabbed her arm again.
“I know you’re trying to protect us, but we’ve got to leave. I don’t trust that woman’s crazy ramblings. That thing is going to come through that doorway, and I’ve only got so many bullets. We’ll never hold out until daylight.”
Nyalla glared and yanked her arm back forcefully. “If you grab me once more like that, I’ll never speak to you again. Do you understand? I’m not a child, not some little helpless waif for you to drag around. This thing is scary, but it’s nothing compared to what I’ve seen in my life. Both of you sit down, shut up, and let me talk.”
Tamika dropped on a chair, her mouth open, while Eric glowered at Nyalla, crossing his arms in front of his chest. She pointed toward a chair next to the dining–room table, and he stomped over, practically throwing himself into it.
“Good. I’m timing how long the ghoul takes to regenerate from Eric’s bullets. I don’t recommend we shoot it too often, or it may just decide to leave. The goal here is to piss it off enough that it stays fixated on us and not some poor, unsuspecting person.”
“Might as well stay here now,” Eric grumbled. “We’ve wasted too much time. That thing will probably be back to full strength any moment. We’d never make it to the car in time.”
“You,” Nyalla pointed an accusing finger at the man. “I’m very disappointed in you. A police officer is supposed to put other’s safety before his own, and here you are, ready to run away and let this monster go kill more innocent families. Shame on you.”
Eric looked ready to explode. “I am putting other’s safety before my own. Yours and that charlatan’s over there. I’m trying to get you both out of here and someplace where that thing can’t get either of you. Then I was coming back. So don’t accuse me of being a coward.”
Oh. Nyalla’s face reddened. She felt like a complete jerk, but Eric’s words still didn’t excuse him dragging her around like she was an object.
“I’m sorry I said that to you, but I’m the only one that gets to decide where I go and what I do. Me.” Not elves, not demons, not even angels. “You can’t just stuff me in a car and drive off without consulting me first. I get to decide what I do. Me.”
“I am not a charlatan. I’m a scientist,” Tamika interrupted.
All conversation ended as a thump hit the kitchen wall. The ghoul was back. Tamika dove back under the table, and Nyalla reloaded her gun to join Eric, in case the thing broke into the house. Around and around it circled, thumping the walls, scratching the glass, and taunting them with threats.
It was one of the longest nights of Nyalla’s life. Eric went through two full clips of bullets, and Tamika took to throwing various spices at the monster through the broken French door. Nyalla mocked the ghoul until her throat was raw. The house shook, windows broke, and the ghoul’s screams reached a deafening pitch. Finally, as the sky began to lighten to gray, it vanished. The silence weighed heavy in the house, and Nyalla sank into a chair, exhausted — physically and emotionally.
“We better check the house.” Eric patted her shoulder awkwardly, and she caught his hand in hers, bringing it to her face. Nyalla thought about what the house must look like from the outside and shuddered. Sam was going to go insane when she saw what had happened. If they didn’t manage to kill this ghoul before the demon got home, Sam would make it pay for every scratch and broken window. It was comforting to know that even if they failed and died, the ghoul would get what was coming to him. No one did vengeance like demons.
The two women trailed after Eric, only to run into his back as he halted in the doorway. Nyalla peered around his waist and gasped. The Suburban looked like it had been shredded. Long gouges covered the SUV from top to bottom in parallel stripes. He’d evidently tried to break the back windows, but auto glass was tough stuff. Shattered into tiny pieces, they still held firm to the car on a mesh. Nyalla covered her mouth.
“Well, let’s see if it starts,” Eric said, his tone gloomy. They followed him out. Nyalla’s heart lightened when the Suburban roared to life. Windows could be replaced, auto body repaired, but it would be horrible to be confined to the house with no vehicle at all. In the back of her mind, Nyalla wondered at this change in her. Last week she wouldn’t have cared at all if the cars weren’t available to her; she would have been perfectly happy holed up in the house for the rest of her life. Now she wanted to go out, wanted to have the freedom of movement, the freedom to explore.
Tamika cleared her throat. “Will you all walk with me to see if my van is still in one piece? I know it’s daylight, but I’m a little shaken after everything that went down last night.”
They headed down the gravel lane toward Wyatt’s house and found it blocked by the Corvette. It was as equally damaged as the SUV, but at least it was no longer in the bushes. The trio pushed the sports car into Wya
tt’s driveway and continued toward Tamika’s van, just at the end of the road. The woman held her breath before releasing it in a whoosh as she circled the vehicle. It was the only one undamaged.
“How did you luck out?”
Nyalla elbowed Eric at the grumpy tone. “I’m glad your car didn’t get attacked. I hope the equipment left behind at the cemetery is also in good condition.”
“Well, the EMF detector is a total loss. There’s no way I can salvage anything from that. Still, the tripods and the laser grid might have survived. I think the ghoul was more concerned with chasing us after he regenerated then smashing up my devices.”
“Speaking of our neighborhood baddie, we need to plan so we can make the most of our time today,” Eric said. “Nyalla and I will go interview Ben. Tamika, if you can check your network and see if anyone knows of a necromancer within a hundred miles, that would be a good start. See if you can find one willing to take a job to get rid of a ghoul, and what he or she would charge. Any extra time, you can devote to researching how we can contain this thing, or neutralize him.”
Tamika glared at him. “I thought I was a charlatan? Besides, I’m working today. I’ve been up all night, and now I have to pull a nine–hour shift. After that, it’s a hot bath and bed. I did what I was contracted to do — more actually, and look where that got me? Busted up equipment and almost killed by a ghoul.”
Eric clenched his hands in fury. “A real paranormal investigator wouldn’t run and hide at the first sign of danger, at the first encounter with an honest–to–goodness ghoul.”
“No?” she spat back. “Well, then that real paranormal investigator would be dead, while I’ll live to ghost hunt another day.”
“Stop,” Nyalla commanded, stepping between the two with arms outstretched. “Tamika, this is probably the only chance you’ll ever have to encounter a ghoul. Well, I hope so, at least. I’m not asking you to come back and help us fight it. Please can you do some research? Can you use your network of occult enthusiasts to help us deal with this problem?” She paused and saw the other woman’s eyes narrow in consideration. “I’ll introduce you to Sam whenever she gets back. I’ll bet you’ve never met an actual demon before, let alone Satan.”
