by Keith Keffer
Right next to the shed, parked under a car awning, sat her dad's blue Explorer. It was ten years old, but still ran great. She clicked the little button on the key chain and the headlights flashed as the doors unlocked.
The kitchen door shook as the Gungan-toad slammed into it. Morgan grinned. "Good luck getting through that door." They'd be in the car and long gone by the time that thing got out of the house.
She dropped the backpack on the passenger seat and got a grunt out of Bob from the impact but no other complaints. The engine turned over on the first try, and she put the car in reverse ready to put as much distance between herself and that thing as she could.
Except she didn't take her foot off the break.
"What are you doing?" asked Bob. "We need to get out of here."
"Shit," she answered. "We can't. We can't let that thing loose. Who knows what it will do if it runs into someone."
"Nothing," said Bob. "It'll do nothing. It's here for me, and as long as no one gets in its way, it'll ignore them."
"Cut the BS Bob. That thing is a monster. Monsters don't just ignore kids and pets. They always end up hurting innocent victims." She put the SUV back into park. "We have to stop it before it can hurt anyone."
"Like us?" said Bob.
"Not if we kick its butt first. Come on, Bob. You have to have some idea of how we can deal with that thing."
"I do. It's called running."
Grabbing Bob and her backpack, Morgan jumped out of the car and ran toward the shed. She flipped a switch and the light flicked on, popped and went out. It was dark except for the light coming from the open door. It would have to do.
Morgan dropped Bob on a workbench. "Look for something we can use for a weapon." She grabbed a red container and shook it. Empty. Gas probably wasn't a good idea anyway. Not unless she wanted to burn the house down around the thing.
The kitchen door thumped as the Gungan-toad bashed into it.
"What is that thing?" whispered Morgan as she looked to her home. There was a dark shadow moving in the kitchen, and it looked much larger than the Gungan-toad that had been wrestling with Bob.
"It's a swarm of flies." He saw the look on Morgan's face as he said that and decided to expand on his answer. "Not real flies. These are creatures of dark energy forced into your world from mine. When it appeared in this world, it took on a base shape, but it can morph as it goes. It's going to keep getting bigger and stronger until we destroy it, or it catches me. You broke the rules when you summoned me, and that thing was sent to bring me back." Bob paused. "If you let it take me, it might go away. You might be safe."
"Not happening," said Morgan. "I need you to help me find Henry."
Bob shrugged. "You have the sight. You can follow the trail without me."
Morgan shook her head. She only summoned Bob to help her find Henry. She was going to send him back as soon as he kept his end of the bargain anyway. He was right. She had a trail to follow now. So, what if she sent him back early.
She gasped. "Wait a minute. It's a summoned creature, right?" She slid the backpack off her shoulder and pulled the book out of it. To her eyes the pages gave off a blue glow as she flipped through it. Where was that spell?
Bob moved closer. The words on the pages were meaningless to him. They didn't even glow when he looked at them. Whatever sort of magic was stored in that book, it seemed to be linked to the girl and only her. He knew it was a book of power, and research was his strong suite. With enough time he might figure out a way to decipher it, but that wasn't likely to happen in the next minute or two.
"Bingo," shouted Morgan as she turned the book so that Bob could see the page she had found. "It's a banishment spell."
"If you say so," said Bob. "Your book only wants to share its secrets with you, but considering you used it to summon me, it's worth a try. Do you think you can cast it?"
She ran her finger over the page as she read it. Draw a symbol. Chant some words. Poof. The bad thing gets sent away.
"What are you doing?" asked Bob. The little demon was staring at her hand. As she moved it over the page, he could see the magic flowing into her, a faint blue glow that faded into her hand. It was coming from the book, and she was sucking it up like a water on a sponge.
"Studying the spell." She glanced up from the book and looked at the little demon. "Aren't you the magic expert?"
"Only relative to you. That book is something different. I can see that it's making you stronger, but I don't understand how."
"Great. I don't need to know how, as long as it works." Morgan put the book down and went over to a metal shelf. She rummaged through a rotting cardboard box and pulled out two cans of spray paint.
"This should do it," she said as she ran back out into the yard with a can in each hand. "Keep an eye on your friend. I'll need a minute to do this."
Bob hopped off the workbench and followed her to the front of the shed. The kitchen door was no longer bouncing beneath the assault of the Hunter. The windows were black, and there was no sign of a shadow moving in the house. "You need to be quick. I think it's changing tactics. It looks like it's gone all gooey again and started smearing itself on the door. As soon as it finds a crack, it'll slither through and reform on this side."
Morgan had already started spray painting a red circle on the grass. It was about ten feet in diameter and was directly in line with the kitchen door. As soon as she finished the circle, she began to paint symbols along the outer edge. The first can ran out and she had to switch to the blue in the second can to finish. The color didn't matter, just the shape, and she visualized each symbol as she painted it. They were as close to perfect as a person spray painting grass could hope for. Two more characters and she would be done.
"Here it comes." Bob hopped up and down and pointed at the house where a shadow flowed out from under the door. It looked like tar except this tar ball rose into the air as it took shape. This time it was a lot bigger and reformed a lot faster than the Gungan-toad thing that they saw in the bedroom.
One more symbol to go. Morgan wanted to stop and look toward the house, but that wasn't going to help her now. The little demon needed to be her eyes while she got the spell ready. "Bob, get it in the circle, and keep it there. Don't let it get away?"
"You're kidding, right? That thing is ten times my size. I doubt asking it nicely is going to get me very far."
"Then don't ask. You said it wants to get its claws into you. Show it some leg, and let it come to you."
"Great. I'm a sacrificial goat now."
Morgan finished the last symbol and ran back into the shed for the book. "Don't be stupid. I'm not going to sacrifice you. I just need you to be a distraction. Keep him focused on you so I can do my thing."
"Still sounds like a sacrificial goat to me," said Bob as he bounced out into the yard. He stood at the edge of the circle. It looked good. Just the type of thing that should focus a banishment spell. He moved back, being careful to not step into the fresh paint. If he was inside the circle when the spell was cast, it would get rid of him just as effectively as it would banish the Hunter.
Morgan appeared from the shed with the open book held in both hands. "Oh man," she whispered out loud when she saw the thing forming outside her kitchen door. The Gungan-toad had been a little over a foot tall, almost the same size as Bob. The thing at the door was taller than her and it's soft, toad-like body looked a lot more reptilian. Even down to having a tail that trailed behind it. The creature looked a lot like the Godzilla costume they used to use in the movies before everything went all computer generated.
She should have made a bigger circle.
It took a lumbering step forward then another, leaving a crushed flower pot in its wake. It spotted Bob and headed straight to him. The little demon waited on the opposite side of the circle, bouncing from foot to foot, looking like a toddler in urgent need of a bathroom break.
"Hurry up, Moda!" shouted Bob. "It's getting closer."
"I can see th
at," she snapped. "Just make sure it is in the circle when I finish the spell."
Like before, she recited the words from the book. Except they weren't really words. At least not to any language that she had ever heard, and she had no idea if she was pronouncing any of it correctly. It felt right. She could feel the magic building inside of her, so it must be working. Right? It wasn't a long spell. She reached the last few words of the incantation, and the lizard looking hellspawn still hadn't crossed into the circle.
It jumped. It might not look like a toad anymore, but it still could jump like one. In one massive hop, it was standing right in front of Bob, on the wrong side of the spell circle.
"Shit." Bob and Morgan said the word at the exact same time. Bob tried to run, but his little legs weren't made for speed, and the hellspawn snatched him up in one claw. And thanks to Morgan's one-word utterance, the magic of the spell faded. She messed it up and would have to start again.
First, she needed to free Bob.
Lifting the book like a club, she ran forward and smacked the hellspawn in the back of the head. This time it didn't pop like a tar filled water balloon, but it did snap forward. The thing hadn't just gotten bigger. It had gotten more solid. It turned and swung a clawed fist at Morgan. She got the book up in front of her face just in time, and it managed to shield her from the worst of the blow, but the hellspawn’s attack still forced her to take a few steps back if she wanted to stay on her feet. Shaking Bob like a rag doll in its other fist, it lumbered after her.
They were all in the circle now. Bob frantically prying at the fingers wrapped around his waist with no luck. The hellspawn closing in on Morgan, ignoring the demon trapped in its grip. Morgan held the book over her head. Closed, she couldn't read the words on the page. She'd have to go from memory.
When the first sound left her lips, Bob froze. His eyes grew wide as he stared at Morgan, and then he exploded in a flurry of activity, kicking and punching and biting, doing anything he could to free himself.
All he managed to do was to get the Hunter's attention. It stopped advancing on Morgan and lifted Bob into the air as its jaws opened impossibly wide. The thing was going to swallow him.
Morgan's book slammed across the hellspawn’s wrist with a crunching sound. Its fingers opened, and Bob fell, bouncing off the creature's face before hitting the ground. The little demon landed flat on his back. He rolled over and got to his hands and knees just as Morgan's foot caught him in the stomach, flinging him into the air.
She jumped back, but not fast enough. The hellspawn creature grabbed an arm and dragged her to him. Its mouth gaped open, and it lowered it toward her face.
Morgan jerked, but couldn't get free. She closed her eyes and hoped that Bob was far enough away. The newbie witch shouted the last word of the spell. The one word she had been holding until everyone was free. "Atoshi!"
The circle flared to life with a blue light that rose into the sky. The grip on her arm loosened and she kicked out, pulling herself free. She fell on her butt right in front of the hellspawn creature. It tried to follow her, but it moved so slowly. Like the tarry ick that made it up was softening, holding it back like a dinosaur caught in a tar pit. hadn't gotten hard. Still, she scooted back, putting as much distance between herself and the thing while still staying in the spell circle. Morgan had no idea how long a banishment spell took.
Apparently, not long. The hellspawn exploded into thousands of tiny flecks that buzzed around the circle, and an instant later they faded away until only the blue light of the spell remained. A few seconds later, even the light was gone.
Morgan jumped up and shouted, "Bob!" She had no idea where the little demon was.
CH 7 - Not According to Plan
"Bob!" Morgan spun around looking for the demon. He was out of the circle when she completed the spell. She was sure of it. Pretty sure of it at least. Crap. She banished him too.
"Over here." The little demon's normally deep voice was little more than a whisper. It came from the shed. Gnarled fingers appeared at the edge of the doorway first, then he pulled himself out of the shadows, hopping slowly on one leg. His left leg was twisted so much that his foot pointed the wrong direction. Bright red claw marks covered the right side of his face. The marks looked like they had been seared on with a branding iron.
"I could really use a hand."
Morgan had just stared at him when he first appeared. She hadn't expected him to get hurt. She didn't even think that he could get hurt. That wasn't how things were supposed to work.
Bob hopped forward and sat down with his back against the shed. "It'll straighten out on its own, but it'll go a lot faster if you could help. I can't reach my foot to twist it around."
"What? Oh yeah." She ran over to him and knelt on the ground, placing the book at her side. She reached out to touch his foot, but hesitated. "What do I do?"
"Just grab my foot and twist it back into place. It'll be real easy." Bob smiled, showing off his crooked teeth. There was a gap where one had gone recently missing.
"I'm so sorry," said Morgan. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"Moda," said Bob. "Don't start apologizing. You banished the Hunter and we're still here to rescue Henry. I'll heal, and you weren't hurt. I'd count this one as a win." He paused and pointed to his twisted leg. "Now, if you don't mind. Just turn my foot in the right direction."
Morgan nodded and gently took hold of Bob's foot with both hands. The demon sucked air in through his teeth at her touch. She stopped. Her eyes going to Bob's. The black orbs were emotionless. How much pain was he in?
"It'll only sting for a second," he reassured her. "Just like pulling off a bandage. This body will recover a lot faster once everything is pointed the same way. Let's do this on three."
Bob grabbed hold of his upper leg, holding it in place with both hands. He started the countdown. "One."
Morgan went next. "Two."
The demon stared at her, frowning. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Huh?" asked Morgan.
"Everyone knows when you say go on three, it really means go on two. I was all set, and nothing happened. Now we have to-"
Morgan jerked his foot around to the front, and for a second Bob couldn't say a word. His mouth hung open, and his eyes bulged. There was a snapping sound from his shin like a couple of Lego pieces locking together.
The little demon caught his breath and let out a huge gasp. "Son of a succubus! That smarts. Next time warn me when you do that."
"Then you should have let me go on three," said Morgan. "How is it?"
"Better," said Bob as he pushed himself to his feet. He tested his weight on the newly straightened leg and it held. "I won't be running in any marathons, but that's why we have cars. Come on. Let's get going."
Bob limped over to the SUV, which was still running with the driver side door hanging open. He stood by the passenger door, waiting as Morgan picked up her book. She was halfway to the car when she muttered something and changed direction, heading into the shed instead. After a few seconds she emerged with her backpack in hand. The book tucked securely inside of it.
She stopped dead in her track.
Mr. McCalister, minus the orange tracksuit, stood at the back of the Explorer. He looked ready for work in his dark suit and tie, with a black briefcase in his left hand. When he saw Morgan, he smiled and waved.
"Hello again, neighbor. I thought I heard a commotion over here. Is everything alright?"
While Mr. McCalister wasn't exactly a neighbor, he did live down the road. If he heard Morgan and Bob that wasn't good. There might be others coming to find out what had happened. She didn't want a crowd gathering. Someone would be sure to notice the strange circle spray painted in the middle of the backyard.
Morgan quickly walked toward Mr. McCalister, slinging the backpack over her shoulder as her eyes darted around, looking for Bob. Movement under the SUV caught her attention. The little demon had rolled under the Explorer and was laying on
his stomach next to the front tire
"Everything is fine, Mr. McCalister. I was just on my way to visit Aunt Helen." Morgan walked past the open car door and stopped when she was next to Mr. McCalister. She positioned herself so that he had to turn away from the backyard to face her. From where she stood, Morgan had a clear view of the alley behind her house and there was no sign of anyone else. All she saw was Mr. McCalister's car parked a few houses over. It was a small, black car. One of those electric hybrids that could run on batteries or gasoline.
"I just heard what happened this morning. I'll say a prayer for her speedy recovery." Mr. McCalister lifted his briefcase into the air and fumbled with the latches but was having a problem getting it open with one hand. "Could you hold this for me," he asked. "I've got something in here for you."
Morgan took the briefcase and held it while he got it open. She tensed, wanting to get out of there but also not wanting to look suspicious. This wasn't good. They were alone, and she really didn't know Mr. McCalister that well. They were just passing acquaintances. As far as she knew he could be a crazy stalker waiting for just the right moment to overpower her.
Well, if he pulled a gun or a knife out of that briefcase, he'd be in for a surprise. Morgan was ready to beat him over the head with the case if she needed to, and there was no telling what Bob would do.
"Here it is," he said. In his hand was a roll of reflective orange tape just like the type he had on his track suit this morning. "I thought if you were going to start walking in the morning, you should be safe. You should put a strip on that backpack too." He closed the briefcase and took it back, pushing the roll of tape into Morgan's hand before she had a chance to object.
Reflective tape? Yeah. Mr. McCalister is definitely one of the crazies.
