The Demon Stone

by Christopher Datta

  “Then, before anyone could stop her, she shot herself.

  “The blood on her was her husband’s blood. She’d just finished slicing him into pieces. The odd thing was she had that gun. She could have just shot him, but she’d used a knife to kill him. She stabbed him so many times the coroner later couldn’t count all the wounds, given the state of the body. The police later said that they’d never seen such a savage attack by a woman.

  “When I finally turned off the TV, I walked to my study in a fog of dread. I opened the drawer where I’d placed the keystone and it was gone, just as I knew it would be. The old shaman had said that if I left the stone it would find a new master. I should have listened. It was my fault. But I had wanted to believe that it was just nonsense and that Agbado had been nothing more than a bad dream, a hallucination from which I’d recovered. I had simply wanted to forget the whole thing.

  “It’s even possible Agbado put that idea into my head to give himself time. Time to reach out to his new master and to keep me from placing the stone where no one could find it.

  “Suddenly, everything made sense—Morgan’s usual insecurity turning into extreme paranoia and even delusion, her certainty that Bill hadn’t died but was living nearby and trying to undermine her, and her accusations that everyone was betraying her. Agbado was fanning the flames of her hurt and resentment and telling her how to get even.

  “I walked out into the dark garage and waited for Morgan. About an hour later the automatic door opener raised the garage door and she drove in.

  “She stepped out of the car and stared at me. She looked strangely at peace, like someone who’s just had the best sex of her life. But looking at me, her face hardened.

  “‘What did you do?’ I said.

  “She half smiled. ‘Justice,’ she said.

  “‘She was your mother,’ I said.

  “The peace left her face and she gave me a look of pure hate. She said Bea was her mother in name only. A real mother protects her children, will even die for them, she said.

  “I told her to give me back the stone. I held out my hand.

  “She refused, clutching in her right hand what I knew to be the pouch. She said ‘he’ had told her all about me. I was a coward, but she was not. More than that, she was safe now for the first time in her life. Finally, no one could ever betray her again, not so long as she had ‘him.’ He would never betray her. He was exactly what she’d always needed.

  “I walked towards her. ‘You don’t know him,’ I told her. ‘You’ll be destroyed.’

  “She laughed at me. She said she certainly knew me, and Agbado was right, I was a coward. A lying coward. She said I’d blown my chance and I was not getting it back. She needed him, and she was going to keep him. She held the pouch tightly against herself.

  “I snatched at it and missed, then lunged for her arm. Morgan is tough, but she struck me with the keystone in the temple with a force I’m sure was beyond her normal strength.

  “I was knocked out. When I came to, Morgan was gone. I knew then that if I could not get the keystone back I needed to leave and take Beth with me.”

  He looked at Beth and said, “Neither of us would have been safe with her. Something would happen, something small, and her anger would rear up and that would be the end of us. I was surprised at first that she hadn’t killed me in the garage, but that’s not Agbado’s way. That murder would have come back to Morgan and he didn’t want her in jail. The police would take the stone away from Morgan, and he liked it where he was. I could feel it.

  “So I packed up and moved out that very afternoon. I moved us to an apartment on the other side of town, changed Beth’s school and kept our location as secret as I could. If Morgan couldn’t find us, she couldn’t hurt us.

  “There was finally the custody battle and the divorce. Morgan was most bitter about the fact that Beth chose to stay with me. I’m sure she saw it as another betrayal. I knew I had to keep Beth as far from her as I could.

  “And that’s it,” he said. “Now you know everything.” He paused and looked at Liz.

  “I think Morgan knew I would get back in touch with you,” he said. “I think she was biding her time for a moment like this when she could safely use the stone all at once on the three of us. I doubt I was able to really hide our location from her when I moved out. The way she sees it, Agbado will once again bring justice to those who betrayed her. Against me, against you and against Beth.”

  “Why doesn’t Agbado just finish us off right now?” said Liz.

  “He’s waiting,” said Kevin. He laughed, a short, hard and very tired chuckle. “Besides, he doesn’t get out that often. He likes to savor it. He’s got all the time in the world, both this one and the dimension he comes from. We’re not going anywhere.”

  “Will we be safe tonight?” said Liz. She felt silly asking the question. Safe from what, she wondered, Kevin or Agbado?

  It began to rain again even though the sky directly above them continued to be clear, the Northern Lights still flashing brightly.

  “We should get in the tent,” said Kevin. “At least we’ll be dry.”

  “You’ve scared me so bad,” said Beth, “I can’t stay in there. That stupid sheet of nylon is no protection at all against your monsters. I can’t sleep.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Kevin. “I wish I could make it right. But I can’t and we’re going to be attacked again, so you need to know what we’re up against so you can fight it. If it can be fought. I don’t know.”

  “Do you believe what your dad says about this thing?” said Liz. If Beth believed it, then Liz thought her own hold on reality would slip that much more. The irrational was the normal and her rational mind the abnormal.

  Kevin stared back at Beth, a tear rolling down his cheek. Liz didn’t know why, but somehow it was a relief to see him weep. He’d been so cold and distant. Here, at last, something had reached him.

  “I never wanted you to know about this,” he said to Beth. “Even now, I never intended to tell you.” He rubbed his head a moment as though in the grip of a searing headache. “Let’s get in the tent,” he said. “You’re right, it’s no protection except against the rain, but we’ll freeze if we stay out and get soaked.”

  As the rain fell harder, they silently walked to the tent and closed it up. Hampton was wet and he smelled like an ancient rug soaked in water, but Liz didn’t care. She lay down and gripped him tightly, feeling the darkness pressing in around them just beyond the flimsy walls of their shelter. It wouldn’t stop a determined mouse, let alone Kevin’s Agbado. Hampton licked her face and his body pressed up against her own. It made her feel safe. He had already saved her life once today. She knew he would do whatever he could if something came near, knew it as surely as she felt the beat of his heart. He lifted a paw and touched her arm. She took it and lightly kissed it.

  She didn’t think she would sleep that night, but a short time later she drifted off with Hampton on one side and Beth pressed up against her on the other.

  Chapter 2

  Liz awoke. She felt burning up with fever and sick to her stomach. After all this time in the wet and cold, she wasn’t surprised. It infuriated her that she was trapped in this place, far from help and relief. This was Kevin’s fault. It was his entire fault. For all she knew, she had something he’d brought back from Africa. Malaria, dengue fever, Ebola, or one of a thousand other viral or parasitic diseases that plagued the tropics.

  She saw through the screened tent door that although it was no longer raining, the air was still misty. Her side ached from sleeping on the ground, especially her hip. She smelled of smoke and dog.

  She sat up and poked her head out of the tent. Kevin stood before her, staring down. She glanced down and gasped. The ground around the tent was burned in almost a perfect circle twenty feet in diameter. The trees she could see in that circle were all charred near the ground.

  Her heart sank as the all-too-familiar fear welled back up in her. “What the h
ell is that?” she said.

  “He marked us,” said Kevin. He nearly laughed. “Like a dog pissing on a fire hydrant. He wants us to know we are his.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” said Beth, sliding up beside Liz.

  Kevin walked away to the canoe. He flipped it over to drain the rainwater, then righted it. “Not really like a dog, I suppose,” he continued. “More like a spider wrapping up a fly in webbing and storing it away while it’s still alive. The spider can kill anytime it pleases, but it pleases this spider not to. Not yet. He’s letting us ripen and he’ll stretch it out. He’ll wait until his delicious hunger has reached its peak and the prey is aged to a perfect rawness.”

  “Shut up,” said Beth. “Shut up, shut up, shut up. You’re such an asshole.”

  Liz sat and stared at the blackened circle, beads of sweat forming on her forehead, although from fear or fever she wasn’t sure. It was not possible. There was only one explanation. She stood, staring at Kevin. “How did you do that?” she said.

  Kevin looked back at her, frowning. Then he coughed out a laugh. “You think I did that? Okay, I give up, you tell me. A circle burned into the forest floor in the dark. You got me, Einstein. I hired Steven Spielberg’s special effects men. I kept them out of sight until dark, then brought them in so I could scare the hell out of you all because I’m just a demented son of a bitch who likes to see his friends crap their pants with fright.”

  He turned from her.

  Liz felt the blood in her face explode, the corners of her eyes hot with tears of frustration. She did not know how, but he had done it, all right. It would not be that damn hard. This was some sick joke of his. She did not know what had really happened to him in Africa, but whatever it was it had completely unhinged him. “What did you use, you sick bastard, a can of lighter fluid? We’re lucky you didn’t set the whole forest and the damn tent on fire.”

  “Did IQs just drop around here?” Kevin snapped back. “Do you smell lighter fluid?” He marched up to her, thrusting his face into hers. “Look at that circle,” he said, pointing down. “The edges are perfect all the way around, not ragged like you’d get from a fire. Don’t be stupid. We can’t afford it.”

  The heat in her brain burst out in a fury Liz had never known before, and she tried to strike him. He neatly caught her arm and held it. She tried with the other and he caught that one, too, in a grip so tight it hurt. So she kneed him in the groin, feeling the bone of her leg strike his genitals hard. He grunted in pain and surprise, collapsing and gasping for breath.

  She hated him. She hated him for all the rotten, nasty, fucked-up things he’d ever done to her. She hated him for the time he left her back in college. She hated him for the stupid woman he’d married instead of her. She hated him for the child he had and for how stupidly he treated her. And most of all, she hated him for bringing her into this Godforsaken damn wilderness. Her hate was an animal in her gut clawing for release. She felt it like molten iron she simply could not hold back anymore.

  She kicked him again, this time in the head. To her horror, it felt wonderful. All of her awful loathing, this poisonous acid revulsion, just vomited from her with dark relief. Some place deep inside her, some place angry and mean, felt… exhilarated. It wanted, in fact, to do it again. And maybe again after that.

  He collapsed on his side, blood erupting from a nasty gash across his temple. She rocked back to kick again when Beth was on him before she could complete the motion. Beth now was kicking him, breathing hard, her eyes black and fierce.

  Liz simply observed them for a moment, as if watching a television picture instead of something real happening in front of her. The impact of Beth’s boot repeatedly connecting against Kevin’s head sounded curiously hollow and muffled. She was dimly aware of Hampton barking and whining, but that, too, seemed very distant. Kevin just lay there, his eyes open but unseeing.

  And then the world rushed back into her. Her lungs were empty and had been for some time because she’d forgotten to breathe. She gasped one long rasping breath, air streaming back into her along with a sick horror at the realization of what they were doing. Her fever, too, seemed to have subsided.

  She grabbed Beth and pulled her back. Beth fought her but she, too, seemed to be coming back into herself. Liz held her firmly a moment while the tautness in Beth’s arms faded.

  Beth looked up at her, her blue eyes wide open. “It felt so good,” she whispered. “I wanted to kill him.”

  Liz pushed her back. “Is it over?” she asked.

  Beth nodded mutely.

  Liz turned and knelt beside Kevin. Hampton sniffed his face and gently whimpered. Kevin’s eyes were open, but one was already badly swollen. His nose was bent at a strange angle, obviously broken, and blood trickled from it down the side of his cheek.

  “Kevin,” she said, “do you hear me?”

  His eyes flickered to her but they appeared unfocused. “Can you tell me your name? Do you know where you are?”

  He stared at her blankly and then seemed to collect himself and tried to sit up. She helped him, but when he tried to stand, she held him down.

  “Don’t try to stand just yet,” she said. “Can you tell me your name?”

  He looked at her and blinked. “Kevin,” he finally said, his voice thick.

  “How many fingers do you see?” she said, holding up the index finger on her right hand.

  He squinted at it. “Two?”

  “What’s the matter with him?” said Beth, squatting next to her.

  “He got some pretty bad kicks to the head,” said Liz. “He might just be dazed, but he might have a concussion. I hope that’s all.”

  “What should we do?”

  “We should get him to a hospital. His nose is also broken and needs to be set and bandaged.”

  “We have zero chance of doing that,” said Beth.

  Kevin shook his head painfully. “I’m all right. Jus gimme a minute.”

  “Bullshit you’re all right,” said Beth, sounding shaky.

  “Beth, get a shirt from a pack and bring it to me. I need to clean him up and bandage him. Hurry up, sweetie.”

  Beth ran off as Liz examined Kevin’s nose.

  “Not so bad as all that,” he mumbled. He winced when she touched his face.

  “How the hell,” said Liz, scowling, “did two women manage to do all this? I was so angry, Kevin, I could have killed you. Now I’m scared I almost did. What the hell’s happening to me?”

  Kevin grabbed Liz’s arm. “Get the stone,” he said, his voice slurring. He tried to say more but winced in pain and passed out. It was raining again when Beth returned with the shirt.

  “Is he dead?” she said, nearly hysterical.

  “No,” said Liz. “But help me get him into the tent. He’s not going anywhere. Not today.”

  Chapter 3

  Liz stood by the lake smoking the last of a cigarette. The fog had not lifted all day, and although it was not raining the wind was moist enough to dampen her face. The waves running in from the lake emerged phantom-like out of the mist, surging to the shore and slapping against the brush. She could not see the sun but the deepening gray told her the day was ending.

  Her fever persisted, and despite the damp cold she was sweating. Curiously, however, she didn’t feel weakened, just hot. She wondered if it could be the onset of menopause. What a time, she cursed, for that to hit her.

  Kevin had been unconscious since morning. If a blood vessel had broken and there was bleeding inside the brain, he would almost certainly die if they didn’t get him to a hospital soon. Even a mild concussion needed to be examined.

  Liz sent Beth off in the canoe to get help. Five times she paddled out into the lake and five times returned. Sometimes she was gone for quite a while and sometimes only a few minutes, but always she came back.

  After the fifth try she threw her paddle into the trees. “Shit!” she screamed, her face contorted in frustration and fear. “What the hell’s happening?”
She stood up in the boat, lost her balance and fell into the water. Liz reached out a hand to help pull her up.

  Beth slapped the hand away and lurched up the shore, water pouring from her clothes. She turned to Liz, already shivering. “We’ll never get away. We’re going to die here.”

  “No, we won’t,” Liz answered with a confidence she did not feel.

  Beth wept, clutching herself, her head bowed. “Yes, we will.”

  “The fog will lift,” said Liz. “It can’t last much longer. You’re just getting lost in the fog.”

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake, don’t be stupid. If I was lost, why am I coming back to the exact same place every time? All I see is fog and water until I’m back here at this same fucking spot every fucking time.” She fell to her knees, sobbing. “We’re trapped here and we’ll die.”

  Liz sank down next to her. She felt as though weights hung from her arms and shoulders. A numbness crept over her, as well. She had to get Beth up and get her dry and warm or she’d soon be sick, too.

  But Liz was surprised to admit she did not really care. Nothing made sense anymore. She couldn’t believe it, yet it seemed that something was toying with them. But there could not be demons in the world. God, if God existed, could never permit innocent people to be the victims of demons. It did not make sense.

  Could there be demons and no God? Just evil and a senseless urge to destruction? She was a trained nurse and had spent her life helping people. The randomness of cancer, heart disease and all the rest she could understand. It was the nature of life, a roll of the dice. In the end, everyone died, but she did what she could to ease the suffering and celebrate the small victories. Life could be coldly indifferent, but it was not malicious. Life didn’t seek to die, death was simply its destiny. But before her now was a universe of malevolent purpose. Not just divine indifference, but active cruelty.