Hellborn

by Lisa Manifold

  I lifted the trap. A black metal box sat in the bottom. I took it out, and leaned down into the hole. Using my phone, I shone a flashlight to see if there was anything else. There was. Four more black metal boxes. One by one, I pulled them out. They were not too heavy, but whatever was in them was solid, and didn’t rattle.

  “Goddess, please let these be the diaries.” If these boxes didn’t have them tucked away I’d have to go through the entire house. I didn’t even want to contemplate it.

  Once I was sure the small cubby was empty, I backed out of the cupboard, and put the linens back. Doc observed all this.

  “Aren’t you dying to see what is in there?” He looked at me incredulously.

  “I’m going to look, but if it’s them, I’m not going to read them yet.” They were all locked, and I used an unlatching spell to open all five. Who knew where the keys were?

  As I opened the first, my heart raced. There were notebooks. Seven or eight of them, maybe? I opened the top of it and saw the date.

  “Well?” Doc asked.

  “It’s them. We should get Daniella and Deirdre back here.” I called Deirdre’s cell.

  “Hey, you’re up. How are you feeling?” She sounded pleased.

  “I found the diaries,” I said.

  “What? Already? Oh holy— hang on.” She must have covered the mic, because I could hear her talking to someone else, but I couldn’t understand what she said. “Okay, we’re done here. We’re heading back now.” She hung up.

  “They’re on the way.”

  “Good. I confess that I am mightily interested in what is in those diaries.”

  I picked up the boxes, stacking them carefully one on top of the other, and then walked slowly down the stairs to the dining room table. “We’re going to need to read fast. The clock is ticking. I can’t believe Ashlar hasn’t come back yet.”

  “Your sisters have a point. You have to still carry on your life here.” Doc sounded almost as though he were issuing a warning.

  “If we don’t figure out a way to end this, I—we—won’t have a life here! Yeah, he’s after me, but he made it clear all the Nightingales were fair game. Oh, shit,” I said as another thought struck me. Deana’s girls. They didn’t know.

  “What?”

  “I need to talk to Dee and Dani. I can’t make this call alone.”

  “For what?”

  I waved off his question. I wasn’t ready to face this one yet. Oh, goddess. We had to let them know that Meema was gone. While Deana had left us, and she was long gone, her daughter and granddaughters were still here. I knew that Meema spoke with them regularly. Had spoken. The tears threatened again.

  With an optimism that was perhaps misplaced, I set a box at each place at the table and wiped at my face. “We need to get Zane over here. That way, each of us can go through the diaries in one box. And there’s only one left over.”

  Daniella came in the front door, followed by Deirdre.

  “Can one of you call Zane? We’re going to need his help.”

  “He may have his own stuff to tend to, Desi.”

  “Not unless he wants a demon galloping all over the place.”

  One of them muttered something in response, but I couldn’t make it out, and I didn’t take the bait. Daniella called Zane, and she said loudly, “What? Stop, Zane, you need to say that again, because I don’t think I heard you right.”

  We all looked over at her. She pointed at the phone, trying to tell me something, but I wasn’t getting it. She nodded, then said, “Well, bring him over, I guess. Yeah, she mentioned it, but…holy Joseph. Okay. OKAY. See you soon.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “What was the name of the demon who helped you?”

  “Beeval,” I said.

  Evil, hearing what he thought was his name, clucked, and came in to stroll through and check out the activity. His feathers brushed against my leg. “Not you,” I said. “It’s not all about you, Evil. No, the demon’s name is Beeval. He said he would follow me out, but he disappeared. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to set me up, but I felt bad. He looked like misery walking.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s time to find out,” Daniella gave me a half-grin. “Because he showed up on Zane’s doorstep.”

  “What?” I couldn’t believe it. “How did he get away?”

  Daniella shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s coming over with Zane, so you can ask him. I know he helped you, but we need to set up a protection spell. And Evil, shoo!” She ran at the chicken, sending him into the back of the house. “Demons like chicken.”

  “Evil would win,” I said, laughing.

  “Probably, but I’d rather not test that theory.” Daniella shut the door behind Evil, and we all waited for Zane. With the demon.

  Who I hoped was a friend. I’d hate to hurt him. The look in his eyes wouldn’t leave me. Had he come bearing some horrible surprise gift to further hurt me?

  No. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—believe it. I wasn’t that bad a judge of character.

  A knock on the door, and then Zane came in. Behind him was the small demon. In the light, he was a blackish brown. Same eyes, same long nose. He seemed even more frightened than before.

  I walked around Zane to kneel down in front of Beeval. “How did you get here?”

  “Tunnel. I wait, and then I come.”

  “Why didn’t you come with me?”

  “Must watch Ashlar.”

  “Does he know I am gone?”

  “He busy. Big boss give him lots to do. You were fun, not work.”

  That was interesting. It also made me wonder if Ashlar was up to something his boss or overlord wouldn’t approve of. A thought to file away. “So he doesn’t know yet?”

  “Still my turn to watch. I lose fight, so I watch.”

  That had been what the scuffling was all about. Beeval got the short straw, basically, and none of them had come back. Well, fear was not a great motivator for good job performance. I smiled at him. “You got away.”

  “I did.” He smiled.

  Which was a little disconcerting, given his teeth. I didn’t care. I put my arms around him. He smelled like Hell, and brimstone, and sautéed onion. “You are welcome here,” I said. “For as long as you want.”

  There was a cough from one of my sisters, but I ignored it. This one wasn’t up for a vote.

  “You in danger.” His large eyes searched my face.

  “I know.”

  “I help.”

  “You already have. What do you need to be here?”

  “Food. Hiding place. Dark.”

  The light must be killing him. “I have the perfect place for you,” I said. “What do you want to do now?”

  “Sleep?” he asked slowly.

  I realized that he must not get asked a lot.

  “Doc, would you take him to the hidey hole we just found?”

  Doc smiled. “Good idea. But I can’t move the linens and things.”

  “Oh, hell.” I felt weird saying that now. “Right. Never mind. I’ll do it. Tell them about the diaries. Beeval, you come with me.”

  He reached out one of his long arms to me, and I took his claw. Even though he was a creature of Hell, I knew he was meant to be here. I knew this was the right decision. I might need some time to convince Deirdre and Daniella of that, however.

  We walked up the stairs together, hand in claw. I pointed at the large cupboard. “This is where you can stay. It’s dark, it’s quiet, and no one will bother you here. When you’re ready, you come out,” I said, taking the blankets and towels and various other linens out. I used my phone flashlight to show him the hidey hole.

  He peered in and smiled at me again. For a demon to look so sweet, the Earth must have fallen off its axis, or something. Or I bumped my head really hard. But he did look sweet.

  “I have?” He gestured at a pile of blankets.

  “Uh, sure?”

  He leaped down from the cupboard and grabbed them, dragging them back to the hidey
hole.

  “You come out whenever you’re ready, okay?”

  “Yes. Thank you, Desimo.”

  “No, Beeval. Thank you. You saved my life.”

  He made a humming noise that I guess meant it was all good, patted my leg, and disappeared into the hidey hole, pulling the cover over top of him. I looked at the pile of linens still on the floor. I couldn’t leave them here, because that would drive me crazy. I shoved them over to the left side and closed the door, leaving it open a crack so Beeval could see it when he woke up.

  Then I went back downstairs to find my past.

  Chapter Eight

  Everyone had taken a seat around the table, except Doc, who hovered. I sat down across from Deirdre. “Did Doc tell you?”

  “What he could.”

  “Before we get into this, how did things end between you and…” Zane stopped.

  “Granny,” I said.

  “Yes. You and Granny.”

  We all looked at Doc. He sighed. “Very well. If you must know. I fear for the version we’re about to read.”

  “Get on with it,” Daniella said.

  “I came up here in 1876. My friend, Tom Miller, he was of the notion to open a Bella Union Saloon, since it had done so well in Cheyenne. I came with him, having secured a deal for the faro tables. The Bella did well, as it was more respectable than the Gem. That was a proper blood bath,” he added. “I met your grandmother at the Bella. I never thought Desdemona Nightingale was her name, but she never gave me another. I called her Desi. We enjoyed our time together. She was a quick study at the cards.”

  “She won this house in a game of cards,” I said.

  “I know. It makes me proud. I left something good for her.”

  “Two things,” Deirdre said.

  Doc stopped and looked at her. He caught on, and his mouth opened, and closed. “That is most kind of you to say. As I was saying, we got on well. She was light, and lively, and happy. Until I told her that I was of a mind to head south once more. I did not know then, but at that point, our association had… borne fruit.” He pursed his lips.

  I started to laugh. “I’m sorry, but that is such a funny way to say it.”

  Daniella covered her mouth to hide the smile.

  “I didn’t realize you were missish,” Deirdre said to Doc.

  “I am not. But I am respectful of mothers.”

  “Did she tell you?” I asked.

  “No, she did not. I told you that. I think it was a wise choice on her part. She begged me to stay, told me she could help me with the consumption. I told her I’d seen every quack east and west of the Mississippi, and that I would pass. She was angry, but there was more. It was almost a panic.”

  “She knew she was pregnant, and she was scared,” I said. I could see it, and I couldn’t. My memories of Granny were of a strong, no-nonsense woman. She’d been kind of scary. Meema smiled and laughed a lot more than Granny ever did.

  “No doubt. The hell of it is, if she’d made the deal with that devil she probably could have helped me. She must have had the magic then. I brushed it off, and shortly after that, I left. The last time I saw her, she was crying without making a sound. She didn’t say anything, just watched me go.” Doc turned his head away.

  I thought he might be ashamed. But I wasn’t going to assume, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to say anything. Our talk this afternoon left me feeling unsettled, and good, all at the same time.

  “Did you see her again?” Zane asked.

  “No. I went south, and I took up with Kate then. There was no more time for any other woman. Kate would have run them off.”

  We were all silent. I felt sorry for Granny. Alone, pregnant, and she’d lost the man she loved. Doc was right—she must have made the deal by then, since she thought she could save Doc. And she was a dance hall girl. We’d lived with that growing up, back when we were still ourselves. No one let us forget our granny was a saloon girl, said with all the attitude you can imagine. And Granny was alone.

  “When I died, your mother was nearly ten years old. Desi had been raising her on her own all that time. It would not have been easy. An unmarried woman would not have found much kindness. Well, when I died, I saw the light that I’d always heard about. I was astounded as I never assumed I’d see such a sight. And then I saw Desi. I said something, I don’t remember what—”

  “’This is funny.’ That’s what you said,” Deirdre interrupted.

  “I guess. I remember thinking this wasn’t what I expected, but I do not recall. I didn’t expect to see her. Something that felt like a hook around my middle pulled me, pulled me away from the light. When I came to, I was in your Granny’s room, and she was looking at me, rocking in her rocking chair.”

  “What happened?” Daniella asked.

  “She told me that I would be with her always because that was the bargain she made. I said that I had made no such bargain, and that it was my time to go. Her face closed up. I know you all know the look. It was as though a door slammed in front of me. I shouted that I’d damn well leave if I damn well wanted to. She said that I was confined to this room until I could behave better. That she wouldn’t risk all that she’d built because I was being difficult. And she walked out. I was in her room for thirty-five years. She did agree, about ten years in when we were driving each other mad, that I could walk around the house. But no one else could see me. I discovered that while she was not in the house, I could not leave the room.”

  “She was powerful,” Zane said. “That is very strong magic.”

  “More than we realized,” I added.

  “When your Granny died, I was still trapped in the room. She wasn’t in the home. It was due to me making noise and your mother coming in to gain my freedom. But then I discovered that not only could I not leave this Earthly plane, I couldn’t even leave the backyard. Your mother was … very low-key in her reception of me. I imagine that she had Granny’s impressions. I never brought up leaving again. I figured that I would need to find a way to escape.”

  “And you never did?” Deirdre asked.

  “Nothing that would break Desi’s spell,” Doc muttered.

  “Okay then. With that, we need to get into the diaries. You ready for this?” I asked my sisters.

  “No,” Deirdre said.

  “Yes,” Daniella replied at the same time. “I’m tired of all the secrets. If we’d known all this, we might have found a way to handle this a long time ago.”

  “I totally agree. Let’s see what the real deal was with Granny.”

  For the next two hours we read.

  I learned that Granny had been madly in love with Doc. The diaries began when she moved to Deadwood. She’d never told us much about her family, but it was in here. She’d been orphaned by cholera, and she wasn’t all that upset about her. Her father had run off, and her mother seemed angry a great deal. Granny was glad to be able to leave their life behind.

  There was an entry the night she met Doc.

  “I have secured a good position as a dancer at the new Bella Union Saloon. Mr. Miller is strict about the customers roughing up the girls, so there is a bit more safety than a place like the Gem. I’m happy with my place here. And I have met the most wonderful man. His name is John Holliday, from Georgia. When he speaks, I can hear the birds, feel the sunshine, and smell the peaches. He is delightful and ever the gentleman. The papers have called him the notorious Doc Holliday, but he is so gentle and polite with me. I think I am falling in love. Who would have thought this would happen to me, little Desdemona Nightingale?”

  I wouldn’t show this to Doc. It would hurt him, and that wouldn’t do a damn bit of good now. All the coldness I’d felt for him was easing. Whatever he’d done to Granny, he had paid for it. So had she. They’d paid for it ten times over, the both of them.

  Daniella gave a shout. “I found something!”

  “Read it,” I said.

  “I have come upon a solution. Mrs. Cannady and her daughter Amelia are both
consumptive. Mrs. Cannady has four younger children. Neither of them have a year left. Six months at best. I am going to offer to help them go peacefully, and promise to take care of the children. I will, of course. Mrs. C is a good mother, and as a mother myself, I completely understand.”

  Daniella said, “About two months later, there’s this: It is done. I have sent the Cannadys on their way. Ashlar came for them, and within a moment, he’d whisked their souls from their bodies. I took the entire family in, to treat the two sick women, so them passing on my front porch will not be seen as out of the ordinary. I have already arranged for the children to be cared for. I offered to raise them myself, but Mrs. C said that would look odd. So she made arrangements with an older childless couple, and I secured a lawyer and gave them all a dowry. I also promised I’d make sure they kept honest, and I will. Those children will not suffer.”

  “So she did it,” I said. “She really did send two other women in her place to die.”

  “They were going to die anyway,” Doc said. “That was a guarantee.”

  “You haven’t been to Hell,” I shot back. “That was not a picnic, and it sure wasn’t a reward.”

  Doc and I glared at one another.

  “We need to find something about her bargain with the demon,” Zane said.

  With that reminder, we got back to reading. An hour later, we stopped to eat some dinner. Then it was right back to reading.

  Finally, I found it. What we were looking for.

  “I have been searching for ways to kill Ashlar. He will eventually figure things out, and while he is not the smartest demon—I’ve dealt with far superior demons since—he will learn the truth. I hope the C’s have been able to keep it from him as long as possible. My spy tells me they are both still there. He has, as a payment of a favor to me, been easing their suffering for several years, but who knows how time goes in H? So I must prepare to face him when—not if—he comes back.” I stopped, and looked around.