Daemon Persuasion

by S. K. Gregory

  “She was pregnant when she left town,” he showed the license with her date of birth on it to Mary.

  “You knew about me then?” Mackenzie said.

  “We haven’t spoken to Annie in a long time, not since she left. We heard rumors that she had a child. Where is she now?” he asked.

  “She’s in prison.”

  “What?” Mary cried. She noticed that Patrick didn’t look very surprised.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “She was accused of murder.”

  Mary swayed on the spot. Patrick put a hand on her shoulder.

  “It was self-defence,” Mackenzie insisted.

  “I don’t believe this,” Mary said.

  Mackenzie felt closed in, suffocated. She couldn’t deal with this right now. First she learned her dad was probably dead and now to find grandparents she didn’t know existed was more than she could take in.

  “I have to go,” she muttered.

  She went back to the motel room and locked the door. She put a chair against it for good measure. Lying down on the bed, she tried to process this new development. Grandparents? There could be aunts, uncles, cousins and God knows who else. For all she knew there could be even more family members out there that she didn’t even know about.

  Exhausted, she closed her eyes. Maybe it was the fight. Or she had a concussion from head butting Taryn. There had to be some explanation for all this confusion—this strangeness. A brain tumor that Taryn had shook loose? Some kind of drug someone had slipped her? She put her hands over her eyes. Could it be the town itself? Whatever it was, she was in over her head.

  When she woke up it was dark outside. She shook the cramp out of her arm and stretching she sat up to find a message had been left for her on the wall. Or rather burnt into it.

  Get out of town.

  Subtle. Also, worrying considering the chair was still in place. With cautious steps, she checked each window to find them securely locked. So, whoever burnt the message in the wall got in some other way.

  Her eyes searched the room. Her bag was where she’d left it on the back of the chair. Crossing the floor, she grabbed it up and pawed through it. Everything seemed to be there, including her switchblade.

  It was after nine o’clock and she considered going back to see her grandparents, but it was obvious Patrick didn’t want her there. All these years and he hadn’t bothered to check on his daughter, to see that she was all right or to make amends. What kind of father would turn his back on a child—even a grown one—when he knew she was pregnant and in trouble? Yet neither grandparent ever tried to see Mackenzie. She drug her thoughts away from them. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t miss what she never had and now was not the time to try for any kind of relationship.

  Right now, she needed to speak to her mother. In the morning she would phone the prison to get some answers, for now she didn’t want to stay in this motel room. She grabbed her stuff and went out to her car. Driving out of town, she pulled into a lay-by for the night.

  Chapter 5

  “Mom, I need to know about my father. I need to know why he came to East Falls in the first place,” Mackenzie said. She’d awoken early and with no destination in mind, she was on her cell as the countryside flashed by.

  There was silence on the other end of the phone and for a moment, she thought her mother had hung up.

  “Mom?”

  “You don’t need to know. Just leave it,” she finally said.

  “Mom, my whole life you have been evasive when it comes to dad. I know he was running from something now what was it?”

  “I can’t tell you. You just have to trust me, it’s dangerous.”

  She tried another tactic, “I just want to know what he was like. You said he rode a motorbike, right?”

  “It was an old Harley. He loved that bike. He took me for a ride on it the first day I met him,” she said dreamily.

  “Why didn’t he stick around?”

  “He couldn’t baby. They would have found him.”

  “Who?”

  She wasn’t expecting an answer but she got one. “His family. He took something from them that they wanted badly. They would have killed to get it back.”

  “What did Mr. Black have to do with it?”

  “He was helping him with it. I don’t know what it was but it was old and Mr. Black was an expert on old.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about my grandparents?”

  “You know you have grandparents?”

  “Yes, but the way you talked about them, I thought they were dead.”

  “You’ve seen them? Where are you, Mackenzie?” she said, her voice rising.

  “East Falls. I met them yesterday in their bakery. They weren’t too friendly.”

  “When I left my father told me not to come back. We had a huge argument. I haven’t spoken to him since. Just stay away Mackenzie. We don’t need them. It’s always been you and me.” Her voice took on a pleading tone.

  Mackenzie took the phone away from her ear, swallowing back a bitter retort. It was just the two of us, before you took up with that bastard Ray, and then you were gone.

  She was left to grow up in foster homes. Her mother had been all she had and then, there was no one she could rely on. Maybe if the Murphy’s had known about her they would have taken her in. It would have meant having a proper home, not a bunch of temporary ones. Her mother lived in a fantasy world, she knew that, but sometimes she grew tired of being the adult in their relationship.

  When she put the phone back to her ear, her mother was reminiscing about her dad again. She didn’t need this. She’d heard it all before. She was about to hang up when she heard her mother say, “The things he could do. Impossible things almost like magic.”

  “Like what?”

  “One minute he was there and then he would disappear so fast.”

  Kind of like Taryn.

  “Did he ever mention someone called Cray?”

  “His brother?”

  Mackenzie froze. Brother? God, no.

  “His brother’s name was Cray?”

  “Yes, he was older than Seb, they never really got on. I never met him.”

  It was a coincidence. It had to be. It wasn’t impossible that there were two people called Cray. But she was kidding herself and she knew it. The thought of being related to Cray made her stomach churn.

  She hung up the phone with a muttered goodbye. Every time she got an answer, she ended up with more questions.

  Screw it, time to go to the source.

  Mackenzie hid behind a wall waiting for Taryn. She had been looking for Cray all day but Taryn had been the only one she’d seen and he was all over town. He marched by, head bent. A man on a mission, it would seem.

  Staying at a distance, she followed him out to a water tower in the middle of a field, on the edge of town. It became harder for her to find a hiding place where Taryn wouldn’t see her. Sparse vegetation, with nothing to mask her movements, she dropped back a bit, hoping he wouldn’t see her. Ducking behind a lone rusty barrel, she watched as Taryn searched the ground around the water tower. After ten minutes or so, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number.

  His voice was clear, “It’s not here. I’m not picking anything up.”

  After listening to the response, he hung up. While he had been talking, Mackenzie snuck up on him from behind.

  She kicked him hard in the spine and he went down. Before he could get up, she grabbed his arm and handcuffed him to a pipe on the water tower. The handcuffs were courtesy of her ex-boyfriend Mike.

  “You?” he snarled.

  “Yeah me. Call that payback for yesterday. Now I want answers.”

  “Get fucked,” he spat.

  She aimed a foot at his thigh, “Why did you knock me off my bike back in LA?”

  “I’ve never been to LA.”

  “Don’t lie to me, I saw your medallion.”

  “I don’t care what you saw, I’ve never been in LA,” he snapped
.

  She expected him to deny it, “Why are you and Cray after Sebastian King?”

  “The same reason you are. We all want the talisman.”

  Talisman? What kind of talisman? For lack of answers, she decided to just go with it. “It’s been years, why are you looking now?”

  “We’ve seen portents that he’s returned. Some of the lower demons are being controlled. Only he had that power.”

  “Do you really think you can get me to buy this demon crap? If you’re a demon then I’m sure handcuffs wouldn’t hold you.”

  He chuckled, “No, they wouldn’t.”

  He yanked hard on the cuffs and they snapped clean through. Mackenzie jumped back out of his reach.

  “What’s your theory now? Defective handcuffs?” He advanced on her.

  She backed away slowly, perhaps they were defective. Taryn had a lot of muscle. He could have broken them without a supernatural explanation.

  “Relax, I have my orders. I’m not allowed to touch you until Cray finds out who you are.”

  “And you always follow orders like a good little boy?” she blurted.

  “Most of the time,” he threatened, “You know you could save everyone a lot of time and tell me who you are and who you work for.”

  “You’re right I could. But I’m not going to.” Taking a chance, she turned her back to him and walked away.

  “You’ll never find it,” he called after her, “King was no fool, it’s hidden well and protected by spells you’ve never even heard of. Give up now.”

  She kept walking.

  Chapter 6

  Black’s Pawn and Loan was now an abandoned building. The fire had caused structural damage, so it seemed no one had ever opened it up again. There were two other stores on either side. Both were abandoned too.

  Mackenzie circled the boarded up building looking for an entry point. She didn’t have high hopes of finding anything useful inside but it didn’t hurt to look.

  A window in the back had a loose board covering it. She pulled it off and boosted herself inside. She could still smell the faint aroma of charred wood. The floorboards were rotted and soft. She moved slowly testing the boards as she went.

  Sunlight filtered through chinks in the walls lighting her way. Most of the debris had been removed but there were still some pieces of charred furniture lying around, mostly chairs and bookshelves. An antique rocking horse sat near the window, it’s once white body now charred and blackened. Mackenzie put her hand out and gently pushed it. It still rocked. She remembered when she was about four or five, her mother had taken her to a toy store. There had been a similar horse there and her mother had let her play on it for over an hour. They didn’t have much money, still living in that tiny one bedroom apartment at the time. They could never afford any of the toys, but her mother let her play with them for as long as possible before the clerk moved them along. It was only when she bored of it and went looking for her mother that she found her talking to a man. She was laughing and flipping her hair. She had never seen her mother act like that. Curious, she moved closer.

  “Hey there, cutie. What’s your name?” he said, smiling kindly at her.

  “Mac,” she had said, shyly. He invited them both out to lunch. He seemed so nice. It just proved the old adage, don’t judge a book by the cover. Ray waited a whole two months before he started beating them. By that time her mother was completely dependent on him.

  She turned away from the horse.

  There were rooms upstairs but the stairs were half demolished so she decided to give it a miss. The main counter was still intact, as was the old-fashioned cash register that sat on top of it. She pressed the button to open the register drawer but the metal was slightly warped from the heat and it stuck.

  Mackenzie pulled out her switchblade and tried to jimmy it open. It moved a couple of inches to reveal some quarters. She felt around inside the drawer for anything else and came up with a large silver key. For a safe, maybe?

  She searched behind the counter and the wall for a hidden safe but there was no sign of one. She moved to the main floor kicking debris aside with her foot. She covered the whole floor. Still nothing. Which meant the safe was probably upstairs, out of reach.

  A floorboard creaked across the room and her breath caught in her throat. Someone else was in the store with her. She moved back behind the counter searching the shadows for any movement. Another creak. She reached for the switchblade, which was still sitting beside the register. There was nowhere to hide and no exit, so confrontation was the only option.

  “Who’s there?”

  She could feel them watching her.

  “What do you want?”

  A flash of light flew towards her and exploded over her head. She threw her hands up to protect herself, as sparks rained down. A beam collapsed, falling on top of her.

  When she came to, Mackenzie found herself pinned under the beam. It had landed on her legs, trapping them. The brunt of it was taken by the counter. A gaping hole in the ceiling above her, revealed a bed that was perched precariously on the edge. If it came down it would probably kill her. She tried wriggling her toes and was relieved when they moved. That probably meant there was no lasting damage. She grabbed the edge of the wooden beam and tried to lift it off her but it was too heavy and she couldn’t get a grip on it.

  “Great,” she muttered.

  Not to sound like a damsel in distress but, “HELP!”

  She yelled for help until her throat hurt, but no one came. They would probably find her here months from now eaten by rats. She was about to summon the Shadow for help, against her better judgment, when someone said, “Hello? Is someone in there?” A man’s voice. A familiar one.

  “Yes, help please, I’m trapped.”

  She heard a thump as the man climbed through the window and stumbled over the debris.

  “Where are you?”

  “Over here, the beam fell on me,” she called.

  She was surprised to find it was Luke from the diner.

  “You? What are you doing here?”

  “Apparently saving you. What the hell happened?”

  “Don’t ask. Can you lift the beam?”

  He grabbed the beam and heaved upwards. The beam lifted about an inch. He looked embarrassed, “Weight lifting isn’t exactly my thing.”

  “Okay, I’ll push, you pull.” Together they managed to move the beam enough for her to pull her legs free.

  “Is anything broken?” he asked.

  “I don’t think so,” she said. She moved her legs about testing them. So far so good. Now to try standing.

  She got to her feet, her legs hurt like hell but they supported her.

  “I think it’s okay. Thanks for your help.”

  “No problem,” he said.

  “Did you see anyone leaving the building before you got here?”

  “No, I heard you yelling and tried to find a way in. There was no one outside. Did someone attack you?”

  “I think so. I didn’t see them but I think they threw some kind of explosive device, it brought the beam down.”

  “What the hell are you involved in?” he asked, looking worried.

  “Nothing. I don’t know why I was attacked,” she lied.

  “Why are you in here anyway? It’s dangerous.”

  “Tell me about it. I was just curious, my mom used to live in town and she knew the owner.”

  “Next time, don’t give in to curiosity. We should get out of here before the rest of the building comes down.”

  When they were outside Luke took her back to Sal’s. They took a seat in the back. A couple of locals glanced in their direction. Mackenzie realized she was covered in dust. She tried her best to wipe it off.

  “How’s the legs?” Luke asked.

  “Sore, but I’ll be fine. Did you sort everything out with work?”

  “Yeah, I got an extension on my deadline.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I’m a writer.
I’m supposed to be doing a travel piece on rural getaways. It’s all pretty boring. Do you have relatives here?”

  “Not really, I just wanted to see where my mother grew up.”

  “That’s a pity. I was hoping you could tell me about the local hotspots,” he grinned at her.

  “Sorry, I wish I did know about them. My advice though, avoid abandoned, fire damaged buildings.”

  “Don’t you think you should go to the police after what happened?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I was trespassing at the time,” she lowered her voice.

  “I think attempted murder, trumps trespassing.”

  “I’d rather just forget it happened.”

  He looked at her as if she was insane. She didn’t blame him but the police couldn’t help her. She didn’t need them looking into her background and it was doubtful they could help with Cray and Taryn. She had no idea what was going on with them. One minute they were attacking her then Taryn let her walk away unscathed and now this? It was crazy and getting more dangerous by the minute.

  “Luke, it was nice meeting you again really and thank you for rescuing me, but I think I’m going to leave town.”

  “You’re running out on me again?” He dug around in his pocket, “Here, at least take one of my cards this time. Maybe you could give me a call sometime.”

  She smiled and took the card, “Maybe I will.”

  Leaving town wasn’t as easy as she thought. When she got back to the car, she found that the tires were slashed. It was a good thing she took the insurance from the rental company.

  “Mackenzie, is it?” She turned to find Mary standing behind her.

  “Yeah,” she said.

  “You never came back.”

  “I didn’t think I was welcome.”

  “I know Patrick can be a little cold at times but he was just shocked. We both were. He’s not home right now; do you want to come in for some tea? We can talk.”

  “I need to phone the rental company,”

  “You can use our phone.”

  Mackenzie followed her into the bakery and upstairs to their apartment. It was small but clean and tidy. The furniture was old but well kept. Mary led her to the kitchen where she took a seat at the kitchen table.