Demonspawn

by Glenn Bullion

  I'm guessing Bill's early visit to me did a lot more good than we thought.

  “Victoria called the army very fast. I'm sure the coverup is already started.”

  He nodded. “Okay. So what's the plan? I can go in and do more recon if you need.”

  I put a hand on his shoulder. “No. Stay far away. I'm not sure if what I'm gonna do will affect you or not.”

  He was surprised. “Alex, I'm a ghost. What the hell can anyone do to me?”

  I smiled and walked toward the office building.

  I could see my reflection in the glass door as I got closer. I didn't expect what I saw.

  My jeans were a little charred from the earlier flame bath. My hair was a mess, and my chest was speckled with blood. But that's not what surprised me.

  My face was totally different.

  I barely recognized myself. My face was almost swollen. My forehead was a light shade of brown with ridges in it. My cheeks were a bright red, to match my new red eyes.

  I looked like a monster. Like a demon.

  And that's what I am. I'm part demon. It was time to really embrace that.

  I pushed open the front door. An alarm went off. The lobby area was rundown, like I imagine the rest of the place was. The ultraviolet light gave the trash on the floor a purple hue.

  I heard people running. Two of Heins' men popped up in a doorway not too far to the right. Looks like they were packing guns this time. Before they could aim, I faced them and beat my wings a few times. The wind knocked them to the ground.

  Two more showed up at the hallway to the left. There was a large old desk that a secretary must have sat at a long time ago. I ran for it and dove headfirst across the floor. I vanished right before they opened blind fire. I felt the bullets pass through as I slid through the desk and got into a sitting position. They kept peppering the desk with bullets. I heard the first two guys climb to their feet. There were four armed men, all pointing guns at the desk.

  I heard someone talking into a radio.

  “The winged freak is here. He disappeared. Get down to the lobby now.”

  I didn't want to reappear. But I had to give them a chance. I had to at least say I tried to save them.

  “Listen, don't shoot,” I said. My voice still sounded like a demon. That wouldn't help me get my message across. “You have to leave. Please. Call your friends back and get everyone out of here. If you leave now, you won't get hurt.”

  There was a short laugh, followed by another click of a radio.

  “Okay, we've got him trapped. He's begging for his life. Hurry up.”

  I shook my head.

  One of them jumped behind the desk, his shotgun ready. I was already gone, vanished into the ghost world.

  Just one more world to go.

  The empty office building slowly faded away around me. The sounds and smells of the city all vanished. I could only smell something horrible that I can't even describe.

  I was in the demon world.

  It was the same reddish looking desert that I was in before. The demon world was always bleak and barren, except for those rare gateways that reached all three worlds. But this wasn't one of them.

  That's because I was the gateway.

  I was in the middle of hundreds, maybe thousands of demons. None of them spoke a word. They were eating people, ghosts, I guess. Was this Hell? Is this where bad people went when they died? Or were they just lost souls, like my biological parents and their cult?

  One demon casually ripped off a woman's arm and licked the end of the stump. Another ripped the dick off a man and shoved it in his mouth. Some looked human, with arms and legs. While others looked like twisted mutant animals of some sort, with four legs. Some even had two heads.

  They saw I was there.

  They stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Some were drooling with anticipation. One of the ones that looked like a twisted dog tried to lick my leg, but it drew back, like I'd hurt it. For whatever reason, I can hurt demons with a touch.

  A few of them bowed before me.

  The demons had once said I'd be back, that I was a part of them.

  They were right.

  “You want to come out and play?” I asked. I still sounded like them.

  There was some commotion. They looked excited. One of the dog-like demons looked up at me and wagged its two tails. It drooled blood.

  I thought it was cute.

  Then I felt guilty and horrible for thinking that.

  “It's play time. But no killing.”

  They looked dejected, but only for a second.

  It was time to go back to the real world.

  The red desert vanished. I was back in the lobby of the office building, near the front door. It looked like eight men all surrounded the front desk, trying to figure out where I went. I recognized a few of them from the stadium.

  I was angry.

  “I tried to warn you.” They spun to face me. I stretched my wings out, like a cobra extending its hood, then folded them neatly behind me. “But you wouldn't listen. Remember, you brought this on yourselves.”

  They raised their weapons.

  The UV lights blinked once, then went out completely.

  It wasn't me that did it. At least, I don't think.

  My night vision let me see everything. They fired everything they had, but their shots passed through me. They only succeeded in destroying the door and glass windows behind me.

  “Did we get him?”

  “What the fuck?”

  “Where's the lights?”

  Someone grabbed their radio. “Roy, fire up the backup generator.”

  There was a pause, then a voice on the other end. “Both generators are fried.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  I saw the shadows in the room start to move. I think they even grew larger. The men saw it too. They all bunched up near the center.

  “What is that? What the hell is that moving?”

  There was one inhuman moan. Then another. I could almost feel the air leaving the room, even in the ghost world.

  I saw claws reach out from the shadows. A claw raked down the back of one of the men. He fell to the ground screaming.

  “Remember!” I called, like I was talking to a bunch of kids. “No killing!”

  But Heins and all his men would wish they were dead.

  It was a scene straight out of my old visits to the demon world. It reminded me of when I first saw my biological father. My little minions attacked with rage. They came out of the shadows, the corners, the floor. They were everywhere. The men in the lobby all shot blindly. I think they may have even wounded each other.

  I followed a stairs sign down the hallway. I didn't even bother running. I saw a demon with its jaws wrapped around some guy's arm. He screamed as he beat the demon on the head with his free hand. The demon looked like it was having a little too much fun. As it chewed on the man's arm, it put a claw to his throat.

  “Hey! I said no killing!”

  It looked sad, like a puppy. I winced as the demon ripped the man's arm off from the elbow down. It didn't speak, but I could hear a deep voice in my head.

  “He's alive, master.”

  I walked up the stairs. As I passed the second floor, I could still hear screams and demons wailing. It did creep me out.

  But I didn't feel sorry for them.

  They had their chance to run. They didn't take it. My demons wouldn't kill them, but I doubt they would be able to hunt a vampire ever again.

  I opened the door to the third floor. Old offices and cubicles were everywhere. The lights flickered on and off. I heard another scream that sounded like it came from outside.

  I ran to the window. Down in the parking lot I saw some of Heins' men trying to escape. Some of them crawled away as fast as they could, demons on their backs. Then I saw the demons vanish. The men who could still run did so without looking back.

  I realized the demons couldn't go too far away from
me. They were linked to me, just like I was linked to them.

  I heard a noise far across the floor in the corner. I could see a rifle sticking out from behind an old desk. Looked like someone was reloading.

  Sure enough, Heins jumped up and started shooting at a few shadows. My demons maybe were messing with him, as I didn't see any. He looked terrified.

  “You like my little friends?” I asked.

  He pointed the rifle at me and fired. I was already vanished. He emptied every round he had into the wall behind me. When he was out he tossed his gun and pulled out a knife. I tried not to laugh.

  I saw my demons. They crawled out of the shadows, surrounding him.

  “Wait,” I reappeared.

  “They're all alive, master.” It was many voices now. They seemed to come from everywhere. I thought only I could hear them. But the way Heins flinched told me he heard them too.

  He pulled a grenade out of his vest.

  “Stay the fuck back!” Heins shouted. “Or we all die!”

  I laughed this time. My demons laughed with me.

  “You think that will hurt us?” I asked.

  Heins was really afraid. Every time I'd seen the man, it was all tough-man bravado type crap. Now here he was, sweating bullets.

  “It doesn't matter,” he said. “I've won. The world will know now. No more secrets.”

  I snarled. I wanted so bad to take him back to the stadium. I wanted him to see the ghosts of the people whose deaths he was responsible for.

  “And we both know you're not gonna kill me,” he said. “You don't have it in you, kid, or whatever the fuck you are. Deep down, you're a pussy, just like that vampire bitch of yours, and just like Bachner. You won't do what has to be done.”

  I looked at my demons. They were anxious to tear into him.

  But they would do whatever I said. I had total control over them.

  “You know what I'm gonna do?” Heins was suddenly getting brave. “I'm gonna find that sister of yours. Then I'm gonna find your girlfriend. And we're all gonna have some fun.”

  I looked around at my demons. “Play time's over.”

  They looked dejected. “But master.”

  “It's over.”

  Slowly my demons faded back into the shadows. The lights came on steady. The thickness in the air seemed to go away. With my demons gone, I could hear the men on the second floor screaming in pain, and calling for help outside.

  “Oh, just me and you, now?” Heins asked. He actually put the grenade away and dropped his knife to the ground. “Okay, let's go, freak.”

  I walked toward him. He could have been trained in one hundred forms of martial arts for all I know. But that wouldn't matter, not for what I had planned for him.

  Despite everything he'd done, and how he tried to provoke me, he was right. I couldn't kill him.

  But he needed to be dealt with. He was still very dangerous.

  He tried to take a swing at me. I wrapped my wings around myself. I heard his knuckles crack against the tough skin. He yelled in pain and held his fist.

  I reached out and grabbed his arm.

  “You ready to go for a ride?”

  The office building faded around us. The air got humid as the dark red landscape took over. The demons were more spread out this time, chasing ghosts around.

  Sadly, I was getting used to seeing them eating and devouring what used to be people.

  They paused when they saw me.

  “Master. Can we play again?”

  I looked at the guest I'd brought along with me, Heins. His mouth hung open as he looked at the Hell around him. I still had a lock on his arm.

  I didn't know I could bring demons into my world, or bring others into theirs. I was running off of instinct now.

  And it felt good.

  “No. But I brought you a toy.”

  “What-what the fuck?” he said. “What you are gonna do?”

  “You're right. I'm not kill gonna you.” I gave him a smile. “I'm gonna leave you here.”

  “Are you joking? No, please.”

  “So long, Heins.”

  I let go of his arm. He fell to his knees. The demons started circling him.

  “No!”

  I disappeared from the spirit world before they tore into him. Did they kill him? Or let him live as long as possible for more torture? Is it even possible for anything to die in the demon world? I don't know.

  I walked slowly back through the office building. I had to walk through pools of blood on my way out. Heins' men still littered the place. True to their word, my demons killed no one. They were in bad shape, though. I saw a guy missing his eyes. Another had a leg missing. They begged me for help. I called 911 on my out the door, but that was it. Compared to Heins, they were the lucky ones.

  I didn't think any of them were in any shape to hunt again.

  I took a deep breath as I stretched my wings against the night air. I didn't know how much sleep I'd lose. I didn't know how much guilt would eat away at me. Did I do the wrong thing? Was I just as bad as Heins and his men? Maybe. But I thought back to the people in the stadium. I thought back to the people killed at Waylon Research. At least their ghosts could maybe have some peace.

  I heard ambulances coming. I flew off into the night sky.

  I am part demon. I think for the first time, as I flew away from Heins' hideout, I was okay with that.

  Epilogue

  Two weeks went by. Despite what Heins thought would happen, the vampires of the world didn't just stand up and declare “We exist”. And the military and government, well, they kicked off probably one of the greatest coverups of all time.

  The whole incident was all over the international news. But according to the government, the military responded to a domestic terror threat at the stadium. They even had mug shots and criminal backgrounds to go along with it. I could only wonder who the poor guys they were showing all over the news were. But the threat had been neutralized, they'd claimed, so the citizens of the country could just relax.

  That didn't stop the grainy internet videos. Some of the videos and even some eyewitnesses showed up on the news. But still, it didn't alter how everyone lived their lives. There weren't waves of vampire hunters rising up to fill the ranks. Heins had failed.

  Victoria and I said goodbye to Bill.

  He had solved his one last case, and was ready to move on. There was no funeral for him, as he was only declared missing. There wasn't a body to bury. But we met at the cemetery anyway. Just a touch from me let Victoria say goodbye to her dear friend. A lot of things had to fall in the right place. But if it weren't for Bill, I could only imagine how many people would have lost their lives, including Victoria and me.

  The two talked for a bit. I wish I could have left them alone, but that wasn't possible. We watched Bill walk over a hill. Then he vanished somewhere even I couldn't see. I thought I saw a tear in Victoria's eye.

  Things slowly got back to normal. It was a Saturday morning. The phone ringing pulled me out of a deep sleep.

  Cindy stirred next to me.

  “Who calls this early?” she asked.

  She threw a leg over me. We were both still naked from the night before. We were up most of the night, so there was a good chance it wasn't as early as she thought.

  “I'd better go see who it is.”

  She gave me a quick kiss and rubbed my chest.

  “Hurry up. I got plans for you.”

  Cindy and I are together now. I've never been happier. She was still my best friend. We still spent time together, watched TV, had dinner, hung out with all our friends. The biggest different now was we had a lot of sex. She accepted me for who I was, wings and all. There was no way I'd ever be able to tell her in words how much that meant to me.

  I answered the phone in the kitchen.

  “Alex, it's me.”

  Victoria. I tensed up. We'd spoken a lot the past two weeks. Every time she called, I expected bad news. Like the military is on the way
to your house. Or everyone knows about you and wants you dead. But that wasn't the case. There were videos of me flying around the stadium on the Internet. But you couldn't see my face. And like Victoria said. People don't believe the truth even when it's right in front of them. I was safe.

  “What's up?”

  “Nothing. Just checking in. Seeing how you're doing.”

  “I'm good. Me and Cindy, getting ready to have some breakfast.”

  “Is that what they call it now?”

  I smiled.

  “I'm happy for you two,” she said.

  “Thanks. So you just called to talk? No bad news or anything?”

  I could almost see her rolling her eyes. “No. No bad news. Everything is okay. Even if it wasn't, I know the right people.”

  “Okay, cool.”

  “Listen. I have an early dinner planned with Bachner. But what do you have planned tonight?”

  A dinner with Bachner. That was a name I hadn't heard much in the past two weeks. And those two eating dinner was something I couldn't see in my head.

  “Dinner? You two are friends now?”

  “I don't know if you'd call us friends. But I don't think we're enemies anymore. We got a lot to talk about still.”

  “That's good to hear. We're going out with our friends tonight. You've seen us all before, at the club.”

  “You mind if I tag along with you?”

  Our little group was getting bigger. Alicia was dating that boy she'd met at the stadium, Chris. After the military, Victoria, and Bachner cleaned up the stadium, Chris was all my sister could talk about. He was almost the complete opposite of her, but she was crazy about him. He hung out with us all the time.

  “Sure. You're always welcome. You know that.”

  “Thanks. I'm gonna go, time for bed for me. Tell Cindy I said hi.”

  “I will.”

  I hung up. When I turned around Cindy was leaning against the dining room wall. She still hadn't put any clothes on. Wow, she is gorgeous.

  “You awake?” she asked with a smile.

  “I am now.”