Demon Girl (Keeley Thomson Book One)

by P. S. Power

  “Damn you demon!” It looked ready to rage, giant fists clenched angrily.

  “My soul is yours... I am lost.” It really seemed upset about that part of things. For a second Keeley felt bad about it. Then she remembered that the whole soul thing was just a trick anyway. Well, then it wouldn't hurt to fix it.

  “So it seems. Remember our deal though? I can release your soul now, if the tasks are done, though you're bound to serve me fully and without complaint or rancor, anger or spite. You remember all of that?”

  “Aye. What is your bidding... master.”

  OK, there was a little bit of grudging left in the voice, but that was fine for now. As long as it still bought the whole “deal” thing. Otherwise it would just swat her with a tree and the whole thing would end.

  “First, you did finish your tasks? Morris is dead?” If not he could just go back and finish that one up, couldn't he?

  “Yes. He committed suicide, jumping from a bridge in full light of day. None saw me. It fulfilled the tasks set. Just not in time.”

  “Alright, it doesn't remove our deal at all, but if you take the disk and drop it in a hot volcano, I can release your soul from the lock. Consider this a gift from me to you, so that good faith will be between us in our dealings. That way you won't face total non-existence if something ever happened to me.”

  “In truth?” The creature... bowed.

  “Thank you master. May I do this now or...” It waited, probably for her to come across with some condition or trick.

  “The rest of the deal still stands, but yes, do that now please. We should be, friends is a bit much to ask, I know, but on good terms. Don't you think that sounds more pleasant than the alternatives?” She grinned at it, hiding her fear again. It gave off that feeling of terror all the time she realized. It took constant work to not give into it. Even the light of day didn't make the effect lighter.

  Balthias didn't wait for a second invitation to get his soul back, vanishing again, returning just about fifteen minutes before Darla rolled up in her little sports car. The blond leaping out before it even stopped all the way, car sliding sideways on the gravel of the parking lot as she flew through the air, large glass jar under her right arm, glass rod and white silk thread in her left hand. It looked bizarre, but got a real reaction from the lesser demon, as it ran to the tree line faster than Keeley could track and uprooted a decently thick tree to use as a bludgeon. Then it turned and ran at Darla screaming.

  “Never again bitch!”

  Darla didn't flinch, not until Keeley spoke, her voice firm.

  “Stop Balthias.” it almost sounded commanding. Keeley felt kind of proud of it really. Considering the fact that she really felt terrified. She really would have to look into drama as a hobby.

  The lesser demon froze in place, as if unable to move at all.

  “Yes... master.”

  That made Darla freeze too. She stared at Balthias, who stood unable to move, or at least choosing not to and then at Keeley.

  “You... made a bargain with him?” This came out softly. She sounded worried.

  Keeley explained it all quickly, hoping the her sister wouldn't give anything away. For the moment Balthias was holding to the bargain even if it wasn't really sealed properly with magic, however that was done, so maybe they could do everything without violence?

  “So, he finished the tasks, but not by the deadline. As a good will gesture I released his soul from the talisman that Finias gave me. You know how I can use anything for that now,” She didn't make her voice stress the words but it took work.

  “And now Balthias is bound to do my bidding.” She waved at him gently. Airily.

  “So Balthias, there will be no violence toward Darla, but you may move freely otherwise.” She hoped that that wouldn't mean the thing could just kill her, but the lesser demon just relaxed and shuffled his feet a little.

  “Yes master.” He said, voice far more humble now.

  Darla... blinked.

  “You... made a deal with a lesser demon and now it must serve you in perpetuity? I should have expected as much from the Mistress of Souls...” She bowed, a deep thing, with almost no irony at all. She added the title so smoothly that it almost sounded real. Then she smiled.

  “Well, I didn't need my little toy here at all, did I? Let's get to torturing Balthias for slaying Rob and hurting our Gary and then we can figure out his real punishment.” Her voice was dark and angry then.

  Keeley had to tighten her hold on fear again, only this time it actually came from within herself. Eeep. Darla was being freaky and intense. It didn't help that she looked like a cheerleader. It should have made it funny, or cute even. It didn't. That just made the whole thing worse.

  Scarier.

  The large form that looked like an old woodcut print of Satan himself tilted his head.

  “I have killed no one since being freed save the one commanded me by the contest for my soul. Richard Morris. Child rapist. His soul shall burn for all time, his heart so stained. I have killed no other. Just frightened a few.” The creature smiled. It was an awful thing.

  Before Darla could demand a torture to stop its lies, Keeley tilted her head.

  “Balthias from now on you may not speak a lie to me or Darla, do you understand? You must tell us the whole truth at all times, without holding back, so no plotting and planning without telling us as you think of things. I recommend just not doing it. You get the idea?”

  “Yes, but I seek a hole in it. I don't have one for now...” Then the fanged mouth twisted. “Damn you.”

  Smiling Keeley stepped toward it, wondering if the creature really didn't get the game yet or if it was just trying to set her up in return for what she'd had it doing all night. Including murder. She could have felt bad about that, but... no. Eve was her friend and the man had hurt her. She decided to find the others that had molested the girl and do the same to them too. It seemed like a project at least, maybe Darla would take it as extra-credit? Not that she got grades from her mentor, but still...

  “So, have you killed anyone other than Rick Morris and would you know if you'd beaten someone to death and they died later?” Leave no loopholes she reminded herself. Her voice sounded... Old. Not crinkled by time, but like Darla did when she wasn't trying to fake being an eighteen year old girl. Formal.

  “None, nor have I harmed aught. I chased and frightened only, think you that I'm without sense? No one survives the death of a demon's vassal. I simply seek revenge for my incarceration. I still do.” He frowned.

  “You are truly an evil being demon, Mistress of Souls. I cannot even think of striking against you. Hardly fair.” Oddly his deep growl sounded conversational when he said it. Not pleasant, but not angry either.

  She nodded.

  “I know. But I think you'll find that I'm a good person to work for. Days off, perks on occasion, no torture unless you really deserve it, as I think this shows clearly, finding the truth before punishing you for something you didn't do at all. Right now, I'd like you to go to Darla's house, and stay in the third bedroom, on the far side of the house, away from where you hit it with that first car. Is that alright with you Dar?” She glanced over to see her nod.

  “As long as he doesn't touch, break or harm anything. I like my stuff.”

  The orders were given carefully, and the lesser demon vanished without so much as a pop of air. It wasn't really there, after all, being an imaginary being. A scary, intimidating and evil thing created by the collective fear of Christians and probably anyone that had watched a horror movie in the last twenty years. That had been the key. It had really feared that its soul could and would be taken. Because even a demon could hope for redemption, right? If it wasn't for that bleed through... For perhaps the first time in her life Keeley was really glad she'd grown up surrounded by Christians. If not for their particular brand of crazy, and their persistent desire to spread it around, she'd have lost the whole thing and probably be dead.

  It took a sec
ond for the blond to put her jar away, just tucking it into the back seat of the little car, the top still down. Then she turned and tackled Keeley into a hug.

  “I'm so proud of you! I came to avenge your death and instead find you with a pet lesser demon, lounging and acting like you'd been doing this for centuries. That trick with the “soul lock”... just brilliant! I may use that one myself. And then endearing the thing to you by “releasing” its soul. So clever.” She hugged harder.

  “I'm so happy you didn't die.”

  “Me too. Um, we kind of need to figure out what to do with Balthias though. So far he's following along with what I say, but...”

  This got a hand wave.

  “He has to. You said the words and so did he. Making it a bargain. It can't be gotten out of now. Well unless you release him. But I suggest you don't for a while. A pet lesser demon is quite a treasure for one so young. Like a human girl getting a pony. You just have to make sure he doesn't find out that you're as new as all that. It won't change its bargain, but if it ever tricks its way free it could be a danger. You want to make sure that if that does ever happen it respects you.” This musing was all serious, but still said with a smile.

  That just saying “deal” made the whole thing real... Well it wasn't the word, was it? It was the intent. The language was just a guide. If it held that kind of power though, she really needed to be careful. It would be simple to bind people without meaning to, or to be bound if she got mentally lazy. That could really suck.

  They climbed into the car slowly, Keeley thinking as she moved to the passenger side.

  “If Balthias didn't kill Rob... Then who did?”

  “That... is what we need to find out. I have some ideas, but I don't like them at all. Not any of them. Blaming an angry lesser demon was a lot easier than some of the other options.” Darla got quiet then, and didn't speak the rest of the way home. Her house.

  Keeley's.

  There was a police car out front and several people flooded out before they could even get out of the little car. For a second Keeley wondered if something bad had happened, a crime or a death, but her mother and father stood there, both looking worried, then relieved, then... really angry. At her. Ah. Right, she'd been gone for over a day hadn't she. Hadn't even called.

  Oops.

  “Keeley!” Her mother said, running over to hug her. It was warm and comforting, though she could hear her father's voice anyway. That was a bit harsher.

  “You are so grounded. For a month. No three months! And that's only if you have a darned good explanation young lady!” Her father didn't growl really, not compared to the lesser demon she'd been dealing with all night. He tried though. It was really a valiant effort. He even went raspy, his balding head glistening just a bit in the sun.

  The police officers, there were two of them, didn't seem happy to see her at all, but not mad either. A girl going missing was a bad thing, but finding her again, before the massive search got underway wasn't that big of a deal. Kids stayed out late, getting drunk and high. If they made it home, the police could just let it go, job well done.

  Before anyone could say anything, Darla sighed hugely.

  “Car breakdown, my van, the axle broke. They all got stuck and had to walk to a phone, Keeley tried calling here first, but she couldn't get through. We just got everyone else back and came straight here. I have the number for the tow-truck company if you want to check.” She dug in her purse, but the officer closest to them just held up a hand palm up.

  “Let me see that?” He took the piece of paper, and their names then went and sat in the police car, talking to someone. Five minutes later he got out and handed the paper back to Darla directly.

  “Story checks out the van's in a shop being fixed, looks like it hit a rock they said. Well, I think we can just be happy that everything worked out. It sounded like there was very little that could have been done in this case. A broken axle is a broken axle. But do try to be careful in the future, alright girls?” He didn't sound smug, just a bit bored. The police left then, barely making civil excuses.

  That the story had been something very different than what Darla had said meant that she'd rigged everything somehow. The easiest way would be to have the officer on their side, but it could be anything. Keeley couldn't even ask at the moment, because her parents were watching, still looking angry. She suppressed a sigh. This wasn't over then.

  Her father spoke first.

  “You're still grounded. Being irresponsible isn't a good reason to stay out all night. We were so frightened... If you ever do that again we'll ground you for a lot longer than a month.” He frowned at her.

  “Honey, isn't that a little harsh for a car breakdown? Should we punish her for a mechanical failure?” Sherry sounded reasonable, but Charles glared at her too.

  “Darn straight. What was she doing that far out of town anyway? Off sleeping with boys or slutting around with her girlfriends? Who knows what she could be up to, she's your daughter after all.” The words were bitter and angry.

  Sherry sighed.

  “She's your daughter too Charles and you may want to remember that before you go and accuse her of anything...” The words were soft and hard at the same time, tight and more upset than Keeley could remember her mother ever sounding.

  “Is she? Then maybe she shouldn't be allowed to run all over town with... people like that.” He waved at Darla who grimaced a little. She didn't say anything though.

  Sherry stared at him.

  “What? You mean the girl that bailed our daughter out when she couldn't get in touch, and brought her back to us? I really don't see the crime here. I agree that we need to be good parents, but accusing our daughter of being a slut isn't a good way to do that at all. She's a good girl. Her grades are nearly perfect and she got a job at your own workplace in the mail room. If that isn't responsible enough, what is?”

  “What? She got a job? But...”

  “She did. Just a few days per week, but it seems very responsible. I suppose she'll have to refuse it though, if she's grounded because a car broke down...”

  Charles actually gritted his teeth in anger.

  “Fine... Straight there and back, and school. Nothing else. A boy was killed after all, and then you just disappear, what were we supposed to think Keeley?”

  Not that she was out having sex all night. Especially since the only date she'd ever had planned was the same guy that was killed. The rest of it was... reasonable enough really. She nodded.

  “OK. Sorry I made you worry. Am I allowed to have guests here or am I just going to be isolated totally? I haven't had a real friend in years, I finally get some and days later... well, I guess if that's what you want, what can I do?” She just made her voice sound sad, not manipulative.

  Was it passive aggressive? Heck yeah it was. What was she supposed to do though? Scream at him for being a mentally crippled moron? Like that would work.

  Charles didn't buy it, not really but he waved at Darla.

  “You can have visitors, but only one at a time. And no overnight guests.” That part was because he didn't trust her, the feeling practically dripped from his voice.

  Keeley nearly laughed.

  “Alright then. Um, guess I'll see you soon Darla? Maybe? Oh, could you get the paperwork out of Freida? The work stuff, there was an envelope that I didn't read in it, could you check that for me and let me know what it is?”

  “Of course.” She didn't glare at Charles or Sherry, she just looked embarrassed instead, like she didn't want to see the scene of domestic confusion and awkwardness at all.

  Keeley wanted to get away from it too, but that didn't seem likely. Not for the next month.

  A pet lesser demon and grounded in the same day. That was probably a first in world history, wasn't it? A sad and sorry first.

  Chapter fourteen

  Keeley felt embarrassed that she'd missed a day of school. OK, a lesser demon made a decent excuse, but no one really knew about that. Her f
ather said that she'd just have to work it out on her own, but her mom promised a note the next day. It was clear the fight about Keeley being grounded wasn't going to end any time soon. Probably not within the next month. She decided not to argue about it herself.

  If she was a normal girl that had gotten stuck out like that she'd have been grounded anyway, right? It sucked, it wasn't fair and nothing she did would make it better, since just explaining what had really happened didn't seem a very good option. Bringing Balthias over might get her ungrounded, but that could also do severe and long term psychological damage to her parents and they had enough problems without her adding to them like that. As it was she worried about Gary and the others, Balthias having scared the crud out of them like that. What could she do? Not much, they'd probably either believe it happened and never speak of it or make up their own story. That's what the memories in her head said at least. The ancient ones she'd been given.