Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap

by P. S. Power

  "Wouldn't miss it." He seemed to be genuine in his words, but his gaze went to his daughter, who seemed stressed. A lot more than would be expected if an unreliable mother had just taken off.

  Luckily that was Darla's job to take care of.

  Keeley needed to check on some other things, and even though the timing wasn't perfect, she had to ask about one of them, since Roy would be in the know.

  "What happened with Bryce Miller and those others?" It would be normal enough for her to be interested, wouldn't it? Roy was with the police after all, and she'd been there, intimately involved in fact.

  The man, who was dressed in a very nice suit, for a police Chief, looked at her, his eyes shining just a tiny bit. That was excitement, not pride though.

  "Full confessions all the way around. It's a slam dunk case. I can't believe that he was going to do that to Gladys though. It's..." There was a pause and the man shook his head, looking to clear it of a dozen contradictory things it seemed. "I've seen a lot of things in my life, but the honest truth is that when most people get angry and lash out, they don't turn into monsters. They might seem like it, and even want to hide it later, but this guy and his friends... I've never seen a collection of evil people so close together. Given how many deaths and disappearances we've had here lately..."

  Keeley nodded, since that only made sense to her, but Eve frowned.

  "I don't get it, has there been a lot more than normal?"

  It was Darla who answered, her face set and grimacing a bit.

  "Most of them weren't regular humans, but yes, many have vanished in the last months. Roberto died at the hands of some Durgs who were pretending to be students at Wilson High. They've gone missing, and so has their school Principal. There are many worried parents in this city at the moment."

  That was only part of the people that had gone, but Keeley could see it.

  Roy too, it seemed.

  "I've been being pushed to crack down on crime, except for the fact that I already know most of this is more of that high weirdness that follows you around Darla. Now Bethie just leaves town? This is becoming too much. As it is we're probably going to have a dusk to dawn curfew soon. At least for those under eighteen."

  That got a response from Eve at least, who made a face and let her arms cross, the backpack with her stuff in it, an old and well worn thing that was made of canvas and seemed to be army surplus from the seventies sitting by her left foot. One of the straps was broken and frayed, hanging off to the side casually.

  "Why lock the kids up? You know for a fact that they aren't killing anyone. Shouldn't you lock up criminals instead?" She sounded a bit displeased really, as if he'd told her that she, personally would be grounded or something.

  Which, given that she had just brutally murdered her mother, might not be a bad idea. Keeley didn't add that however, just watching the scene unfold on its own.

  "Yes, that would be the best case, but it's a lot easier to see that someone is young, and the parents of our little town don't care if what is being done is fair, they're scared and just want it to seem like we're able to do something. Besides, you have to be home each night early anyway."

  There was, thankfully, no fight on that one. Eve just shrugged and then picked up the pack, walking off toward the Chief's very nice red sports car.

  "Yeah, but not dusk. This time of year cheerleading practice won't even be over by that time, most days. What if I need to actually use the library or something, to study? Well, you know, not me, but what if some of the nerdy kids have to?" They started arguing the point, with Roy taking a sensible approach to it and Eve clearly playing devil's advocate.

  They didn't seem to be stopping as they drove away either.

  As soon as they were out of sight, Darla spun to face Keeley, her gaze hard, but her body language not overly aggressive really. That probably meant they weren't going to be fighting physically at least.

  "Why did you let her do this? I had a plan in place you know." The gesture toward the little, dingy white and mustard yellow single wide informed Keeley as to what she meant, without going over everything.

  "I would have suggested she not do it this way, but I missed it. I only came to find Elis, since he'd gone missing from home. I was a little preoccupied though, what with the nearly dying and all that. Still, if she'd insisted I would have backed her on it. This was a pain to clean up, but I'd left orders with Elis to help her do things like this, so don't blame him either." The woman had let her be abused and raped so many times it was only fair for her to be in the mix of those punished for the crimes. Keeley readied herself for an argument, but Darla just stared for a bit and then seemed to relax.

  "Well, I had a plan in place. The woman would have died of cancer in a few months, if she'd lived that long, which wouldn't have added to the ever growing list of suddenly vanishing people around here." A soft looking hand came up, the nails perfect, like they almost always were. A soft pink, with white tips. The idea was to stop Keeley from interrupting.

  For once Keeley didn't take the clue and spoke anyway.

  "I understand. Since most of that list has to do with you directly, it makes sense. Well, it's too late to fix it now, not outside of what we've already done. I'm surprised the panic around here hasn't gotten larger already. We should go though, since Elis has been standing out here looking all Vampy for about ten minutes now. The neighbors have seen him too." Most would just think he was a funny looking person though, at a distance. People did that now. If they even bothered to think of it at all.

  Really she needed to get some t-shirts made up for Elis and Rebekah that indicated they were part of a performance group or something. The All Vampire Band maybe? That would allow them to just walk around in most places, without anyone being concerned at all.

  Her words had been a bit accusatory, but true enough. Darla had actually killed most of the missing people herself after all. The ones that had taken off on their own weren't her fault maybe, being that they'd been trapped by Edith the Gatherer and had run for it the second they were set free, but she had executed their captor, allowing it to happen in the first place.

  Xenses had killed Keeley's father, Charles, but no one knew he was gone really. Barb had shown up as missing though, so there was that. Having her come back would help a bit. They could claim that she'd been pregnant and gotten an abortion or something. Fram would have to change the shape of her body a tiny bit to sell that, but it was doable and no one would think it was made up, if they presented it correctly.

  Her sister wasn't thrilled by the fact that Keeley was laying it all at her feet it seemed, but didn't deny it at all. It was, like it or not, simply what had happened. Justifying what you did was a human trait, when you got down to it. They, Greater Demons, could do it of course, and Keeley still did at times because she was used to it, but Darla was better that way, not worrying about things like that at all anymore. She did what made sense to her at the time and tried to make certain it would work out for her. That was all. If that meant killing people, or torturing them, she wouldn't lose sleep over it later. Not that she slept, but the point was still a good one. Greater Demons didn't have to feel guilt, so most of them, possibly all of them, didn't bother with it.

  Darla certainly didn't at least.

  "Well, we should try to avoid too many more sudden disappearances in the area for a time. As it stands we'll see backlash from this as soon as it comes to the awareness of enough people. We should come up with a plausible story now, while we have a chance to set things in motion." The words came with a grin, which probably had to do with the we, rather than anything else. Darla was her mentor though, so of course Keeley would help out. That was probably just good training after all. Learning to cover her tracks and all that.

  "Right. Well, for now we need to see to those weapons you owe me. I think something is wrong here though. The attacks on me don't feel... right." Keeley still couldn't explain it though, so shook her head a bit, in frustration. She was frow
ning too, but let that go after a bit, since acting upset wouldn't help anything at the moment.

  Her sister just watched her for a few seconds.

  "How so?"

  "Well, if I were setting this up, I'd have to have a reason to attack. I mean, yes, I'm a baby, so fair game, and a lot of people might try to make use of that, now that they know. Honestly though, without an actual grudge, most beings should pretty much not want to bother now. That part is like you said. But other than Xenses, I haven't angered anyone enough to really come after me, and he wouldn't test me like this."

  "Test?" That part got Darla to pay attention pretty quickly, her eyes suddenly serious. "You think this is someone trying to..." It was meant to lead her to a conclusion, but Keeley had to shake her head.

  "That's what I don't know. If they want me dead that badly, then simply bringing in overwhelming force would be the way to do it. That always makes sense and other Greater Demons could do it easily. I could do it, if I had time to plan, even with someone older than me. So what's being done doesn't make sense. Not setting easily seen traps under my bed, or getting a group of Alede to try and shoot me. The Greater Demon that looked like Zack... I don't know, it's as if someone is just moving things up, one bit at a time, to see what I can do. But who'd bother?"

  Her sister just seemed to be considering things, except that was the wrong thing to do. After all, if it had been Darla behind it, she would have acted shocked, or possibly supportive, but she wasn't doing that. If it was Xenses, there would be a willingness to help Keeley fight, but more of a push for her to protect herself. Going into hiding or what not.

  "What do you know Darla? No fair holding out now."

  "Probably nothing. I... We should get you those weapons. Can you stop by my place later tonight? About eight or so? We can do that and use some tricks I know to see if we can find the owner of that hand you collected. That was good thinking by the way. Remembering that before they thought to come back and get it. We probably won't get anything off of it, but just in case, it's worth trying."

  It was too much deflection and not enough answer, but she let it go. Trying to pull information from Darla was beyond her pay grade at this point in life. Short of enslaving her and really, that would be a waste of time and effort at the moment. A nice fallback, but not something to use on a friend every time there was a problem.

  "Eight then."

  Darla left via the inroads and Keeley waited, then walked around the single wide and picking Elis up to carry him along with her. That he'd walked there in the first place was obvious, but making him do that to get home would just be petty on her part. He smelled good. Like dust and pheromones. Fear. There was that part of it too. The Vampire was terrified of her.

  Which only made sense.

  They were back to her second house a few moments later. Looking at the clock she realized it was only about four in the afternoon too, meaning she had hours to get some things done.

  "Elis." She paused, since her initial orders would have been for the man to go sit in his room. She wasn't pleased with him overly, since he should have used his resources better in the first place and gotten the rest of them to help Eve kill her mom. Still, he'd followed her orders, helping Eve and doing what she told him to, hadn't he? Blaming him for not being a genius wasn't going to help him behave better later. "Why don't you go and watch some television for a while? Or do something useful, if that gets boring for you?"

  Keeley didn't bother with television herself anymore. Not much at least. It was too predictable and filled with unrealistic solutions to made up problems. Elis wasn't her though.

  "Yes, Mistress." He was actually pleased suddenly, and moved off to do what she'd said while Rebekah glared at him. She wasn't thrilled with the man at all and still carried a grudge there. That made sense at least.

  She was sitting at a table that had been set up across the room, near the tree. It was pretty and had tasteful white lights on it and lots of garlands. The Hsreth had done most of the work, so it was meticulously balanced, all the ornaments in exactly the right place, precisely two inches from the tip of the branch they hung from. Keeley joined her, pulling out the other chair and settling in to look at the assorted papers. Most of them were for office space, though there were also orders for the needed blood gathering materials, and large industrial refrigeration units.

  After a few seconds Keeley had it all in her head and nodded.

  "We need a cost estimate on all of this for set up. Let me know and we'll see what we can do that way. Make sure to get one set up in Maine. Richard will need one. In Washington State too. We have friends there."

  That got a smile from her employee. A big and very tooth filled horror that still managed to show how sweet the woman in front of her really was.

  "We can start with one in ten locations. I have a map..."

  It was well thought out and complete. Keeley nodded, then set to making corrections, so that they wouldn't make waves. It wouldn't hurt to have the Vampires on her side, after all.

  Somebody had to be.

  Keeley grinned slightly and got back to work, because, as a Greater Demon, she knew that wasn't true at all. No one had to be her friend. That kind of thing had to be worked for, nurtured and grown constantly, or it would fade away.

  Chapter eleven

  The paperwork was remarkably easy, once she started in on it. Rebekah had things pretty well in hand and only needed to know where the funds would be coming from for it all. They worked out that they needed five more facilities nationwide for it to function well and be large enough to take off without too much extra work, but that would just take more funds, which Keeley had in the bank already. She wouldn't even be stressing her accounts all that much, dropping a million-five on each location.

  Being the Mistress of Souls really paid well after all.

  At just before eight Keeley stood up and patted her Vampire buddy on the arm, noticing that the woman didn't even shy away in fear this time. It was a massive improvement, though one that came about mainly due to the fact that she was too distracted to notice the contact consciously.

  "I'm off then, to collect on a debt from Darla. I don't know how much time this will take, but I can't imagine it will be long." It wasn't like they'd been apart for months or something. The older Demon had no doubt hundreds of years worth of stories and tales for her, but the fact was, in things that mattered at that moment, there just wouldn't be all that much going on. Not that she'd be willing to share.

  Rebekah just nodded and then smiled, which was a throwback to her human years, a thing that showed a lot of teeth and that most would have found subconsciously threatening, given the rows of fangs. Keeley locked that down inside of herself with only a tiny flare of magical force, and smiled back. After all, soon enough the Vampire woman wouldn't be her assistant anymore.

  No, she'd be the head of a national corporation. It wouldn't hurt for them to be on good terms, given that. Vampires lived so long that there would, no doubt, be an eventual betrayal, but if they were close that could take decades to come about. Or longer.

  That part was a little sad, knowing that, if given enough time, everyone would turn on you, but it was one of the most consistent memories in the store of information that the Greater Demon Tarsus had given her the first time they met. Sooner or later everyone did it. Only your slaves could be trusted that way, and at times, if they were powerful enough, they'd manage it too. Knowing that though, she had a choice. She could treat everyone as an enemy, a threat to her life and power, which would cause them to do it faster, or Keeley could nurture them and seek to protect her status in their minds. It would surprise a lot of people, but kindness was the better long term option, even if the end point would be the same.

  It was the time it took to happen that altered the equation.

  "So, what are you all planning to do on your day off?" She announced it to the room, and they all looked at her as if she was speaking in a foreign language. That was good. It meant
that she'd taken them by surprise.

  Fram actually got it first, smiling with Barb's face, a look that was far too charming and cute. He'd need to tone that down before he got off to Raintree or no one would believe his act.

  "We get vacation time? Even the new slaves like me?"

  Keeley nodded, after all, she wasn't a monster. Or, well, she was, but not the kind that would abuse her own people. That was just insane.

  "Christmas is yours to spend as you will. Well, as long as you keep things reasonable and don't attack me or use it to plot, but travel, parties, whatever you want that way. Make sure you stop by here though, there will be presents under the tree."

  No one seemed gleeful about that, and Elis actually looked downcast, even as he sat and watched the television. He didn't say anything though. It was just clear that he didn't think the plans included him. Two days before that would have even been true.

  "Elis? What plans do you have?"

  That got everyone to stare, except Fram, who clearly caught on to the idea. After all, he was a Greater Demon too. That meant, in the main, he understood things. It was their real power after all, seeing what was there. His blind spots were a problem, but they weren't huge things, he just needed a little help to move past them.

  Her male Vampire sat straight though and then shook his head slightly, waiting for the trap.

  "I..." He stopped, but Rebekah broke in, rescuing him.

  "You can come with me. I have an invitation to visit with Richard Swerlin and his family on the day. It has a plus one attached, so that won't be a problem. I have to figure out how to get there and back inside a day, since it's in Maine, but as long as you don't mind it mainly being about business, it could be fun." The woman looked at the papers in front of her and then shuffled them a little bit, nervously.