by Terri Grimes
I’d forgotten to include Timmy in the loop on the information I discovered at the library that day. I looked at Sam, silently imploring him to take over for me.
“From your description of what you saw in the bathroom last night, Gertie was able to pull up some information at the library.” Sam pushed the papers towards him.
Timmy blanched as he read aloud. “Orcas, a third level demon of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths is believed to be a prince reigning on the third level of hell. Orcas is said to shift from the belly of hell to an earthly plane, searching for a bride to be his princess and rule the third level of hell with him.” His face paled and he looked up from the paper. “I came face to face with a demon prince?”
I nodded. “Face to mirror of you want to be technical about it.”
His mouth dropped open. “He was trying to make me his bride last night, wasn’t he? He was trying to make me his bitch!”
I fought the urge to laugh. Sam was having the same problem, judging from the smirk on his face.
“I really don’t think you’re his type, Timmy,” I deadpanned.
“Since when do demons have a type? And anyway, how would you know his type?”
“I told you before that this thing has a fondness for female wobbly bits. Do you not remember that conversation? It’s not been that long ago.”
“A sexist demon, that’s just great.” Timmy’s lips were set tight and thin.
“What, you want to be a demon’s type? Are you crazy?”
“No, I’m just saying the demon has no taste if this doesn’t bang his gong.” He swept his hands in the air over his slender five foot six inch frame.
I giggled. “You are absolutely right, Timmy. If that demon doesn’t want a piece of you, he’s blind.”
Before Timmy had a chance to respond, the kitchen was filled with a crackling sound as Sam crumpled his sandwich paper, tossing it in the garbage from his seat at the table.
I was impressed. The Indiana Pacers could use his skills. The garbage can was at least a good five feet from the table. Even Timmy looked in awe of Sam’s shooting skills.
“Getting back to that religious medallion, Gertie, is there any chance you saved it?” Sam asked, wiping a smear of mustard from the corner of his mouth.
“Religious medallion?” Timmy questioned.
We both ignored him.
“You bet I did. It’s still in my bedroom. Would you like to see it?”
“Hell yeah.” Sam stood, pushing the kitchen chair back from the table. As I got to my feet, he came over and placed a hand on the small of my back before giving me a wink. “Okay Gertie, lead me to your bedroom.”
I felt heat rush to my face at the double meaning.
“Don’t worry about me, guys. I’ll just sit in the kitchen making a soufflé or something while you two get your freak on.” Timmy’s voice held more than a hint of annoyance. There wasn’t much that he disliked more than being kept out of the loop.
“We’d invite you to come upstairs with us, Timmy, but we’d be too afraid you would see the boogeyman in the mirror again.”
I regretted my words the second they left my lips. I recalled the terror on my friend’s face when he came face-to-face with the goat-man in the bathroom mirror, or Orcas as we now knew him to be. I’d meant it to be a joke. It didn’t come out sounding very much like a joke, not even to me.
Timmy’s face was a mask of hurt.
“I’m so sorry, Timmy. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Well, how did you mean it, Gertie?”
I didn’t know that one myself.
“My only defense is that I’m a little nervous about going upstairs now that I know what it is that we are dealing with.” I shrugged. “That’s no excuse, but there you have it. It is what it is.”
God bless the little drama queen. He walked over to the entranceway to the dining room, where Sam and I were standing and opened his arms wide, gathering me into them.
“I’m so sorry.” My voice was muffled as my face pressed into Timmy’s neck.
Squeezing me tight as he hugged me, his lips made a shushing sound. “It’s okay, Gertie. This will all be over soon. Just hang in there a little while longer, babe.”
My vision clouded with tears as my heart flooded with love for this guy. Friends like Timmy didn’t come around often, if ever. I was one lucky girl.
“I feel like I’m in the middle of a chick flick,” Sam said. “Can we carry this love fest into Gertie’s bedroom now?”
“Ohhh, a threesome. How kinky!” Timmy squealed.
We all laughed together as we made our way up the staircase. I led the way as we stepped off the stairs and onto the second floor landing.
“Shit!”
“What?” Timmy and Sam said together.
“There it is,” I shouted as I tugged on Sam’s sleeve.
“Calm down, Gertie. There what is?”
“The demon. It’s Orcas,” I said over my shoulder as I took off for the end of the hallway. “I just saw a shadowy figure duck into the guest room.” I fumbled with the doorknob to the guest room, all thumbs in my haste. As the door swung open, I dashed into the room, flicking the light on as I went.
“Crap,” I swore. “I know this was the room I saw the dark shadow pass into.” I stood in the center of the guest room with Sam and Timmy on either side. It was apparent the room was empty. Nothing was amiss.
“Gertie,” Timmy said. “What was it you planned on doing when you caught the demon? Put him in timeout and make him sit in the corner until he behaves? Ground him? What?”
All the wind went out of my sails. I hadn’t thought about that. It was like the dog that chases cars. What would they do if they caught a car? It was apparent I hadn’t planned this out too carefully.
Thirteen
We seemed a sedate group as we left the guest room and headed toward my bedroom. The earlier excitement of seeing the shadow pass into the guest room left me drained when our search of the room yielded zippo.
I opened my bedroom door, stepping aside for Timmy and Sam to enter. I hoped they didn’t look too close because I hadn’t done any serious cleaning up here for the past two months. Funny, but having a haunted second floor does seem to preclude one from cleaning.
Sam gave a low, appreciative whistle. “Dang, Gertie.”
“What?” I replied, defensive.
“The forties called and they want their wallpaper back.”
I winced. I knew the huge pink cabbage roses adorning the wallpaper on my bedroom were hideous. I didn’t need someone rudely pointing that fact out to me. I wasn’t blind. I was just reluctant to take down something my grandmother adored, no matter how horrid and hideous the wallpaper was.
“Um, Gertie?”
“Yeah, Timmy?” I responded, locking narrowed eyes on him.
“You do realize we’re in a new millennium now. They actually have walls now that don’t have wallpaper on them. In fact, they have this new thing called paint.”
“No.” My lips curved in a sarcastic sneer. “Are you serious?”
I heard a titter coming from Sam’s direction and shot him a
dirty look. I didn’t need the two of them ganging up on me.
“It’s okay, Gertie,” Sam said, slinging an arm over my shoulder. “We still love you even if you do have lousy taste in wallpaper.”
“Speak for yourself, dude. I’m gay. I have a reputation to protect,” Timmy chortled.
“You’ve got a point there, Tim, my man,” Sam joked. “They could throw you out of the gay stereotype club just for standing in this room.” With a wide grin on his face, he gave a high five to Timmy.
“Very funny guys. You’re both more fun than a barrel full of monkeys.” I shrugged Sam’s arm off my shoulders.
“Can we focus on the real reason you’re invading my bedroom?”
Both guys shrugged. “Sure,” they chimed in stereo.
I strode to the narrow strip of wall next to my t
iny closet. What can I say; the Victorians weren’t very practical when it came to frivolity like closets. They would put miles of gingerbread trim around a house, but ask for one decent sized closet and forget it. It wasn’t going to happen.
“Here it is.” I pointed to the center of one horrific large pink cabbage rose.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Timmy said, confusion marring his delicate features. “What is it we’re supposed to be looking at?”
I gave a big sigh.
“You shouldn’t frown, Gertie. It makes those little crows feet at the corner of your eyes become more pronounced,” he teased.
“I don’t have crows’ feet,” I said, making a mental note to double check in the downstairs mirror after they left tonight. Maybe I should start doubling up on the moisturizer. “Again, I have to ask, can we focus on why we are all standing in my bedroom?” I flounced both hands on my hips, pursing my lips until they were tight and thin.
A smile lurked at the corners of Sam’s mouth. “Okay Timmy, Gertie’s right, we should focus. This is serious stuff we’re dealing with here, lest we forget.”
“Sorry.” Timmy simpered, sticking his tongue out at me behind Sam’s back.
I fought the urge to giggle.
Sam’s expression was deep in thought as he smoothed his hand over the wall. “Have you felt this hole, Gertie?”
“What do you mean have I felt it?”
“Ran your hand over it, stuck a finger in it, anything.”
I shook my head.
Sam crooked his finger at me, motioning me to come closer. “Give me your hand.” Holding my hand in his, he guided my palm over the small opening. The hole was just about the size of a golf ball. It still amazed me that I’d never noticed the difference in the center of that particular cabbage rose. My eyebrows arched as my hand skimmed the surface of the wall.
Releasing my hand, he turned to me with an expectant look in his eye.
“Well? Did you feel it?”
I nodded. It was all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping open.
“Feel what? What’s going on?” Timmy crowded us, trying to get a closer look at the hole.
“Run your hand over the wall, around the hole,” Sam directed him.
Timmy pressed his hand to the wall, then with a sharp intake of breath, jerked his hand away. “Christ on a cracker! Did you feel that?”
“Yeah, we both felt it,” I said.
“What the hell was that?” he squealed. “It made every hair on my arm stand up. It almost felt like it was trying to suck my hand in.” The look of horror on Timmy’s face was unmistakable. His voice dropped to a low whisper. “It was like it was alive.”
“I know,” I said with a whoosh of air as I realized I’d been holding my breath. I moved closer to Sam, willing him to put an arm around my shoulders again. This time I wouldn’t shrug it off. He wasn’t a mind reader because he moved to the other side of the room, running his hand on the other walls of my bedroom.
“And you’re sure there aren’t other holes?” he asked.
“I’m certain. This is the only hole in the wall that I know of. I have to say, it was shocking enough to see this hole, I couldn’t imagine there being other holes in my walls like this.”
“I’m not surprised in the least,” Sam said. “I expected to find something like this when I realized we were dealing with a demon.”
I blanched. The mention of the demon sent chills all over my body.
Timmy cocked his head as he sat down on the edge of my bed. “How so? Why would a demon make holes in the wall?”
I sat next to Timmy, looking up at Sam. “I don’t get it either. Are they trying to be destructive or are they just really bad at hanging pictures?”
Neither man laughed at my feeble attempt at humor.
Sam raised his hands in a halting motion. “I’ll explain everything when we’re all downstairs. For now though, can you show me the medallion that came out of the wall?”
I had forgotten about the medallion. Sam had put so much emphasis on the hole in the wall that I had forgotten what had popped out of the hole.
I walked over to the tall chest of drawers. Opening the second drawer from the top, I felt around the piles of silky clothing for the medallion hoping Sam couldn’t see the delicate contents in the cedar lined drawer. Yes, I had stashed the medallion in my underwear drawer. With the lack of action I’d been getting lately it was the safest place in the house. Wrapping my fingers around the magnetic piece of metal, I pulled it out with a triumphant flourish.
“Ta da!” I sang, holding the medallion high in the air.
Sam and Timmy snickered.
“Um, Gertie,” Timmy began.
“Nice medallion,” Sam interrupted.
Oh. Shit. My eyes felt like they were popping out of their sockets as I looked up at the medallion I held high in the air. Because there, on the northern most tip of the religious medallion, snagged by a thread, dangled a pair of my underwear. I was going to hell for sure. My second glance told me what I feared most. A black, silky, sexy scrap of lace? No, I should be that lucky. My ancient, stained, once white, that time of the month, granny panties were flapping in the breeze on the little metal loop at the top of the round magnetized disc. I felt my face flood with color.
Okay floor, I thought. Now would be a good time for you to open up and swallow me whole. The floor didn’t cooperate however, so I stood there, frozen, while my granny panties dangled high in the air for all to see.
The sound of Timmy clearing his throat roared in my ears in the stillness of the room.
Then… a soft titter. Followed by a sharp guffaw. I raised my eyes. Both men were red faced from trying so hard not to laugh.
“It would seem,” Timmy commented, “that our Gertie has the same taste in undergarments as she does in wallpaper.”
With that, the floodgates opened. All three of us tossed our heads back and laughed. Once our laughter had begun to abate, I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off as a loud banging sound came from the foyer downstairs. I gulped, then turned to Sam for direction.
“The door,” he said. “Someone’s knocking at your front door.”
“I knew it was the front door,” Timmy lied as we all made our way down the stairs.
“Uh-huh,” I agreed. “I’m sure you did.”
“Speak for yourself, Gertie,” Timmy said in a snide tone.
When we reached the foyer and I opened the door, I was surprised to see a middle-aged woman standing there. Her eyes were rimmed with dark eyeliner and the brightest red hair I’d ever seen in my life draped past her shoulders. It contrasted well with her jet black cape.
“Can I help you—” I began.
“Lillith,” Sam greeted warmly as he stepped in front of me, drawing the woman into his arms for a hug. “I’m so glad you were able to make it tonight.”
The woman hugged him back, just a little too tightly for my comfort.
“When you called, I knew from the tone of your voice it was serious.”
“You always could read me like a book.” Sam laughed as he led her into the foyer. “Gertie, Timmy, this is my good friend Lillith.”
“So nice to meet you,” Lillith said, extending her hand to us.
Timmy clasped her hand in his, shaking it, a warm smile on his face. “Any friend of Sam’s is a friend of ours. Right, Gertie?”
Everyone turned to look at me.
“Yeah, sure.” My tone was flat. Although this woman looked a tad bit too old for Sam, it was apparent they had a history and until I found out what that history was, warm welcomes would have to wait.
I shook her outstretched hand. “Hello.”
“Lil is here to bless your house, Gertie.”
“Bless my house?”
“Yeah, bless your house,” Sam said in a gentle tone. “Remember, we talked about this?”
Our earlier conversation about his friend blessing my house came back to me in a rush. “Ah, yes,” I said with a touc
h of relief. “I remember. I’m so grateful you were able to make time for us,” I addressed Lillith, feeling like an idiot for being jealous.
She flashed a vague smile in my direction as she perused the upstairs hallway. “I came none too soon. Perhaps we’d best start right away. Someone isn’t happy at my presence here tonight.”
“Oh no, I’m very happy to have you here,” I said.
“No, Gertie,” Sam said as he laid his hand on my arm. “She’s not talking about any of us.” I could see the worry in his face.
“Oh.” Suddenly I understood.
“Should we all follow as you go through the house blessing it, Lillith?” Timmy asked.
“Please. But first we must all center and protect ourselves. Let’s stand in a circle and hold hands.”
I stood between Timmy and Sam as I held their hands. My stomach churned with unease. I wasn’t sure how Lillith planned on getting rid of the demon plaguing my home, but my instincts knew it wouldn’t go without a fight.
“Let’s all close our eyes and imagine a brilliant white light surrounding us, bathing us in love. Can you see the light?”
“I see it, Lillith,” Timmy said with passion.
Ass kisser, I wanted to say to him.
“I see it too,” Sam chimed in.
Great, now everyone could see the light. Except me.
“Um, I see it too,” I lied as I opened an eye to peek at what Lillith was doing. I was startled to see her staring right back at me. She smiled and pressed her forefinger to her lips in a shushing motion, directed at me. Why I got the shush and not Timmy or Sam I didn’t know.
Bowing her head and closing her eyes, Lillith said, “The light of God surrounds us. The love of God enfolds us. The power of God protects us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
Sam’s voice joined in with Lillith’s. “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Timmy and I followed suit and lent our voices. “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. For ever and ever.”
