Demonica

by Preston Norton

  “He killed people like most werewolves do,” she said. “But that didn’t stop one girl from falling in love with him. In fact, his rage was part of what she loved in him. You see, even though she looked like a normal girl, she was actually a monster like him.”

  My smile slowly faded. I remembered all too clearly a conversation I had had with Dante after the chaos at Hexham Manor.

  “Now this werewolf was a loner, distancing himself from the other monsters like himself,” said Lillith. “However, he and the girl soon developed a bond that transcended description. Their love was otherworldly. But all that changed when another girl came into the picture.”

  Lillith glanced all too knowingly at me, allowing a dramatic pause that caused my throat to tense up. Dante told me about Asmodeus. A succubus. A sex Demon.

  Asmodeus was Amon’s lover. I’d count on her trying to kill you next.

  “This new girl was a hunter,” said Lillith. “She killed monsters, thinking it was okay because they were just monsters. What she didn’t realize is that she was a monster. She had taken away from the first girl the most important thing to her. And so, the first girl decided to hunt the hunter. She killed the hunter girl. And then she killed everyone the hunter girl ever loved.”

  I struggled to swallow. Mammon would have to wait. Asmodeus had suddenly become my top priority.

  And I was sitting right next to her.

  22

  Night of the Living Dead

  The silence that followed was a small eternity. My fingers tingled. I was just waiting for an excuse to summon the Demon Dagger. Lillith was the succubus, Asmodeus. It wasn’t even much of a disguise considering Lillith’s scandalous reputation.

  The line between life and death was thin right now. Either one of us could kill the other instantly.

  Zoey seemed well aware that something was wrong and sent me an interrogating look. I was far too preoccupied to respond.

  “That’s it?” said Kelly. “That’s the end?”

  Eli blinked repeatedly with a dumbfounded look.

  “That was…great…Lillith,” said Levi. For once in his life, he was struggling to maintain his smile.

  “Anytime,” said Lillith. Her eyes wandered back to me. I did not hesitate to return the glare. In that brief moment, I sensed something inherently deadly and evil in her pretty eyes. I would have given just about anything to end this sudden staring contest.

  A gunshot erupted.

  No sooner did I realize that it came from outside, there was another shot. And another. Several more rapid gunshots followed. These were accompanied by shouts and screams. Eli, Levi, and Kelly were the first to their feet. Zoey and I both hesitated to move until Lillith and Lucy joined them. Eli bolted for the gymnasium door with athlete speed. The others trailed close behind. Demon or not, Lillith seemed curious enough about the sudden commotion.

  I followed but lagged far behind. Zoey matched my dawdling speed. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the words didn’t come. Instead, I pulled her head close to mine.

  “Lillith is a Demon,” I said. “I’m sure of it.”

  Zoey nodded vacantly, struggling to process it. “What about Lucy? Does that mean she’s a Demon too?”

  “I don’t know. Probably. We’ll just have to keep an eye on her. But for now, we’ll have to put Principal Marion on hold. Lillith is our top priority.”

  That was the end of the conversation. We sped up after the others. Bursting out of the gymnasium, we followed an even greater flow of panicked student traffic. A notable disturbance of voices grew loudest in the cafeteria which Zoey and I hastily homed in on. By the time we funneled into the lunchroom, there was a crowd of students huddled wildly around the wall-expansive windows. Over the heads of the students, lights flashed through the night sky, matching the gunshots. This was especially disconcerting because, up until now, students had been steering as far from the windows as possible and for good reason. But despite the rapid fire, no effort was put towards fending off the student body from the glass. Zoey and I reached the crowds and forced our way through. Both of us were skinny enough to insert ourselves, squirming to the front. Zoey reached the glass surface first, and I squished myself next to her.

  “Oh. My. God,” said Zoey.

  Beyond the line of police cars and officers enforcing the quarantine, a new force was emerging. An unorganized mob of people swarmed the barrier. They were overpowering the police by sheer number. Even in the dark, it was clear that they were civilians. Although a couple were dressed up, most were in casual clothes, and some were even wearing pajamas or bathrobes. Men and woman. There were small children in the throng as well. The police fired on the mob regardless. Blood sprayed into the shadowy night.

  Only a small handful of the mob fell. Considering the blazing gunfire, their resistance was unfathomable. Despite being shot, they were still walking. Not even flinching.

  It only took a moment realize what was really going on here. My fears were confirmed when the two forces collided. Gunshots were swallowed in gnashing teeth and clawing limbs. Blood spurted and police officers screamed. The mob of civilians weren’t just attacking the police.

  They were eating them alive.

  I now recognized their pale rotting complexions. Their milky bloodshot eyes. Their ravenous contorted expressions.

  These people were fucking zombies.

  23

  Double Trouble

  Zombies. Just like Mr. Garrison and the school nurse.

  Bill’s words—Belphegor’s—echoed in shell-shocked skull.

  I’ve already spread my poison… He wasn’t the first one. And now that it’s started, he won’t be the last.

  Somehow the quarantine had backfired miserably. In here, the virus had been contained. But out there…

  Zoey was glued to the window, but I allowed myself to be pushed aside, losing myself in the crowd. The carnage was making me beyond sick.

  This was what Belphegor meant. Infecting Mr. Garrison had only been a diversion. He spread the virus outside as well, knowing that they would direct their focus here—whoever the hell “they” were.

  That’s when I realized something peculiar, bordering on mind-fuckish. The government agents that Eli said were accompanying the police… I hadn’t seen a single one outside. Where were they?

  “Monica!” said Zoey. Her voice was a disconnected cry in the crowds. “Monica, where are you?”

  I snapped out of my thoughts and pushed through the fleshy labyrinth of bodies and limbs. Pushing aimlessly towards Zoey’s voice. I found her without much effort. She looked even more freaked out than me. And I was scared shitless! Her eyes were these huge zeppelins floating across her face, and her mouth was this black hole absorbing the universe. It was like she skipped “scared” and went straight to Mental Collapse Mode. I grabbed her arm, and she blinked, seeming to pull her shit together. We pressed our way out of the crowds.

  “What now?” said Zoey.

  The words had not even fully escaped Zoey’s lips when I noticed a red and black cheerleading outfit disappear out the cafeteria door. A flash of gunfire outside briefly illuminated Lillith’s long blonde hair.

  “We kill the cheerbitch while everyone’s distracted,” I said. “Follow me.”

  I took the lead, dashing through the crowded cafeteria, dodging through the scattered uproar of panicking students. Zoey was close behind. Gunfire continued to rattle in the distance. The piercing screams were overcome by groans and snarls.

  Even as I sprinted at top speed, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of justice. The dead students littering the entryways and exits and windows were being avenged. By the same Demonic virus that resulted in their murders, no less. Served those law-enforcing bastards right.

  I halted this morbid thought. What the hell was wrong with me? How could anyone find satisfaction in a
massacre like this?

  I knew it. I hated it, but it was painfully obvious. Something was wrong with me. All I ever felt anymore was anger. I was angry and tired. The weariness had never quite worn off since I’d woken up from my four-day coma. Honestly, my anger was probably the only thing that continued to drive me, like a genetically-fucked adrenaline shot right to my heart.

  We flew around the darkened hallway. I barely spotted Lillith rounding another distant corner. This made me sprint even harder, in spite of the darkness. I glanced back to make sure Zoey was keeping up. The gap had widened between us, but Zoey’s red-going-on-purple face said she was channeling every ounce of her existence into this pursuit.

  My foot caught on something.

  No Slayer reflex could save me from my own stupidity. I hit the floor before I even knew what the hell was happening. I just barely broke my fall with my forearms. Not so much painful as it was embarrassing. After all my Demon Slayer talk, I knew Zoey was just brimming with wise-ass wisdom.

  In the several long seconds of stunned silence on the floor, no such wisdom came. Instead, her voice wavered. “Monica…?”

  I pushed myself upright and turned around rather sluggishly. Though the hallway was masked in shadow, it was obvious the thing I tripped on was hardly small. Its silhouette was thick and bulging, sprawled across the middle of the floor.

  It was also human shaped.

  It’s just another dead body, I told myself, like this was the most normal thing in the world. But even then, I was unnerved by one significant detail. All the other bodies were draped along the sides of the halls by doors and windows.

  What was this thing doing in the middle of the hallway?

  Zoey seemed to share my concern. She reached into her tight little pocket and removed her lighter. She flicked it on and held her free hand to the flame, fueling its size. We both leaned forward and examined the corpse.

  It was Devon.

  His dead eyes were wide and his face was drained and pale. His neck was laced in blood. My first thought was that he slit hit throat. But no. There was not nearly enough blood for that. There was no blood on the floor. The layer of blood on his throat was thin, revealing the wound.

  One very simple, clear and defined bite mark. The poor bastard was sucked dry like a Capri Sun.

  “Tell me you’re not thinking what I’m thinking,” said Zoey.

  I didn’t even want to know what she was thinking. Because if it was anything like what I was thinking, we were in way over our heads.

  Both of us glanced up from Devon’s corpse. A nearby door up ahead was cracked open. The light was turned on, allowing a thin white line to stretch across the floor and up the adjacent lockers. But that was not nearly as weird as the sound coming from behind the door. It remind me of Zoey’s bulldog, Cookie Monster, grunting and snorting when he ate or lapped up water.

  Zoey and I edged forward until we were at the door. Zoey’s flame illuminated a simple plaque on the door inscribed with one dreaded word:

  Janitor.

  Shit.

  “Oh, you don’t want to open that door while he’s feeding,” said a familiar female voice.

  The voice gripped my insides and ripped them apart. Zoey went rigid. Slowly we turned around to face Lillith. Her perfectly manicured hands rested on her lean bare torso, exposed from her cheerhooker ensemble.

  “He’s an angry eater,” said Lillith. “And Devon and his friends pissed him off real good.”

  Zoey shot me a ‘What now?’ look that I did not have an answer for. A twisted smile stretched across Lillith’s glossy lips.

  “Come to think of it, Monica…I’m even more pissed off at you. Killing my boyfriend was pretty mean.” Lillith’s gaze shifted past us. “Oh Beezlebub! I have another snack for you.”

  24

  Killing Two Birds with One Stone

  The janitor door lurched open, and the hinges released a long, eerie screech. Zoey and I pulled close to each other and backed up to the lockers. Neither of us dared expose our backs one way or the other. Heavy footsteps thudded out of the custodial closet, dragging something against the polished floor. Bubba trudged out from behind the door. His scowl was made even scarier by bloodied lips, a ghostly white complexion, freakishly bulging veins, and harsh red eyes. Clutched in his massive fist, he held another dead teenage boy by the throat, eyes rolled back. This victim, however, was still bleeding profusely from an identical neck wound, seeping from Bubba’s sausage fingers.

  “I’m sure Dante already told you who I am,” said Lillith, “but let me formally introduce Beelzebub. He’s what your kind would refer to as a vampire. I’m afraid he’s not as sparkly and attractive as the ones on TV. But I can promise you, he’s twice as deadly. And always hungry.”

  “Shit,” said Zoey. “Shit shit shit shit shit.”

  “Okay, Zoe,” I said. “I’m going to let you take your pick.”

  “Is that even a question? I’ll take the psycho-whore. Sumo-Dracula is all yours.”

  Fair enough. My newfound werewolf powers actually gave me a fair chance against morbidly obese vampires.

  “I’m afraid we’re not giving either of you a choice,” said Lillith. “I’m not a washed-up pushover like that traitor, Belphegor. And I’m not making Amon’s mistake of flying solo against you, Monica.” Her gaze shifted to Zoey. “I have someone special prepared for you.”

  Lillith raised a hand and gestured alluringly. A single set of footsteps echoed dissonantly from the abysmal hallway. A silhouette appeared—definitely female. She emerged into the light of the custodial closet.

  It was Kelly.

  Her face was an expressionless mask. She stared past us, her gaze fixed somewhere in oblivion.

  “One of the perks of being a succubus is that I have the ability to mind-control my victims before I have my way with them,” said Lillith. She ran a manicured fingernail along Kelly’s placid cheek. “Kelly won’t be as talkative as usual. She’ll do whatever I tell her to. So if I were to say, ‘break Zoey’s kneecaps…’ well, you get the idea.”

  “You sick Demon-slut,” said Zoey. “Kelly has nothing to do with this. Let her go.”

  “Believe me, she wasn’t my first choice,” said Lillith. “I wanted to get your precious Eli for the job. “Unfortunately, he seems to have some sort of immunity to my power. Isn’t that peculiar?”

  Eli? Immune? He wasn’t a witch too, was he? No, Zoey, had said she was the only witch still in high school.

  Zoey perked up, just as confused.

  “But no worries. I’ve always liked a good cat fight myself.” Lillith took Kelly by the hand, guiding her gleefully past us to Beezlebub and the custodial closet. She released her hand at the door as she entered inside.

  “Hmm. What to use, what to use. Ah, perfect.”

  Lillith exited the closet with a hammer, caressing it in her grasp. I couldn’t help glancing between the thick metal mallet and the sharp, nail-removing spikes. Grabbing Kelly by the wrist, she placed the handle in her palm. And then she leaned seductively against her, her lips less than an inch from her ear.

  “Kelly, I want you to kill Zoey. Now.”

  Kelly reacted instantly. She charged Zoey with her hammer raised, her face still as empty as ever. In that very same moment, Lillith transformed. Two batlike wings ripped from her back, sleek and barbed. Her manicured fingers extended into deadly claws. Two sleek black horns emerged from her blonde hair, accompanied by a barbed black tail that snaked out of her skirt. Her jaw then stretched to inhuman proportions. She screeched, exposing way too many sharp teeth.

  Beezlebub, however, was the first to spring, flashing vampiric fangs.

  Zoey and I bolted in opposite directions.

  I didn’t even need to think about my next reaction. Now was not the time for the Demon Dagger. I summoned the Rage. It unleashed all too easily—li
ke tossing a tiny match on gasoline. My muscles exploded, accompanied by a burst of thick fur. My bones snapped and restructured. The pain was sharp but fleeting—a body-wide muscle spasm. There was a sound of ripping fabric, and my clothes were obliterated, fluttering to the floor. I landed on all fours, sliding 180 degrees on the polished hallway floor. There, I faced my opponents, breathing murder through my nostrils.

  Beezlebub arrived first, swing his fist. I countered with my massive paw. I hit him in the face as he simultaneously nailed me in the shoulder which exploded with fiery pain. The collision sent both of us toppling in opposite directions. He hit the opposing wall which splintered on impact. I crashed into the lockers which crumpled against my weight. I had no time to recover. Asmodeus swooped down on me, wings outstretched.

  I struggled against the lockers, bent around my bulky frame. I only had the briefest moment to react. Rearing my thick hind legs back, I kicked. My rear paws connected with her torso. Asmodeus launched like a badminton birdie after a vicious spike. She flew directly into the custodial closet. Bullseye. Shelves collapsed, and an avalanche of cleaning supplies crashed down on her.

  I ripped my hulking doggy ass from the lockers. Beezlebub had recovered almost simultaneously. I glanced from Beezlebub, whose janitor keys jangled with every movement, to Asmodeus, still fumbling in the closet. In that infinitesimal fraction of a nanosecond, I had the craziest idea,

  There was no time to mull it over. It was now or never.

  Beezlebub hurled himself at me like I was a plate of blood-jellied donuts. I lunged right back at him. Sort of. In mid-air, I tapped into my inner emotions, snuffing my rage like a candle flame pinched between two fingers. How the hell—in the midst of a Demon gang bang—did I do this, you ask?

  I thought of Dante. Lying on my ceiling. Watching me. Protecting me.

  I shrank. My paws grew opposable thumbs. In that instant, I summoned the Demon Dagger in my half-formed claws. Spinning in the air, I stabbed it into Beezlebub’s side, slicing the janitor keys free of his jumpsuit. I left the Dagger and swiped the key ring. Beezlebub threw his head back and screamed in the same sort of way that a Tyrannosaurus Rex would scream. That is to say, it wasn’t so much a scream at all as it was a devastating roar that shattered the sound barrier into tiny fucking pieces. Beelzebub hit the floor with the grace of a crumbling mountain.