The Hag

by Erik Henry Vick

  “Oh,” muttered Benny. “That’s a good point.”

  “I’m glad you agree.”

  Scott pursed his lips. “I can extend my bereavement leave, but I’m not making any promises past that. I’m not ready to give up being a cop, Toby.” He leaned back in his chair, and it creaked with the shifting of his weight. “I’m not ready to throw away my seventeen-year career.”

  Toby combed his fingers through his hair and tapped his foot. “Well, I guess it will have to do. Do me a favor, though, huh?”

  With a shrug, Scott bobbed his head. “What?”

  “Let me know before you go back to work so I can get the hell out of here.”

  Shannon slumped forward and rested her forehead on the table in front of her plate. “Oh, don’t be that way, Toby,” she groaned.

  “We’re in this together,” said Mike. “Mostly, because of you, Toby.”

  Toby shrugged and shook his head, looking at Scott through narrowed eyelids. “I'm not pissy, Shannon. And, yes, I brought you all into this, Mike. My point is, I don’t want to die at the hands of a demon. I appreciate Scott’s position, I really do, but again, I don’t want to die.”

  “Toby, I’m sure we can work something out,” said Benny in a slow and methodical manner. “We will not go behind your back.”

  Toby looked at each of them coming to rest with his gaze on Benny’s face. “You and Shannon know what is at risk as much as I do. You’ve been through it.” He shook his head and bared his teeth at the memory of his ordeal in the Thousand Acre Wood. “I started all of this—the tracking and killing of these demons—without knowing why I was doing it. It was… It was a compulsion, I guess. Something in my subconscious that remembered what happened back then. Before I regained my memories, I might’ve been able to walk away from this, but now, I can’t. Someone has to drive these evil motherfuckers away. Someone has to send them back to hell.” Again, his gaze bounced between each of them, and again, it came to rest on Benny. “If they kill us all sitting around this table because we’ve been stupid, there is no one else, and they will go on terrorizing kids, raping and torturing people, all of it. I’m not willing to risk that for Scott’s career.”

  “We don’t know that we're the only people aware of their existence, Toby,” said Mike. “There may be others out there, as you said yourself back in the restaurant.”

  Toby nodded. “I hope there are, and I hope we can find them, teach them. But let’s be honest, the events that brought all of us together were serendipitous. If Scott and LaBouche hadn’t come and told me about Oneka Falls, I would’ve never gone there. I had no reason to.” He held up a hand to forestall Benny’s interruption. “Sure, sure. I might have tracked a demon there and found the nest on my own, but Benny wouldn’t have been there. Mike may have no longer been there, and without the two of you to goose my memory into gear, I may never have remembered my childhood. I might’ve gone on believing I was Benny Cartwright hiding behind alias after alias. And more to the point, we wouldn’t have fought Red Bortha together. Herlequin would still be alive. I couldn’t have killed him on my own.”

  The room was silent for the space of five breaths after Toby finished, each member of the cabal lost in their own thoughts for the moment. Then Scott leaned forward and cleared his throat. “I get it,” he said. “You’ve made your point, Toby, and for now rest assured I’m not going to be going back to work. But‍—‍”

  “We need to make it work,” finished Benny. “Scott is valuable to us, not only because he’s good with his weapons, but because he’s a New York State Trooper.”

  Toby slumped back in his chair and grinned. “Yes.” He inclined his head toward Scott. “We’ll try to figure it out, Scott. I have no idea how, but we will try.” He glanced at his watch. “Time to go check the pozole.” He pushed himself away from the table, his chair scraping across the unfinished pine floor.

  “Pozole?”

  Toby grinned. “Yeah. I got the idea for our digester down there in the basement from a news story on the drug cartels. Pozole is the name of the traditional Mexican stew. It’s what the cartels call it when they dissolve bodies this way.”

  “Eww, gross!” Shannon turned her face away, grimacing.

  4

  Dan Delo spiraled in toward the house on the hill. His last chat hadn’t gone well, and his ego still stung from the reproach served by the demon he’d just left. Idiot believes he can sit the war out. Idiot thinks LaBouche will stand for that.

  He shook his head and cupped his wings to slow his descent. Dan landed on the hill in front of the house, his thick thigh muscles taking the shock of landing in stride. He glowered at the home, his glowing azure eyes bouncing from window to window, checking to see if he was being observed.

  Satisfied he wasn’t, he dropped his cloak of invisibility and adopted his standard human visage. The house had seen better days: dressed in peeling paint, warped siding, rotting steps leading up to the rotting porch. He detested when demons let things go; it showed a distinct lack of confidence, of belief in the superiority of demonkind.

  “Why would LaBouche want a sad sack like this?” he muttered as he climbed the steps. A tread cracked beneath his weight, and his foot sank through the rotten wood. “Damn lazy asshole!”

  “Well, that’s not very nice, is it?”

  Delo’s head snapped up, his gaze bouncing between curtained windows. “Who’s there?” Either boredom or the shock of his foot going through the step had erased the name of the demon he was there to check in on.

  “That’s a little rude, fella. You’ve come to visit me, not the other way around. You’re on my porch.”

  A strange odor drifted to his nostrils on a puff of wind. Dan couldn’t place it, but it disturbed him, made him wary. “My name is Dan Delo,” he said, plastering a smile on the face of his visage. “Your cousin, Lee LaBouche, sent me around to check on you.” His gaze tracked to every shadow, every place someone might hide.

  Nothing. He swallowed and wrinkled his nose at the scent in the air.

  “That old bastard LaBouche sent you, did he? How is that yellow-scaled monkey?”

  Delo nodded and hunched his shoulders, unfurling his wings in case he needed a rapid getaway. Not that he feared the human hunters, but they had trapped Herlequin after all. “Show yourself.”

  “No, I’m more comfortable where I am. What does LaBouche want?” The aroma on the air was strange, partially sweet, partially sickening. It carried an air of decay about it but held the bouquet of fresh blood.

  “Ah, you smell her. Does the fragrance delight you?” The voice contained a note of mockery that set Dan Delo’s nerves on edge. The owner of the voice laughed. “She was quite enjoyable. She put up a grand fight. Had you been but a few minutes earlier, I would have shared.” When Delo didn’t reply, the voice said, “Come now, demon. There’s no need to be so tense.”

  Dan adopted a loose posture but didn’t relax. “Will you not come out?”

  The silence stretched for the space of a few breaths, then the door opened, exposing a darkened maw of a foyer. “I shan’t, but you are welcome to come inside.”

  Delo eyed the darkness but didn’t move. Could be a trap, he thought. But he was almost sure that he spoke to another of his kind rather than one of the tricksy human hunters.

  “Come now, there’s no reason to fear. I don’t bite.” Raucous laughter sounded inside the house. “At least that’s what I told her right before I bit her.”

  He stood silent, his glowing azure eyes focused on the darkness.

  Inside the house, the demon sighed. “Is that it, then? Has LaBouche instructed you to give me a message?”

  Dan Delo straightened, trying to seem even more massive than he was. He was not considered an alpha—not yet—despite his apparent traits that supported the idea. “LaBouche gives me no instructions. I am here as a favor.”

  A snide chuckle sounded from within the darkness. “Oh, I’m sure.”

  Delo bristled and drop
ped his visage. “Look upon me, then, and disrespect me at your hazard.”

  The demon inside made no answer.

  “That’s better!” Delo spat. “LaBouche commands you—commands, mind you—to return to Oneka Falls. Once there, you will report to Chaz Welsh in the Oneka Falls Town Hall, who will command you further.”

  Again, the demon inside the house had no response.

  “Indicate that you’ve heard me.”

  “Oh, I heard you.”

  “Then my duty here is done. Disrespect me further, and I will show you no mercy.”

  “Yes…I see.”

  Dan Delo stared into the darkness, trying to decide if the demon were mocking him without response. He narrowed his eyes but still couldn’t penetrate the darkness. He whirled, jumped from the steps into the air, and flew away.

  5

  Mike found a spot in the front parking lot of the Ontario County Public Library and shifted the Lincoln into park. “Your destination, sir,” he said, putting on his best snooty butler-voice.

  “Why thank you, James,” Toby said with a grin before turning to Shannon. “Are you ready?”

  “I wish you’d let Benny come with us.”

  “You need to develop confidence in your ability. You can’t do that if Benny is always around to backstop you.”

  Shannon nodded but didn’t appear convinced. “Yeah, I know. And to answer your question, I’m ready, and so are you.”

  “Good. Just two friends going to the library, right?”

  “Two friends who share no common features with Toby or Shannon.”

  “Good enough.” They each opened their door and got out. Toby stepped to the driver’s side window. “Remember to come on the run as I won’t be calling for help to test the walkie-talkie.”

  Mike rolled his eyes. “Go on, Mr. Bossy-pants.”

  Wearing a faint grin, Toby walked around the front of the car and met Shannon on the sidewalk. “Remember, Shan, if there’re demons inside, I’ll tell you, but they won’t be able to see through your illusions. Not any more than any of the other demons could.”

  “And the scent? What if that doesn’t work?”

  Toby twitched his shoulders and flashed a grin at her. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t. We’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it. Come on, though, let’s stop wasting time in the parking lot. I’ve got me an Internet to find the end of.”

  Shannon waved him forward with a sweep of her hand. “Lead on, Macduff.”

  “It’s Burton.”

  “Har, har,” said Shannon with a long-suffering air.

  Inside the library, the aromas typical to libraries everywhere assaulted them—dust, old books, and old carpet—but there was something else, too. Something not identifiable, something that hid underneath the other odors.

  “Can I help you?” asked the librarian behind the check-out desk. Her name tag read “Connie Parsons.”

  “Yes, my friend here thinks he needs to get on the Internet. Do you have access?” Shannon put on her best smile.

  “Oh, of course. This is 2007.” Connie smiled back at Shannon. “Our desktops are right over here.”

  Toby and Shannon followed the librarian through the racks of periodicals and past empty worktables to a bank of cubicles along the far wall. In each cubicle sat an old Macintosh.

  “We only have Macs. I hope they will do.”

  “Anything with a web browser is fine, Connie,” said Toby with a small grin.

  “Well then, there you are.” Connie patted Shannon on the forearm. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you two make such a cute couple.”

  Shannon blushed but bobbed her head and dimpled. “Thank you.”

  Toby seemed not to have noticed, and he pulled out the cubicle’s only chair and sank into it. The librarian tsked and pulled over a chair from the neighboring cubicle and offered it to Shannon before returning to the main desk near the front doors.

  By the time Toby had woken the machine up and started a web browser, it had already bored Shannon. She let her eyes wander around the library, examining the art that festooned the walls, and counting the stacks that led to the back of the building.

  An old man stared at them from across the room, and Shannon offered him a polite smile. The man didn’t smile back, and Shannon looked away. She continued to scan the items in the library, and every time her gaze passed the old man, he was staring at them. “Toby,” she said.

  “Hmmm? Almost done.”

  “There’s a man over there. He’s staring at us.”

  “Well, you are gorgeous,” said Toby in an offhand manner as if everyone knew it were true.

  Shannon blushed to the roots of her hair. “Thanks,” she said in a small voice. “He’s staring, but not as a man stares at a woman. More like how a man stares at a cheeseburger.”

  “Cheeseburger?” said Toby. “I’m almost done, Shan.”

  Shannon hummed to herself and tried to steal glances at the man, but his intense stare lingered on her. “Toby,” she said again.

  “Still watching?”

  “Yes. Still staring at us.”

  Toby stretched and yawned, and as he did so, he gazed at the old man for a moment. “Ah,” he said.

  “What? Ah, what?”

  Toby clicked a few more buttons. “He’s a demon.”

  “Can he… You don’t think he can see through my‍—‍”

  “No, he’s hunting. Hungry.”

  “You can tell all that with one quick glance? How?”

  Toby shrugged and closed the browser. “All done. And how? I’ve been doing this for ten years. Hunting demons, tracking them as they hunt their prey. He’s lost to the hunt right now. Lost in the expectation of what’s to come. He can’t think of anything else, and he stopped trying to act human. That’s why he’s staring the way he is.”

  “Oh.”

  Toby stood and pushed his chair in under the cubicle's desk. “Let’s go. Try to act casual. Don’t let on that we know anything,” he whispered as she stood.

  She nodded once but couldn’t resist stealing another glance at the demon pretending to be an old man. “Is he…”

  Toby put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her gently toward the door. “He’s one of the weirds. You should be glad that you can’t see them, old-parchment-like skin, extra arms, hooves. But we don’t want him following us, so shake a leg, Shan.”

  They walked toward the door, and the librarian looked up and smiled. “My, aren’t you efficient?”

  Toby flashed a grin at her but didn’t stop to chat.

  “Are you two new to the area?” Connie stepped out from behind her desk.

  With a sigh he tried to mask with a fake cough, Toby stopped and turned so he could see both the librarian and the demon. “Yes, we’re from the Southern Tier. We moved here a week ago.”

  The librarian smiled. “Oh, isn’t that nice? Tell me, have you decided on a church?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Well, in that case, I’d like to invite you to my church. I attend the Methodist Church up by the lake. It’s exquisite and relaxing. Plus, we are more open than some other faiths.”

  Shannon tilted her head to the side, a confused grin on her lips. “More open?”

  The librarian blushed a little and lifted her shoulders in a self-conscious way. “I hope you don’t mind, but I saw neither of you is wearing wedding rings. It would bother no one at my church. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “Oh,” said Shannon.

  “It’s an antiquated notion in today’s society, and people your age don’t much cotton to the idea, but some in this town would look down on you for living together without being married.” The woman’s blush deepened. “Listen to me, prattling on like an old hen. The invitation’s open any time.”

  “And we thank you for it, Connie,” said Toby. He rested his hand on Shannon’s arm. “We do need to run, though.”

  The librarian smiled, and Shannon thought she looked a littl
e hurt, but the old man had gotten up from his table and was walking toward the doors. “It was sweet of you, Ms. Parsons,” said Shannon. “Have a good evening.”

  As they turned toward the door, the librarian said, “A good evening to you.”

  They pushed out into the dusk of the coming evening. “Let’s get to the car, quick!” said Toby and set off walking fast. After a few steps, he glanced upward and stopped dead in his tracks and threw a glance over his shoulder, then back into the sky. “Oh, shit,” he muttered.

  “What is it?”

  “Run!” Toby grabbed her arm and sprinted toward the car.

  6

  Dan Delo peered down in the gloaming as the old demon came out of the building. Two humans stood on the sidewalk, and the ancient beast by the doors stared at them. Chances were, the old one belonged to the group of demons LaBouche had sent him to find, and Delo began to spiral in for a landing in the grass next to the building.

  The hunt had enraptured the demon below—a sure sign he’d outlived his usefulness to the others, despite what LaBouche might think—but the tableau unfolding below him had a strange feel. The humans stood close together, muscles tensed as if they knew about the old one stalking them. One of them surveyed the sky, and his eyes locked on Dan Delo. He said something to the female, and both ran toward the parking lot.

  The hunter! he thought. A wide smile stretched across Delo’s face as he tucked his wings and plummeted toward the earth.

  7

  Chaz stood in the large single room allocated to the Oneka Falls Police Department. He grinned at the demon he’d appointed as the chief of police—the new one with the silver skin—and picked up one of the department’s new HK 417’s that had just arrived. “And these are automatics?”

  The new chief who called herself Nicole Conrau, nodded, sending shimmers of light dancing across her sable hair. “Full auto, chambered in 7.62 x 51 NATO—as you instructed, my lord.”