Hell Bent

by Blaire Valentine

  "I am the opener of locks," he hissed in an unearthly tone. Before I could do anything he stepped forward and it was like his body stepped into mine. I could feel him inside me. Not in a sexual sense. It was much worse. Like he was my skeleton and he was controlling me. He put my hand out in front of my eyes and I couldn't even scream because it wasn't under my control anymore. It was the most horrible feeling I'd ever had.

  I could hear Connor and Ezra screaming my name.

  Suddenly the monster stepped out of me and I collapsed on the floor, winded as hell.

  "Witch," it hissed, "Witches are no good to me."

  Then its face turned towards Joel's bedroom. It began to march forward. I looked at Connor and he looked at me. Ezra tried to tackle the thing but it was no use.

  We had to banish it.

  We had to banish it quickly or it was going to possess Joel.

  I grabbed Conor's hand and we stood in front of Joel's door with a hand out each. The creature stopped.

  "Step aside. I am the opener of locks," it hissed.

  "Yeah, you said that already and you're not taking the kid," I said, "Get out."

  "I am the opener of locks," it hissed again, "Submit to me or perish."

  "How do we do this," I asked Connor. He looked nervous but determined.

  "We concentrate and get real pissed off," he said. The two of us lunged forward at the same time with our hands out.

  "Get out!" we screamed at the top of our lungs.

  The thing screamed in agony and for a second I could see a crack forming in its body. I thought it might shatter as the light bulb had just a few minutes ago. Instead, it gave a wail of pain and escaped out the window. We ran over to see where it went but it was already gone.

  Joel was all right. We made sure of it. He was a little cranky to be woken up but he was perfect.

  I looked at Connor as Ezra hugged and kissed his son.

  "I don't think that was your Grandma," I said.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Tabby

  Ezra was grateful. Like, really grateful. We saved his little boy.

  It was nice having Ezra look at me with an expression that wasn't disdain mixed with lust. Even though I liked that too.

  He insisted on taking us out for breakfast, which was weird. Not long ago we'd been fucking in one big pile. Now he was taking us to Joel's favorite place, a nauseating colorful kid-friendly fast food joint with a ball pit called Funky Skunks.

  Funky Skunk himself served us our breakfasts. Ezra went for black coffee and even blacker toast. Connor got green tea and some oatmeal with black stuff in it. I joined Joel and got ice cream covered with candy for my breakfast.

  "Is this what you always have for breakfast, kid?" I said after I took one bite, "It's good but you're not going to have any teeth left."

  "No. I don't care about teeth," he said as he shoveled spoonful after spoonful into his open mouth. It was pretty gross to watch but I was glad that he was happy. I felt weirdly protective of the little guy after I'd saved his life, "Daddy can I please go to the ball pit now? Please please please!"

  "All right. Just play nice and stay where we can see you," said Ezra. I watched him smooth out Joel's hair and give him a little kiss on the head. As I said, I wasn't a big kid person but I was still human. My ovaries were going into overdrive. A gorgeous man just became all the more gorgeous when you could see that he was a good Dad.

  Joel ran off but stayed in our line of vision. Now we could really talk. Connor didn't even wait until he was finished and I guess that I understood that, given how gross his breakfast looked.

  "I think it was Demon," he said, "We released a fucking demon and it was trying to possess us. I'm trying to figure out what he meant by locks but I'm not quite sure yet."

  "It didn't get Joel," said Ezra.

  "No, but it's out there. It will get someone else. Maybe a kid," he said. I shuddered at the thought.

  "It was disgusting when he stepped into me. It was like I lost all control of my body, but I was still fully aware of what was going on. He could have done anything to me," I looked out the window. It was horrible to think of that beast roaming the streets inside the body of some poor mortal. It could be any of the people walking past. The old man with his little Russell Terrier. The teenage couple making out against a street light. The woman pounding the pavement in her red bottom heels.

  Ezra rubbed my shoulder. A surprisingly tender gesture from him. It felt good when he touched me and not in the way it usually did. It was gentle. Almost sweet. I looked at him and smiled, but he couldn't make eye contact.

  "Joel's mother was a witch," he said quietly. He was staring into the depths of his coffee as if he might see something besides brown liquid.

  "A witch?" repeated Connor, "But you hate witches! Your job is literally fucking them over."

  "I'm starting to think you have a fetish," I said and for once I could see Ezra's face flush. Maybe I was onto something there.

  "No. Not like you two. Jeanie wasn't born a witch. She was a mortal. We met in high school and fell in love. I guess I always loved her more than she loved me," he sighed, "Jesus, I shouldn't be going into this. This is what my therapist is for."

  I put my hand on his arm.

  "Go on, Ezra."

  I squeezed his arm and he gave me a weak little smile.

  "She fell in with a bad group. A coven. The Black Orchid coven," he said. I could tell that this was a big deal, even though I'd never heard of such a coven. Connor gasped. He knew his shit. So this coven was bad news.

  Connor gave a low whistle.

  "Fuck, man. That's not good," he said. I elbowed him.

  "No shit Sherlock," I said, which was pretty lousy seeing as I hadn't heard of the Black Orchid coven just a few seconds ago, "What happened to her?"

  "She...she um wanted powers. She was so devoted that they wanted her to have powers. All she had to do was sacrifice something."

  There was a long pause. Connor and I didn't dare to talk. Ezra looked like he might burst into tears at any moment now.

  "She tried to sacrifice me and Joel," he said, "So I guess that's the story."

  We were speechless. I was the first one to react.

  I reached out and squeezed Ezra's hand. To my surprise, he took my hand and didn't let go.

  "I'm sorry, Ezra," I said.

  "Can't do dick about it now, can I? Joel is all right. That's all that matters," he said. I nodded. I didn't want to ask the next question. Connor did it for me.

  "What happened to her?"

  "I killed her."

  Ezra said it like it was nothing. Then he looked at me.

  "I got a good bounty for her too," he said. Before I could say anything little Joel came running over to ask for some juice. He saw that Ezra and I were holding hands and he giggled.

  "Um! You're holding Daddy's hand!" he said like it was the funniest thing in the world. I supposed it was pretty funny.

  I was glad that one of us could laugh about it all.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tabby

  Most people worried about dying. Now I was worried about Death. He'd been so fearful before and so much had happened. I wanted to talk to him. I needed to see him.

  Even though Connor and Ezra both invited me to stay at their places I told them that I needed to go home to get my head straight. That was only a half-truth.

  I knew that Death was more likely to appear to me when I was alone than when I was with the boys. He liked them, sure, and he enjoyed fucking around with them. Of course, he did. Who wouldn't want to have two beautiful men worshipping your body and making you cum over and over again? I sure enjoyed it.

  His feelings for me were different. I knew that now. I wasn't just a plaything to him. I was special. He treasured me. We weren't fuck buddies anymore. We were lovers. If everything went right for us we could be more than that.

  He wouldn't just abandon me.

  Would he?

  I wasn't sure what t
o wear. The really slutty underwear seemed a little inappropriate, though I knew we both loved it. I would have to choose something sexy but classy. Something that a really expensive escort would wear.

  My budget didn't quite stretch to agent provocateur but I had some nice, slightly subdued pieces in my wardrobe. I ended up going for a silky purple slip that hugged my body in just the right way. It was subtle enough that I could answer the door wearing it but sexy enough that every guy with a pulse would know what to look at.

  Right now Death was the only guy I wanted to see. It was so strange of him to just disappear like that. Was he really in as much trouble as he said he was? I remembered working at a fast food joint in high school and hating how easily replaceable I was. The managers treated us like crap because there were so many people that could supposedly be hired and learn to do what we did at the drop of a hat. Death didn't seem like he could be so easily replaced. Surely he couldn't. There wasn't exactly a University course called Reaping 101.

  I waited and waited.

  I waited some more.

  I put on some lipstick. Dark red and not the matte kind that stayed on through anything. I wanted him to smudge it. I wanted to see his body covered in red lipstick marks.

  I waited some more.

  I flicked through some old photos of Dexter. It had been so sweet of Death to bring him back to visit me like that. When I was the freak being bullied at middle school he had been my only friend. It broke my heart when he died, even though he'd lived such a good life. It meant the world to see him again.

  I waited some more.

  I got tired of laying around staring at the ceiling so I went downstairs and turned on the TV. It was a stupid idea to begin with. Nothing would be able to distract me from the large knot that had wedged itself deep inside of my stomach. It felt like I'd swallowed a rock and I was being stabbed from the inside.

  I flicked through the channels. A soap opera that I usually loved came on, but I couldn't bear to watch it. Kurt, the handsome hero, was missing presumed dead after a car accident because his evil twin had cut his breaks. It was too hard to watch even if it was total bullshit. Then I flicked to the news and proved myself wrong. There was something to be distracted by.

  There had been a horrific fire in Stardust, a local club that I'd visited at least a thousand times over the years. The newscaster stood solemnly in front of the wreckage in her pinstriped suit as the firefighters ran in and out of the charred remains. Then she said something that really got my attention.

  "It is frankly astonishing that no one was killed in the blaze. Witnesses claim that the fire was blocking off all of the exits. We have been informed of a few minor injuries but fatalities are yet to be recorded."

  I turned off the TV and sat in the dark.

  It wasn't right that no one had died. That just could not be. It wasn't how things worked around here, or anywhere.

  Well, fuck. Death really was missing.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Tabby

  I wasn't ready to give up on lifting the curse yet. If the curse was lifted then maybe Death wouldn't be in so much trouble and we could go back to being a normal couple. He wouldn't have this big horrible task hanging over his head. We might have time to catch a movie or walk in the park or do something that normal couples did.

  Who was I kidding? Any couple that involved group sex with Death himself didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of being a normal couple. That was what I had liked about us. Now that he was missing I wasn't so sure.

  I tried to reassure myself. He couldn't be gone for long. The world would fall apart without him. He had to come back soon.

  He had to come back for me.

  Unless he didn't.

  Since Moira, or the demon pretending to be Moira, wasn't feeling cooperative Connor agreed that we would have to move onto the next step. The next step would just have to be what made the most sense. That was Connor's mother, Eileen. She was alive, for one, so that would make things a little bit easier. At least, that was what I thought. Connor didn't seem to think so. I gathered that he wasn't the biggest fan of his mother.

  "She's psychotic," he said, but I tried not to let that faze me. Maybe he was just exaggerating. All of my ex's' mothers loved me. Except for the ones that didn't.

  I was sure Eileen would think I was great.

  I was given a few rules before we left for the house.

  Rule number one was dress like a normal person. I almost turned away and left when Connor said that, even though we were standing in my own kitchen and talking with cups of tea in our hands.

  "I don't do normal," I said. Connor shrugged.

  "Oh come on, you must have some clothes that are less...less..." he trailed off. I sighed and took a sip of my tea.

  "Revealing? Slutty? Gothic? Dramatic?" I suggested.

  "All of those things."

  It took a lot of me standing in my underwear and going through my things, but we eventually settled on the most vanilla outfit I had. All right, so I kind of pretended to be more indecisive than I actually was in the hopes that the sight of me in my bra and panties would make Connor jump me. He didn't bite, unfortunately. He succeeded in getting me to wear something a little mundane.

  A grey sweater, red skater skirt and thigh high black boots. Connor insisted on pantyhose, though I wasn't pleased. The outfit was cute, but I thought it was boring as Hell. It wasn't me at all. Plus it didn't show off any of the parts I liked.

  "I thought you liked my body," I said with a pout.

  "I do," he replied, "But we're visiting my mother. And you want her to tolerate you."

  "Tolerate? I want her to like me," I did a little twirl in my skirt and accidentally flashed him, "Oops. That wasn't on purpose."

  Connor sighed.

  "I think that's a strong ambition," then he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me close to him, "Be good, remember? We need this to go well."

  I touched his face and drew him into a soft kiss. Then I pulled away before he was ready because I was mean like that.

  "She's your mom, how bad can she be?" I asked.

  I found out. Connor failed to mention that his mother's house was an elaborate mansion in the countryside. The kind of place you see ladies in crinoline wandering around in historical TV shows.

  I'd passed some of the fancy houses there on road trips with friends, but I didn't think that people actually lived there. Maybe hundreds of years ago, but not now. Rich people these days had townhouses and penthouses. No one lived in mansions with giant water features and perfectly manicured rose bushes and cobblestone pathways.

  I looked at Connor as we walked up the driveway. It was his childhood home but he looked too scruffy to even visit. It didn't fit him at all. How on Earth had a guy like him grown up somewhere like this and turned out the way he was? Connor wasn't your typical prep school rich kid.

  "You...you grew up here?" I said. That was a polite way of expressing what I was thinking. I couldn't exactly ask him things outright.

  "Sure. I guess I did. Until I was seventeen and I moved out," he said. I spun around with my arms out, taking everything in. This place was so beautiful. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to know it all belonged to you. I could sleep in a different bedroom every night of the week if I wanted. I could go for my morning jog without ever leaving my own property and getting hooted and hollered at by strangers. It would be Heaven.

  "Why would you ever leave all this?" I asked as we rang the doorbell. It was a big old fashioned one that you had to pull. Connor shrugged and smiled at me, though I could see the worry in his eyes. He looked at me when we heard footsteps approaching from inside.

  "This was a bad idea," he mumbled.

  "No, it wasn't," I whispered quickly, "It was my idea."

  "Yeah, that's what I meant."

  We didn't have any more time to argue. The door opened and we were no longer alone together. That was good because talking to Connor was stressing me the fuck out. />
  I thought maybe a servant would open the door but Eileen did it herself. It was obvious who she was straight away. She didn't look all that much like Connor, but they had similar lips and slightly tanned skin. Her smile was just like his, but she seemed to have more teeth than most humans had which made her a little bit threatening. She was taller than me and perfectly slender, wearing a floral pantsuit and tastefully expensive jewelry. Her red hair was waved down to her waist and when she saw me she smiled wider. For one moment I believed that smile to be genuine and I grimaced back. Then her eyes flickered just the littlest bit and it was like they were the only part of her that showed any emotion whatsoever. They were expressive. It was like she was wearing a porcelain mask and behind it was a terrified girl.

  "Connor dear, it's great to see you. Though you could have told me you were coming. My nail lady is coming at four. I guess I'll get her to wait if I have to. It really is lovely to see you, honey. You look handsome as always," she gave him an air kiss on the cheek. Then she extended her hand for me to shake, "And who are you darling?"

  "I'm Tabby, I'm Connor's friend," I said without skipping a beat. I figured that saying 'I'm Tabby and I suck your son's dick' wouldn't make me the most popular girl in the neighborhood. I knew how protective some mothers were about there sons. One of my high school boyfriend's mother chased me out of her house with a broom when she caught me with my hand down his pants. I was a corrupting influence of course, even though the guy had probably been watching porn since middle school. I would play it safe here. Eileen didn't seem like the type of woman to chase me with a broom but I was sure that she had plenty of servants who would be capable of doing just that.

  "Oh. How lovely. Nice to meet you Tabby," her hand was stone cold and it shook mine a little too hard, "I'm Eileen Flynn. What did you say your last name was sweetheart?"

  "She didn't. Mother, can we come in? We were just passing by and we thought we would see how you are doing," he said, which was the most transparent thing that had ever come out of the man's mouth. I didn't know how she could even pretend to believe it.