The Demon Dealings

There was a pattern that I had not seen before. People vanished every day, kidnapped, ran away or so just left without a word. I never thought about the possibilities. That people traded their souls every day to become supernatural or people disappeared because they would not. Once I figured out what happened to Jane it clicked what could have happened to the others.

I stood at the door with Carys behind me, hesitant to knock but I knew that she deserved answers to the questions I’d put in her mind.

I lifted my hand slowly but the door opened before I could knock. Spiros stood in front of us with a questioning look.

I took a deep breath, “We need to talk.”

He led us into the house and I could feel Carys’ questioning gaze on my back. Wondering why I had taken her to see Ian’s brother.

“Ian’s… He’s dead.” I took a deep breath, “He was sacrificed.” I muttered.

Spiros gave me a hard look as if to tell me he had already known. I winced in response. No one wanted to tell anyone that their brother was dead. I gulped, trying to brush off the nervous energy I felt.

“And Carys knows… about me. About us.” I said slowly.

“About us…?” Carys whispered to me.

“I neglected to tell you that he’s a demon.” I told her quickly. She sat up a little straighter in response.

“Ian was normal, though.” Spiros finished.

“And Cade… he should be by shortly. He’s… a demon of sorts.” I gulped avoiding telling her the whole truth. And as if on cue there was a knock on the door.

Spiros got up from his position on the couch to let Cade in. When the two got into the living room there was a tense silence no one willing to say anything.

“Ok… I brought everyone here to talk about something… Um… There are some demon dealings going on. They involve people we know and love. And I think there is something greater going on here.” I said slowly.

“We need to do something about this. There is too much at stake. They ¬killed Ian. I can’t just sit back and watch them kill more innocent people.” Carys added with passion.

“Wait, wait… so what exactly is going on?” Cade stopped us.

“I did a little bit of digging and I probably should have said something sooner but I didn’t think it was anything at the time and with Ian’s death…” Cade’s eyes widened. I looked over to Spiros, “Anyways, I saw something. It might be better that I showed you.”

I looked Spiros in the eyes, transferring some of my energy and the selected memory of the coven leader mentioning a plot, an unknown plot. It only took a moment of normal time but for us it seemed like we were watching the memory in real time.

Spiros sighed at what he’d witnessed, “They’re not kidding. Dark walkers have been planning to do something for years.”

“So, how do we stop them? I know we’re just a couple of kids but there has to be something we can do!” Carys cried.

“I agree with Carys. We have to find a way to stop it.” Cade agreed.

“I think that’s a given.” Carys said in a snarky tone, her dislike for Cade showing. “The problem is we don’t know what they’re planning or the people involved. How are we supposed to stop them when we don’t even know what they’re planning?”

“They’re obviously getting power from somewhere. The witches are making deals with someone. Find out who the dealer is and we can work from there.” Spiros was calm and logical about his approach but I knew a good place to start.

“I think I know where we can start… But first I need to know if everyone is in.” I glanced around the room briefly looking to see if anyone should object.

“I’m in.” Carys was the first to speak.

“I maybe a light walker but I know more about demon dealings than anyone here. I will help you how I can.” Spiros said simply.

I looked over to the last person left in the room, “Cade?”

“I can’t say no to you.” He smiled gently at me, “I’m in.”

Carys gave me a questioning look but I ignored her. Now was not the time to tell her that Cade had a thing for me and that I was beginning to trust him.

“And there is something else. You know how I’ve been looking for Jane?” I glanced at Cade, he nodded.

“Well, she’s a witch now… She made a deal.” I let out a sigh.

“That’s what happened to her… She made a deal. With a dark walker?” Cade looked at me with concern. But then it clicked, the questions I had been asking about deals were involving Jane.

“Yes, she made a deal with a dark walker… I talked to her. She seemed reluctant to be a dark walker... She was forced to kill him.” I decided to leave out the park that she had also liked it.

“Holy shit.” Cade muttered and shook his head.

“She knows something. It’s probably nothing significant but its more than we know.” Spiros added.

“Ok, I’ve already had a look in Jane’s head. I think if we find the demon she is dealing with then we can find the demon that the witches are dealing with and go from there.” I looked at Spiros expectantly, almost asking for his approval.

“If you can get me a name I can get you a dealer.” Spiros informed me.

“I can get you a name. No problem…” I glanced at Carys who cringed knowing what I might have to do.

“We can get you the name.” She corrected.

“What do we need to get to him?” Cade leaned forward interested in what Spiros would say.

“I think you know how to capture and hold a demon.” Spiros gave him a pointed look that I raised an eyebrow at but did not question.

“So it’s settled. Carys and I will get the name. You two will get what we need and set up so we can call him and trap him.” I looked at Cade and Spiros.

“Sounds like a plan.” Cade nodded.

I stood up, Carys following close behind. “It’s been a long night. Carys and I will start tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”

Cade stood as well and said his goodbyes to Carys.

“Spiros I’m sorry about your brother.” I told him sincerely, I placed my hand gently on his shoulder to show that I meant it.

“Don’t be. It was his time. Sacrifice or not.”

“Alright… Good night, I guess.” I awkwardly turned to leave.

When I went to say a brief goodbye to Cade he kissed me on the cheek surprising me, “If you need any help you know who to call.” He whispered in my ear.

When Carys and I had successfully made it into my car Carys couldn’t help but ask, “What was that?”

“I don’t know.” It was all I could manage to mumble.

*****

There was something going on in the kitchen in the morning when I woke up. I could hear hushed voices speaking to one another in aggressive tones. So I tip toed out of my room to see, or rather hear what was going on.

“Why are you so upset?” He was annoyed at something.

“Dad?” I asked under my breath so they couldn’t hear.

“Because, our daughter is now involved in something none of us understand and it was all your doing.” My mother accused.

“This isn’t our doing. She’s been in this before we could even fathom to think that anything was happening.” He sneered.

“How do we even know that any of this is true? How do we know that we aren’t being lead around simply for a deal?” I could imagine my mother throwing her arms about wildly.

“We know this because I did what was necessary.” My father sounded really angry now. It was not something that I was used to.

“It was him, wasn’t it? You let him get into her head.” My mom was vehement.

“Look, I made-“ my dad couldn’t defend himself.

“How could you, she’s our daughter. You know what the likes of him will do with her?! Her power! Do not let this get out of hand.” My mother threatened my father.

“There’s nothing to get out of hand! He has it handled. That’s why I did what I did.” My father’s voice was getting slightly louder.

“He can’t have it under control. There are too many factors here!” My mother cried.

“Like what? What factors could there possibly be that neither of us have considered?”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to be saved. Maybe she just wants to be a kid like she’s supposed to be!” I could hear her shoes turn on the floor indicating her turning away from him.

“This isn’t one of those things she has much say in…” father trailed off.

“And what about her friends? What about them finding out or being something we don’t think they are?”

“It’s been considered. Look, I made this deal for Natasha. I can feel them closing in on us. She needs a fall back because we’re not going to be there when this goes down.”

Their voices suddenly went quiet. I hurried back to my room silently to ponder what I had just over heard. What was it that my parents knew, what were they not telling me? I never thought that hiding something as important as this sounded ever turned out well. At least not for the person hiding it..

My phone buzzed, I jumped startled at the sudden noise.

I’m outside. The text read. Carys. I jumped into action. I threw on a t-shirt and some jeans and the closest pair of shoes I could find. I stuffed all my essential items into my pockets and ran downstairs. I didn’t bother to tell my parents where I was going, instead I bounded out the door and across the street to Carys’s car.

“So… where do we start?”

We wander around most of the day. My first suggestion being to visit Jane’s house but it was just as abandoned as the first time I had gone there. The woods were the same but I felt relief at their emptiness. We then tried the park where certain demons had made deals but struck out again.

By the time dinner rolled around we had come up empty handed. No sign of Jane and not even a so much as a word from anyone who might have seen her. So I decided that we would call it a day, that we would go back and sit on it.

When Carys parked on my street, across from my house I felt kind of relived when I noticed that my parents weren’t home. Both cars were missing from the drive way and the house was dark.

“So, what now? This has been a bust.” Carys asked me as we sat outside my house.

“Well, last time I saw her she was in my bedroom…” Carys raised an eyebrow at me, “So maybe we might have luck there. Maybe you should stay over.”

“Its worth a shot.” She shrugged and unlocked the doors. We stepped out of the car and jogged across the street. She beeped her car, remembering to lock it.

We didn’t say anything until I had unlocked the front door. “Come on. Let’s go to my room. We can brain storm more there.” I nodded to the stairs.

I stepped into the room and instantly flicked on the light. Jane was standing there in the middle of my room, startling both Carys and I.

“Well, that was easier than I thought.” I muttered.

“What are you doing here?” Carys asked her.

She looked at Carys surprised. “This was a mistake… coming here.”

“No, wait…” I held my hand out to her and she paused on her way to the window. “Come on. Give her a chance. She knows more than you think she does.”

“I… don’t know.” She said slowly.

“We’re here to help, Jane.” Carys added.

“She knows about the deal.” I told her blatantly.

“Why would you tell her that?” Jane asked, suddenly angry.

“I told her because she is a part of this now, whether you like it or not.”

“You shouldn’t have done it. You shouldn’t have made the deal Jane.” Carys said quietly.

“I didn’t know! I didn’t know what it was like!” She cried.

“I know you were seduced by the power. It all looks so appealing until you realize what it actually is that you’re getting. You thought you knew what you wanted and when you got it, it was too late.”

“I didn’t do it because I wanted to or because I wanted back at you. I did it because I had made a deal and if I didn’t follow through we’d both be dead anyways. This isn’t what I asked for.” Jane let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through her hair.

“You were dealing with a demon, what did you expect?” Carys fired back.

“I don’t know! Not this! They don’t tell you who you’re dealing with. They don’t tell you what to expect. They just assume that you’ll do it. That you’ll follow them without question.”

“It the nature of dark walkers to be deceiving. They only will only do something for you if they benefit from it.” I shook my head.

“So that’s it? They wanted something from her? What would they want with you Jane?” Carys stepped closer to her.

“I think it’s obvious.” I said slowly, “She just another recruit. They’ve been doing this for a long time, turning people, making more dark walkers.”

“Jane, they don’t care about you. We do. Let us help you starting with a name.” I was surprised at Carys’ words of comfort.

“A.. name?” She paused, glancing at us curiously.

“Yes,” I added. “Who was the demon that made the deal? Jane, what was his name?”

She went pale, suddenly frightened, “I can’t tell you that.” She whispered.

“Then write it down. All we need is his name. And then we can get you out of this.”

“You don’t understand. You don’t know what will happen to me if he finds out.” She was frantic.

“When he finds out it will be too late.” Carys added. “We’ll take care of it. You can trust us.”

“Let us deal with him. All you have to do is give us the name.”

She shakily took a pen from the cup on her desk and started writing on a post-it. When she was done she took a deep breath contemplating if she should actually hand it over. She pulled the post-it note from the pad and handed it to me. I folded it in half and stuck it in my pocket.

“We’ll deal with this.” I said with resolve.

“Don’t worry. Just pretend like everything is normal and you’ll be fine.” I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into when I was saying that but later I would find out.