Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) Read online

  "Ah." She got up then, since a timer was going off on the stove, and had been. In her extreme focus, she'd missed that. It came back to her now, however.

  It made sense. Whatever was happening to her, the trouble she was having thinking at the moment, was part of this being's power, wasn't it? That or a fundamental lack from inside herself.

  Still, she wasn't like he was and needed to eat, so got the food and then sat down, taking the nutrients in for a long time.

  The whole thing didn't make a lot of sense yet, but that was fine. It was either real, or wasn't, and either way, she was going to find out.

  Chapter ten

  After consuming as much food as she could for the time being, which didn't mean she was full, or even close, but did mean that she wasn't going to get more without moving, she cleared her throat again. That could work with Humans from North America, but Gregor just looked at her as if she were being cute. She decided to not think of him as anything other than that, and possibly not even that, since it was just possible that someone else was playing her.

  Going along with the gag, if it was one, would serve her better than trying to act as if it wasn't real, only to find out that it was, later. To that end she used a cloth napkin to wipe her mouth, buying time to think.

  When she spoke it was done gently enough, she thought.

  "So... I guess I need to meet with God then, if he's going to claim to be real. I'm not going against my new boss on your say so. Especially since this might not be what it seems. For one thing, why ask me about it? Wouldn't it work better to get Tarsus to handle it? Or even just do it yourself, if you're Gregor?" She watched the nice seeming fellow closely, for clues or hints as to what reality actually was. He just shook his head, slowly.

  "I can't help you with part of that. Tarsus is... insane, Keeley. You all are. When presented with the reality of it all, Greater Demons lack the capacity to recall that which is truly divine. I've held a conversation like this with Tarsus a thousand times, or more, and as soon as I leave, he forgets that I was ever there. I could perhaps mask myself and pretend to be one of you, but your kind is no more able to see mine than a Human is to understand your own."

  She could feel a bit of that, couldn't she? That muzzy headed feeling to the moment, which was, she knew, very close to being drugged, more than a little too. Just like she could fake being a Human in public and no one would ever guess she wasn't, Gregor here was claiming that her kind felt the same way about his. If this was him, which his careful wording was placing in doubt.

  "That... Isn't going to help you a lot then, is it? I can stand down, perhaps, if I know what's going on, but without that information there's almost no way for that to take place. I need this information. Without it then you're out of luck. I don't suppose you have a way to get me up on things? Like introducing a Human to the supernatural, until their mind learns to comprehend it?"

  There was no movement for a long time, and finally the Greater Demon shrugged. Except that, she reminded herself, he wasn't one of those. She was, but he was... A different thing? The concept tried to leave her mind, even as she worked out what had to happen so that it wouldn't.

  "I'll... Need to be exposed to you, or at least some of your people, for a long time, I think. Without a break. That's been tried before, of course. I bet Tarsus asked to try on your first meeting." He was intelligent and loved information after all. Being unable to see something would warp him pretty well.

  It was hard to think about, because she'd really figured herself for being up on reality, but there it was, running through her brain as she sat, staring. Her head really didn't want to let her handle the situation at all. It lent credence to the idea, didn't it? Yes, Gregor here, or Mike, could have been lying to her, in order to string her along, but to what end? Some kind of game to get the insane Greater Demons set free from the traps they were in?

  "How many need to be let loose?"

  "Over thirty, Keeley. For decades your kind has used this technique. I understand the rationale, but it disturbs the balance too much. So, do you think you can do that for me? Get them all free, so that the Universe won't implode on us all?"

  She shook her head, slowly.

  "I doubt it. For one thing, if you can do this to me, then why would you need my help? Just go and set them free, yourself. You can touch things when you want to." That had to be the case. If not then it would have been impossible to hide as one of them for any length of time. Just like he should be able to moderate whatever the effect he was having on her did.

  That thought, slow and clumsy feeling, got her to snort.

  "Which is what you're already doing? This is your version of making it so I might remember things? That doesn't prove that you are who you say. I've seen a lot of beings pretend to be others over the months. You, or at least Gregor, even sort of botched pretending to be Zack once, in order to try and kill me." It was during the First Crucible, and he'd been sent in by Tarsus, but...

  "Which wouldn't have worked. Even with a Lesser Demon contracted for it. My kind, for all the fierce reputation, does not kill easily. It's a bit of a trial, pretending to be one of you. We have guilt, and shame, for example. We feel the pain of those we harm, physically and emotionally. That isn't truly why I need your help, however. Keeley, you need to understand, you're the only one young enough that this might work on. Even Zack is too old for it and I fear that I found you too late. Finias found you, but being what he is, sought to protect you from harm. That means I didn't find out until you moved to Arizona, about what you were and your true age. Forgive me for that. If I could have reached you sooner, then this would be far more certain. What I need from you now, however, what I must have from you, is for you to try and remember. When I leave here, when I hide my true face, your very being will cry out to right the imbalance, by forgetting who I am. You must cling to the idea. You must not let yourself fail. Not again." There was a significant look then, and Keeley sighed, looking away from the man in front of her.

  "Really now? How many times has it been, then? How often have you come here, asking for me to do this? Two? Three?"

  "I've been with you each night since you left your old home. We've had this conversation before, many times now. I was about to simply resign myself to the end of all that was created, but He told me to give you one more chance. I know that there can be no failure, if it is His will. That does not mean it will happen the way I think however. Nor does that mean it will be a thing of comfort and ease for you. There is a plan, and that, in the end, must rule us all. As you are, I and all my kind are also imperfect. There can be only one perfect being... And Elvis passed away, long ago." There was head hanging then, and a quick glance upward at her, to see if she'd picked up the joke.

  Rather than grin, being a bit preoccupied, she held up her right hand.

  "Wait, so you're saying that Elvis is really gone, too? What else are you going to tell me? I suppose next on your list is that there is no Santa Claus?" She waited then, since she'd seen the tulpa herself, and knew that one for sure. She'd even made the nice list. True that was for being a decently good Greater Demon, but it was still a vote of confidence. She wouldn't be on it again this year, because now she was an adult.

  Gregor the apparent Angel, or some other guy that hadn't confirmed she was wrong about that, shook his head slowly, a smile on his lips.

  "I regret to inform you of his passing. You knew that one, however. It doesn't take a lot for people to imagine that one of their favorites still walks the world with them. Even my kind has moments like that. We can... Normally, tell the difference. You don't have that issue. Just ones with me and mine. So, do you think you can do it? Can you... remember me? What I am?"

  She shrugged, not knowing the answer. If she'd really done this before and had no clue at all, then it probably wasn't happening.

  "So, wait, this is some kind of timeless state thing then? Otherwise I would have noticed the missing time, before."

  "Correct. We also ca
n't just have you write a note for yourself, since that will be suspected as being false. Changes can be made in the here and now, but even a being such as you might not notice them, if it's too well linked to me or mine. Perhaps you would do better to speak about this with Gregor? If you approach him on the subject, he will not lie to you about it."

  She closed her eyes, blocking out the concept of the man being there. Then, without opening them to see if he was really there, she spoke, laying out ideas on an internal grid. It was a blue field, behind her eyelids, that she mentally wrote on, building layers of complexity into it. The triggering key was simple enough. When she saw an opening door, it would be brought back into being. It took a while, and she composed the thing carefully, making sure it was part of her, totally and completely, explaining it all. Even her doubts about the matter, which she told the man in front of her, who seemed hopeful about it anyway. Then... She added in a lot of magic. Her own, signing the feel of the whole thing with her personal power, and then adding another mental note that would remind her to notice that.

  It... Almost certainly wouldn't be enough. After all, Angels? Even now, with what seemed to be one directly across from her, she doubted that was something real.

  Glancing over the crumb specked table, she thought for a while, and then sighed.

  "I don't know if that's enough, but it will have to be, for now. If I can remember, then I'll try to contact you again. Or Gregor, at least. How long have you been him, anyway?" She'd heard what he'd said, but was testing him, to see if he'd lie about it outright.

  "Gregor? I'm not him, you should seek him out however, as he is perhaps more able to communicate with you, being what he is now. He's been around for about three thousand years, in his current position... I used to be a much nicer being, do you know that, Keeley? We all were, back then. I mean, my people. The demons that walked the Earth then were fierce, compared to what we have now. It was part of why He instructed the Forgetting. Not just for your kind, but all creatures. So that the beings that were created by thought could be controlled and contained. It was, back in those times, that the gods oft walked the same lands as the mortals. The dark ones, your folk, did their share of damage, but truly, the fears of those that worshiped were the greatest problem. There was no hope, not even a glimmer, for the Humans and others of those days. Until He spoke, and led me to create a format for those that needed to be shepherded into correct living and thought."

  "Oh. That didn't always work out so well, did it?" Keeley wondered if the man was capable of getting that, but there was no way to tell from his answer. It was a single wave, as he stood up, to go.

  "You should recall, if you can, what the world once was. This is a paradise in many ways. A gift that no one knows they've been given, compared to the Earth that was. I... Wish you luck, in remembering this, Keeley. I truly do. Regardless, we shall meet again. It is His will."

  She cleared her throat, and held him in place with a look.

  "I bet. Still, even if I can remember all of this, I don't know if I can fix it for you. Tarsus will want those four beings out of the way and... Well, three really, I guess. How do I get around that? I clearly can't just share all of this with Tarsus, since he'll just assume that it means I'm insane. That, or under the influence of another being. Which... Well, that could still be the case. So, unless you have some better suggestion for me than to throw my life away on a whim, maybe you shouldn't get your hopes up too high?"

  He moved to the door, his face shifting as he did, the clothing as well. From a man that looked ready to work on a farm to an older priest, with a bald pate, wire rimmed glasses and some gray hair at the edges. It was nearly white, and the face was a bit more round, nearly chubby, and complete with more laugh lines and crow's feet than had been there even a half second before. It certainly wasn't the way she altered her appearance, but it was, she realized, Gregor. The way she knew him. Even the distortions in space were perfect. Except that the top of his head was too bald. She held up her right hand to get him to wait and then closed her eyes again, adding that bit of information to the mental list that would come to her, and added another touch of her own energy, hoping that it would work.

  If only because otherwise she'd be left with a blind spot, and not be able to even work on it later. That idea sucked. When she opened her eyes, Gregor slid the door open and then nodded at her.

  "You'll need to do battle with them all, Keeley, and simply kill them. If you use Tarsus's method, reality will fold in on itself and die. If you fail him, and do not try, then the man, your own Grandfather, will almost certainly kill you. If however you take each, acting alone as a sign of your strength, destroying them, one by one, then you'll be marked as too powerful for anyone else to bother. Even with your tender years. I have great faith in you, Keeley Thomson. So does He. Else wise He wouldn't have sent me to you for this."

  The door shut and she looked away, noticing that the room was a mess. There were crumbs on her table, and she sat there, for a whole moment, before not bothering to see that, and going to get something to eat. It was time and dinner hadn't happened yet.

  There was a slight sense that something was going to happen, but nothing did, except for food prep. Then eating, as she listened to the sounds of her home, the world outside not making more than a hiss of a breeze.

  "What I need to do, is make plans, for my new slaves." That didn't take long, since she was going with a very general idea for now. First, they were all going to kick their drug habits and get clean. Just because they weren't allowed to do drugs now, that didn't mean they didn't still have junk in their bodies from the last time they'd done something. It could take weeks for them all to adjust. They would, and fast, because they didn't get a say in the matter. In a way it would seem easy to them, though valuable.

  Because, simply enough, she was going to order them to think of it that way. For each of them it would be a formative and enlightening event, that made them better people.

  True, over half the runaways were probably on milk cartons somewhere, and the rest would have lives to miss them from, but they were, like it or not, straightening up. People would put up with a lot, if someone did that. Being the jerk that sent someone back down the road to drug use wasn't a thing that most halfway decent people wanted for themselves. That meant, after they were clean and renewed, the ones that had a home that was decent, could go back to them. The others would be better off with her.

  It was a sad thought really. Some people had lives so bad that the best place for them was being the slave to a Greater Demon? She knew it was only the truth, but for a brief moment she nearly cried. That, thankfully, didn't last long.

  In a few hours, she'd need to get back there, and take care of that, then... She didn't wait, just starting right in on baking cookies for the police department there in town. It was going to take a while too, but she'd had practice doing it before and could manage a better than average job, if she tried hard enough.

  One thing that had always been nice, living with her mother, was that she had a home office filled with flowers, ribbons and boxes to put things in. Being on her own, Keeley hadn't bothered to pick anything like that up yet, which was an oversight. Presentation counted. In fact, it was more important than almost anything else, to some people.

  Fixing that wasn't too hard however, since what she lacked in raw materials, she could make up for in teleportation. After she finished getting things ready. They'd need to cool before boxing, and while it was late, or very early now, being about three in the morning, she had friends that would help her out. Later, when they woke up.

  So she buried her head and made ten different kinds of cookies, which given the likely size of her new police force, should be about right for each of them to have one. At least on the day shift. Some would be watching their weight, and others would be greedy, but it should even out.

  Being careful to time everything properly, she stepped into the silver world of the inroads at just about six in the morning,
knowing that her old Hsreth friend, Clara, would be opening her catering company for the day about then. She had employees, but Hsreth didn't actually sleep, which meant they got a lot of work done, most days. It took a few minutes to find the right location, which wasn't far at all, and being daring, as well as wanting to be a bit dramatic, she stepped in, right behind the woman as she worked at a large stainless steel counter, her hands and fingers moving in a blur that indicated time was being manipulated, if on a subconscious level.

  Hsreth could do that, but only in regards to cooking and homemaking. They kept things meticulous at all times, but it didn't really help them protect themselves, if it came to a fight. They tended to try and run away, if they couldn't placate whoever was bothering them.

  "Ah!" The curly haired and slightly square formed woman yelled, more in surprise than at her in particular. "What?"

  Then, instead of fleeing for her life, she grasped her chest, acting like she was going to have a heart attack. Since that wasn't possible, Keeley winked at her, and then moved in to give the lady, a former slave of hers, a small hug.

  "Clara! How are things going? Is everyone treating you well?" Because, as Darla had taught her, you always made certain that everyone you dealt with felt special. So, even on this trip to selfishly get things from her, she needed to present it as primarily being about her friend. So she needed to add that part in, or it would seem a bit strange. "I wanted to make certain that you're doing well, since you were always my favorite."

  The woman didn't look skeptical, but she also didn't seem too happy to see her.

  "Mistress of Souls. We're doing well here. The whole city is. No more crime than normal, and no strange deaths in the last week. Your mother dropped a line to me the other day, asking if I'd heard from you. I... It's not my place to say." They were friends, Sherry and Clara. Business partners, or at least they had been. So it didn't take a Greater Demon to figure that one out.