Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
These things I command you, that ye love one another.
~John 15-17~
The sun was stifling in its heat, steam rising from the asphalt was enough to lock children indoors to escape the haze. The neighborhood was filled with the sounds of hundreds of running air conditioners and birdsong, only broken by the hum of a motor as a small black Nissan drove into the quaint community.
The driver was a small woman with hair of spun sunlight. Pulling into the drive of a one-story house, Hailey Bay struggled to compose herself as she turned off the car.
Blue eyes gazed at the front door of the small home in front of her. Gathering her courage she opened the car door and stepped out. Grabbing her bag of newspaper clippings, an unassuming notebook, and childish drawings.
Straightening her clothes, she closed the car door, locked it, and walked up the driveway to the door.
Taking one last breath she threw her shoulders back to exert confidence, put on her best serious expression, and rang the doorbell. A minute later the door opened to reveal a young woman of average beauty with long locks of black hair and hazel eyes that gazed at Hailey questioningly.
"Mrs. Shurley? My name is Hailey Bay of Kripke elementary, I am your son's teacher. We need to talk."
London Airport
Bobby singer sighed from his spot in the airplane. He wiggled a bit to get comfortable as he gazed out the window by his seat. In a few minutes the plane would take off and he would be putting some much-needed distance from the horrible memories of the past few months.
Looking back, he couldn't help but blame himself for his failure in finding the boy. Logically he knew it wasn't his fault. But the loss of the little angelic boy would forever haunt him.
At least something good had come of the trip. He had found some good contacts, and Jim and Rufus would agree.
He had also found a community of magic users that had no connection to hell. Just humans with an extra boost, capable of going good or bad.
Though getting John to see them as anything other than hellspawn would be a task in and of itself. Glancing to his left at his slumbering companions, Rufus and Pastor Jim, he lowered his hat over his eyes, leaning back to get some shut-eye as the plane started to move. He had a long flight ahead.
Somewhere on the outskirts of Death Valley, USA
The wind howled under the light of a crescent moon. The desert sand glowed in luminous starlight. The heavens were shown ever brighter as a lone cactus toppled in the harsh breeze, hailing a beat-up Chevy pulling to a full stop in the middle of nowhere.
The door opens as a pair of beat-up tennis shoes touch down upon the earth, dust clouds pooling at the feet. A man in ratty jeans and a shirt that was little more than rags steps out of the car and the slam of a car door echoes into the night.
The man runs his hands across his salt-and-pepper bearded face as he walks to the trunk of the car and opens it up. Taking a flashlight, and clicking it on, the man grabs a small box and opens it. Inside, a cat's bone, some dirt, and a picture of the man who held it.
Sighing, the man closed the box and trunk and started to walk the path of the dirt road. Stopping in what had once been an intersection to another road, the man bent down and buried the box, using the light to see. Standing after he finished.
The man twitched with nervous energy. He waited, looked around, and waited some more, finally after twenty minutes of nothing happening the man grew frustrated and turned around in an angry huff.
"Going somewhere luv?" Came a cultured voice behind him. The man froze in fear, suddenly realizing perhaps he had made a mistake. "Here I thought you brought me that pretty little box to make a deal."
A hand trailed up his side and the man shivered as he broke out in a cold sweat. Turning slowly to face the monster he had stupidly summoned the man gulped as the demon continued to speak. "You do want to make a deal? Don't you, mate?"
Gulping, the man nodded as he got his first glimpse of the hellish creature. Standing before him was an unassuming male that wore an Armani suit and tie. Black hair swaying in the breeze, the creature looked surprisingly human to the man, the only thing giving away what stood before him was the dense atmosphere and the scorching red eyes that bore into him.
The man could already feel the hell fire licking at his soul as the demon's eyes bore into him with a hunger that shook his very core. Faced with this creature, the man suddenly feared for his immortal soul, but then he thought of his life and strengthened his courage.
He only had to make this deal and then he could live like a king. As far as he was concerned his life was already hell. He didn't think it could get much worse.
Struggling to find his voice the man croaked out his wish. "I want to be rich, I want women to flock to me and I want the world to know my name." The man said all in one breath. Clucking his tongue in what could only be disgust, the demon let out an irritated chuckle that seemed to saturate the air in its heat.
"How boring, don't you mortals ever come up with anything new?" The demon exclaimed in annoyance. "Eh, poppet. Let's get this deal underway. Got places to be deals to make and souls to collect."
The demon stepped uncomfortably close to the man as it continued to speak, a long-fingered hand trailing along the man's jaw causing goose flesh to ripple up his arms. "Done, done, and done. Ten years….that's all I…."
The man's eyes widened as the demon's mouth came dangerously close to his own, a hand searing heat across the middle of his back as the hellspawn drew his close as if in a lover's embrace. A trilling voice shattered the moment as the demon jumped away from the man as if burned.
"Whacha doing Crawly?" The voice was young and filled with innocence. It resonated within the man, washing away the cold fear that had taken him and filling him with warmth.
Hesitant to turn away from the demon the man turned his head toward where the voice was coming from. Skin glowing in the moonlight, eyes of the purest green shining in the night, hair as dark as a raven's wing, a child sat upon the hood of the man's car.
A white shirt and pants rippling in the wind, and an enormous red bird perched upon the child's shoulder.
"Ascha! Can't you see I'm working here?! I thought I told you to stay at the hotel!" Came the irritated voice of the demon. Thunder rolled ominously in the distance.
"But it's so boring in the room! I wanna explore." Ascha exclaimed put out. His lower lip trembled as he squeezed his treasure. The man glanced back and forth between the child and the demon as they continued to argue the merits of where the child was supposed to be.
"You are supposed to be studying!" Came a fond huff from the demon.
"I finished already." Returned the child as the thunder faded.
"Oh? Did you read all of chapters 10 and 11 of the beginning math book and completed your workbook for the chapters I assigned?" The demon asked walking up to stand in front of the child.
"Yup." The young one chirped.
"Shakespeare's?" The hellspawn probed.
"Uh-huh!" Nodded Ascha enthusiastically now that he had Crowley's undivided attention, said demon ignoring the man stood awkwardly behind the strange trio.
"The chapter on Darwin." Crowley gestured with his hand in question.
"Mmmmhmmm." Yawned the little one as he answered.
"Einstein's writings?" Crowley cocked an eyebrow in disbelief.
"We haven't even studied that far Crawly, now you are just being mean." The red-eyed creature's mouth twitched as he shook his head.
"Bloody hell, some of that I wasn't expecting you to read you are only eight!" Crowley breathed. "It's late and you're tired, return to the hotel this instant and go to sleep."
"I'm not…." A grumbling yawn. "…tired…read me a story? Please, Crawly?" Big green eyes opened wide, pinning the demon in place. Bottom lip trembling. An exasperated huff came from the demon as he sighed. Nodding to the child the demon turned as an excited yell came from the little boy.
"Sorry, gonna have to cut this short luv. Get some other demon sap to cut you a deal. The little tyke has to be put to bed, he has lessons in the morning." With that, the creature put a hand on the child's arm and they vanished before the man could even form a protest. Leaving the man alone once again with the harsh desert night and the sudden ability to breathe again.
The man felt as if he had just dodged a bullet. Getting into his car, and driving into the night, the man decided perhaps his soul was worth a lot more than riches and he was happy with his life as it was after all.
Meanwhile, at a hotel seventy-three miles away Ascha lay contently in a bed that felt more comfortable every time he lay in it. Listening to Crowley read him a story of a boy who never grew up and could fly, he smiled to himself and silently thought….
Ascha 54 Crowley 0