Disclaimer: All ideas, characters, and places belong to their respective owners. Jonnie's mine.

A/N: Thanks to anyone who read! And thanks to my beta capjack54!


Chapter Four

"Can you stop rocking?"

The pupil looked up at the accountant. She shook her head and stood.

"I'm sorry, Tabitha. I have to leave. Terrence has never thrown a tantrum before. I mean, he's been angry before, and I've messed up pretty bad, but he never went off so upset."

Tabitha's gaze remained on the window behind Jonquil. "This isn't about you."

Jonquil looked at Tabitha. "What do you mean?"

"This is about his failures. Not your mistakes. He needs to be alone."

Jonquil grabbed the canvas duffel bag beneath the chair. She headed toward the door.

Tabitha turned, and stood. "Where are you going?"

"To the motel."

"On foot?"

"I guess so."

Tabitha sighed. Jonquil turned to face her.

"I've got something you can take. You need to bring it back, though."

"I will."

---

Jonquil caught her breath as she pedaled the burgundy Mongoose bike down the road. She was not aware the motel was so far from Tabitha's house. Eventually, she caught sight of the gas station, which meant that Kisko Motel would not be far behind.

The pupil continued to pedal, faster and faster, hoping she could arrive before her professor would leave her. The bike's tires swerved on the parking lot's asphalt as she stopped. She did not bother to put up the kickstand. The green pickup truck with a cab was still parked in front of the motel room. Terrence was still inside.

Jonquil ran up to the door, pausing, groping through the countless items in the duffel bag to take out the room key. She found it, immediately thrusting it into the keyhole. She pushed the door open. Her stomach lurched.

A giant black amorphous cloud stood before the professor, who was atop a coffee table, tie around his neck, tied to the lights above. The professor caught sight of his pupil, whose mouth was open in shock and confusion.

"Jonnie, lea—"

The black cloud flew across the room, knocking down the table. The professor's mouth was open wide, gasping for air, caught in a faulty hanging. The darkness dove into the man's mouth. He was choking.

The pupil's eyes widened in horror, as she stood frozen in front of what was occurring; her duffel bag fell to the floor.

The professor's body was shaking, practically in seizures, as the pressure inside his cranium increased.

A loud pop echoed throughout the room. Brain matter and tissue went flying. Jonquil felt bits of bone land on her face as the rest of Terrence's cranial remains painted her clothes and the room.

Her eyebrows wove up, and her face tensed. The dark amorphous cloud rose out from the professor's headless corpse.

She took out her gun and shot at it. The darkness took on the shape of a man, and began to laugh at her. It had a deep demonic pitch.

"Did you really think you could stop me?"

She shot at it again.

The darkness lifted her from the door way and sent her flying across the room into the wall. The crash left her on her side, vulnerable on the floor. She had nothing left to defend herself with. Not even a Bible. And she was not about to make deals with demons.

She swallowed hard. Terrence was right all along. She had been too sloppy. She was never prepared.

"Well, I guess it's the death of me." She made the sign of the cross and pulled out the rosary in her pocket, something she had not done since she left home.

The demon screamed in anger. She shrank back again. It grabbed her by the face. The ball of fear in her stomach wove tighter.

"Do you think that will save you? DO YOU?!"

She tried to move, but it held fast. She glared. It laughed at her as she continued to struggle.

"I'll let go of you, but I'll come back for your soul."

She frowned. "I will not make a deal with you."

"Oh, this is no deal, little girl. I'm making you a promise."

She struggled more, but the grip only grew tighter. Jonquil was aware that if she squirmed any more, and it held any tighter, her neck would snap. She stopped.

It smiled at her. Jonquil's face scrunched in disgust.

"There, there, little girl. Here is my promise to you, because you are not as dim as your friend here. I promise to come back for your soul if you don't return to me my children."

Jonquil frowned. "No. That's technically still a deal."

"No. This is a promise. If you don't return to me my children, I'll have your soul and you. A deal would have been if I give you something and you give me something. It is a simple exchange."

"I refuse."

"Than I must make true on my promise and take you now."

It grinned and moved in closer. She turned her face.

"Okay, okay...."

"I shall return. You must have all my children."

Jonquil frowned as it let go of her. The demon had not told her its name, nor when it would return.

Jonquil looked up. "Who are your...."

The demon had disappeared. She sighed in anger and banged her head against the wall.

"Damn it!"

The pupil had lost her professor, and proved him right, all in the same day. She shook her head, confused and angry at what had just happened. She could not even recall what the severity and differences between promises and deals made with a demon were. But the pupil did recall that the book containing that explanation was on the dashboard of the truck...

Jonquil sighed and closed her eyes. The world was falling to pieces all around her. She needed to hold on tight.

She stood up and took a good look at the massacre that surrounded her. Bloody tissue and bone painted the salmon-colored walls. The paintings that decorated the wall were on the floor, as were some other articles.

"Crap." Most of the clean ups the pupil took care of were not this bloody. She needed help.

Jonquil made her way to the telephone, whose location was on the floor, between the beds. She connected it to the jack. She realized that she did not know Tabitha's number. She hoped operators were still in use.

"Operator."

"Yes, hello. Could you please connect me with Tabitha Mitchell?"

There was a pause, and then:"We have three listings for that name."

"I'm looking for Tabitha Mitchell of Greenport Road."

"Please wait while I connect you."

In the silence, Jonquil prayed that Tabitha would answer.

"Hello?"

"Tabitha? It's me, Jonnie."

The voice on the other line relaxed.

"Jonnie, what's going on? Did Alex have a meltdown or…?"

"That's why I called. I need your help."

Tabitha's voice grew tense. "What happened?"

"Can you just come over? I need help with a massive clean up."

"Is Alex okay?"

"He's uh…," Jonnie glanced at the hanging headless corpse. The tie's grip around the neck had slowly been sliding down. "He's indisposed of. I really need your help. It's a level three cleanup. Bones and blood everywhere."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." The dial tone sounded in Jonquil's ear.

She turned around. The body was slumped, hanging in mid air. The entire room seemed like some gory scene from a B horror movie. Jonquil sighed and grabbed her duffel bag. She sat on one of the chairs, staring at her professor's body. She took a deep breath.

There was a knock on the door. Jonquil jumped. The body fell.