Chapter 15

CeeCee and Stephen return from the library with two books and an armload of ice cream. When I look at her with surprise, she just shrugs and says, "We had cravings."

Stephen takes the books and walks over to Paul who is sitting out on the balcony, talking on his cell phone. I help CeeCee dish up the ice cream, while Kate stands by idly, watching us.

"God, I used to love ice cream," Kate says to me and I glance over my shoulder at her.

I look back at CeeCee who is slipping a spoon-full of the homemade ice cream into her mouth. A look of pure love washes over CeeCee's face. "Oh my God," she says while opening her eyes and settling them on me. She smiles, "This is the best stuff ever." I smile over at CeeCee and hear Kate snort and then walk out of the room.

We finish dishing out the ice cream and take the bowls out onto the balcony.

"When are you going to check for Suze again," Stephen asks Paul when we hand them their ice cream.

"Tonight," Paul answers curtly. I can tell he is not impressed with Stephen the demon hunter. "So how is that you fell into your line of work?"

Stephen takes a bite of ice cream and nods his head. "When I was little I would see these things. At first I thought they might be ghosts, but when I was finally old enough to figure it out, I bumped into the old priest from my San Diego private Catholic school. I had only attended up until sixth grade, and he had always been on the look out for me. When I was a senior in high school, I took a spring break with my friends down to LA. There I bumped into Father Kane, and we began talking. He had always known I could see them, but he thought that maybe I had grown out of it.

"After I graduated I moved back to San Diego and had Father Jane teach me all he could. I've even been over to the Vatican to be blessed by the pope. Our line of work is very secret, and not a lot of people know that demons can actually break through onto this existence, or even exist." Stephen stops and puts another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. He moans and looks over at CeeCee. "God, Cee, this is really good!"

CeeCee smiles at Stephen, and says, "See! I told ya so!" Paul snorts and Kate says something unkind under her breath and Paul looks over at her with a smile. I just eat my ice cream wondering how I could have let Susannah's soul slip right through my fingers.

We sit out on the balcony tossing around ideas, swapping jokes, and talking about our various powers. When it begins to turn dark, Paul claims that he I going to try to find Susannah again and heads off for the couch. CeeCee and Stephen collect the bowls and go into the bathroom to wash them off. I sit out on the balcony alone for a while, since Kate has gone with Paul with the promise to watch over his body while he's gallivanting around Shadowland.

Suddenly I feel my cell phone vibrating, and I take it out of my pocket. Clicking it on, I say, "Hello?"

"Dude!" It's Kirk.

"Hi Kirk," I say trying to mask my sadness with an upbeat façade.

"You, me, party," he says loudly and I can almost hear the smile on his face.

"Tonight?" I ask him.

"Cha!" I smile and shake my head at his absurdity.

"I can't. Not tonight. I'm busy tonight," I hear myself saying into the phone.

"What could you possibly be doing that is so damned important?" Kirk asks of me.

I sigh, and then glance up when I hear my name screamed from within the hotel room. "I'm sorry, Kirk, I must go. I will talk to you later, yes?" I don't even wait for an answer. Instead I jump up and run into the room. On the couch, Paul is sitting, panting. When he realizes I'm in the room he looks up at me and says urgently, "I found her."

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"She was walking around in an alternative universe," Paul tells me, while Kate is perched on the couch right next to him.

"Alternative universe?" My brows knit together with confusion.

"Like another place, another time." I nod my head, but still am too happy to hear that he has found mi querida.

I look around the room, for some reason thinking that he would have brought Susannah back with him. "Where is she?" I ask him, yearning to touch my Susannah once more.

Paul shakes his head with an aggravated sigh. "I can't bring her back onto this plane. She isn't dead. She's not the soul of a ghost, so she does not belong on the plane without a body. We have to find the demon first."

"How are we going to do that?" Kate asks. Paul and I glance over at her.

"I don't know. Stephen is supposed to be the demon expert. Let him tell us how," Paul says and sinks into the back of the couch.

"I'll go get him," I say at once and then stride into the other room. I look around the bedroom, not seeing them anywhere. They couldn't have gone anywhere, I think and then I hear a giggle from within the bathroom.

Walking closer to the closed bathroom door, I hear heavy breathing and…is that kissing? Kate pops up right next to me, saying, "You find hi—"She pauses and listens. Then she disappears before I can tell her not to.

Only a second later, Kate materializes in front of me. "Don't worry Jesse," she says with a smile. "They're only kissing." I sigh and then she adds, "But not for long." With a wicked smile, Kate walks out of the room and back to Paul.

I knock on the door swiftly before convincing myself otherwise. I hear CeeCee gasp and some ruckus, but in only half a minute, a both disheveled CeeCee and Stephen walk out of the bathroom. CeeCee has a small smile on her lips, while Stephen is trying to keep his hands from fidgeting…to get to CeeCee again, no doubt.

"J-J-Jesse," CeeCee stutters while her white cheeks blush a pretty pink.

"Paul found her," I say bluntly, not wanting to waste time on uncomfortable explanations.

CeeCee gasps and a hands flies up to her mouth. "Really? In Shadowland? Oh my Gawd!" Then she looks around the room. "Well?" She asks me, her eyebrows raised in question.

I stare at her blankly. "Where is she, Jesse?" CeeCee asks me, while Stephen fails to keep his hands off of her, and goes to fix the strap of her shirt that has slipped off of her shoulder.

"She's still in Shadowland. Apparently, since Susannah is not a ghost, she needs a body to come back to this plane. So we need to find the demon—"

"—So we can exorcise it and get Suze's body empty so her soul can slip from Shadowland back into her body and into this plane," Stephen fills in for me.

"And how are we going to find the demon?" CeeCee asks Stephen while turning to him and looking up at him with her violet eyes.

"Watch the news."

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Only two minutes later we are all sitting on various pieces of furniture in front of the television, watching the news.

"Why exactly are we doing this?" CeeCee asks Stephen while glancing away from the TV to his profile.

"We need to keep a look out for crimes. They might just be everyday crimes, but usually when a demon gets freedom, they go all out. Murder, rape, vandalism, you know, the usual." Stephen's eyes stay glued to the TV and I glance over at Paul. He look over at me, and I can tell he thinks this is all a waste of time. Thinking along the same lines, I cock my head to the balcony and we both get up and walk out of the room, leaving Kate with CeeCee and Stephen.

"What's up de Silva?" Paul asks while flopping into a chair. I sit down beside him and look out.

"Is she…? I trail off, not wanting to sound pathetic to a man who would use it against me whenever he could.

"Suze is fine. She was consciously watching everything the demon did while it was in her body, but she couldn't fight it out of her. Suze told me that the last thing she remembers doing alone was crying…"

Pain stabs my heart with the thought of Susannah crying.

"I think," Paul continues, "That the demon used her moment of weakness as a way to infiltrate her being. Why though I'm not sure…"

There is silence between us for a moment while we both think. Then I say, "And why would she seek out Stephen? Specifically a demon hunter? One would think that a demon would stay away from someone who could send it back to Hell, yes?"

"You got me, Jesse," Paul says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Jesse! Paul!" CeeCee yells at us from inside. "Come here, quick!"

Paul and I barrel into the room and stare at the TV. There is a fuzzy picture of someone stabbing a priest in the parking lot of a grocery store. I gasp when I realize that it's Susannah—her ponytail jerking around her body violently with each stab of the knife.

The announcer states, "The perpetrator has yet to be identified, but Father Kane of Saint Peter's Catholic School in San Diego was identified by the paramedics. He was stabbed three times at nine o'clock tonight. Father Kane died at nine-thirteen tonight. California has indeed lost someone who offered everyone he came in contact with something special." She offers the last sentence in what she hopes to be a sincere voice, but to me it just sounds cold and detached.

The station flips over to commercials and all is silent within the room except for someone claiming that Jiffy Peanut Butter is so yummy. All eyes are on Stephen, who is still staring at the TV screen as though the news is still on.

"Stephen…" CeeCee ventures softly while putting a hand on his shoulder and scooting closer to his side on the couch.

He doesn't say anything, but rather gets up and walks into the bedroom and lets the door close behind him.

"Oh dear," CeeCee says looking at the closed door of the bedroom. "What should we do Jesse?" She looks from the door to me expectantly.

"Wait for him to decide on the plan of action," I say with a stern look to Slater.

"I think you're right," Paul says while shrugging his shoulders. "Only Stephen knows how to deal with demons. None of us know the procedure." I glance at Paul surprised and he just shrugs again, his eyes hiding his hurt ego.