SEVEN
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Heather looked up at the doorway to the hall, seeing Zed smile as she walked back into the front room. "Hey," she said cheerfully.
"Yeah," Zed managed awkwardly. She went back to the long sofa opposite Heather's chair but did not sit. "So…"
"I love this one," Heather said, leaning forward to the coffee table. She picked up a silver chain with assorted charms threaded onto it. "Does it come with blue stones? I wear a lot of blue."
"Of course my company can produce whatever jewellery you need. We do part-orders too, so you can put in one at a time and we'll produce them altogether for you."
"Perfect," Heather said. She paused suddenly. "Your coat - it looks a little dusty."
"Oh, yeah," Zed said hastily. "I - uh - have this leave-in conditioner, and it kinda—"
"Oh wait, I know that smell," Heather said, her face a thoughtful frown. "I'm going to go with… cinnamon?"
"You got me," Zed said brightly, relieved.
"And… hmm… I've smelled that other scent recently. Now let me think…" Heather looked over toward the window. An abrupt bump came from the next room. Her head snapped round to look at the doorway. "I wonder what that was."
"You don't have a cat, do you?" Zed smiled.
"No. But then the next door neighbour's tortoise-shell is always getting in my study window." She got up. "It really is a pest. I'm not really a cat person."
"I'm sure it's nothing."
"Can you hear that?" Heather asked suddenly. "Sounds like… someone talking. A man's voice." She went to the door.
"Wait," Zed said. "Maybe it's just a TV."
"I only have one and it's over there," Heather said, pointing.
"A radio?" Zed hazarded.
Heather's eyes narrowed. "Did you bring someone with you? Oh my god - am I being robbed?"
"No!" Zed said, her hands up in surrender. "I just think—"
"Police," Heather said under her breath. She hurried around the sofa to reach for the phone.
Zed leapt over the end of the furniture and snatched it up. "You don't need the police!"
"Normally I'd agree with you but a woman at work lived in a nice neighbourhood too, and someone killed her last night!" She straightened herself up. "Now give me the phone!"
"No," Zed said firmly. She clutched it to her, taking a step back.
Heather opened her mouth. She paused. "That is definitely a man's voice - and he sounds angry," she snapped. "Well you and your accomplice aren't going to get one over on me!" She turned for the door and disappeared.
"Wait!" Zed called. She dropped the phone to the sofa and raced after her.
She found her stock-still in the doorway to her dining room. Her mouth was wide open. She stared.
"Alright, love?" John said gamely. The dining table had been covered in a white cloth and six red candles, each of them belching black smoke from their wicks. An array of small bone-shaped items were scattered about, as well as pieces of paper with all kinds of sigils and seals scribbled on them. John's hands were raised as if conducting the table ensemble in some kind of grand sweeping orchestral movement.
"What - the - hell - are - you - doing?" Heather managed.
"Cutting you off," he said with false cheer. He sniffed, squared his shoulders, and looked back at the accoutrements on the table. "Deus caeli, Deus terrae, humiliter majestati gloriae tuae supplicamus ut ab omni infernalium spirituum potestate, laqueo, deceptione et nequitia, omnis fallaciae, libera nos, Domine!"
The candles blew out all at once. Wind whipped around the table, flinging hair, coat tails, fear around the room. Heather grabbed at the doorframe for support. Zed simply stood her ground, watching John roll his fingers in graceful curls until his hands were palm up.
He let his arms drop and then tilted his head at Heather. "So that's that, then."
"What's happening?" she demanded in fright. "What the hell is going on?"
"I've just snipped your leash, pet. Your demon is now free of your commands."
"What demon? What are you talking about?" she cried.
Zed frowned, stepping back one. "John…"
"Oh come on, love. You can pack it in - we know it was you," John said confidently. His hands went into his pockets. "You used your little spotter's book of demons, chose a particularly nasty one, and sic'd it on poor Roberta - and then Elena. What I can't figure out is why."
"John," Zed said.
"You are mad," Heather cried. "Roberta and Elena - they were murdered!"
"Yeah, by your friend Irrucaynya," John said.
"John!"
"What, Zed?" he demanded irritably.
"It's not her," she whispered. "She's… she's scared."
"She should be, the daft mare. She's summoned a demon and thought she could control it. It'll be on its way here right now to inculcate her on the stupidity of that notion."
"Listen to me," Zed snapped. "She's confused, lost. It's not her!"
John pursed his lips, looking at Heather, then back at Zed. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His chin jerked up slightly to the right, his dark eyes twinkled with indecision. "What?"
Zed glared at him. "Do you trust me?"
"Pretty much."
"It's not her."
He looked up at the ceiling, shaking his head. "Bollocks," he heaved in resignation. He looked at Zed. "Well I've really done it now - it's on its way back to its so-called master."
"Pity we don't know who that is," Zed accused.
"I'm doin' my best here," he shot back. "You were the one who said you smelt horses!"
"I did smell horses!"
"Oh wonderful!" John cried, his hands flailing into the air. "So we'll all smell of farm animals when the demon turns up to rake us into tiny bits!"
"You don't," Heather said.
"What?" Zed asked her.
"At least we don't smell like the back of Chas' taxi!" John went on, oblivious.
"You don't smell of horses," Heather said innocently. She turned to look at Zed. "You smell of jorlanntay root."
"Or that room down the end of The Corridor We Don't Go Down," John cried. "I still haven't figured out why it smells like someone died from eating shi—"
"Shut up, John!" Zed cried. John's mouth worked but nothing came out. Zed looked at Heather. "We smell like what?"
"Jorlanntay root," she said innocently. "I have some by my sofa."
John's head snapped round. "And what the bloody hell are you doing with jorlanntay root?" he asked, non-plussed.
Heather shrugged, emotionally, completely, and in every other way past caring. "Roberta's ex-wife gave it to me. She said it would keep the beetles out."
John and Zed looked at each other. Their eyes widened together as if rehearsed.
" 'Kinell!" John blurted. He scrabbled to get round the table. The women parted in fright as he barrelled straight between them and out of the room.
"Wait - where are you going?" Zed called.
"I left Chas sat right next to her!" He pounded along the corridor to the front door.
It flew open and smacked him straight in the face. He bounced off to end up sprawled on the floor. All he could do was lie on his back and groan.
Zed and Heather stopped at the doorway. "Nayda!" Heather gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"She's come to finish the job," John managed.
"You!" Zed gasped. "But why?"
"Oi," John grunted from the floor. "Where's Chas?"
"Believe it or not he's in the cab," Nayda grinned. "He'll have to sleep off the ground potehenya grass he inhaled completely by accident. He should be ok in… a few hours."
"You mean you didn't kill him?" John said resentfully.
"No. He's not on my list," she snapped, stepping in through the door and slamming it behind her.
"Why are you doing this?" Zed asked, lost.
"Why? The usual. Working hard to get what I want until it's all ruined by some thoughtless, selfish human!"
"But… Roberta?" Zed asked.
"She was everything - she was going to give me everything," Nayda snapped. "And then she went and cheated on me - and then the divorce came, and I - lost - everything - we had worked for. No future, no retirement, no growing old together - all gone."
John put a hand to the wall, keeping him upright as he fought his way to his feet. He pushed the heel of his other hand against his smarting forehead. "You mean Roberta didn't love you enough so you threw your toys out of the pram." He pulled his hand away to hiss in pain.
"Don't taunt me," she hissed.
"Why, what are you gonna do?" John snapped. "Set your demon on us? —Oh that's right; you can't, cos we just broke your control over it."
Nayda folded her arms. "Oh, John. Poor, unhappy, desperate John. I knew you'd walk right into all this and find all of the people who took Roberta away from me - starting with this trouble maker and her stupid ouija board."
"You mean all this was to track down everyone Roberta found happiness with?" Zed asked. "What kind of person are you?"
"A cracked one," John tutted. "You bloody idiot," he hurled at Nayda. "You unleashed a demon, just to get back at someone who rejected you. Can you even comprehend how incredibly stupid that was?"
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Me? I just brought it here. What you've done is so much worse."
"Only temporarily," John shot back. "Now it's free of you I can send it home."
"You need to find it first," she grinned. "But that shouldn't be a problem because…" She looked at her watch. "It should be along soon. I did lay the jorlanntay root on a bit thick, didn't I?"
John looked down at his coat. He batted his hands against it before realisation dawned. "It's demon chum," he breathed.
"Got it in one," Nayda said with a sarcastic wink. "You know, I'm going to miss you, I think. Of all the people I screwed because they weren't Roberta, you were probably the most memorable. Creative. I would even go so far as to say… inventive."
"Glad you enjoyed it, love," he sneered.
"Oh don't be like that, John. If you hadn't come here and worked all this out, I would have found Heather myself - eventually - and then killed her and simply walked away. I really, really don't want to harm the lovely Zed. She's been an absolute trooper throughout all this, and while I can't for the life of me work out why she's hanging around you, I can't quite bring myself to hate her just for being a moth to your flame."
"That's all very touching," John said, his lip still curled in distaste, "but when this demon arrives and I've sent him home, we'll come for you next."
"I'd love to see that," she grinned.
His hand came up and he pointed at her. "You'll be lucky not to join your precious Irrucaynya in Hell when I'm done with you!"
"Oooh," she oozed, wriggling her shoulders. "I like that voice on you. Makes me wish we had time for one more round before this all goes south."
John fumed but Zed grabbed his elbow. "John… What do we do?"
"We get to the cab. We lead the bastard away from Heather - she's not marked."
"Wait!" Zed took off into the front room. She came back with a small bunch of green-brown sticks. "This is the jorlanntay root, right?"
"That's it," Heather said.
"So can we get rid of it? Burn it?" Zed asked.
"No. It'll just release more of the scent," John snapped. He kept his eyes on Nayda. "Kitchen sink - fill it and weigh the bloody root down under the water. Make sure it's covered."
Zed took off, pulling Heather with her. Nayda took a step forward.
John moved to block her way. "I wouldn't."
Nayda grinned. "You're going to have to choose, John. When it gets here, who are you going to save? There are three of you for it to start on."
"I think I'll do alright, love. This isn't my first disco."
There was an almighty crash from the living room. Wood spewed out of the doorway, spraying splinters into the hallway. John and Nayda covered their faces with elbows, hands, anything - until a low hiss made them freeze.
Zed came barrelling back into the hallway. "Heather's gone!" she grinned. "I got her out of the… back… door…" Her voice trailed away as her face fell.
A dark shape uncurled itself from just inside the doorway to the front room. Large, pock marked wings glistened black with a sickly slime that resembled mouldy fruit. The rents and tears in the membranes revealed odd body parts, legs and limbs unfolded to stretch out. It stood nearly eight feet tall, taking its weight on four legs. Two more limbs kept its balance as it opened three bright red eyes.
John sighed. "Well, shit."
"Irrucaynya!" Nayda cried. "Kill them!"
The demon hauled in a deep, ugly breath. It snorted out noxious fumes in her direction, its eyes churning with rage.
"It's not listening, love," John said nervously.
Nayda's eyes widened. She shuffled back until she was against the far wall.
Irrucaynya turned its slick head. Its pronounced nostrils hauled in air, prompting its head to twist inhumanly far until it was glaring at Zed. It took a step.
"Whoa! Wait! Stop!" John cried. He threw his arms out. "Oi! Tosser!"
Irrucaynya stopped short. It twisted to appraise John. Its head went back in Zed's direction. Then back to John.
"Yeah - yeah, that's it, over here, mate!" John called.
"John - what are you doing?" Zed cried, fear rooting her to the spot.
"You got more powder on you than I did," he hissed from the corner of his mouth. "Get to the kitchen - get out the back!"
"What about you?"
"You are the most infuriating bird I've ever met!" he shouted. "Just go!"
Zed took a step back. Her hand felt behind her for the doorjamb to the kitchen. She made it drop. "I'm not leaving you here with that thing."
John rolled his eyes, then his head at her. "Just once I'd like you to do what you're bloody told!"
The demon looked over at her. It let out a monstrous hiss. Its mouth began to open - wider and wider, revealing giant, glass-like teeth that dripped red.
"We both run on three," Zed said, trying to stop herself from shaking in terror. "You go out the front, I g-go out the back."
"Deal," John snapped. "One - two—." He leapt at Zed. They collided and went down in a heap. She fought herself right side up and found she was sitting on her knees with John's coat around her shoulders.
She looked up. Irrucaynya looked away from her deliberately, clearly forgetting all about her. It advanced on John. She gasped and reached a hand out, but John waved her back.
"Go! Run for the back door - get Chas!" he ordered.
"But—"
"Just bloody go, will you!" he raged.
Nayda gulped in air from where she was plastered back against the wall. "Go, Zed! Run!" she cried.
John glanced at Nayda, then backed up as Irrucaynya kept sliding its sticky feet toward him. He swallowed and tried to turn, tried to make it to the front door. A hand in his back shoved and he nearly lost his balance. He staggered to stay upright. "I should just duck and let it tear you a new one," he growled.
"It won't harm me," Nayda breathed. "But you're going to die really really painfully."
"Of course," he tutted.
Irrucaynya lifted a hand. John saw it move and flinched back. The hand swept down across him. He grinned as it flew perilously close - but was clearly going to fall short of its target.
Until claws shot out of the stumpy ends. They raked right into the front of John's shirt. He leapt back but the damage was done. Stinging pain made him jolt upright in shock. "Bastard," he blurted.
Something whoomfed into the back of his knees. He fell to his hands and knees, desperately trying to focus past the raging pain across his chest. Think of an exorcism, he told himself furiously. Hurry it up before it makes bar snacks out of what's left of you!
A huge limb grabbed his head. He was lifted off the floor. Muscles wrenched, joints protested, gravity itself disappeared as he slammed into something very large, very flat and very hard. He slid to the floor and coughed out in agony.
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus," he panted. He was lifted up only to be whammed back into the floor. His head bounced. "Omnis - omnis satanica potestas!" he spluttered. "Omnis incursio infernalis adversarii!" Pain seared down his arm, spilling hot wetness over his shirt. "Aaargh! Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et—!"
A black shape closed over his face. He gripped at the wrist attached and struggled. White-hot agony went down his side. He coughed in air and kicked as fast as he could.
Nayda watched wide-eyed as Irrucaynya dangled John from its greater height. John's feet flailed harder and harder as the demon's hand began to squeeze at his head. He bellowed in pain and rage. He kicked and struggled. Still the demon squeezed.
Nayda went for the front door. She ripped it open but skidded to a stop, her escape blocked. Zed pushed her face into hers - and then threw an angry punch that knocked Nayda down. Zed simply stepped over her.
"What the—?" Chas called from behind Zed.
"John!" she cried. Her face twisted in horror as she watched the demon attempt to crush the slighter man's head in its grip.
Chas turned and grabbed at the pocket of the trenchcoat. "Check inside! Check everywhere!" he shouted.
"What for?" she cried, even as she searched through inside pockets.
"This coat hides things!"
"What do you mean, it hides things?"
"Come on, come on!" Chas shouted. "There has to be something—." He pulled out a long thin blade. It glowed a dull blue as he lifted it to see it better.
"Try it!" Zed shouted. "Stab it! Make it stop!"
Chas looked up once. He lined himself up. He ran full pelt at Irrucaynya's back. His boots skidded on the wooden floor as he plunged the blade as deep as he could into the thick hide.
Irrucaynya screamed in pain. It turned and drove an elbow into Chas. He was hurled across the room. Nayda opened her eyes, struggling onto her front, finding her balance. Zed looked up as Irrucaynya began to turn. John plummeted from its hand. He bounced into the flooring, unconscious. Zed reached out and yanked the blade out of the demon's back. It stretched up in pain. It whirled round, one wing narrowly missing Zed's frantic duck. She popped up and lurched forward. She shouted in rage as she hammered the knife into the chest.
Irrucaynya tilted back suddenly. Zed sensed something move as the demon crashed into the floor. It twitched and writhed. Chas was a blur, hurrying around the thrashing hellspawn and grabbing John under the arms. He pulled and heaved, dragging the man who had been reduced to white and red stripes. Chas aimed for the front door.
"Zed! Let's go!" he shouted over his shoulder. He knelt down and took a good hold of John's shirt. He strained upwards and threw the smaller man over his shoulder like a rag doll. He turned and looked at Zed. "Now!"
Zed's eyes were glued to the demon on the floor. Its wings were pin-wheeling against the wood as if trying to get purchase. Each of its six limbs scratched and clawed at the wood for help. The mouth opened and it screamed.
Zed jumped and jammed her hands over her ears. "We should do the exorcism now!" she cried.
"Do you know how it goes? Because I sure don't!" he shot back. "Let's go!"
"But we're covered in that powder! It'll find us!"
"Good - let's lead it back to the mill house! If we can trap it in there we can send it home!"
Zed stepped back. She kept going, one foot behind the other, unable to look away from the writhing, squealing mass of demon. She made it to the door. Then she looked down.
Nayda had got to her hands and feet. She scrabbled across the wood to grab for the knife still buried up to its hilt in the demon's chest. She yanked - and yanked. It came free with a sickening slurrrp that made Zed recoil in horror.
Nayda pushed herself back. She skittered backwards as Irrucaynya fell, limp, to the boards. "No," she hissed. "Get up! Kill them!"
Irrucaynya did nothing of the kind.
Nayda looked at the knife in her hand. Her head snapped up. Her eyes narrowed on Zed. She lifted the knife and wheeled it back to throw.
"Go go go!" Zed cried in shock. She pushed at Chas to get to the door.
He shoved. Zed fell. The knife thunked deep into his back.
Zed squeaked in surprise as Chas fell to his knees. Zed got her hands to John's trouser belt to stop him rolling headfirst into the floor. As Chas sank John slid right into Zed. She flailed to catch him. The weight of him forced her to the floor on her knees, her arm trapped under his head.
Chas collapsed slowly to the wooden flooring. "Run," he croaked.
And died.
She gasped and looked up. Nayda was wiping black blood from her hands. "Well well well," she breathed. "Just you and me. About time."
"Don't come any closer!" Zed shouted. She curled her arm around John as if simple flesh and blood could protect him. "I'm warning you!"
"What will you do? Give me the Care Bear stare?" Nayda grinned. "Girl, you are about to join Chas in the afterlife. Don't worry - John will be there soon."
Zed slapped at John's face desperately, over and over. "Wake up, John - please."
Muscles in his face began to react to her harsh plea for help.
Nayda's grin slipped. She turned and looked behind her.
Irrucaynya's wings flexed. They stretched out, then flipped back into place. Its limbs moved and touched at the floor beneath, before it pushed itself laboriously onto its front. It began to rise.
"Get ready," Nayda said as she backed out of the way. "Looks like it's your turn next."
.