At long last, Angel once again stood in front of the VHS store where he had first met Cherri, who quickly kicked opened the front door and pulled him inside.
"Yo, Hollywood! Are you up?"
"My dear Cherri, why must you always scream like a bloody banshee?"
The voice that responded to her in a rather irritated tone, was soon followed by a man coming downstairs. He was a very short man. Short, proper, saturnine, by nature very theatrical and a little on the nerdy sighed, but he had a very sweet face. Those whom had never met him or heard of him, would not think him very important at all. But Angel recognized him instantly and in that moment all his was forgotten and replaced by astonishment. The kind a small child would get from meeting a performer dressed as his favorite superhero from a movie or comic book. His eyes were filled with innocence and a child-like wonder that he had not felt in years and believed he would never feel again.
"What are you two still doing out after dark?" He had asked Cherri and Toby. Then he noticed Angel. "Who is this? The shop's closed, and Cherri why have you allowed him to see Toby?"
"I didn't allow nothing." Cherri said. "Toby snuck out again and I had to go get him. Unfortunately I got to him a little too late, he had exposed himself to this guy. Anyway we have problem here."
"Indeed we do. No one is supposed to know about Toby."
"I'm afraid it's way worse than that. But let me first get introductions in order. His name is Angel, he's new in town and he's got himself into one hell of a problem. Angel this is-"
"Baxter Holloway!" Angel interjected excitedly. "I can't believe it! It's actually you! You're Baxter Holloway, the monster slayer!"
"You've heard of me?" Baxter asked surprised.
"Are you kidding me? I'm your biggest fan! I grew watching your movies with my brother and my sister. We loved you."
Baxter smiled in a very pleased and flattered manner. He never thought anyone liked his movies anymore or even knew about them. After he was fired from show business, he became a total hazbin. Nobody remembered him.
"How grand." He said. "I'm glad to see that not everyone has forgotten about me. What can I do you for?"
"Well first, can you sign my chest?!" Without thinking, he tore open his shirt.
"Is that blood?" He asked when he saw the cross mark on Angel's chest.
"Oh, I forgot about that." He closed his shirt. "Sorry."
"Can I continue explaining please?" Cherri asked.
"Yeah sure. Go on."
"So as I was saying, yes this Baxter Holloway who you obviously know from his short lived career as the star of many horror movies. But what you don't know is that his acting career eventually became the real deal."
"Cherri what are you doing?! Don't tell him about that!" Baxter cried getting nervous.
"No way!" Angel said. "You mean you're a real live monster hunter? It's not all acting and smoke and mirrors?"
"Yes it is!" Baxter insisted. "Don't listen to her! She's joking! No, she's crazy! Totally bonkers! I'm just a former actor! I swear!"
"It's okay Hollywood, he already knows that this whole town is overrun with demons, he won't think you're insane like everyone else does." Cherri said. "You can trust him."
For what seemed like the longest time, Baxter did not speak. He was too busy debating on whether or not, Angel was indeed trustworthy. He had met people whom he thought were trustworthy before but once he started ranting, they immediately ran off and phoned an institution. Baxter didn't want to go through that again, however, Cherri was no fool. If she trusted this rather interesting-looking fellow, maybe he could.
"Very well." He said. "Yes it's true. In the beginning I was just a regular actor of the horror genre, but I took my role very seriously. I wanted to get the whole look, act, and character perfect, so in my free time I began exploring and studying different places and cultures in order to learn about all forms of horrific lore. Imagine my great surprise when during those expeditions, I discovered that such creatures did exist. Well...Not exactly. While vampires, werewolves, aliens, zombies, goblins, and ghouls do not exist, demons, ghosts, and the un-dead do. Throughout history storytellers like Bram Stoker just took elements of one of the main three and used it to create their own monster. I used what I learned to further my acting career. While also doing humanity a favor by killing or exorcising those creatures of course."
"That is awesome!" Angel was practically jumping off the floor in glee. "I thought you were badass just as an actor for horror films, but to find out that you hunt and fight monsters for real?! No F* in way! Hey is that why they stopped airing your show? Because you quit to pursue real monsters?"
"No." Baxter said looking irritated. "It's because they fired me."
"Fired you? Why?" Angel asked, aghast at the very notion.
"Because no one wants to see monster hunters and demon slayers anymore. Or monsters and demons either. Apparently all they want to see is demented madmen and psychopaths just stabbing and hacking up people for no reason at all. Damn those slasher films, they don't even give their antagonists personality. They're only character trait is just to kill. Where's the interest in that?"
"Aww man. Well if it's any consolation I still like your movies. I think they're better than any other horror movie ever made."
"That's nice, if only there had been more of you, perhaps my ratings would have been higher." He sighed.
"So while I'm sorry that you're no longer an actor, at least you're still a slayer. Right?"
"Wrong. I retired from that line of work."
"How come?"
"Because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't destroy the two head demons in this town. They were always too clever. Too good at covering their tracks. Too good at acting completely normal and innocent in front of other people. When I went to the police about them, they called me crazy and after several breaking and entering cases, the courts said if I ever pulled any stunt like that again, I'd be shipped off to the nut house."
"Wait, you mean you've actually gone to the police with this stuff?" Angel asked.
"Fifty times as a matter of fact." Baxter said. "But again, they never believed me. So after failing and with the threat of being declared legally insane, I retired and swore never to hunt anything supernatural again."
"Then I'm not sure if I should tell you this Baxter." Cherri said.
"Tell me what?"
"This guy has been staying at that mansion." Toby said. "The one deep in the middle of the bayou, where I came from."
Baxter's face instantly turned chalk white and his hands started to tremble. Next he seized hold of Angel and shined a flashlight into his eyes, followed by checking his arms, wrists, and hands for something. His shaking didn't stop until he made sure that Angel's skin was completely bare.
"What are you doing?" Angel asked him.
"Hmm...He doesn't look like he's been drained." Baxter examined. "But you can never be too careful."
"He's clean Baxter, trust me." Cherri assured him. "I don't smell any demon blood in him. He's just an average human geek."
"Hey!" Angel scoffed at the insult.
"If you truly are still human then you better take my advice, and never go back to that manor again!" Baxter warned. "And for extra caution, I suggest you leave this town as soon as possible."
"Believe me, I'd love to! But my friends are still at the creepy place and, oh yeah, there's this freaky demon who doesn't want us to leave."
Baxter gave him a serious look, one that implied that he knew who and what Angel was talking about.
"This demon, what did he look like?"
"He was freakishly tall, he had horns, was red all over, and he had this creepy ass smile on his face. Ugh! I'll never forget it!" angel shuddered at the memory. "I think the creeps underground called him the Shadow Man or something like that?"
"And you are not from Davenport, correct?"
"No. I'm originally from the Bronx but I've been living in Chicago recently."
"Did you just move here?"
"No. This is a vacation. We were invited here by Rosie Parish."
"And you were invited to stay at Nightshade Manor?"
"Yes."
Baxter took a moment to ponder something before he spoke again.
"How unusual." He said. "Normally he avoids outsiders as much as possible. He doesn't want any authorities or press from beyond this town to get involved. I wonder why he would go through all the trouble and risks of bringing you and your associates all the way here."
"What do you mean? He didn't bring us here. I told you, we were invited by Rosie Parish, she's that famous author lady."
"I know very well who she is and that's how I know for certain that the Shadow Man is involved."
"Huh?"
"Don't you get it?" Cherri spoke up. "She's in lead with the Shadow Man. She invited you all here because he wanted you here."
"I don't understand. What does this Shadow Man want with me and my friends? Who is he anyway?"
"He is a force unlike anything you can ever imagine."
Baxter then had Toby and Cherri escort Angel into a room where there were no windows and no cracks or holes, no way for anyone outside to see or hear them. He soon joined the group with a journal in his hands, a journal which contained all the notes he had taken on Davenport since he arrived here. He undid the latch on the cover, opened the book, and turned through numerous entries until he stopped somewhere in the middle, proceeding to read what was printed on the pages.
"Here is the shocking and terrifying history of the two most feared demons in this town. The Shadow Man and The Glowing Man. Demons who one day just mysteriously appeared in Davenport and began to unleash their unholy terror upon all who crossed them. In similarity both were once human, they are both young and old, they're both ruthless and kill in cold-blood, they both harbor evil desires and power that could almost rival the devil himself, like many others before them, they are monsters born from human cruelty."
Baxter turned to the next page as he continued to read further.
"But over the years, I learned that the two were vastly different as well as they were similar. The Glowing Man is a demon with an unholy glow, a being who is incredibly greedy, arrogant, lecherous, self-absorbed, narcissistic, and vain, valuing his reputation over human life and lacking any empathy for anyone. He has a bit of god-complex much like the wicked brother of the town's founder. He kills to establish dominance and gain power, making others suffer just because he can. This may have something to do with his human past of being powerless and abused by is own father."
"I can relate." Angel nodded. "My father was a dick too. Granted I'd never kill anyone because of that."
Baxter proceeded to read the next page.
"The Shadow Man on the other hand, I learned that he was much more complex. He is a being that lurks in the darkness, he is brutal, vengeful, and without mercy. Frighteningly clever and skilled. He understands how human nature works and uses it to his advantage. He is charming and charismatic, with a warped sense of reasoning. However he seems to have an honor code and a remarkable passion for life. There are those who have said that he is very cultured and a romantic at heart. They also say that as a human, he loved a woman so deeply that he prized her above all things on earth, calling her his reason and his life. But when she was taken from him, he lost his mind and swore to punish all who made her suffer."
"That's deeper than most novels I've read. Which isn't very much but still." Angel said. "So they're both twisted right? I mean the last one sounds a little sympathetic but, he's not supposed to be good. They're both monsters."
"Yes they are." Baxter said. "But my boy, there are two kinds of monsters in this world. The ones who never had a heart, and the ones who had their hearts destroyed."