20. No Rest for the Wicked

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

I didn't dig heading back to the Manor like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, but I did it anyway. Not that I couldn't suffer being away from Haunter charming. It had more to do with that cold spot in my belly that advised against leaving them without supervision.

We found Trisha having breakfast still in her pajamas, sharing the kitchen table with the twins, who were trying to use their drawing boards to practice their writing under Lizzie's supervision. My friend welcomed us with a bright grin, mug and waffle in her hands and a spot of cherry jam on the tip of her nose.

"I'm so totally moving in," she said as soon as we walked in, merry like Christmas. "I'm gonna spend the rest of my life spoiling these lovely brats and chatting with Lizzie. And if you have any problem, find yourself a new place."

I smiled, truly happy to see my friend adjusted and fit in so much better than I'd ever expected. Amy met my eyes with a discreet nod and I followed her to the east parlor, patting Trisha's shoulder on my way out of the kitchen.

Amy waited for me to sit at my usual end of the couch under the window, set the tablets and turn the internet off on my telephone. She glanced around, as to make sure the Blotters were there with us too. Then she faced me with the most serious face I'd ever seen her.

"That man is not himself," she said, cutting straight to the chase. "He's being manipulated by his parasite demons like a puppet."

I heard the soft beep of the touchpad and waited for Joseph to speak, but he kept typing, so I asked, "How can you tell?"

"We can see it," said Edward through the speaking app on the other tablet.

Amy breathed deep, looking for the best way to explain it to me. "If you could see the parasites, you would notice one of them seems to start like, pounding, and Price snaps and behaves like an arrogant bully. Then another parasite does it and he loses it over his meds, and so on."

"No self left," said Ann with my phone app.

Joseph was finally done typing and hit the TTS icon. "He's been under their influence for so long, there's nothing left of his personality. He's but what the parasites want him to be."

I sat up, frowning. Amy shook her head with a quick grimace. Her words sent a cold chill down my spine.

"We're not dealing with a real person like you and me, Fran. His emotional, psychological and energetic planes are gone. Not there anymore. Right now, he's just an empty flesh shell, generating and delivering the kind of energy the demons demand."

"Kujo is right. He is dangerous," Edward said, and I was surprised to hear him use the name, when only a week ago he still called him a demon.

"Whoa, whoa! What on earth are you talking about?"

Amy looked up at the empty space between the coffee table and the parlor door. "I can't tell how conscious they are. You think they're intelligent enough to recognize a threat to their survival?"

"I don't know," Joseph replied. "Kujo is."

"We need to lock up the Manor from now on, at least until he's clean. We don't know what he could be driven to do."

I raised a hand, trying to digest what they were saying. "You think the parasites can make him do things? Because I can get the mood swings. I mean, what you describe sounds like a Pavlovian response: the parasites learned that if they press a given button, they get food. So they cause him a migraine to make him take pills, and there you have pain and addiction, snacks for two. What you're suggesting sounds too next level."

Amy managed to keep her snort to an annoyed huff.

"Those things are next level, Fran. They're frigging demons. Never forget that. And we have no idea how long they've been feeding on him, so there's no telling how deep their influence reaches."

I gaped at her, speechless. For some reason that escaped me, something inside of me refused to acknowledge fully what she was saying. The word demon still sounded just too much for me to just accept it and carry on. I think it had to be with associating Kujo with it. And him. Price. I just couldn't compute he was sort of possessed or something.

"We can only help so much," Ann said.

"Momma is right," Joseph agreed. "We can watch him."

"But we cannot stop him," Edward completed.

Amy managed a smile. "And that's more than enough," she said, softening her tone. "We can handle the rest ourselves. There's three of us here, and bet we can count on the housekeepers to kick the outlanders off the grounds gladly."

I didn't dig the following silence, suspecting the Blotters were saying something they didn't want me to hear. Once again, Amy didn't give me a chance to ask any questions.

"Time to give your girl Trisha a sweep, Fran. You need to learn the prayers if we want to finish the cleansing at different locations."

"Oh, okay," I muttered.

"I'll get the kitchen ready. You guys go change your clothes, 'cause we're getting wet."

I stood up, doing my best to smile back at her. "As long as it's warm water."

My foot was about to touch the first step of the stairs when a thud from the basement reverberated all over the first floor. I couldn't sprint back to the kitchen fast enough. Trisha was frozen halfway to the backdoor, where Isaac was knocking on the glass. I spotted Price a few steps behind his friend. Trisha heard me storm into the room and turned to me, eyes wide open in fear.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"Amy! Get the door!" I shouted, yanking the basement door open to scamper down the steep stairs.

Another thud shook me from head to toe before I reached the basement.

"Easy, Kujo!" I said, hurrying past the central pillar. "Yeah, they're here. You knew they were coming."

A heard a growl from the shadows, but no more thuds. I crouched down before the corner and waited.

"Keep away," Kujo said. "You promise."

"He hasn't set foot in the house. He's just in the garden. It's his friend at the door."

"Keep away."

I reached out to the shadows, softening my voice. "Hey, it's alright."

His next growl was barely audible, and a moment later, I felt the heat wrapping around my hand.

"There, see? I won't let him come anywhere near you before it's time."

The quick footsteps coming down the stairs made me glance back. Trisha paused at the last step, hesitated and came up to the central pillar.

"What the fuck do they want?" I grunted.

"They're asking to set a static cam down here. Isaac Goodbein says they're gonna need it for the ritual, so maybe they can set it now and just let it roll."

The heat left my hand and I turned to the corner, worried. "Are you okay with Price's friend coming down here for a few minutes?"

"Not Brandon."

"No, not him. His friend Isaac, the loud bold guy."

"Isaac fine."

I looked up at Trisha. "You know about setting cameras and all that shit."

She shrugged. "Kinda?"

"What did Amy say about this?"

"She said flat out no, and when they insisted, she remained at the door, blocking their way, and sent me to ask you."

"Bring Isaac. Only him. If Price as much as moves a foot to get any closer to the Manor, tell Amy to go get Mike."

"A little much?"

"You heard him," I replied, nodding to the corner.

"Okay."

Trisha hurried up the stairs and I faced the shadows once again. "Stay down behind me. I don't want this guy to pinpoint where you are with one of his devices."

"Hide."

"Exactly. Hide behind me till he's gone."

"Isaac feels."

"Really? I thought it was all for show." I smiled and leaned in, waiting until I felt his heat on my forehead. "We're gonna be fine, my boy."

Isaac's loud voice reached me before their footsteps down the stone stairs. I straightened up and turned my back to the corner, resting my shoulder against the boiler. The man followed Trisha into the basement, carrying a hard case, a tripod, a fat roll of wire and a duffel bag. I signaled Trisha to stop and he almost bumped into her.

"Where are you setting your camera?" I asked curtly.

Isaac looked up at me, like he was surprised to find me there, and then looked all around. "I— I don't know." He lowered his voice, hued with fear. "Where's the demon?"

"I don't know. I can't see him." I shot a warning glare a Trisha, who pressed her lips tightly together. "Can you?"

Isaac shook his head, eyes still moving all over the place.

"It's a remote-controlled cam, right?" said Trisha, and her casual tone surprised me.

"Yeah, we can turn it one-eighty from our com center."

"Then you should hang it there." She pointed at the wall across the basement. "Under the windows, so the sun doesn't blind the lens during the day." If they did set it there, I would owe my friend a month in the Manor if she ever asked for it. Because they wouldn't have even a glimpse of the corner past the boiler from that spot. "Show me how to set it, and if you see you need more, I can set another for you later."

Isaac frowned. I liked the way his face couldn't hide his thoughts. Maybe that was why Price kept him close: he was as transparent as a child, which made him the perfect right-hand man. He looked at me, at Trisha and back, wondering what was the catch.

"Neither of you is coming back into the Manor until we perform the ritual," I said, keeping my voice cold and curt. "So you should accept my friend's offer."

"Oh, okay." He nodded with a slight shrug and turned to Trisha. "Where can I find a stool or a chair, something to stand on?"

They took twenty frigging minutes to set the damn thing, with each and every of their twelve hundred seconds. And I was forced to stand there the whole time. I could feel the heat brushing my back now and then, and even my shoulder, which made me fake a cough and cover my mouth to hide a giggle. The mental picture of the big bad demon crouching behind me and peeking from over my shoulder threatened to make me laugh out loud until my belly ached.

When they were done, Isaac picked up his stuff and faced me with a tight smile before leaving. But something made him gape and stagger two whole steps back. I folded my arms and raised my eyebrows. Trisha grabbed his sleeve and pulled from him to spin around and leave the basement. He was wise enough to do it, with one last terrified look at me.

"He surely thinks I'm possessed or something," I said when I heard the basement door closing upstairs, and turned to the corner. "I need to go back upstairs, to cross some tees to our friend Price. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Joseph here."

I looked around, surprised. "You were here the whole time?"

"Of course."

"Great. You can keep an eye here, then?"

"What about the camera?"

"Feel free to unplug it. And let those fools come whining like cry-babies."

"Take it easy."

I nodded with a sour chuckle and raised my hand toward the corner. Kujo touched it and I left.

Back to the kitchen, I found Trisha looking out through the glass of the closed backdoor. I joined her and saw Amy and Mike standing side by side fifty feet away, their backs to the Manor. And a few steps past them, Price talked while filming them with his phone.

"I'm so gonna kill that arrogant son of a bitch!" I growled.

Mike and Amy heard me coming and gave me way to stride straight toward Price. He flashed a cunning little smile and aimed his phone at me.

"This is Miss Fran Garner, current keeper of Blotter Manor. Let's see what she has to say."

I realized I only had about five seconds to calm down and come up with something he couldn't refute. I breathed deep and forced a tight smile.

"Mr. Price? We still haven't signed the documents to authorize you to shoot on the Manor grounds. Maybe you want me to take a look at them now? Because until I sign them, I'm afraid what you're doing is illegal."

He narrowed his eyes. Yeah, hun, you ain't the only one with a brain for dirty tricks.

"Sure, let's do it now. I have them in the guesthouse," he said, oh so poised when the camera rolled.

"First you need to turn that off. At least until you have legal authorization to use it here."

Ha! If glares killed, right? He stopped the video with a sarcastic smirk. Then I stepped up and rested a hand on his arm. That took him by surprise, and gave me a chance to whisper in his ear.

"Try another stunt like this and I'm calling the cops." He stepped back, but I wasn't done. I met his eyes and kept my voice an angry whisper. "I ain't signing shit until you prove you can behave like a grownup for one fucking day. Do that, and I may sign your papers tomorrow."

"You agreed to—!"

"To let you shoot the cleansing and the ritual. And I can also sweeten the pot with the release of the shadow to his future home, if you're interested. But none of that is happening unless you hold your end of the deal."

His face changed as he listened to me. He still stared at me from narrowed eyes, but his lips pursed in a weird smile. He was pleased?

"Look at you," he said, keeping his voice down too. "Such fangs and claws behind your frail teen ways."

I shook my head, looking away from him for a heartbeat. "Sorry. You're already done enough harm here. Hope you can understand." I pressed his arm. "Please, help me do this right."

"And now you're playing damsel in distress again."

"I ain't no damsel, but I am in distress. You know it damn well."

I froze when he grabbed my hand from his arm, looking straight into my eyes. "And I'm here to help you."

Fuck! The bastard! All of a sudden, my belly was tingling with a zillion infernal butterflies. I was definitely fucked up. He tilted his head a little, like waiting for me to say or do something. I mean, other than blush and stare blankly at him like the idiot I was.

"Fran!"

Amy's voice helped me get a tiny grip on myself. Enough to free my fingers from his hand and look away from him.

"We're busy, girl," she said when I looked back at her.

I glanced at Price and hesitated. "Later," I mumbled, and hurried toward Amy and Mike.

The housekeeper didn't hide his concern. "What are you going to do with these two men, Miss? He wouldn't step back, away from the Manor, even after Miss Taylor told him to twice."

"Do we have any kind of alarm on the house itself?" I asked, as concerned as him.

"Yes, but I was keeping it off so it wouldn't bother you. You're afraid they may try to break in?"

I sighed, shrugging. "No, but I ain't no good reading people."

"Don't worry, Miss. I can set the alarm to silent mode and just send notifications to our phones."

"Oh, that would be great. Thank you, Mike."

"Do you need Susan to come over to land a hand in the kitchen or something?"

I was about to shake my head when Amy said, "That would be great. We have to meet with them at sunset, and we don't know how long the meeting will last. If we could have dinner ready for the microwave, it would be fantastic."

"I'll text her when we leave for the meeting," I said. "No need for her to come before that."

"Sure! And don't hesitate to call me if these men get out of line again."

Mike hurried away with a grim look at Price's back, as he was just about to walk into the guesthouse. Amy patted my shoulder.

"C'mon. I need to protect you, in case you can't help getting in bed with the bunch of parasites."


**HAPPY VALENTINE'S**



You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net