Demon Bait (Keeley Thomson) (18 page)

The dark girl backed up, her
zipper undone which let her filthy, once white and now gray, underwear show. It
was hard to stay clean, living like these people did. That was clear.

"Simone." She said it
defiantly, as if daring Keeley to call her a liar. She
wasn't
telling
the truth, but that wasn't something that she cared about, was it?

"Fine. You're a slave too
now. None of you can go against my orders, or try to tell anyone that you're
mine. You can never lie to me, or try to escape in any way. Understood?"
They did, and even the screaming would be rapist nodded.

Felecia just looked freaked, like
it was her turn next.

"Excellent. Now, you...
Screamy, what's your name?"

"Um, Francis. Ma'am."
It was probably Frank, but she'd told him that lying wasn't allowed, so he went
with the whole thing that his mother had given him.

"Francis, your leg doesn't
hurt. There's no pain in it now. You'll take it easy on it, but it isn't
injured too badly, so treat it like a sprain and you'll be fine."

The other man, Jim, introduced
himself immediately, which got her to smile. They might be scum, but now they
were hers and while rapists weren't her favorite kind of people to play with,
Simone wasn't a friend of hers, so they didn't need to be more than gently
corrected.

"Now, let's go and get
everyone else? There are what, three more people here?" That was a guess,
based on the patterns of foot traffic in the dust outside the door, but Francis
nodded and then, limping, led them to a room on the first floor. That had three
more drug fiends, or whatever they used to be, and six kids, all on mattresses
that were on the floor.

Without a word, Keeley took each
of them, practicing telepathic commands, as fast as she could manage them. It
wasn't quick enough to beat a demon, but she was getting the basic idea. The
real trick was to start out by telling them they couldn't think, and moving
from there.

That had them all stopping to
stare at her, and Felecia, since the woman was standing right next to her left
hand, protectively.

"Everyone, if I could have
your attention? You're no longer drug addicts, and can't stand the idea of
putting drugs, alcohol or tobacco in your bodies. Right now, I want you to
start cleaning this place up. Felecia, if I get you the funds, can you set up
the purchase of this place for me? We'll repurpose it for the new blood
harvesting operation. These nice people will be your new work force, to make up
in part for Evan being gone." Not that a bunch of drugged out losers was
going to do a lot for her, but it was a place to start, and Keeley knew, even
if they didn't get it yet, they were all
former
, to that particular state.
From that point on they were going to be useful. To her, if no one else.

They'd need a real place to stay,
too. It took a bit for her to work all that out with Felecia, but the scared
and largely silent Vampire did seem to pick up the idea that she, personally,
wasn't being locked into being a slave yet. She didn't seem to understand why,
but also didn't want to ask. That fact pretty much took up her entire brain for
a while, even as she struggled to pay attention to what Keeley wanted. She
really
should
have negotiated a salary, but if the woman was fine doing
some things for her for free, Keeley wasn't going to whine about it.

It was pretty easy to set the new
slaves to work, with the understanding that they would rest when needed and eat
in the morning. They didn't have a lot of food there, which meant, she didn't
doubt, a bothersome shopping trip on her part. There was a nice and mainly
empty dumpster out back, so that would work to get them started, since cleaning
in there was going to take a while.

Luckily it wasn't too late, so
she started in on that, leaving her car, Misty, parked down the street. Felecia
practically ran away, to do what she asked, while she pitched in, getting
things set up as much as possible. By morning, most of her people sleeping on
skuzzy looking pads that they'd brought in from somewhere, she left to get
provisions and real cleaning supplies.

That included several trips,
since they needed almost everything. New beds too, but she wanted to get them set
up someplace else for that part of things, if possible. In the mean time...
Well, she could rent someplace for them. A house or two. Or buy them, so that
no one would complain about the number of people being tucked inside it.

That kept her busy, for a while,
until the next night when she finally went home for a while, to catch a shower
and see if anyone was looking for her.

The man that was there just stood
on her front doorstep, looking unfamiliar and pleasant enough when she drove
up. Turning, he waved to her, in an efficient fashion. There was no car there, and
his boots looked a bit dusty, telling her that they'd been walked around in a
lot. There was wear on them, and the clothing seemed old, and worn enough that
she almost let the whole thing go. There was no hint that this man wasn't what
he seemed, except...
Something
wasn't right. That was strange to her.
Very much so.

She was a Greater Demon, and, as
she stood in front of the man, something just felt...
off
. There was no
sign of what it was however. He smiled, and his lined face held charm and even
a bit of charisma, but not good looks. There was a blue tone to his outfit, but
that wasn't important, she didn't think...

It was... That something had
just
happened to her. Looking down she noticed that her dress was a bit mussed,
mainly from working all night, but there was, on her right hip, a faint hint of
dirt from the ground under her feet. Like she'd fallen over and landed hard,
then brushed it off. Glancing at her right hand, there was just the tiniest bit
of dirt there too.

So this was something new. A
thing that hadn't happened to her, but
had
.

Looking at the smiling man, she
shook her head.

"No,
that
won't work.
Void, is it? No more of that, thank you." She didn't remember anything
happening, but it clearly had. She waited, expecting her world to reset again,
but the fellow in front of her nodded, still seeming pleasant about it all.

"Call me Michael. Archangel?
You might have heard of me? Forgive my... Meddling, but you rather took
exception to this news the last time I gave it to you. That's my fault, it was
a horrible delivery. Perhaps this will go better?" He had his hands
slightly out, and empty, but was clearly ready to do something to her, if she
tried to fight, or possibly even run.

"I... See. You know, I was
told that there was no such things as Angels? Or, to be exact, I was
led
to think that. Are you certain that's what you are?" She didn't go into
the fact that it made a lot more sense for him to be, oh, a different kind of
Demon, or even an illusion.

No one wanted to hear that they
weren't real, she was willing to bet. This man however, whatever he actually
turned out to be, seemed fine with that however.

"I know. It's something
that's been done in the last years, about the last two hundred, to keep your
kind from killing us all. We aren't violent or a threat, but... Well, some of
you don't see that. Or do, perhaps, but can't realize that non-violence isn't a
thing to fear? Regardless, even if we allow it, your kind have trouble
understanding that we exist. When I leave, you won't remember me." The
tone was a bit preachy, to be honest, and the man seemed a little dumb.

Then, maybe that's what people
like him looked like? Regular people that could wipe everything that had
happened from your mind? It was certainly a power at any rate. One that would
be hard to beat.

"I'll try to keep that in
mind. Do you want something to eat? I was just about to fix something for
myself. I have plenty." She paused and then shrugged. "You can pay
for it, if you're a Greater Demon, or have it for free if that fits your... Um,
angelic rules?" It wasn't like she knew what to think about anything yet,
was it? She waited, and watched, but the man just smiled, beatifically.

Like that was a thing? Apparently
for people like him it was.

She moved toward him, not
planning to do anything, and felt herself pushed away as she closed bodily. The
pressure seemed to do the same thing to him, so he skipped back, but it was
strange, since she didn't have any information on that kind of thing happening.
Not even in the library that Tarsus had given her. Keeley did get to the door
however, and once in popped her head back out and winked.

"Come on. I'll get that food.
So, I could whip up an angel food cake? Or is that too on the nose?"

"A little bit.
Funny
though." He seemed to really think that was the case, and smiled at her,
then followed, keeping himself at least four feet away all the time. Any closer
and the pressure between them started to build.

She made a lot of food, just
working for a time, as the man sat in a chair at her kitchen table, and
regarded her intensely. Finally she sat too, with a basket of garlic bread, and
took a bunch of slices, passing the rest over to the strange person she didn't
know. He took a single piece and then pushed it back at her.

"I'm made of celestial
energy, not matter, so I don't truly need food. I do love good bread,
however." He could eat, it was clear and did so, munching silently for a
while. The other energy beings she'd met had been able to eat too, so that wasn't
a
dead
giveaway as to him being something else.

"Me too. So... Not to be
rude, but what can I do for you? Did you come to convert me to the faith? If
so, you
might
want to take that up with Gregor, since as far as I know
he invented the whole religion thing." She was being a bit snarky, and
knew it, but the man didn't seem too upset by the idea.

"Christianity. He came up
with the
one
religion. Or..." He looked at the door and looked at
her, his face unfamiliar, but something inside the eyes gave him away then. It
was different, but...

"Gregor?" It was a game
then? A trick? She smiled, glad that the Greater Demon hadn't decided to keep
the game up for too long. It was vexing, being fooled like that. He still
seemed totally Human, and didn't start eating any more than he had.

"Not too bad. None of the
others have ever made a connection there. Good job, Keeley. Now just put the
rest of it together, and I won't have to take the next seven years getting you
to believe that I exist."

She thought about it, and understood
what he wanted her to say. After all, it was pretty clear, wasn't it?

"You're actually an Angel,
and created Christianity, because... It's real?"

There was a slightly funny look
and the man in front of her rolled his eyes.

"No, of course not. That
doesn't even make sense, Keeley. There are too many religions in the world for
that to be the case. We, the Angels,
did
create the world's religions,
at His behest, but that
isn't
the point. Work the problem, miss. I'm
afraid we don't have a lot of time for doubt or recriminations. Incorrect
assumptions either. You're missing things and getting them wrong."

She looked at the ceiling, and
then cleared her throat.

"All right then... Let me
see, the only thing that's changed is... What Tarsus asked me to do? Getting
those Greater Demons to read the books he wanted? Except..." She felt slow
and her mind was funny, fuzzy and bogged down. "Hey, wait, why can't I
touch you? I've done it before? This is some kind of defensive thing?"

 "Yes. I am not of the
fallen, so it's different." He made a little motion with his hand, a
rolling thing that told her to get on with it, along with a friendly expression
that told her he wasn't
that
upset about the side tracking. Before he
could go on, Keels crossed her eyes, and then actually made her brain start
working again. It was just the shock of finding all of that out.

"And... Tarsus wouldn't need
me to do that, would he? That never made much sense. Well, if he were going to
just use me for the purpose, but..."

Gregor, or Michael, whichever
counted in the moment, nodded.

"Close enough, I don't want
you to feel too badly about this, since the vast majority of the others can't
comprehend it, not even the smallest portion of it."

Keeley smiled and then looked at
the man closely.

"Wait, am
I
actually
an Angel, too? That would explain my good and wholesome ways, compared to the
rest of them."

"No, not that one. You're
honestly pretty evil. You all are. It's simply that Tarsus has set something in
motion that will end reality, if you, or he, carry it out. If you bind evil,
everything ends. Creation will be thrown out of balance and it all ceases.
Forever."

She nodded, not really seeing it.

"So, what you want then, is
for me
not
to go up against four crazy Greater Demons? I think I can do
that one."

Gregor, looking so different from
what he normally did, simply shook his head slowly.

"No, Keeley, I... We all,
need you to
restore
the balance. To find all the others of your kind
that have been trapped, and set them free."

"Ah." She got up then,
since a timer was going off on the stove, and had been. In her extreme focus,
she'd missed that. It came back to her now, however.

It made sense. Whatever was
happening to her, the trouble she was having thinking at the moment, was part
of this being's power, wasn't it? That or a fundamental lack from inside
herself.

Still, she wasn't like he was and
needed to eat, so got the food and then sat down, taking the nutrients in for a
long time.

The whole thing didn't make a lot
of sense yet, but that was fine. It was either real, or wasn't, and either way,
she was going to find out.