Demon Hunters (32 page)

“Anyways, Mr. Bertram, I just need a couple
of days to get this done and I’ll call you when I get the
information.”

“Fine,” Bertram said in a faint, faraway
voice. “Who is that?” He asked pointing towards Hither. I looked
over at her. While I was blind to Hither’s otherworldly qualities,
Bertram was a sitting duck. Most creatures divine in nature had a
hypnotizing effect on mortals. It was totally involuntary, but
unless I wanted an ugly scene, I had to get Bertram the Hell out of
there.

“Another client. Can’t discuss any more than
that. I have everything I need here, so you can go on and just wait
for my call.” I pushed Bertram closer to the door.

“Of course.” Bertram’s eyes were trained on
Hither, but she seemed completely oblivious to the attention she
was being paid. Bertram stumbled through the doorway and I pushed
him toward the stairs at the end of the hall, hoping the spell
would wear off quickly. I shut the door and as I did, I heard the
distinct sound of someone falling down a set of stairs. I looked
over at Hither. Her wings sprang back out. They were long and the
feathers were black and white with some gray speckles along the
ends.

“I apologize for my abrupt visit, but it has
come to my attention that you have been asked to investigate the
disappearance of Heaven.”

“That is true. What business is it of
yours?”

“You are mortal. This is well past your
jurisdiction.”

“I’m a P.I. I go where the money tells me.
What’s your jurisdiction?” She held her arm out and a card appeared
between her fingers. “Another card.” I mumbled to myself as I
plucked it from her hand.

“I’m with the Heavenly Agency in Reality
Matters.”

“H.A.R.M?”

“Correct. I have been investigating the
absence of Heaven for some time now.”

“Well, I’m acting on behalf of a private
party. You go on with your investigation. I won’t be getting in
your way.”

“You are already in my way. The matters of
Heaven and the Angelous are no concern for those on Earth.”

“Couldn’t agree more, but I was hired to
gather evidence for a lawsuit. It just so happens that lawsuit
involves the missing Heaven. If you really want to stop me, you’ll
have to kill me.” Our eyes met and as beautiful as Hither was, her
stare sent a chill up my spine. I could feel the demon inside
bubbling in my blood. It was ready for a fight, but I wasn’t
exactly on board. Demons and monsters were one thing, but angels
were a whole other ball game.

“I object to your interference but so long
as you do not impede my work, I will not stop you.”

“Fine. Great. Consider me warned. Could you
please leave now?” Hither merely nodded and turned toward the door.
She pulled her wings back in as she slipped out and a few moments
later I heard the sound of giant beating wings.

Confessions

When I arrived home, I found Gwen in my
kitchen putting the finishing touches on a great smelling meal.

“You don’t have to do that. I was just going
to order a pizza.” I said as I slid my arms around Gwen’s
waist.

“Well, I just wanted to give you a little
thank you for all your help.”

“You don’t have the job yet.”

“No, but I have faith.” She said with a
smile.

“Smells great.”

“It’s a pot roast.”

“I wasn’t talking about the food.”

“Not now. Why don’t you get a beer?” She
suggested. I was quick to comply. As I pulled out the last bottle
from the fridge I heard her chopping some vegetables for a salad.
“How was your day?”

“The usual. Made some calls. Talked to some
people. Went to Heaven.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I retreated to the sofa in
the living room. Gwen was close behind me, as I expected her to
be.

“You went to Heaven?”

“Yes. I’ve taken on a job to gather evidence
for a class action suit pertaining to the disappearance of
Heaven.”

“You know, if anyone else said those words
to me, I’d think they were crazy.”

“It’s true. Someone, or something, stole
Heaven. I saw it with my own eyes. Some lawyer from the other side
took me and he explained what was going on and how it was all going
to work. Then when I got back I talked with your Mr. Bertram and
then an angel dropped by.” I said, sounding as casual as possible.
Gwen flopped down on the chair next to the sofa.

“You met an angel? Today?”

“Gwen, you’re going to have to realize if
you’re in my life, these are going to be the kind of stories I tell
you every day. Get used to it now.” I took a healthy swig of
beer.

“It’s just a lot to process. I was just
getting a handle on the ‘zombies and vampires are real’ thing. Now
you’re tossing angels at me.”

“Don’t worry. It seems like a pretty cut and
dry case, but I need to find Heaven.”

“Well, where could anyone hide a place like
Heaven?” Gwen asked.

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out. Has
Ivar called or dropped by today?”

“No, not since I got here at least.
Why?”

“I was just hoping he had found something. I
sensed some demonic residue back where Heaven used to be, so I know
I’m dealing with demons; which is no big surprise. I just need to
figure out what kind of demons.”

“Well, there can’t be that many demons out
there powerful enough to take Heaven. It’s not like they just
hauled it away on a flatbed truck. Or did they?”

“At this point, I couldn’t tell you. I can’t
even imagine why a demon would even want Heaven. Usually they’re
out to destroy it.”

“Maybe they did.”

“No. They didn’t do that.”

“How do you know?”

“Trust me. If a major plane of existence
like Heaven had been destroyed, we wouldn’t be sitting here
talking. It’s still intact.”

“Fine. Let’s talk about something more
pleasant. How did your meeting with Mr. Bertram go?”

“It was okay. He gave me your paperwork and
I told him it would take a couple of days to put the report
together.”

“Great. You will do it, right?”

“Of course. It’ll take some time to figure
out how to sidestep your little hijacking adventure, but I’m sure
I’ll figure it out.”

“I know you will.” Gwen said as she placed a
gentle kiss on my forehead and returned to her cooking in the
kitchen. I took the TV remote and contemplated turning it on, but I
set it down and wandered back over to the kitchen where Gwen was
focused on tossing her garden salad.

“So, tell me about this pirate thing you
did.”

“I already told you.”

“I know, but tell me more. I mean, why did
you do it?” I could see Gwen’s cheeks turning red.

“I don’t know. I was young. I was passionate
about the cause.”

“I realize that, but you could have just
protested or sent letters. You stole a boat!”

“Mob mentality. I went to a few animal
rights meetings on campus and I was inspired.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I sense doubt.”

“Just a little. I just find it hard to
believe that some ‘don’t club the seals’ group seduced you into
committing a federal offense over a little well-meaning patter and
a well-written pamphlet. There’s something else going on here.”

“Fine. If you must know, I had a crush on
the president of the club. Peter Brooks.”

“Ah! Now we get to it!”

“Don’t! I was young and innocent and Peter
was older and very mature.”

“And hot.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I can see it all over
your face. You didn’t believe in the guy’s cause. You just wanted
to take a swan dive into his pants!” Her cheeks were growing even
more crimson and I couldn’t hide my smile as she grew more
flustered.

“How would you even know?”

“I’m not blind. When I was younger, I saw
how you girls operated. This guy, Peter, shows up. He’s handsome
with a big barrel chest and talks about how we all need to unite
and defend the helpless creatures of the Earth. He’s got long,
sloppy hair and big eyes. Let me guess, he wrote poetry too.”

“We are not having this conversation.”

“He read you some, didn’t he?”

“Dinner is just about ready. Why don’t you
go wash your hands?”

“Oh, I know,” I said as Gwen stooped down to
pull the roast out of the oven. “He also played guitar. He wrote
you a song, didn’t he? He wrote you a song and when he sang it to
you, he cried.” Suddenly Gwen bolted up and slammed the roast onto
the counter.

“It was a very touching song! I felt his
heart as he sang it. His tears. He was a very sensitive man!”

“I bet he was. I also bet he wrote that same
song for just about every other girl in that club of yours. Maybe
some of the guys, too.”

“You can be a real pain, you know that?”

“Yeah. Part of my charm.”

“If you say so.”

After dinner, Gwen and I camped in front of
the television. I didn’t want to think about the events of the day.
We settled on some mindless reality show Gwen liked. I forgot what
it was about. Some mindless tramps trying to bed a hunky guy, or
something. Most of my concentration was on Gwen who was resting in
my arms and the demon in my soul who was buzzing annoyingly in the
back of my mind. Even a scent of Heaven seemed to set it off.
Suddenly a gentle knock at the door disturbed our peace. I slid off
the couch and quickly answered it. I saw Ivar standing before me. I
looked over to Gwen.

“I’ll be quick,” I said as I stepped out
into the hall. I could sense urgency in Ivar’s face, which I found
worrying. Ivar wasn’t the kind to show such emotion on his face. In
fact, he rarely showed any emotion on his face. “What is it?”

“I’ve been doing some canvassing around town
and I think I discovered some news. Troubling news.”

“Give it to me.”

“My contacts say that Pyre and Vyra have
been active lately.” His words hit my ears, but I was unable to
gauge their importance.

“Should I know those names?”

“Pyre and Vyra are among a class of demon
well known in Hell. Very powerful entities.”

“How powerful?”

“If Satan were throwing a dinner party, they
would be on the VIP list.” Ivar said in a rare moment of humor.

“So, they could have conceivably stolen a
large plot of Heavenly real estate?”

“It is not out of the realm of possibility.
They are one of the few types of demons who have the power and
knowledge to do such a thing.”

“What were their last known operations?”

“They were last known to be in New Orleans
trying to start up another cult that would furnish them with souls
and blood for them to live off of. Nothing more after that.”

“Sounds like they were more interested in
staying alive than taking over Heaven.”

“Vyra and Pyre are pure opportunists.
Nomadic some would say. They adopt one way of living for another on
a seemingly daily basis. Whatever’s more advantageous for them.
Their only true motivations are their unholy thirst for blood and
power. Not always in that order.”

“So, maybe they lost interest in scamming
people for their blood and found a way to make Heaven work for
them?”

“Possible.”

“But how?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you have any ideas on how we could track
them down?”

“Unfortunately, no. Their trails ran cold
after New Orleans.”

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I
said and with barely a look between us, Ivar was on his way. I went
on back into my apartment where Gwen was still watching TV.

Vyra And Pyre

I arrived at the office early in the
morning. What Ivar had told me the night before rattled through my
brain. Pyre and Vyra sounded like familiar names, but I couldn’t
quite put my finger on them. As I turned the corner to my door, I
saw Felix standing near.

“Good morning, Mr. Corba.” He said in a
pleading tone.

“Morning, Felix. What brings you around this
early?”

“I was hoping you’d have some information.”
He said hopefully. I smiled and walked past him to the door. I
pushed it open and quickly took note that Ivar was not there. I
went on to my desk and sat down to face Felix. He sat down as well,
and I tried to formulate the most efficient way to tell him what
little information I did have. Two names wasn’t a whole lot to go
on, but I knew this guy wasn’t going to leave me be until he had
something juicy.

“I have a couple names, but that’s all I can
tell you right now.”

“Names? What names?”

“Vyra and Pyre,” Felix seemed to have a
reaction to that. His composure became suddenly stoic and quiet.
“Mean something to you?”

“I’ve only heard of them. They say they are
two of the higher realm demons. Mr. Rex only mentioned them in
passing, but from what little he did say, I got the impression they
were quite bad.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“Do you think this will help with the
case?”

“I think finding Heaven will be very
helpful, yes, but more importantly, we need to find Heaven or the
universe will collapse upon itself.”

“Aldo knows the nuts and bolts of it. I just
need to know we’re not going to get shot down in court. What else
can you tell me?”

“I told you. Nothing.”

“But you do know something, right?”

“Mr. Lesidous, don’t push. Considering that
the fate of all creation is at stake, your little lawsuit kind of
pales in comparison.”

“Fine,” He said indignantly and got up from
his seat. “If anything happens, let me know.”

“You’re in the loop, don’t worry.” I said as
Felix turned and headed out the door.

I sat at my desk for a solid hour poring
over everything in my head. I had no leads. No clues. No crime
scene to investigate. Nothing. Ivar still hadn’t come in, which was
a bit odd, but I didn’t think much of it.