Demon Singer (5 page)

Lisian cursed her puppet under her breath.

"Lisian."

She jerked to attention back as her master said her name.   

"First your agent missed the High Master.  Now another one is responsible for the death of my personal pets."  Trytohn's smiling eyes did not mask the threat behind them.  "You are ultimately responsible for these offenses.  You should probably move forward in that knowledge."

Trembling in terror, Lisian bowed low before her adored lord and master and smoked out.

6 WHERE IS EVERYONE?

They drove in silence from the foot of Dacapo for an hour before Acheron spoke.

“Where are we going to begin looking for your Prophet?”

“I’m going where I always go when I’m stuck.  Home.”

“Oooo, I get to meet mom and dad?”  Acheron’s expression became decidedly more mischievous.

Lyric sighed and lapsed back into silence.

* * *

Lyric's hometown came into view as they crested the hill outside the city limits.  He stopped his car and turned to Acheron who had settled for the leather pants, halter-top and stiletto boots combo in which she had first appeared. She had added a silver belly chain with an obsidian pendant that matched his own.  When Lyric saw it, he seethed in fury, demanding she remove it.  In hindsight that was exactly the wrong way to handle it.

"Can you please cover up?"

Acheron pouted and her clothes vanished. Lyric turned his head away.

"Okay, it's safe." Lyric turned back to see her wearing exactly what she was wearing before. "See? Covered up!" She said brightly. "Now let's go see mom and dad."

As they approached the small village, several things were conspicuous by their absence. No cars on the road, no children playing in front yards, no dogs barking, no activity that marked a healthy small town.  Lyric's frown deepened as they pulled onto the main street.  

Stoplights worked, birds were singing.  The ball atop the old 76 station was spinning, but there were no signs of life.  A few minutes later, they were parking in the driveway of his parent’s house and he was rushing through the front door.

"Emma? Niq? Where is everyone? What's going on?" The smell of rotting meat assailed his nostrils and forcing himself not to gag he stepped into the dining room, fearing the worst. The sight of the family dog, Whistle, very dead and decomposing on the table, tempered the relief he felt at not finding his parents dead bodies. Turning to Acheron he demanded, "who did this? Why did this happen? Where is everyone?"

"Couldn't tell you," Acheron shrugged. "Demons don't tend to be real cryptic. If we want you dead, we kill you. Kidnapping one human is a giant pain in the ass; I can't imagine a whole town. You have to feed your hostages, take them to the bathroom, listen to them cry. Killing is easier. The question is not just who would want your entire town, but
how
did they do it? There’s no evidence of a struggle outside, is there anything amiss in here other than that thing?” She gestured to Whistle, “man I hate dogs.”

Lyric methodically made his way through the house, then the rest of the neighborhood. Acheron followed for a bit then started playing tic-tac-toe with herself in the empty street, burning her designs into the asphalt with her fingertip.  Eventually Lyric rejoined her.

“There’s absolutely no one here, there are no broken locks, there’s more than one table set for a meal, and all of the animals are dead. Not just dead though, mutilated. What is going on?”

Acheron rose to her feet and dusted herself off.

“I’ve been thinking about that while you’ve been on your thorough and pointless search.  My guess is it’s not whoever sicced the hellhounds on us while you were playing on your mighty mountain.  Whoever did that was trying to kill you outright. Odds are your town is still alive.  If it were a killing mission, they would have left the bodies here, not whisked them neatly away.  Someone with a tremendous amount of mojo seems to be demanding your attention, Who is it and why?  Not likely Hellspawn, as I said, too much work.  Nor is anyone from hell going to contract you out. You are a nuke in a world of peashooters, they absolutely do
not
want you advertised to the supernatural community. The Soul Singers Guild is not going to tell anyone.  You’re an embarrassment, and besides, they keep secrets better than dead men.  Is there anything different in your life other than my arrival?”  Lyric shook his head.  “So the question is who wants your attention, doesn’t seem to have your best interests at heart and probably knows about yours truly?"

“The only people who knew about you were my parents, Niq and Emma; I called them the day I cast.  Neither one of them would spread the word about me.  Emma’s a princess though; maybe it has nothing to do with me.”

“A princess? You’re royalty?”

Lyric flushed.

“I’m not royalty, I’m a bastard. My mother is the daughter of one of the King’s of Markhato, David Westfall.  She and I are an embarrassment to him as well.  Westfall is married to Starshine’s Lullaby, the daughter of the Native Canadian King, River Hammer.  Emma met Niq when visiting her grandfather.  She was due back at court the following week; instead she ran away with a penniless composer and conceived me out of wedlock.”

“Well now, that puts a different spin on things. It’s very possible this is about your mother and taking the whole town is intended to keep her in line. So, good news, not our problem.”  Acheron said brightly.

“These are my parents; it’s very much my problem.  If it’s because of my mother it probably has to do with the war.”

Acheron shrugged.

“Sorry, Lover, I don’t keep up with human politics. What war?”

“It isn’t human politics.  There is a second sight war brewing, some crazy woman named Melody is trying to whip up a revolt among the supernaturals against the Four Kings.  It’s been all over the Guild because the Masters are considering whether we should be involved.  She says it’s time humanity knew of the supernatural beings that live among them.  She wants to bring down the second Veil so all supernaturals are revealed.  She’s been drafting malcontents for the last few years, mostly the ones who have negligible or no powers, who think their lives will improve if they’re recognized as being special and different from humans.”

“How is she planning to bring down the veil?”  Acheron seemed almost impressed by the audacity of such a task.

“I have no idea.”

"Why don't the Kings kill her?"

"I'm not a King so I don't really know, but I have an idea..." Acheron waited expectantly, crooking an eyebrow when he shouted in her face. "They aren’t demons!  Killing isn't the first solution that comes to mind when problems arise!!"

"You misunderstand," she said earnestly. "Killing isn't the
first
solution, just the easiest and fastest. We also enjoy torture, maiming and my personal favorite, corruption!"

Lyric shook his head in disgust.

"Regardless of the rumors or whether they’re true, I intend to find my parents.  Demons can track important possessions to find a person, right?  I remember being stalked by a big, ugly bastard a couple years ago that got a hold of a knife of mine."

"What's the item?"

Lyric produced a small white stone, polished smooth, small enough to fit in your palm.

"Who does it belong too?"

"Emma"

"What's her full name?"  

Lyric eyed her warily.  

"Seriously, Lover, I need her full name to find her."

"Emerald Gem of Markhato."

Acheron closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment.  She frowned suddenly and opened her eyes; those beautiful eyes with thick dark lashes...Lyric shook his head.  
Stop it!  She's a monster, a disgusting fiend from hell.
 He looked back at her to see her smiling slyly.

"Watcha thinkin', Lover?"

"I'm thinking I'd like to know where my mother is, stop calling me Lover."

"Mmm hmm, any time you want to get off your high horse and roll in the mud with me say the word."

"You're a whore, and I have no interest in picking up some Hell born STD.  Where is she?"  Lyric ground out through clenched teeth.

Acheron's expression was puzzled.  

"She's here in the town.  Right over there."  She pointed at Lyric's childhood home.  Lyric borrowed her expression of puzzlement as he tried to work out what was going on.

"I've been through every inch of this town, there's no one here."

Acheron shrugged.

"That's where she is."

"Try this," Lyric said handing her a green composition stylus, "it belongs to Unique Harmony of the Space Between."

Acheron arched an eyebrow.

"What an interesting name."  

Lyric shrugged and gestured for her to get on with it.  Closing her eyes, she opened them almost immediately.  "Same place."

Lyric's brow furrowed in thought.

"Try this," he handed her a silver hair comb set with rubies from his sister's bureau. "This belongs to Ruby Rain of the Composer."

Acheron closed her eyes longer this time; then turned West.  Opening her eyes, she said "Two days by car in that direction."

Lyric nodded, "That sounds right," he headed toward his home.  He disappeared through the door while Acheron waited outside.  "Acheron come here!"  The demoness appeared next to him as though she had been a step away.  Lyric was startled in spite of himself.  "You have the sight, right?"

"Yes, Lover, I have the sight, what am I looking for?"

"Something is distorting the sound in this room, in fact, now that I'm listening for it, the entire house is distorted."

Acheron looked around and shook her head.  "Everything seems normal.  There are a few enchanted items here and there, but nothing seems off."

Lyric as a soul singer was not allowed to have enchanted items, so he dismissed them from his mind.

"Can you zero in on the precise location of Emma from the white stone?"

"She's over there," Acheron gestured at the table where Whistle still lay.  "On the chair on the far side of the table."

Lyric strode over and examined the area, above, beneath, around the chair.  

"She isn't here," he said perplexed

"Don't argue with Demon Sense, she's there."

"And Niq?"

Acheron closed her eyes with a sigh.  Her brow pinched in apparent confusion as She lifted her arm.  She began to point, then stopped and turned around on the spot.  Finally, she pointed at the door to Niq's study.

"What was that all about?" Lyric asked.

"Something seems off.  It like he's there, but not there.  Like a reflection rather than the real thing."

Lyric entered his father's room and searched carefully for him in all the places he had already looked, but to no avail.

Walking back out the front door he stopped on the street and cocked his head, listening intently.  

"The distortion is out here as well," he said thoughtfully.  "What is it and is it connected to the disappearances?"

"I have no idea," Acheron said impatiently, "but frankly I'm bored with this game.  No one's here, and as far as we can tell, no one is dead.  We still have a mysterious someone who sent a huge pack of hellhounds to actually kill you.  You have a year to sever a tie that as far as we know will kill us both.  Don't you think you should prioritize a bit?"

"I'm going to try something," Lyric said, ignoring Acheron.  "I will need to make use of our tie; do I have your permission?"

Acheron flushed.

"You know you don't have to ask my permission, just do it."

Lyric shrugged and began a sweet melody that wound out and caressed Acheron's skin.  Clenching up she withstood it as long as possible, before crying out.  Lyric stopped and looked at her in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"It hurts."

"But it's a song of peace, how can it hurt?"

"I'm a demoness dumbass!  It hurts!"

"Okay, okay I’m sorry, let's try this, are you ready?"

"Don't apologize, just do it!"  the Demoness shouted.

Lyric began the same melody but dropped to a minor scale, turning it into a song of lament.  As the sound approached Acheron, it flowed over and around her like it a burial shroud.  The magic took hold and she noticed a shimmer in the air.  Instinctively she sent a surge of power along the tie and amped up Lyric's song.  He began singing ancient words she had not heard since before the fall, which shocked her like a lightning strike.  She ground her teeth and withstood the burning sensation, which was accompanied by an almost narcotic quality.  She felt like she was about to split apart, so backed off the juice a bit, so she could concentrate harder on seeing through the shimmer.