Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 07:02:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Richard Garcia <invertedbeast@yahoo.com>
Subject: Darkness Calls chapter 10

DARKNESS CALLS
Chapter Ten


Joey and I spent the night in a guest bedroom on the third floor of the big
house.  The room was small and the bed was only a full size, but that just
meant we had to cuddle up.  I was more anxious, I admit, about someone
walking in and finding him in my arms than I was about a midnight attack.
My beast brain didn't give a shit about what anyone else thought, and my
rational brain knew that probably no one here cared, but old habits die
hard, and this thing with Joey -- whatever it was -- felt new and
fragile.

Despite that, I slept like a baby and awoke to the sun peeking through the
lace curtains.  Joey woke up when I got up to take a morning piss.  We
dressed and went downstairs to the big kitchen.  There were a couple of
women, not the same ones as last night, bustling around cooking breakfasty
things.

The big table was empty except for Vivana, who was sitting at one end
drinking tea and reading from a small devotional-looking book.

Joey went up to her.  "Aunt Vivana?"

She looked up at him, then glanced at me warily.  "Yes, Joseph?"

He fished into his shirt pocket and pulled out the silver cross.  "Will you
bless this for me?"

Vivana blinked a couple of times.  A smile slowly crept into her face.  "I
already have.  But if you wish, we can both bless it again together."

"Okay."

She patted the chair beside her.  He sat, and she placed her hands over his
so they were holding the cross together.  She bowed her head.  After a
moment he copied her.

God, I hoped my brother wasn't going to turn into a Jesus freak.  One in
the family's plenty.  I went to pour myself some coffee and ask about
breakfast, then sat down to drink and read the news on my netbook while one
of the women whipped me up an omelet.

Amber came into the kitchen while I was eating.  She walked over.  "Good,
you're up.  We're driving back to the penthouse as soon as you're ready to
go.  Sherietta left half an hour ago.  She'll meet us there."

I nodded and gulped a mouthful of coffee.  "Opal coming with us?"

"No.  She didn't spend the night."

Somehow that didn't terribly surprise me.

On the drive back to the city Amber quizzed me about the Darkness dwindling
and how it would someday come back.  I answered her as best I could, and
volleyed a few questions back to her.

"What can you tell me," I asked, "about what happened in the closed family
meeting yesterday?"

"In the convocation?  For most of it we just continued talking.  There were
a lot of misunderstandings that had to be cleared up.  Opal had told
Sherietta that she wanted to be the next mistress, and implied that our
mother and I were backing her.  Not surprisingly, Sherietta thought that
would be terrible for the Family, so she made her own bid for the
matriarchy just to stop her."

Amber sighed.  "What happened between Aunt Charolotta and Aunt Mercedes
shattered this family.  I hadn't spoken to Sherietta for years.  She loves
what she's doing, and has no more desire to be the next matriarch than I.
Once we'd clarified things between us, it became obvious that Katerina was
the best choice.  We all need someone who can bring the Family back
together, and she's the one who's been helping Momma Lolotta out here in
the Valley for the past six years, tending to the Family's heart and
hearth."

She paused.  "There are things that members of the first line can do when
we are gathered under a mistress" -- she was choosing each word carefully
now -- "that we cannot do alone.  Once we had selected a mistress we were
able to look more deeply.  It became clear that the demon had been taking
advantage of the Family's dividedness to stir up trouble.  That it was able
to kill Momma Lolotta is shocking.  We knew we had to do something.  So we
built the spirit-trap.  It can imprison the demon for a thousand years."

I had zillions more questions that I was pretty sure she wouldn't answer,
so I settled for just one.

"Why did Katerina make Joey a member of the third line?"

Amber turned to glance back at Joey.  I checked in the mirror.  He was
staring out the window of the back seat.  Something about his posture made
it clear that he was listening to us.

Amber turned back.  "You brother has legacy Darkness.  You realize that, I
hope."

"Yeah," I said.  "It's pretty obvious."

"For his own and for others' protection, he needs some basic training.
Bringing him into the Family as third line will get him that.  It was a
smart move."

I nodded.  Amber's answers were illuminating.  I kept thinking of the
Estrella lineage as something like a super-secretive Kennedy or Rockefeller
family, but that wasn't right.  The source of their power wasn't political
influence or wealth, although I bet they had plenty of both.  The source of
their power was Darkness.  Darkness was the determining factor in all of
their decisions and actions; it lay at the core of their very existence.  I
needed to remember that.

When we arrived at the penthouse, it was empty.

"Damnit, Sherietta," Amber muttered.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I bet she stopped by her office.  That woman's obsessed with her work."

I grinned.  "You don't know the feeling?"

"Of course I do," she snapped.  She was about to say more, but checked
herself and gave me a sheepish smile.  "I just want to get this over with
so I can get on to other things."

"Yeah, me too."

Sherietta and her bodyguard showed up fifteen minutes later.

"My apologies," she said.  "There were a couple of things I needed to
handle in person with my staff."

Amber looked at me and arched an eyebrow.  Told you so.

"So," Sherietta continued, "here's the plan.  The four of us will drive to
your uncle's house in one car.  You'll introduce Amber and myself as Joey's
cousins.  You've told us about the Project and we're very interested.  We'd
like to help out.  All of this is true.  When dealing with a demon, it is
best to be as truthful as possible."

Amber nodded.

"Roland will follow behind," Sherietta continued.  "He'll wait outside to
intercept your uncle if he tries to flee and to insure that there's no
outside interference."

"Fine," I interrupted, "except for two things.  First, he's not really our
uncle and second, there'll be three of us in the car.  Joey's not going."

"But Daniel," Joey protested, "I'm going, too.  I need to be there."

"No, little bro.  No way.  That thing's already fucked you over royally
once before.  I'm not going to let you near it again.  It knows you too
well."

I turned to Amber.  "Am I right?"

Amber stared back at me, wordless.  Shit.

"He needs to be there," Sherietta said firmly.

"You agree with her," I said to Amber, "don't you?  That's why you're
looking so sorry-eyed.  I can't fucking believe this!"

"Listen," she said, "I don't feel good about it either.  But he does need
to be with us.  If it really does want him back, Joey may be the only thing
that stops the demon from fleeing as soon as we show up.  It could run if
it knows we're onto it, and go anywhere.  We'd never find it."

She put her hand on my arm.  "He won't be in as much danger as you fear.
He's stronger than you realize, and Sherietta and I will both be there.  If
the three of us can't protect him, there's no safety for him anywhere."

I shook her hand off and turned away.

"This is just -- " Sherietta began.

"Wait," Amber interrupted.  "Daniel, it is precisely when a force has
fallen into harm's way that it is capable of striking a blow for victory.
You know that."

I turned back.  Her green eyes were focused intently on me.

"You read The Art of War?"

"Yes."  She smiled faintly.  "Sun Tzu gives useful advice."

I hate it when someone uses my own words against me.  I looked at Joey.
"Bro, I really want you to stay here."

"But Daniel, don't I get to choose?"

Shit.  They were teaming up on me.  I'd take on the whole Estrella Family
if I had to, but with one sentence my little brother stopped me in my
tracks.

"Yeah, Joey."  I sighed.  "Of course.  You get to choose."

But I had a really bad feeling about this.

The bad feeling lasted on the drive all the way to Walter's place.  The
others may have been feeling it, too, because there wasn't a lot of
chitchat in the car.

Walter lived in a one-story ranch style house that had been built in the
`60s.  Over the decades many of the other houses on the street had been
renovated, but Walter's looked pretty much like it had when it was new.  I
hadn't seen it in years and it was still exactly as I remembered.  Even the
paint color was the same.  His station wagon was in the driveway when we
pulled up to the house.  Good.  I was worried that we'd go to all that
trouble and then he wouldn't be home.

I parked in driveway, behind the station wagon.  Twenty seconds later
Roland pulled up across the street.  We got out of the car and walked up to
the front door.  I turned and looked at the others.  Their faces were
somber.  Through the tinted window of his car Roland gave me a small nod.

"Has anyone thought about what we'll do if he has a gun?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," said Sherietta.

"So you're absolutely certain that he doesn't have one?"

"That's not what Sherietta means," said Amber.  "Firearms are too
unreliable in the presence of those who can wield Darkness.  They can be
neutralized.  The demon won't rely on a gun."

Like the cars hadn't started when the grendel came calling.  Fine.

I rang the doorbell.  We waited for half a minute and I rang it again.
Still nothing.  I was about to ring it a third time when the door swung
open.

A scrawny teenager with bad acne stood in the doorway scowling at us.

"What do you want?" he asked.  There were some pretty incredible smells
drifting out of the doorway behind him: unwashed adolescent bodies, recent
sex, rancid food, vomit, excrement, blood ... and the faint whiff of
sulfur.

"Hi," I said.  We'd agreed that I would do most of the talking.  "We're
here to see Walter.  His car is in the driveway, so I assume he's home.
We'd like to talk with him."

"You know the Doc?"  The kid regarded us suspiciously.  "Who are you?"

I put on the best smile I could dredge up.  "My name's Daniel.  I'm an old
friend of Walter's.  Who are you?"

"I'm a new friend."  He smirked.

I felt the beast inside growling.  Walter's doorman was starting to piss me
off.

"Be careful, Daniel," Joey cautioned.

Sherietta snorted.  "Surely you don't think this child could pose any
problem for your brother?

"If Daniel gets angry, he might hurt him."  Joey's voice was solemn.  "Then
afterwards he'd feel bad about it."

The smirk slid off the kid's face and he took a step back.  "I'll go get
the Doc," he muttered.  He scurried off, leaving the front door still wide
open, which wasn't a bad idea.  The house really needed some airing out.

Cautiously I followed him down the short hallway past the living room.  A
quick glance revealed it was empty and dark, the curtains drawn.  A few
more steps brought me to the doorway to the family room.  The smells
ratcheted up an order of magnitude.  Ugh.

The family room was occupied by three more teenagers -- two boys and a
girl.  They were sprawled across a couch and a couple of armchairs like so
many limp dolls.  One of the boys raised his head an inch to look at me,
then dropped it, as if holding it up for more than a couple of seconds was
too damn much work.  The others ignored me.

I slid forward a few steps.  There weren't any lights on, but enough
sunlight was coming in through the back patio door to see that the room was
filthy.  Empty liquor bottles and pizza boxes had been tossed against the
walls.  Someone had thrown up in one corner, partially over a stereo
speaker.  It had not been cleaned up.  On a marble-topped coffee table
there were more liquor bottles, a bong, a giant shit-smeared dildo, and a
razor blade on top of an empty plastic sandwich bag.  Must have been one
hell of a party.

"Oh, my," Amber breathed as she entered the room behind me.

"Crap," muttered Sherietta.

Joey's face was expressionless.

"Daniel, Joseph -- isn't this a pleasant surprise!"  Walter stepped out
of the doorway at the far end of the family room.  Uncle Walt wasn't
looking so great.  He'd lost weight and his skin was papery and grey.  His
clothing hung off him like old man's clothes.

"Who are your companions?" he asked.  The pimply-faced doorman peered at us
over his shoulder.

"These are Joey's cousins," I said, "Sherietta and Amber Estrella.  What's
with the house guests?"

"They were living on the streets, poor kids.  I figured if nothing else, I
could at least give them a roof over their heads."

"That's kind of you," Amber said.

"Thank you," he beamed.

The girl giggled.  It was a loud, hysterical giggle, just this side of
crazy.  Or maybe it had already crossed over.

Walter turned to the doorman.  "You left the front door open again, didn't
you?  Go close it.  Children, get up."

The kid gave me a wide berth as he passed by and headed back down the
hallway.  The others didn't even twitch.

"So," Walter continued, "what can I do for you?"

Sherietta cleared her throat.  "Daniel has told us about the Project and
all the amazing work you've done.  We'd like to help."

"That's wonderful!  What did you have in mind?"

The conversation felt like a school play that was going really, really
badly.  Nothing sounded the least bit believable.  It was like everyone
knew that their performances sucked, but there was nothing to do about it
except keep on reciting the lines we'd been given.

Amber took a step forward.  "My mother kept all the letters she received
from Mercedes.  There may be something in them that could be helpful."

She held out a 9"x12" brown envelope, stuffed with papers.  Inside the
envelope there really were letters from Mercedes to Vivana.  Wedged between
them was the quartz crystal.  For the trap to be sprung, Amber had told me,
Walter didn't have to actually touch the crystal.  He just had to accept
the envelope.

"Children," Walter said sharply, "I said get up."  Suddenly there was a new
timbre in his voice.  It sounded almost stereophonic, like two voices were
saying the same thing in unison.  I recognized it instantly.  It was how
the demon had sounded talking through Joey in Fellers' office.

Behind me I heard the sound of the front door being closed and bolted.  The
children stirred and rose to their feet.  Each of them was holding a
hammer.  The girl giggled again.

That's it; play's over.  Time to throw out the script.  The beast inside of
me snarled.

"Sorry, little bro," I said to Joey.  "I guess I'm just going to have to
deal with feeling bad later on."

I slid forward.

Walter looked at me and frowned.  "Bad dog!" he said.  The dual timbre of
his voice was suddenly a hundred times stronger.  "Down!"

Imagine you're having a dream in which invisible ropes coming out of the
floor are tied around your wrists and thighs.  The ropes are jerked
sharply, and you're pulled down onto your hands and knees.  They're so
tight that you can't even move an inch.

Now imagine it's not a dream.  Abruptly I fell to the floor.  It felt like
I was glued there.

One of the boys leapt forward and snatched the envelope from Amber's hand.
His sudden movement was explosively fast.  He threw it down onto the coffee
table and swung at it with the hammer: thump.  He swung and hit again:
thump.  He swung a third time and crack ... the coffee table broke.

The other two teenagers were advancing on Sherietta and Amber, their
hammers raised.  The Estrella witches slowly backed up.  Amber was
murmuring in a singsong voice and shaping symbols with her fingers like
sign language.  Sherietta was staring wide-eyed at the girl coming towards
her and inching backwards.  Joey just stood there, staring down at the
ground, hands hanging at his sides.  So far as I could tell, our side
wasn't doing too well.

"Powers," moaned Sherietta.  "He's broken the container."  The crystal had
shattered.

Amber just kept muttering and waving her fingers.

There was a sudden sharp blow to my ribs; if I hadn't been rooted to the
floor I would have keeled over.  I twisted my head and saw the doorman
sneering down at me.  He'd kicked me, and the little bastard was wearing
steel-toe work boots.  Shit, it hurt.  Waves of red-hot pain shot through
my side.  Probably cracked a rib.  The kid raised his own hammer and
started to close in on Amber.

This was really not going according to plan.  Our plan, that is.  It looked
like the demon's plan was progressing just fine.  My bad feeling about this
had been dead on.  We were so --


WE AT NIFTY CENTRAL APOLOGIZE FOR THE INTERRUPTION, BUT ONCE AGAIN IT'S
PLEDGE WEEK.  NIFTY'S CONTINUED EXISTENCE DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE
GENEROSITY OF ITS READERS.  IT IS ONLY THROUGH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PEOPLE
LIKE YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRING YOU SUCH CLASSICS AS "SEX LIVES OF
THE RICH AND INFAMOUS", "SODOMIZED BY SATAN", AND, OF COURSE, THE
EVER-POPULAR "CHANGING DADDY'S DIAPERS".  SO PLEASE, MATE, DON'T BE A
WANKER.  CHIP IN!

AND NOW, BACK TO YOUR PROGRAM...


-- fucked.