The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 18

“Happy birthday, Brielle!” a group of us sat on a wooden picnic bench in a small, grassy backyard.

A thin, blonde woman standing next to Ginger at the head of the table delightfully clapped her hands and squealed, “Eek! Thank you! Oh, I’m so excited to be thirty now! It’s gonna be so much fun!” Most of us knowingly chuckled at that prediction, and she questioned us, “What? Why does everyone always laugh when I say that?”

Ginger reassured Brielle, “No reason, babe! Being in your thirties is awesome!” She gave her a tight hug that lifted her into the air slightly, which caused an audible crack to radiate from her back. “Oof! I need to rub on some more pain cream before I start the grill!”

A bit later, Ginger began barbecuing some burgers and chicken while their guests mingled. Fletcher and some other guys stood around the beer cooler, Ellie chatted up Aleck’s wife as well as a couple of other women, and some children that I didn’t recognize ran around the yard. Aleck went over to his preteen son, who was deeply engrossed with his phone, and he poignantly recommended, “Hey! Why don’t you go out and play?”

“I am playing,” his son responded.

“But it’s such a nice day!” Aleck pled with him. “You’re wasting it staring at a screen!”

His son gestured towards the bushy tree with yellow and orange leaves starting to pop in above him and churlishly expressed, “I’m in nature, ‘kay?” 

Aleck appealed to Fletcher, “You’re a PE teacher, you try!”

Fletcher agreed, “Alright.” He burped and then ambled over to that spot.

That scene made me titter, but I couldn’t pay much more attention to it because I had to return to the conversation Phoebe and I were having with a merry, older couple. The man with russet skin, a pot belly, and a scraggly beard had Ginger’s nose, and the light caramel-toned woman with long, black hair had just about every other characteristic of Ginger. Ginger’s mother asked Phoebe, “So, how did you meet this handsome fellow?”

“We met at the school we work at,” I answered since Phoebe hesitated. “I saw her passing in the hallway, and she looked so beautiful that I forgot how to speak!”

“Aww!” Ginger’s mom cooed. “What did you think when you first saw him?”

Phoebe appeared blank, so I filled her in, “She thought I was hot, and she told me she wanted to put a claim on me before anyone else did!”

Ginger’s parents giggled, and then Ginger’s father inquired, “So, since he couldn’t talk, you made the first move, huh?”

“She sure did!” I articulated since Phoebe’s face showed signs of embarrassment. “I’m so glad she did ‘cause I didn’t believe a goddess like her would want anything to do with me!”

“Are you gonna let her talk?” Ginger’s mother probed.

I didn’t want to share something so personal with people I hardly knew, but in this situation, I really had no other route to go. “She’s having some memory problems…”

Ginger’s mom awkwardly frowned. “Oh! Sorry!”

“So, how did you two meet?” Phoebe swiftly changed the subject.

“Actually, in a place we never expected to find our soulmate,” Ginger’s dad narrated. “We were both broke college students who auditioned for a game show that doesn’t exist anymore. A lot of contestants went home with fabulous stuff, but we won the best prize of all- true love!”

I expected his wife to share his romantic sentiments, but to my astoundment, she differed, “Speak for yourself! I won the car!”

Her husband brought up, “We’ve been married for forty-two years!”

She mulled it over for a moment, and then she stubbornly insisted, “I loved that car!”

We snickered at that unexpected twist, and I noticed Ginger struggling with balancing plates of food, so I excused myself, “I’ll be right back.”

Ginger held four plates of meat on her arm somehow, and I grabbed two of them as they were threatening to teeter over. “Thanks!” Ginger gratefully regarded me. She caught sight of me trying to distinguish between nearly identical dishes, and she clarified her actions, “Brielle’s cousin has digestive issues, so her meat doesn’t have garlic in the marinade.”

“Ah, I see!” Normally, I would’ve gone straight back to my post, but since we had some mild privacy, I decided to appeal for an alliance from her. Damon had been striking almost every day since I saw him in the lake, and because he hadn’t launched an attack during my shift at school, I became paranoid about his presence for this occasion! I dearly hoped that I could convince her of this paranormal problem’s existence prior to anything happening so that I could finally get a permanent partner in this effort! Dealing with that demon was so much easier when I had all of my friends helping me! “Is that why vampires can’t stand garlic- they’ve all got IBS too?”

“Ha! I never really thought about that!” Ginger amusedly remarked. “I try not to think about that topic too often! I feel like if I do, I might accidentally summon you-know-who to our area again!”

I challenged her, “So, you at least acknowledge it’s possible for him to return?”

Ginger continued her cooking while gazing at me sympathetically. “Listen, Connor… I can understand why you’d believe he’s bothering us again whenever something comes up! I certainly got like that this summer! But… I’m pretty sure that part of our lives is over now!”

“Pretty sure?” I highlighted the keywords of her comment. “You left some room for doubt!”

“Anything’s remotely possible!” Ginger shrugged. “There’s a slim chance the entire town could crack open into a river of molten lava and fire! But, as a math teacher, I’ve gotta go with the odds and maintain the premise that I most likely won’t ever run into him again!”

I argued, “Sometimes the low odds win though! Like, winning the lottery is, what, a million in one shot?”

Ginger informed me, “That depends on where you get a ticket. In a small lottery, you have fairly decent odds, but if you’re playing in a place like California, the odds increase to one in forty-two million!”

“But some people in California do win the lottery,” I pointed out.

“That doesn’t prove that Damon has, or ever will, come back,” Ginger countered.

I interrogated her, “What would it take for you to accept that I’m telling the truth?”

She affirmed, “Show me some evidence!”

“Fine! I will!” I resolutely resolved.

“Hey, Connor!” Fletcher approached me and requested, “Can you try and convince AJ to go exercise?”

I queried, “Don’t you convince teenagers to exercise for a living?”

Fletcher huffed, “It’s real easy when their grade is on the line! I don’t have any leverage here!”

“Alright. I’ll do what I can,” I acquiesced. I would have rather used my time to contemplate how I could provide evidence of that dumb devil’s whereabouts in Terra Belle, but I couldn’t allow my buddies to keep struggling with this task. Besides, I recognized that it was in the boy’s best interest to do some physical activity, so I begrudgingly walked over to AJ. I leaned on the tree next to him and gazed at his screen. “What are you playing?”

“It’s called Monster Hunt,” AJ explained as he engaged in this pursuit. “You gotta go to all these different settings and discover where these crazy creatures are hiding! Right now, I’m in the jungle looking for Lizardfolks!”

I nodded in comprehension and communicated, “Cool. I totally get it!” I did not get it! After fighting bizarre beasts recently, I couldn’t fathom why anyone would fantasize about doing that for fun! Obviously, I couldn’t divulge that insight to him, so instead, I relayed, “You know how developers create the stories behind these games?”

AJ guessed, “A think tank?”

“No!” I considered that for a second and then modified that notion, “Well, yeah, ut first, they go out and do stuff in real life! Your game isn’t that different than the Hide ‘n Seek your friends are doing actually!”

“You don’t think I’m too old to do those kinds of things?” AJ quizzed me.

I assured him, “No! I’m too old! But that’s mainly ‘cause I’m too big to really conceal myself anywhere! It wouldn’t be too hard to find me, so it quit being amusing. But, as long as you can get away with having fun, you should do it! You’ll have plenty of years to do boring adult stuff! Besides, I’m pretty sure I saw another kid around your age in the bunch.” I glanced around, but I didn’t espy her anywhere. “Man, she’s a good hider!” 

AJ determined, “I suppose if I don’t enjoy it, I can stop. I’ll give it a try! Thanks, bruh!”

“Bruh?” I echoed as he ran off.

“Oh, he calls everyone hat. I drew a line with my wife and me though,” Aleck elucidated as he turned up next to me. “Hey, thanks for doing that! You’re a miracle worker!” I beamed at this- not because I held that view myself! It was simply nice to hear somebody hold me in high regard after a slew of gossip swirled around me lately! Prior to me getting to verbalize my appreciation for his appreciation, Aleck got a pained look on his face. “Ugh! This is why I don’t drink anymore- I spend half the time running to the little boys’ room!”

Aleck dashed inside of Ginger and Brielle’s abode, and I chortled until another bout of mirth caused me to lose my breath… “Miracle worker? Please! The only marvel you’ve performed is keeping a smile on your face after letting your fiancé dress you!” Damon disdainfully griped.

I surveyed the scenery with perplexion- I knew he was there, but I couldn’t see him anywhere! It sounded like he was speaking from the tree, but that didn’t make sense to me. So far, he had only manifested in reflexive surfaces, but I didn’t imagine that the tree contained anything like that! I curiously peeked inside of a knothole, and I beheld his image on the back of a silver pendant! I intended to solicit him on his purpose of coming to that site, but instead, I found myself catechizing, “What’s wrong with my outfit?”

“You match each other! You’re both wearing seafoam green tops and khaki bottoms, it’s so cheesy!” Damon rattled off.

“I dunno, I’m pretty positive GINGER thought it was cute,” I vied to get her to gaze in this direction.

Damon sneered, “Psh! She’s not exactly a decent judge! Even Barbie would barf from all that pink!”

I strove to sway her focus to me once more, “GINGER would remind you that everyone in your land wears red. Talk about matching each other!”

“Excuse me! We don’t have a choice!” Damon shot back. “You do, and you made all the wrong ones!”

“You went from Hell to GINGER’s house to act as fashion police, huh? That’s a great choice!” I retorted.

Damon refuted, “No, I came to see how you were gonna worm your way out of this next trap! It’s a doozy, I’m skeptical that you can achieve any kind of victory this round!”

I sternly voiced, “You’re not gonna intimidate me! I’ve beaten you plenty of times before, and I’ll do it again!”

“Who are you talking to?” Ginger enquired as she became adjacent to me.

“Quick! Your proof is in there!” I indicated to the tree’s knot so she could peer into it.

Ginger humored me, and I anticipated a huge reaction followed by an apology, but instead, Ginger proclaimed, “Oh, that stupid magpie took my necklace!” She carefully removed it and held it with only two fingers. “It has bird germs on it!”

I canvassed her, “You didn’t see him?”

“See who?” Ginger wondered with furrowed brows.

“Ginger!” A frantic woman bounded up to her. “My Cassie! She’s gone!”

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 17

“What are you doing here?” I queried without hiding my contempt. It had actually been a pretty decent day until he showed up!

“Oh, don’t worry about him!” Fletcher recommended. “He likes to come here and relive his glory days a lot. Just ignore him.”

Casper acted as though he didn’t hear what Fletcher said and proudly recollected, “Ah, yes! My old stomping grounds! Did I ever tell you that I used to quarterback for the Rooks?”

I shrugged. “Probably. I doubt if I listened to your rambling though!”

“Yes, I won three championships for this school! I would’ve gotten a fourth, but I broke my leg in my final season. My poor team couldn’t survive without me!” Casper nostalgically chattered.

“Uh-huh!” I folded my arms and watched the student-athletes go through their drills, but the fact that I was clearly not paying attention to his nonsense didn’t discourage him from spilling it! A part of me wished that one of Damon’s monsters would show up so I wouldn’t have to endure his pestering any longer, but then it registered to me what I would have manifested into the universe! There wasn’t anything about my life that I was willing to surrender to that devilish imbecile, not even an excruciating interaction! It gave me some solace to think that, as hard as this tedium was, the situation could’ve been worse!

Casper went on, “… If I had simply been able to heal fully from that nerve damage, I might’ve gone on to play professionally! But that’s how I wound up finding an interest in government, so it seems as though the heavens had other plans for me!”

I remarked, “Gosh, it’s unfortunate you didn’t make it to the NFL- if I heard you talking on TV, I could’ve muted you!”

“Say, Connor!” Fletcher intruded into our conversation prior to Casper’s offense at my slight escalating into anything further. “Could you grab some strike shields for me?”

“Gladly!” I obliged. I leapt up and very willingly left Casper on the field.

Or at least I thought I did. As I circled around the bleachers, I saw that Casper had trailed me. I gritted my teeth and braced myself to suffer through more of his egotistical memories, but that’s not what he chose to communicate to me… “Did I catch you discussing a presence returning to campus?”

I halted my gait. With all of his pompous parading taking place, it didn’t occur to me that Casper may have overheard my discourse with Fletcher about preparing for Damon’s return to Terra Belle! It frightened me to consider the possibility that he witnessed something that he could use to blackmail me! Enough of my coworkers already believed the rumors of my waning sanity, so I would have had to acquiesce to whatever whim he intended to enact upon me! Or he may not have possessed the cleverness required for extortion! I inwardly panicked that he might proceed with slandering me without any chance for me to prevent him from staying quiet, and if caused me to ponder if Manuel would allow me to continue teaching without the confidence of the rest of his staff! I gingerly wondered, “I dunno, did you?”

“Connor, my dear buddy! I’m not here to judge you!” Casper reassured me.

“You’re not?” I became deeply skeptical about his assertion. My classroom neighbor was constantly trying to dig up dirt on me in a vain effort to make himself more appealing, which never produced the result he desired, so his claim of not having the intention to criticize me didn’t really hold water for me.

Casper threw his arm around my shoulders and ostentatiously explained, “Not at all! I chose a career in education for a reason! I can assist you in paranormal matters! Have you forgotten my expertise in ghost hunting?”

I honestly responded, “It’s not something I thought about very often!”

“Now, I noticed a lot of people started gossipping about you due to this pursuit, but don’t worry about them! Envious individuals always ridicule the gifted! I would caution you to keep your experiences on the down-low though- not everyone can handle it!”

“That’s great advice! Thank you!” I dispassionately regarded him as I walked away. I supposed I should have been more grateful that he wasn’t going to engage in the gossip-mongering, but I didn’t see any value in his pearls of wisdom! If I was frank about my otherworldly activity, I most likely would’ve been sent straight to a psychiatrist! Also, Casper would have known better than to follow me to an isolated spot…

As we headed to the back of the gym, we crossed paths with Mrithan carrying what looked like a bag full of garbage towards the main parking lot. I found this behavior so peculiar that I had to desist my footsteps and mention, “The dumpster is on the other side.”

Mrithan chuckled, “I know! I’m taking this home with me.”

“The faculty parking is also on the other side,” I pointed out with furrowed brows.

“I take the bus,” Mrithan let us know.

Casper shared my sentiments on this occurrence and inquired, “You’re taking garbage on the bus?”

Mrithan replied, “It’s not garbage! It’s all organic material fro my compost heap. My apartment complex has a community garden, so I…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a banana peel slipped out of the bag, and Mrithan tripped on it! The bag threatened to get pierced by the twig of a nearby tree, and I groaned from anticipating having to assist him in cleaning up that mess. Or more! So far, he stunned me with how complicated he could make his mishaps, and it wouldn’t have shocked me if he somehow landed himself in another inexplicable predicament! To my astonishment, he managed to miss the sharp object and merely fell onto his back with the bag supporting his head! I stared at him incredulously and commented, “Huh! I’ve only seen people do that in my grandparents’ old movies!”

“Here! I can lend you a hand in getting up!” Casper offered Mrithan.

“Good idea! And since you’re not doing anything right now, maybe you can give him a ride home!” I suggested prior to running off.

I beseeched the divine that Casper would take this opportunity to be a good samaritan and leave me alone, but to my dismay, he popped up while I was unlocking the equipment shed. “You’re gonna desert him and have him struggle with that big bag all by himself?”

Casper shot back, “Hey, you left him too!”

“I’m busy doing volunteer work for a friend,” I argued. “Your only purpose is to bug me with old stories and unsolicited advice!”

“I didn’t show up to practice for you! You were there, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to impart some much-needed knowledge! Don’t act like I haven’t provided any benefit to you! I gave Roxy detention for trying to spy on you! She stole my spirit trumpet to do it too!” Casper filled me in.

Rolling my eyes, I countered, “You use that to spy on me though!”

Casper differed, “I listen for spiritual activity on that, it’s not my fault if I happen to catch a glimpse of your dialogue!” I released an exasperated sigh, and Casper added, “Mrithan swears taking that bulky item onto the bus won’t be an issue! He says he’s quite used to doing so and that other riders have brought on smellier belongings.”

“Wow!” I temporarily ceased my effort to ponder the possibilities, and then I concluded, “He should really get a car!”

“Are you sure you want that guy behind the wheel?” Casper posed to me.

I acknowledged his articulation, “Oh, yeah! Probably not!”

We exchanged laughter, and for a moment, it seemed as though we were actually getting along! Did he continually seek me out with the aim of bonding with me? Right when I was considering that I should give him a chance to establish an amicable relationship, he brought up, “Speaking of my spirit trumpet, I detected an omnipresence lurking throughout Rosemary King’s halls.” 

“Pass!” I irately refused his services and returned to my task at hand.

“I can enhance your protection though!” Casper insisted. “Clearly, we have a banshee on the loose, so I’ll need you to spit three times and then get on your knees to-.”

I unlatched the lock, and then I hissed, “I don’t need your help!” I opened the door, and as I stormed into the small room, I forgot what Fletcher had sent me in there for! I stood in the center attempting to recall my assignment, and then…

Suddenly, a large, bat-like creature with the face of a lion and claws like a hawk pounced on me! It pinned me to the floor by my shoulders, and I would’ve screamed, but my brain was too busy striving to digest the spectacle in front of me! I instantly regretted my biting words to Casper, but before I could express this disposition, Casper affirmed, “Don’t trouble yourself about your previous statement! I got you!” Casper spat on the ground three times, pulled out an ornate talisman, and kneeled in prayer.

“Does this look like a banshee to you?” I mulled that over for a second, and then I more seriously pondered, “Does it?”

“Banshees have been known to come in several different forms such as a woman, a-,” Casper began to educate me.

I expected the creature to devour me, and I sincerely wasn’t certain how I could fight back! I nearly interrupted Casper’s babbling to demand he pick up a heavy instrument and start swinging, but the creature cut him off instead, “I have a riddle for you! Provide the correct response, and I’ll let you live, but answer incorrectly… Well, you know…”

Knowing the reply to this but enquiring anyways, I guessed, “You’ll allow me to live ‘cause you’re much kinder than you appear?”

“No!” the creature baldly told me.

“Aw, come on!” I was fully aware that I couldn’t sweet-talk my way out of this, but I was hoping that if I bought him some time, it would finally dawn on Sir Pompous Dorkington what he ought to do! “Deep down, you must crave peace and-!”

The creature ignored my jabbering and banefully broadcasted, “We five little things get used quite often, and you’ll find all of us in ‘a tennis court.’ What are we?”

I bemoaned, “You used a sports theme? Ugh, I wish Fletcher was here!”

“Um, hello! You’re in close proximity to an all-star athlete here!” Casper reminded me.

“Then what’s the answer?” I demanded.

Casper contemplated this enigma, and I growled in frustration. The creature snickered, “Do you give up?”

I exclaimed, “No!” I swirled the conundrum around in my thoughts, but nothing jumped out at me. “Five things in a tennis court? There are lines, but I imagine there’s more than five…”

The creature put its ugly mug within inches of mine, and it notified me, “I’ve about had it!”

“What did you have? Whatever it is, it made your breath totally wreak!” I retorted.

“It’s alright, Connor! This beast is toast!” Casper pulled a small, crystal vial out of his pocket and sprinkled it on the creature.

For a brief instance, I dared to permit my optimism to flourish and believe that he provided a proper remedy for once, but the creature only seemed to get annoyed by this gesture. “Quit it!” the creature commanded while wincing in vexation.

Casper refused, “Never! Feel the wrath of my St. John’s Wort!”

The creature grew more and more agitated by his antics, and while it did nothing to defeat this adversary, it did distract him enough to provide me with a window to study my surroundings. I wasn’t positive on what I could utilize to slay the… whatever that entity was, but I did espy something that would have given me the best odds of success within an arm’s distance. The creature bellowed, “Enough!” It raised a talon to Casper, and my whack at fortuity emerged…

With my free limb, I grabbed a baseball bat and swung it at the creature’s skull! It tumbled off of me, and I sprang up and advanced toward it. It cowered in the corner and whimpered, “Couldn’t you just solve the puzzle?”

“I can’t solve it yet, Pat! Can I buy a vowel?” I joked.

“That’s it!” the creature proclaimed. It displayed a thumbs-up and then vanished into thin air!

Casper perplexedly verbalized, “A vowel is in ‘a tennis court?’ Oh, I get it!”

I wasn’t really listening to him. In a box of racing batons, I beheld something that greatly resembled a wand. Instinctively, I hit it vigorously until it broke into several pieces. A girl entered into the vicinity and relayed to us, “I think I left me…” She observed the busted wand and recanted her statement, “Nevermind!”

On the field, Fletcher ogled our haggard visages and catechized, “What in the blazes happened to you two?”

“Nothing!” we uttered in unison as we set down the strike shields. I knew he didn’t swallow that claptrap, and I also knew that Casper would keep a tight lip on this matter to avoid scrutiny. Figures- the one juncture I wanted him to run his mouth, he wouldn’t! I would have to find another method of proving to my allies that I was telling them the truth about Damon!

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 16

“That’d never work!” I sternly insisted.

“Why not?” Ismeray inquired.

I replied, “Bankers are professionals, and their boss would flip their lid if they shelled out thousands of dollars just ‘cause a girl flashed them!”

Ismeray countered, “Well, then I’d flash his boss too!”

“And what if they’re not attracted to females?” I challenged her. “How will you get a business loan then?”

“Try a different bank?” Ismeray guessed.

I let out a harried sigh, and as I rubbed my temples, the bell rang. “Oh, thank heavens! I’m outta here!” I dashed to the door before any of my students could get there, and I thought I was going to be the first person to leave until…

All I could see in front of me was a dark cavern with rivers of brimstone! “What? What happened?” I spouted in disbelief.

“You didn’t stop me fast enough!” Damon swiveled in his rocky chair and leered at me. “My plan worked! I won! And now, Terra Belle is exactly what it ought to be- a hellscape for the wicked!”

“That’s impossible!” I uttered in distraught. “Your plan was moronic, and I’ve beaten you every single time you’ve tried to unleash your chaos!”

Damon cackled, “That’s what I wanted you to think!”

I remarked, “Wow! You were seriously convincing as an absolute moron!”

“Thanks! I suppose…” Damon mulled that over, and he decided to dismiss that concept and more somberly regarded me, “It’s all gone! Your friends, your lover, that cat who left excrement by my old hideout, all of it! You lose! You’ll never wake up from this nightmare!”

“No!” I bolted up in my bed in a panic, but after studying my surroundings, including my beautiful fiancé, it registered to me what had transpired. “Oh! It was a dream! I should’ve known- Ismeray is in my first period! She only showed up in that scenario due to me dealing with her sister yesterday, but why was Damon there? That was just a product of my stress- he did not broadcast thoughts into my head! He couldn’t do that…”

Phoebe groggily mumbled, “Who are you talking to, babe?”

I berated myself for allowing Phoebe to get a glimpse into my relationship with the Netherworld, and I worried that I would have to confess everything. The lunacy of its sound would cause her to believe I was nuts, and surely, I was going to lose her from this slip-up! “Sorry! I got spooked by something I saw in my sleep.” I prayed she would accept that explanation and that I didn’t blow all I got with her…

“Ooh! I had a dream too!” Phoebe excitedly reported. “But mine was better! I remembered something about you!”

“You did?” A wave of relief washed over me, and now that I knew she wasn’t disturbed by my behavior, I eagerly anticipated her anecdote.

Phoebe relayed to me, “Yeah! Did we go to high school together?”

I grew puzzled by her question, and I confusedly responded, “No… Why?”

“A younger version of you flashed before my eyes!” Phoebe recalled. “You had frost tips in your hair, and-.”

“Ugh! That was my yearbook photo!” I bemoaned. “Why did you remember that out of all things?”
Phoebe pouted, “It’s not like I had a choice.”

I apologetically articulated, “You’re right! I’m sorry! I know memory can be random, I simply would’ve preferred it if you unearthed a more pleasant moment!”

“Me too!” Phoebe concurred. “I was hoping the first one would have been something more special like when you asked me to marry you! Tell me how the proposal went down! Was it real sweet?”

“Uh…” I hesitated. The true account for that event involved a Hellian dangling me upside down and the ring falling from my pocket, but obviously, I couldn’t reveal that! I opted to give her the partial truth though, “I kept trying to do a romantic proposal, but then stuff kept interrupting. You found the ring prior to me making another attempt!”

Phoebe petitioned me, “How did I find it? Did you hide it and I found it cleaning the house or something?”

I hesitated again. A mere yes probably would have sufficed her curiosity, but I didn’t want to lie to her. I loved her more than anything, and it would’ve been an egregious sin to risk betraying her confidence like that! If she learned the actual story, she would become furious! I could handle her acrimony to an extent (she’s cute when she’s angry!), but the hurt I might cause her was too much for me to bear! I couldn’t fib, but I couldn’t be honest either! I wasn’t certain on how to proceed… until…

A raunchy eighties track blared from across the street! It was unlikely that my elderly neighbor would play music of that genre let alone at that volume, and no one lived in that McMansion yet, so my intrigue was piqued at this development. Phoebe and I rushed to the window, and we cringed to see Brantley holding a boombox in the air! When he beheld the blinds opening, he shouted, “Phoebe! Phoebe, I love you! Phoebe!”

Both of us were ready to tell him off, but Richard, who was in his leather gear, beat us to the punch! “Hey, asshole! My guest and I are trying to rest, so shut your yap!”

“Yeah!” Rowan agreed with Richard. “I mean, I’ve been up since dawn, but I’d still appreciate the quiet!”

“You guys don’t understand! I’ve gotta win her back!” Brantley whined to the two men.

Rowan shot back, “And I’ve gotta meditate, so turn that garbage down, please!”

Richard tacked onto that premise, “You can go over there and have a reticent conversation with her, you know that, you lunatic?”

“I can’t! Their cat keeps going after me!” Brantley objected.

‘You pussy!” Richard spat.

Rowan apprised Brantley, “If you don’t do it, I’m calling the police to have them hush you!”

Brantley cried, “You guys have no sense of romance!”

He cautiously crept into our yard, and Phoebe disdainfully shook her head. “What are you doing?”

“What? You don’t get the reference?” Brantley reacted indignantly. “You love old-school crap like this!”

“Why didn’t you use a love song?” I probed.

Brantley snickered, “She’s a wild thing, that’s why! I figured she’d get a kick out of that!”

Phoebe jeered, “The only kicks coming from me will be my foot to your tiny thing!”

“You know, you’re so disrespectful!” Brantley scolded her. “I went through a lot of trouble to make this gesture, so the least you could do is… Aaahhh!” Jett jumped from the bushes and aggressively sped towards him. Brantley produced a high-pitched scream and fled to his car, and once he sought the safety of his vehicle, Jett sat at the foot of my lawn and stared him down.

“It’s like we don’t even need a restraining order!” I commented as I proudly peered at my pet.

Phoebe chuckled, but she less optimistically stated, “I just hope he doesn’t start stalking me at work! Can you imagine having some creep lurking around in the shadows of Rosemary King?”

I halted in my tracks. It was too tempting to bring Damon up! I missed sharing that connection with her, but I couldn’t assume that she would have been calm and collected about this bombshell. I shook that concept from my brainwaves, but I also knocked on wood that her memory would return soon so I could have one ally as I battled that brainless brute.

That afternoon, I was pushing football sleds onto the field as Fletcher addressed his players, “Alright, so our first game of the season is coming up, and we have some techniques we gotta improve on so we don’t end this year in disaster!”

“We weren’t that bad!” a player differed with Fletcher.

“You tackled a team member!” Fletcher disputed.

The player sulked, “The opposition’s uniform was really similar to ours!”

Another player teased him, “You suck!”

“At least I got a tackle in, Doyle!” the first player barked.

“You all need to work on your tackling!” Fletcher interjected prior to a full-blown argument emerging between the two. “That’s why Temporary Assistant Coach Fenmore is setting up the sleds.” I paused my pursuit to give a little wave at my acknowledgment.

One boy asked, “What happened to Coach Huppert?”

Fletcher answered, “She’s giving a student detention.”

“Who was it?” the boy nosily pried. “Did they get it from joining HUMP?”

“Joining what?” I nearly stumbled when I overheard that! Shortly after emitting those words though, it suddenly occurred to me what he was likely referring to. “Oh, is that the name of the new coven?”

The players all giggled, and that same boy pressed Fletcher, “Was it that? Who’s getting detention?”

Fletcher retorted, “You if you don’t hustle! Come on, guys! On your feet!”

“That looks hard!” a lad very pathetically griped.

“Oh, please!” Fletcher dismissed his complaint. “If he can do it, so can you!”

I protested that characterization, “Hey!”

Fletcher clarified, “I only mean ‘cause you weren’t on a team during high school.”

Folding my arms in resentment, I verbalized, “I was on a team! They just didn’t have any exercises like this for our swim meets!”

“Get going, fellas!” Fletcher directed the kids. As they ran the drill, Fletcher and I sat down on the sideline bench. Fletcher gratefully told me, “I really appreciate you helping out today!”

“No problem!” I genially smiled. “It’s been kinda nice actually. It’s kept my mind off of things…”

Fletcher hypothesized, “You mean like Phoebe’s stalker?”

I shrugged. “Eh! Don’t get me wrong, that’s no fun! I’ve got a stalker myself, and she’d probably be here right now if she weren’t stuck in detention!”

“She really chases after unavailable dudes!” Fletcher observed.

“True! But this isn’t a crush. She hates my guts!” I conversed. 

Fletcher’s brows furrowed. “So, she’s following you to plot revenge for killing that prick Damon?”

I was glad that Fletcher brought him up. I had been aching to persuade someone to see my side on this matter! No one mentioned it since I briefed them on the supernatural situation and they rebuffed my claims, but since he introduced the topic, I was going to use my sales skills to persuade him to become my cohort in this endeavor! “Technically, you can’t kill someone who’s already dead!”

“Alright, fine! But you made it so he can’t return to Earth,” Fletcher asserted.

“You don’t believe that demons can have a presence in the living world?” I probed.

Fletcher indicated his indecision on that notion. “The Good Book references it, but… I dunno! I’m pretty sure it’d take pretty special circumstances for demons to surface. Roxy is barking up the wrong tree if she got the impression he’s coming back!”

I debated him, “He’s come back as a vampire and a ghost, so is it that far fetched he’d reappear as a demon?” 

“Not this again!” Fletcher grumbled. “Why do you gotta insist that he’s shown up?”

“Why are you so insistent that he hasn’t?” I catechized. “What are you afraid of?”

Fletcher riposted, “Lots of stuff! I’m afraid of tight spaces, bears, my wife’s wrath, my daughters’ social media pages, but I’m not afraid of that idiot wreaking more havoc in Terra Belle! He got carted off to Hell, and that’s exactly where he belongs! After all the dangerous stunts he’s pulled, they’re not gonna allow him to be present here in this lifetime or the next!”

I posed to him, “What if he’s found a way? Don’t you at least wanna be prepared for the worst case possible?”

He chewed on this idea, and I relished in this buying sign! I felt like I could win him over with a bit more persistence, but preceding my ability to go any further, a dark shadow loomed over our heads…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 15

The trail of commotion led to the exterior of a Parisian breakfast cafe, and a woman who looked vaguely familiar frantically raved, “A dust storm took my baby! She’s in that restaurant! It took her in there!”

“What dust storm?” I peeked inside the empty eatery, and I didn’t see any hint of a sooty gale’s presence there.

“She’s gotta be in there!” the mother insisted. “I saw it!”

A couple of people supported her statement, and yet nothing about the layout of that building suggested that the girl or her captor were present. I concluded that some sort of shapeshifter was responsible, and I groaned at the displeasure of having to deal with that supernatural drudgery. There didn’t appear to be any kind of immediate peril, but if this entity was holding the girl hostage, someone had to do something! I knew that stepping in there would draw out an ambush that eagerly awaited my arrival, but I didn’t really have a choice! “I’ll get her!” I bitterly volunteered.

The mother fretted, “You can’t just go in there with a dust storm hanging around! You gotta call… I dunno! The EPA?”

“I’ll go in there, and if I don’t come out in the next five minutes, then go ahead and call the EPA,” I instructed.

“You’ve very brave!” the mother complimented me.

I felt flattered by her praise, but I didn’t share her sentiments. I wasn’t acting out of courage- I was doing this because I was the only individual who could! If I didn’t put a stop to Damon’s scheme, no one else would and Terra Belle as we knew it would cease to exist! I couldn’t live with that on my conscious! I didn’t argue the point though since the matter at hand was urgent. I simply responded, “I’m her teacher, it’s my job to watch out for her!”

That was an assumption on my part. That impy imbecile favored the students at my high school, so the odds were that she attended Rosemary King. Even if she didn’t, I didn’t think that anyone would really care considering I was saving an innocent soul. I wasn’t certain how I was going to enter this secured structure, and while I imagined that the owners of this establishment would forgive the property damage under these dire circumstances, I still preferred not to complicate anything! I went for the easy solution, and I seriously doubted that merely turning the knob would do the trick, but I gave it a go anyhow. It shocked me when the entryway easily became ajar! “Wait here!” I directed everyone. I have no clue why I said that though- it wasn’t like anyone was tempted to follow me!

Carefully, I tiptoed into the bistro. I felt certain that the trap that the malevolent force planned for me would spring out instantly, but it didn’t! I walked a bit further, and still, nothing happened. As I explored the entire perimeter, it became less and less like I was rescuing a damsel in distress and more like I was breaking and entering! I didn’t esteem that this group of strangers would prank me, but it seemed very unusual to go such a lengthy stretch with no activity occurring! Suddenly, I saw a backyard brunch area that appeared promising! It didn’t have any windows visible to the street outside, and I rapidly understood that this was the plan all along! Why would I get the chance to have some lucid witnesses vouch for my claims? I sighed and cautiously treaded into the garden…

A folded-up table rested along the patio, leaving the outdoor sector relatively clear except for the plants the fencing. A small fountain existed at the opposite end of the grove, and a female that somewhat resembled Ismeray sat on the ledge of it. At first glance, she had a pose that gave her a practically casual demeanor, but upon closer inspection, I could see her gripping the edge quite tightly! Clearly, she was getting used as a lure, but I wasn’t about to take the bait so readily! I aloofly leaned against the pergola and conversed, “Isn’t your sister gonna be insulted by your stereotypical witch costume?”

“Uh, yeah! That was the idea!” she nervously chuckled.

“You made your mom spend a bunch of money on a costume only to piss off Ismeray?” I probed.

She differed, “That wasn’t the only reason! Well, it was, but it wasn’t for some petty sibling rivalry! She wouldn’t let me join her stupid coven! She told me I wasn’t worthy of harnessing the powers that they possess!”

I asked her, “So, did you get a real wand to match their powers, or were you trying to get revenge?” 

“The place I bought from didn’t say they were real! Just expensive!” the girl defensively answered. “If I saw any hint that it could actually do magic, I would’ve done something better than create that stupid monster! I don’t even know why that dumb thought got into my head!”

“Um…” I inwardly debated whether or not I should reveal the truth to her. Would it have given her comfort or anxiety to possess the knowledge that a demon was influencing her mind and actions? The correct option became obvious, so I dismissed the impulse to share that tidbit with her and instead focused more on the conduit that set the ball rolling in this chaos. “So, what website did you buy this at anyways?”

She informed me, “It wasn’t a website, it was an app.”

I grew slightly annoyed by her technicality that delayed my obtainment of such a crucial detail that could finish this mayhem prior to anyone else getting hurt, but I exercised patience in order to stay in a positive light in her eyes. “Alright, what app did you use to buy it?”

She was about to divulge this vital tip, and my anticipation heightened to its pinnacle! I was more than ready to be done with this saga, but my elation over its completion came crashing down when a tiny man emerged from the bushes! He set his hands on his hips, and a small cloud of dust rose up as a result of that gesture. His beady, beige eyes glared poignantly at me, and beneath his scraggly, sepia beard, his thin lips formed an intense frown. None of this intimidated me since he wasn’t even tall enough to reach my kneecaps! It almost amused me to have this guy become my opponent in this battle, but I recalled all of those bypassers swore a powerful tempest carried this girl off, so I decided to use prudence. The filthy gnome growled, “Will you quit wasting time? Go get her already, you skitstövel!”

“What’s a skitstövel?” I wondered.

“Why don’t you look in the mirror?” the filthy gnome retorted.

I laughed, “Well, you can hardly expect to offend me if I don’t understand the word! For all I know, skitstövel could be something great!”

He grew incensed by my slight, and he marched toward my position. His small stature wasn’t particularly threatening, but I still had no desire for even a minor injury, so I gave him the hardest kick I could muster. He went flying across the yard and landed back in the shrubs! I peered at the location he wound up at, and initially, I didn’t detect any movement. I would have been flabbergasted if that had terminated this issue, but I very much disbelieved that any adversary I faced would get defeated so effortlessly! I took a step forward, and…

A lofty but slim tornado with dirty debris swirling around its boundaries sprang out of the greenery! It barreled toward me, but I dodged it. It aimed again, but I eluded it once more. It made another bid for me, and when it missed, the filthy gnome’s voice grunted, “Stop making this difficult, dumjävel!”

“You’e the dumjävel!” I shot back. I saw the girl gaze at me questioningly, so I quickly explained, “I don’t know what it means!”

“Fine! She can go first!” the dust storm raced over to her, and I wanted to protect her from this fiend, but I had no insight on how to thwart a cyclone! She fell backward into the fountain, and some of the water splashed onto the dust storm! It got repelled by this occurrence, and my visage lit up with inspiration. Apparently, the dust storm had some manner of visualizing its surroundings because it warned me, “Don’t get too excited- you’re not going anywhere near that vessel!”

I slyly smiled. “Wanna bet?” I darted into the open space, but the dust storm blocked me. I made another attempt, and it continued to shield me from that spot. I essayed once more, and when I got nowhere, I muttered, “Glad I didn’t make an actual wager!”

The dust storm maniacally cackled, “Prepared to give up now, Rövhatt?”

“Nah! I’m sticking around ‘til you run out of Scandanavian insults!” I asserted. The dust storm growled (a sentence I never foresaw myself writing), and its gusts increased in strength! I strove to remain standing, but the impact was too substantial! I fell into the flowerbed, and my brain went blank! I wasn’t sure what to do to defeat it… until…

“Sweet dreams, trjockskalle!” the dust storm seethed.

The tjockskalle thingy wasn’t what inspired me, obviously! “Sweet dreams” reminded me of the sandy man, but so did the grimy spiral! After briefly wishing that Ellie was there to remind me of the history I had with these villains so I could have ended this several minutes ago, I unscrewed the cap of my wine bottle and hurled the contents at my foe! To my relief, it halted all of its motions! I stood up and jested, “Enjoy your dirt nap!”

As the tornado morphed into a dissolving gnome, my rival belted out, “Knäppgök!” He shook his fist upwardly and disappeared into a cloud of powdery residue.

“That was… really weird!” the girl assessed as she stared incredulously at the pile of muck.

“Totally! So, don’t ever do that again!” I recommended.

The girl avowed, “Oh, I won’t! I’m not messing around with this crap ever again!”

She broke her wand in half, and her mother, whom neither of us noticed came into the vicinity, scolded, “Elara! How could you do that? I paid fifty bucks for that ‘cause you insisted on having that specific witch costume, and this is how you thank me?”

I fully anticipated Elara to object to this characterization by broadcasting the paranormal event that recently unfolded, but instead, Elara folded her arms and spat, “Sorry it cost you an entire bottle of overpriced wine!”

“Ugh! You’re always doing this! Well, you just talked your way out of celebrating Halloween, you constant troublemaker!” her mother decreed. She grabbed Elara’s wrist and tersely regarded me, “Thanks for your assistance!”

“You’re welcome…” I wasn’t positive she heard me due to her yanking Elara from this locale, and as they marched through the restaurant, I rued the fact that her mischievous nature probably wouldn’t lend me any credibility to my colleagues. I emitted an exasperated exhale as I exited the area.

I found a recycling bin adjacent to the parking lot, and I was prepared to throw away what turned out to be an expensive weapon for filthy gnomes, but I observed a portion of liquid still remained in there. “Yay! I can still salvage this evening after all! Or can I? This is an open container, so I can’t drive home with it…”

Roxy’s voice breathily advocated, “You… can… put… it… in… your… trunk! …That’s… what… my… dad… does…”

I swiveled to where the source of her sound stemmed from, and I beheld her hunched over on her bicycle. I posed to her, “You’re really committed to this whole stalking gig, huh?”

“I… must… prevent… you… from… inter-… -fering… with… my… man’s… scheme!” Roxy took a couple of large gulps, and then she more coherently canvassed me, “So, what did I miss?”

“Nothing!” I fibbed. “I got my I.D. back from the hotel, and I went into the village to grab something to drink. Easy-peasy!”

Roxy scoffed, “Easy-peasy? Yeah, right! Then why were you talking to yourself?”

I didn’t have to completely lie with this one. “I’ve got a stressful career!”

“Then where did your wine go?” she interrogated me.

“On an enchantment that got defeated by fluids ‘cause Damon is dumb enough to make that same mistake twice!” I articulated that in a sarcastic fashion, and stifled the urge to snicker at the reality of my comment. I mentally denoted that I would have to rub this in that prick’s face the next instance we met. 

Roxy pledged, “I’ll discover what you did, and when I do, you’ll get punished for this travesty that your-!”

I cut her off, “Save your lungs the effort! You’ve got a lot of peddling to do as you shadow me en route to my house!” I tittered at her grimace as I put my wine in the trunk of my car, but as I sat in the driver’s seat, I discerned the oddity of heeding the counsel of someone who wasn’t completely on the level…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 14

After I placed eight bottles of wine on the conveyer belt, the cashier asked me, “Are you having a party?”

“No!” I answered. I thought about it for a second, and then I amended my sentence, “Well, I’m having an engagement party in a week and a half, apparently, but these are just for me.” The cashier gave me a judgmental stare, so I clarified, “I’m not gonna have them all tonight! I saw it was three bucks and figured I could stock up! And my fiancé can have some too when she’s done with her medication! And I’m a school teacher- you don’t think I need this?”

“Can I see some I.D.?” the cashier requested while obviously choosing not to comment on the points I just made.

I chuckled because I thought he was jesting to butter me up after his inconsiderate behavior, but he held his hand out expectantly, so I pondered, “Wait, you’re serious?”

The cashier substantiated, “The register won’t let me process this sale unless I scan your I.D. I even had to collect my grandmother’s, and she’s almost ninety!”

“Oh, I see. Alright.” I initially assumed he was kidding to get on my good side, but a small part of me that hoped he truly mistook me for a minor. That hadn’t happened in over a decade, but with all of the stress I had been through recently, it would’ve been a refreshing treat! Although, now that I ruminated on it, all of my turmoil probably aged me quite a bit! I inwardly grumbled about this circumstance as I dug for my driver’s license, and it took me longer than I cared to admit that I had been oblivious to it being missing! “Oh, crap!”

“You forgot your I.D.?” the cashier surmised.

I sarcastically regarded the cashier, “No, I have it, but it turns out I’m not twenty-one yet, so I’ll have to go back to sneaking my pop’s whiskey when he’s not looking!”

The cashier blinked in confusion, and that outcome satisfied my grouchiness a tad! Only a tad though. Today had been a long and tiring day, and even though it had been monster-free, it still drained me! It irked me that I had wasted time I could have been resting in this dinky grocery store that I only went to because the one I liked appeared too crowded, and I grew even more aggravated when I recognized that I had to tackle the issue of finding out where I left my driver’s license! “Hmm… I haven’t had to show it to anyone since… Dammit! I must’ve left it at the hotel! Ugh! Can’t you have a manager bypass the I.D. requirement?”

“She takes her lunch at two,” the cashier informed me.

“It’s past four!” I let him know.

The cashier furrowed his brows. “Is it?” He retrieved his cellphone to verify this, and I exasperatedly walked away.

Once I got to my car, I searched for The Arioch’s number, and I crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t become too tedious to get my property back. A concierge greeted me, “Thank you for calling The Arioch, luxury hotel rooms in the heart of Terra Belle Hills where everyone is welcomed! I apologize, but we currently have no vacancies.”

“Uh…” I considered bringing up the irony of his statement to his attention, but in the interest of expediency, I disregarded that notion. “I visited one of the ‘actors’ in the movie getting filmed there, and the front desk held my identification there. I forgot to pick it up…”

“Oh, you must be Connor!” the concierge recalled. “Yes, we have it right here.”

I inquired, “You do? How come you never contacted me about it?”

The concierge regretfully told me, “I’m sorry, sir! It’s difficult doing this job while this movie is filming! I hear sounds, and… Well, I frequently have to excuse myself to the bathroom! You’re free to pick it up whenever you like!”

“Can’t you mail it to me?” I petitioned him.

“I’m afraid I can’t. Some people have gotten theirs lost in the mail, so…” He paused as some audible moaning in the background grew louder. “I gotta go!” He hung up, and following my frustrated sigh, I grew curious whether I would see him at his post when I visited that site.

When I arrived at The Arioch, I got horrible deja-vu of the atrocity that transpired in the last instance I came to this establishment. I shuddered at this loathsome memory, and I almost felt tempted to give up this endeavor and pay for a new driver’s license! I probably would have done that actually, but I didn’t know how I would explain to Phoebe why I’m replacing something that wasn’t set to expire for another two years! I begrudgingly got out of my vehicle, and as I trudged up to the entrance, I assured myself that Mara was probably on the set or in her room, and the odds of her hanging out in the lobby were low. I didn’t view it as likely that I would see her, but still, I didn’t have a pleasant feeling about my return to this locale! That sentiment only heightened when I passed by the lake where I spoke to that dastardly demon! I forced myself to cast Damon out of my thoughts- I was frazzled enough without envisaging that miscreant!

Before I went into the lobby, I surveyed the scene. I spotted a couple of bellhops chatting, and the concierge was gazing at me kind of funny for my actions, but other than that, the joint seemed pretty safe. In fact, if I hadn’t already obtained knowledge about the pornographic project headquartered here, I would have gotten the impression that this hotel was completely normal! I permitted myself to go inside without worry, but admittedly, I kept a weary eye out for the first sign of unrest! I approached the front desk, and I notified the concierge, “Hi! I’m here for my I.D.”

“Wonderful! I kept it secured in my supervisor’s office. I’ll grab it for you,” the concierge volunteered.

“Okay…” I hesitantly agreed. He disappeared, and I anxiously turned around to watch the activity of this space. I heard a small bell chime, and I realized it was the elevators. Alarm flood my veins- I felt positive Mara had gotten wind of my presence and rushed down to make another attempt to sink her claws into me! I glanced over to my left, and I discovered the perpetrators were none other than the bellhops I recently saw! A well-dressed man descended the grand staircase, and a hotel maid pushed her cart down a hallway, but otherwise, no one else was in the vicinity. I began to consider that perhaps the weight of everything truly was affecting my mental health as the other suggested…

The concierge proclaimed, “I have your I.D., sir.”

His sudden appearance caused me to jump a little! I shook off my paranoid vibes and strove to have a regular conversation for once, “Thank you!”

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” he queried.

“Not unless you’ve got a shop close by that sells some decent wine,” I joked.

The concierge briefed me, “Actually, there’s a nice wine and cheese boutique in the village on the other side of the parking lot. The movie production team isn’t using that area at all, so it’s completely open to the public.”

Privately, I esteemed that this boutique was far out of my price range, but to expedite the progress of obtaining a relaxing evening, I deemed it worth checking out. “Thanks!” I bade him quite gratefully.

“You’re welcome, sir!” the concierge cordially relayed to me. I affably smiled at him, and for a very short stint, I forgot about my apprehension…

“Hey, Connor!” Mara addressed me as soon as I faced her.

I did not detect her movements whatsoever, and her unforeseen arrival temporarily stole the air from my lungs! “You!” I breathily communicated to her.

The concierge empathized with me, “Don’t fret! She has that effect on a lot of men!”

“Listen, I can’t talk! I’ve got stuff to do!” I wasn’t lying- I simply didn’t reveal that the stuff I had to do involved me resting and trying to hold on to my lingering sanity.

“Real quick, I wanted to apologize! I acted recklessly, and I’ll understand if you don’t wanna forgive me, but I would really appreciate it if we could make amends.” Mara stared at me with wide and seemingly sincere sadness.

At first, I wanted to dismiss her since I no longer carried any trust for her, but she seriously appeared remorseful of her past conduct, and I felt heartless for not wanting to give her a chance. All I desired at that juncture was to go home, have a drink, and spend an intimate span with Phoebe, but Mara was family. I didn’t want to go into my wedding with a grudge against a relative, so I unwillingly conceded, “Fine.”

Mara very relievedly expressed, “Oh, thank you! This is more than I deserve!” She motioned for me to trail her, and while my gut indicated that I would regret this, I acquiesced.

She brought me to a small room with a secluded hot tub, and I sat down on a lounge chair as she shut the door. “I’m so embarrassed by how I treated you! My ex leaving me is no excuse for doing that!”

“It’s alright, we all do dumb things when we’re upset,” I reassured her from experience.

“I’d like to make it up to you,” Mara pronounced.

Assuming that she got paid a pretty penny for doing her salacious pursuit, I suspected that she was going to offer to fund our nuptials. It would have been a kind gesture, but I didn’t want to have the awareness that the money for part of our big day originated from an extremely uncomfortable experience, so I politely declined, “You don’t need to do that!”

She silkily purred into my ear, “But I want to!”

Mara pressed against the back of my chair and began kissing my chest! I got so appalled that I immediately bolted up and bellowed, “What the hell?”

My move forced Mara to lose her balance and slide to the ground, but I was too outraged to check on her well-being. I found out her status was sufficient when I attempted to storm out- she seized my hand and gently rubbed it. “Oh, don’t act like we don’t both want the same thing! My acting wasn’t that great!”

“I believed you!” I yelled as I swiped my hand out of her reach.

“Really?” she puzzled. “Gosh, my skills must’ve improved!”

I hollered, “Why do you keep doing this?”

She stood up and seductively sauntered toward me, “ Uh, ‘cause I keep wanting that sexy body! And your sexy smarts too! It’s not fair- Phoebe always gets the kinds of guys I want!”

“You’ve done this with her other boyfriends?” I cried out in aghast.

“No, but I’ve wanted to! She attracts high-quality men a hundred percent of the time!” Mara confessed as she inched closer to my position.

Contemplating what I witnessed from Brantley, I vehemently disagreed, “Not a hundred percent of the time!”

She pinned herself against my torso and amorously urged me, “You can do whatever you want to me!”

I obliged, “Okay!” I pushed her off of me… slightly too hard! She fell into the jacuzzi tub! Oops! I regretted it, but I was not sorry! When I beheld her resurfacing, I barked, “Don’t give me a dumb line about being wet!” She opened her mouth to do exactly that, but she tightened her lips since I presented that comment. I shook my head at her and stomped out.

On my way to that village the concierge mentioned, I paused by that lake. I didn’t espy any portents of that paranormal pain in the neck, but my mood was so foul that I vociferated at it, “Leave me alone, you hear! You’ve had your fun, now please, go away and let me live in peace!” I caught a glimpse of some crew members murmuring about my deranged display, but I was too steamed up to feel ashamed! I inspected my person to ensure that I didn’t leave behind anything else important, and I lividly left that location vowing never to come back.

I set a bottle of cabernet on the counter without verifying the rate. I didn’t care- I needed to hurry and get my booze so I could hastily vacate from this nightmare! The clerk chirped, “Hello! How are you doing today?”

“Don’t ask!” I advised her.

“You’re the second person who’s said that in this hour!” she denoted.

I got somewhat surprised to learn this. “Really?”

The clerk confirmed, “Yeah! Some kid’s mom was griping how much it cost to buy this Halloween costume. I dunno why she didn’t have her go as something other than a witch!”

“A witch?” My pulse grew rigid at the concept that started to swirl in my imagination. “Was the expensive part the wand?”

“Yeah!” she established. “How’d you know?”

I didn’t answer. I was too busy telling myself it was a mere coincidence, but as I exited the shop, a noise in the distance certified my hunch as correct…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 13

“Seriously? Out of everything you could’ve conjured to get yourself out of trouble, THIS is what you came up with?” I glanced over to the boy, and I saw that he was lying still next to the equally motionless Sam. “Oh, you’re unconscious!”

“Freeze!” a plump, older woman with a rustic staff and the visage of an ancient wolf shot a blast of ice toward me, and I ducked out of the way just in time!

For once, I didn’t panic about facing an otherworldly entity! Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but I didn’t go into this battle unprepared! I reached into my pocket, but before I could pull my weapon out, Roxy dove on top of my arms and exclaimed, “No! I won’t let you interfere with plans again!”

I rolled my eyes and asserted, “Yeah, like you have a choice!” I lifted my arms and tilted them at an angle steep enough that she unwillingly slipped off my limbs, and she narrowly missed getting hit by the wolf woman’s trajectory. “You’re welcome!” I spat.

“Freeze!” the wolf woman aimed another attack at me as she slowly hovered over to my proximity.

“I’d rather make you melt!” I mulled that sentence over for a second, and then I noted, “Ooh, that didn’t sound right!”

She hurled more coldness in my direction, and I dodged that assault as I tumbled closer to the wolf woman, I made another bid to withdraw the protection I brought, but Roxy snuck up on me from behind, wrapped her arms around me as though she was trying to pin me down, and shouted, “Don’t worry, honey! I got him!”

I rather exasperatedly let her know, “Damon’s not here!”

The wolf woman chanted, “Freeze!”

“Stop saying that!” I snapped. She pointed her staff at me, and I spun out of the projected site. Doing so forced Roxy’s grip to loosen, and she fell onto the ground. I vaguely wondered if she was alright, but I had to concentrate on the witchy adversary in front of me. “I’ve got you now!”

“Slide!” the wolf woman exclaimed.

Initially, I thought she was doing another jinx, but the frigid ambush she recently emitted caused the surface it landed on to become slippery, an effect I didn’t observe until I lost my footing! I landed on my back, and I groaned from physical and egotistical pain. The wolf woman chortled and merrily stomped her feet, and I grumbled, “Oh, I guess you can say other things!”

Roxy sat on my chest and held down my arms while hollering to the wolf woman, “He’s immobilized! Get him!”

“God, shut up!” I turned to my side and pushed her off, which propelled her a considerable amount of feet away from me.

“Freeze!” the wolf woman repeated.

I griped, “We’re back to that again?” I eluded her charge, and I managed to come within inches of this odd opponent. I was near enough where I could deploy my defense tactic, but she guarded herself with her own armament. She behaved in a very human manner, but her vision had the focus of an animal on the hunt. I wasn’t sure how in the world I was going to achieve victory without some sort of distraction!

Roxy avowed, “Never fear, I’ll seize him for you!” Roxy readied herself to run to my position, but as soon as she took off, she mimicked my mistake and tripped on the glacial walkway. In her case, she had enough momentum that she skated down the foyer! The wolf woman didn’t have the stamina to get herself out of harm’s path, and she also couldn’t avoid Roxy colliding into her! Roxy impacted her like a bowling ball reaching a pin, and she plummeted snout-first onto the carpet!

The wolf woman craned her neck up precisely when I was standing over her with a shaker of salt. “Peace?” she earnestly requested to me.

“It’ll be here in a minute!” I poured the contents of my container onto her body, and I wasn’t certain what this substance would do to her exactly. If she was merely a malevolent being, this may have only repelled her from this locale, but if she was anything like the snow on my driveway, it would do so much more damage! To my relief, she began to melt! Her noggin was the last to disappear, and she released a final clouded breath prior to her form vanishing completely.

“You ass monkey!” Roxy snarled as she stood up completely drenched.

In the interest of preserving a mature, authoritative demeanor, I refrained from snickering at that slight. Her ire combined with her soaked appearance was also fairly comical considering all of the grief she put me through, and the more I stared, the harder it became to resist laughing! My mouth twitched, and I was afraid I was going to blow it, but then, Sam unexpectedly scolded her, “You lady, watch your language!”

The boy groggily questioned, “What happened?”

Sam looked to me for a perspective of what transpired, and I couldn’t figure out what to relay to him. Honestly, how do you explain that a wolf woman tried to murder you with magical frost? I couln’t put the words together, but Roxy did! “Prett conjured a mystical sorceress that spouted out arctic wind, and that jerk killed her with salt from his pocket!”

“If you’re gonna lie, you’re gonna land yourself in deeper trouble!” Sam chided her.

“But-!” Roxy objected.

Sam hypothesized, “You must’ve used that thing to burst a pipe.” He eyeballed the water on my shirt, and I nodded vigorously in agreement. If I attempted to sell him on the concept of not being able to pause to dry up what the secretary spilled on me because I squabbled with a demon in the mirror, he would have likely carted me off instead of Roxy and Prett!

I intended to walk into my classroom, but then I heard Prett indignantly pout, “I didn’t go through the hassle of buying this wand only to use my power on a freakin’ pipe!”

“Where did you buy that?” I queried. If he spilled the beans on that tidbit, I could track the vendor down and put a halt to Damon’s conduit! I inwardly prayed that he would divulge this vital clue, but instead, all he did was swivel around and defiantly glare at me! Rats! Well, it was worth a try! I was contemplating how I could visit Manuel and squeeze the information from him when…

“It’s been more than ten minutes! That means we’re allowed to leave!” a student from within my classroom declared. She opened the entryway, and she did a doubletake when she saw me standing there. “Oh, Mister Fenmore! You’re here! We… uh…”

I considered providing them with a plausible rationale for my lateness while hanging out within feet of my work area, but my brain was too frazzled from the arduous afternoon. I didn’t blame the kids for presuming that they could leave in this instance, so I wasn’t about to castigate her in this instance. That only left me with a single course of action to take… “Thanks for getting the door for me! Get your notebooks out, and let’s talk company vision. What goes into a quality one? Well, for starters…” It felt totally strange to launch into my lesson like everything was normal, and I didn’t just fight off a frightening human-like creature, but I reckoned that was a condition I was goint to have to get used to until I foiled Damon’s plot.

That evening, I lounged in my living room drinking tea and reading a book. It bore the appearance of a biography of an old rockstar, and with classic rock tunes playing on the stereo, I didn’t esteem that anyone would question it. In reality, I was studying that spell book. According to this chapter, incantations could be performed simply with one’s hands, but wands were sometimes used to store certain energies that could enhance the potency of a jinx. Oly someone who possessed a strong ability to channel their enterprise into a vessel like that. This material fascinated me, but I wasn’t quite positive on ho I would use it. How was I supposed to identify a powerful wizard like that?

“What are you doing?” Phoebe petitioned me from the small set of stairs leading into the dining room. 

“Nothing!” I swiftly stashed my literature away based on the assumption she caught me red-handed, but when I caught a glimpse of her wearing a tight, skimpy dress, I forgot about everything that anguished me! “Ooh, baby!”

Phoebe pushed me back and peered at me peculiarly. “You’re not dressed?” 

I grew equally as confused as her but for very different reasons. “Uh… I don’t think they would’ve let me on campus if I was nude!”

“You’re not going out like that?” Phoebe ogled my sweatpants incredulously.

“Correct, I’m not!” I confirmed. “Where did you think we were heading?”

Phoebe simply stated, “Out.”

I probed, “On a Tuesday?”

“Of course!” Phoebe established. “It’s Tequila Tuesday! Why would we stay home?”

“I’m forty, and you’re in your thirties, that’s why! Drinking ourselves stupid doesn’t appeal to us anymore! Most of us prefer to stay home and relax on a weeknight,” I illuminated her.

Phoebe catechized, “So, no dancing ‘til two a.m.?” 

I posed to her, “Do you really wanna do that?”

“No! Not at all!” Phoebe admitted. “That’s what we used to do a decade ago, and I couldn’t understand why I had absolutely no desire to do it now! Ugh, I can’t wait ‘til my memory returns!” She sat down on the steps and yanked her stilettos off. “Hey! If we don’t party anymore, why do I have these?”

“You only wear it in one place, and you don’t keep it on for long!” I revealed with a sly smile.

Phoebe returned my grin and simpered, “Oh! I’ll wear it for you in that case!” Excitement flooded my veins, and I eagerly leaned over to kiss her. She laid down, but in so doing, she accidentally kicked the text I was studying. “Ow! Jeez, this is a huge Steven Tyler story! Hold on, are there two books in there?”

That romantic exhilaration faded as fast as it arose! The last thing I wanted to do at this juncture was to account for my interest in the occult! With everything else I had to stress about, I didn’t want toendure the consequences of Phoebe learning about my secret affiliation with the Netherworld! Her cognitive decline imbued her with a blissful ignorance of this realm, and I couldn’t imagine how she would feel about staying with me under those circumstances! She reached for the publication, and I began to panic…

My cellphone rang, and I exhaled in alleviation… for a brief stint! “What? You don’t wanna talk to your mom?” Phoebe surmised based on my expression.

“Usually, when she calls in the middle of the week, I’m in trouble for something,” I filled her in. 

“Maybe you’re not in trouble. Maybe she’s calling to deliver good news,” Phoebe encouraged me.

I didn’t really believe her prediction, but Phoebe’s sweet philosophy tugged at my heartstrings, so I relented, “Alright, I’ll answer it, but when we’re done, we’re picking up where we left off!”

Phoebe chirped, “Deal!”

She made it tempting to ignore my phone, so I had to turn away from her in order to go through with this. “Hi, Mom!”

“Connor! You’re in big trouble!” Mom voluminously vociferated.

“Damn!” I lamented. “What did I do?”

Mom admonished me, “You’ve been engaged for six months now, and you haven’t mentioned throwing a party once! I’ve looked forward to this occasion since you were born- why are you doing this to me?”

I reminded her, “You know, I was married previously…”

“That wasn’t a real wedding!” she disputed. “That was a sham put on by that she-devil who thankfully never bore me a grandchild! I’m over the moon you finally found true love!”

“Can’t argue with that!” I beamed at Phoebe. It occurred to me that I signaled some consent to this notion, so I added, “But Mom, we’re not ready to tie the knot yet! We…” I couldn’t disclose the details of our current and creepy events, so I unearthed another excuse to give her, “… We’re not even cloe to being able to afford a ceremony! The f’ing house needs a repair each time we get close! Actually, we are getting on the right track again, so knock on wood, we…”I knocked on the banister behind me, and it crumbled beneath my touch! I murmured in frustration, but my mother didn’t appear to pay much mind to my miffed mood. “We’ll cover the cost of the party! Since that’s settled, when is a good time to do it?” I peeked at the spell book, and I could hear Damon cackling in my imagination. I definitely didn’t want him to crash our bash, so I had no inkling what to tell her…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 12

“Having fun?” Damon inquired with a broad smirk as he leaned on what looked like the edge of the mirror. Logically, I knew that he wasn’t actually in there, but his image sure gave off that impression! I vaguely wondered how he was able to project himself here, but mostly, I was annoyed with his appearance regardless of how it came in! He clearly expected an irate reaction from me, and I considered that, but my interactions with Sir Pompous Dorkington (Casper) taught me better ways of dealing with arrogant pests…

“Yeah! The last few days have been great!” I conveyed to him with as much authenticity as I could fake.

Success! His face fell completely, and his pale skin somehow got even more colorless! “You are? Oh no! My plan is failing! How is that possible? I thoroughly went over every detail! I… Oh! You lied!”

I was really striving to maintain an apathetic facade in case he accidentally revealed a detail crucial to nipping this paranormal problem in the bud, but his frantic behavior was simply too amusing to bury my emotions over it too deeply! Since it needled him, I released a hearty guffaw and commented, “You actually believed me? Damn, you’re not very good at this whole demon thing!”

“Hey! I’m still new at this! Give me a break!” Damon sulked.

“No! You’re trying to kill me! Why should I show you any kindness?” I retorted.

Damon disagreed, “Oh, please! I didn’t go through all of this effort just for you!”

I interrogated him, “So, why did you go through all this effort? Still trying to curry favor with that sociopathic Netherworld Guardian?” 

“Why would I do that?” Damon critiqued my theory. “I’m my own boss now! Well, technically I do have a boss, but Kaaron has been approving all of my ideas, so whatever!”

“Hold on, so you went to him and said you wanted to send out a radioactive bunny and a man made of sand, and this genius determined you had a smart and totally sane scheme?”

Damon sharply responded, “First of all, those weren’t my ideas! The wands get planted, and an unsuspecting chump picks it up without knowing the consequences of their actions. The creations stem from their imagination, not mine! I simply encourage it!”

I waited for a couple of seconds, and then I queried, “Well…? What’s second of all?”

“That’s it! I thought I had another point to make, but that pretty much summed it all up!” Damon stated.

“What if your plan backfires and the youngster that picks up one of your wands uses it for a nice spell?” I challenged him.

Damon waved that concept off, “Our wands our programmed to prey upon their negative emotions, so your notion is an impossible feat! Besides, it’s not like most individuals would do that if they had the option!”

I argued, “Of course they would! Not everyone is a selfish brat like you!”

“The citizens of this region are all descendants of the wicked! They’ll act like they’re on your side for a while, but as soon as it’s convenient for them, they’ll turn on you in a heartbeat!” Damon darkly reminisced.

“Dude, that sounds awfully personal!” I denoted. “Did your buddies betray you in yesteryear?” I probed.

Damon spat, “Excuse me, do you really think I came here to divulge details about my personal life to a reprobate like you?”

I shot back, “No, but you haven’t given me any clues as to your purpose in showing up other than general nuisance stuff.”

“I mainly wanted to remind you that I’m still here, and if you fancy yourself safe during a lull, you’re incorrect! We planted another wand out there, and your next attack could manifest at any minute…” Damon notified me.

“You keep saying we. Are you referring to you and Kaaron?” I pressed him.

Damon scoffed, “Kaaron wouldn’t do peasant chores like that! The wand affair is between me and… the conduit!”

I questioned him, “Wait, the conduit is a person? I thought it was another illegal portal! So, you have someone on Earth helping you, huh?”

Damon smacked himself on the forehead and griped, “Tarnation! This has been a productive visit for me!”

“Who would possibly agree to help you? No one likes you! Only a complete lunatic would even consider lending you a hand!” I badgered him.

“Uh… Who are you talking to?” a teacher I recognized from the science department stared at me with wide eyes.

It flabbergasted me that he showed more concern about my activity than the demon in the mirror! I wildly gestured towards the glass, and I vigorously broadcasted, “Who else would I be talking to but this fiend here?” Damon had apparently disappeared, and it seemed as though I were gesturing to my own reflection! “Oh, crap!” I bashfully swiveled back to my colleague, and I fibbed, “I’m practicing that for an audition. Did you like it, or should I go with something more dramatic?”

I chuckled, but he did not express any amusement in return. He twitched his lips as if he was trying to display a polite grin, and he slowly backed out of the room. I cringed! Not only did I have to save the city, I now had to save my reputation! I checked to see if Damon resurfaced, and I was hoping he had so I could rip him apart for that stunt, but the space was empty. I sighed from the frustration of that awkward interaction, and as I mentally prepared myself to reenter the teachers’ lounge, I reasoned that my coworker would likely go into an automatic reaction of discretion that would keep a pleasant, professional atmosphere for everybody…

As soon as I stepped foot into the common area, a flurry of whispers came to a sudden halt! So much for the politeness of keeping embarrassing stuff quiet! I sat next to my friends, and they strove to portray a high level of aloofness, but their tense muscles indicated that they felt on edge about something. I made a bid to sway the conversation away from that brush with humiliation, “Hey! Did anyone update Phoebe on the new fire alarms?”

“Huh? Oh, right! They don’t work that great! Real sensitive…” Ellie paused, and then she added, “Were you on the phone in there or what?”

“Um…” I couldn’t fathom how to respond to her! If I relayed the truth, it seemed likely that they would castigate me for uttering ludicrous claims again, but I felt uncomfortable lying to them. The six of us went through so much together, and withholding the facts would’ve been a total disservice to them! The next attack could involve them, and if I didn’t caution them in a timely manner, they could get hurt! However, I couldn’t distinguish what the value of divulging this information would have been if they were predisposed to dismiss my allegations. I pretended to chew off a hangnail to buy myself a longer span to mull over the proper coarse to take, and I got distracted by a strange taste from my skin! I still have no inkling what I put my hands on to have caused that!

Thankfully, the bell rang! I had never been more grateful to get back to my shift! I zipped out of the exit without telling them anything, and I breathed a sigh of relief for dodging that bullet! I inwardly beseeched the universe for a non-monstrous event to occur to push the faculty’s focus far from my oddity, and I convinced myself that I could thwart Damon’s plot prior to having to endure another degradation like that again! I was persuading my angst that the rest of the afternoon would transpire in a smooth fashion when…

Roxy accosted me, “You’re deliberately sabotaging me now!”

“What are…?” I cut myself off, and instead I instructed her, “Nope! This isn’t the time to discuss… whatever you’re wanting to go over. Hurry to fifth period, Roxy!”

“No! I will not!” Roxy refused. “Not ‘til you explain why you’re engaging in such treachery!”

My peers were glancing at me peculiarly, and I didn’t want to encourage anymore outrageous rumors against my character, so I pulled her aside and quietly verbalized, “I’m not apologizing for stopping a devil from spreading mayhem, so don’t waste your breath trying to convince me otherwise!”

Roxy contended, “I don’t mean that! Though I’m not happy about that! Your continual interference stresses my pooky bear out, and his life in Hell is stressful enough without… Hey! Where are you going?”

“To class, which is where you should be heading to also,” I recommended to her as I dashed across campus.

“But this is important!” Roxy insisted as she speedily tagged alongside me.

I entered into my classroom’s wing, and I riposted, “So is your fifth-period’s lesson! Hurry! You may elude the hall monitor’s tardy sweep if you hustle!”

Roxy asserted, “I already have detention today for ignoring Mister Von Dutchman’s lecture in an attempt to listen to your every word! It’s not like Coach Huppert is gonna wanna stay an extra two hours!”

“She might be here anyways if there’s basketball practice,” I brought up.

“Then she’ll be too busy to do it,” Roxy concluded.

I peeked inside my class, and I could see my students very animatedly chatting. It was obvious they were pondering the possibilities of why I was currently absent. I grew anxious to get in there, but I didn’t want Roxy to interrupt my direction to my pupils, so I ardently searched for signs of the hall monitor as I somewhat irritatedly regarded her, “Whatever! Regardless of how she decides to handle your insubordination, it doesn’t change the fact that I can’t gab with you at the moment! I-!”

Roxy clamored, “How could you fail my first quiz?”

“You got all of the questions wrong!” I affirmed as I pulled out my phone to page the hall monitor to this site.

“But it was a general knowledge quiz!” Roxy quarreled. “You were only gauging our knowledge of business before we went over chapter one! You said it didn’t count toward our grade!”

I elucidated, “I made an exception for you ‘cause A, you’ve taken this course recently and passed, so I know you know it. And B, all you did was write Roxy plus Damon equals forever! That’s not even close to… Hey, Sam! Yo, over…!”

I vied to get his attention, but a boy emerged from the bathroom and took off in a sprint when he saw the hall monitor. “Ugh! Stupid lasagna got me in trouble! What was in that crap anyways?”

The boy passed me, so I caught him by the arm and yelled, “Yo, Sam! You’ve got a two-for-one here!”

“No! This is already my third tardy of the year! I’m gonna get suspended now!” the boy plead with me to release him. “It’s not my fault I’ve got digestive issues!”

“Don’t expect mercy from him! He’s heartless!” Roxy interjected.

Sam approached us, and he ordered the teens, “It’s up to Principal Palillo if he wants to punish you or not. Come on!”

The boy whimpered, “No! I can’t!”

“Yes, you can!” Sam disputed. “You’ve done it plenty enough already, you can-!”

“No! I can’t! I won’t!” The boy hurled himself onto the floor.

Roxy remarked, “Bruh! Aren’t you being a little dramatic?”

I tacked onto that, “You know you’re not doing well if you compel her to say that!”

“I can call the police and have them escort you out if that’ll make you feel better,” Sam sardonically threatened him.

“You can’t! I’ll fight you!” the boy howled.

His pronouncement shocked me, but Sam appeared unphased by it. Clearly, that was a line he heard in many instances! “Oh? You’re gonna square up, huh? What possesses you to believe that’ll end well?”

The boy dug into his pocket, and then he vociferated, “This!”

He held a wand in the air, and my insides churned! Evidently, Damon’s promise of imminent chaos wasn’t an empty one! “Put away, son! Don’t do anything dangerous!”

“Psh! That’s not real, Connor!” Sam articulated.

“Yes, it is! I’ll prove it!” the boy yelled.

I begged him, “Don’t do it!” He didn’t listen…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 11

Phoebe queried me, “We live here just the two of us?”

“Yeah, why?” I responded to her as I drove to the end of the cul-de-sac.

“There’s someone in the driveway,” Phoebe pointed out.

I screeched the car to an abrupt halt. I hadn’t told anyone that she got released from the hospital, so I didn’t esteem that the figure hovering by our garage would have been there for a non-threatening reason! I turned off the headlights because I didn’t want Phoebe to see this confrontation. Sure, she accepted my bouts with the supernatural realm previously, but I assumed she had done so from already suspecting something hinky was afoot. I couldn’t imagine how she would react when she had no inkling of anything otherworldly transpiring! Besides, even if by some miracle she did accept this circumstance, she was in no shape to fight anyone after being on bed rest for a few days! I had just gotten her back, I didn’t want to lose her so soon! “Wait here!” I instructed her. I could hear her object, but I walked of prior to explaining myself…

…For a second! I returned to my vehicle, and I briefed Phoebe, “I actually need those on ‘cause the bulb in that light needs replacing.”

“Should I be worried?” Phoebe probed.

“No! Well, maybe! We’ll see!” I muttered prior to dashing off again.

As I traveled towards our abode, I privately thought the correct reply to her enquiry was yes. Once again, I was approaching a potential enemy without any sort of weapon to defend myself! I made a mental note to start carrying around a crucifix or something from then on as I observed the shadowed stranger on our property. They seemed human so far, but I reckoned that could change at any moment. The silhouette scurried off to a site adjacent to our dark stoop, and while I partly wondered when the porch light went out, I mostly kept myself on guard. I saw it crouched low by the steps, and before I could even turn my flashlight app on, I heard Jett hiss and a loud pop! A million negative possibilities ran through my mind, and my pulse raced at each and every one of them! I couldn’t illuminate the front of my dwelling fast enough! What I spotted went beyond any of my expectations…

Holding two heart-shaped balloons and a deflated red one, Brantley sheepishly greeted me, “Welcome home!”

“How did you find out our address?” I folded my arms to stifle the urge to punch that twerp. I supposed I may have had legal justification for doing so since he was trespassing, but the last thing I wanted to deal with following an arduous afternoon was legal proceedings!

“I saw it on her I.D… And I only went through her purse ‘cause she was still asleep when I first saw her and I wanted to know her situation!” Brantley justified himself.

Gritting my teeth, I growled, “And you memorized it?”

Brantley refuted that, “No! I took a picture… for emergencies!” He glanced around, and then he inquired, “Where’s Phoebe anyways?”

“It doesn’t matter! She doesn’t wanna see you!” I spat.

“Did she say that?” Brantley challenged me.

I informed him, “Her exact words were, ‘Make sure that asshole doesn’t follow us home!’”

Brantley pouted, “I didn’t follow you, I got here first!” My patience was wearing thin, and he gathered as much. As he cowardly fled from me, he expressed, “I’d rather hear it from her lips!”

I sped towards my car, and luckily, I beat him by a considerable stretch!  I got out of breath though, and Phoebe gawked at me with a startled visage. “What’s going on?” I couldn’t verbalize anything- instead, I locked the vehicle’s doors. I did so in the nick of time too! Brantley attempted to open the passenger’s side, and Phoebe groaned, “Oh, I see!”

“Darling! Are you happy to see me?” Brantley pressed her.

“Can’t you run him over?” Phoebe jokingly encouraged me. At least, I assumed it was a joke…

Brantley pathetically beseeched her, “Come on, sugar plum! I’m a changed man! I swear, I only wanna coexist with you, not control you! NOW, OPEN THIS DOOR AND TALK TO ME! Don’t be rude!”

Phoebe shouted at him, “How many times have I said it’s over? Seriously, how many times was it?” She looked at me, and I shrugged. “Bye, Brantley!”

“No! I refuse to say goodbye! You belong to me, and when you’re ready to do the right thing, I’ll be right here waiting!” Bradley took a position by the nearly completed McMansion and sat in a huff.

“Do you not have a job?” I inquired him.

He stubbornly replied, “I have two weeks of sick pay I never use ‘cause I’m as fit as a fiddle!” He proceeded to let out a series of sneezes as I pulled into the driveway.

As I used my cellphone to provide an unobscured path to our place’s entryway, Jett was on our lawn cleaning pieces of red from her paw. I appealed to her, “Keep that prick out of our yard!” Jett craned her neck up as if she was listening, blinked once, and returned to her grooming.

“Wow! It’s almost like she can speak!” Phoebe remarked as we went into the mudroom.

“Well, no, when she speaks, she…” I dropped my keys when I recognized that I was close to blurting an enchanted tidbit! Roxy’s one and only successful spell enabled Jett to communicate in English, and it bugged the heck out of us! I had gotten so used to commiserating about previous setbacks with her that I was going to gripe about it with her from sheer habit! I couldn’t do that in the present though- I wouldn’t want to chase her off before she had even crossed the threshold! She peered at me peculiarly, and it seemed necessary to complete my sentence, so I took a stab at it, “..Meow!” That didn’t remedy the problem at all, so I hurried and opened the door to distract from that awkwardness. 

I announced, “Here we are! Home sweet home!”

Phoebe surveyed the space, and her poker face made me slightly nervous. The furniture was the posh leftovers from my penthouse era, but the carpet was outdated and the structure was overtly asymmetrical. I worked out that this style was innovative in the decade this joint got built in, but it badly needed modernizing! I fretted that the facade would repulse her enough to make her leave, but to my relief, she commented, “I bet it’s never boring around here!”

“Nope!” I grinned. “Although, with how crazy everything’s been lately, a little boringness would be delightful!”

“Has our school been real batty?” Phoebe guessed.

I emphatically confirmed, “Oh yeah!” I had to suppress my laughter at her descriptive word due to its inadvertent allusion to Damon’s stint as a vampire! I dearly wished I could share this humor with her, but I didn’t want to suffer the consequences of revealing our paranormal history too soon!

Phoebe determined, “I need to explore more!”

“Feel free!” I chuckled. Her eyes sparkled with the glow of an upcoming adventure, and it was quite becoming! I felt tempted to join her in the bedroom, but in her condition, I didn’t want to push her into that too fast!

“Hey! We have two bathrooms!” Phoebe observed. “So, my long showers really aren’t a big deal, huh?”

I assured her, “Of course not!” I refrained from adding that I rarely used the guest bathroom msince Babelsama’s former presence in that locale continued to tarnish my thoughts, and I had no inkling how I was going to rationalize the windowless curtains in there! The porthole to the Netherworld got closed, but I didn’t feel ready to risk removing that cover!

My phone chimed, and I sat at the dining room table to read my message. Ginger sent a text in our group chat to find out whether or not I obtained any updates on Phoebe, and the wounds from their mistrustful actions still stung, so the compulsion to shield the welcomed news of her arrival at our address from them appeared like a fitting punishment. However, I didn’t have the heart to keep them in suspense like that! We were going through a rough spot, but I esteemed that our alliance wouldn’t break from this! Besides, they were likely to see her on campus tomorrow! I begrudgingly composed a statement, but I got as far as “She came” when…

“Why do we have this?” Phoebe plopped a large tome onto the table.

“Aahh!” I jumped a bit from the fright of that surprise clamor, but once I recovered, I became intrigued by this discovery. “Where did this turn up?”

Phoebe relayed to me, “I found it under the bed. Do we do magic?” 

I couldn’t distinguish whether or not her piqued interest stemmed from an aversion to the subject or a keen willingness to partake! I itched to use this opportunity to profess all of our entanglements with the occult, but I chose to exercise caution and filled her in, “Oh, we used that spell book for a school project last year.” That wasn’t even a lie- it was an endeavor happening at Rosemary King, I merely didn’t mention that our effort wasn’t scholastic! “That’s actually a library book, and it’s long overdue! I should probably return it before I set a record for fines!”

From the way she looked at me, I felt fairly certain that she got the impression that I was hiding something. I anticipated an argument, but instead, she let it go and mentioned, “I’m gonna keep searching and see what other treasures I can dig up!”

I kidded, “If you stumble upon my yearbook, feel free to burn the page with my picture!” She giggled, and it heartened me to hear her share some joy! I glimpsed at my phone, and my gratification turned to horror to behold that I sent the phrase “Phoebe came” to everyone! Well, initially it horrified me, but then I became amused to read their aghast reactions. Ellie noted how we had been discussing too much about our sex lives lately, and I notified them of the truth as if I planned that quip all along. I pored over the spell book, and I dreaded adding an extra chore to my itinerary tomorrow! After mulling it over for a minute, I considered that it may give me some insight into the dilemma of wands that fell into the wrong hands, and I decided to allow more fines to occur…

At lunch the next day, which I finally got to sit down for, Phoebe regaled the others about her first shift back, “Thank goodness I wrote out a thorough agenda! I did that for substitutes, not my memory issues, but hey- it was extremely useful nonetheless!”

“Your sub thought it was helpful too,” Aleck conversed. “It’s fortunate Manuel got someone to do it! If he hadn’t, it would’ve fallen to the new secretary, and he’s… here! Hi, Mrithan!” Mrithan waved as he set up a new coffee machine.

“So… what’s new with everyone in the last decade?” Phoebe canvassed our bunch. “Fletcher, do your angels still wanna become nuns someday?”

Ginger, Aleck, Ellie, and I snickered at that notion, and Fletcher buried his head in his arms and moaned, “That would have been nice!”

Mrithan announced, “There! It’s ready to go! Who wants some coffee?” All of the faculty in the area put their mitts in the air, and his eyes widened. “Woah! I better make a large pot!”

“Brielle and I bought a house a few years ago,” Ginger acquainted Phoebe. “It’s so much better than our old studio! I’ll show you… Where’s my sweater? I had my cellphone in that pocket…”

“One big pot of coffee coming-!” Mrithan slipped on Ginger’s lost apparel, and the urn he was holding tipped over, which dowsed me in all of its contents! “Ugh! I’m such a clutz! Please, forgive me!”

I wasn’t pleased with this development, but contending this issue seemed rather pointless given his penchant for clumsiness, so I reassured him, “It’s alright! It’ll dry out! I’m gonna go see if I can speed the process up!”

As I went into the men’s room, I was grateful that no one else occupied these quarters so I wouldn’t have to account for the mishap! All I wanted to do was alleviate the giant, wet stain that took over my shirt and finish my meal, but as I reached for the paper towels, it became evident that wasn’t going to happen! “No, please! Not now!”