The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 31

“Excuse me!” An older, balding man with a crown of gray, tousled hair pulled up to a small canopy in a front yard. “Is this where the engagement party is?”

“Should we tell him?” Phoebe eyeballed him from across the street while she and I stood beneath an elegant tarp that blocked the misty rain but not the wind.

I told her, “Nah! He’ll figure it out!”

Lilith, Brantley, and Roxy bombarded him with a series of boos, which quite bewildered the man. Roxy hollered, “Can’t you read? This is the Fenmore/Caracy Protest!”

“Protest?” the man puzzled. “You don’t want them to get married?”

“I was married to Connor once!” Lilith venomously relayed to him. “Trust me, I left ‘cause being his wife isn’t any cakewalk! And after I dared to take him back, he rejected me! I’m here to remind him what a scumbag he is!”

Branley informed the man, “Phoebe belongs to me! I’m here to pick up the pieces when this all falls apart!”

The man queried Roxy, “And you? You couldn’t possibly be infatuated with either of them!”

“I’m infatuated with a glorious master of the afterlife!” Roxy wildly asserted. “He has a grand plan for this town, and those two ingrates keep impeding on his masterful work!”

“Okay…! Well, I gotta go find parking somewhere else!” The man started to pull away, but he hit the brakes and pointed to Lilith. “I remember you now! I didn’t recognize you at first! You look so different from when you were married to my nephew!”

Lilith smugly flipped her hair and disdainfully digested his comments. “Prettier than ever, right? When you see your nephew, you’re gonna say how he shouldn’t have let this gorgeous girl go?”

My uncle’s visage contorted into a slight discomfort. “Oh, I shouldn’t have said anything!”

“Why?” Lilith inquired.

“It’s not polite…” my uncle replied.

Lilith seemed stunned by that assessment. “What do you mean? How do you believe I changed then?”

My uncle declined her demand, “I’d rather not!”

“Have the guts to speak up, Baldilocks!” Lilith spat.

“Alright, fine! Since the last time I saw you, you gained a lot of weight!” my uncle shot back. Lilith’s mouth hung open like she just got slapped, and after my uncle drove away, Lilith spotted me doubled over with laughter. She glared at me and hid behind Brantley and Roxy, who gave me a dirty stare in solidarity.

My father came over and asked, “What’s so funny?”

I answered, “Oh, you know, it’s your little brother doing his thing!”

After glancing over at the little protest, my dad chuckled, “Just wait ‘til they meet your Great Aunt Mildred!” I cracked up at that premise, and then my father expressed, “I’m glad you’re starting to have fun!”

Once I ceased my mirth, I disclosed to him, “I’m running off of three hours of sleep- everything’s hilarious!”

“Count yourself lucky, son! For our engagement party, I had to wear tails and take horseback riding lessons!” He winced at that recollection.

“William!” my mother called out. “Are you done checking on Connor?”

My dad responded, “Hold on, Catherine!” He canvassed us, “Are you guys doing alright? Do you need anything?”

Phoebe assured him, “We’re fine, thanks!”

“Are you sure?” my father practically pled with us.

“Sorry!” I apologized.

My dad became disappointed, and when my mom called out for him again, he begrudgingly articulated, “Coming, dear!”

Phoebe tittered as she watched him slink off, and then I nudged her, “Here comes Uncle Chest Hair!”

“Chest Hair?” she repeated in confoundment. When she got a load of his low v-neck shirt, it became more clear to her what I meant. “Got it!”

“Connor, my boy! How are ya?” He pulled me in for a tight hug.

With my compressed, I reported to him, “I’m great!”

He glimpsed at Phoebe with keen interest, and he noted, “This is your fiance, huh? Wow, you nabbed yourself something cute!” Phoebe abashedly smile, and my uncle introduced himself, “I’m your new Uncle Chester!”

“Nice to meet you!” Phoebe extended her hand for him to shake.

“Aw, we’re family now! Come here!” He pulled her in and gave her a robust squeeze, which forcibly drew her into his furry torso! When he released her, she pulled some gray strands out of her lipstick. “Forgive me for that! Here, I’ll make it up to you…” He reached into his coat’s inner pocket, and he filled us in, “It’s a lovely gift card to-.” The envelope blew away in the blustery breeze. “Ah… I’ll send you a check!”

As soon as he joined the other guests, I posed to Phoebe, “Aren’t you relieved I didn’t inherit that bushy pecs gene?”

Phoebe giggled, “If you did, I’d accept it as long as it didn’t come with the hugging trait! He reminds me of Blaise! Except classier, obviously!”

“It’s hard to imagine him enjoying a stuffy event like this!” I discoursed. “My mom doesn’t even enjoy these things! She always felt like she needed to act fancy for Dad’s family ‘cause she thought they didn’t take a rock ‘n roll crossing guard seriously.”

“Did they?” Phobe probed.

I affirmed, “They loved her, but they wouldn’t attend anything that was… Well, let’s just say that Blaise’s presence would’ve given some of them heart attacks! Fortunately for them, your stepdad is burning in the gates of… Hello, Aunt Mildred!” I blushed slightly from this faux pas.

To my relief, that very stout old lady retorted, “I’m not gonna ask!” 

She joined our visitors, and my mother directed us, “Connor! Phoebe! Mingle with your well-wishers!”

“We can mingle from here!” I riposted. She sternly gazed at me, so I relented, “Coming, Mom!”

“Aren’t you cold?” Aleck conversed with Uncle Chester.

Uncle Chester guffawed, “Nah! I’m from the coast, we’re warm-blooded!”

Aleck started to object to that premise, “All humans are warm-blooded! No person is-!”

My father elbowed Aleck, and then he illuminated him, “I practiced medicine for over forty years- trust me, he won’t listen to anatomical anecdotes! And don’t let him start yammering on about real estate!” Uncle Chester opened his mouth to argue, but my dad cut him off, “Nope! Fair is fair!”

“So, what did you retire from?” Aunt Mildred quizzed Miriam.

“I was a housewife,” Miriam relayed to her.

Aunt Mildred grilled her, “Was? Did you get divorced, or did he pass on?”

Miriam snickered, “Oh, he died! He’s been dead far longer than his actual death!” Aunt Mildred found that quite humorous, but only Phoebe and I recognized the truth to her comedy and chortled on a whole other level!

“So, how did you know my son was going to be your future husband?” my mother prodded Phoebe.

“Mom, she’s already given you that story!” I reminded her.

My mother dismissed my argument, “So? This is an engagement party- the attendees need to hear it!”

Phoebe requested, “I’m sorta parched. Could I grab a drink actually?”

“Of course! But tell us the story first!” my mom urged her.

“Sure…” Phoebe reluctantly acquiesced.

We each knew that enquiries like this were bound to arise, but between battling a creepy octopus last night and waking up early to grant the caterers access to our property this morning, we didn’t have a lot of room to pause and reflect on the subject. Neither of us had any desire to permit our relatives to learn about her memory problem, especially not a former doctor like my dad! If he picked up on her amnesic issue, he would work out that it came from radiation pretty quickly. We harbored no desire to have individuals we were close to acquiring the knowledge of our supernatural encounters, so the idea the two of us cooked up was to pretend everything was totally normal. The trouble was Phoebe felt exhausted, so neither of us was confident in her her acting abilities! 

Phoebe took a deep breath, and then she concocted a fumbling narrative, “It was… uh… basically love at first sight! When I saw him sitting, I mean standing there, I knew he was… destined to be mine!”

Everyone in earshot found that output awkward, and I wracked my brain to find some manner in which to change the subject. Prior to me unearthing anything, my father addressed me, “Connor, a word, please!” I gulped from sheer trepidation, but I obliged.

I felt certain he worked out what occurred, and my palms grew sweaty as we traveled to the far corner of the backyard. Or perhaps that was simply moisture from our occupation in the untented portion of the lawn. Whatever the scenario may have been, I hardly cared about how drenched I became! I felt positive that my dad intended to confront me about our paranormal entanglements, and when we halted our footsteps, I shuddered and mentally prepared myself for the worst…

“What did you do?” my father quietly scolded me.

“Uh…” My mind went blank, and I resigned myself to the fact that I was toast!

My dad chided me, “Whatever you did to upset her, go fix it! That woman’s the best thing that ever happened to you- do not blow it!”

Upon hearing this, my face got uplifted from alleviation. “Oh! You’re under the impression we got into a fight!”

“Um, yeah! I was…” My father’s brows furrowed. “So, what actually happened?”

“Nothing!” I lied. It instantly dawned on me that this wasn’t going to fly, so I opted to deliver the truth and knocked on wood that he wouldn’t have so many follow-ups. “Alright, Phoebe’s having some memory issues, and she doesn’t want anyone to know about them.”

My dad pressed me, “Memory issues? What sort of memory issues? She’s too young for dementia, although a patient as young as nineteen got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s…”

I confessed, “She has amnesia, okay? We should really return to-.”

“Amnesia? What did you do?” my father austerely gawked at me.

“Nothing!” I could see he didn’t believe me, so I insisted, “I’m serious! We were in an alleyway, and…” I couldn’t fathom how to complete that sentence, but luckily, I didn’t have to…

My mom beckoned us, “Boys! It’s time for speeches!” My dad jogged over to the festivities, and I almost mimicked his move, but then…

I peered down and hissed, “Not now!”

“Oh, pardon me! It’s not like I have a lot of choices!” Damon, who manifested in a puddle, folded his arms and pouted. “Do you have any clue how difficult it is to communicate from another dimension?”

“Connor! We need you over here!” my mother paged me.

I fibbed, “Hold on! I… My shoe is stuck in the mud!” I feigned this mishap, and as I hunched over pretending to wrestle myself out, I whispered to Damon, “You’ve got thirty seconds! Do you have anything new to say? I’ve already shown I won’t be intimidated by your bullshit!”

Damon notified me, “As a matter of fact, I do have new information for you, you Wisenheimer! You foiled my scheme at Homecoming, and now, you’re gonna pay!”

“Fantastic!” I muttered. “Well, if that’s all you’ve got, I’m kinda busy here…”

“No! That’s not all!” Damon snapped. “Wow! I like how you presume I have nothing better to do than to badger you!”

I verbalized to him, “They gave a dunce like you more than one job? Why would they do that? You’re not even doing well with your initial task!”

My mom buzzed, “Do you need help over there?”

“No! I’ve almost got it!” I reassured her. I then turned to Damon and barked, “You’re mad and you want revenge- that’s old news! What else?”

“You don’t get it!” Damon seethed. “That was gonna be my big show! I’m moving on from merely endeavoring to destroy you to take down the entire city! Soon, everyone will see that I’m here!”

I inferred, “Wait, so you’re gonna go after our families now?” That concept never fell under my consideration, and since it got thrust to my attention, it made my heart race! I didn’t want them to obtain any awareness of this otherworldly dilemma, and they were about to discover it in the most vile fashion possible!

The event planner turned on the microphone and commenced the ceremony, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome! We’re here to celebrate the pending union of two blessed souls! Incidentally, will the future groom please join us on stage?”

I panicked. I didn’t want to leave that dastardly demon until I procured what pandemonium he had in store for us! I raced my thoughts to procure a delay in this ritual, but to my utter dismay, some commotion in the streets indicated that I may have been too late to stop whatever Damon arranged…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 30

“Phew!” Aleck wiped his forehead in relief as we all beheld an adolescent boy with thin, brown bangs, a thin frame, and a suit complete with an indigo cumberbund. “Would you like to take back that ‘I told you so!’, Connor?”

“Don’t you dare!” Ellie strongly advised me. “Aleck, have you ever seen a horror movie? Something’s always up with the creepy, ultra-pale kid!”

Aleck looked alarmed by her blunt assertion. He apologetically approached the child, “Don’t take offense by that! She simply-!”

Ginger cautioned him, “Don’t get too close! He could be dangerous!”

“Oh, come on!” Aleck argued, “It was obviously just a prank!”

“This isn’t any joke!” Fletcher contended. “Something isn’t right about this guy!”

Aleck differed, “No! You’re experiencing a physiological reaction due to some stimuli that gave rise to defensive behavior. It’s common to-.”

Phoebe brought up, “If this is a normal student, then how come he isn’t reacting to the threatening stimuli were presenting right now?”

“Yeah!” I concurred with Phoebe. “I’m used to teens staring at me with dead eyes, but not this dead! Usually, they at least blink!”

“Okay, that’s a little strange…” Aleck backed away slightly. “Well, what are we supposed to do? Beat to death this human-looking individual?”

The others viewed his point as valid, and even I agreed that it would have been unwise for us to immediately barrage him with lethal force. In the off-chance that this youngster turned out to be a very peculiar but authentic earthly citizen, we would have been in so much legal jeopardy! However, the more I studied him, the less likely it seemed to have him get proven as an ordinary juvenile! His stance resembled that of a scarecrow, and his tuxedo appeared faded and worn as though he had stolen these garments from a corpse five decades old. The only muscles he moved were the ones that sucked in his lips as if he desperately wanted to avoid opening his mouth, and his somewhat large pupils didn’t reflect any light. I determined that this image had to have been a shell, so I communicated to the room, “Let’s coax the monster out of him! Tell me, son, what’s your name?”

His hollow gaze swiveled to me, but otherwise, he gave no response. Phoebe made a bid for it by petitioning him, “What grade are you in?”

That youth shifted his focus to her, but he didn’t utter a word. Ginger commanded him, “If you’d like us to leave, say so.” He twitched as though he meant to obey her, but he reconsidered this notion and resorted to glaring at her instead.

“Ooh, there was some movement!” Ellie observed. “Let’s push him further! Hey, brat! If you don’t go downstairs immediately, we’re giving you detention!” His nostrils flared, and he emitted some irate breaths.

“Here!” Fletcher passed out some padded helmets to everyone, and he apprised us, “Put these on! If we wanna flesh out this punk’s true nature faster, we’re gonna have to take more drastic measures.”

I asked Fletcher, “Do you have any equipment we could use as a weapon?”

Fletcher answered, “Not for wrestling, no. There is storage for ceremonial stuff up here though in the other closet. Maybe there’s something there!” He went to the next door and took a gander inside. “Hmm… it’s mostly medals and such!”

“Let’s all go for him at once,” I suggested. “It’s not like he can attack all six of us at the same time! Well, maybe he can, but that’s an important fact for us to learn!”

“What happens if he fights back?” Aleck queried as we all secured our headgear. No one spoke, but he wound up satisfying his own curiosity, “We’ll figure it out later!”

I addressed everyone, “Alright, on the count of three, we charge! One…” The lad grew visibly more furious. “…Two…” A periwinkle vapor began to seep from his frame. “…Th-!”

Prior to me finishing my sentence, Roxy burst in! “Not so fast!”

“Ugh! We probably should’ve locked the door behind us!” Phoebe cringed at Roxy’s sudden presence.

“Get out of here, Roxy!” I ordered her. “This could get pretty unsafe, and I don’t think the district has a specific rule against this, but I doubt they’d like it!”

Roxy dismissed my claim, “Psh! I’m totally devoted to his boss, so he’s not gonna hurt me! And you’re not gonna hurt him! Don’t worry, honey! I’ll protect you!”

As she darted towards him, Ginger called out, “Roxy, don’t!”

“Let me be your shield!” Roxy barreled towards him with her arms out like she was going to embrace him, and based on the creepy boy’s expression, he didn’t seem to appreciate Roxy’s gesture! This got verified as true when a mauve tentacle shot out of his stomach! He thumped her head, and she fell unconscious onto the floor!

“Well, we tried to warn her!” Ellie commented.

Five more tentacles emerged, and the humanistic layer disappeared! Its skull was replaced by a bulbous noggin, and when it blared out a hideous roar, we could all see sharp teeth lining its mandible, which prompted Aleck to spout, “Octopi don’t have fangs! They-!”

I interrupted him, “I don’t know if you noticed this, but nothing about this situation follows the laws of nature!” The tentacles elongated, so I directed the Demon League, “Everybody, grab one!”

We each pounced on a limb, and thankfully, our weight pinned them down! However, despite our small victory, we still possessed a pronounced problem. “Now what?” Fletcher inquired.

“Somehow, we’re gonna have to kill it,” I replied. “How do you kill a giant octopus?”

“I dunno! I know how we’d exterminate an actual cephalopod, but…” Aleck trailed off as he eyeballed the creature’s menacing glare. 

Ginger proposed, “We could test different methods ‘til we discover something that works.”

Ellie ridiculed that motion, “How are we supposed to test anything from here? We got nothing except our jewelry and bras!”

“That might work!” Fletcher proclaimed.

“You old perv! Now isn’t the moment to indulge in your filthy fantasies!” Ellie scolded him. 

Fletcher disputed, “That’s not what I meant! You could slip them off, and we could use them like a giant slingshot!”

Phoebe catechized, “What would we fling to him though? We can’t exactly afford heavy jewelry on our salary!”

“What about that old trophy?” I indicated to a shiny, bronze cup in the storeroom.

“Yeah, but the second we step off of these tentacles, that monster is gonna attack again!” Aleck asserted. The creepy octopus nodded in corroboration of that assessment.

Ginger lamented, “It’s unfortunate we don’t have a seventh member to our party!”

Phoebe’s eyes lit up. “Yes, we do! I don’t imagine Roxy will object…” She referred to Roxy’s limp condition, and, indeed, Roxy remained motionless.

“Is she still alive?” Ellie wondered.

“She’s breathing,” I concluded since I was closest to her. “But we’d better hurry and take her assistance before she wakes up and becomes a nuisance again!”

I slid over to her, and I put all of my pressure on my right while I pulled her over with my left. It wasn’t easy to wrangle her over to me while keeping enough stress on our adversary’s arm to keep him at bay, but I managed to eke it out. Once I freed myself of this burden, I quickly stood up, but then I needed to catch my breath. “One sec!” I laboriously requested to the others.

Fletcher snapped, “We don’t exactly have leeway for rest here!”

“Okay, okay!” I swiftly collected myself and hurried to the storeroom. I seized the largest trophy in the lot, and I felt a ton of grime on my palms! “Wow, it’s dusty! How long has it been in there?”

“Babe, do you wanna find the date on that award, or do you wanna spare me from getting injured again?” Phoebe challenged me as they finished assembling the catapult.

I responded, “Both!”

After I resumed my previous position, I put the trophy in the center of our shooter while Ellie held one end and Fletcher held the other, and the creepy octopus blew more and more steam as it beheld its pending doom. I pulled the harness back, and the creature vehemently struggled to free itself. When I gained enough momentum, I inwardly prayed that this projectile would achieve victory. I released it, and it hit that rotund cranium squarely on the crown! The skin seemed fairly soft on its tentacles, but evidently, the skull wasn’t since the trophy shattered into dozens of pieces! “How is that even possible?” Aleck clamored.

“Stop trying to make sense of it!” Phoebe recommended.

“Is it dead?” Ginger petitioned the Demon League.

A purplish fluid oozed out of its pores, which compelled Fletcher to exclaim, “If that thing’s still alive, I’ll eat my foot!” The tentacles twitched significantly, so Fletcher earnestly strove to reach his lower extremities. “Someone help me get my shoes off!”

The tentacles retracted to the creepy octopus’s lifeless body, and its torso disintegrated. Everyone silently stared at its final resting place for a stretch, and I broke the quiet by taking off the helmet and canvassing, “Do you ladies want your undergarments back?”

“Toss it?” Ellie arbitrated following a visual scan of its stretched-out and dingy state. “I needed to get more lingerie anyways!”

“Done!” I tossed it into a nearby garbage bin as everyone else took their helmets off. Once they were done, I regarded them, “Now, I need to get something off of my chest… I TOLD YOU SO! I told you, I told I told you! I told you so!”

Aleck pouted, “You don’t need to rub it in!”

I disagreed, “Oh, yes I do! You have no idea all the hell I’ve been through doing this alone!”

“Speaking of Hell, didn’t you mention something about Damon resurfacing in Terra Belle as a demon?” Ginger probed.

“He did!” I certified this. “And he didn’t do it by himself. He has a conduit that broadcasts his intentions to the children who buy his wands to make them do weird spells. The only clue I have about the conduit though is he’s male.”

Fletcher muttered, “That narrows it down a bit!”

Phoebe broached the subject, “Is the conduit doing this willingly?”

“I dunno! Does it matter? We still gotta find him,” I articulated.

“Not necessarily,” Phoebe refuted. “If he’s under a demon’s influence too, then we could keep our focus on just getting rid of the demon!”

Ellie propositioned, “We could hire an exorcist tomorrow!”

I differed, “Now, we can’t!” She gave me a discerning look, so I clarified, “Our engagement party is tomorrow.”

“Oh man, I forgot about that!” Phoebe groaned. “We’ve got a big gathering to go to, and I’ll have to do it without my good bra!”

“What happened?” Roxy groggily picked herself up. It was hard to stifle my snicker as I caught a glimpse of her violet hair!

Aleck fibbed, “Nothing happened This whole escapade was totally normal! That’s what we were discussing- how normal this all was…”

Roxy glanced at a metallic shard on the ground, and she read out loud, “Achievement in football, Casper Von Dutchman…”

“Ha!” I guffawed at the irony of me actually breaking his trophy.

“You lied!” Roxy fumed. “You defeated my pooky bear’s creation!”

With a wry grin, I revealed to her, “We certainly did! And we couldn’t have done it without your assistance!” 

Roxy roared, “Ooh! You’re awful! I can’t wait ‘til Damon has this entire town demolished!” She huffed and stormed out.

Manuel entered into the facility, and we were all grateful that the most egregious evidence of supernatural foul play had vanished! Despite that, he could still discern that something hinky occurred, so he perplexedly interrogated us, “What went on here?”

Ginger very convincingly attested, “It was a prank gone wrong. Don’t sweat it though, we’ve already given the guilty person a week’s worth of detention!”

I was grateful that people with credibility vouched for this allegation- if I had been solo, I was positive this incident would have garnered me a one-way ticket to the sanitarium! Assuming I survived… Manuel seemed addled by this display, but he hadn’t reached a decree on it. The lights flickered back on, so he ruled, “Well, let’s go back to Homecoming!” The females of our bunch held their upper fronts to hide their lack of support, and while Manuel ogled at this unusual activity, I beseeched the universe to solve our otherworldly dilemma soon so our campus could at least have a regular prom!

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 29

“Eek!” Corvina squealed in delight. “You made it! What about the game? I thought you had to play!”

“We did play,” Hudd explained, “For, like, five minutes! The rain made half the players on both sides slip and get injured, so we postponed it.”

Corvina happily chirped, “That’s wonderful!”

Hudd politely disagreed, “Not really. A huge chunk of our roster is out…”

I breathed a sigh of relief, but Phoebe didn’t get as alleviated by the sight of these young lovers as I did. “What were you expecting that commotion to be? What did you mean about a vengeful demon and a monster coming to our campus?”

“Reasonable questions…” I didn’t blame her for being skeptical, it was a fairly rational reaction to the assertions I made! I was grateful that I didn’t completely scare her off, but I wasn’t sure where to being in relating this saga to her! Heck, it’s taken me a few books to relay the narrative to you, dear reader! I weighed whether I should opt for thoroughness or brevity, and I hurriedly decided to marry the two, “Well, it all started last year when a new student arrived…”

“Miss Caracy!” George tapped her shoulder. She turned to him, and he reported, “There’s a dude here saying we owe him money for some flowers…”

Phoebe grumbled, “Ugh! I thought we canceled the florist!” She marched towards the entrance, but she paused and warned me, “This isn’t leaving you off the hook!”

I agreed with her, “Of course not!” She eyed me suspiciously, and then she darted off to take care of business. I fully intended to share everything with her, but at that juncture, I wondered if a nightmarish creature would show up and do the storytelling for me…

As the kids danced, I walked around surveying the crowd. No one seemed to be carrying anything that resembled one of the conduit’s wands. While my search continued, I realized that the culprit may have intentionally kept it hidden during my watch. I agonized over the fact that I hadn’t been able to convince my colleagues of Damon’s presence at Rosemary King- if I had achieved that, I could have had more of a scope on the area, and undoubtedly, it would have been easier to pinpoint the guilty party! I grew despondent of the difficulty o this task until I espied one individual who would not quarrel with the concept of a supernatural adversary in this vicinity…

“Casper! I’m so glad to see you!” I heartily greeted him.

“You are?” Casper catechized in astonishment.

A couple of our peers hovered around this area, and I almost invited him go somewhere more private, but I didn’t esteem that such an area existed in the gym anymore. The dance floor was jam-packed, and Roxy was still hunting down the fictional beast I told her about by the refreshment tables. The only quarters that appeared to have a low occupancy was the men’s restroom, and I couldn’t invite him to join me there without raising a few brows! I became somewhat miffed by the lack of privacy, and I settled on describing my needs in vague terms, “Do you remember our discussion in the equipment shed?”

Casper recalled, “The equipment shed? Oh, yes! I was regaling you with my distinguished stint in the sports realm!”

“Right… You know the ‘trophy’ of yours I broke?” I gave him a subtle wink to indicate my code word there.

“Trophy? Why would I bring you one of my trophies? And why would you break one of them?” Casper puzzled.

Since he still wasn’t grasping onto the pseudonym, I winked at him several more times as I spoke, “I dunno, to relive those ‘magical’ days…”

Finally, that dolt caught on! “Oh, yeah! Those trophies! Well, what about them?”

I filled him in, “I found out that an attendee here brought one. Can you let me know if you see it?”

“Why would he tell you? It’s his trophy!” Balam probed.

“I… I wanna make up for what I did to that other one, so I just wanna hear that he got it!” I fibbed.

Casper acquiesced, “You can count on me, my friend!” I began to leave his proximity, and then he petitioned me, “Wait, how did a kid get a hold of one of my trophies?” I gave him a discerning stare, and he instantly changed his tune, “Never mind, I got it!” The faculty around us seemed perplexed, but I left that scene before they forced me to try and explain it!

When I resumed my patrol of the perimeter, I observed several different wands, but none of them resembled the piece I sought. I started to get frustrated- if the perpetrator didn’t bring this artifact for the explicit purpose of parading it sound at a magically themed event, why else would they possess it during their rendezvous here? I was almost ready to give up until…

“My brother, Jeffrey, said there were vampires here!” a young boy acquainted to a group of freshmen.

“Yeah, right!” a guy in the gaggle disputed. “You believe in vampires, Dennis?”

Dennis staunchly stated, “I have to! Jeffrey wouldn’t lie! He and his girlfriend, Lisa, almost died from a pack of them!”

A young lady pointed out, “You mean they almost feasted on his blood? ‘Cause vampires don’t kill people…”

I considered myself somewhat of an expert on that subject after contending with those blood-suckers last year, but I resisted participating in that debate for the sake of my sanity’s reputation. Despite the lack of feasibility for my involvement in this quarrel, I remained drawn to it. Something inside me indicated that there was more to this spat than met the eye…

“Connor, help us settle an argument,” Aleck appealed to me with Ellie beside him.

“Can it wait?” I queried as I strove to peer over their shoulders in order to monitor this paranormal tift further.

Ellie ignored my response and briefed me, “He said Black Sabbath is a seventies band, but they’ve been around since the sixties, right?”

Aleck contended, “Black Sabbath is a heavy metal band! I can’t picture them getting played side-by-side with The Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel!”

“That was in the early sixties!” Ellie bickered. “The late sixties gave birth to classic rock! I would know- I was there!”

“Your parents let you listen to that?” Aleck challenged her.

Ellie let out an exasperated exhale. “I’m not wrong! Connor, tell me I’m correct!”

I hadn’t paid much attention to their altercation, so I couldn’t provide them with any insight on this topic. I caught bits of Dennis’s crew’s clash, and they were definitely sustaining their bandy regarding the mayhem Damon’s previous siege caused. I wished I knew why this recollection of the past was relevant to my current mission, but my instincts compelled me to gleam as much as possible from this exchange! Without knowing the context of their squabble, I decreed, “Yeah, Ellie wins!”

“What? You’re not interested in talking about classic rock?” Aleck gazed at me in shock.

“I’m not scared of them!” Dennis declared. “I brought protection…”

My curiosity was piqued! What could this protective measure possibly have been? My ears strayed in that direction, but Ellie swiveled my head back to the two of them. “What is with you? You’re not acting like yourself!”

The view of Dennis’s display was obscured, and his clique mocked its ability to function in any security protocol. I snarled at my unfortunate predicament, and I berated Aleck and Ellie, “Hey, I tried to disclose my problems to you, and you didn’t wanna listen! If you don’t wanna assist me, then oh well! I’m not gonna let your stubbornness prohibit me from taking the proper course!” They made a bid to counter that, but I disregarded their push for my consideration- Dennis’s company became very animated, and I absolutely had to intervene!

“Of course, it works!” Dennis bellowed. “I’ll prove it!”

“Noooo!” I cried out when I beheld his weapon of choice- it was a wand! My dire caution came out too late- the lights flickered, and everything went black!

The children screamed, and Casper notified me, “Connor! I found the trophy!”

I rolled my eyes at his dullness, and then I grilled Dennis, “Quick! What did you just unleash on us?”
“I dunno!” Dennis frantically informed me. “It was only supposed to be small! I don’t understand what’s happening!”

“Where is your creation?” I demanded. Dennis merely shook his head, so I canvassed the bystanders around him, “Have any of you seen anything or anyone unusual around here?”

Everybody stayed mute for a minute, and then Peter piped up, “Maybe you can ask that glowing person if they saw any unusual stuff!”

I ignored his obtuseness due to the urgency of the situation. “Glowing person?” He referred to the wrestling loft, and indeed, there was a human silhouette with a purple, luminous haze around them! “Good idea! That glowing person may have seen something unusual- I’ll go talk to them!”

After I darted toward the stairwell entrance, Phoebe jumped in front of me and asserted, “You can’t do this!”

“I have to!” I dissented. “I recognize it’s dangerous up there, but if I don’t intervene, it’ll be a disaster!”

“Yes, I agree! But you literally can’t do this- the door is locked!” Phoebe demonstrated this actuality by jiggling the latch. As I wracked my brain on how to get past this barrier, Phoebe fished out Fletcher and implored him, “Do you have the key?”

Fletcher frowned, and then he opined, “Yeah, but I don’t reckon I should be encouraging this…”

Ellie concurred with Fletcher, “Whatever’s up there is creepy, but that doesn’t mean we should allow his imagination to run wild!”

“So, you’d rather let that creep run wild instead?” Phoebe pushed back. “What if he’s not delusional? Your inaction could take away innocent lives!”

“What if it’s nothing though?” Ginger posed to her.

Phoebe retorted, “Then we see that for ourselves and make Connor take medication! But if he’s accurate, then we can ensure he doesn’t die from… whatever the hell that is!”

The four of them exchanged glances, and I beamed at my wonderful fiancé! I got shunned for telling the others the truth, but she loyally allied her position with mine! She did convince them all to aid me with the original occult quandary, so I now thought that I ought to have trusted her with this concept all along! Drats! I didn’t have a second to spare to apologize to her or beat myself up over missing out on having a partner in this all along- Fletcher begrudgingly pulled out a ring of keys, and the entryway to the loft became ajar. Phoebe glared at Ginger, Fletcher, Ellie, and Aleck, and they reluctantly followed her into the stairwell. I was so incredibly grateful for her service, and I vowed to shower her in appreciation when this was all over!

I had gotten so wrapped up in gratitude of my girlfriend that I nearly forgot about the spooky adversary we were about to face! A violet fog seeped out of the cracks, and apparently, the loft’s windows also had some openings because the Homecoming soiree erupted in shrieks! “Okay, so something’s definitely going on up there!” Aleck admitted.

“Is it too early to say I told you so?” I riposted.

“How do we destroy it?” Fletcher asked.

I answered, “No clue! I’ve been figuring it out as I go along.”

Ginger exclaimed, “That’s reckless!”

“Hey! I’ve survived this far!” I defended myself.

“Do we have any weapons?” Ellie inquired.

I replied to her, “I have some sage! I’m not positive it’s the best quality though ‘cause it keeps extinguishing real quick!”

Ginger educated me, “Oh, you gotta burn a candle simultaneously! That’s what Brielle and I did when we smudged our house. I-.”

A low, guttural growl sounded from the loft, and it registered to all of us that we needed to move immediately! Aleck pondered, “Alright, which one of us goes in first?”

No one budged an inch, so I irritably volunteered, “I’ll do it!” I climbed over and squeezed past the other five, which garnered some pained objections from the newly formed demon-fighting league. I couldn’t stop to apologize though, nor did I desire to honestly, and subsequent to a deep breath, I slowly opened the door. The smoke dissipated, and we gasped when we viewed the haunting entity inside…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 28

As I locked my front door, I heard Brantley calling out from across the street, “Where are you going all dressed up like that?”

I was about to tell that jerk where my true destination lay, and that was obviously a terrible idea, so I fibbed, “I’m meeting Phoebe at a charity ball in the Arioch.” I crossed my fingers that he didn’t know that the adult movie still had that joint shut down for their production…

“Is that right?” Brantley rubbed his chin contemplatively, and then he slowly inched toward his vehicle. “I’ve gotta go! Nowhere in particular…” He dashed inside of his car and sped off, and I laughed at the premise of him believing he beat me to her only to get told by that receptionist that the hotel was closed!

“Oh, don’t mind me!” Lilith slipped out of her abode wearing a very slinky outfit.

I very readily agreed, “Alright! I won’t!” She seemed affronted that I wasn’t drooling over her provocative garb, and I could’ve cared less! I suspected that she would retaliate later, but I wasn’t worried about whatever claptrap my ex or Phoebe’s had in store for tonight! Damon had yet to fail to spoil a school dance with his deviousness, and I doubted that this evening would be an exception!

When I arrived at the gym, a thoroughly blasé Corvina greeted me, “Happy to see you, Mister Fenmore!”

I questioned her, “Are you really?”

“Really? No!” Corvina admitted. “Hudd has a football game going on at the moment, so he can’t come! Now, I’m stuck taking tickets from all these joyful idiots! …And you!”

“Maybe he’ll swing by at the end and surprise you!” I attempted to buoy her spirits.

Corvina scoffed at that notion, “Psh! I think I have a better chance of seeing that sand man again!”

Her comment made my veins grow cold! I had the same prediction, but I still held out the hope that my apprehension was unfounded and that the event would play out like a normal school function, but that remark fed into my foreboding! I was tempted to quiz her regarding any tips she may have had related to our supernatural adversary, but I knew I needed to stay strong for the kids, so I shook that possibility out of my head and advised her, “Don’t tempt fate! Try to muster a little fun to get through this!” She shrugged, and I walked away before she planted any more dire pictures into my anxious imagination!

I spotted Phoebe in the nearly empty space wearing overalls and an old shirt, so I joked, “Gosh, I didn’t realize it was black tie optional! I guess I wasted a lot of time going home to get on this penguin suit!”

“You’re a riot!” Phoebe relayed in a sarcastic tone. She handed me a bouquet of sparkly, golden balloons, and she requested, “Can you finish taping these up while I go change?”

“What? And ruin my fancy duds?” I kidded.

Phoebe giggled, gave me a kiss, and notified me, “I’ll be back in a minute!”

As she retrieved her gown from behind the deejay’s booth, I mockingly counted, “Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty…” I couldn’t finish that gag- the banner with the theme of the occasion filled me with dread!

“Please tell me you didn’t forget how to count!” Ginger groaned.

“A Night of Magic?” I croaked. “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” I glanced around at the glistening baubles and fairy figures that adorned the walls, and I got overcome with even more dread! Having a motif centered around enchantments was just asking for trouble! I espied some souvenir wands at the refreshments table, and my fear only heightened. “Oh no!” These were obviously made from cheap plastic, and my tension began to ease a bit. “Wait, they would’ have the budget for real ones! Phew!”

Some of my colleagues were ogling at me peculiarly, so Ginger covered for me, “He’s obviously trying to be funny! Keyword: try!” They chortled at her quip, and Ginger pretended to do the same, but then she leaned in by me and whispered, “Please, act rationally tonight! We don’t need another year of chaotic dances!”

I sourly agreed, “Tell me about it!”

As I taped up the balloon bouquet that Phoebe handed me, Fletcher stood adjacent to the column I was using and muttered, “This has gotta be fake!”

“What?” I responded.

“My daughters are having their Homecoming too, and, well, take a look!”

I anticipated seeing something spectacular based on the manner he framed that assertion, but his twin girls seemed perfectly ordinary to me! “Uh… they look pretty!”

Fletcher fumed, “These gowns cover their legs and cleavage! I couldn’t even get them to do that for church! Why are they hiding themselves? Hold on, is that a tummy? Am I gonna be a grandpa? Oh, god!”

“They don’t seem too big to me!” I assessed.

“Then how do you reconcile their sudden change of wardrobe?” Fletcher challenged me.

I didn’t esteem that it would do any good to say they may have simply changed their attitude about sporting such unseemly garbs in his state, so I remarked, “You’re the only one I know that would freak out over their children dressing discreetly!” He let out an exasperated sigh and stomped away. I didn’t quite understand his reasoning, but I let it go.

As I finished with the decor, a small group of teens arrived. I noticed that the females of the bunch had fantasy-type wings on, and inwardly, I panicked. Probably a tad outwardly too- I have no poker face! People were trimming themselves in accordance with the theme, so it appeared probable that at least one of them would bring one of Damon’s Hellian wands as a prop! How was I supposed to take action against that foolish fiend’s unwitting accomplice with so many peepers present? I watched this crew take a selfie, and a boy made a bid to touch a young lady’s rear, which made them all call him out on it. It reminded me that these youths weren’t likely to mimic the furtive movements of that dastardly villain! Perhaps pulling off an attack tonight would prove futile…

“Mister Fenmore!” Roxy vied for my attention.

“Gah!” I reacted to her abrupt manifestation. Once the shock wore off, I observed her lengthy, crimson frock with a matching veil that draped over her visage, and I couldn’t prevent myself from jesting, “What’s this? A Halloween costume depicting a demonic bride?” I tittered at my humor until I mulled it over for a second. “Oh…!”

Roxy inquired, “Have you seen my beloved?”

I replied, “No, but I can’t imagine he’d strike in an event like this, so you should use your time here to have fun instead!”

“Nice try!” Roxy rebuffed my endeavor to distract her. “You and I both know he’ll be here! And you can’t keep it from me when he does show up- you’ll never leave my sight until he does!”

“Hey! A mystical beast just popped up!” I pretended to discover.

Roxy lit up at this concept. “Really?” She fervently searched the room for the spectacle that I mentioned.

Using every fiber of my being to stifle my smile, I articulated, “Yeah! It went underneath those tables over there! I better go destroy it!”

“No!” Roxy ran to the spot I referred to and coaxed the non-existent creature, “Where are you, baby? I’ll protect you!”

“Thank the devil’s bane! I seriously didn’t wanna talk to you with that ninnyhammer around!” Damon expressed as he materialized on a silver streamer.

With adolescents and adults all starting to congregate in this area, I didn’t deem it prudent to give off the impression that I was speaking to myself, so I feigned a phone conversation as I communicated to Damon, “You know, you don’t have to wreak havoc at another dance! You could actually enjoy your stay here!”

Damon sneered, “How ridiculous of you to believe I would fall for a trick like that again!”

“Again?” My ears perked up at this phrase. “Did something occur at one of your dances?” I didn’t reckon that he would willingly give up an insight like that, but I prayed he would accidentally relinquish a hint into his depraved motive!

“Did I say again? I meant for the first instance ever!” Damon peered at me to see if I was buying his ploy, but I clearly indicated that I did not, so he shook off his portrayal of apathy and seethed, “Listen, my past doesn’t matter! I’m here to talk about your future! You may hinder my conduit, but you’ll never stop him! … Or her!”

I smirked at his slip-up. “Ah-ha! So, your partner in crime is a male?”

Damon growled, “It doesn’t matter! All of Terra Belle will soon get destroyed, so remember that if you view my current undertakings as bad, it’s only the beginning! Your circumstances are about to get so much worse!”

“I see… I suppose you must truly care about me to warn me like that!” I wryly grinned.

“What? No! You’re supposed to get intimidated and lessen your voracity for protecting your pupils!” Damon pouted.

I probed, “Then there’s some sort of method to defeat whatever nonsense you have planned?”

Damon didn’t acknowledge my assertion, but his expression spoke volumes! I hoped to prolong this interaction in order to dig deeper, but then a nearby Yurei proclaimed, “Miss Caracy, I have a problem with this playlist…”

“Don’t leave! Intimidate me more!” I entreated Damon, but he disappeared anyways. “Rats!” I lamented my luck. The masculine identity ruled Mara out, and I returned to square one once more. I craved the contemplation of this conundrum, but in the meantime, I had a more urgent issue at hand to contend with! If Damon’s visual presented itself here, then for sure one of the attendees possessed a wand. If I could root out this individual, I could thwart Damon’s scheme preceding its onset! The trouble with that was hundreds of teenagers would go to this soiree- how was I supposed to figure out who the culprit could have been?

“The committee came up with these songs yesterday. It’s been approved by your peers,” Phoebe informed her.

Yurei argued, “Yeah, but they’re so lame!”

Phoebe resolutely affirmed, “Tough cookies! If you wanna get paid properly, you gotta use this music! And any other tunes your classmates request!”

“We’re allowed to take requests? Perfect!” Yurei skipped off.

“You hired her to-?” I emerged from my post to enquire about this decision, but I cut myself off when I beheld Phoebe’s elegant semblance! She had gotten all dolled up at other dances, and those episodes left me in awe too, but it seemed as though each occasion we would participate in these, she would evoke this effect in me!

Phoebe concernedly canvassed me, “What’s wrong?”

I professed, “I forgot! All I can recall is how beautiful you are right now!”

“Thank you!” Phoebe graciously accepted my compliment. I got so mesmerized by her allure that my brain locked up! All I could direct my body to do was to passionately embrace her! Phoebe held me back though, and she accosted me, “Something’s going on! Quit hiding it!” I bit my lip in guilt- I dearly desired to confess everything to her, but how could I explain all of my paranormal parameters to a victim of recollection affliction? “Connor, I love you! I’m not gonna judge you! You’ve been there for me throughout all of this dilemma, and I wanna be there for you too, but I can’t help you if you’re not honest with me!”

“Honestly?” I couldn’t deny her this anymore. If I kept deceiving her, I would lose her trust, and our relationship would cease to exist! I wasn’t confident that she would remain by my side with the actual account of everything, but I could not shield my otherworldly burden any longer! “A demon wants vengeance against Rosemary King, and a monster is about to attack our campus!”

Her eyes grew wide, and I was certain she would conclude that I lost my marbles like everybody else did. Prior to any response from her, Yurei announced, “Alright, alright, alright! Welcome to Homecoming! Let’s kick things off with some thrash metal!” Phoebe put her hands on her hips, so Yurei exclaimed, “Someone requested it!” Phoebe persisted, so Yurei relented, “Fine! Enjoy your sappy ballad!”

Before the piece could broadcast, an earsplitting scream echoed throughout the facility… 

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 27

Mara affirmed, “I have a right to be here!”

I disagreed, “No, you don’t! What is it with you people? You can’t just walk into a government building! Especially if it’s full of children! And…” She furnished a visitor pass, and I stared at it in bewilderment. “Oh! You actually applied for that, and you got approved!”

“Of course!” Mara certified. “My legal last name is the same as Phoebe’s. They’re not gonna keep sisters apart!”

“Except you obviously aren’t here to see her!” I pointed out in disgust. “If you’re not using your relatives to get to me, then why would you seek me out in a spot so far from her?”

Mara claimed, “It was her idea for me to come find you”

I debated that, “Yeah, right! If Phoebe was planning for us to hang out, she would’ve told me about it!” Instantly after I spoke, my phone chimed. I saw a text from Phoebe, and I read it out loud, “Hey, babe! My sister wanted to have dinner tonight, but I’m kinda busy in the Homecoming committee, so I’m sending her your way. Hope that’s okay!”

“She said I’d be a distraction to her students,” Mara filled me in. “I’m guessing she doesn’t wanna know who watches my movies, and I don’t blame her! Minors shouldn’t watch them, but naturally, you can’t always stop them. She wouldn’t wanna hear her kids saying they’re into things like-!”

“I don’t wanna know!” I covered my ears in case she did it anyways, and since she didn’t, I lowered my limbs and accosted her, “So, what, you acted like you wanted to spend time with a sibling to make another attempt to seduce me? I swear, I’m gonna start filing restraining orders on all the crazies following me!”

Mara explained, “I wanted to go out with you two so I could clear the air with Phoebe, and I wanted to do it in a public place in case she wanted to claw my eyes out for my behavior. I’d feel too guilty going to your engagement party with that hanging over my head!”

This statement took me aback! “Wow, that’s very noble of you!”

“Although…” Mara developed a sly smile on her visage.

“No! No althoughs!” I burst out. “You learned your lesson, and we can move on as one big, happy family!”

She leaned on the table in a provocative manner to shut the door, and then she purred, “This room is awfully private…”

I firmly spieled, “Absolutely not! This is a study area, we don’t use it for that! I don’t think… I wonder how often they check! That librarian is so damn preoccupied with her work, I doubt she inspects it very often…” I flinched as I nearly touched the surface, and I made a mental note to enquire to the custodian about how frequently he cleans these quarters.

“We could use our meal together to tell Phoebe you’re gonna leave her and run away with me!” Mara suggested.

“Are you crazy?” I bellowed.

Mara remarked, “I’ve been accused of that. Well, I’m not hearing a no!”

I hollered, “No! No, no, no, no, no, no!”

“So, what does that mean?” Mara inquired.

“Seriously?” I replied. “I didn’t make myself clear there?”

Mara elucidated, “No, I get you’re not ready yet. I-.”

I informed her, “I won’t ever be ready! Get it in your thick skull- I don’t want you! I don’t want anyone else but Phoebe! I’m marrying her; you and I are never gonna happen!”

“Never say never!” Mara cautioned me. “When I want something, I don’t give up ‘til I get it!”

“You-!” Prior to me finishing that sentence, I got a message from someone on Classbook. I would’ve ignored it, but I saw that it was from the conduit! It warned me that there was more than one method of sharpening a knife, and they vowed to complete their goal no matter what! It alarmed me, but the profile deleted itself before I could report it. I supposed I should have known that they would react badly, but since I didn’t have any clue who they were, I couldn’t surmise what they were capable of! What if this individual was far more competent than the foolish fiend they served?

I nearly forgot about Mara because of the conduit’s threat, but she caught my attention when she gazed at her cell phone and posed to me, “Hmm… Is Acheron’s any good?”

With my focus still on that strange transaction, I vacantly responded, “Yeah, it’s great!” I saw the pleased look on her face, and it suddenly occurred to me what she meant by that comment. “But I’m not going there with you! You obviously don’t respect my relationship with your sister either, so you’re uninvited to our engagement party! I’m done with you!”

“Wow! That’s harsh!” She became quite sullen as she began to depart, and for a few seconds, I felt guilty for making that judgment against her. That all changed when she halted her footsteps by the doorway and gave me a very piercing glare while seething, “Do what you want, but I always win in the end! This setback means nothing! There’s more than one method of sharpening a knife!”

“What did you just say?” I ogled at her incredulously. Was it a mere coincidence that she used the same phrase as the conduit? She was on the phone when I got the message from them, and all of this commenced after she came into town! Damon even appeared in the lake where she was staying! Maybe her main purpose in pursuing me wasn’t to sleep with me after all… “Hey, wait!” I called out. She walked off in a huff, and I called out again, “I changed my mind! You can-!”

The loud girl from that nearby table shushed me, “Shh! We’re trying to study here!”

I opened my mouth to argue with the irony of her accusing me of being too noisy, but I refrained due to the vitality of haste in my quest. I was determined to convince her to join us at that restaurant, but preceding me having the ability to chase after her, I felt something cold graze the backside of my body! Initially, I presumed it to have emanated from Mara somehow, but a wave of frosty air spread throughout the vicinity! “Oh, please be something normal!” I crossed my fingers and turned around…

“Damn!” I lamented as I beheld an opaque woman with a beak-like jaw, hollow eyes, and talon palms hovering on the opposite end of me with her tattered nightgown flowing as if a wind were blowing beneath her. After I got over the disappointment of not dealing with something as ordinary as a broken air conditioner or something, I relievedly opined, “Phew! It’s only a ghost!”

“Did I hear that correctly?” Peter set down his textbook and questioned me.

I lied, “Nope!” 

He shrugged and returned to his reading. “Whew!” I made a thumbs-up gesture to him, and I shut the door to the study room as rapidly as possible.

The ghostly woman roared at me as she started to charge, and I coolly regarded her, “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” I swiftly withdrew some sage, and once I set it ablaze, she backed away. “Huh! This spot doesn’t have sprinklers? Boy, this space is seeming like more and more of a terrible idea!” The ghostly woman shrieked, and I dismissed her attempt to shake me before catechizing, “You’re not getting driven off by this? Shit! How do I destroy you? I didn’t bring the salt today ‘cause it leaked in my pocket…” She howled, and I mulled over different prospects of defeating this phantom adversary.

I received a buzz, and given what recently transpired, I made the assumption that Phoebe was contacting me about her sister. In order for me to interrogate Mara, I dearly desired for our evening to resume, so I picked up the call, “Hello?”

“Connor! Are you busy?” my mom canvassed me.

“No…” I glanced over at my apparitional adversary, and while she gave off a menacing aura, my defense mechanism had apparently kept her at bay. It was too late to ignore my mom, but I hoped that she would conclude her business with me with as much speed as she could muster!

She notified me, “I’ve been tracking the weather, and you’re not gonna believe this, but it’s supposed to rain on Saturday!”

I uttered, “Uh-huh!” as though I were listening, but the ghostly woman was advancing upon me once more! I espied my flame getting weak, so I relit it as my mother prattled on about how she needed to have the event planner come early to set up a tarp. The ghostly woman retreated, and I contemplated how I could defeat her under these circumstances.

“So, what do you think, Connor?” my mom petitioned me.

“Huh?” I regretted uttering that since letting her catch on that I wasn’t listening would cause her to repeat her rambling and I could get stuck in this predicament even longer! I contemplated the issue for a bit, and I reckoned that because she was in charge of this festivity and because I could’ve cared less about the minor details that it entailed, I should opt to simply agree with her. “Oh, whatever you say, Mom!” 

My mother pleasantly articulated, “Excellent!” I truly expected that to end this conversation, but then she went on, “Now, about your napkins…” I groaned as she expanded on that premise. “I originally told them to do pink and white ones, but it may be windy, so I recommend switching to cloth ones since they’re heavier. The problem is they only come in a single color…” I noticed the ghostly woman creeping closer to me, so I held the sage up higher, and she got repelled once more. “…Beige isn’t very romantic, but the embroidery is gorgeous…”

Phoebe communicated with me, so I got a gander at it as my mother chattered. She apprised me that Mara canceled our rendez-vous, and she couldn’t comprehend why. I wasn’t certain how to react to that! I needed to finally confess what Mara had been doing, but I definitely couldn’t reveal this in such a remote fashion! In her condition, she might have required extra support, so I had to do that in person. But, in the meantime, I was baffled as to what I ought to convey to her…

The ghostly woman got within inches of me and screeched! I drove her off with the sage, but prior to her drifting out of my orbit, my mom puzzled, “What on earth was that?”

“Uh…  the furnace is on the fritz.” I cringed from the implausibility of that fib. If she didn’t accept that rationale, I had no inkling what to try next…

“Gotcha! So, if I change the napkins, I’ll have to change the tablecloths too…” my mother proceeded with her prose.

My attention waned. She had known me for forty years at that juncture, so I didn’t understand why she envisioned that I would find this discussion anything but excruciating! In the midst of her monologue, Phoebe sent a confused emoji. I got so overwhelmed by attempting to juggle both conundrums at once, and then the ghostly woman snuck up on me again…

I couldn’t help it- I got so livid by everything that I shouted, “WILL YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?” To my complete astonishment, she disappeared! I gestured in complete discombobulation and verbalized, “All I had to do was ask?”

“Well, if you’re gonna have that kind of attitude, I’ll reconsider assisting you ever again!” my mother spat.

“No, Mom! I wasn’t talking to you!” I strove to catch her before she hung up, but alas, I wasn’t successful! I didn’t enjoy upsetting her, and I avowed to promptly make it up to her! I nearly relayed an apology to her, but it was enticing to wait and see if she would cancel the engagement party…

Phoebe’s voice echoed out, “Connor? Where are you?”

I immediately hopped out of that study room, and that loud girl got wide-eyed at my possession. “Woah! You were smoking in there?”

“That explains a lot!” Peter asserted. I almost contended that statement, but I would rather have had rumors about that spread than anything related to the supernatural, so I let it slide.

“While we’re burning stuff, can you take care of this?” The loud girl offered me her wand. “It doesn’t work! I thought it would give us answers, but… not that we were gonna cheat or anything…”

I avidly snatched it from her. “I’ll gladly destroy it for you!” I grew curious as to how a ghoulish monster would’ve aided them, but I didn’t want to prolong this moment!

Phoebe gawked at me extinguishing the sage as well as the general atmosphere of the space, and she pondered, “What went on here?” She spotted the wand, and she exclaimed, “What is that?”

After I broke it, I distracted her by broadcasting, “Your sister has tried to hook up with me three times now!”

I winced at the abrupt path I  took in reporting this, and I began to fear that I acted totally inappropriately! I foresaw a breakdown, and I upbraided myself for that choice, but then she bore a displeased but unsurprised expression as she aired, “That slut!”

“You’re not mad?” I gasped.

“She’s done that to most of my boyfriends. She gets jealous so easily! It’s alright, I trust you!” She gave me a kiss, and I could hardly fathom my luck! After what she witnessed, she still held that belief! “Wanna go out to dinner?”

I propositioned, “How about Acheron’s?” As we departed arm in arm, I knocked on wood that Mara would turn up so I could determine her ties to that demonic dunce!

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 26

I went up to the front desk and waited for the hawkish librarian to lift her eyes up from examining a large pile of books. She never did, so I casually queried, “Doing some speed reading?”

Without raising her head to meet my gaze, she informed me, “I’m checking this material for bed bugs.”

“Oh!” I wasn’t sure how to react to this tidbit, and I was sorry I made the enquiry! She didn’t seem particularly receptive to my presence, but she could obviously hear me, so I asked her, “Do you have any books about the early nineteen hundreds?”

“We have lots of books about the twentieth century. Could you be more specific?” she questioned as she continued her work.

Okay, so my request sounded kind of dumb, but did she need to be so rude about it? Why did she have such an attitude about my solicitation for her assistance? Was she upset I ruined her enjoyable activity of searching for creepy-crawlies in her literature? I forced myself to ignore her unfriendly demeanor though since she would be the quickest way to find what I was searching for, and to save time, I swallowed my pride and petitioned her, “Can you tell me where to find stuff about Terra Belle’s history?”

With her peepers remaining locked in on her task, she directed me, “Go to the non-fiction section. It’s the third row from the left.” 

I appreciatively regarded her, “Thank you!” She sort of sniffed as a reaction to my gratitude, but she didn’t glance up. I wanted to see how committed she was to this overly preoccupied act, so I smoothly verbalized, “Don’t overdue it! You’ll check out!” She nearly dropped the novel in her hand, and when she stared at me in disbelief, I laughed and walked away.

After scouring through lots of shelving, I finally zeroed in on the exact spot the publications I needed were located in. I wondered where to begin, and I espied a title that seemed promising. “Who’s Who in Terra Belle’s Past?” I read aloud.

Casper’s voice rang out from the other side of the aisle, “You won’t be in there!”

“Well, obviously!” I shook my noggin in aggravation over his pathetic attempt to insult me. “I’m not here checking to see if my name’s mentioned in any of these pages! Who would do that?”

“No one I know…” Casper’s sight darted wildly after he delivered that line. It was obvious that he was fibbing, but before I could remark on that, he more confidently stated, “You won’t ever get an honor like that! Your reign is over!”

I let out an angry sigh, and then I relented, “Alright, go ahead and give whatever explanation you have on why you think you’re better than me, but make it fast! I’ve got things to do.”

He appeared poised to utter some of his usual nonsense that he frequently delivered as he sought to bring me down, but to my surprise, he shrugged and perused the political tomes adjacent to him. “I don’t need to. It’s been established already.”

“What do you mean?” I eyed him suspiciously.

“Last semester, all I heard in the halls was chatter about how wonderful you are and what a hero you were,” Casper relayed to me. “Not anymore! The discourse changed to concern over your well-being. Everyone’s saying you’ve cracked!”

My temper began to flare. It was hard enough to have gotten subjected to terrible rumors about my sanity, but it infuriated me that he was actually getting some pleasure off of my misery! Him, out of all people, too! “You know that all of that is a lie!”

Casper rebutted, “Undoubtedly! But what am I supposed to do, throw myself under the bus with you?” I seethed at that, and then he added, “You’re not doing anything to help yourself dispel this gossip! You’ve been behaving so oddly lately! Like, right now! Why are you researching anything on this topic? You’re a business teacher, people will think you’re strange for studying outside of your realm!”

He was absolutely correct, but I wasn’t about to admit that! “And you’re not gonna try to give them a proper rationale for it, are you? You could say I’m gathering facts on economic trends of yesteryear, but you won’t ‘cause you want to be king! Well, newsflash, your subjects still aren’t worshipping you, so you’re being an a-hole for no reason!” I stormed out of the area prior to him saying another word.

A group of teens was loudly whispering about their biology paper, and while I briefly found it intriguing to hear feedback about Aleck’s homework, it was starting to get irritating because it was making me lose concentration on my reading. I could see a section on the Karro family, but it didn’t appear to issue any facts that Ellie didn’t already reveal to me. It was difficult to certify this conclusion though since those kids became too noisy with their quiet talk! I scanned a blurb about Damon’s great-nephew causing a scandal with the woman he chose to marry, but I didn’t grasp the full story due to the cacophony at the neighboring table. I wound up yielding to my distraction when I heard a girl suggest, “We should use something I got to help us cheat…” As a service to my friend, I felt I needed to get the scoop here, but the juveniles must have sensed my scrutiny- they took a brief glimpse of me, and the girl changed her tune, “Never mind!”

I returned to the lore in my hands, but then a student stood before my position and politely addressed me, “Mister Fenmore?”

“Yes, Peter?” I couldn’t fathom what he needed, but I sincerely doubted this conversation would prove to be anything but tedious. I would have loved to have had one normal interaction with him, but thus far, it had yet to transpire!

“Could you go over this and say if it looks right,” he requisitioned.

I emitted an exasperated exhale, but I accepted the paper he furnished. When I scanned it, my visage contorted into a pronounced frown. “Peter, this is a take-home quiz for your American Literature class!”

Peter confirmed, “Yeah, totally! I figured that since she’s your fiancé and all, you’d have the answers…”

“If I did, do you really imagine I’d aid your effort to plagiarize homework issued by another faculty member?” I challenged him.

“But it’s super hard!” Peter whined. “She purposely asks stuff that you’d only know if you read the textbook!”

I shot back, “Then why don’t you read it?”

Peter objected, “But I only have an hour here since my dad had to use his car and mine’s still in the shop!” I ogled at him sternly, and, for once, he took a hint. “Fine! I’ll use my hour to learn that play!”

He stomped off, and as vexing as that exchange had been, I was glad I could revert to my previous endeavor. I went over a single sentence, and another individual in khaki pants roosted themselves by my side. I lost my patience and snapped, “No! I didn’t come here to swindle other teachers!” When I got a gander at who was there, a lump rose up into my throat!

Manual seemed slightly off-put by my comment, and I grimaced. I reckoned he would fire me for my curtness, but to my astonishment, he genially articulated, “Well, that’s good to know!” This alleviated me, but then he entreated me, “Connor, let’s go into that study and rap!”

My first reaction was to get dumbfounded- there was an empty study room and those youths chose to bring their raucous covertness into the main quarters? They gawked at us, so I assured them, “He didn’t mean the musical kind!” It suddenly registered to me what he meant, and I started to panic! This was it, he reached his final straw and planned to terminate me! I logically esteemed that he was unlikely to do so in a locale that was so unofficial and that if he did want to fire me, he would’ve required that I visit his office, but still, I developed a sinking sensation following him into that site!

Manuel shut the door, and I stood rigidly waiting for the inevitable misfortune he was set to deliver. Manuel invited me, “Have a seat!”

“I lost my ability to relax!” I reported.

“Okay… I brought some chocolate…” He offered me a pumpkin-shaped bar, but I showed no inclination to take it, so he told me, “You’re not in trouble!”

I didn’t believe him. “…but…?”

Manuel looked as though he was going to argue with that, but when he beheld my thoroughly nonplussed expression, he admitted, “A lot of the staff has come to me with concerns. They’ve described a heightened moodiness, numerous bouts of nervousness, talking to yourself…”

“So, you believe I’m crazy now too?” I sorely spat. I folded my arms resentfully in anticipation of my probable dismissal, and I could scarcely comprehend that the devilish dunce managed to get me canned! I found some solace in getting myself removed from a region where a slew of innocent children could become collateral damage, but mostly, I got furious that I was getting taken away from my second family and where I finally felt like I truly belonged! It wasn’t fair!

“No,” Manuel affirmed. I truly didn’t view his assertion as authentic, so he insisted, “I’m being honest! I have a degree in psychology, so I know the difference between someone who’s mentally imbalanced and someone who isn’t. I don’t think you’re crazy…” I felt rather vindicated to hear that someone validated my accurate status, but I also forecasted another “but” coming. “…but…” There it was! “… I do think you’re extremely stressed. I don’t want this to interfere with your career! You’re an outstanding educator, everyone says so!”

I catechized, “Everyone?”

Manuel corrected himself, “Almost. Roxy had some interesting complaints, but Roxy is… different!” It soothed me to learn that my lessons were held with high respect, but I persisted in expecting some sort of awful catch to this meeting. “I cannot ignore your unusual actions though. It would make all of us feel better, yourself included, if you saw a therapist. You’ll get the support you need, and I’ll have something to tell people who contact me about this.”

It bothered me to add another chore to my already heavy load, but if it would get everybody to hush, I decreed this concept worth exploring. “Alright.”

“Excellent!” Manuel beamed. “Email me a copy of your appointment when you make it. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Uh…” I wished I could call upon him to lend a hand in fighting Damon and his clandestine accomplice, but currently, Manuel didn’t judge me as unbalanced, and I desired to keep it like that! Alternatively, I stated, “Can you convince my mom that Phoebe and I don’t need an engagement party?”

Manuel chortled, “Are you kidding? You should have seen the size of my engagement party! Relatives from other countries flew in, and all of a sudden, there weren’t any vacancies in any of the hotels near this city!” I winced at that idea, and I had the rare thought that my situation could have been worse! Manuel gave me a supportive pat on the arm, and he bade me, “Take care, buddy!”

He exited the vicinity, and I took a minute to absorb what just occurred. I wasn’t savoring the burden of lessening my possible leisure hours in the future, but at least I no longer had the anxiety of getting sacked. As I prepared to vacate the premises, I got a notification on my phone. “Oh, please don’t be something annoying!” I prayed as I surveyed my screen…

To my delight, it was an update from Classbook! “Dear Connor, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve ruled in your favor! The Conduit appears to have broken our community standards against fraud based on a clearly bogus claim of giving buyers the ability to perform magic…” Hey, it wasn’t like I could allege that they were selling real wands that originated from the depths of Hell! “Due to the safety of minors being involved, we’re permanently shutting down this marketplace shop! … At last, some good news!” I rejoiced. I was set to celebrate until I noticed their disclaimer. “Please be advised that we don’t have the ability to force users to relinquish their purchases, so whatever is already out in circulation may wind up staying there… Well, that’s spectacular! How many suckers bought from this prick?”

“Did someone say ‘suck’ and ‘prick?’” Mara silkily posed to me as she entered the chamber.

“Oh, jeez! Don’t do that!” I hollered from the shock of her abrupt appearance. Once my agitation simmered down, I became perplexed why Phoebe’s sister showed up in this specific locale. “What on earth are you doing here?”

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 25

After I let out an involuntary yelp, Phoebe queried, “Are you alright over there?”

“Everything’s fine!” I lied as I stood face to face with a mosquito the size of my head. I have no clue what a mosquito’s noggin is supposed to look like, but I was fairly certain they didn’t have two bulging eyes and a mouth that could produce a sinister smile! It stared at me in an evil delight, and while I found it pretty creepy, my fear didn’t stem from its menacing appearance- I grew terrified that Phoebe would catch sight of it! It filled me with apprehension to picture the psychological damage it could do to her while she suffered from her memory loss, and I couldn’t figure out the best method to obliterate this threat…

“You don’t sound fine!” Phoebe denoted.

I think that this creature could sense what was causing me dread because it began to ascend toward the fence! Luckily, I positioned a broom within arm’s reach! I grabbed it and informed Phoebe, “I just gotta… smoosh this bug!”

Phoebe asked, “Why? It’s already outside, why not leave it?”

The giant mosquito nodded in agreement with her, and I ignored it as I let Phoebe know, “This one’s real bad, it has to go!”

“Hmm… I gotta see this!” Phoebe commented.

“No!” I pled with her, but she was nearly outside of the gate already. I used the broom like a baseball bat, and I smacked it into some nearby bushes in the small grove of trees that bordered our dwelling. It disappeared into the foliage when she popped into view, but I could see it moving, so it was plain to tell that I wouldn’t be able to shield her from viewing it for very much longer. I panicked for a moment…

Her cellphone rang, and mercifully, it was somebody that she felt willing to speak with! “Oh hi, Mom!” She returned to the backyard, and I became alleviated… for a second! I assumed that she would take this call inside of the house, but instead, she sat down on our cheap patio furniture and chatted, “No, I haven’t had a chance to check out  the alterations you made to that dress…”

As she conversed with Miriam, the giant mosquito made another bid to breach our perimeter. I missed it, but it backpedaled a little. I heard Phoebe assess, “Mom, it’s not done!” The giant mosquito went for it several more times as Phoebe carried on. “It’s still too long! You were the one who told me that I tripped over it in the shop! I don’t wanna walk down the aisle and fall flat on my face!”

My heart raced furiously as it managed to hover over our fence! I quickly peeked inside and prayed it didn’t give her an aneurysm or something, but Phoebe somewhat irately gestured towards the sky at that exact instance. “Of course, Connor would still marry me if my image got a little messed up! But I don’t wanna say my vows with my makeup smeared or a broken nose or whatever!”

I hit it sideways, and it tumbled out of her range prior to her discovering this insane insect. I did my utmost to deliver a deadly blow, but it was almost impossible for me to come into contact with it! I got out of breath, and to my surprise, so did the giant mosquito! I posed to it, “You have lungs?” It shrugged, and we resumed battle.

Phoebe argued with Miriam, “No, Mom! I’m not saying that you’re doing a bad job! It looks great! You can’t even spot the burn marks! How did the dress get singed again?”

That enquiry distracted me momentarily. I got so worried that Miriam would spill the beans about the supernatural element that got her gown scorched that I paused my pursuit. The giant mosquito took advantage of this and zoomed in her direction, but I was able to catch it by its tail. I thought that this would give me an edge on this nuisance, but I was wrong! It fluttered over my body significantly high, and I couldn’t get anywhere close to where I could issue a fatal blow. As it struggled to break free of my grip, I pushed my mind to unearth a solution to this conundrum!

“Ouch!” I cried out as Jett hopped from a post to my arm. She climbed up my limb, and the giant mosquito bugged out (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!), so I reckoned this was a valid fix for this problem! Jett pounced on it, and the pair wound up rolling around on the ground. When their activity ceased, Jett emerged victoriously! “Good kitty! You saved us!”

“She saved us from what?” Phoebe inquired.

Preceding my ability to reply, six more giant mosquitos popped out of the shrubbery! I was stunned, but my priority was my future wife, so I forced myself to calmly relay to her, “Nothing!” Actually, it didn’t give a calm impression whatsoever, but Phoebe resumed her interaction with Miriam, so I had several minutes to manufacture another excuse! Meanwhile…

Jett scurried off with her tail fizzed out, so I got left alone to deal with these pesty adversaries. Initially, I utilized the broom, but I wore myself out rather quickly doing that! I caught my breath by the hose’s storage, and I beheld them swiftly darting toward my fiancé! I was about to succumb to the notion of my inevitable loss when it suddenly occurred to me that the remedy laid directly below me! I rapidly turned the nozzle on and aimed the blast of water at their wings. Success! One by one, they plummeted to the floor! They still showed signs of life though, and my liquid weapon wasn’t doing the trick! “You’re not drowning? I thought you all had lungs!” They shrugged,, and I growled. If I halted this counterattack to dispose of the critters the old-fashioned way, surely, one or more of them would have gotten up to ambush Phoebe! So, now what?

“Oh! You found my pets!” A young boy who bore an uncanny likeness to my neighbor, Rowan, gazed at the giant mosquitos in a guilty manner.

“Your pets?” I repeated his characterization of these monsters incredulously. “Rhys…! Why?”

Rhys sheepishly shuffled in the dirt. “Well, Papa wouldn’t let us get another animal after how much effort it took to care for our gerbils, so…”

I petitioned him, “Out of all of the pets you could’ve conjured, why the heck would you..?” I mulled that over briefly, and then I changed my tune, “You know what, that isn’t important! Your new companions are going to Mosquito Heaven… Or something below that…”

“Uh-huh!” Rhys agreed with my pronouncement. “I saw that they were a mistake from… well, everything about them! That’s why I brought this out!”

“Natural Ned’s Insect Canceller?” I read the label on the bottle that he furnished quizzically.

Rhys explained, “Papa doesn’t like to kill bugs, but he bought this in case something poisonous infested our property. Do these guys have poison?”

I grabbed the fluid from him and asserted, “They’re deadly, so close enough!” 

To be frank, I wasn’t totally certain a container with the kindest-looking hippie depicted on it would prove itself as an effective bug killer, but it was worth a shot! I drizzled a generous amount on each of the mosquitos, and I crossed my fingers that it wasn’t a massive mistake to trust the recommendation of a ten-year-old! I prepared to resume my incessant spritzing, but to my astonishment, the substance prevailed! We both watched the creatures to verify their status, and we both let out a huge exhale in assuagement when it was certifiably over!

“Huh! Natural Ned knows his stuff!” I tossed the nearly empty vessel to Rhys, and I expressed, “I hope it wasn’t too expensive!”

“I’m pretty positive it was So was this stick!” Rhys drew a wand out of his pocket. He espied my startled visage, and he justified himself, “The dude said it was a charm! Papa has all sorts of crystals and lucky trinkets, I wanted to surprise him!”

With furrowed brows, I probed, “You pictured him enjoying his place getting filled with giant, murderous mosquitos?”

Rhys refuted, “I needed to test drive it! I didn’t want them to hurt anyone! This thing’s evil I’m gonna go see if I can get a refund for it!”

“Who is this bozo who sold it to you?” Once again, I did everything I could to convey casualness, but it was hard for me to buy my own tone! I was on the precipice of gaining major progress in my mission against that devilish dunce, and it was too laborious to stifle my eagerness to get to the bottom of this!

“Uh…” Rhys hesitated, which I presumed stemmed from my overzealousness. I made a mental note to work on my acting skills more, and then he eventually elucidated, “I didn’t get his name, but his shop was called The Conduit. Whatever that means!”

He went by the guise of The Conduit? Why didn’t I think to search for the obvious factor here? I was almost going to ask him some follow-ups, but then Rowan shouted, “Rhys! If you don’t go inside immediately, we’re gonna do some serious reflecting!”

Rhys’s eyes widened, and he zipped into his abode. I found his punishment far less daunting than he did, but I supposed that I had no idea how intense those reflections were. I shook that concept out of my brain, and I refocused on the critical tip-off I just received! At last, I possessed a path to the buffoon who dared to align themselves with Damon! I hardly knew where to begin, but I was thrilled to dive in! I pulled out my cellphone, and then…

“Oof!” Phoebe exclaimed from near the gate. I swiveled around, and I was aghast to see that my girlfriend had fallen into the muddy aftermath of the mosquito invasion! I hurried over to assist her back to her feet, but she already picked herself up. She glanced around at the wet soot as well as the soil stains on the fence, and she concluded, “I hope whatever bug offended you was worth all of the extra work you’re gonna have to do!”

“It was!” I grinned broadly knowing I was divulging an absolute fact to her for once.

Phoebe smiled, but then she ogled the garments she was wearing in disgust. “Ugh! I need to go wash these! And take a shower!”

I apologized, “Sorry! If it makes a difference, you’re still beautiful even with dingy clothes!”

“Aw! I’m not mad! This stuff’ll wash out! We have good detergent.” She nearly planted a peck on me, but she refrained. “Uh, you probably won’t wanna get all grimy…”

“Come here!” I pulled her in and smooched her on the lips. She beamed at me prior to returning to our domicile, and my heart fluttered. The saga with the mosquitos slipped my mind- today seemed like it would turn out great for me!

A familiar female’s speech articulated, “Ha! I see I’ve caught you at the perfect opportunity!”

I was so overtaken by alarm that I almost slipped in that same muck! Seriously, she couldn’t have been here! She only visited me at this address in my nightmares! I slowly shifted to her vicinity hoping I would prove my anxiety wrong, but I didn’t! To my horror, she was there in the flesh- Lilith!

Lilith triumphantly smirked at me as she primped her fresh hairdo and smoothed out her scantily-clad outfit. She pursed her lips, and then she sneered, “You got a little something on your…” She indicated to her lips and cheeks.

“Thank you for that! Now you can crawl back to whatever hole you crawled out of!” I spat. I didn’t have any inkling why she chose to haunt my yard right then, but I sincerely didn’t care! I was in no mood for drama, and I desired her to desert from my periphery more than anything!

“Fine! It’s only across the street!” She snickered when she espied the appalled expression I developed, and then she carried on, “Yes, I inherited my second husband’s estates! His seventy-year-old children were pissed, but I simply had to settle my roots here for a while so you could view the tasty morsel you missed out on forever!” She cackled in delight, and prior to my reaction unfolding, debris flew onto her! She spotted Jett burying something, and then she seethed, “You’re gonna pay for my dry cleaning bills!”

I retorted, “Fine! But don’t forget the last time you aimed to extort money from me- the judge laughed at your alimony request and ordered you to hand over cash to me!” She snarled at me, but she didn’t utter another word. As she stomped to her habitation, I roared with amusement! Soon though, I frowned. How much more trouble would befall upon me?

The Terra-Belle Demon, Ch. 24

“That’s the most important aspect of this process!” I declared as I stood before the mostly apathetic audience that comprised my first-period class. “Asking open-ended questions allows you to really get to know the candidate for the position you’re hiring for. If they only give you yes or no answers, it’ll be harder for you to gauge their personality. You need to dig a little deeper to recruit the best people to your business.”

“So, Principal Palillo gave closed questions to our new secretary?” Yurei inquired.

I wanted to snicker at that, but I had to maintain a certain level of professionalism here, so I gently wagged my finger at her. “That’s not very nice!”

Yurei objected, “But this morning I went into the office to give an absence request for Thanksgiving, and I saw Mister Ravana tangled up in telephone wire! Like he was seriously trapped in it!”

That image caused me to shake my head, but I also felt thankful that I didn’t have to be the one to get him out of a jam for once! I couldn’t broadcast my misgivings about my colleague to these kids though, so I ignored her comment and continued with my lecture, “Personality questions are important, but remember to delve into subjects related to the job…”

I espied Ismeray doodling in her notebook, but I knew the next part of my lesson would get her attention! I needed to figure out if she was behind the sale of Damon’s wands from Hell, and I certainly couldn’t have a private conversation with her about it! She was rarely alone nowadays, and I couldn’t isolate her in detention since she never broke any rules (as far as I could tell!), so the only possible avenue for this subject to get broached seemed to be to casually mention it in my lecture. At least I hoped I could avoid my nerves and keep it casual! I took a deep breath, and then I explained, “For example, if you wanted to run a successful witch and wizard school, you would wanna ensure that you hire someone who’s talented with magic!” Yes! She perked up at that reference! I reached the juncture to discover her role in this episode! I found it difficult to act aloofly at that second, but I did my utmost to convey that as I probed, “Ismeray, what kinds of wand-work questions would you use in this scenario?”

As I awaited her response, my heart beat wildly. I was more than ready to get a solid lad in this mystery, and while I possessed no clue on how I would proceed if she was the culprit, I would’ve been elated to have gained some momentum in my quest to eradicate this town of that dumb demon’s presence! To my dismay, she reported, “I dunno! We don’t use wands in my coven.”

“You don’t?” I strove to hide my disappointment right then. Not that I would’ve been pleased to have a pupil getting used as a pawn for that devilish jerk’s ploy, I simply would’ve been elated to have moved forward in this debacle! Now, I would have to return to square one!

“No!” Ismeray confirmed. “Wands can enhance certain spells, but if the wand wasn’t fashioned by someone you trust, then you don’t really know what curses are interlaced inside of it. Only a fool would dabble with those!”

I wondered if she knew that her sister previously owned a wand when she said that, but I didn’t want to bring up personal issues in my classroom. Prior to me continuing this discourse, Peter protested, “Hey! I sold a wand recently! I would’ve been more of a fool if I let that cash just pass me by! Am I right, Mister Fenmore?”

It alarmed me to hear that he passed that perilous apparatus to someone else! I still didn’t want the children to see my angst over this topic though, so I nonchalantly queried, “That depends… Who did you sell the wand to?”

“I don’t know!” Peter scratched his scale contemplatively. “It was definitely a guy though! A young dude who… Or maybe it was that old lady… Why does that matter?”

“Why does that matter?” Roxy dramatically arose from her seat and went on a soapbox. “It matters ‘cause you had a piece of my beloved in your hands, and you selfishly took away my chance to help him with his noble fight! DIRTBAG!”

I never saw a group of teens so still or quiet! No one appeared to understand what she meant, and I imagine they were too afraid to seek clarification from her! I understood what she was referring to, and I still became slightly terrified of her! I wanted to call our hall monitor to escort her out of there, but I feared that paging Sam would infuriate her already volatile temper! I needed to do something, but what?

Fortunately, I was saved by the bell! Her peers, especially Peter, dashed into the hall as swiftly as possible, and I didn’t blame them! I would’ve fled from the area myself if it wasn’t my turf! I assumed that Roxy would stay inside and holler some more, or she may have merely glared profusely. Either scenario wasn’t very palatable for me, and I bristled at the concept of dealing with her deranged confrontation! To my surprise, she did neither! She gathered her belongings and huffed out of my sight! “Huh…!” I watched her vanish from my periphery in case she decided to produce some sort of revenge against me, but she traveled away from this sector fairly briskly! It didn’t really make sense to me, but I wasn’t going to turn down a bit of tranquility! I kicked back as I waited for the next batch of adolescents, and I verbalized my abatement, “Finally! Some peace!”

Yeah, I definitely jinxed that! As if on cue, I heard a cacophony of screams from down the foyer! I snapped out of my repose, and I groaned, “Why now?” I  dreaded this matchup, but I also was kind of glad to get the daily assault over with! I considered that perhaps the student behind this incident would provide me with some evidence that would lead to that dastardly dunce’s accomplice, or, at the very minimum, it sounded like there were dozens of witnesses in this instance, which I would have been grateful for so that perhaps my best friends would finally believe my claims about the nightmare transpiring in our borough!

I mentally prepared myself to encounter another bizarre beast charged up to do battle, but what was present didn’t fit that criterion whatsoever! Well, maybe the bizarre part! Sam had apparently tackled someone, and when I got a closer gander, that person was Brantley! “You can’t do this!” Brantley rather gravelly articulated.

“Oh, yes I can!” Sam refuted. “Since you’re breaking the law, I have the right to detain you!”

“I wasn’t breaking any laws!” Brantley argued. “I came to visit my girlfriend at her place of employment! Does that make me a criminal?”

Preceding Sam’s follow-up to that, I informed him, “He doesn’t have a girlfriend! He’s stalking mine!”

Brantley contended, “I’m not stalking her! I trail her on occasion and watch her from afar- big difference!”

“Not really, bruh!” a boy witnessing this spectacle put in.

“I’m aggressively courting her ‘cause I’m determined to win her back!” Brantley avidly asserted.

A girl in the throng remarked, “You’re creepy!”

Brantley raved, “None of you are romantic!”

“What are you doing on this floor?” I catechized. “The future Missus Fenmore is downstairs!”

“This meddler was patrolling in front of the entryway, so I figured I could sneak around,” Brantley elucidated. “You’re awful, you freakin’ meddler!”

Sam brushed that off, “I’ve received worse insults than that! Let’s go!” The bell rang, and the youths in that locale panicked slightly. “It’s alright, I won’t issue a tardy for this!” They exhaled in alleviation, and Same began to cart his captor from the campus.

Brantley craned his neck back and beseeched the bystanders, “Tell Miss Caracy I love her!”

I instructed the juveniles, “Don’t do that!” Brantley gave me a piercing scowl, and it reminded me of the glower Damon would display after a supreme loss. I hadn’t contemplated it until that minute, but Brantley did arrive at the hospital awfully fast after Phoebe got injured by one of Damon’s monsters! Was he the conduit? I craved to reflect on this for a lengthy stint, but I noticed my second-period class was gawking at me in confusion! Oops! I raced to my chambers, and I had to table that notion so that this lesson would go smoothly!

That afternoon, I blasted a classic rock station as I wiped down my backyard fence, but I was hardly paying attention to either of those things! I was obsessed with the disturbing idea of Brantley possibly being the conduit- I always found him annoying, but he seemed like he was too imbecilic to ever become a threat to my household. Were there signs I missed? I replayed our interactions over and over again, and I couldn’t pinpoint anything, but I wasn’t searching for evidence in the past. I almost hoped that he would make another pathetic appearance to win my fiancé once more that day so I could grill him for the truth in this supernatural situation…

“Hey, babe!” Phoebe greeted me as she emerged from the sliding glass door.

“Bah!” I yelled as I jumped from the fright of her abrupt entrance. I was so lost in rumination that I didn’t see her coming! I felt dumb over that reaction to my beloved, and I strove to recover from this slipup by joking, “And by that, I mean hey gorgeous!”

She gave me a kiss, and then she curiously glimpsed at my current undertaking. “You’re washing the gate? But you don’t even like washing our shower walls!”

I filled her in, “I’m not enjoying this! My mom said they gotta be clean before Saturday so they can tape up the decorations. And it’s not like I don’t like cleaning the shower, I just find it too hard! We had a maid in the penthouse, and now I feel like I should’ve given her a raise!”

Phoebe giggled at my bout of humor, and then she bemoaned, “Oh man, I forgot that we agreed to do the engagement party the night after Homecoming! Why did we think that was a halfway decent plan?”

“My mom promised there’d be booze,” I reminded her.

“That’ll help!” Phoebe affirmed as she picked up the other sponge and joined me in my scouring endeavor. “At least we can get both over with this week! It’s been awful! The deejay opted to break his contract with us ‘cause he heard rumors that our school was haunted! Can you believe that?”

I didn’t know how to reply to that honestly. “Uh…” Technically, we did have a ghost there previously, but that phase of Damon’s existence was very short-lived. His Hellian form took over this semester, but I didn’t esteem that could be deemed as a haunting. Perhaps a possession? In any case, I wasn’t going to mention any otherworldliness until she got her memory restored, so I grew mystified as to what to tell her until another frequent unpleasantness returned to my brain. “Well, we did have a disturbance from the past invade Rosemary King today!”

Phoebe shuddered. “I heard about that… from everyone who showed up! Holy smokes, that’s so embarrassing! And do you know how hard it is to talk about Arthur Miller when something like that occurs?”

“I can imagine!” I was completely serious. In the spring, we had a giant dragon invade the quad during lunch, and the last two periods were impossible to carry on with our educational agenda! Since her ex got inserted into the conversation, I decided to touch on his potential connection with the occult. “What did that jagoff picture he was gonna accomplish by trespassing onto the grounds anyways? Was he gonna, like, cast a romance spell or something?”

“A romance spell?” Phoebe echoed with captivation. My anticipation skyrocketed- I felt positive that she was going to confirm my theory that he dabbled in the dark arts, but instead, she stated, “Brantley wouldn’t even let me have a good luck charm! He claimed it was worshipping false idols. He was such a bore! I keep forgetting why I stayed with that idiot for so long!”

I grinned at her quip, but it was arduous to not get disappointed by this development. I supposed that he could have switched his mentality at any time, but it didn’t seem promising for me theory. To mask my ill contention, I went to the other side of the fence with the intention of washing it. After walking into that portion of my property, I spotted something in the bushes that caused my eyes to go wide…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 23

George politely greeted me, “Good afternoon, Mister Fenmoe! How can I help you?”

I gawked at him in disbelief. He was acting like this whole experience was so typical, but it is not typical to have an enterprise that claims to have the ability to solve all of your problems for five dollars! I had so many questions swirling around in my head, but this situation presented so much lunacy that my brain locked up! All I could do was sputter, “Why…? What…? You…! Huh?”

“Ah! I can see you’re skeptical!” George observed.

“Skeptical is an understatement!” I asserted. “Please tell me what you’re doing is legal!”

George inquired, “Oh, do I need a permit to run this business?”

I replied, “No! Well, yes! Technically, you would in order to make it legitimate, but I have my doubts about the legitimacy of…. whatever this is!” 

“Yeah, I know! It seems too good to be true,” George acknowledged. “But I’m not greedy- five bucks for this service is ‘cause I truly care!”

“Maybe the five bucks will solve your problems, but how do you expect to solve anything without any tools?”

George refuted, “I have a tool! Would you like to see it?”

I gazed at him hesitantly. “That’s not a codeword for anything, is it?”

“No! It’s a real tool, and it will solve all your problems!” George insisted. “Would you like to see it?”

“Show me!” I didn’t care much for whatever game he was playing, but my curiosity was too intensified to not participate in his antics.

George held out one of his palms and demanded, “Five dollars, please!”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. “Why would I give you any money if I have no proof that you can do anything more than scam me? What, I give you five dollars, and suddenly, my wishes will come true? So, you’re a genie who wants to make a profit or something?” The subject of magic instantly illuminated me on what this tool may have been! I scrambled to get my wallet out, and I frowned at its contents. “How about you solve a small problem for one clam?”

“Fine!” George agreed. He put my money in his jar, and then he reached into his pocket. I prayed that he possessed an object that did not remotely resemble what I feared it was- I would have rather lost the last of my cash than deal with anything supernatural! To my dismay, he produced a wand! He genially regarded me, “Now, I know what you’re thinking…”

“I really can’t imagine that you do!” I responded. 

George didn’t address my assertion and went on, “This looks like a mere child’s toy, but that’s wrong! It has the ability to create great-!”

I interrupted him, “Where did you get this? Was it a Classbook post?”
“No. I’ve seen them in flashsales, but I never had the opportunity to buy one,” George relayed to me. “I was out practicing pitches in my backyard when my ball flew over the fence. I went down to the creek toget it, and I saw that this had washed ashore. Who would throw away a product like this?”

“Only an idiot would do something so dumb!” I grumbled as I regretted my decision to chuck Cassie’s wand into the water. Why didn’t I consider this as a possibility?

George concurred, “Exactly! But their loss is my gain! I can assist so many folks in need with this! Speaking of which, what would you like me to do for you?”

I firmly declared, “I would like you to give me that wand!”

“Forget it! I’m not giving this up!” George refused while holding the wand protectively. “It can do real spells, you know!”

“I know!” I bitterly recalled several instances where I could verify that as fact.

George misinterpreted my tone, “You don’t believe me! Alright, you want proof? I’ll show you proof!” I expected him to perform a hex, but instead, he called out, “Rakey! Come here for a minute!”

If I had to make a bet on what creature Rakey was, I would’ve lost big time! Never in a million years would I have predicted that I would encounter a giant, walking pumpkin! All of its limbs were made of vines except for its left arm, which was a rake. It bore a malicious smile as it trudged towards us, and I deemed it prudent to take immediate action, but my startlement only allowed me to muster a weak peep, “Why?”

“Isn’t he neat?” George beamed at him with pride.

“There are a lot of adjectives I have for him, but ‘neat’ isn’t one of them!” I riposted.

George proclaimed, “He is evidence that this wand’s power is real!”

As he inched closer to our proximity, my gut urged me to prepare a defense forthwith, but I couldn’t resist asking, “Exactly what problem does that monstrosity solve?”

“Rakey is my new raker,” George answered. “My mom wanted me to quit practicing and rake the leaves, so I manifested a friend to do it for me.”

“I’ve got bad news for you, bud! Rakey is not your friend,” I let him know.

George disagreed, “Of course he is! Look at him, he’s smiling! He’s happy to see me! Aw, he wants a hug!”

Rakey raised his spikes in a threatening fashion, but George persisted in his position for an embrace! I pushed him out of harm’s way, and I did so at a crucial juncture- Rakey took a powerful swipe at George! He still grazed his back a little, so George cried out, “Ow! Bad Rakey!”

As Rakey advanced towards me, I yelled to George, “That wasn’t an accident! Rakey is evil!”

“What are you talking about?” George puzzled. “He plays a tad rough, but he’s designed to only do beneficial stuff for humankind!” He got up and beheld Rakey attempting to strike me, and he exclaimed, “Rakey! What are you doing?”

“That wand was designed todo malicious jinxes! Whatever you do with it, it’ll produce something destructive!” I explained to him as I evaded Rakey’s attacks.

George seemed very troubled by this revelation, but he didn’t appear willing to accept it yet. “But… he did such a great job on our lawn!”

I began to grow frustrated by his obstinate denial, so I vociferated, “Get used to clearing the leaves yourself! I’m not getting raked to death by a giant pumpkin!” I pivoted in different directions in order to get a decent shot at Rakey, but his lengthy breadth kept me out of range. Trying to strategize while fighting for my life was difficult, and it didn’t occur to me that it could get even more complicated until…

“Connor! What the hell are you doing?” Ellie emerged from my vehicle and impatiently put her hands on her hips.

“Missus Wayan! We could use a hand!” George requested.

I notified him, “Her eyes are dilated.”

Rakey raced towards Ellie, so I grabbed his leg to hinder his movements, but he wound up dragging me along! “What do we do?” George fretted.

“Rakey’s gotta get killed!” I staunchly asserted.

“Who’s Rakey?” Ellie catechized.

George objected, “Are you sure? Can’t we persuade him to simply behave?”

I sped in front of Ellie and barred Rakey from wounding her. As he pursued me once more, I commanded Ellie, “Wait in the car!”

“Nuh-uh!” Ellie refused. “You’re up to something weird, aren’t you?”

“I can’t really deny that!” I professed. I then pondered out loud, “How do we destroy it?”

George suggested, “I could do another enchantment.”

I hollered, “No! You’ll only make it worse!”

“What exactly are you trying to get rid of here?” Ellie queried.

“That’s a really good question!” I affirmed as I swerved to avoid Rakey’s wrath. I directed George, “Distract it, and I’ll give it a good whack!”

George whimpered, “I don’t want to! I’m too scared!” Rakey shifted his focus to him after detecting his apprehension. “Oh, I guess I’m gonna do it anyways!”

Rakey propelled himself toward George, and I snuck up close to his noggin. I had seen Jack-O-Lanterns smashed quite frequently during the Halloween season, so I invoked the heavens that giving it a hardy punch would do the trick! I built up the force necessary to ensure my assault would end this creature’s perilous stint in Terra Belle, but prior to me laying a finger on Rakey…

“Connor!” Ellie snapped. Rakey swiveled himself to her direction, and I found myself dodging his blows as she scolded me, “Whatever nonsense you’re up to, hurry up and finish it! You were supposed to bring me home, not play pretend with a kid from my neighborhood!”

“Rakey! See what I’m doing over here! Whoo!” George did a series of dance moves in an effort to distract him.

His aspirations did nothing to persuade Rakey to cease his murderous intentions. Ellie strove to get me to heed her lecture, but I was too busy striving to stay alive! I couldn’t conjure any solutions, and all I could furnish to counter it was to beseech the universe that a sighted individual would happen upon our scene and join our side! I got cornered by a trunk and a tree, and I threw up my hands to shield my body from his weapon. He raised his armament, and I braced for the worst…

My lids were shut tight, and I anticipated feeling agony. Instead, I felt pieces of a hard, smooth surface crumble on me! I glanced up, and to my startlement, Ellie was standing over Rakey’s carcass with a disgusted expression and gobs of pulp on her fist! “Was that a pumpkin?” Ellie shrieked. 

“Sorta.” I breathed a sigh of relief, and then I laughed, “Were you aiming for my head?”

“Someone needed to stop you! You were getting hysterical! I think…” She ogled her mitts in perplexion. I became slightly optimistic at this spectacle- was she starting to believe me?

Our moment got interrupted by Roxy’s breathy voice broadcasting to us, “What… did… I… miss… this… time?”

I automatically reacted with a negation, “Nothing!” I instantaneously regretted that choice! I grew anxious that any consideration that Ellie pertained to my version of events had vanished with that repudiation, and I knocked on wood that Ellie could get persuaded to accept my honest account later on!

“You… lie!” Roxy braked her bike and stomped her foot in frustration. “You… ground… orange… vines!”

“How can you lie like that?” George accosted me.

A woman from an adjacent abode whom I could only presume was George’s mother bellowed, “George! What have you been doing out there?”

George fibbed, “Nothing!” Preceding his return to his domicile, he cracked the wand in half and tossed the remains into the gutter.

“Something did occur here!” Roxy ogled at the shards in an irate disappointment. She dove for the sticks and frantically did what she could to assemble them. “Quick! Tell me what spell he did so I can recreate it!”

“He summoned a million gold bars, but I rejected them ‘cause I took a vow of poverty when I went into the teaching profession!” I sardonically kidded.

Roxy howled in outrage over my pertness, but I already shut the door of my auto. As I drove off, Ellie posed to me, “Connor, what actually went on out there?”

I wasn’t certain if this was an invitation toact with total frankness or if she merely sought to confirm the popular theory of my waning sanity, so I probed, “What do you picture happened out there?”

Ellie mulled it over briefly, and then she concluded, “Regardless of what that was, you seriously need to see a therapist!” I sighed and contemplated what I could do to convince everyone of the reality of this paranormal circumstance…

The Terra-Belle Demon, Chapter 22

“Does it hurt?” the little boy worriedly queried his mother.

I glanced up from my phone and gazed across the small lobby. The lady sitting beneath a designer optic wear poster set down her magazine and gave him a quizzical stare. “It’s an eye exam- what makes your think pain will get involved?”

The boy somewhat anxiously conveyed to his mother, “Well, I was watching a MeTube video, and this guy-!” 

“Ugh! You and those videos! Why do I let you watch those endlessly so frequently?” The mother rubbed her temples in frustration. “Let me guess, this guy stuck something in his eye as part of some stupid stunt?” The boy nodded, so the mother asserted, “You’re gonna be fine ‘cause you didn’t stick anything in your eyes… Right?”

“No…” The boy shifted uncomfortably, and then he started to tear up a tad.

After making a noise of annoyance, the mother probed, “Why are you crying? There’s nothing to be afraid of here! Look at that man!” The mother indicated to me. “You don’t see him getting all weepy over his visit!”

I opened my mouth and nearly revealed that I was actually just waiting for a friend, but after observing the boy’s quelled disposition, I refrained from speaking. I continued pursuing my phone activity, but I soon grew weary of that. I scrolled through hundreds of Classbook ads, and I didn’t discover a single magic wand! A part of me grew hopeful that the conduit had a change of heart about assisting Damon in his diabolical scheme, but that would’ve been way too convenient for me and therefore was implausible. I sighed and took a break from my device. I wondered if the youngsters purchasing these commodities were using a different app, but I had no clue how I would find out what that might have been since it would have been awkward to randomly question my students what they use! I had begun to speculate if I could work it into my lesson plan somehow when I spotted a local periodical- could the conduit have posted his ware in a non-traditional spot? Or at least not traditional by today’s standards! I reached for it, and…

“Ouch!” I cried out after the publication gave me a paper cut. The sting seemed unusually venomous, and I strove to maintain a brave face, but I couldn’t help but sob slightly. What hurt worse is when I recalled that Elara specifically mentioned an app! The boy glimpsed at me in concern, so I immediately sprang up and went to the clerk. “Excuse me, do you have a bandage for my finger?” I made certain to heighten my volume enough so that the boy would recognize that my blubbering had nothing to do with the medical procedure he was about to go through. I didn’t really need to treat my small wound, but I felt responsible for this boy’s well-being now!

“I just have these dragon ones- is that okay?” the clerk verified with me.

Remembering the beast I had dealt with yesterday, I wanted to say no, but it’s not like I could tell her that! “Yes, fine!” 

She handed it to me, and then she reassured me, “The doctor is finishing up with his last patient, so you should be up shortly.”

“I’m not here for me. I’m someone’s ride,” I informed her in a low voice.

“Really? When was the last time you got a checkup?” The clerk peered into my peepers.

I politely declined, “I don’t need it!” She didn’t seem to believe me, and after mulling it over for a moment, I realized it had been a few since I did an ocular appointment. “Alright, what’s your next opening?”

A doctor opened the door next to the clerk and guided his patient, “Here you are, Missus Wayan! This must be your husband!”

“Husband? Do I look like a cougar to you?” Ellie barked at him. The doctor made an uncomfortable expression, and Ellie huffed, “Don’t give me that look!”

“How did you know?” the doctor inquired.

I replied, “We’re teachers- we have a sixth sense for it!” I received Ellie, and I complimented her, “Those sunglasses really suit you!”

Ellie riposted, “Don’t lie! They make me appear like Stevie Wonder!” I wanted to argue with that, but it was pretty accurate! Obviously, Ellie could tell I was stifling a snicker since she snapped, “Let’s go!”

As I drove through the city, I couldn’t stop thinking about where those kids got their wands. I could have searched every selling app and website ad, but there had to be a more direct approach in narrowing it down! I doubted that Damon would opt to use any random person as his conduit, there had to have been a more personal reason for his choice! But who else did he have a connection to? He got into a relationship once after his transformation, but Martha had a heart attack and returned to her husband. Roxy would have been willing to do it, but I suspected that Damon would deem her as incapable of pulling off such an intricate arrangement. It wasn’t often I said this, but he wasn’t wrong there! His family all died a century ago, so who else would’ve been significant enough for that otherworldly jerk to choose for a task so important to him?

I glanced over to Ellie, and I wistfully wished that she was more prone to act cooperatively in this matter! Her lore of history might have been invaluable for this venture, but I was fairly positive she would shoot me down if I even attempted to bring it up to her. Still, I had to give it a shot, didn’t I? I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by and live with the regret of my indecision! I chewed on the most logical icebreaker to this conversation, and I finally landed on something that was halfway decent. I craned my neck to her direction, but prior to me getting to utter a single word, Ellie cut me off, “Nope!”

“You don’t even know what I was gonna say!” I protested.

“Yes, I do!” Ellie disagreed. “You were gonna ask me something about Damon, weren’t you?”

I lied, “No!” Ellie’s visage contorted to display her disbelief at my claim, so I expanded on my statement, “Well, it was related to him. Specifically, it was about his relations…”

Ellie pressed me, “Why do you wanna know about that?” 

“Uh…” I wracked my brain to unearth a rationale that didn’t involve the truth of his reappearance but also didn’t entail me sputtering a major fib. As we passed by a thicket of trees, I espied an abandoned abode that sort of reminded me of the one across the street from me. Well, what was located there preceding that absolutely awful McMansion’s construction! I recollected a bit of background on that joint, and I concocted a totally plausible motive for me to interrogate her about that place’s past! “Damon’s sister used to live in that house opposite of mine. Ferneus told us her husband died of diarrhea and that she went mad after Damon disappeared, but that’s all I know about her! I’m curious what went on in that hovel during her duration there.”

“No, you’re not!” Ellie disputed. “You’re doing research on that prick ‘cause you believe he resurfaced!”

I countered, “What makes you think I’m not interested in learning about the story of what occurred in my neighborhood back in the day?”

Ellie argued, “You all tune out whenever I speak about the historical events of Terra Belle! It was just last week you guys started tuning out about my anecdote saying this town’s name came from a spelling error by the original post office. See, you’re tuning me out right now!”

“I’m concentrating on the road!” I wasn’t being completely deceptive there! She was mostly correct, but I wasn’t going to admit that to her! I was determined to sell her on the idea of divulging some much-needed data to me, so I catechized, “Oh, come on! I’m giving you an opening to discuss something you love! How can you turn it down?”

“There’s gotta be a catch!” Ellie warily concluded. 

I posed to her, “What if there is no catch and I’m simply showing some kindness to a buddy who’s not feeling her best?”

Ellie laughed, “I don’t buy that, but if it’ll shut you up, I’ll tell you what I know.” I waited with bated breath! Finally, I was going to get the answers I so desperately sought! I felt so convinced that she was about to give me the key to solving this whole drama that I pulled over by a wooded area and paid the utmost attention to what she revealed. “His sister, Adalia, married the owner of a successful store in Philadelphia. The oldest brother, Edlin, inherited the textile factory their father ran. Edlin cut both of his siblings off from the wealth the factory generated, but they most likely didn’t care since Adalia was already taken care of by her husband and Damon already had a trust fund he relied on.”

“Damon was a trust fund brat?” I chuckled. “That makes sense!”

“Yup!” Ellie agreed, and then she went on, “Well, after Tobin died, Adalia relied on Damon financially, and I imagine they grew very close personally too ‘cause she changed her last name from Huxley back to Karro.”

I put in, “Well, she learned magic and opened a portal to the Netherworld just to find him, so yeah, they were probably close!”

Ellie went on, “The historical records corroborate that. Adalia became known as the Widow Karro after Damon disappeared. Edlin obviously didn’t care about his sister’s mental demise ‘cause he could’ve easily afforded her medical management all along, but he gained even more wealth after he turned the textile factory into a spaghetti sauce manufacturer. It’s crazy- Piacere Mio started with his family!”

“Wow! Do you reckon Edlin purposely switched to a garlic product after Damon’s vampire transformation?” I pondered.

“It’s hard to say! There was no evidence Damon and Edlin ever made contact again, so it was probably a coincidence,” Ellie determined.

This was all very interesting, but it didn’t really satisfy my hunch of who that devilish dastard would choose as his conduit. He possessed as strong bond with his sister, but that wouldn’t have assisted him in the present… unless… “Did the Widow Karro ever remarry? Did she have kids? What happened to her? You know, aside from going nuts and manifesting an avenue to the undead…”

Ellie reported, “She spent the rest of her days as a loony spinster, and she was found dead in her bedroom at eighty-eight.”

“That’s it?” I couldn’t suppress the disappointment that erupted as a result of this lack of leads. My instincts truly persuaded me that I had reached a breakthrough, and yet I couldn’t distinguish anything from this adage that may have aided me in stopping that moronic fiend’s plot! I became slightly embittered by this setback, especially since I could have dropped Ellie off by now and gone home to engage in some productive activity!

“What were you expecting?” Ellie enquired.

I didn’t want to evoke any outrage from her by revealing my participation in the mission of the supernatural dilemma that none of my acquaintances accepted as fact, so I quickly articulated a rejoinder, “I dunno! Something other than some whack-a-do from yesteryear might be haunting a property near mine!”

Ellie chortled, and then she warned me, “Since I gave you this information, I better not hear any more talk about that creep! If you say his name one more time, I swear I’ll bop you! ‘Kay?’

Evidently, she wanted me to promise I would swear off my quest against that demonic dope, but I couldn’t do that! I strove to generate a response that would quell her, but prior to that transpiring, I saw a young man emerge from a nearby dwelling with a folding table. He taped a sign to the front that read: George Solves All of Your Problems for Five Dollars. This intrigued me enough that I articulated, “What’s this?”

“A bop is a hit,” Ellie filled me in like I was an idiot.

“Yeah, duh! I meant this student from Rosemary King with a strange business on his lawn.” I studied him for a minute, and he didn’t have anything with him except for a jar that he wrote “Payments here!” on. My interest piqued, I had to get to the bottom of this bizarreness! “I’ll return shortly,” I affirmed to Ellie as I emerged from my vehicle. As I approached Geroge, he had his hands folded neatly like everything was normal, but that couldn’t possibly have been true!