Keeley Thomson (Book 3): Mistress of Souls (21 page)

What to do though?

Keeley thought she had a plan, but didn't know if it would work.

"But I cannot father..." She turned and clasped her hands in front of her chest dramatically.

"I cannot leave, for I am indentured to the Secret Vampire of Coretechs. The fiend found out about your perfidy and has trapped me as a slave. All night long it's the same thing...." She looked around, eyes wide and sad, trying to come up with a line that would get a laugh.

Slowly she continued.

"Over and over, one after another...." She started making hand motions.

"Cream pie to the face. Smoosh. Pie to the face... Smoosh..." People gave her odd looks for a second, so she broke character and put her hands on her hips.

"What did you expect, this is a family show. Pervs..." She smiled though and went back to her dramatics. Then the gathering crowd laughed.

After a few minutes she had them cheering for her, in her battle to escape the evil and fairly untidy Vampire that lives in the secret underground basement of Coretechs, a realm only known by the darkest of beings and the Knight janitor, Carl.

She was just about to be stuck when Rebekah ran forward and pulled her raccoon head off, holding it under one arm.

"Nuh-uh, my little school girl clown, you cannot escape me, the Secret Vampire!" She turned so everyone could see her, which got applause. After all she'd helped half of them get food already, it was unexpected and given the level of her "make-up" under the top costume, clearly planned. Charles was forgotten as they argued and Rebekah pretended to pull her away, back to life of cream pie servitude in the darkest pits. That was when the surprise came. Out of the crowd, holding a mop and somehow wearing a tan janitors uniform came... Barb.

"Don't worry distressingly young looking clown girl with too little clothing, I, Carl the Knight Janitor will save you. Remember wherever you go, a good and honest Coretechs employee is always ready to lend assistance." A good tenth of the people around them worked for the company, so that line got a lot of applause and a few hoots.

Then she began to fight with the Vampire raccoon, losing her mop after the third hit, never making actual contact.

She stopped, looked at the crowd and shrugged.

"Or... we could run.... Come clown girl!" They jogged off Rebekah stymied because she couldn't leave her food table. Defeated she put her head back on and moped back to where she started. Bemoaning her fate.

"Defeated again by the good and wholesome non-Vampires of Coretechs!"

 Everyone laughed and clapped loud enough that people outside tried to poke in to see what was going on.

Barb gasped a little laughing joyously. They'd managed to get towards the far side of the room, near a door that was blocked off by a sign that said "No entry".

"OK, did I screw that up totally or what? I didn't know if it was for real or not at first. Until the cream pie bit. So glad we covered improv in drama class."

Keeley hugged her, careful not to get make-up on her. Barb shimmied out of the tan jumpsuit to show that she had a costume on underneath, which was just regular clothing. At least until she dropped the bed sheet over her head, showing she was a ghost.

"I found the janitors stuff in the closet. We should probably return it. Was that drunk guy your dad?"

"Unfortunately. This isn't the best situation as you might imagine."

"Oh. OK." The ghost drifted closer, shoes not making a sound at all over the noise in the room. Barb whispered to her though.

"Can we, maybe meet up later? There's some stuff I want to talk to you about. I understand if you can't... family stuff and the party. It's huge, but..." She started to turn as if to wander away.

"Sure. I'm out of this place at eleven at the latest. Meet me outside of here?"

"Sounds good. Thanks." She didn't apologize for anything at least, which was good, having just saved the day like she had. It was freaking brilliant. Carl the Knight Janitor, sweeping in to rescue her, just like Keeley had said.

They parted ways, meaning Keeley could float back to her mother and father, who'd at least decided not to yell about his wrongdoings anymore.

Sherry wasn't having his apologies at least.

"It isn't about money, or other men, or women or whatever it was that you've been imagining. It's about you planning to leave us in the first place. We're done Charles. We have been for a long time. Honestly I've been expecting you to leave for a while, but I figured it would just be a divorce, not fleeing to another country. You couldn't manage to get either of those right though, could you? When you leave you aren't allowed to just come back. I don't want to see you anymore. You made your choice, go and live with it." She sounded strong, but then she wasn't drunk.

Charles growled back, switching to uber-a-hole mode in the span of a few ragged breaths.

"Found someone new already? Don't think you need me? Fine. Get out of my house then. Let him take care of you. Fuck it. I'll take my car and house leave you with nothing you selfish whore."

He jerked in place, like someone had tried to grab him, except no one had. Sherry looked scared for a few seconds, but then locked eyes with Keeley who shrugged and moved forward. If they had to do this, they could. It wouldn't be where she'd have chosen it to take place, but they could manage. With a bit of thought she filled herself with a reasonable calm, a feeling of peace that flowed through her. Not empathy though. Not for him. Not now.

She didn't speak until she knew it would sound relaxed.

"Mrs. Gibson already signed over the house and all your stocks, pension and whatnot to mom. It isn't a lot, since you've only been there for half a year. That car is yours. If you want it you can pick it up in the morning. Still, unless you really want to go to prison, I can't recommend hanging out here. I won't cover up a crime for you and the investigation might just show that you're guilty, don't you think? Looks bad, you running in the first place." She had to make it sound like she didn't know anything for certain, even if it was a lie. If it went to court she needed the deniability.

"I don't know if you did it or not, but you've
said
you did in front of all these people. We aren't fighting with you, or arguing. But you need to go.
Now
. This isn't the place or time for this."

He answered by telling her to shut up. It was a classy move, but no one else heard him, because he was whispering at least. She nodded and took her mother's hand, leading her away. She expected her dad to follow, but he didn't and a bit later she noticed him stumbling away, out into the night. He'd be back no doubt. Trouble always managed to find its way back to her.

That was actually a Greater Demon thing. The supernatural in particular tended to gravitate towards them, about the time they started to manifest their full powers. From the moment they were "born".

They both found things to do, mainly helping Clara, who really did have the party nailed down, even if it was ten times larger than they thought it would be. They ran out of candy, but everyone that wanted some had it, and the food was down to a few cookies and bar shaped treats as people started to drift away at about ten. There was also a full basket of apples that had been gotten because they were traditional, not assuming that anyone wanted to eat them. It was a weeknight and while the party technically would go to eleven, the little ones needed sleep. It took a while for the place to clear though, no one wanting to fight the crowds overly.

The fire department got stuck handling the bonfires, which still burned hot and bright, having plenty of fuel left. It was better than just leaving them though, which even they all agreed to when Keeley went to check on everyone. By eleven it was mainly the catering crew that was left, cleaning already. Sherry was helping with it and so were Eve and Hally.

"I..." She announced to everyone within ear shot, "will be back in a bit. Barb said she had something to talk to me about."

That got Hally to make a face and shake her head, turning crimson, but Eve waved from across the room.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

That got Sherry to stare for a few seconds, obviously having been around the dark haired girl enough to know that wasn't exactly a huge request and left a whole lot that could be done. Still, she wasn't told not to go or anything.

Barb wasn't by the door, even though Keeley searched for her a little, waiting. The whole thing felt
wrong
suddenly for some reason as she stood searching up and down the street. Something almost imperceptible buzzed in the air. It wasn't magic or electricity, just a sense of wrongness that pulled at her somehow. It was creepy.

After about ten minutes of waiting Keeley decided to look around a bit, wanting to be certain Barb hadn't been standing in the wrong place wondering why Keeley had ditched her. She wasn't coming from left or right, not that could be seen under the street lights at a distance, but maybe she wanted to have Keeley alone? If she was going to make a move that made sense. That or there might be some kind of problem. Maybe someone trying to hurt her or something even.

Keeley didn't know what to do about it if that was actually the case. She was a Demon though, so she could pick what she wanted to feel easily enough. She worked on that, trying to make herself numb inside first, then got ready to feel some passion if she had to. One thing was sure, no matter what Barb wanted, rejecting her wasn't a good plan. She'd clearly had too much of that in her life already. Almost everyone had sent her away or neglected her.

It made her vulnerable and ripe for the picking. Darla's fruit though, so Keeley would just be nice. An honest to goodness friend. One that didn't have to feel bad about anything she did to keep her new friend happy.

She found her standing in the lot behind the VFW. It had been used for extra parking and had almost no lighting, which kind of lent some strength to the idea that the girl wanted some alone time, her back was turned though, but the shape was right, it was her, free of the ghost costume she'd had on earlier. From her posture she held something in front of her body, hugging it to her middle lovingly.

Like a cat or something, since she stroked it every few seconds.

"Barb?" It wouldn't do to startle her. The girl didn't jump at the soft call though. She didn't seem to notice either. Keeley tried again.

"Barb? You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah... I sure did. It's important. I think this may be the most important thing I've ever said or done Keeley. Isn't that odd? Of everything I've done, you're what's most important to me. I hardly even know you. It's like you've cast a spell on me, wrapping my mind up in a neat little web, capturing my heart."

What was she supposed to say to that? Nothing came to mind, but she walked closer anyway, showing that it wasn't going badly for the other girl, at least if she turned around to see her.

Barb kept going, her voice soft.

"I love you Keeley. I didn't think I would. I really thought this was all about Darla you know. She's why I started at Raintree, and why I worked my way onto the cheer squad. Self-important bunch of twits, don't you think? Cheerleaders in general I mean, not your friends of course. They're actually decent people. I think Darla picked them all for that. Not
me
, I had to trick my way onto the team, pretend to be the little pretty girl no one could love. I honestly can't believe I pulled that one off for so long with her. I doubt I'd make another few weeks with you. But you're different, aren't you Keeley? You aren't like the other girls. You came and made a point of being my friend. Almost like we're meant to be together. Like it's fate. Not that I believe in that." The girl sounded soft and warm in the dark, emotions coming to the surface that had been barely held in.

"I..." Keeley started to speak, but got cut off almost instantly.

"No, please... I know that you probably don't feel the same way, not yet, but just for this moment, let me do something for you. I got you a present. I don't know if you'll like it, but I hope so." Barb turned in the dark and tossed the thing in her hands gently, they were only about five feet away.

Even without light she could tell what it was. The scent of blood coming off of it was a dead giveaway. Before she'd finished the movement that pulled it to her body she recognized who it was too. Who it had been.

Her father. Charles.

Keeley tossed the head aside coldly. She'd already closed down her emotions after all, she tried to ramp up her strength, her speed, not certain what Barb was, or if this was the girl she knew at all. Time started to slow around her as the form rushed, not speaking anymore. Keeley pushed herself into a state that she'd never managed before at all, burning magic to make her into something nearly the equal of say, Darla or Finias.

It almost didn't matter at all. The move that hit her was just a palm under the chin and the only thing that allowed her to live was the fact that she'd started healing already, as a matter of habit. By focusing as hard as she could she repaired the initial damage. It burned a lot of magical energy though. Enough that she was starving as she landed on the ground, nearly fifty feet closer to the street. Her right leg broke on impact, so she had to heal that too.

She stood though, to find Barb facing her, about five feet away again.

"And here I thought you were weak and frail. Not very strong though, not yet. Good magical ability. What do you think we should do about that? Should I let you live? You seem a little too goody-good for this world to tell the truth. Maybe I should keep you as a slave for a while. Rape you until you grow a spine? Tell me Keeley, have you ever tried to suck a cock as big as your arm? Now that does some damage. I think we'll do that first, get you used to taking it that way before we start on the rest. Then when I get bored I can lend you out to a few of my friends. I have lots of friends that would like you."

She didn't answer, there didn't seem to be a lot she could do except talk to tell the truth. Whatever pretense Barb had been using had been dropped now and she stood there openly broadcasting that she was a Greater Demon. Kind of a bitch too.