Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap (9 page)

Society wasn't really designed to understand the idea that some people weren't always themselves. Not really. It showed up on television, from time to time, but that wasn't enough for most to understand that a person that looked like who they expected and sounded like them, really wasn't.

It was slightly more advanced of Hally than normal, but she really seemed to simply accept the fact that Barb was someone else now.

"Oh. That's pretty nifty. Anyway, I was thinking that we could run by the mall and get some things? Just stocking stuffers. My mom isn't great at doing things like that for herself, so I want to make sure that happens. Otherwise there will be three huge things hanging there on Christmas morning and one floppy thing with a single gift in it from my dad. He's not a big shopper." What was unstated had to do with the fact that Hally didn't have a job, so had very limited funds. About twenty dollars to get this done with. It was a bit of an oversight on Keeley's part actually, but until the night before, that part should have been taken care of by Darla. Now it was her responsibility.

"Where to?" She waited, but Barb snickered a bit, which wasn't the way that the girl ever would have acted at all before.

"She wants to go and check out your new boyfriend, to size up the competition." The words sounded slightly playful, rather than mean. Like one of the girls already.

"Um, I didn't say that." Hally wasn't pleased to have the words said like that, but Keeley got it. That crush the girl had on her was a big reason that she'd gotten Darla to part with her. It was a good bit more than simple friendship after all.

"OK, don't be jealous of him though. We aren't dating or anything really and if we do, you have to be OK with that Hal. Just like you can see whoever you want too. Or, you know, who I say you can." The words made sense to her, but Fram gave her a funny look from his seat, and brushed the dark ponytail from his eyes. It was a bit too brown really, and should be closer to black, Keeley thought, examining it.

"You have some strange ways, Mistress of Souls. Why not simply take her? Those others were in thrall already, why not this one?" It was the kind of bothersome question that she didn't really want to answer in front of Hally, which showed a slight error in the instructions that she'd given Fram earlier. It was, to his way of thinking, simply the truth, so he could speak the words to her, even if they might be uncomfortable. She closed down that part of herself with a bit of magic and focused thought, then smiled warmly, so that her friend might notice it in her voice from the back seat.

"Hally is special to me. That's why I came to an understanding with Darla last night, so that, you know, we can be close." It was too vague, but Greater Demon or not, she had no clue as to how a person might tell another that a third friend of theirs had basically sold the rights to them without asking. It sounded nearly as creepy as it was even.

"Um, sorry? What kind of agreement?"

Keeley could have lied, but instead decided to simply be blunt about it. If the girl was going to be angry about it, which wasn't that likely, now was the time. Not much was made better by waiting to find out about it.

"Basically it means that we can date,
or
that I can take you as a slave, if I want, without having to fight her over it. It
doesn't
mean that you have to date me, or make any bargains that would end with you being my property though. That part is left up to you. Before, if I'd come and tried, or if someone else did, she'd have protected you. She still would, most likely, since you're friends, but really that's up to me now." It sounded nice enough, she thought. There were a few hot button words in there, like slave, but Hally went silent, clearly thinking about the whole thing.

"So, we can be friends still? You don't own me, or... I don't have to feel any particular way about you?"

Fram, being helpful by nature no doubt, interjected quickly, in a tone that clearly said he expected to be told to shut up at any moment. It was tempting, but Keeley allowed it. He wasn't wrong after all, and Hally needed to know what she was dealing with.

"That sounds good, but she can take you as a slave against your will, if she wants. She beat
me
in ten seconds. If you would have asked me yesterday morning if that was possible for anyone, I would have said no. I'm decent at making agreements and bonds like that, but I was shut down so fast and hard that I should have just shown up to the party with my behind already lubed and carrying my own..." Then he stopped and sighed. "Sorry, I let the color of the moment carry my train of thought. It's a horrible habit. I need to remember that I'm Barb now. I don't know about this kind of thing."

They rode in silence for about half a minute, and ended up in the driveway of Keeley's house. The second one, where all her people stayed. Not the Hsreth, who lived at their own place, but the Vampires and Balthias. The ones that wouldn't fit in most places. The big house was set back from the road a bit and had a fenced yard. That was new. It had one when she'd bought it, but this was an all wood privacy fence that blocked people from seeing in from the street too easily, so that Rebekah and Balthias could go outside when they wanted. Plus it kept the goats and alpaca in the back yard without everyone knowing they were there. Those were Vampire food.

No doubt delicious too, from what the others said. She'd tried a few sips, but it just tasted like blood to her. There was a refined palate needed to really appreciate it, at least from what she picked up from her people.

"Fram, you're new,
and
I'm slightly annoyed at you, so you get to be the new lowest person on the totem pole here. That's conditional, but if the others ask you to do something and it doesn't conflict with my orders, try to do it. Just remember, no matter what else is said, no fair breaking free until I tell you to. Also, be nice to everyone. They're your new family after all, for the time being." She managed a nice Pollyanna type lilt to her voice and patted the Greater Demon on the back, like she might have done to a cat or dog. She was being extra careful, mainly because the being was acting a little too comfortable with the new regime. There should have been struggling, and a bit of subdued anger at her for managing the trick. Not pleasant banter and a desire to please her.

Even if she ordered it, that would only last so long.

Everyone was at the house that she expected, so the normal three. Balthias sat in the living room, watching a Christmas special and Rebekah had Elis scrubbing the wooden hallway on his hands and knees. It was probably unneeded, but the thing did look clean. The whole place was. She didn't hover over him, but the fact was that the woman worked him pretty hard, and was listening from the other room. Keeley could sense that through the link they shared.

It was related to telepathy, but even simpler to manage.

"Hello." Keeley didn't raise her voice, since everyone in the place would be able to hear her, even if she whispered. "I have guests, Hally and a new playmate for all of you. Would you join us by the tree everyone?" They had two of them, and the whole place looked bright and cheery. The decorations were actually festive, but no music played at the moment. They didn't have a fire going either, which made sense. It was cool in the house, but no one living there could feel it really.

When they assembled, Balthias meeting them on his feet, ready to fight Barb it seemed like, the others froze.

"This is the Greater Demon Fram. Known as The Bold. He was a little
too
bold last night, so for now he's a slave. The newest member of our crew. His job is going to be to replace Barb while seeing to his own affairs, as long as they don't interfere with ours. You're all in charge of him, but
obviously
, don't be mean to him. He won't be a slave forever, and you really don't want him to hold a grudge." She waved for them all to make themselves comfortable.

Rebekah seemed a little scared of the whole thing, but Bal just grumbled a little, deep in his chest. The teeniest bit of projected fear came out then. It was a defense mechanism, meant to keep opponents off guard.

"We all saw you take him, but to hold one such is...
impressive
. More than I thought to see, from one so young." It wasn't an insult, but the giant horned beast man was making it clear that they all got that she wasn't near as old as she'd been letting on. There was no denying it all either. Not at this point. They weren't stupid after all.

"Glad to hear you approve. Not that it matters. Now, Fram is going to be living at the place Xenses had set up for his Barb persona, but I'd like for you to all keep an eye on him for a while. Mainly to make certain that he can navigate his new work. Well, not you Elis. I have another task for you... Though it might be a good thing for you to help with as well, Fram."

She laid it all out quickly, but didn't give a set time for anything to take place.

"So, find those men, and ready yourselves. When Eve gives the word, do what she says." That
should
be an order to kill, but that could be hard for the girl, since she wasn't a psychopath. Then again, she'd planned the deaths for years, and this way she wasn't going to be caught by the police.

 Through it all Hally didn't say anything. She didn't even as they walked back outside, almost like they were going to be using the car or something. That was mainly to be polite however. It was confusing to most people when you simply vanished from existence.

The girl had on a fuzzy blue sweater under a warm looking light pink coat with a matching hat that was currently resting on top of the little bag she carried. It was a cloth patchwork thing, but worked with the bright appearance of the girl.

It gave her a cute, but young, and eclectic air.

"Keeley? Are... they going to kill all the men that raped Eve when she was little?" They'd reached the front yard and the blue sky above didn't add a lot of heat to the scene. The path was smooth stone, but the rest of the yard was made of pebbles and rocks. At least this time of year. In the summer Rachel had a garden planned, but it would take some preparation, since it would need to be low in water usage. The climate was too dry in the area to be wasteful that way.

"That's right. How do you feel about that?" The clear and very apparent answer was that the girl would feel afraid, but there were deeper layers to her, and while she had a crush on Keeley, Eve had been her best friend for nearly two years. It was the kind of thing that could change your mind about pesky little things like morals pretty fast.

"I don't know. I... Think we should do it. For real. They hurt her, over and over. I... Don't let her know, but I think we should kill her mom too. Is that bad? Saying that?"

Keeley nodded.

"It's not a good thing, planning to kill people like that. I've negotiated that, in part, with Darla as well. Eve is still hers though, so if you want to help plan that part of things, the bit with her mother, you should talk to her. Make sure you don't offer to do too much for it. Darla isn't exactly incapable of what's needed and really wants to see it done. I was going to wait for Eve to get out of school here, myself. I don't think that's what Darla has planned though." Actually, she knew it for a fact, having been told that the woman was going to die of cancer in about two months. That would put it far enough away from the holidays to not ruin them for Eve.

That didn't get covered with the girl, who simply made a cute face that said she was trying to be strong, but was worried, and a bit scared at the same time. That was about the right combination. Anything else would show a lack of common sense.

Keeley playfully picked the girl up, not having to make herself stronger at all, thanks to her latest bit of punishment, but smiling the whole time.

"OK, we can't drive there, so... Close your eyes." The instant she did, Keeley walked the inroads, the girl with her not moving at all as she did. That made sense. For humans this was a timeless place. She had to move on the line, searching out the right pathway to take her to the Westwood mall in Washington State. It didn't take long from her perspective, perhaps a minute. To Hally it was instant and she was set down near the front door of the place. It was busy, compared to the last time she'd been there, but not what it should have been at all. There were a half dozen reasons for that, including the fact that the people working inside were, one way or the other, kind of creepy. Even Zack, and he was normal for this place, more or less.

Hally squeaked, but no one noticed them stepping into existence, though at least two people, both men, noticed her setting the other girl down. The big doors on this side of the building were trimmed in an aquamarine blue and had large white pillars set into the concrete in front of the glass. The shops inside were pretty standard, on the surface, but she could feel the strangeness even from the outside, without even trying. The whole place was on a node, which was basically a point where the inroads tried to come into the outer world. That didn't help most people much, and she was included in that, not needing them for her own movements, but a few groups could use them for travel, from spots like this. Mainly by killing people in sacrifice to open them. Generally a lot of death was needed to make that happen though.

"Zack works at the candle shop, to the left. The whole place is filled with beings that aren't exactly human. Shape shifters, Sucubi, Vampires and of course, Christmas shoppers. So be careful." Not that it was dangerous, even for a human. That was the point of the place, to be a meeting spot so that problems could be hammered out without violence. It mainly didn't work, in the long run. That didn't mean the various beings wouldn't try though.

They chattered as they walked, the number of shops inside being slightly larger than it had been the last time she'd been in, though only by two, and both of those had a highly seasonal sense about them. One place that made gift baskets for instance had been set up, and another that sold decorations. They were both run by non-humans, but the basket shop had a variety of types inside it, rather than just being run by one group or another. It was, she realized, a very interesting idea. In the main you didn't see that kind of thing without a Greater Demon being behind it. Without waiting to see what Hally wanted to do, Keeley walked in, her eyes searching the place closely, mind extended to see if anyone was paying too much attention to her.