The Demon Senders (32 page)

“You’ve been in this hospital before?”

“Experience,” Mac smiled. “Hospital food is intentionally created to pump more patients into open beds. The more open beds the hospital has, the worse the food.”

Jen laughed a small laugh, then said, “I take it you need to make your visit alone?”

“Yeah. Just need to say a few things and let him know how things ended up.”

“You planning on telling me what this is all about someday?” Jen asked.

“Absolutely,” Mac said. “Once I figure out what happened, I’ll let you know.”

The two walked into the hospital, both of them nervous about Jen being recognized. But as people passed by them with nothing more than a few head nods and mumbled greetings, Jen was, for the first time in her life, thankful for her plain, normal appearance.

She turned to walk towards the coffee shop, paused, and said, “If you only met this person in the ‘in-between,’ how is it you know he’s somewhere in this hospital?”

“I read the road signs while we were driving this way,” Mac said through a smile.

“What, no words falling onto a pillowcase this time?”

“Nah,” Mac said. “Just plain old boring highlighted words glaring out to me on highway signs. Nothing unusual.”

“Nothing unusual for us, that is,” Jen said, then walked away.

He rode the elevator to the third floor then slowly walked down the hallway. He slowed his gait as he passed each room, glancing in to see if anyone looked familiar. He stopped walking, not when he saw someone familiar, but rather, when he felt something familiar.

“Room 326,” he said in a soft whisper. “Seems as good as any other number.”

He was the only patient in room 326 and, as Mac expected, there were no visitors sitting beside him. No one reading “Get Well Soon” cards, sent by concerned co-workers or from relatives living too far out of town to make an in-person visit. There were no flowers in vases, no pictures drawn in crayon hanging on the walls and no signs that anyone had been in for even the shortest of visits.

“Hello buddy,” Mac said. He read the name printed on the still man’s wristband. “Hello Derek Giardi. It’s me, Mac. Thought I’d stop in, let you know how things turned out and to see how you’re faring. Jen and I will be hitting the road soon, so I’m not sure I’ll be back in town again anytime soon. I hope to be, that I know for sure. I’d love to have a beer or two with you. Tell you what,” he said as he pulled the visitor’s chair a bit closer to Derek’s bed, then sat down, “you do your best to come back and I’ll do my best to make it back around. Deal?

“You know what? I just realized you have no idea who Jen is. Well, let me tell you, she’s really something. She’s the one who pulled me back to life. By the way, sorry I left without saying ‘goodbye.’ I was in a bit of a rush, as you can imagine. Jen is like me, a sender. But she’s different from me in so many ways. If you ever meet her, please don’t tell her this, but she’s probably my favorite person in this world. We’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks but there’s something about her. Something that makes her so unique, so wonderfully different. I know what you’re thinking, that a relationship started under difficult circumstances is doomed to fail. I know all about that, trust me. And I’m not saying I have feelings for her, and, I guess I’m not saying that I couldn’t have feelings if things were different. I don’t know, maybe something will happen, maybe it won’t. What I do know is that Jen and I are a team and I’ll do anything to keep it that way. We deal with the worst imaginable creatures there are, but I’d give my life to keep her safe. That’s a promise.

“So, like I said, we’re heading out on the road. We have work to do. Important work, I guess, though I’ll admit that I’m just as confused about what I am as I was when Rachel first told me I was a sender. Maybe even more confused considering what Rachel turned out to be.

“This is hard to say and I have to ask you to not ever repeat this, but, I actually miss her. Rachel that is. I know, it’s insane, considering what she turned out to be. I guess I don’t really miss her, per se, I miss who I thought she was and what I thought she and I were going to become. Crazy, isn’t it? That a person can fall in love with the idea of a person, despite knowing what the person is really like. That’s what’s so wonderful about humanity, I suppose. We’re the only creatures that spend so much time, energy and emotion trying to fool our own selves. All the more reason I’m doing what I’m doing.

“What
Jen
and I are doing, is what I should say. She’s as much a part of this as I am. Hell, between you and me, she’s a better sender than I’ll ever be. She’s a strong woman, I’ll tell you that much. We’re both giving up our lives so that humanity can be saved. At least, that’s what I think we’re doing. To be honest, I don’t really know why we’re doing what we’re doing, but I don’t think we really have a choice. For whatever reason, we are what we are and we have to do what we have to do.

“When I was with you in the in-between, I told you plenty of things about me, about the raging battle between good and evil and about my role in it, but I never found out too much about you. I’m sorry about that. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to make it back to this side but that you were. I needed to tell someone the story. Now, here I stand, facing a lifetime of battling demons and of questioning why God doesn’t even send down a rookie angel to give me a hand, and you’re still stuck in the in-between. I do hope you make it back, though I wouldn’t blame you if you choose the high road, if it’s offered to you. But if you do come back to this side, I hope you can keep what I told you just between you and me? No one would believe you anyway if you did share the story, so, it’s probably better off for both of us if our chat stays between us. If I find a way, I’ll have someone check in on you, no matter if you stay put or come back here.

“If you end up having to go south, I hope you don’t hold anything against me. I don’t think I put you in a bad position by telling you everything, and I sure hope I didn’t. But, there are so many things about my new life I don’t understand…well, if anything does come back on you because of me and my story, I am sorry.

“There are other senders out in the world. At least I have to believe there are. Won’t tell you where I read this (because you wouldn’t believe me if I did) but there were twelve of us senders at one time. At most times, actually, but things are turning bad. I think there’s only nine of us left. I only know of Jen and me, but, there must be more. It’s too early for there to be any less.

“Like I told you, my soul was scattered to the four winds by that first demon and was spread out a little more because of a misread favor Rachel did for me. In between sending back demons, I’m gonna find every last piece of my soul. I know I am. I can already feel them calling to me as if those pieces want to be a part of me as much as I need them back to make me whole again. But if you happen to come across a bit of me, I hope you find a way to keep it safe and let me know where I can collect it. Weird, I know.” Mac stood, patted Derek on the shoulder, then pulled the chair back to its ready position.

“I have to get going,” he said. “Not sure where we are headed but I’m pretty sure something will let us know where our next stop will be. Jen feels the same way, too. That we’re guided. At least, that’s what she tells me. She and I, we have a lot of work to do before we can go down in history as one of the great teams, but we belong together. And something tells me that we’ll be fine.
 

“We have to be. The world depends on it. And no one in this world will ever know just how much they really do depend on us. Except you. You’ll know the truth and I hope you keep it to yourself. Goodbye.”

They weren’t sure where they were headed but they believed something would guide them to their next destination. Mac silently hoped that their guide would direct them to places where the lost bits of his soul could be recovered, but he also understood there were other pressing matters that he and Jen were called to address.

As if reading his mind, Jen said, “I have a feeling that, wherever we end up going, we’ll find what you need to make you whole again.”

Mac reached over to the passenger’s seat, squeezed Jen’s hand, and said, “I already think I’m a lot closer to being complete than I’ve ever been.”

They drove south for several hours, both feeling refreshed by the emerging spring. As they left Virginia and crossed the North Carolina State line, Jen pressed the button commanding her window to open. She reached her hand out of her window, and floated her hand in the seventy mile per hour breeze.Without saying anything, she extended her fingers towards a road sign up ahead of them. Mac noticed her extended finger, then followed its direction to the sign.

“Looks like we are headed in the wrong direction,” he said.

“Too bad,” Jen said. “I was really looking forward to warm weather.”

The End

Thank you for reading “The Demon Senders.” This novel was born out of a story that a friend of mine told me. His story was about a hitchhiker he picked up late one very cold night. The hitchhiker was, according to my friend, one strange dude, but he wasn’t a demon.
 

If you’ve enjoyed this book, please do me a favor and leave a positive review. Reviews are the best way for authors to find an audience since people trust the reviews of others.

Lastly, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this or any of my other books. Though I’m not big on social media, I do have an author’s page set up on Facebook. Head on over to my page, “Like” the page and feel free to send me any comments, questions or suggestions.
 

https://www.facebook.com/authortpp/

And for those Twitter fans out there, feel free to follow me, send me a message or whatever it is that those who understand the world of Twitter better than do I, do!

Thanks again,

T Patrick Phelps

Other Novels by T Patrick Phelps

The Derek Cole Suspense Thriller Series, Includes

Heartless

Those of the Margin

The Observer

The fourth book in the Derek Cole Suspense Thriller Series, “The Line of Cedars,” is scheduled for publication in early 2016.

The second novel in the Trevor Mac series is scheduled for publication in March or April of 2016