Burn (Drift Book 3) (21 page)

Little did I know that waiting on Sheriff Taylor would take the rest of the day. I felt it best to hold on for him to get back and contact me because I wasn’t sure what
he wanted to talk about. I knew that I’d get asked about what happened from friends and family.

Right after sunset my walkie-talkie crack
led and the Sheriff’s voice rang through.

“Leo…you there?”

“All day, sir.”

I heard him ch
uckle. “Sorry about that, but I’m sure, as you know, how difficult a job that was clearing Middleton last night.”

“Oh trust me…I’m well aware.” I snickered.

Again I heard him cut in with a laugh. “Oh, by the way, we saw your handy work. It was a sight to behold. You should have seen the look on officers’ faces when they saw your criminals in their restraints. Very creative ways to label them too, I might add.”

“Thank y
ou,” I proudly answered with a degree of humor.

Then very serious
, he said, “No, Leo, thank you. If you hadn’t gone in there and did what you did, despite the confusion of police thinking there’s some sort of vigilante out there taking the law into his or her own hands, there’s no telling who could have been hurt. Because of your actions, no one,” he snickered again, “not even the criminals, got hurt. Thanks again, son.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

“If you can, Leo, meet me outside the police station in about half an hour. You can give me the walkie-talkie back and we can discuss one last thing. I won’t keep you long. It’s been a long night…for both of us.”

“
No problem. I’ll see you soon.”

When the time was up I hauled butt over there and waited for him outside the department as he requested.
When he came out, he exhaled in exhaustion. It was easy to see he was worn out as he rubbed his forehead in anxiety.

“Thanks for coming, son. Let me tell ya, I sure am glad this night is over. Whew.” He extended his hand and shook mine, thanking me again for my help. I gave him back the walkie-talkie and he asked me to hop into his SUV for a moment.

I did as he asked and got in, thinking he might want to give me a ride to the Spears’ home or something. Sheriff Taylor slid into the driver’s seat but didn’t start the vehicle. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

“I’m not sure how many more night
s like that I can go through. I’m getting a little too old for that much excitement, I think.”

“I
can imagine.” I smiled.

“I bet. Someone like yourself probably doesn’t have to worry about getting tired much.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“We
ll, regardless of being tired, there’s something else that I wanted to bring to your attention, Leo.”

He looked more worried than
worn out at this point. I listened intently.

“There
’s more to this story than just Middleton.” He paused and sighed.

“What’s going on?”

“Stories are coming out around that small pockets of…defilement, like what happened in Middleton last night, are happening everywhere. Not just in Colorado, or even the United States for that matter.” He hesitated again.

“What’s happening?”

“People are acting, well, for lack of a better term, possessed, in a lot of places. Nothing too overwhelming yet, but the kind of bad behavior that we saw in Middleton seems to be spreading. California, Texas, New York, Ohio, and a few other states had to deal with situations similar to what we had to deal with last night. The departments even discussed hearing chatter about events in Canada, Russia, China, and elsewhere, too. Law enforcement seems to think there’s some kind of citizen uprising happening around the world, but we know it’s something very different…don’t we?”

I nodded.

“It’s as if the people of this world are becoming unhinged…breaking at the seams. Good conscience is going out the window and hate has taken its place.”

“That’s precisely what’s happening.”

“Leo, I realize you can’t go hopping around all over the place like you’re Superman or something, doing what you did for me last night, but this must come to a stop.”

“I couldn’t agree more with you
, sir.”

“I know it’s not your fault, but those of us that know of your situation, know that these things are happening as aftershocks from your personal struggle. It can’t continue much longer.
Mankind will fall into the depths of depravity. You
must
finish this thing.”

Again I simply nodded at him with sincerity.

“I feel just horrible urging you into this because I know that you might not return to us, but if this thing…this fight or whatnot between you and whoever doesn’t happen soon, I’m afraid Hell won’t be this distant scary place far from us, but instead, it will be here on earth. Know what I mean?” He mashed his lips together.

“More than you could possible know, sir. And
I think you’re right, Hell may not just be coming for me. I’ll move as fast as I can.”

“I know you will, son. I know you will
.” He reached over and patted me on the leg before starting up the vehicle. “C’mon, I’ll get’cha home the old fashioned way…I’ll drive you.”

I huffed out a short laugh and we took off for the Spears
’ home.

Chapter 19

ADOPTED

On the way home we briefly talked about my upcoming adoption process. Sheriff Taylor told me that everything was a go to get it finished, thanks to me, of course, and that Benjamin and Amanda would legally be my mother and father in a matter of days. He even went over some things about working for him at the police station. I was getting the impression that he wanted me to become a police officer and work as one of his deputies. I couldn’t blame him. I hold one heck of an advantage when it comes to tracking down and catching human criminals.

He called Benjamin and Amanda right before he dropped me off at their house.

“Leo, I’ll see you in a day or two.”

“Yes
, you will. Let me know if you need me for anything.”

With a grin and a nod he wished me well and I got out of the vehicle and went inside. Scruffy was waiting for me to arr
ive and was nosy as usual about what happened in Middleton. I told him next to nothing about what I saw, did, and knew. I didn’t want the household to worry about things they couldn’t control. I was saved anyway from having to go into great detail because Scruffy couldn’t wait to tell me all about his first lesson in mixed martial arts. He even had to pull out that ridiculous punching dummy he made just to show me what he learned. I’ll say this; at least the thing didn’t kick him in the crotch this time.

He was also fired up because he got a call back about a job.

“Man, we’ve gotta get together with the girls and celebrate! Life changing events are happening everywhere. Jobs, potential college offers, you’re about to be my bro…bro. Let’s rent some DVDs tonight and invite the girls over.”

Of course I was game for anything when it came to spending time with Shade, so that’s what we did.
As a matter of fact, that’s what went on for a few nights. The four of us hung out at our house and either played card games or watched movies. It was cool.

Finally the day came when we went down to the courthouse and finalized my adoption. Everyone was there, Sheriff Taylor, the Tiptons, the Lewis family
, attorneys, and of course the Spears. Scruffy kiddingly gave me crap for not changing my last name to Spears legally while I was there, but all three of my new family members supported my decision to keep Cutler as my last name. I was used to that name, and well, I liked it.

When everything was said and done we celebrated by going out to eat with one another at a fantastic steak restaurant…
or so I was told.

It didn’t take long though for some of the parents to bring up
recent events that were unfolding.

“There’s been a few cases of civil unrest on the news
, Sam, kind of like what we heard about in Middleton,” Richard said.

Sheriff Taylor looked over at me sharply then looked back
at Richard.

“Yes…disturbingly so. Leo and I have had a discussion or two about that very topic.”

“Do you think it could happen here?” Benjamin asked.

“Of course we can’t be sure, but I don’t see any cause for alarm at this point about the potential for riots and things happening in Mountainside.” He glanced over to me again.

“…at this point.” Mr. Tipton said in a nervous fashion as he dissected some of the words the Sheriff said.

“Look,” Sheriff Taylor dropped down his silverware and it clanked on his plate
. “There are no guarantees in this. I can’t predict whether or not people will go nuts here and start trashing the town and neither can Leo, but we can be prepared, and that’s exactly where we’re at, at this point…that’s all we can be.”

“People
will try to sack the town…eventually,” Anne spoke up.

“What do you mean,
Mom?” Shade asked.

“I’ve seen what will happen, I’ve dreamt about it.” Anne cleared her throat and placed her utensils down as she wiped her mouth.

“I’ve already forewarned you once before. Not to mention what I’ve foreseen about you Leo, but I’ve seen more. I see mankind everywhere, committing atrocious acts upon one another. Evils so dark that I shudder just thinking about it. What we’re seeing is a prelude of what will happen in every town, in every city worldwide if something doesn’t happen to stop it. Our world isn’t meant to harbor this much evil all at once, it can’t handle it. The corrupters from Hell are out corrupting, and when this, War, figure you speak of, steps out of the bowels of
your
underworld, it will only get worse for humanity.” Anne raised her eyes to me with a hardened passion.

“You must find him quick, Leo, because if you don’t, I see him being a
harbinger of sorrow upon the earth. It won’t take long for the rest of Hell to empty once he’s here, so act fast. But…” Anne hesitated and looked away from me.

“What’s the matter
, Mom?” Shade placed her hand on her mother’s arm.

“It’s okay
, Anne. You’re among friends here, so speak your mind,” Sheriff Taylor urged.

“I still see the vision of you, no matter what dreams I have about all of this mayhem, getting consumed by the fires of Hell. I fear this thing will not fare well
for you, Leo…for any of us…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say things like that.” Anne wiped a small tear with her napkin.

“It’s okay
, dear, you just care. That’s always a good thing.” Richard threw out his support.

“I can at least tell you this
.” She looked back up at me. “That…creature, will be released somewhere solid white. I’m not sure where that may be, but that’s what I’ve seen. That’s all I have to tell you.” Anne cleared her throat again, picked up her utensils, and started to eat.

“Thanks
, Anne. I assure you I’ll find him and put a stop to all this. Then after that I’ll track down the source behind all this crap that’s going on and do everything I can to put an end to him as well.”

I tried to pick u
p her spirits as I could see the sixth sense she possessed was wearing her down. She flashed me an unsecure smile and buried herself back into her plate of food.

In an effort to change the gloomy subjec
t, my father, feels odd to think that and even stranger saying it, Benjamin started to gloat about Scruffy’s new job at a local shopping center. Shade and Sandra talked about their college aspirations and the offers they’d received from them. Even Scruffy was making room for a semester at the local junior college after the summer. For the remainder of the dinner, the goals of us four kids were what we all focused on. It kept us in good spirits thinking about the continuation of life and the achievements that lay undiscovered within it…even if our futures were uncertain.

When we finished our meal, everyone stuck around for one last drink before going their own ways. When we were filing out of the restaurant, Sheriff Taylor pulled me aside and told my family to wait for me in their car.

“What’s up, Sheriff?”

In the back of my mind I was thinking he was about to fill me in on some privileged information or ask me for a favor, but when he flashed me playful smile, I knew he had something else on his mind.

“So…how close are to reaching your goal, son?”

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about and I must have looked confused because he pushed me further.

“C’mon, did you forget about telling me what you wanted to do? Don’t tell me you’ve already gone chicken.” He snickered.

“Oh!
” I remembered. “No sir, I’m still on course to get it done, even though I’m a couple hundred short, but thanks to you and Mr. Lewis, I should have enough for it soon.”

“So does Richard know what you plan on doing with his money?” He grinned like a bear eating salmon.

“Not yet…it’s still only you that knows, sir, and I’d like to keep it that way for the time being.” I laughed back at him.

“Your secret is safe with me, Leo.” He patted me on the shoulder
. “Oh, before I forget…” he reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Take this.”

I took the somewhat
thick envelope out of his hand and looked at him, confused. “What’s this?”

“Consider it a thank you for helping me out in Middleton…a little bonus that should take you to your goal or pretty darn close to it. Besides, you’ve been a pleasure to have working around the station
, anyway. You’ve earned it.” He continued to smile.

“Wow…thank you
, Sheriff. I appreciate this very much. For once I’m trying to do something the honest way and it seems to be paying off…it takes a little longer, but I see what you humans mean by it being gratifying.”

“No problem, son. Now take off, your parents are waiting for you.” He huffed
and winked at me.

Without thinking, I reached up and gave him a hug. Sheriff Taylo
r had become a dear friend.

“Family…that’s got a nice ring to it.” I mentioned after breaking our embrace.

“Talk to you soon, son.”

“See ya.” I turned to walk to the family car.

“Hey Leo, go for it!” Sheriff Taylor shouted out to me and raised his fist in the air.

I stopped to look at him and started laughing. I could only shake my head at him
and proceeded to get into the vehicle with my family.

When we got home, Benjamin and Amanda, now
Mother and Father, of course, had a sit down with me and Scruffy. It was a welcome to the family now, here’s what to expect sort of conversation. It was covering things they pretty much went over in the past like house rules, chores, and just because I’m a demon doesn’t mean I can just take off to go out with friends or girlfriends on a whim like I was used to doing without telling anyone. That one cracked me up. I was still allowed to journey to my tree when I saw fit and for more reasons than they knew. I needed to do that constantly anyway, but if I was victorious in my quest for Diccittidel, they were expecting me to adhere to the rules of the house more diligently afterwards. Naturally they were being optimistic when it came to whether or not I would live much longer.

Of course it was understandable that I needed to do what I needed to do on my
own time frame because nothing was set in stone when it came to dealing with my struggle with Hell. I agreed to their rules, well, the ones that were within my power to control, that is, and promised them I would do my best to respect their wishes.

It was crazy to think that something like me was now under the thumb, and cared for, by the very species that I was supposed to be damning. Little could I have ever known that the one moment I decided to save Shade from Darryl could hav
e led me to this point; it’s surreal.

I was starting to understand more about human life because mine was beginning to mirror one. Human life is a random series of choic
es, one event leading to the next. If someone was to choose one thing over another, an entire set of circumstances would result from that single choice; usually for the rest of their life. If they were to choose a different option, it works out in the same manner except with an entirely different set of results and experiences. It’s nuts. Being a demon, there is no randomness to anything. Everything is preordained unless it gets changed because of doing something like I did with Diccittidel.

I have come to learn that nothing is set in stone; nothing. I don’t believe my destiny is written out like Christian was trying to have me believe, even though I naturally didn’t trust him or the two angels
now. I could easily die against War or Christian, or even due to something else. That much was for certain, but the fact that it was an inevitability that I must die feels like total nonsense.

Even Anne’s dreams about me had to be taken with a grain of salt. She may
be sure about what may or may not happen to me, but I couldn’t approach it that way. Like I said, my existence since claiming Diccittidel resembled a human’s life. Things happen at random and one must accept the positives or negatives that come with the gift of choice. It’s that simple. The angels and demons around me can have their struggle for balance. All I need to concentrate on are my choices and the results that stem from them.

After our conversation with the parents, they instructed Scruffy and I to go into his, now our, room and have a look around. When we went in, there were now two beds in there
, along with some furniture of my own to put things into.

“We thought this was a little better than always having to be in that tree
,” Benjamin joked.

I looked to them with a little amused confusion, “A bed? You do remember that I don’t sleep…at all…right?” I chuckled a bit.

“We know.” Amanda smirked. “Throw us a bone here, Leo. We understand that your situation is a bit…off center, for lack of a better term. We just thought that maybe you’d feel more comfortable with your permanent surroundings if you had things that didn’t isolate you. Even if you don’t use them like people do.”