Drift (Drift Series) (13 page)

“I know
, right? You all have fun! Leo, take care of my girl.”

“I will, I promise. It’s like she’s with insurance. She’s in good hands.”

We waved as we left the busy BNB’s parking lot.

“Oh
, that Scruffy…Sandra is gonna have her hands full with that one,” Shade said.

“That’s my boy.”

“God, Scruffy can—oops, sorry.” She stopped herself, as if saying God around me was a bad thing.

“It’s okay. Talking about God around a demon isn’t like in the books or movies where we recoil in anguish and pain or something. We
’re just not allowed to live in heaven or earth, that’s pretty much it.”

Shade looked mildly confused. “What about going into churches or being splashed with holy water and all that?”

I shot her a half grin. “Well, I can enter any church I choose, but we don’t because it’s considered sacred ground to the living. So, keeping in tune with spiritual law, we’re not allowed to venture onto church ground, although some rule-breakers do. As for holy water, if it’s blessed by a holy man, angel, or something like that, then yes, that’s very painful if it splashes on us. Feels kind of like the burn of a thousand white-hot fire pokers.”

“Ouch! Have you ever been splashed with holy water?”

“Yes, and it sucks.”

“Sounds like it.
Soooooo
, what happens to a demon if he breaks the rules and goes into a church?”

“He
’s taken from earth, usually unwillingly, and placed back into Hell. He may not even be allowed to return to earthly work ever again. Same goes for demons that try to possess people…”

“Ooh.”

“Those are usually entities that have slipped out of Hell past the goyles. Purely in spiritual form, they hide in bodies. That way they can feel what it is to be in the flesh again. The longer in they’re in a body, the longer they can keep from being sent back to the torments of Hell.”

Shade
looked bewildered. “So that’s why demons possess human beings? Those exorcist preacher guys are called in to get them out and—”

“Exactly, those men or women, exorcists, get the attention of both Heaven and Hell. This tells each side that a beast is on the loose and if Hell doesn’t come back to claim him, angels will show up and kill him, thus giving him a spiritual death, never to exist anywhere, ever again. Almost as if the being never existed at all.”

Shade looked sad. “That’s terrible. I guess, well, if the demon was like you.”

“Yeah, like me,” I
said under my breath.

“Wait, you said goyle. What’s a goyle?”

“A watchman, or I should say woman, for Hell. They are in charge of making sure no impure malevolent being escapes the fires of damnation. They’re the bouncers of Hell, so to speak, making sure that what’s out, stays out, and that whatever’s supposed to stay in, stays in. Not that anything ever tries to go in. It’s the coming out part that keeps them busy.”

“What do they look like?”

“Geez, girl, what is this, night of a thousand questions?”

“I’m sorry
, Leo, I’ll stop.”

“No worries
, girl, I’m joking. I have no problem answering your questions. I understand why you have them.” Shade just nodded. “Have you ever seen or read
Lord of the Rings
?” Shade nodded again. “Goyles look very similar to the Elf women. They’re very human-like in appearance, have pointed ears, and beautiful long blonde or brown hair. They wear long, flowing, glittering attire.”

“They sound stunning.”

It’s true; they don’t remotely seem the type to be guardians of the foulest place in existence. “Yes, they are. But what separates them from being simply breathtaking women are their harsh fluorescent yellow and green eyes, and sharp jagged teeth. They make a scream so piercing it can shatter a spirit’s soul, weakening it. To hear a goyle’s scream can bring a demon, even an angel, to its knees. They are truly wolves in sheep’s clothing, especially their goyle queen enchantress, Agrelia. Cold and calculating she is—like they all are, for that matter—not the type you want to get into a tussle with. There’s a reason why they’re handpicked to keep the sinister evils of Hell in Hell. Beautiful they are, but vicious. Not too many are willing to take them on in order to escape Hell, I can tell you, and none are successful in getting past them.”

Shade was deep in thought. She whispered the name of the goyle queen. Before she could speak, I gave her more facts to digest. “What’s really going to blow your mind is that they
’re hybrids of both demon…and vampire.”

Shade shot
a look at me as her jaw dropped
.
“Are you telling me there really are vampires, too?”

I politely scoffed at her ignorance. I mean, of course she wouldn’t know stuff like that, no human really does
. I just couldn’t help but feel a sense of superiority in knowing. “Oh yes. I could fill you in on them, too, but for now I cannot.”

“Wait. What. Why not?” She sounded frustrated.

“Because we’re here.”

“Huh?”

“Golf and Carts. We’re here.” I pointed out the windshield at the shining neon lights that illuminated the entire park.

Her stress-filled face relaxed and lit up with excitement as we pulled into the parking lot. “You
’re going to have to finish telling me about this whole Hell, goyle, vampire, angel, demon thing, Leo. This is nuts.” She exhaled.

I smiled and patted her leg. “C’mon, let’s go inside and have a good time. I’ll explain more to you later after we
’ve had a little fun. Sound like a deal?”

Shade pressed her lips together as if conceding her thirst for knowledge for the time being. “Sounds good. I’ll kick your butt on the course
and
in some carts first.” Shade slapped my chest and hopped out of my car.

“Oooohhhhh. Now it’s on like Donkey Kong
, girl.” I got out, slamming my door to join the backwards-strutting and oh-so cocky girl. “Let’s get in there and I’ll show you what I can do, chick.”

She pressed her finger into my chest and made sure the playing field was level between us
.
“Don’t you pull any of that demon crap on me, either, trying to give yourself an advantage somehow. Got it, demon-boy?”

“I make no guarantees.”

“You better make some, if you know what’s good for you.”

We strolled casually into the establishment.

CHAPTER 11

DETAILS

We purchased passes to race and play unlimited holes until we could almost puke. We hurried up a ramp in the tunnel-like entrance of the building that took us through the arcade and past a huge neon sign depicting a little golf guy driving a go-cart. You could see this sign glowing for miles standing over the fun park baring the name “Golf and Carts.” Shade rifled us into, and through, the arcade area. The game zone, or arcade, is where the pizza parlor with the infamous chocolate avalanche reigns. After hardly seeing a thing inside the place due to the rushed pace, Shade ushered us back outside and up to a little booth.

“Dang girl, it’s a good thing I didn’t want to actually stop and look around,” I pointed out.

“Oh stop, you big baby, there will be plenty of time to look around after we hit a few holes.”

She pulled me over to the guy who was handing out putters and scorecards from inside the booth. I guess she really liked putt-putt.

We made our way to the first hole and Shade instantly picked up where I left off concerning the vampires, while pointing at the start of the course, signaling me to go first.

“Okay, Leo, this
vampire thing, what’s their deal? They’re for real?”

“Aren’t we on a date? Do you really wanna talk about goblins and ghouls all night long? Don’t you wanna talk about something more uplifting?”

Shade put her hands on her hips. “Yes, we are, and
yes
, we will. I can’t help myself. This stuff is fascinating. It seems unthinkable, all this Heaven and Hell stuff, what you are, and so on. I promise I’ll shut up about it soon. Besides, I kinda like being one of the only people in the world to know such cool inside info.”
She raised her eyebrows.

I just gave her a cynical grin and shook my head. “Vampires
—yes, they’re very real, and very powerful.”

“Are they as strong as demons?” She smirked as if gutchecking me in a small way.

I smiled. “No, not really, but close enough. You should know that we demons are the kings of the dark underworld, girl,” I kidded her back in a serious way, “but there’s one who is as strong, rumored to be stronger than any demon like myself, and that’s the Vampire Lord, Shimmer. The rest of the vampire hordes on earth are under his command.”

“What’s he like? What’s he look like?”

“Think of the most cruel and vile human mass murderer you could think of—Charles Manson, maybe? Now picture him with unlimited power, an army of cunning and merciless killers at his disposal that heed every vicious command he orders.”

Shade just turned her head in slight fear, still hanging on every descriptive word I spewed out to her.

“Now, imagine the scenario with almost no rules to govern them. Aggressive killers, if given the freedom to do so—there would be no human life left on earth period—heck, no life but vampires would be almost ideal for them if they didn’t desire human blood so much. Be thankful they must follow spiritual laws, like me, or that would be a reality. Vampires have to follow the leash-laws of Hell, like demons do.”

I placed my putter on the green and gently struck my black golf ball down the little green fairway. Shade stood behind me, patiently waiting her turn.

“Have you ever seen that magician guy, Chris Angel, on TV?”

“Yeah, he’s pretty awesome
. Pretty hot, too. What about him?”

“Shimmer looks a lot like him. Well, dresses similar
ly. He sports round, purple-tinted hippy glasses on the tip of his nose, barely covering those bright, blood-red eyes of fire that all vampires possess. He has multiple long silver necklaces from which, ironically, dangle pendants of black crosses that clank freely around his neck. On his fingers, even on his thumbs, he wears a multitude of silver jewelry. I haven’t gotten a real close up look, but some of them appear to have religious images on the tops of the rings. He’s muscular and always dresses in black. Always. Even his shoulder length hair is black, which is covered by a black do-rag that surrounds his head and ears. He’s ruthless and dangerous. There has
never
been a more calculated killer than him…ever.”

“So is he
—are they—what they’re made out to be? You know, blood suckers elegantly stalking humans at night and such?” She chuckled uncomfortably.

I could tell she was hoping my answer would debunk vampire myths. Although they
’re not exactly like they’re made out to be in stories and movies, rumors about stalking vampires do lay bare some facts.

“Here
’s an ugly secret we on the other side of humanity know. While breezing into those shopping supercenters, I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of missing people, correct? You know those ‘have you seen me’ flyers of people who have disappeared without a trace?” I let Shade have her turn putting.

“Yeah. What about them?” She looked baffled as she bent over to shoot.

“Well, with the exception of the majority of the really, really, young children, you can blame it on the work of vampires.”

As s
oon as I said the word vampire, Shade made contact with her dark blue ball. The news caused her to shimmy a bit, messing up her shot. She straightened and addressed my bold declaration.

“Y-you’re telling me that all those missing people have been taken or killed by vampires?” We walked slowly to our balls.

“Yes, those that are ‘lucky’ enough to be taken, are vampires now…forever in the service of Shimmer.”

“Wow. There
’s so much. Far beyond what I could have ever imagined. Very scary.”

The sound of Shade’s ball rolling around in the hollow cup echoed in the background.

“Yes, it is…on both counts.” My ball followed.

“You’re different, and not because you
’re a demon. That’s why I like you.” Shade smiled at me as we approached another section of the course. I didn’t respond, just looked at her with deep sincerity.

“Let me ask you this. Since you all are eternal, can you
ever
be killed?”

I bobbed my head up and down and grinned. “Yes, we can.”

“How?” She stopped putting.

“We
’re spiritual, but are still under the rules of the physical world, although we’re all a lot more difficult to kill than your average human. In the case of a demon, there’s a dagger—a blade, if you will—my Demon Lord Christian possesses inside his walking cane. It is simply known to us as the Demon Dagger. This weapon was forged in the fires of Hell and is the only weapon that can kill a demon. The demon just has to be pierced by the blade and his spirit disappears. Forever. Never to exist again.”

Shade delved further. “Oh wow. Does this hold true for everything else? What about goyles and vampires?”

“If I could finish…” I laughed as Shade grinned back at me humbly. “The only way you can kill a vampire is to take the heart…physically removing it from the body. As for goyles, decapitation is the answer. Remove the head from their beautiful torso. One thing that isn’t myth, as I mentioned before, that works on all of us, is holy water. Doesn’t kill us, just cripples and stuns us, making us very weak. No matter what any of us do though, any angel, at any time, can see fit to kill us because they hold the power to do so being a spirit of light.”

“Why don’t angels just kill you all off and be done with you?”

“Heavenly law, the balance between good and evil, man must be tempted to prove his worth. So unfortunately, we are necessary to man, and to Heaven. Salvation is the prize for man. Saving your own soul while still trying to get into Heaven is the constant struggle.”

The sound of my golf ball slamming into the last hole signaled the end of our round. We stood silent across from each other on the green turf.

“I-it’s all so much to understand. So…overwhelming.”

“Well, you asked. Just watch what you do here. Make smart decisions. Sometimes the hard road in life is the best road.”

I directed her to something a little more satisfying.

“Since things are so nasty to understand, why don’t we go and get
your
teeth around something sweet…Sandra’s chocolate avalanche. Even though, regrettably, I cannot taste a single, wonderful, fragment of flavor.”

“Sounds fantastic! Sucks to be you, dude!” She quickly turned from somber to excited, leaning into me in order to show me our scorecard.

“Well, it’s confirmed, I kicked your butt.”

The score indeed indicated that she had defeated me. The two of us were so consumed by our lengthy conversation that the game just flew right by. I let her know I thought her distractions were part of her game.

“Yep, I guess you did. What an opportune time for you to start quizzing me. Well played, little lady, well played.”

“That’s what I do. Now c’mon, let’s go splurge…or at least I will, on some avalanche!”

I promptly followed the now-skipping girl into the game zone and pizza parlor. She stopped at the entrance just inches in front of me, hinting for me to be a gentleman and open the doors for her. I did what was required.

“Next I will dominate you in some race cart action!” she boldly declared.

“Oh no, you won’t. You can’t distract me by conversation this time, girl.” I pointed my finger at her as she stepped through the double doors. She grinned mischievously as she went inside.

We picked out a table and Shade directed me to sit while she went to get us some grub. Unfortunately for me, we were in the middle of all the chaos. Kids were running here and there, screaming. The sounds of what seemed like every game in the place, were set on the highest of volumes, persuading every person to come and play.

Shade stood at the glass counter that held a million undersized, overpriced gadgets that kids can exchange for their winning game tickets. I couldn’t help but snicker and shake my head in disbelief at how many tickets it took to get just one of the smallest prizes.

She returned, swinging her hands from front to back while snapping her fingers.

“You get it done?”

“The heavenly delight is on its way.”

“I’ll never know, but I’ll pretend I do with every bite.”

She slid her chair closer to the table. “What are the stories behind Shimmer
, Agrelia, and whoever else?”

“Look, are we going to spend all night talking about those I despise, or are we going to have fun and relax with one another? Are we on a date or an interview?”

Shade giggled and
finally
called it quits with the questions by using her witty humor. “I thought a date was an interview.”

Before I could match her light-hearted sarcasm, a server slid a mountain of calories between us. I fully admit that if I was allowed to be human for just a minute, this would be the time. When that plate clanked to a stop on the table, my eyes shot wide open. Here was a chocolate funnel cake sprinkled with powdered sugar
that served as the foundation for what was resting on top. Sitting there was the largest scoop, or should I say shovelful, of vanilla ice cream I have ever seen in my entire demonic existence. Resting over the ice cream, like a chocolate hard hat, was a fudge shell that had whipped cream swirled around it. Then, I’m guessing where the origination of the name Avalanche came from, chocolate and caramel syrup ran from the very tip of this sugar mountain all along the sides and down to the plate, creating a thick moat at the base. It was capped off perfectly with multi-colored sprinkles. The final touch were the two exceptionally large spoons shoved in each side of it like a couple of television antennas. I marveled at the sight of this monster.

“Thaaaar she blooowsss!” Shade appropriately stated.

“When you’re finished eating that monstrosity, I’m going to have to wheel each one of your butt-cheeks out the door separately on a wide-load trailer.”

Shade’s jaw hit the floor as she attempted to hide her shocked smile. “Boy, you better hush. Besides, you’re gonna help me
, anyway. Enjoy your ash.”

“You are a constant ray of sunshine, you know that?”

She just blinked her beautiful eyes and opened her mouth to shovel in the first bite of avalanche.

We chowed down on the pile of chocolate debauchery that I wished I could taste. Shade
described her home life and her relationship with her parents, which sounded very loving and warm. She chatted about the Darryl she knew before he became the beast he was in the end. She even clued me in on how she suspected me of being the smoky figure that saved her that night before I admitted who I was. It was a nice conversation. This was the time I was hoping to get to spend with her, no Heaven and Hell stuff, no showing off, no friends dominating the subject matter, just Shade being Shade, and me being…well, as close to human as I have ever felt.

“There
’s somewhere I wanted to take you tonight if you don’t mind.” She plopped down the spoon on the now-empty avalanche plate. I couldn’t believe it; we actually finished the whole thing. “Have you ever been to the Gardens of Zeus?”