The Demon Conspiracy (42 page)

“Who are you?” came the gruff order from the
stranger in the dark.

Donnivee let out a tiny cry. Kurt leaned
over to her. He whispered softly, “Use someone else’s name.”

Right away her eyes lit up under the mask.
She had an idea.

“I’m Spider Dedmon,” said Kurt as bravely as
he could. Good thing he had on the mask. If the guy could see his
face he’d know he was lying.

Donnivee spoke boldly to the stranger. “I’m
Kelly Bishop. I live here.” The guy didn’t seem to care about
Spider Dedmon’s name, but when he heard Donnivee speak he got very
excited.

“Yer the Kelly Bishop?” He must have been a
foreigner. His husky voice had some kind of accent.

“That’s me.”

“But you’re demon kind.”

“What?” Donnivee was clearly confused by
what he meant.

Kurt thought he understood. He whispered to
her again. “It’s your mask. He’s got one on, too. He must be one of
those fantasy role-playing freaks. Play along.”

Donnivee nodded at the stranger. “Yeah,
sure, I’m demon kind. Aren’t we all? Look, I’m Kelly Bishop, okay?
I’m the real deal. You can tell everybody I broke the windows in
this house and I tore up the furniture, too. I hate my foster
parents and most of all I hate Melissa Godwin.”

Kurt knew she was enjoying this. Donnivee
would have fun doing anything that got Kelly in trouble.

The guy clapped his hands in the dark. It
sounded like more than one person clapping. “Good fer me!” All at
once he leaned forward and scooped up Donnivee with one hand. He
tossed her over his shoulder and strutted off. Kurt looked on in
disbelief.

“Hey, buddy! She’s mine!”

“I finded her. Beat it! Or th’ Boss ‘ll put
you in th’ soup!” The stranger shoved Kurt into the wall and went
on his way. Kurt lost his balance, but caught himself on a bush.
What’d he say? Boss? Soup? What the hell was that fruitcake even
talking about?

“Stop!” cried Donnivee. “Kurt! Stop him!”
The figure clamped a hand over her mouth. Her cries were muffled as
they disappeared around the corner.

Kurt’s anger overcame his sense of
self-preservation. He’d had enough. He wasn’t going to let some
clown just walk up and take his girl like that. Hell, she was only
thirteen. What was this guy anyway? A pedophile?

Kurt followed them around the house, pulling
up the flagpole along the way. Maybe he’d just crack the guy in the
skull with the flagpole and kick in his ribs while he’s down. Or
better yet, he could spear him in the back. That would teach him
for sure. A swarm of vengeful possibilities flashed through Kurt’s
mind as he came up behind the stranger.

At the front of the house he could see the
guy clearly in the firelight. What he saw stopped him in his
tracks. The guy held Donnivee over his shoulder with two
well-muscled arms. A third arm kept its hand clamped firmly over
her mouth. And the fourth arm swung freely as he moved. Kurt stared
in disbelief. Four arms? Helluva costume!

“Four arms or not,” said
Kurt aloud. “Nobody steals
my
girl until I’m done with her!” With that he
raised the flagpole like a javelin and charged after
them.

35

LADDER TROUBLE

TRAVIS

The towering lobster demon took hold of
Angie with one claw and raised her high into the air. Travis looked
on from the third-story window in Parrish’s house, wide-eyed and
helpless. Though his heart jumped, the rest of him remained
paralyzed with a terrible awe. That creature was going to crush
Angie in half. It would crush her and probably eat her. All Travis
could do was stand there and watch it happen.

“No! Not Angie. Not my mom!” Travis’ eyes
bulged in all-out panic. He turned to Mathew, who promptly shut off
the cell phone video recorder. Travis knew Mathew had made a video
of everything they’d seen from the window so far. But he wouldn’t
record something as gruesome as that.

Travis looked back at Angie. At that very
moment the demon released her. She dropped fast, landing face-first
on the roof. The force of the impact bounced her over the edge.

“Angie!”

Travis lost sight of her somewhere between
the demon’s massive body and the house.

He was on the verge of tears, when Mathew
pointed. “There she is!”

The lobster demon moved with purpose to the
front of the house. It left Angie behind, clinging helplessly to
the edge of the roof. Twenty feet below her was the concrete
sidewalk. It looked like she was losing her grip.

Travis freaked. “Come on!”

“What’re we gonna do?”

“I dunno!”

Travis sprinted downstairs with Mathew right
on his heels. When he got to the living room he saw the extension
ladder on the floor. “Ladder!”

Travis grabbed one end and Mathew took the
other. Without any discussion Travis led them out the front door
and off the porch.

As they hustled across the grass toward the
McCormicks’ house, Dr. Parrish blew past them going the other way.
His face was all scrunched up and his eyes were crazy with fear.
The big man stomped across the porch and made it into the house
without saying a word.

Travis and Mathew got to Angie and laid the
ladder on the ground. “Hang on, Angie!” shouted Travis. “We got a
ladder!”

Angie dangled by her fingertips with her
head bowed. It seemed like she might be in a lot of pain. She tried
to answer, but her voice was just above a whisper. She spoke in
short spasms.

“Can’t…hold….”

Travis placed his end of the ladder on the
ground and ran to help Mathew.

“Other end!” cried Mathew, pointing. Travis
looked. He was right. The ladder was upside down! They hastily
reversed ends and struggled to lift the ladder against the
wall.

“It’s heavy,” said Mathew straining against
the weight.

“It’s cuz we’re little,” said Travis back to
him. He gritted his teeth as he wrestled with the heavy object. “We
can do this!”

“We have to!” said Mathew.

Travis fought with every ounce of strength
he could muster. His foot slipped. The ladder dropped a little. He
regained his foothold and kept pushing. Beside him Mathew yelled a
fierce cry of power. The ladder went up. At last the top end fell
against the house.

“It’s right beside you!” said Travis
excitedly. “Can you get on it?”

“Be careful,” said Mathew.

Travis watched breathlessly. Angie swung a
leg onto the nearest ladder rung. Slowly she shifted the full
weight of her body from the roof to the ladder. It took many long
seconds for her to complete the move. When she finally stood on the
ladder Travis felt a huge surge of relief. She made it! But then
something happened to her. He wasn’t sure what, but he immediately
sensed it when her emotions just stopped flowing. Had she lost
consciousness? All at once her hands let go and her feet slipped.
She fell quickly.

Her legs dropped between rungs as she
flipped over backwards, falling headfirst. Her knees hooked on a
rung and jerked her to a halt. The ladder shuddered violently.
Angie hung upside down, arms dangling. The uneven force of her
weight shift caused the ladder to slowly tilt to the left. The
whole thing started to slide down the wall.

Travis gawked. Somebody
had to do something and it had to be
now
!

He leaped onto the ladder and climbed up
several rungs as fast as he could. He leaned his full body weight
away from the direction of the fall. The ladder slowed, but
continued its descent. Travis looked down in desperation. He needed
more weight.

Below him Mathew must have seen the problem.
He immediately scrambled up the ladder just under Travis and held
on to a lower rung. Both boys stretched their bodies outward away
from the ladder’s center of gravity. The ladder teetered
dangerously on one leg. If it moved another inch they’d all crash
onto the sidewalk. Angie moaned from her upside down position.

“Go up!” said Mathew with white-knuckled
effort.

Travis understood. It was sort of like a
seesaw. He went up another step. Then another. The ladder shifted.
It slid across the wall and straightened up. When both legs were
back on the ground, Mathew jumped off and did his best to hold it
firmly in place. Travis moved to the center of the ladder and held
on tight. He glanced down at his friend.

“Thanks,” said Travis, trembling with
fear.

“No problem,” said Mathew back to him.
“Better hurry. What can I do?”

“I don’t even know
what
I
can
do.”

“See if she’s okay.”

Travis nodded and crept up to Angie very
slowly. She seemed completely gone, until he spoke to her, almost
in her face. Her eyes blinked open.

“Travis? Why are you…upside down?”

“It’s you, not me,” he said, lifting her
head to show her what had happened. “Can you pull yourself up? Like
doin’ a situp?”

“Sure.” She tried. Her effort lasted barely
a second. She shrieked. “Ohhh…my ribs!”

Travis had to think fast. They couldn’t stay
on the ladder all night. “I’ll lift you.” He ducked his head under
her back and climbed up another rung. With her back supported by
his shoulder all she needed now was a light shove. Travis pushed
her up. Angie groaned in agony when she reached out and pulled
herself into a sitting position on the same step that had caught
her legs. It took her a while to untangle, but a few minutes later
she was safely on the ground.

“Thanks for saving my life, boys,” she said,
collapsing on the sidewalk beside the house. She grimaced every
time she breathed. “I’d hug you both, but it hurts too much.”

“It’s okay, Ms. Angie,” said Mathew. “And
don’t worry, we called the police. They’ll be here any minute.”

“Where’s Kelly and Melissa? Are they all
right?”

Travis looked up suddenly. During their
efforts to help Angie he’d forgotten all about Kelly. He didn’t
know where she was. Melissa either. He wasn’t even sure if they
were still alive until he heard their screams from the front
yard.

36

KLAWFINGER

KELLY

I took Melissa’s hand and ran down the roof.
Together we leaped from the house, arms and legs flailing for
balance. I held my breath against the flutters in my stomach.

Thump-thump!

We landed on top of the minivan, one behind
the other. The van rocked. The metal roof sagged. I collapsed in a
heap on top of the van. Melissa fell off the side. Luckily she
caught the luggage rack as she rolled. Somehow it twisted her
around. She landed in the driveway on her feet.

She blinked up at me, eyes wild.
“Oh-my-gosh! That was so cool!”

I stood up on the van. “You’re crazy! We
need a plan!”

“What kinda plan?”

Before I could respond something rattled
overhead. I looked up. Lipsludge stood in the gutter on the roof
just a few feet above me. He waved his gnarly hands.

“There! Gets the little ones!” He pointed
directly at me.

I choked as everything happened at once.

“Run, Kelly!” It was Granny.

Granny and Parrish raced toward us from the
house next door. Granny lugged a heavy sledgehammer. Parrish
carried a much smaller hammer, like the kind used with ordinary
nails. They both looked ready for a fight.

Suddenly, Parrish froze midstride. His gaze
locked on something over his head beside the garage. A moment later
the lobster demon lumbered from that direction into the front yard.
Granny dove out of its way to avoid getting stepped on. The demon
spied Melissa and me. Its eyes lit up with excitement, smiling
again.

My mouth went dry. Should we get inside the
van? Should we split up and run in different directions? I tried to
form a plan—but my mind froze.

“Run!” Granny practically screamed it.

Forget the plan! I jumped
off the van. I landed and took off in a full sprint. There was only
one plan. We
had
to make it to the far end of the house. It was our only hope.
If we could just get around the corner somehow we could…we could…we
could do what? I had no idea what came next. All I could do was
run.

Melissa stayed with me, step for step. We’d
nearly made it when I glanced back.

Apparently the lobster demon never noticed
the minivan. It caught one foot on it and kicked it so hard the
windows exploded. A glassy spray flew out in all directions. The
van flipped over on its side. The demon fell forward and struck the
ground with tremendous force. It slid on its belly across the dry
grass. But it landed very close to us. In a single, quick move it
reached out and snagged us both, one in each claw.

“Gotcha!” Its voice made a heavy, diesel
sound.

I struggled against the force of the
rock-hard claw. I struck it with both fists in an effort to break
loose. All I got were sore knuckles. I wasn’t getting away. This
was it. I’d be killed by a demon from Pandora’s Cave. Sadly, my
best friend would die with me. I wanted to apologize to Melissa for
getting her involved in this mess. I also wanted to thank Granny
just for being our granny when no one else wanted the job. Most of
all I wanted to scream in terror. But to do any of that I needed
air and the demon’s grip was very snug.

Snug, yes, I realized. But it didn’t cut me
in two like the post on the front porch. In fact it didn’t really
hurt. If killing us was the plan then we should have been torn to
pieces by now. No. For some reason the demons wanted us alive.

The lobster demon rose to its full height.
It celebrated by lifting us high in the air and pumping us up and
down. “Yes!” It was very excited. My mind rocked with confusion. On
the one point I wanted to get free. But at the same time I was
afraid the demon might drop us.