Chapter 16 #2
“He also says, if you can harry it, that’s your best bet. Don’t try to engage. It’s more powerful than you realize. Gramps has special drop-a-bitch stuff we can use on demons, but I don’t know if it’s powerful enough for this particular pest. I’ll concoct a plan with him as we fly in.”
I had to ask. “Drop-a-bitch?”
“Oh, it’s good stuff. I’ll teach you the recipe when we get there.”
“I’d love to have some.”
“Consider it done. I’m hanging up, be there by tonight. Don’t get killed waiting on me, and remember, harry but don’t engage.”
“I don’t want to, trust me. See you soon.” I pushed the End button and just breathed. “Holy shit, man.”
“I feel so much better with those two coming,” Jo Jo admitted. “I mean, I was happy to have backup from our other friends, but I still didn’t know how to tackle this demon. Annabelle’s nightmare fuel.”
“I know, I’ve been racking my brain ever since I put out the call for help, but I couldn’t think of how we’d take it down. Or how to subdue it long enough to get it back in its box.”
“Big guns are coming. Also, I love how Tiffy was miffed at us for not calling.”
“She loves the Annabelle lore and has fangirled on several occasions on how it’s wicked cool shit. So, yeah, I understand why she’s miffed. Our bad.”
I kept my trace spell active as I texted the group chat that we had the power hitters coming. Some people were on planes right now and not able to respond, but at least they’d know when they had signal again.
We just had to keep Annabelle from getting its grubby little mitts on any power source until they arrived.
Seriously, where was it even going? What was the end goal?
Not knowing was almost scarier than the doll being on the loose. And that said something, because having a powerful demon in the wild was a brown-pants moment for me.
“Jo Jo, what do you expect it to do once it has powers?”
“We don’t even know what demon is in the doll,” he pointed out. “And demons are known for different things. It could go on a mass binge of destruction, like Godzilla was visiting. Or it could be into rock and roll and drugs. No telling, man.”
That was the fucking rub, wasn’t it just. There was no way to tell. Maybe it was merely paranoia insisting Annabelle would level my city once it had enough power. I was inclined to listen to my paranoia though.
Jo Jo grunted and turned left again before pointing with a finger. “Is that a lake I see in the distance?”
I glanced where he pointed. “It is, but I wouldn’t worry about Annabelle heading for it.”
“Uh, why?”
“It’s a manmade lake for the city park.”
“Ohhh. Right, demonic creatures prefer natural bodies of water. Still, wouldn’t it try?”
I shook my head, grim realization sweeping over me as I traced the direction the red line had shifted toward. Southwest. “That’s not the target. Bro…the ley line’s that way.”
He smacked the steering wheel with a punctuated, “Fuck!”
“Couldn’t have said it better.” I rubbed my temples, trying to think like a demon-possessed doll. Kind of a challenge, not going to lie. “So, here’s the thing. Haunted Walmart’s also that direction.”
“There’s a haunted Walmart?”
“Yeah. Funny enough, day I met Kris, she took me to that one. Had no idea it was haunted. This was before her sight came in—you can’t pay her to enter it now.”
“Let me guess, it’s haunted because it’s built right on top of one of the ley lines?”
I shook my head. “Not quite? More adjacent to one of the lines, but yeah, it’s stupid close. Boosts the ghosts who linger in there so they’ve got some poltergeist-like ability. Ooh, I just had a bad thought.”
“If it’s not a naughty type of thought, I don’t want to hear it.”
“Demons feed on souls. If Annabelle gets anywhere near haunted Walmart, it’ll have a smorgasbord waiting. Throw in the ley line, it’ll be unstoppable.”
“I told you! I don’t like bad thoughts, only naughty thoughts!” Jo Jo groaned, a disgusted sound. “I hate this. I hate this very much.”
“Preach.” I rolled down the window and called, “GUO! HAVE THE PACK HARRY IT NORTH! IF IT KEEPS GOING SOUTHWEST, WE’RE SCREWED!”
He flicked an ear, an acknowledgement, then he dove into a patch of shadow from a nearby parked car and was gone in a second.
“I would pay for his ability,” Jo Jo muttered. “It’s a damn shame you can’t piggyback on them.”
“I know, I was so disappointed when I failed. It would take travel time out of the equation.” I texted Gramps and Tiffany a quick update.
Jo Jo drummed fingers on the steering wheel, clearly thinking hard. “Zhen, if you had a choice of battlefield, where would you choose?”
“Nowhere in Demonbreun, to start.”
“Outside city limits, huh?”
“Outside of that, even. A farmer’s field somewhere with no people, water, or ley lines. A few places meet that criteria, but honestly? I don’t know if we’ll be able to pick our playing field. The best we’ll manage is keeping Annabelle away from the disastrous possibilities.”
“I hate to say you’re probably right. Well, let’s head back to Grandma’s. People should be arriving soon.”
That was, unfortunately, the best we could do right now.
Come on, people, get here. Before Annabelle went apeshit and forced me to confront a demon with only holy water, Jo Jo, and a prayer.