Maygan and McQuarry skipped the elevator and ran up the stairs to reach the second floor bathroom. Maygan came to a sudden stop in the hallway outside the bathroom. McQuarry lagged far behind, eventually catching up to her, bending at the waist, holding himself on his legs, huffing and puffing hard.

Two men were sitting outside the bathroom on the floor, backs against the wall, rocking back and forth, sobbing. They were being comforted by to other men that patted them gently, repeating “it’s okay, it’s okay, bad things happen sometimes.”

“I’ve seen the imprint the dark arts leaves on men,” Maygan whispered to McQuarry. What Maygan didn’t say is that she knew those men would probably never recover from what they had seen, and that they would likely need to be exiled from the village.

McQuarry’s face turned red. He went over to the blubbering men and said something about a faulty plumbing and an escaped chimpanzee.

As much as Maygan wanted to console those poor fellows, she had work to do. With Koga held over her head and Hon held low, she inched toward the bathroom door. She moved steadily, one foot after the other, her mind and body ready for anything.

At that instant, Hank Steve slow jogged past her leisurely, a smirk on his face. “Nice swords but you won’t need them in there. Pretty sure it’s a person, not a raccoon or something. Might want to hold your breath,” he warned before taking a deep, deep breath and plunging into the bathroom.

“Hank, avert your eyes,” Maygan yelled out. “Whatever happens, don’t look at it.” She turned to repeat the same warning to others, but McQuarry was busy convincing the men to return to work and did not hear.

She turned back to the bathroom and waited for the certain blood curdling screams from Hank. But there were only the sounds of Hank whistling a happy tune.

“Hey slowpokes, it’s in here,” Hank shouted.

She lowered her swords and entered the bathroom.

* * * *

Hank stood with his arms crossed, one hand under his chin, and stared at the symbols on the wall as one might admire a painting in an art gallery. Maygan came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hank, are you okay?”

“Just wondering how they managed this. I mean it takes a lot of time and… you know, product to draw this much,” he said. “Takes a special individual.” And with that, he walked out of the bathroom like there was nothing more to be done.

Indeed the coverage was impressive even for Maygan who had once battled possessed chimpanzees at the Zoo Parc de Beauval in France. She hoped this time she wouldn’t ruin her shoes.

McQuarry walked in slowly, unsure of what he might find. “Good god,” he managed before pinching his nose with his fingers. “What kind of sicko does this?”

“McQuarry, don’t look at it. Your fragile mind can’t handle additional trauma.”

“Too late, I already got an eye full,” he said. “Are they protesting something? Are these union symbols or something? Are they demanding higher pay?”

“It’s a warning,” Maygan said.

“Certainly a warning for whoever left it here. Like go see a doctor ASAP.” McQuarry said all of this in a nasally voice produced by the pinching of his nose.

Stolen novel; please report.

“It’s a demonstration of power.” She examined the bathroom as if looking for clues. “This power can destroy minds.”

“Looks like you got this,” he said, pointing at the symbols. “Let me know when you have time to work through my demons, too.”

“It draws power from disgust and fear. And you are a victim as well. We must all fight this demon.”

McQuarry closed his eyes and scratched his forehead. “I’m not sure I follow. It’s just feces. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some real eye-openers on the internet, but this… ugh. I wouldn’t say I have any related trauma.” McQuarry went silent, head down, hand to chin, as his brain crunched through his experiences. He entered his own mind and searched his memories. A darkness fell over his face.

“Well, I guess there was that one time in seventh grade. A field trip to the city pool. Earlier in the morning I stole an entire bag of Snickers minis from my sister. My parents weren’t big on sugar in those days, so I ate the entire bag on the bus ride to the pool. My stomach made some pretty unsettling noises as I walked off that bus. Like volcanic gurgling. For lunch they served chili which looked too good to pass up. And I don’t care what people say, this chili had beans and it was amazing. I couldn’t stop myself. When I was done, I swear to you, I looked 38 weeks pregnant. And my stomach was making grumbling sounds unlike anything I had heard in my life. On my way to the bathroom, Deanna, the girl I had a massive crush on, asked me to dive off the high dive. It was really, really high up, and no one else had the balls to do it. Honestly she should have been the one trying to impress me. But I was not as smart then as I am now, so I took a shot. I peered over the edge and damn it did not look that high when standing on the ground. My brain told me to turn around and climb back down the ladder, but standing up there I saw Deanna watching. But my stomach was feeling queasy. But I didn’t want to look like a failure. So I jumped. I ended up doing a belly flop and let’s just say the pool, and my swim suit, were ruined for the day.” McQuarry’s eyes stared a thousand yards off into the past.

“That memory has haunted me but I never realized it until now. If someone asks me to do something to impress them, I’m terrified that something embarrassing will happen to me. Worse yet, to this day I can’t even smell chili.”

Maygan rubbed her arms, looking away. “Um, thanks for sharing your experience,” she said with a weak smile.

McQuarry let out a long breath. “I feel better. How are you handling this okay?”

“I learned the hard way that if you want to conquer your demons you better have some tricks up your sleeve. You see, I was first exposed to something called the Song of Unseeing many years ago. It was conjured against me long ago during combat in the Pacific. The spell made it nearly impossible to distinguish friend from foe, giving the demon an advantage over me. After I vanquished the beast, I had an idea. If a demon used magic to change the appearance of the world, why couldn’t I do the same for my benefit? Why couldn’t I steel my mind from the daily carnage of my life?”

McQuarry at one point in his life had been addicted to History Channel documentaries and the words ‘Pacific’ and ‘wars’ prevented him from hearing any other words. “The Pacific? Were you in one of the wars?”

“No. I battled many demons on cruise ships over the years. It’s a favorite place for them to crop up. Someday I may tell you about it.” Maygan shuddered at the memories. “Soon after that I used the Song of Unseeing to aid me.”

“But how do you-“

“Don’t think about it too hard,” she dismissed.

“I had hoped to talk to the F&D group today, but it will have to wait,” she said. “Otherwise you are bound to lose more village-, sorry, I mean employees today.”

“We can’t lose any more. We’re already having a hard time finding new employees,” McQuarry lamented. “Like literally, they start and then we can’t find them in the building.” McQuarry gave the symbols one last look. “I’m headed back to my office. Conquering my demons is hard work and I still have calls to make to important people.” And off he went to take a nap on the cozy couch in his office.

Maygan stood looking at the symbols on the wall. She knew that any demon capable of creating such a mess would have a hard time blending in among the other employees. A shape changing demon would at least leave nasty footprints behind. She looked at the toilet and wondered…

She tapped the comm button on her shoulder. “Scooter, do you have access to the plumbing schematics for this building?”

“I’m sorry, did you say plumbing schematics?”

“That’s right. We had a wee bit of an incident this afternoon and those schematics will help me get to the bottom of it ,” she said.

The comm was silent. “Woah, I’m trying not to imagine what happened. But, yes, I think I can track the schematics down with the facilities crew. Give me a couple minutes and I’ll see what I can find.”

Maygan hoped that the demon responsible for this carnage remained quiet during those minutes. In the meantime, she’d hunt the premises for other beasts.