NIGHTMARE SUBURBIA

Part 11

Maxine looked in my direction, smiling. “She screams beautifully, my liege,” she said.

I shuddered. “Can she see me, too, demon?” I asked.

Maxine nodded. “She sees. She screams. She burns. She begs for your forgiveness. She tastes… wonderful. Like smoked cherries under hellfire.”

I clenched my teeth. Fat chance I’m going to give that to her. “You did great.”

“I aim to serve, lord dungeon.”

“Was that a spell she cast?”

“A child’s trick, my liege,” Maxine said indifferently.

“Coz it sounds like it fucking hurt.”

“It will only last a few seconds. Once she cast the spell, it wouldn’t take effect again for a minute more.”

“You were waiting.”

“Yes.” Maxine nodded. “She should have run while she had the chance. But alas, she thought she was safe from such lowly spells.”

So, the cult has a spell that can stun demons momentarily. How nice of them. “You need to be careful in the future.”

Maxine narrowed her gaze. “We demons do no such things, my liege. We play tricks. Cut skin. Bleed them out. Not careful. Caution is for the weak.”

“And Maxine’s pendant?”

“An enchantment to increase the spell’s power. As you can see, it was not enough to cast me out of the realm. She was not a very powerful witch. I doubt even the imps would be hurt by it.”

“You got hurt.”

Maxine smiled. “Oh, my liege, I enjoyed it. It was quite euphoric. It’s a shame you had to break her concentration. The human body has powerful orgasms that we demons crave like a delicacy.”

I tried to compose myself for a second. Stomaching all that blood, guts, and dicing made my stomach a little queasy, though I had no mouth to vomit. Still, seeing their deaths filled me with satisfaction.

“Do you know how to drive, demon?” I asked, changing the subject.

Maxine pointed at her temple. “I keep the host’s knowledge,” she said. “I will learn.”

“Good. I want you to take me somewhere else.”

Demon Maxine raised her eyebrows. “You want to leave your domain?”

“Yes.”

She asked as if it’s the most unheard of thing in the world. “You can’t. You have everything here to protect yourself. Out there is dangerous.”

“I’m not staying here forever,” I replied. “And besides, this is not the dungeon I want. It’s not safe for both of us.”

“Where will we go?”

“I found somewhere that suits me better,” I said. “I’ll guide you on the way.”

[Are you sure you want to dismantle your dungeon: The Yates Residence?]

I nodded. “Yes.”

[Destroying the Yates Residence requires 5 essences. You only have 3.]

Ah, shit.

I didn’t have enough. Could I lure more of the cult into Dave’s house with Maxine’s phone? I needed to rest for a while since I was below half of my Power, and all my environmental effects were in a long cooldown. Then again, if I sent a text dragging the other cult members to Dave’s house, there’s a high chance they would escape and call for help, and they might never return. They would also get suspicious.

I needed to get to McLaren Forest and far from civilization. I needed the other cult members isolated.

It was as if Demon Maxine sensed my worry; she started moving toward the living room window overlooking the street. “I sense souls for you, lord dungeon,” she said.

“Other souls?”

“Yes.” She pointed at someone across the house. A woman just parked her car in front of the driveway, got out, and opened her trunk. She hauled out two grocery bags and started walking toward the front door.

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“Would that work? Their house is not part of my dungeon.”

“Still living,” Maxine said. “Essence can be reaped anywhere. Monsters can collect and bring them to you.”

“Maybe we can kill her quickly—” Wait. What the fuck am I saying? Am I really considering murdering an innocent woman who had nothing to do with my murder? Just a poor fucker who happened to be home at the wrong time?

The longer I stayed in this gem, the faster my morality ebbed away. When I watched Adam and Ashley getting butchered by the demon, all I saw were meat bags gushing blood, releasing that sweet nectar after they died. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Now, as I watched the woman struggle to turn the keys on, her front door was a vital resource I could feed on. I hunger for it.

It’s a person, I tried to tell myself. Innocent. Not like Maxine, Adam, Ashley, or Dave.

Maxine turned to me. “Master is no longer human,” she said. “Master is above mortal troubles and fears. You have become magnificent—a work of art.”

“But I used to be.”

“Yes. Used to be. Now, you are a Dungeon Core. All-Powerful. All-Consuming. Do not let your greatness worry about the suffering of lesser beings, my liege. They are beneath you, as am I.”

“You know what I am?”

“We all know what you are, Dungeon Core—those who strive to bask in your glory. We flock to your kind, rare as you are, searching the stars for eternity. Most of us would not encounter your kind for another hundred years. I am lucky to find you. Therefore, I serve. More will come.”

More will come. What did she mean by that? Other visitors from other planets? “Do many people know what Dungeon Cores are, demon?”

“On Earth, yes. Several. Across the universe, millions.”

“And can they travel to Earth?”

“A gifted portalist can traverse across billions of light-years, my liege. Some can sense powerful dungeon cores, and they will come to explore. It will be a glorious day of feasting.”

“Oh.” I gulped. “Um, portalists?”

“The universe has many powerful wizards that can enter one plane from another.”

I stayed quiet. Now there’s fucking wizards, too? Like Alien Wizards?

“But if Master wants to feel safe, I will deliver.” Maxine looked around the living room. Even the demon believed the house was less than adequate.

I looked around my dungeon and couldn’t help but sense I was too exposed. I was a salmon trying to swim upstream, trying to migrate home.

Home.

What a strange word. When I thought of it, I didn’t think about my family and the house I grew up in for eighteen years. I thought of earth and dirt, a shelter above my head, tunnels, and numerous caverns, creating monstrosities to populate them. I yearned for an indescribable power from above, pulled at warping speed, and I wanted to reach out and touch it.

Just a taste.

A taste would do me good.

Like right now.

I swallowed my guilt and said, “Go ahead, demon. Make sure it’s quick.”

Demon Maxine paused, frowning. “But to release essence, the creature must suffer, my liege. It is required.”

I didn’t like the demon’s frown when it was disappointed by my lack of knowledge about its world. It’s like my grandmother disappointed by my life choices for choosing a History major when I go to college next summer instead of joining a STEM program. “What do you mean?”

“If the delvers die too quickly, their essence is tainted. Not powerful. Wasted. A blight to your growing magnificence, lord dungeon.”

“The fuck? Who made that fucked-up rule?”

Maxine shrugged. “The Elders. All-Powerful. All-Knowing. All-Seeing.”

“The Elders?” That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of them. I didn’t see them in my character sheet. “Who are they?”

Maxine narrowed her gaze. “Your creator.”

I shook my head. “Er, Coach Hodge is not an Elder, and he’s the one who summoned me into the gem.”

“No,” Maxine let out a chuckle. Even her demonic tone sent shivers down my spine. “The human you call Hodge is puny. Magic so tiny compared to an Elder.”

“What, are they like gods or something?”

Maxine’s expression never faltered. “They made the gods, my liege. They witness the birth of this universe and countless more.”

“Oh.” Well, shit. “I didn’t know.”

“Therefore, Hodge is not an Elder. If an Elder comes to your planet, you will know.”

“Wait a minute…” Oh, God. “You’re telling me that an Elder gave Coach Hodge the incantation to trap my soul inside the gem?”

“It is known across the universe how dungeons are made, master. Elders are the only ones with the arcane power to wield the weave that powers your gem. What you have inside you is the weave’s raw potential. All-Creating. All-Wielding. All-Destroying. We bow to your glory, might, and wisdom!”

I ignored the demon’s reverence for me. I didn’t like the dear leader vibes it often exuded like it was close to kissing the soles of my boots (if I ever wear one). But I’m incorporeal as well. It was one of the things I would miss wearing if I were stuck in the gem forever. At least I could project a body with better clothes for my mental benefit.

“So, how do I talk to an Elder?” I asked.

Demon Maxine chuckled again. “No one talks to the Elders just like that, my liege. They come to you when you are of higher rank.”

“How high?”

“High.”

“Oh.” I mulled over what I had learned and looked at the house across the street. The woman was already inside. Through my many-eyes, she started placing all the groceries she bought into the refrigerator and the pantry.

“You kill them when their Resolve is red? Am I getting that right?” I asked the demon.

“Those are the rules,” Maxine said. “You, master, killed Dave Yates so violently that he released essence.”

“How’d you know that? I didn’t make you yet when I killed him.”

“I searched for centuries, remember? For a long time, I searched with empty bounty. I saw you. I was at the right place at the right time of your birth. I wait to serve. And then you called, and I answered.”

I looked around me. “Can you see the other monsters right now?”

Maxine let out a small smile. “A few. In the periphery. Waiting like I was. Waiting for you to summon an archetype of their ancestry, they will answer.”

Well, that’s not fucking creepy at all. “Good to know.”

“Hungry, my liege? I can feed you. Let me help.”

I closed my many-eyes except for the one standing next to Maxine, who eagerly looked at me. “Okay. Two more essences, right? I doubt these folks know how to stave off a demon. But once their aura turns red, you do it quickly.”

The demon smiled gleefully. “Yes, master.”

Forgive me. “Go ahead. Do it.”

Using Maxine’s body, I watched from the window as she walked out of the front door and casually strolled toward the house across the street. I realized that Maxine’s body was covered in Ashley’s and Adam’s blood, and she was walking around with it in fucking broad daylight. I should have told her to shower.

It was too late. She’s already across the street and approaching the front door. Luckily, there weren’t any people out and about.

The woman left her door unlocked. Safe town, many walls unguarded, I thought.

Maxine casually stepped inside like it was her house.

My birth as a dungeon core would make Point Hope a town of nightmares, which terrified me of what I would become. But I didn’t want to die and to survive; this was what I had to do. Later tonight, Point Hope would be horrified by the wake of bodies I left on Green Hill.

Even with my many-eyes closed, I could hear the poor woman start to scream.