Enid sighed at the pile of dead vampires. She glanced up at Violet who was doing her best not to meet her gaze. The vampires were one and all staked and drained. A few had missing limbs.

“I appreciate that you saved our lives, but why are there missing pieces?”

Violet stared at the floor and shrugged.

“They…resisted and your father had to get rough. I mean, I gave him the silver sword he asked for. Once we staked the leader the rest tried to flee, and he started cutting legs off.”

“Where are the legs, arms, foot?”

“In their apartment.”

Enid kicked the dead gang leaders leg stump. Disappointment evident in her voice.

“You didn’t think to bring them with you?”

Violet started sucking on her lower lip.

“We were in a rush. I’m sorry mom three.”

“We taught you better than this Violet. You’re the elder between you and my father. I know it doesn’t seem that way because he’s a fossil pulled out of the ocean but he’s been an awake vampire for like three months. You’ve been one for three years now, and you’ve had the benefit of instruction from Eyre and Elizabeth. Two old, powerful and knowledgeable vampires. I’m disappointed. You’re lucky Cindie was in the area.”

“What is the big deal?”

“Blood is one thing. Limbs? People don’t tend to live long after they lose them unintentionally. So, murder investigation. You leave a hand, they can get fingerprints… What, these fingerprints belong to someone who died fifteen years ago. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“Yes, mom three. Is Angus getting off because he’s your father?”

“No, I left you in charge, all the mistakes are yours, even if some it was his fault. That is part of being the elder. Just as these mistakes are now mine and Eyre’s because we took you in. Shit rolls up hill until it hits the eldest. It’s kind of the opposite of the outside world. You keep asking us to treat you like you’re an adult, this makes me think you aren’t ready.”

“I understand. I am sorry.”

“No harm done. Cindie was able to retrieve them and incinerate them.”

“How are we going to deal with this?”

“We, aren’t. I am going to get my mother to open a portal somewhere where it’s sunny and uninhabited and I am going to toss them through. They’ll turn to ash and blow away. Now look at me.”

Violet looked at Enid. Enid smiled at her and met her gaze and pushed her influence onto Violet’s mind.

“I drank them all myself. I healed Maria and Eyre, neither of them had anything to do with killing these vampires. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to forget I did this and just remember that I killed and ate eight vampires. Go send my father down, would you?”

“Yes.”

Enid watched Violet walk away and she shook her head at the bottom of the stairs as if she had forgotten what she’d been down here for.

“Violet, my father please.”

“Oh ya, I’m sorry mom three.”

Enid kicked the gang leader’s body again with a sigh. Maria would never forgive herself, best if they don’t remember.

“Ethel. If you’re out there. Maria cannot know she had any part of this. It would destroy her.”

Enid sighed and hoped that worked. She looked up at her father as he came down the stairs.

“Were you talking to me?”

“No, just a ghost.”

“A ghost?”

“Never mind. Thank you for saving my daughter and my sister.”

“I would do anything for you Enid. You’re my daughter.”

She met his gaze.

“I ate all of these myself, and healed Maria and Eyre.”

“Yes, you ate all of these yourself.”

“Excellent. You’re going to forget this part of the conversation but remember it was me who killed all of these.”

He nodded. Enid released her influence over his mind and he blinked and scratched his head.

“How are you getting rid of these?”

“I’ve got it covered.”

Enid felt her phone buzzing.

“What now?”

She pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. Her routing number for superhero Sarah.

“I need to take this dad. I’ll send mom down and ask her to open a portal someplace sunny just toss them through they’ll burn up. Do not put your hand through it will take you months to heal.”

Enid put the phone to her ear and walked up the stairs.

“What?”

“Is this Sarah O’Connor.”

“Yes.”

“We have…an issue.”

“I am sorry to be rude, but I’m busy at the moment, so let’s not beat around the bush, tell me exactly what you are contacting me about.”

“I represent United Minerals. We have…found a…”

“Trust me, I will not think you’re crazy. Spit it out before I hang up.”

“We purchased copper mining rights in Southern Utah and we found Uranium and, some form of obsidian… doorway. Miners were attacked by some form of… wild dog?”

“Hellhounds. You found a hell portal?”

“Yes, we tried a priest…”

“Where is the mine?”

“It is near Aneth, Utah.”

Enid grabbed her tablet and looked it up while they talked.

“That’s Navajo land. Do the local authorities know I’m coming?”

“Yes. They are actually ready to welcome you with open arms. Apparently they have stories about the Shiddi Pit.”

“You’re pronouncing it wrong, but demon pit, makes sense.”

“Look we’re willing to pay, three hundred thousand if you can deal with this…”

“I’ll take the payment.”

“You will?”

“Yes, I’ll donate it to a local charity there, but if I’m going in the mines, I’ll need to be a contractor for your insurance will I not?”

“Yes!”

“I’m legally entitled to work in the states. I’ll see you…soon.”

Enid hung up the phone and sighed at it. She reached into her Atlantean pack and pulled out the copy of Maria’s journal. She searched for closing a hell portal.

“Ha, nothing of course.”

“What mom?”

Eyre had just come down the stairs and looked fully healed but out of it.

“I need to go to Utah. Someminers found a hell portal.”

“What? Alone?”

“Yes. I’ll just…”

Enid snapped her fingers.

“I’ll be back when I’m done.”

Eyre looked confused and Enid flickered out of existence and appeared a few minutes later in a coat at the convent that Maria had been staying at. She wears wearing her superhero Sarah face. She pressed the doorbell. A few minutes later an out of breath sister appeared at the door.

“Hel-”

She cut herself off and held her chest when she saw Enid standing there.

“Oh my, oh my. Come in please Sarah. Can I call you Sarah?”

“Yes Sister, you may. I was…”

Enid trailed off as the sister kept talking.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Oh, I must get the Mother Superior right away.”

Enid lifted her hand and sighed. A few moments later five breathless nuns appeared all looking like they had rushed to look their best. The mother superior managed to look less excited then the rest and spoke sounding calm.

“How can we help you?”

“I’m actually here to see Sister Willow.”

“Of course, Sister Teresa go get Sister Willow please?”

Enid kept up with small chat answering questions patiently and politely. She saw Sister Willow appear out of the library. The angel’s eyes went a bit wider when they noticed Enid there looking like Sarah.

“Sister Willow, I was wondering, could we finish that talk we were having about…my friend who goes to your school and my concerns about her?”

“Yes of course.”

Enid looked to the other sisters.

“Please excuse me.”

The pair went into the privacy of a room. Sariel or Sister Willow as the case may be tugged on Enid’s arm gently.

“What are you doing here, with that face on, sister?”

“I need help and I didn’t feel like dealing with Ezekiel’s eccentricities.”

“Well hurry up, I don’t want the Sisters getting more suspicious then they already are.”

“I need to know how to close a Hell Portal…rift…crack…whatever.”

“Why?”

“Some miners found one and they want Sarah to fix it.”

“I’m not sure you can. It takes an…Archangel…”

“So you’re coming then?”

“No. Just one second.”

Sariel closed her eyes. Enid sighed as Ezekiel appeared.

“Really? Him?”

“I asked for help, this is who God sent.”

“Hi old man.”

Ezekiel smiled.

“Come. Let us find this hell portal. You do all the fighting though.”

“Thanks so much Ezekiel.”

“I have my suit to consider.”

“You can just make a new one out of thin air.”

“Yes but I like this one in particular.”

Enid glared at Sariel and sighed as Ezekiel pulled her into limbo.

“I’ll send you ahead to deal with the people and escaped demon part of it, then I’ll close it up.”

“Wh-?”

Enid barely got a syllable out before she landed in the Utah brush, still wearing her winter coat, jeans and a t-shirt. It was nighttime but if she remembered correctly unseasonably warm for November in southern Utah at night. At least it was nighttime. She dusted herself off and looked around. She saw a fire in the distance. Enid pulled her coat off and stuffed it in her pack with some difficulty it was bulky.

Well at least he put me near someone who can give me directions.

Enid started towards the bonfire and stopped in her tracks. Either there was some form of traditional ceremony going on, or she wasn’t when she thought she should be. Furs and leathers covered the people by the fire. She scanned the area which were more reminiscent of tents then actual established buildings. She sensed an incoming attack and responded as her training dictated. She had no lack of strength or speed even without using blood so the results of mortals trying to wrestle her to the ground were predictable. By the time she was done fending off her would be attackers ten men were on the ground groaning. She used non-lethal defensive tactics, but this was not the indigenous group of people she was expecting. She sensed another incoming attack and snatched the arrow out of the air and inspected the tip more closely, it was stone. She screamed into the sky.

“Ezekiel! Ezekiel! You were supposed to send me to 2027 Utah!”

The tribe she had happened across must have thought it was some form of war cry because another poorly shot arrow came at her and she flicked it away easily. She knew some very basic Navajo but based on the weapons she had serious doubts if it was going to be useful at all. More men had approached her ready to fight she flicked her wrist and send them all flying with a relatively gentle telekinetic push. She tried the same sentence three times in three separate and badly pronounced in three separate native American languages. The northern one she used to seem to catch their attention.

“Stop, I don’t want to hurt you.”

One of the men who wasn’t unconscious and was still standing started speaking far to fast for Enid to have a hope of translating. She frowned. He stepped back hesitantly. She searched for the word.

“Slower?”

The man spoke more slowly and Enid managed to translate enough of the short sentence to fill in the blanks… she hoped.

“Who are you? Why are you here pale one?”

Enid took her time formulating a response. How to explain this to these folks without screwing up history. The last thing she wanted to do was mess with their culture or religion. The language barrier was not helping. She silently cursed Ezekiel.

“I was sent because the land around the evil spirit pit is sick. Evil spirits are…escaping. Where is it?”

Enid was woefully underprepared to deal with this. She had no idea what their beliefs were. Even Navajo beliefs from her time, and these folks had a different language so who knows if there had been any cross pollination in between. She wasn’t even sure if the new world had even been discovered. Thankfully she couldn’t carry diseases so there was that. The man held up his hand and left here there with several of the men who had gotten up and recovered pointing useless weapons at her, she could tell by their fearful looks they knew how useless they were. She smiled at a few of them and waited. He came out and seemed to be arguing with an older woman who was wearing several turquoise necklaces. She was holding a fist full of bird feathers of some description. Enid was no naturalist so had no clue what they might be from. The old woman spoke quickly at Enid who caught like three of the words out of about thirty. The man motioned for her to slow down, and the woman repeated herself. Enid was able to translate enough to fill in the blanks again.

“What spirit are you? Do you come to heal the people and the land? Why do you fight like a man? Why are you so pale?”

Enid took a few moments to try and formulate a response, hoping she managed to not say something insulting. This language didn’t exist in her time, and she hadn’t been to the new world until the 19th century. It was the domain of four of her seers before that. Where people went, vampires went and thus vampire law enforcement needed to go.

“I am a night spirt. I come to heal the land but can heal people if it is injury. I am a warrior. I am pale because I am a night spirit.”

The woman motioned for Enid to follow her. Enid nodded and followed her into a the proto-hogan. Enid pondered what year it was. It would be impossible to tell here. She sighed and looked down. There were four sick people in here. It was humid and would be uncomfortable for a mortal. The older woman was fanning herself. Enid felt the twisting in her gut there was a demon somewhere in here. She sighed and pulled out the Atlantean tablet. They already knew she didn’t belong. Hopefully this wasn’t her introducing writing early. She held it up over each of the people in the room. Two were children. Tablet said one was ten years old, one was five. And two men, one was older and the other had injuries as if he was attacked by a…canine according to the tablet. She moved around and found that the five-year-old girl was the one with a demon squirming inside of her. She sighed. It was a little worm like demon but she had no way of forcing it out. The old man was in a diabetic coma. So much for modern surgery diets causing diabetes. The other child had leprosy. She looked back to the old woman. Enid slid her tablet into her bag. She motioned her to follow her outside. Enid spoke slowly again, trying to find the words.

“The girl has an evil spirit inside her. The old man, I can heal, the young man I can heal, the male child I can heal. I will need the rest healed and out before I can help the girl. Though I may not be able to force it out without killing her.”

“Help them. The old man is our medicine man. He can help with the girl.”

Enid nodded.

“I must be alone with the sick. My healing is not for the eyes of the Earth People. I will need much water for the medicine man.”

The old woman offered her fist full of feathers to Enid who took them.

Might as well do as the Roman’s do.

Enid took an armful of waterskins. Pondering if the people realized putting someone who was suffering from dehydration due to hyperglycemia just made things worse. She started with the coyote bite victim. She took out her emergency medical kit and pulled out the scalpel and started to trim the infected flesh off of the wound. She heard movement and the demon possessed girl opened her eyes and stared at Enid. It spoke in the language of angels.

“You carve flesh like a master. Are you my sister in a body?”

“No, I’m the creator’s daughter. Shush I’ll get to you demon.”

The girl sat up and crossed her legs watching Enid cut at the flesh around the wound..

“You wear strange clothes.”

Enid ignored the demon as she worked. She pulled out Bloodseeker and put it on the ground in front of her and then her tablet. The demon flinched away.

“Destroyer!”

Enid gave a wicked grin.

“That’s right. Sit still or you’ll become its next meal.”

The demon-girl skittered to the back corner of the temporary building unable to escape without having to cross the blade’s path. Enid lifted up her Atlantean tablet and nodded. The tablet told her she’d gotten the infection and the blood was clean. She reached down and held him, she spoke in Athlantean and transferred the injuries to her. She healed rapidly so didn’t bloody her runners or socks. The man woke up. He looked shocked to see a pale blonde-haired woman with strange blue eyes over him.

“I have healed you, go please.”

He rushed out, shock still evident on his face. Enid carried the old man to the entrance and pulled out a vial of insulin and a needle. She drew what should be the right amount of insulin based on his size, blood sugar level and injected it. She put the water skins by him then moved to the child who had been infected with leprosy. He’d already lost fingertips. She sighed after glancing at the demon-girl who shifted as if to try and run. Enid lifted Bloodseeker and shook her head. The demon skittered back. Enid pulled a hammer and nails out of her bag and two IV bags, one was just saline so she could rehydrate the medicine man, the other was an intravenous antibiotic. Wasn’t perfect for leprosy, she knew it had a medical name now, but its just what she called it for centuries. She hammered nails in bit some tape off and placed the a needle in the old man and then the boy. She squished the bags and ensured the fluid was flowing and then picked up Bloodseeker and moved towards the girl.

“Fed him lots of sweets didn’t you.”

The demon cackle-giggled which sounded quite disturbing coming from a five-year-old girl.

“He fell for it too.”

“Well, you have a problem demon. He would just kick you out. I can destroy you forever. So instead of me doing that, why don’t you just hop out get sucked back to Hell and we’ll call it a day?”

“You won’t kill the girl.”

Enid laughed.

“You don’t now me very well do you. Maybe its because my face is different. I am Slays-Demons. I destroyed a hundred of you in one night. Some possessed children, some possessed adults. All were destroyed. Do you wish to try my patience further? You know what this blade is, and I’m sure by now you all know who wields it.”

“Lilith’s spawn.”

Enid’s hand wrapped around the hilt of her sword. She gave the demon a menacing look.

“Now that’s downright insulting.”

“Mercy!”

“I’m offering it to you. Leave now, go back to Hell. Or once that bag is empty he’s going to wake up and he’s going to kick you out and then I’ll destroy you.”

“How do I know you won’t destroy me before I can go home if I leave on my own.”

“You don’t, but I give you my word as Empress of the Court of Eternal Night, and as Sister of Lucifer that you will have save passage home. Provided you exit that body and go straight back to Hell.”

The girl’s face had lightened up as Enid spoke, then as Enid finish her statement the face twisted into annoyance.

“No loopholes here, you leave the body go straight to Hell I don’t wipe you from existence and feed on your essence, or…well don’t and become dinner. I’m pretty hungry after all the healing.”

She saw the girl’s body writhe and a black slug perhaps half a foot long with no eyes squirm out of her mouth and fall to the floor. The girl collapsed. Enid gave a finger wiggle wave to the demon and squished it with a blessed grenade she had palmed. The black sludge it bled melted into the earth and nothing was left.

“Good riddance.”

She put the holy hand grenade into her pack followed by Bloodseeker whose disappointment she could sense. She sat down cross legged and waited. The girl woke before the IV’s finished. She rubbed her eyes and looked around in confusion. Enid smiled at her waved. She reached into her bag and pulled out a granola bar which she unwrapped and offered to the girl. The girl inched forward and hesitantly took the bar from Enid’s hand she smelled it and took a small bite and then a much larger one. Enid picked up one of the waterskins and offered it the girl drank deeply. Enid motioned to the exit and the girl rushed out. She pulled out her tablet and scanned the boy.

“He’ll need another, but in the meantime…”

Enid reached out performed the healing ritual and watched as her fingers regrew afterwards. She pulled the IV out of his arm. He’d regain consciousness but she’d need to give him several more doses. She moved to the medicine man and scanned him. Blood sugar levels looked good hydration was good. He’d wake soon. She pulled down the empty IV bag and removed the needle. She left a waterskin for each of them and left the sweat lodge. The old woman blinked at her. Enid glanced down at herself. Not sweating of course. Enid spoke slowly again knowing her pronunciation was terrible.

“The boy needs more healing but needs to be done tomorrow. Your Medicine man will be fine. He needs to stay away from sweet berries…”

The old woman blinked and nodded.

“I…cannot cure him, it will happen again, and he won’t wake up. His replacement needs to be ready.”

The old woman nodded as if she understood. Enid shrugged and looked around pondering what to do next. By this time the bonfire was out and whatever celebration had been going on was gone and only those watching the darkness for threats were awake. The old woman motioned for Enid to follow her and pointed inside one of the temporary buildings and Enid nodded and entered. Inside she found herself alone. She could tell the belongings were from a woman, it looked disused, everything was left like it had been abandoned with intentions of returning.

Enid laid on the furs and folded her hands behind her head and sighed.

Was this on purpose? What the fuck god?

She sighed grabbed a recent medical journal out of her bag and started reading it. Before she realized it the sun was shining through the cracks and corners of the temporary hut.