13)

Donovan- In the game room above the Party-mart

Roxir threw up his chin and pointed his hand down at the battered old coffee table between the couch and the bookshelf below the big TV and demanded. “What is this?”

At first, I wondered if he really didn't know what a table was, but he must have read the look on my face because he leaned forward and began tapping on what looked to be the latest generation of Xbox.

"It's an Xbox?"

He narrowed his eyes and growled out, “Explain...”

Ah, how would I even start?

"It's easier just to show you." I stepped forward to turn it on expecting him to step back to give me some room to hit the power button, but nope, he just stood there so I would have to squeeze up next to him to get anything done. For a moment I wanted to try to stare him down, but I’m thinking he isn’t that less dangerous even as a skinny kid.

I stepped back, “Ah, you might want to have a seat while I set it up.”

He gave me a single raised eyebrow and sat in the middle of the couch, elbows and legs spread out to claim the whole thing for himself. Yeah, not going to say a word.

I power up the game and the TV and I’m looking at the opening screen of an older first person zombie shooter from a few console generations back. Not something my family could have afforded even when it was new but it was easy enough to figure out how to play. I had a seat on the armrest of the couch and handed hell boy one of the controllers before opening up the tutorial.

Between throwing in instructions and showing him what the buttons did using on my controller. I slipped in a few questions figuring he might be willing to answer while distracted by the game. From his side glare, I'm pretty sure he knew what I was up to, but he still gave me some answers.

He also picked up on the game controller pretty quickly as well. I don't think he had ever played video games before and I doubt they had TVs in hell, but with him, it was more like, "here's another new thing to learn how to use", rather than "what the hell is this?"

“So, what exactly does it mean to be a first prince down here?”

He jerked the controller up like it would help him jump into the game. "To be the first prince is to be the eldest surviving child of the demon who made a domain. When the demon abandons his domain or dies the first inherits the domain and takes on the responsibility to separate it from hell to become an Umbral realm between hell and the upper universe.”

“So your dad’s a demon?”

“Both of my parents are. My father sold his soul for the power to defeat the Canaanites, but without a soul, he developed a hunger for human hearts. When Canaan was conquered he exiled himself to hell where his hunger was quelled. My mother choose to follow and with enough time in hell she became a demon as well."

Oh shit. Does that mean I’m going to become a demon by being down here? Wait, that might be cool, other than the eating hearts thing.

“You however will remain a weak human as long as you stay within a domain and it doesn't fall.”

Oh, I’m relieved I guess. "So what is up with Damia claiming a convenience store? Is this a domain now?"

“Others have set aside their titles to take control of other domains, or to create their own. If she makes this place larger and fills it with life then this place too may rise. Why can I not find new things to kill."

“That was just a level to teach you how to use the controller. You have to restart in story mode or play where you just wander around killing things."

He seemed lost in thought for a moment. “I spend enough time wandering, start the story mode. And bring me another drink, the red this time.”

Yes sir, on it. As I got up he whispered. “Her father may not be pleased, Perdition is ready to rise, he is ready to create yet another domain. But she was his only worthy child born of that place.”

“Most likely he will be coming here, and the First is far more than just a demon." he grinned.

"Something for you to look forward to."

Martin- Facing down an entire army at the Party-Mart

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!

I quickly locked the door and even turned the sign to closed.

Of course, that isn't going to do it, but it keyed the wards on the store to do a lot more than just discourage people with ill intent to get out. Right now I will take what I can get.

“Master what should we do!”

"Get everyone moving, we are going to head up the stairs. Hopefully, we can hold them off from up there long enough to get them talking.”

Like that will stop a few thousand, orcs? Trolls? Angry green men? Whatever they are, the key to being a good leader is to always have an answer, even if it isn’t a good one. And if I have to, it might be a lot easier dealing with a horde trying to climb up the stairs or getting to a second floor window than just having them rush at you through a front door.

I got to the back door and pulled it open…

To see about two thousand orange scaly guys with sharp objects and some interesting uses of feathers and beads charging right at me from the opposite side of the store from the green meanies.

… "Great.”

I slammed the door shut and turned to walk back to the middle of the store. The green team were only a few dozen yards away. Tosser stood by my side gently patting me on my leg. "We protect the master."

I smiled sadly down at him. "Thanks little guy, you do that."

The lights went out. I could see Jermaine by the light switches. The room was now only lit by the lights in the standing refrigerators and the dim orange sun outside. The shadows seemed to grow thicker in the Party-mart, no, they were getting thicker and there were several other imps lurking in them. Darker ones without hats or sunglasses.

Oh. Guess the little guys may be useful.

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The first of the green bray hackers smacked into the front of the store after trying to split to one side or the other. Only to be pushed, shoved, and tossed aside by the ones behind them until a dozen or were pressed up against the front windows. The glass straining under the weight of those behind them.

A roar sounded out from either side as the green team met the oranges'. I could hear the sounds of fists and metal beating at the back door. I guessed they spotted it while I had it open.

A rather gaunt older female with an eye patch who was pressed up against the front of the store narrowed her remaining startling blue eye at the sight of the back door lit up from the light of the exit sign and realized she had a way to get to the enemy. All she had to do is get past the glass window in her way.

Lucky for her she has a big stick, with nails in it, clutched in her hand.

The first hit cracked the glass, and some of the others trapped at the front of the store seem to get the idea. In moments I had a dozen eager customers not willing to wait for the store to reopen trying to get in.

I could hide in the office, and maybe stuff the pack of imps into the bathroom and wait out both sides. I could form a spell and use it for the only thing I'm good at and kill a bunch of people. Or do the one other thing that sometimes works.

Use some of the useless mana in my reservoir to power up someone else’s spell.

I pictured a spell circle on the floor, but instead of adding the one or two glyphs I manage on my own. I just make the circle larger, large enough to encompass the store. The imps startled back and then leap up to let what should be an invisible spell weave move underneath them.

Hmmm, something to think about that later.

Then, I took it slow, even as I heard glass start to shatter, I gently pushed mana into the wards Cyra had made. She had made them extra strong when she had placed them on her father's store to make them hold up even if her work had ended up being flawed. From what she had said after it was graded trying to brute force it was the only thing that earned a negative comment from her teacher.

The barbarians at the door froze for a moment as the entire store inside and out lighted up with warding patterns and symbols covering the floor, walls, and ceiling. The lithoglyphs had been etched into the bricks and cement, while more illumiglyphs floated in the now visible bands around the store that slowly began to spin around.

I really wish I had a better idea of what all of that meant, but I was impressed as hell, and so was my audience. Both the greenies trying to back away and my new employees who stood all around me.

"The Master is powerful!" shouted Tosser, excited chirps, and howls came from the rest of them. Except for Otto who was running around and jumping up to try to eat the floating glyphs.

"No, I... A friend made these, I'm just using them."

Tosser nodded. "Yes, the Master is powerful."

At least the green guys were backing off, pushing back into their crowd to try to dodge the bits of pavement falling from the sky to drop into place creating an expanding circle of the intact asphalt parking lot in front of the store. Wait…

I cut off the mana. No. no. no. Why is more of the true world appearing here?

Why is my aunt Natalie falling out of the sky with a highly annoyed look?

Why are green guys flying up in all directions with bursts of colored circles right where she landed?

Oh, right. Annoyed sorceress landing in the middle of a horde of green barbarians. That one was obvious.

Here she comes now. Just above five feet of spite in human form. Solid black pageboy hair, dove gray slacks, crimson silk blouse, polished semi precious stone necklaces and bracelets each carved with dozens of micro lithoglyphs, three inch heeled fake snakeskin boots polished to a high sheen, and bursts of many colored lights coming from both hands sending greenies flying away in all directions to clear her way to the store.

“Tosser, hide.”

Oh look, he’s already gone. At least he has good instincts. Along with the rest of them. Nice job there protecting Master. Not that I blame them, at least I now knew they were smarter than they were letting on.

She tried the door, the one I locked, and looked even more pissed off. She gave Cyra's wards a glace, then a second longer and rather approving one, before tapping at the lock in a burst of colors which obscured whatever glyphs she was using. But they did pop the deadbolt wide open.

She strode up to me, looked up, not all that far I admit, and began poking me in the chest.

“I. Said. Just. Wait.”

Cassy- At the Riggs consulting agency trying to be the good cop.

Tarnell Riggs looked up from the floor, in front of the desk Sally Kinkade had just punched him into hard enough to send him and his desk sliding across the room to up against the far wall.

He looked unhappy. Unhappy enough to try to start to pick a fight when it was already over, he began to get up.

A visualized spell circle, the Latin words Solis, Lux, and my intent made sunlight. Sunlight makes Tarnell Riggs the vampire only as strong as an aging out of shape ex-cop rather than a Mortax empowered walking corpse.

A wide eyed Tarnell decided to stay on the ground as I held the ball of sunlight shining out from about a foot in front of my left hand while I showed him my badge in my right.

“Lieutenant Cassandra Varrow, State police. I need to ask you a few questions Mr. Riggs.”

Kinkade stepped up beside me with a ball of yellow light of her own. She glanced at mine, and hers goes a little bigger and brighter. “You got that with two symbols? Nice."

She waved hers in Rigg's face. "Sally Kinkade, and I get to end you if you don't have any answers.'

Tarnell looked back and forth between us. "What the hell? How are you doing that? Why'd you hit me?"

He filched back, both hands held up protectively as Kinkade made her light move out another foot from her hand and closer to his face. A variable glyph? Show off.

She grinned, showing all her teeth. "No, no, no. Bad vampire. We. Ask. The. Questions."

I tried to take back control of the conversation "Hold on a second, explain what you mean about how are we doing that.

"

He peeked around his hands, "Making light like that, ain't no movie I ever seen had vampires making burning lights."

Me and Kinkade exchanged looks. Then she gave him a kick in the thigh hard enough to spin him around leaving him flat on his back. "Why the fuck do you think we're vampires."

He curled up into a ball. "God dammit, stop hitting me.”

I waved her back, “If you start talking I can hold her back.”

Riggs rolled his eyes, apparently familiar with this sort of double teaming but not willing to keep getting hit. “I was told to stay out of New Orleans while I waited for my new assignment. And what else could you be? Hitting that hard and doing voodoo shit."

“Wait, you think vampires are the only thing around.” Kinkade made a choked off snorting sound and had a seat on his desk. “I can’t even talk to this idiot.”

I shook my head. “Who is giving you orders Mr. Rigg”

I could see him doing the math in his head, apparently so could Kinkade as he looked up at the crunching sound of her slowly pushing the tip of her finger through the top of his wood desk top. All the way past her first knuckle.

“Guy I was working for, for years. Named... urk."

He seem to choke for a moment before letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth as the shirt over his chest began to blacken with heat from below.

Kinkade jumped up and began weaving a spell. “Shit, someone put a spell trigger on him.”

Tarnell began weakly beating on his chest, I headed out the door leaving Kinkade and the smoldering vampire alone in the room. “Wait up, I think I can cancel it!”

“Good” I pulled the pin and began hosing down the burning man with foam from the class A extinguisher from the hallway.

Kinkade finished waving her hands around until there was a flash of purple light from below Rigg’s chest. “Got it”

We looked down at the partially burned, foam covered corpse looking blankly up at the ceiling.

"Dead," I asked

Kinkade nodded

“Well so much for getting any answers out of him."

She started to say something then stopped.

“What?”

She looked away.

“This was my only lead to helping your roommate.”

She glared at me before sighing. "I used to date a necromancer." she jerked her head to the east, toward New Orleans.

“One of them?”

“Of the families yeah, but Ramone was still breathing the last I heard. They wanted him to knock out a few kids before they had him turn. I didn't want any part of that."

“Any chance you can get him here.”

She shook her head. "I was pretty pissed at him the last time I saw him, he would probably think I was luring him into an ambush."

I nudged Riggs's body with my foot. "Good news Tarnell, we're going on a road trip.