The lab door was locked. Why was it locked? It was never supposed to be locked! The man’s mind raced as he tried to figure out what to do. Normally he could think quickly, but right now fear was clouding his every action.
The creature watched him from the shadows. The man could hear the deep, wheezing breath of that thing as it stalked him. Even without eyes he was sure it was watching him, enjoying the site of seeing such a once great man running around like a fool.
“Let me out of here!” The man beat his fists on the heavy steel doors. “It’ll kill me! It’ll...”
He suddenly felt hot breath on the back of his neck.
He didn’t know how something so huge could move so fast, but the creature had managed to cross the lab without him even noticing.
The creature... That was what it was now. It no longer resembled his friend, his partner in crime. The man that had once been his closest friend was now something else. Something vile and bloodthirsty.
The man closed his eyes. He knew what was coming next. No amount of screaming or pounding could change his fate.
Before the man could even utter another sound, the creature struck.
The man’s head was removed from his neck in one clean swipe. Blood erupted from the perfectly smooth incision like a geyser.
He could see his body standing there, spurting precious blood out into the air. For a brief moment he was able to watch himself die, and then... darkness.
***
The office had been quiet for most of the day, and I was starting to think that maybe the local demon population had taken a vacation.
I wouldn’t have minded.
My last little demon slaying adventure had taken a lot out of me, not to mention it nearly killed most of my friends, and resulted in my boyfriend getting kidnapped by an evil goddess hell bent on destroying the world. So, a little down time was welcome.
“Dear God! Can something, anything, please happen!” Ashtyn whirled her chair around to face me, nearly knocking her computer off her desk.
“I thought the world not being in jeopardy was a good thing.” I leaned back, stretching. “Peace and quiet just means we don’t have to worry about another possible apocalypse.”
“I don’t care.” She leaned forward, her eyes shooting death rays at me. “I didn’t sign up for this job just to do paperwork. I signed up for the action, the adventure, the... the...”
“Tentacles?” I shuddered at the word. Tentacles seemed to like me about as much as I disliked them.
“Sure! Right now I would even take tentacles.” She stood up from her chair and started pacing around the office. “I would take some attempted demon violation over paperwork any day.”
“Speak for yourself.” I had already had my fair share of run ins with tentacled demons, and I wasn’t missing them.
There was a timid knock at our office door.
“Come in!” Ashtyn plopped back down in her chair.
The door opened and a young woman entered. She had long brown hair, done up in a braid that trailed down her back, and her pale, freckled face sported a very large pair of coke bottle glasses. Her clothes were plain and conservative, and she had a small, black purse clutched in her hands. The poor thing looked like she was about to dart out of the office at the slightest noise.
“Is... Is... This Demon Slayers Inc.?” She took one step into the office, but never looked up at Ashtyn or I.
“Yep.” I sat up straight, trying my best to look professional. “How can we help you?”
Normally Clare handled the new business, but this week she was stuck in a conference on Demonology and Exorcism Techniques. So, it was my turn to play boss.
“I think I may have a problem.” She looked up at me, her big brown eyes seemed rimmed with tears and ready to burst.
“What kind? Demons, poltergeists, cultists? We have a special this week on gnomes and other assorted pint sized terrors.” Ashtyn was practically bouncing as she spoke.
“It’s... well, I don’t know what it is.” The woman glanced at Ashtyn. “Are all those things real?”
“You would be surprised.” I eyed Ashtyn, trying my best to signal her to calm down. “Why don’t you have a seat Miss...”
She looked at me, “Elizabeth. Doctor Elizabeth Malone.” She sat down, smoothing out her ankle length skirt as she did. Her fingers fumbled with her purse.
Something had this poor girl spooked.
“So, what exactly is your problem?” I kept my voice soft, calm.
“I... I work at Yamada Labs. Are you familiar with us?” She still couldn’t bring herself to look at me directly.
My heart seemed to skip a beat. Yamada Labs? Kurt had been working in their IT department for the past three months. If something had been going on there he would have told me, right?
“Yes, I have an idea of what goes on there.” I did my best not to let my growing sense of dread show.
“I can’t really discuss what exactly our experiments are, but I was cleared to tell you that one of our experiments may have resulted in something more along your lines of expertise.” She looked up finally, giving me a half smile. “If you take the job I would be able to fill you in on the rest of the details.”
“Well, that isn’t much to...” I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence.
“We’ll take it!” Ashtyn was back on her feet, her fist thrust into the air. “Ma’am, whatever your supernatural problem, Demon Slayers Inc. will solve it.”
“Really?” For once the young woman seemed to relax. “Oh thank you!”
She reached into her purse, and pulled out a business card. As she reached over my desk to hand it to me, I saw something odd in her eyes. There was a shift, a glimmer of something that made me uncomfortable.
“Just be at this address tomorrow at ten. My boss, Dr. Duguard, will fill you in on the details.” She stood up straight, closing her purse. “Thank you so much. You won’t regret this. I promise!”
Part of me already did.
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