The Devil, the Witch and the Whore (The Deal Book 1) Read online

  I don't even understand what's happening to me, but I'll figure it out later. First, I have to get as far away from this madness as possible. The fear is so strong now, I can barely even think straight. All I know is that I have to get away.

  Reaching up, I grab an overhanging section of rock and then I haul myself a little higher, taking care not to let my feet slip on the damp rocks. If I could use my damaged hand at all, this wouldn't even be too difficult, but right now I feel as if I could fall at any moment. As if to prove that point, my left foot slips slightly, and I tense every muscle in my body as I struggle to hold on. I should turn back. Any sane person would stop this, but fear is driving me onward. And even now, just a few feet up from the chamber's opening, I already feel as if the fear is subsiding just a little. The higher I climb up the cliff-face, the harder it is for the fear to reach me.

  I wait a moment, as the river rushes far below, and then I start climbing again. I have to keep going.

  “You can do this,” I stammer to myself, ignoring the sound of the girl still yelling at me. “It's not far now. You can make it.”

  I have to steady myself for a moment longer before finally I reach up and grab another section of rock. My left arm is already aching, but my heart is pounding and I know I can't give up. Once I'm sure my left foot is secure on a small outcrop, I lift my right leg and scramble to slip my boot into a narrow slit in the rock-face. It's not much, but as I look up I see a small ledge just a little way further up. If I can make it to the ledge, I might even be able to reach up and touch the top of the cliff, and then I just have to haul myself up the rest of the way. At least I'm getting further and further away from the man in the tunnel.

  I take a deep breath and shift my grip slightly.

  Suddenly a section of rock gives way beneath my feet. Straining, I try to lift my right leg and find a ledge or something else that'll support me.

  And then my fingers slip and I fall, slamming against a rocky outcrop before tumbling down into the river far below. As soon as I hit the water, everything goes black.

  Twenty-Three

  Liam Cane

  There are so many demons at the office today. I just want to grab a gun and shoot them all. The problem with that plan, however, is that I can't be sure they'd stay down. Demons can sometimes shift their forms around the bullets, although at other times they like to trick me by pretending to die. So instead of shooting any of them, I remain at my desk and focus on some paperwork.

  “Can you toss me that file?” one of the demons asks suddenly.

  Turning, I see him smiling at me. Like all the others, he has bright, glittering eyes.

  “It's the one right there,” he continues, pointing at a pile of papers on the corner of my desk. He's obviously trying to lull me into a false sense of security. He wants me to think he's my friend. He's been doing that for a while now. “I just need to check something.”

  I stare at him for a moment, before smiling and handing him the file. I don't know exactly what kind of game he's playing, but I'm going to make a mental note of which file he wanted, and I'm going to think about it some more when I get home. Demons never do anything by accident, or without some deeper intent, and it can be so hard to keep track of them all. They're so devious, there are always several layers of meaning to every single move they make. Fortunately, I'm smart enough to keep one step ahead of them at all times.

  “Thanks,” he says, taking the file and starting to flip through the papers. “Something about this wasn't sitting right with me last night,” he adds, shifting uncomfortably in his chair, causing the frame to creak. He's trying to act casual, but I see right through the charade. “It's probably nothing, but I always like to be thorough. You get where I'm coming from, right?”

  I tell him I understand, and that I agree it's good to be thorough. We exchange a little more back-and-forth, just the kind of banter that I've observed goes down so well in this office. He seems to be at ease now, but I can tell that he's losing interest in what I'm saying as he continues to flick through the paperwork.

  “I wouldn't mind some rain,” I add finally, remembering what I was told earlier at the store. People always like talking about the weather. “After this dry spell, we could really use some.”

  I wait.

  He doesn't reply, and instead he seems absorbed by whatever's in the file. I turn back to the papers on my own desk, just as I hear an agonized scream filling the entire office. Flinching slightly, I look over at the others, but nobody else has reacted, and they all remain stony-faced and focused on their work as the scream continues.

  The scream is coming from a woman, sobbing and begging for her life. She sounds ragged and exhausted, as if she's been tortured for some time. It's not Mom, it's somebody else, but apparently I'm the only one who hears her.

  Or, more likely, I'm the only one who's paying attention. Demons are probably used to this kind of thing.

  My left eye is twitching.

  “Do you want corned beef or chicken today?”

  Startled, I turn and see that another of the demons has come over to my desk. This is the demon from the front office, and she always puts on the same charade each day. She pretends to want to know my lunch choices, and then she always brings me a plastic bowl filled with rotten flesh and putrid, wriggling worms. I haven't figured out her motivation yet, but something tells me she might be the easiest demon to understand. Her flesh is crackled and burned, and her smile is just as fake as the smiles that all the other demons offer, but somehow she seems as if she might yet be saved.

  By me.

  She might be saved by me.

  Corned beef, I tell her, at which point I find that my throat feels incredibly dry. I glance at the woman's name-tag, because I always struggle to remember things like that. Katie. Her name is Katie. I thank her by name. People like that too.

  “You're incredibly welcome,” she says, which is what she always says, and then she turns and makes her way over to the next desk, where she starts the whole conversation again, albeit with someone else.

  She's so fake.

  So phony.

  I watch her for a moment, observing the way her clothes hang over her curves, and suddenly in my mind's eye I see her naked and covered in blood, screaming for her life as I drive a hot poker down into her mouth. I can even see the poker pressing against the side of her throat from the inside, as its tip sinks deeper and deeper into the pit of her belly. A moment later the flesh of her belly starts to tear open, releasing pale brown juices that burn her skin as they dribble onto her thighs. And the scream, her scream, is the same as the scream I heard a few seconds ago. That has to mean something.

  “Huh,” she says a moment later, “that's a lot of people wanting corned beef today. Must be something in the air.”

  With that, she turns and heads over to ask someone else, leaving me sitting at my desk as I feel sweat running down the back of my neck. Something about Katie always sets me on edge, and I'm starting to think I should pay her some special attention. Perhaps she's trying to lure me into a trap, but I figure I'm strong enough and smart enough to look after myself. Maybe tonight I should watch her apartment windows again, just in case I spot something that I missed on all those other nights. Then again, I guess it all depends on what happens back at the farmhouse. My head hurts.

  After all, the whore might finally be in place, along with the devil and the witch. And if that's the case, then the end of the world will be starting and I won't have time to grab a burger and watch Katie's apartment.

  “Millard's Point.”

  I turn and see that one of the other creatures is watching me from behind his desk.

  “Would you mind?” he continues, holding a sheet of paper out toward me. “Just run up there for me. Sorry, I was going to do it myself, but you know what it's like some mornings. I've got a ton of calls to make.”

  Staring at the piece of paper, it takes me a moment to realize that he wants me to do something for him. That's
good, that means he trusts me. I'm part of the team. I reach out and take the paper, and I see that it's a printed sheet with several handwritten annotations.

  “It's pretty self-explanatory,” he adds, already turning back to his folders as if he assumes I'll help him out. “Don't waste too much time on it.”

  “Corned beef or chicken today?” Katie says, stopping at his desk.

  He turns to her. “I'll have the chicken. And while you're at it, get on your knees and blow me.”

  “Darn,” she mutters, sounding annoyed as she makes a note. “I was hoping that one day everyone'd order the same thing. I don't know why, really, I just thought it'd be neat.”

  “I can take the corned beef instead,” he replies. “It really doesn't matter. I'm going to cut your breasts off and make you eat them.”

  “No, you should have what you want,” she says, smiling first at him and then at me as she turns and heads out to the reception area. The way she swings her butt as she walks, it's almost like she wants me to run over there and carve a knife straight down through her spine.

  She reminds me a little of Mom.

  “It'd be good if you could get out there before lunch,” the other demon tells me.

  I turn to him.

  “To Millard's Point?” he adds.

  I tell him that's fine, as I get to my feet. There'll be time to read the piece of paper later, and besides, I was already hoping to get away for an hour or two. I have a lot I need to do, and I need to do it where there aren't any other people around. I tell him I'll take care of whatever he wants, while flashing the kind of smile that I know these demons like. I tell him to consider it done.

  “I'm gonna fuck that bitch so hard,” he continues, with a faint smile. “I'm gonna fuck her while she bleeds to death.”

  I stare at him.

  “Did you hear what I just said?” he asks. “Gum and a roll of tape. But only if you happen to go by the store on your way back.”

  I tell him it's fine. I can fetch him gum and a roll of tape.

  Heading over to the door, I grab my jacket before glancing back to make sure that none of the demons are watching me. They all seem to be hard at work, and they don't even react when – just a moment later – a woman starts sobbing and begging for her life. I look around, hoping to spot the woman, but she's nowhere to be seen and I guess she's just another voice floating through one of the many, many cracks that exist between this world and the others. Finally, I put my sunglasses back on and head through to the reception area, reaching the main door at the same time as Katie, and that's when I remember.

  She's the one who was begging just now. It was her voice. How did I forget that?

  “Heading out on important business?” she asks, as she slips her arms into her jacket.

  Something like that, I tell her, trying to seem normal and unafraid.

  “Me too,” she adds with a grin, before holding up her notebook. “Sandwich duty. Gotta keep everyone fed, right? I'll have yours waiting on your desk when you get back. And then I'll let them all screw me in the back room. One by one, or all at the same time, I don't care. They can screw me like I'm a pig, and then they can cut my throat wide open.”

  Giggling, she heads outside and holds the door open for me.

  I hesitate for a moment, before thanking her and stepping through.

  I'm almost blinded by the bright sunlight as I step out, but I manage to maintain my composure. Katie heads off toward the sandwich shop, and I politely tell her I'll see her later. Then I make my way over to the parking lot, while glancing around to make sure that I'm not being observed. There are plenty of demons out and about today, but they're pretending not to be watching me, and I guess that's a good thing. I want to stay undercover and unnoticed for as long as possible, even if I know that eventually they'll come at me.

  Eventually, I'll have to kill them all.

  As I unlock my car door, I hear another scream, but I know nobody else will react. I'm the only decent person in this whole town. I'm the only one who isn't a demon. Even Katie, who I can see heading into the sandwich shop right now, is a monster, but she's not quite like the others. She can be saved. And as soon as I'm done with all my other jobs, I'm gonna rip the demon from her soul and get her away from this awful place.

  ***

  An hour or so later, once I've parked up at the side of a road that runs deep through the forest, I take the buckets from the back of my truck and start carrying them between the trees. I have to make several trips, and I can't hurry, but finally I get them all lined up in a patch of woodland that seems completely undisturbed. Frankly, I doubt anyone else has been out here since I was a boy.

  But that was a long time ago.

  A long, long time.

  That was before I understood the truth about the world, and about what's coming.

  I wish I was a boy again. When I was a boy, I didn't hear the screams.

  Reaching down, I pick up the first bucket and tip it over, spilling chunks of flesh and bone across the ground. Then I do the same to each of the other buckets, in order, until the entirety of the girl's corpse rests in the long grass. Using my feet, I nudge the various pieces around, trying to put them somewhat in order, although I know there's no real point. It's at moments like these that I sometimes catch myself wondering whether there might be a different way to search for the markers, but deep down I know that all the doubts are just dumb little sparks that are trying to pull me away from the path of honor and righteousness.

  “Don't worry about the confusion. That'll right itself in time. I know it seems as if everyone else understands how the world works, while you struggle to put the pieces together, but the narrative will become clear in time. The logic. And then you'll be truly blessed. Clarity will snap into place soon enough. This is just how you see the world right now, and you're more fortunate than you can possibly imagine. ”

  Sure I am, I tell myself, while staring down at the girl's severed head as it rests on the grass. Already, dirt has begun to dry to the side of her face, along with matted strands of hair. I hosed her down good during the night, but I guess she picked up more dirt along the way. There's no point hosing her down again. Leanne, I think her name was. That's an okay kinda name, but not one I'd choose myself for a girl.

  I wonder if Katie would look the same if I cut her up.

  But I don't want to cut Katie up. I really hope I can save Katie some other way. But her scream...

  Suddenly it hits me. Maybe the scream in the farmhouse wasn't Mom's after all. Not entirely, at least. Maybe it was Katie's. And maybe I only heard the scream because something was trying to make me realize what I have to do to her.

  I feel like I should say something to mark this moment of enlightenment, but I've never been very good with words. So instead, I turn and head back through the forest, carrying the buckets toward the truck, and I can't help noticing that at least out here I don't hear any screams at all. This is the one part of the whole world where I'm allowed that feeling of relief, and I'm truly thankful. I just wish I could stay out here, instead of having to go back to town and walk among the demons. It's just that, when I'm in the forest, the trees seem to take the screams away and leave me in peace.

  Twenty-Four

  Ramsey Kopperud

  I'm sinking, but I can't stop myself. I can't turn, I can't swim up to the light. I can only stay completely motionless, feeling my body as it drifts deeper and deeper down. Finally I bump against a submerged rock, but I still can't find a way to move. It's as if somehow my body is broken, and my mind is all that's left as I sink further and further from the light above.

  “I want to wake up,” is the last thought that runs through my mind, before I suddenly open my mouth and water gushes down my throat. And the light, which a moment ago dappled against the water's surface far above me, is suddenly gone.

  Part Four

  The Death of Molly Abernathy

  Twenty-Five

  Molly Abernathy

&nbs
p; 20 years ago

  “Wow, it's huge!” I gasp, staring out the window and watching as moonlight catches the tops of the trees. “I didn't think there was a forest this big in the whole world!”

  Hearing a chuckle from the driver's seat, I turn to Buddy.

  “I mean,” I continue, “I knew forests were big, I just...”

  “You just hadn't seen one like this before? Not with your own two eyes?”

  I turn and look out the window again. We're on a high mountain road a few miles outside Deal's town limits, descending slowly toward the forest, and I know I probably sound like some kind of naive idiot. It's just that I thought forests like this only existed in fairy-tales. I can see nothing but the tops of trees all the way to the horizon, with the moonlight catching patches of snow and causing them to shimmer in the darkness. For a moment, I can't help feeling that the forest looks just a little magical, but then I quickly snap my mind back to business.

  I am not some stereotypical city girl who thinks the forest is all cute and cuddly. I'm not naive.

  “Couple of miles to go,” Buddy says after a moment. “I hope you don't have holes in your boots, Molly. This is gonna be one long night.”

  “I'm not afraid of hard work,” I reply, turning and looking out the window again.

  There's still something hypnotic about the forest. Something that demands to be looked at. For a brief moment, I even feel as if something out there is waiting for me, but I quickly put those thoughts to the back of my mind and focus instead on the fact that I've got a job to do. Tonight I'm gonna show Buddy that I'm a professional, and that he can rely on me. Tonight I'm gonna show the world that I can be the best goddamn deputy the world has ever seen. After all, I didn't come all the way out here from New York just to screw up. I came here to do a job.