Rooted, p.5
Dead Evil, page 5
“She knew about Agatha Louise. The doll’s past and future.” Ronan took a deep breath.
Ten held up a hand to interrupt. “Oh, no, Ronan. Let me stop you right there. You’re going to tell me that Everly should be there so she can save the alleged ninth victim. Just so you know, I mean this in all sincerity, and pardon my French, but are you fucking crazy?”
“Swear jar!” Everly sang out from the living room.
Jude snorted. “Ten’s finally one of us!”
“Babe, why don’t we take a little time to make our final decision? The con is a few days away. Let’s see what happens between now and then.”
“You make no sense. Before, you were against her going because you thought people might try to take advantage of her gifts, now you’re saying she should go so she can save a stranger from dying at the hands of a killer doll?”
“I wonder if they’re gonna bring that clown doll from Poltergeist?” Jude asked. “I want my picture taken with it.”
“Not helping, asshole,” Ronan muttered.
“Well,” Kaye said, getting to her feet. “As crazy and informational as this dinner was, I’m going home. I don’t want anything to do with King of Deliverance, but if you need me to be at the con with Everly, I’ll be her shield against evil, no matter what form it takes.” She kissed the tops of Jude, Ronan, and Ten’s heads and walked out of the kitchen.
“It’s a world gone mad,” Ronan said, making himself another sandwich. “Kaye’s willing to go to the convention to save Everly.”
Tennyson couldn’t have said it better himself. When he first heard of Paranormal Phantasmagoria coming to Salem, he’d been thrilled to his toes. He was hoping that if it was a huge success, maybe a similar convention could be held in Salem annually. He’d been excited for Everly to meet young people with gifts like her own. Everything was coming up roses, but now, Ten couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be dead and black.
6
Ronan
The days leading up to the convention passed at the speed of light. With Ronan and Jude’s help, Fitzgibbon held a press conference about the convention, King of Deliverance, and Agatha Louise. Most people Ronan had spoken with afterward thought the press conference was a clever marketing ploy to bring more people, and their wallets flush with cash, to the Witch City, rather than the serious warning it was.
After several discussions which nearly bordered on shouting matches, Ten and Ronan decided that Everly could go to the convention on Friday, since the doll wasn’t scheduled to appear until Saturday. Everly would be there for the vendor’s lunch, to meet and greet the other talent, and could stay for the opening of the con to walk around the vendor booths, so long as she had an adult with her.
At the moment, she was in the West Side Magick booth talking to a psychic from California and her daughter, Petunia. She and Everly looked as though they were becoming fast friends. Ronan loved that for his daughter, but he was still worried as hell about King of Deliverance and Agatha Louise. Both of whom were yet to make an appearance.
When Ronan, Ten, and Everly arrived at the convention center, he expected to be met by members of KOD with hateful signs and even uglier shouted slogans. To his surprise, there had been none of that. In fact, there hadn’t been any members of the megachurch anywhere to be seen, which worried Ronan. Where the hell were they? More importantly, what the hell were they planning?
“The KOD has landed,” Fitzgibbon said, shoving his walkie-talkie into his back pocket.
Ronan checked his watch. It was just before three when the con was about to officially open. It made sense that would be the time for KOD to show up. “What’s going on, are they behaving themselves?”
“So far, so good,” Fitz said. “I have a feeling getting out of here when the con ends could be tricky.”
Ronan had been thinking the same thing. “My main concern is getting Everly and Tennyson out of the building and home safely. Thankfully we’re parked in the underground garage. That should minimize our contact with the protesters.”
“Daddy, can you walk me and Petunia around the convention floor?” Everly asked. Petunia was standing behind her. The little girl looked to be about Everly’s age and could have passed as Wednesday Addams’ mini me with her dark braids, black dress, and sneakers. Ronan wondered if the little girl was cosplaying the character or if this was how she normally dressed.
“Sure, what are you ladies interested in seeing first?” Ronan asked.
“There are a couple of kids in the tarot booth over there.” Everly pointed to a booth where brightly colored tarot decks were being sold, along with altar cloths and handmade bags to hold the card decks.
“Okay, lead the way.” Ronan ushered them away from the booth.
“Who is Wednesday Addams?” Petunia asked Everly as they walked toward the booth.
Ronan snorted. Obviously the little girl could read him like a book. He’d have to watch his thoughts closely. He tended to swear more often in his head than he did out loud. The last thing Ronan wanted was for Petunia to go home with a colorful list of new vocabulary words.
When they reached the booth selling tarot decks, Ronan kept his distance and let the girls shop without him eavesdropping.
“Wow! Look at this deck, Daddy!” Everly motioned Ronan toward her.
Everly pointed to a Green Witches Oracle deck. The cards were painted with different types of crystals and plants. Ten had known early on that Everly would be a kitchen witch. Over the last few years, she’d been in charge of their backyard garden with Ronan happy to buy plants that interested his curious daughter. “They’re beautiful.” Ronan picked up the box and quickly read the description and the price which was forty dollars. “Do you want a pretty bag to keep them in?”
“You’re gonna buy the deck for me?” Everly’s eyes widened.
“I am,” Ronan agreed. The look on Everly’s face alone was worth the price of the cards.
She chose a green bag with belladonna flowers stitched on the front, which she handed to Ronan. “Thank you, Daddy! I can’t wait to start working with them.” Everly hurried over to twin sisters who looked very happy to meet her.
“Your daughter is an incredibly gifted witch,” the woman in charge of the booth said, as Ronan handed her Everly’s choices.
“Yes, she is,” Ronan agreed. “Her other father and I are trying to make sure she has whatever tools she’ll need to develop her gifts.”
“I would expect nothing less from Tennyson Grimm. He’s one of our best and brightest psychic mediums. I’m Raven Althea, owner of the Green Witch Apothecary over on Essex Street.” She pointed to the booth banner above her head. “This is just a sample of what we sell in the shop. Please feel free to visit anytime and bring your little miss along. There is much we can teach her.”
Ronan wasn’t surprised that Raven knew who Ten and Everly were. “We’d love that, thank you.”
“The Crystal Palace has a booth a few rows over. There are some things Everly will need there. She’ll know what to get.” Raven grinned at Ronan, who was watching Everly and the other girls who were laughing together. “Those are my daughters, Evangeline and Emmaline. They’re seven years old and will be going into the third grade at Salem Elementary this fall. We had a bit of trouble in Danvers last year with the girls’ growing skills, so my wife and I thought it would be better for them to attend classes here.”
“The principal, Max Preston, is a friend of ours. He used to be the be a principal in Salem, NH. After Everly was able to help solve a cold case murder involving poisoned kids at his school, Max decided to come here. He absolutely believes in all of Everly’s gifts. I imagine things will go much more smoothly for your girls with Max on their side.” Ronan pulled out his wallet and handed one of his business cards to Raven. “Let me know if the girls want to get together with Everly, but I’ll warn you, my daughter is a sleepover queen. I know Tennyson would like to meet you and your wife as well.”
“We’d like that too,” Raven took the card. She gave Ronan the total for her purchases and put them in a bag. “We’ll talk soon.”
After Ronan paid, he walked over to Everly who was still talking with Raven’s daughters.
“Daddy, this Eva and Emma! We all have ‘E’ names! Isn’t that cool?” Everly gushed. “We’re gonna be best friends forever!”
“Your names are very cool!” Ronan smiled at his daughter. He didn’t need her gifts to see that the girls were happy to know each other. “Raven mentioned a crystal shop a few rows over. Do you want to check it out?”
“Yes! Can Emma and Eva come with us?” Everly asked.
“Sure, but they’re gonna have to ask Raven’s permission too.”
“Everly!” Petunia called from the side of the stall. “Help me pick which deck I should get.”
Ronan followed along and noticed the cards Petunia liked were darker. He watched as Everly looked over the decks. She held her hand over all of them and shook her head. “Try that one.” She pointed to a deck patterned with crows.
Petunia’s eyes widened. She picked up the crow deck and her hands started shaking. “These are perfect! I have a crow friend named Barnabus that visits me every day and brings me presents.”
Everly’s eyes widened. “How cool is that?”
Ronan was about to tell Everly they’d look up how to attract crows to their yard, when a buzz started at the front of the convention floor. He saw three men dressed in dark robes were causing the stir and wondered who they were.
“Demon hunters,” Raven said from Ronan’s side. “Barrymore, Dwight, and Cantor.”
“From Dallas Demonologists?” Ronan remembered Jude mentioning they were the headliners for tomorrow night’s demonstration in the auditorium. “Are they the real deal?”
“Yes, they’re from Dallas, but I can’t tell if their powers are genuine or not. There’s a dark cloud surrounding them. I’m not sure if it’s their own auras or if someone is projecting the cloud to protect them.”
“Demons abound!” the tall blond man shouted, as he moved through the convention floor. He stopped in front of a booth selling altar candles. “In you, good sir. You are in danger. The demon is winning.” The buzz grew louder as people began gathering around him.
Ronan recognized him as Duke Barrymore. He’d done a little research on the group when Jude mentioned Wolf wanting to attend their demonstration. Jude also said Barrymore could sell out two shows a night in Vegas, and from what Ronan was seeing now, he had no doubt.
“I don’t like him, Daddy,” Everly said, taking Ronan’s hand.
“Why not?” Ronan asked.
“I don’t know.” Everly nibbled her bottom lip in a perfect imitation of Ronan. “He makes my head hurt.”
“Do you feel like he’s a bad man or is it something else?” Ronan bent down and scooped his daughter into his arms. He was ready to run if the situation got worse.
Everly shook her head. “His aura is loud, like when you turn up the music in the car, but it’s not saying anything.”
“Raven said the same thing to me.” Ronan didn’t like this one bit.
“I call upon the righteous name of Jesus Christ! I cast you out, demon! Back to the fiery pits of hell where you belong!” Barrymore shouted. He set his hands on either side of the man’s face. “Out, I say! OUT!” He released the man who fell to the floor and started to thrash around. “OUT! OUT!”
The crowd joined in the chant while the man continued to flail. Nearly a minute passed before the man stilled. He slowly sat up, holding his hands out in front of himself.
“How do you feel?” Barrymore asked, offering a hand and hauling the man back to his feet.
“I’m free!” He jumped into the air. “I feel light as a feather. Like I could fly! Thank you!” He wrapped his arms around Barrymore and hugged him.
“Due to popular demand, Dallas Demonologists has been granted special use of the auditorium for the opening night of Paranormal Phantasmagoria! “Our session begins in fifteen minutes! Get your tickets now! Come and be healed!” Barrymore turned toward the exit, his robe spun out behind him as walked away. Droves of people followed him and the other demon hunters as they left the floor. Where ten minutes ago the convention was booming, now the room was nearly half empty.
With Everly in his arms, Ronan walked back to the West Side Magick booth, which was now empty, but for the psychics. “What the hell just happened?” Ronan asked.
“I told you they were showmen,” Jude said, taking Everly from Ronan.
“We had seventy people signed up for readings,” Ten said. “What the hell do we do now?”
“No refunds, that’s for damn sure!” Carson crossed his arms over his chest. “Boy am I glad we had everyone pre-pay for the readings.”
Ronan took Ten’s hand and led him away from the booth.
“Is Everly okay? She looked a little unsettled.” Ten’s eyes were on their daughter, who was still wrapped in Jude’s arms.
Ronan shook his head. “She said she didn’t like Barrymore, but couldn’t really explain why, just that he was too loud but she couldn’t hear anything.”
“He and the others were projecting so that the psychics in the room couldn’t read them,” Ten said softly.
“What do you mean projecting?” Ronan asked.
“Imagine singing ‘Row Your Boat’ over and over in your head. You sing louder and louder until you’re shouting inside your own mind. A person doing that can’t be read. All I would be able to hear was the song, or worse like Everly, nothing.”
“Does it mean they’re hiding something?” Ronan asked.
“Possibly,” Ten admitted. “What the demonologists do is on the paranormal fringe. Most people who believe in the paranormal believe that psychics can see into the future, that mediums can speak to the dead, but demon deliverance, is something else altogether. Groups like Barrymore’s are bringing it more into the mainstream, but all I see when I look at them are charlatans. Barrymore made gay people like me think they were possessed by demons. He offered alleged cures for a price. That little demonstration just now will bring new customers to them in droves. You watch and see.”
“It turns out not everyone is going to the demon deliverance,” Carson said. “They’re charging five hundred dollars per ticket. Some of our clients are coming back and I bet you, dollars to donuts, they’re all going to want to know if they’re being possessed like that man a few minutes ago.”
Ten nodded. “Let’s figure out how to handle that question.” He gave Ronan’s hand a squeeze and followed Carson back to the booth.
As Ronan watched, people began filtering back onto the convention floor. He wished things could go back to the way they were fifteen minutes ago when Everly was making friends with Raven’s twin daughters, but all he wanted to do now was grab his daughter and get her the hell out of the convention center.
Everly said there was something off about the demon hunters and Ronan wasn’t going to stop digging until he found out what it was.
7
Tennyson
Later that night, after Everly had finally gone to sleep, Ten grabbed his laptop and went into the kitchen. He had several things to discuss with his husband and knew Ronan wouldn’t like what he was about to hear.
Ronan was waiting for him with two cups of hot peppermint tea. “Did Everly say anything else about Barrymore?” Ronan asked
“No.” Ten took a sip of tea. “She still can’t narrow down what’s off about him. Carson and Cole got the same uneasy feeling about Barrymore. Carson wondered if it is because of possible demon contamination.”
“Demon contamination?” Ronan asked. “What the hell is that?”
“On the Dallas Demonologists website, they mention that over the last twenty years, they’ve exorcised over ten thousand demons. It’s absolutely possible that the demons would crash into or pass by Barrymore and his crew.”
Ronan wore a dubious look. “So you’re saying Barrymore’s aura could be off because demons have ricocheted off him on their way back to hell?”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Ten said. “It’s just like shooting someone and getting their blood on you. Or when you take a shower in the morning and people can smell your shampoo an hour later.”
“You think this contamination could cause all of you to feel uneasy around the demon hunters?”
“I do. Did you feel that way before Everly told you she didn’t like Barrymore?” Ten asked.
“I didn’t, but Raven did. Made me wonder what the hell else I’ve missed because I don’t have Everly’s gifts.” Ronan looked like he had more to say, when Ten’s phone dinged with an incoming text.
Tapping his phone, Ten saw the message was from Carson. “Sweet Jesus.”
“What is it?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” Ten began, “but KOD is going to appear on stage tomorrow night with the Dallas Demonologists. It’s going to be like the tent revivals I went to when I was a kid. I don’t understand what the hell is going on.”
“It answers one question though.” Ronan grabbed his phone and opened it to Jude’s text stream. He dashed off a quick message.
“What question?” Ten asked.
“Why the KOD members didn’t cause a scene today and land themselves in jail.”
“If they’re in jail, they can’t be onstage.” Ten sighed. He had to admit the tactic was brilliant. “So, not only do they act like little angels, outside the venue, trying to save people and get them to accept Jesus into their hearts and lives, but now they’re going to be front and center at the largest paranormal convention in the United States. What better way to drum up new clients? Show them the Godly error of their ways and offer a gift that is unattainable through the occult; eternal salvation. According to Paranormal Phantasmagoria’s website, tickets to be delivered of your personal demons are going for a thousand dollars a pop.”
“That explains why they offered tickets tonight for half that price. Barrymore knew that word of mouth would spread after the demonstration on the convention floor and also with the deliverances that took place in the auditorium.” Ten sighed. “All I wanted was to enjoy this convention with my friends and drum up some new clients. How the hell are we going to accomplish that when King of Deliverance goes against everything we stand for?” Exhausted, Ten felt like he was going to cry.
