P.S.- language advisory
Are You Sure?
“Are
you sure?”
Ava
gave me a look before poking the little girl with the long staff she was never
without.
The
girl froze, the tiny comb she was using on her doll’s hair coming to an abrupt
halt. Her tuneless humming cut off like
someone had pressed stop on a tape recorder.
Ava
calmly stepped to the side.
I
mirrored her move in the other direction.
I’d
found over the years that it was a good idea to follow any cues Ava gave,
intentionally or otherwise.
The
curly blonde head twisted completely around with a crunching sound, the glowing
red eyes and bared fangs somewhat alarming.
And
then she started breathing fire.
Well,
more like her face became a flamethrower.
I
watched the column of flame reach far enough away to singe the side of the
apartment building, the red brick blackening as the sulfurous flame hit it.
The
flame stopped abruptly.
She’d
probably realized nobody was being hit.
The
small red eyes rolled toward Ava.
“Fuck
you, bitch! Keep that fucking stick away
from me!”
A
voice so deep, the ground almost rumbled in response.
Her
head twisted back around and the sweet humming began again, the smooth strokes
of the comb a soothing counterpart.
Ava
raised her eyebrows at me.
“Fine! You were right.” I shook my head, sighing.
I
hurried back to my car, not wanting to give the demon time to recharge.
I figured
I had about four minutes on the outside.
I
slammed the trunk closed after pulling out my small leather satchel. By the time I made it back to the little
girl, I’d burned about two minutes.
Setting
the bag down on the strip of crunchy sidewalk grass, I unzipped it and pulled
out the shiny metal case inside.
Cracking it open, I withdrew the syringe and the little bottle of clear
liquid that was nestled in the depression next to it.
Plunging
the needle into the rubberized cap, I carefully drew out the dosage for a child
that height and weight. The calculation
was almost automatic after this many years.
Now
came the fun part.
I was
still saving up for a dart gun after my last one had been snapped in half. The insurance company maintained that the
damage was due to gross negligence on my part.
Maybe
I should have stopped those teeth with my arm instead. It’s not like I really needed the left one.
I
nodded at Ava.
Stepping
behind the small figure clad in a blue gingham dress, she swung her staff up so
that she could grip it in both hands.
She
struck so quickly, her movements were a blur.
The staff pried its way into that mouth filled with dagger like teeth,
and then Ava jerked down while stepping back, forcing the girl down onto her
back.
Darting
in quickly, I shoved the needle into a flailing arm and pressed the plunger,
getting clipped in the nose for my efforts.
Ava
and I jumped back together, not wanting to be in the line of fire when the
emetic took effect.
We’d
figured out decades ago that the whole cross, holy water, Bible-thumping bit
wasn’t necessary.
You
just had to irritate them enough to leave.
Sure
enough, after projectile vomiting for a full minute, Suzie’s eyes were clear
and her teeth seemed to be back to normal.
Better
give it a few more seconds to be certain.
“I
could have sworn she was too rotten to be vulnerable to possession.”
Ava
shrugged.
“She’s
only seven. Probably hasn’t had enough
time to become truly awful.”
She
was dry heaving now, and I judged I’d given enough padding time.
I
pulled out the other syringe and filled it with the anti-emetic.
Pulling
one of her clenched arms out, I inserted the needle gently this time. Within ten seconds, the heaving had stopped. But she continued to lay there with her eyes
closed.
I
patted her face gently.
“Suzie? Are you okay?”
Instead
of answering, she twisted and clamped her teeth down on my hand.
“Aaaaaah!”
After
unsuccessfully trying to pull my palm out of that vicious little mouth, I
finally pinched her nose shut.
She
opened her mouth with a gasp and I quickly slid my bleeding appendage out.
“Get
away from me you asshole!”
I
leaned back as Suzie jumped up.
“Oh my
God! Look what you did to Maria!”
She
picked up her doll and waved it in my face.
The little plastic face had a few drops of my blood smeared across it.
“I’m
telling my mommy.”
With
that parting shot, she spun on her heel and marched to the front door of the
apartment building she lived in.
The
same one, unfortunately, that I lived in.
Ava
was very carefully not looking at me,
but her twitching mouth gave her away.
Pulling
a handkerchief out of my pocket, I wrapped it around my hand.
“I don’t
get paid enough for this shit.”
