Andi blinked. “Break into…” she said under her breath.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming back,” Laura said, speaking right over her.
“We did come back,” Andi said slowly.
Laura nodded. “I see that.”
“No. Earlier. We were already here.”
JP's Blog
Chapter 14 - Maxwell's Demon
thwip
There was a sudden blur and a quick sound, something like the sound a whip might make.
thwip
Another blur and this time a thin red line appeared across the demon’s ink black flesh.
Chapter 13 - Descent
They arrived back at the winery nice and early. Too early in fact; the winery wasn’t scheduled to open for a solid hour after they got there.
“Think we should just head on out?” Jenny suggested. There was no one else even parked at the winery. Granted, serving only sandwiches, wine, and cheese meant they didn’t have to do much so far as setting up.
Andi considered. She didn’t want to head out there without Laura. Just in case they didn’t find anything demonic, the situation was going to be all sorts of awkward. But on the other hand, if Laura wasn’t here, they didn’t have to figure out how to get her to look the other way when they just walked through the walls…
“Let’s do it.”
Chapter 12 - Big Red
“You don’t know the passcode?” Andi asked. She knew that Laura had said she was locked out, but somehow she still expected her to know the code. How else were they supposed to get in?
Laura shook her head though. “I was hoping you might have a better idea.”
Andi couldn’t think why. The problem was, she did have a few better ideas. But they relied on either revealing their demonic powers or getting Laura to leave and on doing a bit of damage to the Clerk family shed. Neither was a particularly palatable first option.
Chapter 11 - Clerk Family Winery
“Couldn’t you just have gotten his phone number or something?” Jenny was obviously joking, but there was just enough of an undercurrent of truth there that Andi couldn’t well ignore it.
“As I’ve told you a dozen times, he doesn’t even have a physical body. How could he have a cell phone?”
Jenny smiled, but she wasn’t about to let the point go that easily. “Yeah, but he has to be some sort of demon or angel right?”
Chapter 10 - About Time
On the demonic manipulation of temporal dynamics
She looked up at Jenny with a doubtful look on her face.
“Yeah, that’s about what I thought.”
“And then?”
“It looks feasible. I mean, there’s nothing completely insane in there.”
“Time travel isn’t insane?”
Chapter 9 - Keep Your Friends Close
Andi couldn’t help herself. “Dead?” She’d seemed perfectly fine when they’d been there. Who could she be dead.
The officer watched her for a moment more. She realized belatedly that he had dropped that particular nugget on them precisely in order to elicit a reaction. Hopefully surprised was the correct response…
When she didn’t say anything else, the officer continued. “Dead. The neighbors called us at about 3:30 pm about a potential disturbance. They said that they’d heard someone screaming and then several gunshots. When we arrived shortly later, she was dead.”
Chapter 8 - And Something Else
She found him within ten minutes.
More accurately–he found her.
One moment, she was alone. At this hour, there weren’t many other passengers. The last of the daytime passengers had already gone home and the late night partiers had hours to go yet. She was the only person on the lower level of her car and there was only one couple on the upper floor. However, they seemed otherwise occupied.
Chapter 7 - Angels and Demons
If she hadn’t seen her with her own two eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it. The demon was still burning away behind them–she could feel the heat–but that meant…
“Of course dear. Now, how can I help you?”
Andi and Jenny looked at each other. Without a word, they moved together, doing their best to hide the still burning body behind them. Andi stole a quick glance behind her–not long left now.
