Page 15 of The Monster of Darkspell Comics
“Weird,” she murmurs. “Is it just me or is this guy intentionally loitering everywhere there are non-humans hiding within this town? He went straight for Chewy, and the mall can’t be that big of a pull for someone out-of-town, outside of dipping in for a memento to take home with them. It’s more of a hubfor locals. I also saw him just watching everyone at the roller rink. Who goes to a roller rink and not skate? And now he’s standing here in the middle of the night staring down into what is essentially a haunted fountain. It’s extra suspicious. It’s like he’s scoping the town out for some reason.”
I frown in response, my eyes narrowing on him. What she says does make sense. I have noted the male lurking in the mall previously, staring silently into shops or sitting watchfully in the food court, but had never paid him much attention since he didn’t bother my shop. Finding out that he had entered when I was not there and was lurking around my human didn’t set right with me.
“Paperwork be damned, I’m going to kill him,” I growl decisively.
Shifting my weight forward, I expand my wings as I prepare to sail from the roof but suddenly find myself blocked by Fanny as she throws her body in front of me. Alarmed that she might fall, I wrap my arms around her and hold her firmly to me as I glower down at her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demand.
“You can’t just kill him,” she hisses up at me, her face scrunching in a pensive way that strikes me as ridiculously adorable. “Don’t you watch TV? Go to the movies? Anything? This is like some secret organization shit. It’s like a roach. If you see one, there is likely an infestation somewhere. There has to be someone who sent him here or someone he’s working with. We don’t know why he is here, but the ‘why’ is probably a lot bigger than one person. He doesn’t look like your average ghost hunter looking for spooks and thrills.”
I squint at her thoughtfully and then peer back down at him as he begins to circle the fountain. Eventually, he finishes his cigarette and flicks it into the pool before striding purposefully away. I note the direction that he’s walking. He’s heading out oftown, which means that he likely has a room at Deadman’s Inn. Had the ghoul’s activities alerted him to what was in the town? Damn Jasper’s hide. What sort of ghoul ran an inn, anyway?
“Hold tight,” I growl as I adjust my grip on Fanny.
“Where are we going?” she whispers as my wings snap wide.
“MoonRise Market. I need to have a word with a certain ghoul, and I’m not letting you out of my sight after this.”
I drop from the roof, allowing myself to glide for a moment before my wings beat the air to draw us up above the rooftops. To my pleasure, other than letting out a strangled gasp at our initial drop, Fanny remains calm within my arms, her head twisting back and forth as she attempts to look everywhere at once.
“Frightened?” I whisper to her as I soar above the main roadway that leads to the market.
She shakes her head. “Are you kidding me? This is sick!”
“What?” I bark and come close to dropping her.
She squeals a giggle, her arms tightening around me. “Don’t drop me! I said it’s sick... totally wild... as in, awesome! I’m not going to barf, but I will make a point of doing so if you don’t quit jiggling me.”
That surprises a chuckle out of me as I steady my hold on her. I want to hold her longer and fly further with her through the night, but the town is small, and we’ve already arrived. Almost regretfully, I close my wings and descend so that we land in front of the entrance to MoonRise Market. It is nondescript compared to the Shopway on the other side of town, which caters mostly to the human residents. So much so that I doubt many humans are aware of its presence since it is closed during the day and more or less hidden by magic. Still, there is always a risk that a human might somehow wander in, so I draw my illusion around me, its mists prickling and confining my true form most unpleasantly.I’ve almost become accustomed to it, however, so I don’t even pause as I take Fanny’s hand and pull her with me into the shop.
It’s not that I don’t trust the vampires who run the market. I just don’t trust anybody.
A few heads turn as we enter, their eyes passing over me to focus on Fanny, but they quickly look away when I bare my teeth in a silent threat. Vepar, a dust demon that lives further out in the canyon, looks over at us, a box of cereal in his hand. As a demon from one of the numerous demonic races that dwell directly on the human plane, he’s perhaps better adjusted to living among humans than either Dzik or myself, but his tells are just as obvious as to his demonic nature if one knows what to look for. As a class of storm demons, dust demons always have a subtle current around them so that their hair lightly flutters around them. They are also notoriously attractive, too, even in their true demonic form, as they are masterful seducers of humans. For that reason, I don’t like the curious way he looks at my human. It makes me want to draw Fanny beneath my wings so that she can’t be tempted by him.
“Pashar,” he greets me with a curt nod, his gaze sliding back to me.
I dip my head in greeting, my eyes scanning the store. “Did you see which way Jasper went?”
A raspy chuckle escapes the male, and he tips his head to the left. “Three aisles over. He’s complaining about the picky diets of humans again.”
“And he wanted an inn,” I grumble as I turn to depart, making the other demon laugh. “My thanks.”
Keeping Fanny close to my side, I head toward the aisle, my gaze going immediately to the male as he studies the shelves with a faint grimace. I can feel Fanny cringe at my side, and I get it. Jasper is not the most attractive creature in the world at the best of times. Though roughly similar in size to a larger human,in his natural form the ghoul possesses a pale moss green complexion with a narrow face half-hidden beneath wild, long black hair, a mouth full of sharp teeth, a long, razor-sharp claws. His human disguise, knitted together by magic from elements of decay, is... rough. Practically deformed, really.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with just meat,” the male mumbles to himself as he pulls a jar of what looks like tomato sauce from the shelf and inspects it. “Meat is everything.”
“Full house, Jasper?” I inquire softly, drawing the male’s startled gaze toward me.
His magic doesn’t quite hide the red glow of his eyes beneath the decaying muddy brown gaze he focuses on me.
“Need a room again already, Pashar? Did Kremble finally get tired of your shit and kick you out of the mall?” The male cackles to himself as he places the jar in the cart.
“Not at all,” I reply smoothly. “I just want to inquire about someone who may be one of your guests.”
He looks at me suspiciously and grunts. “What’s he look like?”
“Dude is about six-three, clean-shaven, and built. Kind of like a secret service Joe Montana but with a good hairline and rank attitude,” Fanny pushes forward to interject.
