The Secret Life of Em De Mone (Part 3: Problems)

 A new short story: The Secret Life of Em de Mone

Em is a character in another series, but here's a snippet of her early years in Vegas.
Be sure to check out Part 1: The Intro
and Part 2: Characters and Setting

Happy Reading. ~Aspen 

Part 3: Problems

“Well, aren’t you an interesting creature,” Violet blushed, leaning forward. She pulled her crystal ball closer and swirled her hands around it. A purple glow emanated from inside. She raised an eyebrow, “Now, let’s see what the magic ball has to show us, shall we?”

“Yes, please,” said Em, always interested in what these people had to say.

“Well, now, it shows you have an interesting family dynamic.”

“To say the least. And don’t we all,” Em laughed out loud but leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, “Anything swirling in there about my current life? Immediate future?”

“You will reconnect with a relative. Soon.”

“Hmmm,” Em said, “Not exactly the news I was looking for. What about love? Or even hate? Something with feeling?”

Violet furrowed her forehead, and her hands swirled a bit faster. The pitch of her voice rose as the crystal ball clouded, “Yes, I see hate. A lot of it. And you are in the center of it. Caught there, unable to escape. And blood. Loads of it. Everywhere and soon!”

Em rolled her eyes, “Really?” This level of drama wasn’t her jam. Standing up, she threw another twenty on the table. “Worst reading ever. Buy yourself a drink, or ten, and loosen up.”

“Be careful. Heed my warning,” Violet shouted after her as she walked away. “It will be catastrophic!”

Em held up her middle finger but didn’t look back. This was the last nonsense she needed in her life. Tonight was about having a good time and celebrating Halloween. Yes, her life was terrible and tragic. It always had been, but she thought for one night, maybe she could tuck that away. Just for one night. On her way out of the Reading Room, she looked for Maria. No dice. So now she had doom and gloom ahead without her friends. Swell.

Back at the center bar, the designated ‘I’ve lost my people’ place, Em searched the area for a familiar face. Just as she ordered a drink for one, she spotted him. Frenchie, the stunning man dressed as a French maid. And he did rock heels like something Em had never seen.

 “Oh my angel, oh my…I’ve lost them…Renee and Butler,” Pure distress shown on his face as he grabbed Em’s arm, “Please, please tell me you’ve seen them.”

Em shook her head and shouted over the noise, “Nope, but I’m headed to the Poker Room. Care to join me?”

“Oh lawds no, darling, neither of them would be caught in a poker room…not while there is all this…” He waved his arms in awe of his surroundings, “If you should pass them, tell them I was at the Center Bar, but now I’m at our other rendezvous point. Thanks, angel,” He winked at her and disappeared into the crowd.

“Sure thing,” she said when he was far out of earshot. So who was the other rendezvous point for? Just special people? Like Frenchie?

Em tossed back another shot. Alone. And headed to the Poker Room. This night was not what she imagined. At all.

Sidling up to Michael Myers, she silently hoped he was ‘her’ Michael Myers. She smiled and nodded. She didn’t even know his real name, or what his face looked like under that mask. He returned her nod as she sat down, but that didn’t mean anything. She played a quick two hands and doubled her money. She liked poker, but she was already bored. Maybe someone, anyone, had gone back to the bar, so she stood to go.

“Hey, Maria’s friend…” Michael Myers said, looking around, “Have you seen them?”

“Nope,” she said and walked out. This night was beginning to drag. Another drink perhaps.

Maria sat at the bar.

Em smiled. Finally. She held up two fingers to the bartender, then tapped Maria on the shoulder, but what turned to face Em shook her to the core.

Maria, fidgeting and wringing her hands, sat there as her eyes pooled. “Em…thank goodness. You have to help me find my husband. He’s missing.”

“Hey,” Em gave her a careful look, “What’s up? I’m sure he’s not missing.”

“Jeez, Em! I tell you about my fears and you just…just…blow me off,” Maria scoffed. There was no other word for it, except scoff.

The bartender set two shots in front of them and only shrugged when Em tossed him a ‘What’s-with-her-look?’  She turned back to her friend, “Look honey, I’m sure there’s no need to worry. Let’s do a shot and I’ll help you look.”

“What in the hell is wrong with you?” Now she seethed, like some sort of possessed demon, and Em took a step back. What was going on? But Maria wasn’t done, she started screaming, ranting, “My husband is missing, and you want to drink?” Then she slipped off the barstool and Em was no longer her only target. Everyone was as the shouting continued as she disappeared into the crowd, “Doesn’t anyone care what’s happening? Why aren’t you more worried? What is wrong with you all?”

Em looked around with wide eyes, but no one else even seemed to notice. When she looked back, Maria was gone, swept into the crowd. What on earth was going on tonight? Part of her wanted to go after her friend. The other part of her wanted to go wherever Maria wasn’t.

With a shrug Em took both shots, one right after the other. Then her head spun. She hung her head in her hands and took several deep breaths. Maybe it was time to just go home. Sweats and fuzzy socks sounded like heaven. Em hiccupped and she almost threw up. Right on the bar. This night was on a collision course with disaster. Another hiccup.

She ordered a water and reached for the pretzels on the bar. As she munched, she tried to block out how many hands had touched them, even when bile crept into her throat. She needed the salt to kill her hiccups. She should not have done that second shot, or any of the last three. Probably. She took a long swig of her water. It was all too much. She needed to go home. No matter what else happened.

Just behind a wall of people next to her, a flash of fire filled the air. Roars erupted, followed by more fire. Gasps and cheers echoed over the music. Curiosity got the best of her, and she swung around to see what the big deal was. Another flame leapt into the air and applause exploded. Em slid off her bar stool and inched toward the action. An old biker chick was laying on the bar, as the bartender poured a flaming shot down her throat. People of all kinds gathered around. Shouts of praise and awe filled the air.

Em inched closer, and when absolute realization hit, she shouted, “Granny!”

“Emmie, my little lovie!” The gray-haired old woman said, hopping off the bar with ease.

Em blinked several times and cleared her head. Had she just collided with disaster? Her Granny was here, dressed just like her, except her shirt read: I ♥ my Granddaughter (front) Even though I ate her (back). Em tried not to cry, so she laughed instead, “What on earth are you doing here?”

“Shots, lovie. You?”

“No seriously, what are you doing here, like at this ball?”

“Working.”

“Working?”

“Yeah…there’s a juju here…some kind of cursing, or perhaps a haunting. I’m not sure yet, but it’s taking it out several innocent partygoers. Too many, in my opinion.”

“What? Huh?” Em said, amazed. She was relatively new to this family, only having recently connected with her biological dad. The man her biological mother referred to as a huge demon mistake in NYC after way too much tequila...

I do hope you enjoyed Problems, and I would love to hear your thoughts! 

Next week, It's All Fun and Games, Until... will dive deeper into Em's Secret Life. However (again), I can assure you, it's not what you think.  😉

The Secret Life of Em de Mone

Keep Reading:

Part 1: The Intro, 

Part 2: Characters and Setting

Part 3: Problems

Part 4: It's All Fun and Games, Until...

Part 5: The Plot Thickens

Part 6: Two Fortune Tellers and a Monster