The Secret Life of Em De Mone (Part 9: The End)

 The Secret Life of Em De Mone

Hope you've enjoyed Em's 'short' story. Would love to hear your comments. 

Happy Reading  📖 ~Aspen

Part 9: The End

The Danny apparition let out a huge sigh, returning to his regular height. His one good eye no longer green and no longer glowing, “I wish I could, but I can’t,” said Danny, pointing to the black teardrop pendant around his neck. “I’ve tied my existence to the scooping via this pendant and it’s cursed to continue, by whatever means necessary,” he eyed the ice cream scoopers, “until my eyes are reunited.”

“Okay,” Rose said with a pause, giving her time to think, “Tell me, are you willing to part with that pendant?”

“Maybe, but what happens to me in the meantime?” Specter Danny asked.

“That could get a little complicated,” Rose shrugged and looked to Granny.

“An astral holding plane?” suggested Granny.

“What’s that mean?” Danny and his father asked at the same time, but both were ignored.

“That’s a great idea!” Rose said, then looked to Danny, “We can even tailor it to suit your needs…a pleasant mountain cabin on a snowy Sunday? A sandy beach? Casino in Monte Carlo? Pick your destination.”

“Really?” Danny asked casting another look to his father.

“It can’t be that easy,” Tom said as his eyes narrowed in on Granny and Rose.

“This buys us time, Tom. But it won’t last forever…” Rose said.

“No!” Tom interrupted, “I will not risk my son!”

“He’s already at risk, Tom. Be smart,” Granny said, “This is the best we can do for now, save the innocents, AND I have access to him here, so when I need his help to right this wrong, he’ll be there ready to help, won’t you son?”

“Alright, I’d like a cabin in the woods, fully stocked to fish and beer to drink,” He nodded, removing the pendant from his neck, “What do I do with this?”

“Toss it right in that cauldron with those cursed scoopers,” Granny threw the match at the same time and the pot roared to life, extinguishing the curse, “The De Mone family will make this right, son. I promise.”

As the scoopers and pendant burned, a greenish light wafted down from the ceiling.

“That’s the tree-lined road to your temporary destination,” said Rose, “Just step on and let it take you where you’re going.”

“Until we meet again, son.” Tom blew a kiss after the light.

Em felt a wave of calm and normalcy engulf her as the curse undid itself and Danny traveled away. Everything was returning to normal. The spell had been broken. For now. No one would be permanently disfigured. Most of the people wouldn’t even know how close they came to tragedy. Tonight, would be nothing more than a vague weird memory of one helluva night in Vegas at the Fetich and Fantasy Ball for most.

But for Em, it was different. There was a seediness to this town she had wanted to ignore. But an innocent demon had died at the hands of a human, and that didn’t sit well with her.

“Nice work, Lovie,” Granny said, resting an arm around Em’s waist. “You really should think about entering the family business. You’ve got a knack for it, and it looks like I could use some help tracking down this bad guy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Em nodded, still dazed, but thinking.

“You want to join us for pancakes?” Granny said. “Listen to my spiel for the family business? My treat.”

“Um maybe. My friends?” said Em, unable to wrangle her thoughts, “Renee…Maria…”

“Will all be fine tomorrow,” Granny assured her with a tug on her elbow, “Come. Join us. I’m always famished after working some juju.”

Em nodded and followed Granny, suddenly starving for pancakes.

The Secret Life of Em De Mone (Part 8: The Truth)

 The Secret Life of Em De Mone

Things have taken a turn in Em's 'short' story. Enjoy this segment. Would love to hear your comments. 

Happy Reading  📖 ~Aspen

A sardonic laugh shook the space, “I’m here. RIGHT NOW, telling you the truth…and I’m met with skepticism and threats…”

Em felt his pain stab right in her soul.

“Okay, fair enough, Tom,” Granny said, stepping up slowly, “So tell me, what is it they took from your son? From your family? Maybe I can get it back for you.”

“You can’t get it and give it back to my family, but you can help me find it and destroy it,” said Tom.

“Okay, that’s a start. Now, tell me what was taken from you, and we’ll go from there,” Granny glanced at her watch. Midnight ticked closer. “But we both know carving out the eyeballs of innocent humans isn’t the solution, no matter what happened before. So let’s see what we can do to help the poor folks here. Make sure their fate isn’t…”

“You don’t understand…” he was pleading now, “My Danny… had the gift of sight, like his mother…they took it from him, scooped his eye right out before they murdered him.”

“That’s a hell of an accusation, Tom?” Granny said, “Are you saying this was an elaborate setup to kill your son and steal his sight?”

“Hello?!? Haven’t you been listening?!?,” said Tom. “And the dirtbag is still using it. My other son’s being seeing a Teller…like that one over there…” He pointed to Violet. “The girlfriend could see Danny when they came here one night. She left screaming. I came tonight. I wanted to help, but I’m too late. I know these victims here tonight… don’t deserve Danny’s hell…”

 Granny asked, “What do you mean ‘Danny’s hell’?”

The room quivered, then a chill wafted in, and the glass cracked with cold. A figure, an apparition of a young man, appeared in the mirror. He floated closer and closer, then walked right through a mirror and corporealized right in front of them. It was Danny Wellman, or some form of him, missing his right eye.

“Holy shit,” Violet whispered and reached for Em’s hand, “What’s happening?”

Several immediate answers popped into her head, like ghost, spirit, specter, fantom, but not a single word formed on her lips, so Em only shook her head.

There were dozens of haunted stories about this casino. Some legends claimed the ancient Egyptian gods cursed the building because modern humans disrespected the pyramids, but other Luxor lore spoke of hauntings from murders and suicides and those who died during the construction...

“My father speaks the truth. I am a murdered man. My sight was stolen by a friend, a comrade, and he must pay. And I will remove the right eye of as many innocents until he comes to answer for his crime, and he will. We are tied together after all. And while I am still trapped in the casino, I am no longer trapped in the cement he buried me in.”

“You see!” Tom shouted. “My poor boy. Trapped here for eternity. Tied to this hellish existence. They have to pay!”

“Danny, son, I am so sorry this happened to you,” Granny said gently. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past. All that matters is righting this wrong. Thanks to recent events, I was able to pass through the thinning veil this Halloween. And now I will exact vengeance. For my family,” Danny cried.

Again, Em was awash with spittle, only this time from a ghost. It was sticky and smelled funny, but she didn’t dare move.

“I know, son, but these are innocent people like you were. And we can’t just rip their eyes out,” Granny said, then switched gears, “Truth be told, I’m mortified to hear this allegation, and you have my utmost promise to investigate this down to the very last detail, but son you can’t be scooping out eyeballs in the meantime. Please, let’s work together, for the best of demonkind. I don’t want to put you, or your dad, down.”

Em almost gasped out loud when a sharp blade slid out of Granny’s baton. That was a cool trick.

Danny’s eye glowed green and he grew larger. Hunching over, he readied for attack.

“Son, NO!” Tom pleaded. “Listen to them. Let them help us! Get real justice.”

“I stand with her,” Rose said, “Danny, think this through. We’ll end this now, get you out of limbo and we’ll find answers and justice. I promise.”

“Son, please listen to them!” Tom pleaded again.

“Danny, we don’t know each other, but everyone around town knows the de Mone family, and they are legendary. Let them handle this,” Violet let go of Em’s hand and stepped up next to her grandmother, “Give them some time. You know they will right this wrong. Spare the innocents.”

Moved into action, Em said the first thing that came to her mind, as she stepped up to join the other women, “Listen to them, for the sake of your soul, let the innocents go.”

The Secret Life of Em De Mone (Part 7: The Demon)

The Secret Life of Em De Mone

A short story that begins Em's adventures in Vegas.

Hope you enjoy this segment. Would love to hear your comments about this post. Links to all previous posts are below.  Happy Reading  📖 ~Aspen

 

Part 7: The Demon

Green Eyes got closer and grimaced. Its hot breath filled the air. It took a step closer.

Whhffft. A dart hit his leg and he howled. “Aaaargh,”

Whhffft. Another dart. Whhffft. And another.

“Hold it right there! Those are halting darts. Won’t last long for a creature such as yourself,” Granny yelled. “But it should give you pause. There’s still time to stop this.”

“And those are just the beginning, pal, I’ve got more where that came from,” Rose stepped up with her dart shooting baton. “Don’t test us.”

Not to be deterred, the monster whined and wailed, inching its way forward, lugging its now very heavy and very numb trunk-like legs. A foot away from Granny and Rose it stopped. The glow of the eyes faded, and the monster stood taller and straightened his tie, “Rose? Rose Learner…is that you?”

The old woman squinted and pushed her glasses up, taking a hesitant step forward, “Tom, Tom Wellman? What in the name of the thinning veil are you doing out here?”

“They killed my son, Rose…and they took something from my family. I can’t let that go. They’re gonna pay,” The demon morphed into an angry old man, only a tad less menacing, and spat.

Em felt his anger in the hot spittle that landed on her face, but the only muscles that moved were those in her eyes. Back and forth between the monster man and the old women.

“Slow down, there Tom, what on earth are you talking about?” Rose held up a hand and eased her way toward him. “If memory serves Danny committed suicide Here. During the construction of the casino. Wasn’t that about 10-years ago? An anniversary, like that coming up…well that kind of pain…”

His eyes glowed bright again and the air around them tightened. Em pushed the tickle down her throat.

“Suicide…my ass!” He spat, “NO! Not at all, but that sure is the story they fed everyone, isn’t? Hell, even my wife and I were convinced, at first. It must have been the shock. We took their condolences and the stories about his gambling debt and drug use, and we cried with them. We thought we’d lost our son, that we’d failed him. We were fools, Rose. They put on the faces of concerned employers and friends, but it was all a lie.” He rambled, “And this is more than just Danny’s death and running his good name through the mud. I mean, I know us demons can make mistakes, and as a family we could’ve accepted if Danny had found his way into trouble, but he didn’t. He was victim. They killed my son and stole from my family. Worse even, they profit from the theft, even to this day. I am here to stop it, once and for all, and bring about justice. For my son and my family.”

Granny stepped up with a kind smile and a gentle hand. She wobbled a little, but she was old. “Okay, Tom. Walk me through this. My husband worked this case, we’re always alerted when a demon dies in the Valley, and we make sure there’s no foul play. Danny’s death was cleared of any demon involvement. Are you saying that’s not the case?”

“No, no, no,” Tom said and shook his hand at her, “Don’t misunderstand. My son was killed by a human. Everyone on his shift was paid handsomely to lie, and those that wouldn’t met a similar fate as Danny. You know, he’s not the only construction worker buried in the foundation of this place. The workers know that. They were too scared to tell the truth. According to the official record it was just a workplace suicide. And it was all wrapped up in a nice neat little bow. Can’t you see? It was all a set-up, all of it so they could steal something valuable that belonged to my family, my heritage, my history. It’s ours.”

“Well now, Tom, that sounds crazy, you’re saying this is a human on demon death? I haven’t heard of one of those around these parts since the native Americans. They were the only group of humans close enough to nature to be able to take our kind down, and you’re saying one of Danny’s co-workers did this?” Rose said, but she tossed a glance at Granny who only shrugged, “Seems like we need a whole lot more information….”

A sardonic laugh shook the space, “I’m here. RIGHT NOW, telling you the tell the truth…and I’m met with skepticism and threats…”

Em felt his pain stab right in her soul.

“Okay, fair enough, Tom,” Granny said, stepping up slowly, “So tell me, what is it they took from your son? From your family? Maybe I can get it back for you.”

“You can’t get it and give it back to my family, but you can help me find it and destroy it,” said Tom.

“Okay, that’s a start. Now, tell me what was taken from you, and we’ll go from there,” Granny glanced at her watch. Midnight ticked closer. “But we both know carving out the eyeballs of innocent humans isn’t the solution, no matter what happened before. So let’s see what we can do to help the poor folks here. Make sure their fate isn’t…”

“You don’t understand…” he was pleading now, “My Danny… had the gift of sight, like his mother…they took it from him, scooped his eye right out before they murdered him.”