Mimi's Demons

Chapter 42: Fight or Fright

Duke would have much rather just forgotten about the demon in his basement entirely. But better sense told him he couldn't. Even if the threat to Mimi was a lie, until he was certain, he couldn't ignore it. Not to mention this was his first ever talking demon. There was info to be had.

So, after tucking in Mimi for the night by giving in to tell her one gory experience he had (he once saw a man with his entrails trailing after him, but he refused to tell her how he got that way; really, this kid), he headed down to the basement. It wasn't the same one with the little cinema or indoor golf course. That was on the complete other side of the mansion. People didn't need a little girl who could see demons to know they wanted to keep their pastimes and their more unpleasant work separate. Duke wondered if, perhaps, people could feel the presence of evil without having to see it, and already knew the answer to that question was 'yes,' even though his sense for it might be nonexistent. Kind of hard to 'sense' something when you were eyes deep in it twenty-four-seven.

The Seven Rings main house had only two high security 'cells' for keeping, well, whatever they wanted. Each was windowless, metal, had an array of chains both on the ceiling, walls, and floors ("Kinky," Cromwell had called them). Mostly they were just on a 'just in case' basis because most dirty work was done at other estates. The one medical/torture room hadn't actually seen straight up torture since Duke's father's days as head. Like he'd said previously, no one liked their places of pleasure mixing with business.

But one always had to be ready for exceptions, like keeping invading demons.

The metal door squeaked a touch as it opened, but Duke's mental note to get maintenance on those hinges washed away at the sight it opened up to. He thought he'd come to terms with bat boys existence. But seeing him again, hanging by meat hooks through the crook of his great wings and shackles about his wrists, made his thoughts stutter, if only a bit.

The next unpleasant sight was the Doc, practically salivating next to the kid's left wing. He had his fingers on one of the spindely bones which went through the membrane and even as Duke watched he snapped it between his fingers.

Bat boy whined, short and low, in his throat. From the looks of the other bones on his wings, it wasn't a feeling he was new too.

"Is that necessary?" Duke asked.

Doc flinched, which went a long way in saying just how lost in his work he'd gotten. His eyes on Duke were slightly bloodshot and there was a thin sheen of sweat on the man's upper lip. Disgusting.

"...Curiosity may have gotten away from me."

"Taken you away with it, you mean? Seriously," he looked up at the meat hooks holding up the kids wings. He'd never had a problem with Doc taking it too far before, but this time they might actually need this kid. "You know this is a demon you're messing with, right?"

Doc stared at him. Then giggled, high like a girl.

"That's funny, sir."

"That 'sir' is about two sentences too late." Omen squeezed in from behind Duke. The cell doors weren't exactly made for the passage of Sikh giants.

Duke stepped up in front of bat boy and tucked his hands into his pant pockets. The boy had yet to lift his head from where it hung on his chest, gray hair stringy with sweat. The pair of black horns were still there, sharp, straight, and proud.

Duke resisted the urge to poke one of them.

"Sorry about him," said Duke. "I did not instruct him to do this...specifically. Only to do what was necessary to get you to talk. But, based on my texts, you definitely did talk. Classic monster under the bed, eh?"