Deals

Mullins jerked awake, nearly falling out of the chair she had been sitting in. It took her a moment to remember where she was. The hospital room was dark. The blinds over the window let it light from the street lamps. Her partner had been by and given her a three-hour break. She had taken the time to rush home and shower, changing into a clean uniform.

By the time she had returned, Hill had been informed that Detective Austin had located Rowen's home. They had found her parents, both in their early fifties, with their throats slit. The fact made her sympathize with the kid even more. It had also been verified that the ritual residual they had felt had been from a demon summoning ritual. It had not been a small one as there had been thirteen Summoners.

Mullins had sent her partner home for the night. He had family waiting for him at home. All she had was an empty apartment. The last thing she remembered doing was writing out her report on the laptop she had brought from home. It only took a quick look to find the laptop sitting on the floor by the chair.

The last place she looked was the bed. She was surprised to find Rowen sitting up in the bed, a smartphone in her hand. Where did she get the phone?

"Shouldn't you be resting? Where did you get the phone?"

Rowen turned to look at her, head tilted, eyes shining in the darkness.

"She is. You were supposed to sleep longer."

Mullins stiffened at the strange voice. It was more of a deep growl than the soft-tone the girl had spoken with earlier. Nevertheless, it chuckled and managed to sound sinister, at least to Mullins.

"A nurse was nice enough to lend me her phone. These things are quite fascinating. So much knowledge in such a small machine. The world has changed a lot since I was last here."

Every time it spoke, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. It took every bit of her willpower to speak.

"What are your plans for the child?"

"Many and varied, too bad I don't plan on telling you."

"You won't be allowed to continue. They will exercise you."

It laughed and tossed the phone toward her. Mullins caught the phone at the last moment. She had been surprised that the phone had been thrown.

"I am done. You may return it. Want to make a bet on whether or not any of you can remove me? The child is mine now, and you will not separate us."

It laid down and turned its back to her; the pressure that she had felt disappeared almost immediately. Mullins stood and stepped out of the room. She took the phone to the nurse's station then found herself a quiet place. When she pulled out her phone, she saw that it was just a little after nine in the evening. When she had last looked at the time, it had been eight.

"Detective Austin."

The detective's voice only sounded a little annoyed when he picked up the phone.

"This is Officer Mullins. I wanted to report that I just had a conversation with the demon that's in Rowen Nieves."

"What? Are you certain?"

Mullins leaned her head back to rest against the wall she was leaning on. Her eyes closed as she let out a soft sigh.

"I am certain, detective. I'm pretty sure it put me to sleep and convinced a nurse to give it her phone while I was out. But I wasn't out for more than an hour."

Hill had given her a medallion that was supposed to protect her from demonic powers. She had a feeling that was the reason the demon's powers had not lasted long.

"I'll make some calls and be there first thing in the morning. You said that nothing happened when she crossed the ward."

"That's right, sir. I had an eye on her the whole time, and she didn't even twitch when she crossed."

There was a long pause at the other side, "Damn it. That means it's a powerful demon that's possessing her, or it's beyond mere possession."

"I'm a little lacking when it comes to demonic knowledge, sir, but I thought that a demon could either be summoned or possess humans."

"The old ones have a lot of power behind them, officer. Their arsenal of tricks is far more extensive than your average demon. The ones you see out on the street, those bound by a Summoner, are strong but nothing compared to what the ancient ones can do.

"If you believe in a god, then I suggest you spend the night praying to them. But, unfortunately, there may be no saving the child."

He hung up, not bothering to say 'bye' before he did. Mullins was used to that. Detective Austin did not say 'goodbye' when talking on the phone or in person. He was straightforward and tended to say what was on his mind even if it was inappropriate at the moment. She put the phone away, muttering a few curses under her breath as she did.

Mullins was not a religious person. She had grown up with a mother who was a witch and a father who was a spiritualist. Her father held a firmer belief in science than any god. Her mother had been devoted to the local coven, often spending more time there than with her children. Her older brother had followed after their mother, but she had chosen to stay as far away from magic as she could.

If she had chosen to follow in her mother's path, she could have taken a dream journey to discover her patron god/ess, who would, in turn, bless her with magic. But, she just did not like the idea of kissing up to a god. That's why becoming a cop had appealed to her. She got to carry a gun around and help people, all without magic.

That said, she did not dislike those who took the path of magic. It just was not for her. Few people at the precinct knew about her mother, only the chief, and Hill. He had been her partner for a little over a year. When he had first been assigned to work with her, they had to interview a couple of witches from her mother's coven. Her mother had been the one sent to guard the witches.

Mullins returned to Rowen's room and found the girl in the same position she had been when she left. She returned to her seat and picked up the laptop to finish writing out her report.

Dawn was just beginning to peek through the window when Detective Austin came into the room. Mullins rubbed her eyes and stood. She followed him out of the room when the detective motioned for her to follow.

"I have some people coming soon. We will start with trying to exercise it. If that doesn't work, then we will have to discuss options. Did anything else happen last night?"

"Not that I'm aware of. It did manage to knock me out once, so there is no telling if it succeeded a second time."

He pressed his lips in a tight line and glanced at the room, "Did it seem hostile?"

"Honestly, no. Scary as fuck, sure, but it didn't threaten me. It did say that the girl was his and that we would not be able to separate them. It, uh, offered to make a bet with me on whether or not we could remove it."

Mullins covered a yawn with her hand. She knew she should hand things over to the detective and get some sleep, but she was far too curious about what was going to happen.

"That's demon humor for you. But, unfortunately, there are still idiots out there that summon demons to make deals with them. It's bad enough we have Summoners walking around with demons bound to them. I've seen people make deals with demons for something as petty as an enemy going bald."

Mullins felt an all too familiar chill when Detective Austin spoke of deals. She remembered what Rowen had said at the warehouse and how she had felt something in the air.

"What happens if they can't keep their side of the deal?"

"Breaking a deal with a demon gets your soul devoured. That's why you don't do it. They don't break deals. A demon is willing to do anything to uphold their side of any deal. The whole time they're hoping you fail and sometimes will even go behind you to make certain you fail.

"Nasty fuckers. I hate dealing with them."

"Are they able to make deals while possessing a body?"

For the love of all that's holy, please don't let it be so. She had this sinking feeling that she had unknowingly made a deal with a demon. I promised to keep her safe and protect her. Would an exorcism count as her being in danger? Since it had pretty much dared them to exorcise it, she hoped not.

"No. When a demon is possessing a body, it is limited. Because it is forcefully inhabiting a body on our plane, all of its power is limited to the bare minimum. If it had access to any more power, the odds are good that the body would break down and die quickly.

"That's why possession is seen as a nuisance rather than anything dangerous. It's also why you don't see it happen too often. Most demons would rather work with a Summoner and have access to most of their power, even with the limiters that a Summoner imposes on them."

She wished that she felt relieved, but that feeling of dread just kept growing. After years of keeping anything related to magic at arm's length, she may have just tied herself to the worst kind.