Read Online Of Daughter and Demon by Elias Anderson - Free Book Online Page B

a
demon.”
    “See, that’s what that Bradley was sayin’,
and I know, I don’t see how there’s people like that, how they get
like that--
    “Mr. Gustofsen was being quite literal,
Harry, and so am I.” Dulouz took another drink. “It wasn’t a human
that killed your daughter, it was a demon . He’s done it
before, thousands of times around the world. Not this same one, of
course, but ones like him. This one, our demon, so to speak,
has killed about ten children in the last twelve years, your
daughter Alice being the most recent.”
    And how do I play this, Alice? He can’t be
serious, right? Maybe he’s in on it, some real sick bastard trying
to fuck me around--
    “I assure you I’m not trying to ‘fuck you
around’, Mr. Mitchell, I’m quite serious.”
    “How’d you do that?”
    He sighed, took another nip from his flask.
“You saw my card, right, Harry?”
    “Yeah, so? How’d you see what was in my
head?”
    “Do you remember what the card said I
did?”
    “Dogmatic Investigator, wasn’t that it?”
    “That’s it exactly. I’m a Dogmatic
Investigator. Normal rules don’t apply to me, Harry.”
    “But how’s that let you see in my head?”
    “Answer me this. Who do you think I work
for?”
    “I dunno, Bobby Johns tole me the
church.”
    “Who does the church work for? Ideally, I
mean. Not the pope.”
    “God?”
    “That’s right Harry. I work for God.”
    This guy is fuckin’ crackers. “So Sonny Jesus
up there let you look into my head.” I start inching my hand toward
the gun in my pocket, not because I think this guy’ll try anything,
but just in case.
    “Not really. Look, like I said, I don’t have
time to go into all this with you right now, so listen to me and
don’t ask any questions. I work for the true Gods, the two true
creators of the universe. Different cultures see them as Allah,
Jesus, the sun, whatever. I’ve been given the job of looking into
things like this, like the demon that killed your daughter. I’m not
a normal man, Harry. I can do things normal men can’t. Like look
inside your head, and see that a minute ago you called me crackers,
and that you’re moving your hand closer to your gun, not because
I’ll do anything, but just in case.”
    And whattaya say to this, Alice? I rub my
eyes and he’s still there, and I still can’t talk.
    “Like I said, Harry, I’m short on time, I got
a lot of other cases I’m working, you know how it is.” He took this
silver pocket watch outta his pocket, flipped it open and looked
into it, I caught just a glimpse but what I saw wasn’t the face of
no watch. A kind of purple light flooded outta this watch, and what
I seen looked like Everything, Alice. It was all the stars and all
the planets and all the people right here on earth, all of it, all
in this little watch. All of it was spinning, moving toward ends I
can’t imagine, but it was beautiful, and it was a little terrible,
too.
    Cain Dulouz flipped his watch shut and took a
long pull outta his flask. “I have to go, Harry, but I’ll be in
touch.”
    I was lookin’ right at him, Alice, and I know
you seen this from up there in heaven, and maybe now that you’re up
there this kinda thing don’t seem so strange to you, but it made my
brain itch, made me think I was losing it. He started fading away,
like a shadow when the sun goes down. He started blending into the
fence he stood in front of, the blacktop he stood on, the bridge
and the city and the sky beyond him.
    “I suggest you talk to your ex-wife,
Harry.”
    I could see the bridge through his head when
he said that. I could see the ground through his feet, and the
ghost turned and walked down the path, a cold wind blew and then he
was just gone.
    I stood there for I don’t know how long. I
couldn’t really move. I didn’t know if I wanted to, and you know
how I am, Alice, I can’t never be doing nothing, remember how I was
when you was little? I got even worse after you was gone, but you
know