Demon Breathing Down My Neck

Chapter Fifteen: The ShadowWeb

I dart backwards twenty feet through the air. "What the hell?!"

The yellow butterfly image blurs as it speeds after me. It circles obnoxiously around my head again and again. "I told you I'll be watching!"

I can't believe I just spilled my guts to a demonic drone! After the day I've had so far, I really should have known better...

The blurry, yellow wings flash past my eyes and buzz right in my ear. Athanasia whispers-cackles, "Someone has daddy issues!"

My voice cracks. "Shut up!"

Athanasia croons like she's speaking to a very small child, "Does butterfly baby think both of her daddies have abandoned her? Does butterfly baby need to cry?"

"-."

"I'm sure your strong, Almighty God would rescue the Smiths if you need to fly away and take a break! Speaking of which, do you need to fly away and take a break?"

I cover my burning cheeks with my hands. My palms blot out the sun and darkness covers my eyes. I whisper, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Hee-hee-hee, that's what I thought you'd say! Because our wonderful relationship together is just beginning, butterfly baby!" Her voice gets quieter. "Maybe, just maybe, you're staying because you know what would happen if you actually left..."

"Aren't you supposed to be hunting Agent Firestone and my partner?!"

"Hee-hee, you're not going to tell on me, are you?" The butterfly vanishes in a flash of white light.

My hands drop limply to my sides. How many butterflies have I had fly close to me in my life?! Were all of them demonic drones spying on me?!

In the physical world, a white Tulsa police car turns the corner of the street. It drives slowly towards Mr. Johnson and the others gawking at the damaged concrete from my battle with Ermias. Great. Just what I need right now. Human cops aren't too much trouble, but if they're more than human...

I crackle my wings and fly across the Smith's yard in an instant. I dash through the front door, crouch down, and stare back out at the street. Hopefully, I'm invisible to them. But I can never be too careful.

The police car rolls to a stop in front of a spazzing Mr. Johnson. He waves his arms around everywhere and points over and over at the ripped up concrete. The patrol car parks by the side of the street, on the other side of the road from the holes.

The onlookers converge on the squad car, Mr. Johnson at the forefront. The doors pop open and two Tulsa police officers saunter out. One is white, has a blonde buzz cut, and wears black sunglasses. The other is a Latino, has a black buzz cut, and wears black sunglasses. They both look back and forth, scanning the whole area. I pull my face as far back into the crisp glass of the front door as I can without cutting off my view.

Mr. Johnson jumps in front of them and begins talking so loud it sounds he's yelling at the officers. "What took you so long?! Look at this! Look at this! How do you explain this?!"

The Latino steps forward and extends his hand. "I'm Officer Acheron and this" he gestures at his partner "is Officer Gadreel."

My shoulders bunch up. These officers definitely work for the demons... not good...

Mr. Johnson nabs Officer Acheron's hand and yanks it up and down so aggressively that the police man frowns down at their handshake. "Thank you for finally getting here!" He jumps up and down and points at the holes. "As you can see, I wasn't making anything up!"

Officer Acheron's eyes narrow as he surveys the road. "The deputy who didn't believe you has been properly disciplined. Don't worry about him. Can you tell me what happened here?"