Devil's Soul

Chapter 27 (a Halloween special: part iii)

I took the gang to the same suburban neighborhood that my mom had brought me to when I was a kid. We had to take the train to get there, but it was worth it. The people there not only gave out the best brands of candy bars, but also adorned their houses with creepy décor. It was also the kind of place where I felt safe to be out at night with a seven-year old girl. Of course, this time I also had two demons, a ninja, and a No-Face spirit with me. The crowd definitely gave me an extra sense of security that I hadn’t had the past couple of years.

Unfortunately, what the crowd did not do was provide an extra barrier of warmth. The outdoor air was warm enough where we had all naively left without coats and frigid enough to give us goose bumps. Chung seemed to be fine under his black No-Face cloak, but the rest of us were clutching our arms to our bodies in a hopeless attempt to hold in the heat.

“I knew I should’ve had that second shot,” Abhinav mumbled. Had Geo not been present, I would have inquired about the first shot, but I was not about to encourage a discussion of alcohol in front of a child, even if that child was Geo.

“Come on guys! If we run between houses, we can keep warm!” I made jogging motions, but no one made any attempt to join me, so I ended up looking like an idiot as I jogged at walking speed. “You wanted to run when we first got here, Geo,” I said, trying to recruit at least one other person to jog with me.

She rolled her eyes. “That was when I could feel my feet.”

“It’s not that cold outside,” I said, but now I was worried that the child I was responsible for would lose her feet to frost bite.

“If only someone had the power to create fire by snapping their fingers together!” Abhinav sighed with mock exaggeration.

Oh. That hadn’t occurred to me. I looked to Desmond, as if he had ever had any qualms about using his ability in public.

“Don’t you want to put your ability to proper use?” he asked, and I realized he was right. It was a power borrowed from the Devil, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use it for the greater good if I saw the opportunity. I’d always prided myself on doing the right thing, and being a demon wouldn’t stop me.

“Want to see another trick?” I asked Geo.

“Does it involve snapping your fingers together to make fire?” she asked. She’d clearly been following the conversation. I momentarily wished that she wasn’t quite so smart so that I could have had my moment of glory by revealing the trick to her.

“Maybe…,” I said, but I didn’t leave much room for doubt because I immediately followed it up by igniting a fire between my fingertips.

Everyone huddled around me in delight as we continued to walk down the street. I held the flame low so Geo would benefit the most from its small warmth. I expected her to make some sort of jab about the wimpy flame, but instead she looked up at me in awe. “Can the others do this trick?” she asked.

“Just me.” I answered, smiling down at her.

“We should hang out more often,” she decided, and everyone laughed.

Something about the house we were heading toward caught Desmond’s attention because he suddenly perked up. “Geo, come here,” Desmond whispered, bending over low and motioning for Geo to conspire with him.

She moved toward him without hesitation.

“I don’t know what he’s telling you, Geo,” I said loudly, “But don’t listen to a word he says.”

They both ignored me. Geo looked up at whatever had caught Desmond’s attention. Her eyes lit up when she spotted it, and she nodded vigorously.

I tried to see what they were seeing, but all I noticed was a nice looking lady giving candy to a handful of little kids. What about that scene would inspire mischief? I studied it intently, watching the smiling old woman hold out the bag of candy to each child, patiently waiting for them to dig through the bag until they had found exactly what they wanted.