The Trouble with Demons

Chapter 2

“John, can you take out the trash?” his mother hollered to him from the living room.

“It’s Hunter,” he yelled back from his bedroom, determined to get his mother to accept his new name. Though he’d tried to train her since he’d turned fifteen, three years had passed without any success.

He read the newest email from Jared:  Demon sighted, Holiday Excursions Inn, room six. Be careful, Hunter. It’s one of the Dark Ones. And there’s another one, but I’ll give you the location after you take care of this one. Jared.

Two? What the hell’s going on? I’ll call you as soon as the first job’s done. Hunter.

He turned off the computer, then stalked out of the room. Two Matusa’s. Really not good. The noise from his mother’s vacuuming roared in his ears.

“Oh, John.”  His mother switched the vacuum cleaner off. “Remember that old box of junk in the garage. It goes out with the trash, too.”

“Is Dad working late again?”

“Yeah, two more women arrived at the medical examiner’s office. Hope they catch the bastard soon.”

More of the Matusa’s doing, he feared. “I’m meeting Jared at the library after I take out the trash. Need anything while I’m out?”

“Can you take Dara?”

“No.”

“John.”

“Hunter,” he reminded her for the hundredth time. John had died when he took up the hunt.

With a hint of exasperation, she sighed. “I don’t know why you want to change your name. I’ll never remember it. But Dara wants a couple of books, and I can’t ever find the time to go to the library.”

“She can give me a list of the titles, and I’ll get them. Jared and I are discussing our next martial arts demonstration, and I don’t want to drag my eleven-year-old sister around.”

Eavesdropping as usual, Dara ran in from the den and gave him a list. He glanced at it and frowned. “Twelve books?”

She folded her arms. “Gifted class.”

She only reminded him a million times a year.

“My teacher says I’m a voracious reader, and I should keep it up.”

He shook his head and strode toward the garage. “You’ll never finish them before they’re due back.”

“Will, too.” Dara disappeared back into the den where some cartoon was playing too loudly on the T.V.

Hunter jerked open the door to the garage and strode inside. Grabbing the box destined for the trash, he paused when a stained and torn baseball glove caught his eye. His father’s. Sports like that had never interested Hunter, not like his father had always hoped. He picked up the glove and set it on a shelf with tennis rackets and beach balls. Maybe some day he and his father could spend some time tossing the ball.

Martial arts and kicking demon butt, now that was what Hunter lived for. But his father didn’t appreciate his love of the former and wouldn’t understand the latter.

  Thinking he might find something worth keeping, Hunter dug around in the box. Nothing but worn out clothing, rusted tools beyond repair, and…

He pushed aside a pair of grease-stained jeans. A book. Really ancient looking, bound in ivory leather with gold print. The Tome of Summonings. Hunter’s skin chilled. Was this the book his mother had used to call forth the Matusa, the demon who was his birth father? Vowing to destroy it the first chance he got, he set it on the workbench and took out the trash.

Before he left the house, he secured the tome and slipped it between his martial arts books in his bedroom. Which brought to mind his new mission. Find the source of the summoning books and stop the demons from entering Earth world in the first place.

Slamming the door to the house, he headed for his truck. Concentrate on keeping a steady head, his training reminded him. Though his heart hammered with gusto.

Time to rid the world of another dark demon.