Demonic Dora Read online

  He could feel the heat of hatred coming off his mother in waves, literally as green smoke seeped out from under her robes. “Better curtains than being bombarded by your ancient flesh,” his mother replied.

  “Ha! If you’ve got it, flaunt it honey. If you’re flabby wear a curtain—oh you already do.” Kieron’s grandmother countered.

  Kieron gripped Dora’s arm and slowly pulled her away from the group, ensuring they backed away an inch at a time. He knew what was coming.

  “You know that thong is a yeast infection waiting to happen, don’t you?” His mother snapped. “But, I suppose infection is a good thing in your family.”

  That had done it. She’d brought up Kieron’s father’s side of the family, and that never ended well.

  His grandmother roared in outrage. She flicked his mother on the shoulder, knocking her backwards. “You dare to complain about my family? You little nobody!”

  Kieron tightened his grip on Dora’s arm and pulled her along with him as he ran for the door. Other demons at the barbeque noticed the fight, and they too made a beeline for the exit.

  “Come on.” He urged Dora to run with him.

  “Shouldn’t we stop them?” she asked.

  Green smoke filled the room, and Lady Lascher’s eyes glowed red.

  “Trust me. The only people who get hurt in this are the bystanders.” Kieron pulled Dora through the doorway as the sound of a loud explosion cracked through the air behind them. He peered back to see his grandmother slammed into a wall, causing a hairline crack to shoot up the plaster. “You dare to break things in my house?” His mother screamed at her.

  Kieron yanked Dora out of the room and into the hallway. His father was the last to leave. He ran up behind them, slamming the doors to the ballroom shut after he left the room. Muffled sounds of breaking furniture and roars of pain could be heard through the closed doors.

  He watched his father compose himself before he addressed the demons and partygoers in the hallway. “It’s been lovely to see you all. Anika and I have really enjoyed tonight, but as with all good things, they must come to an end. We hope to see you at our next little shindig.”

  There were several pleasantries exchanged as people thanked his father for a wonderful barbeque before leaving. Meanwhile, the matriarchs of the Lascher family could be heard screaming and wailing at each other in the empty ballroom.

  Kieron peeked at Dora. There was a confused expression on her face. He realised he was still gripping her arm and released her with a gentle pat. “Mother just likes to let off steam sometimes,” he muttered.

  “Green steam?” she asked, glancing at him with a look of horror.

  “You two kids should go to your room.” His father interrupted. “Given your delicate situation Dora, I don’t think you’re ready to face Lady Lascher yet,” he added.

  Dora smiled at him.

  A possessive tug of jealousy spiked through Kieron again. He put his arm around her waist before turning towards his father. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to her. She’ll be fine with me.”

  “You need to improve your warrior skills before you’re ready to protect anyone.” His father scolded him.

  Wanker, Kieron thought.

  “I’m happy with avoidance for now. Let’s go to your room, Kieron. We can listen to music or something.” Dora smiled at him, causing his heart to do a little leap of joy.

  “That sounds perfect,” he replied. He grinned at his father as he led Dora away from him.

  Dora stared out of Kieron’s bedroom window, taking in the view across the demonic city. Twisted castles were dotted around for miles with volcanoes of fire behind them lighting up the dark skies.

  Is it always dark here?

  She peered down at the street below. Demons were skulking on dusty sidewalks, and the road was busy with fire-fuelled traffic. A strange sadness washed over her.

  I don’t belong here. I don’t belong on Earth either—I don’t belong anywhere.

  She’d thought here at least, in a hellish dimension surrounded by ghouls and demons, she would finally belong. But the longer she was here, the more out of place she felt.

  She watched an impish green demon push a large brown fluffy one off the pavement and into oncoming traffic. The brown fluffy demon splattered against the windscreen of a souped-up Rolls Royce that was kitted out with lethal-looking spikes for spoilers. She watched the pieces of blood, guts and fur slide down the black Rolls. Anger burned in her throat. The green demon pointed and cackled at the fate of the fluffy one.

  What did that poor demon ever do to anyone? Why attack it?

  Dora’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the window ledge. She was fuming with anger at what she had just witnessed. She decided to go down there and push the green demon off the pavement.

  See how he likes it! I will not stand by and witness other people suffering as if it is fucking entertainment.

  She paused because she realised she wasn’t angry about one demon killing another—demons couldn’t die in Hell. She was angry about what had been done to her. Her family and friends had tried to burn her alive, which was bad enough, but the worst part was that every single person in her world had been content to watch it happen.

  They didn’t do anything to stop it, not one of them!

  Dora wanted to cry, but she wasn’t going to. She realised you couldn’t trust anyone, not really. People only cared about themselves. There weren’t any heroes in the world anymore. How many people chose to watch her go up in flames for entertainment? How many innocent souls suffered a similar fate every single day? If you were stuck with your back against the wall as the world was crumbling around you, the only person you could count on was yourself.

  She was tired of being helpless in both worlds. Dungeons and funeral pyres be damned! She was going to make herself powerful so no one could ever do that to her again. She didn’t want friends anymore. She wanted power.

  “I brought cookies and milk.” Kieron interrupted her thoughts as he came back into his room.

  Dora lowered her head and sighed.

  What about Kieron? He’s a good friend.

  She gritted her teeth.

  Yeah? And how long will that last? You don’t even know what he is.

  A dark voice in the back of her mind shadowed her thoughts.

  Still burning with anger and hatred for every other living thing in the universe, she turned to face Kieron. He appeared startled by her expression. It must be pretty scary.

  “It’s chocolate milk,” he added, warily eyeing her up.

  “What kind of demon are you, Kieron?” Her voice sounded dark even to her. It was cold and sharp.

  He peered at his feet when he spoke. “I don’t understand the question,” he mumbled.

  “Well, your mother is a terrifying green-smoky-thing, and your father is a massively frightening black-winged-thing. So what kind of demon are you?”

  Kieron glared at her with narrowed eyes when she mentioned his father. “He’s not frightening.”

  “He’s pretty scary in demon form,”

  “If you’re into that kind of thing.” Kieron folded his arms and scowled.

  “Stop avoiding the question!” Dora snapped.

  “I’m a Lascher demon,” he mumbled, refusing to look at her as he placed the tray of cookies and chocolate milk onto the nightstand.

  “What does a Lascher demon do?”

  “Lots of things.”

  “Such as?”

  “You know, stuff.” His nostrils flared in anger. It was the first time she had seen him angry. His jaw clenched, and his eyes glittered with stormy shadows.

  “Name one thing.” She knew she was pushing him to tell her things he didn’t want to, but she didn’t care.

  How can I trust him if he keeps me in the dark?

  “Magic,” he snapped. “Okay, I can only do spells. I don’t know why, and it’s lame and useless. Are you happy now?”

  “Yes, because you finally stopped
lying to me! What’s your demon form like?”

  “It’s terrifying.”

  “Show me it.”

  “No, it’ll scare you.” Kieron looked away.

  “No it won’t.”

  “I can’t just turn it on. It’s controlled by rage.” He grumbled.

  “I bet you don’t even have a demon form.” She taunted.

  “Yes I do!” he cried as he stormed over to her. “And if you keep pushing me, you’ll regret it.” His voice deepened with menace.

  “I doubt it.” She really wanted to see his demon form, so she continued to piss him off. “I mean, if you evenhave a demon form.”

  His blue eyes sparkled with anger as his lips flattened into a grim line. He stood so close to her that she could feel the heat of his skin. “Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Dora stared in awe as his blue eyes turned red. The stormy ocean in them became burning fires. He let out a guttural growl, and goosebumps popped up on her arms. Her pulse raced as she stared up at him in awe.

  Tiny black horns, just an inch high, grew on the top of his head and poked through his blond hair. They looked like shards of black glass. She watched them in awe, expecting them to grow larger, but they didn’t.

  “I told you, you would regret it,” he said in a dark voice. It was his usual voice, but it sounded as if he was trying to imitate an ominous demon growl.

  Is he serious? That’s how scary he gets—baby-sized horns and contact lenses.

  She tried not to laugh. He was serious after all. But he was still Kieron, not some big, scary demon. She didn’t have the heart to hurt his feelings. Of all the people she knew, he was the only decent one she’d ever met.

  She decided to pretend to be scared, just for him and just this once. “Oh my!” She gasped and held her hand to her throat.

  “You should not bring out my dark side, Dora.” Demon-Kieron warned.

  “Oh, I see that.” She nodded, fighting to control the giggle inside her that tried to escape. “I’ll never do it again. You’re so big, strong and scary.”

  He gripped her shoulders with his hands and pulled her closer to him. “You should be scared, little one. I could do so many terrible things to you.”

  “Ah, um, okay then.”

  “Like this!” He kissed her.

  What? I’m not that nice.

  She tried to push him away, but changed her mind as his hot lips made the world melt away. It was like kissing heaven, but it made her skin burn. She groaned as his strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him. She forgot where she was and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, kissing him back with just as much passion.

  He picked her up in his arms and made his way towards the bed. A shot of reality penetrated her mind. She pulled back from his kisses and looked into his now blue eyes.

  I guess Demon-Kieron fades away if you kiss him.

  “Er, what are you doing?” she asked.

  “Making sweet love to you?” He appeared unsure.

  “No, you’re not.” She told him.

  “But it’s what happens next,” he said.

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “Don’t you want to?”

  “No. Well, probably not.”

  “We should try it and find out for certain.” He attempted to persuade her.

  “I’m pretty certain I don’t want to. It’s okay.”

  “Making sweet love is fun,” he said. “You’ll miss out on a good time.”

  “And teen pregnancy,” she added with a fair amount of sarcasm. “I hear that’s not as much fun.”

  “Okay, now I don’t want to anyway. You ruined the moment,” he muttered as he put her back on her feet.

  “That’s probably a good thing,” she replied. Her heart raced, and her skin burned.

  “Ohh, you’re one of those kinds of girls.” Kieron slapped himself in the forehead.

  “What kind of girls?” she asked.

  “You know. What are they called on Earth … frigid?”

  “I am not!” Dora scowled at him.

  “Maybe that’s not the right word.” He paused, and he appeared to think about it for a moment. “Will you go on a date with me tomorrow?”

  “A date?”

  “Yes, a nice one with me. I’ll show you all the vilest places in Hell.”

  “How can a girl say no to that,” she muttered.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes, okay. I’ll go on a date with you.”

  “Yay!” He grinned at her. “You won’t regret it.”

  “Well, a demon date has to be more fun than a normal one, right?”

  “Exactly! And Dora, did you at least learn something about demons from all of this?”

  “Yep.” She nodded and flashed a sweet smile.

  They’re all a bit silly, she thought.

  Dora smiled at Kieron as he led her through the saloon doors of a western-looking bar. Her skin tingled with warm jolts of pleasure when he squeezed her hand.

  They made their way over to the huge red demon behind the bar. Dora widened her eyes in awe when she noticed the demon bartender. He had bulging muscles, large blood-coloured horns and a goatee.

  He looks like the devil.

  She pulled back in a moment of hesitation as they neared the bar. The bar-demon glanced up at them with a scowl on his face.

  “Are we allowed to drink here?” she whispered in Kieron’s ear.

  “Of course,” he replied. “Look around you. This is an underage bar.”

  She glanced around the room and froze. Her jaw dropped open with shock at what she saw. A demon resembling a five-year old girl sat at the table next to them. She took a loud sip from a bottle of whiskey through a straw. Some preteens were playing poker in a nearby booth. Meanwhile, at the back of the room a group of toddlers appeared to be having a kegger.

  “Isn’t that dangerous for them?” Dora asked.

  “Not really. They’re demons. They don’t have livers, and statistically drunken adults act childish, but drunk children tend to remain the same as they are when sober. The bar fights are much less violent as a result,” Kieron replied.

  Dora found it hard to watch a child drinking whiskey. It was even weirder to see the tween-aged, gangster-looking kid at the back of the room smoking Al Capone’s. “It just seems so wrong,” she said.

  “Seeing a sixty year old woman dressed in leopard skin spandex and dancing to Britney Spears—now that’s just wrong.”

  She nodded.

  Fair point, it is very disturbing to see that.

  They reached the bar and waited for the bar-demon to come over. He put down the glass he was polishing and walked over to them, wearing a scowl.

  “A bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses,” Kieron said.

  The bar-demon grunted and slammed two shot glasses and a bottle of Jack on the bar. “That’ll be two dark soul-chips,” the bar-demon replied.

  Kieron handed over two sparkling gems. They looked like smoky diamonds, and they glowed with a faint grey light. The bar-demon took the gems and dropped them into the register.

  Kieron picked up the bottle and the glasses before leading Dora to a table near the windows.

  “What were those gems?” she asked.

  “It’s the currency here,” he said. “The darker the chip, the less it’s worth. Um, imagine a dark soulchip is a five-dollar bill, and a light soul-chip is a fifty-dollar bill. If you have a white soulchip, well, you can buy a castle with it. They’re really rare.”

  “Why don’t you use dollars instead?” she asked.

  “These.” He held up a smoky gem. “Are pieces of people’s souls. The more souls you have, the more power you have. The lighter the soul, the more powerful it is.”

  Dora gasped. “So my soul—”

  “Should never to be mentioned in public for your own good.” Kieron briefly scanned the room.

  She nodded with a shivered. She didn’t know what colour her soul was, but judging
by the way Kieron acted, it must be one of the lighter shades.

  “But didn’t the truck driver find my soul disgusting, though?” she asked.

  “Think of it as stinky cheese. It’s a delicacy in small pieces, but you don’t want a lump of it sitting next to you.”

  “So I’m like stinky cheese?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Way to go Casanova.”

  “You know I met him once,” Kieron replied, missing the point. “I wasn’t supposed to because he ended up on the other side.”

  “The other side of what?”

  “You know. The other ‘H’ place.”

  “Oh, you mean Heave—”

  Kieron slapped his hand over her mouth and gagged her with it. A poker playing teen winked at them and wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Don’t say that word here,” he whispered.

  “Mmmay.” She attempted to reply, but decided to nod instead.

  He removed his hand and rubbed her shoulder. “Sorry, it’s just there are some things you can’t say here.”

  “Okay, I get it. Thanks I guess, but I have another question.”

  Kieron groaned while pouring them both a drink.

  “The truck driver knew about my soul, so why is keeping it a secret so important? If he can see it, can’t everyone?”

  “Oh, it’s only because he’s related to Charon.” He waved the question away with his hand.

  “Sharon? Who’s Sharon?” Dora frowned, trying to work out who he meant.

  “C-H-A-R-O-N, the ferryman. Not Sharon the happy hairdresser!”

  “Ohh,” she said, still not entirely sure who Charon was. “Wasn’t he in Percy Jackson?”

  Kieron slapped his hand to his forehead and sighed. “Yes, that guy.”

  “Okay, so are lots of people related to Charon here?”

  “No, there are only a few on the Highway to Hell. And, before you ask, none of them were in Percy Jackson!”

  Dora grinned. She loved it when she made Kieron squirm. He shot her an impatient look, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing while watching him fumble over the answers. “The books or the movie?” she asked, innocently taking a sip of her drink.

  “Both. I mean neither. They’re not in fiction anywhere!”