Chay pulled out my chair, and I sat down. Throughout dinner, my parents and Chay asked me a million and one questions about the vision I’d had: what had happened at the convenience store, what the police said, how my hands felt, and on and on. By the time dinner was over, I felt like I’d been interrogated again, only my family was more insistent than the police officer had been.
After dinner, Chay and I sat on the deck and waited for the mini-goblins to reveal the purpose for their visit. I lay sidewise, my head in his lap. His arm was like a steel band around my waist, holding me to him. After the day I’d had, I welcomed the sense of protection he offered.
“Milayna’s here!” Friendly said in a singsong voice.
“It’s about damn time. I was getting bored,” Scarface said.
There were seven hobgoblins running amok in my backyard. I knew two of them. One I’d named Scarface and the other Friendly, based on his personality. They usually always came to bug me. It was like they were my personal demon buddies. The others I’d never seen before, although they all looked alike, so it was hard to tell.
“What are you doing here, guys?” I let out an exasperated sigh. I was drained from the vision and the hours I’d spent at the police station. I just wanted a quiet, peaceful evening so I could sleep.
“Did you like our game?”
My heart slowed. I could hear it plodding along in my chest, squeezing the blood through my veins. “What game?”
“The store. That was a close call with the bullet,” one of the hobgoblins said, its eyes wide.
“How do you know about that?” I pulled myself up to a sitting position. My knees were pressed against my chest and my arms wrapped around them. Chay wrapped his arm around me and scooted me close to his side.
“‘Cause we did it. It was easy convincing the guy to rob the place. Just a few subliminal suggestions and he was all set. Of course, he thinks it was all his idea, but that’s okay. Whatever gets the job done, right?” The demon’s lips pulled over his yellow, chipped teeth in what I guess was intended to be a grin. It looked more like a snarl, so maybe that was what he meant it to be. Who knew with them?
“You don’t know anything,” I bluffed, cringing when I heard the slight tremor in my voice.
“You’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Friendly chanted. “It was fun, fun, fun.” The red imp twirled around, tossing colorful fall leaves into the air.
“We know you saved that woman from the bullet Azazel meant for her. We know the window exploded over you and that’s what cut up your hands. We even know you’ve spent the last few hours at the police station,” Scarface said, ticking off each item on his stubby, sausage looking fingers.
“How do you know?”
“I told you, we did it. Wasn’t it fun?” This from Friendly again. I was beginning to think he was a little dense. He twirled a red-and-orange leaf between his fingers before holding it out to me.
I batted his hand away. “No.” My insides shook. I wasn’t sure if it was fear or rage. Another innocent victim. Azazel tried to kill another innocent human. The trembling inside my body spread until my entire body trembled, inside and out. A mix of emotions tumbled in my head like a cement mixer churning them over and over.
“She didn’t like our game.” Friendly’s eyes turned black and his face distorted. “We planned that especially for you. You should be polite.”
“Azazel is irritated. He wants an answer. You either give it up or die. That bullet could have fired a second sooner and we’d be having this conversation in the afterlife, you know.” Scarface made a show of picking something furry and bloody out of his teeth. He’d probably found a squirrel for dinner, or a neighbor’s cat. My stomach turned over, and my dinner splashed around. I was afraid I would hurl it on the little demon’s feet.
“Tell Azazel that this is the last time I’m going to answer him. It’s becoming redundant. No.” My body started to heat from the inside. A tingling heat fingered its way through my veins and muscles. I shifted on the deck, letting my legs fall and dangle off the side. I didn’t recognize this sensation. It was new, and I felt off-balance. My breathing started to quicken and was shallow. The earth started to slow, and I felt sluggish.
I remembered the woman and the store clerk. Both could have died today. Muriel, too. Flashes of the glass showering over us, of the man running from the scene, of the EMTs pulling glass from the woman’s and my cuts, ran through my mind, and my vision clouded. Blood pounded behind my ears. Rage raced through every molecule.
Scarface’s demeanor changed from the moody hobgoblin to a demonic irritation from Hell. “He won’t like that answer.” He stood in front of me with his feet planted apart and his hands on his hips. When he leaned his head toward me, his butt stuck out in the back. He looked hilarious. Any other time, I would have laughed at the sight. But not then. Then, I wanted to pick him up and snap his neck. I couldn’t get to Azazel, so the goblins would have to do.