Animators also tended not to give their creations eyes that shone with malevolence and hunger, slick like fresh blood, black like old engine oil, and deep like the abyss of hell. If they had, the cartoon industry would have folded like cheap patio furniture.
The creature struck Annie first, lifting her into the nauseating parody of an embrace. It hovered with her high above the ground, opened a mouth full of multiple rows of sharp, blackened teeth, and let out a shrieking cry that seemed to rend the very fabric of reality. As the noise continued, a strange glow began to form over Annie’s limp body and slowly spiraled into the Demon’s gaping maw. The nocturnis continued to chant as the thing fed until the glow abruptly blinked out and Annie fell bonelessly to the ground.
That would have been enough trauma for anyone, but Ott’s nightmare was far from over. If Annie had died in that moment, he would have raged and grieved and gone to his death cursing the Order for all he was worth, but things got even worse. Annie did not die. In fact, after a moment of still silence, she gathered herself together and rose calmly to her feet. She slapped at her clothes to remove the dust and debris, then turned and thanked the nocturnis for their services.
“Our Master will take the second now,” she had said.
Kylie blinked and looked away from the text to meet Dag’s gaze. “How is that possible? Can a human being survive having their soul fed to a Demon? Or did it possess her somehow?”
The Guardian’s brow furrowed deeply. “It does not appear to be possession, as the author makes no indication that the Demon disappeared from view. If it had entered the girl’s body, it would no longer appear to the others in its vaporous form. I am guessing that the Demon took her soul, but left her animus in order that she continue to serve the Order.”
“Um, okay. What does that mean?”
“Think of a human as a nut,” Dag suggested, which Kylie let slide because now did not seem to be the time for cracking jokes. And look, there went her subconscious anyway. “The shell is the body, the soul is the kernel, and the animus is the husk or bran that surrounds it. When a Demon consumes a human soul, it can devour the insides completely and feed off the animus as well, or it can leave the animus behind and eat only the meat of the soul. With an animus remaining in its body, the human becomes a tsineh. It walks and talks and functions much as it did previously, but with no soul it is entirely devoted to the needs and wishes of the Demon who devoured it.”
“Oh, ick.”
Dag made a noise of agreement. “The question, then, is how did this Dennis Ott avoid the same fate?”
“You’re right. I’m guessing ‘clean living’ is not going to cut it as an answer.”
They returned to the text. The answer quickly emerged as one of two options: either Ott’s guardian angel deserved combat pay, a Medal of Honor, and an immediate seat at God’s weekly poker game; or dumb luck really did favor the mentally challenged. The cops had busted up their party.
“Folg mik a gang,” Kylie breathed. “You’ve got to be shitting me. How does anyone not made entirely of rabbits’ feet and lucky pennies get that kind of break?”
Dag pointed at the screen. “Apparently, it happens when they brag to jealous acquaintances about the ‘good shit’ their private club provides them. And when they deliberately punch a police officer in order to be arrested and removed from the scene.”
“Yowza. I suppose that’s one way to get out of a sticky situation. Why were none of the others arrested?”
“I suspect that none of the substances found were illegal, either because they used more esoteric ingredients, or because they used magic to eliminate any traces of banned substances.”
“Wow. Don’t let that strategy get out to the world of professional sports.” Kylie scrolled down the page, her gaze skimming over more text. “Oy vey, does that really say the guy had himself exorcised? As in, ‘I need an old priest and a young priest’?”
“It appears so. That may explain the lack of a taint in the apartment, despite his initial involvement with the Order.”
Kylie looked at him, curious about that statement. “You mean the Catholic stuff really works?”
“Not in the way you imply.” Dag shrugged. “Any strong faith in goodness can work effectively against the Darkness. Religious rituals and acts of faith are magical workings by another name. They possess power to affect the world. That does not mean that any one human religion has all the correct answers to the meaning of life. It merely suggests that if this man believed in the power of the Catholic Church to remove the taint of the Darkness from him, he may have influenced the efficacy of the ritual.”
“All righty then.”