Page 16 of The Monster of Darkspell Comics

Fanny

I ’ve decided that having a demon around is kind of awesome once you get used to all the grumpy growling and fussing.

Not only because he genuinely makes me feel safe and appreciated, even if that appreciation comes in a fairly surly package, but because he takes my concerns seriously and wholly supports digging up whatever we can on Creepo—even if he would rather handle things more permanently in an expedited manner.

Still, he has the unwavering patience of a predator, and I find myself relying on it even when I find my own patience begins to waver and fracture.

I just wish that I knew what Creepo is up to.

There hasn’t been any noticeable new movement beyond the usual, and we haven’t yet come across any new information.

I mean, there has been some mention of missing humans, which has hit Kimmy hard, but it doesn’t seem to be related.

Apparently, missing humans aren’t anything new in Death Canyon City. Color me surprised.

Even reviewing the security tapes with Ms. Kremble only confirmed what we already knew.

At least it’s on record, and it has been passed on to the town council.

Everything else might have come to a temporary standstill in our investigation, but I’m not giving up.

Not when it’s becoming abundantly clear that he has no intention of moving on like the typical tourist. He lingers as the days bleed into each other, like an unnerving shadow watching and observing everything we do.

Unfortunately, as he is not breaking any town laws, there is little that the mayor can do.

In the meantime, it’s business as usual around here.

I tend to the shop for the most part while Pashar works.

Most hours there is little for me to do other than watch the people milling among the shops and the gradual arrival of Halloween to the mall.

Trick-or-treating inside a mall. What a clever idea!

I just need to find a way to convince Pashar that it can be fun.

Though he’s agreed to cooperate, he’s still a little annoyed that he must participate in something he considers ridiculous.

I know that his human appearance is just an illusion, but there still must be some joy that a demon can find in the admittedly silly customs of the season.

Maybe I need to suggest a few good costumes and get him into the spirit of things, but what?

I tap my chin as I contemplate the matter.

The most obvious answer is for him to go as himself, but there are two problems with that.

One, his real appearance can be terrifying for someone not prepared for it.

Even after spending day-in and day-out with him and never once being offered any kind of harm, I’ve only recently stopped jumping when he drops the illusion.

It’s not that I find him distasteful to look at.

Quite the opposite, actually. There is a dark, predatory sexiness to him that makes my heart flutter.

I always enjoyed being scared a little too much, which goes hand in hand with my love of horror movies.

The trickle of remaining fear that I’ve had around him has resulted in flipping a switch that I didn’t even know I have—of which he thankfully hasn’t caught on to yet, so I’m spared from dying from embarrassment.

Two, there is no way any sort of human-made costume can come close to looking like him.

I tap a finger on my bottom lip as the administrator walks by with her arms laden with two large boxes that appear to be filled with little goody bags, a black witch’s hat flopping on her head.

Despite her burden, she tries to shift it anyway so that she can give me a cheerful wave.

Smiling, I return the gesture. Despite her dour attitude with some of the shopkeepers, and being gnarly demoness of exceptional power, Ms. Kremble is super nice.

And it looks like she needs a hand. The store is dead at the moment anyway, so why not?

“Hey, Pashar, are you going to flip if I go on break?” I shout over to the male brooding over his drawings at the counter.

His eyes lift from his work, and it strikes me anew how yellow they are even beneath his human illusion. They make his illusion possess very bright golden brown that toes the line of being natural. His brow furrows slightly, and he grunts, flicking his fingers at me.

“Take your lunch break,” he growls, his gaze returning to his work.

“Sweet. Want anything?” I already know his order; it’s the same thing he always gets. “I’ll be heading to The Good Char.”

It’s strange how learning exactly what that demon’s special ingredients are hasn’t dissuaded me from eating there.

I don’t know what that says about me. If it makes me a monster, I guess I just fit in better with Hellscape Mall this way.

In the days I’ve been working here, I’ve slowly seen the normal world peel away as I become increasingly more aware of the monsters living peacefully among humanity.

“Yeah. Don’t forget to tip the brats,” he says, a satisfied smile curling his lips.

I shake my head and pinch my lips together to contain my own smile. I’m so not encouraging him with this. “Still on that? I figured the feud was over when Dzik picked up the fleas from you. I’m still trying to figure out where you pulled those out from, by the way.”

His smile widens, showing teeth with a definite sharpness to them, his yellow eyes gleaming brightly enough that I can see more of their true color bleeding through. He looks evil as all get-out but, strangely, he’s just my kind of evil.

“Secrets of the trade,” is all he says, and he makes another shooing motion at me. “As for Dzik, he would get bored if I didn’t torment him. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”

I can’t quite keep a giggle from slipping out as I book it out of the shop.

The magical leash he has me on is so relaxed these days that I don’t feel the slightest real pull from it anymore that I normally would.

That I automatically miss the proprietary tug of it is some heavy shit.

Therefore, I choose not to think about it.

Instead, I immediately pick up my pace so as to catch up with the administrator lugging her box, the charms on my cute, little chain belt looped through my jeans tinkling cheerfully as I walk.

“Hey, Ms. Kremble, wait up!” I shout.

She wobbles a little with her burden, the double-stacked boxes teetering precariously as she turns to me, but her smile is wide and friendly. From the corner of my eye, I see Creepo inching forward, his eyes following the demoness. Swooping in, I rescue the top box and beam at her.

“Let me help you with this. I wouldn’t want you to drop anything.”

She gives me an odd look, but I tip my head slightly, my eyes darting meaningfully in his direction. Her eyes flick his way, and she gives me a barely perceptible nod.

“Oh! Thank you, Fanny. I think I misjudged my carrying capacity,” she loudly jokes, following my lead. “There’s just so much to do! But I think the mall is really starting to come together.”

My gaze skims over the decorated displays set up in the hall and the smaller decorations in the corner of the shop windows and smile. “It’s looking super boss.”

She brightens with pleasure. “Thank you again, Fanny! Are you and Pashar getting ready?” Her head turns, and she glances back toward Dark Spell Comics meaningfully.

I grimace a little as I follow her gaze back to the shop. Pashar is visible through the window, as is the fact that there has been zero decorating done.

“It’s a work in progress,” I admit slowly, my mind working frantically to play it up for Super Spy as we make our way down to the Guest Service desk.

The more misinformation we can feed him, the better, and Ms. Kremble seems to be on the same wavelength.

The best would be for him to believe that it was a normal small-town holiday event and just leave.

“They don’t celebrate Halloween where Pashar is from, so I’m trying to warm him up to the idea. ”

Her mouth rounds briefly in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t realize. Well, if you need any help, flag me down. I really want this Trick or Treat Street to kick off with a bang.”

“I’ll be sure to let Pashar know how important it is,” I assure her loudly as we slip around the corner. The moment we are out of range, I drop my voice to a murmur. “Anything new?”

She shakes her head. “I almost wish he would try to make a move against someone here just so I can blast him into the deepest, darkest pit.”

I make a small noise of agreement. “Maybe I shouldn’t have discouraged Pashar from murdering him. I could have just let him do it and saved us all the headache.”

“No,” Ms. Kremble sighs, “it’s a good thing that you stopped him.

The paperwork from Hell is bad enough, but then the town bureaucracy is complicated as well.

Not to mention that you are right that he may not be acting on his own.

This is just a frustratingly difficult situation.

We may have to discreetly nudge things along to kick over the rock. ”

I nod soberly in agreement as I continue to walk with her until we reach the mall desk at the far end of the mall.

I wave to the harpy stationed there, and she gives me a polite smile before returning to her work while Ms. Kremble and I carry our loads behind the desk where all the other boxes are rapidly accumulating.

I wiggle a little to Cyndi Lauper’s hit blasting through the speakers as I hand my box over to her to be stacked with the others.

I have to hand it to her; she’s going into the season tits out.

A welcome tingle of excitement sweeps over me despite all the recent stress and worry.

I can’t wait for Halloween, even if it means dragging Pashar in, kicking and screaming the entire way.

There has to be a way to convince him that it will be fun, preferably with minimal fuss as possible.

Giving Ms. Kremble a wave, I head toward the food court, my stomach growling.

I’m still bopping with the music when I reach The Good Char’s counter, and Kimmy giggles behind her hand at my antics.

Dzik the Dick glares over at me from where he’s perched over the grill, but I’m not bothered in the least. I know that’s Dzik being his usual friendly self, so I give him a wave.

If he were actually annoyed, he would be looming over the counter, attached to Kimmy like a tick and threatening me with a wiener.

Better to just let Kimmy enjoy all of his wiener’s threats, I decide, my smile growing.

Anyone with eyes can see that he wants to feed her a big fat one.

A release of tension would probably do him some good and yank the stick out of his ass.

“Hi Fanny,” she chirps. “The usual?”

“Yes, thanks!” I reply, leaning one hip on the counter as she hurries to pour my lemonade while Dzik grumbles and grabs several wieners and coats them in his special batter.

“How’s it going?” she inquires as she sets my cup and straw in front of me.

“The usual. I do what Pashar says while he growls and snarls at me like he’s contemplating eating me. That, of course, is when he’s not complaining about ‘the Halloween nonsense.’ The fun is never ending,” I joke.

Kimmy giggles again and gives me a sympathetic look. “Still trying to convince him to get in the groove for Halloween?”

I grimace. “Let’s just say that you are fortunate that Ms. Kremble’s staff takes care of the food court. He’s about as willing to contribute toward festivities as Dzik is.”

“Waste of time and money is what it is,” Dzik grumbles, and he looms behind Kimmy as he plops my order on the counter in front of me.

My eyebrows rise when he sets a large hand on her shoulder, and Kimmy blushes.

What’s this? New developments? “It’s just begging for extra lunacy around this place.

” He shakes his head grimly as he stomps back toward his grill and drops unceremoniously into his chair tucked back there.

Kimmy makes a face but sighs as she grabs a soda from the cooler and cracks it open. “Point taken. Does that mean you’re throwing in the towel?”

I snort in amusement. “As if.” My gaze trails over to the clothing store kitty-corner to the food court where an employee is busily hanging up costumes on racks at the front of the shop.

My eyes land on a bright red, horned mask wearing the biggest evil grin, and I brighten at the sight of it.

“Actually, hold that thought. I have a great idea.”

Kimmy leans over the counter and giggles. “Good luck!”

I may need it. But does that deter me? Not a chance!

Digging out cash from my pocket, I hand it to Kimmy, and with another wave goodbye, I hurry away from the food court with my order in hand.

My lips curling with a wicked grin that would make Pashar proud, I make my way over to the shop. This is totally going to be righteous!