Accidental Demon Summoning

The Marks and Murders of Mephistopheles

A/N - ^^ well that's a wee bit depressing. If I'm doing something wrong with my writing, please let me know. The only reason I put my work up here is for criticism.

"You're sure that's her?" Al asked. Asmodeus nodded, his fingertips resting on the photos.

"Is she buried in this town?" His voice was hollow. Harvey nodded.

"Mary, be a lamb and get the nice visitors a map? You can keep the pictures, we've got copies enough. It was a big case, we had detectives from all over the country. She was a private gal, kept to herself. We all thought she must have had a fellow out of town, there was a gent who'd come to visit her at nice." Harvey said. He crunched a biscuit and washed it down with tea.

Asmodeus reached over and took Al's hand. He was shaking. Harvey seemed oblivious to the demon's slow breakdown.

Mary returned again with a map. Harvey took another biscuit and pulled a pen out of his breast pocket. He circled a house. "That's where we are. There's the graveyard, and that arch there is where she was found. There's where she lived, there's her church. Fancy that. Julie Montecristo had a brother! She always said that her parents were both dead and she had no siblings, that must have been a real big fight, eh? You said it was over her fella?"

Asmodeus didn't reply. "I need to go." He muttered. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"Ah, no problem." Harvey chuckled. Mary Sue put her hand on his shoulder and let her hips sway out to the side. He threw his head back and laughed. "You have a lovely day, wonderful to meet you, Chad, Kashton, Dixie."

Al put his arm around Asmodeus's waist and took Daisy's hand, guiding them outside. Asmodeus gripped the map so hard that it smoked. The genial Southerners were still laughing inside. Daisy shuddered.

They sat down in the car. Asmodeus and Daisy's forms shook as one, wilting and snapping until their forms came apart. Their real bodies billowed out.

The demon hunched over, grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes. His huge shoulders shook with sobs. Al wiped away his tears and stroked his back. Lily panted and nudged Asmodeus.

"They're a demon, right?" Daisy asked. "I thought that they couldn't be killed. Aren't you. Um. Won't they be fine?"

Asmodeus looked up. His eyes were dull, entirely pitch black. His skin had faded to a dark rusty brown. "Those markings on her chest...they stop her from healing. Mephistopheles, our only hope, is gone forever. We can't stay with them, we can't let their power shelter us. They would have had sheltered us from demons, like...like a huge angelic umbrella. She's gone and we're going to die as well."

Al put a hand over his mouth, stifling a cry. Daisy felt the pit drop out of her stomach.

"Who killed her?" She asked. There was a rushing in her ears. She'd left everything behind for her new little family, and now...and now...

"I don't know." Asmodeus' skin brightened a shade. "If we find them...Mephistopheles will be trapped. Deep down in their consciousness. It's impossible to truly kill a demon, there'll be some fragment of their soul."

"We could use that to bring them back?" Al asked.

Asmodeus shrugged. "Maybe." His skin was still dull, maybe the colour of dried blood. "We have to try. I could have protected her. I could have..."

"No." Al kissed Asmodeus' cheek. "There's no use in regret. We'll start at the arch she was hanged from." He tapped the map.

Asmodeus's mouth twisted into a warped smile. "Lets."

Daisy leant forwards. "How do we know that she wasn't poofed by, like, some random demon? Berir looked pretty...murdery."

"Because demons can't kill demons, or they'll be stripped of their power. They'll be human, a fate worse than instant obliteration." Said Asmodeus. Al frowned at him. Asmodeus shrugged. "That one doesn't even know her real parents, you've cut yourself off from everyone because society doesn't like you fucking a demon. Lily's happy, though."

"I think it's more the fact that you're a man most of the time, babe," Al said. Asmodeus slammed hand on the dashboard.

"That's even worse! I'm an incubus from the inner depths of hell! I fucked Napoleon!"

"You fucked Napoleon?" Daisy leant forwards. Al looked equally shocked. Lily barked and shoved her nose into the base of the demon's neck.

The arch was a short drive away, down an abandoned road. It was out of place above a collection of less than twenty crumbling graves, almost five metres high. The sides wound upwards, looking like a long animal horn bent double - but more than two feet thick. The base was much thicker and smooth, with clumsy runes scratched in.

Asmodeus pulled up across the road, not parking. The car stuck halfway out onto the road on a harsh angle. He was out of the car before he pulled the hand brake. Lily burst out of the car at his heels and loped across the road.

Swivelling in his seat, Al sighed. He pulled the handbrake up and rolled his eyes. Daisy snorted and shoved her way through the seats.

Al reached out his hand for hers.

Daisy stared at it. oh. He wanted to hold her hand to cross the street.

He seemed to realise what he'd done. His hand shot back to his side.

"I. Um. Sorry, I-"

"No, it's fine-"

"It's a reflex, I-"

"Seriously, it's-" Daisy held out her hand and grabbed his. There were callouses on his palm. She grinned at him. "Don't stress."

Asmodeus was crouching over the base of the ornate arch. Lily was pissing on it. The humans approached him.

"Are you okay?" Al asked.

The demon turned. His skin wasn't glowing, but it wasn't flat. It looked like the soft light that comes from a lightbulb wrapped in a hoodie.

"These runes. They're the language of demons. Not incubi. Demons of fate, and ones that attack the saints." He said.

Daisy folded her arms. "So?"

Asmodeus straightened. "This is a portal, and pretty recently used. They weren't killed here by accident. It was either a human who knew about us -"

"Unlikely, only Incubi and Succubi reveal themselves to humans," Al said.

"Yes. I know." The Incubus said. "Anyway. It was either a human who knew about demons -"

"Unlikely," Daisy held her hand up for a fistbump.

"I'm going to obliterate the both of you." Asmodeus hissed. "It was either a human who knew about demons, or...thank you. It was either a human who knew about demons or, wait for it, an actual demon who's still running around this town."