Ghoulies Abroad, Julie Steimle [libby ebook reader .TXT] 📗

Chen requested per Tom’s insistence—one which was open late. It wasn’t an all-night place, but it was a place where they could rest on soft benches until at least one AM and bring in food from the outside. The monk remained with the local man, nodding to Chen as the two of them left the Seven with Rick and Tom while Rick recuperated from garlic exposure. Rick had them find a bathroom where he washed everything with his special smelly lye soap and changed his clothes after an epinephrine shot.

“How much epinephrine do you have for this trip?” Andy asked him, pale and grim.

Shrugging as he put away the syringe, Rick tried to not make a big deal out of it. “Oh… enough.”

“Are you sure?” Andy asked, breathing shallow, watching Rick still struggle to breathe.

Nodding, Rick smirked at him. “Yeah.”

Their local man returned informing them of a garlic-free place they could stay at all night—a friend of a friend’s home. Beckoning them, they paid up at the KTV and once more walked through the chilly night-lit city. Jet lag was the only thing keeping them up.

“Where are we going this time?” Daniel asked, eyeing the monk especially with thin suspicion.

The monk smirked at him, laying a finger aside his nose. “A safe place.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows as he shared a look with James. “Really? There is such a thing?”

“Of course,” the monk said, chuckling. “Don’t you have a safe place back home?”

“Never,” Daniel replied, quickening his pace so he matched the monk’s. He glanced once more to James whose hand was on his sword hilt, prepared for a battle like always. “We grew up in a witch town. Being on earth itself is to be in a dangerous place.”

The monk raised his eyebrows at him. Then he snorted. “What a shame you are so nihilistic.”

“I’m not nihilistic,” Daniel retorted. “I understand all this suffering in life has a purpose. But I also understand that there is a war going on in the hearts of every human being. And the supernatural realm isn’t helping things much.”

That got him an even more critical look from the monk. The monk replied with gravity, “A man your age should not be so cynical.”

“I am not as young as I look,” Daniel gravely replied. “None of us are.”

Peering at him, the monk halted. He stared for a while. “Hmm. I suppose for a human you are… old.”

“So you aren’t human,” Rick said, already breathing easier, keeping up.

The monk peeked to their local friend as if he were glad the man did not understand English well. He shot Rick a chastening look as he said, “All of us are not what we seem.”

“I am,” Tom said, hands in pockets, his smirk crooked up as usual, long strides in his walk.

A laugh escaped from the monk. He slapped Tom jovially on the shoulder.

They arrived at a gated park—not what they expected. The local man led them in, talking to the guard who was not the usual young uniformed man at such places, but a middle-aged fellow with chin stubble. He opened the gate. All of them walked in, entering into what looked like some kind of fenced in tourist area which contained stone shrines and lots of greenery. They could see the silhouettes of ancient style roofs illuminated among the trees in the distance by the path lights. Their new friend led them up stone steps into the park area, going to one of the buildings. The building itself was padlocked. But the guard opened the lock with a modern key and let them in. Inside was a vacant, echoey sort of room. No lights. Nothing except old musty smelling paint and floor.

“We can stay here,” the monk said. “Nothing will bother us while we rest here.”

“Deng yi xia,” said the local man while backing out the door. “Wo hui lai gei ni chi fan.”

“What did he say?” Eddie asked.

“No clue,” Semour muttered. His eyes raked over the dark old room. “I feel like we are waiting to be offered up as human sacrifices here.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Daniel muttered, taking in the darkness.

James walked over to the walls, feeling them over. He smelled the air. “Incense. I smell incense.”

“Yeah…” Andy murmured.

“Calm down guys,” Rick muttered. “It’s a temple.” He took a deep breath, finding it a great deal easier to breathe. “It actually is a safe place.”

They looked to him.

“No demon will be able to detect us here,” he murmured. He looked to the monk. “Is that why incense was burned?”

Smirking, the monk shrugged. “One of the reasons. It is also an ancient form of prayer.”

Ancient, maybe. But Rick still thought it was an ingenious way to mask their scent. He knew demons could sniff out the scent of their prey. Eve had told him she could recognize the blood of different individuals. And he knew that New Year’s demon had sniffed out all the Asians in their school.

“I guess this means we are camping,” Semour said, looking at the floor. “Good thing I brought a bed roll.”

Rick turned around “You brought a—?”

“Of course I did,” Semour said, pulling out from his backpack a tightly rolled collection of blankets from another peculiarly small drawstring bag. Rick had a feeling the Seven had invested in magical containers for their travels—just in case.

Each of them followed suit. Only Chen and Rick had nothing. Tom hopped up to the ceiling then went through.

The monk stared at him, caught in a laugh.

“He’s half imp,” Rick explained.

The monk nodded. “Yes. I can see that. But… it always amazes me every time I meet one.”

Rick looked to Chen. “Uh… I’ve got no bed for us. We can… I dunno, go wolf and dog and sleep that way, if you want. There is going to be no mattress.”

Chen nodded.

“I’d wait a little longer for that,” the monk said, pointing to the door.

“And why? I’m exhausted.” Rick looked back at him, bleary eyed.

Smiling fondly on Rick, the monk replied, “Because, our friend will return, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to frighten him. He does not know what you are. And it would be best that he didn’t know.”

Exchanging yet another look with Chen, Rick sighed and agreed. Perhaps they ought to wait.

“Alright,” Andy announced once most of their bedrolls were spread. “We need to council.”

“Tom’s not back,” Chen said.

“That’s ok,” Andy said. “This is more a council for the Seven. No offense, but you are just listening in.” He then turned to the others and said, “Alright men, we need to reassess our standing rules.”

Daniel raised his hand. “I am still for no visible body count. The demon situation at that hotel was a bad deal, and yeah, Tom took care of it. But I doubt we will be that lucky again.”

“The key word is visible,” Eddie said. “‘Cause I am not gonna spare a demon simply because we don’t want to leave a dead body trail. They are going to try to kill us, and if there is no other way to deal with them—”

“They were not just there for a kill. They were after our tech,” Semour interjected.

Rick nodded. He said to him, thinking of his own computer, “Did they get anything of yours?”

Semour shook his head, smirking. “Nah. I booby trapped everything. You know, just in case.”

“But did they damage anything?” Andy asked.

Still shaking his head, Semour reported, “Not at all. They were more damaged than my stuff.”

“But why our tech?” Eddie asked, his face revealing his doubt that demons even touched technology.

“To stop us from communicating with somebody?” James suggested with a peek to the monk.

Daniel nodded with a glance to Rick and the monk also. “Probably to stop us from contacting our monk.”

The monk smiled, nodding. “Most likely.”

“You are him, aren’t you?” Daniel asked.

Shrugging, the monk said, “In a way.”

Rick cocked his head to the side, wondering about that.

Andy eyed him sharply. “You are not him, but you are him?”

Grinning, the monk nodded. “Yes.”

This was giving Rick a headache. He massaged his forehead.

“You mean like an astral projection?” Eddie asked, intrigued.

“He’s solid,” Daniel said. He eyed the monk carefully. “You’re like a… doppelganger.”

“Like in those Naruto comic books?” James exclaimed incredulously. He peered harder at the monk.

Shrugging, Daniel was about to reply.

“Seriously…” Andy rose. He put a hand on the monk’s shoulder. “I can sense a kind of magic about you. But I can tell you are not quite real.”

The monk smiled silently, not likely to reveal any personal details.

“That’s some magic…” Rick murmured staring at him also. He smelled real. Musky. A bit like that monkey in the hotel, actually.

“I have never seen the like of it before,” Andy said, walking around the monk.

“I wonder if Tom knows,” Chen murmured.

“Tom knows.” Tom dropped down through the ceiling carrying bags containing several McDonald’s hamburgers. “The guy’s got no imps.”

But that was usually a sign of a demon. They tensed up.

Tom laughed, perhaps hearing their panic. “What I mean is, imps just ignore him. Imps don’t ignore demons. They just stay away.” He tossed them burgers. He did it much like passing out playing cards. Everyone caught theirs except Rick and Chen, as theirs were apparently in the other bag.

Rick pointed at the one he had given James. “That is going to upset our new friend. He is coming back with food—I’m sure.”

Cackling, Tom nodded, skipping slowly up to him. “I know. But all of you were tempted when we passed the place—and I mentally took orders.”

“But it is going to upset him,” Rick insisted.

Sticking his face into Rick’s, Tom said, “I will keep a lookout, and signal when he is coming—wolf.” He then slapped a box on top of Rick’s head. “Chicken—for you.” He then handed the other to Chen.

Groaning, Rick closed his eyes, taking the box off his head. However, he also held out his hand for his wallet. Of course Tom took it to pay for everything.

Tom stuffed the wallet into Rick’s open hand. “Just say ‘thank you’ for once.”

Moaning, Rick heaved a sigh. Tom was trying to help, in his way. “Thank you. I was hungry.”

Patting Rick on the head, Tom did a backward flip and landed in the center of the room. He bowed. “You’re welcome wolf boy.”

Most of them ate as fast as they could, at first. Tom had also given them french-fries and they ate those before the burgers. Daniel tucked away most of his burger in his pack, perhaps to eat later on the trip. So did Eddie, following Daniel’s example. Then soon the rest did. Daniel, after all, was keen and a great predictor of the kind of thing they would need later… among other things. It was not that the others would not have come to the same conclusion, but that they would have come to it much later and perhaps too late.

“So, did you figure out sleeping arrangements?” Tom asked, popping back into the room. The door behind him then opened.

“Some lookout,” Rick muttered, seeing their new Chinese friend step into the room carrying boxes with food. Rick hoped there was no honey in any of it. Garlic would not be.

But Tom grinned. The others had already cleared out their food, so it was ok.

Andy said to him, “We are arranged. What about yourself?”

“Hammock,” Tom said, grinning. He then produced a medium-sized drawstring pouch, quickly opening it to extract the nylon hanging bed he had in there.

“You won’t get cold?” Daniel asked.

Tom peeked at Rick and said, “I don’t feel the cold as much as other people.”

Those in the Seven stared.

“I always thought that was a vampire trait,” Andy murmured, going back to his bedroll.

Rick lifted his eyebrows, wondering on that. He was sure Tom was lying. Tom felt temperature the same as anyone. They had shared a bedroom back at school. Tom loved the heat. But from the quick look in Tom’s eyes, he knew Tom did not want any pity. He decided to let him lie. He would have to