Demon King Series Books II & III

Chapter 3

"All you have to do is kill her," he repeated.

Eva laughed as best she could until her laughter began to sound like quick sobs. She was on her knees and he shoved her to the ground with his booted foot.

"Do you think I'm joking?" he asked angrily.

Eva didn't respond. Instead, she kept her head down.

"If you kill her, I'll let you go. I'll really let you go."

Eva looked up at him. The cries of the hooker were distracting but she had no choice. "Fine," she said.

He showed a quick expression of surprise but quickly masked it. He didn't think she would take him up on his offer. "I won't stand too close to you, Eva. I'm not stupid. You may try to stab me. If you do that though, how would you get unchained? I'm the only one with a key."

Eva gave a twisted smile. "I understand. Give me the knife," she said and reached her palm up and out as far up as her chain would allow.

 ~The Next Day~

It was hot. It was really hot. Detective James Smith was chomping on a cherry snow cone in his  car. As some of the ice fell between his legs and onto the seat, he cursed. His partner, Colton Ellis, got into the car beside him. Ellis took one look at the snow cone and scowled, "What the hell Smith? You know I like Tiger's Blood Snow Cones. You didn't get me one?"

Detective Smith smiled, showing off his syrup stained lips and slightly red teeth. "Sorry pal. You want some of mine?"

Ellis rolled his eyes, "No, I want my own." As he spoke this, he reached across the car and snatched the snow cone out of Smith's hands. More ice fell and some of it landed on Smith's pants.

"Dammit," Smith cursed again. His attention was taken away from his pants by a knock on his window. He looked up to see a young brunette with big blue eyes. He frowned and she frowned back.

He pressed the button to roll down his window and asked, "How did you find me? We're kind of busy right now." Detective Smith had been in the parking lot of the police station waiting for Ellis. The two of them were headed to a crime scene where two dead bodies were discovered.

"I need to talk to you," the woman said.

Ellis, who was absorbed in his cup of shaved ice, looked over at his partner and asked, "Who is she?"

Detective James Smith looked over at the brunette, "Other than being a pain in my ass, she's Eva Lewis' cousin, Joelynn Lewis."

The name Eva Lewis rang a bell to Detective Ellis. She was the reporter that had been missing for almost two weeks.

Joelynn asked, "Well...are you gonna talk to me now or what James?"

James groaned in frustration. "Ellis I'll be right back."

Ellis smiled, "No prob. It's not like those bodies are going anywhere."

"Yeah...yeah...you're a bucket of laughs," Smith walked a few feet away from the car with Joelynn trailing behind him. "What do you want Joelynn?"

"What do I want?" Joelynn asked in disbelief. "I want some answers on my cousin's disappearance!"

"So why are you asking me? I don't do missing persons," Smith explained and not for the first time to Joelynn.

She crossed her arms, "The guy in charge of the case is an idiot. Besides I know you."

Smith massaged his temples as he regretted ever dealing with Joelynn Lewis six months ago. At the time, his then friend, David Wilson, had recommended he go out with Joelynn. The date went okay but James felt no chemistry. He never called her back and she was actually pretty cool about it. He later found out that she was the cousin of Eva Lewis. Eva was a beautiful woman and the secret crush of most of the police force. She was always hanging around the police station trying to get some inside information for an article she was writing. Every officer was devastated to learn that she had gone missing. There were some theories that perhaps she had been abducted by one of the Demon King's followers. After the serial killer known as the Demon King had been killed, men calling themselves the Disciples of the Demon King began cropping up on online forums. When the book Raising the Demon King was released, their groups increased. There were YouTube channels of teenagers pretending to be Disciples. It grew into a crazy phenomenon similar to the mask of the Scream movies years ago. Except now, it was women wearing flower crowns and men calling themselves disciples.

"James," Joelynn was clearly frustrated, "James can't you do anything? They haven't given me any news since they told me she was missing."

Smith sighed, "Look Joelynn, I understand that you're concerned but I can't help you. You have to talk to the officer in charge. Look I have to go. If I do hear anything, I'll let you know." He patted her shoulder, turned around, and headed towards his car.

Joelynn recognized the brush off. It wasn't the first time he had given it to her. When she had first gone on a date with Detective James Smith, she felt giddy. He was cute with his smouldering brown eyes and caramel colored hair. He was also a detective which was sexy to her. After their date, she expected him to call. He didn't. Eventually, David Wilson, her friend at the time, had given her the bad news. She was really bummed about it but secretly held a small torch for James Smith. Later, Eva and David would start dating but that didn't last long.

Joelynn saw James and his partner drive away. She looked back at the police station and took a deep breath. "What would Eva do?" she asked herself. "She'd find some answers," Joelynn thought. She had treated Eva horribly before she had gone missing. Joelynn owed it to her cousin to help her as much as she could. She straightened her shoulders and walked back into the police station. She was going to get answers one way or another.

On the Way to his Crime Scene

Detective James Smith felt bad about dismissing Joelynn so easily. He wished he could've helped her. He liked Eva Lewis. He remembered trying to ask her out a few times and getting rejected. As he and Ellis arrived at the crime scene, he could see the other officers walking away while holding their stomachs.

"Oooh we must have something rank out there," Ellis laughed.

Smith smirked, "How bad could it be?"                                                                     

It was bad.

Two dead bodies were dumped in the woods off of the main highway. One had been there longer and the other was discarded as recently as that morning. Ellis cursed. The older body was too mangled to recognize. The wounds on her body were done by a sharp object like a knife. The woman that had been left recently had the skin of her face removed. If that weren't enough, she had been gutted. Remnants of her clothing were still visible. A black skirt and leopard top. Both women were wearing a crown of white flowers.

"Well I'll be damned," Ellis whispered. "He's back."

Meanwhile

Jacob still didn't have too many answers about Vincent McDaniels. After talking with him over the phone, he went online and searched his name. Vincent McDaniels used to be a famous author but then disappeared and was now back in the limelight. His latest book, Raising the Demon King, was based on his real life. There was a lot of mystery surrounding McDaniels. He used to be a notorious alcoholic, womanizer, and drug user. He would constantly check himself into rehab and residential treatment centers to get clean. Lately, he had been clean and had just bought some giant house in town.

Jacob didn't understand why Vincent McDaniels would be calling his house or calling his mother Dulce. He had asked his mother about Vincent but she became pale and told him not to ask about that devil.

The phone rang, and Jacob went to answer it, "Hello?"

"Is this Jacob?"

Jacob immediately recognized the voice. It was Vincent McDaniels. The phrase "speak of the devil" popped into his mind. "Yeah, it's me," Jacob answered.

"I was hoping it would be you. Your mom doesn't like me too much. She keeps hanging up on me."

"Yeah. Why is that?" Jacob asked. "She keeps calling you the devil."

Vincent laughed, "Do you really want to know?"

Jacob nodded then realized Vincent couldn't see him, "Yeah. Yeah I do."

"Good. Give me your cell phone number and I'll tell you where to meet me. Your mom doesn't like me calling your house."

Jacob felt a bit uneasy but his curiosity won out and he shared his personal contact information.

A few minutes later, Jacob's cell phone dinged with the message, "Starbucks on Main St. 5:00pm. The Devil will wait for you."