CHAPTER 5
“Now, Mister Clarence. Clear your mind. Clear your mind…”
With eyes closed and an arm draped over my face, I attempted to comply with the instruction. But clarity of mind was not something that was coming easily at just that moment. Not ten minutes ago the room had been shaking and demons had been dropping from the ceiling, I was having trouble not thinking about it.
“I’m trying,” I muttered.
“No talking. Focus.”
The blue face and red eyes were hovering in my mind’s eye, ever more vivid and detailed the harder I tried to push them out. It was useless.
“Your thoughts are the directed focus of your Spirit,” she continued, “And where you direct your thoughts is where you choose to spend your Spirit. By extension, if you choose to spend your Spirit on the demon, you are choosing to give it life. Remove the demon from your mind, and you will limit its source of power. Understand this.”
I tried to turn my thoughts to other matters, letting my mind wonder of its own accord. Briefly, Brent and his poker plan drifted into focus. I had agreed to participate without thinking it through.
A few decades ago, it had been uncommon for something magical in nature to make headlines. Sure, there had been the odd story about a gardener who had learned to grow glow-in-the-dark flowers, or perhaps an old woman who had saved her cat’s life by felling a tree, but nothing of major significance.
That had all changed after an increase in elaborate, magic-based crimes, but not just any crimes; ugly crimes. The kind involving manipulating women into unwittingly participating in sex, or even pornography. The kind involving working entire sweat shops of smiling, delighted employees till they died of exhaustion. And in one case, I remembered with a certain level of astonishment, the kind involving selling lumps of coal to pensioners, for the small price of their entire life savings. In short, the kind that caused a public outcry.
Overnight magical offences were suddenly a priority; acted on by the law with excessive penalties and heavy handed wrath. Registration of those with high Spirit Levels became mandatory and was stringently controlled. Offenders were slapped with monstrous jail sentences in an attempt to set a public example.
And, notably, the Enforcers were formed; the “magic police”. Able to act on magical offences on the spot, as they saw fit, no need to call it in to a higher authority.
The demon was suddenly looming at me; its scowling blue face hovering only inches from my own.
My eyes popped open with a start and I found myself glancing maniacally around the hall, heart hammering a mad beat in my chest. To the left I spotted the assistant as she quietly swept up debris from the fight, but only Selena was scowling at me, sitting with that perfect posture in the leather chair.
“Eyes closed, Mr Clarence.”
I decided instead to give my heart a chance to slow down, swinging my legs over the edge of the couch and hoisting myself up into a sitting position. “I have a question.”
“Then ask.”
“You said my demon was born of a life experience. My father’s death?”
“Sí.”
“So, then your demon must also have been born of a life experience,” I continued hesitantly, “What?”
Her face hardened. “It’s not important.”
“You said something about there being only honesty in here.”
I thought it had been a rather astute observation, but her narrowed eyes told me that shrewdness did not impress.
“My demon was born of my mother,” she answered at length, “She was a woman who demanded a lot, and I could not always deliver. In time I found that my Spirit was feeding a demon. I learned to control it.”
“How?”
“I found a mentor. Together we drew out the demon and contained it.”
“Is that what we’re going to do? Draw out my demon and contain it?”
“It would be best if we defeated your demon,” she declared firmly. “But, should it be too difficult to defeat, we will contain it.”
“Well, I’m ready. Let’s draw it out and defeat it.”
“You are not ready, Mister Clarence. You must defeat the demon, I can only assist. And you need more preparation. Much more. You should focus on controlling your own mind first, limiting the power of the demon is an essential part of its defeat.”
“I’m trying.”
“Tell me about your mother.” It was a sudden and unexpected subject change, but she didn’t so much as miss a beat.
“She’s… nice.”
“I see. Is that all?”
“I assume you know she’s an Influencer. She is registered.”
“I know, yes.” Selena paused again, considering her words. “It can often be a dangerous business living in the vicinity of an Influencer, Mister Clarence. You never know in what subtle ways they might affect your life. You might consider how your mother is affecting yours, or the lives of any whom she comes into contact with, for that matter.”
“She isn’t like that.” The response was automatic. My mother was nothing if not a hard-working, caring person who had surely not committed an offence in her life.
“You speak so quickly.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Tell me about a memory of your mother.”
“A memory?”
“Sí.”
“What memory?”
“Any, whatever comes to mind.”
“Okay.” I hesitated for just a second and a memory sprung into the foreground of thought. “I remember lying under the table as a young boy. My mother and grandmother often spoke till early hours of the morning.”
“Of what did they speak?”
“I don’t remember. I was very young.”
“What do you remember?”
“I remember feeling safe. They were good times when my grandmother came to visit. We ate lots of great food, my mother was always happy.”
“I see.”
“Is this significant? Is it related to my demon in some way?”
“I’m not sure, Mister Clarence.” A frown creased her brow. “But I will give you this advice; watch your mother. See where it is she spends her Spirit.”
“I’ll do that.” I wasn’t really seeing a connection to my immediate problem of blue faced horrors, but questioning a woman who had just blown holes in a marble floor seemed counter-productive.
“Then I will see you tomorrow, Mister Clarence. Ten o’clock is fine.”
I stared in disbelief. “You’re sending me home?”
“Sí. I have taught you all you need to know at this time. There is no more I can teach today.”
“That thing is going to attack me again! How the hell am I supposed to defend against it? Why aren’t you teaching me how to shoot the damn energy bolt things?”
“You already know how to do that, Mister Clarence. Teaching you how to control them would be more advisable. But that will come later, if need be. For the moment, you know all you need to know about preventing the demon from attacking. Simply don’t feed it energy.”
“There has to be more…” I fought for words but could find no holes in her argument.
“When you return tomorrow,” she added with a tone of finality, “I want you to have practiced finding a place of calm in your mind. It is essential.”
“A place of calm…?”
“Sí.”
My blood was starting to boil. I was getting the overwhelming feeling she was completely blind to the peril in which I found my life. ‘A place of calm’ sounded about as useful as a chocolate tea pot.
“Selena,” I struggled to control my voice, “I am terrified. A demon crawled out of my mind, twice, and I expect it will do so again. Please help me. Please. In some way other than a ‘place of calm’, because I am having difficulty seeing the benefits of attacking a demon with calming mental images of fields and flowers.”
She regarded me with cool indifference. “You are still failing to grasp the situation, Mister Clarence. I wi
ll repeat it for you, slowly. You are feeding the demon. You are summoning the demon. Control yourself, and you will control the demon. I cannot reach into your head and control your mind for you. That is all there is at this time. Cómprate tus alpargatas que lo que viene es joropo.”
“What?”
“From here it gets much harder. I wish you good luck.”
There was silence, punctuated only by the rhythmic sound of the assistant as she swept the floor. Finally, I stood and headed for the exit.