I sat on the couch, running my fingers through my hair. Egan called Kieran and told him to come over after he finished work. He sat next to me flipping the pages of a book without actually reading anything. Neither of us spoke until Mikayla entered the room.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Ashleigh’s dead,” Egan muttered.
“What?” Mikayla sat on one of the lounge chairs. Samuel, behind her, sat on the other. “How?”
“Drug overdose,” I replied glumly.
Mikayla looked between us.
“Self inflicted,” Egan finished.
“She committed suicide,” Mikayla breathed.
Egan half heartedly threw the book to the side and pulled me to him. “That’s the theory. Although the Detective is considering opening a murder enquiry.”
“Is this detective likely to cause trouble?” Mikayla asked
“Lola Waters? She’ll cause trouble alright.”
“You know her,” Samuel stated.
“Old friend from Primary School, although I use the term ‘friend’ very loosely. She caught me hunting demons. Luckily she couldn’t work out exactly what was going on. I managed to convince her to back off, but I don’t think that would work a second time.”
Mikayla gazed at Egan with a soft look in her eyes, “You’ve been hunting demons since Primary School?”
Egan shrugged.
“Does Kieran know?” Samuel asked.
“Not yet,” Egan replied.
“You haven’t spoken to him?” Mikayla looked to Egan.
“On the phone,” Egan replied. “He’s coming over later.”
Mikayla nodded.
“How do you tell someone the person they loved killed themselves?” Egan breathed.
None of us had an answer.
It wasn’t long before Kieran walked in. Egan stood up.
“What happened?” Kieran asked.
“Kieran…” Egan began.
Kieran held his hands up. “Just tell me. I’m not stupid. You wouldn’t have me over here if it wasn’t bad.”
“Sit down,” Egan instructed.
“Did you find her?” Kieran asked, still standing.
“Yeah,” he said. “We found her.”
“Well? Where is she?”
“She’s gone, Kieran.”
“Gone where?”
“Kieran,” Egan whispered, “She’s dead.”
Kieran stared at Egan. “What happened? Was it a demon? Are there other creatures…”